He's here!

Welcome to the world, Hayden Alexander!

He was born at 11:59 pm on Saturday, November 15 by natural delivery. At 37 weeks, 6 days he measured an impressive 8 lbs, 9 oz and 20.4 inches long. He has a full head of blonde hair, and is more amazing than we ever dreamed.

We just got home from the hospital today, but when I have more energy I'll give a play-by-play of what's been going on since Saturday! For now, we're getting used to each other and are so glad to be home. Jay is glad to have us home too; the house was lonely without us!

Just a little fun

Hayden has some SERIOUS hiccups right now, and it makes me giggle.

Our baby has some seriously cute stuff he's obtained, but I think Jay and I have decided the absolute cutest thing he has. Surprisingly, it's his newborn diapers! Have you ever seen these tiny things?? They look like they'll fit a doll. Most books tell us not to buy too many of them, since most babies don't last long in them. So we have a handful, and I started setting up changing stations this weekend and pulled out a few to stock. I squealed my "look how cute this baby stuff is" squeal, which Jay has probably come to abhor, but he takes it well. He looked up, and agreed that they are pretty darn cute.

Good news! Amazon is re-shipping our lost wipes warmer, and we have a Diaper Champ on teh way as well! I finished my book on nursing and haven't decided what to work on next, but suffice to say my brain is FULL of information I'll most likely forget at the first real contraction. More baby progress this weekend (hopefully) along with some relaxation time for us, and an appointment on Monday. We'll keep you updated!

Movin' right along

Busy weekend in the Rogers' house as usual, but Jay did have a four-day thanks to the Veterans' Day Holiday, so we spent some time relaxing, sleeping in and being bums. I figure we have to take advantage of those lazy weekends while we still can!

I'm starting to feel a little more pressure, especially when I stand up. This past weekend I started experiencing Braxton-Hicks contractions, according to my book. I was having some intermittent cramping and looked it up in my books and on Babycenter.com, and am pretty sure that's what's going on. They don't last long, they're completely infrequent with no rhyme or reason, so I guess my body is just gearing up for the big event. Lucky me!

We also started doing more getting-ready-for-baby stuff this weekend, which was awesome! Jay put together the swing, the pack n' play and the bouncy seat. I tried to help, but Jay assured me it was his job to put this stuff together, and my job was to have the baby. Glad we got that cleared up! He also wanted nothing to do with having his picture taken, but I told him I didn't want our baby thinking some strange man put his stuff together! So now he'll just think his daddy is silly. We moved around some furniture, and continue to pick up essentials for Hayden (more baby wipes, vaseline, etc.) and I'm working on packing his diaper bag and my hospital bag a little at a time.

I also started a new book, So That's What They're For, about breastfeeding. I really like it so far (I'm about halfway through) and it helps me feel a little more comfortable about nursing. I'm having a little more luck lately with sleeping, depending on when we get up and how much we do in a day. We set up one of his changing stations downstairs, and are waiting for our changing pad to get here to finish up his room. Pictures when it's clean! We ordered a wipes warmer from Amazon a long time ago and never received it. I sent an email to their customer service last night, and they're sending us a new one to replace it! Super excited. Germany is cold and the heating system is a little different than that of the states, so we don't want him to be cold downstairs. I'm sure we'll have no problem keeping his little room warm, and we have some great swaddling sleepers.

Seems like my belly keeps getting bigger! Just a few more weeks and he'll be out, and I think we'll both be grateful for the extra moving room :-)

Doctor's Appointment 36 weeks, 3 days

I'm a little behind, since my appointment was Monday! We did the fetal heart rate monitor for 30 minutes again (but it seemed like much longer this time!) and Hayden's heart is pumping away. No contractions, and I'm starting to like this 30-minute relax time.

We did a quick ultrasound and found that he's measuring about 6 lbs, 7oz right now, so he's right on track. "Not too big" was the word on his head size, which is good news for me! He was very active for most of my appointment, as he usually is while I'm laying down. Quick check of the cervix (no dilation yet) and swab for Strep B and we were all done. No ultrasound pics, because Hayden has pretty much settled into a head-down and turned-around position, but he's doing fine in there.

I'm getting very excited and also feeling very unprepared at times. This weekend Jay has a four-day weekend so we'll be getting more organizing done, and maybe putting the car seat base in the back of the car. I'd like to get some packing done for the hospital, since our time is running out. It's not easy when Hayden wants me to sleep, but only at weird hours of the day and NOT at night when Jay sleeps. In my "fun time" these days I'm reading, but also catching up on the scrapbooking I'm SO far behind on. But it's moving quickly, and would move a bit faster if the post office would ship my stuff as soon as I order it. The things you don't get used to here, even after 2.5 years...but it's a lot of fun looking back at the fun stuff I did last year with some of the great people who have come to visit.

Now it's off to clean while I still have the energy!

What a productive weekend!

Well yesterday Jay and I decided to tackle our crazy messy house and get down to business. We're in one of those catch-22 situations where it seems like we can't do one thing before doing another, but something else has to be done before we can do that. So, like any expectant parents, we've just been doing nothing :-) I did tons of laundry for all of us while Jay got to work on his and Hayden's collective room. Our chair we ordered three months ago FINALLY got here on Saturday, so we got that set up and half of Hayden's room is now ready. Pictures forthcoming, once we turn the dresser into his changing table. We also finally got his humidifier, the cutest little frog you've ever seen, and tried it out last night. It's a shame we didn't purchase one for ourselves, with our stuffy noses in this dry German air!

This morning I spent some time shopping online for some of the smaller, essential items we haven't yet procured for him. Time is coming fast (four weeks left!) so I figured we should get it all ordered and here. I was very excited to compare consumer reports and customer reviews for things like thermometers and playpen sheets. It's funny how impending motherhood changes things. I remember the same excitement for a sale at White House Black Market, and how my shoes used to be so cute. Now it's all about soft blankets and little socks!

We still get a kick out of watching him move around in my belly, and are getting more and more excited about meeting this little fellow who has already changed our lives so much. Doctor's appointment later today, and maybe some packing of diaper bags and whatnot. We'll see!

Busy busy!

We're pretty busy in the Rogers house these days! Last week I had a mini-baby shower lunch with some of my favorite ladies and it was fabulous! We're pretty stocked on diapers for awhile, and my ever-so-crafty friend Susie made my nursing cover and matching burp cloths. Hayden will be so stylish in his green stripes! A lot of our friends are moving to new duty stations in the states, so we're in the midst of saying goodbye, seems like every week!

Last Saturday we had an adults-only Halloween party so as not to interfere with trick-or-treating this weekend. We had it at the same pub we did my baby shower at, and it was tons of fun. I was a lady bug, as one of the only costumes that would accomodate my belly, and Jay was the super creepy puppet from the "Saw" movies. We ended up in the emergency room for a short stint, as one of the boys cut his fingers pretty badly, but other than that it was a good time had by all.

Today saw our first snowfall of the year in Germany! It didn't stick of course, and it only lasted a few hours but it was still exciting! Oscar loves the snow, so I let him chase snowflakes for awhile before we were both too cold to stay out any longer. Looks like we might share our first White Christmas with our baby! It's gearing up to be a cold winter over here, so I'm glad we're stocked up on warm blankets, super soft snow bunting, a snowsuit and baby thermals. A few more hats and socks and we'll be good to go! Cold-weather babies make me a little nervous, especially since Jay and I are so warm all the time. Looks like we'll be getting used to warmer temperatures in the house! We did order a wipes warmer since Germany is colder than where we usually live, and will use it at our downstairs changing station (if it ever arrives, that is!).

This weekend we are trick-or-treating with our friends on Friday and hopefully spending some time organizing the house and basement. We've gotten a little slack on the cleaning this week, and our basement is a wreck from digging stuff out for some of our friends that are moving. I'm very anti-clutter these days, so hopefully we'll make some progress! Four weeks left and we can hardly believe it!

Thanks, Jen!

One of my friends from college is a crafty girl, and made this sign for Hayden's room! It matches his bedding (once it's out of the package and in his crib, which we won't have until we get to the states) perfectly, and we LOVE it!!

Once we get his room cleaned up a bit, I'll be able to show you what it looks like on the wall. For now, Jay's holding it up right after we took it out of the box, in our dining room.