Jaxy Boy

I really thought that once I was a stay at home mom that I would have all this time to blog...why to I feel like the day goes by so fast?? I think if I'm not feeding Jax, I'm trying to put him asleep, and then once he's asleep, I either have a shower, sleep or catch up on laundry (for a little baby, I feel like I'm doing laundry all the time!) But I am thoroughly enjoying being at home with my sweet boy. Although he hates naps during the day and rarely goes down for them, he is a great sleeper at night! Our favorite time together is in the morning because he's had a good night's sleep and just wants to wake up and smile at me. We also enjoy going to the shops together. In fact, I think he is better behaved outside of the house than at home! He loves sitting in his car seat and stroller - probably because he always falls asleep in them!

Here are a few photos from my iPhone from the last few weeks.

We had the pleasure of hosting my parents at our house for three weeks. Those were the fastest three weeks of my life! We took them to the Gold Coast, had surfing lessons, played mini golf and real golf, ate out, played Monopoly cards, passed around Jax (trying to get him to sleep) and just enjoyed each other's company. I didn't realize how much I miss my family until we dropped them off at the airport. I guess I just try not to think about my family and home so I don't miss them. Thanks Mom and Dad for a great time in Brisbane! For more photos see my mom's blog.

We put up our Christmas tree last Sunday (Heath added the American flag on the top). I love this time of year! I feel cheated though because we are not celebrating Thanksgiving this year...I usually organize dinner with our American friends but have been really slack and haven't done anything! And no one else has organized anything so we are just going out to dinner to an American restaurant that has hot dogs, root beer, ribs and wings. Even though we are not celebrating Thanksgiving traditionally, I still enjoying reflecting on all the blessings in my life - a loving husband, a healthy baby, the Gospel, family, friends, good health, jobs and technology to keep in touch with my family and friends across the world. We are truly blessed.

The first 2 weeks

Here are just a few photos from the first two weeks of Jax's life..

My sister-in-law Hope did a new born photo shoot - more photos to come

Cuddles with Aunt Renae

We feel so blessed to have this bundle of joy in our life! Although it has been a tough adjustment with the lack of sleep, it is all worth it when he looks up at us with those cute innocent brown eyes. There is definitely a different spirit in our home. We only wish we could be home in America to spend time with cousin Sawyer!

Only 4 more days until Grandma and Grandpa Whetton arrive! We can hardly wait!

Jax Thomas David Hart

We were blessed this week to welcome our sweet baby boy Jax. Born on October 1, 2012 at 2:31pm, weighing in at 8lbs 10oz and 21 inches long. I will preface this post by saying it may be a little long, boring, and too much information so if you do not want to hear the labor story, stop reading now and scroll down to the bottom to view photos :)

It started on Sunday September 30th at 7:30pm. I wasn't really sure what to expect when going into labor and what it should feel like but I thought "ok, this might be it. I better start timing these contractions." I wanted to stay at home as long as possible so around 2am, the contractions started to get stronger and I was going to want an epidural soon. We get to the hospital and they tell me I am 4cm dilated. We continue to the birth suite where I started breathing 'gas' (not sure of it's official name) to take the edge off of the contractions. By about 5am, the contractions were getting a lot stronger and I thought I better ask for an epidural now before it's too late. The midwife said there were 2 other women in line for an epidural and it would be about an hour. I said put my name down for then!!

About 30 minutes later, the anesthetist showed up and proceeded to the put the epidural in. He was having a hard time because he kept hitting a nerve in my back and he said that my spine is slightly curved (which I did not know) which is why it was making it difficult to put it in. After 3 attempts, it was in and the drugs were working! We took advantage of the pain killer and decided to take a nap.

By 12:45pm, I was fully dilated and ready to push! I pushed for about an hour before the doctor came in to assess my progress. He said that he would give me another 30 minutes to try to push him out before they would have to take me to 'theatre' (operating room) and perform a caesarian. This was NOT part of my birth plan so at this point, I really had to dig deep. In 30 minutes, I made significant progress and moved him down low enough for the doctor to extract him using a vacuum. Fifteen minutes later, our baby boy was here!

After the delivery, the doctor spent 1 hour stitching up my 2nd degree tear. They also told me I lost a liter of blood, which my mom later told me is a significant amount, about 1/5 of the amount of blood in your body.

Labor is probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life, but when he came out and they put that tiny baby boy on my chest, with Heath at my side, everything was perfect and worth all the pain. Also, a huge thanks goes to my sister-in-law Renae, who is currently studying mid-wifery and was able to share this experience with us. I am so grateful that she was there to help and support, especially since my mom was unable to be there with me. I am now on the count down until my parents visit, which is in 2 weeks!! Can't wait for baby boy to meet his grandparents!

 Best midwife, Jo!

 Baby Jax had his first outing this week as well which was to the Annual Singles vs Married AFL Match. Daddy made us proud and kicked 2 goals and the team won by 7 points!

 Cousins Hannah  and Kellan

 Dad was the captain and accepted the trophy on behalf of the team

Post game cuddles