One month! Already...

My little boy is growing up so fast!! It makes me so sad.  So much has been happening and we're still trying to figure out how to be parents.  I feel like once we get it figured out he's going to be a toddler and then we'll have to figure that out!!

So, just to clear up a couple of things...  A couple people have said they read the birth story and said it sounded like a breeze.  It basically was, other then the whole waiting room incident everything happened as planned and went so smooth.  I can't even tell you how blessed I felt to have it go as well as it did.  I can honestly say my many prayers were answered and I was being watched over the whole way through.  I've had people ask how I was after labor.  I was really well, I think, compared to what I've heard from other's stories.  I did end up tearing during labor, how could I not with a 10 pounder!?  That has probably been the biggest challenge.  I've also heard after labor you feel contractions (and start feeling pain after the epidural wears off) but they're not as painful as they are during labor.  Luckily for me my nurses had forgotten to turn off the epidural after labor and I was still getting a low dose 3 hours later! ha.  When she noticed she apologized and I told her I was okay with it.  So long story short, I didn't feel much pain till Wednesday morning which was awesome!  I was still able to move a little bit while I had the epidural so it wasn't too bad.  The only time I felt contractions after labor was while I was feeding little Gav.  The hospital stay wasn't to bad for me, I can't say the same for Jake.  When they moved us from the delivery room to the recovery room it was a big disappointment.  We got in the room and we could barely even fit!  It seemed like a closet turned into a room!  Then we saw what Jake got to sleep on... A chair, not even a bed!  It folded out but it was a tiny chair and he ended up just sleeping with it folded up.  Lets just say he wasn't to happy about it.   Gavin wasn't too bad at night.  The only way he would sleep was if I was holding him, so that's how we slept for our hospital stay.  It was cute! 

We were able to go home on Thursday around 1.  It was great cuz my mom had flown in the night before and stayed at my brother's house in Plano.  When we got home she was already here and so excited to meet her new grandson!  For the next week my mom was here with us and helped out so much!!  I would go to do the dishes and they were already done! And our laundry was always magically done too!  At night time Gav would get really awake around 9, my bedtime.  My mom would take him and watch him for me so I could get some sleep before it was time to feed him at 11.  She left the next Wednesday to stay with my brother in Plano for a couple days before heading back to Utah.  I bawled, ha.  She was still in Texas and I was still seeing her everyday and I still bawled when she left my house!  Then I bawled even more when she went home.  I don't know if she knows how much I appreciated her being here, but I sure did.  Thanks mom!!  Jake was able to stay home till the Monday after Gav was born, and it was so hard to let him go back to work.  But my mom was still here when he had to go to work so I still had some help.  My dad and little sister were able to come visit the next weekend.  It was nice to be able to have everyone meet our new little guy but it was so much harder when they went home then if it were just Jake and I.  Hopefully we'll be able to move back to Utah someday. 

Not much happened with Gav that first week er so.  We taught Jake how to change his first diaper in the hospital, he's a pro now!  Gav slept a ton and he is a very relaxed baby so he didn't fuss much or anything.  He started smiling a little bit when he was a couple days old.  Melted my heart!!  It is the cutest thing I have ever seen when he smiles.  Love it!!  Oh my goodness, that just reminded me!  The first time Jake held little Gav was so cute!  I have never seen Jake hold a little baby before so I was a little nervous :) It wasn't till Wednesday and I don't know what I was doing but I looked over at Jake and he was holding our little guy (every time I looked over before that, Jake would just stare and touch Gav, but no holding).  I had an instant perma smile.  So cute!!  I immediately grabbed for the camera!!  Jake just had this look on his face of pure love but at the same time what the heck have I done. 

Sorry, fast forward.  After my family left it was just the 3 of us for a couple days.  That next Wednesday Jake's parents and little sister were able to come visit for Thanksgiving!  It was great to see them again.  We didn't do a whole lot since we had Gav, but we hung out at our place and talked and spent time together.  Thanksgiving was great!  Jake's parents took us out to Ruth's Chris'.  SO GOOD!  Best turkey I've ever had!  Thank you again Hal and Carol!  On Thanksgiving night Jake and I went to go do some black Friday shopping.  It didn't end up happening cause the lines were too long but we were able to get out of the house for a little bit, thanks to Jake's family for watching our boy.  The next day we did some shopping and went to an aquarium.  I can't wait till Gav's old enough to enjoy going to places like that!  It was hard the next day when they left to go back to Utah.  We were leaving to go have lunch with them before they left and I lost it before we even got to lunch!  Then of course after lunch was especially hard saying bye to them.  I'm tellin ya, its a lot harder once you have a little one that you want to grow up with your family.  But we sure enjoyed having them here with us!

Since Jake's family left we've been here on our own. I've been trying to keep up with both families sending pictures and skyping so he knows them as much as he can. Gav is a really laid back kind of baby, really relaxed. He just started getting a little more fussy but its nothing bad. A couple days ago he started crying (its more of a whimper) in his sleep and it makes me sad when he does that. He's a really good sleeper and gets up only once or twice most nights. I think the most he's gotten up is 3 times. Yet another blessing. We've only had 2 or 3 rough nights with him and it usually ends around midnight and he sleeps like normal Gav the rest of the night so we're not complaining. He had his first laugh last Friday and when I saw his smile and him laughing I started crying. I'm emotional okay! dumb hormones. I don't know why I cried, I guess I got so happy I cried. I don't know. But that's one thing I look forward to everyday now. He's done it 3 times and every time it puts a smile on my face. He's becoming more aware and talks with ya more now. We put up our Christmas decorations the other day and he loves the Christmas tree!! Thats one of our new ways to calm him down if he's crying is to turn the lights on. So funny.

I can't believe our boy is growing up so fast. It feels like yesterday we just had him!! Love ya little Gav :)

 Just chillin like a tough guy

 

 Gav loves bath time cause he likes to listen to running water

 

This is how Jake watches Gav, put his bed next to the bathroom with the water running...

Gav meeting his family!

Gav loves to snuggle!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gav's Newborns!! So cute!

Baby Gavin's here!!!

We're parents!!!! Can not believe it!  It's still weird to even say that...

 

           Here's the story of baby Gav..  (I won't go into detail, I promise its safe to read)

 

Alright...

 

On Sunday night I had thought my water had broken but I never started feeling any contractions.  There were other things going on so I thought it maybe labor??  I didn't know, I've never had a baby before.  So Monday morning came around and I asked some friends what they thought.  They were saying the same thing happened to them and they went straight to the hospital and had the baby that day.  So I finally gave in and called the hospital.  (I hate calling the hospital)  Of course they told me to come in just to make sure.  Jake came home from work and we were off to the hospital around 11:30 a.m.  Of course we had to pack the car before we left, just in case.  So we got to the hospital, waited, waited, and waited for what seemed like forever.  When we first arrived there my midwife Rachel was there.  Two or three hours passed and Rachel came to see if we were still waiting and we surely were.  Apparently the L&D gets super busy and there aren't enough rooms...  So Rachel told me I could either stay and wait, (which takes about 3 more hours once you get in the room) or I could meet her at her office in about 5 min and she could take me right in!  We went straight to her office!  She checked me and she stripped my membranes (a way to get labor going) and said she'd see us soon! She had me set up another checkup for Friday but said she'd see me before then.  That was crazy!  She could tell it was go time soon...

 

Jake took me back home and went back to work.  On Monday around 3:30, I had started to feel contractions.  I didn't know they were contractions at first, I just felt sick.  They weren't very regular and only lasted about 20-30 seconds.  I was so ready!!  As the day went on they got closer and more intense but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle.  That night I got tired pretty early and went to bed around 7.  I woke up at 9 with bad contractions, got through a couple more contractions, and went back to bed.  I then woke up at 11 with contractions about every ten minutes and they lasted about 30 seconds but were more painful than before.  I tried so hard to go back to bed and had to give up.  I laid in bed for about an hour and let me tell you, contractions hurt so much worse while laying down.  I ended up out in our family room and sat in our glider chair with blankets and pillows surrounding me trying to pretend like it was a bed. Throughout the night the contractions got closer and stronger.  I got to the point where I needed another blanket to get more comfy and decided to wait for Jake to get up cause I didn't want to move out of my position.  Jake got up at 4:30 for work and I got my blanket!!  By then I was in enough pain and SO tired I asked Jake if he would stay home from work for the slight chance that it was time.  He came and sat on the couch with me and we hung out till about 6.  Weirdest thing happened!  The contractions all of a sudden stopped.  I was so frustrated.  Jake put me to bed since i got no sleep and hung around for a bit to see if the would start up again.  Nothing was happening so he left for work around 7 or 8.  I woke up at 9, still very frustrated and started doing my normal routine.  Around 9:30 I started feeling contractions again!!  This made me more frustrated cuz I had already gone through this for about 15 hours and I didn't want to go through it again for nothing.  I told Jake they had started up again but just like they had the day before, very spread apart and I just felt sick.  Around 2 pm,  Jake showed up at home and told me he got sent home.  I thought he was in trouble at work, ha ha!  He said his boss had asked him how i was and he told him i was in pain so he sent him home.  Nice guy.  A while after Jake got home he called the hospital and told them what had been going on and they said we should come in.  Not again!  I had been to the hospital to many times and they took forever!  I did not want to go just to get sent home.  Jake talked me into it anyways and we got there around 4.  We went straight to the L&D, and it took a while, because I would have to stop walking every time I was feeling a contraction.  When we got there, I was able to handle the pain, and I knew i wasn't showing that i was in much pain.  I was walking by myself, smiling... Jake always makes fun of me cuz I can hide any pain from anyone but if its just me and him I let him know everything.  Anyways, the nurse at L&D said all the rooms were full and put me in the family waiting room (basically the hall way) and said they would come get me when they had a room.  Are you kidding me!?  I had been in labor for 20+ hours now and now I have to labor in the waiting room.  I thought they wouldn't take too long this time since I was actually in labor this time, they should get me right in or at least put me in some other room in the hospital.  I was wrong!  There was a girl in the waiting room before me and i could here her talking about how she was there just to get checked.  I thought they will surely take me in before her, right?  I was wrong.  I was getting so mad at this point.  We had been waiting about an hour when they took the girl in before me.  I kept telling myself I was fine, my contractions might possibly stop again anyways.  Although at this point my contractions were about every 3-4 min apart and lasted about a min.  I was getting so uncomfortable on those chairs I got down on all fours and tried some of the laboring techniques they had taught me in my class.  Yep, I was that weirdo in the hallway on all fours swaying back and fourth.  I had asked Jake if he would get my pillow out of the car and the second he was out the door they came and got me to put me in a room!  Only 2 hours later!  I blame it all on the fact I came in too cheerful.  I'll remember that next time.  I'm not bitter about this at all...  It was about 6 when we finally got in the room and the nurse got me all hooked up, took some tests, and a few min later told me I was having the baby tonight!!  WAHOO!  Now at this point Jake had gotten back from the car and we realized this baby still didn't have a name!  This is how the conversation went...

 

Jor-"what should we name him?"

Jake- "you know i don't like Reldon as his name, but we can name him that if you really want to"

Jor- "So should we name him Gavin?"

Jake- "Are you sure?"

Jor- "yep"

Jake- "alright"

 

Yeah, that's how we named our kid.  Rachel came in right after that and asked if we had picked out a name, finally we could say yes!  When Rachel came in she asked me if I was going to try and go natural or get an epidural.  I told her I had decided to get the epidural and she said that was a great choice for me and that I can get it whenever I wanted.  I had originally wanted to try and go as far as I could without getting it but she said it wouldn't change things if I got it now or in a couple hours.  She thought I should get it now since I had been laboring for so long so I could rest before everything happened.  I said okay and had the epidural by 6:30.  The nurses helping me this whole time kept making comments on how I was really nice during labor and they thought it was funny how smiley and talkative i was.  Jake of course had to bring up that its cuz they were there and it wasn't just me and him.  Once the epidural kicked in i was on cloud 9.  Can't believe how heavenly those things are.  Jake asked me at one point why I was so happy and not irritable.  He thought that's how I was supposed to be throughout. Silly Jake.  For the next couple of hours we watched the election.  Yes that was our entertainment for the night, sadly.  around 10:45 Rachel came in and checked me and asked if I was ready to have this baby.  Heck yeah I was!  Right after she said that some alarm went off and Rachel went to go check what had happened.  There was a baby in another room being born that needed the nurses from the NICU.  When we had first gotten into our room Rachel had checked me and said that baby Gav had had his first meconium, his first poo, and the NICU nurses would need to check him out before we got to hold him to make sure he didn't swallow any.  Rachel said we would have to wait to have baby Gav so the NICU nurses could be in the room with us.  They came back in about a half hour later and said they were ready!  I said alright lets do this.  They got me all ready and had me start pushing.  I pushed for about 10 min and baby Gav was born at 11:32 p.m. on Nov. 6th.  Rachel handed Jake the scissors or whatever they use to cut the cord and it was a done deal.  The NICU nurses took him for about 10 min checked him out weighed him and what not and handed him over.  10 pounder.  That's my boy.  Can't even tell you how in love with him we were from the second we saw him.  Weirdest part was when he was actually born.  I just kept thinking that was it... he's here.  What am I suppose to do now? ha.  It was the weirdest feeling I've ever had.  But there's the story of our little Gav.  Enjoy the pic's!!



 

Our cute little boy :)

Proud new papa

Time to go home!! He was not fond of the bumps during the car ride

 Mom and Gav having snuggle time. My favorite!!

 Grandma came to visit!! and was always on the phone...

Gav's already got dad wrapped around his finger

 

14 Days!!

Holy cow can't believe it! Only 14 days till his due date!!  I feel huge! So...I've been waiting to post for when I have exciting news.  Well, nothing is happening! And I mean nothing.  My braxton hicks are basically gone and I can feel him move but not very much.  I'd say he's in tight quarters and doesn't have much room to move anymore.  I went to the Dr. yesterday and they asked me if anything had changed and how I was feeling.  I told them everything was still normal and I don't feel a thing, ever.  So they took that as its not happening any time soon so we will see you next week.  Ugh, not what I wanted to hear!  I was told you start feeling sick, flu like sick, when labor is about to start.  I've had a cough since mon so we're crossing our fingers its a sign!!! lol.  Its hard not to think everything is a sign sometimes.  My mom has a flight coming in the 7th of Nov.  his due date, and I so want him to just be here by then!!  It would kinda suck to have my mom come all the way out here for nothing!!  Jake was hoping at the Dr yesterday they would say we have to go in and get induced immediately and have the baby!  He's having a rough week at work and was hoping to get out of it.  I keep reminding him it doesn't work that way but he's still crossin his fingers :)  Every time i call him while he's at work he answers and says "are you in labor?"  I can't ever tell if he's excited or again, trying to get out of work.  To be honest I don't blame him.  I only babysit and I'm still trying to get out of work, lol. I think Jake is also ready for the pregnancy hormones to be over with.  Never been so emotional in my life!!  Cry over everything!  My brother Tanner got his mission call tonight to Brazil!  I started crying before he even opened the envelope, ha ha ha.  I'm sure Jake will miss the random tears over nothing and everything, lol. 

Well, that's it for now.  Hopefully I'll have more exciting news in a week or two.  Cross your fingers please, we would like to have this kid on or before the 7th :)


p.s. congrats tanner on your call.  I think its the coolest thing and know you'll be a great missionary!

BABY BOY'S ALMOST HERE!

Wow, its only been a couple years since I last posted!  I promise I'll be posting more often since baby boy is almost here.  So I am 35 w 2 d and only have 33 days till his due date, not that I'm counting :)  Jake and I are very excited but scared at the same time.  Alright I'm scared Jake's just excited.  So...

Since we're here lets take a vote!  Jake and I have struggled with deciding on a name...  I'll tell ya our choices so far but if you have any names, we'll take it into consideration :) and just an FYI, we favor the not so common names.

Jake's picks:  Gavin, Alton, Jacob
Jordan's picks:  Reldon Case, Gavin Case

I would love to call him Case, but Jake hates calling people by their middle name. Of course I only like Case as the middle name.  The other way around just sounds wrong to me. Thus our problem...  You would think that we would have a name picked out since he is due in just a couple weeks.  I guess it will be a surprise for everyone :)

Seriously though, we need help here people!

Alright, so these pic's I uploaded are from my 4-D sonogram I got a couple weeks ago.  I tried to upload the video but am super technology challenged so you get pic's!  But they are just as cute!  Enjoy if you wanna :)