Did Someone Speed Time Up?

I can't believe the little monkey is already two weeks old! Time is already going by way too fast, and he is growing too fast as well! We had his two week check-up on Monday afternoon. He is doing well and the doctor said he looks good! Here are his stats:

Weight: 9 pounds 9 ounces (55th percentile)
Height: 21 1/4 inches (25th percentile)
Head Circumference: 39 1/2 cm (90th percentile)

So apparently our kid has a big head! It really doesn't seem that big to me!

Things are going really well. We are loving being a family and loving life! Dave had to go back to work on Monday, which makes us all sad. We LOVED having him home with us for the first two weeks and we already miss him lots! Being parents is amazing!

The Steedling's Birth Story

This post is kind of long, sorry! Some have asked about "my story", and it's a good place to keep it for the future when I don't remember everything!

On Monday, October 26th, we went to the doctor and had one more pre-natal appointment. Pretty much everything was the same as the week before, which was disappointing. Like I said in the post on the 21st, my doctor didn't want me to go more than one week past my due date, so we scheduled a time to be induced. We set it up to be Thursday, October 29th and then Dr. Savage stripped my membranes. She warned us not to get our hopes up too high because it does something for about 50% of women, and nothing for the other half. She also said to call by the end of the day if we decided to switch and be induced on Tuesday instead. We actually decided on the way home to go ahead and do it on Tuesday. It would give my Dad two more days with the little guy since he was going back to Hawaii the next Monday, and Grandma Pat was going out of town on Thursday.

We went home, ate lunch, took a nap, and then Dave had to go to work. We decided to be prepared just in case, so most everything was already in his car. He left, and I started having contractions about a half an hour later at 4:00 pm. They started out pretty close, maybe 7-8 minutes apart at first. I finished some work stuff, took a shower and got ready to go. Dave and I had agreed to meet at my parents house if I went into labor while he was at work and then drive to the hospital in one car, so I packed the rest of our stuff up and headed to Orem. The contractions were now 3-5 minutes apart.

I called Dave when I got off of the freeway, and he quickly left work and met me at their house. We took a picture or two, and headed to the hospital. We got there about 9pm and they took me to a room. They hooked me up to monitors (at that point I was still dilated to a 3 and 75% effaced, but the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart) and watched me for an hour to see if they were going to keep me. After an hour (10:15 pm), still the same. They called Dr. Savage and she said to keep me for another hour and to have me walk around. So we made two laps around labor & delivery. It took forever becuase I had to stop about every ten steps to have a contraction. They were that close together, and so strong!

They checked me again after the second hour (11:15 pm) and I was still only 3cm, but 90% effaced. They called Dr. Savage again, and she decided to be nice. She said to keep me and she would come break my water. So, they came in and started the iv and asked if I wanted an epidural. I said yes, so they did that too (about 11:45 pm). Dr. Savage broke my water (about 12:15 am) and unfortunately there was meconium in my water. They hooked me up to a tube thingy that flushed out my uterus until I delivered so that it wouldn't be such a risk when he was born. I went to 4cm and 100% effaced pretty much right away, and they told me get some sleep while I was able to.

After two hours (about 2:30 am) I was feeling pain again. I got some more pain medicine, and the nurse decided to check and see how much I had dilated. She was very suprised to find that I was fully dilated and ready to go! They called Dr. Savage but she said to have me wait to start pushing for about an hour since he was still fairly high. She wanted him to move down on his own more before the pushing began. And then about 3:30 am, we started pushing. We pushed, and pushed, and pushed. Once he finally crowned, they got Dr. Savage in. I pushed with her three times, and at 5:40 am, Tanner was finally here! (Yes, that means I pushed for two hours.)

They immediately put him on my tummy and I cried while I looked at him for the first time. They took him and started to work on him and do his apgar score and all of that. There were NICU nurses and a doctor there for the birth because of the meconium. Tanner got an 8 on his apgar, but wasn't breathing really well, so they decided to take him to the NICU and put him on a c-pap for an hour. After they weighed him and all of that, Dave went with him to the NICU. I had torn a little during delivery, so Dr. Savage started stitching me up.

About five minutes later, Dave came back in with Tanner. Apparently when they got to the NICU he decided he wanted to be with his Mommy and started breathing just fine on his own. So they sent him back! We recovered for an hour, Tanner and Dave went to the nursery for his first bath and newborn screening, and the nurses got me all cleaned up. Then we met downstairs on the Mother/Baby floor. We were in the hospital for the normal 48 hour stay, and came home on Thursday, the 29th.

I feel like the whole thing went very well! We all did great, and we are just loving being a little family!

Pictures of Tanner

To see more pictures of our cute little boy, go to his blog! It is: http://babysteedmonkey.blogspot.com

We are going to take it private soon, so if you want to be able to see lots of him, send me your email address and I will add you to the list!

He Is Here!!

Tanner David Steed is here!! He was born October 27, 2009 at 5:40 am. 8 pounds 13 ounces, 20 inches long and adorable! We are all doing well and we will get some pictures up soon!

Any Day Now!

Yesterday was our last pre-natal appointment. According to the Doctor, my due date is today... yep I am 40 weeks today! I am not getting too worked up about the fact that I am still pregnant. Here's why. The doctor goes strictly by a calendar, based on a 28 day cycle. Since we had been trying to get pregnant for quite a long time, we were tracking everything. My cycle was a few days longer than a "normal" 28 days, and so when we found out we were pregnant and did the math, it put our due date as October 25th, which will be on Sunday. We have had that day in the back of our minds the whole time, and that's the date I am going to go off of. In fact, I just changed the ticker on the side of the blog to reflect the 25th instead of today. If that date comes and goes, I might be in a different state of mind! So we will keep you posted!

As for the appointment yesterday, it went really well. I am now a good 3+ cm dilated and 75 - 80% effaced. She was impressed with the change over the last week and said with that much of a change, I should have this baby any day. I am ok with that! We talked a little about how far she would let me go over. She doesn't like to let her patients go over 1 week past their due date. She doesn't think I will make it that far, but if I do, she said we will schedule something probably for next Tuesday, or even Monday if we want. But I will definitely have a little boy to dress up for Halloween.

Other than that, we just wait! Dave finished painting the baby's room last night and it looks amazing!! I am so excited to move his stuff in! I am totally caught up and even ahead of things at work and at home (bills, etc.) and we are ready for him to come! We can't wait to meet this little miracle boy! When things happen, we will let you all know!! Thanks for all of the love, support, and encouraging words!! You are all the best friends and family ever! We love you!

39 Weeks and Counting!

Tuesday was our 39 week appointment. Everything still looks really good and I am dilated about another 1/2 cm, but still about 65% effaced. My Doctor went to Disneyland on Tuesday evening with her family and won't be back until Sunday, so hopefully we will make it until she gets back. It looks like we will since not much changed from last week and it is already Thursday afternoon.

Other news, IHC implemented new visitor restrictions this past week. Because of H1N1 flu and other fall/winter illnesses, no children under the age of 14 are allowed to visit patients in IHC hospitals (including the one we will be in). Also, only two visitors are allowed in at a time. This makes me sad, as it will affect most of our family coming to meet the little guy. I guess it is all for the best if it keeps us all healthy though.

That's the update for the week! We will keep everyone posted if things start happening!

38 Weeks!!

Yesterday was another prenatal appointment! I am now dilated 2 cm and about 65% effaced. The baby's head is still down, and my blood pressure is really good. The group B strep test came back negative so I don't have to deal with that during delivery. I think the scale was off a little yesterday. It said I have lost 4 pounds in the last week. I don't think that is true, but if it is, it puts my total weight gain for the pregnancy at a whopping 2 pounds. I guess we will see what it says next week.

My Mom won't be home from Hawaii until Monday morning (10/12), and Dr. Savage is going to be in Disneyland with her family from next Tuesday through Sunday (10/13 - 10/18). Which means... the Steedling can come on Monday (10/12) or not until the following Monday (10/19) if I want my Mom and the Doctor to both be there, which I think is preferable!!

I just told them at work that Dr. Savage said Monday would be a good day, and they flat out said it's not an option. Frankly, I kind-of wish it would happen. They have known about this "baby situation" for 7 months, and they still don't have anyone hired or trained to fill in while I am gone or work part time once I come back. At this point, it really is their problem not mine. I gave them PLENTY of notice, and they have done NOTHING. I have to not let it stress me out, or the Steedling might come early anyway. Everything will work out right?!?

As far as the house being ready... We spent the weekend listening to a wonderful General Conference, DEEP cleaning our house (still not quite done yet!), working in the nursery (wainscoting is half-way done), getting baby stuff ready, and cooking yummy conference weekend food (we had huevos rancheros and chile verde - with fresh tomatoes from the garden!) The car seat and stroller are out, the car seat bases are in our cars, and the cradle is all set up in our room, so even if he comes before his room is all the way done, we have a place for him to sleep!

Yesterday after the doctor, I went home and did a bunch of cooking. I made two lasagnas, two pans of manicotti, and two pans of sour cream enchiladas. We have one of each planned into our menu in the next week and a half, and the other 3 are in the freezer for after baby comes! I am doing the same thing this weekend with chicken pot pie, chicken cordon bleu and ham. We also planned out some other quick meals for after and have stuff ready for those as well! We are just trying to get as much ready ahead of time as we can!!