Swim classes!

Today Charlie and I started a swimming class at the Aquatic Center. He LOVED it! He was kind of wary of it at first, but he didn't cry at all, and by the end he was smiling. Here are some pictures!

Like my awesome bathing suit??

I was blowing raspberries on his neck and he was giggling, but apparantly he stopped for the camera!

Helmet appointment

Today we went for Charlie's 1 week checkup with the doctor to check on his helmet. He's doing great with it! There's a couple spots where it's leaving a pretty nasty red mark, but the doctor made some adjustments and hopefully it'll be better now.

For those of you that don't know, Charlie was diagnosed with plagiocephaly. http://www.plagiocephaly.info/faqs/what_is_plagiocephaly.htm

Charlie's isn't NEARLY as bad as the picture on there, but the bones of his skull have shifted on the left side, because that's the way he always sleeps. His ear and forehead have also shifted. We did just about all we could to try to prevent it, as we knew that he liked to turn his head that way, but he grew out of his sleep positioner REALLY early and after talking to the doctor, decided that a helmet was the best way to try to fix it. The doctor expects him to only need it for 3 months. Here's a picture!

Birth Story!

This is for those of you who never heard the full story of Charlie's birth!

I got up at 7:15 am to go to the bathroom. I looked at the clock on my way to the bathroom. I walked to the sink and felt a gush. I was like "HOLY CRAP!" So I'm like ok, maybe it was my water, maybe I imagined it(I was still half asleep!) So I walked around the apartment for a few minutes, and could tell that's what it was. I called Drew, who was in Illinois for work(he lives there during the week--a 5 hour drive away). I said "guess what, you're not going to work today, GET HOME NOW!" Then I called my mom and told her the same, she lives about 10 minutes away. I talked to the doctor and he said I could stay home until the contractions got 5 minutes apart but if they didn't, to get to the hospital by noon at the latest.

My mom and I did some cleaning around my apartment, paid rent, picked up Burger King breakfast, went to the polls so she could vote, and then left for the hospital at 11:30. Drew got there 5 minutes later--he made the trip in 4 hours! They hooked me up to the monitors and my contractions were pretty random. So around 1 they hooked me up to pitocin. I made it to 4:30 before I asked for the epidural(they had said it could be up to a half hour before the anesthesiologist got there, and another 20 minutes for it to set in, so I asked for it after 2 painful contractions). Luckily, he was right down the hall, so I got it right away!

After that, the day went kinda slow. They kept checking me and saying that I had only progressed another cm or less each hour(I had been at 4 for 2 weeks!). Then all of a sudden around 8pm, they were like "Oh, you're 9, we're about to start pushing!"

I started pushing at 8:40 and the baby was born at 10:04pm! Drew said "OH it's a boy!" Here I had forgotten that we didn't know what it was haha! Charles Jaiden was 9 pounds 12 inches, 22.5 inches long! His head was SUPER coned, it was so adorable!

I was holding him and the doctor looked at the nurse and said "Do you hear what I hear?" Charlie was grunting when breathing, so they said they would have to take him to the nursery to make sure he was getting enough air. They let me hold him for about 10 minutes then they took him. Drew went with--they were only gone for about 20 minutes and they both came back, happy and healthy!

Both of our families, except Drew's dad(he was out of town for work), were there to celebrate with us!

Later that night, when I was able to go to the bathroom, I had the nurse come to help me. 2 nurses came. After I went, I stood up and got really dizzy. They got a chair on wheels to take me back to my bed. I got there and was shaking uncontrollably. The nurse went to find me a blanket and took about 5 minutes! After about 10 minutes, I was fine again and could hold my baby!

The new family!

Ready to head home

Charlie in his carseat before we left the hospital

Joining the blog world!

I finally decided to start a blog for Charlie! He's 5 months old now and we're moving to Illinois soon, so I want to keep family and friends updated with his new milestones. Enjoy!