ten days

Only ten days old and I'm already feeling all nostalgic and weepy about how fast he's growing! While I'm ready for him to sleep through the night, I love the newborn stage and how cuddly and tiny he is. I have a feeling he'll be tiny for a while though. Jake's wearing newborn onesies but at just six and a half pounds he's fairly swimming in them, so we'll probably get some prolonged use out of all his newborn clothes. 

how it all went down

Jake Ryan arrived last Monday afternoon-- 5/13/13-- surprising us all at 3 1/2 weeks early. he’s perfectly healthy--except for the wrinkly skin just waiting to be filled with baby fat, you’d never know he was early. his early arrival is actually a perfect answer to prayer. a week before he was born, i was diagnosed with cholestasis, a pregnancy condition that meant my body wasn’t getting rid of bile like it should and as a result, bile built up in my system. it wasn’t harmful to me, but sooner or later that bile would start to affect the baby. most of the time, babies are induced right at 37 weeks because the risk of stillbirth increases significantly once they’re full term. so following the diagnosis, the doctor arranged appointments with high risk OB’s down at UT and appointments almost every day to monitor the baby. every day of that week was spent waiting on test results and wondering if we’d be induced. induction depended mostly on how developed the baby’s lungs were and how well medicine was controlling the cholestasis.

that thursday night, deric and i went to a local park to eat a picnic dinner and relax. i mentioned to him that my stomach had felt oddly tight all day and it felt like the baby was sitting way, way low. friday morning at our scheduled appointment, the doctor said i was having contractions. (and now let’s fast forward through the rough parts...) from friday morning to Sunday at midnight, contractions came every 5 minutes without fail. the intensity varied from mildly irritating to all-out, can’t-breathe painful. we went to the hospital six times over the weekend only to be sent home--sometimes with pain medication, sometimes without--because there was no progression. because I was only 36 weeks, they wouldn’t do anything to induce him. finally, finally on Sunday morning around 1am, we were admitted. the blessed epidural followed soon after and by noon on Monday, I was ready to push. Jake arrived at 2:31 pm and since then, things have been a happy blur of staring at a sleeping baby and feeding said baby. its been a quick 9 days since he was born and i'm already feeling like a weepy mom who doesn't want her baby to grow up!

#2 was Dad's addition to the board. ;)

Welcome to the world, baby Jake.

Jake Ryan was born Monday, May 13 at 2:30pm. Three and a half weeks early but he's perfectly healthy! We're so glad we got the chance to meet him a little sooner than planned.

single digits

I've been seriously slacking in the picture department, so here's a recap of the last four weeks. Looking back, I've already forgotten so much of the last few months that I wish I'd done a better job documenting things. But all I've got is what's going on lately, so here's that: Baby boy is more active now than he's been so far. Especially when I lay down on my left side, he rolls around and bumps and kicks, although I can't discern between kicks or punches. Every once in a while I'll get a kick in my ribs but thankfully, they aren't outright painful. My energy level is pretty normal, which is surprising considering how many times I get up in the middle of the night and tumble down the hall to the bathroom. Waking up before 10am is never ideal (but it wasn't beforehand either). Running is officially over, and has been for about a month. Sadly, even walking gives me shin splints and leg cramps now. A bit embarrassing, but what can you do? Eight weeks to go...its crazy to think we're already down to single digits!

Gray Days

We've had what feels like the longest winter ever, albeit "winter" is a loose term here in Tennessee. No snow thankfully, but so many dreary, gray and rainy days that I could scream. Today was yet another day of constant rain (seriously, didn't let up for a minute). A coworker told me today that the news said March was colder than November and December of this year. What?!

 All that to say, my mood lately has matched the weather even though there's really no reason to be down. A few things I should be thankful for:
-We just had family in town for Easter weekend which definitely made me happier. (And my maternity wardrobe got a serious upgrade thanks to my mom and mother-in-law, so I now have more than one pair of jeans to get me through this never-ending winter.)
-Deric and I have started geocaching, which is a fun and (most importantly) free way to spend time outside. Never heard of it? Look it up in your area; there are millions of geocaches worldwide. Its like a global treasure hunt!
-Our house is filled to the gills already with baby stuff and we've still got a shower to look forward to. We have incredibly generous friends and family.
-An ultrasound yesterday had our doctor telling us everything looks perfect. Baby boy (yes, still unnamed) is growing like a weed, in the 54% for weight. I'm okay with that as long as he doesn't put on too many pounds before delivery ;) The only bummer is that he decided to nap during the ultrasound with his face buried, so a very blurry side shot is all we walked away with. But seeing this little face--and knowing we'll see him in person in about nine weeks-- really cheers me up!