3AM

I got up to feed Jack at 12:30 and I am still awake...it's almost 3.  My dog, Chloe, has been licking herself this entire time-no joke!  It is beginning to drive me crazy.  I wonder if she does this every night and I just sleep through it?  Who knows.  I hate the feeling of not being able to sleep.  It usually means that my mind is thinking about hundreds of things all at once...wow, this licking is really driving me crazy...ok, I just moved her...maybe it will stop now.  Nope, no luck.  I think it actually got louder.  Anyways....we took down our Christmas decorations tonight and I was actually ready to see them go.  The only bad thing about it is that our Christmas tree was taking up an empty space in our living room where we desperately need chairs.  Another thing I'm realizing now is that Jack squeaks a lot in his sleep.  He is still sleeping in our room but will be moving out as soon as we get around to buying a baby monitor.  I would really like to get a video monitor for peace of mind but they are so much more expensive than regular monitors.  Any thoughts on which is better?  Is it worth the extra bucks to get a video one?  Oh wait-she stopped licking!  My apologies for the random ramblings.  I hope this insomnia thing does not become a habit.

Exercise?

 Ok Ladies, I need your help.  It has been six weeks since my c-section and I am ready to get back to the gym but I don't know whether or not I should.  I go back to the doctor this week so I'll see what he has to say then.  For the past two years Adam and I have been doing Crossfit workouts at our local gym and Adam has recently joined a crossfit gym here in town.  I, on the other hand, haven't worked out since about November.  I never though I would say this-ever-but I am really missing the exercise!  More than that, I really miss my old waist line!!  I am so tired of wearing sweats every day and can not wait to comfortably get back into my jeans.  Those of you who have had c-sections...when did you get back to it?

My First Christmas

Well I'd say that Jack had a pretty good first Christmas.  We hung out at Hammy and Papa's house all day long with family and friends.  I don't think that there was one minute that he wasn't being held by someone.  Can you blame them, look how cute he is!!  I think that he is getting cuter every day.  I kept on telling him that what I wanted to Christmas from him was a smile.  On Christmas morning he smiled twice but I'm still not completely convinced that it wasn't a gas smile because he hasn't done it since.  He did give me a beautiful necklace though, what a thoughtful baby I have!  We hope that you all had a great Christmas!  Here's to a stellar New Year!

Just Pictures

If you are wondering, we had an amazing photographer.  His name is Adam Baca and he is available for hire.  Just sayin'...

The Sing Off and Apple Cider

Adam and I just got done watching The Sing Off on TV.  We LOVE it.  We love ben folds-for one, but also we really enjoy the singing.  Somethings we do not enjoy about show are as follows:

1.  The lady judge.  I'm sure she's very knowledgeable about all things music but we just can't handle her.  She gets fast-forwarded.

2.  The costumes/outfits/clothing.  I mean really, I think the show's stylist looks at the women's body types and thinks, "Hm...what is the most unflattering outfit that I can put that woman in on national television?"  I feel so sorry for those ladies and I think if I were a contestant on the show I would give the stylist a piece of my mind.  Or at least give her a thanks but no thanks on the outfits that she chooses.  I don't pretend to be some super fashionista or anything but I for sure could do a better job than whoever dresses those poor people.

On a separate note, Adam and I have really been digging Apple Cider lately.  I found this recipe last year and have loved it ever since.  It isn't your traditional spiced cider (which I usually don't like) and it is really easy to make.  You basically just take a container of apple juice or cider from the store then add vanilla-from a vanilla bean.  Slit the bean down the middle and scrape out the vanilla then add it to the cider.  Next I grate in a little bit of whole nutmeg before tossing the whole thing in.  Finally, add a little bit of brown sugar.  Let it simmer and you instantly have some yummy cider.  

And then there were Three

I swore to myself when I started this blog that I would post about all kinds of things and not just about Jack.  I promise to post about other things in the future but as of now, our lives pretty much revolve around a sleeping, pooping, eating machine so Jack it is.  Now, I would like to tell you the story of how this little man came into the world on November 12th, 2010-five weeks early!

On Friday morning I woke up and decided that I wanted to nest.  I had been on bed rest for some time and was unable to run errands and do much around the house to get ready for baby B.  The doctor told me the previous day that I could pretty much resume my regular activities so I took that as permission to run a bunch of errands the next day.  I started off at Target, then to TJ Maxx, then to the post office and Hobby Lobby.  I came home and had an internal debate with myself-to eat lunch Or to work in the nursery.  As a nesting prego, I decided to frame a picture that I had made for the nursery and then go make some lunch.  I am sitting on the floor in the nursery losing a battle with a picture frame when I hear/feel this pop followed by uncontrollable peeing!  (again with the pee!)  Only this time it wasn't pee...it was my water breaking.  I ran to grab my phone and called Adam to tell him that my water broke.  All of this happened around 12:45.  Funny thing about when your water breaks...it's not like it breaks, gushes, and then stops..oh no!  With that said, i'll leave our ride to the hospital to your imagination.  Lets just say it involved one very large towel and a bath robe.  The funny thing is that once we got to the hospital Adam dropped me off and had to go park the car.  So I'm sitting on a bench-with my big towel-just sitting, in labor, waiting for Adam to get back so we can go have this baby.  We finally make it up to triage around 1:15.  They admit me and the nurse comes in with this litmus paper thing and tells me she's going to check to make sure my water broke.  At this point some contractions have started (uncomfortable but not too painful) and I'm thinking "lady, look at my towel and put your litmus paper away...this is happening!"  All these people keep coming in and we finally settle on the fact that I need to have a c-section because little dude is breech, the uteri, etc.  Something I knew a few months ago and was fairly prepared for.  After about an hour the mood changed quickly from la-te-da to it's go time.  Little baby boy did not like mama's contractions and his heart rate started to slow down during each one.  They wheeled me into the operating room and starting prepping me for surgery!  Yikes!  At some point I remember asking, "is this am emergency c-section" to which the nurse replied, "No, just urgent."  Really and truly all of the nurses and Doctors were amazing.  They were so calm and friendly throughout the whole thing.  The best part is that my doctor made it just in time to do the surgery.  At 3:19 our little baby came into the world.  They showed him to us for a second and then whisked him off to the NICU where he took his rightful place as MVP (most valuable preemie-thanks for that, Adam).  So..recovery, recovery, recovery, 10 days in NICU and then finally here we are..home!  Oh, I almost forgot.  How did we land on the name Jackson?  Funny thing about that...Adam and I had only about two names that we liked but truly we hadn't given it much though-we both liked Jackson the best.  Apparently when your baby comes into the NICU they really like for him to have a name.  So when the nurse asked Adam (I was still in recovery) what his name was he said, "I don't know, we both really like Jackson." to which the nurse replied.  "Oh yes, Jackson, he totally looks like a Jackson."  When they finally wheeled me down into the Nursery to see him the nurse said, "Hi, are you Jackson's mom?"  I looked at Adam and said, "I guess so!"

Jackson Craig Baca was born on November 12th, 2010 at 3:19pm weighing 5lbs 9.9oz and 18 inches long.  As of yesterday he weighs 6.2 and is 19 3/4 inches long.  Growing like a precious little weed.

Home

Last Sunday we were discharged from the hospital and headed HOME!  They sent Jackson home on oxygen and he will probably continue to be on oxygen for a couple of weeks.  We are so glad to finally be home with our baby.  Jack did great in the car on the way home but look how tiny he is in the car seat!  We brought him home weighing 5.6oz which is a little less than his birth weight.  Here are a few pictures from our short time at home.  I like to call this one...

                                                                    BLUE STEEL

Ladies Man

Jack and I were talking this morning while we ate breakfast together.  OK, so I was talking and he was eating, but still, it was some good father son time.  He and I came to the conclusion that the ladies love him.    I think the nurses meeting before each shift is probably close to a cat fight as everyone tries to get Jack as one of their three babies to take care of.  His nurse, Cathy, even went so far as to say she would like to stick him in her pocket and take him home.  She then reassured me she was only joking and that if I come one day and he's not in his normal place it means he was moved, not stolen.  I've got my eye on her.  

Actually, Jack's nurses, especially Cathy, have been amazing.  It's not just with Jack either.  They treat all the babies with such love and tenderness and they treat the parents with respect, honesty, and compassion.  Every day when I leave I just want to hug them.  They're amazing people and they go the extra mile to take care of the kids and make a tough situation a little better.

So, I've discovered a new thing I love about our little Jackson.  The kid is a fighter.  Sure, Tuesday was crap but it barely phased Jack.  I think he's like, look guys, this whole NICU thing is a marathon not a sprint.  We'll get there but there's some hills to climb.  I think he's right.  We will get there and Jess and I decided to just try to make the best of it and enjoy the journey.  I mean, how blessed are we that we get to spend an extra five weeks with Jack.  Plus, we're learning tons about his little body and when we get to bring him home I think we'll be better parents for the experience.  Maybe I'm rationalizing, maybe not.  Either way, I know Jessie and I love our little man like we never knew we could love and we're going to enjoy every moment of life with him.  

Update on Jack

I was discharged from the hospital yesterday and it was probably one of the saddest days that I have ever had.  Throughout my entire pregnancy I knew that I was at high risk for preterm labor, I knew there was a good chance he would come early.  I also knew there was a good chance that he would end up in the NICU.  Knowing all of this I never, ever, ever considered that there was a good chance we would be discharged from the hospital without our baby.  Yesterday that is exactly what happened.  I have no idea what I was thinking but I was devastated yesterday having to leave him at the hospital.  

Yesterday Jackson decided that he didn't want to finish his bottles anymore so they had to put a feeding tube in.  I started sobbing listening to him scream as they put the tube up his nose and down into his tummy.  Also, he did end up having to be put on oxygen so now our precious little baby has tape and tubes all over his sweet face.  I just kept thinking how he is only five days old and he has already been poked so much.  

On a good note, Jack really is doing great.  His eating is somewhat sporadic depending on how sleepy he is.  Sometimes he'll nurse for about ten minutes and then eat an entire bottle then other times he won't latch and will only eat a tiny bit.  He just gets so sleepy sometimes and eating is hard work for such a little dude.  He is breathing completely on his own but he had a couple apnea episodes (I think only 2) and a few episodes where his breathing slows quite a bit.  The oxygen has helped tremendously with all of these episodes.  We don't know yet when he will get to come home but we are praying that it will be before thanksgiving.  Before he comes home he needs to have no more breathing episodes-he has to go five days without any-and be finishing all of his feedings.  We should know more by tomorrow morning after rounds.  

Like I said, yesterday was an extremely difficult day but today was much, much better.  I'll try to keep posting updates on here but hopefully we'll have out little guy home soon. 

Bath Time

Last night at  midnight was Jack's first bath.  Jess needed to stay upstairs and rest so I went down with the expectation of taking tons of pictures.  Instead, with the help of one of Jack's amazing nurses, Danielle, I bathed him.

Besides just getting to hold my sweet little son for awhile and clean up some of the goop on him, the warm water made him wake up so I got to see his little eyes.  They're beautiful and perfect.  That little guy can also make some of the cutest faces ever.  He's very demonstrative.

Doing Big Things...

Since Jess is still recovering I'm going to try to keep you updated on what's happening with our little family.  I'll cut straight to the chase.  Today has been a good day.  Great.  Amazing.  Life changing even.  

I've always heard people talk about how amazing it is when they have their first child but until today I never knew the kind of euphoria they were speaking of.  I mean, yesterday was amazing too, but for some reason today was just so much better.  

Jess has been so tough dealing with the pain of recovery but she hasn't complained a bit.  The best part is, she's been so great at asking for my help.  It really makes me feel loved that she trusts me to help her right now.  Again, what a great day.

As for our little man, Jackson is killing it in the NICU.  I think he might have been MVP (most valuable premie) today.  It all started this morning with "Rounds".  "Rounds" pretty much consists of a Dr., six nurses, and me sitting around a table talking about how awesome my son is.  I was actually pretty intimidated. I had no clue what they were talking about but I was so thankful to get to be there.  The bottom line was that Jackson's job today was to eat a little, snuggle with Jess and I, and pretty much just keep being awesome (I added the last one but the first two were legit.  They're even written on his whiteboard, so there.)

The eating thing was a bit of a challenge because it required Jessie to start pumping so he can have a little milk to mix with his formula.  It was pretty much cocktail hour for Jack in the NICU.  He loves him a good mixed drink!

Well Jess did great pumping and she and Jack worked pretty hard on learning to breast feed.  I sat right there in the thick of it offering up my expertise.  Actually, I just held Jack's hand away from his face but I did it with great aplomb.  Jess and Jack haven't quite gotten the breastfeeding thing down to a science but they are a great team and are getting closer and closer to total success.  

Our game plan for meal time goes like this, Jess and Jack snuggle and work on breast feeding.  Jack loves snuggling his mama so he falls asleep.  Not just a little asleep...we're talking deep, deep, REM cycle, dreaming about golf and photography type sleep.  As a side note, I think I saw him make a golf swing motion today.  After awhile Jack wakes up a bit works on what seem to be some pretty amazing breast feeding instincts, and then Jess turns him over to me.  

I sit him up, hold his precious little head in my hands, and give him a bottle.  Since he's sitting up and not able to snuggle his mama he eventually starts to attack the bottle.  Six milliliters of milky goodness are nothing to this little man.  He downs them in a matter of seconds and then keeps sucking the bottle until I take it away and awkwardly try to burp him.  He and I haven't really gotten ahold of that one quite yet.  He's a natural but I'm a little slow.  We'll nail it tomorrow.  From there, Jess and I take turns holding him and telling him how much we love him and then we eventually put him back in his bed (which by the way is now a big boy bed due to his overcomer attitude and ability to regulate his body temperature) for a good sleep.  

I've never had a feeling as good as watching my little man snuggle his mom and then come over to me for some food.  Jess is such a good mom and the way she looks at him is the most heartwarming thing I've ever seen.  It's the best.  What an amazing little boy Jessie and I have been blessed with.

Pee. Yeah, that's right.

Today marks my 34 1/2(ish) week of pregnancy.  We had a couple of Dr.'s appointments today and my feeling is that baby Baca will be here sometime in the next week.  I could be completely wrong but there it is.  So it seems like every time I we go to the doctor there is some kind of near disaster that happens.  Well, maybe not a disaster but Adam and I always seem to find a way to embarrass ourselves.  For example, at our last visit when we were walking back into the office I stopped walking with Adam right behind me and he almost plowed me over.  The nurse saw and completely made fun of us for the rest of the visit.  Today, by far, was the most embarrassing moment we have had yet!  For all of you ladies who have frequently visited the OB you know that every time they request a little sample of your pee.  Awesome, right?  OK, so in the bathroom at my Dr's office they have a little window/box with a door where you place your sample.  So i'm in the bathroom, I do my thing, and I go to leave my treasure in the window.  Instead of placing it down oh so gracefully, like I normally do, I spilled it ALL OVER the window.  My initial response is "oh crap!" and then..."what the heck do I do?"  As I stand pondering this I see that there is another sample still left in the window along side of mine and it is now swimming in a little pool of pee.  GROSS!!  I stand there for another couple of seconds and decide that it's time to face the music.  When I step out of the bathroom I cautiously peek my head around the corner and see that the nurse standing there is holding back a little bit of a smile.  She looks up at me and all I can say is, "i'm so sorry, that was my fault".  She kind of laughs and tells me that it's fine but I'm sure she was really thinking, "seriously?  cleaning a pee window is not in my job description."  No really, she was very sweet about it.  I guess that this incident was mostly embarrassing to me but hey, at least I can laugh at myself, right?  After all that we found out that I am 1/2 cm dilated and Adam tried his hardest to get the doctor to tell us when this baby will come which, of course, he couldn't.  I guess we'll just have to hang in there and see what happens next!

Bread and Butter?

I have about a dozen near-rotten bananas sitting on my kitchen island and I hate to waste bananas when they can be made into yummy banana bread.  So this morning I set out some butter (from the freezer) in order to prepare for my baking this afternoon.  To make a not so long story even shorter-I was about to pop the bread in the oven when I looked back and saw that the butter I set out was still sitting on the counter.  Whoops!  But...it actually turned out ok.  Well, I haven't actually tried it yet but if it tastes half as good as it looks/smells I think it will be just fine.

P.S.  I found the never fail cure for heart burn.  Blue Bell cookies and cream ice cream.  Works every

time.  

Starbucks and Triage

All week long I have been thinking about busting out of here and getting a coffee from Starbucks.  It has been over a week (a long time for me-sadly) since I have had my starbucks so I broke out this morning and grabbed some coffee.  Much to my delight, they have brought back their peppermint mochas for the season so it was very much a win-win situation for me.  So I have my coffee, I have my day planned out-a little bit of resting, sorting through old pictures, making some phone calls, dr's appointment at 3:30-I'm a happy camper.  I told Adam not to worry about coming to my appointment because it was just for fetal monitoring and a bpp.  They hooked me up to the monitor and baby looked awesome, he got all of his points for the day, and I was still having contractions about every 2-4 minutes (about the norm for me).  The nurse called my doctor and he wanted me to go up to TRIAGE for fluids-again.  I about cried.  The last time I was in triage (yeah, i'd been before) they pumped me with fluids, gave me a shot, and neither one stopped my contractions.  (Just for the record, I have been drinking a TON of water.)  So I called Adam and he met me at the hospital.  Four hours later we are finally home and eating!  We were both so hungry. With all of that said, everything is fine.  Lefty is doing great, my contractions are still coming but again, that's nothing new.  So..is the moral of the story "don't go get Starbucks when you should be on bed rest?"  Hmm...I wonder.

The Good, The Bad, and the Heart Burn

So today is my first official work day on bed rest which actually wasn't too bad.  I decided to give my Dr. a call this morning to touch base with him on exactly what type of bed rest he wanted me on-before they told me modified bed rest which is pretty much just hanging around the house.  I left a message for my Doc and a couple of hours later some nurse who I had never met or heard of called me back.  I'm pretty sure that when I left the message I did not say "I need to leave a message for random nurse".  Not that i'm doubting this woman's abilities or professional opinion but the fact is she is not my physician and she does not know my history.  Second of all, it really peeves me when a medical professional who (should) have your chart in front of them asks you what is going on.  Honestly, does anyone else have this problem?  I love my doctor but his office has been so frustrating to work with!  Also, if you know me at all you know that I do not like to ask for help, and I don't like to make a big deal out of nothing-especially when it comes to being sick, etc.  I want to hear from my own physician that I need to be on strict bed rest or else I'm going to have a really hard time believing it.  With that said, I am trying to take it easy and I am not ready for lefty to make his debut but I do feel a tad frustrated.

So onto the good!  My Mom-in-law came over yesterday and helped me a TON around the house.  She was my little worker bee helping me get baby clothes washed, sorted, put away, etc.  We got the nursery pretty much organized but it is not finished yet.  Here is a picture of the dresser that Adam painted for the nursery.  I got the drawer pulls at Hobby Lobby and I think it turned out fantastic!  I'll post more pictures as we get things put together.

And Finally...the heart burn!  Oh the heart burn!  Please tell me that it ends as soon as the baby comes.  I have never had heart burn before and it is miserable.  I'm eating ginger all the time and I don't really love ginger unless it is accompanied by sushi and maybe a little sake.

My apologies for all the complaining!  I'll do my best to make the next post a happy one.  

All about the bump

So here is the little lefty bump at roughly 32 1/2 weeks.  And here's the story of a boy named "Lefty"  About five years ago I found out that I was born "special" with a little something we like to call uterus didelphys.  Sounds cool, right?  Well basically it means that I have two uterus' (uteri?)  The cool part is that we get an ultrasound every month but the not so cool part is that it makes my pregnancy kind of high risk which brings us to where we are now.  So far, things have gone really well and I have been feeling great (for the most part) but...about a month ago they put me on the monitor for the first time and saw that I was having bunches of contractions all in a row which caused them to send me up to triage.  Bed rest for a couple of days then back to work, lots of confusion for this hormonal/slightly crazy pregnant lady but overall everything was fine.  We decided that I just have lots of contractions and, you know, it is what it is...until today.  Today, during parent teacher conferences (great timing) I get three phone calls from all of my doctor's offices telling me that I failed this test that tells me whether or not I have a chance of going into labor in the next two weeks and that I need to go to the hospital at 2:30 to get a steroid shot so that lefty's lungs can mature if he comes early.  And....bed rest.  So now I am back to being kind of stressed, overwhelmed, slightly annoyed, oh, and emotional all at the same time.  With all of that said, I really don't think that Lefty will come in the next two weeks but I guess now i've got to do what I can to keep him in there for as long as I can.  On a happy note, Lefty is really quite cute and has chubbo little cheeks.  As of two weeks ago he weighed 4lbs 1 oz and was 16.5 inches long so we're pretty excited about him-just not ready to meet him quite yet.  Oh, and incase you didn't guess, we call him lefty because he has chosen to reside in the left uteri.  Thanks, Dad, for coming up with the best baby nick name ever.

Adventures in Blogging!

Hello All.  I have decided to try my hand at blogging one more time so here we go!  First of all, I am still working on my design and what not and would appreciate any advice as it took me about an hour to figure out how to set up a template (that I still don't totally love).  Second, I just found out that I am officially on bed rest which means that I will have a lot of time on my hands over the next little bit.  I'm going to do my best to keep everyone updated on family happenings as well as completely profound thoughts that come out of my little head.  Two words- get excited!