The Story of Birth: Jackson

I've finally got some time to sit down and write up Jackson's birth story. At least I can start it and finish it later, and finally publish it out! Amazing how fast a day goes by when you are watching the clock for the next feeding and timing things, or trying to. My whole world is soaked up into Jackson and his needs. I love that little guy! He is so fun and I love watching him try to learn things, even watching his eyes as they follow me from side to side and watching as his tongue learns to wiggle around in his mouth.

So here is the journey that led to his birth.

Starting with a regular doctor appointment on Wednesday showed I wasn't even dilated. And here I was 4 days overdue. After putting a balloon in place, I began to have contractions, BAD ones. We headed back home to have lunch and by the time we were finished we decided to grab the bags and head to the hospital. We had to wait for a triage room, this was the day everyone was having babies! After getting a room and being there about an hour the nurse admitted us, at 4:30pm, and then my water broke (just felt like I peed my pants). It was baby time for sure! The whole shock factor was really setting in. We were going to have a baby.

Just after being admitted I was checked and already at 5cm dilated. Pretty quick, seeing as how 4 1/2 hours ago I wasn't even dilated. Fast forward to about 2am. My brother and husband asleep on the floor and couch. I had a yoga ball between my knees all night long and kept having to be turned from side to side. Baby was face up and should be face down. The nurse came in at 3am and checked me. 10 cm, fully dilated and ready to go! Now we were just waiting on my doctor, who was next door delievering another baby. At 4:30am my doctor came in and decided we would start pushing. We pushed and she turned Baby's head so he was faced the right way. This hurt! We were ready to go. At first it was just Josh and a nurse. We pushed for a while and then my doctor and a whole bunch of other nurses came in and we were ready to really get going. Josh was SUCH A GREAT COACH!! After every push he would tell me how good I did and how I could do it.

Then it got to where I was just pushing on my own, not waiting for them to tell me I was having a contraction. I just felt the need to push. As he was coming out I swear there was no liquid left, he did not slide right out! When he came out he just kept coming, and coming.  He was long! They laid him on me and I was just in shock. I couldn't cry because I was just in awe that this little....or rather large, person just came out of me. We created this person and now here he was to come into this world. It was so beautiful. He was born at 5:59am on Thursday September 22.

He was so big! 9lbs 6.8oz and 22 inches long!! We were later told by EVERYONE that I should have had a C-section because he was so large. When I was told I would have a big baby the week before, I was thinking 7-7 1/2 lbs. I hadn't even envisioned 9 lbs. It was not even part of my vocabulary. Ugh. The recovery process is still going on, and I'm doing much better. What a toll it takes on your body to have a baby, but so worth it! He is changing and doing things each day that I couldn't have imagined I would be a part of.

Still getting used to being called Mommy, but I absolutely love it! He is amazing and I wouldn't change a thing about it. I'm thankful for a healthy and smooth pregnancy and a fairly quick and smooth delivery.

This little guy is loved by so many people. I think he really was brought into this world for a reason. There are people that he won't get to meet but I know they would be so proud and would love him to pieces. I'll have to love him extra good for them too :)

Back in the kitchen

Yes, you read that right. I've been trying to cook some more here and there, when I can. Multi-tasking is a whole new thing when you have a little person to take care of. Hoping my scatter-brained-ness calms down a bit and I can come up with some things to cook up. Definitely planning meals ahead will be key to being able to manage multiple things at once.

Here's last night's dinner:

Taco Salad (or a version of one)

1 lb ground meat (I used beef)
Cumin
Chili Powder
Salt & Pepper
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can corn, drained
1 can Rotel
1 small can green chilies
chopped lettuce
chips (tortilla, fritos, etc)
shredded cheese (optional)

Brown meat until cooked. Add in black beans, corn, Rotel and green chilies. Season meat to liking. I used enough to my taste, but didn't measure it, oops! Put the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl and serve. Yum! Kind of a quick & easy meal. Just threw together what I had available. Would also be good with tortillas, or made up like a burrito.

Jackson's Room

Here are some photos of Jackson's room. I thought I'd share with everyone. It was a lot of fun putting together and shopping for this, Josh and I really enjoyed it!

I took these pictures back in August, so a few things have changed. We now have Jackson's name on the wall with letters my mom made for him.

{DIY: No Sew Tie Blanket}

Now I can finally share the blanket that I made back in August for Jackson. I didn't share it because the gender was a surprise. I had fun making this. I have a couple homemade fleece blankets that my sister Steph has made, so I wanted to try my hand making one. Super easy!

I used two pieces, each 1 yard in length I believe

Items needed:
two pieces of fleece the same size
measurimg tape
sissors
4x4 inch piece of paper

1. Take your two pieces of fleece. Put one piece on top of the other. lining up the edges so they are even. (one side will be the front and the other side will be the back of your blanket)
2. Trim off any selvage around the edges of your fleece (try not to cut in more than 2 inches) * Remember you need to try to cut straight, but it doesn't have to be.
3. Take your piece of 4"x4" paper lay it on the corner of your blanket. Then cut out the corner through both layers. Proceed to do this on all four corners.
4. Now you are ready to cut your fringes. Cut 4 inches into both fleeces at 1" wide. I found it easier to lay a tape measure across from the corner of the cut out corner to the other.
5. Your fringes don't need to be 1" exactly, just try to keep them the same size.(You don't want to have one fringe 1" and the next one 2".)
   Proceed to cut 1" intervals on all four sides.
6. Starting on one side, tie over hand knots (using one fringe from each fleece.) Tie these knots on every other fringe around the entire blanket.
7. Then flip the whole blanket over and tie the remaining knots until your blanket is complete. (This helps your knotted ends look perfect)
8. Some prefer to only tie one knot, but I like to double knot them. This helps them from coming untied especially in the wash.

http://www.allkindsofbabystuff.com/no_sew_fleece_blankets.html

These are great gifts to give andcan be so fun with so many different color and pattern combinations!

Jackson Joshua Dewey

Just wanted to post a few pictures of this cute little guy. Er, not so little anymore. He's 1 month old today, man how time flies! Especially when you are looking at the clock hour by hour until the next feeding and up all night. This little guy is worth it, so worth it. He's even starting to smile and giggle and has been lifting his head up for almost 2 weeks now! So strong!

He's already starting to change a little bit, I can not believe it!

Birth Day Party for Baby Dewey

May I introduce to you, the world, Baby Dewey who is now formally known as Jackson Joshua Dewey. He made his appearance to this world on Thursday September 22, 2011 at 5:59am weighing in at 9lb 6.8oz and measuring 22 inches long (which we later found out was wrong, and closer to 20.5 inches).

I apoligize for not writing this sooner, but it has been BUSY, BUSY with this little man. And trying to adjust to his every needs and just purely watching him has taken all of my time. I am very thankful to have this time to care for and learn EVERYTHING about him.

Yes, this was minutes after birth. I don't really look like I just gave birth, do I?!

This is a pretty proud Daddy. He did GREAT coaching me through the entire process :)

Our first family of 3 photo, just hours after birth.

We have really enjoyed this little guy so far. Our whole world has been turned upside down, but in a good way. Yes the sleepless nights are among us, and the long days are here filled with poopie diapers, being peed on (and pooped on), thrown-up on and crying (both mommy and Jackson) but seeing the changes each day and watching him look up at me and look around the room to explore this brand new world to him makes it all worth it.

I'll post the birth story later, along with more pictures. Thanks for being patient everyone, and for checking back often. The Dewey Family is growing :)