9 months!

Logan was 9 months yesterday! Today we had his well baby checkup; all is well!

He is super close to crawling. He can scoot across the room on his bottom, but not the traditional crawl on his knees yet. He is also trying to pull himself up. He doesn't quite have enough strenth yet. He is eating well. We will be starting table foods soon!

Here are his stats:

Weight: 20lbs 6oz; 48%

Height: 2' 5", 76%

Head: 47.4cm, 95%!

Here's how he compares to Shaun at 9 months:

Weight: 20lbs 1 oz; 44%, Logan is 5 ounces heaver

Height: 2' 5.75", 91%, Logan is .75cm shorter

Head: 47.6cm, 96%, Logan's head is .2cm smaller, but still BIG! :)

8 Months!

Logan is 8 months old! He has started clapping. He has 4 teeth. He pulls himself onto his tummy from a sitting position, but then is stuck and gets mad pretty quick. He hasn't had any desire to turn over yet. I have a feeling that there is going to be a very short period of time that leads up to full on moving, like walking from nothing at all.

Here is my happy little 8 month old!

Logan's dedication

Last Sunday we had Logan dedicated. This means that we are committed to raising him to know Christ. It is not a baptism, but a public showing of commitment. I pray for the day that each of my boys comes to know Christ personally and then publicly shows that by baptism.

Logan was also dedicated with 3 other babies; Madelyn, Drew & Leyla. It was fun to do it together with all of them and raise our families side by side.

We also have the dedication on video. We are not posting it online, but I can send it to you if you are interested in seeing it. Let me know.

Pastor Jerry showing off Logan; he did great!

Shaun's first day of preschool, year 1!

My baby is growing up! I can't believe that on Thursday, September 15, 2011, my baby officially started his school career. I took a couple of hours off in the morning so I could take him on his first day. He goes Thursdays & Fridays from 9-11am. It is through a Lutheran church which came with great recommendations from a bunch of friends! I'm glad he'll get to learn about Jesus in preschool!

I don't know if it is just a coincidence, but this weekend he has been trying to make the sounds of letters, so maybe he is already applying something from school....?! There are 12 kids in his class, 4 boys and 8 girls. We got to go to a conference the week before to meet his teacher and hear about the class. I'm super excited for the year!

Each kid brings snack once a round and on their snack day they bring in something for show and tell. Shaun's snack day is this Friday! I'm thinking of bluberries, cheese its and juice boxes. I think that will go nicely with the theme: circles and the color blue! Here are some pictures from his first day:

All ready to go!

Walking to class.....

Mrs. Herbison and Shaun

Bye Mom!

On September 11, 2001....

I had been married 1 month and 7 days…
At my job for 2 months and 17 days….
Was 22 years and 346 days young…
I didn’t know I was about to witness our country’s next Pearl Harbor.

I woke up to my alarm clock about 6am to a bunch of talking on the radio. I thought this was kind of odd since there was usually music or a commercial playing. I listened for a few minutes. They talked about a plane crash/explosion in New York and about President Bush in Florida. I remember thinking, “Why are they talking about that”? I got up and instead of getting in the shower right away; I went out to the living room to turn on the TV. There was news on pretty much every channel and they were talking about that same incident in New York. I was watching the coverage; they were showing the aftermath of the first plane’s crash when I saw on live TV the 2nd plane crash into the other tower. The announcers and everyone were quite shocked! We then learned of a plane crashing into the Pentagon and one into the ground in Pennsylvania shortly thereafter. I distinctly remember the announcers talking about the “accidents” at first until they realized that there were too many to be accidents. I remember watching both towers fall.

I proceeded to get ready for work, where we all tried to “work”. I think we were able to set up a TV and get some reception to keep up on the events besides just listening to the radio.

What were you doing when you learned of the attacks on our country?

It’s hard to believe that 10 years has passed since that awful day and that 9/11/01 is a day in past history. There are some for which it is a history lesson because they are too young to remember or weren't born yet. Our lives were so different on September 10, 2001 than they are today or any day since then.

But, I know that God is and will use Satan’s evil to His glory.

Here is a kid friendly portrayal of 9/11:

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B4rsaPBd7OulZGU1MjRiY2EtMDU3Ny00OTA2LWJhYTMtMzYwMTgyMzI5ODlk&sort=name&layout=list&num=50

Logan at 6 months!

I know I'm a bit behind in blogging, sorry. The summer has been super busy like usual! As I think of things that have gone on, I will try and blog about them! Here are Logan's 6 month pictures that were taken earlier in August. I think he is a cutie!

4 months old!

Logan is doing well. He is now giggling a lot and trying to turn over. He really wants to sit up by himself, but can't do it yet.

He had his 4 month well check up today. He is well! The doc says he isn't out of the woods yet on the lactose issue because he wouldn't expect it to just go away even with a normal second stool sample. It means that he is processing things better though. Doc says at 9 months we will try him on yogurt and cottage cheese because those only have partial lactose in them. I am to stay somewhat lactose free. I'm taking that to mean no outright milk or other highly concentrated milk products, but I'm going to eat pretty much everything else. He is eating more formula than my milk now anyway, and it has been going pretty well.

Here are Logan's 4 month stats:

Weight: 15 pounds 10 ounces, 67%, he gained 2 pounds 8 ounces in 2 months, down from the 80%.

Height: 26 inches, 86%, he grew 2 inches in 2 months, up from the 84%
Head: 44cm, 90%, it grew 3.5cm in 2 months, up from the 61%! Another big headed boy!

Here is how Logan compares to Shaun at 4 months:

Weight: 15 pounds 7 ounces, 64%
Height: 26 inches, 86%

Head: 43.5cm, 83%

Logan @ 3 months!

These were taken at the end of April. I just had a chance to get them posted!

Brothers - Professionally

Back to Work

The latest news is that I went back to work on May 4. The transition went well for all 4 of us. For me, it was kind of like being in a time warp at work; like I never left, but it was 3 months later! The boys so far have had good days. The first 3 days (Wed-Fri), they just stayed home and hung out. They didn’t go to swim class and story time because Shaun had a cough/cold (yes, again which he passed to both Bill and I; but not Logan!) This week they were back to full activities and all 3 did well on the outings.

Logan is doing well. Right around when he turned 3 months, his fussing seemed to get a little better. More of his wake times are happy now. He still can be fussy though. Napping is still an issue that we need to work on. At night he still is getting up once a night around 2 or 3am. About a month or so ago, he was making it through the night some nights, and now no nights, so just a few nights ago I decided to go back to giving him a bottle as his last feeding instead of from me. The first night I did that he slept until 6:30am! The second 2 night he woke up again about 2am. We’ll see how it goes.
I got my entire ‘To Do’ list that I mentioned in the last post done, plus got both cars in for service!!!! I am very happy about that! Now to stay on top of pictures and baby books so I don’t get behind anymore!

Here are the other happenings in the Hunter household since my last post:

Ocean trip!
We went on our annual ocean trip on April 15. This time we stayed at the Navy resort at Pacific Beach. We rented a 4 bedroom house right on the bluff above the beach. It was great! We went with my parents, sister and Aunt and Uncle. The house was great and just the right size for all of us. The 2 bedroom condo we have shared with my parents and sister at Moclips was just getting too small last year and especially now with Logan too. It was pretty cold this year, so we didn’t even take Logan on the beach. Shaun had a great time making some sand castles, running around and flying a kite. We also had a grassy area right outside the house to play too. I can see even more playing happening out there in the future. We already made our reservations for next year (have to because they book up quickly for weekends). It’s a bonus that the house rental is cheaper than renting the condo, and way cheaper than 2 condos which my Aunt and Uncle would rent too. Plus the resort has other amenities like a hot tub, fitness room, restaurant and 4 lane bowling alley. We went bowling on Saturday night. Shaun came and had a blast. Dad helped him give the ball enough propulsion to get down the lane and he loved to watch it hit some pins.

Easter 2011
This year for Easter, we went to Beth & Jon’s house across the water. Shaun had another fun ferry ride, like he did on Thanksgiving. We had a good visit with family including the 3 boys. It was fun to watch Shaun & Antonio hunt for eggs on the back deck. Shaun new exactly what to do this year, while Antonio was still trying to figure it out, like Shaun was last year. It was pretty cute.

Zoo!
We went to the Woodland Park Zoo on April 30. We seem to make it there once a year. The Saturday before I went back to work was the best day of the days we had available in the last week I had off, so we went and luckily it was the first day of the new Dinosaur exhibit. Shaun loved the dinosaurs!!! We all went through the exhibit once. Then I sat and fed Logan while Bill and Shaun went through it 2 more times! He got a few dinosaur souvenirs too: a shirt, stuffed animal and figure. We got Logan a shirt too. Grandma & Grandpa are talking about taking him back sometime this summer too. The dinosaurs are life size and move, make noise, and some spit on you! It is a temporary exhibit through September 5.

Mother's Day
I had a good first Mother's day with 2 kiddos! They got me a nice new ring! It has all 4 of our birthstones on it. A very nice gift!

Logan is 2 months old!

(I tried inserting pictures, but then Blogger would lump all words into one paragraph. Let me know if you know what I'm doing wrong-to keep the spaces between paragraphs and my list at the bottom.)

Logan is doing well. He is totally over the virus and back to his old self. We are praising God for his recovery; the whole experience was scary and made us feel like first time parents again because we have never experienced a sick infant before. He is starting to smile! He doesn’t do it all the time, but when he does he throws out a bunch of them. They are very cute I must say!

He also is sleeping through the night some of the time. The last 4 nights he has slept until either 5 or 6am 3 times and the other night woke up an additional time around 2. I am pleased with that! We also started putting him in his crib in his room instead of the bassinet in our room. I decided it was time even though that means my baby is already growing up!

Napping has been harder. He doesn’t like to sleep during the day without being in one of our arms. We had one really good nap day when we swaddled him for the first time. He slept for over 2 hours in his crib. The 2nd try with swaddling didn’t go well, but the next couple of tries weren’t as good as the first time, but he did sleep swaddled in his crib for 30-45 minutes. He is a much fussier baby than Shaun ever was.

Here are his 2 months stats from his appointment today:

Weight: 13 pounds 2 ounces, 80 percentile. He gained 3 pounds 11 oz since his last well checkup at 13 days, and it is up from the 74 percentile.

Height: 24 inches, 84 percentile. He grew 1.75 inches, and is down from the 95 percentile.

Head: 40.5cm, 61 percentile. His head grew 2.7cm, down from the 69 percentile.

He also got his first round of shots. I hate my babies getting poked, but it is necessary.

Here is how Logan compares to Shaun at 2 months:
Shaun was 11 pounds 11 oz, 46 percentile.
Shaun was 23 inches, 50 percentile
Shaun’s head was 40.7cm, 66 percentile

Other news:
Shaun started preschool level swim lessons this month. He goes Monday & Wednesday mornings for half an hour. He is having a blast. The first 10 minutes of the first class he didn’t like it. He had to get used to getting and being in the water without mom or dad, but after the 10 minutes he was doing great. I love taking him!

Bill is currently in the middle of his 2 week yearly Navy duty. This year he had to go to the base on Whidbey Island, so he is staying there during the week since it is an hour and a half drive. So, I get to experience having the boys by myself during the week; so far so good! He is doing it a bit earlier in the year while I’m still home, so we can give Auntie a year off this summer.

As I mentioned last fall, there is a baby boom going on at our church in 2011. Logan was the first. Logan’s first friend, Madelyn was just born on 3/20. They have yet to meet because we didn’t want to chance passing on any lingering germs we may have still had, but it will be fun when they do. Both of my boys have girlfriends named Madelyn!

I have about 1 month left on my maternity leave. I will be going back to work, probably on May 4. I am trying to make the most of my time left and telling myself that I can do it again! I have gotten a lot of things accomplished so far along with spending time with all my boys!

Here are some of the things I have checked off my ‘To Do List’:
*Printed 2010 pictures and got them in the album (yes, I was that behind)
*Printed January & February 2011 pictures
*Started Logan’s photo album
*Started Logan’s baby book by filling things in and picking out pictures to include
*Updated Shaun’s baby book and picked out all pictures to include (I hadn’t put any pictures in his book yet besides the ultrasounds)
*Updated/finished Shaun’s little photo album from Grandpa
*Started Logan’s little photo album from Grandpa
*Started Logan’s 1st year picture frame (includes 1 small picture for each month in the first year)

Things still remaining on the ‘To Do List’ (& it grows):
*Take a good up and down picture of Logan to go in the frame from Grandpa
*Pick out pictures and order a collage of 2010 for my work wall
*Get the professional pictures in frames and organized in groupings on the walls
*Keep up with printing pictures monthly in 2011and beyond
*Do Logan’s 3 month pictures at the end of April
*Clean out Shaun’s too small clothes
*Go consignment store shopping for clothes for Shaun (we have been blessed with a lot of hand me downs, so I haven’t had to do this yet!)
*Get rid of baby clothes & equipment soon after Logan is done with them. We have already given 1 bassinet to a friend-we had 2, some clothes to a friend expecting their first boy (yes, he is outgrowing clothes already), and my maternity clothes I gave to someone at church who knew someone in need. It feels so good to get rid of stuff instead of it cluttering up the house (and help someone else out at the same time)!
*Clean out the garage (Bill’s job mainly:)
*Clean out the basement/family room
*Convert the basement into a playroom by getting rid of the loveseat and chairs and organizing toys, etc.
*Get the carpets and ducts cleaned
*Go to the zoo!

What a week!

Before I get into the details of this week; I’ll first say that Logan is now doing fine and on the mend. As I said in the last post, Logan came down with a cough/cold late on Thurs, 3/10.

Logan got a slight fever on Saturday. Sunday the fever spiked up to 101.5, so I called the consulting nurse who said to go in to urgent care. So, we spent 3:30-7:30pm at Bellevue urgent care on Sunday getting checked out. Luckily we only had to wait about 40 minutes to be seen. We were in the "pediatric line", so it went quicker. I heard others saying they had been waiting 2 hours. They took blood, urine, and a chest x-ray to rule out serious conditions. All was fine with those tests. He also did a nose culture which proved that he has a virus; RSV. So, he just needs to get over it with Tylenol, time, etc. We were to go back to urgent care if anything else came up like struggling to breath, which happened Monday afternoon.

So, I took Logan into Everett urgent care at about 6pm on Monday. He was seen right away. (It wasn’t that busy, but saying you have an infant with breathing problems gets you right in!) They got him some medicine, sprayed at his face in kind of a fog and then saline the same way. A lot of nurses, docs, a fireman, and paramedics were all in to see him. Then there was talk of transporting and admitting him. So, Logan and I got to ride in an ambulance (not for speed), to the hospital. The whole experience was kind of scary even though Logan was laying right there pretty content. I could see urgency in the nurses and docs. At some point the ambulance had been called because it was there and the paramedics ready for us. Bill came to be my support and help at the hospital, etc after Grandma & Grandpa came to pick up Shaun & Abby and to bring me an overnight bag since I left the house not knowing I would be gone overnight.

At the hospital, they had him hooked up to monitors and monitored him through the night and into the next afternoon. He had one point during the night where he needed oxygen for a couple of hours because his oxygen level was below 90%. He still had a fever and was very sleepy and not wanting to eat much. His breathing was doing fine on Tuesday, so the doc said that in order to go home he needed to prove that he is eating so we don’t have to worry about a dehydration issue. So, Logan had an assignment at 3:30 to eat 4 ounces of milk by 6pm (calculated by how much he usually eats when he is well). It didn’t matter if he ate it in little increments, just that he gets it all down in that time. Up until this point, he had only eaten about 3 ounces since the previous evening. He passed the test, so we got discharged about 6:30pm on Tuesday. The doc said to follow up with our regular pediatrician in 2-3 days.

During the night at the hospital, Bill made me get some rest. So I slept probably between 2am-6am. Bill ended up staying up the whole night. I made him go to sleep then, so he got about 3 hours of sleep starting at 7am.

Since Tuesday evening at the hospital, we have been feeding him my milk through bottles only so we can monitor how much he is eating to avoid getting dehydrated. He ate 20 ounces on Wednesday, which was our minimum goal. He is getting close to that today. He woke up Wednesday without a fever! So, we are finishing day 2 with no fever. His eating isn’t back to normal yet, but you can tell that he is feeling much better!

We had his follow up doc visit this afternoon with his regular pediatrician. It was pretty uneventful since he is on the mend. He just wants us to come back in a week to follow up again even though we will be back the next week for his 2 month check up.

RSV is a common virus that goes around every year. In little ones it can be more of an issue because it gets more into the chest. It peaks in 3-7 days and then can take 1-2 months to fully go away because of the healing needed. The doc said he will be contagious for a couple of weeks. It could have been caught from anywhere. The doc today said that premies and those born with heart or other issues get multiple shots throughout the season to prevent getting RSV.

Bill has come down with a cough and run down feeling the past 3 days, but has had no fever. I have had a scratchy throat for a couple of days, but feel fine otherwise. So, Logan has a cough and his appetite is not fully normal yet. We are praying for everyone to get healthy soon! Shaun is feeling fine! So, counting the 2 times last week we went in for appointments regarding the reflux/lactose issues, Logan has been to the doc 7 times in 9 days; yikes!

Test Results

Before reading this post, read the previous post if you haven’t done so already.

Reflux: Negative; he does not have it. The test went fine. Logan did really well. He laid on a table with an x-ray machine that the doc could move over him. The nurses and I kept him in position while I held the bottle for him to drink and the doc took pictures. On preliminary review when we were finished, the doc told me that everything looked good and all development looked good, that some came up only once and he couldn’t get it to happen again. That means he is fine in the reflux area. The nurse confirmed that today when she called after the doc did his extensive review of the pictures.

Lactose Intolerance: Test was positive, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he is lactose intolerant yet. They want to test it again in a few weeks. It could be an underdeveloped tolerance, which he could grow out of. So, the testing on this is still in progress. Meanwhile, I get to be lactose free! Basically, I can’t have anything that has lactose, whey or milk in it. I have never really looked at the ingredients of stuff I eat; it is a lot of work! That includes all dairy products and bread, unless specifically lactose free, plus a lot more stuff too. I got some lactose free milk; it isn’t that great and a lot more expensive, but at least I can have cereal with it.

In addition, Logan has come down with a cough/cold in the last day. Shaun was kind enough to share! Shaun has had a cough since Sunday and even had a fever Sunday-Tuesday. I really didn’t like how the cough was sounding on Logan mainly because he is so young, so we went to get him checked out today. He is fine, just needs to get over it. His lungs and everything were checked. So, hopefully he gets over it soon. Other than a little coughing and some congestion, Logan seems fine. He is eating and acting normal. Shaun still has a lingering cough, but is better.

Logan update at 6 weeks!

For the past couple of weeks Logan has been really fussy when eating and at times in between. I can hear big gurgling in his abdomen and even feel tiny bubbles. He cries out in pain during eating even though he is still hungry and tries to eat again. So, we went in to the doctor today to get checked out. He is having Logan tested for reflux and lactose intolerance.

The lactose intolerance test involves providing a stool sample. You might be wondering how this is done on a 6 week old? I was wondering the same thing. It is gathered by putting saran wrap in his diaper and then putting it in the container provided to take to the lab within 1 hour. Woo hoo! I also get to go on a lactose free diet right away to get that going if that is the problem. This will be interesting. I have only briefly looked over the chart of allowed and not allowed foods, but no chocolate caught my eye! Bummer. We also are giving him a little formula, so I bought some lactose free formula too.

The reflux test is tomorrow morning. This is called a "Barium Swallow" test. They watch him eat a certain type of food and see where it goes in his body. This will tell whether he has reflux or not. If he does, he will go on medication.

He weighs 12 pounds 6 ounces, which is the 88 percentile! In 4 weeks he gained 3 pounds, well 1 ounce shy of that. He is still getting in the food!

He is 23.5 inches long, which is the 90 percentile. In 4 weeks he grew 1.25 inches!

I will keep you blog readers posted!

Family Pictures

We got family pictures taken a few weeks ago! So, here they are!

Brothers!

Shaun at 3 years!

Logan at 3 weeks!

Shaun's 3 year stats!

Shaun had his 3 year checkup today. He is well! He got one shot; the second Hep A vaccine. He wasn't happy about that, and told Daddy when we got home that he got "Pokey poked".

Here are his stats at 3 years old:

Height: 3 feet 3 inches, 83 percentile. He grew 4 inches in the last year and stayed in the same percentile.

Weight: 35.5 pounds, 84 percentile. He gained about 6 pounds in the last year and went up from the 65%. Doc said that hopefully he will not gain in percentile next year, otherwise that means he will be too heavy.

Next checkup at 4 years old; and there should be no shots then!

Shaun is 3 today!!

Today is Shaun's 3rd birthday. Where have the last 3 years gone????

Here is my first born on his birth day:


Doesn't he look like his brother (my 2nd born) on his birth day?

I feel so blessed to have 2 healthy boys to call my own! Happy 3rd birthday Shaun!!! I love you so much!

Logan's 7-14 Well baby visit @ 13 days old!

Today Logan had his 2nd well baby doctor visit. All is going well! His eating habits are working because he is gaining weight like expected! I nurse him throughout the day and pump before bed and first thing in the morning. During the night and sometimes when we are out he gets my milk through a bottle.

Today he got the 2nd heal prick blood test that is required to test for disorders. He didn't like it much!

Here are his stats from today:

Height: 22.25 inches, 95 percentile

Weight: 9 pounds, 7 ounces, 74 percentile (he gained almost half a pound in a week!)

Head: 37.8cm or 14.88 inches, 69 percentile

He goes back again at 2 months on March 29 for the next well baby check up!

Here are Shaun's stats for comparison:
Height: 21 inches, 75 percentile
Weight: 7 pounds, 8 ounces, 24 percentile
Head: 36.5 cm or 14.37 inches, 47 percentile

Labor & Delivery Details

Some of you have wanted to know what my labor and delivery experience was this time, so here it is! Beware; if you do not want to know details, stop reading this post!

As you probably know, we were hoping and praying for labor to start on its own so I wouldn’t have to go through an induction again. Luckily labor started on its own! It all started Wednesday morning. I had gotten up with Shaun in the 5am hour a couple of times after Bill had gone to the gym, with no symptoms. Then when I got up at 6am, I started to have slight pains. I took a shower and by the time I got out of the shower, I new that this was labor because the pains were going and coming pretty regularly, even though they weren’t super painful. I didn’t bother to dry my hair, and just put on my sweats instead of work clothes. By this time, Bill would be home from the gym soon. As soon as he got home, I told him to come upstairs right away (instead of checking email, etc first). It was 7am, and since the contractions were still there and getting stronger we packed up the rest of our bags and I called work to tell them that I wouldn’t be in. Then we realized we should time them, and they were 3-4 minutes apart! Weren’t they supposed to start farther apart and then get closer, not this time!

It was then about 8am, we called Serina to tell her we would be coming by to drop off Shaun (she was our daytime “on call” person, until my parents could take over). The drive to drop Shaun off and then to the hospital seemed to take forever! The contractions were getting much stronger by this time and still just as close together.

We got to the hospital about 9am. I was then evaluated in triage. I was at 5cm with a bulging bag of water. The nurse asked if I wanted an epidural, and of coarse I said “YES!” She said I could get it as soon as possible. I was “jumping” for joy. Another nurse then came and got me to take me to my room. By this time it was about 9:30. I had to stop in the hall before getting on the elevator to get through a contraction. After the nurse got my IV hooked up and a bag of water in me, the anesthesiologist came and started the epidural process. By 10:30 it was kicking in and I was feeling good. They really did get me the epidural as soon as possible!

At around this time I was checked again and was about 7cm. The doc said it probably wouldn’t be that long before baby arrives. The nurse requested that someone bring in the sterile cart and baby station already since things may go fast. I loved what I was hearing! I couldn’t help but remember back to the labor with Shaun and them saying that it was going to be a long night. One of the times that the doc was in the room he broke my water. He explained what he was going to do and the risks involved, and then he had to literally leap out of the way to not get wet. It was the loudest gushing sound I had ever heard! My right sock got soaked. Luckily the doc was quick enough that he stayed dry, but there was a ton of water! It was pretty funny!

I was able to relax until12:15. The nurse had to experiment with me in different positions because Logan’s heartbeat would go down periodically. So, then at 12:15 she said it was time to start pushing; a lot of the reason being that baby was going to be better on the outside then stressed on the inside. When I first started pushing, it seemed like I was getting no leverage and would make no progress. However, soon the nurse said that I was doing really well, and by a little before 1:30 the doc was summoned, and baby was going to be born on the next push or 2! Then at 1:40, Logan was born. They put him up on my chest where Bill then cut the chord. It seemed like it took forever for him to cry, but he did and I couldn’t help but have tears in my eyes. Our precious Logan was here!

The whole labor and delivery process this time lasted from about 6am-1:30pm; 7.5 hours. That is almost exactly half the time of the process with Shaun, 7pm-9:30am, which is what is typical for 2nd births. I’m glad I was typical!

In comparing my 2 labor/delivery experiences, I liked the non induction labor much better. Each contraction was shorter and less intense. The breathing methods actually helped me get through the contractions, unlike with the contractions with Shaun. They were so hard and long that I was crying and wanted to die during each one; not so this time. So my advice to anyone considering induction: try to avoid it like my doctor recommended for that reason and the other increased risks (like c-sections, etc.).

Logan's 1st Doc Visit

Today Logan had his first doctor visit; it is a standard well baby visit between 3-5 days old. He is doing well! He is back up to his birth weight of 9 pounds. He was down to 8 lbs 10 ounces Thursday morning, and I'm guessing he lost a few more ounces before starting to gain again. He is nursing from me! Shaun never was able to get a good latch, so I am very excited. I am pumping occasionally to make sure enough milk gets produced because Logan hasn't totally mastered the whole thing. Birth stats: Height: 20 inches, Weight: 9 pounds, Head: 13.75 inches.

Here are his stats at 5 days old:

Height: 21.5 inches (nurse said that they tend to stretch out more after birth, but one of the measurements could be sligthly off). This is the 96th percentile.

Weight: 9 pounds; 86th percentile.

Head: 14.57 inches; 75th percentile.

We were wondering how this compared to Shaun, so if you are too, here are his stats at his first appointment:

Height: 21 inches, 86th percentile
Weight: 6 pounds 15 ounces, 21st percentile
Head: 14.06 inches, 42nd percentile

Logan's next well baby visit is in about a week on Tuesday, for the standard 7-14 day visit.

Logan Edward Hunter....

....was born on Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 1:40pm. He weighed 9 pounds; and was 20 inches long! Labor started on it's own about 6am on Wednesday morning (more on the whole experience later). We are thanking God for not needing an induction and a safe and fairly quick labor and delivery.

Today is our first full day at home. We got a decent amount of sleep last night; better than the first night when in the hospital.

Here are a few pictures; I have a bunch more to download, which I'll be posting soon on Facebook and linking to the blog when I get a chance.

"Non Stress" Test

Today I had the "non stress" test that my doc says is standard after you pass your due date or if you are having problems it is done on a more regular basis. All is good. First they put on 2 straps to monitor baby's heart beat and any contractions for about 20 minutes. Baby's heartbeat is good. I was having a few contractions, but nothing I could really feel or that were regular.

Then I went to ultrasound to get the fluid level checked. It came up as "13" which is good, so they said I could go home. Also saw that he is still a boy!

Next is the weekly doc appointment on Wednesday. Hopefully labor starts soon though!

39 weeks and 3 days pregnant

I am at 2cm and 80% ephased!! Last week I was 1cm and 50%; the week before 1cm and 30%, so progress!!! He "stripped my membranes" today, so hopefully that will get something going. If I make it to Sunday (EDD), the hospital will call me to set up a few tests like monitoring the fluid and heartbeat. If all is good we keep waiting.

I have another doc visit scheduled for next Wednesday if needed. Then, if we are still waiting, I can get induced on 1/30, when I reach 41 weeks. I guess an induction before 41 weeks is considered elective (if there is no other reason),and so a non priority and thus hard to schedule, so doc advises against it.

This is all new to us even though it is baby #2! Shaun being 9 days early has gotten our hopes up and making this time seem to take forever!

We are praying for baby to come soon and on his own!

Polling all friends!!!!!!!

I have put 2 polls over on the right hand side. I am curious about what people think, so please vote for when you think baby Hunter will be born and what you think his weight will be!

The Christmas Season

Well, December flew by and so has the first half of January and I just got to posting for the month of December! The holiday season was crazy busy like usual. Shaun sang with his fellow 2s & 3s Sunday school classmates along with the 4year-Kindergarten class. He didn't sing much, but he was up there ringing his jingle bell; and at sometimes sitting. Oh well. He had the opportunity to be in the Kids Praise & Worship performance earlier in the month, but I didn't feel up to taking him to practice and the evening performance, etc on the weekend that Bill was gone at work. Next year I'm sure will be different.

The Sunday before Christmas we visited my Grandma (Shaun's Great Grandma) at her adult family home down by Seatac. We had someone take this family picture of all of us. I'm sure we will treasure it always. She is the oldest of all of my grandparents; the last one still with us at the age of 96! She is super excited to have a 2nd great grandchild coming soon!

We started a new tradition this year for Christmas eve day. It is a day for just us Hunter family to be together and celebrate Christmas. We had a lazy morning and I made Swedish pancakes for breakfast; a favorite in this house. Then Shaun and I made our 2nd annual birthday cake for Jesus. Then we went out to a special Christmas eve dinner; and then to the Christmas Eve candlelight service at church. We may have been to the church service once when we were first married, but not since then since we have always been busy at other people's houses. It was a good time. Then we came home and had a piece of the Jesus birthday cake, yum! We also read the Christmas story out of Shaun's bible together as a family. Shaun got to open one present; a new pair of pajamas and then it was off to bed! I really enjoyed the day and am looking forward to continuing the tradition for years to come!

Christmas day was our usual tradition of opening up presents at our house and then going over to my parents for brunch and presents. Then later more family comes over for more presents and a good time together for dinner.

Daddy's and their sons!

On New Year's day we got together with my Aunt Corinne & Uncle Doug who we usually have seen on Christmas Eve to celebrate Christmas.


Pregnancy update!
Today, January 15, is 8 days until my due date! This is the day that Shaun was born. My water broke with him 9 days early. I am hoping that something will start happening soon because I am ready to meet our new little guy, but we are enjoying these last days as a family of 3. We went out to the mall to walk around; one of the things that we can do to maybe help things along if they are ready. I was 1cm and 50% ephased at my appointment on Wednesday. The week before I was the same 1cm, but only 30% ephased, so a little progress made. The doc said that if I make it to my next appointment on Wednesday, we will discuss options. We also have a name all picked out for our little guy, but it is a secret until he is born just like we did with Shaun.

Here is a picture of me from today; with 8 days until EDD (estimated due date)!