Month Three

Dear Canaan,

Today you turn three months old! So I've heard that while it will be hard to see you grow so fast, we'll also find ourselves loving each stage of your new life more than the last. This month we found out that's true. You are interacting more with us every day and it's so amazing. Sometimes I look at you and just think, 'where did you come from?'... a year ago we were hoping for you and now here you are, smiling and 'talking' to us! Seriously, how amazing is that?!

This month you had your first overnight trip (last weekend we went to Indianapolis to meet Chrissy, Chris, baby Ryan, Kristi & baby Avery) and you dropped a night feeding (we're getting closer and closer to you sleeping through the night!!! YEA!! Can you tell I'm super excited about that milestone?!).

You can also see a lot farther, smile at us (on purpose!), hold your head up longer during 'tummy time', ALMOST suck your thumb (you're SO close... just missing your mouth most of the time!) and you have a LOT to say - especially to daddy. It's almost like at the end of the day when he gets home from work you want to tell him all about your day. I'm sure you're trying to tell him how cool your mom is, how much you missed him and how you have the best baby life ever. :)

As I write this you're napping in your red rocket ship pajamas (borrowed from your buddy Ryan) with your arms straight up (a sure sign of a great nap) and your mouth moving as you dream... and I am so in love.

Love, Momma

Daddy's Ring

I just can't get enough of these itty bitty fingers...
...and toes! :)

Two Months Along...

Dear Canaan,

Today you turn two months old and I can hardly believe it. Thankfully you're rapid growth isn't noticeable on a day-to-day basis. It's only when I find you've outgrown another outfit that I see the evidence that you are in fact bigger (around 11 or 12 pounds now!). It's sad for time to pass so quickly, but at the same time you are doing amazing things that make us excited about what's to come.

The biggest changes are how smiley and 'talkative' you've become (coo! goo! ca-goo!) and that you move your eyes and head to look at us (Yes! It's us! We're your parents! We're the ones taking pictures all the time, keeping you fed, changed and generally happy!). Your daytime routine is getting pretty consistent, which is such a huge blessing. We're still working on nighttime consistency, but that's to be expected. Really, the only tough part is what an early bird you are!

There's a lot happening in the next couple of weeks! You're going to get to visit with Grandma Sue, Grandpa John, Aunt Julie, Uncle Eric & Grandpa Murphy, Great-Grandma Murphy turns 93, you have your 2-month doctors visit (and shots) :( and I'll start working again! Thankfully I'll be working primarily from home. I can't imagine how much I would miss you if I had to leave you every work day!

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In the last 2 months we have become a family... we have fallen completely in love with you... you have blessed us with smiles, a few little giggles, lots of baby sounds, and silly faces. It's already hard to imagine life before you're arrival! Happy birthday baby boy!

Love,
Momma

Our Little Bug

Last night I woke up and checked the clock to see that Canaan (still sleeping) hadn't eaten in over 5 hours! He's hit the 5 hour mark a couple of times already, but this time he was blissfully sleeping past it! Because I'm trying to keep the nursing thing going and because I figured he'd be up soon anyway, I made an attept to feed him that lasted all of 3 minutes... I gave up and put him back in the bassinet where he slept for another 4 1/2 hours! Of course I wasn't sleeping well because I kept checking to make sure he was breathing... but still it was amazing!

We're guessing he weighs over 10 lbs now... he's growing so fast! :( I worked in the nursery this Sunday at church and had two babies to watch - a 7 month old and a 13 month old. It was so fun spending time with them and thinking about all that we have to look forward to with Canaan... it makes it a little less sad about the speed at which time is passing.

First 'Real' Bath

Sunday night Canaan got his first 'real' (post umbilical cord) bath. I'm not wanting to bathe him too much just yet because his skin gets so dry from this winter weather... so Canaan's spent the last couple of days sporting the faux-hawk that BJ gave him post-bath. :) Our kid likes to rock out.
We've learned that Zoe loves the pacifier too... hence the tethering. :)

New Floors

With the baby's arrival, BJ was able to take a whole month off for paternity leave and it was SUCH a wonderful time for us as a family. BJ was a huge help around the house and with Canaan... and he even found the time to lay new floors for us in our living room. It was a HUGE project and they look amazing. :) Zoe's not too thrilled though with her new loss of traction! ;)

More Photos of Mr. Canaan

You can view more photos from his latest photo shoot via Facebook (it should work even if you're not on Facebook).

Canaan's Birth Story

Thursday, December 8, 2009

2am - I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like my water might have broken, but it wasn’t significant enough to know for sure… so I decided to wait until the next morning to call the doctor’s office.

9am - I put a call in to the doctor’s office and heard back nearly an hour later. At the time, BJ was at work (we had already had a couple of ‘false alarms’, so we decided he should go in that morning) and MaryAnn Poundstone was over cleaning the house. When I got word from my doctor to come straight in, MaryAnn drove me to church where we met BJ’s mom (Linda). She took me to the rest of the way to the office to see what might be going on.

11am - Linda and I waited in the office and I was finally called back to see Dr. Caminitti (or, as I called her, the ‘young one’). When she checked me I was 4 ½cm dilated, 100% effaced, -1 station (I had been at 4cm, 100% effaced and 0 station for about a week already) and she found that my water had in fact broken! She said to head to the hospital and I was SO thrilled (not another false alarm after all)!

11:45am - Linda and I headed out straight away for the hospital while BJ left to meet us there. Since it had been quite a few hours since my water had started breaking I didn’t feel in too much of a rush. Once BJ arrived a few minutes later we went in to be admitted.

12:15pm - Once in our birthing room (which was SO fancy with hardwood floors, a flat panel TV, etc - but we wouldn’t end up spending much time there!) I was checked again and after a terrible botched IV attempt (after jabbing me over and over the nurse eventually gave up and the nurse anesthetist had to come in and finish the job) was given a bag of fluids.

1:30pm - Dr. Venard (who has become my favorite of the three doctors at Women Partner’s) came in to break my water completely. About 20 minutes later (and after the start of a few very intense contractions), the nurse anesthetist came back in to give me my epidural. BJ had to leave the room and so it was just my nurse Kate (the nurse who botched the IV was not seen again that night), the nurse anesthetist and myself. Kate was a cute little nurse and was so sweet and encouraging through the whole process of our delivery. The epidural process went very smoothly and the dosing was just what I would have wanted – I didn’t feel pain but still could move my legs and feel touch.

BJ came back into the room and not too much longer Kate was watching the monitors and started to be concerned about the baby’s heart rate. Within what seemed like seconds I was surrounded by about ten nurses and they called for the hospital staff doctor to make a decision about what they should do. We were told that I would need a c-section and I was rushed back to the operating room as they had BJ get dressed in scrubs, a head cap and mask. But once in the OR, the baby’s heart rate actually started to stabilize. Dr. Egner (my primary OB doctor) came in to check me and determined the primary reason for the baby’s sudden change - within 20 minutes I had dilated from 5 to 8cm (the normal rate is about 1cm per hour). Since the baby was doing better, Egner decided that everyone had overreacted and I was wheeled back into the birthing room.

Back in the birthing room, I continued to be monitored closely as we talked and waited. It wasn’t much later that Canaan’s heart rate started once again to drop, and once again I was quickly surrounded by nurses and doctors as it was determined, once again, that I would need an emergency c-section. They rushed me out and back into the operating room. There I was given (through the epidural) the full c-section dose of pain medication. A nurse poked me with a needle up my body – I had no feeling below chest level.

5:00pm - The operating room was very bright and full of people working quickly to prepare me for surgery. BJ was able to join me at that point. The gave me Terbutaline to help stop my contractions (and as BJ overheard, they accidently gave me too much) and afterwards Dr. Venard came in to check me and found that I was 9 ½ cm dilated. Since once again the baby’s heart rate had stabilized (something about that room certainly agreed with him!), she decided that we should go ahead and try to delivery naturally there in the operating room. They started me on Petocin to counteract the Terbutaline and everyone worked quickly to prepare the operating room for delivery (because wasn’t set up for that purpose). Soon they were giving instructions to BJ on holding my legs to help me push.

Once everyone was ready and my next contraction started, I started working to will my numb body to push. With every contraction I pushed, and at one point it was just BJ and a nurse holding my legs and helping me through it. BJ was so incredible and encouraging. We found that I pushed best while on my side, and soon it was time for Canaan to show up. Dr. Venard was there once again and she helped things along using the vacuum.

6:01pm - At the last moment I was able to look and see his face for the first time. They placed him on me and gave BJ the scissors to cut his cord. After that they took him away to be assessed and BJ was able to snap his first few photos of our little man! The whole experience was intense and amazing!

Merry Christmas!

Birthday Photos

Nervously waiting to see if Canaan's heart rate would come back up... we ended up being rushed back for an emergency c-section two times before we eventually were able to deliver naturally in the OR (just in case). His heart rate kept dropping because I was progressing so fast - at one point I went from 5-8cm in 20 minutes (normally it's 1cm per hour).
Our little guy... finally here.

View more photos via Facebook

Welcome to the World Canaan

Our son Canaan is finally here! :) He was born on Tuesday at 6:15pm after 3 months of preterm labor and just over 4 hours of active labor - when the time came it came quickly! Now we're just spending our time soaking in every moment. He's been such a blessing and a wonderfully easy baby! We are completely in love. More photos will be coming soon!

About the name... :)

Canaan (pronounced Cane-N), in the Torah / Old Testament scriptures, is actually both a name and a place (though we chose it because of the meaning behind the place, not the name). It was the name of the Promised Land that God gave his people after their long captivity in Egypt. More recently, African-American slaves sometimes sang of Canaan in their spiritual hymns to symbolize freedom from their bondage. For some, the word Canaan is imagery for heaven (because of the comparison between the earthly Promised Land and heaven). For us, it represents the fulfillment of God’s promises. Though He never promises that this life will be perfect or without suffering, He does promise that He will be there with us and that He has a loving hand in our lives. God has revealed to us His faithfulness in so many ways. He is so good and now He has blessed us with our beautiful son!

Check out the lyrics of “A Song for Canaan” by one of our favorite artists, Matthew Perryman Jones. They make me cry every time…

Inside the night, across the holy river
When you arrived, a promise was delivered
I waited for you, dreaming away
All the while, how I adore you my lovely little child.

For you, I’ll fight; I’d face a thousand armies
I’ll hold the light, and nothing can disarm me
I waited for you, dreaming away
All the while, how I adore you my lovely little child.

I waited for you, dreaming away
All the while, how I adore you my lovely little child.

Nearly 37 Weeks...

Current Stats

Weeks along in the pregnancy:
Just shy of 37 which is FULL TERM!!! Isn't that amazing?! God is SO good!
Weeks on bedrest: 15!
His approximate weight: 6+ lbs
Latest Changes: Off medicaion (to stop the contractions) now... the doctors are okay with the baby coming any time!

And now we wait... :)

Ready & Waiting

I love a great bargain... and the biggest bargain was being able to make a lot of the nursery decor myself (and the Ikea dresser & shelves didn't hurt either)... I originally wanted to do murals but bedrest put a damper on those plans. Instead, I sewed like crazy - making the owl pillow, a growth chart & two mobiles.
I'm so happy with our Target crib... modern just the way I like it!
Finished bird mobile... inspired by Etsy finds...

The owl pillow and the AMAZING quilt from Jen, Peggy & Gene! :)

Bassinet

Yesterday we received this bassinet from my Grandma Marie - isn't it gorgeous?! Grandpa Rod, Dad & Bill slept in it when they were babies. Grandma touched it up, added new bedding, the ribbon and an adorable blanket. This made my day! The baby weighs now about 5lb 2oz (bigger than average!) and I am now 34 weeks! It's so amazing to be at this place that we thought we might never get to. It's been a tough road but we've been very blessed.

33 Week Photos

...Looking very much like a pumpkin these days!! :)

Meet Dewey

BJ's holiday creation (that also included some very yummy baked pumpkin seeds)! :)

Baby Moving

Okay, so this may be hard to see (and also maybe strange, I know)... but I just thought I'd share some baby movements! He's certainly active!

Dear Heidi, I'm Okay :)

So here are our current stats:

Weeks along in the pregnancy: 30
Weeks on bedrest: 8
The progress: 2cm dilated, 50% effaced (sorry if that's TMI)
Frequency of contractions: anywhere between 4 & 9 per hour
His approximate weight: 3 lbs
His position: his booty's all up in my ribs & his head is down
New fun things: he gets the hiccups!
Possible d-day: could be anywhere between 1 & 4 weeks from now
Feeling: positive! :)
His name: wouldn't you like to know?!

Big things coming up:

Our next Fetal Fibronectin test is on Thursday (the 15th), which will give us a clearer picture about when we might (or I should say, might not) deliver.

I'll be getting steroid shots next week to help develop the baby's lungs (I joke that he'll be able to rip off his onesie like the incredible hulk... Don't worry, I know it's not that kind of steroid). :)

I have some baby shower photos... just need to get around to posting them! We have been so loved on by all of our amazing friends and family!

Owl Pillow

Finished owl pillow! :) Inspired by this Etsy creation!