Home Sweet Home

Yesterday we got to come home! I woke up pretty early saturday morning to tell the nurse that I had to go home! Which was easy because they all thought both the baby and I were doing really well. The discharge process was a bit frustrating considering a million different doctors and nurses have to come in and check you and the baby and then make my baby upset so then I get to take him home screaming (thank you) Once we got Cody calm, fed, and changed we packed up and came home. I am super happy to be home in my own space where I can get up and go to my kitchen for whatever I want on my own! Don't get me wrong being waited on by nurses hand and foot is nice but after 5 days of being in the hospital, you really start to miss the comfort of your own stuff.
Cody seems to be adjusting well, I am sure it will take some time for all of us including whiskey to get the hang of things around here. I really wish I wasn't in so much pain still I hate not being able to sit or stand at a normal pace or walk up and down the steps more then once daily. I want to just go get in my car and do whatever I want to do, but this is all for the better and hopefully I will be feeling pretty good here in the next few days. I will try and post some more pictures on here either today or tomorrow!

My Husband Rocks! Friday

Well I cannot believe its Friday for one. Two more days and we can go home from the hospital. My Husband ROCKS he has been super supportive and loving and caring this last week. From the minute i went into labor, to helping me get in and out of bed after my c-section, to changing almost every diaper since we have been here with Cody. I cannot even begin to express my appreciation and respect I have for him. He really has been my rock and strength this week. Justin loves being a dad I can tell already because every time Cody needs something and I try to go and get him Justin is right there telling me to lay back down and rest. Justin is probably one of the best swaddlers I know he watched a nurse do it one time and since then it seems to be one of Codys favorite things. I really love my husband so much and God knows how much i needed him this last week and with out Justin I wouldnt have this very handsome little boy as a son. SO this week I wanted everyone to know how much my Husband ROCKS!

Daddy's First Post

So "we've" been blogging for months now, and truthfully, I've never been a part of the creation of ANY of the posts. Mostly, they still have been reflections of our life experiences, just through the eyes of Amanda. Notwithstanding, all of the posts have been pretty accurate depictions of what is was like waiting for our first son to arrive (except the picture where Whiskey was frolicking happily through the snow during 'the Blizzard of 2010'; that was more of an optical illusion, as that dog would NEVER voluntarily put himself into a position where he is anywhere within a 50 mile radius of snow). Continuing, the extent of my involvement in these blogs so far has led to me reading them and reflecting on the happenings around us. I'm not much of a blogger; never claimed to be, never will... be forewarned. I don't have a twitter account and I only use Facebook so I can harvest my crops on FarmVille. My MySpace account was created to connect me to the outside world while I was serving in Iraq, and truthfully, I've barely signed onto it since I returned on Father's Day 2006. I have Blackberry Messenger on my phone, and my contact list is a whopping 1 friend long. The point is, this blog post may very well break every blog rule that ever existed- blog length, blog content, blog etiquette... anything goes.

What I AM aware of however, and what I do know is that the birth of a child is anything but predictable. To enlighten you on my initial thoughts as to how this whole process was going to play out, I've highlighted several key points:

1. I prepared myself for an annoying experience with my mother-in-law in the delivery room.

2. I prepared myself for an excruciating experience with my wife. I truly thought she was going to become the chick from the exorcist.

3. We arrived at the hospital at about 1:30PM on Tuesday, and I projected a delivery in the next few hours.

4. We talked about a natural birth, and every nurse and midwife said it'd be no problem.

5. "Daddy" is expected to stay with "Mommy" during recovery, and there just HAVE to be comfortable pullout beds for him... I just KNOW it...

As you may well be pondering already, this experience for me(US) was anything but surrounded by predictability. At about 10:00AM on Tuesday, I read a text message for Amanda from her mother... "I'm coming over no matter what Justin says". Shortly after that, no matter how much I tried to convince myself in my mind that her presence wasn't a necessity, I soon realized that she was nothing less than a God-send. Kim was THE MOST SUPPORTIVE person for me from START to FINISH. Had I voiced my opinion on her initial arrival at our house, I may very well not have had what I needed to make it though it all. In the words of Kim Wilson, we were, “the best birthing team in the whole world.” To further impress me, Amanda handled her labor pains with ease. She took to our encouragement and suggestive remarks and quickly fell into a routine as each contraction came. There were no expletives or flying medical supplies… just courage, concentration, and steadfast heroism. Needless to say, I have a new found respect for my beautiful wife. She is my HERO. As time went on throughout the day on Tuesday, I glanced at the clock; and each time I did, my nerves got more and more anxious and my body fell more and more into a drunken stupor, completely deprived of rest. Kim and I took turns on labor watch, and eventually we were into our second day of events. It was determined that a natural birth was not possible, and thus a Cesarean style delivery would be performed. Not only would Amanda receive a life-long reminder of her birthing experience by way of an incision, but her delivery was performed while she was under full general anesthesia. She met Cody for the first time in our recovery room after he was born at 7:42AM - 8lbs 8oz. While I am inclined to return home for my own selfish reasons (a perfectly comfortable, personal queen sized bed), I feel I owe it to Amanda to stay with her and assist through some if not most of the evenings here at the hospital. The accommodations here are more than generous for the spouses [sarcasm]. I can’t wait to conclude this blog and sleep on my spring loaded mattress as it jabs me in the sides while I sleep [more sarcasm]. At least the hospital food is awesome [I need not comment on the sarcasm here]. Concluding, this pregnancy and delivery of our first child has been anything but predictable for me. I think though, what I’ve learned is that it’s the unpredictable things that are the most memorable in the end. I’m so excited for all of the future surprises that lie ahead, and if I can add one more thing… I LOVE my newly renovated family. 

Contraction Pains

Well it has now been 24hours since I started having consistent contractions. They didn't start off so bad. We went out to dinner came home I went to bed and then around 130am I woke up due to the fact they were getting a little stronger. The on-call midwife told me to get benadryl and go back to sleep. So I did that and it worked...for a few hours...Then this morning they were a little bit worse so I called into the doctors and they had me come in to get checked. Well not much to report I was/am dilated only 1...but they hooked me up to a monitor because they were concerned that Cody man wasnt moving around so much. After that they sent me to the hospital to be further evaluated and well not much good came from that either! I know midwifes know a lot and blah blah blah...but what I dont understand is why they feel the need to be mean. This midwife came in and got in my face and told me I am not in labor because my face didnt look like it was in labor. Then I told her well that is great but I am in a pretty good amount of pain. She then told me yeah well you could feel this way for weeks sorry about your luck go home! So now we are back home and my contractions seem to be the same getting a little stronger every once in a while. So now we are playing the waiting game and MAYBE we will end up in the hospital tonight sometime but who knows! We are still waiting...

Valentines Day

Well it has seem to be a pretty crazy week around here. I love snow so the blizzard didn't really effect me too much...other then the fact they made Justin drive 45mins to work in the middle of the storm...and of course he drove back since it was our 2 year anniversary and wanted to spend time with me! This weekend we went to the sportsmen outdoor show in Harrisburg which was fun for Justin and Bruce but for me I was just trying to walk as much as I could to get Cody out! I am getting very tired and ready to have my body back. I know every women reading this is not feeling the least bit of sympathy for me but that's ok! Justin is putting up shelves in our basement this morning so we can actually have some organization in our house. We are also going with our friends the Kullman's today to see a movie which should be a lot of fun because we never see them and I really want to see Dear John. Which I heard isn't as good as the book, but I think that is the case for every movie they make from a book. Well that is all I have for now, I am done working so I am going to find ways to make Cody come asap we are ready, even though everyone else says to just enjoy the time I have left...well its a little hard when you dont sleep and you feel huge! Until he comes Justin and I are still getting over our colds (thanks ash). Hopefully this week we will have exciting news...but maybe not...

Blizzard 2010

This is just a little bit of our day Saturday. We ended up going over to Ash and Craigs for dinner where Justin made a great deer steak with a strawberry and blueberry sauce! I love snow and I really hope we get a foot more! Well two more weeks till Codys due date but I think within the next week we will be meeting him face to face...that is if the doctor feels bad for me tomorrow. My mom is crazy and keeps texting me and telling me to have lots of sex and to drink some weird tea! Except my WHOLE family is leaving this weekend to go away to the cabin up in the Poconos I am not totally sure why when I had a dream Cody is coming on February 13th which is this Saturday. They did try to convince me and Justin that we should go too and if I go into labor we can just drive home...oh right that is exactly what I want to do be in labor for two hours in the car on the way back home from the cabin to the hospital! I THINK NOT sorry family ha. Well we will see what this week brings, hopefully another snow storm and a baby!

I love my boys

Gotta love my boys soon there will be 3! Justin claims he thinks Whiskey is annoying and we should get rid of him and tries to convince me every day we don't need a dog...well clearly this is all a lie and he really love Whiskey a whole lot! I guess just when I am not looking

I Laughed so Hard When...

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

This is so cute and SO funny!

My sick Niece

Well I was going to blog yesterday but I lost track of time. My 8 week old niece went into the hospital yesterday with an upper respiratory infection. :( there are about 5 or 6 other babies in Peds with the same thing...so i guess it is going around...Poor Hailey. Ash stayed in the hospital last night with her and the doctor told her Hailey has to stay 3 to 5 days. So please be praying for Ash and Craig and her kids that everyone gets healthy soon and Hailey can come home.
As for me and Justin and Cody, we are still just waiting and still ready for him to be here...except when i went to the doctors the other day they checked me and said sorry it will probably be a while still!
Justin finished one bathroom and it looks great, also we took of the wallpaper in our bedroom and painted it so it doesnt look so boring any more! The only thing left to do is finish the powder room!
Maybe it is a good thing Cody is staying in as long as possible because all the babies around here are sick and this way Cody can stay healthy. That is all I have for now, this weekend we will be just hanging out doing superbowl festivities and cleaning our house!