Playdates

It's a huge blessing to live one street over from Dave and Andrea and their handsome little one, Wesley. We couldn't have hand-picked better neighbors!! Wesley was born exactly three weeks before Jack—almost to the minute. We've gotten together a couple times for 'playdates' recently. Well, actually, the playdate part is more for us girls; the boys sleep and eat. Soon, though, they'll be playing together and learning to share toys together...I can't wait!

November in a Nutshell

November flew by with a flurry of visitors and activities and the all-consuming life that comes standard with a baby. Lewis has officially grown out of all of his newborn clothes and continues to change daily, most notably packing on the pounds. At six and a half weeks old, he is more animated and sweet than ever...we can't get enough of him (as the ridiculous amount of pictures posted below proves)!

One dramatic event not captured on film was our trip to the ER a few weeks ago. To make a long story short(er), Jack had been getting fussier and fussier over a period of a few days, culminating in an inconsolable crying session on a Sunday night. We called our pediatrician on her cell phone, and as she heard him screaming in the background sent us immediately to the ER. Of course, upon arrival, Jack was calm and sweet as can be. Thankfully, we did not have to wait long in the germ-infested waiting room (newborns get priority) and we were soon whisked away to triage and then our own room. Jack performed all of his tests and vital signs beautifully—he even had an x-ray! He looked darling in the little hospital gown the nurses had him wear, too. I desperately wanted to steal it (but I didn't) and wished I had had my camera with me (I know, psycho mom...). So what was the problem, you ask? Well, he had lots of gas in his intestines, poor little guy. The cure? Mylicon gas drops for infants; not a cure-all, but over the past few weeks, Lewis has felt increasingly better as his digestion system matures. Since I'm nursing him, I also cut out dairy, beans, tomatoes, citrus, most green vegetables, chocolate, peanut butter, and a few other hard to digest for infant foods from my diet for a while. Whew. Hopefully the worst is behind us.

Now for the promised pictures:

Just chillin'

Sleeping bear

Bathtime

Making his 'oh' face

Oddly enough, one of his favorite positions!

In the process of turning over...

...ta-da!

Jack-O-Lantern

Last year, Matt and I carved Jack Skellington's face on our Halloween pumpkin...

This year, we had our our own little Jack to dress up and a cute baby pumpkin, too! SB scooped out the seeds, and Matt did the carving honors.

Sweet Dreams

Deep in thought...

So sweet tucked in...

This hand is so comfortable!

 Napping with Daddy.

A Tale of Two Pacifiers

Sometimes it just goes in. Sometimes, well...

Jack Rolls Over

Jack's been doing this since about day 5, but here he is rolling over on day 16. Pardon my "encouragement"...

More Pictures of Lewis

Tummy Time Tricks

Jack had his first doctor's appointment on day six. Although he's only in the 10th percentile for weight and 25th for height, he is VERY strong. Case in point: the pediatrician placed Jack on his stomach and Jack pushed himself up on all fours and lurched forward (his first "crawl"). The doctor was shocked and so were we! A few minutes later, the pediatrician set him on his back and had him grasp her thumbs with his hands. The test was to see if he could pull himself up and hold up his own head—which he did for a long time. The pediatrician just shook her head, amazed and said, "This is not a one-week-old..."

During tummy time, Jack likes to roll from his stomach to his back (both to the right and to the left). During the night, he squirms and worms his body 90 degrees. We just watch and think, what are we in for with this active little tike, who boxes the air with his fists? He might have some of his Grandpa Getz's genes: legend has it that Grandpa Getz crawled out of his crib at nine months. :)

It's a Jack!

Explanation of Jack's Name
Lewis Samuel Getz was born Wednesday, October 21st at 5:23pm, weighing 6lbs-8oz and stretching 19.25in. He is named for CS Lewis, and like his namesake we’ll call him “Jack.” Samuel is an old Getz name, and he is also named for Samuel of the Old Testament.

Birth Story
In case you want to know the details, here they are! Sarah Beth woke up Wednesday morning around 2am with contractions. She woke Matt up around 3am since they were consistent and stronger than usual. By 4:30am they were averaging 3min apart for about 45sec. By 6am they were 2-3min apart for about 1min, so we started getting ready. By 9am we climbed in the car and drove to the hospital. SB was in pretty significant pain, as the contractions got stronger and a little longer (~70sec). They took us to triage, and the nurse got her hooked up to the fetal monitor.

At about 10am the Resident came in to check on her, and the nurse was telling her (the Resident) that the contractions have been really strong and consistent for a long time, so she expected SB to be pretty far along. SB was in a LOT of pain, so they were hoping to get her in the water, since that’s a natural pain relief method. Sadly, she was only 2cm dilated, which shocked the nurse (and us). So the Resident called our midwife, Kristin, and said that SB shouldn’t get in the water until 5cm, as that can slow down labor unless you’re far enough along. Kristin then recommended that SB walk for 2 hours to help labor progress.

The problem was, SB was in so much pain that walking was extremely difficult. At this point Mom Erdel had arrived to help Matt walk SB around. It was tough going, but she was able to walk around for about an hour-and-a-half. At noon, the Resident checked her again and she was barely 3cm and in TONS of pain. At 12:30pm, Kristin came to check on SB and verified that she was only 3cm. Kristin also checked the baby’s position and discovered that he was out of position and causing back labor—hence the pain. Kristin also said that, since the baby’s head wasn’t pushing on the cervix, the contractions weren’t effective. Had the baby been in the right position all along, she thought he’d already have been born. At that point, Kristin gave us a choice: either labor for a while at home with exercises to get the baby into position, or get an epidural.

Now, we were very committed to natural birth, but SB and I agreed that this was a situation that called for intervention. She was already very tired (it’d been 10.5 hours) and wasn’t sure she’d have the energy to push. Kristin concurred, and we were then admitted into the Labor and Delivery Unit. By 1pm the epidural was administered, and immediately her pain was gone! She was then able to relax, rest, and generally prepare for giving birth. This was huge, since Kristin came in around 3pm to check her again, and she was already 7cm and progressing quickly! Amazing: it took 11 hours to dilate 3cm, and only 2 hours to dilate another 4cm.

At around 4:30pm, SB told the nurse that she felt like she should push. The nurse briefly checked her and said she’d call Kristin. At 4:50pm, Kristin arrived and checked SB...and told her to push with the next contraction! For thirty-three minutes, SB bravely pushed. At that point, Matt briefly looked at SB to encourage her, and when he looked back Jack was born! Kristin let Matt announce the gender ("It's a Jack!") and place him on mommy’s chest, and the Getz family spent the next couple hours getting to know one another.