Xander, the adorable one!

I know, really its Xander, the defender, according to what his name means, but to his mommy, he is the adorable one. Since right now, he is pretty much my life and my world, you get another post about the baby. Sorry! I can't help it. Dave wouldn't be happy me posting his name as "the adorable one", but that is what he is. Yes, his name means defender and yes, he was born under the Wolf Moon, the first full moon of the year, and yes, Dave has already watched Conan the Barbarian with him to teach him the "rule of steel". But to his mommy, he is the sweet little baby boy that I feed, bathe, and love! I can't help but feel an overwhelming love for him and am enjoying my time off with him immensely. I can't wait for him to truly smile at me and be able to interact more, but at the same time, secretly wish him to never get bigger. To stay little and need me longer. He is just so cute! But I know he will grow, and learn and that will be exciting too. I will learn to accept it and most likely will enjoy it greatly.

Look at this cute little outfit. Its a premie! He is so little.

Baby Xander has arrived!

So Xander is finally here. He came on January 10, 2009. My water broke at 5:00 a.m. while I was lying in bed. I felt a leaking sensation and got up, as soon as I stood I was soaked. I cleaned up and went back to sleep. I knew it would be a long day. I got back up at 7:00 and took a shower. At about 8:00 my contractions started. By about 10:00 we decided to go in, they were about 5 minutes apart so we decided we'd better head. They finally checked me out and determined that yes, my water in deed did break. We were admitted by about 11:00. I was dilated to a 3, 50% effaced, but his head was still far up there. We met with the Dr and she wanted to start me on Pitocin. I told her I didn't want to be put on Pitocin, but she was worried about infection since my "bubble" for the baby was no longer there. I asked her how long she would give me until so that I might try and progress on my own. She gave me until 3:00 and then she would check my progress. Well, by 3:00 I was dilated to a 5 and 100% effaced. So they let me continue on my own. By 20 to 5:00 pm I was really feeling the contractions, they were harder and on top of each other, so we asked the nurse to check me. I was at a 10. Yipee! So they called the Dr. By 5:00 I started pushing and Xander David Maxfield was born at 5:38 pm. He was 6 lbs, 5 oz and 18.5 inches long. It was an amazing thing and I still can't believe that he was in me. While all this was going on, we had a co-ed baby shower that was commencing at my house. The party started at 12:00, so we didn't really have a lot of time to call everyone, we didn't know until about 11:00 that they were admitting me, and most people were coming from Salt Lake. Not to mention we had smoked pork that we didn't want to go to waste. We wanted everyone to come and have a good time on us. Even though we couldn't be there. So my redheaded friend, Heidi got commissioned to "play" me and Dave's brother "played" him at the shower. And opened our presents as if they were us. We were told it was the funnest showers that people ever attended. Plus it was fun to call and give updates and have everyone cheering for me in the background. They also took a poll of when they thought the baby would be born, how much he would weigh and his height. Congrats to Michelle for guessing the closest time at 5:30, and Michelle and Evan for guessing his exact height at 18.5 inches and Jenny for the closest weight at 6 lbs, 2 oz. Good guesses everyone! Here are some pictures from the hospital, of Xander that have been taken in his first week of life and of the shower that we couldn't make it to. Thank you to our friends for being such awesome sports through it all. I appreciate those who came regardless of the hosts being there. You guys are awesome!The first family photo!Oh, look at that face!Right before his first bath, just chilling under the heat lights.Daddy holding his baby for the first time.Foot Shot!I caught this expression totally by accident, it looks like he was laughing just for me! : )James and Heidi being us.
James and Heidi opening some presents.

James and Heidi demonstrating how to protect the baby from a Zombie attack! (Thanks, Nick and Trish)

Trish, Nick and Matt.Tracy, Tony, Julie and Kaleb.Kyle and Jared. Opps, Mike's head.Mike and LilliEvan and James

Jenny, Kaleb and Julie. Opps, just part of Michelle.
Michelle and Evan.
Lance and Tony.

Pregnancy Update

I had an appointment yesterday and thought I should give an update.  There isn't a lot going on, but no new developments are still news.  I haven't dilated at all and the cervix hasn't thinned.  I am measuring exactly at 37 weeks, my blood pressure was completely normal, and my culture came back negative, so I won't have to take antibiotics she said.  I did however have a weight gain this time around.  Which the last few visits I haven't gained or lost, I stayed the same, so to see a gain wasn't a bad thing.  I am due in exactly two weeks and two days.  They have kept my due date the same - January 23rd.  They also checked to make sure his head was in fact down and it was.  He is in position, its just a matter of when he wants to come.

On related news we have one more shower (a friend one) this coming Saturday, and I feel confident that we will have everything that we need.  If not we will do a little last minute shopping next week.  The nursery is mostly painted.  The base coat is done and Dave plans on painting a tree with a hanging monkey to match the bedding we got (thanks, Jen!).  Its all coming together.  We also finished our last birthing class.  It was a great experience and made us both feel a lot more confident in our abilities to do this.  

I wouldn't mind going to my due date.  I am feeling really good, still sleeping well at night with minor interruptions including the occasional visit to the bathroom, but mostly I get a good 7-8 hours.  I better enjoy that while I can.  : )  I do find it a little harder to get around, and have felt larger lately, but Dave has been a great help in that area.  I did a perfect roll off the couch the other day all on my own and I was so proud.  Dave has also been great getting things straightened and keeping them clean.  Its been a wonderful help and peace of mind not having to do everything myself (thank you, hon!).  I feel fortunate that I have not had a hard time.  I was sick at first but past the first trimester things have been great, so I can't complain.  

We are so excited to meet little Xander, but nervous at the same time.  It will be a huge change and even though we have prepared ourselves as much as possible we are still unsure of what being parents really is all about.  No going back now, though!  He just need to get here and be healthy.       

Christmas & New Years

So my pregnant brain has forgotten my camera at every holiday event, but here is a quick rundown of how we spent the holidays.  

Christmas 2008

We had a Christmas party on the 20th of December at our good friend Kevin's house.  It was Kevin and his wife Jen, Bald guy Steve, Kyle, Jared, Dave's brother James, and Dave and I.  We had smoked ribs made special by James, and a fantastic turkey made by Jen.  We played Rock Band and Scattegories.  It was a lot of fun and great food!  

Christmas Eve we spent the evening playing games at Dave's parents house with his brother James, and his brother Jason, his wife Chante and their two kids.  It was a nice way to spend the evening.  

Christmas morning we headed back to Dave's parents house for the traditional scones for breakfast and hanging out with all of his family.  We mostly ate, chatted and played a little Rock Band.  

That evening was my family party.  The Nielsen's did a Mexican theme.  We had a Christmas program and played a few games.  I ended the night playing Would you Rather with Jen, Marianne, Mom and Alan.  That was fun!  I was able to get this photo, but this is the only one. We played a game where we split into three teams and had to make the highest structure possible using only marsh mellows and uncooked spaghetti within a time limit.  My team won.  Our structure was about 5 feet tall.  My team was awesome!  Blaine, Dave, Ian, Kamille, Maren and I kicked can! We were pretty proud of our win.

New Year's Eve

We had our good friends Jared and Kyle come over.  We ate pizza and we played Rock Band and Kobolds Ate my Baby!  It was a lot of fun.  

Girl's Night

Friday the 2nd of January I decided to have Lilli and Heidi over for a girl's karaoke night.  I haven't had one in long time and decided it was a good time for one more before the baby comes.  It was a lot of fun!  We ate goodies, stayed up late and sang karaoke.  Thanks ladies!

Sorry for not having any pictures.  It makes for a less entertaining blog.  I'll try and be better about that.