Jackson's Birth Story: The Arrival

In the days...weeks...prior to Jackson's birth I have to admit that I was very nervous. I was excited for his arrival of course, but I would have been much happier if I could skip over the whole surgery part and just get to the holding part. All I could envision was a big shot and being cut open while I was wide awake on the table. I was afraid the birth would just be so procedural that it would take away from the experience. 

The night before my c-section, I rested but I couldn't really say I slept. We left the house bright and early and surprisingly my nerves were somewhat eased. I guess I had gotten out most of my "negative" nervousness in all the days prior. My only tell of nervousness that day was my non-stop laughter and terrible jokes I made with the hospital staff. 

Everything moved very quickly. I honestly didn't have that much time to think. I kept glancing at the clock and realizing it would be such a short time before I would finally be meeting Jackson. When it was finally time to walk over to the OR, more laughter and terrible jokes were made until the spinal was done and it was time to get down to business. Finally reality kicked in and my nerves made me silent and still. My husband was brought in at 7:45 and by 7:47 Jackson arrived with a very loud cry! Relief immediately washed over me when I knew that he had arrived safely and healthy.

The hardest part of the whole ordeal was the being put back together part. It took the longest and I could definitely feel tugging and such. I just kept trying to concentrate on Jackson and everything that was going on behind me. I have to say the worst part of a c-section is that you don't get to hold your baby immediately. It's kind of like the momentous occasion is delayed a bit. It makes me twitchy to watch all the other people get to handle him first. My inner mama bear definitely wants to rear it's ugly head in those moments as I impatiently wait my turn. 

Thankfully this time around I did not have to wait as long to hold Jackson as I did with Ethan. With Ethan, I had to wait 3 hours before I held him and in hindsight I can't believe I even stood by and let that happen, but I guess we can chalk that up to being a first timer. After the doctor was finished with me this go around, I was wheeled back to recovery for an hour where I immediately got to hold Jackson for the first time. 

He is beautiful.

He is wonderful.

Part two coming soon with all the details of the first days, recovery and differences of the second time around. 

Slowing Down for 2013

Just in the nick of time, I managed to get all the Christmas decorations down and am very ready to kick off 2013. This past year has been beyond crazy. We moved to a new city, lived in three different houses, finally became pregnant and gave birth to another beautiful baby boy. Life has been wonderful to us this year, but it certainly hasn't been without its challenges. I told my husband that our main goal for 2013 should be to make things as uneventful as possible! No moves, no major purchases and no getting pregnant. 

In 2013, I'm simply hoping for life to slow down. I want to soak in all the little moments and put my main focus on my children. This year will be all about getting back to basics: running a more efficient household, strengthening our marriage and becoming more financially fit. I'm also ready to kick this post-partum body to the curb and get back to a new and improved "me". 

These may not be lofty goals, but they are the important ones. Cheers to you and yours on this New Years Eve!

Top Posts of 2012 and Pinterest Favorites

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas. We certainly did. I might not have gotten to do as much as I would have liked with Ethan this Christmas season, but I think we did pretty good considering. 

Ethan loved his new train set although I do think we will be DIY-ing a train table sometime soon. Jackson was perfect angel and slept through the whole thing. It was certainly nice for us to not travel and I have to say having my husband home these past two weeks has been more like a vacation than any we have been on in the past two years. I'm thinking "stay-cations" are the way to go!

Now we've entered that time of year where we start reflecting and looking forward. To kick everything off, I thought I'd share my top posts of 2012. 

Top Posts of 2012

10. My Experience with Acupuncture

9. Chaa, Chaa, Chaa, Changes

8. I Think I Hit the Jackpot!

7. Toddler Time Play-Doh Fun

6. Gender Reveal Video

5. Baby Jackson's Elephant Nursery

4. Our Love Story

3. 37 Weeks and Why I'm Choosing a C-Section

2. Ethan's Favorite Things

1. Laundry Room Makeover

Pinterest Favorites from Years Past

10. Melt in Your Mouth Mints

9. Ethan's Bathroom Reveal

8. Tiramisu Trifle

7. String Pendant Balls for the Nursery 

6. How to Boil the Perfect Egg 

5. My Homemade Bird Mobile 

4.How to Make a Peppermint Wreath

3. The Great Sippy Cup Review

2. Ethan's Yellow and Orange First Birthday Party

1. Home Organization Notebook Series

A Little Update

We've almost made it through our first week as parents of two although in reality my mom has really been handling the first  born along with all the cleaning and cooking while I've mostly been sitting on my rear end with a baby snuggled on my chest. 

Next week it will be back to reality...our new reality...somewhat. Michael will be here with us so I still won't be on my own, but we won't have any additional help so things should get interesting. I have to admit I'm semi (ok, very) fearful of being on my own with two. There were plenty of days where just the one about did me in, so imagining two makes me shiver in fear a bit. But as always, I'm sure I will get it figured out once I'm thrown back into the fire of things. That's just the way things are sometimes.

Life with baby has been so different this time around. Things are just easier. It makes me laugh at how difficult we thought things were with just the one. And really, it was difficult. It was difficult because everything was new and we knew nothing about what to do with babies. This time I am just so much more confident in my parenting skills it just makes everything easier. 

Jackson and I are both recovering quite well. I had a little scare with a possibly infected incision, but things are looking better. I'm returning to the doctor tomorrow to have stitches removed and I have to be honest...I'm deathly afraid of getting them taken out. I'm sure I'm making it worse in my head than it really is, but it's just one of those things I fear. Yuck. Jackson is doing well. He lost quite a bit of weight before we left the hospital, but I can happily say he is quickly gaining everything back. He also has a little bit of jaundice, but after multiple tests it looks like it is slowly taking care of itself on it's own.

Ethan is doing pretty well in his new role of big brother. He looks several years older to me now in comparison to Jackson. He's mostly been ignoring the fact that there is a new little being in our lives, but occasionally comes over to kiss on the baby. Thankfully grandparents have been here to keep him busy, happy and distracted, but next week should really put him to the test although I think he will handle the transition well!

I hope to write Jackson's birth story soon. It's not too eventful since it was a planned c-section but there is still a story to share. I also hope to post some non-instagram pictures of the newbie, but its hard to hold a camera when you never set the baby down.

New Arrival!

On Friday December 14th, we welcomed a new little boy into our family. Jackson Reed came into this world via C-Section at 7:47AM weighing in at 8 pounds 11 ounces and measuring 21 inches long. 

We are now home and trying to recover and adjust as quickly as possible. I'm so in love with this new little guy and plan on spoiling him immensely. I refer to him as "my little kitty cat" because his favorite place to curl up and sleep is on my chest. I have to admit I hardly ever put him down and I don't feel bad about it in the slightest. It's funny the things you do differently the second time around. I'm sure there will be more on that later. 

I hope to post more on the birth and our first few days at home later on, but as you can imagine life with 2 is slightly hectic at the moment. Thank you all for your prayers and congratulations. This is a very special time for our family!