Daniel Jackson Wenzler

Announcing the arrival of:

Daniel Jackson Wenzler

Born Sunday, October 23rd, 2011 at 11:58pm via c-section

He weighed 7 pounds and 15 ounces and was 20 inches long

His APGAR scores were 9 (first minute) and 9 (five minute)

The (sorta) quickie version of his birth story:

I had hoped for a VBAC, but if it didn't happen, we were scheduled for a c-section first thing in the morning on Tuesday, October 25th. I spent the afternoon on Sunday running some errands. Mostly, I was looking for Halloween costumes for the kids. It was the last thing on my list of things that I wanted to take care of before Daniel's arrival. That evening, my mom and step-dad arrived in anticipation of the scheduled c-section on Tuesday. Throughout the day on Sunday, I experienced some inconsistent contractions and moderate bleeding and by the time we were done with dinner, I was concerned enough to call. The OB on-call told me to come on in to Labor and Delivery to get checked out. So, we put Etta to bed and left her with Bill while Keith and Mom and I headed up to the hospital. Not long after we arrived, Dr. Rupe came in and checked me and I was still bleeding, but was not having any cervical changes (which is what SHOULD cause the bleeding late in pregnancy). So, they gave me an hour to see if I'd go into labor, but told me to prepare for a c-section. The bleeding without cervical change was cause for concern for a couple reasons. One, it could be coming from an internal rupture of my old c-section scar. And two, it could mean that his placenta wasn't holding up anymore. (Neither of which turned out to be the cause of the bleeding) Before I knew it, the hour was up and they were having Keith get dressed in scrubs and they were prepping me for a c-section.

Than, at two minutes before midnight, Daniel was screaming! He screamed the whole time he was in the OR. It was a great sound! Then, he was wheeled to the nursery with Keith following behind. A little while later, I was all closed up and back in my room waiting for them to bring my baby to me. The experience of having a baby and then having him stay in your room with you after they are born seemed so foreign (and so wonderful) to me when compared to the traumatic experience of Etta being shipped off to Vanderbilt's NICU after she was born. The nurses kept wanting to take him to the nursery so I could get some rest, but I had to politely explain to them that there was no way in Hell that he wasn't staying with me. lol. 

We are smitten!

My Due Date (October 14, 2011)

We ALLLLLL watched as my due date came and went. I don't think my belly could get any bigger. I was stretched to the MAX! I was getting constant texts messages and phone calls from friends and family who were anxious to hear of any news in the "signs of labor" department. But there weren't any signs to report. None!

At 40 weeks (my due date), I took what I had hoped would be my last belly shot for my progression photo.

Etta tried getting in on the fun too. :)

The week continued and on the following Friday at 41 weeks, I took another photo.

Also on that Friday we had an ultrasound and an appointment with my OB. As you most of you know, I was hoping for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). There are lots of rules involved when trying for a VBAC, and one of them is that they would not induce labor with pitocin. So, we had to wait for my body to go into labor. At that appointment, we agreed together that if I had not gone into labor by the following Tuesday (41weeks 4days), we would have a scheduled c-section. That gave me four days.

The nice thing about going past my due date was that we were able to attend Buddy Walk (I never dreamed we'd make it this year)!

Baby Update 32+ Weeks!

It's hard to believe that little Daniel is due to arrive in less than 8 weeks! We're busy around here preparing for his arrival. I bought Etta a toddler bed at a consignment sale a few weeks ago and we've moved her out of her converted crib into the toddler bed. The crib has been turned back into a crib and moved into our room where Daniel will sleep.

I still have some work to do decorating and clearing out my dresser (that I never use) so we can load it up with clothes and diapers and stuff for Daniel. Speaking of clothes and diapers, I have a TON of baby laundry to do! I've decided to give cloth diapering try this time around and you have to wash/dry the diapers like 10 times to prep them before their first use (to make them fluffy and absorbent). I've got a pretty decent stash of diapers going, but because some of them are sized (small, medium, large as opposed to one-sized diapers that "grow" with your baby), I still need a few more. After I get them all washed and ready for use, I may try out the larger ones on Etta... anyway, here's my stash so far (they are mostly BumGenius brand, but I've got a few FuzziBunz coming in the mail and I plan to get one or two of a few other brands to give them a try):

We've received some really sweet gifts and I wanted to share with you some of the personalized gifts we've received (well, I bought the puppy dog lovey).

(obviously, these three are Keith's favorite)

This sweet knitted blanket came from my sister Deanne's friend Clarissa. She also sent us a pink/brown/creame knit blanket/hat set when I was pregnant with Etta (and she used it a bunch! You might have seen them in pics of her when she was bittier)

I layed it out so you could see the pattern better.

So, yeah, I'm a little more than 32 weeks now, here's a belly shot for you:

At each OB visit (I'm going bi-weekly right now), they do a bunch of stuff including a fundal height measurement. This is where the OB takes a tape measure and measures (in centimeters) from the pubic bone to the top of the uterus. The number of cm SHOULD correspond with how many weeks pregnant you are. So far, I've been measuring right on with this pregnancy. With Etta I was always about 3 weeks behind (remember, she's a tiny little thing!) AND I delivered her early (37weeks 5 days, supposed to go to 40 weeks). SO at my 37 week appointment, the week Etta was born, I only measured 34 weeks. I'm already almost as big as I was at my biggest with Etta! A little nervous about how much bigger this belly is gonna get. ;)

Daniel is a pretty active little guy. He's very wiggly and gets the hiccups frequently. For fun, I caught some wiggly belly action on video for you too! He mostly hangs out the right side, so watch the right for the most action...

T&A Recovery- Day 11 RECOVERED! (mostly)

Whoo Hoo! Friday was a pretty good day for Etta and today was a GREAT day! She's completely off meds (no loritab, no tylenol) and she's eating (pretty well) and she's drinking and she's fighting her naps and she's in an overall great mood! So so so so relieved to have that surgery and the difficult recovery behind us! SO RELIEVED!

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I'm 30 weeks pregnant now!


30 week comparison between Etta and Daniel (crazy how much differently I'm carrying):

Weekend Roundup

Thursday was my dad AND my mother-in-law's birthday and Friday was Keith's birthday!

My dad spent his birthday doing this: 

Yeah, he got to tear up the track at Daytona. I got to speak with him on Sunday and he excitedly told me about his experience and how he wants to do it again on a different track. He's an adrenaline junkie now, apparently. ;) I'm glad you found such a fun way to celebrate your birthday, Dad!

So, Friday was Keith's birthday AND it was Etta's 3-year-old well check with her pediatrician. The visit with the pediatrician went well. Etta weighs 24lbs and is 32 inches tall. The most exciting/noteworthy thing about the appointment was that the Dr had the report back from Vanderbilt's Diagnostic Imaging. We went up there Wednesday to have Etta's neck x-rayed as part of her pre-op work-up. It was also just time to do that with her. At the age of three, children with Down syndrome are checked for atlanto-axial instability (AAI). You can read more about that by clicking here, but basically, "it's an increased flexibility between the first and second bones of the neck and since the vertebrae surround and protect the spinal cord, instability of the joint could place the spinal cord at risk for injury." Her report showed NO SIGNS of AAI! YAY! It's something that will need to be checked again in the future, but for now, we can breathe a sigh of relief instead of holding our breath every time our little acrobat does a somersault! Also at her appointment, they drew blood (poor baby) to check her thyroid (came back normal) and her CBC (just keeping an eye on those white blood cells, also came back normal).

After her appointment, we met Keith for birthday lunch at Calypso. No celebrity sightings this time, but we had a yummy lunch! That afternoon, Keith came home early and Etta and I gave him his cards and a gift and we sang "Happy Birthday" with a chocolate Gigi's Cupcake. Etta got to have a special princess cupcake, which she ATE UP!

After cupcakes, I went up to Franklin for the big Encores and More Children's Consignment Pre-Sale! This sale happens twice a year and it's one of the biggest children's consignment sales in the area. I've been a couple of times, but this was the first year I have ever been a consignor. It was a lot of work tagging my items for the sale and taking it all up there the week before, but it will be so worth it when that check arrives in the mail in a few weeks, plus it meant that I got to shop early, before the general public (hope I sold enough stuff to cover the cost of the stuff I bought. lol.). So, the sale started at 5:00 and I didn't leave there until 9:00! I got Etta much of her winter wardrobe (hope our little mini doesn't hit a growth spurt!). I also snagged a cute wooden play kitchen (for $25! There was another one just like it and they wanted $50), Barbie car (with a barbie), another magnadoodle, a couple of hair bows, a step stool, and a couple of puzzles. It was also fun to watch a few of the items I had put into the sale walk out the door with their new owners! Hope I don't have much to pick up on Sunday.

tagging my stuff

some of the stuff I put in the sale

my golden ticket

my cart (about half-way through)

Friday wore me out and Saturday morning I was surprised to sleep in until nearly 11:00! Once I woke up, it occurred to me that I had not heard Etta playing out in the living room and that Keith must have taken her to the grocery store or maybe even over to the public pool. It turns out that he took her an hour away to the Piney River to play on the rocky beach by the water. From what I hear (and saw) they had a great time... too bad I wasn't invited (but still grateful for the rest).

After Keith and Etta got home and I got her fed and down for a nap, I ran out to take care of a few errands. Later, I spent the evening putting together little gifts for the next day's baby shower hostesses AND I baked/ decorated a cake for the next day's birthday party. I finally got to bed around 1:00.

Sunday was a big day! We got up that morning and went up to Keith's parents' house in Nashville to celebrate his and his mom's birthdays. We had a nice visit and a yummy lunch. Etta ate REALLY well at lunch. She especially loved her daddy's homemade fries!

We left there around 12:30 and Keith dropped me off at our other car in Franklin (that we had left on the way up) and he took E home for a nap while I went over to a little baby shower for me and my friend Amy. Remember when Amy and I threw a shower for our friends Suzy and Emily? Well, yesterday Emily and Suzy (and another friend, Jennifer) threw US a shower! :) It was a great shower and I love my Ds Momma friends! (Thanks again, ladies!)

Tiff- 28 weeks pregnant, Amy- 36 weeks pregnant

cutie John Andrew

The blanket I gave Amy. Made by my friend, Shalissa Rumley- http://roxiepoxie.com/

The diaper bag Amy gave me. You can't tell from this angle, but it's embroidered with "Daniel".

(how am I always the whitest person in a group!! Casper's got nothin' on me!) 

Also, a quick addition to say that today was Etta's last day of therapy at High Hopes (following her surgery/recovery, she will begin to receive therapy when she starts school on August 12th). We were especially sad to say goodbye to her occupational therapist, Mrs. Shelby. I know we'll keep in touch, but she's been seeing Etta twice a week (more recently once a week) for nearly two years and this pregnant lady got teary-eyed when we hugged goodbye. (and somehow I didn't get a picture! GAH!!)