week 2

Jackson's first 2 weeks of life have been filled with lots of exciting experiences- first trip to Wells Fargo, first major snow storm (almost 2 feet in 36 hours), first pediatrician appointment, first diaper rash, first commercial photo shoot and so much more!
Yesterday, Jackson was asked to be a model for a cloth diaper marketing campaign. I have a friend who owns a cloth diaper company, Rumparooz, and she needed a newborn for her marketing materials. So, Jackson and I headed on over to her home for a photo shoot. He was a bit fussy at first (apparently he doesn't enjoy being in front of the camera as much as Mom), but then calmed down and appeared to be a natural. Here is a picture from the shoot.

Thanks Mom for this beautiful storyboard of Baby Jackson!!

Life at home with Jackson!

Saturday the 12th we finally got to head home after being in the hospital since Monday evening. The ride home was filled with excitement, occassional pain when we hit bumps in the road (literally), and of course nervousness as to what the next few hours, days, and years held for us as a family. Jackson transitioned quite well with his new environment and the pets! Yes, the pets all seem to be okay with the fact that we brought home another baby, although Milo is a bit jealous that he is no longer the baby in the family. Harley Dog is doing great and seems very protective of the Jackson, especially when he cries!

We are slowly settling into a routine now that Baby Jackson has been cleared of his jaundice. Thank god no more feedings at a 1 1/2 to 2 hour interval! When Jackson was first born he slept through almost the entire night without waking, but after being diagnosed with jaundice we had to wake him every 2 hours to feed him. Unfortunately, after a few nights of being woken up every 2 hours he started to adjust to that schedule. Now that he no longer has jaundice we are trying to get him back to his original schedule of sleeping through most of the night. Every morning, weather permitting, we take Jackson and Harley on a nice long walk to either run small errands or just to enjoy the many trails we have in the area.

It's hard to imagine life without our little man! He seems to fit so perfectly into our lives. We've all adjusted quite well to this major life change - Greg is an amazing dad and Jackson is an easy baby (so far)!

Baby Jackson is here!!!

As many of you know I was scheduled to check in to the hospital on Monday, April 6th for a morning induction. Upon arriving to the hospital Monday night the nursing staff was surprised by the amount of contractions I was already having and that I was just short of 2 dcm dilated. Shortly after, Baby Jackson's heart beat suddenly dropped for an unknown reason, which meant that if my contractions continued at the current pace, my doctor would be unable to induce me. Thankfully my contractions slowed down and I was able to recieve the pre-induction medication. Of course before the induction began, I decided I wanted to get a quick bit of "cardio" (or walking laps ar. ound the hospital) done. Right as I was finishing up my cardio (6 am), my water broke. At 6:15, the pitocin drip started and shortly after the doctor decided to give me the option to continue the drip or see if my body could take over on it's own. So I chose the latter and started walking the halls of the hospital. At 11 am, my doctor decided to start the pitocin again because my body as not progressing on it's own. According to Greg, within a half hour I was already considering an epidural and by 11:50 I was quoted saying "I hate pitocin!" during my strong contractions that were occuring every 2 1/2 minutes. At noon, I decided I was going to get my cervix checked and then decide on whether I wanted to get an epidural, but after a few killer contractions I was asking for the epidural. I quickly realized what other's perception of my strength, determination and pain tolerance really didn't matter all that much nor should it be solely based on my birthing experience (hey we all know I push myself to the max at the gym constantly!). 15 minutes later, I was a happy camper with the epidural in place! Just moments later, I was able to get my cervix checked and learned I was in so much pain prior to the epidural because I had dilated to 8 cms from 3 cms within an hour. By 5 pm (5 hours after the epidural), I was at 10 cm and began pushing!! Upon pushing it was discovered that Baby Jackson was transverse meaning he was facing the side of my pelvis rather than my bottom. After a few hours of pushing, we were able to get Baby Jackson to get himself into the correct position. After a total of 4 and a half hours of pushing my doctor explained to me that Baby Jackson was not descending further into my pelvis primarily because he simply could not fit. He decided to give me one more final push and use the vaccuum and if that didn't work, we were going to be heading into an emergency c-section. Baby Jackson did not move with the vaccuum, so immediately I was rushed in for an emergency c-section right as my epidural started to wear off and I could feel the pressure of contractions much, much stronger! At 10:09 pm, Baby Jackson was born weighing 6 pounds, 13 ounces and measuring 20 inches. Unfortunately, I continued to experience complications due to 4 and a half hours of pushing, when the doctor noticed my bladder was extremely swollen and bleeding. So I had the wonderful experience of being left in the OR when Greg and my mom followed the baby into the nursery while my doctor and myself waited for the urologist to check to make sure no permanent or serious damage was done to my bladder. Thankfully, it was determined my body was just extremely swollen due to the 17 hours of labor with 4 1/2 hours of pushing. I amabsolutely exhausted from this experience, but amthrilled to finally have Baby Jackson with us. It was well worth it!!!

Tuesday, April 7th is the big day!

Well, it's official I'm headed into the hospital next week to be induced due to my high amniotic fluid levels. After having multiple conversations with my doctor, nurse practioner and a former L&D nurse, I've decided to go ahead and get induced to prevent any potential complications from happening as a result of my fluid levels. So Monday night I will check in to the hospital, be given a medication to help prepare my body for induction, be given a sleeping aid to make sure I get a good night sleep (finally!) and then Tuesday morning they will begin the induction process. My doctor expects Baby Jackson to make his arrival sometime in the afternoon or early evening of Tuesday, April 7th. There is a very good chance, according to the doctor, that I may go into labor naturally before Tuesday or that the medicine I receive Monday night might be just enough to push me into labor naturally! Keep checking the blog for updates! As soon as Baby Jackson arrives, I or Greg will update the blog with pictures!