One Week

Coleton is a week old today. It's been kinda a crazy week, we have definitely packed April full of events. He was born on the 20th, our anniversary is on the 23rd, Easter was on the 24th, and my birthday is on the 27th! But it has been a great week, and we love the addition of our little man. He is a very mellow baby, he pretty much just eats and sleeps. Clara still loves having her baby brother around and she can say his name really well, she proudly introduces him to people. For our anniversary we got out for a quick dinner and dessert, spent Easter with family, and for my birthday today we met some friends and family for breakfast this morning, shopped a little bit for clothes, and then had more family over for dinner. It's been a fun day, and I turned 27 on the 27th, my golden year!

One week old...

I said a little bit ago that I wasn't excited about having a newborn...well I've changed my mind! I love how small and squishy this little boy is. I love his squeeks, and little noises he makes. I love how cuddly and curled up he is (I am taking advantage of this because I remember how quickly they begin to squirm away from you!) He makes the cutest faces when he sleeps and he is just so precious. I also have changed my mind about boy clothes, I didn't think they were cute at first. But now I love them, I love how neutral and simple they are, and I love how cute they look on Coleton. He is such a blessing! Anyways, Jordan has a couple more days off before going back to work, and it's been awesome having him home. I think it'll be pretty manageable once he goes back...hopefully. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it!

Coleton Brian Abeel

Our little boy arrived yesterday morning, April 20th at 7:20 a.m. He weighed 7lbs 14oz. and is 21 inches long. It was a smooth and easy labor, however, it was not a smooth and easy delivery! I began having contractions the afternoon of the 19th, and began timing them as they got more painful and consistent. We called my mom-in-law to come over and headed down to the hospital around 9:30pm. They checked me in and I was dilated to a 4, by the time the I.V. was in, the Dr. had seen me, and I had filled out all my paperwork, I was in a lot of pain and was ready for the epidural. Thankfully it came quicky and I was completely comfortable and relaxed shortly after midnight. At that point they said to just rest and they would check me every so often, the epidural had not slowed down labor at all, the contractions were still strong and close together, I just wasn't in pain...heavenly! So Jordan and I slept and rested for about the next five hours, while I went from about 6cm to 9cm dilated. They broke my water at 6:20am and that brought me to 10 immediately, and they said it was time to push. This is when the craziness began! In between pushing Coleton would show signs of stress, and they began to all look worried, and lots of people were rushing into the room to do things. They put an oxygen mask on me, and kept having me push. He wasn't really going anywhere though, barely even crowning after a while, and I was feeling a lot of pain. Because he was under so much stress, they said they needed to use the vacuum and get him out as soon as possible. So I kept pushing, and the Dr. was pulling with the vacuum as hard as he could, and ouchie it hurt really really bad. Even trusty Jordan, who is usually not afraid of being right in the action, being a paramedic and all, had to take a seat for a minute, we were both pretty worried about everything. Coleton was finally born at 7:20am, he was "sunny side up," which is face up instead of face down like they are supposed to be. The cord was also wrapped around his neck, and he had a MASSIVE bruise on his forehead from the pull of the vacuum. Sunny side up is not an ideal way to birth a child, it is a lot larger part of the head that comes out first, and normally with a vacuum extraction, there is a slight bruise/misshaping on the back part of the head, but because he was face up, the vacuum was sucking on his forehead. Poor little guy! It was definitely a traumatic way to enter the world. I can't say that I scraped through unharmed either, the Dr. did an episiotomy to get him out, and lets just say the post-partum recovery has NOT been a walk in the park. The recovery is also when I thank my lucky stars that Jordan is a Paramedic, and is not afraid of some squeamish things.

His bruising was so sad! Thankfully it is already MUCH better.

The amazing pictures below are thanks to Taylor...I love having a photographer in the family!

Thankfully Coleton is here safe and sound, and so far he has been such a sweetheart! He has been nursing wonderfully, and then pretty much sleeps the rest of the time. He is so cute, and Clara has been such a wonderful big sister so far. She has not been jealous at all, and really seems to love him. She can say his name really well too, which is cute. Anyways, we got home today a little after noon, they had to test him for jaundice first, which he hasn't developed, thankfully. They told us that due to the traumatic birth and severe bruising they would be really surprised if he didn't get it, but so far he hasn't! We are feeling so blessed to have him in our family now, and can't wait to watch him grow!

A couple pictures from our first day at home...it's nice to be back!

39 Weeks

The end is near! When you first get pregnant, and pretty much all the way throughout, it kinda feels like you are going to be pregnant forever. It's crazy when you finally reach the end, and begin to let it sink in that you are almost done. It's also wierd how you feel like this ticking time bomb, and have no idea how much time is left of the clock. I am 39 weeks 1 day, and I feel really good. With Clara I was a week early, and I kinda thought that I would be early with this one, because I was early before. But I'm not so sure that is going to be the case. Unless my water breaks, like it did last time, I think I might make it to my due date. I've been having contractions, sometimes consistent ones, sometimes painful, but they don't end up amounting to much. We'll see! Hopefully my next post will be a baby announcement!

The nursery is pretty much done, the part that you can't see is still our office. A desk and filing cabinet are in the corner. It'll have to do for now, we will move the office stuff to our room eventually. I think the part that is done looks cute but probably needs some more things, I'll work on making it cuter when he actually moves into the nursery, which will probably be after a couple months in a bassinet. We are getting very excited to meet our little boy, I can't wait to see what he looks like!

Beach Camping

This last week we went beach camping with our friends Matt & Jeannine. We went to South Carlsbad State Beach and we had such a fun time. We arrived Tuesday afternoon and stayed until Thursday afternoon. The weatherman lied, he said we would have sun all the days, however, it never appeared on Wednesday until late afternoon. We spent all day down at the beach covered up, waiting for the sun to come out. It would taunt us too, it would be so close to breaking through, and then it would get all dark again. That evening we went over to Carlsbad Village Inn, where Jordan's parents have a time share, and went in the warm pool, jacuzzi, showered and headed back. We had some excellent camp food while we were there, great breakfasts, and delicious BBQ'd dinners. We also always packed a lunch to take to the beach, and we had bonfires every night with smores for dessert. On our last day we got up, had breakfast, and packed up. We then headed back up to the beach in front of the Inn because they had sand, and the one in front of our camp had lots of rocks. It was kinda nice though, because the large barrier of rocks around us kept Clara contained, so she wasn't constantly heading towards the water. Clara was so good the entire time, she never tried to wander away from our camp ground, and we found a perfect place for her pack n' play in the trailer we borrowed from Matt's sister and brother-in-law. She slept great for being in a new place, and she adores Matt & Jeannine, and they are so good with her.

Making a yummy breakfast...blueberry pancakes, bacon, and eggs.

"Please mom, may I have some more?"

A morning ride with daddy...

A cold first day at the beach...but still fun!

The waves were great & Jordan caught some good ones!!

Warming up at the pool, finally some sun came through!

Lots of sunshine on this day...we probably all got way too much!

There were rumors of a beached whale spotting ;) at 38 weeks I can't say a bathing suit was my favorite option!

...Matt & Jeannine trying not to get too much sun...

Taking a break in the shade to read to daddy...she has such a huge vocabulary now, and she has her own gibberish language too, it's so cute!

It was a super relaxing three days, however, the unpacking and laundry wiped me out! I get a little panicked when the house is in shambles and there is so much to do and I could have this baby any minute! Thankfully everything is back in order, and that makes me feel better. We shall see, my baby countdown says 14 days, crazy!