Two Weeks Old

Owen is already 2 weeks old!!! Life has been quite busy and sleepless (for me) as we've been packing up our apartment and getting ready to move this Thursday, but we are thoroughly enjoying our time with Owen. We are still working on following his sleep-eat-wake schedule (I'm trying to follow the 'Baby Wise' method). He eats well, every three hours, but he has started getting quite fussy at naptimes. He's still cute as ever and we have a lot of fun!

Some of our favorite things to do include watching him sleep. :) Doesn't he look so relaxed! He always wiggles his arms out of the swaddle and ends up sleeping like this.



We also love to watch all his funny faces. He can be quite entertaining at times.







We also have tried to get out of the apartment occassionally. We've run a few errands and went on a nice walk. We are really going to miss Chicago's great weather! Now Owen is getting ready to take his first airplane ride on Thursday. Arizona, here we come!!

My Birth Story

Being an L&D nurse, I love hearing people's birth stories. But I think most people are probably satisfied enough with simply knowing that a baby was born and what the time and weight was. Well, I'm going to post my story here, not because I think anyone else is really that interested in the long details, but more for my own record.

On Monday August 11th at 6:00am I checked in to Rush University Medical Center for a scheduled induction. I met my nurse and she did all her nurse duties, took my history, etc. I was only 1cm/25%/high, so Dr. Blatman decided to start me off with misoprostil/cytotec to help soften up my cervix to help get it ready for labor. He chose this over cervidil, which made me happy because it works faster. So at 9:45am the miso was placed. I just sat for a few hours and watched the olympics while being allowed to enjoy a clear liquid diet. Much better than just plain old ice chips that I was expecting!



After a few hours, Owen's heart rate started to drop. I wasn't really feeling contractions, but the dr. thought I got a bunch in a row which stressed Owen out a bit. He recovered and an hour and a half later they started to give me IV pitocin to get the contractions more regular since I was almost 2cm. Owen didn't like the contractions that started and his heart rate dropped again, so 15 minutes later they had to turn it off. The dr.'s were getting worried because they didn't know if he'd be able to tolerate labor. They were afraid I'd need to have a c-section, which I obviously wanted to avoid. They just watched me a bit, and at 4:30pm the dr. decided to break my water even though I was still only 2cm. It was clear (good) and they put a scalp electrode on his head to better watch his heart rate in case it kept dropping. Well, once that water broke my body kicked it into gear and started to boom out contractions! Without any medicine! I was wimpy and only an hour later got my epidural. The anesthesiologist came right away (so amazing!!) and got it in easily. Another hour later the dr. placed an IUPC- a pressure cather to monitor the contractions internally so you can tell just how strong they are. I was having really strong contractions already, and Owen was still dropping his heart rate a little with each contraction. They though his cord was being compressed somewhere, and I had to sit in a specific spot in order to keep it from dropping too much. They decided to start and amnioinfusion, where they infuse saline back into the uterus to help cushion the cord more. This really helped the decelerations go away. I kept contracting a lot and at this point started to progress really well. At 11pm I was 5cm/90%/0, at 12:30am I was 8.5cm/100%/+2, and at 1am was 10cm/100%/+2! I was so happy I progressed quickly, and was still amazed my body contracted on it's own without help from medicine. Unusual for an induction! Well, once I was 10cm my epidural decided to wear off. It did this a couple times earlier on and the anesthesiologist redosed it and I was fine. This time it wore off more than before, and I was QUITE uncomfortable until he was able to come redose me again. I'm kind of glad, in a strange kind of way, that it wore off because I feel like I still got a little taste of real labor pains. Anyway, the redose did wonders, and I labored down for a little while longer, waiting for me to get the urge to push. The epidural redose was a good one because I never got the urge to push I was SO numb. At 2:45 or they had me start pushing, though I couldn't feel anything (really strange but really nice), and out he came by 3:17!



Dr. Strassner, along with a resident, delivered him. He was a great doctor, very very calm about everything. Owen cried right away, I was able to hold him right away too. Josh cut the cord. His apgars were 9/10! I was so happy he looked so good, and just happy to be a mother! I was so happy I was able to have a vaginal delivery, I was so nervous I'd end up with a c-section. I did end up with a 2nd degree perineal tear, but what can you expect for your first baby.



I stayed in the hospital for two more days, and really had a good experience at Rush, despite my lack of sleep. All the nurses and dr.'s were really nice! Overall, I had a really enjoyable labor experience. I'd even consider doing it again! :)

going home from the hospital!

One Week Old

Owen is already 1 week old today! Though I'm still adjusting to life with a baby, I'm finally starting to feel somewhat like my normal self again. It helps that Owen has been a really good baby...he eats really well and sleeps a lot. We've even gone out on a few outings together. He had his second dr. appointment today to check his weight and bilirubin level. His bilirubin was totally fine, and he weighed 6lbs 8oz, up from 6lbs even on Friday. So he gained a whopping half pound in only 4 days! I'm happy to know he's getting plenty to eat. :)

1 week old, and his newborn clothes are still too big for him.


We have started to notice little changes in him already:
*His umbilical cord fell off so he's completely detached from me!
*He is starting to fill out and already has the makings of a double chin. :)
*His head has rounded out nicely and we get comments all the time about how round it is.
*He seems more alert during his short periods of awake time, and ALMOST seems like he's actually focusing on and looking right at us.
*He uses his hands a lot more, and loves to open and close them while he's eating.
*His makes new sounds and has a little whimper cry when he's hungry.
*He smiles a lot in his sleep.


1st visit to the doctor


grandma came and got to spoil him and give him lots of love


(I don't know why this is sideways)


We love him so much and he makes our life so happy!

first days at home

Owen has been a very happy baby. He sleeps and eats a lot, and occassionally is awake enough to catch pictures like these.


so cute
big yawn
first bath at home
chillin'

Video killed the radio star...

Here's a little video footage of Owen (aka little man aka Jean Luc Picard aka Mt. Baldy)

Owen Caleb Wallbrecht Born 8/12/08 at 3:17 am

He has arrived!!!



Owen was born early this morning Chicago time. Melanie did great and was a champion pusher to get him out in great time. After some initial promptings everything progressed nicely and he came into the world screaming. 6 pounds 2 ounces.


He is a cute little baldy with some blond wisps in the back. Our happy little family of THREE!!

The BIG day!

Well, tomorrow is THE BIG DAY!!! I'm going in to be induced at 6am. I will be 39 weeks. I am being induced only because the baby has to be 2 weeks old in order to fly, and we'll be flying to AZ Aug. 28th. So, yes, it's a "social induction." It's not my ideal situation, social inductions are always looked upon funny where I work, but my dr.'s were really nice about letting me do this. I was really hoping to go into labor on my own before now, but apparently Owen thinks he's not ready yet. I'm planning on it being a long induction since I'm only 1cm dilated so far, so my guess is he'll be born on Tuesday. Hopefully it won't be as late as Wednesday! Guess we'll see!

It's hard to believe we are going to be parents soon! All of this is still so surreal to me, having waited so long to get pregnant and now we're finally going to welcome a little child into our family. I thought I'd never get to this point. It's a huge blessing! Our lives are on the verge of changing forever, but we feel as ready as we'll ever be. This is what life is all about, having families! Bring on the crying baby, sleepless nights, and messy diapers!!!

38 weeks

A Good Week

So this was our last child-free week and we were really able to enjoy ourselves, relax, and spend lots of good quality time together!

Some of the highlights of what we did:

*went on lots of walks, trying very hopefully to get my labor going (didn't work.)
*swam in Lake Michigan
*picniced at The Point
*survived a big storm, with tornado sirens sounding and everything!
*got our Visa's for Ecuador!
*got a spa pedicure
*went to the Garfield Park Conservatory, a cool huge greenhouse (I forgot to take my camera)
*deep-cleaned the house
*did last minute shopping
*went to a local farmer's market
*went to the Chicago History Museum
*went to the Lincoln Park Zoo
*met up with an old high school friend for dinner, Amy N., who was in town visiting
*went out to eat several times. Our 'last' carefree, babysitter-free date was to The Melting Pot. yum!
*and Josh spent countless hours playing his new computer game. He's been in heaven. :)



picnic at The Point


leftover damage from the big storm. there were fallen trees all over the city.


an old train car at the Chicago History Museum


like Josh's new bike?! :)


all the gorillas were out and active at the zoo


nice view from the zoo


dinner at Giordano's with Amy, her husband Jon, and their son (can't see him because he was sleeping)

Fiesta del Sol

Today Josh volunteered at the Fiesta del Sol. It's a pretty big fesitival in the Hispanic neighborhood of Pilsen. He worked at a health tent screening people's blood pressure, blood sugar, etc., helped explain their results to them, and referred them to a local clinic if they had any abnormals. He had a good time and really enjoyed being able to use his Espanol skills. I think it made him more excited about working with the clinic in Ecuador too.

I met up with him later on and we walked around the festival. There were lots of vendors out, and lots of yummy food!! We got a gordita and lots of tacos. And the day couldn't have been complete without a churro!



Josh working at the health tent


Enjoying a tasty taco

yummy churro!




I also got my stroller today! It's a Chicco Trevi. I got this one because it works as a travel system with our carseat, but it folds up more compactly like an umbrella stroller. It will be easier to transport around Ecuador, I hope. Can't wait 'til a baby is in there!

We Survived

We made it through the month of July and can now look forward to all the excitement happening for us in August! Friday was my last day of work. It was sad to say goodbye because I will miss seeing all the people I work with. But I won't necessarily miss all the work and stressful times and exhaustion from being on my feet all day running around! My poor legs have had to suffer too many spider veins already. I look forward to relaxing a little more this next year (as much as you can relax with a baby).

Some of the people I'll miss:





My co-workers were nice and threw me a little baby shower last week.



Friday was also a big day for Josh-- he took Step 2 of his board exams! He had been studying full-time for the past few weeks and he was sooo ready for that to end. The exam was about 8 hours long, and he thinks he did pretty well on it. He won't find out his score for 4-6 weeks though. It's awful they make you wait that long! But he's already found himself a new computer game to play so that will keep him pretty entertained and relaxed for a while.

This next week we have several fun and relaxing things planned. It will be our last childless week. My induction is scheduled for August 11th!!! Getting so close!