1 Month Old!

Saturday Greyson was officially 1 month old.  I truly cannot believe how fast this month has gone! He is a wonderful baby, and no I'm not just saying that because he's mine :o)  He really is a very easy going little guy.  Unless he's hungry he's typically pretty content.  He's starting to get on a decent schedule, eats and sleeps really well!  His first stretch at night lasts from 4-6 hours right now, and then the 2nd stretch is around 3 hours later.  He eats like a pig which means he's growing like a weed! Our little guy isn't really so little anymore.  He fully fills out 3 month onesies already!  It won't be too much longer before they are too small.

I'm having such a hard time wrapping my head around having such a big baby.  Griffin was such a peanut for so long.  It seemed like it took forever for him to reach 8lbs.  Greyson being born over 8lbs still just blows my mind.  At his 2 week check up (he was almost 3 weeks old though) he was in the 94th percentile for length and the 87th for weight!  Griffin has barely ever been over the 50th in anything.  

He loves to snuggle (so does Mommy!)  He's also starting to react to our voices.  My parents visited over the weekend, and any time Grandma or Grandpa were holding him, and he heard either Matthew or me, he would acknowledge our voices and either turn his head or move his eyes to our direction. When he's really awake he makes the greatest faces and will make them back to us when we make faces at him.

I have loved being home with him, and cannot believe how fast my maternity leave is going.  My saving grace is I will work for 3 weeks and then be done for the summer.  My only goal for the remainder of my leave, is to snuggle this little guy as much as humanly possible.

National Infertility Awareness Week

This week is National IF Awareness Week.  I feel so blessed to be able to say we beat infertility, but when I think of all of the couples who are still going through the journey with no success, it truly makes my heart hurt.

I firmly believe that the only reason our struggle didn't affect me more, emotionally, was due to the fact that we talked about it, and still talk about it now.  I know it is an EXTREMELY personal decision whether or not to share with others that a couple is having trouble creating a family, and some people really cannot imagine letting family, friends and strangers know they need help.  I was that way at first.  We didn't share our struggle for many many months.  Those months were by far the hardest throughout the entire journey.  Once I finally said enough, I need to talk about this, it was like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders, and I was able to face the rest of it head on.  Everyone we shared our story with was so supportive.  We had quite the support system, even from people we'd never met (due to this blog!)  It helped me sort through my feelings, and know that I/we weren't alone.

I was absolutely floored by the number of people who, once we  shared our story, confided in me that they too were struggling.  We have referred several friends to our fertility office, and most have gone on to successfully have their own children.  I'm thrilled that they were able to make their dreams come true, but at the same time I'm absolutely amazed at how many couples we know, first hand, who struggled with infertility.  The national statistic is 1:8 couples will suffer from infertility, but that's based on those who seek help.  Deep down, I think it's probably higher than that.

I will be eternally grateful to our fertility doctor, his staff and ironically, our health insurance.  (I bet few people ever say that!)  Without Dr. Gary Horowitz, the staff of SIRM Peoria, our health insurance, and most importantly God, we would not have our two beautiful boys.  I cannot imagine our lives without them, even in the most challenging moments (Griffin is 3 after all...) I still cannot begin to imagine what our lives would be like if we were never blessed with them.  My hope is that through weeks like this, the stigma associated with infertility will begin to disappear, and it will be something much easier for couples to talk about and no longer feel ashamed.

Our miracle babies!

http://www.resolve.org/national-infertility-awareness-week/home-page.html
http://www.haveababy.com

Greyson's Birth Story

As I said in my previous post, I was going to save the birth story for a later date.  While it wasn't super eventful, it definitely had it's fair share of drama.  Brace yourself, this will be a marathon post.  My labor lasted 30ish hours so it's going to take a while to get it all out.  Like I said...brace yourself.

My due date came and went, and the only sign of impending labor, was the false labor that totally faked me out for several hours.  I was really hopeful that the contractions I'd timed for 4 hours would finally start to increase and real labor would begin.  No such luck.  So we continued to wait, and wait, and wait.  I went to the appointment scheduled for the Monday after my due date for a non-stress test to make sure he was tolerating being overdue.  He was, and I was no where closer to getting induced than the week before.  A fact that was REALLY annoying and frustrating me.  I was told to schedule another appointment for the day before 41 weeks to have a fluid check sonogram.  So I did, then hoped and prayed I wouldn't make it to see that appointment.  Again, no such luck.  I made it to that appointment with very few fake contractions and absolutely NO real ones.  Everything on my sonogram looked good, so when I saw the doctor my only question for her was how much longer do I have to wait for this kid to be born?!?!  She scheduled me for an induction on Monday, March 16th. If I made it to my induction date I would officially be 10 days overdue.

My last day of work was the day before I hit 41 weeks.  I was completely over being at work, and wanted a day to spend with Griffin before his world was rocked forever.  Matthew ended up taking the day off as well, so we had one last good family-of-3-day before becoming a family of 4.  We had a breakfast date at Starbucks, then a fun morning at the zoo.

As hopeful as I was that I wouldn't make it to my induction day, I did.  I wasn't scheduled to check in until 8pm, so it was most definitely a long day of waiting.  I tried my best to rest and take it easy, but my mind was definitely preoccupied.  My sister came from Chicago, and was staying with Griffin. My parents were also on their way over.  They were going to be with Griffin while my sister was with us at the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital, got checked in, changed, IV started, etc.  The on-call doctor from my OB's office came in to see us, and explain the protocol for my induction.  They were starting me with Cervidil, which is a medication designed to help ripen the cervix.  I was only 1cm dilated and 50% effaced at the time, so the cervidil was going to hopefully help thin my cervix more before starting me on pitocin.  The major downside to the cervidil is it takes 12 hours to hopefully do it's job.  So for those 12 hours, we basically sat around doing a whole lot of nothing.  The good part was it was over night, so I did get sleep, but once the next morning rolled around, there was a lot of sitting and waiting.  At 10am they finally took the cervidil out and let me have a little break from meds before starting pitocin.  I got up and walked around, hoping to increase my contractions naturally.  Once again, no such luck.  I had been contracting all night, but they felt like nothing more than the Braxton Hicks I'd been having for weeks.  Around 12:30 they started me on pitocin.  I was barely 2cm and 60% when they started my pit.  When I went in for induction with Griffin, I was at a very similar point, so I was hopeful things would start moving once the pitocin was started.  Boy was I wrong...

Every 30-60 min they would up my pitocin.  It didn't take all that long before it was cranked to the max at 20.  I wish I could say by that point I was begging for an epidural because the contractions were horrendous thanks to the pit, but that was not the case.  I sat in bed, pit cranked for hours and still felt like nothing more than false labor.  To say I was getting frustrated at this point would be putting it mildly.  By this point it was becoming clear that there would be no baby before Griffin went to bed for the evening, so I had my parents bring him to the hospital for a visit.  I was really missing my little buddy, and was hoping that a visit would cheer me up, and help coax his brother out.

Although it didn't help my labor progress any quicker, having some company helped distract me a little bit.  Matthew left for a while and grabbed dinner with my parents and Griffin.  While he was gone, the midwife came in to discuss a couple of options with me.  She told me I could do another cervidil and see if it helped move things along a little more, or she could break my water and hope that plus the pitocin would really do the job.  I was nervous about having my water broken at only 2cm, but I REALLY hated the idea of sitting there for another 12 hours hoping something was happening.  She assured me that there was no concern for cord issues with breaking my water.  His head was engaged far enough that there was no worry about the cord slipping out ahead of it.  Cindy's recommendation was to do what would get things moving (in other words NOT another cervidil).  So I told the midwife that I was ready to have my water broken and finally get this ball rolling.  She and the nurse got everything together and before long, I was lying in a pool of amniotic fluid.  TMI sorry.... :o)  About two contractions after she broke my water I FINALLY felt what the contractions should've been feeling like all along.  Everyone was so happy to finally see me in pain.  I labored for about another couple of hours before finally asking for my epidural.  The anesthesiologist came in, gave me my epi, and I was happily pain-free after about 15 minutes.  

Since I wasn't in pain, I was able to sleep, which felt good because I hadn't had a lot of rest in a while. I was doing well until the shakes started in.  Between the hormone surges, the epidural and the progression of my labor, I had the shakes BAD.  This didn't come as a surprise to me at all.  I got them with Griffin too, and they're really common in labor.  It's absolutely crazy how badly I was shaking and how cold I felt.  Thankfully my labor nurse (nurse #3 at this point) brought me some heated blankets.  I had one draped around my shoulders, and 2-3 more covering me.  That finally helped tone down the shaking, and I was able to sleep again.  

LOTS and LOTS of blankets!

They checked me a few times after getting my epidural.  With Griffin, the epi was what I needed to finally make progress.  I'd moved from 2cm to 4cm, but kind of got stuck at 4cm for a while.  My midwife came in around midnight and told me she was going to head home for just a little while to get a little rest, but if anything started moving again, then the nurse would call and she'd be right back.  I had no issues with that, so she left and I got some more rest.  At this point it was VERY obvious that he would not be a St. Patrick's Day baby like we had assumed he'd be.  

Somewhere around 2:30ish I woke up because I was feeling my contractions again.  They started out not bad, Braxton Hicks-ish, but quickly started to get stronger and stronger.  I mentioned it to Cindy and she called my nurse.  The nurse came in and checked me, I was 8cm!  The only problem was, since I was 8cm, she wasn't sure they would want to re-dose my epi.  They wanted me to be able to feel when and how to push when the time came, re-dosing my epi might hinder that.  The longer she was in the room with me, the stronger my contractions were getting, and she could tell by my face. She finally asked how they were in relation to when I originally received the epidural.  At that point they were just as bad if not worse than when I got it to start with.  She called the anesthesiologist and he came in to juice me again.  Thank goodness!  Once I was good and numb again, I was a happy camper, minus the fact that the shakes were coming back.  She sat my bed upright again to let gravity continue to help progress my labor.  

Since my labor with Griffin progressed from 8cm to 10 in about twenty minutes, she called Karen, the midwife to come back, and started prepping the room for delivery, just to be on the safe side.  It definitely took longer than twenty minutes for me to finally reach 10cm, but I was glad they were being proactive.  

By the time Karen returned, I was almost 10, but Greyson was face up instead of face down.  I'd suspected this for a while because I had been having pretty awful back labor.  I never wanted to ask because I was afraid of the answer, but my suspicions were correct.  When she told me that he was face up, my reply was "that's what I was afraid of."  She told us there were things she could do to try and get him to flip so that he wouldn't actually come out face up.  She wanted to try rotating me every few minutes, that can encourage the baby to flip on its own.  So I said ok, and everyone in the room proceeded to help me flip onto my right side.  As soon as I was lying on my side, his heart rate dropped immediately.  He did NOT like that at all, so the next move was to rotate onto all 4's.  There I was naked butt (thank you hospital gown) up in the air for the whole room to see.  He didn't like that position either, so thankfully I wasn't that way for too long.  We rotated again, and I was lying on my left side.  Finally his heart rate leveled out and I stayed there for a while.  Karen checked again and he had moved a little, but was still not face down.  She told us that once I started pushing she could help rotate him.  That sounded very unpleasant, but not quite as bad as the idea of pushing him out face up.  

At this point my epidural was wearing off again.  It never once crossed my mind to tell them and ask for more.  I don't know if I just assumed they wouldn't give it to me, or if it was simply because there was so much going on that it really just never occurred to me that I'd need it.  At this point I was fully dilated, but my cervix wasn't completely gone yet.  I wan't thrilled to hear this because I figured that meant more waiting.  Karen told us that it shouldn't be a big deal.  Once I started pushing it should help the rest of the cervix thin out.  So the next thing I knew, she told me I could push any time I felt the need.  It wasn't long before my next contraction started so here we went.  

I honestly do not, for the life of me, know how women push for hours and hours on end.  I was so lucky both times that it did not take me long to push either of my babies out.  Griffin was 25 minutes and Greyson was 33.  I do know that both times though, I would've bet anything that it had been over an hour or more.  It seemed to take FOREVER!  With Greyson being quite a bit bigger than Griffin, I felt like I was pushing and pushing and not getting anywhere.  Thank goodness everyone in the room was so encouraging.  Every push they were cheering me on and telling me what a great job I was doing.  By this point my epidural was gone.  I could feel EVERYTHING.  I'm sure it was still probably slightly better than if I'd never gotten it to start with.  It probably was still helping some, but I definitely felt way more of this kid's birth than I ever intended to.  In hindsight it was probably better.  I was able to push more effectively, but at the time, holy cow.  

Everyone kept telling me they could see his head.  After hearing that several times, I finally asked if he was crowning yet.  I thought for sure I was feeling the dreaded "ring of fire."  Karen told me that he wasn't crowning yet, but he was getting closer.  Every push a little more of his head was emerging, so within the next push or two he should be crowning.  She asked if I wanted to reach down and feel his head, if it would help motivate me to push more.  My answer was "no I don't think so, I'm fine."  At that point everyone in the room burst out laughing and my nurse asked me how in the world I was so polite at that point in my labor, and I had to be the most polite patient she'd ever had.  That made me laugh too, until the next contraction came along at least!  Pushing continued and before long he really was crowning.  What I thought was the ring of fire before, was NOTHING compared to the real thing.  Oh.  My.  Word.  Karen told me when his head was out, and was helping Matthew because he was going to finish delivering Greyson just like he had Griffin.  He wasn't able to do quite as much this time around.  Greyson's shoulders need some help maneuvering around my pubic bone, so Karen needed to do that part.  Once his shoulders were out, I kept thinking ok he should be out soon, but he kept coming and coming and coming.  At one point I thought why do I still feel this kid!?!?!  Finally he was completely out, and I was able to get some relief.  

Karen had Greyson get checked out right way instead of immediate skin to skin contact.  He was pretty purple and didn't cry right away, so she wanted to make sure he was fine.  Thankfully he was.  As soon as the nurse got him to the warmer and suctioned him out he started crying and his color returned just fine.  While they were working on him, I delivered the placenta.  Once that was done I felt SO much better.  I couldn't believe how much pressure I still felt before the placenta was clear. They brought him to me for skin to skin and Karen worked on getting my bleeding under control and sewed up the two tears I had (thanks Greyson!)  I was able to snuggle my little man and he worked on breastfeeding. 

Sweet Baby Greyson

22.5" = one HUGE baby!

Once the shakes were gone I was having MAJOR hot flashes!

Snuggling my sweet little man

It's amazing how quickly the previous 30 hours (well really the last 6 weeks) vanished from my mind the minute I held him.  He was so perfect.  All 8.2 lbs and 22 1/2 inches of him!  He was most definitely a lot bigger than his brother, but when you're 12 days over due, I guess that's not too surprising.  We all commented on how much he looked like Griffin.  They could've passed for identical twins.  

Everything got cleaned up, I survived my first trip out of bed and into the bathroom (yikes!) and before long we were being wheeled up to the postpartum unit.  We were so lucky to have such wonderful nurses the whole time I was on the labor floor.  All three (yes three) of them were great.  I kind of hated to leave.  Thankfully all that I had endured resulted in an absolutely perfect little boy.  We could not be more in love with him.  He's been the perfect addition to our family.  Everyone, big brother especially, absolutely loves him!

Holding his brother for the first time.

"I love my Greyson."

He just loves his little brother!

He's FINALLY here!

Oh my...where to begin.  Greyson Edmund Kuntz finally decided to join us on Wednesday, March 18th at 4:16 am!  His arrival was LOOOOONG overdue (twelve days to be exact), but definitely worth every minute.  He has been the perfect addition to our family.  I guess good things do come to those who wait.  Here he is!

He weighed in at 8.2lbs and was 22.5" long!  No wonder I felt absolutely huge and uncomfortable! Daddy is already planning out his basketball career ;o)  

Each day keeps getting better and better.  We're starting to settle in to a good rhythm with things, and figuring out what "normal" is now.  He really is a very easy going baby.  The only time he ever really throws a fit is when he's getting a diaper change or he's hungry.  We called him stubborn for the longest time, but I think Aunt Cindy was right, he's not stubborn, he's just very laid back and chill.  Things don't get to him.  Let's hope that continues!  

My labor and delivery were quite the marathon, but I'll save those details for another post.  Today is our first day home alone together and we're doing quite well!  Griffin is at the babysitter and Matthew went back to work.  Here's hoping poor Daddy can make it through the day.  Greyson is a little bit of a night owl.  He likes to cluster feed from about 9-midnight, making for some late nights for both Matthew and me, so he's pretty tired!  At least I get to stay home and nap throughout the day.  

We are so over the moon about this little guy.  Griffin has been great.  He wants to help with everything, and loves to give his brother kisses and hugs.  He does need reminders to be gentle, of course, but what 3 yr old wouldn't?  He gets so concerned when Greyson cries, he wants to know what's wrong and how to help "fix it."  I hope he always wants to help his little brother as much as he does right now.  It melts my heart to see how much he loves Greyson!  Hopefully they will be the best of friends.

First time holding his little brother

Ok Little Man...Time is UP!

Well, here I sit, at 9 days overdue, and COMPLETELY miserable!  I never in a million years would've thought that he would be THIS late!  My induction is set for tomorrow night at 8pm.  THANK HEAVENS!  I am sooooooo ready for this child to be born!  Considering how late it is when I go in, I think it's safe to say he will be a St. Patty's baby.

We are all more than ready to meet this little guy.  Griffin asks on a daily basis if the baby is born yet, and has started asking why he's not.  I wish I knew the answer to that!  If I knew why, or why not, I could be rich :o)

Thursday was my final day of work.  Griffin and I spent the morning on Friday at the zoo, and then met Matthew for a family lunch.  We wanted to have one last good "family day" before we become a family of 4 instead of 3.  I kept hoping that knowing my induction was set, it would jump-start labor this weekend, but that has definitely NOT been the case.  The only contractions I've had are continued Braxton Hicks, which are pointless.  All they do is make me angry to be honest.

Here's hoping my induction goes well, and that both baby and I are all smiles come Tuesday.

41 Weeks and 3 Days is long enough to cook Baby...time to vacate the premises!

Horrible at Blogging....

Well I'm officially a horrible blogger.  This pregnancy has knocked me on my rear way more than I ever anticipated.  I'm completely and utterly exhausted ALL.  THE.  TIME.  now.  

I'm officially in my 39th week and SOOOOO ready for this baby to be born!  While I'm waiting, I decided to try my hand at making some baby carriers.  With help from my mom, I was able to make two ring slings over the weekend.  I'm also going to make a 3rd, but haven't had the time (well more like energy) this week.  Hopefully I can get it cranked out this weekend.  I've been really proud of myself!  They still need to be softened up a little bit, the fabric is a little thick, but I was quite happy with the way they turned out.

I had maternity pictures taken two weeks ago, and they turned out great!  The hard part is going to be choosing the ten we want.  Griffin even cooperated much better than I thought he would.  He isn't exactly easy going when it comes to getting his picture taken, but she was able to get some really great pictures of him.

As far as guessing when this baby is going to be making his grand entrance, I'm not holding my breath for a delivery any time soon.  At my OB appointment this week, I was no further along than two weeks ago.  This kid is most definitely nice and snug right where he is.  Here's hoping something makes him uncomfortable enough to get a move on here very soon!

Sling #1

Sling #2

Wow...Neglected Again!

Well, my attempt at keeping the blog up and running has failed again.  I guess that's what happens when pregnant, working full time and chasing around a VERY active 3 year old!  (Can't believe he's 3 by the way!!!!)

Well since it's been 8 weeks since my last post, I guess it's time for an update...

My pregnancy is going well.  Everything is progressing right on target.  Belly measurements are great, and he is SUPER active!  It definitely has not been without it's share of "excitement" though. More on that later.  My back has hurt a lot more this time around.  Most aspects of this pregnancy have been very much like the first one, but the back pain has been much worse.  It's not the worst thing, but I could definitely do without it.

I'm 31 weeks and 5 days today.  My due date is officially less than 2 months away now!  That really doesn't seem possible.  The time is flying by!  When I think of the list of to-do's I have to complete before his arrival, it starts to stress me out.  It will all get done, but still a bit overwhelming when I really stop to think about it.

Griffin continues to be excited for the baby's arrival.  Hopefully that continues come March.  I registered him for a sibling class at the hospital where I'm planning to deliver, in order to help prep him more.  Hopefully he enjoys it!  We talk about the baby all the time with him, hoping to ease the pain a bit.  ha!  Sophie definitely knows something is up as well.  She is my little shadow when I'm home, and has to be sitting ON me every chance she gets.  Just snuggling beside me is not good enough.  The baby has given her a few little love pats recently, which amazingly she didn't seem to mind.  I think she knows time like this is limited again.

Well back to the "excitement" from this pregnancy.  I use that term loosely because it wasn't exactly fun.  Around 24 weeks, I was a total klutz and wasn't paying attention as I walked up some steps at work.  I tripped and fell before my kids arrived for the day, prompting a call to my OB's office, just as they were arriving.  Even though I didn't fall on my belly, I wasn't feeling a whole lot of movement from the little guy, so they had me come in for monitoring.  Even though in the back of my mind I knew things were fine, all I could think of were the "what if's" and worse case scenarios.  Thankfully he was completely fine, no cause for concern.  It also reminded me just how little he still was.  Once they had me hooked up to the monitor, I could hear him moving around all over, even though I couldn't feel a lot of the movements.  He was swimming all over, and had plenty of space to do so. Since everything was fine, I returned to work, but they told me to take it easy.  Ha! Right....kindergarten teachers don't have that luxury!

As if that wasn't enough excitement.  About 2 weeks later I came down with the flu.  Over Thanksgiving Griffin and my mother-in-law both had bouts of it, so between being around them and the sick kids in my class, I was basically doomed.  I had been a good little momma and got my flu shot, but unfortunately it did nothing to help me this time.  While G was at soccer one evening, I started feeling absolutely dreadful, and it only continued to get worse.  As the night drug on, the stomach bug took hold, and Cindy got a slightly panicked phone call at midnight.  (Definitely a perk of having a sister who's a labor & delivery nurse)  The vomiting had started causing some contractions, they were all over the place, no pattern thankfully, but still scary nonetheless.  After about an hour they went away.  Matthew was timing them and being my "water coach" making me take a big drink every minute or two.  Once we knew I wasn't in preterm labor, we were both able to finally get some rest.  I was still having some residual stomach cramping the next day, so I called my OB's office.  They had me come in again just to get checked out and make sure I wasn't continuing to have contractions.  Thankfully that appointment was fine, baby was doing well, and no contractions, so we went home.  I had started to feel a little better, so I thought one more day at home and I'd be good.  Oooooh was I wrong.  Unfortunately my 2nd sick day home I started feeling worse and worse as the day went on, and then the fever started.  By the time Matthew got home from work it was over 101, prompting yet ANOTHER call to the OB.  Of course it was after hours, so it went to the on-call midwife, who just happened to be the midwife who delivered G :o)  She told me to go in to the hospital and be checked out by OB triage.  Matthew's parents took G with them, and Matthew and I headed in to the hospital.  Almost 3 hrs later, we left with a positive flu test and several prescriptions. Once again, baby was fine and I wasn't contracting, so those were definitely the silver linings, but I was not excited to be in the hospital mid way through my pregnancy again.  I had a similar occurrence while pregnant with Griffin.  This better be the last time until delivery!

Thank goodness once that was all behind me, things have been much better!  We made it through Christmas, Griffin's 3rd birthday and New Years with flying colors.  Now if you've managed to make it through this novel of a post...here are a few pics as your reward :o)

10, 20 and 30 Weeks!

"Santa bringed me a bike!!!!"

Happy 3rd birthday Griffin!

Daddy surprised the birthday boy with a fire truck ride!

Super cool golf set from Grandma and Grandpa for his birthday!

Aunt Cindy takes the best pictures :o)

Birthday bounce at Monkey Joe's with friends.