Bo turns 1 Month

One Month - July 16

What a whirl wind this past month has been!


Week 1 - 
Bo was born and came home to his first home.

He met the dogs for the first time.  Luckily he is a great sleeper and can sleep through whining and barking.  Zoe did fine adjusting Jinx was really anxious with the change but now she is doing much better.

The first night we didn't know what to do with Bo.  Lance held him for a while then I fed him and slept with him on my chest.  The second night we swaddled him and put him in the cradle.  He did great and slept for about 3 hours at a time!


Week 2 -
Bo was a great eater from day 1!  When he was born he weighed 6lbs 13 oz.  By the time we left the hospital he dropped to 6lbs 9 oz.  At his 2 week check up he was up to 7lbs 13 oz.  Dr. Edwards was surprised and please with his growth and gave the go ahead to start bottle feedings.  I started pumping so Lance could give a bottle at the first night feeding.

We continued swaddling Bo and tried putting him in the crib...success!  Thank goodness for a good sleeper!

Mama left this week so we were at it on our own.  I don't remember having any major meltdowns but I do remember having a messy house :).

Bo had his first trip to the post office, bank, target and mall....all of the important places :).

Week 3 - 
Lance left for his youth trip to Passport.  We were so sad to see him leave but he facetimed with us everyday so he could see Bo.

Mama and Alison came to help out for the week.  Daddy even surprised us on the 4th!  He had spent the first part of the day with Ashley and decided instead of driving 3 hours home he would rather drive 3 hours to see Bo!  We were so glad for his visit.

Week 4 -
Lance returned and we were so happy to have him home.

Mama, Alison, and Daddy left and we were sad but knew we would see them soon at the hospital when Hayden was born.

JJ and Papa came to visit for a few days.  We had fun spending time with them at Wrightsville beach.

1 Month!
Hayden was born on July 14 sometime shortly after 10 pm.  We got the call early that morning that Ashley was having contractions.  We packed our bags, loaded the car and headed to Greensboro to await Hayden's arrive.  This was Bo's first road trip!  He did great as he slept the entire time.  About 5 minutes away he woke up hungry and ready to get out of his car seat.  We spent the entire day sitting in the waiting room but it gave us plenty of time to visit with family again.  We were so happy when Hayden was finally born and we knew he was healthy and Ashley was ok!  We headed to the hotel late that night...Bo's first stay in a hotel room.  We were worried about how he would sleep since the day had been so crazy but he slept from 1:20am - 6am...success!

Bo wakes up ready to eat then ready to play (or sit there happy and look around).  We can tell a huge difference in him.  He is starting to notice objects (like the animals on his swing).  Just this past week he has started grabbing my hair (painful but he is working on important motor skills).  He lifts his head a lot while he is on our shoulders.  He has been doing this since day one.  We have been practicing tummy time.  He lifts his head slightly but I don't think he realizes he can lift it like he does on our shoulder.  He has been alert since day one with his eyes wide open looking around.  He likes to look at lights and high contrasts (he likes the polka dot curtains in our bedroom and in his nursery).

I can't believe we have had him in our life for a whole month!  On one hand it seemed like he would never get here...now I can't remember a time when he wasn't a part of our life.  He has already filled our life with so much joy.  He is such a happy baby.  We love him so much.  I sit at night and nurse him all the while praying for him.  I pray he will grow up to be a man that loves God and loves others.

Bo Brady Rogerson's Birthday!

I was scheduled for an induction June 16, 2012.  Lance, my mama, and I arrived at the hospital at 7 am.  We were so happy we new our nurse, Jill, one of our youth's boyfriends mom.  She was amazing the whole day.  Nurse Jill asked a bunch of questions, got us settled in, and put in my IV.  I almost passed out getting the IV...that needle is HUGE!  Dr. Novacel broke my water around 10am and I bounced on a yoga ball for about an hour trying to get the baby to drop.  Daddy, Ashley, Alison, Daryl, Judy and Denise arrived as I was still bouncing.  I got tired from bouncing and finally decided to get in bed.  Nurse Jill let me go ahead and get an epidural at this point.  I was 4 cm.  I had been having contractions for a while but wasn't in any pain.  I could just feel my belly tighten and could see the contractions on the monitor.  Nurse Jill hooked me up to Pitocin.  Then, I just laid in the bed all day watching the monitor and trying to guess if I was having a contraction.  My feet were numb and tingly.

Sometime in the afternoon we had a scare.  I was just laying in the bed resting when all of a sudden 3 nurses ran in the room, flipped me on my side, threw an oxygen mask on me, and mashed on my belly.  Nurse Jill looked me dead in the eyes and said "don't worry we will get the baby out."  I had no idea what was going on and could feel my chin start to quiver but I tried to stay calm.  They told me the baby's heart rate had dropped because the Pitocin caused my uterus to contract a lot all at once and squish the baby.  They took me off Pitocin and told me to stay laying on my left side.  The baby's heart rate went back up and seemed fine.  After taking a break from the Pitocin they later hooked me back up at a slower drip.

We were hoping nurse Jill would be there for the delivery but her shift ended at 7pm and I was not far enough along.  Nurse Liz came on duty and announced "lets up the Pitocin it's time to evict the baby." She was funny and really helpful.  Sometime around 8:30ish I started to feel a lot of pressure in my pelvis.  I told Nurse Liz I felt like I had to poop, "your not going to push, that's the baby dropping" she told me.  I got the chills and felt like I was loosing control of my body.  Lance and mama were immediately at my side and put tons of warm blankets on me.  Then it was time to push.  I felt pressure that was like nothing I had ever felt before!  Nurse Jill coached me on my breathing and pushing.  Nurses trickled in one by one getting things ready for the baby and coaching me to push.  Dr. Novacel was not in the room at this point and I remember one of the nurses saying, "I get half the delivery fee."  I continued breathing and pushing and finally the doctor arrived. I think I pushed about 30 minutes and was getting tired.  Mama told me to "tuck my chin and push" and Lance rubbed my hair and gave me water.  Dr. Novacel said, "you can push about 5 more rounds or we can discuss an episiotomy,,"  I said, "DO WHAT YOU GOTTA TO DO GET THE BABY OUT." So she did an episiotomy and I tore a little more but the baby finally arrived.  The cord was too short to immediately lay him on my chest so Lance quickly cut the cord.

He was beautiful.  I remember seeing LEGS!  They were so long.  Lance started talking to him and he looked up at him recognizing his voice from all the bedtime stories he had read to him while I was pregnant.  Mama was busy snapping photos and documenting the whole process.  He laid on my chest for a while before they took him to measure him.  He was 6 lbs 13oz and 20 inches long and was born at 9:20 pm.  He was absolutely perfect.  I tried nursing him (the nurse just kept stuffing him on my breast...not helpful at all!).  I was bleeding pretty bad so Nurse Liz had to continuously knead (just about kill me) my belly and then gave me a shot of some drug.

Then our family came to visit.  Daddy, Alison, Ashley, Mama, Daryl, Judy, Denise, Heath, Jan and Grandma Rogerson were all there.  Lance announced his name, Bo Brady Rogerson, and announced he was named Bo in honor of Daddy and Brady as Judy's maiden name.  He handed Bo to daddy to hold first then everyone passed him around.  Everyone was in love with the little guy.  They visited for a little while and then headed out since it was so late.

Nurse Liz finished cleaning me up, got all of our stuff together and moved us to the 3rd floor.  I was still bleeding a lot so I had to be hooked back up to Pitocin at a really high speed.  This was not fun!  The nurses had to knead and check my uterus constantly to make sure it was shrinking and hardening back up.  Not a fun night!  We hated the first nurse...she was lazy and had the personality of tree bark but we survived the first night being parents.

Mama came early the next morning so she could watch Bo (have GG time) and Lance could help me shower and get cleaned up.  Amy and Connar were our first visitors.  The Johnson family, Colliers, Christy and Brooklyn, Pastor Eric, and Nurse Jill all came to visit along with our families.

We went home Monday morning around noon.  I was never so glad to get out of the hospital!  Mama stayed the week with us to help us adjust to parenthood. We have never been more grateful to have help!  She took care of the dishes, laundry, cleaned the house, but most importantly had GG time with Bo while we napped and rested.  Daddy and Al stayed the week at Carolina Beach and would stop by to visit.  Judy and Denise came the following weekend to visit.

We are so grateful for this healthy baby boy.  What a joy it was to bring him into the world in such a loving environment surrounded by so much love and support.

Here we are at 39 1/2 weeks.  We are now on the home stretch.  The nurse at the doctors office today sang us a song about how close we were :).  We first had the BPP which was an ultra sound to make sure the baby looked healthy and strong.  Thankful he did!  We saw his heart, liver, kidneys, spine, elbows, hands and feet.  It was hard to see his profile because he is so crammed in my belly.  Lance was able to see his face.  I felt like Rachel on "Friends" because he looked like a blob to me!  He was even practicing breathing.  We could see his diaphram moving back and forth.

My blood pressure was slightly high again so they sent me to have blood work done to make sure I am still not preclamptic.  I think I just have white coat syndrome.  I hadn't progressed any this week.  My weight was the same and I was still at 3 cm.  Dangit!  Lance and I have been walking about 2-4 miles everynight!  The doctors think he will be in the low 8lbs.  We shall see if they are correct.

We are set for an induction Saturday the 16th at 7am.  I can't wait for the day to be here so we can hold baby boy in our arms! 

38 Weeks

This was actually taken at our doctors appointment yesterday (38 1/2 weeks), but whose counting :).  We had a CRAZY day yesterday.  We went to our appointment like normal.  I peed in a cup, they checked my blood pressure, and we waited to see the doctor.  We saw Dr. Rhodes and when he finally came into our room he was extremely talkative.  He informed us of things to look for and what to do when my water breaks or contractions start.  Then he measured my belly which he said measured normal and he listened to the baby's heartbeat, again a good strong heartbeat!  Yay!  I was 2 cm, 80% effaced, and -2.

Then things happened fast!  I mentioned that the baby's movements felt different.  I still feel baby boy throughout the day but they don't seem as strong.  Before it felt like he was going to Karate chop right out of my belly and now the movements are much more subtle.  This alarmed the doctor and when coupled with my slightly elevated blood pressure (and elevated blood pressure last week) he wanted to send us to Triage at the hospital to be checked and monitor the baby.  We didn't really know what would happen.  Lance and I were both calm and ran home, let the girls out, ate a snack, sent work emails, and grabbed our bags in case they kept us at the hospital.  They put is in a Triage room immediately, put me in a gown, a weird belly wrap and hooked me up to take my blood pressure every 5 minutes for an hour and put monitors on my belly to monitor the baby.  The first blood pressure they took was through the roof 156 over something...haha maybe it was all the excitement because all of the other blood pressures taken were in normal range.  They drew 3 viles of blood and ran tests on these...everything was normal and I was not preclamptic.  They baby seemed fine too after an hour of monitoring.  They sent us home and told us to schedule an appt for the end of the week to be checked again more closely and they may discuss an induction...to be prepared.

I got a mani pedi in the afternoon which was a much needed time to relax after all of this!  When I got out of the appt. I had 2 missed calls from Glen Meade.  They were ready to schedule my induction for the 16th of June.  WHAT???  Of course this was after 5 pm and I couldn't call back.  We were concerned that we had missed something....everything checked out fine when we left the hospital right?  They also wanted to set up a BPP (Bio Physical Profile) to check the baby next week since the induction was so far away.  Again....what?  We thought everything was fine.

I was frustrated since we didn't have any clear answers so the next morning I called our good friend that works at the drs office.  She reassured me that everything looked normal and that they wanted to be overly cautious since my blood pressure has been elevated and since I mentioned the baby's movements.  She said these were all good things to follow to make sure everything is ok.  So for now we wait to see the doctor tomorrow, possibly schedule a BPP for next week, and then induction is scheduled for the 16th.  I really hope I go into labor on my own before the induction.  If not, I know everything will be fine and we will have baby boy in our arms soon.

37 Weeks

We had our 37 week appointment and saw Dr. Wilson last week.  So far he has been our favorite doctor.  I had heard that he had a weird sense of humor and maybe he does but overall we have liked him and feel like he has taken his time to listen to us and all of our questions.   My blood pressure was slightly high at the appointment so after he checked me, listened to the baby's heartbeat, and measured my belly, Dr. Wilson sent me to have blood work done to make sure I wasn't preclamptic.  I measured 1 cm and was 50-70% effaced.  We were excited progress had started and celebrated by eating at Red Robin (Teryiaki Chicken burgers are our favorite!).  My blood work came back the next day and everything was normal so we are just playing the waiting game.  We can't wait for our little man to arrive.

Lance and I are enjoying our last days together as just the two of us.  We have been to the beach, been on lots of walks, and eaten out more than we ever have since we have been married.  We have been playing Super Mario, watching 24, been to the movies and spending lots of time talking and laughing.  I am so grateful that we have fun together.  Oh we also just celebrated 4 years of marriage on the 31st of May!  I am so thankful to have such a wonderful husband.  He has taken great care of me the entire pregnancy.  He is going to be such a wonderful dad!

Week 35 and 36

Alrighty, I'm behind in posting maternity updates.  Everything is still going great.  The baby has dropped some and I have been having mild Braxton Hicks.  Everything at the Dr. has checked out great.  The baby's heart beat is always strong.

At the 36 week visit we were hoping the Dr would check to see if I am starting to progress any...they didn't and will start that next week.  They did the GBS test today...not enjoyable but at least it was fast.  We are grateful to hear the baby is growing bigger and is healthy and strong and we are anxious to know when things will start happening!

This past weekend I traveled for the last time (for a while).  Ashley's co-workers threw her a baby shower at her house.  It was fun celebrating with her!  I will post pics soon when I get them from ma.

Now we feel like we are playing the waiting game.  The nursery is done, my bags are packed, now we wait......

Week 35

Week 36