25 Weeks

Little Sommerfeldt is 25 weeks along! It's crazy how much faster it's gone this time around. I'm busy with Jack and I'm not as anxious this time, and so the time has flown.

Highlights: We found out at 20 weeks that Little Sommerfeldt is a BOY! We are SO excited. Myself especially. As an only child who didn't really play with boys growing up, it's funny how excited I am to have a family of boys - but I love it and I can't wait. I do hope to have a girl one day - but not yet. Baby is also measuring right on track (a couple days/up to a week big) and I am feeling great and doing great. My back hasn't hurt hardly at all, my iron seems to be in great shape, and aside from the occasional lightheadedness, I have no complaints. I've decided to pursue a natural birth this time, since I feel better and more prepared - so I'm taking a hypnobirthing class (breathing and relaxation techniques for pain management) and learning all I can about birth and pregnancy so I can make informed decisions. Everything I'm doing is centered around building a positive vision of pregnancy and birth, and there are moments when I just get so excited about having this little boy and bringing him into the world. It's a stark contrast to the near-terror I felt about the possible pain and side effects and problems that could come up when I was nearing Jack's due date. Whatever happens, I'm excited and we're all excited to welcome baby brother into our home!

Baby brother also has a name chosen - unless upon arrival the name doesn't fit :) We've decided to call him William Theron Sommerfeldt (Will for short). We like the name Will/William, and Theron is Ryan's dad's dad, (Grandpa Sommerfeldt in Canada) and we both honor and admire him. I hope someday Will is proud to share a name with him - though I expect we'll get some complaints about his "unusual" middle name throughout his life. I want all our children to have significant middle names, relating to people that they can admire and who can inspire them, and I'm excited to make Grandpa Sommerfeldt a bigger part of our family in this way.

Only about 3 1/2 months left - and we can't wait to meet our second baby boy!

17 weeks

Little Sommerfeldt #2 is now 17 weeks along. Sometimes I can feel him (her?) move - just a little bit. Particularly if I'm laying on my stomach. We're in that awesome phase where sometimes I forget I'm pregnant - until I remember I'm wearing maternity pants (and have been for over a month! My pants got uncomfortable a lot faster this time around).

Little Sommerfeldt has a nice strong heartbeat (heard it yesterday) and recently went through a growth spurt (evidenced by the fact that Mom couldn't stop eating all day long for three days). We're working on eating more vegetables and drinking more water - although that inevitably leads to spending half the day in the bathroom because this baby seems to put a lot of pressure in that area - more so than I remember with Jack.

We're working on teaching Jack to say "baby" (it sounds the same as everything else he says) and teaching him to be "soft" with people (not going so well so far. He loves to hit people in the face and laugh.) Hopefully by the time September comes he'll be a little more well-behaved in that respect.

Jack himself is doing great. He's so close to walking and standing on his own, but seems unwilling to try it out without holding on to something. We have a doctor's appointment next week, and I think we'll find he's gained 5-10 lbs and quite a few inches. He's right in the 12-18 month clothes size (and he's 14 months old) so that's just right. His vocabulary is beginning to take off. At various times and depending on the situation he can say "Mommy, Daddy, uh-oh, ball, bzzzz (for a bee), woof-woof (for a dog), thank you (daaa- doo), up, uh-uh, and No!).

We love our little family!

Little Sommerfeldt #2: 10 weeks along

Surprise!

At least that's what I thought when we found out :) Not that we weren't wanting another baby - we just sort of expected it wouldn't happen quite so soon. We found out one day and headed down to Texas for Ryan's internship the next day. As far as I can tell, my due date will be September 12.

Currently I'm 10 weeks. Everything has been pretty much the same as with Jack, except for the nausea was worse from weeks 6-9. It was pretty much constant and the food aversions were even worse than with Jack - some days I just wanted to cry because there was nothing to eat. However it went away earlier than with Jack and I'm so grateful for that! It was really difficult living with family and feeling like I just wanted to curl up in bed the whole day and not knowing what to eat - though everyone has been super understanding and accommodating.

Even though I'm 10 weeks along, it still hasn't really sunk in that I'm pregnant again. The first couple of weeks were really a roller coaster of emotions. I am so excited to have another child join our family, but it's definitely overwhelming thinking about doing the "newborn thing" all over again, this time with a 19 month-old in tow. Yes, they will be just 19 months apart. I hope that means they will be great friends - which will hopefully make the extra work and chaos all worth it. With Jack, it was different because we waited and waited and didn't know what to expect with having a baby. This time, it all happened so fast, and I have a bit more of an idea how much work it is to care for a newborn, so it's definitely more overwhelming this time around. However, we are SO excited, and already I feel so much love for this little baby that's coming to be part of our family. We can't wait.

I can also tell that it's my second pregnancy and not my first because it seems to be flying by :) The first trimester with Jack was YEARS long. I felt like I waited and waited and WAITED to go to my first appointment (at 9 weeks), and the morning sickness seemed to last forever. This time, I'm 10 weeks and I'm still trying to find an OB and set up a visit, and I can't believe the first trimester is almost over.

With Jack I also had a shopping list a mile long within the first week. I spent all my time figuring out how to decorate his room and what accessories I wanted. This time, I'm more worried about how I'm going to keep Jack asleep when new baby is screaming in the middle of the night, how we can possibly fit two cribs in one bedroom, and is there any possible way to not need to buy ANYTHING for this new baby? :) I do have plans to redo the curtains in their room and I want to make a name banner in coordinating colors for the new baby once he/she arrives (yeah, don't even ask about names - we have no idea). Other than that, I'm busy trying to figure out how to get diapers for free and not have to buy ANYTHING :)

Keep growing, little Sommerfeldt #2 - we can't wait to meet you!

Welcoming Little Sommerfeldt

Presenting:

Jack Ryan Sommerfeldt

January 29, 2014

Jen & Jack two nights before delivery

Contractions started Tuesday the 28th, but weren't painful or productive until about 10:30 p.m. We checked into the hospital at 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday the 29th - six hours before I was scheduled to be induced. I got an epidural, which felt heavenly, and they added a little pitocin and broke my water in the early morning to help get things going.

Post-epidural happiness. We even got some sleep. 

Around 9:00 a.m. I was dilated to a 9 and my epidural was failing. This started six hours of seeing the anesthesiologist almost as often as the nurses - I got re-dosed more times than I counted, and still could feel tons of pressure. About 11:45 we started pushing, but shortly realized that Jack was transverse (sideways) and we had to wait for an obstetrician to arrive with forceps to try and turn him. He didn't get there until about 2:30 and was straightforward about the fact that if turning him didn't work, we were looking at a c-section. However, we were able to finally push him out, and he arrived at 3:01 p.m. with quite a "cone head" to show for his 4 hours in the birth canal. Overall, active labor was about 16 1/2 hours long, with 11 hours of pre-labor contractions preceding it. 

Welcome Jack! We love having you in our family :)

Happy Due Date!

1/22/2014

Dear Baby Sommerfeldt,

Happy Due Date! I have my doubts as to whether this will be your birthday or not, but I guess we'll see if you decide to surprise me. Thanks for letting me sleep better last night, thanks for not kicking me in the ribs, and thanks for always being head-down at your appointments and being all obedient and cooperative like that. We have a lovely room all set up with warm curtains and blankets and a nice crib, and we're all set to stay up all hours of the night with you (although if you want to give us a happy surprise and NOT make us do that for very long, that would be an appropriate thank-you-for-bringing-me-into-the-world gift). So you are welcome to join us any time you would like....hint...hint....like, sooner rather than later... We love you so much and can't wait to meet you!

Self-Appointed Due Date

I feel like this is something that should be documented... Long ago, back when we found out we were expecting Little Sommerfeldt to join our family, we decided that the perfect scenario would be for me to go into labor on Friday, January 17 sometime, and have Little Sommerfeldt join us sometime later that night or on Saturday the 18th. The reason for this? The long weekend. Ryan gets Monday off school. It would just be so convenient... So for the whole nine months, we've been encouraging him (loudly, so he can hear through my skin) to stick to the schedule.

So guess what - today is Friday the 17th! The epic day has arrived! The house is clean, the freezer is full, the clothes and bedding are washed, the curtains are hung, the six week menu plan is completed... and I have not had one single contraction :) No worries - if he doesn't arrive this weekend, it's obviously not the end of the world - but I just know that he'll just think it's so funny to arrive right at the end of the long weekend or something. Silly baby. We can't wait to meet you - whenever that may be!

New Talents

Baby has been learning how to do lots of new things lately:

- Hiccuping: He's becoming quite proficient at it. I guess it's possible that he's been good at it for a while, but now that he's in there pretty tight I can feel every little hiccup. My whole abdomen bounces with each hiccup. It wakes him up, too, because after a few hiccups he starts moving around (probably trying to get comfortable - I know the feeling!) I can tell right when he falls asleep again because the hiccups stop. I think it's the cutest thing - and I can't even see him yet.

- Stretching: He's getting pretty good at that, too. He particularly likes to stretch his back out, which means half of him gets jammed up under my ribs. I'm getting pretty good at massaging him back down into his own territory :) I can't blame him much - while I don't know how big he actually is, the general estimate at this point is about 17-18 inches long - and he definitely doesn't have that much space in there to stretch out.

- Shoving: He doesn't really kick too much these days. Probably because there's not enough room to get a good wind-up for a powerful kick. Instead, he seems to shove his knees and elbows into my side and leave them there for a few minutes - making a nice little lump on my normally round tummy. It's kind of fun, if I poke him a little he'll pull his knee in again. It's like we can communicate (or at least I convince myself that we are :)

Only 3 weeks, 2 days left until baby's due date! At the last evaluation, I was 1cm dilated, 40% effaced, and measuring a week behind. They're waiting until next appointment to see if the measurement catches up. I took the liberty of measuring my own circumference - 39 1/2 inches at the widest point. I feel like a walking basketball, but most people still say I look really small. I don't mind; bigger = more uncomfortable. So far I can still sleep most of the night (just waking up once) and my main discomfort is a stress point in my back that starts aching non-stop about 7pm every night. We'll see how the next three weeks go!

36 weeks

Getting closer...

My phone tells me that there is only 6 weeks, 5 days left until Little Sommerfeldt arrives! I was talking with a pregnant friend today, we both wonder when our children will actually arrive (what baby actually sticks to their due date?)

It's starting to seem a little more real around our apartment (and in our bank account, too...)

About 30 weeks

Crib with bedding and blanket (since then we've added some stuffed animals from great-Grandpa Parks, via Grandpa Parks... all we need now is a baby! (no worries, we'll take all the squishy stuff out before putting him in))

Family picture - 32 weeks

 

Putting the stroller together (which also came with a car seat)

We've also added a Black Friday sale pack-and-play and a memory foam mattress pad and pillow to the collection (for Mom... I can actually sleep!) If it weren't for Christmas to distract me, I think I'd be going crazy. Not sure yet what I'll do to get through January... in any case, we're excited!

Excitement is in the air

Little Sommerfeldt has been excited of late, bouncing around and kicking and waving his fists in glee almost every half hour.

And although I can probably attribute it to the nonstop Christmas music at our house, I think this is the real reason for his excitement:

We got this all set up last night! Ready and waiting for a baby to sleep in it :)
Thank you to my wonderful mom for getting it for us :)

And this comforter/bumper/sheet/crib skirt set is coming in the mail sometime soon!
It will match perfectly with the fleece blanket I made and the quilt Lisa made and our jungle-themed nursery room, although I think it'll look nicer with our white crib than the brown one in the picture.

Not to mention the fabulous baby shower held in Little Sommerfeldt's honor on Saturday with all the long-time friends from the ward and complete with Daddy's favorite: eclairs! Now what baby wouldn't be excited about that? (It would seem he's even excited about me writing this post - mainly this boy is just excited these days!)

Nesting

My whole life of late suddenly can be explained in one word: Nesting.

http://www.parentingweekly.com/pregnancy/pregnancy-symptoms/nesting-instinct.htm

While I am happy to say I have not been irrationally throwing away sheets and towels or scrubbing knob screws, I have spent the last couple of weeks arranging furniture, watching Ryan arrange furniture, bursting into tears when said furniture arrangement doesn't work out as pictured in my head, bursting into tears again when Ryan comes up with a perfect solution and makes the whole room look perfect, scrubbing hard water off the shower, the tub, the shower walls, the bathroom sink, the counters, scrubbing miniscule yellow spots off the walls, scraping age-old burned food out of the recess under the stove burners, soaking stove burner trays in vinegar and water to remove burned stains, even though we cover them with aluminum foil, sweeping the kitchen floor, scrubbing the table and chairs with Pine Sol, scrubbing the kitchen linoleum on hands and knees twice to remove all stains, feeling an irrational need to climb up a ladder and scrub the windows and only barely being able to restrain myself (does anyone know where I can get a long-handled sponge/squeegee for scrubbing windows? It's my only hope...)....... and the list goes on.....

This is what happens when I only work part-time for five months before the baby is due to arrive... Up next: spot cleaning carpets, vacuuming couches, scrubbing walls throughout the house, vacuuming out closets and cupboards and window tracks, cleaning the furnace closet, the refrigerator, the microwave, the oven (without toxic cleaners, of course) and of course the shoe-shaped spot on the ceiling where Ryan smashed a spider once....

Can't wait for Baby Sommerfeldt to get here and restore rational living habits and normal behavior... as if going on low sleep for weeks on end is going to restore normal behavior... but we absolutely can't wait!

Projects

I've found that one of the things that makes me most excited is having projects to work on for when the baby comes. (Plus they keep me busy and doing something productive.) I've already made a couple little flannel blankets, plus the fleece jungle blanket from the last post. Next up: a car seat carrier cover and nursing cover. I found patterns online that had the fabric measurements and I picked out fabric today. Can't wait to welcome this little boy into our family (although he's already pretty much a part of it!)

Car seat carrier cover fabric

Nursing cover fabrics - I wanted it to be thick, reversible, and a pattern that I liked, not just cute baby fabric. I got some terrycloth to put in the corners, and it's going to have an adjustable neck strap and hopefully a couple of flap-top pockets, too. 

Bonding Time

My wonderful mom got a new chair this last weekend and donated this one to us. It was my favorite chair all growing up - and it will have a permanent home at our place, as long as I live and it doesn't fall apart. It's just right. So this morning me and little Sommerfeldt spent a few minute just rocking and enjoying each other's company... as if we don't spend enough time together already... like... 24 hours a day :) Based on all the kicking and wiggling and squirming I think he enjoyed it. 

Last week we had a second ultrasound with a specialist at the hospital. We were excited because we heard that the hospital ultrasound machine makes even better pictures than the one at the clinic. That is true only when your little boy is not "active and uncooperative." He did his best to hide from the ultrasound machine and move as much as possible so as to blur all the pictures. That's our boy :) Everything is still looking great and as far as they can tell at this stage, he's perfectly healthy and developing normally.

While getting quilt fabric at JoAnn's, I saw this fleece and simply couldn't resist. We are doing a jungle theme in the baby's room (as much as you can in a small apartment where baby's room has to double as office and storage, too) and so this fabric was absolutely perfect. I can't wait to lay him down in the middle.

Last of all, I borrowed some of Ryan's homework time and we hit a few yard sales on Saturday. We bought a few outfits in all different sizes and I don't really plan to buy much more because I really don't know what I'll need or how much - we definitely still need pants and probably more of everything but I really have no idea. These outfits here my mom got for us - complete with both elephants and turtles on them :) but my absolute favorite is the polar bear sleeper. Ryan has polar bear pajamas too and they can match :) I got size 0-3 month since I don't know how big he'll be - and I sure hope he grows into them fast so I don't have to wait too long! 

20 week ultrasound!

The long-awaited and much-anticipated day finally arrived, and we got to see our little baby in ultrasound format!

Baby looks a lot different than the little blob we saw at 9 weeks! He has a nice symmetrical brain, a strong-looking four-chambered heart, two kidneys, a stomach, a bladder, a nice even spine, a rib cage, two arms, two legs, two hands, two feet, and a nose. He also has eye sockets that make him look a little halloween-ish on the ultrasound, since it only picks up bone and such and not cute skin features. We'll have to wait for delivery to see him in person. And we absolutely cannot wait!

And, in case you couldn't guess from the pronoun usage in this post, little Sommerfeldt is also a boy! We are overjoyed. Someone should have been there taking pictures of the look on our faces because I think it's a moment neither of us will ever forget. We can't wait to meet our little son in person and watch him grow up and see the person he turns out to be. Right now, we couldn't possibly be happier!

Almost halfway...

Today I spent a few minutes looking at these and feeling excited :) Only one more week until we have our ultrasound to hopefully see a happy, healthy baby and find out if it's a boy or a girl! I can hardly wait. I don't have any idea if it's going to be a boy or girl - and I honestly don't have a preference. I'm just excited to see the new little person who's going to join our family. 

Becoming a Mother

I read this quote on a friend's blog today and had to share - because it spoke to me, too.

"The most difficult part of birth is the first year afterwards. It is the year of travail - when the soul of a woman must birth the mother inside her. The emotional labour pains of becoming a mother are far greater than the physical pangs of birth; these are the growing surges of your heart as it pushes out selfishness and fear and makes room for sacrifice and love. It is a private and silent birth of the soul, but it is no less holy than the event of childbirth, perhaps it is even more sacred."

For me, becoming a mother is the most exciting and frightening thing that I have ever done. It's a life-changing event that in my life can be compared only to marriage in the scope of its impact - but with marriage, I already knew Ryan. I got to date him, be friends with him, "practice" if you will, before the actual change.

With parenting, there is no "practice" phase. There is only real life. From the moment that I knew this baby was coming to our family, our lives changed. My life changed. My whole perspective and plan changed, because now it is real. It's no longer hypothetical or hoped for; it's real, and there is no going back, and we would never ever want to. I am a mother now, even though our child hasn't even been born yet. I will always be a mother, forever, because that child is a part of our family now.

I worry all the time that something will happen to our little one, and I suppose that's the first step in my transformation into a mother, because I've been told you never really stop worrying. For the first time there is someone who is completely and totally relying on me. Our hearts are already beginning to connect in a way that only mothers can truly understand, and I am only beginning to understand it myself.

I am excited and scared and anxious and so, so happy all at the same time to be able to experience this new phase of life, to share it with Ryan, to meet our little one, to watch him or her grow and learn and become someone and to learn to love more than ever before because of this new experience. To love is truly the greatest joy and greatest pain that someone can ever experience. I am learning every day how great and encompassing the love of our heavenly parents for us must be. Someday I will be able to fully comprehend it - but for now, my transformation is still in process.

We love you, little Sommerfeldt!

Sixteen Weeks

This is me, minus the long green body and the many legs and the big green eyes.

I am so hungry, all the time. I take two lunches to work and it's still not enough. I'm munching my way through all the free snacks in the breakroom. Currently, little choo-choo's favorite foods are tomatoes, black plums, Sunny D, PB&J sandwiches with white bread, and Cheetos. And he/she doesn't appreciate peppers, chicken, or pasta with red sauce, although he/she is slowly regaining an appreciation for pickles (thank goodness! I missed them). Cooking without chicken has been interesting - I never realized how many of our favorite dishes are chicken dishes.

Little choo-choo - I've been thinking of him/her like that ever since we heard the heartbeat and it sounded like a train. I kept thinking of a little choo-choo train going around and around, and it made me laugh, which obscured the heartbeat... all in all not the most successful heartbeat session the midwives have probably ever seen :) hopefully this little one has a good sense of humor!

We got to go to the hospital to see our good friends' new baby (and them) last night, and it was fun walking through the mother/baby unit and thinking that will be us in less than six months!

Twelve Weeks

Food- it's amazing! Almost everything sounds good again, except pickles (except for the ones from Firehouse Subs...), whole wheat bread, and some pasta dishes (some of my favorite foods normally... ironic). The nausea is mostly gone unless I don't eat for too long, and then it comes back. Last night I waited too long to go to bed after eating and ended up eating baby carrots at the table at 11:30 at night so that I could feel better and go to sleep :) I can finally eat fruits and vegetables again and I'm working on re-implementing a good nutritional balance into my diet.

Sleep - it's all I want to do. Sooooooo tired all the time.... my whole body feels like it's disintegrating sometimes. While at our family reunion in Park City, I slept an average of 12-13 hours a day, with naps and sleeping in, and I was still tired all the time. There's not really anywhere to take a nap at work, so sometimes I'll go out and recline the seat in my car and turn on the AC and sleep for half an hour so I can function the rest of the day. I miss BYU and all the couches in the bathrooms!

Clothes - I'm not showing yet, but everything is getting tight. I attribute most of that to my extra-relaxed digestive system. Fortunately most of my jeans are too big in the waist regularly, so everything is fitting comfortably now. And my adorably cute summer pajama bottoms that I made in my sewing class don't fit at all :( I'm sleeping in Ryan's old basketball shorts from middle school. *sigh

I got just a few maternity clothes in Park City with my sister in law Michelle - I don't need them yet, but the dresses are super comfy and cool for the summer heat.


Baby stuff - we don't have any, other than clothes and a pillow from my sister in law. No need to buy anything yet. Our second bedroom is still full of furniture for sale, my sewing corner, and party equipment... If anyone has baby equipment they don't need anymore... let me know :) I'm only picky about the carseat and crib - anything else I have no preferences!

Only 6 more days in the first trimester, and we'll have our second appointment next week and see how everything is going!

Ten weeks!

Dear Baby,

Thank you for finally not making me nauseous all day long. Thank you for letting me open the fridge for more than 15 seconds. Thank you for letting me cook all morning and for letting me go out to dinner.

Thank you for letting me sleep through the night, or only wake up once. Thank you for letting me stay awake past 8 pm.

Thank you for liking water again. Thank you for always liking fruit. Thank you for not liking sugar as much.

Thank you for playing softball with me and scoring two runs. Sorry for embarrassing you that one time where I missed the ball. 

Thank you for listening to me while I vent about work and life and other things. Thank you for listening to me while I talk to you. Thanks for not judging me when I cry over everything.

Thank you for trusting me and Ryan enough to come to our family. Thank you for sticking it out and being patient with us while we're still figuring out how to be good parents. 

Thank you for coming to our family. We absolutely can't wait to meet you! 

Six weeks

Six weeks today! Halfway through the first trimester.

- Some nausea, I almost threw up one morning, now I'm making sure to get up slowly and eat something before getting out of bed.

- So tired! I could sleep all day and all night.

- Queasiness: food doesn't really sound good most of the time, and when it does I only take a few bites before it's making me want to throw up. 

- Mood swings: enough said. I'm all over the place when it comes to emotions. 

So excited for this baby to come!

We're expecting! May 15, 2013

At 5 am we found out that the newest Sommerfeldt will be joining us in January 2013.

We are so excited - Ryan is convinced it's going to be a boy, I'm pretty sure it's a girl.

According to the pregnancy websites, "Jack" as he/she is affectionately nicknamed, is the size of an orange seed and is still busily dividing into groupings of cells to form the baby and the placenta.

I don't have any symptoms yet other than crazy mood swings late at night.

We haven't told anyone yet - we're still trying to decide how and when to tell who :)

We love you, little Sommerfeldt!