Our first week

Cache has been so fun to have around. Unfortunately when I had him, I also had a cold so that was quickly passed on to him. His first week has been spent fighting off a cold. He hated the suction bulb at first, but now just bears it. He was sleeping really well at night the first couple of days, but the stuffy nose has been very frustrating for him and so he doesn't get to sleep as much. My friend Janelle came to visit me from Provo this last weekend. We took her around Placerville to see some cool mines and experience the essence of this little town that we have here. It really is a neat place and it has some awesome American history as it is the town where gold was first discovered in California. It's been extremely fun to have a baby around, tiring, but rewarding! He is so cute and I can't get over it. Here is a picture after his first bath!

We are going private...

So all those who want to stay up on our blog, give me your e-mail address either in the comments or at jellrox27@hotmail.com. We'd love to keep you in our lives!

Here's More

Yep, I am going to be one of those people who posts a thousand pictures of my baby and I am not ashamed of it at all! He is just too darn cute to waste a post without him. Every picture I take of him, he is usually asleep, but that is just typical. My mom took a million of him before she left, but I forgot to get them so I will have to wait till she can send me a CD with all those pictures.

Three days old

Here is Cache at 3 days old...he already looks a lot different. We had to go to his first prenatal appointment today (Sunday, I know...weird!) But everything went really well. He lost a few ounces which is common. When we took off his diaper to weigh him, he showed us how far he could aim...it was a beautiful yellow rainbow! The nurse was impressed as was I! I will try to post more pictures as they come along! We are sad to say goodbye to Grandma Ross tomorrow because she was such a great help to us! Cache loves his grandma! But we are excited to have G-pa and G-ma Calkins around to help out and love him!

A Late Birthday Present....

Well folks, the Birthday Boy is finally here! He arrived on Thursday, September 18th at 2:27 p.m. Here is the labor story because I know everyone wants to hear how this much anticipated event occurred...

Wednesday, I began to feel contractions about 9 a.m. but did not think much about them because I had felt contractions for almost 2 weeks before. But as the day progressed, I felt them get a little worse. I warned Logan that there may be a possibility that we could head to the hospital, but knowing my luck, it wouldn't happen. At about 3:30, we decided to head into town and feel the contractions out a bit, see if they would go away or get worse. Obviously, they began to get worse, so we decided to go to the hospital and check out our situation.

When we got there, they took their sweet time checking me out. My contractions were about 6 minutes apart, but I was still only dilated to 1 cm and 90% effaced....not enough to get me in. So the doctor told me to go walk around and eat and then come back at about 9 pm. So Logan and I strolled around 2 malls and ate at the cheesecake factory. After, I went and laid in the back of our car because the pain was getting pretty intense. We found ourselves in a predicament because on one hand the contractions were getting closer together and we thought that maybe they might admit us in, but on the other hand, there was a chance they would send us on our long late hour drive home. So we called the hospital and pitched them the idea of letting us at least get checked out so we could make sure we didn't just spend 5 hours trying for nothing.

They checked me yet again and by that time, which was around 10 pm, I had only dilated to 2 cm. Still not enough to get us in, we set off on our journey home with our heads hung low, but before we left, the nurse gave me a few pills so that my contractions wouldn't hurt as bad and so that I could sleep with a surety we would be back in the morning. Forty-five minutes into the drive, I was konked out, but still feeling the contractions intensely. We got home and I could not sleep. Logan managed to pull in about 45 minutes before I couldn't bare it anymore, so we put our clothes on and headed back to the hospital.

When they checked me, I was dilated to 3 cm and still 90% effaced. It was enough to admit me and so the hard labor began. I got my epidural at 4 cm (my mom suggested it since by the time she would hit 5 cm, she would dilate to 10 in about 15 minutes). After it took its toll, life got sweeter and my labor progressed very well with the help of some petocin. After they upped the petocin, I dilate from 4 cm to 10 within 30 minutes. Logan had just gone to lunch when they checked me, so I had to call him back in because we were going to start pushing.

I began pushing at about 2 pm and when they saw the head, they rushed me into the delivery room. By 2:27 pm, he was out! He came out with a small nubin on his head because he had been in -1 station for over 2 weeks! My mom and Logan thought he had a small head, but as soon as they gave me the episiotomy, they realized it was the nub that had been sticking out..haha! He had a full head of black hair, but was hardly covered in blood! He weighed in at a hefty 9 lbs 2 oz and was 21 inches long! Let's just say the boy was ripe! Needless to say he is beautiful and we love him very much. I had to stay for 3 days because of the blood problems I've had, but all came out well and we are home and very happy! My mom is here and she cooked and cleaned and is taking every opportunity to hold Cache. He's gotten cuter and cuter by the day so we have great hopes for him. He can already hold his head up and has a very strong grip.

Anyhow, here are some pictures of my boy!


P.S. He got my lips, but mainly looks like Logan! Lucky boy!

I'm taking the baby ticker off...

It's just a bad reminder to me that I am overdue! Besides, I know how far along I am and that I don't have a baby!

Update

Well, still no baby...here is the update from my doctor's visit yesterday: Still dilated to 1 cm with the baby's head rip roarin to come out of me. My doctor stripped my membranes and said if it works, it will work in the next 24 hours...well its almost been 24 hours and still nothing. But I haven't given up hope yet. I asked him about inducing me because I was really losing sleep from all the itching but he didn't seem thrilled about the idea just yet. He wanted me to wait another week to see if I could go naturally. So we are going to talk next Friday about inducement if I haven't had him yet.

Other than that, everything is going great! I went out with a friend yesterday to this place called Apple Hill and I bought an apple pie, some delicious apples, apple donuts and some apple cider. It was really fun just to get out since Logan is pretty sick right now. Plus I thought walking around would take my mind off the fact that I haven't had a baby yet! I just hate when people stare at me and say, "Are you overdue?" Ummm, did anyone ever inform those people that is a rude thing to ask a pregnant, hormonal woman? But anyways, I just laughed and said, "You would think!" I'll be sure to update more soon!

Still No Baby...

He hasn't come yet, so the lack of posts is no indication that I am bearing a child in the hospital. But I have been consistently contracting since Sunday. The doctor checked me and I am about 1 cm dialated. So I don't believe it is too far off, but maybe not today or the next. My mom calls me a lot more just to make sure I am coming a long. But I have a doctor's appointment Friday and if I haven't had him by then, we are going to talk induction. I really don't want that since I hear its pretty painful, but we will give Cache a few days to figure out whether he wants to come out the easy or hard way...lol. Anyways, no new news....but who knows? I will keep everyone updated for sure and won't let you miss out on it! And don't worry Tanya, I will call you for sure! lol

My Beautiful Sister

I have 3 beautiful sisters, that's a fact..but the one that I am talking mainly about is my sister Caitlin, or as I prefer to call her, Catybug! I love this girl so much and just think the world of her. We are almost exactly 2 years apart, but that didn't stop us from being the best of friends! I am about 15 years younger than my oldest sister, Tanya and 12 or so from my next oldest, Traci. Though I am very close to them now and talk to them more as friends than as sisters, its Caitlin who really knows me as much as I suspect Traci and Tanya have that same relationship between them. But I just wanted to say that I love her so much and I think she is so wonderful, brave, funny, inspiring, beautiful, loving, and caring. She is one of my best friends and I would do anything for her! Just thought I would show her how much I care and how much I am thinking about her right now! I love you Catybug!

I've got the PUPPS

My friend Christy called me yesterday and started mentioning that she didn't see me updating my blog as much as I had before....well truth be told, there isn't much for me to write about as of late because I am still pregnant, still hot, and still tired as ever. About the most interesting thing to happen to me is my new former skin rash that showed its ugly little head about a week ago. I started noticing that my stomach started to get little red blister like bumps everywhere. I thought that they might just be some sort of heat rash, but as the days went on, they were getting worse and more itchy. So I did a little bit of research and after consulting with my doctor, the conclusion was in...I've got the PUPPS. What are PUPPS you might ask? Well PUPPS stands for Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy. Never heard of it before, you say, well that's because only about 1 out of 200 women actually get this annoying rash. My doctor said he has only had one other patient who got it. The worst part is is that there is no cure, no relief except for the delivery of the baby! Needless to say, I haven't been out much and just try to stay inside to sleep away the itchiness until the baby is born. Logan had threatened to put mittens on my hands several times to try and stop me because I have sores now all over my poor stomach. Anyways, your prayers are needed so that I might bare this child and get rid of these stinky annoying PUPPS! I feel sorry for any of you who will or already have had to bare this annoying rash...all you can do is just go to sleep until the baby comes out!
P.S. this isn't my belly...I wouldn't dare show you what it looks like on my own...let's just say it looks and feels like HADES!