Merry Christmas!

From my wonderful little family, have a Merry Christmas! We sure will, I know before the day is done that Hunter will have been spoiled with toys and cuddles from Grampa and Aunty and Uncle! He was so good when we got his picture taken, sitting so nice on Santa's lap. Too bad Santa thought he was a girl!!! But my little guy in his snowman fuzzies did a great job and took a great pic for his first visit to Santa. I know he'll do well out at Grampa's house for the night too!

Hunter - The first two months!

The last full moon of the year...

Tonight there is a full moon. The last one before the new year. The year began with a full moon and soooo very much has happened since then! I wrote that I had high hopes for this past year, and I feel as if everything I hoped for has come true. What a crazy 12 months!

We got the OK to try for a baby, and less than 4 weeks later found out we had one on the way.
We bought our first house after lots of delay and paperwork. Moved in and started fixing things up.
We traded in our old truck and sold the motorcycle in exchange for a smaller, cheaper on gas Jeep. Made a couple dozen trips to Winnipeg for so many doctor appointments.
We found out we were going to have a little boy and picked out the perfect name for him. We got to see him on close to a dozen different ultrasounds and watch as he grew from a little speck into a chubby-cheeked boy who liked to cover his face with his hands (sometimes feet).
We took our childbirth class when I was 38 weeks pregnant. My water broke when I was 38 weeks and 4 days pregnant - Yikes! Waited for things to start happening for over 12 hours. Got induced and finally got to meet our boy another 8 hours later!
Started an endless cycle of feeding, diaper changing, crying, soothing, getting up every 3 hours at night, and so on. Finally saw light at the end of the tunnel when he started sleeping 5 hours at a time and filling his diapers a little less frequently. Things feel easier now than they felt for the first 2 months or so.
Today we are supposed to have someone come over to start work on finishing our basement, a big project that I can't wait to begin.
We go to Winnipeg in 2 days where I find out whether I'm finished with blood thinners for good (exceptions for being pregnant again!), and I can take my final needle after a little over 300 self-administered shots.
My amazing little boy turns 3 months old on the 30th.
And finally, the year comes to an end and a new one begins. It night be hard to beat all that happened this year, but I'm going into the new one with my expectations just as high. So much to look forward to in the future!

The sweetest birthday present.

The sweetest birthday gift I have ever recieved I actually got 3 weeks before my birthday. And it was a little present that I kind of gave myself, with the help of J... My little Hunter is the best thing I could ask for anytime of the year! He's 3 weeks and a day old now and getting so much bigger than he was when he arrived. I am doing my best to enjoy him so small because he really does change and grow each day. He's lying beside me on the couch right now, part awake and part asleep, smiling at his mommy. I know I'll have a diaper to change and be up feeding him for a while yet tonight but for now I'm enjoying quietly looking at him. It is amazing to love someone so little who is truly a part of yourself. And when he laughs in his sleep, he's like a tiny baby owl, with his Hoo-Hoo-Hoo-Hoo-Hoo giggle. I love him!

Hunter is here!

Just a quick note to announce the arrival of baby Hunter! He arrived 9 days early on Sept. 30, weighing 7lbs 2oz and measuring 20.5" long! He's absolutely adorable, a very easy baby and the new love of our lives! I will tell the whole amazing story later, but for now this should suffice:

38 Weeks, 3 Days - Dreaming of Baby :)

Last night I dreamed that we had baby Hunter and brought him home all bundled up in his carseat. He was a pretty quiet little guy and looking around at his new home all bright eyed. He had light brown eyes, short fuzzy blond hair, no dimples (unfortunately!), and was a bit skinnier than I had expected. I mean he still had that new baby chunk but was on the skinnier side. He was a real cutie though! I wonder how accurate that will be compared to what he really looks like. Hopefully we will find out soon enough!

37 Weeks, 5 Days - Uncertain about the next two weeks...

Well J and I got to go in and see baby Hunter again today, he's doing just wonderful in my tummy tum tum... growing perfectly and getting bigger. He's estimated at exactly 7lbs now, and I don't think he will be too much more than 8lbs by his due date. 16 days until then! It's not him, but my body and blood that might cause him to have to come out early. My blood pressure is better than it has been, the last couple weeks in the 130's / high 80's. Today it was 122/81 and the Dr. was happy. So, that's been better under control lately, I'm still getting it checked every 3 days though. It's my darned thick blood that's the problem this week. Last week the count was high enough that I needed a phlebotomy. I hoped that I could go at least this week without needing another one. Nope, the counts are higher this week than they were last week so I need blood out again tomorrow. Last week's bruise is ALMOST healed, and now I'll have another to match. For me, I don't care how often I need to get this done, it's a pain but I can live with it. The problem is, my pregnancy doctor is concerned about my thick blood not supplying the placenta adaquately enough. So, next Thursday she's going to do a cervix check to see if it's 'favorable', I think she may want him out sometime next week if my counts don't drop by then. While I would really prefer for him to stay in as long as he wants (well, reasonably so, because I'm getting uncomfortable!), it looks like next week I will head to the city with my hospital bags all packed and ready just in case we end up staying and having him early. I had hoped to get out of being induced, and I still hope to not need to, but I really just hope that my blood counts will settle down and cooperate as we've only got a couple weeks left anyways! Maybe I'm fortunate that I'm only 16 days from the due date when this is all happening. He's doing great and practicing breathing, I know he would do well on the outside. I'm glad that no complications have popped up before now. I am a little disappointed that it's my body that is the problem, this stupid condition is interfering with my little boy's entrance into the world. I guess the only thing I can do until next week is hope things with my blood counts normalize a bit, and make sure I've got everything I need for the possible hospital stay ready just in case we meet Hunter sooner than expected!