LUKES FIRST TRIP... A FAMILY GATHERING

Well, this past week, Jake and I took Luke to Utah to meet his grandma and grandpa, and to be there for the last family gathering before JT left for his mission to the Philippines.

We were very skeptical about how things would go, because Luke had been so cranky in the past couple of weeks, but to our complete joy and surprise, our little stinker was a perfect little angel.
The flights there and back were a breeze with him... he slept the whole way. Unfortunately they weren't so breezy for his mommy and daddy who didn't manage to sleep through the awful turbulence... Jake was pasty white and feeling quite ill by the time we landed in Utah.

Our trip was filled with events. On Saturday morning, we attended the Logan temple as a family. Kim and Spence were able to have all 7 of their children as well as their 5 in-laws in a session. It was a first, and I am sure something that won't happen again for many years, so it was very special.

Saturday afternoon, we took some great family photo's. We won't be able to take a full Geddes family photo again, until JT gets back from his mission. Jake and I also had our first family picture with Luke taken, which came out really great. Luke was 1 month old on Saturday.


On Sunday, baby Hunter and baby Luke were blessed in the Cove ward... they both looked so adorable in their little blessing outfits, and they were little darlings through the blessings. We were so proud of our little Luke for being such an angel.
After the blessings, we enjoyed a lunch, at the Nielsens home (Cory's parents)

LUKES BLESSING CLOTHES

It was great for the family to be able to spend some time with Luke while he is still so little. He is growing and changing so fast, so things will be very different the next time we are in Utah.

JT was set apart as a missionary on Tuesday night. It was very special for all of us to be there for that. He entered the MTC on Wednesday.

Our trip was busy busy busy, but a lot of special and important things happened, and it was great.

LITTLE STINKER

Things over the past couple weeks have gotten interesting in our home.
Luke has picked his personality... and it's a challenging one. Our little boy has become quite high maintenance and oh so demanding. Jake and I have started saying 'good thing he is so darn cute' a lot lately... as some days I think that's the only reason that we all survive.

THE CUTE FACE THAT KEEPS US SANE

His latest thing is that we are not allowed to put him down during the day... if we do, we encounter the wrath of Luke, which isn't pretty. He gets himself so worked up into complete hysterics, and aside from being completely frustrating, it breaks my heart to see him so upset.

THE WRATH OF LUKE

So, the last few days in particular, have been interesting. I have spent most of each day, holding him PERMANENTLY... when he eats and when he sleeps, and when he is awake.

THE CLOSEST THING TO PUTTING HIM DOWN... THIS IS HOW MOMMY RESTS!

Some days I don't get anything done, not even getting dressed, because I haven't got a minute where he isn't in my arms, and other days, I get a very odd and random opportunity that in desperation I put to full use. This morning, one of those random opportunities presented itself.
I took Luke into the nursery to change him. By the time I was done changing him, he was lying contently on his change pad, just looking up and talking in his cute baby talk. I didn't dare pick him up while he was so happy, or I wouldn't get this lucky chance again. Sooo.... I decided to pick up the entire change pad, with Luke lying on it, and walk to my room, where I put the change pad onto my dresser, and proceeded to start blow drying my hair... the hair dryer then put him to sleep, so I was able to do my make-up too. LOL.

DESPERATE TIMES CALL FOR DESPERATE MEASURES


A FUNNY STORY... 'Baby Brain'

Today, I dropped Luke off at a friend for a few hours, (his first time with a sitter) so that I could get the packing done for our trip to Utah tomorrow. On the way home, I decided to stop at Kroger, to buy some juice while it was on sale. I walk into the store, grab a cart and fill it with juice bottles and a box of eggs. I headed to the self serve check out, where I scanned the first bottle of juice, only to realise that I needed to scan my Kroger card, in order to get the sale price. So I start looking for my wallet, but I can't find it. So embarrassingly, I push my cart to the staff lady, and ask her to keep it while I go to the car to find my wallet. I search the car high and low... no wallet. So I call Michelle, who is baby sitting Luke and ask her to check the diaper bag (I usually keep it in there when I am out)... no wallet. So I head back into the shop, to tell the lady holding my stuff that I can't pay for it because I can't find my wallet. She procedes to tell me that my wallet is in the cart. So with a blushing face I head back to the scanner and start again. Now, I open my wallet to get out my Kroger card... no Kroger card... then I realise that my key chain Kroger card is on my keys... which are IN THE CAR... so I head back to the staff lady to tell her that I need to go find my Kroger card, and can she please keep my groceries again... she felt sorry for me, so just scanned her card. PHEW... finally, I am making my purchases... then, I bump over my shopping bag, which drops to the floor, and there go all my juice bottles, flying across the floor... so I gather up my stuff again and head out the door. I am heading to the car when I decide to call Jake and tell him about my Kroger mishaps, so I am on the phone with him while loading my grocery bags into the car.. then I look in my hand and see that I only have my wallet and my car keys in my hand, so my heart drops as I begin to tell Jake that after all that drama, I now can't find my cellphone... only to then realise that my cellphone is glued to my ear, while I am speaking to him on it...

WHAT A DAY... needless to say, I am now heading to my room, for a nap, because I quite obviously am sleep deprived.

BABY GOOGLE AND SPIT UP

Jake caught a pretty cute video of Luke talking early this morning.
And as an added bonus, you get to see some spit up action too.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

LUKES 1ST WEEK AT HOME

Who can believe that our little boy is already 11 days old. The past 11 days have gone by in a complete blur.

We are so loving having this little boy in our family. We are constantly laughing and smiling at his many facial expressions and just completely enjoying his unique personality and temperament.
He has us both wrapped tightly around his little finger.

Jake and I are both tired, and often overwhelmed as we continue to figure out this whole parenting thing, but we are enjoying the learning process. Jake refers to my constant stamina and energy to survive each day as my dose of 'mommy cocaine'... lol :D

Luke has his 1 week check up last week, and he is a healthy boy. He is in the 50-75th percentile for both height and weight, and he has such a hearty appetite, that we are pretty sure that by his 2 week appointment this week he will have gained back his lost birth weight and plenty more. He has his dads hearty appetite and knows how to chug down a bottle.

Our little stinker decided that he doesn't want to breast feed... despite endless attempts to get him to nurse, he stood his ground and after both mommy and baby ended up in tears countless times, we have resorted to pumping and bottle feeding. We will continue to periodically try him at breast feeding, and hopefully he will eventually catch on. Better late than never.

Already, Luke has shown little signs of his personality... for one, he has a 'hungry cough'... it's the cutest thing. He will cry when he has woken up, or wants to be picked up, and then when you pick him up, IF he is hungry he gives this silly little fake cough... at first we were unsure about it, but then we started paying closer attention to it, and realised that just as we thought, he only does it when it's time for him to eat... so he has a 'Um... hello, I am hungry...' cough.... so cute!

He is also very smart... He can hold his own bottle. LOL... well sort of...

Anyway, here are some pictures of his first week at home.

Life is GOOOODDDD!!!

See...I can already hold my own bottle

Mess with me and I will 'karate chop' you...

LUKE JACOB GEDDES

LUKE JACOB GEDDES

Born: May 6, 2009 at 7:19pm
38 Weeks 6 Days
Weight: 8lbs ~ 3.65kg
Length: 20 Inches ~ 50.5cm

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

THE LABOUR STORY:

On Wednesday morning, my waters spontaneously broke at 8:45am.
Fortunately Jake had not yet left for work. We called the doctor and were told to head to the hospital. After a shower and some last minute hospital bag packing, we headed to the hospital.
My contractions started at about 10:00am... they were immediately 2-3 minutes apart, and quiet intense.
When we arrived at the hospital, I was sent to labour and delivery triage, where they checked me. I was 4cm dilated and experiencing frequent contractions.
Finally, I was admitted the the labour and delivery ward... here they hooked me up to IV fluids etc. I received an epidural, which was great, as my contractions were close together, and as we later discovered, little Luke was sunny side up, which was the cause of the excruciating pressure pain in my bum. The first 90 minutes on the epidural, I didn't feel a single contraction, however after that, the epidural only kept the contractions in my belly at bay, and I was still left with the painful pressure in my bottom, so my labour was by no means painless, and I had to breath through each contraction.
When I reached 9cm dilation, the doctor came in and did the very painful procedure of rotating Luke, so that I would still be able to deliver him vaginally. This entailed me having to push through contractions as though I were ready to deliver, while the doctor rotated him through my now opened cervix. OUCH!!!!
Then came the final stretch... Pushing... pushing, and MORE pushing. I had to give 3 pushes, each to the count of 10 for each contraction. By this time, the epidural was pretty much worn off, and I had full feeling to push.
I pushed for just a little under 1 hour 30 minutes. About 45 minutes into pushing, I was EXHAUSTED, and I was struggling to catch a breath for the 3rd push of the contraction...but, I some how managed to deliver my precious little boy.

Then we heard the first cry... Luke was born.

Unfortunately, during labour, I developed a fever of 102'F (39'C)
Because of this, Luke also developed a fever and therefore had to be taken to the NICU just minutes after birth where he was hooked up to IV antibiotics in case the fever was the result of an infection. Because of this, I wasn't able to breast feed or properly hold him until 2.5 hours after his birth. He had to be given periodic doses of the antibiotics for the next 48 hours. Fortunately his blood cultures came back negative for any infections and our little man was deemed healthy.

The hospital stay was CHAOTIC... no rest with nurses constantly in and out of your room, checking vitals and giving antibiotics and doing whatever else they do.
The day after he was born, I felt like a building had fallen on me. Every part of my body ached. Who knew that you used so many muscles during labour and delivery. Even my arms ached, and I felt like my body was made of concrete, every time I tried to move.

We are home now, and loving every minute with our little angel boy. It's hard work, and it's tiring, but just looking at his little face makes it so worth it.

HANGING IN THERE

This is just a quick update on our 'waiting game'

Today I am 38 weeks 5 days.... so 9 days to go until D-Day! The little stinker wouldn't dare go overdue if he knows what is good for him!

Yesterday I had another prenatal appointment and I was 3cm dilated and 80% effaced, so there has been progress from the last time I went. The doc also did a membrane sweep, which IF effective, will get labour started within 48 hours.
Well it's been a little more than 24 hours, and aside from a lot of abdominal cramping, still no sign of labour, so here's hoping that something will happen in the next 24 hours, or the sweep didn't work, in which case they will do another one if I haven't popped by my next appointment next Monday (a whole 3 days before my due date... please just put me out of my misery if I am still pregnant and have to go to that appointment)

I honestly never thought I would go this long... I thought that because I am small and he has run out of room, and because my mom was always early that perhaps I would only make it to about 38 weeks.... but alas, NO... I have a little procrastinator brewing in my belly, waiting to make his arrival at the last possible minute it seems. (Just for the record, procrastination is his dad's genes)

So, the waiting game continues...
Hopefully the next post will be the birth announcement, and not the "I'm overdue" post!