HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

Allow me to take one post to be a little mushy. It's my husband's first Father's Day!! Courtney & I have been together for so long (15 years in October) and when we got married 7 years ago we knew we would have kids one day. We chose though to wait until we had plenty of time just the 2 of us and were able to do some things we wanted. We spent our 2 years in Puerto Rico doing what we wanted and just spending time together. Nine months ago we decided to not try to get pregnant but just not try to prevent it anymore. After just 2 months of that we got pregnant with our beautiful boy. My husband was wonderful during the pregnancy and took great care of me. I never imagined he could do any better than he did for those long months but he has! Courtney is an amazing father and I am so thrilled to be on this journey with him. He changes diapers - even though he said he wouldn't until he was healed. He gets up with me in the middle of the night to help me out. I usually change the diaper while Courtney gets bottles ready. Then he feeds while I pump to make more bottles. (No, baby boy still won't latch on....we're still trying though!) He has been doing dishes, cleaning house, going to the store, anything I ask him to do he does. Most of the time I don't even have to ask him! I love watching him with our son! I think that is my favorite part of the day. You see only pure joy on his face when he is holding Cael. And in the same way, Cael is so content while his Daddy is holding him. I am so proud of my husband and the father he has become. So, thank you Courtney for the gift of our son. Thank you for being so wonderful! Happy 1st Father's Day!






One of my favorite pictures!











This is Cael's version of "Blue Steel" from the movie Zoolander.






4 Generations of Butlers: Great Grandma Butler, Grammy Dana, Kelly & Cael









All dressed up for Father's Day!

Cael's first appointment

Cael had his first Dr. appointment today. He is 5 days old but it seems like he's been here a lot longer! We went to see Dr. Yu and the appointment went great. We really like Dr. Yu. He talks to us like we're normal people and not like we're stupid first time parents. Anyway! Cael weighed 6 lbs. 2 oz. today!!! Holy cow! The doctor seemed happy with that because lots of newborns don't make it back to thir birth weight until 2 weeks or so after birth. He was so small when he was born though that he's still only in the 10th percentile for his "height". The whole height thing was confusing because in the hospital they said he was 19.5 inches and today they said 19. I know he isn't shrinking! Things are going great at home with him. He's up 2 times during the night and the 3rd time it's time to get up anyway. Last night he went to sleep at 11:00, was up at 1:00 and 4:00 and then again at 7:30. It's taking some adjusting but we're doing good with it. Courtney gets up with me so that's nice. The only issues we've had are he still is having issues latching on so I have to pump and feed it to him with a bottle. I'm ahead of him on feeding for now but that won't last much longer. The other issue is he hadn't pooped since Saturday night. We told Dr. Yu this and he told us to put 2 tsp. of dark caro syrup in his bottle 3 times a day. We did it when we got home and voila! If you have a baby having trouble "going" - stick with 1 tsp. of syrup. We'll put it this way - when I changed him, it took 3 diapers!!! I'm sure he feels much better now.

We had a crazy first weekend home. We got here Friday afternoon and had my family (including Joy who surprised us by flying home!) and Courtney's family here. Saturday it was us and our 2 families again. Aunt Sandi came up and the Bridges family came over also. On Sunday Aunt Sharon and Wilbur brought Grandma Parsons and Grandma Hoard up for the afternoon and Calvin & Donna left. I know!! Grandma Hoard not only came to Leavenworth but she did on a SUNDAY!!! We were shocked! This must be one special boy! Today we had his Dr. appointment and one of Courtney's colleagues came over for a little while. Overall things are going well and we are just enjoying our time with our little man!

















Cael and Cool Aunt Joy


























Cael's first sponge bath





















4 Generations of Marshes: Great Grandma Parsons, Granddad Calvin, Courtney & Cael














4 Generations of Hoards: Great Grandma Hoard, Great Aunt Sharon, Courtney & Cael














Cael and Great Uncle Wilbur

Cael Ryan Marsh

He made it!! I would like to introduce Cael Ryan Marsh to the world! Here's his story...it's a doozie!! On Tuesday afternoon (June 10) Marilyn came to town and we hung out and had lunch. During lunch I started not feeling too well so we came home and I relaxed for just a little bit. We went to the Dr. at 2:00 and I was 2+ dilated but the Dr. didn't seem too concerned about me not feeling well. We went to the car delearship and the police checked our carseats to make sure they were properly installed. We came home and decided, just in case, to call around to daycares and pediatricians. Courtney took care of that and I took a nap. We ate a little bit (I didn't eat much because the doc told me I didn't feel good because of something I ate so I should eat light) and then went to bed.

At about 10:00 I had a few little crampy contractions and didn't think anything of it. At 11:01 I had a pretty big contraction so I started to write the times down because if it was real they would want to know at the hospital. They were real sparatic and I wasn't sure if they were real because they were so strange feeling. I kept going in and waking up Courtney but telling him not to get up - I just wanted to let him know what was going on. At 12:15 or so I went in and I believe my exact words were, "Seriously dude! I am in labor!" He got up and started throwing bags in the car and I told him not to worry about it because we still had a while. He grabbed the stopwatch when I started a contraction and then looked again when I started another one....2 minutes apart!!! He said we should leave and I said no and he said we WERE leaving. We got in the car and left at 12:49. I called mom & dad and they headed that way. We got checked in at the ER and they wheeled us upstairs. I was signing paperwork as I was contracting, got my gown put on and was getting hooked up to monitors by 1:25. At that time I asked the nurse when I would know if I needed to push. She said I wasn't there yet and told me what it would feel like. My response?! "I FEEL THAT WAY NOW!!!" She got another nurse who said I was already at a 9!!! WHAT?!?! I know I said I wanted it to go fast but holy cow! They got me into a labor/delivery room and checked me again. This time - 10 cm!!! My mom and dad got there and Courtney went to get mom and give dad the keys to to get our bags. By the time dad got back with the bags and they brought them in the Dr. was in and it was time to push. What happened then?!? Kelly got SCARED!! No way could I do this! They had barely gotten the IV in and there wasn't time for pain meds of any kind....even in my IV. I didn't want an epidural but I did want IV drugs. Sorry bout your luck!

I started pushing at probably 2:30. I remember looking at the clock at about 2:35 or so and thinking I wanted to be done by 2:45. At about 2:45 the Dr. said, "Oh, he's bald!" We weren't surprised because Courtney & I were both bald for a long time when we were born. Then the nurses kept saying, "She's coming. She's getting closer!" So my mom said, "It's supposed to be a boy!" Then the doctor said, "Wait! This isn't his head - this is his butt!!" He was breech!!! Then the doctor said, "Oh! There are his boy parts!" And then little man went to the bathroom (1 & 2!) all over me....yeah remember he's still inside of me at this point. So the doctor got frustrated because he is breech and she didn't know it. She said she would have c-sectioned it by then but it was too late. At this point I shoved a washrag in my mouth, grabbed my husband's head (literally. Head lock!) and pushed non stop until he came out. At this point it was 2:55 and he was out! That's right people - no drugs and breech. My husband said he came into the world telling everyone to kiss his ass!!

He weighed 5 lbs. 13.8 oz and was 19.5 inches long. My labor lasted from 11:01 until 2:55. We were in labor & delivery until 7:30 and then we went into a regular room. He is doing great and is a really good baby! He sleeps most of the time, eats really well, burps like a man and poops like a man. My husband is doing an AMAZING job. He is completely hands on. He feeds him bottles and changes diapers. He is taking the best care of me which has made recovering so much better. We could not be happier!!

Our weekend and an update...

We had a great weekend with our cousins, Travis & Nicole, and their baby girl Alta Joy. They arrived on Saturday evening and we took that night pretty easy. We made dinner and just hung out talking until midnight - the latest Courtney and I have been awake in, oh I don't know, forever!! Sunday we got up and they were going to go to the Legends area and Courtney and I decided we'd stay home. Well then they were talking about eating lunch and asked what all was out there. I was joking around and said they should go to Hooters. I've never seen my husband change his mind about plans so fast! All of a sudden it was, "I'll go take a shower real fast and we'll all go!" So we loaded up and went to Hooters, NE Furniture Mart & Target and did lots of walking. We were hoping that would put me in to labor...nope! Sunday evening we came home and did pretty much nothing. The boys went out to dinner with the baby and Nicole and I had a girls night of eating dinner and going to Wally World. It was really nice to spend some time with another Mom and get to talk about girl stuff. Yesterday they got up and headed home and Courtney and I did nothing for the rest of the day. Today our friend Marilyn from Sabetha came by for a couple of hours. It was really nice to see her - we haven't seen her since this winter. She was on her way to pick up her son at her Aunt's house in KC. We went to lunch and I tell ya I thought I was going in to labor and....nope, again! After she left I had a Dr. appointment. I've moved up on the dilation scale to 2+ from 1+. I know that's a good sign (like I could have gone backwards?!) but it's still not far enough along! I'm just to the point of being uncomfortable and anxious and would like to have this little one already. I know, I know, I should just relax and let things happen which is what I'm trying to do. He'll come when he's ready. This weekend we are helping my mom and dad move to a new apartment so if he's not here by Friday (yeah, sure, like he'll come before Friday!) I might try drinking some tea I've heard about that is supposed to help stuff along. We'll see what happens! Tomorrow is the day that I guessed on our poll at the top and then there are only 2 more guesses so we'll see!! Courtney is still convinced it will happen on Friday since we're supposed to help them move that day. I hope it either happens before Sunday or waits until after next Wednesday. My dad is leaving for CO on Sunday and won't be home until Wednesday. It would kill him to not be here when the baby is born so I hope this little guy is polite & respectful of his Papa's feelings!!

More Maternity Pics....

Get used to how I look people - I think I may stay like this forever!!

Maternity Picture Tease

We got our CD of maternity pictures today and I'm so excited! I've decided just to tease you a little though for now and just put up one of our favorites...

I Showed Him!

Sorry to disappoint you but this update does not contain birthday baby pictures! Two weeks ago my doc told me not to come back until today because I wouldn't be dilated at 37 weeks because it's my first time. I am at 37 weeks 4 days today and I had my appointment. I went in with positive thoughts that "Project Dilation" had begun and.....I am at 1+ cm!!! Yahoo!!!! That means it could happen any time now. Could happen tonight, could happen in a week, could happen in 2 weeks. And I lost 1 lb!!!! What a great Dr. appointment! He told me to walk and that would help bring on more dilation so I came home and told my hubby we would go on a walk this evening. But now it's raining so there will be no walking tonight - unless it's on the treadmill. We'll see what happens!! Get your votes in for when the big day will happen!!

School's Out for Summer!!

School is officially out for the summer for both me and Courtney!! Woo whoo!! We finished up yesterday and had a busy afternoon after school was out. We went to a retirement get together for our good friend, Carol, who is retiring from Patton. Courtney taught with her the last time we were here and she really took him under her wing. We've stayed in touch with her and her family so her daughters invited us to her party. Her daughter, Carrie, gave us a bunch of baby stuff too. She gave us a rocker, a car seat, base & stroller, a car seat for when he's older and can be front facing, lots of bedding, lots of videos & a breast pump. She saved us lots of money with that pump!! (Just what you all wanted to know, huh?!) This last week also saw my baby shower at the school. I had a joint shower with Gretchen who is an OT at my school and Courtney & I had birthing class with her. She is due on Wednesday so we are anxiously awaiting her news! Our shower was awesome!! I got so many gift cards, diapers, clothes, bottle stuff that we wanted, books, etc... Mom came to the shower and she and Dad got us the seat that I've been wanting. It's a bouncy/vibrating seat but it's elevated so it's right at couch level so you don't have to bend over to pick up the baby. That will be so nice!! A week ago Mom & I went shopping all day and got my hair cut while Courtney was in Eureka for his twin nieces' 1st birthday party. Then last Sunday Courtney and I bought ourselves a new washing machine for our Anniversary. It's a front loading energy efficient washer and it's so nice! Monday was our 7th wedding Anniversary! I can't believe we've been married for 7 years now. It seems like just yesterday. We really didn't do anything for Anniversary but go out for dinner. I had a rough day because I think I did too much over the weekend. I'm trying to take it easy but it's hard. I am having problems with having limitations right now. Luckily that will all be better (well, it will start getting better) in just a few short weeks! We are so ready for the baby to get here!! I have an appointment on Tuesday afternoon and we're hoping to get a sonogram to check his size and how he's laying. I feel him every day at the top of my belly and it has to be his back. If that's the case then he is laying sideways which is not good. Don't be too surprised if I end up with a scheduled c-section in the next few weeks. Right now I am not getting my hopes up for anything and I'm not anticipating anything either. Whatever's going to happen will happen and he'll be here when he's supposed to be....I just hope it's soon!!! Who knows - maybe my next update will include birthday pictures!!! Here are some pictures from our shower this week. As you can see Gretchen has not gained near as much weight as I have and she doesn't appear to be swollen like I am. Eewww!! I do not like the swelling AT ALL!! Have a great week and stay cool - it's 93 degrees here right now!

The Latest....

I had another Dr. appointment yesterday and left a little confused. Last week my bp was elevated a bit and yesterday it was basically the same but he's not concerned now. I lost 1 pound (yahoo!!!) from last week which basically says to me that for the last 3 appointments my weight gains have been water weight. At least that will be easy to lose, right?! He also said he thinks the little guy is heads down now which is good. Hopefully he's right - I would HATE to go through labor and then end up with a c-section!! Apparently the lump I've been feeling in my ribs is his little butt and not his head. He even said I don't need to come back next week but I can wait 2 weeks. He said that since it's my first he doesn't think I'll be dilated by 37 weeks and my next appointment will put me at 37 1/2 weeks. I'm hoping to prove him wrong and be dilated at my next appointment!! Come on baby, work with Mommy!! I was told by 2 different colleagues today that he has dropped and pants are being difficult to keep up in the right place. I don't think very many people expect me to make it until the due date which I would be fine with. Just let me get through school (over next Friday! yay!) and then I'm good with him arriving early. The longer we have with him this summer the better! That's about all I know right now - I'll let you know if there are any more updates. Be sure to play our game at the top!!!

Mother's Day Fun!

I finally uploaded the pictures I took at our Mother's Day BBQ last Saturday. It was nice to have Grandma Butler & Aunt Kim up in this area for a weekend. They came over with Mom & Dad and the Bridges family came over for dinner. Courtney and I had a busy day of cleaning, laundry, buying baby stuff from a friend (Thanks Michelle!) and shopping for our BBQ. On Friday the Mom's of my students came for a "Mother's Day Tea Party". The class spent the week making books & hats for their Moms. The hats turned out so beautiful that I decided to make one for the Moms that were going to be at my house on Saturday. I gave them to the Moms Saturday and made them wear them long enough for pictures....then we got silly....

















We finally finished the curtains for the nursery closet. In case you haven't heard our fiasco...we have no doors on the closet in the nursery so I decided to make some Snoopy curtains to go with the room. Travis Noon suggested we make curtains to look like Charlie Brown's shirt....brilliant!! I found the perfect yellowy orangey fabric over my spring break and sewed them to fit - not too bad for my first time sewing, I might add. Courtney tried to spray paint the zig zags on one curtain when he had a day off from school but the spray paint went crazy and got all over. Plus it made the fabric crunchy. Well - I got new fabric last week and sewed the curtain again and Courtney and I painted the zig zags with fabric paint. I finished the 2nd one up today and hung them. They look adorable!! I love them in the room!! Thank you, Travis, for such a great idea! The nursery is basically done - the last load of baby clothes that we have is in the wash right now. I thought for the longest time that we had too many clothes but now it doesn't look like so many! I can't believe that in 5 weeks or so we will have a little man to fill the nursery - that's all that's missing!

Nothing to post just thought this was funny...

Today is Friday, May 15th, 2009. I am 35 weeks pregnant and have 35 days to go until our little man is due. Isn't that funny?! Do you get it?! 35 weeks - 35 days....get it?! I thought it was funny.

Update...

I am still waiting on our maternity photos. We have seen them online but I'm waiting to post them until I have the CD. (Online they have PROOF written across them.) I will upload some as soon as I get them! :)

Well, I had a Dr. appointment yesterday and it went, well, it went...that's all. I have been noticing quite a bit of swelling lately but yesterday it was very bad. Yesterday morning I tried to put on a necklace that Joy gave me for Christmas and it was too tight. I also wasn't feeling him move as much so I went in for my appointment and told the nurse & Doctor. The nurse weighed me and I had gained 7 lbs. in 2 weeks!!! WHAT?!?! Then she checked my blood pressure and it was elevated a little - nothing major. When the Doctor came in we talked and he said my weight gain was all water weight - which I've been trying to tell him for a few weeks now. Then he checked for the heartbeat and it was faint and not in the same place as it usually is. The lady at the 3D ultrasound a few weeks ago said he was heads up and apparently she's right! He kept making funny faces while he was listening for the heartbeat which freaked me out. He said that the next time he checks me if he gets the heartbeat in the same place he'll do a sonogram and after that if it's still in the same spot he'll take him by c-section. I don't know if that meant he would take him at that time (I will by 37 weeks by then which is full term) or he would schedule a day. Either way I would be fine with it!! He asked how much longer I have in school and I told him 2 weeks. His reply was, "Really? Two FULL weeks?" I took that as him not being very happy about that because then he said, "You are to do nothing on the weekends. 48 hours of nothing!" So he said he would see me in a few weeks and then he looked at my blood pressure and decided I should start coming in every week. He had me go home and do a "kick count" after dinner because I told him I wasn't feeling him very much yesterday. If I failed I needed to go to the hospital to be monitored. He told me if I had any questions or concerns to call the office. So I did the kick count last night and passed. This morning I got up and wasn't feeling him that much so I called the office and was told to go to Labor & Delivery to be hooked up. Courtney & I met there and everything is fine. They did a non-stress test on me which is hooking you up to a monitor to measure the heart rate and I had to click a handle thingy every time I felt him. I didn't feel him that much but his heart rate seemed fine. I was hooked up for about 30 minutes and then told I could leave. Since the Dr. decided that I needed to have "bed rest" on the weekends and he didn't seem thrilled that I still had so much time left in school I got scared that he might put me on bed rest for the rest of the school year so....I decided to take tomorrow & Friday off to try to get things to go down. I wasn't expecting to have to leave in the middle of the day today too for a test so I have to go to the school tonight to get things ready. Ah - the life of an 8 1/2 month pregnant lady! I'm sure everything is fine and will continue to be fine - we might just get to see the little guy earlier than we thought! :)

Who Wants To Play A Game?

As you can see at the top of this BLOG - I've added a game!! You can guess the gender (duh!), due date and size of our baby. Come play with us!! I even made the first guess so don't be shy! I wonder who will have the best guess!

Baby Boy Marsh

I finally remembered to bring not only the CD home but also my computer from school home tonight! Yay me!! Here are a few shots of our little man we were able to see. In case you don't remember what happened on Saturday - please see the previous post. I hope you can make out his face. See the chubby Johnson cheeks?!

Baby Day - May 2, 2009 - To Be Continued.....

Well we had baby day yesterday - sort of! We had a great photo session and are anxiously awaiting our pictures. They should be online sometime this week and we will probably have the CD this week also. The problem?! Our home computer is a piece of junk and won't read CDs! So I will have to bring my school computer home to upload photos on here. Trust me though, as soon as Courtney tells me he has the CD I will be bringing the computer home! After our pictures we went to Belly Image in Lenexa and attempted our 3D/4D ultrasound. Here's some clarification - a 3D ultrasound is the actual pictures which are much more detailed than the kind you get with the Doctor. A 4D ultrasound is the actual movement. It's the same details as the 3D but moving. We got our CD with 3D pictures and our DVD with the 4D movements but our boy is apparently stubborn. We didn't see him much at all. The tech discovered that I have an anterior placenta so instead of attaching at the back and the baby growing in front of my placenta mine attached at the front and he is growing behind it. So he was hiding his face and wouldn't move! He is also still head up. If he were head down it wouldn't have been much of a problem because he wouldn't be hiding but he is apparently pretty comfy where he is! We did get a few good face shots which again I will need to upload from my school computer this week. He has the chubbiest cheeks!! The lady said she thinks he will be petite...and then she showed us a foot which in her words was BIG! I think he'll be long and skinny with big feet....hmmmm, wonder who his dad is?! We did get confirmation that he IS a boy. He was being a little shy but we did get to see his, um, goods?! I just can't wait for him to get here. Just over 6 weeks - although I'm hoping it will be less! I just want to get through school (over on the 29th!) and then he can come. I know, I know, I shouldn't get my hopes up cuz he'll come when he's supposed to but you know me....impatient! We are ready for his arrival any time now! Anyway - I don't know a lot I just thought I'd let everyone know what was going on with pictures. I will post them this week - I promise!