First (documented) Smile

Mom went back to work full time in June so while school is out Auntie Katie is watching me.  Mom wasn't gone more than 2 hours when I showed Katie how cute I was with this smile!  

Two Months

Greyson turned two months on May 25, 2013

Height: 22 inches

Weight: 11 lbs 10 oz

Sleep: I started sleeping in my crib and will still sleep 6-8 hours at a time.  Mom is loving it!

Discoveries: I have found my hands!  I love to make fists and put them up in the air. 

Other stuff: I kick my legs a lot and have started cooing more and more each day.  I also really like to blow little spit bubbles. Mom and Dad just think I am the CUTEST!  Oh, mom went back to work two days a week so Auntie Allison watches me on Wednesday and Auntie Megan watches me on Thursday.  

Here I am all serious with my fists in the air!

My FIRST Mother's Day

Although I wasn't able to sleep in...I still had a great 1st Mother's Day.  Nick (and Greyson) surprised me with a beautiful pot of succulents, a stuffed monkey, and a sea salt candle.  I won't say that a couple weeks later we killed the succulents by leaving them out in the sun too long.  Opps!  Maybe better luck next year.  

Bethann Matousek who works with Camie gave me this cute onesie that we proudly wore on Mother's Day.  

We met up with Grandpa Stan, Grammie Camie, Megan, Taylor, and Nana at Cafe Sabor for brunch.  Greyson was such a good baby and slept most of the time.  It was a great Mother's Day! 

One Month

Greyson turned one month on April 25, 2013.

Height: Not sure, didn't have a doctor appointment.
Weight: 10 lbs (give or take)
Sleep: Will usually go about 3-4 hours between feedings during the day and just started to go 6-7 hours between feedings at night!  Mom is so happy!
Discoveries: I love to stare!  There is a black and white picture of my Dad above my changing table and I like to stare at it or the black frame that it is in.  Either way, I stare a lot with a serious look on my face.  

I am still on maternity leave and loving being home all day with Greyson.

Happy Easter!

For Easter Sunday the Palmer's came down to our house and brought dinner.  Greyson was just 6 days old and we had only been home from the hospital 3 days so it was nice to not have to go anywhere.  

Once I realized that Easter was going to come shortly after he was born I decided to get his Easter Basket ready.  To be honest his Easter Basket was ready long before his room was.  I saw that GAP had Beatrix Potter clothing so I got him this knit Peter Rabbit romper, a jelly cat bunny, and the books Velveteen Rabbit and Peter Rabbit.  Then Camie gave me the bunny booties that Nick wore for his first Easter.  

It was a great first holiday and I look forward to many more with this little guy!  

Here we go...

Since this little boy decided he didn't want to come on his own I was scheduled for an induction on Sunday March 24th.  Nick and I spent the day cleaning, resting, and overall just being extremely anxious.  Here's one last shot of my pregnant belly!  

We checked in to the hospital at 8:45 pm and by 9:30 pm we were in our room and they were giving me my IV.  They first tried in my right hand but blew the vein so they had to try again in my left hand.  I hate needles and getting the IV was probably the worst part of labor.  

At 10:15 pm they gave me the pill cyotec to induce labor.  I was dilated to a 1 and having some mild contractions.  Stan, Camie, Taylor, and Megan came up to the hospital to see us so Taylor could take some pictures and video.  While they were in our room I could feel my contractions getting stronger and stronger.  

By 1:30 am I was dilated to a 3.  I was feeling my contractions pretty well so I got out of bed and would hold underneath my belly and sway back and forth.  It was hard to labor at the hospital because I was hooked up to the IV and the monitors so I couldn't move very far past the bed.  After awhile I was getting tired of standing so I decided to lay back down in the bed.  My contractions were getting more and more painful so the nurse gave me some pain medication through my IV.  The medication took the edge off the contractions and let me rest for about 20 minutes before the medication wore off.  Finally at 3:00 am I was exhausted and my contractions were coming harder and faster so I threw in the towel and called for an epidural thinking I was maybe dilated to a 5.  By the time they administered the epidural at 3:30 am I was dilated to an 8 with a plus 2 station (not quite sure what that means but that is what they told us).  And then 20 minutes later I was dilated to a 10 and the contractions were coming harder and faster and it was putting the baby in stress so they gave me a shot to slow them down.  I was then able to rest from 4:00 am to 5:00 am.  

At 5:20 am the nurse came in and told me it was time to start pushing.  They got me set up and I started pushing but my contractions weren't coming very regularly and the monitor wasn't giving them a very good reading so it was hard to tell if I was really having one.  To speed up my contractions they hooked me up to pitocin but then that would put the baby in stress so they would take me off and my contractions would go away again.  I had pushed for about an hour when Dr. McCulloch showed up a little after 6:00 am. After almost another hour of pushing Dr. McCulloch told me that I was going to have to have a c-section because the baby just wasn't dropping.  Soon after she told me this the baby's heart rate dropped so all of the sudden I had people all around hooking me up to monitors, moving me from the bed to another bed and wheeling me down the hall.  I was nervous that I was going to feel the incision but one of the doctors assured me that if I felt anything at all he could have me heavily sedated in 10 seconds.  

I kept my eyes closed and just continued to breath deeply through the oxygen mask in order to stay calm.  I remember feeling a lot of pressure in my stomach like someone was pushing against my organs and then I felt a lot of tugging and seconds later the feeling of my stomach deflating.  At 7:24 am Greyson Reed Palmer was born weighing 7 lbs 1 oz and was 19.5 inches long.  He had been in so much stress that he came out completely green covered in meconium.  He was so green that one of the doctors in the room made a comment about having just seen the movie Oz The Great and Powerful.  I didn't hear him cry at first because they had to hurry and clean him off and suction out his mouth.  When I did finally hear him cry I had tears running down the side of my face.  I couldn't see him but that cry was the most surreal feeling in my life.  After what felt like forever Nick brought him over so I could see him.  

I wasn't upset about having a c-section but the one thing I didn't like about it was I was unable to see Greyson come in to this world and I didn't get to see them weigh and measure him.  

While I was being stitched and stapled up Nick went with Greyson to the nursery where he had some tests done.  When we finally got up to our room on the 3rd floor we had a bunch of missed calls and text messages.  Everyone wanted to know what was going on, especially my mom and sisters who last heard I was dilated to an 8 at 3:30 in the morning and it was now almost 10:00 am.  A nurse came in our room and told us that Greyson's blood sugar level was at a 48 and 45 is the lowest they want to see it so they tested him again and he was down in the 20's so they took him down to the NICU where he had to have an IV in his head because he wasn't eating on his own.  They figured because he came out covered in meconium he probably swallowed some of it which was upsetting his stomach.  

Nick and I would go down to the NICU as often as we could to be with him and at night we would go down and feed him.  After spending the rest of Monday and all day Tuesday he was released Wednesday morning and brought up to our room.  

Dr. McCulloch suggested that we stay at the hospital one more day so we had Greyson in our room with us all day Wednesday and overnight to Thursday.  As much as I wanted to get out of the hospital, it was nice to stay one more day and know that if anything were to happen we had help right outside our door.  

Then on Thursday March 28th we were released and it was time to go home!  

And life with Greyson began...

40 Weeks

Alright I know I am cheating and using my maternity pictures for the last 3 weeks but I just haven't had time to take weekly pictures anymore and honestly I don't think my belly has changed that much.  Plus, Taylor did such a GREAT job I have to show them!

Baby Boy is still the size of a watermelon weighing about 6 lbs and is anywhere from 19-21 inches in length.  

How far along: 40 weeks!  Can't believe we are finally here!  It went by SO FAST!

Sickness: None whatsoever...I feel great!

Maternity Clothes: Yes, wearing strictly maternity clothes except for the two pairs of non-maternity pants I have that are a size bigger than my regular pants. 

Stretch Marks: Still the faint white lines. 

Sleep: Sleeping great...I would like to say I am catching up on sleep to be used at a later time but we unfortunately know that is not how it happens.  

Movement: Still the pushing against the stomach...he is stretching wanting to get out right?!

Food Cravings: Still jamba juice, applesauce, Grist Mill sandwich sounded good the other day.  

Symptoms: Don't really feel any symptoms this week...except anxiety about what is coming!  

Progress Status: Still 70% effaced and dilated to a 1.  Went to the doctor today and she scheduled me to get induced on Sunday March 24th.  Apparently I check in Sunday evening and they will give me a pill or insert a pill and that is suppose to soften the cervix and help get things rolling.  Dr. McCulloch scheduled the induction as a "just in case I don't come on my own".  Hopefully it doesn't come to that and this baby will come on his own.  Honestly, once I heard my due date of March 18th I always had March 22nd in my mind which is Friday so we'll see!