Max Meets the Pahuta Family

Lulu and Pops

 

Aunt Andrea...and Uncle Matt was here too!

Pops

Oma and her first great-grandchild

Lulu

Aunt Molly

Uncle Nick

Uncle Tim

Bob

Welcome to the World, Max!

On September 19th, 2012, my life changed forever.  No matter how many people tell you that having a child changes your life, you never truly understand it until you experience it yourself.  Although I've been soaking up every second I get to spend with our little Max, I wanted to take time to document his entrance into the world, because I don't ever want to forget every detail and what a miracle it was.  So, here's his story!

On Tuesday, September 18th I was having mild contractions on and off throughout the day.  The day before, I'd had a "false alarm" and thought that my water had broken.  But, the doctor sent me back home saying it wasn't quite time yet.  She predicted that I would go into labor that week, but couldn't make any guarantees.  So, on Tuesday night around 11:00 pm, I was woken up by stronger contractions and what I once again thought was my water breaking.  The contractions were uncomfortable, but not painful.  I told JB that I thought it might be "for real" this time.  I tried to fall back asleep, but every time I would drift off, another contraction would come.  At 1:00 am, the contractions were coming every four minutes and I decided to call my doctor.  She suggested I continue to labor at home until it was really painful and then told me to meet her at the hospital.  So I took a shower, did my hair and makeup, and then stayed up all night. That makes perfect sense, right?!  I watched a few movies on HBO while JB slept on the couch next to me.  Around 6:30 am, I nudged him awake and told him I thought it was time to go.  Knowing that I wouldn't be allowed to eat anything once I was admitted, I made him stop to get me a bagel on the way to the hospital.  Who stops for food on the way to the hospital while in labor??  This girl right here.  It's a good thing I did too, because I wasn't allowed to have anything--not even ice chips (although one of my nurses snuck me a few).

When we got to the hospital, we waited in the maternity triage room to meet with my doctor.  She got to the hospital around 9:30, and she determined that part of my bag of water had in fact broken.  She went ahead and broke the rest of the bag and told us we were going to have a baby that day!  Because my water had broken at 11:00 the night before, she wanted to speed up the labor process to avoid any type of infection from happening.  She told me I could "walk the halls" for a half hour, and then she would be putting me on pitocin to speed up the labor process.  When the pitocin drip was started, I had to be put on the fetal heartrate monitor to ensure that the medication wasn't affecting the baby's heartrate.  This also meant that I couldn't walk around anymore.  This is exactly why I didn't created a "birth plan" ahead of time.  Of course, I had wanted to walk around and not be bedridden for as long as possible.  Well, that idea was squashed after we had been there for a half hour.

Here I am--before the pitocin.

The nurse started the pitocin drip, and within 5 minutes I could feel an immediate difference in the strength of my contractions.

And after.

Within the next hour, I was doubled over in pain and unable to talk my way through them.  Here is where I have to say this:  Have you ever seen the show, I didn't Know I Was Pregnant?  How the *#*@ do women just have a baby in the toilet and not know what is happening?!  When the pitocin drip started at 10:30, I was 1 1/2 centimeters dilated.  By 1:00, I was asking for the epidural.  The nurse coaxed me into waiting until I was 3 centimeters dilated, because sometimes an epidural can slow the labor process if it's given too early.  By 2:30, I was finally at 3 centimeters, and the anesthesiologist showed up and administered the epidural.  Cue the angelic music.  I'm pretty sure I told her that she was my new best friend.  Within 2 minutes of getting the epidural, I was completely numb and resting.  I took a 2 hour nap, and when I woke up, I had progressed to 7 centimeters.  Why would people choose not to get an epidural??  By 6:30, I was 10 centimeters dilated, and my nurse called the doctor back in.  It was time to push.

In just 45 minutes, our months of waiting and wondering ended, and Maxwell Michael Dustin made his way into the world at 7:14 pm on Wednesday, September 19th, 2012.  He weighed 8.69 pounds (exactly what the ultrasound technician had predicted weeks earlier--even though he was born one week earlier than his due date). He was 20 1/2 inches long, with skinny frog legs, chubby cheeks, and a little bit of light brown/blond hair.

We fell in love instantly. After the shock of the birth, Daddy cut the cord, and we spent the next hour alone with our little Max.  Then, we introduced him to my family and JB's family (via Skype). I'll post more pictures of this soon!  Our lives have been changed ever since, and I can't even describe how truly blessed we are to have been given this gift.  Life is so good. 
  

FINALLY--Nursery Pics!

Maxwell Michael Dustin is here!  

He made an early appearance (7 days early) on Wednesday September 19th at 7:14 pm.  We are completely head-over-heels in love with him, and can't imagine life without him.  I promised you pictures of the nursery for weeks during my pregnancy update posts, and the day I finally took pictures of it, I went into labor!  So, needless to say, there were some more important things to do than blog about it! 

Before starting on the nursery, I must have looked at and pinned hundreds of baby nursery pictures on Pinterest for inspiration. In the end, Max's room turned out to be an eclectic mix of things from many different stores, Etsy, and some handmade projects.  I tried to provide links for the bigger pieces in the nursery.  We spend LOTS of time snoozing in our glider together, and Max loves to look around at the blue walls in his room.  Enjoy the pictures!

Glider and Ottoman        Carpet         Crib

 

The lamp is from Marshall's and the painting above the dresser was painted by Joe's good friend, Paul.  It fits perfectly in the room!

I LOVE how the color combination of light blue, lime green, navy, and white turned out! 

Everyone at our Boston baby shower signed this copy of the shower invitation.  I framed it in a shadow box, and now Max can see all of the family and friends who love him from Boston!

I love this giraffe print above the changing table.  It's from ZeppiPrints on Etsy.  I bought inexpensive frames from Target and spray painted them white.  White frames were impossible to find, so I refinished black frames.

I found this bedding on Carousel Designs and fell in love with the fabric.  I didn't want a "theme", but liked how modern and fun the dots were on the fabric.  However, I couldn't bring myself to pay the ridiculous amount of money they were charging.  So, I went to my favorite website, Etsy, for some help.  I ended up finding Isla Corrine who custom designs crib bedding for a fraction of the cost, and she was able to order the fabric directly from Carousel.  It did take her a LONG time to make and ship the bedding (almost 14 weeks), but I'm so happy with how it turned out.  I also ordered extra fabric from Carousel, and my mom made the curtain and a pillow out of the material.  It looks great!

Cute diaper motorcycle my mom made for my shower

What a library--Max is going to love to read, just like Mommy!

We ended up taking the doors off of the closet to make more room and to make it more easily accessible.  Then, the hubs redesigned the closet to give me drawer space, shelves, and an extra rack for clothes.  

Daddy hanging out in the glider

Closet dividers from HisGlory on Etsy again...of course!  This made it so easy to organize ALL of those baby clothes.

I just started writing about Max's birth story, so that will be my next post (with TONS) of cute pictures of this handsome little guy! 

Bear with me as we get used to life here at home as our little family of 3.  It may take a couple of days to get that post finished! 

Week 38

Week 38
September 12th-18th
Pregnancy Survey

How far along? 38 weeks

Total weight gain: 28 pounds--Baby is the size of a pumpkin (my favorite)!
Maternity clothes? I'm wearing a maternity tank and regular foldover yoga pants in this picture--I'm going for comfort these days.  I had to yank the shirt down to cover my belly for this picture.  At home, it usually just hangs out.  :-)
Stretch marks? nope--they're not happening!
Sleep: Eh...more napping than sleeping going on here. I might just start sleeping downstairs--the sleep seems to happen easier on the couch.  

Best moment this week: Celebrating our 3-year anniversary at home!  Hard to believe three years of wedded bliss have gone by already. Lots of exciting things have happened in those three years, and I can't wait for more.  XOXO

Miss Anything?  Energy--feeling kind of bla and low on energy these days.  I'm waiting for the final burst of energy. 

Movement:  Plenty of movement going on here.  I went to the doctor this morning, and the nurse was loving watching Baby's big lumpy moves. 
Food cravings:  We picked up some pumpkin ice cream from the local place down the street this week--yum.  I'm looking forward to a big bowl of it with some sprinkles tonight.  Still loving fresh fruit and ice water too!

Anything making you queasy or sick: I'm getting some nausea like I was in the beginning.  It comes and goes at weird times.  

Gender:  It's a BOY!

Labor Signs: Yes--we have a feeling we might meet Baby very soon!  Contractions are happening every day and night, and we're just waiting for them to get stronger and more regular.  
Symptoms:  Like I said, I'm pretty tired and feeling kind of sluggish.  Other than that, just enjoying the last few days of kicks and moving from the inside!
Belly Button in or out? Outie!
Wedding rings on or off? Twice this week I had a hard time taking off my rings, so I've been chugging my water to ward of the swelling.  To be fair, on both of those days, I ate an everything bagel and pretzels (so the salt probably did it).  Eating extra salt is helping with the dizziness I was experiencing from low blood pressure though.
Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy :-) 
Looking forward to:  Meeting baby boy Dustin!  (And hoping we know his name when we finally see him!)  We're still taking last minute suggestions.  

Have a super week!