The Nurse Curse

They call it the nurse curse, meaning that something crazy always happens when you have a baby and you are nurse. I thought I had escaped it, but no such luck.

On Wendnesday I started to feel pretty sick. I had a few high blood pressures at the hospital when I had Ryan, but they checked preeclampsia labs and they were fine. I checked my BP at home that night and it was pretty high. I spent that night and the next day trying to decide if I was crazy or something was really wrong. I took my BP again Thursday night and it was sky high. I decided to call the doctor and she told me to go to the ER. We got there and they did all kinds of tests including lab work a cat scan, and an abdominal ultrasound. It was discovered that my liver enzymes were elevated. This can be a sign of preeclampsia so they admitted me and put me on this terrible medicine called magnesium sulfate for 24 hours. When they checked the liver enzymes again they were lower so I was able to come home yesterday. I still feel strange, like I have the flu or something and am ready to feel better.

Because of the cat scan they told me I couldn't nurse Ryan for 48 hours which was a total bummer, but the lactation consultant came and saw me, she told me I could nurse him after 24 hours, so we are back on track now. I feel like I have started my recovery over again.

Anyway, I just wanted to explain my absense and tell you guys what was up with me. I hope to be healthy again soon!!!

Ryan Anthony Hirsch

Ryan Anthony Hirsch arrived on January 26th 2008. He was 8lb 4oz and 20 and 1/4 inches long. He was perfect from the very beginning:) He is a great nurser, a great sleeper, and quite a mellow guy. We are smitten:)

We named him Ryan because we liked it, but Anthony was my Great Grandfather's middle name:)






Perfect and healthy!!!












Apparently Erik and I make 8+ pound babies













I can't believe that I have 2 sons!!! It is indescribable. I can't believe that I am so blessed!!!











Our first family portrait, Ryan is too busy eating to show his face:)

Ryan's Birth

Reid was born via c-section because of malposition. He was OP and asynclitic and was never able to turn. I did get complete with him and pushed but he was just not going to budge. This entire pregnancy I was OBSESSED with trying to keep this baby in the best position which according to Spinningbabies.com was on the Left side. I also got regular chiropractic care and cranio-sacral therapy. I did an inversion every night (basically getting in a handstand), pelvic rocks, and practiced optimal fetal positioning. Despite all of this, this baby like Reid favored my right side and only occasionally and briefly ever stayed on my left.
My doctor had my due date as January 26th but I thought it was January 24th. Since Reid was born on his due date I fully expected to have this baby before his due date, so I was shocked to see myself going to my appointment on January 23rd. I had been sad that day, feeling very much like I was going to end up with another c-section. I told my doctor my concerns but when she checked my cervix I was 2-3 cm/ 70% effaced/and -1 station. This was an improvement from the week before. I had thought I was in labor on the Monday before, as I was having regular contractions, but they petered out. At this visit my doctor stripped my membranes. That evening after my appointment, I started to again have regular contractions. I was SOO sure this was it. I called my friend Melissa who is my friend and a fellow nurse to come over. I had checked myself earlier and I was 3 cm, so that also made me sure I was in labor since it was different from what my doctor said. Anyway, after a few hours Melissa and I decided she shouldo go home as these contractions also spaced out and I was able to go to sleep. Even L&D nurses think they are in labor when they aren't:) Thursday came and nothing happened all day.
I woke up Friday to some bloody show and thought that was a good sign that things would be happening that day. I started to notice some contractions but went about my business to try to not focus on them too much (the picture above is of me on D-Day:). I had my sister (who luckily was staying with me at the time), take me to the chiropractor for one last adjustment to get me all nice and lined up as well as one last Webster technique to get him to turn from OP. I was having mild but painful contractions in the car on the way there and while I was there. The contractions started to get more regular and about 10:30 am I called my friend Melissa to come over. She checked me when she got here about 12:00 and I was 3. Not very much change from the previous exam, but the contractions weren't killing me yet so that was okay. I called the doctors office and told them I thought something was happening and the midwife told me to call before I went to the hospital. I also called my doula, Heather. I told her that I thought the baby felt OP and I was having some back labor. She gave me instructions to get in open knee chest position for an hour then to go on a walk and lift up my abdomen when I had contractions. I did all of this and it worked because during the walk I noticed that he felt completely OA in the perfect position!! After our walk at about 5 pm, Melissa checked me again and said that I was 3-4 but the head felt lower and she felt a bulging bag. I decided to get in the shower after that news. I showered until there was no hot water left. I came out and ate a peanut butter and jelly and that is when things started to get really serious!!! The contractions were getting really intense and I had to lean against the counter to deal with them. This went on for a bit and Melissa checked me again at 7 pm, I was 4cm then. Again this didn't surprise me too much, but of course I wished I was more dilated. I called my doula at that point because I was having a really hard time dealing with the contractions, and started to tell my hubby to get our son ready for bed because I had a feeling we would need to leave soon. Heather got there around 7:30 and worked with me through some contractions, she did some hip squeezing that felt marvelous.
Erik put Reid to bed and came out to make some coffee. I guess it was about 8 or 8:30 that I said okay lets go. So we all left for the hospital. I was really worried about the car ride but Heather helped keep me focused and handle the contractions. This picture is of Heather doing the hip squeeze. It was amazing having Erik there with me and feeling his strength.






The good thing about contractions is that they end:)














My nurse checked me again and I was 8cm/100%effaced/ and 0 station. She left to go call Dr. Slade who was over at Memorial (where I work). I really started feeling pushy with these contractions. When the nurse came back in she said Dr. Slade was stuck at Memorial doing a c/section (on whom later I found out was my friend Kristi) and was going to call the Dr. vanScriver but if she didn't make it, there was another doctor in the hospital who could do the delivery. Well that didn't excite me to think some random doctor would be doing my delivery, but I wasn't in too much of a state to worry too much about it.


The rest of this is a blur. I know I started pushing with some of the contractions and then at 11:30ish my water broke and then I had an intense urge to push.



I think Dr. van Scriver came in at that point (after she heard me scream- oops, not as compsed as I had hoped to be). They said I had an anterior lip but that they could reduce it. The next hour I pushed. I know I asked Dr. van Scriver at one point if she thought he would come out. She said she thought so and her only concern was that my contractions had spaced out and they were coupling (sometimes a sign that the baby's head isn't fitting). I think I pushed really well with the next one because the nurse asked me if I wanted a mirror. I said yes, I was actually able to see where his head was and I for the first time truly believed that he would come out. With every push I saw his head move, but it felt like FOREVER. He crowned forever too. At 12:35 am on January 26th little Ryan Anthony came into the world. I actually was able to lift him out of my body which is an incredible experience. He cried right away and was of course beautiful!!! He weighed 8lb 4oz, just 2 oz shy of his brother and was 20 and ¼ inches long. I did not even need any stitches which was an added bonus!!


It was by far the hardest most painful thing I have ever done, but also the most rewarding. It was the birth I had planned of and dreamed about and it is still very hard to believe that it actually happened!!! I feel so incredibly grateful for everything right now. I feel grateful for my doctors who believe in birth, my friends and family who believed in me and tolerated my OCD, my doula who kept me from going completely insane, and my friend Melissa who made sure my baby and I were safe at home. I am grateful for my amazing husband who is always so supportive of me. I am also grateful for my first little boy who paved the way for this little guy and was so tolerant of all of my appointments. Finally, I feel grateful for this wonderful little soul who has entered into my life in such a beautiful way.

Reid Turns 2!!!

Reid turned 2 on November 18th!! Time flies!!! We had a really fun birthday party for him on the day after Thanksgiving. As you can see it was a Thomas themed party.

This year he ate cake- unlike last year:)

He had most of his family there including 3 out of 4 sets of grandparents in addition to some friends.




The famous Bulldozer from Gramps, Pamps, David and Bruce, which Reid pronounces BuhDuh. He got a bit overwhelmed with the present opening and wanted to play with each individual toy, he was a lovely sharer though and let the other kids play with his stuff. It was cute:)







Click below to see the rest of the pictures

Reid's Second Birthday Party

Salmonella

I was off the last weekend in October. We took the opportunity to do a really great fall/halloween activity and go to a farm:) We didn't have very much fun to be honest, I think Reid was getting some teeth so he was a big grouchy and wanted to sit on a tractor the entire time. Well what makes me think he was getting some molars is that he had his hands in his mouth all day long.

The next day we went to a Halloween party for Reid with all of his friends.

On October 30th, Reid woke up with a fever of about 101, he had some weird poop too. I gave him some tylenol. When he woke up from his nap, his temp was 103. 5 or something crazy. I made an appointment with the pediatrician. We saw her, she basically said there wasn't too much we could do except let it run it's course and make sure he stayed hydrated. The good news was that Reid was still drinking even though he wasn't eating very well. She did want to send his stool for a culture to see what it was, although most likely it wouldn't change anything since by the time it would come back he would probably be better.

He was MISERABLE!! He would come over to me and tell me his belly hurt then he would have diarrhea, then I would have to change him. This was torturous. He was so sore from the poop and the changing that he would scream the entire time. He missed halloween because of it too.
This is how he spent his Halloween. It was so sad to see my normally happy, lively, boy so miserable.

Anyway, he did get better and it turned out that he had Salmonella!!! What??? After my discussion with the lady from the health department we decided it was from the farm and him having his hands in his mouth. Gheesh!!! The good news was that I was SOOO paranoid (being pregnant) that I would catch something that apparently we did a good enough job sanitizing because no one else got it.

The moral of the story is NEVER take your teething child to a farm:)

Bittersweet

Well at 22 months and 8 days my little boy breastfed for the last time. I let him make the decision. He has been a very considerate breastfeeder for his whole life. I am actually surprised that he weaned this late since he has never been a boob-a-holic.
When I had him I said I wanted to at least give him 2 years, and then decide how I would handle it following that. I had given thought to what I would do if he didn't quit before I had the new baby, and while I wasn't opposed to the idea of nursing two kiddos, it didn't excite me either.
I feel really good about this since he was the one who made the decision to quit. He has gradually cut back on his length of time nursing for the past few months until he was down to about 15 seconds on one side only about 2-3 times a day.
We drove up to Newnan to see Reid's Aunt Carrie. I am not sure if me being pregnant had anything to do with it or the change in routine but I know I haven't had really any milk for a couple of months. At any rate, I think the timing was great, and hopefully I have provided some life-long benefits for Reid. I know it did for me at least emotionally. My little guy and I are very connected and I have really enjoyed bonding with him in this way.
I look forward to starting a new nursing relationship with this next little guy.

Baby Number 2 is....

NOT A GIRL!!!!!!

Erik, Reid, and I are happy to announce that we will be welcoming a little boy in January. I am completely shocked, because I would have bet my leg that this was a girl baby:) So much for mothers intuition. We are really happy though, and feel very blessed. I am sure the boys will have a lovely time driving their mother crazy bringing snakes into the house, setting things on fire, and beating the tar out of each other:) Hope all is well with everyone:)
Love, The Hirsch's

(I reposted this from an e-mail I sent. The reason I worded it this way is because I had convinced everyone and myself that this baby was a girl. I realized later that it may have sounded ungrateful. I was just really surprised!!!)

July 2007 so far...

Well, we are fresh back from our first successful vacation with Reid!!! The first week of July we flew up to Maine to visit Erik's family. I have to admit I was really nervous about flying with Reid. I read everything I could find online about flying with a toddler and what to bring on the plane. After all the preparation, it seems that Reid was made to travel:) He did wonderfully!! The only times he got disgruntled were right at the end of the longest flights. This picture to the left is of Reid and Erik in the airport.

We flew into Portland, ME and rented a lovely 2008 Ford Escape. We were pleasantly surprised about how cool it was when we arrived. The entire week it was in the 60's and 70's. A lovely change from the oppressive heat and humidity of Florida. We met up with Erik's mother and step-father Alex, as well as Erik's brother Bryan and his wife Stephanie. The hotel where we stayed was about 2 minutes away from Erik's grandparents house, so we got to visit with them too, and they got to meet Reid for the first time. The picture below is the view from our hotel room and also the lake where Erik and I got engaged.

The trip was very relaxing. Most of our time was spent on the porch of our hotel room enjoying the beautiful view and either reading or chatting with Susan and Alex who were nextdoor to us. Reid also surprised us by sleeping wonderfully!! He slept through the night all 4 nights we were there and took 2 naps in the day time. The town where we visited is called Boothbay Harbor. It is the most picturesque little New England fishing town you have ever seen. For those who don't know this is also where Erik proposed to me, so it is special to us for that reason as well. We had lovely time eating the wonderful Maine food in the quaintest restaurants. We also had a great time visiting with our family since we don't get to see most of them very often. Below are pictures of our day in the town of Boothbay Harbor.

Above is Reid and his Uncle Bryan.

All in all it was a success, and it ended too soon, but I had to get back for work on the weekend. Our trip home was interesting. We had only a 35 minute layover in Atlanta to catch our plane back to Jacksonville. That was stressful. Erik was such a gentleman by not wanting to step over the lady he was next to on the first flight, that his bladder was beyond full and he was really hurting as we ran through the Atlanta airport and he had to stop to use the restroom while I waited super antsy for him to get back. We were the last people on the plane and unfortunately our luggage didn't make it on our plane. It was quite an exciting time for us, but ended fine:) Better to not have your luggage when you are already going home then when you are enroute to your destination. I did learn 2 valuable lessons. The first is to always pay attention to how long your layover is. The second was the mistake I made to try cheaper diapers while traveling. We had pretty significant leaks on both the trip there and back, luckily I did follow advice to bring extra clothes for Reid in our carry on luggage.

The monday after we got home, I had my second doctors appointment. This was the fun one with the exam:) I tried to talk her out of it since I just had my annual in April, but it didn't work. She tried to hear the baby's heartbeat with the doppler first, but didn't hear it. I didn't panic though. She did the exam, then we went next door to the room where the ultrasound machine was. She turned it on and there was our little baby, wiggling around and healthy. It was fun to see and needless to say a bit of a relief. This doctor has recently joined my doctor and her midwife and she is awesome. I have worked with her a bit, and liked her then too, but she was really easy to be around and very cheerful. I am feeling very good about my decision to see these ladies this time around. Since I won't be able to have this baby at home this time, these women are a great alternative and I feel fortunate they are in my city and are there so I don't have to sign myself up for a c-section. I am really hoping I can have a vaginal delivery this time. If for no other reason then logistical. I do not want to be recovering from major surgery and having to take care of a 2 year-old and a new baby. Yikes!!!

Oh we also took the first belly picture. I feel like I am huge, but comparitively I am not much different then I was with Reid at this stage. I think I just got to this stage sooner than with Reid. I am also having a harder time with this baby. I had a couple of really rough weeks where my stomach was just in upheival. I have still managed to avoid the vomiting, so that is a plus. Now at 13 weeks I am just waiting for the bad stomach feelings to go away. I feel the worst at night and it is a mixture of heartburn and nausea- not fun. In addition my breasts are a lot more sore. I remember with Reid being surprised that they weren't more sore. Reid and I are still nursing true to my goal of 2 years, however, MAN it hurts for him to nurse. We have cut back on the amount of nursing we are doing. Usually just before bed time at night and before his nap. The nap time session has decreased to just 1 side though and is usually short. What I have read says that your milk decreases at 4 months, which is about now, so I will be interested to see what he does. I can't predict what will happen. I am still not to the point where I will tell him no if he asks, but I am not suggesting it anymore. I am actually surprised he hasn't weaned yet anyway. I think I am about ready to be done, although when I truly think about being done it makes me sad that my little boy is growing up and is needing me less.

I have my next doctors appointment on August 6th. I hope that we will then make an appointment for the big ultrasound where we will hopefully find out what the sex of this baby is. For what it's worth I really feel like this baby is a girl. I think it will be awesome to have another boy. It would simplify things a lot. It would be fun to have 1 of each as well though. I am just happy that I am able to be pregnant and truly want a healthy baby regardless of the sex.

Those are all of my deep thoughts for now;) I hope everyone is doing very well.

Love,

Jenny, Erik, Reid, and Jelly Bean

April-June 2007

We have had quite the exicting quarter here at the Hirsch household.

April started pretty normally. I turned 29 and my 2 best friends from Tampa came up to join us in a celebration. It was lots of fun, we ate good food and enjoyed each other's company. Unfortunately the following week, we got some really sad news, that my best friend- Megan's father had died unexpectedly at a young age and in great health. So we were all brought together sooner than we had planned. I was miraculously given the day off of work, so I was able to go to the service, which was very nice, but very sad. Jeff was a quirky kind of guy with a generous and kind spirit, he was a great father and grandfather and he will be missed immensly.

May brought some exciting news to us. We found out the day after mother's day that we are expecting our second child:) It was quite exciting and funny since it took us 14 months altogether to get pregnant with Reid. With this one we were in our first month of "if it happens, it happens" mode, so it was quite humerous that it did indeed happen. I had talked to Megan and told her we were in "if it happens it happens" mode, when I called to request some condoms for decorations for my sisters bachelorette party (she works for Planned Parenthood). She told me she sent some extra presents a.k.a. pregnancy tests. I was at work on mothers day and had floated to the nursery that day. I was sitting there thinking how I felt similar to how I felt when I was pregnant with Reid, that is I felt a bit queezy unless I wasn't eating. I also noticed my breasts were a bit sore. I thought these symptoms were slightly out of the ordinary, but not compelling enough for me to actually think I was pregnant. I was expecting my period on Wednesday or Thursday of the following week. Monday as soon as the mail came, the package from Megan arrived, Reid was napping so I went straight to the bathroom and peed. What happened in about 2 minutes was there was a very faint second line. I wasn't even surprised, I just laughed. I had bought Reid 2 shirts about a week before, since I figured at any rate we would get pregnant some time. My favorite one says "I have a secret" on the front, and on the back it says "I'm going to be a big brother". So I put that shirt on Reid before Erik came home. Of course my husband, like many other men, is not very observant, so after 30 minutes I gave him a hint and told him to check out Reid's new shirt. It was funny watching him read it. He said in response "do you know something I don't?" to which I replied yes;). He then said "Wow!! That didn't take long", I am sure much to his dismay;) He is genuinely excited about our new addition.

The following week was my little sisters wedding. It was a lot of fun. The bachelorette party turned out very nice. We went to the Conch House in St. Augustine and the girls got a really nice hotel room there and had a night of mild debatchery. The weekend of the wedding, my mother and Mark had rented a beautiful house near the beach. It turned out there was enough room for us too, so we stayed with them which was a lot of fun and a wonderful impromptu vacation. The wedding was beautiful, lots of tears were shed both of happiness and sadness because we had gotten so used to Carrie living close that we were sad to see her moving to Georgia. Since I was in the wedding, Erik had to deal with the whirlwind that is Reid both during the ceremony and while we had pictures done. After they announced the wedding party for the reception, I was able to get back to Erik and Reid. Reid was in bad shape. He was crying and wanted me, so I held him while I ate. He ate a little bit with me. We thought he was acting a bit weird, but we were in a weird situation. We had been sleeping in a strange place for a couple of days, he hadn't slept very well. There were lots of people at the wedding etc. He was a lump the entire night and not crying except when I had to have Erik take him because I had to do my toast, he was not happy about that. Anyway, we went back to the condo after the wedding, and Reid and I fell asleep in our bed. He slept okay but would occasionally wimper at night. When we woke up the next morning, we finally figured out what the problem was. He seemed in pretty good spirits but he wasn't moving his right arm at all. It was just hanging there. I felt it, nothing felt broken or swollen, I was able to move his arm- although he didn't appreciate that. We decided we needed to take him to the ER as it was Memorial day and our doctor wasn't in the office. We got there and got right into a room, then waited for a bit. The doctor came in and talked to us and was wonderful with Reid- although he knew something was up and immdiately started crying when the doctor started examining him. Before I knew what happened, the doc. said Reid should be feeling better I just fixed his arm. He explained to us how it is called "nursemaid's elbow" and how it is pretty common. Basically one of the bones of Reid's forearm became dislocated from his elbow. Sure enough, he was perfectly normal and using his arm again within about 2 minutes. Erik thinks that when Reid was playing at the wedding and he was holding his hand, when Reid fell, Erik tried to keep him from falling by pulling on his hand, which we have done a million times before. We learned a valuable lesson though, we don't swing Reid from his arms anymore, and now I have a quick decision to make when I am holding his hand and he falls- save his knees or his elbow. Below is a picture of Reid in his sad state in his little hospital gown- note the limp right arm.

I had my first doctors appointment on June 11th. The big excitement was we got to see the "baby" on ultrasound. Of course it didn't look like a baby, but we did see a heartbeat, which was reassuring and confirmed that there was something in there and it wasn't a fluke. That month to celebrate my dad's 55th birthday, Reid and I joined my Dad, Pam, and the boys at Sea World. This was our first theme park situation for Reid, and I didn't have Erik with me. Reid did really well on the drive down there, and enjoyed Sea World. Our problem with him now is that he loves to get out and run around, which is hard to do in a crowded place. All was well until the massive thunderstorm hit in the early afternoon. It was pretty impressive with lightning, thunder, and lots of wind. We were luckily under a cover, although not protected from the rain when a gust of wind would hit. Reid even took a bit of a nap during that time. The rain finally died down a bit after what seemed like forever, but was probably 45 minutes or so. We were going to try to catch a show. I parked my stroller and we got into the arena. Reid was not happy- he was tired and cranky. Then the storm started up again. At some point I had the realization that in my stroller out in the massive thunderstorm was my cell phone AND my digital camera- Oh bother. During the nightmarish second storm, Reid was a mess, the windy rain was getting us all soaked, and I was concerned about my soaking wet stroller and electronics it held- NOT FUN!! When the second storm finally died down, we got out and my Dad went to get the stroller. It was not pretty. My cell phone was in the basket in about 2 inches of water, and the camera was in the compartment by the cup holders also sitting in water. It was very sad. Needless to say I was ready to go home:) Pam let me take her cell phone home, in case I had an emergency. Of course to add insult to injury we hit Orlando traffic coming home. The morning was very nice, the afternoon was not so nice. Hopefully, I am not scared of themeparks for the rest of my life:)

Above is baby number two (the blob between the two crosses).


Luckily on my weekend off, Erik's company had their annual picnic. It was at hugenot park and was very nice. Reid enjoyed being in the outdoors, and it was actually not too hot. We got some cute pictures of him chasing seagulls:)

Erik officially started his CPA review classes. The way it should work is for Erik to take the review for 1 section and then the test. Well 3 and a half months after Erik sent all of his information to the State of Florida, and 2 sections into the review course, he has not gotten the authorization to test yet. We have been frustrated by this, but I guess not surprised as nothing ever seems efficient at the state level. We are still aiming for him completing the CPA exam pre-baby #2. We shall see if that comes to pass.

Update on the past 3 months...

I didn't realize I was SOOO behind. So I will summarize:)


January

We had visits from Erik's parents and my grandmother. It was very nice to see everyone of course!! It is always nice to add people to the mix. Of course I worked during the weekend, but we all met at Carabbas for dinner and it was nice for us to be with family. Also in January Reid had his first haircut. We had to do it quickly or he would soon have a mullet!! He did pretty well with it. The place where we went was like the Disney of haircutting places. Quite a sensory experience. Reid wasn't so sure about it but did fairly okay and looked super cute when he was done:) Reid used the rest of January to continue to refine his walking skills.



February

February had three notable events. The first was our trip to Pine Mountain, GA with my dad, step-mom and brothers David and Bruce. We had a fantastic time!! Reid truly enjoyed having such a long time to spend with his uncles. They always greatly entertain him. The trip was complete with a tour of FDR's little white house, the Wild Animal Safari (you rent a minivan and drive through on a safari like journey where you can feed deer, bison, zebras, ostriches, pigs, ox, llamas etc.- really good time), camp fires, smores, and hiking (thank god for my sling!!). We had a really nice time. The second and third events were on the same day. Erik turned 33! We had a calm dinner with my parents at the Cheesecake Factory- YUM!! Reid's first trip to the zoo also happened that day. We had such a good time we bought a membership and have been many times since. Reid really enjoyed it and especially petting the goats in the petting zoo.

Here is the mouth of some large beast we fed little green pellets too!!!

Below is Reid enjoying the pygmy goats at the zoo:)

March

March was pretty status quo. Reid enjoyed an easter egg hunt with some friends. Erik said he had lots of fun!! We ordered his tux for Carolyn's wedding and of course I almost passed out with the cuteness. You guys will have to wait for the main event:) Also in March, Reid got his first shiner:) He didn't realize that even though the cushions on the couch are soft, the back is not:(




Reid is working on running, dancing, and climbing now that he has mastered walking. He is also developing his vocabulary and we now have quite a number of words.


Here is the list so far:

-Dada (he always whispers this for some reason)
-Mama
-Shoe
-Sock
-Diaper
-Go
-Turtle
-Stinker
-Booger- Booogah is what it sounds like
-Car
-Tickle, tickle
-Ding Dong (when the door bell rings)
-Down Town (from that song)
-Toot (when he passes gas)
-Cold or cool
-Soft (he says this when he is petting his stuffed animals)
-Soccer- sounds like secor
-Bye Bye


Here are the signs he uses:

-Doggy
-Eat
-More
-Nurse
-Bye Bye
-Flower
-Hat
-Bath
-Light
-Again
-Book

He can also point to his body parts and finally points to his nose after messing with us for months by pointing to his Ear when we said nose then laughing:)


Erik and I are doing very well. I think I can safely say that we are quite happy and grateful for everything we have!! Erik's job is going very well. He is starting a class/CPA test regimen this month. We finally decided that a real class was the way to go as we just always find things to do during the week that make self-study harder to accomplish. Erik will take a class for each section then take the corresponding test. He should be done in September.


I am also doing very well despite turning 29 on Monday the 16th (oh my last year as a 20 something- so sad). I picked up my guitar again and am surprised by how much I remember. It took a week for me to be able to play longer than 5 minutes since my fingers are weak, but now I can play for longer periods. I have always enjoyed music as has Erik, and we hope to bring that into Reid's life too. I am still enjoying my job immensly and learning everyday. Right now I am training so that I can be a nurse in the operating room (the circulator). This job basically involves me being everyones gofor and doing a lot of paper work. It is a skill I will need though so I am happy to learn it. We have had lots of c-sections so I have been managing to get the training, something I was worried about with working on weekends since we have less scheduled c-sections. Sadly though we are having lots!!


We are SOO ecstatic about the new house. We are trying despite some administrative glitches to get our back porch screened in. It should be done in the next couple of months. Also we just had to resod almost our entire front lawn. It appears that chinch bugs got to it last year when no one was looking and it was terrible. We even got a letter from our community association telling us to clean up our act;) Thanks guys, we liked having a crappy lawn. Anyway it looks wonderful now and you can barely tell it is sod thanks to the great job of our new lawn guy!! Other than these two things the house is great!! My friend Jen put her talents to use and made me curtains that are beautiful and make such a difference. We still have not gotten our dining room where I want it, but I finally got the third bedroom cleaned out (the room where we had all of out miscellaneous stuff), and our office is cleaned up now. Once the dining room is done I will be on top of the world. It is just a matter of hanging things and doing some rearranging.


If you are still reading I thank you:) We hope you all are doing very well!!



Love,


Jenny, Erik, and Reid

December 2006

I can't believe the holidays have come and gone already!!

We had a fantastic December enjoying family, friends, and our new house. The house is starting to come together. There are pictures on many of the walls. Our office and the third bedroom (future baby #2's room) are still a mess, but that will come with time. The house is wonderful, we couldn't be happier with it.

We had a very nice Christmas. We spent Christmas eve with my Father, Pam, and the boys, and Christmas day with my Mother and Mark. Reid had a great time opening presents and got TONS of toys!! He is a happy guy!! Santa was good to Erik and I as well.

So this month brought some fun developmental things with Reid. First he started using his signs that we have been teaching him a lot more. The one he uses the most is the sign for "eat". He is very good at it, and even uses it to communicate with me. The other night I was eating cheese cake, and he came up to me and used the sign- it was SOOO cute, of course I had to give him some:) He also uses the sign for "more" and "all done". Besides signing though, he is getting really good at communicating with us in other ways as well. He does a lot of pointing. And we hear what sounds like a word occasionally. He says "shoe" which is annoying to me since he still hasn't said mama. He is very good at identifying things and people. It is so incredible to see the wheels turning.

Another cute thing he has been doing is whenever anything is soft, he either rubs it, or he will bring it up to his cheek, or he will lay it down of the floor and put his head down on it.

Reid had been walking occasionally but doing it mostly for our entertainment and to get a reaction out of us. Saturday night though, he started really walking- using it for transportation. It is great!! He has been walking everywhere since then. He is definitely still crawling as well, but I think the transition will be made soon.

Also last night Reid gave his first kisses. That is so sweet. He is such a happy and easy going baby. He brings us such joy!!

The other exciting change this month is that Reid started sleeping though the night. He did it all by himself- no crying it out or anything. One night he went to sleep and didn't wake up for 12 hours. He has done that almost 100% since then. We had a couple of times where he would wake up at 6 am, but then he would nurse and go back to sleep until 9. The first couple of nights I woke up in pain because he didn't nurse, but I have adjusted and am enjoying a full nights sleep for the first time in a long time!!

Reid has cut back on nursing a decent amount. This was also on his own with no help from me. Now we are nursing about 2-3 times per day. Once when he wakes up, once in the middle of the day, and before bed. I stopped pumping at work, which is a relief. It is nice not to have to worry about that in the middle of a crazy day. I have a feeling that he would do fine without nursing at all, but I am not ready to give it up yet- mostly because I want him to continue to get the health benefits since he has been prone to so many colds lately. I definitely forsee a time in the not too distant future though, where he will not want to nurse anymore. It will be sad, but then we will start thinking about the next baby.

Anyway, I guess that is pretty much it from our end. We hope everyone has a happy and healthy new year. I hope everyone can be as happy as we are. I truly cannot imagine being happier than I am right now.

Love,

Jenny, Erik, and Reid

The Last two Months

So I felt a twinge of guilt when I read my sister in law's blog since it has been two months since I updated this one. But then I reminded myself that our life has been just a bit crazy!!!

October was pretty much the same other than two things. The first one was that we took a little trip down to Tampa and got to see lots of our loved ones!! Reid did pretty well with this trip, he didn't cry the whole way in the car anyway:) We left on Saturday morning and drove to Lakeland to see Erik's mother and his step-father. This was a nice relaxing time. Erik and I even got to have a lunch date while they watched Reid- that was weird. The next day we met some of our old Ruby Tuesday friends for lunch - we were a little late (don't ask- sore subject, hint: my sense of direction + traffic from Bucs game in Tampa), but it was lots of fun and we finally got to see Hope and Jeramy's little guy Brady, and we got to see little Mason still cozy in his mommy's tummy. It was a lot of fun to see them, but totally weird too since I don't think there had been a time where we had been in their presence ever that didn't involve having a little too much fun with frosty beverages. After this lunch we drove to St. Petersburg to see my best friend Megan and her family now including 2 little ones!! We relaxed with them in their awesome new house. The next day we came home. It was a lot to do in a short time but we got to see a bunch of people!!

Reid and his Grandpa

Reid playing at Megans House on our Tampa Trip

The next awesome thing was Reid's first Halloween!!! We were a little worried because he hadn't had much sleep that day. We went Trick or Treating in what was to be our new neighborhood with Reid's uncles (my 5 year-old brothers). Erik was in charge of going to the doors with Reid to get candy. Reid loved it!! I think there was a lot for him to look at with all the kids and the candy. He even managed to get a Hershy Kiss in his mouth even though Erik was being very vigilant- the problem was Reid didn't take the wrapper off so we had to fish aluminum out of his mouth. The cool thing was that we got candy out of it since Reid can't eat it!!!

Reid in his turtle costume on Halloween

Reid with his uncles David and Bruce


November 1st came with the daunting project of starting to pack for the move. We did a pretty good job at doing a little at a time and the night before we closed, we left Reid with my mom and finished up. Reid ended up coming down with a cold or something a week before we moved. He had a fever, runny nose, croupy cough, diarrhea, and even vomiting. It was poor timing to say the least. One night I had fed Reid and put him back to bed (it was about 2AM). I heard him on the monitor in his room talking and making some noise, but was waiting for him to go back to sleep. After about 40 minutes, he started fussing and I went into his room and he had vomited EVERYWHERE. All over the bumper, the sheets, his socks, his PJ's, and on top of that had also had some diarrhea. So at 2AM Reid got a bath and the sheets got washed as well as the bumper covers. He went back to sleep about an hour later. The next day I had heard him after his nap and went upstairs to find that some diarrhea had come out of the back of his diaper and was on the bumper covers I had JUST washed. Then another mess from that illness was when all of the diarrhea came out of his diaper and was all in his jeans. Needless to say parenting is not for the faint of heart.

The even worse thing about this is that he was exhausted by the time we moved. WE closed on our old house on November 14th. Closed on our new house on November 15th, and moved in on November 16th. The move was pretty uneventful, not bad, not good. The next two days we waited for our new furniture and Refrigerator to arrive. Once we got everything in place we are THRILLED with it. It is wonderful to have the extra space. Reid was a bit timid for the first few days wanting to stick right by me, but he got over it and is very happy here. As of now the only thing we haven't done is put up pictures on the walls. We just haven't had a minute to do it yet. Hopefully soon though, I know that will make it feel like home. My friend Jennifer just started a tailoring business so I am enlisting her talents both as a decorator and as a tailor to make me some window treatments- which will be totally exciting.

Reid of course turned 1 on November 18th. Unfortunately that day was not celebrated as greatly as we would have liked because I worked. He did get 2 mini parties before that at my mothers house and at my fathers house. He got some toys and he loves them!!! He really wasn't into the cake either time. I think by the time we got to it he was tired both times. We enjoyed it though!!!

Reid opening presents for his birthday

Reid and some cake (funny enough, he didn't really want to eat it).

We had his 1 year appointment on the 20th. We were shocked to find that he weighed 21 lbs 6 oz which is only 2 lbs more than he weighed at his 6 month appointment. This puts him in the 25th percentile for weight which is funny because he used to be such a chunker. He has also gotten tall at 30 and 1/2 inches he is in the 75th percentile for height. The funny thing is that he has quite a big head at 19 inches he is in the 80th percentile. He got two vaccines and we were given the go ahead to feed him what ever we want!! He had his first grilled cheese, which he definitely liked! He is a really good eater, and will eat most anything. WE are still breastfeeding and will continue to do so as it is sooo good for him. Especially since he keeps getting sick. Dr. Miles predicts that he will wean around 18 months so it will be interesting to see how it goes. I want him to be done by 2 so we can get going on baby number 2.

The next week brought Thanksgiving. We spent it with my Dad and Step-mom and a bunch of other people at their house. It was very nice. Reid ate a whole plate of food including squash, green beans, mashed potatoes, turkey and stuffing. I was impressed!!

Reid with his uncles on Thanksgiving


The next day we had another little party for Reid with my friends and their kids. That was fun, the kids are all quite spirited and I was ready to keep Reid an only child afterwards. (Just kidding).

Reid playing with his freind Gray at his 3rd party

Speaking of children, the past 2 months also brought a bunch of new babies. As I mentioned before Lane was born to Megan and Alex, Mason Emerson was born to Rich and Lisa, Logan Alan was born to Krissy (my step-sister) and her husband Scott. It is quite odd to be in the peer group of procreators instead of the procreatees. It still gets me all the time.

So here we are in the beginning of December. Work is going very well for both of us. We aren't minding the extra driving too much. We are looking forward to Christmas and are planning on getting the tree up and maybe some lights on the outside of the house. We are behind all of our neighbors. Gheesh, the pressures of living in an actual house. Erik is doing a great job with the yard and we are learning how many different tools one needs in order to maintain a nice yard. I can see why people pay others to do it.

Anyway that is a glimpse of our life right now. Once the house looks nicer I will put some pictures up.

Much love,

Jenny, Erik, and Reid





P.S. For fun here is a picture of Reid on 11/21/2005 on the day he came home from the hospital at 3 days old

Here is Reid exactly a year later.