Aaaand...We're Back!

Home once again! We made another weekend mini-vacation of visiting with family & Jacob's follow-up appointment, which went really well! The ligaments around his hip sockets have tightened! We are still so happy everything is okay with his development.

After Jacob's appointment, we went out to eat at

The Cheesecake Factory

in the St. Louis Galleria

It was our first time there!

Our lunch was delicious and James & I split a slice of

cheesecake :-)

Jacob's 1st time to the St. Louis Arch!

He must have really been enjoying himself,

because he was awake the whole time!

Jacob just loves to be outside!

We really are lucky...

...to have such a happy baby!

I told you, Jacob's always content when Lisa's got a hold of him!

I can't believe it's been ONE month!

Jacob's first month of life has flown by! I'm so glad we can capture precious moments on camera :-) Here's a few of my favorites taken on or just days before & after Jacob was one month old:

One morning James was caring for Jacob

so I could take a shower...this is

how I found them when I was done :-)

so cute

Jacob enjoying some tummy time on the boppy pillow.

I think he like it because he sees things right side up,

instead of up side down, when he's on his back :-)

Here he is strengthening those neck muscles!

When Jacob was only 3 weeks old he could already

turn his head from side to side while laying on his tummy!

July 10, 2010

We're actually in the field facing our apartment!

Jacob was the DJ for a 50th Anniversary Party this afternoon

for a very sweet couple from our church.

When we got home our neighbor took our picture,

thanks mike :-)

First trip to Collinsville, June 25th

When Jacob was almost 3 weeks old, we made our first trip back home. On Monday we had to be in St. Louis for his doctor appointment, so we made a weekend out of it to visit with family. Because he was born breech, they were concerned about his hip joints being loosely set in the sockets so we had to take him to a specialist there so he could get an ultrasound to determine if he had to wear a brace to hold them in place for a while. We were so relieved when we found out his hips weren't as bad as his pediatrician originally thought! I was concerned that wearing a brace would effect how he would learn to crawl and walk in the coming months. Now we just have to take him back in 3 weeks for a follow-up appointment. Doc said by then my hormones should be out of Jacob's system and that will cause the ligaments around his hip sockets to tighten. So we'll be back!!

Aunt Lisa with Jacob

he's always so content with her!

Aunt Sharon relaxing with Baby

Grandpa Cichon enjoying some baby lovin'

James getting Jacob to SMILE!

Precious Daddy & Son time

Family picture (minus Lisa because she is at work)

taken before Mom, Dad, & Julie head back to

Waukesha.

One of our first family photos...

...with many more to come :-)

First Bath!!

Once Jacob's cord fell off, we gave him his first bath! He had so many facial expressions when he felt the water. He was just staring at us the whole time as if to say, "What's going on?!" And he didn't cry at all!

Father's Day : June 20, 2010

Jacob was 12 days old on Father's Day! I was itching to get out of the house, so we went to the mall and used our stroller for the first time! Besides waking up once to eat while we were there, Jacob slept the whole time :-)

Jacob's 1st week at home!!

We came home from the hospital on Friday, June 11^th. At the time I wondered if it was okay that we were actually taking Jacob home. I was thinking, “Do these nurses know we don’t know anything about babies?” haha

Lisa, Sharon, & Marie were waiting at our apartment when we got home! It was so nice to visit with them and show Jacob off (even though he slept most of the time!).

Julie & my parents came down on Monday. Jacob is their 1^st grand baby!

Here are some pictures from Jacob’s first week at home :-)

Jacob David's Arrival Story

So my official due date, and our anniversary, was May 30th. We decided to start celebrating our anniversary early in case the little guy came on time. We began on the 28th! The top tier of our wedding cake survived an entire year in our freezer, though there were many times I wanted to open it sooner. We opened our cake and to our surprise it was pretty good!

On the 29th we went to the campus lake at SIUC and rode the paddle boats around the EnTiRe lake. After that, we walked the 2.2 mile trail around the lake. -We were hoping all this activity would have at least Started labor. Nope.

The 30th came and went. On June 4th I had another doctor's appointment where they told me Jacob was breech! That news really threw me off because at every other appointment up until then, they said he was head down! He said Jacob's chances of turning were slim & that I'd have better luck winning the lottery. I was pretty upset for a while because I wanted to experience going into labor and experiencing everything naturally. So we scheduled a cesarian section for Wednesday, June 9th.

Tuesday rolled around and we had one more day before we got to meet Jacob! I was finishing some last minute cleaning & organizing at home when I decided to take a nap about 4:30 before picking James up from work at 6.

WHAM!! I hadn't been asleep for more than 5 minutes when I awoke with an intense pain. It went away, so I went back to sleep. About 3 minutes later I woke up from the same pain. Believe it or not it took me awhile to figure out if these were true contractions. Six o'clock rolled around and I didn't get a nap. I left to get James from work and the contractions would hit me at almost every stop light. (James only works 3 miles from home.) I made it; put the car in park and moved over to the passenger side -James was going to have to drive home.
A couple minutes later James and a co-worker walk out, he just so happened to need a ride home that day :-) Every few minutes James could tell something wasn't right, but waited to ask about it until we dropped off his co-worker. We got home about 6:30 and James decided I was having contractions and started to time them: 2 1/2 minutes apart! I called the hospital and they said it wasn't an emergency, but I should come in soon, especially since Jacob was breech. I decided to take a shower before we left. -Who knew when the next time would be that I could shave? I was planning to do this in the morning... It took a little longer than usual since I couldn't even get one leg done between contractions. I finished! Struggled to get dressed and put on some makeup. It was 7:30 and James loaded the car with mine and Jacob's bag.
Fortunately, we only live like 4 miles from the hospital. By the time we got there my contractions were 2 minutes apart. They told us our baby was comin' tonight! I was given a shot to slow my contractions down until the doctor on call could get there. I don't really know how well it worked. All it did was slow them down to like 3 minutes apart instead and made me really jittery. The doctor came and I was prepped for surgery. They wheeled me into the operating room at 8:46. James had to wait outside until they gave me the spinal then he came in and was able to sit right next to me.
Jacob was born less than a half an hour later! Though not at the time, I am happy now that I got to experience both labor & c-section. The doctor said if Jacob would have been head down, he would have come just as fast!

Jacob David Lord
6.8.10 9:13pm
8lbs 15.2oz 21" long

Our first family picture! Taken the day we came home from the hospital.

My mom and Jacob :-)

She spent a week here after Jacob was born & was a HUGE help!

Jacob loves falling asleep on James :-)

My parents and Julie came to visit once we were home.