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| It's July 2, 2012 and Jonah is one month old...!!! |
Monday, July 2, 2012
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Week 4
This week we enjoyed Grandma Elliott's visit~! My mom flew up from Phoenix and spent nearly a week with us. She taught me so much about babies, being a mom, and enjoying life. We didn't even get all the way through our list of things we wanted to do together and it was time for her to leave :( A heat wave kept us inside for all but quick walks with the dogs... it was cooler in Phoenix on the 4th of July than it was in Minnesota this year; by like 30 degrees!
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| I'll never get sick of watching him sleep :) |
My brother and his family surprised Mom and came up for the weekend to meet the new little man. In just another month or so they too will be welcoming in a new baby! Jonah officially moved on to size 1 diapers and out of his newborn clothing while they were here. Sniffle, sniffle.
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| Ridiculous photo shoot. Mom got Jonah the football and made him the blanket... which is all dandy. Us attempting to pose the poor little man with it was not. |
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| Grandma and her grandbabies! |
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| Uncle Nick |
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| "who's it gonna be?" said Skyler when he found out I was pregnant initially. |
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| Kaide is a natural |
Monday, June 25, 2012
Oh baby
... weight that is.
I was so excited to lose over 50% of what I'd gained within the first two weeks, but now at just over 3 weeks postpartum the losing has slowed down for sure. The girl who tries hard to be flexible and easy going says "give it time Sarah-- you just had a BABY and it's only been 3 weeks for goodness sake." Then there's that super competitive type A person who conquers my thoughts most of the time saying "It's been 3 weeks; you haven't lost that yet? You have HOW MUCH to lose to get back to your pre-pregnancy weight?" ~sigh~
I've been fortunate that my weight hasn't really fluctuated that much in my lifetime. My pre-pregnancy weight was just 1 or 2 lbs away from my high school graduation weight. Sure I've weighed much less (typically during a break-up) and I've also weighed a little more (post-marital bliss), so this is really the first time such a large number is staring me in the face. The good news is I've started using My Fitness Pal and have "friends" from my online pregnancy community to help keep me accountable. I also started running last week and will absolutely continue building on my runs and workouts. I also have a loving husband who tells me I look great-- even when I wear the same fricking "fat jeans" every time we go somewhere ;)
And little Jonah...? He's amazing. Thankfully I'm over my bout of baby blues and beginning to enjoy his daily changes rather than cry and worry about how quickly he's going to grow up. We conquered some pretty big feats while learning how to breastfeed (if you ever need advice on that PLEASE ask. I'm not going to bore you with the details but you can't have enough help and support, that's for sure). Sleeping is going pretty well too! He likes to stay up a little later, so that's a little challenging now that Dustin is back to work and it's my job to stay up with him, but we're getting to bed around 11pm, waking up just once during the night between 2-4am to eat and then back to sleep again :) We have a good baby for sure. And so. stinking. cute.
SO my mom is coming to visit today and I have a few things I need to do before she comes... I promise to post photos of Mr. Jonah soon. We won't talk about the 2000+ photos I somehow deleted from my Mac this morning :-/ xoxo
I was so excited to lose over 50% of what I'd gained within the first two weeks, but now at just over 3 weeks postpartum the losing has slowed down for sure. The girl who tries hard to be flexible and easy going says "give it time Sarah-- you just had a BABY and it's only been 3 weeks for goodness sake." Then there's that super competitive type A person who conquers my thoughts most of the time saying "It's been 3 weeks; you haven't lost that yet? You have HOW MUCH to lose to get back to your pre-pregnancy weight?" ~sigh~
I've been fortunate that my weight hasn't really fluctuated that much in my lifetime. My pre-pregnancy weight was just 1 or 2 lbs away from my high school graduation weight. Sure I've weighed much less (typically during a break-up) and I've also weighed a little more (post-marital bliss), so this is really the first time such a large number is staring me in the face. The good news is I've started using My Fitness Pal and have "friends" from my online pregnancy community to help keep me accountable. I also started running last week and will absolutely continue building on my runs and workouts. I also have a loving husband who tells me I look great-- even when I wear the same fricking "fat jeans" every time we go somewhere ;)
And little Jonah...? He's amazing. Thankfully I'm over my bout of baby blues and beginning to enjoy his daily changes rather than cry and worry about how quickly he's going to grow up. We conquered some pretty big feats while learning how to breastfeed (if you ever need advice on that PLEASE ask. I'm not going to bore you with the details but you can't have enough help and support, that's for sure). Sleeping is going pretty well too! He likes to stay up a little later, so that's a little challenging now that Dustin is back to work and it's my job to stay up with him, but we're getting to bed around 11pm, waking up just once during the night between 2-4am to eat and then back to sleep again :) We have a good baby for sure. And so. stinking. cute.
SO my mom is coming to visit today and I have a few things I need to do before she comes... I promise to post photos of Mr. Jonah soon. We won't talk about the 2000+ photos I somehow deleted from my Mac this morning :-/ xoxo
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Week 3
After spending the first two weeks at home with us Dustin returned to work this week. Jonah and I were sad to see him go, and spent a little more time cuddling and less time being productive :)
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| Going for a walk! |
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| Dustin and Jonah's secret language |
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| "neighbor boy" Ben |
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| Jonah's first bottle! |
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| Wow my feet are big :D |
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Week 2 and Dustin's first Father's Day!
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| So alert at such a young age |
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| Uncle Josh |
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| Grandpa Jim |
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| Thanks Grandma for the cookies :) |
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| Meeting GGma Grabe |
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| Grandma Becky |
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| Jonah's social security card!!! |
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| Four generations on Father's Day! |
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| I snuck up on GGpa Grabe having a little conversation with Jonah :) |
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Jonah's first week
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| Great Uncles Todd and Brad |
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| "Aunt" Jenni the amazing photographer |
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| Kyle and the proud papa |
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| I really hate pictures of me right after giving birth (pushing doesn't make you pretty!) ...but this is our first family photo and I may like it someday. |
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| Grandma Leslee meets her grandson :) |
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| Grandpa Mark |
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| We're home...! |
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| Diesel and Chopper didn't know what to think |
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| all swaddled... we call him our bean burrito :) |
Friday, June 8, 2012
He's HERE~!!!
I'm very pleased and proud as punch to introduce our little bundle of joy who arrived TWO WHOLE weeks before his due date.
This post will be a bit more graphic than others... so don't say I didn't warn you! I want to be sure and document Jonah's birth story before I forget it. Until the latter part of my pregnancy I didn't understand why women seem to be obsessed with sharing their labor and delivery experience; now I totally get it. Here's our story:
Early in the morning of June 2nd (12:30 am to be exact) I was awakened by a little squirt in my pj's. My first thought was that I peed in my sleep. I went to the bathroom, a little embarrassed but quickly determining at 9+ months pregnant I could pee my pants if I want to. I went back to bed and just moments later felt a little "pop" followed by a GUSH of fluid. Dustin was sound asleep so I said "hey babe... can you get the dogs out of here? My water just broke" (yes we sleep with our dogs; don't judge).
Dustin proceeded to call Labor & Delivery at the Maple Grove Hospital (a.k.a. the best hospital on the planet) and since I wasn't really contracting yet we both took showers. I may have also done some laundry and emptied the dishwasher ;)
We got to the hospital at 0200 and I was dilated to 4cm. My contractions started kicking in and by the time we got to our room it was 0300. My birth plan was to go as long as I could go without an epidural because I didn't like the idea of lying in bed, and to receive no systemic drugs the baby would get the effects of.
Even though we took childbirth classes I was really surprised at the intensity of my contractions. It was the equivalent of being underwater and then coming up for air, but not quite getting a full breath and going back under again. The pain was weird... it wasn't at all like period cramps or poop pains but more like someone was coring me out from my cervix on up. By 0500 my pain level was at a 7/10 and I was ready for some pain control. I was dilated to 5cm. I've now determined the epidural is the absolute best invention EVER. I understand that natural birth is important to some women, but I believe God created epidurals for a reason. After the catheter was placed I felt absolutely no pain. I was texting my mom, eating popsicles and trying to sleep although I was so excited that wasn't quite possible. At 0700 the nurse came to check me again and was shocked to find me complete! I wasn't feeling the urge to push yet, so they let me "labor down" (meaning letting my uterus do all the work to push baby Jonah into my birth canal). I ended up laboring down for nearly 3 hours feeling nothing. The nurses turned down my epidural and at 0950 the pushing began. It was very strange to try to flex those muscles when you can't really feel anything, and it took a little bit to get the hang of it. About half way into the pushing they turned my epidural down even more and I could feel the contractions again. I think I'm a pretty strong woman, but it still took a solid hour and a half to push all of Jonah's 8 pound 5 ounce body out of mine. At 1116 Mr. Jonah graced us with his presence. You can see this exact moment captured on video (no money shots I promise). I've watched it at least a dozen times and cry every. single. time :*) We also have my and Jonah's first skin to skin experience shortly after birth on video as well. Another tearjerker.
My cousin Jenni is an amazing photographer, and had offered to take photos of Jonah's birth if the timing was right. I'm so glad it was. I'm so glad she did. She is so talented. We're very fortunate to have this special moment captured to relive over and over. You can view the still shots of our labor & delivery on her Jenni O Photography blog.
So now Jonah is 6 days old and Dustin and I are really loving parenthood. We had some pretty rough times with breastfeeding but I believe we've just about got that conquered. We're also lucky in that Jonah is a great baby... at night he wakes up when he's hungry, but after burping and a diaper change he goes right back to sleep :)
I am forever grateful for this little miracle. I am humbled at the opportunity to be Jonah's mother. This whole experience has given me a new appreciation for the wonderful man I married. I am so truly blessed <3
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| Jonah James Grabe born 6-2-12 @1116 8lbs 5 oz, 20.5" long |
This post will be a bit more graphic than others... so don't say I didn't warn you! I want to be sure and document Jonah's birth story before I forget it. Until the latter part of my pregnancy I didn't understand why women seem to be obsessed with sharing their labor and delivery experience; now I totally get it. Here's our story:
Early in the morning of June 2nd (12:30 am to be exact) I was awakened by a little squirt in my pj's. My first thought was that I peed in my sleep. I went to the bathroom, a little embarrassed but quickly determining at 9+ months pregnant I could pee my pants if I want to. I went back to bed and just moments later felt a little "pop" followed by a GUSH of fluid. Dustin was sound asleep so I said "hey babe... can you get the dogs out of here? My water just broke" (yes we sleep with our dogs; don't judge).
Dustin proceeded to call Labor & Delivery at the Maple Grove Hospital (a.k.a. the best hospital on the planet) and since I wasn't really contracting yet we both took showers. I may have also done some laundry and emptied the dishwasher ;)
We got to the hospital at 0200 and I was dilated to 4cm. My contractions started kicking in and by the time we got to our room it was 0300. My birth plan was to go as long as I could go without an epidural because I didn't like the idea of lying in bed, and to receive no systemic drugs the baby would get the effects of.
Even though we took childbirth classes I was really surprised at the intensity of my contractions. It was the equivalent of being underwater and then coming up for air, but not quite getting a full breath and going back under again. The pain was weird... it wasn't at all like period cramps or poop pains but more like someone was coring me out from my cervix on up. By 0500 my pain level was at a 7/10 and I was ready for some pain control. I was dilated to 5cm. I've now determined the epidural is the absolute best invention EVER. I understand that natural birth is important to some women, but I believe God created epidurals for a reason. After the catheter was placed I felt absolutely no pain. I was texting my mom, eating popsicles and trying to sleep although I was so excited that wasn't quite possible. At 0700 the nurse came to check me again and was shocked to find me complete! I wasn't feeling the urge to push yet, so they let me "labor down" (meaning letting my uterus do all the work to push baby Jonah into my birth canal). I ended up laboring down for nearly 3 hours feeling nothing. The nurses turned down my epidural and at 0950 the pushing began. It was very strange to try to flex those muscles when you can't really feel anything, and it took a little bit to get the hang of it. About half way into the pushing they turned my epidural down even more and I could feel the contractions again. I think I'm a pretty strong woman, but it still took a solid hour and a half to push all of Jonah's 8 pound 5 ounce body out of mine. At 1116 Mr. Jonah graced us with his presence. You can see this exact moment captured on video (no money shots I promise). I've watched it at least a dozen times and cry every. single. time :*) We also have my and Jonah's first skin to skin experience shortly after birth on video as well. Another tearjerker.
My cousin Jenni is an amazing photographer, and had offered to take photos of Jonah's birth if the timing was right. I'm so glad it was. I'm so glad she did. She is so talented. We're very fortunate to have this special moment captured to relive over and over. You can view the still shots of our labor & delivery on her Jenni O Photography blog.
So now Jonah is 6 days old and Dustin and I are really loving parenthood. We had some pretty rough times with breastfeeding but I believe we've just about got that conquered. We're also lucky in that Jonah is a great baby... at night he wakes up when he's hungry, but after burping and a diaper change he goes right back to sleep :)
I am forever grateful for this little miracle. I am humbled at the opportunity to be Jonah's mother. This whole experience has given me a new appreciation for the wonderful man I married. I am so truly blessed <3
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