Team Pete

Happy New Year, Merry Christmas, Happy Thanksgiving, etc.

2011-01-04T12:50:00.000-06:00

So...there's a reason I've been quiet. I swear! It's called holiday madness plus awesome-but-wild-and-crazy-being-a-parent. From Halloween on we were sick, then we were teething, then we were sick, and teething some more! Add the holidays and busyness that creates - and well, I just never got to the computer to upload pictures. Why why does it take so long? Sigh.

Anyway, here we are! So, for updates:

We all had a special treat in November - Brad's cousin Chris, his wife, and their daughter Gracie (a month older than Samuel) were close to Austin for some training, so they joined us for Thanksgiving.

Then, we cut down our own Christmas tree! We got a Cypress tree so we didn't have to worry about the needles with Samuel eating everything he can.

For Christmas, we got to see some very special people - like these guys!

And Samuel also went to the zoo for the first time. He had a blast!

Samuel still loves to eat and now feeds himself anything that doesn't have to be spoonfed. He can even eat apple off of the core! Those 6 teeth he has sure do help. I keep thinking the 7th one will make its appearance, but I haven't seen it yet. Although he just broke his two hour nap streak for a 45-minute nap today, so who knows?

He decided to skip crawling altogether and can walk pretty well on his own! He can even sort of run with help. He loves being mobile and gets more bold every day.

He loves being outside, and we go to the park just to run around sometimes.

Oh, also! Of course, he got some awesome Christmas presents - like this!

We hope you all are doing well!

It's a Love Child Spaghetti Western

2010-11-05T21:13:00.000-05:00

How's this for a Halloween costume!? This is our love child, Samuel. Library storytime had a day for Halloween, so we dressed up and went. Most other babies Sammy's age were in little one piece zip up costumes, like bears, tigers, puppies (oh my!). Nico was a monkey (his mommy was a banana tree!), and Dylan was a puppy. There were even two yodas. It was hilarious to see all the kids tugging at their costumes.

Later that afternoon, we were in the car and heard Samuel throw up. It was everywhere! And everything. He did it again later that afternoon. I had given him a different food in the morning, and since he seemed fine otherwise, I thought he was having a reaction. Until Saturday...when I started ...ahem... getting rid of everything myself. I did not have the luxury of keeping one morsel or one sip down. It was awful. We also passed this virus to our friend Laura, nanny Heather, and daddy, too! It just might take over the world, so watch out!

Sunday afternoon, I was barely feeling better (and Brad hadn't gotten ill yet), so we carved our pumpkin to get ready for our Halloween block party. Samuel loved sticking his hand in the pumpkin top, but he wasn't so sure about the slime inside. He ate pumpkin this morning for the first time and wasn't crazy about it. We're going to try again tomorrow and add the miracle-yummy-seasoning --> cinnamon!

Here are the hippies with the love child! Heh. The block party went great, and we met several new people. We're praying that we didn't get them all sick! Daddy did the tie-dying on Saturday. Groovy.

Tonight, guess what Sammy Sam had for dinner!? Eggplant parmesan (minus the parmesan crust - it was just eggplant ground with the spagetti). Yup! He now truly belongs to this family. He really seemed to enjoy it. Now that he's older, we're letting him try more and more foods. It's a lot of fun. He's lengthened out (again), so his rolls are just a tad smaller. We can't have any of that small-roll stuff going on, now can we?

October flew by - and apparently it took the warm weather with it. I'm enjoying the lovely chill; in fact, Brad is making hot cocoa right now!

Fun tidbits

Samuel is attempting to feed himself. He's gotten bits of apple, mozzarella, and spaghetti in his mouth by himself, but mostly he just throws it everywhere else.
So we started some finger foods, like mozza and turkey (did I mention we're getting ready for Thanksgiving!?). The first day, he ate them really well, but since then not so much. He's thrown up the mozza a couple of times, so I think I'll table that for now.
He's a lot stronger on his stomach now and can push up in the plank really well. Unfortuantely, he still hates it, so there hasn't been much more progress towards crawling, and I wonder if there will be...
Because he's pretty much cruising now. Yeah. Like, walking with help. So there is no more getting anything done while he's awake because all he wants to do is stand and walk! And of course he can't do that on his own yet. Not to mention that we're so not babyproofed.
Samuel is throwing massive fits when he doesn't get what he wants, which is often. He also makes this intense grunt when he's seated and really wants to stand - like if he just pushed hard enough, he'd do it. I wonder where he gets this tenaciousness from. :)
He started clapping! We do lots of clapping at storytime, and he loves to hold my hands when I clap. The other day, he was holding two of his little people, and he raised them above his head and starting smacking them together. It was hilarious, kind of like they were kissing!
Sammy Sam got his two top teeth last weekend. We hardly had any crankiness that we noticed, praise the Lord. They're coming in pretty well by now and super cute.

We miss and love you all and can't wait to see everyone for the holidays.

What Samuel Would Look Like With Hair

2010-10-18T12:50:00.002-05:00

Fun with Friends and Family!

2010-10-10T18:05:00.000-05:00

We had a very stressful end of the week due to some life circumstances (not worth blogging about), but God still gave us time for some fun and family!

You've seen Samuel's play area - well here it is decked out with the toys, too! Happy boy!

On Thursday, we met our friends Monica and Dylan (left) and Valeria and Nico (right) at the Round Rock library for storytime. They set out a fun parachute for the kiddos to sit and play on. So cute!

You can see the parachute in this picture. A nice mommy offered to take one of the two of us since you never have pics of baby and mommy, of course! Samuel must not have been impressed by her.

On Saturday (Family Fun Day), we went to the park and had a picnic. It was so lovely in the shade. We didn't want it to end - except for the green beans and poo poo. Enough details there.

I included his pic below because you can see the teefers (if you look really close).

Other highlights from this week:

"Da-da-da" is now the favorite babbling! Samuel still doesn't know who Da-da is, but we're trying to teach him!
Samuel has been getting up on hands and knees and rocking his tushy a little. Yep - one of these days, he'll be tearing around the house on all fours.

Non-Samuel news:

Daddy preached at church on Sunday! It was awesome and even included an interruption by the very loud crying of our own little one!
Mommy booked a national commercial for Chevy!!
Have you checked out mommy's new blog? It's about living as a disciple of Christ and as a pastor's wife!

Lots of Reading

2010-10-03T20:48:00.000-05:00

Apparently, this was reading week around here. Samuel and daddy did some reading in Samuel's new play area:

And on Tuesday and Thursday, we went to the Cedar Park library for storytime. Look how many babies attend! Those moms are super duper. There are babies as young as 2 months old all the way up to walkers. We sing songs, read a book, say rhymes, learn sign language, and have playtime! I have to watch my little man's sticky fingers. All he wants to do is pull full heads of hair! Here's a pic with our friend Nico!

Samuel is getting so big so fast! Look at him! Here are his new and favorite things right now:

Anything not human that moves. When Samuel sees the trees sway or a dog or car, he smiles and wiggles and gets super excited!
Saying "ba-ba". We think he's getting close to saying "da-da"!!!
Standing. Holy cow. We were out with the neighbors, and while I was holding him, he took STEPS towards Dooley, the dog! If we had a dog, I think he'd already be walking.
Balancing. I start to say "1....2...", and Samuel smiles and gets a determined face while he tries to balance. By "3!" I let go and see what he does. He can stand for 2-3 seconds sometimes. Oh boy...
Eating. Of course. New foods this week were mango (loved it this time!) and broccoli. Next up: tofu and ground flax seeds.

Family Visits - and a Toofers update

2010-09-26T21:56:00.001-05:00

The weekend was preceded by some more 3:30am wakeup calls for teething. The second tooth on the bottom has cut through, and now we just need to sleep through the night! Mommy and Daddy are busy taking naps whenever possible to catch up. Samuel likes to spit out his tongue to feel his new teefers.

We also set up foam floor mats in the breakfast area (which we don't use for anything else). This will be Samuel's play area when we're cooking or in the kitchen - which of course is always! He already loves it! He still loves his jumper and playing catch. He's now starting to put his forefinger and thumb together in the "pincer" grasp. ... This means finger foods are coming! His first one will either be tofu or scrambled egg yolk. Speaking of food, Samuel's new food last week was tahini. This week, we're going to re-try mango. It bombed in one of the first few weeks, so we'll see!

Guess who came to visit this weekend!? Grandmama and Grandpa Kevin!!! (Guess we missed a pic of Kevin...)

Grandmama brought Samuel some fun new toys - including this cool car. Samuel has already pulled off the trunk and figured out the gears.

We also had a surprise visit from Uncle Leroy. He brought Sam some more Disney movies - Beauty and the Beast and Bambi!! Leroy promised some gangster movies later in Samuel's life. ;-)

It was fun to hang out with everyone.!!

Enjoy Me

2010-09-24T22:36:00.000-05:00

Samuel likes to multitask when he has his milk. Sometimes he will scratch his head, or grab my mouth, or yank on my shirt, or pull on his pantleg. Often, he'll grab his little piggies and pull them up high. Today, I was feeding him, and I was trying to read something on my phone when this little (or big!) foot was right in front of my face. I stopped and looked at it - so small but so much larger than the 5-day-old footprints on the wall. It was like that foot was saying, "Stop. Enjoy Me. I will only be this size for today."

Favorite Chew Toy

2010-09-16T10:15:00.000-05:00

Guess what Samuel's favorite chew toy is??

Yeah.

Last Thursday, after posting my blog entries (especially touting that Samuel sleeps through the night), Samuel woke up yelling in pain. At least Brad was smartly asleep; I hadn't even gone to bed yet! We were up until almost 3:30 Friday morning trying to console the little teether. We had night-wakings the next couple of nights, too, and a growth spurt on top of that! But, we finally have a payoff for the missed sleep - a tooth has broken the great gummy barrier! It's the bottom-right tooth, which is a complete surprise because we have not been able to feel anything on the bottom. But now, if you rub your finger over the gums, it feels like a little piece of glass is lodged in there. I always wonder what Samuel is thinking; he must be especially confused about this little tooth jutting out.

I've decided I'm not so fond of being his chew toy anymore. That little tooth is quite sharp!

System Failure!

2010-09-12T15:20:00.000-05:00

Brad and I had an epiphany the other day: WE CANNOT DO THINGS THE WAY WE USED TO. Uh... yeah, we're a little slow! Before Samuel (B.S.! OK... let's not use that abbreviation ;-), if something needed done around the house or an errand needed run, most likely we would just wait until Saturday and try to get it done then.

We realized early on that using Saturday as the random-task day was not going to work, but we really didn't come up with anything that worked better. So at random times, (like 10pm at night, say), and when our energy was already sapped and expectations were not clear, I might say, "I'm going to clean." Now, Brad knows me, and he knows that means that I expect him to clean, too. Guess what happens next? Frustration, crankiness, word-slinging, tempers, bitterness, and on and on the crazy cycle goes! 100% of the time it ends in my being all huffy wanting to get something, anything, accomplished and Brad thinking I'm a crazy person who should just go to bed.

Finally, though, we decided we actually needed systems in place for all those things that used to just fall to Saturday task-day. So, we're trying some of these systems out, such as cleaning the house on Wednesday night and rotating tasks, checkbook upkeep/budget-checking on Mondays and Thursdays. Saturday is the only day of the week our family has together, so that's family fun day, but it's also understood that if I need to get some baby food made or something cooked to freeze - or anything else that needs my undivided attention for a bit - I can usually get an hour or so to do that Saturday afternoon while "the boys" play. We are so relieved to have a plan finally. It's already taken a lot of burden off of the mental to-do list. Now, we'll see how our little systems pan out. I'll try to update in a future post. In the meantime, have you ever found systems important to set up in your home (like with roommates, singles? Or with spouses, marrieds? Or with kiddos, parents?). If so, what has worked best for your family that I could steal and try?

In the meantime, here's a goody:

Go Big Red!

2010-09-09T23:24:00.000-05:00

I couldn't resist the title what with Football season here and so much Huskers attire in the 7 month photos. =D

Big updates from this month so far: SAMUEL FINALLY SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! Ahhhhhh!!!! It's so wonderful! And yet I still stay up late trying to get things done, like baby food making, posting on our blog (heehee), laundry, cleaning, bills, work.

Samuel loves eating, no big surprise there. Right now, his food choices are: bananas (favorite!), rice cereal, oatmeal, egg yolks, papaya, apples, pears, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, acorn squash, yogurt, and avocado (loves!).

Samuel started sitting up this month, and loves to play "catch" with mommy while seated. He also started pushing up when on his tummy. You know what that means!

He is teething hardcore, and it will be any day now for the first tooth to pop through.

He finally started giving us some good ham pictures for the camera, so I have a lot of favorites from this month so far:

We took a trip to Seguin for the first time with Samuel. Here's a pic with Uncle Ryan and Naunie and Grandpa Pete.

Playing with daddy and mommy.

Loves the bouncer Grandmama got him!!

My blue-eyed boy!

"Catch"

Pics from our trip to Houston for Ryan and Melissa's Housewarming...

Until next time!!

Worst Mother IN.THE.WORLD.

2010-09-09T22:09:00.000-05:00

Ha! Don't all moms think this at some point? The title is indicative of the type of morning we had. I was going to try attending a bible study at the church that planted our church. After dropping Samuel off in an unfamiliar place for the first time, I felt very uneasy. People were talking to me, but I wasn't hearing. I was saying things, but I don't know what. Finally, Becky Moore looked at me and asked, "Do you need to go to the bathroom and cry?" "Yes." That's exactly what I needed to do. I felt a little better. About 30 minutes later, the little childcare pager buzzed and read, "PLEASE COME." I RAN I tell you. Samuel was beyond upset. He was so upset that I didn't recognize his exhausted where-in-the-world-is-mommy cry. He was shuddering for at least an hour afterwards. I choked up and tried not to lose it as I gathered his things and got him home. He was fine the rest of the day, but anytime I left his sight, he started to cry or whimper. A very anxious day for my little man.

Since I haven't posted on the blog in...forever...I thought I'd just post a few pictures and highlights from Samuel's life so far.

1 MONTH OLD - lots of visitors and love and milk and sleep!

With Naunie...

And Grandmama...

And Daddy in my first snow!

2 MONTHS OLD - still lots of milk and visitors! This was the lots-of-crying and impossible-to-get-to-sleep stage. That stage continued for a while... Started smiling at week 5 and 6. That was awesome!

Easter basket from Naunie and Grandpa Pete!

Easter with Grandpa Pete...
Too cute... his eyes were always this wide - trying to take in everything around him. It reminded me that to him, everything is brand new.

3 MONTHS OLD - Still impossible-to-get-to-sleep. N.O.T.H.I.N.G. seemed to work. And everyone had lots of suggestions, haha! Growth spurts seemed to come every other week. We enjoyed every minute (other than going to sleep time) with him.

Being dedicated to the Lord...

Getting started early on the important stuff...
Hangin' with my little man!

4 MONTHS OLD - As you can see, growing by leaps and bounds. Started breaking out of the swaddle at night, so we got rid of it and started sleeping like a big boy. No sleeping through the night yet, though. He wore 6 month sizes at this age and sat in his bumbo when we were hanging out.

Daddy bought him a pool, and he LOVED it!

A rare pic of all three of us - this is at Hula Hut.

Just chillin'...

5 MONTHS OLD - For July 4, we went on a road trip to Houston. Samuel got to meet his uncle Tony and his Great Aunt Dawn and second cousins Austin, Caraline, and Gabby. He slept over at Uncle Ryan and Aunt Melissa's house! At the end of the month, he had another growth spurt. He would be desperately hungry all the time, so we decided our not-so-little man needed FOOD.

With Ryan and Melissa at their new house!

Great Aunt Dawn and the second cousins...

With Uncle Tony...

Avocado!!!

Loves bath time. :)

6 MONTHS OLD - For Samuel's half birthday, we took a family staycation. We went to Sea World with Jenn and Steve and Hudson (a year older than Sam) Garcia. Samuel had a great time and loved looking at the ceiling and napping during the Shamu show. ;-) Samuel also got to meet Grandpa Capasso. We survived without Brad while he was in India for 10 days. Mom came to help me on the weekends (thanks mom!).

Sea World...

Grandpa Capasso! Can you tell we were all up early?

Almost sitting up...

I'll post some pics from this month in another post.

Introducing Samuel Hill Peterson!

2010-01-26T16:45:00.000-06:00

Let me get right to the point. This little angel is what we brought home with us last week. He was born Tuesday, January 19, 2010; at 8:17pm; , 7 lb., 3 oz.; 20.5" long.

This post will be long because I want to share my birth experience with you. If you don't want to know (it is TMI), skip to the bottom for pictures!

If you've been following my blog, then you know that Brad and I have been hoping and planning for a "natural" birth (not just no C-section, but no epidural and ideally no artificial anything). You also know that lately we had been watching labs and blood pressure and swelling in case I ended up with pre-eclampsia... which I did. My mom had this, too, so when my blood pressure went high, my doctor/midwives all knew we were probably going to induce eventually. Although my labs had been great, pre-eclampsia apparently comes on like a freight train, and it's a train you want to get off safely with baby. The morning my OB got the labs, they called and said, "It's time to have a baby." What!? I wasn't due for two weeks and thought I had at least one more! I knew that my body was likely not ready to do labor without the works - cervical dilation and something to start contractions and keep them going.

Brad and I got to the hospital at 10:45am on Monday, January 18. Midwife Liane discussed with us the options for cervical dilation, one of which is mechanical, not medicinal. It's basically like a water balloon that they inflate once they insert it on the other side of the cervix, then the synthetic hormone pitocin makes contractions push the full balloon against the cervix, hopefully forcing it open and soft. We chose this option instead of a medicinal option, one of which has not been tested very thoroughly. Having pitocin already meant being hooked to an IV and having a heart rate and baby monitor on at all times.

The nurse started putting an IV heplock in my arm for the pitocin and any other needed items. I was trying to relax and breathe deeply to avoid a foggy head, but she had trouble getting the needle in. I had one medium bowl of cereal at 8 that morning, and by 10:45 would already have had something else to eat. My low blood sugar plus vein gouging caused me to start feeling woozy and sick. I started seeing stars and told the nurse I needed some juice. She sent Brad "ASAP" to get some and got the IV in. I started coming back when all of a sudden she told me she was putting me on IV fluids. I thought "What for? I'm coming back and just need some sugar." Plus, I requested no routine fluids in my birth plan. I was woozy enough that I didn't question her. Then, she was on her phone and one by one multiple nurses came in the room and started firing questions back and forth. In a matter of minutes, I was on oxygen, one nurse did a cervical exam (which according to our plan should not have been done by anyone but my doctor or midwife), one of them shaved me, and Liane came running in the room. Brad was getting out of their way, and I took the mask off, and said to him, "I have no idea what's going on." There was a calm, and then Liane explained that the baby's heart rate had dropped to a very low level but had come back just then. 7 more minutes, and I would have held Samuel in my arms after an emergency C-section.

Likely, this happened because I started fainting, and oxygen flow to the placenta momentarily dropped. In fact, Liane said the OB had the same thing happen with a patient the weekend before. It didn't matter; from that moment on, I was on careful watch. I could have nothing but water just in case.

So the pitocin started and the balloon was ready at 1:45pm on Monday afternoon. This would be like compressing the early and false labor stages from a couple of weeks into several hours (I think). We would wait until the balloon came out, and then we would be ready for active labor. Because my OB's office is awesome, and because my blood pressure was staying stable (Oh, I forgot to mention I had a cuff on monitoring the BP every 30 minutes, too.), and because Samuel's heart rate looked OK, they kept the pitocin on very minimal amounts. They also allowed me a popsicle. The contractions were mild, and the first part of labor lasted until 4:45am Tuesday morning. I had stayed in bed because of the balloon - and to rest. I knew I would need my strength. The balloon came out, and I was dilated to 4.5 cm.

They upped the pitocin (again, slightly and over time) to get everything moving along, and I got out of bed when the contractions started getting stronger. I was hooked to 5 different things, so I couldn't really go anywhere. I got on the exercise ball right next to the bed and was there practically all day. I had to unhook everything to go to the restroom. Every time I moved, the baby's heart rate monitor might pick up my monitor, and the nurse would come in, reposition the monitor, type notes in, and observe for a little bit. Finally, they put a pulse monitor on me as well. The contractions themselves were not terrible, I thought for most of the day. The bouyancy of the ball and being able to move my hips and back and deep breaths helped me take one at a time. AND, I really could not have done them without my coach, Brad. He did anything and everything to help me get through them. He was a verbal encourager, and he just kept working at all the relaxation techniques we had practiced. They got me through. Nothing besides the ball was comfortable to me because I had no energy. My legs were already jello. My arms had been holding the bed all day. Nothing besides moving on the ball really helped. I thought several times, "The Lord is my strength."

My idea of time during the labor is really warped; some things seemed really short but were hours long. The great thing was, induction was working. The few times I was checked, I had progressed until I was at 9cm. At this point, I was leaning on the bed any time the contraction(s) came (I had some triples), and rolling on the ball. I was having to breathe very strongly. My back started aching, and I started feeling distinct pressure in my pelvis. The nurse said to tell her when I started feeling this all the time. It was such a strong feeling, and it was very hard not to push. This was the most difficult thing about the whole experience - not pushing the baby down when my cervix wasn't ready. After a while, the sensation was stronger, but still not really constant. The nurse checked, and I still had some to go. She recommended getting in bed because she thought the ball must be inhibiting the baby's movement down. She was right. I spent grueling time in the bed trying so hard not to push. Sometimes, the urge overwhelmed me. A few times I conquered it and breathed through. Finally, I said, "I have to push NOW." They checked, and sure enough - we were ready!

I had no idea how much work the pushing was going to be once we got there. I had a couple popsicles, a glass of chicken broth, some jello, and 3 hours of sleep to work with. I had no energy left. Regardless, I had to push the baby out. So the nurse and Brad helped me through it, every time. I faded on the third round consistently, but they just kept telling me how good I was doing, and that kept me going. I remember at some point saying, "I'm tired." Duh. I was using a sheet tied to a squatting bar to leverage against for pushing. I was bearing down with everything in me - my voice, my neck, my back. They kept telling me how strong I was. Are you kidding? I'm so weak. Finally, Dr. Sebestyen was called in. The baby's head was crowned, and they brought a mirror. I smiled at his little hairs (he has hair!). I pushed stronger and harder and watched them pour olive oil on Samuel's crown to help ease my skin. During one push, they said, "OK, now just gentle pushes." I kept my eyes closed because I thought they were just trying to help the tear that was forming. All of a sudden, they said, "Here's your baby!" Oh, I cannot describe what I felt when I opened my eyes and saw him, so slimy and wonderful. They put him on my chest, and Brad and I just melted right there. He's here - he's here - we did it! Team Pete did it! Thank you God for out little boy! He hears!

Our time in the hospital was pretty good. The little man passed all of his tests, including feeding. He is an avid eater, and doctors and nurses have commented on his strength and his suck. We were ready to go home when we left Thursday.

Lots of special people have visited Samuel so far!

He's been having a lot of fun being on the outside:

He even slept in his big boy crib last night for the first time!

And got a bath today, 1 week old.

Showered with Love

2010-01-17T16:14:00.000-06:00

Here are some pics from all of the lovely baby showers that were thrown for us. The cakes were all too cute, the games were varied (and some quite hilarious), the fellowship of friends was heartening, and the gifts were great! In December, several friends at my job threw me a shower at the offices in Dallas:

How cute is this cake that matches Samuel's bedding!?

Several women from our church threw a lovely shower for us (cake by my friend Laura!):

And my mom also threw a shower for us at our home. I think her gifts lie in event planning:

When we were kids, we all had murals on our bedroom walls that mom had painted for us (she's a natural artist). My room's mural was Strawberry Shortcake, to match my pink walls and canopy bed with Strawberry's themes everywhere. So I asked my mom if she would like to grace Samuel's nursery with some of her magic. Boy did she!! See the adorable final product below. I think Samuel will just love it.

Once that mural was in, the nursery just looked ready for the little man - and Brad and I are ready for him to come, too! We have about 2 and a half weeks left until the due date, and we'll find out Tuesday if we're still looking at having to induce. I had to go to the doc unplanned on Thursday, and I had lost 7 POUNDS since Monday - all fluid from my legs!! And my blood pressure had lowered to 122/78. This is still not normal for me, but it shows the bed rest is working!! When I first put those compression hose on, I started crying. I hadn't slept well, and I was trying to get hose on with this huge belly, and I could only get them up half of my calf because of the swelling. I had Brad try to tug on them, too. They were pretty painful pressing on the fluid that first day. But when I took them off that night, Brad and I were impressed - my feet actually looked normal. The next morning, I was able to get the hose all the way to my knee (with some huffing and puffing). Now, the swelling is really being kept at bay. My legs still feel bruised, and I think I have some new varicose veins from all the swelling, but they feel SO much better than they did.

It's very hard for me to sit still, let alone ask for help (case in point, I snuck in the office to get these pictures on the blog while Brad is at a meeting. :) But I'll do it for the little guy. So we could be meeting Samuel anytime in the next month. I haven't shown any signs of my body going into labor on its own yet, so for now it's feet in the air and naps on command.

It's time to come, Samuel!

2010-01-11T22:34:00.000-06:00

What, you want pics? How about these: http://purewonderphotography.com/blog/?p=722?? We took maternity pictures recently, and we are so thrilled with the sneak peek the photographer, Erin, posted for us. I can't wait to see what she does with our little man's first photo shoot!

If you haven't noticed, my due date is swiftly approaching. Mr. Samuel is around 6.5 pounds currently, according to Dr. Sebestyen. A bummer note: I found out last week that I have pregnancy-induced hypertension (high blood pressure). I have always had terrific blood pressure and am thankful for that thus far. Unfortunately, this almost always gets worse during pregnancy until the baby is delivered. It can progress to pre-eclampsia, which my mom had with my older brother Larry. This is very dangerous to mom and baby. I had some other lab work done, and the data that came back was "gorgeous" according to the midwife. So that's good. However, we are still very likely looking at induction. The OB would rather me deliver while I'm healthy instead of waiting until this thing progresses.

This all hinges on many things. I'll do more lab work at the end of this week to make sure those numbers haven't changed. In the meantime, I'm supposed to be doing everything possible to get my body ready to either start labor on its own (PLEASE oh please), or to be ready for induction. This runs the gamut from herbal techniques and acupuncture to squats and partial bedrest. Some of you are lucky enough to get the real insider scoop on what all I have to do, and to the rest of you, I have to say, you don't want to know!

Either way, in the midst of this, I'm thankful! Thankful that after Samuel being breech at 32 weeks, he's now been head down for a month. Thankful that if we had to get him out of there now, he'd be perfectly healthy. Thankful that I changed OBs - I LOVE this new OB and their approach to educating their patients and working WITH them. Thankful that Samuel will be here soon. Thankful for my mom, Nancy and Bruce, Ryan and Melissa, other family and friends, and our church body who have almost single-handedly provided all the material things we could need for this little human. Thankful for my husband, to whom I need to butter up because he has a lot of work ahead of him before Samuel gets here.

If you think about it, please pray my health would stay where it is rather than getting worse. I feel fine, but those dang numbers are what concern the doctors and midwives. The longer my numbers stay stable, the longer my body has to spontaneously combust - I mean - go into labor. Please pray that if it's the Lord's will, we could have the blessing of Samuel coming on the scene, healthy, and very soon!

And the countdown begins...

2009-12-06T23:00:00.001-06:00

I could make the obligatory apologies about being a bad blog-updater, not informing family and friends of how everything is going... and I could make excuses about being too busy, too tired, or too pregnant, but I won't! Instead, I will not grovel. I will just share lots of pictures and hope it will pacify you. And I will distract you by telling you to look at the countdown at the top of the blog - can you believe the due date is less than two months away!? I know I can't.

I didn't really take a "28 week" belly picture, so the following picture, taken on Halloween, will have to do. Brad and I went as eggs and bacon. I couldn't see over my tummy to know that I should have pulled my yellow shirt down for this picture. We had a block party at our house to try to get to know some of our neighbors with the hopes of connecting with them further. It was great fun, and a lot of cute costumes were seen. I guess you could say we dressed Samuel up as well. ;-) We made some great connections and would appreciate your prayers for those relationships.

After finishing most of our Christmas shopping yesterday, Brad and I took this picture at the Domain, a big shopping/living area here in Austin. This week will be 32 weeks, and my belly is surely growing! Samuel is still very active, and I can now tell where his tushy, feet, and head are. I can pinpoint the head easily because he gets hiccups (!) often. It's the cutest little feeling. Brad and I only have one more birthing class left, and I'm irrationally getting excited about the birth.

I know it seems late in the game, but I'm actually switching doctors and have an appointment with my new OB's office on Tuesday. There was nothing "wrong" with my doctor; he gave good lip service to natural birth, but the other doctors in his practice definitely don't have a good track record, and I just did not feel totally at ease about how the birth would go if complications arose. Sure, the baby and I would be healthy in his hands, but I would rather a C-section or some other artificial birthing means be used as a last resort, and I feared it would be his first choice. Through my birthing class, I heard about this fantastic OB right across the street who actually has midwives as part of her practice (the only office in Austin of its kind, which is surprising, since this is a nice granola haven). Her philosophy is centered around natural birthing practices and avoiding C-section if possible. When I heard how easy it would be to switch, it was a no brainer.

In other news, we had family from both sides over to our house for Thanksgiving this year. We were so thankful that Bruce and Nancy, Karen and Kevin, and Ryan and Melissa all could make it. My brother Larry and girlfriend Ali even stopped by that weekend to say hi! I love having family over, and when everyone pitches in, it makes everything easier and more fun for everyone.

On Friday after Thanksgiving, Nancy and Bruce treated us all to A Christmas Carol at the Riverwalk IMAX theater. I was so thankful that I didn't get sick and nauseous like I did at the Polar Express IMAX. Maybe pregnancy is strengthening my constitution? As you can see, we had a blast being the dorks that we are!

On Saturday, Kevin helped Brad put up our first Christmas lights!! Mom helped me decorate inside (thanks guys!!!). Brad and I finished up the exterior illumination this past weekend in the mid-30 degree weather. I LOVE LOVE LOVE having Christmas lights on the house. This is the best picture I could get - if you look closely, you can see bulbs on the pecan tree, a wreath on the door, lights on the house and shrubs, and two pre-lit trees. It feels like Christmas to me!

My name is...

2009-10-12T19:08:00.000-05:00

That's 15 pounds extra you're looking at - all baby (I wish!). At our appointment today, Nurse Judy measured my baby bump: 25cm. She said that was terrific and to go home and grow a big, fat baby. Nurse Judy, I'm working on it! We also heard the baby's heartbeat, at 140 bpm. He sounded so strong. Instead of breakfast this morning, I was privileged enough to drink a dextrose drink (flat orange Fanta) to test for gestational diabetes. I passed - good thing I studied. The rest of the day my brain didn't work as well, but I made sure to make up for the lost food with a two egg snack, a ham and cheese lunch, and a turkey filled pasta sauce with dinner. Much better!

Last Wednesday, Brad and I started our natural birthing classes with a Bradley method instructor (appropriate name, huh?). We were both rapt, trying to soak up everything we could. Brad and I left feeling a teeny bit more educated. I left to have a restless night of sleep - will I be able to do a natural birth? Will the doctor and nursing staff all support me in the way I need them? Will Brad, my birthing coach, be able to see me in pain, and help me handle it by natural means - for hours - to bring our son into the world? A friend of mine told me I struggled with worry. Wow, wake up call. This is God's child, whom He watches over and protects. And He will protect us during the birth as well. I feel better knowing little Samuel Hill (yes, we picked a name!) is in His able hands.

The excitement of the birth was also upon me last week after we toured the hospital. They took us by the nursery to see the hours-old babies. I just melted in front of that window. There was a newborn boy that looked so at peace - just looking around, checking everything out, waiting, naked, for whatever was coming next for him. He made me think so much of how much joy God has given me through this blessing. And how much joy I will have in the end no matter how difficult.

Off to Babies R Us!

2009-09-19T11:28:00.000-05:00

While Brad was in India, my mom came to visit, and we went to Babies R Us (my first time for baby looking). While looking at the cribs, she snapped this pic - I think I was basking in the baby glory. In just a little bit, I'm meeting a friend for lunch and Babies R Us again. She already has her "little man" and is going to tell me all the things I do and do not need - thanks, Jenn!!! It should be very helpful. Brad and I will go later to pick the other important stuff - bedding and furniture.

Here's a belly shot at 20 weeks - doesn't look much different than last time, huh? Well, I've gained 10 pounds total, which is on target. The baby weighs 12 ounces. Does that not compute to anyone else!? Haha! I know, I know - there's a lot of other stuff causing that weight. Baby Pete should be about 9-10 ounces, so you can understand that I'm worried about having a big boy! And I'm trying to do this naturally? Guess what? I need prayer!

Sweet Baby Face

2009-09-14T20:05:00.001-05:00

As an update from the last post - no nosebleeds since then (and thank goodness!).

Our appointment this morning was fun. We got to see a lot of Baby Pete's organs, like his stomach, kidneys, heart and ventricles, cerebellum, etc. It was amazing to see God's knitting so up close and personal.
Baby Pete is within all of the "normal" parameters, but we all know that as part of this family, he'll never be normal! And that's a good thing! The really neat thing about this morning's appointment is that they took 3D ultrasounds of the little guy. I'm not sure if we'll have any more ultrasounds from here on out, but we can almost see what he looks like with these, so I guess that's pretty good!

Oh my - isn't he so cute!? If I do say so myself... Now that is not a hole in the top of his head, that's just how the image is translated since those bones won't be fuzed for many months. I think his whole face is precious and can't wait to kiss it. Brad thinks the little guy has his nose and my mouth (we get into guessing what he's going to look like). What do you think? Leave a comment to vote on who he looks like more at 20 weeks past gestation!

Baby Pete was unusually shy this morning. He's usually a big ham for us, but today, he was hiding a lot, so although we have more pictures than this, these are the best. Speaking of shy, look at him covering his face! We had just viewed his boy parts... What do you think of those cute hands!? And yes, that's the umbilical cord hanging out in front of him.

Another exciting development - Brad can feel Baby Pete! He's moving all the time now, and sometimes, I think he's knocking on me to get out of there. I don't blame him; he did look rather squished today. I told him he better stay in and get healthy - let's see if he starts out a listener.

Brad and I will attempt to choose baby things this weekend. We love all the little themes, so it's hard to choose! I hope Baby Pete will like it (like he'll notice).

We're just so thankful he's healthy and developing well. We pray all the time for how God will use him greatly. I pray he knows Jesus at a young age and shares Him with all he knows. That's a tall order, mister!

One side note on today's appointment: I refused my flu shot. I just don't like the idea of putting trace amounts of mercury or aluminum or whatever other junk is in there in my body while Baby Pete is developing. My doctor obviously let me make this decision (he is legally bound to of course), but he highly discouraged it and suggested I get the H1N1 vaccine as well (which I will also politely decline). I do know that if a pregnant woman contracts the flu, her system is not always able to handle it well. Please pray for strong immunity, health, and special protection during this time - especially since I will be pregnant most of the winter.

Make the nosebleeds stop!

2009-09-03T20:08:00.000-05:00

TMI alert - Pregnancy Symptoms follow!

It's common knowledge that pregnant women have extra fluid hanging around (everywhere, by the way). But this extra fluid isn't just about bloatation. Almost since the beginning of my pregnancy, I've had a lot of sinus congestion. This is normal, and it's no big deal. Some extra tissues and hocking in the morning do the trick. But last night, I woke up around 2:30, in a light sleep, and all of a sudden felt liquid in the back of my throat. This has happened to me before - a nosebleed in the middle of the night. In fact, I get nosebleeds every few months or so - I'll have a few in a row, and then they'll go away. So, I got up, pinched, tilted, and tissued, and laid back down hoping the blood would stop so that I could get some more sleep. (I had a tissue in my sleeping hand just in case.)

Fast forward five and a half hours to me waking up at 8am - TOO LATE! I should be working by now! Ugh. I force myself to get up and get ready for a late start. I'm brushing my teeth when the blood starts trickling down my lips and teeth. Not now! I'm running late and have a mouthful of toothpaste. I grab a tissue and try to spit out the toothpaste in my mouth, which gave new meaning to "pink in the sink".

This was not the usual nosebleed. This is the worst nosebleed I think I have ever had. I went through tissue after tissue, pinching here, pinching there, praying, "Please Lord, make it stop!" The tissues were soaked in almost seconds. I managed to, not looking down, get the trash can on the counter - this allowed me to completely fill it up with tissues. I was shoving them down to fit even more. Minutes are passing, and of course, the blood is also going down my throat, so I'm now holding my nose for dear life, spitting in the sink, and trying to wash it all down the drain - without looking down! Any movement would make the gushing start.

About 20 minutes in, I think I might have a coagulation that could hold still for a while. So I, looking up the whole time, mind you, get ready for my shower. The shower was pretty quick, as I just wanted to get out of there before the bleeding started and I was forced to get blood all over my towels. I got out, and things were looking good. I said, "things", not me. I looked awful. One of my nostrils just had this huge bloody cork in it - siiiiiiiick! Well, just to end this long TMI tale, I had to leave that cork in until about 10:30. At 10, I had a phone conference, so you can imagine me just praying that the geyser would not return.

Of course, in the pregnancy realm, all of this is "normal" and "safe" - unless you start feeling faint. Right now, I have almost 50% more blood than I usually do, and I guess today it needed a place to go. I just pray I get a bloodynose-free day tomorrow!

Hey now, if you've read this whole post - I warned you that TMI followed.

Let's play 'What's between the legs?'

2009-08-26T21:34:00.000-05:00

This week's checkup went great. Praise the Lord!! It was a pretty quick, routine visit. The usual blood, urine, weight, blood pressure were taken, and Nurse Judy took an ultrasound to get the baby's heartbeat. As soon as she put the control on my tummy, this is what we saw:

How sweet is that little foot? Just for fun, she measured the foot - 2.23 cm!! Wow, Lord, can your creation be any more amazing? I'm blown away, truly. In our household, "pigs" are special, and we were so happy to see our little one's cute piggie wiggies. They kind of look big, huh? See the thigh at the bottom of the picture, well, then baby Pete proceeded to cross his legs, just like he was having some coffee and reading the paper! Ha! It tickled me. Nurse Judy is not an ultrasound technician, but she said she's never seen that. Heehee. He's so cute. I can't believe how long his legs have grown since 3 weeks ago - and certainly since the precious gummy bear picture from the first visit. The kid likes showing off his feet, huh? Remember how tiny they were then?

The top picture, below shows the heartbeat. Can you see the arm and hand? The baby's hands were up to his face the whole time. This one looks like he's had a rough day. Haha! The bottom picture kind of shows his long legs. Doesn't it look like the face was pointing towards us?

And here's a sweet shot of his beautiful profile. His head is to his chest, very fetal position. Hey, it's comfortable to me, too!

And, as usual, last but not least - what do you think is between the legs?

Our next doctor's appointment is September 14. We will get to see baby Pete's organs and do a "gender check". =)

Brad leaves for India tomorrow morning. I will miss him terribly! Especially as the little guy moves around every day (did you know they sleep on a 40 minute sleep cycle?). He'll be back September 6, and until then, I am pleased to share him with the precious Indian people God has called him to. I cannot wait to go there myself and meet Monica, the little girl we sponsor. Please pray for the team's boldness, effectiveness, health, safety, and unity. Here's the blog they'll be posting on: http://partofindia2009.blogspot.com/

Where did this belly come from?!

2009-08-23T15:29:00.000-05:00

All of a sudden I have this belly! This pic was taken at 15 weeks. I'm almost 17 weeks now, and the belly doesn't look much different. When I look down, my belly doesn't look very large, but boy oh boy does it look different from the side!

I'm at that in-between stage of my pregnancy where I can't really wear any of my clothes. A couple of friends (you rock!) have given me some maternity clothes. They're a little too loose right now. So, I've been using the bella band a lot. It's this spandexy thing that looks like a tube top, but you put it over your pants so you don't have to button them. Oh, is it a relief to have! I had friends who were like, "I was able to wear my favorite jeans the whole time I was pregnant with it!" Uhh..... did their hips not expand like mine are? I'm having trouble just getting a lot of my pants ON, let alone having to pull them on and off for the bathroom all day.

Thankfully, I have not been sick this trimester. (I did gag the other day which turned into throwing up, but other than that). Bruce and Nancy are coming to help paint my hallway and pantry - which have smells from the former owners of our house - (THANK YOU Bruce and Nancy!) while Brad is in India. I and the little guy will miss him terribly!

We go to the doctor tomorrow for another checkup. And I suppose we'll see if this little guy still looks like a little....guy. I have gotten very used to the idea of having a boy and hope it isn't taken back! I went to Hobby Lobby to get some scrapbooking stickers the other day and just gravitated towards the little baby boy stickers! I have a little man on the way!!! (i think ;-)

For over a week now, I've been feeling the baby move. It's crazy!! It feels like spasms, and they're mostly on my left, so maybe that's where the baby likes to hang out. I hear in the next few weeks he's going to start growing even more quickly. WOW! I can feel him on and off all day and can't wait for Brad to be able to feel him, too.

Baby Pete at 14 weeks

2009-08-05T19:09:00.000-05:00

Our doctor's appt Monday went great. We kept hearing "terrific" over and over again when they looked at the data. Every parent gives a big "Praise God" when hearing such a thing.

I'm feeling a lot better, now dealing with tiredness (still), smells (but better), and indigestion. I've gained a few pounds but still don't really look pregnant - soon enough, I'm sure! Strangely, none of my pants will close, so Brad gets to see me in the "gym outfit of the day" each evening. Haha! Here's a pic in Fort Lauderdale - you can see my tummy poking out a little.

Oh, and yes, our vacation was fantastico!! We had a wonderful, relaxing time.

And now, without further adieu - pics of Baby Pete! I got a 13 minute DVD too, which is so cool. I can't seem to get it in digital form, though, b/c it's a big file! I would love to play it for you anytime though. Some things we saw in the video: the heartbeat (and heard it!), the brain, the spine, little arms moving (we even thought the little one was about to suck its thumb), legs (the baby was sitting cross-legged the whole time), the mouth opening and closing, and the nose. It was truly joyous.

Here's a picture of baby Pete's profile. The little ribcage and hand just make me smile! Can you see its brain? How about the nose? See how it looks upturned? Now, that is mommy's nose. ;-)

Here's where the practitioner is taking the baby's heartbeat. Very strong, she said. If you look closely, you can see a little black mark in its chest - that's the heart!

Here's another profile shot - the mouth is open! Apparently, baby's practice sucking in the womb, and we kept seeing the mouth open and close - it was so precious. At one point, the baby lifted its hand like it was about to suck its thumb. OK, I want this job! You can also see a leg - the baby was sitting cross-legged the whole time.

Now, here's my favorite picture - the baby looks like a little turtle with a darth vadar helmet! And, if you watch the video, the baby reminds you of a turtle, too. It's so neat that you can see both hemispheres of the brain, huh?

Drumroll..... we have a good idea of the gender!! We're not supposed to know for sure for another two months, but the practitioner saw a "structure" (haha!) between the legs! These two pictures are from the bottom of the baby looking toward "his" head. Notice, the baby is sitting cross legged. Now, it looks to me like the structure could be a little foot (OK, daddy, a BIG foot), but when you watch the video, you see three somethings! Don't start buying blue yet!! We'll let you know for sure. But I did change the blog background in honor of this news. Either way, we're so thrilled! And we're thankful you're on this journey with us.

Anniversary tomorrow!

2009-07-17T18:28:00.001-05:00

Already almost to week 12 - after which the first trimester ends. Crazy!! I am definitely more hungry this week. My nose is still super picky. Unfortunately, I can't seem to ingest more than 300 calories at one time without being miserable afterwards. So basically, I have to eat small things all day.

Tomorrow is mine and Brad's 6th wedding anniversary! We each have some things to do in the morning, but in the evening, we're going to the Melting Pot for dinner and then Harry Potter! I told Brad he's going to have to eat most of the food. Haha.

We're better friends than I ever imagined. I'm so lucky!

A Miracle!

2009-07-05T15:48:00.000-05:00

WOW! I'm so overwhelmed by God's goodness to us. After two years of trying to get pregnant, it finally happened! Thursday, we went to the doctor and met Baby Peterson for the first time (see first photo above). The doc said everything looked great, and the little "gummy bear" was positioned where we could see it very well. While we were amazed at its little heartbeat, it all of a sudden started wiggling and kicked its little foot!! My heart leapt, and I could help but laugh and cry at the same time. It was the most amazing thing I've seen in my whole life, and I can't wait for more. Can you see its little hand balled up by its head? How about the little foot (with toes!) on the upper right? Methinks those are daddy's toes. We're so thrilled!