Life with Lincoln...

We are adjusting to life as a family of four. Lincoln is a good baby, he is an awesome eater and sleeper during the day, but tends to get a little extra fussy at night. So, other than the typical sleep-deprived parents of a newborn, life is great!!!

Trying to catch up on some much needed sleep...

This is how I found Jayden today when I was folding laundry.

Jayden is such a loving big brother! He hasn't been jealous at all, just extra helpful. He loves to hold him, hug him, kiss him, and is always checking on him. Good thing newborns can sleep through anything!

Jayden has been getting whiny at nap and bedtime lately, and will cry for either me or Brian, whoever isn't the one putting him down. But today for naptime, Brian was putting him down, so Jayden was crying and asking for me, and when Brian said no, that he already gave me a hug and kiss and it was time for bed, he said that Jayden started asking for "Link". He is such a sweetheart, just full of love!

Announcing...

Lincoln Bud Turner

June 14, 2011

10:36 pm

7 lbs 3 oz

20 inches

We are so excited to have our new little bundle of joy!

We came in the 14th at 11:30 am to be induced, and weren't quite sure how long of a labor to expect this time, but got started on the Pitocin pretty quickly. I was at a 5 around 8 or 8:30 pm, so we weren't sure if we'd have this little guy on the 14th or the 15th. Then they broke my water and I got the blessed epidural.

About half an hour later, I started feeling like I should push, but thought, "I was just a 5 only half an hour ago, there's no way I could be ready to push already!" So I waited a little, but there was no doubt about it. I told the nurse, and she came to check me. As she did, she said "Well, you're about a 7...no wait...an 8, a 9...uh...I think I need to go call your Dr!"

So the nurse called the Dr, but it would take about 45 minutes for her to get to the hospital. So, I waited for an hour, trying not to push...finally, my Dr. arrived, I pushed through four contractions, and at 10:36 he was here!

Lincoln and I are doing fabulous. We truly could not have had a better labor and delivery. I (surprisingly) feel fantastic. Brian's dad joked that I have good pioneer blood, and should be out plowing fields. I don't know about that, but I am doing well so far.

Lincoln has great color, and is eating and sleeping like a champ. They are doing a few extra blood tests right now to confirm the antibodies haven't affected him, and will repeat them in the morning, just to compare and make sure the levels don't increase. Hopefully he can be released tomorrow evening.

Jayden was so excited to see and hold the baby. He is going to be such a good big brother.

Here he had to grab Lincoln's cheek and turn his face so he could give him a proper kiss.

Giving little brother a hug...

Pointing out Lincoln's nose...

Another kiss...

I love this picture, it just looks like he's giving Lincoln a gentle bear hug. He's such a sweetheart.

Thanks for all the well wishes, prayers, and congratulations! We feel incredibly blessed, and are so excited for our little family!

Making Baby Stuff

A friend wanted to see some of the things I made for baby, so here they are! I made more than just these, but these are what I had already washed and ready for the baby.

I used the template found here for the shape of these burp cloths.

These ones I just used whatever fabric scraps I had-some fabric strips are wider than others, depending on what I had.

I have been wanting to make a diaper & wipes case for a long time now. I just haven't found one that I really like-the ones I have are the envelope design, and while they are cute, they really only hold one diaper, and after I stuff the wipes plus two diapers in there it won't velcro closed. I just made do since Jayden doesn't need that many diapers anymore anyway, but, now that I will have two in diapers (yikes!) I just knew I couldn't handle that anymore. I needed something that would hold wipes and at least three or four diapers.

I thought about making the pattern I found here, but decided that would be way too bulky by the time I made it big enough to fit what I needed in it. This was Saturday, so I was getting desperate to find something I could make before the baby comes.

Then, I actually just ended up seeing a muffin mix pouch from Lehi Roller Mills that I had laying around (I use them to keep Jayden's Mr. Potato Head accessories and other random stuff in), and used that as inspiration. It was wide enough and tall enough to fit wipes and a few diapers, and if I had to stuff it really full for a long day's outing, I didn't have to worry about any velcro. With the drawstring, it didn't really matter if it would close all the way or not, it would still hold the diapers in.

The front and back panel each total ~8x12 inches. You could cut two pieces of fabric that size, or piece together combinations like I did to total 8x12. I sewed right sides together in a U shape, and left just a little of one top edge unsewn for the drawstrings to come out. Then I placed the twine where I wanted it, and pinned the top down, making sure to note where I had pinned so I wouldn't sew on top of the twine so I could pull it. I did this because I was too lazy to sew the hem and then try to pull the twine through it after the fact. I pulled the whole thing right sides out before I sewed that part. I did that because I didn't what the bobbin side of the sewing to be seen from the exterior. Does that make sense?

Here I have it closed with the wipes case and three of Jayden's diapers, and there's still some room to spare! So I will be able to easily fit a few of the baby's diapers and one or two of Jayden's.

It was so easy and fast, I plan to make a few more that aren't pieced together to just keep extra diapers in the car or have handy for whatever. Won't get done before tomorrow though.

And, now on to my favorite project! I made a new carseat canopy, and I am in love with it. I used the basic measurements found here, but I made my striped fabric pieces at the top and bottom bigger and added the blue ric rac. I did make the fabric handles like in the tutorial, but then I thought it looked too weird since my carseat has the funny angled handle, and the fabric is already busy enough. So, instead, I just pinned the ribbon where I wanted it, sewed it on, sealed the edges, and tied them on the carseat.

Anyway, I guess I'm all ready for baby! Next time I post I'll have another little darling in that seat!

Title Blog

I have a few friends with private blogs that also keep a public blog so people can follow and see when they make new posts to their private blog. I've been meaning to do that for a while now, and just finally got around to it.

If you'd like to follow it, our public blog is totallyturner1.blogspot.com

I will make a title post with a link to the private blog whenever I post.

Thanks!

Cars 2

Yesterday downtown they were doing a promotion for Cars 2! Jayden's friend is as much a fanatic for Cars as Jayden is for Toy Story, so we went down to check it out! The boys had fun, although Mommy nearly melted it was so hot!

We got a bunch of pics taken and got to pick out a keychain, which is now for our mail key! There was a forever and a day long line for temporary tattoos, but we figured our time would be better spent buying some at Party City (if we ever decide we care that much), so we skipped that line.

Then we went over to the park in the shopping center and played and played and played. This park is quite fun, they have a few different tree-houses, a splash pad, a maze, a play theatre stage, etc.

We spent most of our time on the slides and in the water.

That 'voluptuous lady' on the left accidently bumped Jayden while trying to splash her sister, and took a weird, almost creepy interest in Jayden from then on. Not a fan.

We had a great time, and ended the day with a visit to Dairy Queen! Even though it completely wiped Mommy out (and then some), Jayden was kind enough to wake up at 5:20 am! For the love!

Thanks Daddy for getting up with him so I could go back to sleep!

Baby Update

Well, we've had a bit of a roller coaster ride the past few months regarding the baby! Way back, I tested positive for an antibody test, and I will try to make a really long story a little shorter as I explain what that means...

Basically, Brian has an antigen that for whatever reason my body doesn't have, and he gave it to Jayden, and when I delivered Jayden he gave it to me. My body didn't know what to do with it, so my body started making antibodies to fight this "foreign" antigen, should my body ever encounter it again.

Once I got pregnant again (baby #2 also has the antigen from Brian), my body recognized it and started creating more antibodies to fight off this antigen. At first, the antibody levels were low enough and the cells were big enough that they weren't crossing the placenta, but then my levels increased, so Zumba/exercise got cut and off I went to a specialist. We found out a little more, but this is a pretty rare situation, so information has been hard to find. My Dr. warned me that searching on the internet was going to bring up a lot of horror stories. At this point I was told that if my antibody levels increased again, the safest way to protect baby from my antibodies would be to deliver him. It would be safer to treat a preemie baby out of the womb than from within. That was horror story enough for me, so I opted not to upset myself even more by searching on the internet.

I have been seeing my regular OB and a specialist every week for a while now and have had to get bloodwork, an ultrasound to check the baby's fluids and bloodflow to the brain, and the stress test to monitor the baby's heartbeat every week. These tests all monitor the baby's condition and give signals as to whether the antibodies are harming the baby or not. The antibodies can cause a range of problems, including blood deficiencies, jaundice, anemia, organ damage, etc.

Since I have been seeing both my OB and a specialist, my antibody levels haven't increased any more, and yesterday my antibody levels actually went back down! Baby seems stronger and more active than ever, and doesn't appear to been affected yet, which is fantastic!

I have made it this far, which is farther than either Dr. initially predicted (the original goal was to try to make it to June 1), which is great. He is really low now, and I am scheduled to be induced Tuesday afternoon. At that point I will be 39 weeks, and the benefits of keeping him in aren't worth the risk of my antibodies and such.

So, 5 days and counting until we meet baby brother!

His nursery is all ready, and I've been finishing little things, like taking Jayden to the Dr. for an ear infection, laundry, and prepping meals ahead of time, passing the days until Tuesday!

We did decide on a name, so check the blog on Wednesday or Thursday to find out!