Nash is 4 Weeks Old

So our little guy is 4 weeks old today! Wow, that has gone so fast and I can only imagine how quickly it will continue to go. He does so many cute things, here are just a few of my favorites this month.

1. When he latches on to nurse, he snaps his mouth just like a tiny dinosaur.

2. He loves music!

3. I kiss his toes and he wraps them around my lips.

4. I kiss his cheeks and he opens his mouth towards me, like I know you! You feed me!

5. While he takes a tubby he always crossed his feet at the ankles.

6. When he gets really upset, he snorts.

7. During feeding time, he gulps so fast that after about 5 gulps he has to stop and breathe. He is out of breath like he just ran a marathon.

8. He likes to poop in a fresh clean diaper, almost as soon as it gets put on.

These are not in any order. Just a list of cuteness. Monthly lists to follow.

I am trying to weigh him regularly and he is a full 9 lbs at 4 weeks!

A Sense of Humor

A sense of humor is an absolute must in parenthood. I learned this valuable lesson today.

Nash was in need of a change so I lay his little body down in his pack n' play (basically his changing station for the family room) and noticed that his back was a bit wet. This is not a new adventure as he has been known to pee out of the top of his diaper and somehow get it to his back. I call him the Pee Houdini. However, as I continued to disrobe the little man, I came to find that it was not pee as I had assumed. He had his first blow out diaper and, being the over achiever that he is, it was one heck of a blow out! All up his back near up to his neck and down his legs. I stared in disbelief and went right into problem solving mode as I brainstormed the best way to clean up this mess. I grabbed his Whale tubby and all the bath essentials. I figured I would wipe him up the best I could and finish the job with a nice bath. As I began wiping his back he displayed a beautiful pee fountain over his shoulder and, of course, not onto the blanket I had beneath him, but directly onto the pack n' play.

Ok, now I have a poopy kid and pee to clean up from his changing station. I quickly fill his tubby and toss him in. We are getting everything all clean; hair, body and mind and then the unthinkable happens.

He poops in the tubby. It is now time for Plan C, which is turn on the sink, pray the water isn't scalding hot and hold the screaming child beneath it to wash all of the poop and pee off. (I would like to point out that typically he is very mild and lovely during tubby time)

I wrap him in his frog towel and dry him off and calm him down. I put him in his jammers and rest him in his swing.

Now, I am sitting here laughing because 1. I decide to blog about it before I clean up the huge mess of poop and pee in the pack n play and whale tubby and B. I just noticed that I have leaked through my bra and shirt from him crying in the sink. 3. If I don't laugh, I may just break down and cry. But laughing is always more fun and how can you not smile when you have a kid this cute?

Whoever says that God doesn't have a sense a humor clearly are childless.

2 Week Appointment

Nash had his 2 week appointment today. It was also the day he, as Baby Daddy says "Got his twig pruned." It was a really hard day for Lil' Momma and Baby Daddy. We knew this was something that was important to do, but it is still a difficult to know that pain will be inflicted on your child. Thankfully, he took it like a man and didn't even cry...................according to Dr. Pavich, since Baby Daddy and I sat in the waiting room. Let the healing begin!

Nash Stats:

7 lbs 6 oz

21"

I'm a Parent?!

Today I saw journal at the Emporium shop at Thanksgiving Point. I began crying when I read what was on the front of it for two reasons;

1. I am completely hormonal (I am definitely going to ask God why after all the trauma we go through with pregnancy and labor and delivery, he still finds the need to add the raging hormones to post pardum. As if adjusting to an infant, sleep deprivation, and body healing aren't enough.)

2. Because I have up days and down days of this whole parenting thing and I couldn't believe that there is another person out there who could sum up EXACTLY how I feel, word for word, on the front of a journal. This is what it read:

A journal to ponder the unfathomable circumstance that I somehow have offspring even though I have no idea what I'm doing but it sure seems like everybody else does because they're not stinting on the advice as if I don't love my kid which of course I do but the little bugger is going to need therapy no matter what and in all honesty I couldn't adore him more but sometimes I think I am going out of my mind with frustration and self-doubt.

Wow. Parenthood is an adjustment and I really do enjoy the overall experience, but absolutely no one can prepare you for how tough this whole thing is. The learning curve is more difficult than an upper level statistics course. I have always heard that your baby is completely dependent on you. I guess I just didn't realize how dependent. Everything I do from a pill I take to the food I eat, affects him, even more than it did in pregnancy. It's a bit overwhelming.

So this morning as I drink a cup of coffee and watch my beautiful son cuddle on his Dad's chest I take comfort and peace in knowing this one fact; I love my kid and although this will be the toughest challenge of trial and error, eventually I will have a little Nash manual that only Isaac and I will know best, full of nuggets of wisdom and material to embarrass him later in life.

And I'm pretty sure that is what it is all about.

A Week into Parenthood

It's hard to believe that we are already a week into parenthood.

I feel like we are on a crash learning course and every day brings a new experience and a new lesson that no amount of reading, interviewing other parents or watching Oprah could prepare us for.

I think I can sum it up in one word: Love

The day that Nash was born I felt like the Grinch who's heart grew 3 times the size that day!

I knew that I loved Isaac and that he would always make a wonderful father. What I didn't know is that having a child together would give him the opportunity to win my heart all over again. I am amazed at how natural this whole thing is for him and the bond he has with his son is adorable. What woman wouldn't fall for that? But what makes him irresistible is how much he has raised the bar in husbandhood. A man that says you have never looked more beautiful than the moment after giving birth, that just isn't something you can train. He was the rock of our little family that day and everyday since and I can't believe I snagged such a great guy. (He was a bit of a diamond in the rough, thank God I have always had an eye for things that sparkle.)

I had no idea I could love something so tiny so much. Even though I have heard it said many times that there is no greater love than from a parent to a child; I couldn't truly grasp this concept until Nash came into the world last week and looked up at me with those goopy eyes that said "Hello, there is nothing else on Earth that you will love as much as me."

I think I even love Tia more because she is handling the transition so well. She is super protective of Nash and has accepted him as part of our pack. She sits next to him and guards him like he is her puppy.

Today I read Nash a book that was a childhood favorite "Love You Forever" and cried massive tears of happiness, clarity and wisdom because I now understand what that book is all about.

Crying is a big thing for the Gerke family as of late. Any time I think about Isaac, Nash, the birth or anything else I cry because everything has purpose and intention now. When the Bible says the fruit of the womb is a reward, He isn't kidding. There is so much reward and knowledge in parenthood and we are just beginning.

So the big lesson this week is love. Oh, and I need to buy stock in Kleenex.

Family of 3

Nash's birthday story

I woke up this morning like any other morning, rolling over and trying to get 30 extra minutes of sleep. My plan was to wake up at 7, and be to work by 8- but thank God for laziness! At 730am, after waking from my 30 minute snooze, Lia got into bed again to cuddle with me real quick before work, and then immediately jumped back up and ran to the bathroom. I was a bit confused, but when i heard "Hon, I think my water broke", it was go time!  Lia laid down after a bit of initial excitement and did some Hypnobabies scripts on her ipod while I ran through the house and gathered our stuff for the hospital. After Heather came over and fixed Lia breakfast, and she was done eating we left for the hospital. Because of Lia's recent complications with high blood pressure we have to be a bit more careful, and instead of waiting til she was further along, we went right in. Upon arrival, they verified that Lia's water had indeed been broken, and moved her to her birthing suite. We got the nicest room in the hospital, according to the nurses (I guess the ladies from the Sister Wives show delivered there?) and settled in for the long haul. Since our trip to the hospital was on such short notice, our primary Doctor wasn't on call but they did call him and he said he would be able to come down, which made us feel better. Since Lia's water had just randomly broken, we totally thought we were going to be able to go all-natural unmedicated and use our Hypnobabies-- but because of Lia coming in 2 days before 37 weeks, and her blood pressure being high they said we would need to start the Pitocin and get thing moving. We weren't enthused to go this way, but the Doc said that's what we needed to do. They started it at a low level and if we could continue naturally from there, then we could. Lia's pressure waves (contractions) started, and we used Hypnobabies techniques to get through them.  The waves started coming pretty fast and hard, and Lia started to feel very nauseous because of a side-effect from the Pitocin and every time a peak of a contraction would hit, Lia would have a violent dry heave, making the contraction worse. We used Hypnobabies techniques to get through them for 2 hours and Lia was getting to the point where her nausea was soooo bad, and she was starting to panic a little. We decided the best thing would be to start the Epidural, and not a moment too soon, because when they came in they said that her blood pressure was getting so high that it was either they start the epidural or start magnesium...which is not pleasant. Since Lia had already decided to go with the epidural, the anesthesiologist was on his way. She performed like a champ and he placed it with no problems, and afterward she started feeling SO much better, and she was very glad she did it. (even though at that point she would have almost had to do it anyway for medical reasons) But after a few minutes, her BP went from a dangerous 180/110 to a normal 130/74, her HORRIBLE nausea went away, and she was able to relax and ride through her pressure waves with ease and comfort. I was so relieved to see her doing better, because the combination of the nausea and dry heaves rockin her during her contractions was very hard to watch. I must say, the chick is tough as nails and went from being dilated at a 4 at admission, all the way through those terrible dry heave contractions and got up to an 8, totally unmedicated before it just got to be too much and was skyrocketing her BP to dangerous levels. Anyway, her contractions were going smoothly now, and after a while our magnificent doctor, Dr. Bean showed up and we all felt SO much better about everything. He really puts Lia at ease just by even being in the room, we all just love him. After a little while longer just calmly riding out more contractions, it was time to start pushing! Our amazing nurse Paula grabbed one foot and I grabbed the other, pulled them up, and Lia started pushing, all the while our nurse saying how impressive her pushes were and how great she was doing, and she really was. After just a few pushes i saw my first glimpse of his head, and lots of light brown hair, and things started getting VERY real. Lia pushed and pushed and opened all the way, and then all we had to do was rest a little bit while Dr. Bean took care of a C-section a few doors down, and come back to take care of us. Lia continued to push more and more, getting the baby closer and closer, and then Dr. Bean came back and it was GAME ON! pushing, pushing, and the finally his head popped out, and the rest of his purpley body came easily out after, although a little sideways. His cord was very short, so it was all we could do to kind of put him up on Lia's lap, but he was already very happy and not crying at all. A few short moments, and they had me clip the cord, and because he was technically considered a preemie because he was 2 days before 37 weeks, they had some respiratory specialists check him out before giving him to his beaming, proud and very tired momma. At this point I was crying so hard i could barely see him, because at first glance I couldn't believe what a beautiful baby boy we had made, it turned me straight to mush. He checked out just fine, and was soon united with his waiting mommy and was happily cuddling and looking very happy. Let me just say that this kid is the most mellow baby I have ever seen, they could hardly get him to cry during his assessment! They let us hang around with him for about 2 hours before they moved us downstairs to the Mom and Baby wing, and I went with him to get all cleaned off, while they went over some stuff with Lia. Once again, mellow and chill, he sat through his bath and measurements without making a peep, and was SO good and calm the whole time, and he only fussed when the nurse came and put lotion on him (if you know me, he's a chip off the block for sure... lol) The nurse in there told me that he was actually measuring and has the development of a 38-39 week baby, not 36 and change. After that, I got to proudly wheel my newly clean little man back to his waiting Mom, Grammy, and Paupie, and now here I sit, remembering it all and trying not to cry.

 To recap, Nash Ryland Gerke was born on 5/25/2011, at 8:40 pm, 13 hours after Lia's water broke, he weighed 6lbs 11 oz, he was 19 inches long, has a full head of light brown- blondeish hair, and is most definitely the cutest thing I have ever seen, and has turned his Dad into a sobbing pile of mush, and totally captured the love of everyone who sees him. Lia is doing great, and just nursed him successfully for the first time, and both  momma and baby are doing excellent.

We are incredibly grateful to God for giving us such a beautiful, healthy son-- and Thankful for the love and support of all of our friends and family. If i haven't texted you back yet, it's because I sent out 76 picture message announcements, and got back over 100 replies full of wishes, cheers, and prayers. We would also like to thank our wonderful neighborhood for supplying us with meals while Lia was on bedrest, and all of you who gave generously at baby showers and to all who have helped us with other needs as well.

I also apologize for any inconsistencies, or spelling or grammatical errors, as it is 2AM.  :)

Thanks for sharing this special day with us!
The Utah Gerkes