So Zander's first Christmas was spent at Nana's house and was lotsa fun. This winter has been really harsh already and we are getting alot of snow so we have to wait for Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa C.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
3 month pics
So we went and had Zander's three month pics taken and decided to get our first family pic.
We made a fun Christmas card too.
Zander is making rolling over a daily occurence and is smiling and giggling all the time.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
He is moving!!!
So Saturday he rolled over while doing tummy time on his gym. We both missed the actual roll but I looked away and "bloop" he was on his back, looking at us like "how did I get here". Of course we proceeded to spend the next hour trying to get him to do it again. I don't think he was amused.
He is growing so fast and everyday is a new wonder to watch.
Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel
He is growing so fast and everyday is a new wonder to watch.
Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Friday, December 5, 2008
Today it is OFFICIAL!!!!!
Today is an important day in our family. Today the court of law granted our petition for me (Jillian) to be Zander's legal parent. We both gave testimony, Zander slept thru the whole thing and I cried twice. I am as happy as a person gets, truly in complete bliss. Our family is secure in love and the law. They are stuck with me. LOL.
Here are pics of our lawyer, Emily Dudak Taylor and Zander's guardian ad litem, Bill Hammett.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Zander's latest stats
Birth:
7lbs 5oz
19 1/4in
7lbs 5oz
19 1/4in
4 days old:
6lbs 12oz. 20th percentile
19 1/2in. 30th percentile
1 month:
10lbs 4oz. 50th percentile
22 1/4 in. 75th percentile
2 month:
12lbs 2oz. 75th percentile
23 1/2 in. 75th percentile
Wow! He's nearly doubled his 4 day old weight!
Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Motrin Babywearing Ad
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Sunday, November 16, 2008
Zander tattoo and his first shots
Friday after his baby doc appt and first shots (mama T cried longer then he did) we had to promptly go out to baby depot to get him a toy cuz he was a brave lil soldier. We chose a very cool baby gymn thing which he really loves and I have video of mama T trying out just to be sure it was fun. Lol. It came equip with a light up music playing puppy mirror and everything. Even the cats like the mat. I have noticed cat toys and baby toys are very similar.
Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel
Friday, November 14, 2008
Talking on the blackberry
Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Zander/Bubbalah and Mr. Z
Our son has shown us a two sided personality akin to Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. The change will at times take place in a matter of seconds and may or may not be joined with thrashing/facial distortions. Only 2 months old and we witness the joys of his smiles and laughter and then the agony of a full blown pouty face with lip protrusion and screams that will rip any mother's heart to pieces. Amazing is the absolute speed of this transformation. Yes, our sweet lil angel has a dark side and the name is Mr. Z. The other part is he makes faces that Tia makes. Eye brow furrows and curled lips with puppy dog eyes are my future.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Zander's birth story
A couple months ago, Jillian and I moved our bedroom from a downstairs room to the upstairs. We still had some totes full of clothes in our old bedroom, so we started going through them. It was about 6:30pm on September 10th and at 8pm I started having some consistent cramping. I suppose all that bending helped start labor.
I wasn't having anything painful but we were clocking them about 5mins apart lasting a minute for an hour. I called Nurse Direct which contacted the OB on call. She said to head to the hospital since we live a bit away and I'm high risk.
I waited until I was sure the cramping was consistent. I got on the treadmill, bounced on the exercise ball and took a shower. I was in total denial of being in labor. Jillian finally said enough was enough and we needed to go. So, off we head to the hospital. We arrived about midnight and I was hooked up to all the machines to get the base readings. I was at 2-3cms which was disappointing but Anne (my nurse who went to school with a friend of Jillian- small world) said I was 90% and having good contractions so I was staying. Also, I was at -1/0 station.
3am I was at 3cms so I was progressing.
6am I was still at 3cms.
At 8am my OB came in to see me. He says "So, we're going to have that baby today, ehh?" I was so excited! He checked me and I was still at 3cms and stalled. He asked if I wanted him to break my water and I said no. I asked if he would give me till noon and he said ok.
12pm OB comes back and I'm still at 3cms and still have no pain just cramps. He asks what I want to do. I can either have him break my water or go home and augment labor myself. I said I want to go home and see what happens. He agreed with me that is what I should do since I want a least amount of interventions as possible and he's so not aggressive. My mother kept saying to let them break my water and Jillian kept saying that I should do what I want to do which was to go as natural as possible.
I went home to sleep. I laid in bed for hours trying to sleep but the cramping was enough for me to not be able to.
At 11pm I called nurse direct again. The OB I spoke to said to head to the hospital- again. I was still not in "pain". I was basically a "2" on a scale from 1-10. The OB said that didn't matter.
At midnight I arrived at the hospital. Anne was my nurse again. She said baby was at 0 station and I was a 3-4cm. I could cry. Anne kept reassuring me that getting to 4cm was the hardest and I was almost there. I kept telling her that I wasn't in pain so I didn't even feel like I should be there. She said that most women are asking for epidurals by 4cm so I probably have a great pain tolerance.
6:30am the OB on call came to see me. She checked me, still at 3-4cms. She broke my water. It seemed like that took forever. Zander was so low that the bag of water was super tight around his head. I said "don't poke him in his soft spot" – you'd think I didn't believe she'd probably done that hundreds of times before! I ended up bruising Jillian's hand mostly because of anxiety that Zander would be arriving for sure within the next 12-18hrs. It also wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world! The lady OB was funny after she broke my water because she then says "Well, I hope Chris (my ob) doesn't get mad at me." I found that mildly amusing.
At 8am, my OB came in and said "Are we going to have that baby today? I'm almost scared to ask that since I said that yesterday too!" He's such a dork. Anyway, he checked me and I was still 3-4 but more towards 4cm. Mr. Zander was posterior too.
During all of this: Apparently, the cramping I had been feeling was actually back labor. As soon as my water broke I was in lots of pain! I was trying to lift myself up sideways by the rails of the bed, I couldn't stop the pain, even inbetween contractions. The nurse, Susan (who use to work with Jillian- again, small world!), got the whirlpool ready and I hung out in there for a couple hours while Jillian sprayed me with water while the jets were going. I tried the breathing techniques- that's all crap.
Finally, I looked at Jillian and told her that I wouldn't be able to push later with me not sleeping since Wednesday night and being in such pain at that moment. I wanted the epidural. The hooked me up to the IV because I needed a bag of fluid before I they could call anesthesia. After the bag was empty, I got out of the tub and got into bed. At 12:30pm they were hooking me up to the monitors while the anesthesiologist walked in. He was an egotistical maniac. My gown was up so I was "exposed". Like I said, they were hooking me up to the monitors. The guy looks at me and says that I need to cover up to maintain my dignity. I didn't even respond to that! I had a student nurse (who was such a sweetheart) helping out too. The anesthesiologist thought he would act all "big man on campus" and show off to her. He starts asking Susan how long it takes for alcohol and betodyne (sp?) to dry. Of course, she didn't know that completely useless piece of information. As he's asking stupid questions, he's sternly "correcting" me for moaning during contractions. He wasn't even working on me yet! Jerk. Well, since one of the nurses was a student, he starts telling her all the horrible things that can go wrong. I'm already terrified because this dude is sticking a needle in my spine, I don't need to be hearing about paralysis and spinal leakage beyond the normal warnings they offer. I have to say, he was a spectacular anesthesiologist because I still wanted to be able to move my legs and know when I was having contractions which I could.
As soon as the epidural was in, they had to cath me. I ended up falling asleep during. Yes, I fell asleep during catherization! Jillian told me that Susan was worried that she would wake me but Jill said to her "I recognize that snore. You won't wake her up for anything.". When I woke up I was at 5cm. Yay!
At 5 pm-ish I was still at 5cm. I knew, I freaking knew, that I was going to stall. I knew the consequences of an epidural. Also, I know that 5 hrs (or so) isn't exactly a long time to decide that I'm stalled either but with an epidural, I figured it was enough. My OB came to talk to me. He knew my fear of pit and knew that I am well educated. He said that he wanted to start it but wanted my opinion as well. I told him I'm scared of a c-section and said that he didn't see that happening. I believed him because of how every nurse I had saying that my particular OB is so not aggressive and so low intervention. I trust him, and started pit. I started feeling the contractions a bit more but it was nothing- just pressure.
Sometime around here I was put on oxygen because Zander's heart kept dropping during contractions. OB came to visit and I asked specifics about the oxygen, OB said it really wasn't necessary and took me off of it.
At 6pm-ish I was at 7cm
At 6:30pm I was fully dilated. I told them I was waiting until I felt the urge to push on my own, more than I was feeling already.
At 6:45pm the urges were stronger.
At 7pm I told them I needed to start pushing. I was checked and Zander was still sunny side up. I had two nurses who were in there. After my second push one of them left and then all of a sudden people started swarming the room. My OB was in there almost the whole time who was watching the monitor in shock. He said that my pushes were "off the chart". In between pushes I was talking/laughing with my Doc. He said something about delivering the baby and I said "Well, you helped put him there!" The nurses both looked at each other a bit nervous and I said "on paper! On paper! We did artificial insemination!". At that point everyone was laughing hysterically. OB was actually red and belly laughing. It was about 10 pushes (give or take because I pushed a lot more than twice per contraction) and Mr. Zander graced the world with his presence at 7:52 pm on Friday, September 12th 2008. According to my OB he was a good Wisconsin baby "full of cheese". He was 7lbs 5oz 19.25 in tall. His head was a whopping 14in which caused a 2nd degree laceration. Sometime between being checked and Zander arriving he turned so I didn't deliver him posterior.
Jillian was an amazing coach. She even watched the mirror and cut the cord. I was a bit worried that she was going to pass out. I am so lucky to have had her there!
Even though things didn't go exactly as I imagined, I am so happy with how things went. I'd do it that way again because I know what interventions happened, needed to happen.
I wasn't having anything painful but we were clocking them about 5mins apart lasting a minute for an hour. I called Nurse Direct which contacted the OB on call. She said to head to the hospital since we live a bit away and I'm high risk.
I waited until I was sure the cramping was consistent. I got on the treadmill, bounced on the exercise ball and took a shower. I was in total denial of being in labor. Jillian finally said enough was enough and we needed to go. So, off we head to the hospital. We arrived about midnight and I was hooked up to all the machines to get the base readings. I was at 2-3cms which was disappointing but Anne (my nurse who went to school with a friend of Jillian- small world) said I was 90% and having good contractions so I was staying. Also, I was at -1/0 station.
3am I was at 3cms so I was progressing.
6am I was still at 3cms.
At 8am my OB came in to see me. He says "So, we're going to have that baby today, ehh?" I was so excited! He checked me and I was still at 3cms and stalled. He asked if I wanted him to break my water and I said no. I asked if he would give me till noon and he said ok.
12pm OB comes back and I'm still at 3cms and still have no pain just cramps. He asks what I want to do. I can either have him break my water or go home and augment labor myself. I said I want to go home and see what happens. He agreed with me that is what I should do since I want a least amount of interventions as possible and he's so not aggressive. My mother kept saying to let them break my water and Jillian kept saying that I should do what I want to do which was to go as natural as possible.
I went home to sleep. I laid in bed for hours trying to sleep but the cramping was enough for me to not be able to.
At 11pm I called nurse direct again. The OB I spoke to said to head to the hospital- again. I was still not in "pain". I was basically a "2" on a scale from 1-10. The OB said that didn't matter.
At midnight I arrived at the hospital. Anne was my nurse again. She said baby was at 0 station and I was a 3-4cm. I could cry. Anne kept reassuring me that getting to 4cm was the hardest and I was almost there. I kept telling her that I wasn't in pain so I didn't even feel like I should be there. She said that most women are asking for epidurals by 4cm so I probably have a great pain tolerance.
6:30am the OB on call came to see me. She checked me, still at 3-4cms. She broke my water. It seemed like that took forever. Zander was so low that the bag of water was super tight around his head. I said "don't poke him in his soft spot" – you'd think I didn't believe she'd probably done that hundreds of times before! I ended up bruising Jillian's hand mostly because of anxiety that Zander would be arriving for sure within the next 12-18hrs. It also wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world! The lady OB was funny after she broke my water because she then says "Well, I hope Chris (my ob) doesn't get mad at me." I found that mildly amusing.
At 8am, my OB came in and said "Are we going to have that baby today? I'm almost scared to ask that since I said that yesterday too!" He's such a dork. Anyway, he checked me and I was still 3-4 but more towards 4cm. Mr. Zander was posterior too.
During all of this: Apparently, the cramping I had been feeling was actually back labor. As soon as my water broke I was in lots of pain! I was trying to lift myself up sideways by the rails of the bed, I couldn't stop the pain, even inbetween contractions. The nurse, Susan (who use to work with Jillian- again, small world!), got the whirlpool ready and I hung out in there for a couple hours while Jillian sprayed me with water while the jets were going. I tried the breathing techniques- that's all crap.
Finally, I looked at Jillian and told her that I wouldn't be able to push later with me not sleeping since Wednesday night and being in such pain at that moment. I wanted the epidural. The hooked me up to the IV because I needed a bag of fluid before I they could call anesthesia. After the bag was empty, I got out of the tub and got into bed. At 12:30pm they were hooking me up to the monitors while the anesthesiologist walked in. He was an egotistical maniac. My gown was up so I was "exposed". Like I said, they were hooking me up to the monitors. The guy looks at me and says that I need to cover up to maintain my dignity. I didn't even respond to that! I had a student nurse (who was such a sweetheart) helping out too. The anesthesiologist thought he would act all "big man on campus" and show off to her. He starts asking Susan how long it takes for alcohol and betodyne (sp?) to dry. Of course, she didn't know that completely useless piece of information. As he's asking stupid questions, he's sternly "correcting" me for moaning during contractions. He wasn't even working on me yet! Jerk. Well, since one of the nurses was a student, he starts telling her all the horrible things that can go wrong. I'm already terrified because this dude is sticking a needle in my spine, I don't need to be hearing about paralysis and spinal leakage beyond the normal warnings they offer. I have to say, he was a spectacular anesthesiologist because I still wanted to be able to move my legs and know when I was having contractions which I could.
As soon as the epidural was in, they had to cath me. I ended up falling asleep during. Yes, I fell asleep during catherization! Jillian told me that Susan was worried that she would wake me but Jill said to her "I recognize that snore. You won't wake her up for anything.". When I woke up I was at 5cm. Yay!
At 5 pm-ish I was still at 5cm. I knew, I freaking knew, that I was going to stall. I knew the consequences of an epidural. Also, I know that 5 hrs (or so) isn't exactly a long time to decide that I'm stalled either but with an epidural, I figured it was enough. My OB came to talk to me. He knew my fear of pit and knew that I am well educated. He said that he wanted to start it but wanted my opinion as well. I told him I'm scared of a c-section and said that he didn't see that happening. I believed him because of how every nurse I had saying that my particular OB is so not aggressive and so low intervention. I trust him, and started pit. I started feeling the contractions a bit more but it was nothing- just pressure.
Sometime around here I was put on oxygen because Zander's heart kept dropping during contractions. OB came to visit and I asked specifics about the oxygen, OB said it really wasn't necessary and took me off of it.
At 6pm-ish I was at 7cm
At 6:30pm I was fully dilated. I told them I was waiting until I felt the urge to push on my own, more than I was feeling already.
At 6:45pm the urges were stronger.
At 7pm I told them I needed to start pushing. I was checked and Zander was still sunny side up. I had two nurses who were in there. After my second push one of them left and then all of a sudden people started swarming the room. My OB was in there almost the whole time who was watching the monitor in shock. He said that my pushes were "off the chart". In between pushes I was talking/laughing with my Doc. He said something about delivering the baby and I said "Well, you helped put him there!" The nurses both looked at each other a bit nervous and I said "on paper! On paper! We did artificial insemination!". At that point everyone was laughing hysterically. OB was actually red and belly laughing. It was about 10 pushes (give or take because I pushed a lot more than twice per contraction) and Mr. Zander graced the world with his presence at 7:52 pm on Friday, September 12th 2008. According to my OB he was a good Wisconsin baby "full of cheese". He was 7lbs 5oz 19.25 in tall. His head was a whopping 14in which caused a 2nd degree laceration. Sometime between being checked and Zander arriving he turned so I didn't deliver him posterior.
Jillian was an amazing coach. She even watched the mirror and cut the cord. I was a bit worried that she was going to pass out. I am so lucky to have had her there!
Even though things didn't go exactly as I imagined, I am so happy with how things went. I'd do it that way again because I know what interventions happened, needed to happen.
Baby dancing, the two mom way
A letter to Zander re. the conception!
Presenting Momma T and Momma J
Your beginning......
More than a twinkling eye and many, many pee sticks later- you should be making your appearance mid September. Momma T didn't ovulate the first couple of months of trying so you can imagine how excited momma's were when the pee stick said you were rolling down the pike.
We had a long drive to Grandma and Grandpa's house to celebrate Christmas with them on the 26th. Momma T ran inside to pee on yet another stick as soon as we got there. Momma's and Grandma had a meeting of the minds and decided we must leave at 3am to make the trek south to retrieve the frozen pop. We had no choice but to tell Grandpa of the reason for our departure and he joined us in excitement over your arrival. So after a couple of restless hours of tossing and turning we started on our way to the "frozen pop stand". Being Wisconsin and end of December we had the typical icky, snow blowing, blizzard and inconsistent road terrain which made the trek an extra two hours. Halfway thru the drive Momma T had to pull a 'mini terminator' move (I will educate you fully when the time is right about the use of the term "terminator" for females in our family) because they were basically saying their was no popsicle vendors available, so after the smoke cleared- *Viola* our beloved nurse practioner Sarah (now known as Daddy) was willing and able to assist in your conception. So, we arrive at the popsicle stand with anticipation and try to clean up in the bathroom while Momma T agains pees on a stick ( by now I think their may be a possible blooming addiction to this version of urination). As we sit and wait for the woman to take us back, our conversation and minds are drawn to the endless possibilities that you will bring to our lives. The woman approaches and asks if we would like to see the popsicle on screen and as we look over her shoulder she then describes how strong and vital it is. So the woman explains that transportation must take place in a warm area, either between your future meal stations ( breasts) or future seat (on the hip in the waistband), we elect for the first and are on our way. As Momma T is driving she wonders out loud (she does this alot so get used to it) if anyone realizes she has previously frozen pop between her breasts or if someone is driving with their hands at 10 and 2 if they do also. As we reach the place of your conception and the conversation turns to "Now What?" Momma T says "What do I do walk in there and say I have sperm in my boobs that needs to go in my hoo hoo?" As I catch my breathe from laughing so hard I say "I will give you a $1,000 cash if you go in there and loudly say -I have sperm in my tata's that needs to go in my hoohoo!" Okay so if you have any doubts about the weirdness of your mothers before- now you know. We proceed to the office area and ask quietly about what to do with the thawed pop and they calmly say "take a seat". We go in the exam room and in comes Sarah proclaiming "I have a good feeling about this. it's going to happen" I hold pop while preparations are made and without further ado *Tada* there you are.
After another long ride back to Gma and Gpa's we enjoy a few days of family time and wait for you to appear on the new version pee sticks. Now I warn you Momma T is difficult to keep things from -ney, impossible so the pee sticks were making their appearances long before the time was due. On 11 days past ovulation you winked at us from a small cavity on a plastic stick in the form of a faint pink line. At least 5 sticks and 2 days later the nurse confirmed thru a blood test that, yes indeed you had arrived and would soon be making an apppearance. I can only mildly describe our absolute joy and excitement at your presence and promise you completely YOU ARE GOING TO BE LOVED, ADORED AND BE GIVEN THE BEST LIFE HAS TO OFFER!!!!!!
so..............................................................
Come on down your the next contestant on planet earth!!!
Presenting Momma T and Momma J
Your beginning......
More than a twinkling eye and many, many pee sticks later- you should be making your appearance mid September. Momma T didn't ovulate the first couple of months of trying so you can imagine how excited momma's were when the pee stick said you were rolling down the pike.
We had a long drive to Grandma and Grandpa's house to celebrate Christmas with them on the 26th. Momma T ran inside to pee on yet another stick as soon as we got there. Momma's and Grandma had a meeting of the minds and decided we must leave at 3am to make the trek south to retrieve the frozen pop. We had no choice but to tell Grandpa of the reason for our departure and he joined us in excitement over your arrival. So after a couple of restless hours of tossing and turning we started on our way to the "frozen pop stand". Being Wisconsin and end of December we had the typical icky, snow blowing, blizzard and inconsistent road terrain which made the trek an extra two hours. Halfway thru the drive Momma T had to pull a 'mini terminator' move (I will educate you fully when the time is right about the use of the term "terminator" for females in our family) because they were basically saying their was no popsicle vendors available, so after the smoke cleared- *Viola* our beloved nurse practioner Sarah (now known as Daddy) was willing and able to assist in your conception. So, we arrive at the popsicle stand with anticipation and try to clean up in the bathroom while Momma T agains pees on a stick ( by now I think their may be a possible blooming addiction to this version of urination). As we sit and wait for the woman to take us back, our conversation and minds are drawn to the endless possibilities that you will bring to our lives. The woman approaches and asks if we would like to see the popsicle on screen and as we look over her shoulder she then describes how strong and vital it is. So the woman explains that transportation must take place in a warm area, either between your future meal stations ( breasts) or future seat (on the hip in the waistband), we elect for the first and are on our way. As Momma T is driving she wonders out loud (she does this alot so get used to it) if anyone realizes she has previously frozen pop between her breasts or if someone is driving with their hands at 10 and 2 if they do also. As we reach the place of your conception and the conversation turns to "Now What?" Momma T says "What do I do walk in there and say I have sperm in my boobs that needs to go in my hoo hoo?" As I catch my breathe from laughing so hard I say "I will give you a $1,000 cash if you go in there and loudly say -I have sperm in my tata's that needs to go in my hoohoo!" Okay so if you have any doubts about the weirdness of your mothers before- now you know. We proceed to the office area and ask quietly about what to do with the thawed pop and they calmly say "take a seat". We go in the exam room and in comes Sarah proclaiming "I have a good feeling about this. it's going to happen" I hold pop while preparations are made and without further ado *Tada* there you are.
After another long ride back to Gma and Gpa's we enjoy a few days of family time and wait for you to appear on the new version pee sticks. Now I warn you Momma T is difficult to keep things from -ney, impossible so the pee sticks were making their appearances long before the time was due. On 11 days past ovulation you winked at us from a small cavity on a plastic stick in the form of a faint pink line. At least 5 sticks and 2 days later the nurse confirmed thru a blood test that, yes indeed you had arrived and would soon be making an apppearance. I can only mildly describe our absolute joy and excitement at your presence and promise you completely YOU ARE GOING TO BE LOVED, ADORED AND BE GIVEN THE BEST LIFE HAS TO OFFER!!!!!!
so..............................................................
Come on down your the next contestant on planet earth!!!
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