Getting to know Adam

Adam is four days old today!  We came home from the hospital on Friday and had his check up yesterday and he is doing great!  Eating a lot and pooping a lot :)  I can't believe how much he has changed even in these early days.  Here are some photos.  I wish you all could meet him!

Passed out after a feeding.

Human pacifier!  This has been key for keeping him calm during diaper changes.  He hates being undressed and cold!

This is one of my favorites.  A little smiley face while sleeping.

Napping on Grandma Ann.

Having my mom here has been such a blessing!  Adam loves his Grandma!

This is the outfit that Adam wore to come home from the hospital.  It was made by my grandma and is the same outfit that my brother, sister, and I wore home from the hospital when we were born.  Adam wore it with pride.

Hanging out at the hospital.

Father and son.

He Has Arrived!

Finally, he has arrived!  Adam Carl Swenson was born on November 26, at 8:02 PM.  He weighed 8 lbs on the nose and was 21.4 inches long.  Phil and I both really like the name Adam, and Carl was my grandpa's name.  Here are a few pictures and a short story for those of you curious about Adam's birthday:

Hi, I weigh eight pounds, and I can prove it!

I'm so glad daddy was with me right after I was born.  It is cold out here!

He had a little bit of a conehead when he came out, but it went away quickly  :)

Meeting mommy.  Such an amazing experience after carrying him for nine months.

Here is a short story of his birth.  I'll keep it brief and PG...for those interested, we can talk on the phone :)

Because of my high blood pressure, I was scheduled to be induced.  So, on November 25, Phil and I went to the hospital at about 7:30 PM.  Although they wouldn't actually start my labor until the next morning, they wanted me to come in the night before and spend the night so they could monitor how dialated I was and make sure I was ready to go in the morning.  At this point, I was a little nervous, not knowing what to expect, but Phil and I were also very excited and couldn't believe that it was finally time.  We had talked about this for so long!

In the morning, around 7 the nurses and Dr. came in to see how things were going and start my IV.  Then, around 9 they started the Pitocin, which is the drug that begins contractions...it worked.  The beginning wasn't too bad, though, and I was breathing through contractions and Phil and I walked through the hallways.  

Around 12:30, labor was progressing well and the Dr. broke my water.  Holy cow!  Without that cushion in there contractions came much faster and harder immediately!  I knew it would happen, but I thought it would be a little more gradual.  The good news is that the show was definitely on the road!

I waited as long as I could to get the epidural, since I didn't want labor to stop or slow.  But, with contractions coming hard, and right on top of each other, I decided to get the epidural so that I could rest and be ready to push when the time came.  It took them a while to get the epidural started, so I had a pretty rough time until 2:30, when they finally finished.  Phil and my nurse were amazing during this time helping me get through it.  

I was able to rest and let my body do the work until Dr. came in and told me I was ready to push - probably around 7:30.  At this point, I was very focused on what I had to do.  The Dr. called the pediatrician and told her that I was ready to push and she should come to my room in about an hour for the birth.  He had me do a practice push, and was amazed to see the baby right away!  Dr. was back on the phone telling the pediatrician that she actually should come now :)  Fifteen minutes later, Adam was born!  

Pushing was an amazing experience for me.  Phil watched the whole time as he held my leg and counted for me, and his amazement at the whole thing and his words between pushes were incredibly empowering for me.  

We are so excited to have our son!  I am slowly recovering and we are adjusting to the lack of sleep and days that revolve around Adam, but we can already tell that this is going to be the best thing we have ever done.    

Celebrating Baby in OH

Phil and I have been part of a newly-formed small group at our church.  It was started by our friends Andy and Susie, and we are all Airforce couples.  So, last night we left our house to go to Bible study as we usually do on Wednesday nights.  However, when we got there, we discovered that our friends had planned a little party for Baby Swenson!   

What a surprise!

Susie made yummy cake and cupcakes...YUM!

Since we already have most of the stuff that Baby needs, the theme was board books.  Since many of the girls in our group are moms, we got a lot of good ones - mother approved, child tested!

Here is Phil checking out his new reads.

Baby made quite a haul in books!

Don't worry, we also whipped out some Guitar Hero so the boys didn't feel too baby-showered up :)  Sorry, no photos of that, though.

This new group of friends has been such a blessing to us.  We've only lived here for about three months, and to already have peeps supporting us and praying for us as we welcome our son is so huge.  God is good!

Do it Rockapella!

Ok, so for those of you who don't know, I am obsessed with Rockapella. Many of you may know them as "the guys who sang the theme song on Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego." However, they have now become one of the leading forces in a capella music, and put on one of the best and most fun live shows ever. Blah, blah, blah...the point is - I HEART them. So, whenever they are within a 2 hour radius of our house, I am pretty much there. Upon our marriage, Phil was indoctrinated, and thank goodness he likes them too, so I have a date for each concert.

What do you know, we find out we're moving to Ohio and they schedule a concert about 15 minutes from our new house. So, Phil and I were, of course, there in the fourth row on November 15th. It was pretty much the best night ever, and a great date night for us right before the baby arrives.

After the concert, they were signing autographs, which they have never done at any of the other concerts I have been to, so I was pretty excited. I feel a little silly because Rockapella is, to me, what Zac Efron is to teenage girls. (I hope that's a correct analogy! Guy from Highschool Musical, girls go nuts over him???) So, I got all their autographs and Kevin Wright even talked to me about the baby and wished us luck. It was magical :)

So the down side to this whole story...I didn't have my camera with me! What?!?! Yeah, I was bummed. So, this is the only thing I have to offer you...

Update

Hi everyone!  I wanted to give an update on the recent developments around here.  A few weeks ago, my blood pressure started to go up, which is pretty common, especially in first pregnancies.  I was tested for preeclampsia, but the test was negative (good!).  So, they are just calling it a mild dose of pregnancy induced hypertension.  Just to be safe, I have been going into the Dr. twice a week so that they can monitor the baby and my blood pressure (as opposed to the normal once a week Dr. appt.).  Baby has  been looking great and my blood pressure has been fine - still a bit on the high side, but nothing alarming.  

Although going in twice a week is a bit tedious, it is actually kind of fun to be able to hear his heart beating away and see his activity (and starting today, some mild contractions!) on the monitor.  I also get to have an ultrasound every week.  They are actually checking the fluid level, but whatever, I get to see the baby!  He's so big now that you can't really see much, but it's still good.   

Even though everything is just fine and baby is still kicking away in there, they want to induce my labor at 39 weeks if I haven't gone naturally by that time.  Apparently, research shows that babies don't do as well after that in moms that have high bp, so they induce to be safe.  

SO...I am scheduled to go into the hospital on the 25th of November to start the process.  I'm not too crazy about the idea of being induced, honestly, but I am crazy about the idea of the pregnancy being over and Baby being here in the world with us!  This week Phil and I are getting all the last minute things done and having lots of good chats about our baby and becoming parents.  Phil has been amazing, by the way, taking over many of the household tasks and making me yummy dinners!  

We'll keep everyone posted here.  We know a lot of you have been praying for us and the baby for a while now, and we are so thankful.  Please keep the prayers coming during the next week!   

Captain Phil

The day we have been waiting for finally arrived on Monday, November 10, and Phil was promoted to Captain!  Yay!  I am so proud of him.  

Here is a shot of the new rank on his shoulder.

I made these rocket cookies for him to celebrate...aren't they cool?  Can you find the heart-shaped one?  That one was made special!

So, don't forget to give him a little salute the next time you see him!