Happy Mother's Day - Better Late Than Never

Well, I'm a little late on this post, but I still want to share the lovely Mother's Day gift my boys gave me. We came home from the hospital on Mother's Day. It was all a blur and I, unfortunately, don't remember much of Mother's Day this year. Next year will be different...Caden will be a year old!

A few days after Mother's Day, when I had actually gotten a few hours of sleep under my belt, the boys presented me with a beautiful Mother's Day gift - a diamond and emerald necklace. Jeremy (with a little help from my mom and dad) designed it at a local jewelry store. The diamond is from my original engagement ring (the one he proposed with!) and the three emeralds are in honor of Caden (emerald is the birthstone for May!).

I, of course, cried (was it the thoughtfulness? Hormones? A combination of both?) and love to wear it any chance I get. I have to be careful though, little fingers love to grab at it!

A Few Questions...

Now that I've been doing this "mom" thing for a few weeks, I have a few unanswered questions for those a little more experienced than me:

Why does air seem to encourage projectile pooping and peeing?

Why are newborns so noisy when they sleep?

When will I figure out the noise that means "feed me" and how it is different from the one that means "snuggle me."

Will I ever be able to turn off my brain long enough to REALLY sleep for a few hours?

Could I create a new perfume? It would be a lovely combination of milk and spit up - I think I could call is "Eau de New Mom."

Why does everything that hurts him hurt me twice as much? Seriously, a 12 day old with an infected circumcision? That's just not fair! Luckily, we were able to get him on some antibiotics and we're ALL a lot happier!

Will I ever be able to get out of the house before noon?

Will he ever be able to sleep in his bed by himself?

How can one little guy be so darn cute?!?

Why can't we get this breastfeeding thing down? If I pump and bottle feed him does that mean I'm a bad mom? Will I regret that I gave up too quickly? On that front, we have a lot going against us - some of it is due to the size and shape of me (I'll just say it, huge breasts and flat nipples), and some of it is due to his gassiness. They want me to feed him so he is sitting up. Hmm, that is tricky! Why does something so natural feel so unnatural?

Will I be able to go more than two days without feeling overwhelmed and crying?

Will I ever love anything or anyone as much as I love him?

Our First Few Days at Home

Caden is now one week old. Our big outings have been a walk around the block and a visit to downtown Golden. Here are a few pictures from our first few days at home.

Swingin'

In his big boy crib - only for a few quiet naps

Milk coma!

Going on a walk

Wide awake

A sleepy angel

And The Winner Is...

Thank you to everyone that participated in our online baby pool. It was a lot of fun to see everyone's guesses - although some of you were just plain mean - a week late and over 9 pounds?!?

The big winner of our game is (drum roll please...)

Grammy Brazil!

To see how you did in the pool, check out the link below

http://www.expectnet.com/games/J_L_Zahrte

He's Here! Meet Caden Paul Zahrte

Caden Paul made his debut into the world on Friday, May 8 at 4:30 pm, weighing in at 7 pounds 10 ounces, 19.5 inches long. I started having contractions around 11:30pm on Thursday and, after a quick call to labor and delivery, we headed to the hospital around 3:00am. I was dilated to 3cm when I arrived and they decided my bag of waters had not ruptured as I had originally thought, however, I was contracting regularly. After waiting and being rechecked at at 6:00, I had progressed to 4cm and they admitted me. I was given an epidural and pitocin around 9:30 am. At 2:30 I was 8cm, and at 3:00 I was 10cm and ready to push! An hour and a half later our little bundle arrived. The coolest part was that our OB was on call (that hardly ever happens!) and she let JZ help deliver Caden. With a little help from Dr. Panzarella, Jeremy got to catch him and then cut the umbilical cord.

Thank you to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. We are all adjusting to each other and doing our best to try to figure this stuff out without an instruction manual. If we haven't gotten a chance to call or see you, we will soon. Right now the hours of the day are just slipping by and we're trying to enjoy as many of them as we can.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures from the big day!

We are now in full labor - Caden's heart rate is on the top, and my contractions are on the bottom. Thank goodness for an epidural!

Catching a few last ZZZZ's before pushing

Hope this one isn't too graphic - all private parts have been cut out! This shows JZ's arm on the bottom catching him as he comes out.

Our first moments together. For anyone that is wondering about my fear of not "recognizing" him and "knowing" it was my son when he first came out, don't worry, I did. How could I not? He looks just like his daddy!



Kim and Nana Z



Proud Papa

Grammy and Caden

My favorite little guy!

Sleeping with Daddy

Handsome boy

Our Life in Pictures

Here are a few pictures from the last week or so...

We went to a fundraiser for the WOW! Children's' Museum in Lafayette. Our friend Katie works there, and a group of us have gone for the past 3 years. Once again, we had a great time - open bar, dinner, a live and silent auction, and gambling - a recipe for fun! This year there was a western theme. JZ borrowed his entire outfit from a variety of people, and he looked great! Check him out!

Yeehaw!

I dressed up as a fully clothed, clean, 38 week pregnant gal. That was the best I could offer! We ended up winning some cool stuff from the auction. Thanks to the recession, our little group was one of the high rollers. Good for us, but sad for WOW! Our best win was a guys poker night - beer, cigars, tables, cards, and dealers for 20.

We also celebrated the 1st Birthday of our Goddaughter, Brianna. Her mom and dad threw her a humdinger of a party and she had a great time! Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Yummo! Go get it Brianna!

Guess who is feeling better? Yup, Belle finished all of her meds and is feeling like her old self again. Here she is in her favorite place in the world - on our bed snuggling with her Daddy (see Daddy's hair sticking out the top of the covers?). What you can't see is the ottoman that is on the side of our bed so she could have a step to get from the floor to the bed.

JZ (with LOTS of help from my dad!) has been working around the clock on "honey-do" projects. He has been traveling non-stop since February, and lots of household projects were pushed to the side. He has a list a mile long and is working intently on trying to get them marked off. Unfortunately, for every item he marks off, he finds another one to add. "Turn on sprinklers" turned into "fix broken pipe." I'm so glad everything decided to wait and break until he got home full time. When I say everything, I mean everything - satellite receiver, sprinkler, dishwasher...

And me? I've been very busy too! I have gotten my nails and eyebrows done, had a facial, massage, and a haircut. Whew, I'm exhausted! Just kidding - I mean I still did all of those things, but I have been doing my share of nesting as well. We've had the carpets cleaned, shaved the dog, and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. We're trying to get as much done this week as possible. Then we can just sit around and wait for this turkey to pop! I think I'm pretty much cooked. Last week I actually burned my belly on the stove. There was a pan cooking on the stove and I reached up to the cabinet above the stove. Suddenly my belly was on fire! I even got a mark - through my shirt and my panel. Oops, sorry Caden!

We Have Progress!

Today was our 38 week appointment. I was PRAYING there would be some sort of progress - at least enough to keep me hopeful. Yeah, yeah, yeah, there was! I was 50% effaced and his head is now in the -1 pelvic station. She couldn't get a good reading on my cervix because his head has dropped in front of my cervix. This is very normal (I came home and quickly did some Google research!) and it should come forward as I continue to dilate. She guessed that I am a few centimeters dilated, but again she couldn't tell for sure. She said she could try to get to my cervix, but it would probably be painful and not necessary since I'm not having active contractions. Not necessary? Painful? No thanks!

She also estimated that he is about 7 1/2 pounds and that if I go to my due date, he'll probably be 8 1/2. A good size kiddo, but totally deliverable. Not the 10 pound whale I have been bracing myself for!

We go back for our next appointment in 9 days. Do you think we'll make it?!?