Vaan Justin

Our peanut finally arrived!  Vaan Justin was born July 5th, 2012, at 11:27pm.  He weighed 7lbs 15oz and was 21.5 inches long.  Mom and Dad could not be happier or more blessed to have this little one in our lives.  Vaan, we love you more than words can say.  You came into this world with quite the fight, but regardless, we are extremely happy you are not only here but healthy!  Here is your birth story...

The doctors expected your arrival on June 23rd.  A week went by and you were still in Mom's tummy.  Dr. King thought it would be a good idea for you to come into the world on Monday July 2nd but Mom and Dad wanted to give you a little more time.  After seeing the doctor for a non-stess test that week, we all decided if you weren't here by Thursday July 5th, we would encourage you to come with medical intervention!  Mom, Dad, and Aunt Erica went to the hospital at 6:00am that Thursday morning.  We were all emotional, feeling happy and excited yet nervous and scared all at once.  They started and IV of pitocin and we waited for contractions to start.  Not long after, labor had started!  The pictocin continued to be inceased and Dr. King broke Mom's water, leading to several strong contractions.  Contractions continued to get stronger and longer, at some points there were 3 and 4 contractions on top of each other.  Mom tried to stay really strong for you, but after 12 hours, Mom gave in and got an epidural.  After this, your heart rate dropped and Mom's blood pressure dropped.  After some medication and oxygen, your heart rate came back up.  It didn't take very long, but it was a scary few minutes for Mom and Dad.  The nurse tried to keep the pitocin lower, but not enough progress was being made.  Your heart rate went up and stayed up in the 150s-160s.  Then, you pooped!  Pooping in the womb is some serious business.  Dr. King was worried you would swallow some of it and not be able to breathe when you came out.  So, a c-section was necessary.  Around 10:30 that night we made this decision and Mom and Dad prepped for surgery.  We all made it through the surgery just fine and you were born at 11:27pm.  Mom and Dad had tears rolling down their cheeks when we heard you cry for the first time knowing your lungs were working!  Your Dad watched your first few seconds of life outside of the womb.  He looked at your Mom and said, "he has a lot of dark hair!!".  Dad got to hold you right away and brought you over to Mom.  The three of us were together immediately and we knew from that point on there would be no separating this family.  We love you so much and are so proud of you!!

Here are a few pictures of baby Vaan!  More pictures and stories soon to follow :)

 

 

"Will We Always Call Him Peanut?" - Aunt Roselle

No peanut, you will not always be named the shape you started as in mommy's tummy; however, that is what we will call you until you decide you are ready to come into this world!  Your Dad and I did not have any idea how hard it would be to give you a name that you will carry with you for the rest of your life.  We have had many great ideas, including Scoop, Fred, and Juice (just kidding), but I think we have found just the right one.  Now, your Dad & I just have to agree on how to spell it.  We hope that you embrace your name and are able to incorporate your own personality into it's history.  We can't wait to meet you, name you, and share your name with the rest of the world - there are lots of friends and family anxious to hear that we will not take you home as "Baby Boy" Stubbendick.

Pregnancy has been a wild ride of ups and downs and anxiously awaiting June.  It is hard to believe it is JUNE and we are approximately 3 weeks away from meeting our baby boy.  Thanks to our dear friend, Chelsea, we have some amazing pictures that will allow us to look back at this incredible time and SMILE!   Below are a few of the pictures - THANK YOU CHELSEA!! :)

Peanut, You Have a Room!

I've always known my sister was extremely talented; however, after this weekend, I'm convinced she is in the wrong profession!  The baby's room is exactly what I had dreamed of.  I am so blessed to have someone in my life who is so close to me that she can listen to my ideas and carry them out to a T (or in the case, the entire alphabet)!  Enough of my babbling blogging, here are numerous pictures that will take you through this several weekend/day/hour project!


Step 1:  Color on the walls!

Step 2:  Measure, pencil, tape it out!



Step 3: Paparazzi break!

Step 4:  LETTERS ON THE WALL!

Step 5:  Finishing touches!

                                     

Can You Buy Stock In Palmer's?

At almost 31 weeks, I have gone through countless Palmer's Cocoa Butter products.  Each day after I get out of the shower I am religious about using the Palmer's cocoa butter for stretch marks-all over body lotion AND Palmer's cocoa butter for stretch mark-concentrated cream on my growing belly.  The buttering continues before I go to bed with Palmer's Tummy Butter.  So far, so good!  I am hoping this trend will continue over the next 9 weeks.  I am sure I am stretch mark free mostly due to being blessed with good DNA (thanks Mom & Dad!!!); however, I am not willing to give up my Palmer's routine even though it has a big effect on my pocketbook!

Our prep for baby continues.  We have Peanut's room mostly cleared.  The closet is completely empty, the basement is rearranged and the desk has been moved out, and we have found room for most of our other "stuff" at Goodwill!  Erica and I have picked out paint and Erica is ready to show off her artistic skills!  We will post pictures once the painting is complete.

We have a lot of birthing/baby events coming up.  We are planning to start a birthing class with a Doula May 1st for 6 weeks.  We are not planning to have a home birth, but I am excited to learn all of the information on birthing and baby she has to offer (Justin can't stop saying 'Doula Doula Doula' because he thinks it's a little crazy!).  We are also doing a "power" birthing class at Dean/St. Mary's hospital (where I will be delivering) this weekend.  We saw Dr. King today and are now on the 2 week check-up schedule until June when we will then go every week.  We got a really good report today, everybody is healthy and growing as they should be!  We did get bad news in that Dr. King will be out of town on our due date.  It was a little depressing for me as I feel very comfortable with her, but she made us feel confident in the other doctors we will possibly be working with on the big day.

We hope all is well with each and every one of you.  We will post again SOON! 

xoxo

Baby's first race!

Baby Stubbendick ran his first race, the Madison Shamrock Shuffle, on St. Patrick's day!  Thanks to an amazing sister and awesome friends, mom and baby made it through 6.2 miles.  Erica and Maria stayed by my side the entire time and we can't thank them enough for their support and encouragment.  The weather was incredibly warm for WI but we felt proud as Maria could only find one other pregnant lady on the course - and she was walking.  It can only mean one of two things, I am either determined to keep running or I am totally crazy.  Either way, it was a ton of fun and I can not wait to tell baby about this adventure.  We aren't signed up for any more races yet, but Grandma Karen is counting on us for a 5k in June...chances are there will be a lot more walking than jogging, but we will be happy to support the YWCA with Grandma!  Cheers to Fitness and Fun :)

xoxo

Mara, Me, Dawn, Jennifer

Thanks ladies for the fun-filled day and the "Leprechon on Board" tank :)