Christmas 2010

This Christmas we had anticipated staying home with Nolan because we figured he'd be no more than 2-3 weeks old at Christmas. But, since he was a bit older than expected we were able to travel with him after all. About 3 weeks before Christmas we lucked out and found reasonably priced tickets to fly to San Antonio. We only told my parents we were coming and we braved the airports on Christmas Eve to surprise the rest of my family by showing up on Christmas morning.

Nolan did a great job on the flights!! Way better than we expected. He slept and ate pretty much the whole day. His grandma Schabow had a conversation with him via skype the week before and told Nolan to be a good boy on the flights and he listened ;)

all packed up and ready to travel!

snuggling with daddy on the plane

We got to my parents house around midnight on Christmas Eve and woke my sister up from a sound sleep. She was so surprised and a bit out of it trying to figure out what was going on!

sneakin' in

The next morning, Steve, Nolan and I hid in a back room to surprise the rest of my family when they arrived for Christmas festivities. They had no idea we were coming and I think our surprise made their Christmas!

check out these faces!

We've had no shortage of volunteers to hold and snuggle with Nolan. Here he is with my pappaw who is 90 years old this year!

great Aunt Anita and Uncle Bill

with all the girls!

napping with great grandma
posing with Aunt Ashley
proud grandma and grandpa

We've had a great time and a fast week with my family. We head home tomorrow (Friday) and I'm nervous again about flying with Nolan, so think of us!! Then just a few days and grandma and grandpa Schabow come to visit! Yay!! We can't wait!

Tummy Update

On Friday the doctor confirmed that there was no longer blood in Nolan's poo so it looks like dairy was the culprit. However, when I mentioned to her that he has actually been increasingly fussy and starting to spit up a ton (up to 6x/feeding!!) she said it sounds like he also has reflux. So now he is taking baby zantac. I'm hopeful it will help. Whew...this child is a puzzle! I hope I can figure him out soon and get his tummy troubles settled!

Here's a cute picture for now :)

One Month Old!

Already?! Holy Cow! Nolan is a month old today! I can't believe how much he's growing already.

I feel like I'm finally coming out of a fog this last week or so, and we're all getting a lot more sleep which has made a huge difference.

The biggest thing these last two weeks is how challenging Nolan's feeding situation has been. Thankfully we are now able to feed him on demand vs. waking him to eat every three hours. We were also able to take him off the supplements and he's just nursing, but we found out quickly that he had developed a strong bottle preference and as a result wasn't nursing well. So now he's on nursing bootcamp and we're trying to get that figured out. Also, he's pretty fussy. I guess it's colic?? After every feeding, bottle or nursing, he is having painful gas and tummy trouble. I brought this up to the doctor so she ran a check on his poo and discovered that there was blood in it. Poor guy!! I guess this most likely means he has a dairy or wheat sensitivity. So...I've had had to eliminate ALL dairy from my diet (oh how I miss my lattes!!) and if we supplement he has to have special formula. Nolan and I have both been dairy free for over a week now and I'm not sure Nolan is feeling any better. We go back to the doctor on Friday and she'll recheck him then. Please say a prayer that there is no blood in his poop and that little guy starts feeling better soon. It's really, really hard to see him so uncomfortable. I'll update here when we get news on Friday.

Below are some pics from the last few weeks: Nolan's first bath, gearing up for Christmas and just some other adorable photos of our little guy. Oh, and did I mention before that Steve is a swaddling master?! He is!! I cannot swaddle this child to save my life, but Steve swaddles him up so tight and Nolan LOVES to be swaddled.

Love to you all,

C, S, & N

A day in the life of Nolan

here's a quick video of Nolan that had us laughing a bit!

Last Belly Shot

Just for kicks, the last belly shot! I took this at 35 weeks, just 4 days before I went into labor. Can you even imagine if I ended up going to 40 weeks?! wowsa!! ha ha!

Nolan's first two weeks

Wow, Nolan is 2 weeks old!


These past two weeks have been the fastest, bluriest, most fantastic and exhausting 2 weeks ever!

We went to the pediatrician the other day for Nolie's 2 week check up. Nolan did great! The doctor says he's looking good and his weight gain is outstanding!! In fact it's looking like Nolan will be a big boy! His birth weight (at 36 weeks, 1 day) was 6lbs 14oz. At his 2 week appointment, the pediatrician was surprised to discover than Nolan has already greatly surpassed his birth weight and now weighs 7.5 pounds!! We weren't too surprised, this babe is an eater. Every three hours around the clock we have to wake him to nurse (which takes about 45 mins) and supplement with a bottle (usually 1.5-2 additional ounces). He literally spends a full 8 hours a day eating and he LOVES every minute of it! We're hoping to only have to bottle supplement for a few more weeks but we head to the nursing specialist on Friday so we'll see what she says.

We are all doing well and enjoying life as a family of three. Steve and I are definitely exhausted though. Nolan's feeding schedule takes a toll on all of us and makes getting out of the house with him nearly impossible. But we are all healthy and living in new baby bliss and we are SO thankful for that!!

We are also so thankful that my mom has been here to help. She has cooked, cleaned, done laundry, run errands, changed what seems like 1000 poopy diapers and so much more. I had no idea how difficult this time would be and I don't know how I would've stayed sane these last two weeks. Thank you mom!!


We can't wait for Nolie to spend time with ALL of his grandparents next month. That's when he'll get to meet his grandma & grandpa Schabow and my dad, sister and mom will come out in January too!

Nolan's first two weeks of life also included his first Thanksgiving. Steve's cousin Andrea and her family came to our house for Thanksgiving this year and Nolan got to meet his cousin Charlie (born just one month earlier than Nolan)

(John, Andrea, Charlie & us)

It's been an amazing 2 weeks! "hi" and love to you all!

Last Post - Hello From Nolie

Hi All,
if you get the blog via email, I think you'll have to actually go to the blog (http://stinas-place.blogspot.com/) to see the video of Nolie in the last post :)

Hello from Nolie!

We are parents!!

Wow! Can you believe it!? Baby decided to surprise us with an early arrival and he is healthy, happy and melting our hearts! :) This post is going to be a bit long, but I want to document his birth story so that I don't forget any details.

It all started on Friday, November 12th. Steve and I headed to the doctor for a routine appointment to see if I was making any progress towards baby arriving. I was hopeful he was at least getting ready as I had had a really rough week. All week I felt so crummy. My back hurt, my body ached, my ribs hurt, my belly hurt and I was beyond exhausted. So into the doctor we went only to find out that I was not dilated at all and baby showed no signs of coming any time soon. "We'll check again in a couple of weeks" was the doctor's comment.

Flash forward to 2 am that same night when I rolled over in bed to the shock of my water breaking!! I ran to the bathroom, called out to Steve in a panic, "Steve, Steve I think my water broke!!" He asked if I was sure and I said "pretty sure" and we spent a few minutes trying to come out of the fog of sleep and wrap our brains around what was happening. One thing I knew was that it was still a bit early for baby to arrive and if your water breaks there is no going back - no stopping labor with medication, etc. If it really was my water we were going to be having a baby TODAY!!!

So we quick packed up our bags (thankfully I had laid everything out about a week earlier and made a packing list, etc) and headed to the hospital. Sure enough, they confirmed we would indeed be having a baby that day, but I was not feeling any contractions. They hooked me up to a machine to measure my contractions and told me I was having them every 2-10 minutes. Since I couldn't feel them they think I had been contracting for awhile and just didn't know it.

We settled into our room and tried to sleep but I was way to anxious. For almost 8 hours I laid in bed waiting for real labor to start and to start really feeling my contractions. No such luck. Since I wasn't progressing they decided to start a pitocin drip to kick my contractions into gear. I was really worried about this. I knew the pitocin will make contractions stronger and closer together and I was hoping for an un-medicated birth.

They started the pitocin and slowly increased it. Not comfy. After about 3 hours they checked and I had not made ANY more progress!!! I was SO frustrated. They cranked the pitocin and told me they'd check me in another 4 hours. After about 3 hours I was in so much pain and having contractions one on top of the other. Finally I couldn't take it and I asked for an epidural. I swear I had at least 8 contractions just while they were giving me the epidural and holding still during the contractions while getting the epdiural was nearly impossible. The nurse and Steve had to practically hold me down. Within 10 minutes of having the epidural they checked me and I was fully dilated and had to start pushing!! So, I think actually I made it all the way to the pushing stage without the epidural! I'm pretty proud about that! Pushing was tough - I'll spare the details, but it took me 2 hours to push which the doctor had told us before hand was on the long end.

In the end, the result is that we have an amazing, healthy baby boy!! Since he was born before term, he is considered a premie, but for a 36 weeker he is a pretty big premie - 6lbs 14oz, 19 3/4" long. They estimate if he would have gone full term he could've been 9.5 pounds!! He is so beautiful! He's keeping us busy and life is pretty crazy and exhausting right now, but neither Steve nor I can stop staring at and sunggling with our beautiful son!!! We are so looking forward to our life together as a family :)

Welcome Baby Charlie Daniel!

Last weekend we headed to Philomath to meet our newest cousin, Charlie Daniel!! Steve's cousin Andrea gave birth about a month early on October 18th, but Charlie is healthy and doing great. He got to go home from the hospital on time with his mom and dad.

He's a beautiful baby! And I had the privilege of snuggling with him a lot on Saturday! :)

Here are some pics of Steve and I with the new little one. He is almost 2 weeks old in these pictures.

34 week Dr. appointment update

Just a quick update for you all. I headed to see the midwife today for my 34 week check up. (I'll see her again at 36 weeks and then start going every week from there.) The baby's heartbeat is still looking good in the 140's but in the last two weeks he appears to have had a major growth spurt!

I'm actually measuring 36 weeks pregnant now but I'm technically only 34 weeks along. Two weeks ago I was measuring spot on at 32 weeks but since then the baby has apparently grown quite a bit. (This would also explain the shocking 6 pounds I've gained in the last two weeks alone!!) The midwife said we'll double check again when I go back in two weeks because things may level out.

We also found out today that baby has turned and is in position for birth, which is great! He's already got his head down and is ready to go - meaning he is not sideways or breech any longer.

So excited the countdown is on! Can't wait to meet our baby boy!

This weekend we are headed to meet our newest family member, Andrea & John's son, baby Charlie! Can't wait to snuggle him and see how the new mama and papa are doing!

33 weeks

Steve took these photos 2 weekends ago when I was 33 weeks. Little guy sure is growing!!

note from previous post

I know lots of you follow the blog in your email, but if you want to see the video I put in the post "31 weeks" you'll actually have to go to the blog here:
http://stinas-place.blogspot.com/2010/10/31-weeks.html

31 weeks

Wow! I'll be 31 weeks in 2 days...that's crazy. When I think about only having 9 weeks left (if we make it to 40 weeks) I start to get panicked about all there is to do!! I also am panicking a bit about how little time Steve and I have left as just Steve and I. I'm hoping we can get away for a weekend at the coast or something before the baby comes. Mostly though, I'm just getting eager to meet our little man!

New in the last three weeks is that I'm actually feeling really pregnant. And not in great ways. I'm not sleeping well - hip pain, back pain, insomnia, etc. and my back has been hurting so bad that I've been seeing a chiropractor. I'm also having some rib pain on the right side - I'm thinking little guy has decided to settle himself into a position where his feet are right up under mommy's ribs. yay. not.

In other news, I'm also starting to feel really sentimental about all that has gone on this year and what is to come. I was sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office yesterday and had to hold back tears as I watched a couple leave oohing and ahhing over their first ultrasound photos and another couple nervously waiting to to in for their first ultra sound. Neither woman looked pregnant at all yet and I just remembered so clearly how Steve and I sat nervously/excitedly in that waiting room to see our little bean for the first time not long ago! What an amazing journey this is!!

I came across this video a few weeks ago and every time I watch it it makes me cry ;) So sweet I had to share! Enjoy :)

28 weeks - baby is growing and so am I!

28 weeks - baby is the size of a Chinese Cabbage, weighs 2.25 lbs, and is about 15" long. He is now blinking, coughing, sucking and breathing! His lungs have actually reached maturity at this point so the good news is that if something crazy were to happen and little bean decided to join the world now his prognosis would be excellent. Of course we want him to keep baking a good while longer.

28 weeks - mama is most definitely NOT the size of a Chinese Cabbage :)

August Visit From My Aunt & Mom - getting ready for baby!

Late August we were so lucky to have a visit from my aunt and mom. The did so much work helping me prepare for our little guy! They helped us get our crib put together, bookcase built and painted the baby's room. So exciting!! There is still a bit of decorating to do in the room - I'm going to hang some pictures, get one more little storage shelf etc, but here are some pictures of the current progress. (I think if you click them you can see them bigger)







They also threw me a great baby shower with my girlfriends here in Portland. Let me start with saying that I really was unsure about having a shower. I didn't have a wedding shower and I just feel funny being "in the spotlight". (It was nice to share my Wisconsin shower with Andrea!). But I let them convince me to do it and I'm SOOO glad. It ended up being one of the best days I've ever had. I was emotional all weekend and am just so thankful for the friendships I have made here in Portland. Here are a few photos from the shower.

with my Aunt - by the way I was 25.5 weeks at the shower

just chatting

Allison & Angie trying to free their babies in the "my water broke!" game. Allison was super competitive and won all three of the games - hilarious!
check out Parker snoozin' on the back of the chair - he wasn't so into the game ;)

Kara & Sarah

Michelle & Gayle

We also had a great time just running errands, picking up baby items and of course celebrating my 31st birthday!! (that's hard to believe - wow I'm getting old). Here are some pictures from the rest of the week.