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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Can't take the heat!

As April leaves us with 90 degree days, it leaves me to think, where was spring? Anyone who knows me very well knows that I can't take the heat! Literally, I get so miserable! My poor husband knows that it is better to do everything in his power to keep our house cool and comfortable. After one night of sleeping in an 80+ degree bedroom, needless to say, the air was on the next day! I will spare the details, I will just say that I hope my son does not take after mommy in that way and enjoys hot, sticky, muggy April weather. The only plus for me, I get to dress my baby boy in onsies and show off his adorable chub!



We did find some ways to enjoy the days prior (a few nice comfortable 70 degree days). We took our new jogging stroller (which I LOVE) for a spin in the park, ran into some old friends and Frank pitched a few balls.



Frank's parents came for a visit yesterday. It was nice to visit and perfect timing as Jackson has, just in the last week, really started smiling at you. Mornings are his most productive smiling time, however everyday we are catching more and more silly smiley faces, probably in response to our silly (scary) smiley faces. Enjoy the following pics of our very happy baby!


Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Bjorn-o!

Jack has really taken a liking to his baby bjorn......can't you tell?


Whoops! Aside from this rare moment, he really does seem to enjoy being "worn". When the fussing starts, just pop him in and we have a silent happy baby! Oh one thing, he likes it when you are moving, because if you stop, or heaven forbid need to sit down for a moment because your back hurts from carrying around a very heavy 7 week old (I will find out exactly how heavy next week at our doctor appointment) the fussing resumes. I'm glad daddy is strong!


Saturday, April 25, 2009

Our Easter Bunny




This year we were lucky enough to spend Easter with Babci and Dziadek (Frank's parents) and Uncle A.J. and Aunt Maggie. It was a busy day filled with Mass, eating chocolate, cooking, eating more chocolate, cleaning, more chocolate, visiting, more chocolate, and then relaxin, followed by one last piece of chocolate! Even though my mom was missed because she was sick and could not come, we had a blessed Easter Sunday.

I did attempt, as in first time mom tradition, to take Jack to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap at the mall until I realized that it cost $20 just to sit on the Bunny's lap! Well, being frugal like I am I figured I would just improvise......



He cried almost the entire time and I was eerily reminded me of the movie A Christmas Story! Then I thought to myself, I am that mother!

Friday, April 24, 2009

The First Weeks




The first few weeks of life as new family have been wonderful! Of course it was a transition for all of us at first, getting to know each other, and getting to know Jacks wants and needs, but now we are generally living a pretty blissful life!

A few things I want to record:

~ We had lots of visitors in the first few weeks (Thank you to all who came to meet Jackson). My mom came to help out for the first week and then Frank's mom came to help out after that. Family and Friends brought us food and gifts and love (and a bit of sanity, especially in the first couple of weeks :).


~We were shocked to see that in the hospital not only was Jack super alert but he was already lifting up his head. Our amazing baby! By 10 days he was able to lift his entire upper body off of Frank's chest.




~Our other baby, Zoe, has taken quite a liking to our little Jack. She loves to lay in his room and nap while he naps (I'm glad someone's getting some sleep around here!). She is so gentle with him, and although she loves to get right in his face and sniff his eyeballs (weird right - she does it to us too) he has never ever cried because of her!



~Jack is quite the eater! It seems as if he is ALWAYS hungry! Mommy basically plans her day around his eating! Any errand must get squeezed into to an hour or less! And yes, that means he eats more than the typical baby who eats every 2 hours (especially during a growth spurt) and if it stretches to 2 hours, he is like a little clock almost to the second! His many chins and adorable chub show that he is obviously a healthy baby!



~Jack has become increasingly more aware and alert of his surroundings. He is taking an interest in objects and people and giving the occasional smile. In the 2 weeks he has really started cooing and making lots of the most adorable and funniest sounds we have ever heard! His favorite this as of late is his belly gym mat! It definitely holds his attention for a good time!



~Alleluia we are finally getting some sleep!!! We have settled into a nice routine in the evening of play, bath, jammies, nursing, rocking with our sound machine on and then ......... sleeping..... for a nice long stretch. He usually goes down around 8:30-9:00 and has been sleeping until anywhere from 1:00-3:00 and then not waking up again until 6:00! Mommy and Daddy are slowing dezombieizing!

~Everyday we really have made a point to read together (well mostly mommy does the reading and occasionally daddy). I have even memorized a few of the books...ahh the life of a mother! Jack also really seems to enjoy listening to music, which seems to be playing the majority of the day from his Ipod (thanks Aunt Maggie) in his nursery! Some favorites? Blackthron, Roy Orbison (don't ask) Louis Armstrong, Barenaked Ladies and any Music Together CD!

~There is so much to the monotony of daily life, many precious, funny, heartwarming, trying, and loving moments. Sorry for running on for so long, I guess I am a typical first time mom (and obviously Jackson is napping right now!)

Jackson Francis




I am starting this blog to help myself remember all of the little moments, and of course to share them with our loved ones and friends! At 6 weeks out I feel like I am already getting fuzzy about the beginning so I had better get started!!!! A good place to start....with the story of Jack's birth.


Jackson's Birth Story

My pregnancy started out probably like most first time mommies.... I really had no idea what to expect. I figured that I would just go through it with an open mind not discrediting anything. I figured that I would be told as I went along what was right and wrong, good and bad, by my doctors. Not so much. After a brutal first trimester of being sick constantly for 3 1/2 months, I read a book about natural birthing by chance in the beginning of my second trimester and of course it raised a lot of questions, but also scared me to death. Still I vowed to keep an open mind. How interesting that I would visit my practice and take the book with me to ask questions...I ended up leaving the appointment feeling so horrible. I was told "you will never be able to have a natural birth" and "you will begging us to do a C-section after 12 hours of pain" and "no one does that anymore, why would you want to?" I felt so defeated and saddened. Inside of me my little baby was already helping to guide me in the right direction. I decided that now that was my only option. I would have a natural birth. I talked to friends and family members who delivered naturally and all said it was one of the best experiences of their lives! I read many different books on natural birth and took prenatal yoga (ha ha...I really thought it would help with the pain). I took my vitamins and tried to eat as healthy as possible and stay active. Through all of my self convincing, I still had a big decision to make. Should I stay with my practice or not? I decided after meeting with the midwife and the other doctor (whom I both respect and love) that I would stay with them (not see the other guy at all) and hire a doula.

I feel very blessed to be able to say that Frank was very supportive of the entire process. He only questioned me briefly, asking why I wouldn't want drugs, and why do we need a doula when we have a doctor. After talking and doing some of his own research, he was on board and so supportive.

Fast forward to March 10th 2009....after a wonderful rest of my pregnancy, I was in labor! I wasn't sure at first....but after timing contractions (mild ones) for a couple of hours, I called my doula and she was on her way. The plan...to labor at home until I was ready to just about push the baby out! Best laid plans though right? After an entire day of these mildly uncomfortable contractions (which by the way I was able to breathe through very easily and I thought this will be a piece of cake...ha ha) we decided to speed up the process a bit by taking some kind of herbal supplement and then some castor oil (ew). By 9:30 at night my teeth started chattering and my doula said I was probably in transition. Oh, and, the contractions started to get stronger. Off to the hospital we went, after of course Frank ran back in the house at least 3 times to check things! After a crazy ride to the hospital I was admitted to find out I was only 5 cm dialated. WTF! was my initial thought. The rest of the night was pretty much a lot of walking the halls, sleeping in between contractions, and the waking everyone up every 4 mins with my screaming! I did manage to get out to visit my awesome friends and family ~my mom, Frank's mom & dad, my brother & Maggie, and Gail~ that spent ALL NIGHT at the hopital. Finally by 10:30 in the morning when my doctor came in again, I was about 9 cm with no broken water. The suggested I break my water to speed up the process. I have no idea what I thought was going to happen, but I was so scared to do anything, but after a little coaxing (alright a lot of coaxing) from Frank and Ananga-manjari, the broke my water and soon after, with only a few pushes, out came Jackson Francis Drachowski at 11:36 am. (Yes for anybody that has been counting that is almost 26 hours of Labor!) I do have to say when he came into the world he was perfect, and it was a truely special moment. We were very blessed to get to keep him with us for the first hour or so to bond and then Frank got to give him his first bath! Jack weighed in at 7lbs 15 oz and was 20 1/4in on March 11th 2009. Even though it was a very long and difficult labor, and I swore for the first week that let alone having another natural labor I would never have another child, I would now do it again in a heartbeat. It was such an amazing experience - the hardest one of my life - but so worth it to be so aware of life and have our baby be so alert and aware of life as well.

As for now, 6 weeks later, I am completely back to normal (well almost) and the scars of childbirth have healed into a love that is unexplainable!