Merry Christmas (a few days late)

Our Christmas was wonderful and we hope yours was too! A Christmas update will come soon but for now we are enjoying our vacation with the Davis'.

We Love this guy so much!!!

How could you not love this smiling face??

2 Months Old

So I am a little behind on this because Mason is now 2 1/2 months old but here are the stats leading up to his 2 months.

- At around 5-6 weeks old Mason started smiling, real genuine smiles. It is adorable!!

- We are finally getting this feeding thing figured out and we are supplementing with 3oz bottles ever feeding. You are growing steadily and at your 2 month appointment weigh 11lbs 4oz and are 23 3/4 inches long.

- You handled your 2 month shots like a champ!! I think that although they were screams of pain, you scream more in your carseat when the car has stopped. However, what made mommy sad was that you slept for the rest of the day and that night you screamed bloody murder when changing you.

- You went on you biggest trip so far to Washington for your first youth group event and did GREAT!!

-This month was exciting because I was finally able to put you down for more than 10 minutes. In fact, you love your jungle play mat and will "talk" and smile at the hanging animals that we call your friends for a long time, sometimes until you fall asleep.

- You have begun sleeping until around 3:30 in the morning which is wonderful! This mommy is loving getting more sleep.

- You also got to go to California for Thanksgiving this month and meet your Papa, and great grandparents as well as second cousins and great aunts and uncles. You also did wonderful on this trip and won the hearts of a few more people as well.

-On November 28th at McDonalds as we were coming back from California, Mommy looked at you in your carseat and you gave me the biggest smile. This was the first time I felt like you recognized me and you repeated it several times. Mommy's heart melted at this and I got sooooooo excited, I can't really put into words how wonderful it was!

We love our Mason so much and are enjoying seeing your little personality come out!

Turkey Day

For Thanksgiving we went to visit my (Amber's) family in Northern California. We were able to spend a full week, Monday to Monday there which was great especially with this being Mason's first holiday season. It was wonderful having extra hands to give this mommy and daddy a break and we were even able to go on our very first date night since Mason was born!!

Mason got to meet a lot of people on this visit including my dad who was unable to make it up when he was born. This also included a trip to Santa Rosa for Thanksgiving where he met his great-grandparents and great aunt and uncle.

I also joined the craziness with my mom of Black Friday shopping by starting of at midnight at Kohls. I got some great steals and my wardrobe has now been refreshed, Carter's too of course.

Uncle Logan was always playing with Mason. He sure has come a long way from not even wanting to hold him.

 Papa (my dad) holding Mason for the first time.

We saw one of Logan's soccer games.

Mason's great-grandma mema loving on him.

 His popen loves him too.

 Happy Thanksgiving, Shake your tailfeathers!

 Mason loves his Gigi (my mom)

 Mason also got to meet great grandma nanny.

Aunty Shannon was so helpful during this trip that she was pooped on, peed on, and spit up on. Gotta love that!!

Head Lifts

Another video! Mason's head is getting stronger and this video taken on 11/15 shows how long he is holding it up for now. I can't believe how big he is getting already!!

Becoming Alert

Within the past couple weeks Mason has become a smiler! I love when he flashes his little grin and thought I would share his alertness with you.  I just melt when he "talks" and smiles!

Our Birth Story

Just a warning that this is VERY long and probably has a lot of information in it that you might find to be TMI. However, I don't want to forget anything and this is the best way for me to document it. Please note that if you haven't had a baby before that not everybody's experience is as hard as mine was so don't let it scare you!


It started at 4:30am on Thursday the 29th. I was 4 days overdue at this point and extremely anxious for any sign Mason might be coming. During the night I had some light cramping but nothing different than what had been happening the past couple weeks. I had woken up to use the bathroom for the umpteenth time that night and as I started to climb back into bed I felt something leaking and stood straight up as I felt a gush of fluid start flowing. Carter asked his standard “Are you okay” when I get back in bed and this time I said “I think my water just broke”. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him get out of bed that fast = ). We spent the next half hour getting our stuff together and since contractions hadn’t started yet I only had to deal with the leaking fluid issue as I got myself sorda put together because I didn’t want to look like I just woke up since I already knew I’d look awful by the time things were done.


We checked into the hospital around 5:15ish and they got me hooked up with and IV site in my hand because I had to have a bag of penicillin ever 4 hours. Now this sounds easy enough but I highly dislike needles and was not excited to have one stuck in my arm and it didn’t help that I have TERRIBLE veins so it took them almost 30 minutes to get it set up and they tried a couple times to get it. At this point we were just waiting for contractions to start as it was our plan to have Mason naturally and I didn’t want pitocin because I knew it triggered horrible contractions. I did okay with the contractions breathing through them and utilizing the tub and shower while having Carter’s support even though they weren’t fun until around noonish when the midwife (not mine because she was on vacation) told me that I wasn’t dilating any more and that my contractions didn’t appear strong enough on their own. At this point we decided to go with the pitocin because they wanted to get the baby out sooner instead of later since my water had broken and apparently there is a time limit on these things for health reasons. The pitocin was NO fun for my contractions. The pitocin caused contractions that I could barely get through and the worst part was that they were back to back so I felt like I couldn’t have even a breather in between them. If they were farther apart I might have done better but at this point I was trying to be strong but when they told me that I had barely dilated further and they were going to need to up the pitocin once more I knew the time was ending for me to keep things natural. At this point they had realized that my iv site was blocked and they needed to redo it but they couldn’t find a good vein. They also noticed some minor distress in the baby so they had me temporarily breathing with an oxygen mask. It was at this point when I had both my arms out so they could find a good vein because they had already blown one, and carter was holding my oxygen mask in place while I was crying and moaning (I did a lot of moaning) through a contraction that I turned to Carter and said “I can’t do this anymore, I want the epidural.” The only thing was that they had to finish finding a vein and get me to clear a bag of fluids before they could call the anesthesiologist. However, the nurses were wonderful and realized the pain I was in so they called him in before I was ready and he being the great guy he was had me sign papers and explained the process until I was ready. Now I want to note that I hadn’t prepared myself for the possibility of an epidural because it wasn’t part of my birth plan, so therefore Carter wasn’t prepared. I knew the needle would be big but I honestly didn’t care because anything was better than the contractions I was going through. Carter however, looked and flinched while holding my hand (not the best thing to do) but it is a funny story to tell now though. Let me tell you what, the epidural was AMAZING although the dead leg feeling was really odd.!!


It was around 4:30pm by the time the epidural started so I had gone 12 hours naturally and I am proud of myself for that. The epidural though allowed me to feel human again and I even had our parents come in to chat and posted on face book. It was also nice because I got to “eat” a few more cups of broth and rest a little bit. Somewhere between 3-4am I kind lose track of time from here on I began to feel “holes” in my epidural where I could feel the pain in my lower left abdomen and back and the pain kept getting sronger and stronger and my blissful moments of no pain started sliding away. Even upping the epidural as far as they could for how far along I was wasn’t helping. Also sometime during this period they realized that since I was still barely progressing that maybe their monitors weren’t accurately depicting how strong the contractions were so they put an internal monitor onto his head. Around 5:30- 6:00am the on-call midwife checked me and had me push a few times and said that I was at a 9 1/2and had been for a while and she was worried that I might not hit a 10 soon so she briefly mentioned c-section. I had a breakdown at this point as I asked the nurse to explain to me what that would look like. Then my actual stand-in midwife came in and said that she thought I was at a 10 and she would give me a little longer and then would come in to start pushing. We felt hope at this point and excitement despite my pain because through the process they kept saying “you’ll have a baby by midnight, oh by 3am for sure, oh by 6am” but now the time to push was upon us. Sometime around 6:30am we started pushing and pushing and pushing and pushing. They had me moving around like a rotisserie chicken which is rather hard to do when you still can’t feel your legs (although I could feel plenty of my contractions again). The midwife told me that ideally they only want a person pushing for 2 hours and somewhere around the 2 ½ mark she said that they could see his head but that he couldn’t clear my cervix because his head was so big so she was going to call the OBGYN on call in and that I would have to push hard to prove to him that I could do it on my own.
 The OBGYN came in and tried the vacuum and told us that this could very well work but that if it popped off twice than he was done trying that. It was so sad when I heard it pop of twice because Carter and I both knew that it really was our last chance at delivering vaginally. The OBGYN recommended a c-section at this point in time as we were about 29 hours in and it didn’t look like Mason was going to come on his own since I’d been pushing for around 3 hours by now. My midwife had me push a few more times which I was more than happy to do because believe it or not it was easier to push through the contractions (which I could feel since my epidural had pretty much worn off by now) than to sit and feel the contractions. At this point she asked us to decide what we wanted to do. Carter and I briefly discussed it and decided that although it was not part of our plan a c-section would probably be best. I was just too tired and had no energy left to keep up with the pushing that may or may not have produced a baby and the pain of the contractions was just too much and they couldn’t redo my epidural if I was going to continue pushing. The midwife was great though because she told me that she would get on the gurney and we could push all the way to the operating room which I turned down because I had already given in to the c-section and was EXHAUSTED! Carter was handed the cool scrubs to change into and they rolled me into the operating room.

As they set me up for the operation Carter wasn’t allowed to be in there but let me tell you when the redid my epidural for the surgery it was wonderful to feel that pain disappear. As they were poking my stomach to see if I could feel anything I was so afraid that I wouldn’t be numbed enough and I would feel them cutting me…however, it was the weirdest thing ever being able to feel the pressure of all they were doing without the pain, kinda creepy honestly. The “worst” part was that they had to back him out of the birth canal which was the most pressure I felt but when I heard his cry which was very loud and healthy sounding I was elated. They showed him to me over the separator but I couldn’t see him and Carter made sure they showed me again. Then Carter went with them to watch him be cleaned up and it was so cute because I could hear him talking to me saying “he has my eyes, but it looks like he has your ears” and commenting on other parts of his body. Then they brought him over to me and Carter held him on my chest for around 10 minutes as I stared at him and what I remember the most was his cute little mouth moving open and shut. He did great during that time and seemed perfectly content in his bright new world. Then it was time for Carter to go with the nurses to the nursery with Mason while I got stitched up and sent to recovery. Carter told me that it was great because they let his parents and my mom into the nursery too because there were no other babies in there while he was being weighed and measured. The worst part of the c-section process for me was being isolated in recovery for an hour while all I wanted to do was hold my baby and be with him and Carter. During recovery I got the shakes really bad and my legs started cramping but the recovery nurse was wonderful and as soon as I could feel my legs and the compressors on them she said it was “my ticket outta there” to go back to the room. Once I got back to the room I still wasn’t able to hold Mason for around another hour but it was enough just being in the room with him and Carter and our family. I was told that Mason was born at 10:05am and weight 8lbs 10oz and was 21 ½ inches long. His head circumference was 15 inches which was why he wouldn’t “fit” for vaginal delivery. It was such a joy watching Carter with Mason and when I finally got to hold him I couldn’t believe that we finally had this miracle in our arms to love forever and it made all the pain and everything else worth it because although my birth experience was traumatic for us, I would take those 30 hours of pain for a lifetime of happiness with our Mason Darrell Davis.

One Month

Days Old

One Month Old   10/28/11

                                                          
How is it that our sweet little Mason is already a month old? This month has been through many ups and downs, complete sleep deprivation, some frustration, and many happy content moments. Below are things that I want to remember about this first month.

- When we first brought Mason home I thought that I would be able to let him cry it out until he fell asleep. Yeah right. This mommy and daddy cave after him screaming for 2 minutes because it makes us so sad.

- Mason makes the cutest snoring noises when sleeping.

- Grumpy faces are his specialty.

- People say that he has been smiling since birth. This mommy chalks it up to gas but I can't wait until he smiles at us for real!!

- He hates to have his arms swaddled and will grunt and groan until he gets them free. The same is true for the blanket at the end of the pack n play, if he isn't swaddled he will wiggle around until he is no longer covered. This is no good since winter is coming and it is getting colder, his poor little hands are always SO cold.

- Mason always spits up on his daddy and Carter can't stand it. He sometimes goes through multiple shirts in one day.

- We knew he would be a pacifier from the beginning due to his love of sucking on his fingers and once we introduced it at two weeks it has been great at soothing him. Now if only he'll learn to keep it in himself = )

- Mason loves to have HUGE poops right after he gets bathed. So frustrating!!

- When he holds my hand during feeding times it melts my heart!

- We thought he was on a sleep schedule getting 5-7 hour stretches during week 3, only to completely change that week 4. Here's to hoping that we can get back to that routine!

-Although getting the feeding thing figured out has been a challenge, I think we finally have it figured out!

- His neck has been strong from the beginning and getting stronger daily.

I am probably forgetting other things and I may come back and add them later because I hope to turn this blog into a book one day and I don't want to forget the little things. Mason Darrell Davis we love you and are so thrilled to have you in our lives, lack of sleep and all!





2 Weeks and 6 days ago

2 weeks and 6 days ago after a long ordeal we met this little guy for the first time:

Mason Darrell Davis was born September 30th, 2011 @ 10:05am. He weighed 8lbs 10oz and was 21 1/2 inches long.

I can't believe it has almost been 3 weeks. It feels as if time has flown by and yet gone so slow at the same time. I need to type up our birth story but it is long and I still don't have the energy to do it but it will be coming soon I promise!

Patience

pa·tience 


noun

1. the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.

2. an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay: to have patience with a slow learner.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Or when you are uberly pregnant:

1. The ability to wait minute by minute hour by hour not knowing when your baby will come without pulling all your hair out and going crazy.

2. The practice of trying not to get excited and then irritated whenever your body does something different that feels like progress and then stops.

________________________________________________________________________________

Isn't it funny though that this is just the beginning of our practicing our patience with Mason. Isn't that what being parents is all about?

39 Weeks

Well ladies and gentlemen, we are in the home stretch. Although Mason may not come before or on his due date we now know that they will not let us go past October 9th, so I suppose that is the ultimate light at the end of the tunnel. We have been trying to keep ourselves busy so that we don't just sit around twiddling our thumbs waiting for him. Last week we went to a volleyball game of 2 of our youth group highschoolers, and then on Friday we went to a football game to watch two of our girls who cheer. On Saturday was a church picnic and then Sunday was spent relaxing. This is my last week of work until January and I'm hoping that it goes by fast (or maybe that I don't get to finish it!)

Here are some of our thoughts about pregnancy this week:

• I think it makes it harder to wait for him when people see you and say "you haven't had him yet". Trust me, I know, and I feel the same way.
• What was comfortable for sleeping last night may not apply tonight or tomorrow night.
•  I am tired 2 hours after waking up.
• I am developing good habits of keeping the house picked up at all times.
• Carter says that he is ready for it to be done.
• We have been doing A LOT of walking.
• I'm pretty sure we've tried almost every old wives tale about going into labor.
• I always try to be by a bathroom, you never know when nature will call.
• I'm pretty sure that Mason now takes up my entire stomach, doesn't he realize there is more room if he just comes out?
• We are looking forward to hearing if he has made any progress at our midwives's tomorrow!!

Our Baby Game Poll

We thought it would be interesting to see who wins a baby poll for when Mason is born. The winner will receive a fun little gift from us, so go to the link and enter in what you think. Will you be the winner???

http://www.expectnet.com/games/MasonD

Mason's Room

I finished up Mason's room on Saturday and it is finished minus a few projects that will be added once he is here with us..is any room ever truly complete?? Now that it is finished the waiting game has truly begun! I love the way his room turned out and can't wait to do some of the little projects that require his help once he's here!!

36 Weeks

36 Weeks

• Tomorrow I will be 37 weeks and technically "full-term"
• This week has come with a few braxton hicks contractions but nothing too bad
• Friday was my last day of working full time!!
• We finished Mason's Nursery!!
• This week was also my first "full physical exam" and I now go back every week.
• My energy levels are down but that is to be expected
• Getting out of bed is much harder then it used to be with this big belly!
• Carter keeps telling me that he is ready for me to be done being pregnant-mainly because he can't wait to meet Mason (which is too sweet)!
• No crazy cravings still, but I have eaten an awful lot of licorice this week = )
• I really wish that nesting would kick in...there are a few things I would like to accomplish before he makes his appearance!!!

36 Weeks

Today we went in for our 36 week appointment and all is looking good. The highlights are

• I am 1/2 a centimeter dialated (which is perfect because I don't want him coming this weekend while Carter's not around).
• Mason is "sunny side up" or techinically in the "posterior position" so I am supposed to stay on my hands and knees for 30-40 minutes every day to help him turn as well as not being able to elevate my feet and a few other things. It's not bad if he doesn't turn, it will just mean a longer, harder labor for me...and who wants that??
• I am going to start drinking 2-3 cups of Red Rasberry Leaf Tea to help my body prepare for the "big" day.
• My midwife is going on vacation 2 days before my due date (YIKES) which is all the more reason why he should come a week or so early!

North Bend Church Baby Shower

On Saturday 8/20 was my church shower put on by DeAnn Russell and Tammy Bishop and it was so lovely! They also went with the Mickey theme and had it at Tammy's home on the back deck and the weather was gourgeous for an outdoor baby shower. The women of the church and a few of my co-workers joined us for the shower and it was fun chatting and visiting with everyone. We received so many cute clothes and the talent of the ladies in quilting and crocheting is amazing! Thanks to all who joined us for a wonderful lovely baby shower, Mason sure will be one well dressed baby!

 JoAnne is very gifted at cake making!

 Carter got to enjoy the cake too!

 My Mother-in-law Paula was able to join us!

My sister-in-law Sarah and nephew Grayson got to come too!

Sneak Peek

I've been working hard with Carter's help at getting Mason's room put together. Here is a sneak peek at one of the decorations I made, but I am not yet ready for the big room reveal!!

California Baby Shower

We drove down to Yuba City on Thursday the 28th and it was a pretty smooth ride despite Baby M hating the car and kicking me for over half of it. It was great getting to see my family as this is the first time that they had seen me pregnant in person and luckily Mason cooperated and they were all able to feel him move!

The baby shower was on Saturday, July 30th and my mom and sister did a STUPENDOUS job!! Everything was adorable, the games were fun, and there was a wonderful turnout of people from all parts of my life. The turnout included women who were the parents of my friends from elementary school, women who had seen me grow up at church, my kindergarten teacher, my old babysitter, and many close family friends, all who I haven't seen in years. It was also fun having everyone together because it was like a big reunion for those who hadn't seen each other in a long time! People were more than generous and we were definitely blessed with many things for Mason and our list of what we still need is much shorter now. One thing that I love was that my mom and sister asked for a book to be brought in lieu of a card so people brought all of their favorite books and now Mason's library is over 25 books larger with many classics!!

 My clever talented sister making the cake!

 Doesn't it look awesome!!!

 My lovely hostesses and mom and sister.

 A fun matching game!!!

 There was this game where people would guess whos attribute we would want the baby to have.

 My Aunt and 2nd cousin

 Gotta love family!!!

My sister, me, mom, Nanny, Aunt, 2nd cousin, cousin all on the same family side.