One Month

Post Edit: At 1 month he was 20.75" long and weighed 8 lbs 9 oz, 10th percentile for weight.  Since he did not drop percentiles again the doctor is happy with his weight gain.

Our little Theodore has grown so much in the past month!

- he can hold his head up
- he focuses on faces and turns to noises
- he hates having his arms wrapped up or swaddled.  he also dislikes his feet to be wrapped up too tight, but not as much as his arms.  if we do swaddle his arms in, it is only a matter of minutes until he has wiggled them out.  He has yet to find a swaddle he can't get out of.
- when he is awake he is always wiggling.  Nate predicted he would roll over at an early age, and at 4 weeks I put him on his tummy, took a bottle to the fridge, and when I turned back to him he was on his back.  I wish I hadn't missed it--I would have loved to see how he managed that!
- he hates being put on his tummy, unless he is laying on someone's chest, which usually puts him to sleep.
- he always smiles in his sleep.  he must have the most fantastic dreams, because his grins are huge and several times he has made a little squeaking/laughing sound while he's dreaming
- he has started smiling a little when he is awake too.  he is ticklish on his belly, back and feet, and if you tickle him he gets squirmy and smiley.
- he loves showers and baths.  when we take him in the shower he just relaxes, closes his eyes, and doesn't care one bit if the water splashes his face.  in the bath he loves to just lie back and float, kicking his little legs.
- goes to bed around 11 and wakes up around 3:00 and 6:00, eats and goes right back to sleep
- is wearing 0-3 month clothes
- he caught a cold when he was 10 days old and is still congested.  our pediatrician tells us it is normal since he is a novice at fighting these, but it kills me to listen to his snorty breathing!
- at his 2 week appointment he had dropped to the 10th percentile for both height and weight, so the doctor had us try a few different things to monitor how much he was eating.  turns out he's a tad lazy when it came to nursing, and was just getting too worn out after an ounce and calling it quits.  we have switched to only bottle feeding him pumped breast milk, and this hungry guy drinks 3-4 ounces per feeding!  we go in next week to see if he has gained weight but I can definitely tell he has.
- he loves his brother and how well he takes care of him.  Ryan is always willing to cuddle, feed, and talk to him.  last week Ryan insisted he hold Theo while they watched a movie, and Nate and I went upstairs to watch something else.  the boys just cuddled on the couch for almost 2 hours, and then Ry brought him up to us because he was "starting to get whiney."
- Nate is so cute with him and is a perfect papa.
- I get distracted from all the stuff I plan on doing around the house because I can't resist holding him, talking to him, and just looking at him.

Theo is such a sweet little baby and has added so much love to our family.  It is hard to believe there were only 3 of us a month ago.  We all adore him and are so thankful he is here!

Birthday Boy

Can you believe the Troll is 9?!?

We celebrated by taking some friends to Jump Around Utah where the boys spent a couple hours wearing themselves out and getting completely gross and sweaty as only little boys can.  Then we came back home for presents, hot dogs, and cake and ice cream, finished up with some Epic Fails videos on YouTube.  It was the perfect party for these crazies!

On Ry's actual birthday he got to sleepover with Val's kids and spend the day at Classic Fun Center where they did water slides, skating, and arcade games.  Then it was off to dinner at Chinese Gourmet with Nate and I, and home for presents.

I'm so thankful for this 9 year old.  He has become such a funny little man with a quick wit and lots of energy.  He is sensitive, sweet and caring with me but tough and intense with Nate and on the football field.  He is gracious and thoughtful, a great student, and always asking questions about things going on around us.  I love you little Troll!

Theodore James

Theodore James Jones
August 19, 2014

9:30 pm

7lbs 1 oz

19" long
Height: 35%
Weight: 28%
Head Size: 66%

Our baby is here!!!  It is crazy to me that not only is he here, but he is over 3 weeks old!  Everyone says the time will fly, and they are not kidding.

Theodore James made his arrival on August 19, 2014.  I woke up that morning feeling crampy about 5 am, and by 6 am was having contractions about every 2 minutes.  I got ready and Nate and I went in to my doctor appointment that was at 9:30.  I told her what was going on, and she said "Maybe you are in labor!"  They put me on the monitor and sure enough, every 90 seconds I was having relatively big contractions.  They watched me for a while and decided this was it--it was time to head over to the hospital!  Chelsea was there for her 37 week check up so she came in and wished us well as we went over to check in.

Just after checking in Nate gave me a blessing.  I'm so thankful for this husband who is a worthy priesthood holder who was able to do that for me.  He blessed me that my body would be responsive, that I would know what to do, and that we would be able to hear and trust the words of our doctors.  He blessed our little baby that his body would be safe during this process and that he would arrive here with no complications.

Within a couple hours I was hooked up to monitors, IVs and who knows what else, and my doctor had come in and broken my water.  Our little guy had pooped in the water sack, so we were a little concerned about meconium aspiration.  They watched my contractions and decided they weren't strong enough, so started me on pitocin.  After about an hour they came in and said they had been watching the baby's heart rate and that he wasn't responding well to the contractions, so they decided to turn off the pitocin.  For the rest of the day, they would start it and turn it off over and over as my body wasn't having hard enough contractions but little Theodore wasn't dealing very well with them when they came hard.  By 4 pm I had been in labor almost 12 hours and was only dilated to a 3, and that is when they started talking about the possibility of a C-Section.  I was shocked to hear it--in all my months of prepping for labor and delivery I had never actually considered that it might happen that way.  I'm so grateful for a doctor I trust who I know had the best interest of me and my baby in mind.  I'm thankful for the words of the blessing Nate had given me, to hear and trust our doctor, and the reassurance that Theodore would be ok.  We waited a few more hours, but with no strong contractions happening on my own, the pitocin stressing the baby, and no dilation, it was looking pretty grim for a vaginal delivery.  Theo had never dropped and my doctor was concerned his head was not fitting through my pelvic opening, but there was no way to know that for sure.  On top of that we were starting to worry about the meconium and how long Theo had been in stress.  At about 8:30 we were prepped and ready to head in to the OR to get this little guy here via C-Section.

Nate went with me and watched the whole thing.  Once they had me all prepped and were ready to begin, I started to cry.  It was such an overwhelming feeling to know that this was it, that in just a few minutes I would have 2 children.  That all the aches and pains and sickness and just plain going crazy for the last 10 months and the stress and anxiety of the last 12 hours had all led up to this, and that in a few minutes I would be holding my little baby.  I knew then that it was all worth it.  That is why women get pregnant more than once.  That is why we forget all the aches and pains and sickness and going crazy, because at the end of it we get the most perfect little baby straight from heaven placed in our arms.

It was a crazy experience to watch the C-Section from the looks on Nate's face.  I was mostly with it, but was SUPER concerned with the fact that I couldn't feel my legs and was hating the blood pressure cuff that was going off every 60 seconds.  Nate was a champion and held my hand and squeezed my shoulder as he watched them deliver our little guy.  He told me "he has chubby cheeks!" and then they passed him through the window to the nursery to clear out his airways.  I've never been so scared in my life when he wasn't screaming and crying, I called out "He isn't crying!"  My doctor told me it was better he wasn't crying because they needed to clear his airways, and assured me he would be ok.  Sure enough, a few minutes later we heard him announcing his arrival and making sure no one would forget it.  Nate asked the doctor if the issue was the shape of my pelvis and Theo's head not fitting, and she said it was and that he was "stuck like a cork in a wine bottle."  Once he was good to go they took Nate to go see him, and he came back with this picture of our little boy:

Oh, those chubby little cheeks and dark hair--I was so in love so instantly!  Stitching me up and finishing up the surgery seemed to take forever--I just wanted to see my little guy.  When we were finally done and they had finished cleaning up Theo, they brought him to me for the walk back to our room.  Oh, what a perfect little man!  The first thing I said when they gave him to me was "He looks just like Ryan!"  I can't describe exactly what it is, but his little mouth and nose just look so much like his brother.  I feel like Theo is the link that binds our clan together--we now all share common DNA. 

My dad brought Ryan up that night even though it was late.  I sat and watched Nate introduce Theodore to Ryan.  I watched them sitting on the other side of the room and just cried at how much I love these boys of mine.  My parents and Ryan stayed for a little bit and then went home to get Ryan to bed.  

Just after they left the NICU nurse came in to check on Theo again, and was a little concerned about his oxygen levels.  They decided to be safe they would take him to the NICU and monitor him.  If his O2 levels came up within 6 hours of his birth he wouldn't have to be admitted.  Nate went with him and my nurse took me to my recovery room.  I was exhausted and still a little foggy but just kept staring at the pictures of him.  Nate would text me updates from the NICU and I tried to get a little sleep.  At 3:30 am, 6 hours after he was born, his oxygen was still a little unstable, so they admitted him to the NICU.  Nate came back to my room and 3 hours later wheeled me over to feed him.  It was hard being in a different room, because I was starting to be in more pain and needing to rest and lie down, but wanted so badly to spend as much time as possible holding Theo, changing his diapers, and feeding him.  Nate was amazing at bouncing back and forth between our two rooms and taking such good care of both of us.

He had a few days in the NICU to watch his lungs, during which he was on oxygen and an IV antibiotic.  Luckily he didn't develop a full fledged infection and didn't need the full 10 days of antibiotic.  We were so happy when they weaned him from the oxygen and he got to come stay with me!  They surprised me with that news one night after Nate had left to come home with Ryan and I was planning to be there alone.  What a joy it was to have my little babe with me!

Ryan is the best big brother we could ask for and just adores his little brother.  He has been watching out for him from day one and loves him so much.  It makes me so happy to see them together!

Welcome to the world Theodore James--we've waited a long time for you!!

California Trip

At the beginning of the school year we gave Ryan a goal of getting 100% on his spelling tests.  He has been working so hard and has done so good.  We decided the prize for a lofty goal like this would be a trip to Disneyland.  Neither Ryan or Nate had ever been, so we were super excited for our time there.  With the baby on the way we decided to go for Spring Break rather than in the summer, but with work schedules we ended up going the first of March.  That meant almost no lines and great weather!!

Wednesday afternoon after we got there we went to Newport Beach.  The water was FREEZING and it was windy and cold, but Ry loved it.  After we left he asked us if we could skip Disneyland the next day and go back to the beach instead.  Point: beach.

Thursday morning we got up and headed to Disneyland.  Luckily, Ryan quickly discovered the magic of the place and was glad we didn't skip it.  We spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning soaking up as much Disney as we could.  Ryan was a little adventure maniac and loved the Matterhorn, California Screamin, Star Tours, the Buzz Lightyear Ride, and Radiator Springs in Cars Land.  I could go on quite a few rides in spite of being pregnant, and even when I couldn't, just being there with Nate and Ry was pretty great.  The parades at night, yummy food, fun characters and just wearing ourselves out was a great time.  :)

We definitely did all there was to do there and loved every second.  You know you've shut it down when this is what you look like waiting for the shuttle to take you home at the end of the night.

One fun thing about the trip was that on our way to the beach on Wednesday afternoon I felt our little babe move!  Everyone had told me how it feels like butterflies, which I didn't think it felt like at all.  I almost thought it felt like a muscle twitch.  I didn't say anything because I thought I might be just imagining things, and then felt it again when we were in line for Indiana Jones so told Nate and Ryan.  On the drive home it was so fun to sit in the car and feel him wiggling around in there!

We went back to the beach for one last time Saturday afternoon and stayed till sunset.  And just like that, our trip was over.  Till next time, Cali!

Words of Wisdom

This morning I had the chance to attend a rehearsal for an address Elder Bednar will be giving next week at BYU's Education Week.  Also in attendance to give feedback were the Primary, Young Women, and Relief Society Presidencies, the Young Men's and Sunday School Presidencies, some of the Quorum of the Seventy, and Elder Nelson.  Elder Bednar gave such a great address and then the feedback that came from these inspired leaders was so applicable and given in such a positive light.  He asked Elder Nelson if he had any advice and if what he said was appropriate and true.  Elder Nelson told him "Everything you said is in bounds."  It was so neat to see the respect Elder Bednar had for this senior apostle and the help they clearly are to each other.

One very significant item to me was a point of feedback one of the members of the seventy gave, which was that Elder Bednar encourage audience members to prayerfully consider who and how they can share the upcoming church movie with.  He mentions it in his address and will share the trailer.  Elder Bednar said to him "That's your job after my talk is done."  Everyone chuckled, and then he said "No, hear me out:  I can give these attendees a list of items to go home and do, from a member of the Quorum of the Twelve.  But it would be so much more efficient if I simply teach the concepts, and then members themselves and all of you make the connection to share these meaningful messages."  I was so amazed at how simply and profoundly he understood his role, and the role of member missionaries, and how with so much love and understanding he taught such a simple concept.

As I walked out, Elder Nelson walked past and shook all our hands and asked how we were doing.  I made a joke about how perhaps Dr. Nelson knew how to get this baby here, and he looked at me and said "Birth is a lot like death: you can be certain it will happen, you just don't know when, and in the end, it doesn't really matter!"  He asked how I was feeling, and if this was my first baby, and then he told me that he watched his wife have 10 kids and each time she was in labor he thought of the 23rd Psalm:

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

He said "It's true--you will be just fine, because you are following God's plan, and He will take care of you, and you are glorifying him by doing what he wants in the right way."  Then he squeezed my hand and wished me well, and went about his much more important business.

What a sweet and sincere man to offer some words of comfort to a crazy, anxiety ridden pregnant woman.  

33 Weeks

I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy has flown by!  As of TODAY I can say we are having a baby next month.  :)  I figured I better write a few things down before I forget it all in the bliss of what everyone promises will follow when I forget all miserable aspects of this and decide to do it again!

Ryan:
- from the very beginning Ryan was infatuated with the idea of us having twins.  I had 2 dreams of him sitting in the back of the car with a bottle in each hand and car seats on both sides of him.  I was very relieved to see only one little person on the ultrasound!  He asked us how twins happen, and after we explained it as best we could he said "SO... someone cracks an egg in the mom's belly and 2 babies fall out?"  We explained it a little better, and a few weeks later he and I were driving and he was quiet in the backseat, and all the sudden said "You know, if you had really wanted twins, you could have just shooken yourself up and made 2 eggs fall out!"
- He asked me last week if I were getting "a little freaked out about the baby being born."  I told him I wasn't, and asked if he was, and he said yes and that he was glad he didn't have to be there.
- Every night when he says his prayers he asks that our baby and Chelsea and Marcus's baby can both grow and be healthy
- Ryan came up with our top name by suggesting early on the name "Thor."  When we told him that was a great dog name but not a baby name, he said "Then Theodore, and we can call him Thor."  As Theodore has grown on us Ryan has changed his preference and calls the baby Theo.

Nate:
- from the very beginning Nate told us all it was a girl.  He came home from the store one night with little girl booties and said he just knew it was a girl.  I didn't have any inclinations, but as Nate insisted it was a girl I started believing it.  When we had our 15 week ultrasound and they said it was a boy I almost asked her to check again!  Afterwards when I talked to Nate about being wrong, he said "Well I figured I could be right or I could be pleasantly surprised!"
- he has been the most supportive husband I could ask for--cooking, cleaning, and last Saturday he got up at 7 am to cut up fruit for my baby shower.  As long as I provide lotion and a towel he will rub my feet at night and doesn't complain about my tossing and turning all night.
- he fans me with his clipboard all through Sacrament meeting since the chapel is roasting.

Me and Baby:
- I felt him move for the first time at 16 weeks 1 day.  We were on our way to the beach in Southern California on our family vacation.  I wasn't sure what it was, so didn't say anything, and felt him again the next day in line for Indiana Jones at Disneyland.  It felt like a muscle twitch to me, but for the rest of the trip I felt him almost every day.
- My worst pregnancy symptom has been carpal tunnel.  I started having numb arms and hands around 20 weeks so started sleeping with braces which helped a lot.  It's getting quite a bit worse now and I can't wear the braces because my hands swell up during the night.  I'll be glad to have this issue go away!
- 33 weeks was a huge turning point in how much I feel him, how obviously I know where each of his body parts are, and how clear it is he doesn't have much more room in there.  This past Sunday he was kicking during Sacrament meeting and Nate pushed his hand against his little feet.  It only took about 5 seconds for Nate to get a swift kick--don't squish me dad!
- The only cravings I ever had were for Mexican food and Orange Fanta
- The worst first trimester side effect was how moody and crazy I felt all the time.  It was far worse than the morning sickness and something I was totally unprepared for.

The nursery is coming along, my ward spoiled me with a fun shower, and I'm not sure how many more baby items we can fit in our house!  We are so excited to meet this little guy!

IT'S A BOY!!!

Last night we had our ultrasound at Fetal Fotos and got to determine the gender of our little peanut!!!  It was so amazing to watch him wiggle, kick, spin, wave, and touch his face.  He is a busy little thing and it was hard to get him to hold still long enough to get a good look.  Nate had us all convinced it was going to be a girl, so I was shocked when she said "HE!!"  He has perfect little fingers and toes, a hummingbird speed heart beat, and such a cute little curved spine.

It is so amazing to me the miracle that this is.  Just a short 4 months ago he was only a spirit, and now his body is being built, and that somehow, I get to be a part of it.  I cannot imagine how I am so blessed to be housing this precious soul for the next 5 months.  And I cannot believe how intensely I love him.

I have never seen Nate so proud as when she said it was a boy.  After several references from the ultrasound tech to his "little parts," Nate had to speak up with "Can we please go easy with the word little?!" He has been so incredible to me the past several months--letting me sleep, sending me for pedicures, making our dinners, and cleaning our house.  He has been a lifesaver and I've never heard a complaint.

I loved watching Ryan see his brother for the first time.  He was shocked and I think a tad disappointed that it wasn't a girl.  Then he got nervous this new one would want all his toys.  But then, as the night wore on, he just got excited.  He was so cute asking questions, pointing things out, and laughing at the ultrasound tech poking my belly to get little man to move.  I accidentally referred to the new baby as a little Troll, and Ry looked up at me like I had slapped him.  I felt so bad!  Ryan will forever and always be my Troll.  I know this new addition will be a big change for him, but he is so sweet and caring and kind that I know he will be just fine.

We haven't been able to come up with any boy names we love, but Ryan has been telling everyone we are naming him Theodore so his nickname will be Thor.  He definitely does not have mom's sign-off on that one!
Ryan has been really curious about twins, and why we aren't having twins.  We have a neighbor expecting twins next month, and he has been fascinated with it.  We explained to him that women have an egg that becomes a baby, and sometimes 2 eggs come out at once, which makes twins. Then Nate said "Sometimes only 1 egg comes out, but it splits in half and forms 2 babies."  Ryan thought for a minute, and then said "So someone cracks open an egg and 2 babies fall into the mom's stomach?!"  I love how his mind works--I could see him imagining making brownies, and cracking open eggs...

He let it go for a week or so, and then last weekend, out of the blue, he said to me "You know T, if you had really wanted 2 babies, you could have just shaken yourself up and made 2 eggs come out!"  I had to explain to him that women aren't like salt shakers...  :)

I have definitely started showing and my jeans are officially not fitting.  I have still been feeling good, just an occasional bout of nausea here and there.  I went skiing last weekend and for the first time felt like there was something there--like I couldn't crouch as much as I wanted to.  They tell me I could feel him as early as next week, and I can't wait!   I'm starting to feel more energy and like I can finally tackle some projects, which is nice.

9 weeks, 15 weeks

We can't wait to see our little man continue to grow and see him again at our 20 week ultrasound!