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2015 is coming to an end and what a year it has been!

 Owen's first Christmas!

Eva loving to open open open!

Some Highlights:

• we moved to a house near family (it has been sooooo nice)
• Eva turned one
• We found out we were expecting baby number 2
• Eva went on her first airplane
• visited family in Ohio
• Owen arrived on November 19, 2015
• celebrated our first Christmas as a family of 4

Owen's Birth Story Part Three

So, the last and final phase had begun!  At any moment we would have the newest member join our family!  Well, that is until he proceeded to be a little tough to push out.  With each push the doctor was certain it would be the last and yet it wasn't.  I knew this baby was bigger than Eva, I had felt it for a long time.  My stretch marks were worse, my belly was bigger, and I felt more uncomfortable than before.  The doctors and nurses were so kind as I was yelling "His head is too big!"  they simply responded, "No it's not it is just the right size."  Well, after quite a few more pushes he was finally here! And yes, his head was big...in fact he was big! Weighing in at 8 lbs 9 oz and 21 inches long.

Although the doctors and nurses were quite kind during labor, Owen was in fact a big boy.  He actually suffered some birthing trauma and has two significant sized hematomas.  The doctors reassure me they look worse than they really are.  But, the fact is he won't have a normal looking head for quite sometime.  Hematomas can take up to three months to heal!

Even though I had false alarms and things were a bit frustrating at the end of this pregnancy I am quite happy with everything.  We have a happy, healthy baby boy.  We are quite blessed that none of the pregnancy scares we had throughout the past 39 weeks turned into real issues.

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 Our little sleeper.

Our not so little investigator...always trying to figure things out!

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 Owen slept through the big snow storm and let Eva and I shovel before Daddy got home from work!

Eva brought her shovel out to help mommy, but then decided eating the snow was a lot more fun!

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Handsome Man!

Riding in style!

Owen one month

It is unbelievable that Owen is already one month old!  Life has seemed to be on fast forward.

Owen has been quite the addition to our family.  He is just precious, our quiet, big boy.  He rarely fusses, even though Miss Eva can be a bit rough.  His giant hematomas are almost unnoticeable and his belly button is finally healed (his umbilical cord didn't dry all the way and needed to be treated with silver nitrate).  It's hard to remember life without our handsome man.

Owen's one month milestones:

• hematomas have significantly shrunk
• enjoys tummy time
• LOVES to sleep in someone's arms
• beginning to be more alert, loves to stare at faces and lights
• is a true champ when it comes to tolerating his big sister's attempts to show love
• usually very calm and stoic
• grunts (a lot)

Owen's Birth Story Part Two

We arrived at the hospital around 9 am. I began to realize things were real this time when I couldn't get out of the car until a contraction had passed.  I also was not opposed to a wheel chair!  Upon checking in the strangest thing happened, I began to cry for what felt like no reason.  I wasn't in pain (at the moment) and I had given birth before so I wasn't afraid of what was coming.  Anyways, I had yet another contraction while being wheeled to triage.  This time, the nurse checked me before hooking me up to the machines.  I was just about 7 cm dilated.  I wasn't going home without a baby this time!  I was quickly admitted to the hospital and wheeled to a delivery room.  From there things began to progress pretty quickly.  By 10:00 am I was 8 cm dilated. At around 10:45 my water had not broken and my contractions had slowed down significantly.   Things were quite different than with Eva.  With Eva I was induced.  This created contractions that were consistently 2 minutes apart for the duration of labor.  With this pregnancy there was no predictability of when the next contraction would be.  A bit frustrating, but at the same time it allowed me to have more recovery time in between.  And, when things had stopped for a bit I felt a bit more rested and ready for the next phase.  At this point, we decided to get the show on the road and the doctor ruptured my waters.  It was 11:00 am and I was 8.5 cm dilated.  By 11:15 I was ready to push...talk about getting the show on the road!

Owen's Birth Story Part One

Well, this little guy kept the surprises in this pregnancy coming! His birth story includes not one, not two, but three trips to the hospital!  It all started the evening of November 15th.  At around 7:30 pm I began to get contractions that were consistently about 4 minutes apart.  They were mild, but continued on for a long time.  At about midnight I called the Kaiser nurses and they suggested I go in to be checked.  Although the contractions were not getting stronger they were happening rhythmically.  Upon arrival I got hooked up to the good ol' contraction counter and heartbeat monitor.  At this point I was 3 cm dilated at -3 station (how far the baby has dropped). After being monitored for some time they disconnected the machine and suggested I walk the halls for a couple hours to see if I could get things progressing.  Well, after sometime there was no change and I was sent home around 4 am.  Round two began on November 18th.  I woke up at about 2 am with contractions.  Again, they were fairly mild (a little more painful than on the 15th).  At around 4 am I decided to call my mom.  Upon her arrival things just kind of stopped.  I decided to go back to sleep and see what would happen.  These contractions continued on and off all day.  At about 5 pm the Kaiser nurses once again suggested I go in to be checked.  At this point I was 3 1/2 cm dilated at a 0 station.  Again, after some monitoring I walked the halls for a couple hours.  When I was checked again there had been no change other than the contractions were a bit stronger.  They kept me a bit longer, but once again things stopped and I was sent home.  At this point I was exhausted.  The nurse let me know I could take Tylenol PM to help me sleep.  We got home around midnight where I snuggled into bed.  Chris was so nice and even slept on the couch in hopes that I would get some better rest!  At around 4 am I woke up to some more intense contractions, but decided to try and sleep some more.  At about 6:30 am I awoke again and this time I felt like I might actually be in labor.  However, because of two previous false alarms I was in no rush to go back to the hospital.  Chris and I finally left the house around 8:30 am, things were definitely more intense, although my contractions were a bit sporadic.  Sometimes they were 4 minutes apart other times 7 minutes apart.  This had been one heck of a confusing labor!

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Week (47/52) marks our first portrait of Owen!

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Eva just loves watching her "A-B" videos!

Owen, awake for a few minutes during Thanksgiving

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