Introducing...

Christopher Tyler Olmstead!!!

August 18, 2009
4:59 pm

9 pounds, 13 ounces

21 inches long

We are SO in love!!!
I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post, but I wanted to make sure I had lots of good photos! I had a hard time during labor and we spent 4 days in the hospital before I was able to go home. (A long story - I will post all about my L&D later!) It is hard to believe we have been home over a week and that he is already TWELVE days old! Time is flying by but we are loving every minute of it. =)

I cannot even begin to express how much I LOVE this child. I am literally speechless when it comes to describing how I feel about parenthood. No words can accurately communicate how much I love him, how much I love being a mother, how much my life has changed since he entered the world. I have spent the last several days trying to decide how exactly I would write this blog - the first blog after Christopher's birth - and I could never seem to find the words to describe how perfect everything is. But perfect it is.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the last 12 days.

40 weeks, 2 days...

and I'm still pregnant!

Looks like we won't be meeting Christopher till sometime Tuesday. I'm excited, nervous, and - of course - READY.

I'll update more tomorrow! (Unless C decides to surprise us and comes on his own between now and tomorrow night/Tuesday morning!)

As Of Tomorrow:

It's hard to say for sure how big your baby will be, but the average newborn weighs about 7 1/2 pounds (a small pumpkin) and is about 20 inches long. His skull bones are not yet fused, which allows them to overlap a bit if it's a snug fit through the birth canal during labor. This so-called "molding" is the reason your baby's noggin may look a little conehead-ish after birth. Rest assured — it's normal and temporary.

Dilation and Chia Pets

Ok... here's the deal this week!

I'm dilated to a 2.5! This is good news, except that my doctor does not like to induce unless you're dilated to at least a 3. My blood pressure is still hovering in a semi-decent range and my swelling is not getting any worse, so since Christopher and I are not in distress, he is NOT going to induce me this week. IF I do not have Christopher before next Tuesday, August 18th, (4 days past my due date) he will be inducing then. Definitely.

I am great with this. It's wonderful to be able to say, "Within ONE WEEK we will be having our baby boy!" BUT, I'm so so so disappointed, because today is the 3-week mark since I started my Leave of Absence, and by next Tuesday I'll be FOUR weeks in... that's 1/3 of my maternity leave, just gone! I hate that I am only going to get to spend 8-9 weeks at home with him. Stupid swollen feet and high blood pressure!

I leave this post with something that makes me smile. We just saw a commercial for this and I couldn't stop laughing!

An Obama Chia Pet! Hilarious!

I need your help! And... a giveaway!

Ok, guys. I have decided that I am going to become uber-organized like Kristy and try this whole "monthly meal plan" that she's got going on. I think it's a great idea... I just don't know how well I can stick to it, especially with a newborn. BUT I'M GONNA TRY!

Here's the problem -- Stephen can't eat beef. He's allergic. Weird, I know. He hasn't always been allergic - and we don't even know for sure that it's beef he's allergic to, or some preservative they use in beef - but everytime he eats beef, he has a horrible allergic reaction.(Breaks out in hives, can't breathe, etc... scary stuff.) This is a problem that's just popped up since he moved to Arkansas six years ago. Poor guy, he misses steaks, hamburgers, and fajitas - but it's just not worth the risk.

SO, all that being said - you can imagine how it can be hard to prepare a month's menu without involving any beef. Now throw in the fact that he doesn't eat pork either, (for religious purposes) and we're left with 30 days of meals using CHICKEN or TURKEY as the main dish.

I love me some chicken. But it gets old eating it every. single. meal.

AND to top everything off, I'm a pretty picky eater. I think Stephen could get by with being a vegetarian - but not me! It's not because I love meat all that much, it's just 'cause I don't like vegetables all that much!

So I'm asking for your ideas and help and recipes for beef -free and pork-free dishes. Keep in mind that for alot of dishes, we can use turkey in place of beef - like with Hamburger Helper - we just use ground turkey meat. (I honestly can't tell the difference, plus it's better for you than beef.) So, any casseroles that require hamburger meat - throw 'em at me!

ALSO keep in mind that I am probably not going to use recipes that require onions or peppers, unless I can pick around them. Because I think they're yucky. =)

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AAAAAANNNNDDDDDDD........

Shauna is having a 100th blog post giveaway! I think blog giveaways are SO FUN and I can't wait till my 100th post so that I can do one! (I am at 86 or 87 posts right now, so it won't be much longer!) Shauna is giving away some neat baby items so head on over to her site and sign up for it!

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Dr. Appointment TOMORROW MORNING!
I'll post as soon as possible tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Stephen!

Today is my wonderful Hubby's 29th birthday!

We have had a wonderful weekend together - it's our last weekend together as just the two of us! He had Friday & Saturday off and we just spent those two days relaxing and pretty much doing whatever he wanted to do since he had to work today. I kept telling him, "We can do whatever YOU want to do. It's your birthday weekend!" because I am a nerd that way. (I love celebrating birthdays.)

I didn't get pictures of him opening gifts, but he got new shoes, a Lowe's gift card, and a WalMart gift card from his parents and in-laws.... From me, he got a new toolbox and Chrome cologne (my favorite!) He would have gotten a few more gifts from Christopher and me, but seeing as how I have been on house arrest, I had to give him gifts I had bought before I was put on rest. He will probably get a few more gifts from Christopher after he's born!

I am so thankful for Stephen. He is a wonderful husband who puts up with ALOT from me. He has especially been wonderful these last few weeks while I've been on rest. He's made me lunches and dinners, cleaned house and nested for me... shopped, run errands -- plus worked 40 hour weeks -- all while I've sat at home on my boo-tay with my feet up! He's been wonderful and put up with my crappy attitude and listened to me cry and whine about college, work, and pregnancy. I love him so very much and hope he had a wonderful birthday/birthday weekend!

We've been joking pretty much my whole pregnancy about Christopher coming on Stephen's birthday and Stephen having to share birthdays with his son! It would actually be kind of neat - Stephen just said that he would never get a birthday again because it would always be about Christopher, which is true. Unless I go into labor and deliver Christopher in the next 30 minutes, Stephen doesn't have to worry about sharing his birthday with his son!

Please pray for me - that I go into labor naturally and soon, because I do not want to be induced, but that is probably what will happen if I haven't had him by TUESDAY, which is less than 48 hours away! I'm going to be on edge tonight and tomorrow, but I know things will go fine even if I am induced later this week.

THIRTY-NINE WEEKS

I've decided that Christopher has his daddy's attitude when it comes to punctuality. Heaven forbid we be early.

(My mom is laughing as she reads this because I'm not exactly known for always being early... or on time, for that matter.)

But seriously. I've already used TWO WHOLE WEEKS of the twelve weeks I am allowed for maternity leave! I realize I am not working for health reasons, but every day that goes by without Christopher here is another day that I don't get to spend bonding with him.

And there's a small possibility that I'm just getting crankier by the day!

Your baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

an update... if you want to call it that.

Just a quick update, I'm up WAY too late!
Honestly - not much has changed!

My blood pressure was okay - not great, but not dangerously high, and it went down when I laid down on my left side. My swelling has gone down (a teeny tiny bit) so this combined with the okay blood pressure means that my doctor will not be inducing this week. I've lost 5 pounds since last week - probably because I'm not retaining as much water - so that's good! Let's see, what else... the doctor didn't check me, but he said he will be checking me next week and if my body is "ready" (if I'm dilated & effaced) then he will probably induce on Wednesday or Thursday. (Friday is my due date, so that's only inducing a day or two early.) This is all, of course, assuming that Christopher does not come on his own between now and next Tuesday!

We had TWO baby showers this week - one Sunday and one today, and we have been very blessed with some GREAT gifts for Christopher. I can't wait to be able to use everything, from clothes to burp rags to bottles and high chairs! Come out and play, Christopher!

38 weeks, 4 days... (but who's counting?)

No baby yet.

Doctor's appointment today (in just a few short hours!) so hopefully we will know more at that point. (Like if I've dilated ANY since my last appointment, if my b.p. has gone up or stayed the same, etc...) I will post tonight and let you know the news!

For now, I leave you with a picture of Stevo and (skinny) me. This is from January 2008. =)

sympathy blog

Ok guys, this is a sympathy blog. My poor feet are SO swollen... I can only wear a pair of crocs, and even those create indentions of the top of my feet if I wear them very long. My feet are actually sensitive to touch!

My swollen feet/ankles/legs...

Scary looking, huh??

In the second picture, I'm bending my toes. That's all I can do!

And.... here is my changing table after I put some baskets in it. I realize there are two empty ones, I'm sure that'll change quickly enough! I also still need a changing pad.

It's August 1st -- I didn't think I'd still be pregnant at this point, but here we are! My due date is 13 days away, but I want for him to be here just as soon as his little lungs are ready, because I have some important decisions to make and they are all based on when Christopher comes, and the sooner the better!