Sorry so long since a post…

Sorry it’s been so long since I have written a post, but finding time has been a little difficult.

To catch everyone up….

Jake had his surgery the first of May and did excellent. It took him a few days to get back to himself. He had a few episodes of vomiting and clearly had some pain, but after about 48 hours, he was doing great.

We also took Jake on his first trip to the zoo. He seemed interested in some of the bigger animals, but after awhile, he was over the animals and ready to go home.

Jake also has two bottom front teeth. He loves to chew and bite….not so good. After a few good Chomps down on me during a nursing session and Jake seeming less and less interested in the “woobie”….we have stopped nursing all together. It just seems unnatural to try to force something that is supposed to be the most natural thing. In the end, it prob is better for him to ween himself like he did than having to put the stop on it later when he knows what is going on. I would hate to have to stop it….so I am glad he did it himself.

Jake also had his 6 month appt and is weighed in at 18 lbs and 11 ounces and was 28.5 inches long. His head and his weight were in the 75th percentile and his height was above the 95th. So all in all eventhough he weighs more than 75% of the baby boys his age, he is also taller than more than 95 % of them as well. Now if we can just keep clothes on him that fit.

Work at Piedmont is going great. I love my new unit and am sooo glad I made the switch. This truely is my calling in Nursing. I love being in an educational role with my patients. Now I know you are always in that role as a nurse, but it seems like it is more so with New moms and dads. I love it!!!!!!

Beau, Jake and I went to the Georgia Renaissance Festival Memorial Day.  We had fun, saw lots of fun costumes, but after about 3 hours of so, Jake was hot, tired and done with the Ye Olde fun.

June 7th is Jake’s Baptism and we are having a brunch at the house afterwards. It will be nice to have our families together. 1st time since our wedding!!!! Jack, my brother will be in Singapore for work and won’t be able to be there, but Carrie will.

Moose seems to becoming more calm as days go by and he is really enjoying going out and playing in the warmer weather.

We have lots of fun things coming up in the next few months. Later in June, Jake is going to his first Braves game and we are going again in July with Kevin, Tiphanie and baby Jack when they come for the weekend. For the 4th of July, we are going to Blake’s and Staying a few days and we all get to meet Lucas for the first time. I can’t wait to see how Jake will play with another baby. Oh yeah, later on Jake and I will be taking a trip to Detroit to visit My grandparents. This will be Jake’s First time meeting his Great-grandparents on my side of the family. Later in August, Beau has his 10 year Reunion and so far, we are planning on going. Pretty sure I will have enough Vacation saved up to take a weekend.

As for right now, I am trying to get everything done for Jake’s Baptism and for everyone coming. Plan to just take it room by room. Here are some pictures from recent events….

To catch you up…..

Well, this past weekend I worked my first few days on my new unit at Piedmont.  Just a reminder….I switched to the Mother/Baby unit at Piedmont from my old unit.  I absolutely loved it!  I hate to leave my precious Jake and my wonderful husband, but I truly can say that I loved going and can’t wait to go back tomorrow night.  While it is very very different from what I was doing before, I can already see how I am going to use many skills that I had learned before…ie time management and prioritizing…etc.  Instead of hours and hours of medications….I have scheduled times for feedings etc.  I loved being able to help the new moms learn how to nurse and being able to answer so many of their questions.  For the first time I felt like YES this is what I am supposed to do.  I have four more nights on orientation and then I am on my own.  Staffing is amazing and at most you have 4 couplets….but really when you think about it, That is 8 patients.  4 moms and 4 babies.  The majority of the moms send their babies to the nursery at night….which is when I work (7p-7a).  Part of me really has to question that decision…..what are they going to do when they get home and there is no nursery to send the baby to???  Then what?  But then again, after a long day of labor, surgery, etc….a little extra rest is prob not a bad idea….oh well that is why we all get to make our own decisions right??  Tomorrow night I go back and I can’t wait.  It really couldn’t be a better schedule for us.  I get to have dinner with Jake and Beau every night, and basically I am only “away” for prob 10 hours of Jake being awake…at the most.  Napping has seemed to be the best plan for Saturday and Sunday.  I don’t get a 4 or more hour stretch of sleep at all, but it is broken sleep and it does the trick until I recover on Mondays.  Thankfully Jake takes 2 good, long naps during the day and Moose is great about cuddling with me during a daytime nap.  Church went well on Sunday too.  Jake fell asleep during Mass…but I am sure he said his prayers later that night.

Beau and I have started taking Jake and Moose on some nice long evening walks.  It has been sooo beautiful out these past few nights, and I think it really helps to relax both of our boys.

Well, I am off to spend some time with the wonderful husband.  His birthday is Tuesday and I can’t wait for his gift to get here!!!! 

Last Day

So, yesterday was my last day on 4 center at Piedmont. It was Bittersweet (to be oh so dramatic). It was my first job as a Nurse….first place I fully had an other’s life in my hands. I stayed a full 2 years 3 months and 20 days….yes, I am counting. It wasn’t torture, but definitely not what I wanted to do forever….or much past 2 years. Very tired of bones, severed fingers, hands, feet, toes…etc. I think I prob wanted to do OB for a while, but just wasn’t sure until I had Jake. STOP I know what you are thinking…..I know not all babies are going to be like my precious little Jake…and not all moms are going to be as awesome as me BUT I really think I could do a lot of good for MORE people in this field. I am soooo excited!!!

On the down side, I don’t really know anyone who works on my particular unit and I don’t even know who is going to orient me yet….so next Saturday, I will just show up and go with the flow. From talking to the manager, I will have about 3 weeks of orientation….aka 6 days. HA Quick learning and A LOT of independent study will go a long way I guess.

Tomorrow is Beau and my 2 year anniversary.  I can’t believe we have been married for 2 years.  BUT when you look at all what has happened, it is amazing that it hasn’t been longer.  We have gone to Italy, moved, bought a house, bought a MOOSE, had a baby..that is already 5 months old, and now we are starting to do some home improvements.  I can’t wait to see what the next 75 years bring….!!!!

We have started doing some improvements on the house. The house is new, but we didn’t get to pick a whole lot that went into the house, and at the time other foofy foofy upgrades didn’t seem necessary.  So far, we have put a ceiling fan in the Study (the glob looks like it is covered in cottage cheese….which Beau and I didn’t realize  , and now we hate it.  It will get replaced soon…beau just doesn’t realize it yet), Replaced the mirror in the powder room as well as the faucet in the powder room.  The faucets they put in the house look like they belong in a motel….ya know the ones with the plastic ball things…..Great for some, but I don’t like them much.  We got a new fan for the living room, but Beau is working on putting that up , and the white one will be transplanted to a guest bedroom.  I May we have our last “inspection”….our one year warranty is up, so any nail-pops etc, the builder will fix.  After that we are going to paint the interior and put up Crown molding throughout.  We figure we are going to be here for prob 10 years or longer…might as well like where we live!!!

Jake is doing well…asleep right now and still growing like a weed!!! The gnawing and biting is not fun though….how some little guy with no teeth can cause so much pain, I don’t know.

We love you all…until later!!

Updates…

Hello all…..to catch up on the latest Tuesday we went to Alabama to go visit Kevin, Tiphanie, and baby Jack.  Jack was born last Thursday and he is doing great!!!  He is absolutely beautiful and sooo sweet!!  He is so much smaller than Jake!  It is amazing what a difference a pound makes!  We went out to Lunch and then to Dinner at Mr and Mrs Gatgens.  It was great to see everyone.  I really enjoyed spending time with other new parents and being able to discuss all the new things that come with having a new baby. Jake is excited about having a new friend to play with.  Tiphanie and Kevin are naturals and are going to be awesome parents.

Jake had sweet potatoes today.  They are his FAVORITE!!!!!!!  He squealed with delight upon every mouthful!!!  He is getting sooo big!  I can’t believe he is 5 months old already.  Time absolutely flies.  He is rolling all over the place and is a true wiggle worm.  Giving him a bath is becoming quite the task.  Squirmy baby + soapy water is not a good combination.  He has started to arch his back up and attempting to get on all fours. I bet he will be crawling in a month or so.

I start my new job in a week or so.  This weekend is my last on the Orthopaedic unit at Piedmont.  I will be moving to the Mother/Baby unit at Piedmont for Baylor Nights.  7p-7a Saturday and Sunday nights.  I can’t wait to start this new adventure.  I think its the first time that I said ok…I am going to do this by this date…and actually did it.

Well that’s it for now…..Jake is calling for some mommy time before bed. Love you all!!

Updates ect….

Next week is my last day on 4C at Piedmont.  Goodbye Bones, hello babies, uteruses, and other assorted ob/gyn goodness.  I am so excited to start this new career path.  In case any of you didn’t know, ultimately, I would like to be a Lactation Consultant.  Making this change will help reach that goal.  I can’t wait to work with new moms and babies!!!!!!  So exciting.  I know that there will be some bad and sad days….and when there sad, they are REALLY SAD down in the postpartum unit.  But from what I have heard, they are far less in frequency than where I am working now.  Our unit in the last few months has really become more Medical than ever and we are getting REALLY REALLY sick people who have NO orthopaedic problems.  We are talking people who really should be in ICU, but there are no beds ect….perfect time for me to do what I really want to do.  I guess the hardest part was actually making the application and sending it.  Many times in my life, I have wanted to do something, talked about it, planned for it….then I never do it.  Prob out of fear of change, failure ect.  But I am really excited that I am really going to do this.  Keep checking back for updates in that area.

Beau, Jake and I are going to Alabama to go see Jack for the first time!!!!  Kevin and Tiphanie had little Jackson last Thursday.  Jake can’t wait to meet him.  Moose is going to be taking a mini vaca with the Bridgemill Animal Hospital in the Luxury VIP suite…..it has cable Tv.  I kid you not.  The only reason why he is getting this “runner” is because it is the biggest and Moose is not used to being in a cage for a long period of time.  So 7ft by 7ft is the biggest they have.  Hopefully he will not destroy the froo-froo doggie room. He is excited hahah

After a long internal debate and struggle…..I have decided not to try to force the issue of breastfeeding with Jake.  He is content nursing in the morning and at night before bed…..and having a bottle the rest of the day.  I had considered trying to “relactate” if you will to increase my supply so he could go back to only breastmilk, but he is 5 months old now….starting solids and so really…by the time it is back up, he will be going off formula.  It has been a very very hard internal struggle for me.  How can I be a lactation consultant for others when I can’t even seem to fix my own issues with it…..but in the end, Jake is healthy, happy and I can’t FORCE him to breastfeed.  Pumping without  a supply is just causing me pain and I will leave out the other details, but has really caused me some problems.  I am and should be content with him nursing as much as he does. Right?

We had suspected Jake was teething for about a month now…..CONSTANT DROOLING, chewing on everything, red gums ect….but it is definately confirmed….I think I see a little tooth breaking through.  He has gotten slightly more fussy lately and has LOVED sucking on his thumb….Yummy Thumb.

My Brother and his girlfriend are coming over for dinner tonight!!!  We haven’t seen them since Christmas and I can’t wait for them to see how much Jake has grown.  Isn’t it horrible that we live basically in the same city (Atlanta and Canton) but haven’t seen each other in over 3 months????   We really need to get better about planning stuff.  I think it mostly was because I am working every weekend.  But as I had mentioned before I am switching Jobs….still weekends, but nights…..so that will free up a little bit more time.

Well Jake calls….screams I mean….

dum di dum

I have begun the painful task of cleaning/organizing our closet.  Too many clothes that we don’t  or can’t wear ect……and the maternity clothes really need to be put away.  Two hours later, I still am not done and have diverted to the computer.  This is why things don’t get done around the house.  :)  Jake is sleeping….longer than his usual am nap, but again, I am not going to complain.  Just prob means he won’t take a lunchtime nap.  Slowly he is transitioning to a 2 nap baby.  If it means longer periods of time where I can do stuff around the house, then awsome.  Almost ALL of the laundry is done.  It is amazing how many pairs of sock you realize you have when they are all clean.  OOOO almost forgot….I finally got everything out of our old dresser drawers.  Jackpot….about 10 pairs of underwear I forgot about….that’s 10 more days I can go without doing laundry.  Its depressing to think about what gets me excited these days….more underwear????
Jake has outgrown most of his “winter” gear, so I am hoping it soon will get and stay warm so he can start wearing some of the adorable summer stuff that everyone has so graciously given him. I went on a “cleaning supply shopping spree” yesterday at target.  Don’t know why…but it seems as if I am re-nesting.  Spring cleaning I guess.  Beau and I are about to start the task of “finishing” the house.  Curtains, fans, wall-hangings ect.  Trying to get all of it done for Jake’s baptism/party in June.   Speaking of which I can’t believe he is still sleeping…..I have turned up the volume on the monitor enough to hear him breathing….. you would think the camera would provide piece of mind, but nope.

From Reading Kevin’s blog, Tiphanie seems to be doing well.  Her water broke on its own late last night/early am….Yay….thats more than what my body did for me!  I hope things progress for her quickly and she has her little bundle in her arms very soon!!!!  Kevin and Tiph having Jack has really made me start missing being pregnant and all…but then I look at Jake and realized that the best part is him being here and all the joy he gives me now!!!  I watched his birthing video last night….I bawled of course and am so glad that we videoed it…..I really can’t remember much of that first night.  I swear the dr drugged me before we went in the OR.

OOOO my little peanut is awake!!!

Update on Jack…

Well it appears that Jack has gotten bumped :(.  Too many spontaneous labors, no room for elective inductions it appears.  So, it looks like Jack will be here on Thursday. Jake can’t wait for his buddy to arrive!!!!

Jake has been talking a lot about meeting Lucas too.  I agree that we have waited long enough and it is about time we make a trip to NC to see Nate, Tracy and Lucas.  Just need to plan it!!!  Maybe Uncle Blake will want to ride along too!!!

A few new pictures….

BABY JACK GATGENS is gearing up for arrival….

Just got the word that Jake’s best playmate is going to arrive tomarrow!!!!

Today

So I feel as if maybe I have written enough on previous posts to fill in everyone of past happenings.  I assure you many many more funny stories, events, family visits ect…have happened, but really, I don’t think it is necessary to write about everything. Here are the highlights of the holidays….

Thanksgiving…we invited everyone here to celebrate Turkey Day….Beau’s mom, brother, my parents and Sister came over to celebrate.  It was fun watching the Macy’s Parade with Jake.  However, it was not fun having to go upstairs every time Jake wanted to eat.  Now, yes, everyone who was there had seen me breastfeed Jake before, but ya know an audiance of one or two is different than a whole group of people

Christmas was well, no comment.

Jake’s first Valentine’s day, St Patrick’s day and Easter went well. Beau took Jake to Easter Mass in his cute little outfit and had lunch with his mom. I will post pictures very soon