11 months.

where did the time go?!

jude is eleven months and a week or so.

some things about him now...

+  super active boy! if he gets fussy, it's usually because he is being restricted. if he bumps his head, he wants to be consoled then he wants to get back down to keep playing.

+ weighs 24lbs and is a little over 30" tall  - in 75th percentile for everything

+  standing on his own. occasionally taking a step or too, but not yet walking

+  loves cabinets, doors, drawers, strollers...anything he can play with that doesn't look like a baby toy

+  can stick out his tongue and blow bubbles, wiggle his fingers across his lips to make funny noises

+  is sleeping much better...about 11 hours solid

+  loves to flip through books, but does not really want to be read to

+  loves cheerios, blueberries, sweet potatoes and cheddar cheese

+ loves to laugh (builds my self-confidence daily by laughing at me when)

his first birthday will be here before i know it...

jude's birth story - part II

We went into the hospital very early Wednesday morning for the scheduled c-section. It was exciting and really scary. They prepared me for the surgery and after meeting nurses, doctors, next thing I knew I was in the surgery room and Philip was sitting by me waiting for them to begin. 

It happened really quickly. I could hardly feel anything besides some pressure on my stomach as they pushed him out. At 8:14am Judah William arrived. They had my husband snap a picture of him and the whisked him away. This part was hard for me. And still is. I had to look at my baby on the camera before I got to see him in person. Does this seem cruel to anyone else? I only grew him inside of me for 9 months. Then Philip went to be with him and take pictures while they sewed me up and Jude got cleaned up. After a few minutes they brought him to me. And that was wonderful. He was not quite as big as they feared – still big though. 9lbs 10oz. 16cm head circumference. Ouch – tell me how that fits out a hole that expands to 10cm. (One reason to be thankful for a c-section…)

As I said at the start, nothing about this day went as planned for me. But I had my sweet Jude. And he was & is perfect. He is here and healthy. A lot of my concerns about the c-section were not as bad as I thought. A month later I feel like I am almost fully recovered. My son is nursing wonderfully. He has healthy lungs. It still makes me cry when I hear about someone giving birth or see it on TV.  I am still healing from this, but I look at Jude and have to be grateful.

meeting Jude for the first time 

enjoy your weekend! 

jude's birth story - part I

Not much about Jude’s birth went as I envisioned it. I thought I’d wake up in the middle of the night and start to have labor pains. I would wake my husband, Philip, and that we would eventually head to the hospital after laboring at home for awhile. I had a playlist made for the occasion to make the hospital feel like home.

One week after our baby’s due date we headed to the doctor’s for another prenatal appointment where they had planned to do a Non-stress test (NST). When I got there the doctor said they forgot to schedule an ultrasound. So we promptly went in to get an ultrasound. The ultrasound tech mentions to us, “has anyone said anything about the baby being really big?” I kind of laugh and say, “yes, he has been in the 100^th percentile for size every ultrasound we have had.” She says, “well, I am measuring the baby at 10lbs 11oz.” The reality of what this could mean doesn’t hit me though and I just think its funny for some reason. I had read a lot about how ultrasounds could be up to two pounds off. We wait to see the doctor and Philip looks nervous. I am still feeling fine.

Until we see the doctor. She tells us we need to schedule an induction or a c-section. She goes over the risks of the induction and giving birth to that size baby. Something about a shoulder getting stuck. Something about permanent debilitating damage to the baby. I start to feel my dreams of a natural birth unraveling and my eyes start to water. She gives us some time to talk, but we need more time to make a decision and leave to go discuss it and talk to our families. The other glitch was they could not get me on the schedule to be induced for four more days. And that would be four more days for the baby to gain weight.

Despite everything I read about ultrasounds being off, I couldn’t ignore the fact that the “very accurate” ultrasound tech thought he was almost 11lbs. So we went with the c-section. I had a day to prepare, but was so sad. It was like death to a vision. I never understood that before. Why would people be so sad over a c-section? I won’t get into that now, but I felt like I was missing out on this very hard, but exciting experience of giving birth to your child. 


Here I am the night before Jude's birth: 

Here is my sweet husband gearing up for the surgery. I have to say...we did have fun those last few minutes together without Judah. 

 And I wasn't going to share this, but it's too funny to me. I look ridiculous. Philip and I were joking about how hot I looked in the gown. Nice...

to be continued...

boy or girl

Do any of you all buy those old wives tales about whether you are having a girl or a boy? I would love to know now what we are having...so we could seriously talk about names...think about the nursery...start a registry...starting dreaming about what that will be like, but I think we won't find out for a about 5-6 more weeks. I am not positive, but I think our next prenatal appointment in about a week and a half will not include an ultrasound eliminating our chances of finding out. I've heard you can tell as early as 16 weeks, which I will be 17 weeks....but oh well. We will probably just have to wait.

Speaking of old wives tales, I have been super sick. Even still at 15 and a half weeks I am incredibly sensitive to smells, tastes of food, and feeling a little queasy. The old wives tales, which is partially backed up by some research today, is that if you are really sick it is a girl. However, I have a good friend that was super sick that has a boy. So again who knows!

I did post a survey on the right side of the page and you can vote whether you think it's a boy or girl. Just for fun. for me.