Happy Birthday Jackson

My baby is 1! How did that happen? I have no clue where the last year went. I remember all too well the insanity in our house last year at this time with a stomach virus circulating, a newborn baby, and tons of snow and ice. I think it's even harder to believe because he's still really tiny. He's growing and healthy, just really little, so he looks like he's about 6 months old instead of 12. He had his checkup at the doctor today (Monday) and he's now up to 17 pounds 1 ounce, and 27 inches long. So, he's done some serious growing and the doctor seems happy with how he's doing. He is doing all the things a 12 month old should be doing, so I'm going to try to stop stressing out about our little man, and just enjoy the days as they come.

Jackson updates

I've been a total blogger slacker this summer, so here are just a few updates on Jackson
~He is sitting awesome now

~He pulls up and can stand while holding onto something

~he crawls like a maniac, even though it's the "army crawl" he is super fast and is getting into everything

~he is still super tiny despite nursing a ton most days. The pediatrician suggested starting solids, but I have been hesitant to do that. I did give him some finger foods the other night though, which he seemed to enjoy. I'm thinking we'll probably stick with giving him things like that at dinner both to get him started onother foods and to keep him occupied during dinner since he's becoming increasingly difficult while I try to eat and he's just sitting there.

~he has two teeth on the bottom, but that's it

~I can't wait to see what's in store next!

6 months old

Jackson is 6 months old today. How is it possible he's been part of our family for 1/2 a year? He is so laid back and easy-going, and his baby days are slipping away and will be over before I know it. In the past couple weeks he's been pushing up on his hands and knees and actually crawling a tiny bit. Since he took so long to roll over I figured he'd be behind on everything, but I was very wrong. He is getting much too mobile for my taste. I like that he stays put when I lay him down on the floor. He is till working on the sitting thing. He is very wobbly and can only sit unsupported for about 20 seconds on a good day. But, all well, it's not like he'll be 5 and not know how to sit. :) We go to the doctor next week for his and Nathan's checkup so we'll know how big our little chunky monkey really is after that.

Jackson's Christening

Sunday was Jackson's christening. I know I'm terrible for waiting so long, but I'm a procrastinator, what can I say? It was storming during the service, but it was so odd because every time the priest would say Jackson's name or touch him it would thunder really loudly. We were not the only one's who noticed it. The priest made a comment about it and all the other families noticed it as well. It was quite odd and kind of freaky. Anyway, it was still a good day and Jackson didn't cry at all, and even though he's quite the chunky monkey he still fit into the family christening gown. All the older kids had a good laugh at Jackson's expense though, and the boys were convinced Jackson was wearing a dress. It was kind of funny how they all reacted.
Here are a couple pictures my sister-in-law took.

Jackson's stats

Here's the info from today. Jackson weighs 14 pounds and 1/2 ounce. He is still just over 24 inches long, so he's not getting a whole lot longer. Honestly I'm convinced they just don't know how to measure height on babies because it seems like sometimes they won't have grown at all, or even gotten shorter according to the dr.'s records, which is so not possible. Anyway, all is well and he handled his shots great. Cried when he got them, and stopped literally the instant I was holding him again. He's been his usual smiley self all day, even though you can tell his legs are a little sore.
Emma is 46 inches tall and 40something pounds now. I honestly forgot, and they have stopped writing her info down on a sheet for me. Having 4 kids really does wreck your brain. Anyway, she's in the 57th percentile for height and the 52nd for weight, so she is healthy and proportionate, which are the two things that really matter.
So it was a good visit and all is well for the time being here in our camp!

month #3

Jackson is already 3 months old. How does time go so fast and feel like such a blur when you have a baby? I'm so sad that I can't slow down time to make this phase of life last a little longer, especially since I may never get to experience it again. I think it frightens Sean that I might want another baby now. It's a never ending cycle with me I guess.
Anyway, back to Jackson. He is such a sweet cuddly baby, and so happy. He is always smiling and "talking" to us. The other night I was holding him and he was talking so loudly I couldn't hear the tv at all. It is pretty funny to hear him go on and on. He has always been such a good sleeper, but this past week he has been sleeping like crap. I'm not sure if it's because of the time change, or because we went to a friends house on Saturday and he was up late, or maybe a little bit of both. Either way I hate it and want my old sleepy Jackson back. He really hasn't learned anything else yet. We are bad and don't do tummy time with him a lot which means he's not getting much of a chance to learn to roll, but I have a feeling that it won't take him long to figure it out as much as he moves around in his bed.
We are going to get family pictures taken later this month, and I'm going to go get his 3 month pictures done soon, so hopefully I will have lots of cuteness to share with everyone.

2 and 2

Unfortunately, this is not a post about Chuck Woolery or Love Connection, sorry to disappoint. Maybe another day I'll post a story reminiscing about watching that show with my grandma. She loved that show...
Anyway, yesterday we had Jackson's 2 month and Megan's 2 year checkups. Jackson weighed in at 12 pounds 1 ounce, which is almost a 2 pound gain in a month. He's also 23 inches long, which is a 2 inch growth in the last 6 weeks. Obviously he's eating plenty, even though he's been sleeping through the night for quite a while. He also had to get his first round of shots yesterday, which of course he hated. He only cried while getting them and calmed down as soon as I picked him up. But he did seem like his legs hurt him most of the day, and he just wanted to be held. I can't say I blame him since I'd be upset too after getting stuck with some needles. All in all a great visit though since he's growing well and seems just fine.
Megan, thankfully, didn't have to have any shots She is quite difficult at the doctor and generally throws a fit regardless of what they do to her, but yesterday went really well. She was calm and let the doctor check out her ears and mouth and listen to her chest and didn't cry at all. I'm glad she behaved so well, and I think it was great that on a visit that she did so good, she didn't have to have any shots. Megan has also gained a decent amount of weigh. finally. She is up to 24 pounds, which is more than I thought she'd weigh, and she is 34 inches tall. The doctor said she's tall and skinny for her age, so lets hope she stays like that.
So yay for healthy kids, but boo for shots to keep them that way.

sleeping

Ok, so I am very very hesitat to post this, but..... Jackson has been sleeping through the night for the past week! He did it two night in a row two weeks ago, and then went back to waking evey 3-4 hours at night, but since last Friday night he's been sleeping at least from 11-6, usually longer. Last night he went down at 9pm and didn't get up until after 7!!!! I felt bad he went so long without eating, but if he was hungry he would have woken up, right? He is such an amazingly good baby we can't believe it. Emma was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old also, but I'm amazed once again. Plus he naps well, eats great, and very rarely cries. He makes me want 10 more just like him. I love sleep!

One month old

Oh my god, how is it possible that Jackson is already a month old? Time is going by way too fast, which makes me very sad since he is likely the last baby we'll have. How can I enjoy this time in Jackson's life if it is over before I know it? Anyway, I took him to the doctor for his checkup and he's doing great. He's already up to 10 pounds 2.5 ounces, so he's gaining more than enough weight. He's also started to sleep fairly well at night. He still wakes up every 3 hour on average, but he goes right back to sleep, which is enough for me at this point. I would love longer stretches of sleep at night, but for now I'm happy that he doesn't wake up to eat and then want to hang out for an hour before going back to sleep. Even though our life is even crazier now, Jackson fits into our family perfectly and we are so glad he's here!
I also wanted to add a comment to Katie about traveling so soon with Jackson. I know I would not have been able to take a trip like that when Emma or Nathan were only 4 weeks old. I was really uncomfortable for a good 6 weeks after having Emma and there would have been no way I could have sat in a car for that long. I didn't feel as bad after Nathan, but I probably still would not have wanted to go. I really can't believe how great I feel this time around. Of course I'm tired, but I'm not in any pain like I was after having Emma. I just wanted you to know everyone feels differently after having a baby, and I don't want you to be upset if you don't even feel like wearing real clothes for 6 weeks after your baby arrives. Good Luck and I'm waiting for the big announcement!

2 weeks old

Jackson had his 2 week checkup this morning. This is mainly just a weight check visit because they want to make sure babies are back up to their birth weight once they are 2 weeks old. Jackson more than exceeded those expectations weighing in at 8 pounds 14 ounces today. He was 8 pounds 8 ounces when he was born, so he's eating more than enough. We have our Christmas celebration at my mom's today, and I still have a couple of presents to wrap. I will post pics later.

first bath

By the time we decided to give Jackson his first bath he has already lost his umbilical cord thing, so we just gave him a shower instead. He seemed to like it and only cried when Sean was getting him dressed. You'd think by the 4th kid Sean would move fast enough that Jackson wouldn't have time to get cold, but he's not that good yet.

Jackson's birth

As I said before, the labor and delivery definitely did not go how I had hoped, but we ended up with a beautiful, healthy boy and mommy, so I really can't complain since that is what matters.
Sean and I decided it would be the best decision to have me induced on Friday December 12th, especially after talking with my doctor about induciton options. My mom came over Thursday night since we had to leave so early Friday morning. Then at 2am Nathan woke up vomiting. My mom offered to get up and take care of him so we could sleep, but I really didn't get much. I was worried about Nathan and wondering if we should go through with the induction with him being so sick. But as my mom pointed out, she can handle a sick kid, and it would be awful for me to wait and catch the stomach virus and then go into labor while I'm sick.
So we arrived at the hospital at a little after 7 going on about 45 minutes of sleep. My doctor showed up and I told him about the nights events and that I may get an epidural anyway, but he said we would stick with the original plan. He broke my water and started the pitocin at 2 and said the highest we would go is 6. My contractions started regulating pretty quickly, but were just uncomfortable, not really painful. They continued to get closer together and stronger, but I was tolerating them well. Then about 11 I felt like I hit a wall and everything hurt a lot. I was having back labor again and even between the contractions my back wasn't relaxing. So I caved and asked for an epidural. It took about an hour to actually get my epidural because they had to run in enough saline. The anesthiologist was awesome and got it on the first try and I started feeling better within 10 minutes.
I got some rest for the nest couple of hours, and then the nurse came to check on my about 2:30. She asked if I was feeling a lot of pressure yet and I said not a lot so far. Over the next 10 minutes with each contraction the pressure got stronger and stronger and I finally told Sean I think the nurse need to come back and check me. She came in and checked me and was shocked that not only was I at 10 but she could see the baby's head. They called my dr. and prepped the room and told me not to push at all. My dr. finally arrived and got ready. I only pushed through 3 contractions and Jackson arrived. Sean got to announce if it was a boy or a girl. He was so excited it was a boy. I was happy I didn't tear or need an episiotomy, which meant no stitches.
I'm recovering really well, and Jackson is a champion nurser. We had a checkup for him already and in 2 days he gained 3 ounces. I am still really tired and sleeping as much as possible. I forgot how exhausting breastfeeding is at the beginning

It's a ...

BOY!!!!!!! Jackson Alexander arrived on December 12 at 3:27pm. He weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces, and is 21 inches long. He and I are both doing great, but very sleepy. It was a long day after being up most of the night before with Nathan who came down sick. Thank goodness my mom is around to help us with the kids right now. I will make a more detailed post later about how everything went.
Jackson is such a sweet baby and loves to be snuggled. We are so excited about the early Christmas present we've received. Anyway, here are a few pictures.
Click on the picture to view it full size in a new window!

here's the plan

After a lot of discussion, and I mean a ridiculous amount, Sean and I decided that an induction now would be the best plan. I did talk to my doctor prior to making this decision to see what my options really are. At first he made it sound like the only thing he could do to get labor going was to give me pitocin. I told him I didn't like that plan since I would love to go without an epidural this time, and I know pitocin makes contractions stronger and labor go much faster. Then he asked how far I was dilated at my last appointment. When I said 4, he said he can break my water and give me a small dose of pitocin to get things going. Once my contractions get regular he will turn off the pitocin and see if my body will continue to labor on it's own. He said of course there is no guarantee that my body wil cooperate and I may end up needing pitocin constantly to progress well, but most women will continue to labor on their own once things get going.
I am happy with this plan as I think it gives me the best chance of achieving the labor and delivery I am hoping for. I'm not so naive or unrealistic to believe that everything will go perfect though. I am already caving on the induction because I don't think that I will actually go into labor on my own, which is something I really wanted. I hate that this is how things are going to go, but I still feel I made the best decision given all the circumstances. I would appreciate all the good thoughts and prayers everyone can spare.
I will try to update this blog as soon as possible with all the good news about the baby and of course with pictures!