HE'S HERE!!!!

alright...so everyone probably already knows our baby is HERE!!! i am a bit late to update this!

Nolan Justin Palmer was born on 1/6/2011 at 3:44am. Weight: 7lb 14oz. Length: 21 3/4 (i knew my ribs hurt for a reason!)

Here's the story...

I woke up on Wednesday morning, 1/5, and had contractions (i could clearly sleep through them to start with). John started timing them and after a few hours, our dr told us to head into the hospital as they were consistently 4 min apart. Once there, they said i wasn't making any real progress with the contractions and if it was "real" labor, they would continue and i would be back later that night. Our dr was actually at the hospital that morning for a delivery, so we got to talk with him for a while and he said the contractions were good, but needed to get stronger. They gave me some "relaxing" pills so i could go home and get some sleep. So off we went....back home around 2pm. at about noon, my mamma was convinced she needed to make the 7 hour trek up to Minnesota....smart woman! (notice later in the story how long it actually took her to get up here...)

Once we were home, my contractions started getting so much worse where i couldn't move, talk or breathe...sounds wonderful huh?!? needless to say, the "relaxing" pills did not give me much sleep as i was up every 3-4 minutes in pain. around 6:30pm, we had enough and knew this was real labor. back to the hospital we went. every bump made the trip seem longer, traffic seemed to be at it's worse (although it really wasn't) and i felt like we needed to re-arrange the hospital bags...what if something was missing??!!?? john just put the bags in the car because we needed to go!!

once at the hospital, i was barley in the "assessment" area, and my mom walks into my room...a mere 6 hours after leaving lincoln...or was it even 6 hours?? let's just say she somehow skipped about 100 miles and made the trip faster! :) i need to find that shortcut...

in the "assessment" room, they said i still hadn't made progress, but the contractions were definitely real....my face doesn't just get sun burnt red for no reason!! well, they called the dr to debate if they should even keep me...seriously! the dr said to keep me overnight, give me a shot of morphine and more "relaxing" medicine and see what happens. so around 8pm or so, i was checked into a delivery room. mom and john were closely monitoring my contractions and reminding me of "wow, that was a big one!" or "that was the worst yet!!"....like i didn't just experience it myself :) they were great to have with me though! at one point, it was late of course, they had a fashion show since mamma had some new Nebraska apparel on. john was the judge and mom was pacing the delivery room. not sure if they were a distraction, but between every 2-3 minutes, i was able to enjoy their "show". it didn't last too long as john broke the entertainment by saying "oh lindsey, that wasn't a very strong contraction..."....seriously...you are really going to tell me that when i feel like i could die!! by 1am, they had decided i could have an epidural since they could see some very slight changes (dilated to a 1...means not really much has happened). but still...i wasn't going to complain...i was exhausted! baby didn't want to drop, so my dr wasn't going to leave me in labor more than 12 or so hours anyway. we had a ways to go before we hit 12 hours...

the epidural did not hurt one bit and was like dreaming of heaven!! it was wonderful. i would hear the "ooohhh that was a really bad one" and "wow the worst yet!" from the support crew and i felt NOTHING. lovely! however, the little man decided labor just wasn't for him and his heart rate dropped to 90, but then went back up. the nurses said, they would just monitor closely and i would know if they were worried because 1o people would run into the room. from there, they broke my water to place a heart monitor on baby's head to make sure they were recording the correct heartbeat. not long after that was done, there was 1 nurse, then 2, then 3, then the dr in my room. mom and john were off to the side staring at each other with big worried eyes...one on the heart monitor machine and the other on each other...enough was said with their expression that i didn't need to look myself. the babes decided to put everyone into a bit of a panic and drop his heart rate to 70. by that time, i couldn't count the number of people in my room. one of the nurses grabbed all of the cords hooked up to machines with one hand and pulled them out of all the machines in one swift yank. the anestelogist said "normally i would tell you what is about to happen, but i don't have time". off to the operating room to get this little guy out!

on the way to the operating room and once in there, one lady kept saying "we need to get him out now"...over and over...once would have been enough! i promise! no need to make mamma's heart rate go UP! there were about 15 people in the room. they gave me tons of epidural med's...felt lovely...until i couldn't feel my fingers anymore. i was numb from head to toe...literally! crazy feeling. i then heard someone say "oh, they started cutting!". i could have lived without hearing that, but at least i couldn't feel it. it just felt like someone sat on my ribs at different points....but it was over fast! john got to watch everything and be right there when our baby was born! we were INSTANTLY in LOVE at 3:44am on Thursday morning.

the recovery room was just for the mom and dad, but i told them that my mother drive all the way from Nebraska and would be there also. since it was 3:44am, one of the nurses said to another nurse, i know i am breaking the rules, but it's the middle of the night. so proud grandma was right there also!

the hospital say was great...wonderful nurses...but i was ready to go home! we stayed until Sunday and were allowed to leave 1 day early. Nolan had jaundice, but it started going down after a few days. he wanted to go home also! he weighed 7lb 5oz when we left the hospital. my mamma stayed for a week and a half. Nolan LOVED to sleep with her and wants grammie to come back!

Nolan is really a wonderful baby! he isn't making it too hard for us to say "yes" to a sister someday :) he had one "cranky" night where we were up almost all night. other than that, he slept for 6 hours (midnight to 6am) on the 2nd night home. other than that, he is good about sleeping 4-5 hours in a stretch at night. we love him sooo much! every day we tell each other how big he has gotten!!

Nolan stats:
1 week appointment...weight: 7lb 13oz (up 8oz from "going home" weight)
2 week appointment...weight: 7 lb 14.5oz (not so great...so this didn't end up counting as a 2 week appt). they found out he doesn't like to swallow when he nurses. he likes to fall asleep or soothe himself. tricky little guy! he will start to have some formula to get calories.


below are a few pictures...but you can see all of the pictures we have posted so far at the following link:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30672014&l=31efa97161&id=173800135

daddy and nolan right after birth...LOVE this!

nolan on the way home from his first dr appt

meeting nolan for the first time...he is my favorite!!!

day 2 of life...our little man!

mamma made it (in record time!) :)

little guy's feelings hurt :(

nothing new...i mean exciting...to report. i did have 8 hours of contractions from saturday night till sunday morning at 4am. the last 3 hours, they were 4-6 minutes apart. we got a little nervous, after getting excited that this could actually be IT...called the hospital...and BAM...bubble was burst. they said "we will send you home, it's your first child". so guess what, baby heard that and decided to stop trying. the contractions stopped an hour or so later.

i get them every now and then, but i think the little man's feelings were really hurt. i have been trying to tell him how wonderful he is and that he will like making friends out here in the big big world. it might be a little chilly because it is winter, but i have the cutest little bundle up one piece coat thing for him to wear. he hears me...i know it :)

tomorrow is a full moon...that will be the day! :) wishful thinking...but it keeps me away from thinking of my 38 extra pounds.

well...off to the dr soon. he is my new bff...i see him so often! we chat about running, food and babies :)

ready to go...but baby hasn't gotten the memo...

i am ready...more than ready. not sure why baby hasn't gotten that memo yet.

the nursery is done! yay! thanks to my parents and sister for coming up a few weekends ago and helping finish everything. us gals made the curtains while the boys did boy stuff (putting together things and building a new laundry room - which is WONDERFUL by the way). pics of the nursery are below. we have yet to put up the maternity pics we got in the nursery, but need to wait on that since the collage of pics has his name. it's still a secret....


so i am sure all men of pregnant wives make comments they shouldn't and forget about using their "filter" first. here are a few in our home that will forever go down in the baby book...enjoy. :) i am sure someday i will laugh at them too...today is not that day. i really am over it that he forgot to use his filter, but i have to tease him about something...if that's the worst he feels, then i am sure he can handle it :) at least he didn't have to gain 35+ pounds!


daddy quote #1:
- we were in a crowded elevator with some friends.
- tracy says to all of us (john "wasn't listening" he claims) - "did you hear about the 500 pound woman who made an elevator stop and she had to get out?"
- john immediately turns around and pats my belly with a big smile.
- we all, i mean everyone but me, laughed.
- thanks hubs!


daddy quote #2:
- john got a new sweatshirt from crown for football this year. i usually do, but didn't this year. shopping isn't fun, even when it's just a sweatshirt.
- as he is walking out the door one morning, i said "oh your sweatshirt looks nice."
- john proceeds in saying, "yeah, they are bigger this year than normal. you should have gotten one. it would have fit."
- thanks again...i know i am large.


daddy quote #3:
- i am in the clean every corner mode (the entire house has been cleaned and organized now though). as i was going through the storage closet, i told john that i organized all of the electronics, cords, games and exercise equipment onto different shelves and baskets. then, i opened the closet door for him to see.
- he says "oh the exercise ball! you should get that out and start using it."
- he quickly realized what he said and tried to come back with "remember in our birth class...that is supposed to be good to open up the birth canal..."
- right, thanks. love you too.

canvas painting above the changing table

little bookcase with lamp, books in cubes below and super soft brown rocker chair :)

baby crib with the blanket my mom and i made on one end and a singing elephant hanging on the outside

curtains we made. theme is stars...plenty of sports also, but didn't want to decide the little man's future of a football player TOO soon :)

looks like i forgot a pic of his closet. i will need to update these at some point...before it is all in disarray!

once i have the maternity pics loaded to my computer, i will upload a few of those. it turned out to be fun :)

that's all :) have a good week all! pray baby comes soon. it will be more fun to post pics then.

shelves, drawers and stories

as always, it is busy in the palmer household. preparing for a new child is like doubling all of your possessions! we have found room for everything though :)

the nursery is all set up - we have the first sheets for the changing table and bed all washed and waiting to be put on the mattresses. we aren't putting them on yet, because i don't want el bambino to sleep on a sheet that is anything less than freshly clean!

the closet in the nursery is finally done...well...it should be at least. i don't like the $2 clearance baskets we got at macy's anymore. i hope another child will like them. we are taking them to once upon a child, so then i will just need new baskets. the dresser is in the closet since his little clothes take up about 10 inches of space. so adorable. his tiny socks could all fit in my cereal bowl! not sure why i compared them to a cereal bowl...but i guess i am hungry. it's lunch time!

we made room in the guest bathroom (also daddy's bathroom) for the little man. he has 3 drawers for all his bath time fun belongings! the kitchen has been rearrange so he has 3 shelves for the bottles, bowls, etc. it's fun :) can't wait for him to just get here now.

just in case he decides to make his arrival before Christmas, we also got a newborn first Christmas outfit :) it is so soft and cute.

our maternity photography session is BOOKED! excited to get pictures, but also not so excited. i am in the phase where the pants that should fit...with the elastic waist...don't so much fit anymore. shirts don't reach down to the other side of my belly. sweatshirts even fail me these days. and i just look tired. i need my hair cut. my finger nails grow way too fast and i tend to forget where i place the nail clippers. sitting, standing and walking are all not comfortable. my cankles (calf-ankles...can't tell the difference anymore) seem to squeeze into my socks each day and leave lines on my legs in the evenings to remind me just how big they are. i need to figure out outfits to wear for the photo session. it sounded so great, until it was actually booked. now i must prepare!


story time - i had a client call me today just to talk about how i was doing (and she just likes to chat). it was nice to know it wasn't about a project...or so i thought. here was the conversation...(my thoughts are in brackets)

"hey lindsey - how's it going?"

oh i am good. how are you?

"i am really good. just ran a half marathon this last weekend [thanks for telling me that because i only dream about running or even walking sometimes]"

exciting. i hope you did well and had fun.

"yeah, it was my first, so it was a lot of fun. so i feel like you have been pregnant forever".

yup, i feel the same way...it's about over though.

"how much time are you taking off?"

i plan to take 12 weeks off work, then i will be back.

"nice. i want to have a kid just so i get 12 weeks of vacation [hmm...vacation...is that what we call a million hours of labor, poopy diapers, crying baby, no sleep, no showers, meals from the freezer...]"

...and on went the conversation...but as you can see, she clearly doesn't have children so probably would have rather discussed a project by that point.

week 33 picture. ollie likes being in the pictures now too :) he is practicing to be a good big brother!

week 29 and baby's nose

thanks to babies r us, we had a wonderful saturday evening of shopping for nursery must-haves (or maybe they should be thanking us...) :)

we picked out our nursery "rocking" chair - finally. it is so comfortable. it looks like a lazy boy recliner, yet is a rocker chair. wonderful. it will be delivered in a few weeks. we got a color based on a 4x4 inch swatch, so i hope i like it....fingers crossed!

baby now has a mattress for the crib (that isn't set up). so he will be comfey cozy one of these days in his room :) my oh my, could you get talked into a $300 all organic mattress that could basically do everything EXCEPT change diapers, clean the nursery, do laundry, fold clothes, feed baby, do dishes...you get the idea! pretty much just for sleeping...we went with a "non" organic mattress. i think we are still good parents... :)

we had the exciting 3D ultrasound today...it was exciting. i will post pics of that later. i need to download them to my computer yet. it was fun. babes decided to keep his hand in front of his face (or in his mouth) a lot of the time, but we still got some good pics. he has chubby cheeks and super cute lips :)

the first thing we saw though...his nose. it was large. suck out like a pinocchio nose. the ultrasound tech reminded me that it was just the angle. it didn't look so bad (actually was sooo cute in the other angles). HOWEVER...i sent a few of the black and white pics to my sister...of course...what does she comment on...."the nose looks like yours!". thanks sissy. i hope you were looking at the "good angle" pictures :) i think we are even more excited now (if that is possible) to meet the little man...he looked ready to meet me. i will post a few of the black and white, non 3D pics below.

week 29 stats...

weight gained: 22lbs (eeks!) i have realized it is a bad idea to look at pics from before pregnancy to now...i didn't think my face looked bigger...so much for that...it does...thanks to digital cameras it is way too easy to look at the past.

food: english muffins with jelly and pb...especially at 3am (john loves it) :)

mood: still john's favorite person to be around!! i am as happy as they come in the 3rd trimester!! i am tired a lot now...and my back is starting to hurt...

picture time! you will have to excuse the quality of the black and white ones - they were picturesof the print outs we got :)

the little guy looking as peaceful as ever...however...this was truly NOT the case! he was moving all over.

this is a profile pic...this is where the nose scared me a bit...

isn't he so sweet!!! :)

we got a bit of a grin here. he took a big yaaawwwnnn!

we determined he will be a thumb sucker...he like to have his hands by his mouth.
our nursery rocker chair...we are getting the sage greenish color. yes, i am acting as if i am holding him...it only felt right :)

my favorite little tiny man newborn onesie :)

me and ollie posing for the camera (and bp...)

red velvet cheesecake

I just had to share that I tried red velvet cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory this weekend. it is the BESTEST cheesecake I have EVER tasted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I made it last 2 days also :)

that's all.

nursery, birth class & growing!

so i realized today that i haven't written on my blog in a while...didn't realize almost a MONTH has passed. oh well, better late then never.

i don't have any pictures this week, but maybe that is for the best :) my belly continues to grow and the scale continues to go up,up,up! just means baby is healthy, right?? :)

well this week has been another fun one! getting the dreaded fall cold that every other person seems to get this time of year. oh well, baby and i will fight it off!

OH YES - how could i forget this??? we started our birth classes last week. they are every tuesday evening for about 2.5 hours of fun filled excitement discussing and watching births (from many angles...), placentas, drugs, relaxation, etc. good times. we actually really do like our class. our teacher is a bit anti drugs, which i am all about, when not pregnant. however, if i have to deliver a watermelon sized baby, drugs will be my bestest friend!! next week's class - tour of the labor & delivery floor. very excited to see the extra wide beds, birthing balls, large bathtubs and showers, bed bar (whatever that is), in stock games, movies, etc. :) priorities you know...

mr hicks (formerly known as braxton hicks) decides to visit me at least once a day. his arrival is always unannounced and not received well on my end. i usually have to stop whatever i am doing, although, usually just laying on the couch, and focus on him. john scrambles to get the note pad and pen so we can start our process of "charting". he will have this down in about 12 weeks! :)

the nursery...neatly packaged boxes, paint cloths, paint brushes, clean paint cans....getting some hints??? hasn't been touched in a few weeks. the longer it is not painted, the more i change my mind on the paint scheme for the room. i think i am set now though...navy blue, light blue, greyish and yellow. one of these days it WILL get painted by my hubs. until then...it will remain as the empty room that looks like it has a purpose. it will be fun to set up the crib, changing table, hang little bitty boy clothes on little bitty hangers, organize diapers, bottles of johnson & johnson, perfectly arrange stuffed animals, make sure the crib sheets are on tight enough, hang wall decorations, etc.... the list goes on :)

enjoy your wednesday :)