The Most Amazing "1st" Week Of Our Lives!

Most Photogentic and Handsome Baby Award

Whew, well this first week at home with our new bundle of joy has just flown by so fast! I can't believe our little prince is 8 days old already and that we were able to make it through this week without a nervous break down or going to the hospital every day (even though we called twice, but it was the first two nights and we were a little scared and inexperienced (still that) to say the least)! We have been abundantly blessed this week with tons of visitors (family and friends) and they are still coming for the next 3 or 4 weeks so we are loving that! Everyone has been so gracious and has brought or offered to bring us dinner, I don't think our refrigerator can hold anymore food - seriously! Cannon has loved all of his many admirers and has gotten so spoiled, as far as being held, getting kisses, hugs, and snuggles - even if you change his diaper or clothes - he goes completely nuts because he is getting put down for a few minutes! Cannon's Yaya and Poppa have been over practically every night, they just can't get enough of their sweet grandson and I can't blame them - he loves when they come over to kiss, snuggle, and love all over him!

First Sponge Bath

First Doctors Appointment

This week has been a week of many firsts for us. First week without nurses to help us out when we have an issue, first week of no sleep, first week of subconsciously putting our original babies (dogs) second, but I am happy to report that Banquet is super protective over Cannon however Cooper is super jealous, first bath, first week of changing 12 + diapers in one day, first of getting peed and pooped on, first doctors appointment (we had to go three times due to his jaundice), first newborn photo shoot, first of working together for a mutual cause 24/7, first of being a 24/7 milk bank, first of loving something so much that it hurts, first of being so protective over someone that you would do anything to keep them safe no matter what, first of willing to sacrifice anything just to make him happy, first car ride being super cautious and no speeding, first week of laundry for another person, first week of just wanting to lay around, do nothing, and stare at our beautiful creation, first week of waking up and going to sleep so happy because you get to see, snuggle, hug, hold, love, and kiss the sweetest baby and repeat that day after day, first of feeling even closer as spouse than what we've ever felt before, first of realizing how unimportant my pain is compared to the health and happiness of my baby boy, first of getting to see my grandparents, parents, and siblings get the opportunity to have a new role in their lives as great grandparents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles (they are all so excited and wonderful at it too), first of not working non stop (I miss it, believe it or not), first week as mommy and daddy...........and I am sure there are many other first's that I am leaving out but I know there are going to be plenty of more first to continue to write about for the rest of Cannon's life but this is just the firsts of this week.

Well this week has not been easy by any means, I am still recovering from my surgery and 95% I am busy feeding my growing boy and napping whenever I can. Chandler has really stepped up and has been an awesome hubby and daddy but I never had any doubt that would happen. He has been changing diapers, cooking dinner, rocking Cannon while I get some rest, helping me with anything I need, giving baths, folding laundry, cleaning and so much more. I am so very blessed to have such an amazing husband and a wonderful son, Cannon is so lucky to have such a loving daddy - he looks at Chandler with so much love in his eyes and it melts my heart and Chandler looks at Cannon the same way - it's just so sweet. I sure do love my two boys and could not have asked for a better first week but maybe this week Cannon will realize that it's completely fine by us if he wants to sleep throughout the night - wishful thinking I know : )

We want to thank all our family and friends that have come over to visit us, pray for us, call/email us this week, we are so blessed to have you all as a part of our lives! We love you!

Simply Perfection: Cannon's Labor, Delivery, & Final Debute

38 Weeks & 5 days, About To Leave For The Hospital!

About To Get Prepped For L & D!

Let's Get This Show On The Road!!!

I know it has taken me a little while to get on here and blog about the greatest moment of my life - my baby boys birth (I lied it's actually a tie to my wedding day) but nonetheless it is one out of two of the best moments of my life to date. We welcomed our first born child, a son, Cannon Todd Chandler on March 12, 2010 (only 3 days shy of his daddy's birthday) at 7:11 pm he was 8.4 lbs and 20 inches. It was the hardest, longest, most excrutiating event of my life, however at the end of it all I never have felt so accomplished, proud, happy, relieved and completely overfilled with more love, joy, peace, and so many other emotions for a person I have never met before.

Happy Birthday Cannon!

Love At First Sight!

Healthy Baby Boy!

In case some of you are unaware of our l & d experience, I will go ahead and fill you in, to say the least it did not go as planned nor followed my l & d plan whatsoever but in the end all that matter was that my doctor did  what was best to keep me and Cannon healthy. We went in on Thursday night (March 11th) for an induction, mainly because our dr. was going out of town that following Saturday. At 7 pm we checked in, they began prepping me and started me on cervidel, I finally fell asleep at 4:30 am. At 6 am the nurse checked my cervix I was a 2 and started me on fluids and potossin, however she did not put the iv correctly so all of the fluid went into my tissue instead of my veins and I awoke at about 8 am to discover my arm completely swollen and feeling like it weighed a million pounds. At 8 am they re inserted my iv and started everything all over and Dr. Arababi came in and broke my water, at 11 am they came in to check me and I had dilated to a 3 at this point my contractions had started pretty heavy so they gave me a dose of stadol to help relax me, it definately did not ease the pain but it did calm me down. At 2 pm they came back into check me and I had dilated to a 4 and my contractions were even stronger and more painful, so at this point I asked for the epidural. The epidural fully kicked in at 3 pm and I was not able to feel any pain, it was awesome for awhile anyway. At 4 pm they came in again and checked my cervix I was still at a 4 and at this point they realized that potossin was causing Cannon's heart rate to decrease down between 70 - 80 and also they were unsure about exactly how his head was positioned and why it wasn't moving down. They started rotating me right, left, and sitting me up and supplementing oxygen when the potossin was taken off. Also I started having a bad reaction to the epidural, I was shaking almost out of the bed, vomiting basically my own stomach acids as I was not able to eat or drink since the day before, my legs felt like they weighed a million pounds, and they were super tingly and numb - this was the point that I had wished I wouldn't have gotten the epidural. At 6:30 pm Dr. Arababi came in to check me and again I was still at a 4 and she decided that we needed to go ahead and have a C-Section because Cannon did not do well with the potossin and there was something obstructing him from moving down the birthing canal and they weren't sure what it was they felt like this was the best and safest route to go. I had about a half an hour to process this all and after being completely physically and emotionally drained I finally lost it. Luckily my husband and family was there to help calm me down and reassure me that everything would be ok - it was just alot to take in, in such a short amount of time. At 7 pm they wheeled me into the OR and with my husband by my side they began the C-Section and at 7:11 pm I heard the most beautiful cry in all of my life and that was the cry of my precious baby boy! With the first look he stole my heart, our eyes met and it was like he had known me forever, once he heard my voice he stopped crying and just looked into my eyes - I wish I could have freeze framed that moment so I could replay it back over and over again.

Future Red Raider!

After the C-Section they sent me off to recovery, while daddy and Cannon finished up on all of his stuff. At about 8:30 pm I was reunited with my baby boy and have not been seperated ever since. Of course there is so much more stuff that I could go on and on about regarding the after delivery process but none of that matters because the only thing I care about from the l & d process is that it got me to were we are now and that is a baby boy that is - perfect, healthy, loves to eat, hates his diaper and clothes to be changed, hates going to the doctor, loves to be held 24/7, sleeps but unfortunately throughout the day and not as much at night but that's ok, loves to snuggle and has his mommy and daddy wrapped around his tiny fingers. Our cup runneth over with love for our baby boy.........

Let's Get Out Of Here!!!

Leaving In Style......The Nurses Were Sad To See Me Go!

Thank you all so much for your sweet comments, advice, support, help, and love throughout this entire process. We are so blessed to have you all as a part of our lives! We love you all!

Home Sweet Home!!!

38 Weeks & An Official Nester!!!

Well I've decided to get off my feet for a little bit and take a few moments for myself, mainly because A.) my "cankles" are killing me and if I don't sit soon I may just collapse and B.) I still feel like I have so much stuff to do before Cannon's arrival that as I was cleaning the never ending dust caused from the hard wood floor installation (which look amazing btw) I felt my bp begin rising because in my O.C.D mind I just realized that everything may not be exactly perfect if Cannon decides to come this week, which is almost too much for me to handle at this point. So for fear of a total melt down, I decided to blog instead : )

Our new wood floors, my camera was acting up so I didn't get a great pic but now you can see the culprit of our past two week stress, but worth it!!!

Tommorrow is our 38th week Dr.'s appointment and I can not believe how fast time has flown by! I have official become a miserable pregnant woman and I am not too sure how I even have a husband at this point, lol, he is a really patient man and I am a very luck woman! My feet and ankles, have now become cankles which not only are totally unattractive but also painful! My walk has become an even more exaggerated waddle and now my sleep is not only interrupted by uncomfortable positions but also the inability to shut my brain off from all of the million things I have to do, which in pregnancy terms = NESTING! I just have this overwhelming instinctive feeling that I will definately be meeting my prince this week sometime and as excited as I am, I have started stressing that I might go to labor - leaving the house, work, ect. in just "good enough" condition - NOOOOOO, "everything has to be perfect before he gets here, not just good enough" or at least that is what my O.C.D mind has been telling myself! I know I need to not worry about these "little" things, when I have something much bigger on the horizon but it's just so hard for me! Another hard reality for me to swallow is that anyday now I will be an actual MOM, it will no longer just be a dream, thought, or idea it is about to be so real - we are about to see and meet the only thing in this world that is actually something that is a biological part of the two of us, obviously this concept is not new but to sit down and actually think about it and then really grasp it is just so breath taking and amazing! God is so good - I feel so blessed to be given the best gift of all and that's the ablility and opportunity to be able to conceive, carry and have a child that is 100% a part of me and my husband. When I think about why God would deem me worthy of such a special gift, I feel so humbled and loved.

Last week we did our maternity pics, I've only gotten to see a few but I am very excited to see them all! I also can't wait to get Cannon's newborn pics done, they are going to be adorable! Cannon's room is still coming along, however we have been preoccupied for the last two weeks trying to get furniture moved back into place and dust bunnies out of site before Cannon's arrival and we still have lots to do with that - it seems physically unending! Our hospital bags are all packed and we are now just waiting for Cannon to give us a sign that he is officially coming out! Last week I had gained 30 lbs. (not so exciting), 1.5 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced (super exciting), he has also dropped so much in the last week and a half - so with those factors and just the way my body and instincts are feeling I would be really surprised if he did not come early, like possibly this week! I can't wait for my doctor's appointment tommorrow and I hope my next post begins with, "Cannon's Officially Here: Healthy, Happy, and Loves to Sleep ALOT!!!"

Love,
Kristen