Another Favorite

Here is another one of my favorite photos that my stepdad took last weekend. I forgot to attach this one the other day:

Photos

My stepdad took some fabulous photos while he was here over the weekend. Once he finishes editing them I will post them to My Picasa. Here is a sneak peek at a couple of my favorites:

2 Weeks Old

Jackson is 2 weeks old today. He's becoming more and more alert, which is incredible to watch. We had our 2 week doctor's appointment on Friday; they had to schedule us early due to the long holiday weekend. Doctor gave him an "A+"! He weighed 8 lbs 8 ozs (still have a little work to do to get him back to his birth weight) and was 20.3" long. This puts him in the 75th percentile for both height and weight.

My mom and stepdad came up for the long weekend. Here's my mom getting some bonding time with her grandson:

I have posted a lot of photos from the past two weeks on my picasa...click on the link on the right side of the blog if you would like to view these ("My Picasa Web Albums"). I will be uploading photos to my picasa on a regular basis, so check back often for new ones!

One Week Old

Jackson is now one week old. It's been a long and adventurous week. I'm totally wiped out...Jackson is a little confused with his days and nights. I expected this, but didn't expect how difficult it would be. ;-)

Here's a picture of Jackson from today. I just wish he would sleep like this during the night!


This afternoon Dad, Diana and Mal stopped by for a visit. Here's Aunt Mallory meeting her nephew for the first time:

Excited for a Walk

I know this picture was just pure luck, but it was so perfect. I was about to take Jackson for a walk around the block and wanted to capture a picture for Scott. Scott purchased this camo hat awhile back, and I thought it was a cute addition to his walking outfit (even though it is way too big right now). Right when I captured the picture, Jackson gave his dad a big smile. Love it!

Jackson Tyler Ryan!

Announcing the arrival of Jackson Tyler Ryan! He joined us on Tuesday, May 12th at 9:21 PM, weighing in at 8 lbs 12 oz and 20 1/4" long. I was induced, so it was a VERY long day. We checked into the hospital at 7:30 AM and I was hooked up and rolling on pitocin by 8AM. I made it until around 12:30 before I begged for the epidural and I was really ready for some relief at that point. Once the epidural kicked in, things got a lot better! But we still had a long road ahead of us. I was finally fully dilated and ready to start pushing at 8PM. Unfortunately, Jackson was larger than expected and was slightly twisted in the birth canal, so his journey was a difficult one. After 75+ minutes of pushing, both me and Jackson were showing signs of distress, so the doctor needed to speed things up. With a little assistance, Jackson was born at 9:21. He was perfectly healthy, just very exhausted from his journey.

Here is the first family photo:

Jackson was very fortunate, getting to meet 4 of his grandparents immediately after birth. My mom & dad and Scott's mom & dad all spent the day with us at the hospital and were thrilled to meet Jackson shortly after his birth:

Final Preparations

Well, it looks like tomorrow is the big day. I've had a few moments wondering if he was planning to arrive earlier, but he has held off for tomorrow's appointment. We are all very excited and nervous! Grandparents are here and are ready. The house is as ready as it will be. And the kitty cats even had a bath tonight so that they are clean and pretty for the new arrival.

Here's a picture of Baby Ryan's nursery. We still need to hang pictures on the wall, but that's a whole house project right now!


And here's a final picture of me and Scott before the big day:

Maggie's New Bed?

Is it a changing pad? Or a Maggie bed??

I accidentally locked Maggie in the baby's room this afternoon and here's where I found her:

She seemed extremely content to keep the changing pad warm for Baby Ryan. The cats are very interested in all of the new stuff in the baby's room. According to Maggie, the room is full of many new soft and warm places to nap!

Week #38 Update

Yes I know that tomorrow is technically week #38...but I wanted to provide an update from yesterday's doctor appointment and it was too close to the new week to label it #37! ;-)

All went well at the doctor appointment. I was thrilled that I hadn't gained any weight from the previous week!! (Yes I realize that is a small victory considering the zillion pounds I have gained, but it was the only time during the whole pregnancy that I smiled when I got on the scale!) Anyways, Baby Ryan is doing great. He has descended very low and I'm already 80% effaced. No dilation yet, but that should start any moment.

We are scheduled to arrive at the hospital at 7:30 on Tuesday morning to induce labor. Doctor said there is a possibility that I could start labor on my own before then, but no real way to tell. So I'm hoping he's stays put for a few more days...I would like to get some rest before the big day arrives!

Congrats to Catherine & Brad!

We just found out that our good friends, Catherine and Brad, are expecting baby #2 in November! Such wonderful news!

Week #37 Ultrasound

I went in today for (hopefully) my final ultrasound. It's not that I don't enjoy seeing Baby Ryan, but the frequency of these ultrasounds has been a little too much for me. The purpose of today's session was to check his estimated weight again, particularly since there was such a dramatic difference between the week #33 ultrasound (gigantic baby) and the week #36 ultrasound (bigger than average, but nothing to be alarmed at). Since this could mean the difference between an induction and a c-section, my doctor wanted to have a better idea of his current weight. She said last week that most likely we would fall somewhere in between these measurements. And she was right. The sonographer took extra time today to ensure she was getting as accurate of measurements as possible (she tells me this is an art, not a science...) Her final result was an estimated 7 lbs 11 oz. This is definitely still a big baby (82nd percentile), but not alarmingly big. I'm very anxious to hear what the doctor has to say tomorrow, but my gut tells me that we will probably stick with the scheduled induction date next week. At least that is what I'm hoping for!

Baby Poll!

I asked a few friends and family members to participate in a poll guessing Baby Ryan's birth date, time, weight, length and name. I really enjoyed reading the responses that came back. Some were extremely entertaining! Here's a peak at what I've received so far (click on the picture to get a larger view). I wonder who will be the closest!

5 Years!

Today is our 5th wedding anniversary! It's hard to believe it has already been 5 years. What is even crazier is the fact that this is the 3rd anniversary that we have spent either packing or unpacking. Insane!!! I would much prefer to be celebrating in Hawaii!