Baby's (or actually Babies') First Christmas

Christmas 2012 was a great Christmas, we were finally able to meet and hold baby Arthur and begin the lifelong friendship for the boys! It gave a new meaning to Christmas and I think we all would agree that Christmas is more fun with babies!  The mama's were feeling better than they had in a while too!  We were able to have a couple of friend get-togethers which is so nice around the holidays!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our First Nephew/Cousin is Here!

After we were settled in and adjusting to our new baby, our family welcomed another baby boy on December 11, 2012.  Just 16 days apart!  Arthur James (8 lbs, 6 ounces, 21 inches) was born to Paula & Jeff. Grandpa Jim and Grandma Carol were overwhelmed with joy once again!  Arthur was born in a jiffy after Paula was induced and they needed an emergency C-section.  All was good and the Seykora Family was sad they couldn't make the trip since we had just has baby Nolan.  Check out all that hair-he's a teddy bear!

 

 

 

 

Welcome Home...now what?!

After a couple days in the hospital, Jesse and I were finally home with Nolan.  I was exhausted but so excited to introduce Nolan to our puppy child, Lola.  Lola was so good with the baby!  A little jealous but very well behaved.  Once again, we had a ton of visitors and generosity from our family and friends.  It was a great time of year to have a baby!  I was off work until February so we didn't have to take Nolan out in any snowstorms!  Here a couple pictures from our first days home with the little guy!

 

 

 

Nolan's Labor Story...or Rather Marathon!

As you read on my Thanksgiving post, I was starting to see the signs of labor on Thanksgiving or November 22, 2012.  All Thanksgiving Day I had irregular contractions and tried to walk laps around my parents' house to get them moving closer together.  I ate, and I ate and I ate but still no signs of baby moving fast were showing.  Jesse and I headed home Thanksgiving night with our packed hospital bag in the car still and tried to get some rest.

Friday, November 23, 2012

I had a doctor appointment Friday morning so Jesse stayed home from work and went to the appointment with me just in case they were going to admit me to the hospital.  I went in for my appointment and they immediately put me on the monitor.  I was having some light contractions but I was having a hard time feeling them myself.  Baby Nolan wasn't moving too much so they gave me some juice to get him to jump around and then it was off to ultrasound I went.  We were excited because we had not seen our baby since 20 weeks!  I did not need any ultrasounds for anything so it was fun to know we were getting a chance to see him.  He was in a position though that didn't show much.  His legs were crossed, his hands were covering his face and alls the ultrasound tech could tell us was that he was BIG!  The machine predicted 8 pounds, 11 ounces and it could be 7 ounces high or low.  AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I thought, "how am I going to get this kid out?"  I asked the doc if I could be induced but the answer was "No, it's happening....just slowly".  So we went home....yet again NO BABY!  That night we tried to induce Baby Boy naturally with some La Casa Grande but still no luck just a nice family dinner (and no margarita)!

Saturday, November 24, 2012
OK.  I'VE HAD IT. We played some games with family at my mom and dad's because Jeff and Paula (also very pregnant) were still in town waiting for baby.  At about 9:30 p.m. I was uncomfortable so we went home to get some sleep. This night I slept awful!  I was having contractions and they were getting worse so we headed to the hospital at about 11:30.  I was admitted to the hospital and dilated to 5 centimeters. We called immediate family and I was wheeled in to get my epidural.

Sunday, November 25, 2012
My parents showed up at the hospital at 2 a.m. and stayed with us as I was being monitored.  It was nice to have people to talk to because we didn't realize it'd be another 12 hours of no sleep, no eating (for me only!) and no baby!  Jesse's parents traveled from Minnesota and got to the hospital as the baby was being born.  Uncle Jeff and Aunt Paula were able to come later that night as well to meet their new nephew.  I had an easy delivery and was able to push Nolan out in about 45 minutes.  We had the absolute best nurses and doctor that delivered Nolan.  He was born at 8 lbs., 3 ounces, 21 inches at 2:33 p.m. in the afternoon during the Vikings vs. Bears game. How appropriate!  We were overjoyed and immediately in love.  Nolan was the most beautiful newborn we'd ever seen and we couldn't believe he was all ours!

Happy (Maybe Baby Day?) Thanksgiving!

Jesse and I are always up for a party so on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving we went out to dinner with our friends, The Eischeid's and The Judd's to Rockton Inn and then over to The Miller's to hang out with some holiday cheer.  I was quite uncomfortable and tired by this time but I thought it would be good for me to go out and about rather than sit at home and keep thinking about when this baby is going to finally come.

Jesse and I headed home around 11 that night and off to bed I went.

Thanksgiving morning at 5 a.m. I woke up and had some cramping (contractions, who knew!) and the beginning signs of labor were starting to show. I got Jesse up and we cleaned the house.  Hahah-we were so excited! I must have finally went into nesting mode since I thought cleaning was a good idea.  I called my mom and dad at 5 a.m. to tell them it seemed like I was going into labor and to see if they wanted to hold off on the Turkey, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy!  "Just my luck.  I knew this would happen," I told Jesse.  We cleaned the house and my contractions were few and far between.  I was not progressing like I thought it would or like you see in the movies.  I called the hospital just to check and nurse Kourtney Taylor answered (so weird because we know her!) but she told us not to come until my water broke or the contractions were 5 minutes apart. So I got ready for Thanksgiving and we decided to go over to my parents with my family and go on with the day "normally".  This was me on Thanksgiving Day-this turkey was done....oh so I thought!

Nursery News!

We are finally finished with our nursery and so excited to share pictures with everyone.  Obviously, we went with a baseball theme since that was Daddy's favorite sport growing up.  We hope baby boy loves baseball just as much as us!  Daddy Jesse painted the stitches on the wall (thank you Pinterest!) and Grandpa Underhill worked hard painting furniture and our red wall for the little slugger!   Grandpa Seykora helped put Baby's new fan up complete with baseball accents.  Mommy even did some painting and painted letters equipped with our Baby Boy's name, Nolan. The best part was Jesse even got experience putting the crib together TWICE since he tried to put it together in the spare bedroom first!  Whew, we're a little new at this parenting stuff!  We did a lot of organizing of his goodies from all his showers- hopefully he'll be a little MVP someday!

Big Foot!

I wanted to share the picture of my feet on the last day I went to work before I had Baby Boy.  It was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and luckily I had him that following Sunday.  They were quite swollen, I hardly recognized them as my own.  Good news is they went back down and I am able to fit into my sneakers and heels again!

Before...

 

After...

 

Babies, Babies, Everywhere!

In March, we found out we were expecting our first child and just a couple weeks later my brother, Jeff and his wife, Paula found out the same exact news! What a coincidence, eh?!  Jesse and I are so excited to not only become parents this Winter but an aunt and uncle for the first time as well!  Grandpa and Grandma Underhill sure are excited to get to spoil double the trouble within days of one another too!  The story gets weirder so I listed some fun facts below about Baby Seykora and Baby Underhill.  They were bound from the beginning to be lifelong cousins and friends!

• Both babies are BOYS!
• Both babies have due dates in December...the 1st for Baby S. and the 12th for Baby U.
• Both babies will have the same middle name...we think...;)
• Both babies were measuring 31 weeks at the same point during the pregnancies.
• Both babies will have big puppy sisters...Lola and Roxy!

The BIG question is which one will we meet first?!  Stay tuned...

 

Showered with Love!

Baby Seykora is already so lucky to have such thoughtful people in his life.  We have definitely been showered with love from both families, all of our friends and co-workers while awaiting for this little guy's arrival!  Below is a picture of us from  Baby S's latest shower-his Baseball Shower given by Grandma Carol and Great-Aunt Nancy.  Grandma worked hard thinking of the perfect baseball themed food, games and treats for his big celebration.  It was a day filled with hot dogs, hamburgers, French fries and baseball cake! 

 

Almost 34 weeks!

We're almost at the 6 week mark...woo hoo!  I went to the doc today and everything is going along just fine.  My blood pressure was great, I am measuring right on track and Baby S.'s heartbeat was 140 bpm exactly!  Here is my 34 (almost) week pic! 

50 Days or Less!

Did you know that a 9 month pregnancy lasts 266 days?  Words can't describe how happy I am to see the last 50 days on the calendar.  Happy isn't even the right word, ecstatic or overjoyed would fit my feelings as well.  Thankfully, I've had a pretty uneventful pregnancy if you do not include the weeks, rather months, rather trimesters of nausea, gagging, aches and pains.  I am including this post as my own version of What to Expect When You Are Expecting so I remember what to expect next time around.  Needless to say, both Jesse and I are eagerly excited to meet our little boy sometime within the next 50 days or less and get Mama feelin' better...going past my due date is not going to be an option in this house! =)  Until then, you can see how I (and Baby S) have grown since we found out about our little one in March below. 

5 weeks!

 

14 weeks!

 

15 weeks!

 

18 weeks!

 

19 weeks!

 

20 weeks!

 

21 weeks!

 

23 weeks!

 

24 weeks!

 

25 weeks!

 

27 weeks!

 

29 weeks!

 

31 weeks!

 

32 weeks!

Let's Try This Blogging Thing Out!

Thanks for visiting our family blog!  Jesse and I are going to use this to blog (and brag a little) about our family so we don't clog up your Facebook newsfeeds with baby updates and thousands of pictures.  Please visit often and we will update you with the latest, greatest news for our growing family.  XOXO!   

One of Baby Boy's 1st pictures!