Week Two

Raegan's first bottle feeding; Daddy did a good job

Ironic, huh???

Enjoying some play time on my monkey mat

Raegan is now over two weeks old. It's hard to believe how fast time is going! She had her first real bath today after waking up because of an 'explosive' diaper. All you parents know how that goes! She did pretty ok with the bath. I'm sure as I get better at it, she'll enjoy it more. She also had her first bottle today. Daddy also got to experience what it's like to feed her. Hopefully he'll be doing more of that in the future. She sucked it down like a champ, but I knew she would. This girl sure does love to eat! Guess I better get to work on storing up for when I go back to work.

We had a couple more visitors and did some visiting. Monday, Auntie Noelle came by with some cute outfits and couldn't believe how little Rae was. Tuesday, we went to Auntie Julie's office and out to eat. Rae ate right along with us at Panera...it was our first public feeding; a little scary, but we made it through. Then I had some me time and went shopping, but of course, I bought only things for Rae; it's so hard to resist! Wednesday we went for a nice walk to visit my work. The kids were really cute and kept saying 'baby'. Today, Nana, Pops, Auntie Amy, and Auntie Angela came over for lunch. Angela changed her first diaper and it was a big one!

Looking forward to the next couple weeks and hopefully warmer weather will come with it!

One week

Going home outfit, pink of course!

My monkey blankie is super soft; thanks Auntie Amy!

Mommy's little monkey sucking her thumb and holding on for dear life!

Raegan past her one week appointment with flying colors. She has already put weight back on and is back up to 8lbs 3oz and is 21in (although doc thinks she might have been that at birth). She certainly may be a big girl, but she still swims in all clothes other than newborn. I can't wait to put her in some of the outfits that have been finding their way into our house. We've taken several walks and for the most part, if it's moving, she's ok with it :).

I'm still in the recovery period, but really only hurt when I cough, sneeze, or move too quickly. I'm thankful that everything has been going smoothly for me; I can't imagine if I was still out of commission. Luckily, Nana had been able to come and help us out with a little cleaning and giving Rae her first bath (I'll admit, I was a little scared...). Thanks Nana! Still can't wait to show her off to everyone!

HOME

Raegan and I are finally home from the hospital. We were released with clean bills of health on Friday morning and finally arrived home Friday evening (Daddy had to work, so we had to wait for Auntie Amy to bring us home). When we got home, Daddy had decorated the house with balloons and pictures and welcome home signs for us. It is so cute. Also waiting for us at home was Auntie Tracy and Grandma Nan. She couldn't have been more excited to see her granddaughter for the first time! Friday was a long day, but I was so excited to be home with Mike and our Sugar.

Saturday brought a couple more visitors. Grandma Nan took Oz to the park and then visited a little with Rae. The brakes on my car needed to be changed, so Uncle Dave came to help with that. It took a little longer than expected, but they're fixed. Rae had an eventful day of sleeping, eating, and visiting, lol. Today we are having a nice relaxing afternoon laying on the couch and napping. Mike is enjoying some much needed Daddy-Daughter time. He's been a great help at night changing Raegan for me, so I figured they needed some alone time that didn't involve dirty diapers!

I'm excited to take Raegan out eventually to show her the world and introduce her to everyone else. We'll post new pics soon! Thanks for all your love and support not only over the past week, but the past months.

The long run.

So the day, last few days, are winding down.

Today started with oxytocin, cousin of pitocin to get the contractions going. Unfortunately as the day went on, we began to realize things were not changing. Jenn was only dilated three to four centimeters and holding there. Around four in the afternoon, the doctor lead us to the conclusion we saw as inevitable. She gave us one more hour until the c-section would be scheduled.

Five o'clock came and we were well prepared for the new route. Unfortunately we were postponed because another mother had an emergency c-section. We were more than willing to wait for her. Around six Jenn was taken to prep for surgery. I paced around wearing out the booties covering my shoes. Thirty minutes later I was called in to the O.R. After some wiggling and maneuvering, Raegan Kathryn-Anne came out. Mom was stitched up and everyone was back to healthy and feeling well (some with the assistance of pain relievers).

Reagan Kathryn-Anne Shunt was born at 6:55 pm on April 13, 2010. She weighed in at 8 lbs 7.5 oz. (I think I wrote that correctly). She is 20 inches long and has black hair with long eyelashes. She is a blessing to say the least.

Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts over the past few days. Jenn and I appreciate it more than anyone knows. It has helped us get through a challenging time and on to the good stuff. We hope to see everyone soon.

Love,

Michael, Jennifer and Raegan

Raegan Kathryn-Anne

Epidural.

Epidural is in. Jenn is feeling better after a rush of pain from some very long contractions. Things look good for now. The baby is still sitting high up and we are hoping for a drop soon. The contractions are not strong enough to push the baby down yet.

Jenn is making progress. Baby is still doing good. Still need some thoughts and prayers.

Doctors broke the water.

Let the games begin.

Sleepy

Going to begin pitocin again shortly.

Jenn is sleeping.

Updates

Jenn is OK.

Things are going slow and we are entering another long night. We are thankful for our nurse Kim for getting us through a very long and difficult day. She is gone for the night, but we have another great nurse on duty.

So Jenn is hovering around three centimeters and stuck in pre-labor, awaiting active labor. She is off of the pitosin and on to cervidil until the morning. Hopefully moving things along.

The Doctors said the baby is healthy and mom is healthy. Really just waiting.

Family was in today. Thankfully they helped pass the time and provided great support. Everyone is anxious. Without them, this would be much more difficult. So thank you.

Doctors are here to start the next meds. So, got to go. More soon.

Nothing new.

Still waiting. Slow and steady. I did not know this was cross country.

3 to 4 cm. baby moved down a little. more thinned. slow and steady progress.

3 to 4 cm. baby moved down a little. more thinned. slow and steady progress.

Blood Pressure

Blood pressure will be tested every 30 minutes. Pitocin will be adjusted 15 minutes to 30 minutes.

3cm. Pitocin is coming.

Jenn is dilated three centimeters and they will be administering Pitocin soon. Water could be broken sometime this morning. Waiting for delivery Doc to stop by. Trying to get to active labor. Still have many hours ahead of us. We are getting ready to dig in for a few hours.

Nurse Kim

New nurse who is awesome. Lets get baby out and into this world.

Morning.

Sleepy for sure. Jenn barely slept, if at all. Nurse Maureen is off in a few and the next one will be on. Contractions are pretty regular at this point, but we were told they will be working on intensity. So far everything is quiet. Maybe because we are tired.

Tired.

Going to sleep soon. Jenn is trying to sleep some, but being hooked up to monitors makes it difficult. She has the panda bear stuffed animal from Washington DC that we bought when we found out about Sugar covering her eyes. She has been stressed, but some family time has helped pass the time. Babies heartbeat is pretty loud on the monitors. Good but also funny that the baby is already keeping us up.

Nurse Shannon is off for the night. Very nice, helpful, and informative. Maureen will be on for the next shift. Everything seems OK so far. Will be checking back in the morning after I find some breakfast.

Thanks everyone for being there. Your thoughts and prayers are needed.

Some pics from the shower. There is some hospital updates below!

Tired.

Going to sleep soon. Jenn is trying to sleep some, but being hooked up to monitors makes it difficult. She has the panda bear stuffed animal from Washington DC that we bought when we found out about Sugar covering her eyes. She has been stressed, but some family time has helped pass the time. Babies heartbeat is pretty loud on the monitors. Good but also funny that the baby is already keeping us up.

Nurse Shannon is off for the night. Very nice, helpful, and informative. Maureen will be on for the next shift. Everything seems OK so far. Will be checking back in the morning after I find some breakfast.

Thanks everyone for being there. Your thoughts and prayers are needed.

Pictures and info

Here's the room.

Sink. ooohhhh!

Equipment. Wow.

Movie night. When Harry Met Sally

Monitoring baby heart rate and contractions.

Monitoring baby heart rate and contractions.

Monitoring Mom!

Induced!

Jenn's been induced. Contractions are regular, but weak. Dilated only 1cm so a while to go. Things are pretty good, just have to wait...a few hours.

At The Hospital

Checked in. Jenn is strapped up to machines and being monitored. Lab tests back in 30 minutes. Watching America's Funniest Home Videos.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from Sugar and Mommy and Daddy.

Daddy is very talented in the belly painting arena :)

And we have a completed room!

Now all we need is a Sugar Monkey to fill it with love, laughter, and of course lots of crying!

Tomorrow marks one week until due day or as Mike says it D Day minus 7. We can't believe we're this close to meeting this little one. I'm gonna be working my hardest to get things started this week so Mike's mom doesn't miss out if I actually go to next weeks' due date (she's gonna be out of town for work...). My daily walks will start along with anything else I can think of to get things started. I just hope this baby isn't as stubborn as me and waits to come out 2 weeks after D Day! Sugar is still moving like crazy; sometimes making me double over with how much room there is NOT in there anymore. As always, we'll keep everyone posted when things get going! I'm sure the blog will be updated within a day of the arrival.