I recently discovered Aiden's favorite singer. Thankfully it is not Barney or Elmo. Its.........wait for it.........Blake Shelton! Man, my kid has good taste! How on earth could I know that he like Blake Shelton? We were driving to meet my mom very early one morning and Aiden was fussing. I gave him is paci and he continued fussing. Finally I turned on some music, mainly to drown him out, and he got wide eyed and sat in silence for the remainder of the trip. Not sleeping, listening to music. A couple of days later I was running a quick errand and he was again fussing in the car. I turned on the Blake Shelton CD and he quieted down. I turned down the music to place my order and he started fussing. I turned it back up and he quieted down again. So, I tried different music. Although he really likes music and wiggles around like crazy where he hears it, nothing works quite as well as Blake Shelton to make him happy. Thank you Blake!
P.S. Please ignore the horrible long hair. He has since come to his senses and his hair looks much better.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving!
Aiden's first Thanksgiving was great. My mom hosted the Farmer family Thanksgiving this year and Aiden was a big hit. He got to spend time with all of our family, including his great-grandmother, several great-great aunts and a great-great uncle. He got to see great-aunts and a great-uncle, lots and lots of cousins. He was happy to be held by anyone that wanted to hold him. He is looking forward to the Farmer family Christmas in a couple of weeks!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Church participant
In church on Sunday, when we all stood up to recite the "Our Father", we all took hands and I looked over and Aiden had his arms reached out. We said the "Our Father" and then when we all raised our hands higher for the last portion of the recitation he raised his higher too. It was adorable. Even the guy behind us commented on Aiden's participation. Hopefully we can raise him to be an active participant at each Mass and not check his cell phone every couple of minutes like the guy on my other side.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Two months
So I have wanted to start this blog since Aiden was born. Unfortunately, because of taking care of a newborn, classes, studying for the MPRE, preparing my BAR application, and the rest of the stuff that life has thrown at me, I am just getting around to it. I know that I have missed documenting several events in Aiden's life, but I will go forward from here. My goal is to keep this blog as my own journal of his life. I have never been good at this type of thing, but I am really hoping to keep up with this for Aiden's sake.
Aiden turned two months old on November 8th, 2011. He has started smiling and has giggled twice in the last week. There is nothing sweeter than his gummy smile and his giggle melts my heart. He has grown so much over the last month. He now weighs 12 pounds and is 24 inches long! My little guy is in the 84 percentile in length and 58 percentile in weight. He is now wearing 0-3 month clothing. He eats 4-6 ounces at each feeding. He is eating a combination of breast milk and formula. One of the more exciting things about him growing so much is that he finally fits into the cloth diapers that we have for him. It is so nice to be using cloth diapers. They are environmentally friendly and cost less in the long run than disposable diapers. Plus there is so much less diaper rash than with disposable diapers.
He is interacting with us more these days. It's fun to try to get him to smile and giggle. Today at his one month Doctor's appointment he rolled over for the first time! It was so great to see him accomplish this feat and even more exciting that Jay and I were both there to see it for the first time. I know that over the coming months and years there will be lots of firsts. I hope to be there for as many as I possibly can, but know I will miss some. So, going forward I am going to try to document as much as I can so that we can look back at this years down the road. Maybe even use some of these stories and pictures to embarrass him at his high school graduation.
Here are some pictures from Aiden's second month:
Aiden turned two months old on November 8th, 2011. He has started smiling and has giggled twice in the last week. There is nothing sweeter than his gummy smile and his giggle melts my heart. He has grown so much over the last month. He now weighs 12 pounds and is 24 inches long! My little guy is in the 84 percentile in length and 58 percentile in weight. He is now wearing 0-3 month clothing. He eats 4-6 ounces at each feeding. He is eating a combination of breast milk and formula. One of the more exciting things about him growing so much is that he finally fits into the cloth diapers that we have for him. It is so nice to be using cloth diapers. They are environmentally friendly and cost less in the long run than disposable diapers. Plus there is so much less diaper rash than with disposable diapers.
He is interacting with us more these days. It's fun to try to get him to smile and giggle. Today at his one month Doctor's appointment he rolled over for the first time! It was so great to see him accomplish this feat and even more exciting that Jay and I were both there to see it for the first time. I know that over the coming months and years there will be lots of firsts. I hope to be there for as many as I possibly can, but know I will miss some. So, going forward I am going to try to document as much as I can so that we can look back at this years down the road. Maybe even use some of these stories and pictures to embarrass him at his high school graduation.
Here are some pictures from Aiden's second month:
One month
Aiden turned one month on October 9th. The first month flew by. He continued to be a great eater and although he started out as a great sleeper the Pediatrician insisted that we wake him up at night to eat. Waking up every three hours became his new routine. I still wish I hadn't listened to her.
At one month Aiden weighed 8lbs 6oz and was 21 3/4" long.
He still wore newborn clothes. He ate 4oz every three to four hours.
Here are some pictures of his first month.
Right after he was born.
Our first family portrait.
After settling into our recovery room.
Daddy and Aiden
Mommy and Aiden
This is Ginny. She taught several of our birthing classes and came to see us just before we went home.
On our way home!
He participated in his first 5k with Nana.
Just so you don't think that he is happy all of the time. He definitely lets us know when he is not happy.
At one month Aiden weighed 8lbs 6oz and was 21 3/4" long.
He still wore newborn clothes. He ate 4oz every three to four hours.
Here are some pictures of his first month.
Right after he was born.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Aiden's Arrival
Aiden was due to enter this world on September 11th, 2011. I really wanted to go into labor naturally but because of high blood pressure and the BAR regulations about how many classes I can miss in a semester, we decided to induce on September 8th. Jay and I arrived at IU Health North at 7:00am after a stop at Cracker Barrel for my last meal as a pregnant woman. We were informed that all of the Labor and Delivery rooms were full and that we would have to start our day in Labor and Delivery Triage. Since I had been in the triage area three times before it didn't bother us.
They started my IV and Pitocin around 9am and we waited for things to start happening. While I watched Live with Regis and Kelly my contractions started. Not painful, just crampy. So far, so good. I can do this! As the Nate Berkus show got underway the contracts got more painful. I was hungry so I ordered some room service. Chicken broth and cherry jell-o for this pregnant lady. Only clear fluids, but since I was really hungry it tasted great!
As The View started the pain still was bearable and I could still breath my way through the contractions. The Doctor broke my water and the pain started to get more intense. The nurse suggested some sort of pain killer to take the edge off. She promised it wouldn't slow things down so I agreed. I don't know what she gave me, but I won't get it next time. All it did was make me feel drunk. No reduction in pain but now the room was spinning in addition to the intermittent pain.
Then, all of the sudden, a labor and delivery room opened up, my parents arrived, and in the snap of a finger the contractions went from bearable to TOTALLY UNBEARABLE. I was instantly in tears. The nurse asked if I wanted an epidural and I'm guessing that Jay answered for me, affirmatively. Next thing I knew my parents were there to say hello and the nurse decided to forgo the wheelchair and take me to my new room in my bed. The Anesthesiologist who is always on the floor had just started a C-Section. My wonderful nurse knew I didn't want to wait at least 30 minutes before he could get to me so she called down to the OR to see if they had someone available. An amazingly friendly Anesthesiologist came up immediately and gave me an epidural. He literally followed us into my new room. He let Jay stay in the room and hold my hand through the contractions. After the epidural.....pain free. Entirely, I felt NOTHING! It was the best thing ever, I highly recommend it.
I finally got to enjoy my new, spacious room. The Doctor came in to check on me and told me that I would probably progress one centimeter per hour. I was at 4 centimeters. An hour later the nurse came in to check on me and I was at 5-6 centimeters. She said that she would be back again in another hour and to rest in the mean time. My mom and I were chatting while Jay napped and about 20 minutes later the nurse came back in to check me again. I reminded her that she was only going to check me every hour and that it had only been 20 minutes. She apparently had been watching my contractions at the nurses station and they indicated that Aiden was making his way down the birth canal and wanted to make sure everything was alright. Sure was, I was at 9 centimeters! Um, that was fast. So she laid me down, set up the room for delivery, and took her lunch break. When she got back we cleared the room (except her and Jay) and tried pushing. I could still feel nothing, so I had no idea what I was doing. I must have been doing something right because after pushing during three contractions she left the room. When she returned she told me that Dr. Flora was on her way. I pushed some more, missed a couple of contractions because my monitor was not working correctly, and when Dr Flora arrived I pushed once and he was here! Aiden entered this world at 5:37pm with his eyes wide open, ready to see what was going on.
The nurse said that they don't start the timer on labor until you are at least 3 centimeters. She calculated that I was in labor (by their definition) for 5 hours and 18 minutes and that I pushed for 36 minutes. Now that's what I call getting it done! We tried nursing right away and Aiden was a champion eater. Soon after our families were allowed back in the room to meet the newest Jewell. At about 7:30 they moved us upstairs to my recovery room.
My labor and delivery was such a wonderful experience because of the staff at the hospital. I could not have asked for better nurses. The best part was that the triage nurse that we had seen during our previous three visits came in to help just as Aiden was being born. So the nurse that started our journey with us was there when Aiden finally arrived. It was so special that she came to help because she knew it was us again. Maybe everyone feels this connection with their nurses, but I feel incredibly blessed to have had such wonderful people surrounding us and taking care of us.
Here are a couple of pictures of the labor and delivery room that I spent the afternoon in, and where Aiden made his arrival.
The tub that I had every intention of using before I got the epidural. Oh well.
The room is prepped and ready to go.
They started my IV and Pitocin around 9am and we waited for things to start happening. While I watched Live with Regis and Kelly my contractions started. Not painful, just crampy. So far, so good. I can do this! As the Nate Berkus show got underway the contracts got more painful. I was hungry so I ordered some room service. Chicken broth and cherry jell-o for this pregnant lady. Only clear fluids, but since I was really hungry it tasted great!
As The View started the pain still was bearable and I could still breath my way through the contractions. The Doctor broke my water and the pain started to get more intense. The nurse suggested some sort of pain killer to take the edge off. She promised it wouldn't slow things down so I agreed. I don't know what she gave me, but I won't get it next time. All it did was make me feel drunk. No reduction in pain but now the room was spinning in addition to the intermittent pain.
Then, all of the sudden, a labor and delivery room opened up, my parents arrived, and in the snap of a finger the contractions went from bearable to TOTALLY UNBEARABLE. I was instantly in tears. The nurse asked if I wanted an epidural and I'm guessing that Jay answered for me, affirmatively. Next thing I knew my parents were there to say hello and the nurse decided to forgo the wheelchair and take me to my new room in my bed. The Anesthesiologist who is always on the floor had just started a C-Section. My wonderful nurse knew I didn't want to wait at least 30 minutes before he could get to me so she called down to the OR to see if they had someone available. An amazingly friendly Anesthesiologist came up immediately and gave me an epidural. He literally followed us into my new room. He let Jay stay in the room and hold my hand through the contractions. After the epidural.....pain free. Entirely, I felt NOTHING! It was the best thing ever, I highly recommend it.
I finally got to enjoy my new, spacious room. The Doctor came in to check on me and told me that I would probably progress one centimeter per hour. I was at 4 centimeters. An hour later the nurse came in to check on me and I was at 5-6 centimeters. She said that she would be back again in another hour and to rest in the mean time. My mom and I were chatting while Jay napped and about 20 minutes later the nurse came back in to check me again. I reminded her that she was only going to check me every hour and that it had only been 20 minutes. She apparently had been watching my contractions at the nurses station and they indicated that Aiden was making his way down the birth canal and wanted to make sure everything was alright. Sure was, I was at 9 centimeters! Um, that was fast. So she laid me down, set up the room for delivery, and took her lunch break. When she got back we cleared the room (except her and Jay) and tried pushing. I could still feel nothing, so I had no idea what I was doing. I must have been doing something right because after pushing during three contractions she left the room. When she returned she told me that Dr. Flora was on her way. I pushed some more, missed a couple of contractions because my monitor was not working correctly, and when Dr Flora arrived I pushed once and he was here! Aiden entered this world at 5:37pm with his eyes wide open, ready to see what was going on.
The nurse said that they don't start the timer on labor until you are at least 3 centimeters. She calculated that I was in labor (by their definition) for 5 hours and 18 minutes and that I pushed for 36 minutes. Now that's what I call getting it done! We tried nursing right away and Aiden was a champion eater. Soon after our families were allowed back in the room to meet the newest Jewell. At about 7:30 they moved us upstairs to my recovery room.
My labor and delivery was such a wonderful experience because of the staff at the hospital. I could not have asked for better nurses. The best part was that the triage nurse that we had seen during our previous three visits came in to help just as Aiden was being born. So the nurse that started our journey with us was there when Aiden finally arrived. It was so special that she came to help because she knew it was us again. Maybe everyone feels this connection with their nurses, but I feel incredibly blessed to have had such wonderful people surrounding us and taking care of us.
Here are a couple of pictures of the labor and delivery room that I spent the afternoon in, and where Aiden made his arrival.
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