11-27 and 11-30-- time with daddy and tummy time!

Thanksgiving-2

I just realized I didn't take any pictures Sunday for my family's Thanksgiving (gosh, I'm kinda slacking eh?), but it was really an enjoyable day.  My mom and sister and brother and sister in law came over to our house and we all made lots of yummy food.  It was really nice to spend time with them all-- it's been awhile and needs to happen more frequently.  Love you guys!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday we traveled to Fruitport for Thanksgiving with the Bookers.  We had a nice time visiting with everyone and the food was so yummy as usual!  Here's a quick picture of Mason's outfit that Grandma Sue got him for Thanksgiving.  This Sunday is Thanksgiving #2 with my family and more yummy food :)

We are so thankful for so much!!





I love this picture :)

Going backwards just a second...

I forgot to post pictures of Mason with his 7 week older cousin Amelia (we call her Milla- born September 23).  They're close in weight and are both too cute!  (Mason was 6 days old in these pictures- 11.14.10)  

Milla is named after Grandma Susie Amelia Booker and Grandma Elma Jean Bosma, and Mason Jack is named after Grandpa Jack Bosma.






Happy Thanksgiving!

Last Thursday was Mason’s first doctor appointment with Dr. Lixie.  He’s gaining weight as he needs to- up to 8 pounds, 11 ounces, and is already 22 inches long!  His first appointment went great- he hardly cried at all!  He was very intrigued by the new surroundings and the different lights in there.

November 18- heading to Mason's first doctor appointment

The boys hanging out Monday, November 22, while I was at my school board meeting :)

So sleepy :)  (11.22.10)

Last night, Josh, Blake, Mason, and I had a bit of running to do in Grand Rapids, then we decided to take a stroll through the mall for a bit of walking exercise after eating at Old Chicago Pizza (YUMMM!).  It was Mason’s first time in the stroller and in the mall, and he seemed to enjoy the constant movement.  As usual, he was such a good boy in his seat and big brother Blake was a great driver!  Oh, before I forget too, Josh and Mason had their first successful trip to the restaurant bathroom adventure :) 



(Mason sleeping at the table at the restaurant.)

He is just over two weeks old now and he’s already changing so much.  Every day it seems he makes different sounds and facial expressions and we’re seeing his eyebrows and eyelashes coming in a bit more.  He’s also starting to produce real tears when he cries… those icky poopy diapers!  It’s very easy for Josh and I to sit and just stare at him- he’s so handsome for sure! 

This Thanksgiving and every day, we’re so blessed for so much.  Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

10 days old already!

With a bit of help, we set up a mini-studio downstairs so I could get some pictures of Mason before he changes too much too fast.  Here are a few of my favorites :)

Monday- a week old already!

Breastfeeding is coming along... in two days, I've been able to feed Mason plus pump almost 4oz worth-- I'm so proud of myself, but sheesh, it's still a bit uncomfortable.  Mason and I are learning together.  He gets so excited and tries to find it.  Breastfeeding is definitely time consuming though-- I'll be happy when we get a routine of some kind going and my chest gets on a schedule as well.  But early this morning I fed him, plus gave him .5oz of breastmilk.  After I laid him down, I pumped and went to bed about 5:20AM.  I had to wake Mason up at 11:45AM!!!  I'm thankful for the nap!

In other news, I cannot believe that he's already a week old.  He's so beautiful and I can't get enough of him. 

Life is good.

Pictures from Friday and Saturday

Mason's first bottle- 1 oz of breastmilk that literally took me two days to pump... :)



Gunner used to always rest his head on my belly- so gentle.

Pictures from Thursday-

Grandma Mary & Mason at Sydney's Cheerleading Banquet

Daddy's finally home from work- whew, we missed him!

Yes, his feet are really that big!



This is my dad, Steve.



Nurse Visits-

Our insurance offers this really great ‘Going Home’ program that I’m happy we took advantage of.  The nurse came here on Thursday and Friday to see how we were doing, check our vitals, as well as Mason’s weight, bilirubin, and to answer any questions we have.

Thursday-

Friday-

She wasn’t worried about his bilirubin because it was coming down, but so was his weight just a bit.  She wasn’t overly concerned because my milk hadn’t came in yet.  Thursday night, I could feel my milk start to come in so that’s gotten a little bit better, but we did give Mason just a little bit of formula as we want to make sure he’s getting enough.

Going Home!

We were discharged from the hospital on Wednesday- November 10 after Mason was circumcised the night before (MaryAnne) and Dr. Leazenby came in to check on us first thing that morning.  They also checked Mason’s hearing and such and all was well!  I was SOOO excited to go home!  Mason’s going home weight was 8 pounds, 14 ounces.  He slept the whole way home.  When we got home, I cried.  It was soo good (and emotional) to be home finally with Mason in our arms.  Gunner was excited to see us too and sniffed Mason a few times, then ignored him.  He wanted my attention more than worrying about this new little person.

Huge thank you to Donnie & Tricia for taking care of the kids and Gunner.  Thanks SOOO much!  We love you guys!

Thank you also to my friend Stephanie for the Welcome Home poster on Mason's door (Tricia put it up :)-- I was crying again before we even opened Mason's door to show him his room!  *hugs*

Happy Birthday Mason Jack Booker!

Last Monday ended up being a beautiful day for a birthday!  Here’s the story-

That Sunday night, as usual, I couldn’t sleep.  I watched a little TV, and played on the computer for a bit.  It was about 4AM when I decided to try to go to sleep.  Josh was up and out of the door by 5AM and I was up again at 6:30AM- a bit uncomfortable.  About 7:30, I started timing contractions.  As you can see below, they were coming very regularly, but I didn’t want to be sent home again from the hospital without our son.

How long they lasted                Time in between                                               

55 seconds                                     6:12                            

57 seconds                                     2:10

58 seconds                                     3:38

53 seconds                                     2:35

41 seconds                                     3:09

48 seconds                                     4:46

1 minute 13 seconds                      4:16

1 minute 18 seconds                      3:42                       29.08 minutes total so far in this sample

Contractions on average lasting 58 seconds

I was keeping in touch with Josh and my mom who both wanted me to call the doctor.  When I did finally call MaryAnne, they wanted me to go in.  But again, I was afraid of being sent home, so I told the nurse that I would stay home as long as I can.  It was probably about Noon or so when mom and I finally go to the hospital, they checked me and I was about 2cm dilated.  They hooked me up to the monitors and Mason’s heartbeat looked great and my contractions were definitely staying consistent, but weren’t really gaining in strength for the most part although there were a few doozies in there. 

The triage nurses recommended I take a walk as walking can help get things moving a bit more, so about 2PM, Josh, Mom, and myself, hit the floors.  We visited the 6^th floor, then went down to the main floor and visited the gift shop very briefly, and then by 2:45PM, we were back in our triage room on the 2^nd floor.  (Quick side story—the whole walk, I was having contractions that were increasingly more painful.  When we stopped in the gift shop, Josh and I were kidding to mom to buy this big 4’ tall stuffed giraffe.  She was going too, but I kept saying no, no, buy him a little one if you want, but not a huge one like that.)

(the only picture we have of walking... Nice look eh?)

At about 3PM, the nurse came in to check to see how I was progressing and said I was still at about 3cm.  She no sooner let me sit up and I felt that icky, drippy feeling.  Having been to the hospital with this icky feeling before, I wasn’t getting my hopes up at all.  I only assumed it was her gel that she used for the exam so she swabbed me (and it turned blue yay!), but then had another nurse come in and swab a bit deeper.  I went to use the restroom and by the time I got back, Josh and Mom both had tears in their eyes and big smiles on their faces, I was being admitted!!!!  (When the water breaks, typically, they are not going to send a mama home as I believe there is a 24 hour window to deliver a baby to reduce the risk of infection.)  I cried, and cried, and was in total shock—FINALLY, I was in labor and not leaving that hospital without Mason!  Ed & Sue surprised us at the hospital (we weren't expecting them for a while) and in no time we were all moved to the delivery room down the hall.

Shortly thereafter, we were visited by the anesthesiologist lady, Mary.  We spoke of the epidural, pros/cons, etc., and she told me that I could have it whenever I felt I needed it.  Then came the IV tries…. The first try, in my left wrist area, was horrible.  Not only was I having a contraction very literally off the charts, but the lady missed my vein and kept digging around in there.  My mom was very upset at the lady and Josh was trying to console me as much as possible.  Oh my goodness, I don’t know which hurt worse, the huge contraction, or the first IV attempt.  The lady wanted to try again, but I needed time.  A while later, she came back in and had IV attempt number two in the top of my right hand.  She missed again, and I was done.  Mom actually walked out of the room.  I was crying and crying.  I really hate needles anyway and this lady was hurting me so bad.  Eeek, hurts me just thinking about it.  When mom came back in, here’s what she brought—she said she wanted to make me smile- and it did (and cry too).

FINALLY, Mary, the anesthesiologist lady, came back in, numbed the top of my left hand (which hurt too) and was able to get the IV in.  They started me on saline to keep me hydrated.  At 6PM, I received the epidural.  Eeeek, I was so tired of hurting, and was so tired (still hadn’t slept), that at 6:16, I was reported as feeling “way better!!”.  At 6:50PM, they checked me—I was guessing I was dilated to 7cm, but I was off—only dilated to 6cm, but Mason’s head was definitely down where it needed to be.  They were guessing Mason was about 7 pounds something…

At 8:26, they checked me and I was dilated to 9cm and they decided to empty my bladder.  Next thing you know, we’re ready to go!  Our nurse, Michelle, had me take a breath and push (to see what was going on down there) and she only counted to 4 and told me to stop—she needed to go get the doctor right away! 

Mason was temporarily ‘hanging out’ while pushing from about his ears up.  Once the next contraction came along, next thing you know, 9:04PM, Mason was born!  It was really scary though because he was not breathing when he first came out—there was so much goo around him.  They laid him on my chest and were trying to suction him, and next thing you know, I remember them telling Josh to hurry and cut the cord.  As soon as they did that, they took Mason to the warming station and used the electric sucker and he started screaming!! I was so scared and confused (as I couldn’t see too much of what was going on), but I was so happy to hear him scream.  They soon put him back on my chest under a warm blanket.  This is the first picture taken of Mason and I from Josh’s cell phone.

After a bit, they took him to be weighed and such.  We were all very surprised when he weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds, 4 ounces, 19.5” long with a 35.5cm head!  They also took his footprints.  Blake and Sydney were the first to see him which meant a lot to me, and finally Josh was able to hold Mason at about 9:40PM.  Then Syd and Blake held him, followed by Grandpa Ed, Mema, Tricia, and Sue.  I was able to nurse after everyone went home at about 10:30PM and he got his first bath at about 11:06PM.  (Gotta love the data saved by pictures to help me with a timeling…)

We were moved to our other room (#5423) at about midnight.  A long, tiring, painful, and beautiful day!!