Sleeping with Daddy

At the hospital Jack was sleeping in bed with me most of the time. He would actually let us put him in his bassinet which is something that Owen wouldn't stand for. Since we've been home he's been alternating sleeping with either me or Daddy. It's funny how you become so much more relaxed the second time around. When Owen was born I was so freaked out I was going to roll on him that sleeping with him involved me not getting much sleep. Last night we tried something new with Jack since I don't really want him to become too used to sleeping with us. I put the boppy in his bassinet and placed him in the middle so he would be snuggled and elevated a little. This is how he slept last night and he loved it.

Snuggling Jack

This is our first morning home as a family of 4!

Army Boy!

Aunt Kim and Uncle Ryan got these pants for Owen a couple weeks ago. I had been wanting to get Owen camo pants a while back, but I couldn't find just the right ones. These are so cute and totally versatile. They have a button so we can roll up the pant legs and he can wear them now and then when he gets taller we unbutton it and he can still wear them. Too cool! Owen loves trying on Daddy's shoes so Daddy helped him out and got these adorable pictures in the process. He is so darn cute!!!

Like it was yesterday...

It is so weird putting Jack in the same things that I swear Owen was just in a few days ago. It's so fun seeing all of the cute clothes again. It really does seem like it was just yesterday!!!

Owen is almost 2 months old!

Jack is 3 days old!

Owen is 10 days old!

Jack is 3 days old!

First Night Home

I had the choice of leaving the hospital on Saturday night or staying until Sunday morning. I decided that I would rather be in my own home so we left around 7pm on Saturday night. My parents had been keeping Owen since Friday morning and they told us they would still keep him even if we decided to come home early. They would just bring him over first thing on Sunday morning. We had only been home a few minutes when I decided to call my mom and dad and find out how Owen was doing. It was a little after his bedtime so I figure he would already be asleep. When I called my dad answered the phone and said that Owen was being a really good boy. He hadn't gone to bed just yet because my mom and dad had company over. I told my dad that I really wanted to have both of my boys home with me and he said they would bring him right over. It just didn't feel right being at home with Jack and not having Owen there. Owen fell asleep in the car on the way home, but he quickly woke up once my dad carried him inside and we started talking. I was so happy to have him home!!! Michael and I played with Owen for a little while and he had fun playing in Jack's bassinet and then around 10 we told Owen it was time to go nigh-nigh and he made a beeline for this bedroom. He was so ready to go to bed. I was worried that he wouldn't sleep good either since Jack would be crying, but he only woke up once and just cried for a little while and went right back to sleep. Jack had a good night as well.

Heartbroken

Yesterday was a really hard day for me. I got really really emotional when Owen was born so I quite surprised that I hadn't been crying at the drop of a hat, but yesterday I did have a few moments. Yesterday Owen was still transitioning to the changes in our household and he was totally giving me the silent treatment. It was like he was saying if you get a new baby then all I need is Daddy and I don't need you! It was breaking my heart! He didn't want anything to do with me, not that I could really do much playing with him, but I sure tried. There are things I can do like read to him and play peek-a-boo and talk with him, but I can't pick him up I can't put him in his highchair or crib. I can't chase after him or get on the floor with him, but Daddy can and Daddy did. Daddy played with Owen so much and I'm so happy that he has this time off to be with his boys. He deserves it! Of course Daddy was just loving this behavior because Owen is normally a Mommy's boy, but Mommy was feel very rejected! On top of that Jack was having a hard time nursing so I was feeling pretty incompetent as a Mom all around. I finally called the Lactation Specialist at the hospital and got some great advise. I thought it would be easy the second time around since I know what I'm doing, but the thing is Jack isn't Owen and he doesn't know what he's doing so he has to be taught. All is better in the nursing department now so that good. Also Owen has gotten over giving me the silent treatment in fact he's just doing great all around. I really think being a big brother and sharing Mommy and Daddy is going to be really good for him.

Owen's a BIG Brother!!

The night we had Jack our friends Micah and Kim stayed the night at our house with Owen. The next morning my parents went and picked him up so he could come to the hospital and meet his baby brother. I had specific instructions for them to not come into the room, but let Michael go out and get Owen and bring him in so the 4 of us could have some family alone time. When they got there they did just that and Michael brought Owen in the room. He seemed pretty quiet at first since the last day had been pretty weird for him and seeing mommy at the hospital must have made him even more confused. I made sure that I wasn't holding Jack when Owen first came in the room. I didn't want him to be instantly jealous so we made sure we had Owen time first. After a minute or two Michael sat Owen up in bed right next to me and he picked Jack up from the bassinet (Owen hadn't even noticed him yet). I asked Owen where the baby was and he immediately tried to lift up my shirt and point at my tummy. I said nope this is our baby and Michael lower Jack to Owen's level so he could see him. Owen didn't know want to think of him at first. He did touch his nose and try to take off his hat and then he politely pushed him away.



A little later on Michael sat on the couch in our room and Owen started getting a little more interested in Jack. He even leaned down and kissed him.

Today Owen has amazed us even more with his ability to change with his surroundings. He is not jealous of Jack at all. He has been so cute today. He has kissed Jack and snuggled him so many times. After his nap he wanted to get in the bassinet with Jack since he was napping too and we let him and he just loved on Jack for the longest time. We had 4 visitors today, 2 of Michael's co-workers and my parents came over, both times when Owen saw that new people were in the house he came right over to Jack pointing at him and looking at the visitors as to say, "Look, look it's my baby brother!" He has such a sweet heart and he is great big brother. Jack is a very lucky boy!

Comparison!

This is one of the first pictures of Owen and I when he was born!
Here I am with Jackson. I love that the pictures are similar, but different at the same time. I'm so in love with my boys!

Last Pregnant Pictures

Michael's mom took this picture right before I left for the hospital. This is the last time Owen is my only baby boy! I actually cried on the way to the hospital thinking how much his life was going to change.

Here I am in triage being monitored. Those bands around my stomach get so uncomfortable and itchy after a while. Jack didn't really like them either, he would push right where the monitors are like saying, "Get these things off of me!"

This was right before I changed into my hospital gown. Michael wanted me to hold up two fingers because this is baby # 2!

Here we are all ready to go in our terrific OR wear!

Jack's Birth Story

On Tuesday night I went to bed after watching The Deadliest Catch. I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom like I usually did and I could not breath. I remember dreaming about waves crashing over me and remembered that on The Deadliest Catch they were having some pretty strong weather so I chalked it up to the dream and tried to go back to sleep. It took me over an hour to get my breathing under control again though. All day on Wednesday I was fine and had no breathing problems. Then at 11:30 when I laid down to go to sleep I could not catch my breath. It felt like I was literally suffocating. I tried and tried to slow my breathing and take deep breaths, but it never felt like I was getting enough. I eventually did fall asleep, but when Michael got home at 1:30 in the morning I got up to go to the bathroom and it started all over again. I didn't get to sleep until after 3 that morning and then when I got up in the morning it started all over yet again. I decided to call my doctor and talk to one of the nurses even though I had my normal doctor's appointment scheduled for the following day. I called the doctor and they had one of the nurses call me back. She thought I should come in and be seen just to make sure everything was okay. My appointment was for 1pm and since Michael was working in West Seattle he was going to meet me at my doctor's office on First Hill.



After taking a shower and getting ready I started thinking they might just decided to take Jack since I'm so close to my due date anyway so I called some friends of ours to see if they could come and watch Owen. I couldn't get a hold of them so I called my mother-in-law and she came over to watch Owen for me. I made sure I had all the luggage in the car just in case we would be staying at the hospital.



I got to my appointment and the first they did was make sure I was getting enough oxygen and I was. They also listened to my breathing and it sounded good. So they decided to monitor me and Jack and then I was going to have a chest x-ray to see if my lungs were okay and have ultrasounds done on my legs to make sure I didn't have any blood clots. This is where things got interesting. First off I knew that if they did want to take Jack by C-Section I would need to have not eaten anything for at least 6 hours so I didn't eat before going to my doctors appointment just in case. By this time in the afternoon I was SO hungry and shaky from not eating. The way the nurses and doctors were talking it didn't sound like Jack was going to be born that day so I asked if I could eat something and Michael went and got us Subway. While I was being monitored and eating my sub sandwich I had a 6 minute contraction. Seriously...the contraction did not stop for 6 minutes and Jack's heartbeat dropped to 86 beats a minute. For a baby that's not great. They like to see it at 120 - 160 beats a minute. We knew something was up when all of a sudden we weren't alone in the room anymore. There were about 4 nurses and 2 doctors. My normal doctor said, "Let's get her to triage." As I was on the way out she asked me when I ate last!! ARGH! They told me I could eat!! So now if we ended up needing a C-Section they weren't going to be able to do the procedure until 10 that night since I had just eaten a sandwich. Dang it!!!



So after that I got wheeled over to the hospital and they hooked me up to the monitor again. Luckily Jack's heart never when that low again, but let me tell you the contractions we no piece of cake. I was also wheeled out of triage and taken to get a chest x-ray which was fine and then back in triage they did an ultrasound of my legs and there were no blood clots. After that the doctor came in and explained that they didn't know why I was short of breath, but since we didn't have anything to gain with keeping me pregnant they just decided it was good to get the baby out now. YAHOO!!!! That was at 5pm so the C-Section was scheduled for 10pm. Since I wasn't actually in labor they let me leave triage for a little while so I didn't have to sit there for 5 hours. By this time my parents were at the hospital and we went down to the cafeteria to tell them the news and so Michael could eat something. Lucky Guy!



At 7pm we went back up to triage and found out that they were going to let me have the C-Section an hour earlier since it's really okay if you haven't eaten for 6 hours and not 8 hours. We got into the OR around 9:15 and they started the procedure. It was pretty much just like I remembered it being with Owen. I was given anti-nausea drugs so I didn't puke and I didn't feel a thing. The funny thing was with Owen my water had broke at home so they didn't have to cut into a uterus that was filled with amniotic fluid, but with Jack my water hadn't broken yet so when they cut into the uterus it water went everywhere!! Michael said I must have been having a contraction when they cut into it because it even surprised them by how far the water shot. It went about 5 feet from the operating table.



Jack was born at 9:42pm and he is so chunky in comparison to Owen when he was born. He cried, but only for a moment. He's a very mellow and laid back guy.

Here's Jack's first picture! I know I know it's a yucky one, but I think he looks so cute and plump!

Playing Catch Up!

I want to blog about Jack, but first I need to blog about the cute things that happened with Owen before Jack was born. The last couple of weeks of my pregnancy we were staying close to home since I wasn't in any kind of shape to go out and handle a 16 month old. So we just found fun new things to do around the house.


One of the days that was sunny (seems like forever ago now!) Owen and I hung out in the yard and he kicked his ball around and "mowed" the lawn. It was so nice just sitting there and watching him have fun.

Michael and I decided it would be funny to put our socks on Owen. He really enjoyed it and now when he finds socks he brings them to you so you can put them on his arms. The Tuesday before Jack was born Michael worked swing shift so I decided to take a bath with Owen in our big tub. Since he's getting bigger and it's getting harder to hold onto him I decided to use the bathtub that converts into a bath seat. I got it out of the garage and put it in the dining room until we were ready to go upstairs. Owen had so much fun climbing in and out of his bath seat it was so cute!

Jackson Daniel is Here!!!

Born on June 5th 2008 - 9:42pm via C-section. He is 8.06lbs 18 1/4 inches long. Looks a lot like his big brother. I will post pictures and more details later!