A Travelin' Man

Once again, time is flying!  I only have 2 weeks of maternity leave left.  I can't believe how quickly how quickly the summer has come and gone.

Mason is 10 weeks old and growing like a weed.  We had his 2 month check up last week.  He's already 11 pounds 11 oz (50th percentile) and 23 1/2 inches (75th percentile.)  He got his first 5 shots, which were probably harder on Mommy and Daddy than they were on him.  He did get a little bit feverish that evening, but seemed to be himself the next day.  He's sleeping better, both day and night.  Thank God!!   He's also tolerating the bouncy and swing, which he didn't for the first several weeks of his life.  As promised by so many, it's getting easier.

My child has become quite the Travelin' Man.  Ryan pointed out that Mason has probably already been more places in 10 weeks than Ryan did in first 23 years.  Colorado was the big trip, as it involved plane travel, but now he can add road tripper to his repertoire.  I decided to take advantage of my maternity leave freedom and hopped in the car to visit my parents in Atlanta.  Mollie joined me for drive up and we enjoyed a few days with Grammy and Arpy.  Aunt Ann drove down from Nashville to visit!  Mason also got to meet cousin Kris who lives in Atlanta.  My trip was extended due to Hurricane Isaac, so we ended up spending 8 days without Daddy.  I think that Daddy started missing us around day 4. :)

Atlanta's Natural History Museum

With Grammy and Aunt Mollie

Lunch with Kris

For Labor Day weekend, we were lucky enough to once again hop in the car and head south to Ryan's parents' condo in West Palm Beach.  Little Man experienced the beach for the first time.  The two of us sat shaded under an umbrella the whole time, but enjoyed every second of it.  I was even able to escape for a massage while Ryan watched the baby!  Yay!!  It was a fun, relaxing weekend.

Lookin' good, Beach Baby!

Watching college football

Next trip is only a few days away when we meet the entire Karns clan at Dale Hollow Lake (Ky/Tn border) for an awesome Houseboat family vacation!  Cannot wait!

Where is the time going??

I can't believe that it's been 6 weeks already!!  This must be the fastest that time has ever gone.  Seriously.  Mason is 6 weeks and 3 days old.

Obviously, I could write a novel to fill you in on the past month and half, but I'll just touch on the highlights.  I'm writing while he's napping, and he's not a great napper so I'll do what I can.

He's now about 10 pounds and growing like a weed.  I can't believe how much he's changed already.  He's doing lots of cute cooing and babbling.  He eats like every meal is his last.  When people ask me how I've adapted to the night feedings, I always say that nights are easy compared to the day.  He usually sleeps in 3 to 4 hour stretches at night, which I've gotten pretty used to.  During the day, the child eats every 2 hours like clockwork (and each feeding usually lasts 35 to 45 minutes.)  Suffice it to say that my life revolves around breastfeeding. :)

After my parents left, I did experience some "Baby Blues"... but that's getting easier day by day.  I'm starting to feel like we can handle this.  After Ryan went back to work, reality set in, so I've definitely enjoyed all of our visitors!

Ryan's mom came when he was about 3 weeks old.  She stayed with us for a few days, then we were treated to joining her in West Palm for a few more days.  I love their condo!  It's right on the Intercoastal, so the view is always changing with boats driving by.  We had a great down there, and I am so thankful for the extra set of hands.  Nana Lynn is definitely the Mason Whisperer!
 
The next weekend, Amanda (also known as Fairy Godmother) and Mike came to visit.  I wish their trip had been longer, but we had an awesome weekend.  We had some quality Disney time at Animal Kingdom and Epcot.  Ryan really enjoyed his Epcot time that night, with a massive hangover the next day to prove it. :)  On Sunday, we rented a pool cabana at one of the local resorts, and enjoyed a beautiful day.  Mason enjoyed the shade and cool breeze in the cabana while the rest of us took turns enjoying the lazy river. 

Today is our first day home from a long weekend in Colorado where we celebrated my cousin Brianna's wedding.  She and her husband actually got married in Italy 3 days after Mason was born, but they held another reception  in Denver for people that couldn't make it to Italy.  We had an amazing trip!  Mason was a champ on the flights.  No major issues.  He nursed and slept, so it was relatively smooth sailing both there and back.   Mason got to meet his great grandparents on my side -- Grandmother and Grandmother, and Grandad.  My mom and dad were also there, so they got in some good baby time!  My trip was all the more special because my best friend from high school, Meghan, and her husband Matt made the trek from Albuquerque to come visit us as well.  We even left the baby with my mom for our first "real" grown up outing without him.  The four of us (Meg, Matt, Ryan and I) explored a couple of Denver's breweries.  Again, I wish that I could have spent more time with everyone, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

With his Grandad and Great Grandad

Meeting Meghan!

Both of his great grandfathers on my side

Ready for the reception

Looking like giants at the reception

Great Grandad with Little Man

At Grandad's condo in Frisco

4 Generations

I am counting the days until our big family houseboat trip at the beginning of September!!!  Until then, back to reality...

Welcome to the World, Mason Jeremy

I've been meaning to post since Saturday, but it turns out that babies take up a lot of time! :)

The newest love of my life was born June 23rd at 5:29am.  I'm still in shock that he's here and he's mine. 
Birth story (if you care): Last Friday morning I woke up and was 100% miserable... simply tired of being pregnant, and tired of waiting.  I had scheduled a massage for that afternoon, and made it very clear to the masseuse that I was 39 1/2 weeks pregnant and she should feel free to focus on pressure points that supposedly induce labor.  Post massage, I decided that I may as well follow up with a pedicure.  Nice few hours of pampering...  That evening Ryan and I settled into our "routine" of dinner and TV watching.  At 6:15ish I experienced my first "real" contraction.  I did not enjoy it...  20 minutes later same thing.  Ryan downloaded an contraction counting app (of course) and we watched the timing closely.  I decided after the 5th or 6th painful contraction that this may be the real deal.  I called my parents to let them know I was seriously contemplating heading to the hospital.  They decided they'd get on the road from Atlanta shortly thereafter.  My contractions rapidly got closer together and more intense.  I started to mildly panic when they were only 4 or 5 minutes apart and a minute long.  We were en route to the hospital around 9:30 (complete with a Starbucks stop...because how could I possibly go into labor without a latte??)  We arrived at the hospital, and I was completely convinced that the contractions were going to rip me in half.  Good God, they hurt!!  I checked into the Baby Center only to be told that I was only 3 cm dilated, and they couldn't officially admit me yet.  We had to walk around the hospital for 2 hours in the hopes that I'd show cervix progression.  Holy shit, those were the two most excruciating hours of my life.  In my mind, the contractions would be uncomfortable enough to take notice, then I'd immediately be checked in and hooked up to my epidural.  That's definitely not how it happened.  After our terrible 2 hour walk, my contractions were only 2 minutes apart, and I had progressed to 5 cm.  Thank God!  Bring on the epidural!  It was glorious.  How women give birth without drugs, I'll never understand.  I dilated quickly, so they had me start pushing around 3am.  Pushing sucks too, fyi, but at least it's not painful.  I pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed some more.  The nurse told me that I was "almost there" for an hour and a half.  Total crap of course, but long(er) story short, Mason finally made his way through the birth canal and arrived at 5:29.

What a surreal moment... I'm still foggy on the details.  I remember the baby being placed on my chest immediately just staring at each other.  Poor Ryan didn't actually get to hold his son for almost 2 hours after his birth.  Celebration hospital is serious about the mommy/baby bonding time, so between the nurses cleaning him up and all of the poking and prodding, and the lactation nurse trying to teach us how to breastfeed, it was a long time before any one was allowed in the room.  My siblings had arrived around 3:30am and my parents arrived just after 5:00.  They finally got to meet the baby around 8:30.

Proud daddy with his son

Grammy's turn

Poor Aunt Mollie had been sleeping on the floor in the waiting room

Now with Uncle Michael (or Mikey, or whatever you want to be called)

Pretty...

 

Grandad finally got to hold him!

I promise to post more details and pictures from the past week soon, but I'm tired of typing, and you're probably tired of reading.  :)  All in all, he's amazing and perfect.  Mommy and Daddy are tired, but adjusting well.  We are very thankful that my parents are here to help this week!

38 Weeks and Beyond Ready!!

Why can't pregnancy be 36 weeks?  I've never spoken with a mom that thinks, "Yeah, the last few weeks are bearable."  No, they're not.  He's cooked, right?  Time to evict??  I feel like I'm counting the hours.  Literally.

Last Monday we had our "full term" doctor's appointment and ultrasound.  At that time he was estimated to already be 7 pounds, and his head was measuring in the 80th percentile.  Um, ouch!  My appointment yesterday was relatively uneventful, but she was able to give me some good news.  If everything looks like I'm still slowly progressing at our appointment next week, she said that she'd be willing to discuss "early" induction.  In other words, if I haven't gone into labor between now next week, we may schedule my induction for Sunday 6/24 or Monday 6/25.  Yay!!  Originally I'd been under the impression that we wouldn't induce until a week after my due date. 

My dad is in Colorado helping my Grandad who is currently undergoing cancer treatments. He was originally planning to stay there until the 23rd or so, but it looks like he's going to come home a few days early.  My Aunt Amy will likely head to Colorado to be with Grandad a few days before she had planned.  On that note, Grandad finished his chemo treatments yesterday and only has 5 more radiation sessions.  Stay strong, Grandad!  It's almost time to celebrate!
 

On Sunday, my "nesting" instinct kicked into high gear.  I thought that I'd been experiencing it for the past few weeks, but nothing compared to my 5:30 am obsession with finishing the nursery and office.  So, much to Ryan's dismay, we cleaned, organized and reorganized from 6 in the morning (realistically Ryan joined me around 9:30 when normal people get motivated) until almost 8 at night.  The nursery is put together and organized, but still not completely "decorated."  The office isn't finished yet either, but we're on the right track.  As the guest room is now the nursery, the office is becoming office/guest room complete with daybed.  It won't be quite as comfortable as it used to be to visit us, but at least there's a place to sleep.

I'll post pictures when the nursery is officially decorated, but for now here's a picture of his crib:

His bedding FINALLY arrived!!

I'm hoping the next 2 weeks fly by!!

Baby Showers, Belly Pics and More!

I'm officially a bad blogger!  It's been 5 weeks (?!) since my last post. 

Today I begin my 34th week of pregnancy...only 6 more to go!  I feel like it's coming way too soon, and taking way too long all at the same time. :)   The baby is about the size of a canteloupe, and 18 inches long. There are still so many little things to do, but I can't seem to get motivated to do any of them.  We still need to find a pediatrician, figure out about child care, and finish the nursery. 

Since my last post, I've had 2 fabulous baby showers.  I can't thank everyone enough that's been involved in their planning.  The first one was here in town hosted by my friends Ashley, Lindsay and Shannon.  It was just close friends, good food, and good gifts. :)

With the Hostesses

All of the shower attendees

Shannon and Lindsay hoping for a future Gator fan

The second shower was last weekend in Atlanta with family.  It was hosted by my mom with the help of Amber Allen and my Aunt Kathleen.  I was thrilled to have had both the Karns and Frawley women all there (with the exception of Callie, who had finals -- we missed you!)   It was a fabulous weekend, with fabulous people.  I couldn't have felt more loved.  The next morning, we also showered my cousin Brianna, who's getting married at the end of June in Italy!

With the Frawley women -- this was during Brianna's shower

Karns women -- again day after my shower

With Mom and Mollie

Karns ladies again -- sans Mom and Amy

Yesterday we half celebrated Mother's Day...sort of the "unofficial" first Mother's Day for me.  Ryan was wonderful, and made me homemade Lemon Ricotta pancakes (something I discovered at a restaurant in Atlanta.)  We spent a few lazy hours on the couch, then spent the afternoon and early evening taking "belly pics."  Our friend, Ship (Michael Schipul) is a semi-professional photographer and was generous enough to take tons of pictures around downtown Winter Garden.  I'm sure he'd be irate with me for posting the "rough" shots, but here are a couple of my favorites before any editing takes place.

Please excuse the awful roots!!  They'll be photoshopped out.

Sadly, at 34 weeks, it's time to retire my wedding rings.  I'm officially swollen enough to have to use soap or lotion to take them off, so instead of risking anything, they are now off and put away. :(  I think I did pretty well lasting this long.

Until next time....

Sneak Peek at Baby Reister

Good Morning, Friends and Family!  Yes, I know, I'm long overdue for a blog update.  A lot has happened over the past several weeks, and we have several busy weeks coming up.  I'll keep this post to a minimum, but I promise to post about our amazing California trip to celebrate the marriage of Mike and Amanda Artifon, as well as my upcoming Baby Showers.

I'm now 29 weeks, and in the second week of my third trimester.  According to my phone app, the baby is the size of a butternut squash.  We have 77 days left (until the due date.)

Yesterday, Ryan and I spent our afternoon at the doctor's office.  I did the infamous blood glucose test, we had a 4D Ultrasound, and had a basic visit with our doc.  Baby is healthy and everything looks to be measuring normally.  For the blood glucose test, you have to go in and drink a special sugar drink (which tasted like stale Sprite) and wait for an hour before they draw blood to check sugar levels, test for anemia etc.  In that interim hour, we had the ultrasound.    Really, the u/s is 3D, but they call it 4D because they capture still and moving pictures of the baby.  It's amazing how far technology has come.  It's already clear that he'll have his Daddy's mouth, and his Grammy's (is this what we're going with, Mom?) nose.  His hands look enormous...not sure where he got those.  I can't wait until he's born to compare these pics with actual ones.

We have a thumb sucker -- better start the braces fund early

"The Thinker"

 

He finally moved his hand away from his face, but then brought his feet up

Using the placenta as a pillow (or so the tech told me)

Pouting because we kept poking at him to move

I hope that you enjoy these!!  Next update will include a cautionary photo of what happens to a 7-months-pregnant woman's ankles when she flies across the country.  It's not pretty.