Happy Expected Birthday to Jack!

Today is the day that Jack was originally supposed to arrive... the day that had been circled on all our calendars and the day we'd been planning on since the beginning. But... things don't always happen the way you expect and we are so glad for that! He's now almost 3 weeks old and we are doing very well... with dirty diapers a plenty, feeding around the clock and sleeping when we can. We are adjusting to each other (and the sleep deprivation... oh how I miss sleeping through the night :o) However, he came the day he was supposed to come and for that we are SOOO grateful. Happy Expected Birthday, Jack!

The new Stringham Family

In my postpartum room!

We're home!

First family picture after surgery... all are a little tired!

Jack, Jack and more Jack

Hi there!

The littlest and youngest Y fan!

I don't think he's too sure of this birth stuff...

Classic weight picture... 7 lbs 1 oz. He was also 19 inches long!

Fresh from the oven... and not happy about it!

He's Here!

So, after a little scare, a little labor and a lot of surgery... Jack Michael Stringham made it here safely. I came out of it in good shape too! Our little Jack decided to make his appearance 3 weeks early. Here's the abbreviated story. Really early in the morning of the 21st of November, I woke up and went to the bathroom and found out I was bleeding quite badly. We found a large area of blood on our bed and a lot came out when I used the restroom. I rushed down stairs where Mike was sleeping on the couch (he had fallen asleep on the couch after getting home in the early morning hours from work the night before). After waking Mike, he thought the worst and kind of panicked (really panicked, actually). We tried to stay calm and think good thoughts as I called the hospital to see what we should do. They advised us to go straight to the emergency room. On the car ride over Mike kept asking me if the baby was moving, but I could not feel any movement. We both thought we had possibly lost our baby. We were admitted when we got to the hospital and soon found out that our baby was doing okay, but they were still worried about the bleeding. After the doctor came, he decided to do an ultrasound to find out what was causing the bleeding. It turns out my placenta had torn away from the uterus wall and there was a tear in the placenta. Blood was coming out with each contraction and a large blood clot about the size of a baseball was forming near the baby's head. That is when the doctor decided that we were going to have an emergency C-Section to ensure we get the baby out safely. Within minutes Mike and I were gowned and ready for surgery. My parents made it just before the surgery started and Mike's parents did not make it until after the baby was born. After the emotional rollercoaster that morning, we were very happy to see our healthy son who was delivered at about 9:15am in the morning.

Stringham's

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So, my baby is the weight of a honeydew melon... does it look like there's room in my belly for a honeydew melon? Guess so! Just when I thought I was as big as I could get... I still have 5 weeks to go! I'll keep posting the baby bump- let's just see how much more I can expand. The last few weeks are going to be very interesting!!

30 weeks and growing...

Here's a prego progress picture (nice alliteration, eh?).

I don't know how much more I can expand. Mostly people just stare at my round-ness when they see me nowadays... I don't really cry about it anymore (just kidding); if I don't see you for a while- I change a lot! It's hard to believe the little guy is only about 3 pounds right now. Can't wait 'til he's closer to 7 lbs! Bring it on, kid!

the pouring process...

This project got started WAY early at about 7:00AM. This is the huge cement pump that pumped the cement over our house into the back yard (scary). What you don't see is the 2 cement trucks waiting down the street and creating a nice road block. Funny thing happened; one of the pipes that works the hydraulics on this pump broke before the pump was fully extended- spewing hydraulic fluid all over the street (nice huh?). The mess is still there (woops!) There was an hour delay while it was getting fixed.

View from the back side...
This is our newly-poured front step...

The finished product... nice to be done!

Patio Project

Mike finished up a HUGE backyard project about 3 weeks ago... our patio. He had a lot of help from his brothers and Dad. They did all of the prep work for the concrete. It was a BIG project! This shows the progression from dirt, to level gravel and finally to the almost-finished project.

Looks pretty good... at least, we think so! The walkway goes to the front/side of the garage. It took A LOT of work; working until well past dark many, many nights to get this project done. Mike did an excellent job and we are enjoying the fruits of his (and his brothers' and Dad's) labor.

What in the heck is a rutabaga?

So... interesting fact; apparently this is the size of my baby in weight. I am 25+ weeks along and my boy is the size of a rutabaga. I didn't even know what that was until I went to babycenter.com. This is a rutubaga. Wow. The things you learn! I think I look a lot bigger than this... We went to the Doctor a couple of weeks ago and had an in-depth look at our little boy. He looks pretty good and healthy! According to their measurements, my due date was pushed back a week (bummer). Well... he'll come when he's ready, I guess. Anyway, that's the update for now. I am hoping that the next time I post I will have more pictures of something to show. We'll see!

Baby News!

IT'S A BOY!!!!!
We found out a couple of weeks ago that we're going to be adding a little boy to this family and we're so excited! It took a long time to find that out because he was being modest with his little legs crossed... but we found what we were looking for in the end! ;O) Well, I'm on the downhill slide of this pregnancy!! I'm over half-way done... CRAZY! Here are some baby bump pictures showing my glamorous "blooming" progress. I also changed my look a little... here are before and after pictures. The first is when I was about 18 weeks along and the next one is 20+ weeks. See the difference 2 weeks makes? Amazing. I just keep 'blossoming' and am not fitting into my clothes anymore. What do you do?
I got tired of my hair, so I cut it off... what do you think?? It's amazing what pregnancy can do to a girl! I've also started to feel him moving around a little... weirdest feeling in the world. It's so fun!

Home Sweet Home

We love our new Home!! We moved into this home a little over a month and a half ago. We love having a new home to decorate and make our own... it's been fun. It's not fun moving, but the end product is really worth the hassle. The flower pictures are from our flower beds... I love daisies!

Here we are!

This is us... Mike and Heidi Stringham. I'm new to the blogging world and am learning new things all the time. So, bear with me as I try out things and get going.
As you can see, Mike and I are happily expecting our first baby in December. We don't know if it's a boy or girl yet... so come back to visit soon so you can find out what we're having.