Caught

Today I caught Karsen with the camera...

Yawning:

Sneezing:

Watching TV:

Posing for the camera:

Using his arm as a pillow:

Getting in touch with his inner cheerleader:

And my favorite....SMILING!:

I LOVE THIS BOY!

Love, Michaela

Thumb Fetish?

So Karsen recently discovered his thumb...

And then he found Tim's...

Maybe he just likes thumbs? Haha!

Love, Michaela

Bath Time!

Last night Karsen got his first tub bath at home! I know what you're thinking...the boy is almost 3 weeks old and he just now got a bath for the first time? Haha! No, we've just been pretty lazy and have been giving him wipe downs with a warm washcloth instead, so he hasn't been the smelly kid this whole time. :-P

I don't think he was really sure about it at first, but he seemed to calm down and enjoy, or tolerate it.

Here he is before the bath - he's only wearing a diaper and I have him wrapped in a blanket to keep him warm while Tim got the bath ready.

I got quite a few pictures of the event, but I don't want to get this page tagged for nudity (haha), so here are 2 pictures that don't show his private area:



And here he is all wrapped up in his towel after the bath:


I can't wait until he's a little older to take baths in the big tub with toys! :)

Love, Michaela

Father's Day 2009

What a busy day we had! Karsen had us up fairly early and we were able to relax just the 3 of us. Karsen was able to give the card he got when we ventured out to Target the other day to Tim. :)

I tried to get a picture of Tim and Karsen together but Tim's eyes kept closing because of the flash, so I finally had to have him close his eyes and count to 3 and have him open his eyes right when I was taking the picture.

This is the resulting picture:

We then headed over to my parents' house to say happy father's day to my dad.


After leaving my parents' house, we then headed over to Tim's sister, Renee's house for dinner with Tim's family. Not only were we celebrating Father's Day, but we were also celebrating Renee's fiance, Bryan's 40th birthday. (His birthday was June 12th, but he and Renee were in Aruba and Miami for the last 2 weeks.)

The party decor:

Renee's dog Molly was very interested in Karsen, it was really cute! It really reminded me of when we got Turi and we took her over there and Molly thought it was her puppy. :)

We tried to get a picture of the 3 generations that were there, but Karsen was being a grumpasaurus.

We did manage to get this picture:

And then the dogs wanted to get in on the action. This picture pretty much sums up the night! Haha!

Happy Father's Day!

Love, Michaela

Saturday Night

On Saturday we went over to our friends', The Brooks' house for dinner. It was Karsen's first dinner party!

I didn't get very many pictures while we were there but it was really cute how Kai (see this previous post) was so interested in Karsen. He kept wanting to climb into my lap to get up on the table to see into Karsen's carseat.

Eventually, Kai decided that he wanted to get into the carseat too!

Luckily Karsen slept most of the time that we were there, which made things easier for me! Here's Tiffany holding Karsen:

I'm sure there will be many more dinner parties with the Brooks'. We love hanging out with them!

Love, Michaela

Bubble Machine

Here's my little bubble machine! I love his facial expressions too!

Love, Michaela

Grandpa Herb

Tim's parents have been here just over a week now and last night was the first night his dad held Karsen.

Here are a few of the pictures I took of the event:

Love, Michaela

Out and About at 2 weeks

Yesterday Karsen turned 2 weeks old! Boy is time really flying!

Since Tim had to go back into his office instead of working from home, Karsen and I went on a day trip to Redmond to visit Grandma Dana and Grandpa Brad.

We had a bit of a late start on the day since someone wasn't too happy about getting into his carseat, but once he gets in the car and we start moving, he's out like a light.

We got to my parents' house and waited for my sister Tori to get home from school so that we could go pick up some lunch. She held him for a little while and of course he started to get a bit fussy. She always starts to freak out a bit when he passes some gas or starts to cry. The look on her face is always hilarious!

Tori is freaking out here because Karsen is crying:

We then ordered lunch from our one of our family's favorite places - Acapulco Fresh - and headed out to pick it up. We then took our lunch to my dad's shop to eat and also to see my dad.

Karsen's first chip? Haha!

We also had to get a picture of Karsen with Robert who works at the shop because they share the same birthday!

Wow I'm in a picture!

My dad was so funny taking Karsen around the shop! Maybe Karsen will one day like cars just as much as his grandpa!

Standing under a car:

Sitting on the hood of a Mercedes Benz:

Getting under the hood of a car:

Holding his first screwdriver:

After hanging out at the shop, my mom, Karsen and I headed to Target so that I could pick up a few things, since I hadn't been to a store since before Karsen was born. I was a bit scared about the adventure to Target because Karsen had been sleeping pretty much the entire time we were at the shop and I just knew that it was only a matter of time before he woke up and started crying.

Luckily our trip to Target was very peaceful! We just kept him in his carseat and put the carseat into the shopping cart and he just kept on sleeping. He probably thought he was still in the car haha! At one point I had to try some things on and my mom had to keep walking around with the cart and Karsen because when she would stop, he would start to stir. The only thing disappointing about the trip was that I didn't get any pictures of Karsen's first visit to a store. :(

On our way back to my parents' house, we had to stop at the shop again to drop something off that my mom had gotten at Target. It may have been the demise of our trip because Karsen started to wake up and just as I was about to pull out of the parking lot into traffic, he started screaming! My mom jumped out of the front seat real quick and into the back to hopefully help calm him down. Luckily it only took a few minutes for her to get him to quiet back down so that we didn't have to hear him screaming the entire 10 minutes to my parents' house - it breaks my heart to hear him crying like that, especially when I can't really do anything about it.

Overall we had a fun day out and about. A BIG thank you to my mom for going with us to Target (which is one of the main reasons I ventured out of the house), I wouldn't have been able to do it alone!

Love, Michaela

How do you know you're having a rough day?

I thought Sunday would be a fairly good day, especially since Karsen slept for 5 hours the night before! But when he loses all the milk he had drank all over you, 3 times in 1 morning, it usually means it's going to be a rough day.

I guess Karsen really wanted me to wash the sheets on our bed because of course not only did his breakfast get all over me, but all over our bed as well. And this was not just a little bit of spit up each time, it was EVERYTHING he had just drank previously.

I of course freaked out a bit because I thought that A) what came up was too much to be defined as just spit up and B) 3 times in 1 morning? That seemed a bit much to me. I called my mom for advice - that's what they're for, right? Hehe ;-)

She said that he probably is getting too much air in his belly while he eats and the milk gets caught on top of the air bubble in his belly and when the air comes up, so does everything on top of it. Yay...

I did some research online to see what I can do to help prevent him from getting so much air in his belly each time he eats. So now feeding times take a bit longer, but so far it seems to be working (he's only lost everything once since then.)

Here's the new feeding ritual:
- While he eats, I rub his belly in slow circles to help everything settle in his stomach
- Also while he eats, I try to hold him in a more sitting upright position so that everything goes down better
- Every couple of minutes or so while he's eating, I will stop him and burp him to get any air bubbles out
- After he's done eating, I sit him upright for 10-15 minutes to make sure everything makes it down to his belly
- Sometimes if it seems like he's uncomfortable or got too much air, I will lay him on his back and move his legs in circle like he's riding a bicycle, which helps get air out and he also seems to like this too
- Oh and I now have towels laid out pretty much everywhere that I feed him, just in case

Anyone else experienced this or have any other tips on how to prevent so much air from getting into his little belly?

Luckily we had his first pediatrician appointment yesterday and I brought it up to her. She asked if it was just milk coming up each time or if there was more coming up with it. Since it is just milk each time, she said it is just the air bubbles he's getting and said everything I'm doing will help but otherwise she didn't seem concerned.

On a good note, Karsen weighed 7lbs 8oz at his appointment - which is 4oz more than his birth weight! The doctor was pleased with this and said he's doing really well.

I don't really have any pictures to go with this post (although I'm sure you're not too sad about not seeing pictures of Karsen losing his food...), not to mention the camera battery has been dead for a few days now.

But here's a picture from last week (Friday I think), just because:

I hope to have more pictures to post later this week.

Love, Michaela

Playing Peek-A-Boo?

Nope. This is actually how he fell asleep yesterday. He's such a goofball!

Love, Michaela

1 Week Old

I can't believe that my baby is now 1 week old! Time sure has gone by fast! Just a mere week and a day ago, I thought I was going to be pregnant forever!

I LOVE being a mom and I LOVE my little boy!

Here are 7 things I've learned about Karsen in 7 days:

1. He likes to sleep on his side and only his right side:

2. He likes to keep his hands up by his face:

3. He likes to just look around and examine his surroundings:

4. He has a very strong neck and can lift his head up on his own:

5. He is an escape artist and always manages to get himself out of his swaddle blanket:

6. He doesn't care much for being naked or getting his diaper changed:

7. He is a wiggle worm and doesn't stay still unless he's eating or sleeping:

Happy 1 week Karsen! I love you!

Love, Mommy

Meet the Grandparents

Last night we made the long trek to the airport to pick up Grandma & Grandpa Freitag (They live in the San Diego area). It was Karsen's longest car ride so far and it went fairly well. He slept the entire way there, which made it easier for me since I sat up front with Tim so that he didn't feel like a chauffeur.

On the way back, I sat in the back along with Tim's mom, Kitti, just in case Karsen got fussy. And boy did he get fussy! Luckily we were only 5-10 minutes away from the house when he started his little fit.

I meant to take more pictures of Karsen meeting his grandparents, but it was late and I must confess I'm not the greatest at capturing the moment on film (or digital film.)

Here are the pictures I did get of the first meeting:

Grandma and Grandpa will be here for 2 weeks to take care of Aunt Renee (Tim's sister) & Uncle Bryan's house and dogs while they are in Aruba & Miami.

Hopefully I can get some more pictures while they are here.

Love, Michaela

New Best Friends

On Sunday, our really good friends, Walker & Tiffany, brought their 14 month old son, Kai, over to meet Karsen. Tim and I attribute all of our baby managing skills to all the time we've spent with Kai over that last year. I guess you could say he kinda was our "practice" baby! We love their family and are really grateful to have them in our lives!

I just know that they are going to be the best of friends!

Love, Michaela

My Labor Day

This may be more of a record for myself but this is the story of how Karsen came into the world. (Be warned, it's kinda long.)

In an earlier post I wrote about my 41 week doctor appointment on June 3rd and having my membranes stripped. Well apparently it worked! After leaving the doctor's office, I started feeling some cramps but nothing too intense. As the night wore on though, things started to pick up.

Tim and I played Wii that night and still I wasn't having any real measurable amount of pain. Tim went to bed around 11 or so since he has to be at work at 5 AM everyday. I stayed in our office room on the couch because of my nagging cough that I hadn't been able to get rid of and I didn't want to keep Tim up all night with my coughing.

At about midnight or so, my contractions really started to pick up. I used the website contractionmaster.com to help me time my contractions. Some of them were very painful to the point of putting me in tears.

At about 1 AM, I went to wake Tim up because I couldn't stand it anymore and it was just too painful. He told me to call the hospital to see if they wanted me to come in. So I called and they said to go ahead and come in so that they could check me out.

After Tim took a quick shower to wake himself up a bit, we headed to the hospital and got there sometime between 1:30 and 2 AM. We were taken into the Triage area of Labor & Delivery and I got to change into one of those really fashionable hospital gowns. A Labor Nurse checked me to see if I had dilated any more than I was at my doctor appointment earlier (I was 3cm then) and unfortunately there was no change. So she told me to go walk around for about an hour. (Luckily she gave me a robe to put on since the hospital gowns don't really have a back.)

Tim and I walked around the hospital, which was very quiet since it was so early in the morning. We would have to stop every couple of minutes because of my contractions, that I wasn't able to walk through. We returned to Triage just before 3 AM and the labor nurse checked me again and still no change. So she said she was going to call the doctor on call to see what they wanted to do with me because they wouldn't admit me until I had a change in dilation.

After talking to the doctor, the labor nurse told me that they wanted me to walk around again for another hour! I really didn't want to walk anymore because I was so exhausted since I hadn't gotten any sleep so far that night, but off we went again. (We could probably give tours around the hospital now! Haha!)

We returned again just before 4 AM and again the labor nurse checked me and still no progress. So she called the doctor again to see what they wanted to do with me. They decided that they were just going to give me something to help subside the contractions enough to let me go home and get some sleep. At this point I was kinda grateful because I was so exhausted and all I wanted to do was sleep.

The labor nurse gave me a morphine cocktail shot in my thigh and sent us home. She told us that the shot should allow for me to get several hours of sleep. We got home just before 5 AM and we both went straight to bed.

At 7:30 AM I woke up to contractions again. (So much for several hours of sleep!) These contractions felt a bit different than the ones before, as I had this urge to push (although I thought I had to go number 2...) I got up and went to the bathroom and noticed that there was blood in my underwear, but didn't really think too much of it because I had gotten my cervix checked so many times in the past 12 hours. I then decided to take a warm bath to maybe help calm things down a bit.

I kept getting contractions while in the bath, but I was still so exhausted that I would start to doze off inbetween contractions. So I decided to get out of the bath and go back to bed to see if I could fall asleep again. Unfortunately I wasn't able to fall asleep and I kept getting this urge to push with every contraction (which I still thought was a feeling to go number 2).

At around 8:30 AM I got out of bed and went to the bathroom again and noticed more blood, but still didn't really think much of it. I was starting to think about waking Tim up at this point because I couldn't get these contractions to go away and then all of a sudden it felt like a water balloon had burst inbetween my legs. My water had broken! Luckily I was sitting on the toliet when it happened!

I managed to get up and grab a phone so that I could call the hospital again and I quickly got back to sit on the toliet again since amniotic fluid was continuously leaking from me. I called Labor & Delivery and they told me to come in. I then called out to Tim to wake him up.

Me: "Babe! My water just broke!"

Tim: "Are you sure?" (Rolls over and goes back to sleep.)

Me: "Tim! Seriously, my water just broke! We need to go!"

He got up and we quickly got ready to leave again. (Luckily all of our stuff was was still in the car from our earlier adventure to the hospital.)

I had originally planned on not calling anyone to let them know we were at the hospital until we were admited, since I didn't want anyone to drive all the way to the hospital just for us to be sent home. But I decided that since my water had broken, that this was definitely it and that I should at least call my mom. It was probably around 9 AM when I called her and of course she wasn't expecting to get "the" call yet and still needed to take a shower and get ready for the day. I told her not to worry, as we thought that it would be quite a few hours until the baby came out.

Tim pulled up outside the hospital just after 9 AM and I asked him to get me a wheelchair, as I was having a hard time walking since the contractions were so intense, I was sleep deprived and I was still leaking amniotic fluid. A labor nurse met us at the front counter and took us right away to a room. Yay! We were being admited! I was so relieved to not have to go to Triage again!

Right away I told the nurse that I wanted an epidural because I couldn't stand the pain anymore. (My original plan was to see how far I could go without any medication.) She started to get things ready for the epidural as I changed into another hospital gown and tried to give them a urine sample.

After I got situated in bed, the nurse had to check me for dilation before she could start the epidural process. She checked and said very surprised that I was a full 10cm dilated already! Which of course meant no epidural for me since it was too late! (I guess my body really wanted to follow my original plan of no meds!) The nurse then said that I would be having the baby in the next hour or two! This of course was sooner than we were expecting and I was a bit concerned that my mom wouldn't get there on time, as I wanted her in the room when I delivered. Tim left to go park the truck and I asked him to call my mom to tell her to hurry as things were going faster than expected.

The labor nurse called a bunch of different people to come into my room. Since my doctor was out on vacation, she called the OB on call (who was awesome!). She also had to call a respiratory specialist because from the sample I gave them when I first arrived, they were able to tell that the baby had a bowel movement inside me and they would need to clean out his throat as soon as he came out.

The nurse told me that with the next contraction, I would need to start pushing. She held one of my legs while Tim held the other as I began the pushing part of labor. With each contraction, as I would start to feel it come on, I would just say "OK" and everyone would take their positions and then I would start pushing, without making much sound.

Before I started pushing, the labor nurse tried to start an IV in my arm, but it wasn't taking, so then she tried it in my hand (I now have lovely bruises.) On the first push or so, I successfully managed to pull out the IV as I went to grab my leg. Luckily she didn't try to put it back in. (Oh and my mom got there just after I had started pushing.)

In between contractions, I would start to doze off because of the lack of sleep, which is kinda funny now that I look back on it. How can someone is pain fall asleep so easily? Don't worry though, each contraction woke me right back up!

Also in between contractions, Tim would ask me how I was doing. At some point I finally looked at him and asked him to stop asking me that. I guess if that's all I said to him he's pretty lucky as I've heard stories of some women cussing out their husbands for doing this to them.

I was asked if I wanted to reach down and feel the baby's head, and I was quick to say no. Towards the end, the labor nurse asked if I wanted a mirror to see the head coming out, which I knew from the beginning of the pregnancy that I did NOT want. Unfortunately she had already put the mirror down there and I saw, but I quickly said no and turned my head away.

On the last push was when I started to lose my self control and started crying and making sound (luckily it was the last push!) I probably had only been pushing for an hour and a half or so before Karsen came out at 11:56 AM.

As soon as he was out, the doctor cut his umbilical cord right away (Tim was kinda disappointed that he didn't get to) and he was handed over to the respiratory specialist to clear out his throat. He did cry right away though!

The doctor then started to examine me to see if I needed stitches or anything. I had one tiny little tear that she said wasn't even worth a stitch. Yay for no stitches! They did give me a shot of pitocin in my thigh though.

The labor nurse then told me that she couldn't believe how well I handled the whole thing, and she said that she had only heard about women like me, but had never witnessed it before. Apparently I handled the contractions and pushing better than most women who are on an epidural! Everyone couldn't believe that I didn't have any medication - and honestly, neither could I!

The best part was when they handed Karsen to me. I instantly started crying and Tim even was teary eyed. It really was the best day of our lives!

My mom thought we needed pictures of me in bed:

At least someone was having a good time:

Falling asleep in between contractions:

Karsen's first picture ever:

After Karsen was out, just waiting for him to be cleaned up:

Karsen getting his system cleaned out:

First picture as a family:

Love, Michaela