Meet Will David!

Wilhelm (Will) David Hundling finally arrived at 2:46 p.m. on August 29, 2011! We are so happy he is here!

We arrived at the hospital on Sunday prepared to be induced. We were told to arrive at 5:00...that's what I heard anyway. Brice heard "between 5:00 and 6:00". So I spent Sunday getting some meals ready, cleaning house, and packing. I was still waiting for him at 4:30, he wasn't answering his phone, and I was growing impatient. He came in the house soon after 4:30 and of course I was already flustered. The only thing I hadn't gotten done in the house was wash windows and I was about to say 'forget it, I'll just carry this baby around forever'! He showered and got ready, tried to get me to 'chill out', and we made it to the hospital by 5:15.

So, I should have 'chilled out'. We got to the hospital, checked in, and they said 'boy, its busy up there'! Just prior to us arriving, 1 woman had been admitted already 8 cm dialated and ready to deliver, the nurses were preparing for an emergency C-section, and a baby had just been delivered earlier that day. No nurses were going to be available to help get us started, so a nurse was called from the ER to put the IV in. We could tell it was a zoo...we saw 3 doctors in the hallway and nurses almost half jogging in the hallway. It was nearly 7:30 before the doctor arrived to start the induction. He explained to us he'd get things started, check in in 3-4 hours, and hopefully by morning we'd be getting ready to deliver.

By 8:30 p.m. I was feeling contractions. Brice was still there and was good entertainment for me during the 2 hours I was supposed to lay still. We had progressed to a whopping 2 cm by the end of the 2 hours.  Doctor thought this was progress at least and decided we'd continue through the night and start pitosin (not sure I spelled that correctly) in the morning if we needed to. Brice headed home around 11 p.m. That was good, as by 1:30 a.m. the contractions were enough that I was not able to sleep or get very comfortable so at least one of us was getting good sleep! I held off on calling him until 5:00 a.m. He did his chores and was at the hospital around 8:00. By then we were almost 3 cm, had just started the pitosin, and close to being able to have an epidural, which I was ready for. I got that around 9:00 and got a few hours of sleep after that. By around 1:00 we were fully dialated and things were progressing well! Brice was having cement poured in his hog building about that time, and I told him he could probably go home to help and come back if he wanted. He opted not to, which turned out to be an excellent decision because I started pushing just before 2:00. And by 2:46 he was here! We were both surprized it was a boy! Everything about this pregnancy seemed very different, but somehow we both were sure it was a girl. Either way, we were just happy to be blessed with a second healthy child.

Will didn't have a name for over 24 hours :-) Neither of us were in a hurry to make this decision, but eventually the hospital staff was wanting to get his paperwork done. Brice has always wanted to name a boy Wilhelm. I was never a big fan of the name, but I do like the name Will. We had purchased a baby name book and listened to some suggestions, so then we had a list which we had narrowed down to 2 or 3 names by the day after he was born. Brice really wanted a name with German roots. I started to like the name Wilhelm after reading the meaning of it is "the determined protector", and the more I looked at him I thought Wilhelm sounded good. So, Tuesday night at 9:00 pm he finally was Will and not 'the baby'! The middle name is David, which is Brice's dad's name. Gabbie thought we should name him 'grandma'!

So far everything is going well. Brice teases me for stressing during this pregnancy, as with everything going on with the house and other projects I did not read any pregnancy books, did not read a weekly online article as I had with Gabbie, had fallen down the steps, fallen multiple times outside, painted, etc. and Will seems to be just as healthy and happy. Gabbie is 'adjusting' as I call it. She's great to Will. When he starts crying she goes running to him, and first thing in the morning she wants to see the baby. However I can tell her and I are definetly out of sync. Some of that was happening before Will was born as I was pretty cranky, not as mobile, and our routine had gotten such that Gabbie's bedtime was approaching 10 pm, some nights later if we were out and about. This week we are back to 8:30 bedtime and trying to limit the TV use. I had gotten guilty of letting Gabbie watch more TV than she should so I could get things done quicker. I guess I can say her and I are both 're-adjusting' :-) I am feeling well and haven't taken any daytime naps yet since we returned home. Will and I are up together a few times during the night. Since the day he was born he seems to like being up at 4:30 and not sleeping again until after 7:00, at which time I usually ready to get up!

Today I kept Gabbie home with me. She went to daycare the day we came home as well as yesterday. I had to take Will to Carroll to have his bilirubin checked as he became quite yellow since we brought him home. I was a little nervous to take both kiddos, especially since I can not lift Gabbie yet and I knew we'd be doing a lot of walking in the hospital. She did well, Will's numbers were up a bit but not too bad, we don't have to do anything until his check-up next Wednesday, and we made it home in time for lunch. Gabbie was NOT happy that the nurses were bothering her little brother so much! She told one nurse to leave him alone. I didn't appreciate her being mouthy, but am glad she loves her brother so much! The only downside of the trip was Will had a blow-out in his car seat on the way home. I currently have it all taken apart and hosed down in our shower :-)

This coming Tuesday we take Gabbie to the GI specialist in Des Moines. I will be glad to have this done with and hope we come home with some answers. I am grateful for her health and I know we could be dealing with much bigger issues; Brice and I are both trying to keep this in mind. However I know we will appreciate when Gabbie feels well and her behavior doesn't hinge on her bowel movement frequency. I think she may like me better when I am not giving her enemas and suppositories!

Here are some pictures of Will's first week. Brice and I are so happy and grateful for our 2 blessings and family and friends to share them with!

First picture! He was 9 pounds, 4.8 ounces, and 19.5 inches long.

Hi Dad!

Meeting Grandma and Grandpa Hundling

I took quite a few pictures when it was just him and I in the hospital room :-)

Grandpa with his grandkiddos!

This picture, although very unclear, was taken the 2nd night at the hospital. Brice and I had to give Gabbie an enema and it took nearly 1.5 hours to work. The instructions say to call a doctor if it hasn't worked in 10 minutes. At the time I was glad we were at the hospital as we were starting to wonder if she had a serious blockage, though the nurses were telling us not to worry. As they were getting ready to leave it finally worked. It was too funny when Brice said he would change her diaper and she pointed to him saying "no! you stay there!" She apparantly wasn't done 'going'. She kept pushing and grunting, and Brice and I had to turn our heads not to laugh! It was my first moment of realizing we had truly doubled our workload, as Gabbie had a mess to deal with and Will was hungry. Brice took the picture, trying to capture how huge the diaper was after she was done, but she wouldn't sit still and he was laughing so hard that the picture is blurry.

Good morning! The day we were going home.

We are home! Now what?!

Siblings!

So far he enjoys tummy time. Gabbie loved it also.

So wide eyed and cute!

August 29, 2011. Our family!

Nice try kiddo!

Gabbie meeting her brother

August pictures

I sat and downloaded some pictures today and found I had quite a 'hodge podge' of the past couple of weeks of August! I included some sent by Brice's mom as well.

The Farm Festival 'Kiddie Parade'. Ours is the Mrs. Clause with purple clogs on :-)

One of our goats was at the petting zoo. Took a little coaxing to get him to participate!

Gabbie won a trumpet at the duck game at Farm Fest. Good thing it doesn't make any noise :-)

First taste of cotton candy!

A family picture while Gretchen was home.

1 day past our due date...I went to work early, thinking I'd get all caught up before we had the baby. I had Brice take a final picture of the 'baby bump', assuming at our doctor appointment that day I'd hear the words "lets induce you today!" Well, that didn't happen...

Brice and his sister before she left to return home to California. You'd never know they were siblings, right?!

Golfing with my Mom's side of the family. This is Gabbie and I, on my 30th birthday!

Gabbie was a good golfer. She would use the pencil that was provided to keep score and hit a ball into the hole. She thought she was pretty good!

Family picture. We were dropping Gabbie off with Brice's parents before we headed to the hospital. I would cry every time during the previous week that I even thought of the moment we dropped Gabbie off. Luckily that day I didn't and Gabbie was happy to be dropped off with the Grandparents!

Brice had the bright idea to do a 'family profile picture' before we left. I was not thrilled with the idea at all! But now I think its a funny picture. Its interesting the thoughts you have while you are pregnant and 35 pounds overweight, then a week later you think "oh, that wasn't so bad" and you are grateful for goofy pictures! I still think Brice and Gabbie were sucking their bellies in!

Brice has been working so hard to renovate this building for hogs. Thursday morning at 3 a.m. (our first night home with baby!) the little pigs were dropped off and the building is in use.

This was a cute picture Brice's mom sent of Gabbie with her Oregon 'friends' (as she calls them!)

Awww....

Gabbie and Brice at the Farm Fest parade. She brought home a bucket full of candy! I hid it right away and she hasn't mentioned it since.

Baby time

Today was my last doctors appointment for this pregnancy, whew. Its not so bad at the start to go once a month, but the every 7-10 days stuff seems to come around pretty quick! I went to the doctor this past Monday as well. Brice took a picture of the "freaking huge" belly (his words), but I'll post it another time. I was hoping I wouldn't be returning home pregnant (since our due date was last Sunday). Fortunately or unfortunatly the appointment went fine and the doctor decided to wait and touch base with us today. Now the plan is for us to be induced Sunday evening and (hopefully) have a baby on Monday! A few people commented today that I didn't seem very excited. I am, but I think I had myself prepared to have this happen earlier this week and at this point I'm just feeling tired and ready to meet this little one :-) I was glad to have plenty to do at work this week and have been busy at home cleaning, getting baby clothes ready, mowing lawn, gardening, etc, so the time has passed quickly. Last week and this week went fast as well since Brice's sister was home. Her visit went too fast...Gabbie has been asking the past couple of days "where's Gretchen?"

It was an odd feeling when I left work this afternoon. First of all, its odd for me to be mostly caught up, which I figured I would need to be since a substitute comes on Monday. It was mostly strange to think our routine will be changing again and I wouldn't be returning next week. I enjoy working for the most part and will miss the staff and residents. Not that I am not excited to have a baby! I will be off of my full time job for 12 weeks. I will stay home for 2 weeks before returning to my 'PRN' jobs of home health and 1 day a week at another nursing home.

Here was the more concerning part of our morning. We are (again) having trouble getting Gabbie's bowels on track. We seem to do well for awhile, then she will go 5-6 days without a bowel movement. Today was our 3rd trip to the doctor in 10 months to try to figure this out. Everytime we go we get the speech about using MiraLax, Milk of Magnesia, enemas, etc. However we do all of that and its hard on Gabbie and on us. Her behavior when she hasn't been 'regular' is horrible and at times embarrasing. The past month has been particularily trying and after she was up crying during the night saying "my tummy hurts" I decided she needed to be seen again. She had to have blood drawn-her first time having it drawn from a vein instead of a finger prick. Then an x-ray. I was so thankful Brice came with me today as I could not have held her down for either test. All I was responsible for was holding her arm during the blood draw and I felt like she was stronger than me for that! The doctor was testing for a potential thyroid problem, which we should hear back about next week. The x-ray showed a 'ball', likely of stool. Hard to believe anything was in there after a week of enemas and laxatives. He also suggested a barium enema study. The person that does that in the Carroll hospital said he would not do that to a 2 1/2 year old as it would be too difficult. So in mid-September we are headed to Des Moines to a pediatric GI specialist. When I thought about it, Gabbie has had occasional problems with this since she was 6-8 weeks old. I am curious what we will find out, and what we will be able to do to help her. Doctor wasn't sure we wanted to tackle this so close to delivery, but I would have taken her to Des Moines today if it would help her. When she feels good she is full of energy, kisses and hugs, and just wants to play outside and is a fairly decent listener. When she feels crappy she just wants to lay on the couch and watch television, doesn't eat well, and has tantrum after tantrum.

That's the update for today. This weekend I am excited for my 30th Birthday tomorrow, golfing with family, a wedding, and a birthday party for a friend! Heading to the hospital on Sunday night might feel like a bit of a vacation!

August visitors

We enjoyed company from Oregon for a week in August! Brice's cousin, Heidi, her husband Norm, and children Simone and Luca came to visit. Also joining was his aunt Joyce, aunt and uncle Carol and Gary, aunt and uncle Marjorie and Lynn, and aunt and uncle Phyllis and Paul. It was a great time, but it went too fast!

Having some muffins after church: Luca, Gabbie, and Simone.

Everyone got together for supper Sunday night.

I thought this was a funny picture of Gabbie!

Monday night Joyce was surprized for her birthday at Pizza Ranch. It was quite a crowd!

Had to wear off some pizza by going to the pool.

We joined the crew for a day at the State Fair, then they went back for a second day.

Heidi and Simone riding the pink tractor!

Gary said "I came all the way across the country to get my political views across". So he had to shake Newt's hand. We knew several of the republican candidates were going to be at the fair; I was looking for funnel cakes and gyros and didn't realize we were 10 feet from the famous Newt.

Brice asked the president "Please sir, can I have some more?" The folks in the Democratic booth enjoyed his humor. He then promised Michelle he would watch his diet and not eat greasy cheeseburgers.

The end of the day. Brice stuck with his yearly tradition and went and had a plate of nachos before we left. Gabbie had ice cream.

After the fair we went to the hotel to say fairwell to the Oregon visitors. Here is Simone, Gabbie, and Luca. I should have just kept my camera on the motion setting the whole week, as it was impossible to get a clear picture of the 3 of them otherwise since they were always on the move!

Cousins Heidi and Brice!

Random picture. Gabbie had just sat on the potty and got off of it on her own, but didn't let me pull her pants up for some reason. I had a rice pack on my neck as it felt stiff, so Gabbie felt she needed to take that off of me and re-warm it in the microwave first.

August has been flying by! My Mom helped me with some salsa canning this week and this weekend's projects included pickled beets and freezing peppers. We also now have our bathroom tile in place and painting done. Last night Gabbie participated in the Kiddie Parade at the Farm Festival, stopped at the petting zoo, and got to ride 1 ride before her behavior had tested my patience to the max and it was time to leave. She has been asleep for nearly 12 hours since we got home last night. Maybe its time for a 'fun free' weekend to get caught up on some rest!

We are of course also still waiting for the baby to decide when its time to make an appearance! I realized we hadn't taken a 'profile' picture in awhile. After having 2 random women approach me at the grocery store last week and say "you look like you are due any day" I have decided those words can speak for themselves. I can not complain as I am pretty comfortable other than an increase in swelling in my hands and feet the past couple of days and just a feeling of general fatigue (along with what I call the 'end of pregnancy lack of patience'...its my excuse for being okay with feeling extremely annoyed everytime someone says "haven't you had that baby yet!?!") I  have a sort of nervous feeling, all the worries of will the baby be okay, how will Gabbie act, how good will hospital food be? :-) I do know I will be happy when I don't have to stand sideways to do dishes anymore!

Lisa's Wedding

Seems like there has been something going on everyday this summer! The big event of July was my sister Lisa's wedding. I'm behind on updating...we turned the computer off before we left for the wedding and didn't turn it back on until today, so thought I'd better get to downloading some photos!!

Lisa and Jon had a beautiful wedding. The day was sunny, the decorations were beautiful, the bride looked like she was cut from a magazine, and everything seemed to run flawlessly (other than a glitch with the flowers...thank goodness even that worked out great!) Here are some pictures:

Rehearsal...Gabbie was more interested in the colorful bouquet!

The reception hall tables

The Bride and Groom at rehearsal dinner at the park.

Gabbie's hair looked great for about 10 minutes...

The Bride and Flowergirls. My other sister Mindy made the flower girl baskets and ring bearer pillows

First dance

Gift opening-I saw a few things that I could have taken home with me!

I took over 200 pictures, unfortunately none are of the actual ceremony since I was in it. My goal was to get a picture of everyone that came to the wedding. After I get the photo book put together we'll have to see if I managed to do that or not.

Okay, hopefully more to post tomorrow. Brice's family was here from Oregon, Texas, and Northeast Iowa last week and this week we are enjoying a visit from his sister, so plenty more pictures to come including a birthday party, swimming, and a trip to the Iowa State Fair. Gee...I wonder why its been so hard to get Gabbie up and going in the morning?! Too much fun!