Ian's Welcome

So many people were anxious to hear about Ian's arrival and were excited to meet him.  His grandma, auntie and cousin drove up from Berwick to see him.  It was nice to have them at home for the first night too, since both Ian and I are trying to figure out the whole nursing gig.  We can use any help we can get.  He still hasn't met his cousin Josiah or uncle Jason.  I guess we will have to visit soon and take lots of pictures!

Here is Ian with his big cousin Ella.  I love this picture.  She was so great with him and he seemed pretty content in her arms.

He was so alert when my mom held him.  It is not often that we see his eyes.

Proud Auntie holding Ian, less than 24 hours old,

We were fortunate to only be in the hospital for one night, so hospital visitors were limited.  Still, Ian was able to meet my 3 best friends before leaving for home.  Molly happened to be working on Tuesday and was Ian's first visitor.  She came up twice to visit!  Becky was also at the hospital fairly early and shared cuddles with Ian for quite a while.  Melanie was the last to meet our little guy, though she was the first one to arrive at the hospital - around 6 am and in labor herself.  Yep, Ian and miss Ellie are less than 24 hours apart!  Texting with Melanie and waiting for Ellie to arrive made our day go by fairly quickly.  We had a quick visit from Melanie's family after they welcomed Ellie to the world.

Ian 4 days old, Ellie 3 days old

Before leaving the hospital, I rolled Ian in his bassinet to meet Melanie, Andy and Ellie.  Yesterday afternoon, I took Ian to visit Ellie and to get a few pictures while they are still so little.  It will be so fun watching them grow together!

Belated Mother's Day Gift

Ian William Roy Kolvoord

Born at 3:56pm May 13, 2013

7lbs 2oz, 20 inches

Last week, I was getting pretty anxious for our little one to arrive, especially after I started to get swelling in my feet and ankles and being told to lay low for the next week.  At my last appointment on May 9th, I was only a fingertip dilated and really not effaced.  I was pretty discouraged by the news and really felt that Ian would be born past his due date.  Still, I was hopeful that I might have a Mother's Day baby.

The weekend was pretty dreary.  I spent all day Saturday at Pony Club.  Sunday, Greg and I cleaned up around the house, got groceries, finished some paperwork and dropped off a hanging basket in Verona Island.  It was a pretty lazy day overall.  I didn't feel any different.  I let the staff in my classroom know that I was planning on working Monday to tie up some loose ends and get some paperwork printed and filed.  I went to bed around 9.  By the time Greg came to bed at 9:30, I was feeling very crampy and could not get comfortable.  I moved to the couch around 10:30.  The cramps were dull and consistent and I could not sleep at all.  By 11:30, I was pretty sure that I was in labor.  I was still in consistent discomfort, but the pain intensified every half hour.  By 12:30, it was intensifying every 20 minutes, and by 1:30 about every 15.  I had planned on staying home as long as possible, so I let Greg sleep.  He came downstairs just before 3:30 because he planned on going to the gym before work.  I let him know that I was uncomfortable, but that it wasn't anything serious yet.  A few minutes later, when I got up to go to the bathroom, I felt a rush of fluid.  I must have looked shocked, because Greg immediately asked, "What's wrong".  I told him that my water just broke, but I still didn't want to hurry.  Shortly afterward, the pain intensified and I was incredibly nauseous.  We decided it was probably best to head to the hospital.  I had tested positive for group B strep and needed 2 doses of antibiotics before birth and I had no way of knowing how far along I was.  

Sunrise from delivery room

Flattering picture that Greg took during labor

minutes old

After gathering our things, we headed to the hospital.  I felt water gushing every time I moved.  It was disgusting.  I was embarrassed to check in, telling Greg that everyone would think I peed my pants.  We were taken to a room right away.  When the nurse did the initial check, water gushed so quickly that she had to jump out of the way.  I was only 2 cm dilated and 80% effaced.  The hooked me to the monitors, got the IV ready and administered the first dose of antibiotics.  My midwife, Debbie, checked in around 7am on her way to a meeting.  She advised me to walk the stairs to help get things moving.  She checked back in on her way to the office and then again at lunch time.  At lunch time, I was still only 4cm dilated, but 90% effaced.  I was discouraged and starting to feel more pain.  We continued to walk for 25 minutes, then rest for 25 minutes.  I was beginning to get really tired.  While walking the stairs, I was really nauseous and felt like I really had to concentrate to breathe and alternate feet.  Greg was so supportive!  At 1:00, the nurse called Debbie back to the hospital, telling her that I was really fatigued and questioning getting an epidural.  Debbie came right over and checked me.  I was 7-8cm dilated and 100% effaced.  I remember some of the conversation, but not all of it because I was so tired.  She tried to stall me and the anesthesiologist, hoping that I would quickly be able to push. I was crying, saying, "I don't know what I want to do, I am so tired!"  Debbie reminded me of our conversation in the office.  She had told me, "There is a time and a place for an epidural.  You will not be able to push effectively if you are that tired".  At 2:00, I got the epidural.  It was very mild.  I could still feel everything, just dulled.  I still grimaced and had to breathe through the contractions, but it was much easier.  Debbie was awesome with Greg and more or less forced him to go get lunch, telling him, "The dads that we lose, are the dads that haven't eaten.  I was able to rest from 2:00 to 3:00 when Debbie checked me again.  She got into her scrubs after checking me and I began pushing through contractions.  Greg was amazing!  He held one of my legs while the nurse held the other.  Debbie even had him look at Ian's head coming down at one point and he didn't pass out.  At around 2:45, she decided to do an episiotomy because I was not stretching and Ian was not moving.  She apologized, saying that she rarely does them, but he wasn't making any progress.  I really didn't care at that point.

I pushed through a few more contractions and Ian finally arrived at 3:56pm.  It was the most amazing feeling when his head emerged.  Ian began screaming and flailing right away.  Debbie set him on my stomach (his cord was quite short) and cut the cord after Greg declined.  We both held him right away, before they took him to do his weight and vitals.  He was quite feisty when they took him, screaming, flailing and grabbing the nurses stethoscope.  He received an 8 and 9 for APGAR scores.  The 8 was due to his coloring...he was a little purple.  He nursed right away and seemed very content.

He is just perfect and we are in love!

Daddy and Ian- minutes old
I LOVE this picture

Going home!

Getting Anxious

I am getting very anxious to meet little Ian.  Everything is set up and ready for him to arrive.
I thought that I might be a mother by mother's day, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen.  Maybe that was just wishful thinking since my last appointment didn't go as well as all of my others.

All of a sudden, I am retaining a lot of water.  My feet and ankles are quite swollen and my midwife mentioned that she could see some swelling in my face as well.  My blood pressure is fine.  It is high for me, but still relatively low.  She recommended that I stay off of my feet a lot more.  Specifically, stop taking the dogs on 3 mile walks in the evening and instead, lie on my side for 3 hours.  This is like torture to me.  I made it to 45 minutes the first night before wanting to poke my eyes out.

On the bright side, she said that I am starting to dilate on my own and that Ian is fully engaged.  She could touch his head when she checked me.  I am still measuring behind, further behind this week than last, because he has dropped.  She is guessing that he will be around 6.5 pounds.  I really think it is just how he is positioned and I will be surprised if he isn't 7.5 pounds or more at birth.  After poking around on my stomach for a while, she said that he is quite long, but narrow.  I guess he takes after Greg.  I'm just happy that I won't be delivering a little linebacker.


Maternity photos were taken
by my friend, Ann.
38.5 weeks.

Slower Pace

I will am definitely moving at a slower pace these days.  I guess at 38 weeks pregnant, that is to be expected.  Still, I am keeping as active as possible and even took Moose to the Animal Orphanage 5K in Old Town.  I have run the race with Gauge a few times and done pretty well.  Today, Moose and I just walked.  I saved my race number for Ian's baby book, even though I wasn't really racing.

Ian's nursery is now finished, other than three animal pictures that I am waiting on (pig, cow, and sheep).  I made some little bookshelves modeled after the IKEA spice rack book shelves that my sister did for Ella.  Ian was very lucky to get so many awesome books at his shower and I needed a place to display them and have them be accessible.

Now we are just waiting for him to arrive!

It is perfect weather for a baby.  I can't wait to enjoy walks with him.  For now though, I am loving the weather.

The dogs in the yard all day,

Bare feet and green grass,

 

 

 

Walks in the woods,

Dirty dogs,

that have to swim to clean up......poor Gauge.

Ian's Little Face

So far, I have had 5 ultrasounds during this pregnancy.  The first at 9 weeks, just to estimate a due date.  The second one at 12 weeks coupled with a blood test to estimate the risk of having a baby with a chromosome abnormality.  Ian was cooperative for both of the early ultrasounds.

At 20 weeks, we had an anatomy scan and found out his gender.  His legs and gender were pretty much the only thing that we were able to see that day because he was so curled up with his hands/arms over his face and head.  We went back 4 weeks later to get a look at his head and heart.  He was still very low and curled, though we did get good pictures of his heart. 

Today, at almost 33 weeks, we finally got good measurements of his head and the first look at his sweet little face (and really big lips). 

 

The ultrasound tech said that he is about 4.2 pounds right now and estimated that he would be between 7.5 to 8 pounds at birth.  She also said that he looks strong and is taking lots of practice breaths.  We were able to see his heart beating and his diaphram moving as he practiced.  The whole thing is so amazing.

We have been doing little hikes on the weekend.  I think Ian will need a little hiking journal.  I hope he cooperates and allows us to continue hiking with him after he is born.

Here we are on Great Pond Mountain at almost 32 weeks.

And at the Mount Waldo Quarry at almost 33 weeks.

Snowstorms with Names?

Apparently, they are now naming snowstorms.  I don't ever remember any snowstorms having names and we have had some pretty big storms in the past.  The weather people have not offered up any explanations as to why this storm has a name.

Anyway, Nemo hit Newburgh last night and carried on through much of today, dumping a TON of snow.  So far, this winter has been kind of a drag as we have had more rain than snow.  Last winter we really didn't have any snow, so we were super excited about the forecast.  I was very skeptical that we would actually get the amounts that they were forecasting.  As you can see, the weathermen were right this time!

 

 



Moose is loving all the snow!

The goats, chickens and ducks are not so sure about it.

Greg has a love/hate relationship with the snow.  He complains that we don't get any snow and says we should move somewhere that gets more snow, then he complains when he has to deal with the snow when we get it.  It doesn't help that the belt wouldn't stay on the snowblower.

 

 

I love the snow!  I shoveled all of the pathways so that we could get in and out of the house and the animals could get to their water.  It was so light and fluffy!  Still, I thought it would be best to call it quits.  I wouldn't mind if Ian comes a little early, but he can wait for a while.  Here is a picture of me at 26 weeks (last Sunday....we didn't have any snow!)

 

 

 



Decided on a Name

We have decided on a name for our little man.

He will have two middle names after Greg's father and my father.  We debated using just the two family names, but decided that we wanted him to have his own name as well as the names of our fathers.

We can't wait to meet you Ian William Roy Kolvoord!