It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas...

Jordan and I ventured to the mall on the weekend and saw the Big Jolly Man and thought...oh I need to get Zach's picture taken!! I want to record the firsts and I love being able to take my son to see the fun characters :)

Eight Months

Oh My Goodness!!! I can't believe how fast time is flying by!!! My little tiny baby is 8 months old!! It is just crazy! I know everyone says it goes by so fast and it's true. I have loved every single minute of being Zach's Mom. It's been an incredible journey so far! I can't wait to see him continue to grow, learn and change! But please baby boy...not too fast!! :)













* I had an opportunity while we were up north again to have Shannon Vine Photography photograph Zach for a mini-session....it was so worth it! I love her photos and can't wait to use her again!! :)

Sleep Training

I have had enough. I have had enough of waking up 13, 000 times a night to a baby that needs to be rocked, fed or cuddled. NOW don't get me wrong...I LOVE rocking, feeding and cuddling with him...but when I get ZERO sleep because of it, it becomes a bit tedious. I LOVE Zach, I love him more than anything. I want to watch him grow, play, love, become a Godly man. But, I also want him to sleep through the night!

So, Monday evening I decided we're going to start sleep training. Monday night was a little rough, he took an hour to go to sleep, was up quite often and needed a lot of our pick up/put down (PU/PD) method. It was a long night and I didn't get much sleep. I can tell you specific details if you want to know, since I am tracking to see if there is any pattern in his wake up times. But we did it. He stayed in his crib till 7:30am the next morning.

Nap time on Tuesday went OK. He slept well in the AM nap for about 45 minutes and went down easy-schmesy. Afternoon nap wasn't so successful. Took a while to get him down and then he only slept for 20 minutes. But since we are following the baby whisperers advice and trying to keep him on a 4 hour eat/sleep plan, it was time for him to eat. So only a 20 minute nap did he have. Jordan and I had an errand to run so we left him with a sitter. Came home, he wasn't the happiest baby, but he wasn't doing too badly. He was happy to see me. We had a good play, he was able to wind down and i put him down for a third cat nap. He slept for another 40 or so minutes.

I was worried about bedtime on Tuesday that it would take a long time, I would have a very upset baby and I would feel my tension start to rise and worried I may just relapse and go back to what works....BUT....he did fantastic!!!!!! He was asleep at night in 5 minutes with just one PU/PD. Almost every time he woke in the night, his soother and a pat on the bum were sufficient. YAY!!!! He woke at 4am for a feed, was back to sleep 1/2 hour later. Had to do 20 minutes of PU/PD at 6am, but then he slept till 8am!!! He then came into our bed for a little snuggle and to let him know we are still there, love him and want to snuggle him. I made sure he didn't fall asleep again so as not to associate coming to bed with me as sleep time anymore.

I know many people who advocate for co-sleeping, not sleep training and letting the child lead. But it just doesn't work for me. I can't/don't sleep well with others in my bed, especially snuggled right up next to me. I need sleep. I need sleep to be a good mom, because otherwise I'm touchy, angry, frustrated easily and it's not a good environment. This new sleep schedule will work for our family.

Nap time today is going OK so far. Jordan tried to put him to sleep, but Zach got way to upset. I know you're not supposed to take over, but I just can't give over my control like that and listen to Zach cry when I know I can stop it. I know, I know, it's not what I should be doing, but I'm working on small baby steps!!

So now, I am praying that sleep just gets better and better. I know we will have minor setbacks and I am prepared for them. I am preparing myself to not give up, continue with our efforts and I know we will be rewarded.

I can do this! Zach can do this! We can be a healthy, loving, SLEEP-FILLED family!!!!

Weeks 25 - 28

My lil guy is growing up sooooo fast! I can't believe that he is over 6 months already!! He's sitting up on his own, eating solid food, rolling over like crazy and laughing up a storm! I love him so very much and love seeing him grow up!

3-in-1

Well I forgot to post the 3, 4 and 5 month collages! Enjoy!!

p.s. if anyone knows how to fix pictures effectively on a blog please help a sister out!! i had no idea how to move them....

Zachary's Birth Story

Well better late than never I always say...here is Zachary's birth story.

On March 8th, I had my regularly scheduled midwife appointment for week 40. When they checked my blood pressure I was a little high. They reccommended that I go into the hospital the next morning for a non-stress test (monitoring baby's heartbeat). I went in that day, was checked, wasn't dilated, wasn't progressed at all, but my blood pressure was still high. The OB on call didn't want to induce me that day for fear that it would send me for an emergency c-section so she put me on blood pressure pills and sent me home with instructions to come back in on Friday morning to be checked again.

Thankfully my mom arrived on Thursday evening so she was able to come with us on Friday morning and be my driver! So we went in at 8am to be checked and possibly induced (gelled). Zach's heart rate was still good, I was only dilated 1cm and he was still very high. However my blood pressure was still high, so the OB said why wait, it's my due date, let's induce. They inserted a gel onto my cervix to help soften and dilate. My midwife (Taryn) and the nurses warned me that it would cause some cramping more than likely. Cramping....UNDERSTATEMENT!!!

So after I was gelled they sent us home for a bit to relax and get some sleep. We did some running around in hopes that some walking would help it along. Cramping progressed and i did feel the occassional contraction. The pains were in my back quite a bit. We got home, had some lunch, I wasn't that hungry and I tried to lay down for a bit. I was rather uncomfortable and the cramps were quite regular so I didn't get much sleep. We headed back to the hospital around 3pm and if I was progressed enough we'd stay for labour or I could be sent home with another gel insert.

We arrived at the hospital, the nurses checked me and I was only still 1cm and not having regulary contractions. The OB wanted to gel me again and decided that I should stay at the hospital and be transferred to her care from the midwives. This meant that Taryn would still come for the delivery and care for the baby when he was born. So there goes another gel and man did the cramps pick up!

I felt like I was in hard labour -- even though every one of the nurses kept telling me I wasn't technically. We walked the halls, Jordan rubbed my back, I moaned and groaned in pain. At 10:00 that evening I was in a lot of pain and hoping I could get an epidural soon! My nurse (Darlene) said that I couldn't get an epidural till I was at least 3cm because it would stall what little labour I was in. Well when Darlene checked me to see how far along I was it was the most excrutiating thing ever...and the sad news...I was still only 1cm!!! I was praying right then and there for a c-section at that moment. I was done, I was tired, I was in mass amounts of pain, I was done! The Doctor came in, checked me and didn't want to give me a c-section. She wanted to see if I would progress on my own. She offered me morphine, the possibility of breaking my water during the night and then oxytocin in the morning to see what happened. I was crushed! I wanted to see my baby soon, I wanted to be out of the pain, I just wanted a c-section.

So I got the morphine shot. It felt like it did nothing. At this point it's midnight. I told my mom to go home and get some sleep since nothing may happen till morning and we'd call her if something happened sooner. We got moved into an observation room and Jordan was given a bed to lay down in and try to sleep. I couldn't lay down so I sat and rested in a rocking chair.

I dozed on and off and at 2:30 felt like that the morphine was wearing off so I asked for more. Darlene told me to empty my bladder and she'd check me again...maybe I could get an epidural instead of morphine! So I went to use the washroom, sat down, felt a huge pain, lots of pressure and I stood right up. Then my water broke. WOOHOO!! When this happened the contractions started hard and fast. Darlene checked me and i was 7 cm! I could finally get the epidural! So while Darlene set that up I was going through contractions every 30 seconds. Jordan's sweater got quite wrinkled from me grabbing on to him. But let me tell you, the contractions were much more manageable over the cramps!!!

After the epidural it was bliss!! I was able to rest for a bit, close my eyes and finally relax. However, the nurses could not keep a good track on the baby's heart beat. I think it was around 4:30am and they discovered that his heartbeat was continually dropping. I was 10cm dilated but his head was not dropping into my pelvis so the Doctor knew that pushing now would only drop his heartrate more. So guess what...they sent me for an emergency c-section! Wasn't this the exact same thing I wanted 6 hours ago!!!!

So at 5:00amish I was brought up to the OR. I layed there on the table with tears streaming out of my eyes knowing that I would soon have a great baby boy with me! I just kept saying to Jordan, we're gonna have a baby, we're gonna have a boy! It was all I could muster.

At 5:28am Zachary came into this world!

Week 24

Well here we are, Week 24, and I am realizing ONE thing I don't like about being pregnant. See, I get migraines...bad ones...tension headaches...bad ones. Nothing seems to alleviate the pain but pain killers. I can't take them now. I'm sorry, but Tylenol Regular strength just don't cut it!

I love my little ducky, he is so special to me already and totally worth the pain. But, it doesn't mean i can't complain! I had a very sleepless night last night because my neck and shoulder were pounding so terribly I could not sleep. Saw a chiropractor today and a little bit of relief. I don't want to keep chowing down Tylenol, but what else do I do? I used my little hand held massager, I used a "heating" thing, nothing worked....bleh!

But then I think, well if I could actually take something stronger there is someone SOOOOO special to me already who wouldn't be here. So ya know what, I'm willing to take the extra aches and pains to be a good Mama Duck!!!!!

Week 12/13

Well, I have not written in quite a while...and there is a reson for that....

WE ARE EXPECTING OUR FIRST BABY!!!!

woohoo!!!!! we are beyond elated with this unexpected turn of events. Friday is my entering into my 13th week. Little did I know when I started my "weight loss journey" that I was actually tracking my pregnancy!!!

So I guess my little postings will probably be turned into a pregnany blog lol

YIPPE!!!!! :)