The S t a n g e r Story: June 2010

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Night Owl

It is now 1:04 am. And my baby is fighting this little thing called sleep. He tries so hard. You know when you are so tired and you just can't sleep. You wake up to look at the clock and then you slam your head back on the pillow because the time is just slipping through your fingers as you try to hold on to just a few minutes of sleep. Poor guy, I think this is what he feels like right now. Fortunately, I got a good nap in today so I am not doing so bad. But poor Daddy he is trying so hard to get little Connor to sleep, so he can sleep too. Connor loves his Daddy, so if anyone can get him to sleep it's Daddy. Connor likes it when Daddy rubs his forehead to his nose, it relaxs him. So cross your fingers that he will fall into a deep sleep, consisting of three solid hours or more, actually right now we would go for one.

I feel kind of bad because it is partly my fault, I am trying not to feed him constantly at night so that he doesn't get dependent on nursing to sleep. But he is not liking the process. Don't worry I am not starving him or anything, I just am trying to get him in a pattern of eating every two/three hours instead of everytime he rolls over and wakes. He did good the past few days, so I am trying to keep my hopes high. I just wish I hadn't gotten him in such a bad routine in the first place. Well I guess for baby #2 I will have things a little more figured out.

I love you baby Connor!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Happy Days

Happy Father's Day!

First of all I want to thank my Dad for all the support and love he has shown me throughout my life. He has been a true blessing and inspired me to pursue my dreams and to never think little of myself. I am so grateful for his influence in my life and for the strong example he has shown me. He has always honored his role as a father above all other roles and I know that fatherhood has been one of his greatest accomplishments.
I love you Dad.

Last Sunday was a special day for our little family. It was the first of many Father's days to come for Shea. Saturday we had a Father's Day dinner with Shea's family, steaks. Sunday morning Connor and I made Shea breakfast in bed. Then we gave Shea some new ties and socks (I know we are so creative). I made a card for Shea and Connor added his handprint to it. We had a lot of fun and I am so grateful for Shea.

Some of my favorite moments since Shea has been a Daddy:
- Right after Connor was born, Shea followed him all around the room. He couldn't keep his eyes off him. And he just kept looking back at me smiling, like he was saying "wow I can't believe he's finally here".
- After my family left we had a couple really rough nights in a row, one night Connor had wet through 8 outfits and as Shea was changing him (in the dark at 5ish) he peed all over (soaking himself from head to toe) Shea cleaned him all up and changed him and then as he was putting the new diaper on he pooped all over. I was sitting in bed listening, and what did Shea do but start laughing so hard. So I started laughing too. And then he hugs him real tight (after he is clean and has a diaper on) and says "Your lucky your so cute little man, because you sure know how to make a mess" and then he kisses him all up. It was sweet.
- When Connor is sleeping Shea will come over and pick him up and kiss him real big and say "Wake up Connor Wonnor, I want to play"
- Every day when Shea comes home from work/school his first words when he walks in the door are "Where's my little boy?" then he proceeds to take him and give him lots of kisses

I love this man!

"Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad."

"Father I will always be

that same boy who stood by the sea

and watched you tower over me

now I'm older I wanna be the same as you"

Yellowcard
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Happy 22nd Birthday!

On Monday, June 21st I turned 22! I have been missing my family a lot since they have been gone and Shea has been gone a lot catching up on school and work. So Shea worked very hard to make this birthday very special for me. I was so shocked with his plans for my birthday. First, I got a text that said be ready by 3:00pm. Around 2:30pm I got a special delivery, of flowers. There was an amazing card inside that was so sweet, it made me feel so good to hear all the reasons why Shea loves me and how amazing he thinks I am doing at being a wife and mother. Then I got an envelope that said Present #1 on it, inside were Shea Bucks for me to spend on fun things like: Emergency Date Night, Saturday Morning House Cleaner, etc.

When Shea came to pick me up he got Connor all packed up to be babysat. After we dropped Connor off, and gave him lots of kisses goodbye we headed out. Present #2 was a trip to the bookstore. Present #3 was dinner/desert at Outback.

Present #4 was a trip to the mall.
Present #5 was tickets to the movie "The Killers",
don't let the name fool you it's a cute chick flick.

Shea made my birthday awesome. I love having someone so special in my life that knosws just what I need. At the end of the night we both were anxious to pick Connor up. So when we got home we enjoyed snuggling with him in bed. I love my life!

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Three Weeks Old!

Connor is now three weeks. What did we do to celebrate? Well Daddy got off work a little early so that we could have a picnic in the park. It was such a nice day so we decided to take advantage of the good weather. And apparently so did everyone else, because the park was crowded. Fortunately, Daddy led the way and found us a nice, quiet spot in the shade. Connor loved looking all around, he was so alert. The trees above us fascinated him.

Strolling across the park was very bumpy.

His eyes were so big the whole time, just trying to take it all in.

"Superman"

We had such a fun time at the park playing together!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

I feel like a Superhero

I DID IT!
Baby Connor is here and we are so happy. He amazes me everyday. We are so blessed to have such a good natured boy. He is a squealer instead of a crier. It is so fun whenever he gets mad he will squirm around a while and then give us a squeal. Haha I love it. He makes me so happy! We are one lucky little family of three!

For those of you who are interested,

here are the highlights of the birthing experience:

Well I got to the hospital at 10:30 am, it took about an hour to get all checked-in.

I was 3 cm dilated at this point.

At 11:52 am they started me on Pitocin, which made my contractions stronger and more frequent. The doctor came in around this time to break my water too.

At 2:00ish I got an epidural, since my contractions had gotten pretty intense by this time.

I was 4.5 cm dilated at this time.

After the epidural things moved pretty fast. They put me on oxygen because my blood pressure was getting too low and the baby’s heart rate was dropping. They think this was due to the Pitocin, because this happened every time they upped my dosage. So I was on oxygen for the rest of the time, which was actually nice.

30 mins passed from the time they last checked me …

To everyone’s surprise I was now 9 cm dilated. Big jump.

10 mins later I was 10 cm.

Shea and I were getting all excited to meet our baby, in what we thought could be minutes.

But the doctor decided to up my dosage of Pitocin, in hopes that the baby would come down a little farther so I wouldn’t have to push as long.

2 hours later, and not much progress. I started pushing.

Baby’s head was not in position so every time I pushed they would try to move it, but baby was moving all around. So his head kept rotating and rotating, and it would only be in position for a short time before he would move again. A little frustrating.

I pushed for about 90 mins, it didn’t feel that long though. The oxygen they gave me helped to keep my energy level high, and Shea was a great motivator. I was so grateful for his strength and support throughout the whole time. I had our beautiful baby boy at 6:42 pm.

So it was all pretty fast! I was worried I would be in labor for 14+ hours, or something ridiculous. But I got lucky!

Connor Lincoln Stanger was born 7 pounds and 1 ounce! He is so small and precious.

My family drove all the way out here to welcome this little boy. They took good care of us as I am recovering and as we are learning the ins and outs of our baby Connor! I am so grateful for them and their support and guidance. Both Shea and I miss having them here. Shea says that since we miss having our home so lively it must mean we are going to have a big family. And I don't deny the fact that after having this little guy I am anxious for more... but not just yet :)

Here are some pictures of our adventures in the last two weeks...