Aaron Two Months

He is two months old! Aaron weighs 11 lbs 11 oz, has a head circumference of 15.5 cm and he is 23 1/4 inches long. He is a big boy! Unfortunately, he had his first visit to the hospital. A couple of days after we realized he wasn't feeling well, I took his temperature and it was 100.9. In a kiddo this young, and when it's 3 a.m., that means a trip to the ER to check things out. Thankfully, he only had a virus and after a little tylenol and rest he was back to himself again. It was very hard for us to see him so sick and need and IV in the ER. We are so glad it is all over!

Milestones/accomplishments lately: He has found that his hands are perfect for sucking on! He gets better and better each day at putting them in his mouth. He also has started squealing when he is really excited. His head control is getting better all the time.

Favorite things: Getting his diaper changed, ceiling fans, his jungle mobile (especially the monkey) laying on the bed while we talk to him, being carried facing out so he can look at stuff. He continues to be a pretty laid back guy. We sure love him!

Aaron One Month

I can't believe he is already one month old! We were in Grand Junction visiting my parents. when he turned one month old. He did great on his first big car trip. We went out to eat a couple of times and up to the Colorado National Monument. He did fantastic with all of the outings. He is growing fast, he weighs almost 10 pounds now! Surprisingly, he can still wear newborn clothes although they are getting bit tight. He mostly wears 0-3 month clothing.

Milestones/accomplishments at this point: smiling which happened at 3 weeks. I have heard this is early but he is definitely giving us very intentional smiles. He is also starting to respond to us with happy "ahhh" sounds. He also drank from a bottle for the first time. He is such a delight and we thank God for his all the time!

Favorite things: the swing, laying on the bed while we talk to him, ceiling fans and getting his diaper changed.

Newborn Pictures

Here are Aaron's newborn pictures. This was my first try and I am quite happy with how they turned out!

Aaron's birth story

After a couple of false starts, I didn't want to get my hopes up in the early hours on August 8th. These contractions did seem different and they were stronger. It was 2:30am and I got up to use the bathroom and then woke John up. I told him we should start timing the contractions. We timed them for about an hour, they were 6-7 minutes apart. At that point I felt the contractions were strong enough that we should call John's mom Jan who was also our midwife.

I told Jan what was going on and to my surprise she said she would pack up and head over. She lives two hours away and I thought she would want to wait and make sure my contractions were not going to stop again. I started praying that this was the real thing, I would have felt terrible if things had stopped right as she was arriving! I was relieved as two hours passed and the contractions continued and became more intense.

It was around 6am when Jan and my father-in-law Carl arrived. I had already called my parents and they were trying to decide if they should make the 5 1/2 hour trip to our house. My parents decided to go ahead and drive over. With my contractions being 6 minutes apart, they didn't think they would make it for the birth. Shortly after Jan checked me and I was 5cm dilated. Yay! I was glad that things were happening!

Around 11:30 my mom and dad arrived. I was very excited because I really wanted my mom to be at the birth. We knew it would be difficult to work out with her being so far away. What an answer to prayer! I felt very relieved and happy that everyone I had wanted to be at the birth was finally here.

Time kept drifting by. I was actually surprised by how fast the hours were passing. We were all beginning to get a little concerned because my contractions were still around 6 minutes apart. They felt much more intense and I was having to really concentrate to stay relaxed and get through each one. Jan and I decided that she would hold off on checking me again. She didn't want to give me bad news and I didn't want to be disappointed. I was beginning to worry a little about how much worse labor was going to get and how I would get through it.

John rubbing my back. He rubbed my back after nearly every contraction! I couldn't have done it without him.

Jan listening to the baby with a doppler. His little heart sounded good!

Around 1:30pm Jan checked me again. I was eight centimeters! Yay! Contractions were still about six minutes apart and I was still able to nap a little in between the contractions. Soon after I got up to use the bathroom, while I was up my water broke. I kept waiting for the contractions to get closer together and more painful. I was surprised when I started to feel the urge to push.

I told Jan that I wanted to push. Jan, John and my mom started getting every thing ready. I tried to sit up a little against some pillows to push. I quickly realized that this position would not do! My back hurt SO bad! Jan suggested that get on my knees and lean over the bed. I tried it out. Still a bit uncomfortable but much better. I figured this was as good as it was going to get so I decided to go with it.

Wow! Lots of pressure and my back was still hurting. John put pressure on my back and hips while I pushed. My mom held my hands and helped me from sliding right off the bed! This really helped a lot. I pushed for 49 minutes but it only felt like 15 minutes. Before I knew it Jan was telling me to reach down and touch my babies head. Yay! Progress! It only seemed like a couple more pushes and our baby was born! John was able to catch him with his mom's help. John announced it was a boy, but I didn't hear him.

I turned around and scooped up my baby. Wow! What an amazing feeling! I suddenly realized that I still didn't know if we had a son or a daughter. I took a peek and said, "It's a boy! It's Aaron!". John was really excited because we hadn't decided for sure on a name yet, and he has always loved the name Aaron. Little Aaron cried right away and scored a 9 on his one minute and five minute AGARs.

Happy little family!

After we all got settled and Aaron had a chance to nurse it was time for the newborn exam. It was great to have all the grandparents there for the exam. John got to cut the umbilical cord. Jan weighed Aaron and we were all surprised that he was eight pounds! The rest of the exam went well, every thing looked great. We are so blessed to have a healthy son!

Cutting the umbilical cord.

Getting a weight.



Measuring Aaron's head.

Aaron Carl
8 Pounds
20 1/2 Inches
Born on August 8 at 3:44pm

Birthday Boy

Thanks for the prayers! We have a boy. He was born at our home and was 8 lb. - 0 oz. born at 3:44 p.m. 08-08-09. He is 20.5 inches long with a crown circumference of 13.5 inches. He is Aaron Carl Eklund. Aaron is my brother’s middle name. Carl is Lindsay grandfather’s and brother’s middle name, as well as my father’s name. He is in good health and we’re quite settled on keeping him.

Lindsay did fantastic and I can definitely say I have never been more proud of her. She’s resting well and recovering [relatively] comfortably.

We were honored by the presence of our mothers; mine as the midwife and Lindsay’s as an excellent assistant. It was a privilege to share this experience with them. We were also blessed to have our dads here for the newborn exam. It was really special to share this excitement together.

Praise to God for so many blessings!

Oh, and here are pictures...

Fun with henna

My very talented Sister-in-law drew this henna tattoo for me! Beautiful don't you think? Anna drew the design on my tummy free hand. The baby made things difficult for her by kicking and rolling around. Then, my other very talented Sister-in-law Rachael took some pictures.

Ultrasound

Here are the first pictures of our baby. We had the ultrasound last weekend at Birth Matters in Colorado Springs. A local midwife that John's mom knows graciously did the ultrasound for us on a Saturday without charge. We really appreciated the generosity! It was a very warm and friendly environment, what a great experience! John's parents came with us, which was a lot of fun. It was great to huddle together around the ultrasound machine and watch our little one.

We have decided to wait until the baby is born to find out the gender. Although, if we had wanted to find out we certainly could have! We had to look away numerous times because the baby was so willing to share! He or she was not as willing to let us get a good look at his or her face. We were also told that we have a very active baby. The little one is constantly moving, which I have noticed in the last week. After seeing our baby, we are definitely excited to meet the little one. Only 19ish more weeks!

I love this picture. The baby's head is in the lower left hand corner. In the upper right hand corner, you can see little feet!

A wave hello.

Profile shot.

This one is the baby's back. I love the spine and little ribs.