Judd: Month Two

Could Judd REALLY be two months already!??  He has changed so much and is starting to get a cute little personality. It has certainly been a month full of "firsts".  This month Judd gave us his first real and true smiles.  Of course we would catch little glimpses of smiles earlier, but this month he really started smiling like crazy.  We started doing singing time on Mom and Dad's bed every morning and he LOVES it.  Wheels on the Bus is a favorite of his (complete with Judd doing all the actions of course).  He has started cooing and it is so sweet.  I just sit and talk to him and pause and he coo's all the time.  Makes my heart melt. He also rolled over on his two month birthday!  We were doing tummy time and all of a sudden he was on his back.  I'm pretty sure I scared him when I started cheering and clapping and snuggling him and telling him good job.  I felt like the proudest mommy ever.  Ha.  He went to his first (and possibly only) Alaska State Fair. Judd also started having nightly crying fits.  He generally cries about 2-6 hours.  EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT.  In 7 weeks I think we have had 2 nights without crying fits.  I think they are starting to get a little better (or I'm just becoming numb to them) but we hope he grows out of this phase soon.  It is so hard to try to comfort him when he is just completely unable to be comforted.  He has so much fun during the day though and is so much fun to play with!

Here is the month in pictures:

The "donut burger".  Fair Food. Deliciously unhealthy. Pretty sure that thing was just about as big as his head. 

Getting ready to go with Daddy on his first hunt!  In case you can't tell, that is a cammo bum-flap in case Judd has to go while he's out in the woods. HA!

Right after Judd Rolled over for the first time.  Look at those little legs--getting chubby!

We wanted to get some nice pictures of Judd in his blessing outfit, and these are a few of my favorites.

Isn't he just the cutest!?

Judd with his monkey blanket and hat made by Nan.  His monkey hat has a button that Mac picked out for him at a Native shop here in Anchorage.  It is made out of Walrus Tusk and is shaped like a polar bear.

Judd: Month One

Life as a new mom:

Humility. Smiles. Tired. Love. Spit up. Happy. Crying. Laughs. Tired. Feeling fulfilled. Aching back. Happy. Feeling inadequate. Love. Changing Diapers. Gratitude. Tears. And more Love. And even more tired. :)

Being Judd's Mama is just about the best thing ever. Sure, being a mom is certainly not a dream land of perfect snuggles and laughs and it certainly is NOT easy (something people kept telling me and I just said "yeah yeah I know it's hard.") But holy cow, it is HARD.  But so worth it.  There is no doubt in my mind that our sweet boy had been waiting up in Heaven to finally be able to join our family and I am more and more grateful every day that we were blessed with such a perfect little boy.

To re-cap Judd's first month I'll have to use a lot of pictures, because he went on so many adventures!  At two days old he met his Grandma Cory and came home to our little apartment in Anchorage. At one week Judd drove down the Turnagain Arm and saw his first Bears and Moose.  At two weeks he went to the Alaska Native Heritage Center and did a lot of fishing!  Judd even helped me (in the Baby Bjorn) net a few Red Salmon on the Russian and Kenai Rivers. He even met Miranda Lambert on the Tram at the Alyeska Resort. He had his first 3 hour crying party at 3 weeks and met Nan early the next morning.  He got lots of sweet hand made gifts from Nan and spent a lot of time snuggling.  We love our sweet boy!

NEWBORN PHOTOS

Hard to believe Judd was ever this small!!  He definitely loves his daddy.

Judd's first walk to Jewel Lake

The first time I fluffed his hair after bath time.  I now do it all the time....it calms down and leaves him with a nice Fohawk! 

Two of the hats that Nan made for little Juddy.

Trying to get Bobby to acknowledge that Judd is a person.  Usually he just turns his head away and ignores Judd when we sit them together.

Riding the Tram at Alyeska Resort

Grandma Cory and Judd watching the boys fish in Hope, Alaska.

Fishing on the Russian River

Burps!!

Tummy time = sucking on my fist

Baby George Tucker Brady

George Tucker Brady, or Judd as we are calling him, was born at 7:23pm on Friday July 20th, 2012.  He weighed in at 6 lbs 14 oz and we thought he was 20 inches (according to the hospital) but the Dr's office confirmed he is in fact 19 1/2 inches.  

Judd gave us a run for our money during labor and delivery, but I guess I wouldn't expect anything else considering all the scares that came up during my pregnancy with him.  First it was bradycardia at 20 weeks, then early contractions and a month of bedrest at 30 weeks, and then the little guy decided to be content and just hang out until 39 weeks and 2 days.  So, here is Judd's Labor and Delivery story.  I'll try to make it as concise as possible. :)  We arrived at the hospital at 7am Friday morning after having contractions all night.  I was observed in Triage for a while and then at about 10am they admitted us and I got the most glorious epidural ever.  The contractions were pretty intense and I was getting worn out since they started on Thursday afternoon.  Everything was fine until they broke my water.  We knew Judd had the cord around his neck from previous ultrasounds, and as soon as they broke my water he started having severe decelerations in his heart rate with every contraction.  There I was, nearly paralyzed from the epidural, and every contraction they had me flipping from side to side and even up on my hands and knees to try to get his heart rate back up.  It felt like there were ten people in the room as soon as they broke my water, all trying to keep our little man safe.  They ended up putting fluid back into the uterus since he was doing better before they broke my water, and that helped a little.  We found a spot on my right side where he did great so I laid there, not moving a muscle, for a good two hours.  The Dr. came in to check me, said I was a 10, and we started pushing.  Again, Judd was struggling and then I experienced the most terrifying moments of my life....in all reality it was probably only 15 seconds or so but it felt like hours.  He had a probe on his head to monitor his heart rate more accurately and after pushing I couldn't hear the beeps on the monitor anymore.  People were flipping me all around and talking and I didn't understand everything but I just felt so scared for our little guy.  Mac squeezed my hand and said it would all be okay and then we started to hear the beeps on the monitor again. The Dr. decided to let the baby "labor down" on his own for 20 more minutes so that I wouldn't have to push for so long since Judd wasn't handling it well.  When it was time to push again he did a little better, but still not great.  The Dr. told us that we could try a vacuum assist delivery or go straight to an emergency c-section.  Again, I was so scared and didn't know what was best, but we decided to try a vacuum assist and if it didn't work we were headed back for a c-section.  The room was already ready for us.  That's how close it came.  Three pushes later, Judd was born and I broke down crying.  I didn't get to hold him right away since they had called in a NICU nurse to check him out and make sure everything was okay with him.  Mac got to go be with him while they cleaned him up and I got put back together.  The cord was wrapped around his neck twice.  We are so grateful that he made it to us safe and sound. It was by far one of the happiest moments of our lives and one I will never forget.

Judd is just about the calmest baby I've ever seen.  He eats, sleeps, poops and pees.  And in between when he is awake he is generally completely content to just look around and take everything in.  Right after he was born he was so alert, the Doctors and all the nurses commented on what an alert baby he was.  Mac and I are completely and totally in love with that little boy and are LOVING being parents.  I miss my sleep a little bit but my mom is a champ and has been doing serious night time duty so I can just wake up to nurse and then go back to sleep.  Mac is such a cute daddy.  He sure loves his baby boy and it melts my heart whenever I see them snuggling or mac doing some crazy dance with Judd's arms and legs.  He is the diaper changing master (who remembers mac planning to wear a gas mask and rubber gloves to change a diaper!!??)  Since It has taken me a little longer to bounce back mac has been doing the majority of the diaper changing.  He still has a few moments where the poop gets to him but he doesn't complain.  

I've only had one break down so far.  I was on some pain medication and ibuprofin and somehow just forgot to take it when I was supposed to, so it all wore off.  Add that to the three first sleepless nights of being a new parent (I just wanted to stay up with him all the time or just sit in the glider and rock him when he fell asleep, so I wasn't sleeping much....or at all really) feeling physically like I'd been hit by a train....literally, I'll spare you the details but delivery was extra rough on my body...and you get an emotional breakdown.  It was pretty pathetic really.  My body hurt so bad and I just went and laid down. Mac came and snuggled me and rubbed my aching back and it just opened the flood gates.  Everyone was asking me what was wrong and I honestly couldn't tell them. "I don't even know why I am crying!!!"  I was so overwhelmed with joy and happiness, anxiety over being a new parent, overwhelmed with gratitude for finally having this sweet perfect baby boy in my arms, and I just had to let it out!!  I had a good 30 minute sob session, then Judd woke up and I nursed him and was totally fine.  I blame it on the hormones. :)

Anyway, I know this is long but I've been meaning to update everyone and finally had the energy this morning after a good nights sleep (again, thanks to my champ of a mom).  We love our baby boy and this new adventure that we are on!!  Here is a link to view the facebook photo album from delivery and his first few days of life: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.791181793471.2161910.29006064&type=3&l=31d3dcd465

Happy one week to our sweet Judd!!

George Tucker @ 32 weeks

Sometimes I sit and think (in all my ample bed rest time) back on this pregnancy and what it has been like for Mac and I.  It definitely has not been easy or without worry but I am grateful for all the little "scares" along the way and how they have turned out.  I think we are stronger as individuals and I've definitely had a taste of what it means to be a mother and to want nothing more than your baby's health and happiness.  I can only imagine how that amplifies over the years as they learn and grow and you have less and less control over what happens in their little lives.  I am eternally grateful for the chance to be a mother and that despite all the curve balls mother nature has thrown at our little guy, that he just keeps fighting back and won't give up. :)  We can't wait to meet you in a couple of months Georgie!!

One of the benefits of our 20 week scare with baby George's heart is that we have been able to go to a maternal fetal medicine specialist for fetal EKG's every few weeks.  His heart has looked perfect since that initial irregular heart beat at my 20 week check up and his first EKG.  We are so so so grateful for that, and have benefitted from getting to have ultrasounds at 20 weeks, 22 weeks, 26 weeks, and now 32 weeks.

Here are some of his stats from our last and final fetal EKG on Friday:

1. His heart looks perfect.  The Dr. can't explain what was going on at 20 weeks but she hasn't seen any more irregularities since then and structurally his heart is perfect.  We graduated from seeing her and don't have any more appointments scheduled.  YAY!!

2. He has hair!!  Yep, we could see it on the ultrasound and our little man isn't going to be a little baldy.  I was actually surprised, for some reason I just pictured him bald, but I'm super excited that he will have some hair when he makes his arrival.  I wonder what color it will be??

3. At 32 weeks and 2 days he weighed in at 4lbs 1 oz and is in the 26th percentile.  I was actually pretty surprised that he wasn't in like the 80th percentile since Mac and I were both huge babies.  If they drop below the 10th percentile that isn't good, but the Dr. said he is perfectly healthy and looking good!

4. Baby boy finally got the memo and turned head down!! Yep, he is no longer breech and we are just keeping our fingers crossed that he won't get any crazy ideas and flip back again.

5.  The umbilical cord is still around his neck but looks loose.  I just get to continue being hyper-aware of his movements and making sure that he is active.  I know that umbilical cord accidents are fairly rare and that 30% of babies are born with the cord around their necks, but this kiddo just likes to make things difficult, so I'm not taking any chances!  I am again so grateful that he is so active (even though sometimes its a little uncomfortable.)  Most times if I haven't felt him in a while and I start thinking about his movements and he gives me a good hard kick like he's saying "Hey mom, I'm still here and I'm just fine."

That little turkey had both hands and a foot covering his face for most of the ultrasound.  It cracks me up how he positions himself in my belly--last time he was completely folded in half--both feet right up by his face.  All he would show us was his cute litte forehead until.........

He finally moved!  It still isn't a great picture because the umbilical cord was in front of his lips and his face was smashed up against the uterine wall (yeah, that is why his nose looks so big!!) but we still think he looks pretty cute. 

Sometimes dogs are just weird!

It was another BEAUTIFUL sunny day in Anchorage today so mac packed up my reclining camping chair and we headed to Jewel Lake to bask in the sunlight.  I swear this is one of the only things keeping me going as I sit cooped up inside all day long.  Just sitting and being outside is one of my absolute favorite things to do so I jump at any chance I have to be out in nature.

Of course we took our sweet little Bobby with us (he is really sweet unless you are a kid trying to grab at him or another dog...then he doesn't like you).  He just makes us laugh so hard and I had to share a couple of his little quirks.

The dog LOVES chasing geese.  I'm not sure what it is about them, but he will pick a goose out of a bunch of birds around him, wait until it least suspects him, and then take of after it barking till it flies away.  Then he runs back to us and waits for the goose to get back on land, and it starts all over again.  Today at Jewel Lake there was a goose minding its own business in the water, and that little dog would watch and wait until it got a few feet onto land and then terrorize it.  I was laughing so hard it made my stomach hurt and would trigger a contraction so I had to cool it.

This next one is just plain weird to me, and I wonder if any other dogs have this strange obsession?  I first discovered it during "break up" (the 5th season in Alaska where all the 11 feet of snow melt and it is just a slushy watery yucky mess for a few weeks).  I was taking Bobby out for a walk and he was sniffing away as usual.  He got really interested in something he found, and then started rubbing his face and neck on the ground.  I pulled him away to look at what he was doing, and what did I find!!??  A nasty dead worm!!  Yep, the dog thinks its his favorite brand of cologne or something, because anytime we are out and about (today included) he sniffs out the worms, and then rubs his face in it.  Totally grosses me out!!

And last but not least, Bobby has become quite the little chunker.  When we adopted him last december he weighed a mere 12 pounds.  Still huge for a Chihuahua, but small compared to his last weigh in at the vet a few days ago.  The dog now weighs almost 18 pounds!  Yikes buddy, you are becoming quite the little fatty!  We are restricting his soft food diet since that is probably why he has gained all the weight.  He doesn't like his hard food much and seems to be going on a hunger strike, but if you hand feed the hard food to him, he'll eat it. :)  I guess he is just getting me ready to have a picky little eater when Baby George gets here.

And because a blog post is boring without a picture, here's Bobby and me soaking in some rays behind our apartment building.  Slightly ghetto, I know, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Baby Mama Drama

Day 1 in OB Triage (Saturday night)

A lot of you have already read about the baby excitement/scares lately via facebook status updates from the hospital, but I figured while I'm laying in bed at home on bed rest, I might as well get my thoughts out on the blog so I can look back on these crazy days.

A week ago wednesday I had my 30 week check up with my doctor, and I remember telling him "I feel great!!  I know the third trimester is supposed to be the worst but I feel the best I've felt and some days don't even feel like I'm pregnant (well, until I look in the mirror of course)".  I have had so much energy and the baby has been doing well and gosh, I just felt like life was great.  A few days later on Saturday I went to a service project for youth conference and came home to rest afterwards.  I realized the baby hadn't been moving much (which I am hyper-aware of because he has the cord around his neck, so I have to do kick counts every hour) so I went to lay down so I could focus on making sure he was active and healthy.  Once I laid down I started realizing that I was having more contractions than just the normal Braxton Hicks.  As soon as I laid down I counted 3 in 12 minutes, and then 12 in an hour (if you have more than 3 an hour you are supposed to get checked out in OB Triage).  I called OB Triage, gave them my story, was told that if it continued for another hour to come in.  Sure enough it did and we had our first OB Triage Visit.

I don't know if I can even describe the feelings I had on our drive to the hospital and the first few hours we were there.  I felt like I couldn't catch my breath.  My heart was racing and I was so scared.  I just kept thinking that after everything we went through to finally have our baby boy on the way that we deserved to have him come healthy at 40 weeks.  That thinking wasn't getting me anywhere so I prayed for comfort and to pleaded for our baby to be okay, one way or another.  If there is one thing I've learned in the past few years it is that the Lord has a plan for me, and I am not in charge, so I might as well get on board and just have a little faith.  After that the experience became less terrifying and more spiritual.  I felt comfort and knew that one way or another, it would all work out. Most of the time I can be so stubborn, but I'm slowly learning to let go and rely on the Lord.

Lots of tests later they couldn't explain why I was having contractions.  They got to where they were three minutes apart, but thankfully I was not dilating.  I was not dehydrated, which would have been an easy enough fix if that were the problem.  They said that a lot of times infection can cause early contractions like mine, but again, all the tests came back negative.  They did a test for pre-term labor which came back negative, meaning that I very likely would not have the baby in the next two weeks.  That was some of the best news ever!  They gave me some medication to stop the contractions, and sent me home around 11pm. 

Mac's chair was broken and he couldn't get it to recline.  Around 2 am that can be a pretty disappointing discovery.

Taking Pictures of ourselves somehow helped to pass the early morning hours.  I won't post anymore....they are pretty hideous. :)

7am the next morning (sunday) I was having contractions again so back we went.  Same story.  More tests.  More questions, and still no answers.  They gave me medication in the hospital again, stopped the contractions, and this time sent me home with a prescription for the most awful medication ever. I took it for about 12 hours and just had to stop.  It made me so so sick.  Heart racing, hard to breathe, horrible headache, shaky and jittery, and body aches all over.  I knew the side effects when they gave it to me but I don't think I was prepared for how it would really make me feel.  I was so worried about the baby, because if the medication was doing that to me, what was it doing to my baby?  He did seem overly active and I got so worried that it was making him feel this way too.  I called my Dr. and got approval to stop taking it.  

Day 2 in OB Triage (Sunday Morning)  I really like the hospital water and ice.  It just tastes soooo good!

Monday morning I went in for a check up with my doctor and they wanted me to go to triage again to be monitored.  They gave me a different medication this time that was amazing, stopped my contractions and made my horrible awful headache go away.  I was very thankful for that.  Baby's heart beat was strong, still not dilating, went home....again.

 

Day 3 in OB Triage (Monday morning).  I love subway and was really glad they had one right in the hospital for lunch!  And yes, I know I look awful.  This was at the height of the "sick from the medications" phase.

I went home and did some work.  Bobby was the best secretary ever and sooooo snuggly.  He is a cuddly dog anyway but I think he could tell I needed to be comforted.

Tuesday I didn't even go in to the hospital!  I just laid in bed and was still having 5 contractions an hour (if I had six an hour I had to go back in and I really didn't want to!)  I just took it easy and had my first 24 hours with no trip to the hospital.

 Wednesday the contractions had slowed down so I went into work.  My job is pretty chill for the most part and I just sat at my desk and didn't do much.  The contractions gradually started up again so I went home and laid down, but by 11pm I'd had two hours of 6 contractions an hour and we went back to the hospital.  By the time we got to the hospital the contractions were 3 minutes apart and I was so frustrated!!  (ask mac, I was in a really bad mood/scared/frustrated/didn't know what to do)  They did one more test for a different infection (we'll get those results in a week or so) gave me a new medication, and sent me home with a different prescription.  This one I take every 6 hours until I'm 36 weeks, and then I guess it is fair game for the baby to come whenever he feels like it.  So far it has been working pretty well, although I've only been on it for 24 hours.  I'm still having contractions but they range from 2-5 an hour (still in the safe zone).  I feel less worried than I did initially and I think the Lord is answering my prayers because the baby has been so active the last few days, and every time I get kicked really hard I am so grateful because at least I don't have to worry about him being okay.  Sometimes it looks like my belly is doing the wave while he is moving around, and I think that is something that I am really going to miss once he comes.  I love that connection I feel to him and feeling him kick back when I push his little foot back in.  He is stubborn (just like his parents) and he is definitely a fighter.  We love you baby boy and can't wait to meet you......hopefully in at least five more weeks.

Celebrating making it to 31 weeks!!

Sometimes I'm surprised when I go out in the middle of the night and it is still light outside.  I mean, I know it is light after I go to bed, but actually going outside and seeing just HOW light it is surprises me.  This was at 11pm on our way to the hospital.  On our way home at 4am it looked about the same.

Day 4 in OB Triage (Wednesday night/Thursday morning).  Still loving the ice and water.

Poor Mac was such a trooper. He is always creative in finding solutions to problems.......and this problem was a sleeping position.  He made me laugh even though I was in a bad mood about being back in the hospital.  Love you honey!

Bobby-isms

I have seen a lot of my friends post about their kiddos and share all the funny things they do and say, and I think it is such a great idea to help remember those little moments.  Obviously Mac and I don't have a kid quite yet, but we do have a dog, and he is hilarious.  He made me laugh so hard today that I had tears in my eyes.  So here is Bobby's "bobby-ism" for the day:

Since Mac is out of town Bobby and I have been spending a lot of quality time together.  (he is actually laying on the bed next to me right now snoring away.) This morning I was on the computer writing some emails and bobby was just sitting at my feet staring longingly up at me so I let him jump up on my lap while I typed.  After a few minutes he started growling, and the growling was getting louder and louder.  I couldn't figure out what in the world he was growling at until I noticed him staring intently into the mirror.  I stood up with him in my arms so he could get a better look at himself in the mirror and he started full on barking at himself.  It might have been one of those "you had to be there" moments, but I was dying.  A little while later he saw himself again and did it all over.  I wish I had a video camera out to catch it!