a breakthrough?

This little angel slept for 8.5 hours the past two nights!!  I could hardly believe it and woke up in a panic both nights, but I hope we've turned the corner on the late night feedings!  Sleep in peace, little Tootie!

New Year! New Me!

{pinned here}

This sign says it all!  I love that the New Year is a blank canvas full of promise.  It's a time to start over, recommit, and reevaluate the important things.   It's been awhile since I've done any sort of New Year's resolution list, so I thought I'd take a stab at a list of 12 things I'd like to focus on in 2012.  And since it's still January I'm getting my list in just under the wire!

1-Dive into God's Word

Now more than ever before I desperately want to be in and surrounded by God's Word.  Kelly and I have a huge responsibility to "train up a child in the way he should go" and it is my duty as a mom, wife, and follower of Christ to make sure we are intentional in providing a biblical foundation for Cole to grow on.  And in order for me to instill strong biblical principals in his life, I need to recommit to making it a priority in mine.  When my brother and I were growing up my Mom always had a biblically based answer for any of our trials or tribulations and I want to have those same answers for Cole as he grows up and begins to experience all the things this world has to offer.  I am joining a women's bible study at my office and today we are starting Beth Moore's series Believing God: Experience a Fresh Explosion of Faith (study of Isaiah). I'm so pumped!!  I also bought the daily devotional app, Jesus Calling, and plan to read it daily.

2-Volunteer at Church

For the past several years (yes, YEARS) Kelly and I have talked about volunteering at church.  We've tossed around a few ideas here and there of where we should get plugged in, but have never fully committed.  Well--here's my chance.  I'm making it a goal for 2012 to find a way to get involved.  I think I would LOVE to teach Kindergarten Sunday School {I think I missed my calling early on to use my creativity in early elementary education} or possibly volunteer in the nursery (now that I have a little in the nursery it would be nice to spend time with him). 

3-Stick to the diet/exercise plan!

I think this goal is directly in line with the title of this post!  2011 was one for the record books--a record breaking weight, that's for sure.  Yes--I know I was pregnant and I couldn't help the majority of the weight gain, but now that Mr. Man is here, I have no excuse (or desire) to let this weight just hang around.  I remember sitting on the couch when I was about 7 or 8 months pregnant and I couldn't wait for the day when I could get up and run a mile.  I wanted to get my heart rate up.  I wanted to break a sweat.  I wanted to have a red face!!  But, since I couldn't raise my heart rate above 150, I made myself a "motivation" board on Pinterest {found here}.  Here are a few of my favorite reminders.

So here's to an active and healthy 2012!

4-Train for and complete a 5k

In light of the previous resolution I felt the need to put a goal in front of me to jump start my weight loss/gym going journey.  A few of the people I work with signed up to participate in The Color Run on February 19, and I thought--why not?  It's soon enough that I won't lose sight of my goal, but far enough away that I can start training and not completely fail at running 3.1 miles consecutively.  I'm pretty proud of myself--day one of training is already complete!  WHOOP!  Here are a few more motivational posters from Pinterest:

5-Blog more

See my previous post for a little more insight into why I haven't been posting more frequently.  Now that I have a little one I want to remember all his cute antics, smiles, memories and milestones!  I want to blog.more.often.  I also want to learn how to make creative pictures.  Here are a few examples of what I'd like to be able to do.  Anyone out there want to teach me??

6-Redecorate my work office

I will dedicate an entire post on this once I know how I'm going to decorate, but in light of a "New Year! New Me!" I'm ready for some change.  Picture: modern glam (with some chevron pattern, of course)!


7-Buy what I love
Over the years I have earned the nickname "coupon queen" and I wear the title with pride!  I don't think there's anyone out there that loves a deal more than I do.  I've been known to buy something just because I can get it for a great deal or because its on a super sale.  However, this year I'm vowing to only buy something if I truly love it.  AND to not settle on a purchase just because it's cheaper.  If there's something that I absolutely love and I really want it, I'm not going to buy a different, but similar item just because it's on sale.  Don't get me wrong--this doesn't mean I'm turning my back on a great deal, I'm only vowing that I'll buy the shirt I really want rather than two that I only half way want.  :)


8-Be intentional with fashion

In my quest for a "New Year! New Me!" I want to step it up when it comes to my fashion choices.  I work in an office where "casual Friday" is "casual everyday" so I've gotten away from wearing (and buying) dressier clothes.  However, I feel better about myself if I take a few extra minutes to accessories or look a little nicer, so I'm aiming to be intentional with fashion.  I have a drawer full of scarves, a jewelry armoire with necklaces I've forgotten about, and earrings galore.  I just need to pull them out and wear them. 

9-Finish decorating the downstairs bath

Oh the poor downstairs bath!  I started redoing the half bath in the kitchen almost a year ago.  Then I stopped when I was pregnant because I was too sick and tired (literally) to finish it.  Then...when the nesting phase of the pregnancy kicked in, I wanted to get it finished before the baby came.  Thanks to the help of my wonderful parents I was able to get the majority of the bathroom put back together.  However, it still needs a little TLC and a decorative touch.  We'll see what I come up with!

10-Complete 5 of my "pins" from Pinterest

It's official.  I'm addicted to Pinterest.  I love having a virtual pin board where I can keep all my ideas organized by category :) But I actually want to find the time to complete some of the "pins" I've found.  There are so many crafts, recipes, decorating and fashion ideas I want to try.

11-Read 4 books (from start to finish!)

I have a bad habit of starting a book but never finishing it.  The cover catches my eye, and with each book purchase I vow to read it cover to cover.  So, I hope that I can carve out the time this year to actually finish some of the books I've started (some I've purchased and never even started!!):

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Lineage of Grace: the five stories of unlikely women who changed eternity by Francine Rivers

Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp

And the jury is still out on the 4th book.  Any suggestions?

12-Create a 2012 family photo album

This year is sure to be an exciting year of firsts and one of the family traditions that I want to begin is a Family Photo Album.  I'm horrible about printing pictures and keeping photo albums up to date, but for Christmas I gave the grandparents a photo book of Cole's first month and it was a HUGE hit.  I was a little jealous that I didn't have one for myself.  I have a plan in place to download all our iPhone photos each time I take his monthly photo so that I can start working on the book early enough in the year and not wait until the last minute.  It's going to be tough to pick my fave photos--I just love them ALL!!

So there you have it.  My 12 in 2012.  What are your New Year's Resolutions?

go confidently in the direction of your dreams...

The weather outside is so gloomy and nasty!  We definitely needed the rain but I absolutley HATE it.  Kelly says I react to rain like it's acid coming down from the sky.  To some degree I think he might be right.

I hate driving in the rain.
I hate walking in the rain.
I hate when my pants get wet because of the rain.
And today I figured out (and it comes as no surprise) that I hate carrying the car seat in the rain!  Forget using an umbrella. 

But in light of hating the weather today, I did find a bright spot in my morning trek into the office.  I wore my rain boots in anticipation of the walk from my car through the lake parking lot and when I came to a big puddle I took a step off the curb and landed right in the middle of the standing water.  I felt like a kid again!  And then the quote "go confidently in the direction of your dreams live the life you've imagined" popped into my head." 

And that's exactly what I did!

Happy Wednesday!

xoxo

‘tis better to post something than nothing at all

I started this blog almost 4 years ago with the idea in mind that one day when I had kids it would be the perfect place to update everyone (i.e. grandparents) and store all of our pictures, stories, and memories. I started out with a bang and was so good about updating about the littlest thing that happened. Then life got busy as we welcomed our first pup into our home, and I started slacking on my updates--I went from 119 updates in 2009 down to 32 updates in 2010. Life got even busier as we welcomed our second pup into our home and my postings dropped from 32 down to 14 in 2011! And now, we have the most precious gift of all and I haven’t made a single post in 2012! 

Sometimes I don’t post because I feel like I have too much to catch up on between posts and I don’t have time to sit down and type out all of life’s happenings at once. Then there are times when I get lazy and don’t want to go all the way upstairs to post from my computer (I wish there was a way to post pics from my iPhone or my iPad because that’s where all my pictures are and I LOVE a post with pics!!). But alas, I have come to the decision (and made the New Year’s Resolution) that ‘tis better to post something than nothing at all :)

So here’s to an exciting year of postings—may they be frequent…whether or not they are in sequential order and with or without pictures ;)!

{This pic was taken Sunday after Papa dressed him!  Our big boy is growing so fast!}

Cole: 1 Month!

{We took our pics yesterday, but since typing requires two hands and sometimes I'm lucky to only have one free, I'm a day late in publishing this post.}

I cannot believe it is already time for me to do a one month post about our little love bug!  Everyone always says it, but seriously, WHERE does the time go?  I feel like I blinked and he grew up.  There is no doubt that this past month has been the best month of our lives!  I don't even know where to begin with the updates so I'm just going to dive right in.

Our little guy is a great eater, sleeper and is hardly ever fussy!  (Dare I put that in writing...it may seal my fate!)  During the first week we were home he was sleeping 4.5, 5, and 6 hour stretches between feedings.  (We were originally operating under the "don't wake a sleeping baby" philosophy, but I quickly learned at our 2 week check up that I need to be waking him every 2-4 hours to feed because his blood sugar could get so low that he can't wake himself up--WHAT!  Bad mom alert!!)  So now we feed every three hours during the day and can go up to four hours between feedings at night.  

However, he is a little particular about the position in which he sleeps.  He LOVES to be held close, wrapped up in a warm blanket, and rocked in the rocking chair.  He also loves to sleep on Kelly's chest! Kelly has a way of putting him to sleep almost instantly, and will usually let Cole sleep on his chest between the midnight and early morning feed times.  Here are a few examples :)

Told ya!  As I mentioned--he's a good eater--and based on the last time we weighed him ourselves, he's already up to 9.4 lbs!  That's a whole 1.4 lbs up from his birth weight!!  We must be doing something right :).

I mean check out those cheeks!!  

He is still wearing newborn clothes, but will be out of them soon.  He wears his 0-3 month clothes too, but they are still a little big on him.  We have graduated to size 1 diapers, but they are still a little big on him, too.  The newborn diapers are too small though, and after about 3 blowouts we decided it was time to graduate to the next size.  

Speaking of blowouts, our little guy has earned himself a few nicknames.   He has the loudest toots for a one month old, and if you're holding him right after a feeding, you might even feel his power!  

Tootie, Rootie Tootie, Fussy buns, Squeaker, and most recently--Chubs.  

As you can imagine, these first few weeks have been a blur, but I wouldn't change it for the world!  Kelly and I are truly blessed by the amount of help we've received these past 4 weeks.  

Kelly was able to stay home with us for three weeks (thank you Paternity leave!!);  my Mom spent the night with us the first week (a HUGE blessing!!) and came over almost every day for the following three weeks; my Dad came over to visit and help do "honey do" tasks around the house; and Kelly's mom stayed with us the third week (and whipped our backyard into shape!!).  There is no way we would be where we are today without the love and support of our families, and we are so thankful that we've had this time to bring us closer together.  

We didn't have much down time between visitors, getting stuff done around the house, and getting settled into our little routine, but now that things are settling down I'm sure we'll be going on our first outing pretty soon.  

I need to post all the pictures we've taken, but that will have to wait for another post.  We are like the paparazzi around here and don't want to miss a single moment!  Our picture gallery is out of control!

However, here's one little nugget we discovered this week.  There's no denying it...Cole is the spitting image of his Papa!

 

Birth Story

This post may bore you out of your mind, but I wanted to capture every last detail of Cole's birth story before I forget.

But before I can tell you about the birth I need to back up and bring you up to speed on the last few weeks of my pregnancy.

Background: At my 36 week Dr appointment, Friday, September 23, I started showing signs of high blood pressure (BP). The numbers weren't extremely alarming, but definitely something worth watching over the next few weeks.

At my 37 week Dr appointment, Friday, September 30, my BP was even higher than the week before so the doctor ordered me to go on bed rest for the weekend to see if that would help bring it down.

I went back to the doctor the following Monday, October 3, for a sonogram and check up. Cole's heart rate was strong, and according to the sonogram he was 6 lbs. 15 oz and doing great. My BP maintained an OK level over the weekend so the doctor ordered bed rest for the rest of the week with orders to increase my weekly visits to semi weekly.

I went back to the Dr on Thursday, October 6, at 11:00 am and my BP had not gone down all week--even on bed rest, so the doctor told us it was go time! She made us an appointment with Labor and Delivery to check in Thursday night at 8:00 pm. We were going to have a baby the next day!!

Kelly and I were in shock and spent the rest of the afternoon on Thursday wrapping up loose ends at work, calling family and friends, packing the car, and enjoying our last meal (Texas Roadhouse) as a family of two. Of course, we had to make a quick run to Target on our way to the hospital for a few snacks and goodies. My mom and I always joke that we're always hitting up Target :) so it's only fitting that I went right before giving birth.

Labor and Delivery: We got to the hospital about 7:40 pm (alarming early for us since we're almost always late!), grabbed up all the bags we could carry (yes--we had to even leave some in the car for lack of hands. I didn't want to be "without.") and headed to the nurses station to check in. We dropped our bags off in our room, filled out some paperwork, and then it was time to get settled in for the night.

Around 9:30 pm I had to get a cervidil insert to help thin my cervix so that the induction the next morning would progress a little easier. I had the sweetest nurse, Vicki, that kept trying to calm our nerves and ease our anxiety. Side note: When I look back on the entire labor and delivery process I realize the Lord provided the exact type of nurse I needed at the right time. HE is good!!

After the extremely painful cervidil process was over, Kelly and I snuggled up and watched a few movies on his laptop until finally falling asleep.

Friday, October 7--The big day:

6:45 am--Vicki woke me up and told me it was time to prep for the induction. I could take one last shower to freshen up and then it was go time! We had a quick nurse change (to Carie) at 7:00 am and then they prepped my arm for the pitocin drip.

7:30 am--They start with the pitocin drip. They hooked me up to an IV, two stomach monitors, and a blood pressure cuff, which I quickly figured out was the most annoying part of the whole process!

9:30 am--my BP was rising and Carie suggested I get my epidural to help alleviate some of the stress on my body. Side note: Kelly and I went into this process wanting to deliver with as little drugs as possible. We attended an amazing natural child-birthing class and were fully prepared to labor as far as I could on my own before starting any drugs. So, needless to say, this whole situation was not playing out like I had planned. Only further proof of why God is in control and I am not!! 

After the anesthesiologist gave me my epidural I was a whole new woman. Kelly said I started talking the nurses arm off and seemed really relaxed. However, the epidural wasn't the cure-all we were hoping for, so shortly thereafter the doctor put me on a mild blood pressure medication to see if that would help. Unfortunately, that medicine didn't help at all and so the doctor ordered the worst medicine of all--magnesium sulfate. She warned me before this process started that she would use the drug only as a last resort. It makes you to feel like you have the flu--chills, sweats, nausea, etc.--and once administered I would have to stay on the drug for 24 hours post delivery. Magnesium sulfate is prescribed for two reasons: to combat high blood pressure and to slow down contractions in women who go into premature labor. So my body was thoroughly confused on what to do between the pitocin drip and the magnesium.

After the magnesium kicked in I began to progress in the labor process. By noon-ish I was dilated to a 3-4, by early afternoon I had reached a 5-6, and by 5:00 pm I was at a 9.5 and 100% effaced.

My Dr came in to check me after her office hours and told me she'd be back at 7:00 pm to check me again and we'd begin the pushing process. When she came back to check on me I had not progressed any further and was beginning to develop a temperature. Taking into account all the factors and our health--the doctor said it was best to move forward with a c-section. Needless to say after 13 hours of labor, I was completely devastated to deliver via c-section, but my supportive husband offered some light at the end of the tunnel--we would be meeting our son in less than an hour!! We were more than ready after the day we had!

My amazing nurse Carie was done with her shift at 7:00 pm (just before I headed into surgery) and the nurse that came on shift was named Lisa.  Lisa prepped me for surgery and in no time they were wheeling me down the hall to the OR.

8:00 pm--We were making our way into the OR when the anesthesiologist ran into my head with my medicine stand.  I couldn't believe it, but that is something that would totally happen to me in the middle of everything else that was going on!  Kelly arrived shortly after I was in the OR and was decked out in his scrubs.  The sheet went up between the doctors and us, and after a little more medicine in my epidural kicked in, the doctors quickly got to work.

8:22 p.m.--HE ARRIVED!  Kelly Coleman O'Donnell joined this world and was absolutely perfect in every sense of the word.  He was 8 lbs., 21 inches long, and had brown/blond hair.  Since he had been in the birth canal so long he had a little bit of a cone head and some minor facial bruising, but I couldn't tell.  He was here and he was ours!!  We were THRILLED.  He didn't cry much when the doctors pulled him out and seemed to be a very content baby--Praise the Lord!

Between all the medicines and the stress on my body, I was literally getting sick as the doctors were pulling him out and stitching me back up.  I was so weak and nauseous that I couldn't hold him right away, so Kelly had to go to the recovery room with Cole while the doctors finished with me.

When I finally got to the recovery room there was still a lot of setting up to be done, and it felt like FOREVER before our families were able to come in and see us.  We had skin-to-skin time before any visitors came in, but once we were done with our first feeding everyone came in to see him.  We were all exhausted and so were they--but it was all worth it in the end to see Cole's precious face and to get to hold him.

The next 24 hours were a complete blur to me.  I was still on the magnesium sulfate medicine and I could barely carry on a conversation with anyone.  I was still really nauseous and was continuing to get sick throughout the day.  I just wanted to feel normal again!!  Around 5:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon during a breast feeding lesson, my IV came loose.  That was the best thing that could have happened to me!!  The nurse checked with the Dr. to see if she needed to re-stick me and he said it was OK for me to stop taking the medicine!!!  The nurse didn't waste any time in taking off the blood pressure cuff, leg casings (to prevent blood clots), epidural, catheter, and IV!  I was finally a free woman.

After we loaded up all our stuff, we headed into our post partum room where we stayed until we checked out on Monday morning.  This room was significantly smaller than than the recovery room we were in the day before, but that was OK by me.  I was just thankful that I was on my way to feeling like my old self again.  

We were lucky to have tons of visitors and great nurses to make the rest of our stay at the hospital enjoyable. Between the nurses, doctors, lactation consultants, and friends and family--there was never a dull moment around that place!

My doctor made one last visit on Monday morning before we were released from the hospital--and I'll never forget that visit.  As a result of having a c-section my doctor was able to see that I have a mis-shaped uterus (which was possibly another problem contributing to my difficult delivery process); only have one ovary and one fallopian tube that works correctly--which explains why it took us so long to get pregnant with sweet Cole to begin with--and she could only see one kidney!  What?!

She wasn't completely certain about the kidney, so I have to go back in and have a CT scan done to see if the other one was hiding, or if I do in fact only have one kidney.  After learning about all those extenuating circumstances that I had NO idea about, I was beyond thankful that the Lord had his hand over the whole situation, and that he gave the Drs the wisdom to take Cole when they did.

The entire birth process was a HUGH learning curve and eye-opener to me, and was truly an amazing miracle witness.

Stay tuned for more updates on our precious one; doctors visits; check-ups; outings; visitors; early days at home; lessons learned from a three week old mom; and our first holiday!!