Baby Augustus Charles Rickenbach

was born on March 13th at 2:29 AM weighing in at six pounds and five ounces. He is simply perfect! He came out with a full head of dark hair. Today, he is three weeks and one day old, and yes, I am just now getting around to blogging! He sleeps basically all day and likes to wake up and look around from 9 to 11, without fail! Once he goes back to sleep , he stays asleep until 3 or 4.Good baby!

I have been in so much pain the last week I have mostly been confined to my recliner. I have not been able to even nurse Augustus side-lying because of some sort of pain in my back on the right side. I have done various tests and am on many pain meds. I have an MRI on Thursday and will hopefully recieve back injections after that. I am wearing tired of being so useless and in pain. I hope to start functioning again soon! In the meantime, I am looking into maid services, kind neighbors and church has been delivering meals, and Dave, God bless his heart, has been attempting to take on my duties, full time work, and has dealt with Matthew especially, more than he ever has before combined.

Surprise, Augustus needs to eat~ hopefully more to come soon!

Surprise, Surprise... No really SURPRISE!

Yesterday, Sunday, was 37 weeks... the milestone that marks a full-term baby. Sprout's last ultrasound showed him as an estimated 5.5 pounds with a full head of hair! I was invited to a ladies luncheon at a neighbor's house, Jen, one of few friends I have here in CT (been difficult to get out with the little one(s)! ) I went to a cookie swap back in December at her house and there were three other ladies there that I was able to meet and liked pretty well. I haven't seen those ladies since December other than an occasional wave outside. Well, I walked up to her house and I was running about 10 minutes late (busy putting Matthew down for his nap) and when she answered the door I walked in and there were 10 ladies there who all yelled "Surprise!" And of course, I was surprised, because I had no idea why they were yelling surprise. I looked around and saw baby boy decorations and soon figured it out as my eyes decided to maybe mist up a little! See, here I am in a place I can't stand in a neighborhood I thought who all ignored me, with a little boy who is my sole entertainer and having another on the way, and really, I learned today to eat my words. My neighborhood ladies showed up for a shower where half of them I have never even met. Yet, they planned this for three weeks and everyone brought me a gift, and wow... humbled I have been. It was probably the nicest thing I can ever remember someone doing for me, ESPECIALLY not knowing her for very long and not knowing half of my attendees ever. I really couldn't believe it. So I definitely learned the names with the faces, which I can never do, and I have addresses and contact information, and I will be making an effort once boy two arrives!!!

My party was a lot of fun. We played about four baby games and competed for prizes. There was a baby word scramble, ABC fill in the blank, candy bar name game, guess the belly circumference, don't say the word 'baby' or you lose your clothespin. We had great food that everyone brought: sandwiches, meat and cheese trays, veggie trays, fruit, cute little face looking pudding pastries, muffins, a pile of colorful cupcakes. One lady's husband made me a bottle lollipop bouquet! I guess Jen has been trying to ask me what I need for baby and I never gave her any definitive answers (how would I even figure she wanted to get me anything, let alone the neighborhood!) So I never had an answer. I told her we have all the clothes we need so I figure we are set! So the gifts were board books, diapers, and gift cards. Wonderful!

Not much more to report at this time. I'm feeling ready to have this baby and I think he's getting ready also! I can't top a post when I end with saying I think, when all hope seemed gone, I made ten friends today.

14 mos and 34 weeks!

Matthew is 14 mos and 4 days and Sprout in womb is 34 weeks and 3 days. On Monday, Sprout's heartbeat was 134. My fundal height measured at 31 weeks. The doctor is slightly concerned about the baby's growth so another ultrasound has been scheduled for next week. Tons of movement still. My anesthesiologist consult is on the 14th. Hopefully Yale Hospital has located my hard copy X-rays, as they say they will not do an epidural without these X-rays. The clock is ticking people!

Today I went to the chiropractor for the first time in over a year (or two.) And I have come to the conclusion that it is a worthwhile expense in order for me to function. I feel a lot better already and I am excited for the prospect of having chiro once a week alternating with massage the other week. I think one visit a week would be good maintenance as well as somewhat affordable. I know it's worthwhile when I have to get my walker out and even my (cheap) husband says, "You better do something about this so you can function!" Haha. Well I'm glad he's finally seeing this. :)

This week I am attempting to take it easy and drink more water. Near the end of the week we will work harder at cleaning up the house because we are having the Pastor's family over for Sunday dinner. They seem to have people at their house all the time and we feel, as midwesterners, that the congregation should be the ones feeding the pastor, so we are excited for our Sunday company! We are going to grill (30 degrees or not!) and prepare a spread of burgers with all the toppings, grilled lemon pepper asparagus, fresh fruit salad, potato salad, and cheesecake. I'm quite excited!

Having a D-link camera to watch my baby napping is one of the best technological inventions ever! I can watch his cute little butt stick up in the air and I can see when he wakes up and stands in the crib quietly waiting for me to come rescue him for playtime. He's been a sweet baby today actually taking his nap!

Since he is still napping, I am cutting this short to get a few more things done. Until next time...

Our walking little Bean! He is so cute to watch grow up. Just when you think they can't get any cuter, something new happens that makes your heart melt all over again. I'm so very excited every day to watch Matthew grow, while at the same time, knowing that very soon we will be able to continue the growth in another new little man coming our way. It has been such a blessing to watch Matthew go from a baby to a toddler, in what seems like just a very short time, all the while knowing we get to repeat the blessings starting in March.

I had a doctor's appointment on January 3rd that went well, as usual. I say as usual, because to me it is still very unusual to have such a 'boring' and 'on track' pregnancy. I am very happy for a healthy child but I kind of miss going to appointments twice a week! Also, I have very few ultrasounds and it was fun to watch Matthew develop inside of me, as I cannot do with Sprout. On January 3rd I was 29 weeks and 1 day and I was measuring 26 weeks fundal height. This is up from my last appointment, where I measured 21 weeks and was actually 25 weeks along, so the doctor's are not yet having reason to be concerned about size. Sprout's heartbeat was 146 and trust me, I'm definitely gaining the weight. :) Other than that, I had a rhogam shot and we were out the door. Next appointment is in three weeks.

My mom will be coming out this way, as she did last time, for approximately three weeks. She will be buying her ticket close to my due date and I have bittersweet feelings about her making or not making the birth. Since she was there from start to finish with Matthew, I really want her to be on time and be there helping and being able to experience it again. On the flipside, before I knew it might be possible, I also have wanted to go through this experience just with my husband so we can share the intimate moment alone. Now that it might be possible, I'm scared it will work out that way and I will forever be saddened that my mom wasn't there to experience, to help, to comfort, and to be the power nurse that she is and make sure that no one does anything stupid while I cannot be in control! So I guess if she buys her ticket when she does, God will intervene in either situation and whatever happens is meant to be. I know my husband is totally freaked out about having to go at it alone. He volunteered to stay home with Matthew. (YEAH...RIGHT!!!!) We do have a few kind ladies that have offered sun or moon to watch Matthew when the big moment arrives. This is comforting to know, as I will definitely not have to be alone.

I have had braxton hicks contractions for weeks now. Nothing painful, nothing worrisome, just is the way it is. I know I am blessed with my life, my situation, and this pregnancy thus far. I am excited for this little guy to meet our world and I am excited to also no longer be pregnant! I have been pregnant, breastfeeding, and pregnant for the past 22 months. I'm ready to have my body back thank you! However, I know it will be a long haul until that point is reached, as Sprout will also be a nursing baby for some time to come! I will just have to be thankful for attempting to get my shape back, no more morning sickness, the comfort to lay on my tummy, and saying goodbye to heartburn! You don't realize what it is quite like until you go through two (or more) pregnancies this close together.

Oh, and, love love love the glider/rocker. Thank you mom! I can actually spend some time with Matthew putting him down and waking him up now that I have a nice comfy place to sit in the nursery. It is almost unfair to Matthew, as Sprout will get a lot more use/rocking/mommy time out of the deal. But I'm happy to have it!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve we had a sick little boy to take care of. We went for a drive and ended up cleaning out a carseat full of baby stomach contents, to put it nicely. Then we gave the Bean some tylenol to cure his fever and put him down for a nap. He was feeling better by Christmas morning and had a blast digging around through wrapping paper and gifts. He especially liked finding hershey mint kisses on the floor and we quickly realized while the candy is out, no gifts would be opened!

We received a glider/rocker/ottoman from Grammy and quickly put that to good use. Matthew even let me rock him to sleep (rare!) now that there is a rocker in his room. Last night, he cried for longer than usual so I went in and picked him up and rocked him again and he fell asleep instantly. Matthew enjoys playing with his elephant toy that shoots balls out of the trunk and his dump truck that makes back up sounds and releases cars from the dump truck with a push of a button.

Daddy received a Dlink camera for christmas which we installed above the crib and can now spy on what boy does before he falls asleep. The camera has been great! It's even greater with mommy's new phone from which I can actually view the camera from anyhwere :)

Last night I was reading a blog about a woman who gave birth 20 days after me, via C-section, to an IUGR baby. It has been interesting to see the differences and similarities between our pregnancies, sons, and lives.

Sprout is happy to be close to coming out. I can sure tell he wished he was here for Christmas, as his movements only get stronger and for the first time, dare I say, even painful! Who knew!? I am hungry all the time, heartburn all the time, have to pee all the time, and very steadily progressing to uncomfortable all the time, but happy just the same!

Merry Christmas and we wish you all the great blessings that come with the gift of Christ for this holiday season!

Birthday, Christmas, Ultrasounds OH MY!

I know I know, I'm awful at keeping up. So we will summarize the last big episodes in the Rickenbach life. First, the picture is my Sprout belly at 27 weeks.

Matthew turned 1 years old on December 4th. He opened gifts like he's an experienced pro, ate the head off his teady bear cake like it was the most delicious drugging thing in the world, and played nicely all day. He's getting so big! He can take up to 5 or 6 steps at a time now before crashing down on his butt. He scoots around the house with basically any object he can find to slide along the floor. He is a smiley rambunctious little bundle of joy!

On December 11th I flew to Baltimore to watch the Colts play the Ravens with my Uncle. He had nosebleed tickets for us, which upgraded to field goal line tickets, and finally to...dun dun dahhh! A luxury suite!!! Yes, the kind you only get to sit in if you're invited! You cannot purchase these tickets. They are company owned suites where the bosses pay hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars for. Then, they invite their friends. Fortunately for me, my Uncle knows those rich people. :) So we had all you can eat crab cakes, chicken tenders, pizza, shrimp, cheesecake, drinks, drinks, and more drinks! I had Nantucket lemonade, Sprite, and Keurig hot chocolates and decaf coffees. They have two large windows overlooking the field and seating inside, as well as a balcony that goes outside with rows of office-like chairs pulled up to tables. I sat outside the entire game and enjoyed the view of watching my Colts, once again, get slaughtered. After the losing game, our caterer, who is not a Colts fan, was telling us about her cleaning experience for the Colts' suite. They gave her an official sideline gear Colts cap, which I am now the very proud owner of! She doesn't care for the Colts and instead of tossing it to one of her kids with lack of interest, she gave it to me, their biggest fan. :) Yes, I am a nerd an I have a crappy team but I tell you what! This was one of the best days of my life :)

We had an ultrasound on Friday the 9th to make sure Sprout was growing as he should. Great news! He is he right size for gestation, in fact, maybe even bigger than most at this stage. It appears we will have a David and Goliath situation! Although I am thrilled for the sake of the baby, I am not looking forward to birthing Goliath AFTER David! I better get drugs, that's all I'm saying...

Yesterday I made about 10 dozen cookies...sugar cookies (frosted and decorated and everything!), date fills, swedish butters, and peanut butter bars (which are amazingly good! I have the recipe if you want it!) The day before I canned 14 jars of spicy dill beans, which are also amazing (Thanks Mom!) Dave gave me an early Christmas present...which was a huge canning pot with all the utinsels, so finally, it was actually managable to do! I hated burning my hands trying to get the jars out before! Today I will take three dozen of my finest cookies and go to a neighbor cookie swap. I've never been to one before so it should be fun. I will trade my cookies with someone else's. The best part is the social interaction with ladies in my neighborhood and the fact that Dave will be home watching Squiggles so I don't have to worry about keeping him entertained!

Nursery needs: Glider and ottoman thing?, a second crib (not until June or so...), possibly a jogging double stroller. We currently have more more than enough clothes for Sprout. As Bean grows, we may need more, but for now we are pretty set with clothes. In fact, thanks to Becca and Jourdan, I have to go empty Wal Mart of their baby hangers! GEESH!! 48 pound box of boy clothes came yesterday!!!!! So Much Fun! I have a lot of work ahead of me! Dave seems to think we need to sell the truck because it is expensive to hold onto and we don't use it a lot. However, we also think when we put two car seats in the back of our Jetta, none of us will be comfortable on any length of ride because the car seats force our seats to be moved all the way up. So we have a vehicle dilemma we are currently attempting a solution for. Dave would like to trade the truck for a van but we know we will lose a lot of money doing this, as dealers try to sucker you and I'm sure they won't take a flat trade (which we'd still lose on) but instead will insist we also pony up some cash for a trade like that. I love the truck but Dave's freaking out about future job outlook, getting out of the navy next March, and our upcoming expenses (Family vacation home to SD for a family reunion in July, wedding in Hawaii in October, selling our RV, paying for (getting rid of) our timeshare.) So, my nursery will have to take its turn, but I'm definitely on the market for a glider... I don't know how I've made it this far without one upstairs!!

We will be celebrating Jesus this Christmas in our little home with just the three (and a half) of us. It will be good though, maybe a bit lonely, but that's what Skype is for! Matthew has a million packages to open and so his first functional Christmas should be pretty entertaining!

God bless you all my dear friends and family.

27 on the 27th!

'Twas the night before my husband's birthday,
When all through the house,
Not a noise is peeping,
Not even Bean mouse.

The rice chicken soup is simmering,
On the stove with care,
In hopes that soon the sweet aroma,
Will fill the night air.

With I in my sweatpants,
And baby not in my lap,
If I didn't have so much to do
I would take a nap!

******************************************

Oh, I love the Christmas season! My birthday is perfectly placed just days before December so I can fully bring in the holidays. And when I say holidays, I don't mean in place of Christmas! I mean, Christmas, Dave's birthday and Matthew's birthday. But first, I will tell you about my birthday, on November 27th, 2011, when I turned 27.

So the morning began with my husband making a special trip to starbucks to get me a venti half calf extra whip salted caramel mocha latte. This my friends, is amazement in a cup! Then, he made me homemade waffles with homemade berry syrup and Uncle Charlie made the bacon. Then Dave practically forced me to open my gifts because he's like a kid on Christmas. :)  After breakfast, I left Dave with the baby and the mess and Uncle and I went to look around the NEX for any good shopping deals. After seven pairs of tried on boots, I decided yet again, to wait. I love love love Bearpaw but they did not have my size 9. :(

In the afternoon we sat around and watched some football games, (which is always a good thing on NFL Sunday!) Dave brought me home a Dairy Queen icecream cake, decorated in gold. We had a piece and it was awesome. And lucky for me, my birthday is the last day of the season they are open! Then, we headed to the bowling alley at about 4:30. Now, this is where things were a little disappointing. I had invited a friend, (few and far between out here in the Northeastern part of the globe) and at the last minute she bailed on me. I'd like to say it didn't matter, but it truly was a let down and I just had to get over it. Still, we had a good time. I bowled a 106 my first game and something awful under 90 on my second game (but I blame my back getting sore!). Dave's friend from work showed up and my Uncle kicked all our butts. Kinda hard watching Matthew inbetween but I'm still very glad we got to go. I love bowling even if I'm not great at it.

As we drove toward my seafood restaurant of choice, The Fisherman, I felt sick but didn't want to make Dave stop at home (even though it was on the way, I thought I'd be tough). Dumb idea! The minute we pulled into the parking lot I got out and ran to the field and threw up. Crazy how for five weeks I haven't been sick other than in the morning and of all days and times, I had to choose to be sick right before my birthday dinner! The guys tried to get me to go home but I said I could handle it. The minute we walked in the door a waft of nasty seafood aromas filled the air. We ended up ordering our meals to go. I had some ginger ale while we waited. We headed home and ate our meals, I had baked cod and we shared calamari. This all, of course, was after I took a zofran and had felt better. Also, I fed Matthew and let him play as he was a crab at the restaurant!

All in all it was a pretty good day. I don't think I will ever be able to top my birthday in Seattle where our friends stayed the night at the high rise downtown with us and we danced and ate and it was amazing, then again, that is because I had friends to celebrate with! Or, the fifth grade sleepover party I had was also pretty great...again, it's amazing how friends can change your life. But my husband is so very sweet and he really tried and he did a great job overall. So I very much appreciate him.

As I sit in my chair now, I feel Sprout's extremeties kicking and hitting and moving all over the place! He sure is a strong little one and I am blessed to be welcoming another boy soon enough. For Dave's birthday, we have so many leftovers, including birthday cake, that he probably won't be looking forward to anything fresh! I offered to make him a meal and a cake and he wants none. (I think he's recovering from a food coma!) For Matthew I will make a cake and we will do it all over again on Sunday!

Time to go check on the soup! I'm so excited and it took long enough writing this post to officially consider it late enough for dinner now, so here I go!

Sprout's A Boy!!!

November 1st we had our gender ultrasound. Sprout's a boy! Dave calls him Stalk now because he weighed 15 oz, 5 oz more than average at 20 weeks! Matthew decided to start eating more the day after...hmmm, coincidence or correlation?! Sprout is beautiful, as we were able to get our very first 3d ultrasound pictures, which we didn't get with Bean.

We made cards to send out to family and close friends revealing gender. Next time I won't tell anyone I'm having an ultrasound, probably work better!

We are in Virginia now, taking a two week vacation and just hanging out. Matthew has been pretty good, aside his major vomit issue the other night...ALL OVER ME! Not sure what was wrong, but he's all better now! He sure has been eating a lot though! Yesterday morning he ate an entire hashbrown from McDonald's, after his 6 oz bottle.

Want to know what is annoying? Having a remote that does not fast forward or rewind.... Yesterday we started a movie and got tired, so we turned it off. This morning we were going to finish it except we can't get to the spot we ended, so we had to let it play for an hour while watching the news in order to now finish our movie! :) Geez, the tough life problems one has while on VACATION!!!

Last night we went to a wine and cheese social for our timeshare and another 11 month old boy was there. The two boys played for a while. Only six days apart, it was nice to see another boy Matthew's age. He was 95th percentile for growth and you could sure tell the difference! :)

We will be doing Historical Williamsburg this weekend, and Historical Jamestown and Yorktown next week. We were able to see some good friends of ours from WA, who now live in VA, and their 20 month old girl and Matthew played for a while.

My nausea has been WAAYYY better. I take half a zofran in the morning now and that is all. I've also been super eating machine lately too, which I guess is a good time to be hungry since Dave has five buffets on his eating out list!

The crab is calling so I must go tend to his needs. :) Until next time!...

Clap, Clap, Clap

This past weekend, September 24th, Matthew's Grammy and Grampy (?) went on the ferry with us to Long Island, NY. While there, the ones able had wine, while the rest of us enjoyed gingerbread cookies and farmer market stops. Along the way, we found a pumpkin patch. With a little pumpkin of our own, how could we resist? :) So we stopped and let Matthew choose a pumpkin. He chose a big one and a small one. The small one, of course, was for the mouth! We had a great time. Well, for the most part. Matthew is not fond of his car seat but overall it worked out pretty well.

On Monday, I tested my Bean's IQ. I looked at him and without any actions, I told him "clap, clap, clap" and he looed at me with a big grin and took his tiny hands and went "clap, clap, clap" with them! It was so cute! Then I held out my hand and told him "high five!" and he gave me a high five. I think he understands a lot more than he can actually communicate.

Matthew will be 10 months October 4th. Sprout is 15 weeks and three days today. I haven't felt any definite movement from Sprout yet. My doctor appointments are two weeks apart, which is weird not being seen more often like I was with Matthew. I still have five weeks before we find out Sprout's gender. With the waiting on Matthew and now the extra five weeks, this is tough~ I WANNA KNOW!!

Well, just put Matthew down for a nap. It never fails, every nap and bedtime he has to scream. Hmm.... guess I'll just get used to it not sure how to change that. Sometimes it's only two minutes, sometimes it's 15. He's definitely not happy right now though!

Sprout's next check up is October 11th, my sister's birthday. I'm looking forward to it because the one after that is the gender appointment! YAY!

9 Month Old and 12 Week Old

Matthew turned nine months on September 4th. In the past few days he continues to amaze us. He has taken his first sips from a sippy cup, has eaten meat loaf, loves pasta and sauce, hates baby food, and eats cheerios like they're going out of style! He likes playing hide and go seek under a blanket and giggles like crazy if you nuzzle his neck or rub his spine up and down. He has his fifth tooth coming in on the top row (two on bottom, three on top). He spent time with his Grandma and Grandpa last week and the week before both in TN and CT. He climbs the stairs faster than you can catch him! Dave and I looked around only after a minute of him being out of our site and he was already up seven stairs! He's great at going up it didn't take him any practice at all to figure it out. However, coming down would be a disaster if we actually let him! Today he had the biggest diaper blow out to date! Somehow, he was able to not only blow through his diaper, but skip his leg, and have a pile of poo in the bottom of his footed pjs. This will forever remain a mystery to me!

Sprout must be doing well because I am still sick and nauseaus all the time! Dave packs me a cooler of yogurt every night so when I wake up sick or hungry I can eat one. Helps a little I guess. So does Zofran. I also have a Prima Bella band... (well, did... until I 'misplaced' it) and that helped a little but it is not nearly as amazing as they want you to think. Sprout is about 2.5 inches big now. I am starting to show enough that if you knew me, you'd be able to tell. I heard Sprout's heartbeat on Friday , 160 BPM and going strong. My next ultrasound is in eight weeks, which seems like forever! Especially after Bean's pregnancy where I had an ultrasound almost once a week!

Glad it is football season. :) In between watching Matthew, being sick, changing Matthew, being sick, playing with and feeding Matthew, being sick, cleaning.... I have started practicing piano and watching football. :) Life is good.

Bean (and Sprout) are off to the airport tomorrow!

Stole husband's computer so have to type fast! Working on packing to take a trip home to SD. Bean's first airplane ride. I get sick enough as it is on airplanes, let alone being pregnant AND now, having a tot with me. So say a prayer! The nice United lady on the phone saved me a huge hassle and switched my last flight from a four hour layover to a two hour layover AND said my bags from American Airlines CAN be transferred to United. :) (I thought I had to go out of the airport, pick up bag, go back through security.) So, so far, this trip is already going well. :)

Sprout has another ultrasound tomorrow before we leave. His first one went well, saw yoke sac and heart beat. Have hemorraging around the uterus which is a cause for threatened miscarriage, but we are just holding onto the hope and prayer that God is "knitting him together in my womb."

The Sprout has Sprung!

What what you say? Yes, you read correctly! Bean is no longer alone, for Sprout is on his way! After two weeks of crazy nausea and absolute tiredness, three negative pregnancy tests later, a lot of stress about starting my period so I could get on with trying again...of all things, the cheap dollar pregnancy test showed two lines, equaling a positive result! As I could hardly believe my eyes, I decided to try again with the fancy digital "pregnant" "not pregnant" test, the same one that let me down just days before. To my relief, this time it read "pregnant."

I guess now is a great time to "spill the beans!" Yes, this is about Bean, this news, and not about Sprout. Why is Sprout's springing such a surprise? Well, because Bean took two and a half years to create, and only after two rounds of Clomid. That is right. I took Clomid to create the Beaner. Three weeks ago I saw my OB and she prescribed Clomid to me to try for another baby. I was just so mad this week that my period didn't start because I couldn't wait to start taking my Clomid. So Sprout is quite a spring of surprise on me because I never did start that round of Clomid! God created Sprout prior to the use of my drugs :) :) :)

Last night I threw up four times. Yes, that bad already. Makes me wonder if there is a Sprout 1 and a Sprout 2...

Bean ate his first oreo on July 1st. He ate his first peas on July 4th. He is sportin a shiny white bottom tooth and is utterly and completely full of joy and love. Aside from my head in the toilet, Bean will have 100% of the next nine months to himself. :)

June 17, 2011 So many things, so close to month 7!

Surprise! I'm back! Needless to say, I have been very busy the last few months. I haven't been keeping up with my writing as I had hoped. There is far too much life going on to worry about recording it!
Matthew Joseph is six months old and 13 days. Three days ago he decided to start crawling for the first time. It's more like 'scooting' but you get the idea. Two days ago he decided he was over crawling (already yes!) and instead thought he would be better at attempting to walk. So, daddy sat him on his little wiggly bottom and he leaned forward because he cannot balance himself yet. Instead of falling forward into a crawl, he fell forward, put one led under his butt, and did a one leg squat into standing position. Yeah, I didn't believe it either! Until yesterday evening when I sat wiggly down, put my hand behind his back, watched him fall forward, then, he took his two tiny legs and placed them below his hip and pushed up onto his feet in full standing position. So yes, our six month old two feet and 2.5 inch tall Bean stood up on his own. Exciting! (And kind of creepy!) We believe he will walk before full crawl because he does not like hardwood floors (certainly daddy's boy!)
Last night the Bean pot went to bed on his back at 8PM. I didn't hear a peep from him. Not at 11, not at 4:30, not at 5:30 not at 6... I would usually at least hear him moving around through the baby monitor or he'd full out wake up. Not last night. By 6:30 I got worried and went in to check on him. There he is stirring in his little sleep, fully on his belly. Since he's finally (about a week ago) figured out how to roll from his back to his tummy all by himself, here he was in bed, on his tummy all at his own doing. He was comfy and cozy in his favorite position, hence his long sleep! :)
Matthew got six month photos taken on June 4th by a nice lady who did his pictures for free because that is her thank you to my husband for his service in the military. We have some cute photos of him at the beach. She did a decent job.Last week I took Matthew to the splash pad on base housing. I put him in his little swim trunks and matching sun hat. I carried him through the sprinkling water and he didn't cry, as I thought he would, so we kept going. I held him by his arms and let him stomp his feet over the water spouts coming up. He got splashed in the face and kept on stomping. Then I let him put his hands in the spraying water, let him sit on the water, and walked him through droplets of water. He got soaked and loved every minute of it. We played in the water for a good half hour and he didn't make a peep of complaint! It was great!I made squash for Bean but that is not his favorite. I think he most enjoys his oatmeal with smashed banana and milk. He hates carrots. There will be more to experiment with soon!Bean is an amazingly smart and smiley little boy who is so very full of life!

Matthew's Wonderful Week with Family!

Cousin Grace and Aunt Bonnie came to stay for a week. Matthew thoroughly enjoyed the company, the extra smiles, the bath time help and added stories. Matthew spent some quality time with Daddy while the girls headed to the ocean to enjoy the scenery and fresh air. Matthew spent more time with Daddy when Grace and I went rock climbing, go cart racing, bat cage hitting, lazer tag chasing and mini golfing. Matthew's favorite part about the week had to be the aquarium. Cousin Grace held him up to see the sharks, which startled him (and her!). He LOVED the little orange turtles swimming about the cage. He fell asleep during the neat sea lion show and saw a bit of the beluga whales. He loved it so much I suckered into buying an annual pass so I can take him to walk around more often.

Grace was such a joy to have. She has matured over the years and was such a great help. She cleaned without being asked, cooked when she saw I was behind, and really helped out during bath time fun! She even spoiled cousin Matthew with additional toys and books.

We went to the casino and again left Matthew at home. It was nice just being able to walk around with the girls. We all spent a day at the seaport, Matthew in tow. He was a bit cold until after a feeding I realized I had a snow suit in the truck. Once he was bundled and in my carrier, he was happy the rest of the day. We saw giant whaling ships. Matthew even opened his eyes in the sunshine! That's a first!

Unfortunately, we also hit other firsts this week--Teething! Matthew has started to teeth. This has caused not only mouth pain, but ear pain, excess drooling, and a very runny nose! Aunt Bonnie was the savior when she was able to rock him, get him to eat from his bottle (nursing was a no-go!) and informed us to give him tylenol and orajel. Both seemed to do the trick! He was cranky all night and all the next morning. I attribute the next morning crankiness to the fact that his two favorite people had to get on the airplane and go home. But all in all, we had one majorly fantastic week!

Matthew is a smiling happy little man. 15 weeks 2 days now and his weight one week ago was 10 lbs 9 oz. He's definitely a bundle of awesomeness!

Twelve and a half weeks!

Last night was a first! Matthew ate at 9:45PM and did not wake again until 5:45AM to eat! 8 hours! I'm not sure that was so good for me, but I'm very proud of him! He's been doing so well. Yesterday he sat in his bouncy seat and I would sing la la la to him and smile big. He would smile big in return! I noticed that if I looked away and broke eye contact and started watching TV, he would get upset that he didn't have my full attention! He has quite the personality!

In the next several weeks we will have many visitors. Matthew has a cousin, two aunties, Grammy, Grandpa, and an Uncle all coming to see him. We are very much looking forward to each visit.

The Bean is squaking as I write. He is supposed to be napping but refuses to sleep. I'm almost beginning to wonder if it is his 12 week growth spurt coming on. I think I will have to go get him up early once again and try to feed him. At the end of the month we  start round 2 for immunizations. All have went well so far. We did one shot a week for four weeks. He's a champ!

Matthew...9 weeks!

So much for writing every week! Looks like it took me five weeks! Welcome to motherhood right?
We are settled in CT. The snow came fast and furious for four weeks straight. Although the storms are finished, the snow has accumulated to the point of no longer being classifed as 'snow' but rather ' glacier-like pillars.' Yep, piled far and wide, our 'snow' is now ice caps on land. Welcome to CT! But all is well.

My husband has had the blessing to be home for the past three weeks. He returns to work tomorrow. We have done a lot of nothing, which is great because we have made up for lost time during the move. We spend a great deal of time holding Bean and doing other Bean-like things. Matthew is the greatest little guy in the whole world. He is now 10 pounds. He has just started to smile. He loves sitting in his bouncy seat and taking warm baths, but only if his entire body is submerged. I have found flower pots and popcorn tins to work best!

At six weeks, he went through a growth spurt and spent a great deal of time being cranky and overly hungry. Last night it appears he might have hit another growth spurt...that or he had a really upset tummy. We have started him on a rotation of eating, playing, and sleeping. He does fairly well unless he doesn't feel great. Last night we were up every hour dealing with a rigid furious ten pound bundle of anger. No matter how little sleep we get, in the morning, Matthew is still just as cute!

Bean likes to watch television, and even at an early age, it does an amazing job at keeping his attention. I didn't think he could pay attention that long. He has surprised us many times by his abilities. He can hold his head up very well and began doing so at around three weeks. He still rolls over and he follows moving objects intently with his eyes. I'm not biased, but he's still as cute as ever! This is a fact given to us by a church we went to last Sunday. It took a good half an hour to leave after the service because of everyone oogling over the Bean. They said he was perfect, most adorable baby ever, etc. etc. Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm the mom, but it's true. I would enter him in a contest but these days, it costs money to prove yourself so it's not even worth it! We do think he's pretty sweet though!

Matthew is the greatest blessing we have ever received and we will not take for granted one day with him.

MATTHEW JOSEPH RICKENBACH- DEC. 4TH 2010

Beaner has arrived! Matthew Joseph Rickenbach, aka BEAN, was born into this world on December 4th, 2010 at 3:23 PM, Saturday afternoon at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma Washington.

Now.. I realize this was like, 5 weeks ago, but I have 5 weeks worth of excuses as to why I have not posted this wonderful obviously vital information! For starters... labor and delivery was by far the worst experience of my life... I'm pretty sure it topped major back surgery. 25 hours of petocin induced labor with contractions coming every 45 seconds for 45 seconds 20 hours straight. No medication. Horrible anesthesiologist who probably lost her job due to major negligence in not looking at my X-rays or reading my surgeon's report and attempting to put needles into my back where my rods and screws were... (genius!)
Needless to say, this was unsuccessful and so I had no medications.

Now... after that I came home and was an on-demand baby bottle for an IUGR 4 pound 14 oz. baby boy. Therefore, what he wanted, he got. So for the first two weeks I didn't know what sleep was. My mom helped my husband take care of the details: pump parts cleaning, cooking, house upkeeping, laundry, and of course, throw in the fact that we were due to move across the country two weeks later, so we took care of movers coming into our place, packing everything up, etc. etc. Oh, plus the fact that our clutch went out on our car the day we returned from the hospital with baby Bean, had to trade in the car the same night baby went back to the hospital for high billyruben levels for jaundice. Hmmmm.... then there were all of the extra doctor's appointments scheduled here there and everywhere.

Okay, so now I'll fill you in on the trip. We left Bremerton, WA on the 23rd of December in our pick up truck, towing our car, and with us, my mom rode to SD. We arrived in SD on Christmas night. We spent several days with family. Bean got to be held all the time. January 2nd we dedicated Matthew Joseph to God at United Churches. His Aunt Bonnie made a beautiful gown for the dedication ceremony. Bean weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces when we left WA for SD. About January 1st we estimated Bean at 7 pounds based on the home scale having Daddy weigh self and then he held Bean in his arms afound weighed again.

January 3rd we drove from SD to CT, this time without Grammy consoling Bean in the back seat. I spent the entire trip going from front to back seat and back to front. I pumped in the car to feed little Bean on the road.

We arrived in CT on January 6th. We spent four nights at the Navy Lodge and signed for a house rental in military housing on the 10th. Which brings me to recent events:

Yesterday afternoon we moved into our new home. We spent last night on an air mattress and I fed Matthew on the stairs, on the air bed, on the floor...all lovely and comfortable places! (sarcasm). Our semi full of our household goods was to arrive tomorrow, Wednesday, however, due to the predicted 12 MORE inches of snow for our area tomorrow, we will not be getting our stuff. Therefore, we will enjoy this air bed for the entire week and hope to get our stuff Friday (weather cooperation necessary.)

I am currently attempting to write as much as I can while Bean is lying in his little bed. No, he's not sleeping. Instead, he is making grunting noises and supposed to be sleeping. Today, the navy marine corp relief society baby nurse stopped by. (Bean hasn't seen a doctor for over two weeks now!) She played with him, answered my questions, weighed him, and taught me some things about crying babies. Just because he cries does not always mean he's hungry, sometimes it's because he is sleepy! ... Hence the lying by himself right now. One month and one week after birth...today, he is exactly EIGHT POUNDS! He is 21 and 3/4 inches long. (Birth he was 18 inches). So he is growing like a healthy little weed.

Between moving, driving, packing, hotels, unpacking, feeding, feeding, and more feeding... this is literally the first chance I have had to update! And now I am done because Bean is screaming. :) Welcome to motherhood! It's great! I hope to update from here on out at least once a week again!!

Less than a week!

Thanksgiving went well. My brother, his girlfriend, and my dad were all here for a few days. My brother is a good cook and did most of the work which was nice. I still had my share of dish duty! My dad was also a big help. The Friday after, I took them all to one of Beaner's appointments and let them listen to the heartbeat for twenty minutes, followed by an ultrasound. My nurse and I did not think they were as amused or animated as they should have been for such an experience! Granted, the mom will always be the most excited when viewing her own little baby on the screen, but we don't think they really knew what a treat they were in for! Beaner was awake, first off, and had many expressions to give us. He even sucked on his hand and moves his tongue and made sucking gestures...all things which we normally do not get to see. In other words, he was putting on a show for his audience and being of utmost cuteness. After the ultrasound my brother took the pictures my nurse printed for me and refused to give them back. I did not even get to see them. I thought he was teasing at first then I found out he was serious. It was only after I knew he had a plan to eventually return them to me and wanted to use them for some sort of gift he has for me, did I finally calm down.
My birthday was Saturday. Dave took me for my Starbucks gingerbread latte and we  picked up caramel pecan sticky rolls. That afternoon we went to see the movie Megamind in 3D. Sunday Dave had duty and had to go into work overnight.
It is now Thursday. Dave had duty again last night. I miss him. I don't see him very much at all anymore. I can't wait to be done with the boat. Everything is beginning to overlap each other. Dave will be home tonight and I will finally get to see him, but my mom will be here as well. And in less than a week our baby will also join us. Life only seems to speed up and never slow down. These are all bittersweet moments I suppose. I'm excited to see my mom today. I'm also excited to see Dave and of courese I'm excited for little Bean to join me on the outside of my stomach, but it's all happening at once and everything will be new.
Two amazing friends came over a few days ago and helped me start the process of cleaning my house and getting it ready for the movers. Also of course, getting it ready for baby. There is an endless list of things that must be done and I move at a snail's pace. I know it will all work out though!

Time to get ready for yet another Beaner appointment. Driving to the hospital so often does give me something to do, but I'm looking forward to no longer having to go.

Snow White, Snow Green?

Since my last post, the snow continued to fall and yesterday I sat in my chair watching the snow fall from early morning and late through the night. By six PM, the wind was whipping, the electricity was flickering, and my phone was uncooperative for sending or receiving phone calls. I tried to get a hold of my husband to tell  him to stay on the boat and not try to come home. This is an almost impossible task when 1. my phone doesn't dial out and 2. unknowingly to me the boat lost power. I received a few text messages from my boat wives about some of the information of the boat. Apparently, they closed base and were not letting anyone off. This was relieving to me because I knew he would not be able to drive home and would be safe. At about 8 PM my phone rang through finally and it was Dave. He told me he was down town by H&R Block, which is just a few blocks from the corner of base. I couldn't believe he tried to come home! He was clearly frustrated, telling me he left work an hour earlier and had been sitting in the exact same spot down town for half an hour. My friend who lives further down the road from me in a different town, she called to tell me that her husband had been trying to get home from down town Bremerton since 3 PM. She wanted to know if he could stay with us if he had enough luck to pull off the road and walk. Of course that was fine with me. I immediately called Dave back to tell him the road he was on had been blocked since 3 PM because further up there were cars that tried to cross the bridge and ended up getting stuck in the middle of the road. Dave said if they were inching along he would be fine but the traffic was not even moving. I started praying to get Dave home and ten minutes later, he called to tell me he was able to get out of the line of blocked in cars, pulled into an alley way and parked the truck. He was already walking on foot toward main gate. Just trying to be helpful,  I offered to pick him up at the gate.  Of course he said no way; he didn't want me driving even a short distance. He told me the car would not make  it and he didn't want me to walk on the ice.

Dave finally made it home and we went to bed. This morning we were up at 4:30 AM to get him out the door. He walked to the truck and called me when he made it to work at 6 AM. I had an appointment at 11 AM this morning that I knew I was not going too. I  called my nurse to cancel the non-stress test. My concern with this is the fact that I haven't  had an ultra sound for two weeks (by the time I see her next) because we forgot the last one! My nurse called me around 11 to let me know she received my message and informed me she went into a ditch last night and also was not going to work. In fact, half the hospital was shut down for the day. Depending on weather and if she will be working Friday, I may or may not have an appointment. Beaner is still moving all over so I feel fairly confident that the Bean is doing well.


After Dave left, I read in bed for a while then went back to sleep. When I woke up again, I took a step outside to see the windy damage. The once covered white lawns are now completely covered in pine green tree branches scattered across in every direction. My beautiful Christmasy atmosphere is there, but the nastiness of the storm looms still. Dave told me last night as we were lying in bed that if I were to go into labor now, he would have to deliver me on the floor because there would be NO WAY to get to any hospital. Although I like the pretty snow, I am hoping when it is time to get to the hospital that we are able to get out, and even more so, I am hoping the weather will cooperate when it is time to travel with little Bean. Only time will tell...

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Last night was freezing. That says a lot because I haven't been cold for months now! And I'm always cold! However, last night  seemed very cold to me, and we are not even seeing snow yet! So this morning when I woke up, I walked to the living room and smelled heat. Yes, heat has a smell. My wonderful husband turned the heaters on last night because he said this morning that he wanted me to be toasty warm while watching my football games today! So sweet! Unfortunately he had to go to work today, yes, on a Sunday. So here I am sitting in my chair and getting ready for my games to start! The warmth inside, cozy robe, and fuzzy pants make me feel like Christmas is here! I want to  set up a tree in the corner, even though I would have to take  it down before Christmas is even here, due to our move! But still! I might  just  do that! The only problem is that the tree is up three flights of stairs in the attic and I'm pretty sure everyone would frown upon bed rest me walking up there to get the tree. And, I don't know if I could talk my husband into getting the tree down only to have to put it back in a few weeks anyway!

Thursday was my last appointment I had for non-stress-tests. We were so distracted talking that we forgot to do the ultra sound! Oh well, I go back Tuesday, which is soon enough. The Bean has been doing his/her fair share of moving around so I'm not too worried. In fact, I haven't really been worried about anything. It seems things are going so well for us lately, God is really blessing us. My biggest complaint is that I can't go shopping! :( However, I am determined to see if the mall has wheel chairs because  I would LOVE to go to the mall on black Friday, and maybe my husband would give me even a little bit of money to pick out a birthday gift. That would make my day! I know the NEX has a huge sale that morning so I might go down there, since it's right down the street and a small store. I'm getting so close to my induction day that I am getting less worried about walking too much. They have told me I can start walking and pretty much be off restriction a week prior to induction, so I might start taking advantage of that. There seems to be so much to do lately! The move is coming up faster than expected, family is coming for Thanksgiving, Dave is working a TON lately, and then the baby will be here! I can't 'nest' if I'm on bed rest!


Friday night I was able to go to dinner with two of my girlfriends at Red Robin. It was nice to get out but I can see why I'm on bed rest! It was a long evening even just sitting there eating! I'm used to pretty much eating in my recliner lazy style, and sitting straight up in a bar chair was tough on the squished rib cage!

The nurses reassured me that baby will be pretty safe to travel upcoming. I was worried about baby being squished in car seat and having breathing troubles. They said not to worry and as long as baby is born healthy without breathing issues, then he/she will travel just fine. They even suggested I can breast feed in the back seat! I'm not sure I like that idea so much! Scares me! What is the point of having a car seat if you take the baby out? We are going to play it all by ear!

I'm so excited to see snow except I don't want us to have a dangerous travel experience, so mixed feelings there. I guess that's all for now! I have to go check on my fantasy football teams to make sure I have the best players ready to go!

The BIG One!

Madigan was yesterday. We haven't been there for three and a half weeks. Last growth chart ultrasound baby was 2 pounds nine ounces estimated weight. If the baby continued the same forward progress then up through birth, estimated birth weight would be 3 pounds five ounces. However, there is a massive army of prayer warriors on our side. Yesterday Dave and I took bets. I guessed 3 pounds six ounces and he guessed 4 pounds. We were both surprised. Dun dunn dunn dunnnnnnn......drum roll please!....
Beaner's big movements are because Beaner is big... estimated weight CURRENTLY is 4 pounds seven ounces!!!

 Granted, we know this is give or take and could be less. But, we are fairly confident that birth weight will be at least 4 pounds and we are pulling for 5 to 5 and a half! This  is the story of God being good and working together for those of His with faith! Even my doctors were shocked. The percentile Bean has been in from the beginning was 2 to 3. This lasted for a good 16 weeks. Suddenly, Bean decided to show off and move up to the sixth percentile. While still high risk and below 10, things are looking positive!

Blood flow and fluid levels were great, movement as usual is nearly obsessive, and now we have a bigger baby. Our move is working out great with dates and timing and at this point we are hoping for  Bean to only spend maybe a few days in the hospital and  be able to come home before we travel across country.

On the downside for the pregnant woman... I have found out that I cannot labor in the tub, cannot use a hot shower for pain relief, cannot even go walking the hallways, definitely cannot get an epidural (because of my back surgery), and may not have the option of delivering the way I had chosen. This pretty much means the only natural pain remedies I have used previously for my back I cannot use during labor. On top of that, being induced only adds to the length and intensity. So yes, I am whining, and rightfully so. However, with this new knowledge three weeks prior to the day, I will figure out a way to happily suffer through completely reinventing my birth plan. As long as Bean keeps kicking and comes out screaming, I will be a happy woman. The process  though is to be decided...

It's official: My mom has bought her ticket!! Now we are waiting and hoping and continuing to pray that things don't kick start early. My dad will be here for Thanksgiving and I can only see the humor in having baby come while Dad is here unprepared and mom is not here. This would be the typical type of event that unfolds with me. However, I really doubt either of them would be even a bit amused! The doctors are not worried about pre-term labor and I have not had any warning signs or major concerns. It is looking quite optimistic that things will progress as expected.

Now onto my husband... the bum has duty the night I am to be checked into the hospital! What!? This means he will either have to drive over in the morning and hope he didn't miss much (although if he missed it all I don't think he'd be too disappointed) (I WOULD BE FURIOUS!) or I will have  to basically tell the doctors that I cannot come in until the morning of the 8th. He is a good man and very committed to helping out the boat knowing he will no longer be on it, but some things I do feel fair to say I want to be selfish with. If he even has the option of switching duties with someone else, this might prevent him from being there the 9th, 10th, and the weekend when the baby is actually here. I really don't want that  to happen!

I have my bag packed, Bean and Dave's bags are also packed. We hope they don't leave the house for another three weeks, but we're prepared anyway.

I asked the doctors about six weeks ago if I could make a difference by eating a lot more. They said it wouldn't help. I beg to differ. I have eaten a lot more and although not always healthy (lots of fast food) I think it was just what Bean was looking for! Speaking of which, it's time for lunch, Bean is kicking me because he knows when it's time to  eat!