Milestone....

A little one but exciting none the less. Max, You and I took a walk to the pharmacy today - by ourselves as Daddy had an appt. You seem to hate your stroller and I couldn't get you to lie in it without crying. After spending over an hour trying to get you settled and sleeping I took out the sling. At first you cried but in about 5 minutes you fell asleep. In fact, our trip was over an hour ago and you are still in the sling fast asleep. I am sitting here looking at your cute little face while typing.

Yesterday we took a walk around the park - and you didn't scream once.

Last night you slept from 12 30-4am and then 5am until about 8am. A true milestone. Mommy was finally able to get a bit of sleep. Usually you have been sleeping for about an hour at a time and then you wake up and scream. Actually - you seem to cry a lot. I think that it might be gas. Your poor Daddy looks like his heart is breaking when you cry.

Let's see how it goes tonight....

Love you little guy.

Happy 1 week Max.........

You are 1 week old today. It's been incredible, absolutely incredible to have you home.

The first night home was Wed 12.08 and I wish that I could say that it was easy, but it wasn't. I think that maybe you were stressed from the hospital to home transition and all you did was cry. I felt so helpless and nothing seemed to be working. Thankfully Daddy L came to the rescue at 1am and held you until you calmed down and fell asleep and he also gave me time to regroup a bit. What would we do without your Daddy??? He is so good with you and helps me so much. I don't know how I got so lucky to have two such wonderful men in my life!!

Last night went much better. You slept in bed with us. It's the only way you seem to sleep at night. I am not a big fan of co-sleeping. I am so afraid that one of us will roll over on you (yikes!) but it's the only thing that seems to calm you at night. So as long as you feel safe and secure that is what is important to us.

Your fur sister Callie is fasinated by you. She hasn't been sleeping or eating - she just follows us around the house with a concerned look in her eyes. She seems to be a bit more calm today and you both sound asleep in the bedroom. I think that she is excited as well are to have you in our lives.

Today your Grandparents are coming to visit from Sweden. I can't wait for them to see you!

Max.........

You are 4 days old today and your Daddy and I are so in love with you.

You were born on the 7th at 3.22pm weighing 3.55 kilos and 50 cm in length. You have my nose (which is a good thing!) but you look like your Daddy and your hands are SO big. Your eyes have changed colors 3 times already. When you were born they were blue, the next day green, and now they seem to be more of a hazel color. Your coloring is so fair and you have the biggest cheeks - and a small cute little chin. You are not crazy about being bathed or changed but who could blame you??!

You love to suck on things.... me...your fingers, and today you were actually holding a pacifier in your mouth. It seems as if it really soothes you to have something in your mouth. We had one rough night where you wouldn't stop crying. Poor thing. The night nurse and sage femme tried doing everything thing in their power to soothe you to no avail. You were known the next day as the little boy that cried all night. You seem to be sleeping better now which is good for both of us!

I get to take you home tomorrow. I can't tell you how happy that makes me. I know that your fur brother and sister are very excited to meet you. It will be so exciting to have us all home together as a family.

Birth story

Max arrived on 07.08.09 via a C Section. It was not what I had planned but my only concern was his well being.

We were scheduled for an induction on the evening of the 6th. The induction was required because Max hadn't dropped at all. My fluid levels were low and I noticed a decrease in fetal movement in the past week.

So....I arrived at the Clinique and they deposited two pills. One at 8 and one at 12am. Nothing really happened. There was not much progression/dilation so they started the Pitocin drip around 8am. I wanted to try to do this birth naturally but with the strength of the contractions caused by the pitocin it was impossible. I was asking for the epidural by 10am and quite frankly I am suprised that I lasted that long. The doctor checked on me a few times and by 2pm still no real progress. The monitoring showed that Max's heartbeat was strong but there really wasn't much movement so it was time to make a call. He said that we should do the C section and get Max out now while he was still doing well.

By 3pm I was prepped and in surgery. I have never been so scared in my life. In the back of my mind I had a notion that a C Section would be necessary and L and I discussed that if it was - then it had to be done. Everything happened so quickly though - I barely had time to mentally prepare for the procedure. I was whisked into the operating room. There seemed to be at least 10 people running around prepping me, and things in the room. Everyone was speaking very quickly (in French) and I started to panic. The began to give me the anesthesia and it made me very foggy. I had a difficult time hearing and had an oxygen mask on so I had a difficult time speaking as well. When I couldn't hear the doctors asking me questions I then really started to freak out. I cried and couldn't stop. As soon as that happened everyone stepped back a bit, slowed down, and tried to calm me down. Lars was in the room as well which helped.

(The Swiss are funny people but I have learned while here that the way to get them to be nice to you is to break down and cry. It's amazing how much they change when they see you cry).

By 3.22pm little Max was born. They showed him to me but then had to take him away to be checked. L went with him so that he wouldn't be alone. I was put into a recovery room for about 1 hour 30 minutes but L made sure that they brought my baby to me so that I could try to breast feed him and bond a little bit before they had to take him away again. After the recovery room I was put into my own room and the IV's etc stayed in me until the next day.

I am so happy that we have our baby boy but I must admit that I really missed that initial bonding period that we would of had if I had given birth naturally. L was the one that spent time with him and gave him his first bath the next day because I was unable. I didn't even see his little toes and bum until day two. We are making up for lost time now but I still can't help feeling like I lost out on something. I just keep reminding myself that the C section was indeed necessary - he had the cord wrapped around his neck and would of never of come out otherwise.

It's been very hard dealing with the pain of the operation and giving birth - not to mention being in the Clinique away from home. The first few days were overwhelming to say the least. Now things are starting to settle down (my emotions included) and I am looking forward to going home tomorrow.

D- Day

Today is your Due date! Although it doesn't seem like you are any where near coming out......

We had a doctor's appt on Monday this week and while you are head down you are still not engaged. My fluid is a bit low so they recommended that we induce you. While inducing is not ideal for me - I would much rather prefer to do this naturally - I am thinking about your well being. I want you to come out strong and healthy.

I am nervous, anxious, scared but most of all looking forward to meeting you, holding you, and loving you. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

We can do this together little baby boy!

I can't wait to meet you.

Only 10 more days to go......

to the due date!  Soon I will be 39 weeks and in not too much time now we will have our LO!  Wow - 10 more days.  I can barely believe it.  This birth is all I think about (and talk about!).  All I do is sit and wait.....and wonder.....how/where/when it will happen.   It's exciting to think that we will finally get to see what our LO looks like.   I am excited, scared, anxious, nervous, etc, etc all at the same time.

It feels like I have been pregnant for 5 years.   I just can't wait for the end result.  

Come on little guy - your mommy and daddy are waiting for you!

Only 2 more months to go.........

until we meet our little one. 2 more months - that's approx 60 days. I still cannot believe it.
When I found out that I was pregnant, in the beginning the days, weeks, months seemed to strech out forever. Now that the day nears closer it seems as though the days are rushing by. We are pretty much prepared but there are still things to do. It's getting uncomfortable to move around and quite frankly I am tired of people telling me how big I am. Would they ever say such a thing if I wasn't pregnant?? And of course I am getting bigger. There is a BABY in my belly and he is growing so that he can come into this world healthy.
Wow - where did that come from???

Anyway - I am excited to meet the baby boy. There are so many things that I wonder about......what kind of personality will he have, what will he look like? Is he going to be an early riser since he seems to like to dance in my belly between 5-6am??? He always kicks when I am in the shower - will he be a water baby and love the ocean like me and his father??? I see bits and pieces of his personality now. The last time that the doctor did an ultrasound he was sucking his toes instead of his hands. Contorted into a position that only a baby could manage. The doctor actually laughed and it makes me wonder how flexible he will be when he grows up....

I used to feel kind of silly while talking to my belly but now I do it all of the time. The best is when the hubby talks to him, rubs him, and tells him how much he loves him. It brings tears to my eyes just writing about it now. It's the best thing in the world. I think that we are both in awe over this little human being in my belly. It's an amazing time for the both of us and I am so lucky to have both the baby and my hubby in my life. I don't know what I would do without them.