Christmas Party Time

Jamie has survived his first Christmas and so have his parents!  His stint as baby Jesus went off with only a little crying.  I choose to believe that he did it so that it was more realistic :)  Once he got ahold of "Mary's" hair, he was a happy baby.   We had also had a small Christmas gathering before Mass with my neighbor's kids and then after mass we had dinner with my parents.  It was a good day overall.

On Christmas we all gathered at Scott's mom's house.  It was loud and crowded, but fun.  Jamie got lots of presents, but mostly just slept through the opening of gifts.  He was held by almost everyone there and has gotten too used to being held!  Got to break that habit soon since mommy goes back to work in a week :(  

We then had a day of rest, but instead of resting we decided to battle the crowds for some after Christmas shopping.  Trying to handle a crying baby while pushing a cart full of discounted holiday items through massive crowds is a bit hard to accomplish.  We did get some new decorations for next year!

On Sat we had Christmas with my family at my parent's house.  I got to show off Jamie to my niece for the first time and if was a great day.  

Either late Sat night or early Sun morning we lost power at our house.  By the time we woke up for our morning feeding the basement was flooded!  We had to borrow my parents generator to get the sump pump back working and have just gotten power back on Mon afternoon.  Luckily most of our stuff was packed in totes, so Jamie's clothes to grow into were saved.  Plus the plastic packaging that diapers come in are actually waterproof!  I am glad that I didn't lose the hundred of diapers I have in storage.  Overall, we only lost the carpet and a few CD cases.  

First Christmas Party

Man the time certainly flies this time of the year.  I can't believe that it is only a week until Christmas!  

Jamie went to his first Christmas party over the weekend.  Scott's mom's side of the family has a get together every year and Jamie was the hit of the party.  He was passed around to many, many family members.  He was a good sport for the most part and actually only slept for a little time.  He got to hit his first pinata, but didn't get to enjoy any of the candy inside, lol!  Not quite yet.  

We were asked this week if Jamie would play baby Jesus in the live nativity that our church puts on every year.  I was honored that they would ask for him to be in it.  Now I just hope that he behaves for it!  

Thanksgiving!!

We have so much to be thankful for this year!!!  Jamison is on the top of the list!!!  Plus we got a new addition to the family when Dean married Marni in May.  Also we found out that Scott's brother Glenn and his wife Tammy are expecting a baby in June of next year.  So we have much to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving day was pretty good.  Jamie was passed around from person to person all day, but did manage to get some sleep time in his bassinet.  The food was all great and I ate way too much.  One very nice thing was that Glenn brought his WII over for the kids to play, so most of the kids were upstairs playing that all day.  It made the house much quieter!  

Jamison had his 1 month check up on Mon Dec 1st.  He weighs 9lbs 6oz and is 20 1/2 inches long.  That was how long he was at the hospital, but I have been told that the hospital measures long, so he has grown, it just doesn't look like it.  He is now in size 1 diapers, which we were unhappy about since we have five more packs of newborn diapers!  I guess Glenn and Tammy will be getting some as presents :)  He eats like a pig and has taken as much as 6 oz at one feeding.  He also slept for 5 hours straight last night, which is wonderful!!!  Sleep is good!

 

Baptism

Jamison is now part of the family of God!!!  He was baptized on Sun, the 23rd.  He was very good for the event.  He slept through most of it and didn't even peep when the water was poured on his head.  The oil that was used smells soooo good and you can still smell it on him today.  The party afterwards was a success too.  We had a big group on people gathered together to celebrate our little boy.  He of course slept through most of it, but was passed from relative to relative while sleeping!  I don't think he was put down once the whole time!

Today is my first day on my own with Jamison since coming home from the hospital.  I have been doing well and Jamison has been a good little boy the whole day!  It has been snowing and blowing outside but we are nice and comfy in our little house.  I know that there will probably be some hard days ahead, but right now I feel like I am finally getting into the mother mode!

Things come in threes???

Well,  now onto the third thing to strike me down in the last three weeks.....  Along with having a baby and having stomach surgery, I decided to deal with postpartum depression.  It is hard to deal with having a new life that is all yours to take care of.  I felt very overwhelmed and scared, so I was given some medication to help with all the anxiety that I felt.  Unfortunately the medication decided to give me very bad side effects and I ended up in the hospital yet again.  No fun!!!!!  I was only there one night, but it threw me completely for a loop.  After freaking out so bad with the one medication, I didn't trust myself to be alone with Jamison during the day, so the rest of the week I was carted around from parents house to parents house.  Scott's mom Julia was a real saviour and watched Jamie during the night for a few of the days so that mommy and daddy could try and catch up on some sleep.  Love you Julia!!!

Things are better now, we are all at home and made it through the first night without any problems.  I am feeling better and better each day.  It has been a very long road but I think that I am now heading the right way.

 

Recoup and Regroup

Okay a lot to catch up on since my last blog.  Lets see what has all happened... I can't even remember.  Everything was going good Tuesday after finally getting out of the house for a few mins while voting.  Tues was great, well most of it.  Some sucked...... Obama won :(, I had an ulcer ruptured in my intestines which caused massive infection and tons of pain to shoot through my whole body.  Yeah parts of Tues weren't so good.

Turns out I had had this ulcer growing in the part of my intestines right below my stomach without me knowing it and it finally decided to give way.  It is not a good thing to have your stomach contents to get loose into your body!  So a trip to the emergency room, tons of tests, a trip in the ambulance to another hospital, more tests, a very painfully night where they didn't know what the test meant, finally figuring out the results, surgery, and then five days of recovery in the hospital made for a very long time.

I have been home from the hospital for two days now.  Yesterday I sent the day at my mom's trying to recoup some energy and heal.  Kinda hard to do with an almost 4 year old running around you all day.  Ella was very interested in Jamison, but was disappointed in the lack of skills he possessed.  She didn't quite grasp the concept that he was only a few weeks old and not up to playing house or using the potty yet.  The house just got fuller when Mende and Eli, the kids my mom babysits for, got home too.  Then my sister, Nellana, and her daughter, Delaina, joined into the mix too.  We had a very full and crazy house.  I was ready to crash by 7 pm, which I did since Jamison isn't breast fed anymore Scott got to the evening baby duties while mommy slept a little.

Today my sister came over to help with Jamie and housework while I try to rest and recoup more while in the quietness of my own house.  Much less noisy here!  My mind still hasn't gotten the idea that I can't do all the stuff that I used to so I feel like a big blob most of the time hobbling around from room to room not being able to do anything.  My body and mind need to regroup.  She has been a very big help letting me take naps and work around the house.

Jamison has gotten bigger.  Most people probably couldn't tell but I can.  He had his first bath in his bath tub today.  He didn't like it one bit!!!  I will add a pic soon.  Right now he has been sleeping for almost two hours which has been nice.  He has been doing pretty good at night sleeping too, so hopefully we will start to get a little more sleep at night soon!

So Goes the Time!

Well, I am a slacker.  Jamison Joseph was born into the world on Oct 26th and I am now just writing about it.  It has been a very long week and this has been the first time that I really felt up to writing anything.

Labor went pretty well I guess.  I don't have other experiences to compare it with but overall I think everything was normal.  We thought my water broke on Friday night so we made a trip to the hospital.  It was a false alarm :)  But then very early Sat morn I started to have contractions.  They were very mild at first so I slept through most of them, but man did they get very intense!!  I was told that labor pains could be felt starting at your back and working their way to the front and top of your belly.  Mine just felt like major cramps!!!  By five 0'clock, I was to the point of being doubled over in pain, so we figured we needed to head to the hospital.  We made it just in time!  As soon as I stepped out the of the car in the hospital parking lot, my water broke.  It was not the big gush that they show on tv, more like a small leak that I know was not normal!!  

Pretty soon we were checked into the hospital and put in triage of the maternity ward.  We were only there for a little bit before we got moved to a labor and delivery room.  By 8:30 I was still only 3 cm dilated, but in tons of pain so I got the epidural.  I loved it so much!!!!  Yet, it is a very strange feeling to not feel your legs or lower half!  I couldn't move my right leg for a very long time even after it was supposed to have worn off.  By 10:30 I was still only 3cm, but not feeling any pain :)  I started to feel funny by 11:30 and when they checked me again I was fully dilated and ready to go!  After pushing 2 and a half hours and a little break, Jamison was born at 3:11 on Sun morning.  He started screaming as soon as his little head was out, so he has a pretty good set of lungs on him!!

We came home from the hospital on Tuesday, and I so began to miss those lovely nurses that would come and take the baby to the nursery if you wanted sleep.  I need one of those for my house!  The first few days are kinda a blur of no sleep, trying to feed, learning that he will pee every time you change his diaper and finding out that he is a night owl!!  We had tons of visitors come over to see him.  Scott's mom has been over almost every day to see him.  She loves the little guy a lot.  

I am not sure if it was a combo of no sleep and all the pain and trauma my body had been through, but I managed to catch the flu a few days ago and have been sick every morning.  Nobody told me you could get morning sickness after the baby is born!  My wonderful husband Scott, stayed home from work today just so that I could try and get more sleep.  He has been a great daddy and husband and I love him very much.  I am not sure how I am going to handle the rest of the six weeks I have off though!  I guess it is all a learning situation.  I am hoping that it all gets easier as time goes on. I am starting to feel better which is why I am writing this now.  I think that I do need some more sleep though, so I am going off to take a nap while Jamison is also asleep and quiet.

 

Due Date!!!

Well it is finally here and there it goes........  I don't expect anything to happen today :(  At my appointment yesterday I was only 1 cm dilated, and not looking like I was going to go any time soon.  The doc did say that Jamison was nicely dropped down.  With the amount of pressure he was putting on my bladder, I was not surprised.  She did strip my membranes, which wasn't a pleasant experience.  It supposedly helps start up labor but nothing happened for me.  I now have another appointment set for Oct 28th.  I guess I will see if I get that far.

Now it is just a wait it out game for Scott and I.  I will have to start putting negative numbers on my count down!  But I guess if Jamie is still happy with where he is, I won't complain.... yet :)

Two Days Left

Two days left..... where did the time go?  Scott and I got the car seat installed yesterday.  It was much simpler than I thought it was going to be.  I remember struggling to get my niece's car seats put in properly, but this was much easier thanks to the LATCH system!  

People seem surprised to still see me at work, but if I just stayed home all day I think that I would go crazy with waiting.  I need to do something to keep my mind off all the pain that I will be experiencing in just a few days.  I would not be surprised if I go past Thursday though.  I will need to put numbers back up on my count down!  

Four Days Away

So possibly sometime this week Scott and I will become parents.  We have brought up the baby swing and all the bouncy chairs (we have three for some reason).  Jamie's closet has been actually cleaned out so he has room for all his baby stuff.  The next big thing is to try and figure out how to install the car seat.  Should be an interesting time.

We went on what is probably our last "date" for awhile.  We went to dinner and a movie.  We saw Eagle Eye, which was much better than what some people told us.  Overall it was a good night and I didn't get too much heartburn from the mexican food I ate.

Now we are on to trying to figure out how to install a door sealer on our front door so Jamison will be as snug as a bug in a rug this winter!

One Week Away

So the due date is a week from today!  Can you say nerve wracking and exciting all at the same time ----ewracitking???  Something like that?  All I know is that time is flying!  I believe that Jamison has dropped down some and according to my mom I have gotten bigger.  If dropping means feeling like you have to pee every second, then yes he has definitely dropped. People at work are coming up to me asking if I am still pregnant.  They all seem to think that I am very cute while pregnant.  I guess that is better than being ugly, or whatever the opposite of cute would be for a pregnant lady.  I don't know if I can say I feel cute.  More like a waddling penguin, but if penguins are cute, then so must I be.  

We have finally received our changing table pad, which was the last thing needed for the nursery.  I was trying to find someplace that had pad covers to fit the strange sized pad we had to special order, but my sister brought up a good point.  She said that she never used a cover cause leaks and eruptions happen (especially with a boy) and the cover will just get stained and dirty. Makes sense to me, so that is one less thing that I need to buy!

One day almost down and who knows how many more to come......

11 Days to Lift Off

Almost to single digits and I can't believe it!!!  Those first few months of being pregnant seemed to go so slowly, at least it did while worshiping the porcelain goddess.  Now the days seem to be flying by way too quickly!  Right now as I type Jamison doesn't like the feel of the keyboard against my belly and keeps kicking at it.  Very hard to type while the keyboard gets moved around on me!  Little stinker!  

Scott and I took a tour of Sparrow hospital's labor and delivery area.  Didn't realize that you got moved around so much.  One room for beginning labor, one room for pushing the kid out, and another to recoup from all that had been going on for hours (or days).  The rooms all look very nice.  Looking at the little bassinet that they put the baby in while he stays in your room was a little daunting.  Just think, in a few days, a small human being that I created will be sleeping (or crying) in that little plastic crib on wheels.  Seems very overwhelming when you stop and think about it.  

We also made another trip to Babies-r-us.  They need those carts where toddlers can ride on them, but for adults.  My feet hurt by the time I got done looking at everything for the hundredth time.  We bought a humidifier and a drink bottle tether.  The sales people said I was crazy when I asked about where the bottle tethers were kept.  Supposedly they don't carry them.  Well I now own one bought at Babies-r-us, so they wrong!!!! 

Now I am going to try and get enough energy to walk around town so I can enjoy this great day outside.  

13 Days and Counting

Had another baby doc appointment today.  Everything looks good.  Doc Maney estimates Jamison's size to be 6 1/2 pounds right now.  We aren't expecting a big baby by any means, so that is a good estimate!!!  He has been very, very active today.  He keeps turning around and around and around.  You can see he's little bum push out on one side and then push out on the other side of my belly.  He also gets the hiccups alot!  It is a very strange feeling to have something inside you having hiccups!  

So all is well at the Schueller household.  Got to go feed the baby, which means supper time for me!

15 Days and Counting

It's hard to believe that in fifteen days, Jamison Joseph is due - October 23, 2008. Both Scott and I believe that I will go later and, for some reason, October 29th sticks in our minds.

Everything is ready for the little man and we're both scared and excited.

Maybe we should catch people up on all that has happened in th

e 9 months that got us to where we are today.

Scott and I decided that we wanted to start a family around our first anniversary.  After being told by some people that getting pregnant takes much longer than one would expect, we started trying at the beginning of the year.  Low and Behold we got pregnant in January!!  Sometimes things happen much faster!  We were excited and very surprised!  I didn't believe the first pregnancy test was positive so I made Scott go out and buy one that clearly said pregnant/ not pregnant.  After that one clearly said "Pregnant" we started planning for the next nine months and years to come!

The first few weeks of pregnancy were pretty smooth sailing but at the beginning of March both Scott and I started to enjoy the "morning sickness"of pregnancy.  Unfortunately it wasn't just in the morning!  My body really hated Mondays and I was sick at least 3 times each Monday.  Go figure.  Scott decided that he needed to take the sympathy pains to heart and came down with a very bad attack of his Crohns disease.  He ended up having surgery on April 2 and was in the hospital for over a week.  It was a hard time for both of us.  

We celebrated our first anniversary, which happened to fall on a Monday, with me being still sick and Scott getting better.  The garage sale season was soon upon us and we started to stock up on baby things.  We still didn't know if Jamie was goi

ng to be a girl or a boy so we had to try and find neutral things.  We have quite a few green and yellow outfits!!

As our first ultrasound appointment was on the horizon we talked about wether we thought the future Schueller was going to be a boy or a girl.  Both of us were very certain that we were going to be having a girl, but as the ultrasound technician showed us the monitor there was no doubt that the baby was a BOY!!!!!!  We were shocked and I had to have her show me twice before I believed it.  

My first baby bump photo!

We had already decided on names for whether we were going to be having a boy or a girl and now we knew that baby "Jamison Joseph" was going to be brought into this world sometime in late October or early November!!!

Most of the rest of the months seemed to fly by very quickly.  We picked out a bedding set and settled on paint colors.  Jamie's room soon took shape and it has turned out very very nice!  

We had a few worries set before us when the doctors decided that I was growing large enough quick enough.  Normally one likes to be told that you are tiny, but I guess that doesn't apply to growing baby bellies!!!  Another ultrasound was scheduled for September to measure baby size and age.  Everything turned out to be fine and he is in the 45th percentile of babies!!!!  Neither Scott nor I are larger people, so I don't expect to have a huge baby anyway.  

Now it is just a waiting game.  The room is ready, the car seat is ready, the future babysitters are ready, now Scott and I just have to get ready!!!  It is very exciting and scary all at the same time!!!!