7 months and a Hawaiian getaway

Boy did month 7 sneak up on us! Probably because a bulk of the month was spent preparing for our first family vacation...to Hawaii! Tom had his annual work meeting in Hawaii this year and we have had plans for a LONG time to join him after his work meeting had concluded. Tom was actually in Hawaii for 10 days for this work meeting, so that meant that Gavin and I spent those 10 days being the two amigos (well the 3 amigos if you include our dog, Marty). I can not imagine how challenging being a single parent (especially of a baby) would be long-term, because after 10 days I definitely needed this vacation and realize what a blessing it is that Tom and I get to co-parent Gavin together, sharing the many, many daily duties.

So after I successfully packed up what felt like half our house with all the things we needed for caring for Gavin away from home (including 70+ diapers), we were set to embrark on this journey to paradise. We had 3 total flights, just me and Gavin, to get to our final destination, so I was quite nervous about having so many flights without Tom being there to help. Luckily my parents came over early in the morning of the day we left and helped us to the airport. The first two flights went pretty smoothly and I had some nice fellow passengers help me get settled in the plane with Gavin. it was hectic trying to make our first connection but we made it pretty smoothly. I even was able to keep Gavin on his normal eating/nap schedule. We were planning to get him adjusted to the time change (5 hours difference) once we arrived in Hawaii. Our second flight got us to Honolulu where we were to catch our final flight to the big island of Hawaii. This was the connection I was most nervous about as I had to get our checked baggage in baggage claim and then recheck the bag as were flying a different airline this last leg of the trip and they wouldn't check my bag all the way through. But when we landed in Honolulu I called Tom to let him know we landed and MUCH to my grand surprise, he told me he was waiting at the gate as he was able to finish his final work meeting early and was able to get on the same flight as me and Gavin to the big island. Not gonna lie that I almost cried tears of joy and relief. It ended up being a miracle that Tom was able to do this as we realized that Gavin and I would have missed our flight otherwise, as even with Tom's help with our baggage we barely made our last connection.

Unfortunately, here comes the point where the trip went downhill fast. Our last flight left Honolulu about 5pm which is 10pm back home time, and Gavin woke up (way past his normal bedtime) and screamed for almost the entire last flight to the big island. Not fun, and we felt terrible for the poor guy. We knew the flights and time change would be rough for him, but it's hard to predict just how hard. And mind you that I had been fighting off residual effects of a sinus infection and a nagging hacking cough that wouldn't seem to go away, so I wasn't feeling my best either. We did finally land, though, and Tom's aunt Diane, met us at the airport and helped us back to her house where we stayed that first night. That night was rough as Gavin was out of sorts, I felt awful and couldn't seem to stop coughing, and Gavin woke up several times that first night crying.

After our fitful first night's sleep, I took a gamble looking on priceline and scored an amazing deal at a resort there called Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel, and we headed to the resort for the rest of the trip. This also, we realized in hindsight, ended up being a good decision, as Gavin had a pretty low tolerance to the heat, so it was helpful since this resort was on the beach and had it's own pool, that we could hang out for awhile outside then come back to our room for frequent air conditioned breaks. If we had continued to stay with Tom's aunt and uncle who graciously offered us a nice place in their home, we would have had to make a much grander production of packing up things to head to the beach and wouldn't have been able to stay very long before needing to go back to their house.

The other low point of the trip was once we did arrive to the resort, we realized that both Gavin and I seemed to be getting worse. Gavin had started crying much more than usual which is just not like him and I was coughing so hard it was making me vomit (sorry if this is too much information) and lost my voice. Luckily the resort had an on call physician who was able to come see us both and diagnose poor Gavin with a double ear infection and me with viral laryngitis. We got some antibiotics for Gavin and some other tips for helping him, especially on the plane ride home as an ear infection can put him at risk for his ear drum rupturing. Hearing this bit of information made me consider that we should stay in Hawaii forever rather than put him at risk for that. But we also talked with our pediatrician office back home (who thankfully have a 24 hour nurse line) and it seemed a low likelihood that this rupture would happen as long as we took the proper precautions.

So our first few days of the much anticipated Hawaiian vacation were a bit of a letdown as we spent much time in the hotel room and Tom tended to the two of us sickies, with Tom basically having to read my lips as I had no voice. But there was some light at the end of this tunnel. The antibiotics seemed to help Gavin start to feel better so we could at least take short jaunts to the pool and my throat felt better and my voice came back, so I was able to soak in some sunshine too.

So the main lesson learned certainly is that we will NEVER fly with a baby again after learning that plane rides can instigate ear infections. I felt like a terrible mother for having put our little guy through this. I'm probably being a little over dramatic about it, but seeing your baby hurting is just the worst thing ever.

Well...moving on to a more upbeat side to this blog post...Even with these downers to the trip we did get to experience some exciting "firsts" with Gavin: his first time in a swimming pool, the first time at a beach and putting his feet in the ocean, his first time wearing SUMMER clothes, and our first real vacation as a family of three.

Other highlights of the month have been Gavin getting even more neck strength on his tummy. He also wiggles to each side on his tummy now and I can tell he is itching to be able to crawl, because he is uber curious of everything in sight, wanting to hold and/or eat anything he sees. Gavin has also begun getting his first tooth. His biting on things has increased significantly, as has the drooling, and rubbing his jaw and ears-clear signs of teething. But the clearest sign of all is the little hard nubbin we can feel in his top gum starting to poke it's way through.

Half a year old baby!

You read it right folks, Gavin is 6 months old and half way to that year old mark! Time sure is flying by. I feel like he's growing so fast and some days I just want to press the pause button so he'll slow down!

To start off this month's recap we'll defer to his 6 month stats via his well baby visit.
Height: 27 inches (75th percentile)
Weight 18 lbs 0 ounces (50th percentile)
Head circumference is in the 35th percentile
He's doing great growth wise. The pediatrician was impressed at how strong he is with holding himself up on his tummy. Though he's not a regular roller overer (technical term of course) he has done it twice so we know he can do it. Normally on his tummy he likes to stick his arms and legs in the air and looks like an airplane, so cute! Also if you've ever met Gavin you'd know he loves to squeal! He gets so excited and lets out these quite loud laugh/squeal/screams, especially when we pick him up in the morning. Talk about a great way to start the day.

Gavin also continues to love sticking everything in his mouth and manipulating things in his hands. Especially crinkly sounding things like paper or wax paper. He loves to read books and hit the pictures with his palms. He'll let our the periodic squeal while we're reading so we know he likes it. One of the best parts of this last month was Gavin's first official word: "MA"!!!!! I was burping him after his bedtime meal and he just let out a big MA! Tom heard it too so I had a witness. He hasn't replicated it but it sure was a sweet moment.

This month we also got Gavin's 6 month photos taken by a photographer that did a maternity photo shoot for us while I was pregnant, Alison Geier. She does fantastic work but she even exceeded our expectations with the photos she took of Gavin. I called her the baby whisperer when she left our house (where we had the photos taken) because in the hour and a half she was there Gavin was just beaming from ear to ear with smiles and she got SO MANY great shots. We can't wait to choose through them so we can get some framed. We realized that we don't have a single photo of Gavin framed in our house yet. I guess just being a parent has taken up too much time to think about printing out some of the hundreds of photos we've taken of him. But that will soon change of course now that we have such great professional shots.

Also this month we entered the world of solid food. When he was 5 1/2 months we started him on rice cereal and mixed it with some of his milk in hopes he would like it better. But that first try around he HATED It and gave us some pretty priceless grimace faces. And that trend continued for the next almost 2 1/2 weeks. We backed off for a bit since he really didn't like it. Then once he officially turned 6 months old we added in carrots, then sweet potatoes. At first he wasn't a fan of those either, but one night we had a breakthrough and he just started opening his mouth wide and downing the food! We now have ourselves a very happy, healthy eater on our hands.

The other new development this month has been Gavin slighty changing his normal (or should I say old normal) sleep schedule. He's been fighting off so many colds over the last couple of months which was causing him to wake up every so often in the middle of the night. Not fun for Tom and I but we made it through. He now goes to bed between 6:30-7:00 at night and wakes up about 6:00am. He was previously still taking 4 naps a day and this has started to cut down to 2-3 naps a day. And the naps even have gotten longer. Just the other day he pulled a whopping 3 hour nap-woo hoo!

Tom and I really can't get enough of this little boy and have thoroughly enjoyed seeing him grow and change everyday. And we're so excited for each day we look forward watching that continue!

5 months old!

Oh baby Gavin, how you continue to grow and grow! Tom and I routinely look at each other in marvel and wonder how all this time could have passed since Gavin entered our lives. I can truly say that having Gavin has showed me the true capacity that our hearts have to love. When it's just me, Tom, and Gavin sitting and playing around together I feel my heart swell. It's like that part in The Grinch where his heart just grows and grows. I know it's pretty mushy to gush like this, but I feel so lucky to be able to say that we really have such a happy, easy baby. He sleeps through the night 99.9% of the time, rarely ever cries unless he's overtired or hungry, and even then he is so easily soothed. How did we get so lucky?!

So what, you may ask, is new with this little bundle of joy? He is a very social little baby, pouring out smiles to anyone he sees. I love how when I pick him up in the morning from his crib or from daycare he giggles and squeals in delight. Makes my heart melt. He's still a babbling boy, "talking" up a storm. One morning Tom and I just laughed and laughed at Gavin when he was talking SO loudly in his crib for a good half an hour. It was at 5:00 am and our typical rule of thumb is to not get him up before 6:00 am unless he's fussing or crying, so he gets used to sleeping in a little bit later. So after a half hour of this babbling to himself, he fell back asleep. This has also been a recent theme where Gavin has been able to do a bit more self soothing to fall asleep. We don't personally ascribe to the cry it out rule, but instead we rock him and place him in his crib just a tad bit awake. Most times he falls right asleep. I still take pleasure in being able to cuddle as we rock him before we put him in his crib, such a special bonding time.

We also had a follow up appointment following up on his ear infection (what emerged after his nearly month long cold the poor guy dealt with), and luckily it's all healed. He's also steadily gaining weight (mostly in his cute chubby cheeks I joke) and growing so tall. He's already starting to wear 9 month clothes and his feet already reach the end of them since he's so tall. It is really fun getting to swap out his wardrobe on a nearly monthly basis. Luckily we have found some really great deals online on baby clothes. I've already been stocking up on summertime clothes especially given that our Hawaiian getaway (joining Tom on his work trip there) is just 2 months away! I found a super adorable pair of baby sunglasses and a couple of bucket hats to protect his little bald head.

Also this month Gavin reached another milestone by rolling over for the first time! He also loves to "fly" around via me and Tom's arms toting him in the air. He is still trying to taste everything by putting anything he can in his mouth, including our fingers too. He loves to read books on our laps, and will reach out and slap the pictures. And of course, he tries to put the books in his mouth too! He's also a chip off the old block taking after his Daddy learning early how to "play" piano.

Well those are the highlights for this month!

Gavin's birth story

I've been thinking about writing this post for awhile, because I think there's something quite incredible about birth stories. Every one is different and unique. And I find myself losing touch with some of the details as time goes by, and I'd like to be able to remember, so here it goes as far as documenting the story...

Gavin was originally due September 10, 2010. We had an appointment with my doctor on that date and was told there was really not much happening as far as progress goes, other than the fact that he was a bit lower in my belly. They hooked me up to a machine to see if there were any even mild contractions going on, and there was pretty much nothing happening. My doctor's office agrees to induce you once you're a week late (unless of course there are other riskier factors going on), so we made another office visit appointment for the following week on September 17th. I was officially done with work on the 16th too. At this appointment, my doctor said I was "barely" one inch dilated. At this point I was VERY ready to not be pregnant anymore. It had been a long HOT summer (3rd hottest August on record), so I was ready to meet my little guy. So my doctor agreed to have us come to the hospital the next day, Saturday the 18th, to be induced, as my doctor was already scheduled to be at the hospital this day this plan seemed perfect. She told us the birthing unit would call us that Saturday morning as early as 6am but no later than 8am to tell us to come on in for the induction. If they were full on the birthing unit, though, they may tell us to come in later in the day.

So that Friday, Tom and I went out to eat for the last time as a family of two. I didn't sleep the greatest that night because I was anxious with anticipation of what was to come. I also woke up at 5am on Saturday because I wanted to be able to shower and eat a good breakfast before all the excitement began. Then Tom and I waited for the phone call from the hospital. And waited, and waited some more. By 8:00am I was wondering why they hadn't called since they were supposed to by then. My nerves were also getting the best of me at that point, so I called the triage line at the birthing center and talked with a nurse there. She apologized for not having called yet, explaining they were currently full but would call me soon when she had an idea of when we could come in. So more waiting and waiting and waiting. By somewhere around 10:00 I still hadn't heard from them, so I called again. My anxiety and nerves were taking over by now. The nurse said they were still full but that in the next few hours they should have space for me. So Tom and I sat and watched some TV and ate lunch. At 1:00 we FINALLY got the call to come in!

It felt kind of funny walking into the hospital not even in labor yet but knowing the next time I'd be leaving, we'd have a baby! After we got there we still had to wait for them to register me and get me into my room. My doctor came in a little before 4:00 to talk about options for the induction. At this point, I still really wanted to try to go pain med free, so we decided to try one of the least intense inductions options, a cervix ripener. I know, quite the name, but this is a birthing story so it's not for the faint of heart! They gave this to me at 4:00 and it wasn't long before I started to have mild contractions. Tom and I did a lot of walking around the halls to try to get things going. At this point the contractions were becoming more moderate where i would have to stop walking to take deep breaths. And the contractions were coming really fast and lasting pretty long too. Early in labor contractions may be every 5-10 minutes around 30-60 seconds long. Mine were coming every 1-2 minutes and lasting a minute long. So it was basically one constant stream of contractions. Even with this, though, I was still only 1 centimeter dilated by mid-evening. Very frustrating to say the least.

Generally you can receive multiple doses of the particular cervix ripener they had given me, but my doctor said they wouldn't be able to do this because my contractions were already coming too fast. So she gave us the option of waiting thru the night to see if I made any progress or could start pitocin. I wasn't at a point yet where they could break my water either as they generally want you about 2-3 centimeters dilated in order to be able to do that. I really didn't want to have to use pitocin unless absolutely necessary, so Tom and I decided to try to get some sleep and see if anything had changed come morning. My doctor then stepped out of the room and the nurse (we had many during our stay since I was there so long, but this one was sadly the one nurse we really did not like--the others were fabulous) came up to me and said basically that I might as well accept the fact that I was going to need pitocin and that having to be induced pretty much guarantees the fact that you'll need pain meds, then left the room. Rude! At this point I pretty much burst into tears. I was already scared about labor and definitely didn't need a snarky nurse to be so blunt and completely disregard what I wanted for my labor. Even if she was right, this was no way to talk to me about it. So Tom, being the wonderful husband he is, went and got my doctor to come back to the room. We had a big conversation about what the nurse had said to me and I could tell my doctor was mad. I've said it before, but I have a TON of respect for my doctor and she got more brownie points at this point because she brought in the snarky nurse and basically told her that this was my labor and that it was perfectly fine for me to wait and see what happens overnight before being pushed into using pitocin before I felt ready. Luckily at this point it was the end of snarky nurse's shift and we got one of the many wonderful, kind nurses to replace her.

I tried getting some rest but couldn't fall asleep because I was contracting so often, so they gave me some meds to help sleep and was able to get about 5 hours of sleep. I woke up about 5 am and they checked me and I was just barely 2 centimeters dilated. Boo. Tom and I talked again and decided that we had tried what we could at this point so it was time to start pitocin. Luckily I was able to eat breakfast before they started the pitocin so I'd have some energy. At this point my doctor's shift was over so she introduced us to her partner who would be taking over. It was pretty hilarious because this partner could have been her twin sister! I wasn't thrilled about having a different doctor, but my doctor said they had worked together for years so this gave me more faith.

So the piton started. It didn't take much and my contractions quite quickly became more intense and my water broke. They were still coming with the same frequency but this time very intense. It's funny that this is where my memory starts to get foggy, but it makes sense because the pain was so intense at this point. I tried to do more walking around but was in too much pain. So we tried a few pain management techniques by sitting in a rocking chair, sitting and rocking on a bouncy ball, heat to my back, pressure to my back, and a technique where they inject fluid into your lower back. It became quickly apparent that I was having what they call "back labor" because I had so much pain in my back. This is where the baby instead of coming out face down is coming out face up, so hits your pelvis and presses against your back more than normal, thus the back labor. The pain was so bad at this point that all I could do was whisper as far as communication goes. I MAY have gotten a bit annoyed with Tom too at times when he would ask me to repeat myself when he couldn't understand things I was saying. But I know he was doing all he could for me.

After hours of this, sometime in the afternoon, they checked me again and I was a whopping 3 centimeters. Feeling defeated was an understatement. I had now been in labor for over 24 hours and both mentally and physically couldn't take the pain any longer. So the anesthesiologist was paged and gave me an epidural. I had heard that the needle that gives the epidural can be even more painful than the contractions, but I barely even noticed it. I felt sad and a bit guilty that my labor plan was basically out the window at this point, but was continually reminded that there's so failure with giving birth, that you just have to do what you can to get thru it. There was also a bit of a disappointing realization that the epidural definitely numbed my legs but I was still feeling the contractions. They had me roll from one side to the other in hopes that this would help the medicine disperse. It was news to me that the epidural can settle to one side of your body if you lay on one side too long. Then I basically passed out asleep for about an hour. When I woke up the pain was very intense again, so the anesthesiologist was paged again to check to see if my epidural was in the right position. It was correctly positioned, but was seeming to wear out so they gave me another dose or what they called "bollis" (not really sure how you spell that). They also had me try laying in this wacky contortionist position on my side with my arm behind me in hopes that Gavin would flip around before birth. Inexplicably I fell asleep again in this wonky position. Upon waking awhile later the pain was all back again. The nurse was concerned, saying it's not normal to have the epidural wear out like this and they paged the anesthesiologist again. He redosed me again. The good news is that each time I woke up they checked me and I was making significant progress at this point. I credit the progress to the pitocin helping things progress, but probably even more so to the epidural for helping take away at least a bit of the pain so I could relax enough to let my body do the work to dilate further.

Also at this point it was mid-evening and I hadn't eat anything since 6am. I thought I would be hungry but I wasn't in the least bit. The only thing was that I was so thirsty. Once they started the pitocin they wouldn't let me drink anymore fluids in case of a need for a c-section, so instead was given IV fluids. Anyone who knows me knows that I almost always have a water bottle pratically attached to my hip. They did let me try a grape Popsicle and ice chips to quench my thirst, but this made me nauseous and ended up throwing up 3 times. Great husband moment #827363 was when Tom held the barf bag for me. That's love folks.

The rest of the evening was a blur really but sometime around 10ish I was feeling like I had to push so they checked and indeed I was 10 centimeters! Since I was only 90% effaced it took a bit longer to get to the 100% effaced status they wanted, and at this point it was a bit after 11. My nurse at this point was Gidget, that's right Gidget was her name! And she gave me the go ahead to try a few pushes while the doctor and what felt like loads of other people got the room ready for delivery. They had a little earlier turned off my epidural, explaining that they do this so I can feel the contractions during delivery and be able to have more productive pushes. And oh did I feel every bit of those contractions. Gidget told me that for a lot of women this portion of labor is more manageable because with the contractions you can push against them and at least feel like you have some control. For me this was true. It felt good to know that the end was in sight. They also had a big mirror in the room so I could see the progress for myself. Also very helpful. It was also helpful to have both Tom and Gidget to coach me on how much longer my contractions were going to be for each push. After 2 hours of pushing, at 1:29 am on Monday, September 20, 2010, Gavin Denison Getchius made a quick final entry into the world! The wonky contortionist position they had me lay in worked in getting Gavin to flip around because he came out face side down. They immediately set him on my chest and the first thought and words out of my mouth were, "he's so beautiful!". Even with the cone head and big dent on his forehead where his head hit my pelvis he was the most gorgeous baby I'd ever seen. He weighed in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces and was 20 inches long. And have I mentioned he was beautiful?! My favorite quote from Tom shortly after the birth with an astonished look on his face was, "that was a lot of blood.". This coming from the guy who likes watching shows like "200 pound tumor" on Discovery Health.

Gavin didn't cry right away after birth, so they had to suction his lungs but he did get a 7 and 9 on his Apgar scores and they deemed him healthy as a horse. It was amazing how much physically better I felt the second he was delivered too! Minus me getting some uncontrollable shakes (which they told me was normal), I felt so much better with this rush of adrenaline. Once they finished taking care of me, Gavin and I got some wonderful bonding time. I couldn't believe how alert he was. Tom and I were just in awe of this precious little boy that was all ours. We are so lucky and happy to have him and now can't imagine life without him. Tom was also able to steal away a couple minutes to go out and greet both of our parents/the new grandparents and my brother/the new uncle who had patiently been waiting in the waiting room since late Sunday evening for the news. Over the next two days we also had a bunch of friends and Pastor Paul from our church visit to give Gavin blessing. We are blessed to have so many people who love us and Gavin.

The next 2 days in the hospital were a whirlwind with barely any sleep because as soon as Gavin would be asleep and I would dose off a nurse or doctor would come in to take my vitals or one of a million other things. We got many comments that Gavin was a very calm baby. He would only let out a little cry when he was hungry and then was quite easily soothed. For the most part, this is a trend that has continued. He did have some jaundice but luckily not bad enough o require any further treatment.

Despite the total of 33 1/2 hours of labor, I would do it all again in a heart beat to be able to have Gavin. And going thru labor now makes me believe that any woman who has been thru labor is a hero! And here are the main lessons I learned that I will keep stored away for the future in case Gavin ever gets a sibling:
-eat a good, yet not large, wholesome meal before you go into the intense portion of labor (if you can)
-in the last days of pregnancy get as much sleep as you can. Once Gavin was born I didn't sleep for more than 1-3 hours at a time for a couple months.
-do a lot of thinking about your ideal birth plan but remember the most important thing is to be flexible. You never know how things will progress. And in the end you just need to find a way to get through the labor.
-if you need pain meds you are not a failure. While I don't think they should be overused or used if the pain can be alternatively managed, if you can't cope with the pain that's what that are there for. I had always said, I've run a marathon, I can get thru labor pain med free. Wrong, the pain was in no way comparable in my case to the marathon.
-don't be afraid to advocate for yourself. Of course you need to take medical advice seriously but you also have to feel right about your decisions on your birth process.

Well it felt good to write this down, if for nothing else as a way to keep the memories of Gavin's birth ever present for Tom and I. I know his birth was definitely the most special day of both Tom and my lives.

My baby is 4 months old!

Another month has sailed by with Gavin! He continues to be the apple of our eye :). Or pumpkin, sugar pie, snuggle bug, cutie pie, sweet cheeks, or any of the other pet names we have for him. It's amazing how this little baby continues to develop into a life full of personality and charm.

Today we had Gavin's 4 month appointment and his stats are looking great:
26 inches long= 85% for height
15 lbs, 8 oz = 65% for weight
and his head is in the 45% for head circumference

The one sad note of the appointment is that there's not much we can do at this point for his nasty cold he's been fighting off since December 23rd. That's right, almost a MONTH-ugh! We both got sick right before Christmas. His cold at that point was just a stuffy nose and after 2 weeks of that he started developing a cough. We took him to his pediatrician who thought it was a virus, and thus, not much we could do about it. We have these saline drops we put in his nose and then clean it out with a bulb syringe. You can guess how much he LOVES this process. Then last week we got a call from daycare that he had a fever of 100.8 and that we'd have to pick him up for the day (policy at daycare) and that he just wasn't himself, and had awoken from a nap quite inconsolably crying. Gavin is VERY easily soothed generally so this was concerning as well. By the time I got there a half hour later they said he was refusing to eat and they had retaken his temp which had spiked to 102.5. For a baby this is really high, so I immediately called our doctor's office nurse line and they told me to take him straight to the ER (and recommend this if it's over 101.5 for a baby his age). So of course, I was terrified and drove like a crazy woman as quickly (yet safely) as I could to Children's Hospital's ER. Tom met me there and luckily we had a great doctor and nurse care for him. They gave him Tylenol which helped break the fever but the testing they did to rule out what was going on was almost just as bad, if not worse, than his actual symptoms. They drew blood which involved one man squeezing his wrist and holding his arm down and then the nurse taking his blood which seemed to take forever since his blood wasn't draining very quickly. He screamed the whole time. Then they had to take a urine sample by giving him a catheter. Also screamed the entire time. Then they did a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia and it involved strapping him to the x-ray bed with his arms strapped up above his head. It was torture for him and us as we had to stand behind the glass wall and watch him scream his little lungs out. AWFUL. And after all that testing they determined it was still a virus. They did encourage us to let him sleep in his car seat though so he could be somewhat elevated and not have so much drainage irritating his throat. So we've been continuing the same old same old but it doesn't seem to be getting much better and on Monday he spiked another fever up to 100.2. The pediatrician thought that he could have caught another little bug since his immune system is more vulnerable as he's fighting off the current cold. Lovely. From now on, I'm going to start acting like a linebacker towards anyone who comes within 50 feet of my baby with a cold!

So on the BRIGHT side, Gavin has been developing beautifully otherwise. He has been continuing to eat well and has been becoming VERY social. Just for the last week he's been starting to squeal in delight at things, including when he sees me or Tom, which we LOVE. He also babbles like crazy which is so cute. And when we put him on his changing table, he kicks his feet and moves his arms like a wild man. I think he'll be a runner like his mommy :). I also bought Gavin 2 presents this week from Once Upon A Child, which is a fantastic store of second hand kid's items. I got Gavin a bouncy seat and an exersaucer. We haven't tried out the exersaucer yet but he sure loved the bouncy seat given how much he loves to kick his legs. Gavin has also thoroughly been enjoying the discovery of both his hands and feet. He now sticks his fingers (and anything else he can get ahold of) in his mouth and loves to grab his feet when we're changing his diaper. His other new favorite activity is grabbing Mommy's hair, earrings, and necklaces. For a long haired woman who likes her jewelry this is painful! But I can see the temptation, being that necklaces and earrings are so sparkly and fun for a baby. It is really fun for us to see him be able to learn new things almost daily.

This past month we also got to spend our first Christmas with our little sweet man. Even though both Gavin and I were sick, it was so fun to get to spend the day together as a family. We started our new family tradition of singing Christmas carols around the piano, serenaded by Tom's amazing piano skills, of course. Gavin wore his adorable Santa-esc outfit and looked as cute as ever. Then my parents and brother came over for dinner and present opening. Gavin, of course, got very spoiled. Needless to say, we won't need to be buying him clothes till he's a year old now.

Well I think that's the main news of month 4, thanks for following our family stories!

Month 3!!!!

I know I say it all the time, but I can't believe how fast Gavin is growing up! This last month has been very eventful for our little family. Gavin continues to grow taller and taller and is even out growing some of his 3-6 month clothes because he's so long in length. He has also been cooing, giggling, and trying to talk a ton. This has definitely made parenting more fun because he is so much more interactive and we can't get enough of how his face lights up when he smiles. Some of his favorite phrases are "ah-goo", "ah-ooo", and "rah". He's pretty hilarious when he says the "oo" sound because he purses his lips so dramatically. I keep saying he's going to be a big talker like his daddy :).

Gavin is also getting quite close to rolling over from his tummy to back as he keeps trying to kick his little legs to the side when he's on his tummy. He has also started to be able to grasp things in his cute little pudgy fingers and has tried putting a few things in his mouth....I know this trend will continue! He also loves standing on our laps and his eyes get so big when he does, he seems so proud of himself! The other day he broke out in an enormous fit of giggles when some water spilled on the coffee table and Tom wiped it up--not sure why it was hilarious to him, but his laughter was contagious for us!

At the beginning of Gavin's third month we made the long trek to Wisconsin to visit Tom's family for Thanksgiving. It's normally a 4 1/2 hor drive but ended up being over 6 hours because we had to feed Gavin twice. But it was really nice to introduce Gavin to the rest of Tom's family as his brothers and Tom's grandma hadn't met Gavin yet. We even got a four generation pic of Gavin, Tom, Tom's dad, and Tom's grandma.

On December 12th Gavin was baptized, a joyous, happy, and quite memorable day for many reasons. We were very proud to welcome Gavin into our church community. The day before the baptism we got one of the biggest blizzards in Minnesota history, about 18 inches of snow! Because of this none of Tom's family made it, but my parents, our faith group at church, and Gavin's wonderful sponsors, Becky and Jeromy Carlson, all made it. And Becky's mom, Susan Weaver, a pastor at our church, baptized Gavin. This was really special as well since she married Tom and I and I have known her since Becky and i became friends 13 years ago! Gavin was a trooper and slept thru most of the baptism, startling awake when the water touched his head but not crying.

This month also brought the very sad end of my maternity leave. I feel like it flew by in a blink of an eye, especially given the multitude of health problems I was dealing with during those 3 months. Tom and I were talking that I think I went to the doctor more post-partum than I did for all my pregnancy visits. But alas, I did end up going back to work which has been going well. The first day was definitely the hardest but it's slowly gotten easier. I had one really tough day when we got a bunch of snow and it took me an hour and 45 minutes to get home from work from Eden Prairie to our home in Eagan and Gavin was already asleep so I didn't get to see him at all. Luckily most days I'm able to get home in time to feed him and rock him to sleep which are moments I treasure.

And speaking of sleep, Gavin continues to be a rock star sleeper. He routinely goes to bed between 6-7 at night and wakes up between 5:30-6:30 in the morning. He's pretty much amazing in my book! I have felt a lot more alive now that I can get a solid 8 hours of sleep! He also sleeps quite a bit better than he used to during the day as well. I've tried to follow a lot of tips I read about in the "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" book which have helped. The book recommends trying to put them down for a nap within 2 hours of when they wake up throughout the day and that tactic really seems to work for him.

Lastly, as far as new events in our little guy's young life was his start at daycare. We bring him to a center very close to our home and really like it so far. The woman who primarily takes care of him is Patty and she's great with him, showing him lots of love, which we love! There are 8 total babies in his class all under a year old and 2 women caring for them. They each have their own crib for naps and tons of toys to entertain them with.

Well that's all for this month. I'm sure we'll have even more to share next month as he explore the world and continue to grow!

So thankful

This evening I was given the opportunity and privilege to address our congregation and share some words surrounding Psalm 139 and the gift of new life. As I'm so thankful for each of you who support Jackie and I throughout this amazing time of transition, I thought it fitting to share the message I shared at Immanuel with you as we give thanks.

Love - Tom

--------
Our story of the gift of life and the gift of our son, Gavin Denison Getchius, is not one of tremendous overcoming or of extraordinary circumstances. This is a story of the power of God using two ordinary people and blessing them with the gift of new life.

My wife, Jackie, and I had discussions for many months of when we'd like to expand our family beyond two, well, we have a Golden Retriever Marty.

• When would be the right time?
• What will we name him or her?
• Will he or she go to Luther?
• Will we be able to afford college in 20 or so years?
• Are we ready for this life changing event?
• Should we have one last hurrah and take a trip, just the two of us?

If you know anything about my wife and I, we are planful people, Jackie much more than I. Jackie's ideal plan would be to have twin girls in June 2010 so she could have the summer off of work, we'd have two kids, and that would be that. But that was not God's plan, and as many of you know, we had happy and healthy son, Gavin, in September earlier this year. God must've chuckled at how much we tried to plan but threw us a bone; Gavin came 10 days past his due date, at 1:29am. I haven't seen 1:29am since college! We are so thankful that Gavin and Jackie were extremely healthy all throughout the pregnancy.

When Gavin was born, our world completely turned upside down, sideways, and everything in-between. We marveled at his birth of his perfectly formed body, minus a little swelling of the head, all his fingers (he's got long fingers and going to be a piano player, I just know it), beautiful bright eyes like my wife Jackie, cute dimples (also from Jackie), strong legs built for running (Jackie), and all 10 toes (we both have all our toes). We've adjusted to the lack of sleep, the fussy times, the dirty and wet diapers, and the crying where you don't know what's wrong. He's even surprised us by sleeping through the night on his 2-month birthday. And though it hasn't happened since, I eagerly await the consistency!

As many of you know, when God blesses you with children, whether they are adopted or your own, life has new meaning, purpose, and zeal. It's not about us, nor was it ever, it's about family, love and giving thanks. It's about taking the time to reflect on change, new life, new responsibility, and new things to be thankful for.

I'm thankful for...

• my wonderful wife, who is an amazing caretaker, partner, and mother. Without her by my side I would not be half the man I am today.
• my parents, inlaws, brothers, grandparents, and cousins. Their outpouring of love during this transition and transformation has been overwhelmingly wonderful and for that we are thankful.
• this church family and our faith group. Your cards, gifts, notes, meals, prayers, encouragement, smiles, calls, and everything else that I can't think of has been an extension of the hand of God helping a brother and sister in need.
• our friends who have come to clean our house, cook a meal, spend time with Jackie and Gavin during the day has been such an act of service and love.
• our Creator, Redeemer, Father, Friend, and Savior. To God be the glory.

2 months old!

Our baby boy keeps growing and changing everyday, and we love him more and more too! Gavin had his 2 month well baby checkup today and he's doing really great :). Here are his stats:
Weight : 13 pounds, 2 ounces (85th percentile)
Height: 24 inches (90th percentile)
Head circumference: 15 1/2 inches (35th percentile)
So Tom and I have decided he's going to be quite the tall fellow. At least he hasn't seemed to inherit my very large head! He did get 4 total vaccinations today--1 orally and 3 shots. It was really hard seeing him scream with the shots and after the appointment he took a 2 1/2 hour nap. Now I'm giving him some extra cuddle time because I felt bad for him. So he's taking nap #2 in my arms while I write this blog post one handed. See, I have already mastered the art of multitasking!

In other news, this past month since I last blogged has been full of visits. Gavin is quite popular! Tom's mom visited for a weekend, my parents have visited several times (and Gavin continues his trend of sleeping the whole time they are here), we went out to lunch with Tom's coworkers with Gavin, and I brought Gavin to my office to introduce him to my coworkers. Not to mention several visits from our friends and a gathering with our faith group from church where we had all 3 faith group babies present--Gavin, Megan (born 3 weeks after Gavin), and Myah (10 months old). We are quite blessed to have so many people who love Gavin.

Gavin continues to bring us much, much joy. He smiles A TON and these aren't just liitle smirks, these are big, open mouth, show off his dimples, melt our hearts grins :). I love them! He also loves laying on his play mat with toys hanging above him and will wiggle his feet and swing his arms up in the air to swat at the toys. He'll even squeal in delight every now and again.

As far as sleep goes, each day is unpredictable. We have had a couple times where we will bring Gavin on an outing and he'll fall asleep in the car ride home so we just keep him in the car seat when we get home as to not wake him, and he's had a couple times where he has slept 10-12 hours after this! Unfortunately these couple times were normally from 2pm to midnight. BUT 2 nights ago he actually slept the entire night through-6pm to 6am! It was wonderful! Unfortunately since I'm breastfeeding I didn't get to sleep the whole night through, but I'm sure glad both Gavin and Tom could :). At today's pediatrician visit, the doctor recommended that we start trying to teach Gavin to fall asleep on his own rather than having to fall asleep in our arms, which he pretty much almost exclusively does. She suggested leaving him for 3-5 minutes alone and if he's still crying to come soothe him in his crib if possible without picking him up then leaving for another 3-5 minutes. We'll see how this plan goes. I'm not too excited about hearing him cry but I know it'll be for the best in the end.

I have about 2 1/2 weeks of my maternity leave left and I must say I'm really not looking forward to going back to work. It's not that I don't like my job, but I would love to be able to keep caring for Gavin and it'll be really hard to leave him with someone else. On the bright side we do really like the child care center we have found so that should help.

The last thing on my mind at this time are the holidays to come. This week we will go on our first road trip to Wisconsin to visit Tom's family for Thanksgiving. It'll be a chance for Gavin to meet the rest of the Getchi clan as so far Tom's parents are the only ones who have. But I must say I'm really looking forward to Christmas. It is my favorite holiday and it will be even more special this year being a family of three. Tom and I talked about beginning a new family tradition of singing Christmas carols around our piano on Christmas morning. I can't wait! And I just ordered a Santa onesie outfit for Gavin to wear on Christmas so he's just going to be the cutest baby ever. :).

Happy 1 month birthday!

1 month-holy moly! All at one time that feels like a really long time and just a second of time on the other hand. It's been so fun to get to know him more everyday and see all the cute things he does that make us fall more in love with him daily. Tom and I both agree that he makes some of the best faces, everything from gassy smiles showing off his dimples (inherited from his Denison genes!) to puzzled expressions to cute yawns to curious glances with his big blue eyes. He also loves to look at people's faces, swinging in his swing, staring at his mobile in his crib, and kicking his feet while laying on his play mat. He's also getting quite the strong neck since we try to have daily tummy time too. He's not quite sold on the bath thing yet, though. He doesn't cry during baths, but has a generally freaked out look on his face during them, so we try to make them brief. I'm sure he'l grow to love them eventually. I feel like he's growing so much everyday and it makes me glad that he has a healthy appetite. He's even starting to grow out of some of his newborn clothes. He doesn't have another pediatrician appointment until he's 2 months old so we'll have to wait until then to know how much he weighs, though. As for sleep, things are gradually improving in that area. We still struggle to get him to take naps, but car rides seem to be a sure bet to get him to fall asleep. Night time feedings are overall getting better too, as he'll eat every 3-4 hours and typically fall right back to sleep after he's done eating. We hope this trend continues! We've also continued to be blessed with so many people bringing us meals-such an enormous help! And my parents came over this past Sunday and watched Gavin for a bit while Tom and I went on our first outing together without him to Starbucks. It was a nice break for both of us and were glad that Gavin slept the whole time we were gone (must have been showing off for the grandparents!). Overall I'd say things are getting a little easier everyday and we sure love our little man a whole lot!

2 week old Gavin

It's hard to believe that we've had baby Gavin now for two whole weeks! In some ways that feels like a long time and in other ways it's flown by. One thing is for sure that it's been a roller coaster so far. We've had many, many joys and some tears too, but couldn't be happier that he's here. Since Tom last posted Gavin has been growing and flourishing. His jaundice is now completely gone with no remaining yellow tint to his skin. With that he hasn't been quite as sleepy which makes for much easier feedings as before he fell asleep constantly when I tried to nurse. He also had his second pediatrician visit today which went really well. The doctor said he's in great health. As for his stats at this point, he weighs 8 pounds, 8 ounces putting him in the 50th percentile. He's 21.5 inches long, putting him in the 80th percentile. And his head circumference is in the 50th percentile as well. He does have a bit of an eye infection we're treating with antibiotic eye drops, but other than that, he's in tip top shape. Some little tid bits about Gavin... He loves to have his hands free and they can almost always be found by his face. He also makes some pretty funny faces. Everything from big grimaces to gassy smiles to big open eyes showing his wrinkly forehead to puzzled expressions. He is definitely very expressive. He also likes to grunt a lot which the pediatrician said is just his way of being vocal as he definitely has no problems in the diaper department if you catchnmy drift! We both love when he has his big steely blue eyes open because he really seems to take in a lot when he does.

As for me, my recovery has been frustratingly slow and difficult. As Tom talked about, I developed three separate infections after labor and am on my second round of antibiotics now to try to combat this. Luckily I am definitely doing a lot better now than I was even a week ago, but I've been ordered to do absolutely no exercise for at least another week to let my body try to heal. This has been pretty tough, because for those who know me, I love to stay active and have been looking forward to working my way back up to running again since I took a hiatus from this while pregnant. But I'm trying to be patient and take things one day at a time. Tom has been an enormous help to me these past 2 weeks, and I truly couldn't have made it through without him. He's been doing lots of diaper duty, laundry, dishes, and taking care of Marty so I can rest and feed Gavin. The other piece that has been so helpful has been the support of our family and friends. My parents made us over 5 meals and we've had multiple friends make us meals as well. I never realized what an immense help it is to not have to worry about what to make for mealtime. This past Saturday night we had some friends over (the WOWZAs and MANZAs as we refer to them) and they prepared and even cleaned up a wonderful meal for Tom and I. This was extra special because since neither Tom or I have any sisters, my WOWZAs have become Gavin's faux aunties. These wonderful ladies even gave me a fabulous gift when they visited--super soft and comfy pajamas which will definitely come in handy in the weeks to come.

Well that's the latest in the life of our family of three. We'll be trying to add new posts every now and then, but it likely won't be quite as regular as during the pregnancy as things are busier now. Thanks for all of your support though!

Baby G's name revealed: Gavin Denison Getchius

At long last, I have time to write this post. However, it's coming from Dad, not Mom. Let me share with you a few updates about Gavin Denison Getchius and Mom.

Jackie was induced on Saturday, September 18th at 4pm CDT. She delivered Gavin at 1:29am CDT on Monday, September 20. That's right, over 30 hours of labor. You'll probably guess correctly that this picture was taken before any of the medicine, walking, and contractions started. We wanted to document our excitement for meeting our Baby Boy!

Gavin greeted the world calmly. The physicians thought there might be something wrong with his airway as he was rapidly taking shallow breaths. However, after sucking the fluid out of his lungs, he turned out to be just fine. He weighed in at 7lbs 13oz, measuring a long 20". Jackie and I were so relieved for the pushing and the labor process to be over.

Gavin, Jackie and I came home Tuesday evening and were relieved, scared, and happy all at the same time. Relieved that we wouldn't be walked in on by another nurse to check on Jackie or Gavin, scared to care for this new tiny human being, and happy that he's here and mostly healthy (he had a little bit of jaundice, which has since passed).

Yesterday was Gavin's first appointment with his pediatrician. He is doing remarkably well, almost completely jaundice free and regaining all his weight since birth. Jackie however has been a little stricken with the aftershock of the birth. We went to see her physician and found that Jackie has developed a bladder infection and mastitis. On top of that, last night she fought off a 102.1 fever and got no sleep.

But today is a new day. Jackie fed him at 9am, got some rest from 10-Noon while Gavin and I had some tummy time, and all have eaten lunch at 12:30.

Parenting is certainly a roller coaster. At times you are so in love with your baby and your spouse, other times you wonder if you have the strength to carry on, and others you push through and pull deep within you to make it happen.

I can't close this post without thanking Jackie's physician that helped us through the entire pregnancy and aftercare. Without her wisdom, training, guidance, and expertise, we would be muddling though this.

Thank you to the nurses that helped Jackie through the delivery and the pushing to greet Gavin. Their passion for treating their patients and their unbelievable motivation to keep going through the pain is awe inspiring.

Thank you to both of our parents. To mine for the prayers, support, gifts, calls, and everything else that comes to mind. To Jackie's for their meals, taking Marty, the pictures, and the love that they show both of us.

Thank you to our Immanuel church family for prayers, advice, comfort, and helping hands. A special thanks to Pastor Paul for providing a blessing to Gavin in the hospital and to Pastor Susan for her wisdom, prayers, and love for our family.

And finally a huge thank you to our friends. Your laughter, crying, joy, meals, movies, visits, and love mean so much to us. We appreciate everything you are to us in this transition.

Love,

Tom, Jackie, and Gavin (and Marty)

First time in the car seat

Proud Papa!

Loving Mama!

A very happy family :)

Week 40: We made it!

Today is September 10th, the official due date for Baby G! I can't believe the 40 weeks have come to pass now and that it could be any day till we meet our baby boy. Though we don't know when he'll make his appearance I think Tom and I are doing a pretty good job at this point in being patient waiting for him to decide when the right time is. I'll admit I'd prefer it to be sooner than later because I'm REALLY ready to not be pregnant anymore. But I've made it 40 weeks so a few more days isn't so bad.

We had yet another prenatal appointment this week and there really wasn't any sort of progress to report. I did get a 30 minute non-stress test where they hooked me up to a machine that measures the baby's heartbeat and any contraction activity. They did this test to see if there were any contractions going on, even mild, and to see how my placenta is helping the baby at this point. If his heartbeat looks good then that apparently indicates that my placenta is still supplying enough oxygen, blood, and nutrients to him. My doctor said that placentas can get a bit worn out at the end of pregnancy so it's good to check it out. So anyway, his heartbeat looked great but I wasn't having any sort of contractions at all. The plan at this point is that I'm going to have another prenatal appointment on the 17th when I'll be exactly 1 week overdue. At that point they'll do another non-stress test and see if I've made any progress yet. If not then we'll discuss induction options. Tom and I also agreed that the 17th will be my official last day of work as well. I'm really glad to have an official end date in sight as far as work goes as it's been more challenging to focus there with the baby on my mind so much. Of course, we hope that the baby will decide to come out before the 17th but I'm happy with our back up plan just in case he doesn't!

As for Baby G, this week he has enough fat on his body to be able to regulate his own body temperature out in the world. It'll be so neat to not only see his face, but to also see how much he'll end up weighing and how long he'll be since at this point there's quite a variance to those things. So, who knows, our next post could be an announcement of the baby's birth (fingers crossed)!!

Week 39: Getting Closer and Closer and Closer

I'm starting the writing of this post on September 1st which is a big turning point-the month I'll have the baby and only 9 days from the due date. It's crazy to be in the single digits for the due date countdown, but boy are we excited about it! I'll admit that it's getting harder and harder to be patient waiting for his arrival. We had a doctor appointment this week and the baby is now estimated at about 7 pounds. Unfortunately there really hasn't been any progress as far as getting closer to birth time. I did have some Braxton Hicks contractions on one afternoon this week which were the first I've felt the whole pregnancy. They weren't really painful just uncomfortable, but only lasted a few hours so it wasn't that bad. Also at the doctor appointment they once again confirmed that he's still head down so that's good news.

This week I've been ever more uncomfortable. My hips and back are super achy and I've had more leg cramps too. But I've been taking nice long baths and Tom has given me back and foot rubs to help too. As for Baby G this week his skin has changed from pink to white due to a thicker fat layer now covering his blood vessels. Here's another interesting baby tidbit: the tear ducts in babies' eyes don't produce tears until they're about a month old. So all that crying will be dry crying for awhile.

We're glad we've been able to share updates every week with you all and look forward to introducing you to our baby soon!

Week 38: Not long now!

This week we met with our Faith Group from church which includes 4 other married couples who have become dear friends to us. It was great to see them especially because one of the couples has a baby almost 8 months old and another couple is expecting their first baby just over a month after Tom and I. It's been really great to share and swap stories with them and just have someone else who "gets it" and knows what you're going through. The group also gave us a really sweet gift including a child's Bible. We look forward to many nights reading from it!

Also this week Baby G is approaching 7 pounds and 20 inches long! He's producing more of something called surfactant which is a substance that prevents air sacs in his lungs from sticking to one another when he starts to breathe-I like the sound of that :)

This week the nesting instinct continues as we have been stocking up on items like shampoo, paper towels, etc. so we won't have to go shopping for those things for awhile.

At our weekly doctor appointment the nurse practitioner we see alternately with my doctor gave us great reassurance that Baby G is still dropping lower in my stomach even though I'm not dilated at all. I'm not anticipating him coming early, but I won't lie in saying that it sure would be nice if he did! I'm ever more uncomfortable walking around and sleeping is more and more difficult as my hips pretty much ache constantly while I sleep. But complaining aside, it's so nice to know we're almost to the end of the pregnancy road and can start enjoying our next road as parents!

We also celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary this week! It kind of snuck up on us this year as we've been so preoccupied getting things ready for the baby. But regardless of that we went out for a lovely dinner and celebrated 4 wonderful years. I know I am definitely blessed with the best husband I could ever ask for :)

Here's the baby bump pic from week 38:

Week 37: He's Full Term!

It's hard to believe but this week Baby G is considered full term. It definitely feels like a milestone to have gotten this far. We had a doctor appointment again this week and my doctor said she thinks it'll still be a couple weeks still until he makes his appearance. She did guesstimate by measuring and feeling my stomach that the baby is about 6 pounds this week so if he continues to gain the average 1/2 pound a week he'll be about 7 1/2 pounds at birth. This makes me happy because I certainly don't want to have to push out a 10 pound baby! He's also dropped lower in my belly which I'm definitely feeling, but happy he's moving in the right direction. He remains head down which is also great news.

This week Tom also left for his last work trip before Baby G arrives. He's gone 3 nights to Los Angelas and I felt a lot better about it after having this doctor appointment, because I was slightly worried that I'd go into labor without him here. But luckily we seem to be in the clear for that.

My parents have come over a couple times as well to help us with some house projects and mowed our lawn for us since Tom is still recuperating from surgery and it's been much too hot for me to broach the task of mowing the lawn. That has been a huge help! It's also nice because I notice that I get wiped out and exhausted very easily lately and have to make sure to take breaks periodically or I pay for it later with back and foot pain. Tom is great at reminding me to slow it down because I typically like to be a busy body on the move a lot. This week we also put the finishing touches on our nursery (which is completely done now!) by putting together our glider and ottoman.

It's hard to believe the countdown to the end is getting so close but I think Tom and I are both ready and definitely excited for the next phase in the adventure: parenthood!

Week 36: Feeling hot hot hot!

Well here in Minnesota we're having a HEAT WAVE! No I'm not kidding, it is possible in this normally chilly state. All week long it's been in the 90's with heat indexes near 100. Needless to say, this extremely pregnant lady is feeling the effects of the heat. I basically feel like a big puffy ball with how swollen the heat is making my feet, hands, face, etc. The good news, though, is air conditioning! We have been cranking ours and thank goodness for it. Because of the heat intolerance I've found with pregnancy, I really don't feel like I've been able to enjoy summer as much as I normally do. Ordinarily, I LOVE the heat and am really tolerant of it, even going for runs on days like this. But lately I've been doing a lot of hibernating so I'm looking forward to Fall, which will be doubly fun as we'll have a baby and cooler weather!

This week for Baby Boy G he's about SIX POUNDS-wow! And 20 inches in length. His bones and cartilage are still soft to help make his exit into the world a smoother one. Today we started our now weekly prenatal doctor visits and this was an eventful one. First, they did a Strep B test which is routine for all pregnant ladies as if you do have Strep B you have to get antibiotics during labor to prevent passing it to baby. I'll find out next visit the results of this. Second, they do an exam to see how things are progressing. What they found was that I'm not dilated at all but Baby G is falling lower in my pelvis than he has been. We also had another ultrasound to make sure he's head down and hooray, he is! We were told that it's unlikely he would turn now as it's getting pretty tight in there for him. And they said that if he did move, I would almost positively notice it because it would be quite the disruption in my stomach if he flipped that much. But he does continue to kick like crazy and I can often see my belly move when he kicks.

This week Tom and I also took a CPR class. We figured it wouldn't hurt to get certified as it's obviously something you want to know if you need it but hope you never need it. So we both feel good now, knowing not only how to do CPR and help someone who's choking on adults but also on infants.

Last weekend while Tom continued to recuperate after his gallbladder surgery, I did a little bit of shopping for some of the final things we still wanted for our nursery. So we got a diaper genie (a very nice to have item I've heard) and a glider and ottoman for what will inevitably be many nights up rocking Baby G to sleep. Tom and I have a little diapering station set up in the nursery and one night this week we decided to do a "run through" so we diapered an elephant stuffed animal to practice how it'll work with a real baby :)

Here are also a couple of sneak peaks at the photos from our pregnancy photo shoot and a look at our ultrasound to check Baby G's positioning. Thanks Alison Geier for your great work!

And here's our actual week 36 baby belly pic:

Week 35: A Roller Coaster Week

Well week 35 was a mixed bag for our household. Starting the week off we had a pregnancy photo shoot with photographer, Alison Geier. Check out her blog at http://www.alisonleaphotography.com/blog/, she's very talented! We got some really fun photos both outside and inside her studio and are excited to see how the photos turned out.

So that was the high point of the week and come this previous Sunday it went downhill pretty quickly. Tom got very ill and ended up needing emergency gallbladder surgery on Tuesday, August 3rd. Click on this link as Tom made a little video about the whole process. Luckily he's on the mend now and in significantly less pain which makes for a significantly less worried wife! Here's a pic of Tom's war wounds and really nice get well gifts he got while in the hospital:

On the brighter side, Baby G is now 5 1/2 pounds and about 20 inches long. I'm guessing that he's easing into the head down position because I feel almost all of his movement and kicks up by my ribs. I've also had a couple people comment that my belly is looking lower so hopefully he's getting into position and ready to come out in a couple weeks! It's pretty amazing to now be able to say that next month we'll have a baby!

Here's week 35's belly pic:

Week 34: Five Pounder!

Yay for Baby G packing on the pounds. This week he's supposed to be about 5 pounds and 20 inches long! Another interesting tidbit is that his fingernails have reached the ends of his fingertips and may need a trimming at birth. Neato! Kind of gross sounding is that the "vernix" or white coating that protects Baby G's skin is thickening. At least he'll be nice and warm and insulated with it.

This week we also took a little "baby moon" to Decorah, Iowa, where Tom and I both went to (and met at) Luther College. It was a great mini-getaway. There was beautiful weather which allowed us to walk around campus and reminisce about when we first met. We also got to attend Nordic Fest and see some friends from college there too. Here are some pics from the trip including a couple pictures from a trip to Dunning Springs and campus. As you can see Marty enjoyed the baby moon too :)

This week my back pain reached peak awful-ness so I treated myself to a pregnancy massage. It was heavenly! I went to Sanctuary Salon Spa in Eden Prairie (a suburb in the Twin Cities for you out-of-towners) and got pampered. It was fabulous because they had a cut-out in the table that allowed me to be able to lay on my stomach for part of the massage and for the massage therapist to really work over my back. I felt so much better afterwards so I'm really glad I got it done.

We also finished our 3 week child birth class series this week. Tom and I were really impressed with the classes and how informative they were. This final class discussed a lot about more "unexpected" birth options, including c-sections and the many potential reasons for one. I will admit that leaving these classes has filled me with quite a bit of anxiety as I can only anticipate the level of pain I'm about to go through in the next few weeks. I've told friends that the part I struggle with the most is just not having any similar experience to compare the level of pain too. I've run a marathon and could do my training long runs to get a flavor of the level of pain and mental exhaustion I'd experience during the marathon itself. But childbirth isn't quite the same since I've never felt a contraction and have no frame of reference for that type of pain. But like many things with pregnancy, I'll just have to wait and see what it'll be like. I'm lucky to have a great supportive spouse who will help me through it!

Here is also week 34's belly pic:

Week 33: Becoming More Immune

Week 33 brought 2 more showers for Baby G! We are feeling very lucky to have so many people "shower" us (ha ha :) ) with celebration and gifts for the baby. First, Tom's parents threw us a shower in Wisconsin where many of his relatives and friends from the church he grew up in were able to come to. My parents also came for it so that was fun to have all four of the grandparents-to-be together! Tom's favorite gift from that shower had to be the Packers onesie and matching Packers stocking cap we got. I'm sure Baby G will get lots of use wearing it this football season! Here's a photo of the Denisons and Getchius's at the shower:

Then in the middle of the week Tom's coworkers threw a shower for the both of us. It was very sweet that they invited me along too. We played a game there where we had to guess the costs for a bunch of typical baby items--diapers, bottles, nooks, formula, etc. We're still newbies at buying for most baby items so it was a good reality check to get an idea of how much each of them cost. For some we overbid, others we under bid, so it was educational. Tom's boss's wife knit a blanket for us, so we've definitely gotten lots of really thoughtful gifts from these showers! With the three showers in a row the nursery has really come together. Really the only other things we need are a rocking chair and a changing pad to change his diapers on, then the room will basically be complete. Yay!

This week we also had a prenatal appointment with our nurse practitioner. Baby G is measuring right on target. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but up to week 36 they measure the height of your uterus in your stomach and for every week it measures 1 centimeter. So this week it's 33 centimeters high. I guess after week 36 a lot of babies start to drop lower so it's less accurate after that. But regardless, I think it's pretty neat that the measurements work like that. We also learned this week that at my doctor's office the latest they let women go overdue is 1 full week overdue. So it's nice to know that the longest I'll be pregnant is a full 41 weeks-whew!

As for baby, this week he has maxed out the amount of amniotic fluid that there will be till his due date. With this, his kicks and punches feel a bit more pronounced--and that's true! Also pretty neat: I'm passing antibodies to him to help build his immune system.

This week I was hit with significantly worsening back pain. This is really frustrating for many reasons as I really like to be active and it's been difficult not feeling up to moving around as much. Tom has been a trooper giving me extra back rubs and our heating pad has been getting a lot of use too. I've also been doing more of my workouts in the pool at the gym we go to which helps to take some of the pressure off. An old coworker of mine recommended a place for pregnancy massages that I'm going to check out next week. They evidentally have tables that allow you to be able to lay on your stomach so I'm really looking forward to that.

Finally, here's week 33's baby bump:

Week 32: 4 Pounds!

Baby G has now (most likely based on averages) crossed into the 4 pound mark and is approximately 19 inches long! As more fat collects Baby G is looking less transparent and more opaque. That's good, because a see-through baby might be a little alarming :) It's crazy to think he's approaching actual full term baby size. It makes it seem all the more real and makes me all the more excited for his arrival!

This week was a fabulous week. We had our first baby shower thrown by my wonderful girlfriends. We call each other the WOWZAs which stands for Women of Wild Zany Adventures. We get a kick out of referring to ourselves using this acronym and we even refer to the husbands of the WOWZA women as the MANZAs. Our group started with friends from college and has grown to expand some additional friends we've met and gotten close to since college. We get together as much as we can since we all live spread out over the midwest, but manage to be able to make time for get-togethers every couple of months. I love them each dearly and they did one heck of a job on throwing a fabulous shower. The shower included craft time where we all decorated one-sies with iron on sayings and pictures. They turned out just darling. Then we played a baby shower themed version of the game Cranium which was also a riot. I was overwhelmed by the amazing gifts Baby G got at the shower and I must say I'm feeling much more prepared now for his arrival. We got tons of adorable baby outfits, blankets, bath items, items for his car rides, you name it! Thank you to each of you who came, it meant a lot to me! Here are some pictures from the shower:

First, me and the grandmothers-to-be:
Me with the WOWZAs!
All of the lovely women at the shower (minus Sue, Kate, and Katy)
The super fun one-sie craft!
Showing off the name tag they made for the baby entitled, "Baby G fetus":
Also this week we began our first child birth class. It's a 3 week series put on by the same organization that we went to for our Breastfeeding class a couple weeks ago. The class is really informative and it's just really nice to be around couples who are all due around when we are. It's also nice to learn more about when to go to the hospital. Everyone in the class is delivering at Methodist Hospital and they taught us the 5-1-1 guideline. Basically when my contractions are every 5 minutes apart, last for 1 minute, and this pattern lasts for 1 hour is when we should go to the hospital. There are obviously other reasons why you'd want to go to the hospital but this is the main guideline they have us follow. For some reason I always felt like you went to the hospital the second contractions start, but I was obviously wrong!

Last but not least is week 32's baby belly pic: