A Post About Teeth

I had an orthodontist appointment last week where it was confirmed that I get my braces off on January 5th! Yay!!! I'm really, really excited. I have been in orthodontic care for 3 years now and have had the braces for 2.5 years. It is time to be done with it!

In completely related news, Jude already has his first two teeth! He got his first one a week before Christmas and I felt the second one on Christmas morning. Here is a picture from a couple of days before Christmas where you can definitely see one tooth and I can even see a little of the second tooth about to pop through:

Ok, I'm not sure if you can see it on the blog, but it's really obvious on the picture on my hard drive :) I guess you'll have to take my word for it for now. I'm sure there will be more tooth pictures in the future. Maybe I'll try to get one of us together after the braces come off!

Baby + Christmas = Toys Galore!

Jude's first Christmas went very well. He was spoiled by our families, of course. Knowing that, Ray and I kept our gift buying very light. All Jude got from us was sippy cups and "Where the Sidewalk Ends".

On Christmas Eve, we went to my parents' house and met up with all of my siblings. My family does a name exchange that I insisted Jude be a part of (and requested that his only gift be the name exchange gift). Aunt Liz got Jude's name and still managed to spoil him! He received a musical seahorse, two books, a teether, two cute onesies, and an ornament from Aunt Liz. Of course, that also meant that Jude had to give a gift - he bought Uncle Neil a shop vac. He also got an outfit, ornament, and Toy R Us gift card from Grandma and Grandpa.


On Christmas Day, we had Ray's family over. I really think we need to start a name exchange with Ray's family because I can't even list everything that Jude received from that side of the family. A picture will have to do:


What a lucky little boy! I think Jude would have to say that it was a great first Christmas.

Blizzard Aiden

Thanks to Aunt Leah, Jude was completely prepared for his first blizzard (it is seriously an awesome snowsuit!):



I think we need to work on the snow angel skills! Jude has the laying down part all figured out. Waving the arms and legs? Not so much.

The 17-pound, 12-ounce Baby

Jude had his 4-month doctor appointment last Friday where it was determined that, at 17lb, 12oz, he is at 91% of average for weight. He is now at 69% for height as well - he amazingly grew longer at an even faster rate than growing chunkier! (not sure that sentence even makes sense)

Jude's fourth month of life included a lot of firsts (although I guess his previous three months also contained a lot of firsts).

Jude's first Thanksgiving (picture with Grandpa Pete):


Jude's first snowfall:


...which was soon followed by Jude's first cold. No picture for that one! Jude also spent his fourth month starting to sit and stand with assistance, learning to laugh, meeting his Uncle Tom, and deciding that everything except a bottle belongs in his mouth.

Jude's First Halloween

I've never been a big fan of Halloween - too much blood, gore, demons, etc. I wasn't sure I was even going to do the trick-or-treating thing when I had kids. Jude's first Halloween, however, included dressing up and trick-or-treating! Jude went with his two cousins, Malia and Bennett. It was a fun, family time, and if we have started a tradition, I guess Jude will get to trick-or-treat every year after all!




Month 3
Jude's third month of life found all three of us (Ray, Jude, and me) starting to get used to living together. Jude has continued to be an excellent nighttime sleeper (10.5 to 11.5 hours every night) and a not-so-good napper. It makes it hard to get things done during the day, but I'll take it if it means getting a good nights' sleep.

Jude is also crying a lot less, usually only when he is hungry or tired (the colic is definitely over with - yay!!!). He smiles quite a bit, loves to make bubbles, and is just starting the "drooly" stage. With three months of life under his belt, he is also ready to start grabbing and holding things - bringing them straight to his mouth, of course!

The first three months of a baby's life are often called "the fourth trimester" and I would definitely agree. It was hard, especially the first two months. I have to admit that I am glad we are past that stage and I'm enjoying my son more and more every day!

Jude is a Talker!

Jude is now doing a lot more "talking" and it's so fun to listen to him coo and babble!

A video taken today:

Two Months With Jude

Definitely one of the hardest things about having a newborn is all of the hours spent awake in the middle of the night and the subsequent sleep shortage (for mom). Luckily, this starts to improve rather quickly. I don't think I've had to get up more than once a night since Jude was a month old. Jude turned two months yesterday, and last night was the second night that I did not have to get up AT ALL!!! Last night Jude slept his longest yet - 11.5 hours. Let's hope this continues :)

Jude is still a pretty fussy, high-needs baby, but he is getting better. He is definitely more interested in the world around him, which sometimes keeps him occupied. He is also smiling more, and I finally (sort-of) have a few pictures!




Jude's two-month pediatrician's appointment is on Friday and we'll get to find out exactly how big our cute, chubby baby is.

Oh, yeah, and the cloth diapering is going really well. The first couple of weeks after Jude was born, I was too sleep-deprived and overwhelmed to even think about cloth diapering. I finally got everything washed up when Jude was 3 or 4 weeks old. I tried the prefolds and really didn't like how wet they felt against Jude's skin. I'm a huge fan of the pocket diapers, though, and have been buying those used in the larger sizes as I come across good deals. With how much time I've spend searching for diapers on Ebay, I think I qualify as an addict!

Now to get past the colicky stage...

First Smiles

Jude gave me the honor of witnessing his first smiles yesterday! It was so cute - the smiles looked a bit awkward, but his eyes crinkled up, so I knew it wasn't just gas. :) By the time I thought to get my camera, he was done smiling. I'm sure I'll get a picture soon, though. Until then, here are some recent pictures of the adorable guy:

Asleep in his Sweet Sugar Baby wrap.

Bathtime

In one of the outfits from his Aunt Julie and Great-Aunt Nancy.

The Greats

Jude has been able to visit with two of his three living great-grandparents already.

Great-grandma Esther (whom he would have been named after if he had been a girl):


Great-grandpa Mark:

Jude's Birth Story

Hi. My name is Slormpy.

My due date with Jude was August 20th. My mom always went overdue with her babies, so I was most definitely not expecting to go early. I thought I'd be lucky to go into labor close to my due date and not go overdue like my mom.

At about 2am on Wednesday, August 4th, I woke up with the feeling that I was peeing in bed. I rushed to the toilet, leaking what I thought was pee the whole way. It was an abrupt way to wake up, and I just sat on the toilet trying to process how my bladder could have completely given up on me like that. It took me a couple of minutes to realize that maybe I hadn't peed myself, maybe my water had broken!

I woke Ray up and we called the midwife. She advised that I try to go back to bed and get some sleep. I went back to bed, but could not sleep. I kept thinking about all of the things I had still wanted to accomplish before baby arrived. I did rest and doze, though.

Ray and I got up at our normal time and decided that Ray should work half of the day on Wednesday since contractions still hadn't started. After Ray left for work, I called my mom to let her know that my water had broken. She didn't believe me at first, but once I convinced her she said she would come over so I could send her on some errands I had had planned for the day.

I knew I should try to lay down and get some sleep, but felt like I had a million things to do yet. I sent my mom out for groceries and managed to lay down for a bit before Ray came home for lunch. By mid-afternoon, contractions had started, mostly in my back. I would continue to have back labor for the duration of the time I was in labor.

Ray made an ice pack belt for my back that I used early in labor.

Ray timed contractions and rubbed my back. By about 8 or 9pm, contractions had become consistent and 5 minutes apart. It was time for the midwives.

Jill was on-call, so she was the first to come. I also had my mom come at that time. After this, things kind of run together for me. I was in a lot of pain, mostly my back. Ray and my mom did A LOT of rubbing. I actually had bruises the next day.

At some point, Jill checked me and I was 5 cm dilated. I remember feeling a bit discouraged since the back pain was so overwhelming already. In the early hours of the morning, Jill checked again and I was 7-8 cm dilated. Also somewhere in that time, the other midwife, Marijke, and a midwife-in-training showed up.

I think it was at about 8am on Thursday that Jill checked me again and said that I could start pushing whenever I felt like it. I wasn't feeling the urge to push (which I guess is pretty common in first time moms), but started pushing with contractions anyway. It felt good to feel like I was finally doing something.

I had the textbook "30 minutes to 3 hours" timeframe in my head for pushing. I was hoping it would take me closer to the "30 minutes" end of that, but I ended up pushing for 4 hours! The midwives were amazing, telling me that I was making progress with each push and giving me ideas of positions to try pushing in.

Things started getting frustrating for everyone by late morning on Thursday. I had been pushing for what seemed like forever, I was in a lot of pain, and everyone was exhausted. My mom started talking about going to the hospital and the midwives offered to transfer me. I said I wanted to stay at home and keep going. By this time, I could feel the pressure of the baby's head and the thought of trying to walk to a car and into a hospital sounded worse than continuing to push!

At the very end, I was pushing by squatting down against Ray while he sat behind me on the couch. We finally got to the point where the midwives told me that my baby would come out at the next contraction. My last few contractions had been spreading out in time, and that last one took 8 minutes to show up. My uterus was giving up on me. Finally the last contraction came, and baby Jude finally made his appearance! It was 12:01pm on Thursday, August 5th.

The final pushes.

Jude was a little slow to start crying, so the midwives rubbed him and watched his vitals and even gave him a little oxygen until he finally let out a good wail. It seemed like forever at the time, but my mom got it on video and it was actually only about a minute.

The pain relief was immediate as soon as Jude came out. I do remember that!

We thought the hard part was finally behind us. It soon became apparent, though, that my uterus was indeed finished with contractions and had no intention of pushing my placenta out. The midwives had one hour to get it out before they were required to get me to a hospital. They gave me a dose of pitocin. Nothing. They gave me some other medication and some herbs. Still nothing. A second dose of pitocin. I finally got a contraction and was able to get the placenta out. It was right at the one hour mark.

I still wasn't out of the woods, though. My uterus hemorrhaged. It would not stop bleeding. The midwives started giving me fluids and talking about hospitals again. The decision was soon reached that the bleeding was not going to stop on its own. An ambulance ride was in order.

Jude and I right before the ambulance came.

Ray, baby Jude, and I all got our first ambulance ride on the same day. I wondered what the neighbors must be thinking. When we got to the hospital, I was quickly routed through the emergency room and into surgery. My uterus was scraped and I was recovering in a hospital room by 6pm. Ray and Jude stayed the night with me as visitors. I thought it was pretty funny for a 6-hour-old baby to be a visitor in a hospital :)

I was released the next morning and home by 10am. We were happy to be out of the hospital and back home so quickly. It was time to begin life as a family of three!

Welcome Jude William!

Jude William Froehlich was born at home on August 5th at 12:01 pm. I know I have to post his birth story, but I'm still adjusting to motherhood. A few quick pictures will have to do for now.

Vicious Animals

While vacuuming this morning, I came across this poor, mutilated veterinarian:

It took awhile, but I found his missing appendage behind the television:

These two have declared their innocence, but I'm not sure I believe them:

Busy Month

You'd think, with not working any more, that I would have more time to update this blog!

Ray and I celebrated our 3-year wedding anniversary on July 1st. Ray had to work, but after work we went up to High Cliff to the spot where Ray "officially" proposed.

Over the 4th of July weekend, we went with my family to do some boating and stayed at a cabin in Beaver Dam.

The week following the 4th, Ray had vacation and worked on the baby's room. I'll do a post with pictures on that soon!

Then, we had our baby shower with Ray's family.

Our delicious cakes, made by Ray's aunt Nancy.

Berd and Malia - don't you love her smile?

Little Prince Bennett - already a month old!

And now our baby is due in exactly one month - yikes! My body is definitely ready (I get new aches every day), but I'm not sure my mind has been wrapped around this whole parenthood thing!

Barefoot and Pregnant

I now completely understand where the phrase "barefoot and pregnant" came from. Between the recent heat and being pregnant, all of my shoes feel tight and I'd rather be barefoot!

My 32 week picture:


Also, I don't think I've mentioned that I have a time frame for getting braces off! Dr. Olsen says my teeth will be ready at about the same time as the baby (August). Since lying on my back in a dentist chair for 2+ hours at nine months pregnant is not really an option, I will be getting the braces off once I'm ready after the baby comes (I'm thinking late September or sometime in October). I can't believe that phase of my life is almost over, and with so much less pain and money than originally thought!

We worked on painting the baby's room this past weekend. It's almost complete, just some cutting and another coat on the closet to go. I can't wait to post before and after pictures of that room - its' going to be gorgeous!

30 Weeks!

Only 10 weeks of pregnancy to go (give or take a couple of weeks). I can't believe I'm 75% there! Definitely feeling pretty large these days:

Sleeping is getting less comfortable, but so far I'm getting a good amount of sleep each night. My lower back is also starting to ache, mostly in the evenings. Nothing too major. Overall, I'd say that pregnancy has been very good to me. Thanks, little one!

I can definitely tell that Norman Jr. is getting bigger and stronger in there! I'm feeling stronger kicks, and I can feel body parts pushing against me. Norman Jr. also seems to not enjoy getting squished AT ALL. There have been a few nights where Ray is resting his arm across my stomach and Norman Jr. kicks Ray until he moves his arm. Lol! Stinker!

Sandy

How could I forget about the newest member of the Jochman family? My parents bought a pony!!! I think my dad went a little overboard after Silky died - chickens, a steer, AND a pony?!? Lol! Now he has plenty of farm critters to feed :)

Anyway, here she is:


She came with the name Cindy, but no one in the family cared for that, so Dad renamed her Sandy.

We all think she's going to be a great pony for our baby to learn to ride on!

My First Nephew!

Steve and Keri had their baby... and it's a boy! He's quite the cutie and he was very alert when we went up to see him today.

First, here's a picture of Keri and I about a week ago. I told her it might be the last chance for us to finally get a picture of our pregnant bellies together!


The picture Steve sent out this morning:



Bennett with his uncle Ray:




Bennett with his aunt Becky:



So, is Bennett going to have a boy cousin or a girl cousin his same age to play with???

San Francisco Trip (aka The Babymoon)

Did anyone else feel like May just flew by? Our entire month of May was sooo busy! June is looking a lot less busy for us, and I'll be done working at the end of this month! Yay!

Anyway, I'm overdue for a quick post about our trip to San Francisco at the beginning of May. I've been having quite a bit of tailbone pain lately, so the flight was not very fun. The rest of the trip, though, was great!

We spent a full day in the downtown San Francisco area, doing the tourist thing. I put on 26,000 steps (about 10 miles) that day!


We had dinner that night was some friends who recently moved out to California.


We then went to see the Winchester Mystery House, which was not nearly as furnished as I thought it would be, but still soooo interesting.

On day 3, it was time to see the Redwoods. Just amazing. You really do need to see these trees in person to fully appreciate how huge they are.

On our way back to San Francisco, we stopped at California's Old Faithful geyser. I'm guessing it's not much compared to the Yellowstone Old Faithful, but for two people who had never seen a geyser, it was pretty cool!

So, that's the Cliff Notes version of our trip to San Francisco! We almost didn't go on this trip, since there wasn't much time between our trip to North Carolina and the beginning of my third trimester of pregnancy (when travel is supposed to get more uncomfortable). I am really glad we decided to go and really glad that we didn't go any later in the pregnancy than we did!