on my mind

a.) let's just get the jack-cuteness out of the way first. i don't think he really knows how to control much of his body yet but he does the greatest stuff. for example, frequent smiling [see above]. this morning he was squawking about something and i said "what are you telling me?" and he turned his head, smiled at me and then stuck out his tongue. it was the most adorable thing i've ever seen. sometimes i stick my tongue out at him and then he does it right back. i don't know if this is intentional but i'm going with it.

b.) wednesday was b's birthday!! happy birthday, b. i got him a portable grill [which he LOVED -- thanks for the tip leandra :) ] and made him chocolate-covered bacon. he liked the grill better. i made his favorite dinner and then we went to target. a pretty low-key birthday, but a better celebration than the one on july 12 -- not counting our little present-baby. and thus ends birthday month.

c.) just wanted to say a few words about the hospital where i delivered jack, since it's referenced in the previous post. i found sky ridge just by googling, way before we moved here, and then found out my OB delivered there so it seemed like a good fit -- little did i know. we moved here and realized the hospital was literally five minutes from our apartment -- we can see it across the freeway -- and i fell in love when we took our birthing class there.

i really just can't say enough good about it. my nurses were amazing, my delivery & recovery rooms were private and super nice [even with a bed for b so he could stay the night], i got room service for every meal. one afternoon an elderly volunteer came by and brought me a congratulatory tea party complete with cookies and eclairs. even though i'd been hoping to do a 24-hour stay, we chose to stay two nights because i needed a little more recovery time and the nurses helped me a ton with learning to feed jack -- and it was worth every penny.

this isnt the biggest deal or anything, but i was so grateful to deliver in such a good place. it was definitely nerve-wracking to move to a new state when i was 7 months pregnant and not know anything about where i'd have him or what i'd do, so ending up with the comfort of sky ridge was a huge blessing to me.

d.) my sister made jacko the cutest little hat:



she is freakishly talented. so far she's made him a couple of hats, footy pajamas, stuffed animals, booties + mittens [which came in major handy when he kept scratching up his face] and a bunch of other stuff. if you want her to make you something let me know -- her rates are cheap :)

e.) i've eaten my weight in oreo ice cream over the past week. mmmm. [thanks for bringing it jill -- you are definitely making it harder to lose the baby bod ;) ]

7.12.10 in pictures

my cousin lacey is a ridiculously great photographer, and conveniently lives in colorado springs just south of denver. when she heard i'd be having jack here, she asked if she could come shoot the birth story. um, yes please! come on down.

since he was so late we didnt know if it would work out -- between my due date and delivery date, she went on a camping trip with her fam and took a final for nursing school, plus she has two cute little girlies of her own -- but when we called her early in the morning on the way to the hospital she was totally game and arrived an hour later.

i'm so glad she did! i love having these photos to remind me of that crazy, special day. thanks lace! enjoy:

late night

thought i'd take advantage of the fact that i'm wide awake at 1 a.m. with a very awake, alert two-week-old on my lap and blog. poor j had a rough day today, crying it out for the first time in the car [bad mommy didn't change his diaper before we left and he was NOT happy], getting another freaking heel prick at the doctor's -- third one! -- and having his dinner a little late since we were out with friends. so i'm feeling a little guilty and will gladly cuddle him to sleep tonight.

good news: he's back up to birth weight which means i'm feeding him right! it took two stressed-out weeks, but i'm proud to report we just about have the nursing thing down. it's not a joke when i say i count this among my bigger accomplishments in life.

our pediatrician gives us awesome reading material on child development and such, and tonight we read some of it together. one part says, "talk to your baby often to help him develop language skills. describe what you're doing throughout the day. for example, 'this is a washcloth. i'm washing your hands. i love you.'" maybe i'm just sleep deprived but i thought this was hilarious. now b and i walk around telling jack all sorts of things like "you just exploded in your diaper. i love you." and "i'm going to kiss your dad now. i love you." good times. i'm still laughing about it.

two weeks and one day till we move back to utah! i can't believe how fast the summer has gone -- i'm sad to leave colorado for sure, but i'm weirdly excited to get back to utah. or maybe i just miss my cowboy boots and crockpot.

in closing, here's a few more pictures from tiffany, just because they're adorable. my baby is now asleep so i'm going to bed. i really love sleep.

candid camera

this kid makes the funniest faces. after he eats he's usually super alert so we hang out and play a little bit. he just stares at me with all the cute little expressions -- i love it.

numero uno in his arsenal is a very serious-looking furrowed brow, like he's trying to figure something out. it cracks me up every time. looks a little something like this:



jack, we love you.

a day with jack

today was b's first day back to work. my mom left on saturday :( so this was my first official day on my own with jacko...i was nervous, since i've been a tad bit weepy the past few days [just clearing out my hormones, right?] and didn't want to have a nervous breakdown, but we did great! good way to celebrate his one-week birthday.

i cleaned up our apartment, crossed some admin things off my to do list, wrote to my missionary brother and even took a shower. i also did laundry, which was much needed because baby j is going through laundry like it's going out of style. he went through four different outfits in the past 24 hours:
a. diaper leaked onto outfit #1
b. when i changed his diaper at 5 a.m. he PEED -- my first experience with getting sprayed during a changing, but he shot himself right in the face / hat / pjs and not at me so i'm cool with it
c. 20 minutes later, after i'd fed him, he launched the biggest spit up attack i've ever seen come out of him, all over outfit #3
d. but he's managed to keep the cute dinosaur footy pajamas on ever since then, so i'll call it a win.

of course, all this took way longer than it should have. it's amazing how long it takes me to get things done when i stop to take care of my baby throughout the day. i haven't even checked my google reader in four days, which is a big deal.

we'd also been having some issues with the whole breastfeeding thing -- around 2 a.m. last night i was about ready to throw in the towel and just give him formula forever. it is SO much harder than i thought it would be! but the good news is, today was so so much better for both of us and i'm really happy. guess i'll keep at it :)

top photo and the ones below are from a photo shoot we did with my friend tiffany [of the maternity shoot fame] on saturday. i love them. more to come when i get the proofs.

birth story

i always wondered what SAHMs did all day long, especially with "just" a newborn baby. now i know. i think 70% of my day is spent either trying to get the little guy to eat, feeding him, or cleaning up from feeding him. the other part is spent sleeping or rocking a baby. okay so i'm exaggerating...it's been nice having my mom and b around all week to hang out with, but i'm off my regular activity schedule. sorry for the delay -- without further ado, here's how it all went down:

---

sunday july 11 i woke up with kind of a crampy stomach, but didn't think much of it seeing as how i was already 8 days overdue and not willing to jump the gun on any labor hints. i still hadn't had any of the alleged physical signs that i'd be going into labor soon so i figured i still had a while to go, even though this mysterious cramping continued every five to ten minutes throughout the day.

we went to church and lost count of how many people said "no baby yet??" we came home and my mom and i cooked dinner for the three of us + the in laws. i didn't eat a ton, which ended up being a smart move. everyone stayed to chat for a looong time and i was feeling really tired, so i was relieved when everyone left and we could chill for a little while.

since the next day was my birthday, we made plans for the day assuming there'd still be no baby. my mom was going to make my favorite chocolate chip scones for breakfast and we had massage appointments at noon. and of course, i had a doctor's appointment in the morning and a potential appointment to start induction that night, but i didn't really want to induce so i was thinking of cancelling and waiting for the baby to come on his own.

b and i were watching seinfeld in bed around 11 p.m., and i decided to go to sleep. like five seconds later my ongoing cramps, which had been present all day, suddenly started hurting a LOT more. i said "i don't think i'm going to be getting much sleep tonight" -- ha, famous last words -- and we got the laptop and started timing it: about five minutes apart and a minute long, which is what my doctor said to look for in "real" labor. but, according to him, they needed to do this for one hour consistently before i came to the hospital so i settled in to wait it out.

b eventually went to sleep and i kept timing contractions on this lovely website, as they hurt more and got slightly closer together. at 2 a.m. i called my doctor's office to get advice on when to come in. i DID NOT want to get there and be sent home. the doctor on call said it sounded like i could still wait it out at home for a bit because my voice didn't sound strained enough. haha. FINE. after that the contractions came every three minutes and lasted at least a minute -- and they HURT. i breathed through each one and squeezed b's hand + our headboard every time one came on.

at 5 a.m. i couldn't take the bed anymore so i got up and started getting ready. i still wanted to labor at home as much as possible, so my mom and b got up too and we watched the beginning of the burbs [a fantastic although not necessarily effective distraction] while i suffered through more contractions. at 6 i called the doctor again and she said i definitely sounded more ready, plus since i was so overdue there was no way they'd send me home. hooray! b packed up the car and just as we were getting ready to leave i lost my mucous plug. [gross, sorry.] yay -- it was for real!

so after 7 hours of laboring on my own at home we got to the hospital at 630. the nurses took a look at me and said "this is the real deal" so i got to skip triage and go right into labor & delivery room #9 -- i was dilated to a 4! after all the contractions i was feeling sick and tired and i HURT, so i told them i was ready for an epidural.

the anesthesiologist had me all set up by 8 a.m. and i loooooved it. i got a walking epidural, meaning it was less dosage so i could still move & feel my whole lower body -- BUT not the pain. all i felt were kind of tingling in my legs, and some pressure during contractions. i was a happy camper after that. when my mom -- who had been telling me to buck up and do a natural childbirth for the past nine months -- came in afterward and saw me smiling and talking, even she had to admit the epidural was fantastic. that helped my body calm down and i was at a 7 within the next hour or so.

at 11 a.m. everything was ready to go. my fabulous nurse had me do a couple practice pushes, and at 11:15 my doctor came in and we started the serious business. it was hard work but everything was fine until he was almost out -- then i saw the doc grab the scissors for an episiotomy and my concentration was shot. i was really hoping to NOT get one of those so i think it freaked me out a little, plus those last few pushes hurt extra bad so i was crying pretty hard at the end. and then it was over and the doctor pulled out this tiny pink boy with dark hair! i couldn't believe he had come out of me -- all 8 lbs 6 oz of him. when they weighed him, b said "yeah! nice job babe! eight pounds, he'll be a football player for sure." haha.

and that was it! 13 hours of active labor -- not too bad. i got stitched up and the baby got clean and we all got to rest. our hospital stay was amazing -- that will be another post -- and now we're home with little jack. we'd decided on the name jack a long time ago, but had seriously struggled with a middle name for months -- then finally decided on parker, the city we are randomly living in during this also-random summer internship so he can always remember he is a colorado resident. plus parker is just a cute name anyway. i also hadn't wanted to share my birthday with him, but now i can definitely say he is the best birthday present i ever got. although he now owes me a massage ;)

sometimes i feel like i am just babysitting someone else's kid, but most of the time it is so fun to have jack here and know that he is ours. i was never really a newborn-loving person -- i prefer babies that can smile and interact -- but this baby is seriously cute. i guess i can handle having him around :)

he's HERE!!!

so forget birthday month -- let's just talk about birthDAY. monday was my 26th birthday and my best present was giving birth to my adorable little boy.

jack parker wells
11:57 a.m.
8 lbs, 6 oz.
21 inches

i'm so glad he finally came, eight whole days past the due date. i wasn't too excited at the thought of sharing my birthday, but he's pretty cute so i guess i'll let it slide. stay tuned -- TONS more pictures plus the ever-entertaining [and better-than-expected] birth story coming soon. xo