Happy 1 Week Birthday Jonah!

Jonah will celebrate his 1 week birthday at 6:13 p.m. tonight! What a crazy week it's been! Jeremy has to go back to work tomorrow and I will miss the help and the company. Jonah has a weight check at the doctor tomorrow morning, so I'm praying he's beefed up a little. Then he gets his newborn pictures taken Thursday. I can't wait to have those done.

This is not even a week's worth of diapers! That is what we've gone through since Tuesday afternoon! Wow! I knew they went through a lot, but that puts in into perspective to me!
There's my sweet boy getting his first sponge bath. I was washing his hair!

Lil Jonah is Here!

Jonah Russell Woody was born January 18, 2009 at 6:13 p.m. He was 7 lbs 9 oz and 20 inches long.

Here is his birth story:

Saturday was my last day at work. After work I rushed home to make some mexican food for a fellowship the young adults were having that night. I was pretty tired already and my feet were pretty much done in for the day, but I had a good time at the fellowship. I had a few strange feeling twangs of pain in my lower abdomen that night while we were there. Jeremy and I left around 10 or so.

We got home and got settled in for the night. Jeremy fell asleep on the couch and I checked my email, etc. That whole time I was having contractions, but they weren't intense and I figured they would go away later. Well...off to bed we went and I was still having the pains every 10-15 minutes or so. I decided I would start writing down the frequency of them just for fun. I never went to sleep. They were getting harder and closer together. So I got out of bed and decided to finish packing up my hospital bag because I had read somewhere that if contractions go away when you get up and walk around then its false labor. They weren't going away, but I was still not believing it! I packed all my stuff and finally woke up Jeremy and told him to get his stuff together just in case they get worse and we have to go to the hospital. So he got up, packed, and took a shower.

We convinced ourselves around 3:30 am that it was time to head to the hospital and see if they kept us. We got there around 4:30 am and got checked into triage. They check out how dialated you are then you wait for an hour and see if you are progressing. I was a 1.5 and to me that was already some progression! This nurse told us the chance it was false labor was pretty good. So I was still not expecting to stay. More than an hour went by and finally she came back and suggested I walk around for 30 minutes before she checked me again. So I walked around and that seemed to do the job, because I was a 3. She then decided to admit me!

By the time I was at a 4 or so they sent in my epidural. It was great, at first. They started Petocin and I was at a 5.5 in no time. My epi wasn't being as effective for all of the pain by that time. I felt the downward pressure of every contraction. I hit a 7 in no time, but hung out there for awhile. Probably a good thing because it gave my two best friends, Natalie and Kristen, and my sister, Laura time to make it up here from Bryant. At one point, my petocin iv came undone and I slowed down for awhile. Then when it was back up and running we were on the road.

It seemed that I was dialating properly, but Jonah wouldnt drop low enough to deliver him. There was talk of a c-sect when this happened and Jonah's heart rate dropped a little. They stuck an oxygen mask on me, turned me on my side, and somehow Jonah turned enough to get his head engaged properly and we were ready to go.

The doctor had warned me that it would probably be a lot of pushing before he was here. My sis was in the delivery room with me and so was Jeremy of course. It was nice to have someone on each side of me cheering me on. So the three of us pushed this baby out in a little more than an hour. We had a waiting room full of people awaiting his arrival. So many friends and family stuck around all day, that the doctors and nurses kept coming in saying our crowd was growing.
Introducing Jonah! He is the new man in my life!
Here's a proud daddy!

Our new little family!

So many people have reached out to us this week and have sent us flowers, gifts and food. We have meals coming every day and Jonah is loved by so many. Natalie and Kristen went to my house the night after Jonah was born and cleaned our house from top to bottom and cooked us several meals to put in the freezer. I thank God for such close, nurturing, and fun girl friends. They are absolutely irreplaceable. It was so nice to come home to such a clean house. I didn't even want to bring our bags in to clutter it up any! What a load off! I had planned to finish the cleaning the few days I would have off of work before my due date. Jonah had different plans! He came the evening of my last day at work! I got my wish didn't I? I was able to go into labor on my own!

Jonah's first week of life has definitely had its ups and downs. Learning how to nurse him, change his insurmountable amount of dirty diapers, and figure out his sleep patterns has been and will continue to be a daily challenge...one that I wouldn't trade anything in this world for. Thanks to God for the love of family and good friends and for their supportive words and advice. I thank Him everyday for our miracle.

1 week left!

38 weeks 5 days belly shot!

I went to the dr. early this morning only to find out that, yep, you guessed it, nothing has changed. He said that he thought that maybe Jonah would sneak on by his due date. I think so too. He is happy as a lark in there apparently. I am going to start some serious praying for some kind of progression! I predict that I will have him on the 23 or 24 of January. I am working through this Saturday. I am pretty busy at work this week, so at least it will make it go by faster, but it will be tiring. By the end of most days, I want to cut my feet off. Especially if I've walked that morning. At least if Jonah is a little late, I will get to have a few days off work before his arrival.

Our final baby shower was this weekend at our church. We are so blessed! We received a lot of great gifts to finish up our necessities.
Here is a glimpse of the gifts before I unpacked them. In this pic, several of the gifts have been consolidated together. It took me about two hours to sort through them all at home. I finally got everything put away, washed, and organized.
I received these cute hooded bath towels with Jonah's name on them! Love them! Isn't the whale most appropriate?Jeremy's Grandma Walker made this quilt for Jonah. Jeremy got his love for farming from his grandparents. He and his cousins grew up working and playing at their house. Jonah got his middle name from J's grandpa, who passed away 3 and a half years ago.
I love how she signed it! My last grandparent died when I was 8 years old, so I think it's really neat that Jonah has a great grandma! Jonah will miss out on getting to know his Papa Chandler (my dad, who passed away in 2002) but he's lucky to have two grandmas, a grandpa, and two great grandmas that will love him to pieces!Check out this stool. It is the cutest thing! My friend, Krissi, had her sister paint it for Jonah. I love it. The paisley is soooo cute. Here's the bottom of the stool with the cow print!
Don't you love it? Such a good idea. Krissi said she liked having a stool to use while nursing. I can see how that would be very comfortable.

Here's my latest craft project. All I did was sew on the fabric and ribbon then have them embroidered, but it was fun.

Of course my collection would not be complete without some western print burp cloths. I love the font that they used to embroider. Its called 'boys are gross'...that doesn't seem appropriate to use, but it was a good pick.

I must get to work on cleaning up my house, because I am fading fast this evening. The last two nights I have woken up at 4 a.m. wide awake and I can't get back to sleep for at least an hour or two. I think God is trying to prepare me for some midmorning feedings to come. Jonah was awake both times. I will leave you with this oogy skin picture of my belly! Enjoy! Ha!Enjoy it in there, lil guy, cuz it won't be long...

Two weeks left and no one's told Jonah!

36 weeks 6 days belly shot

37 weeks 5 days belly shot

Tomorrow we will have 14 days until Jonah's official due date. I don't think he is aware that he's supposed to leave his happy home...that might come as a shock to him.

I went to the Dr. this morning and I am still not dialated really at all. He said I may qualify as 1 cm and that the baby is head down, but not engaged. It has been that way for the previous two visits also. I haven't really asked what our plans are if we don't see any changes next visit. I just go with the flow. I figure, he's the doctor and he knows what he's doing. I have preferences for sure as to how I'd like this birth to go, but I am aware that none of that may happen the way I plan it. So I'm trying to keep my mind very open. I would love to go into labor on my own, hang out at home as long as I can, then go in and see where we are. My mom was able to do that with both of us and had very short labors. I am under no delusions that I will get that easy of a childbirth, but a girl can hope? The doc told me to keep walking and I plan on walking as much as possible in the next two weeks. Even though it makes me tired for the rest of my day, I can do anything for two weeks.

On another note, J and I have been getting our last minute baby gear together. We got our carseat/stroller last week. We put it together and installed in into the car.

It is so strange to think that we will have a little guy in that seat in no time. I cannot express to you how thankful that we are to have the opportunity to have a baby. There was a time, where Jeremy and I most definitely did not think we would get this opportunity. We both still look incredibly at my belly and just shake our heads. Any and every baby is a miracle. We thank God for this sweet little boy.

I am getting more and more curious as to what lil Jonah will look like. My prediction is that he will be blue eyed, either no hair or blonde headed. I can't imagine who he will look like. I really don't care who!

I have one more shower left at our church this Sunday and I am looking forward to it. They have a backup plan in case I go into labor this week. I really don't think that's gonna be a problem, but never say never?? I am working on getting my bag packed this week. Any suggestions as to what I'm gonna need at the hospital? Will I want my hair dryer and flat iron for such a short stay (hopefully)? I have two pairs of pajamas with pants and top. Will I want a gown? Help me out ladies with experience!!

I also have been sewing! I have some burp cloths that I've added ribbon and fabric to that I just dropped off today to get embroidered. I will take a pic as soon as I get them back. I needed something to do to take up some time while I wait! As for today, I'm off to the gym to hopefully get this boy convinced that he MUST come out in the near future!