Ryder and friends

Two of my good friends and I were pregnant together. Our babies are each two months apart. I had them over for a little "photoshoot". The little ones here are 2, 4 & 6 months. There wasn't a very large window when all 3 of them were happy. We also had two 2 year olds running around.

These are Ryder (4mo) and Liam (6mo)

Here's all 3 babies. Hunter (2mo), Ryder (4mo), Liam (6mo)

And they are done

Ryder 4 months

My not so little peanut is 4 months. His little personality is starting to emerge and I love watching Mason with him. Mason absolutely loves being a big brother for such a little guy himself. Last week we had his well visit. He got 4 shots and an oral - just like at his 2 month visit. He didn't even cry for the first shot, but then realized he had a few more to go and was not happy. Here are his monthly stats:

Weight: 15 lbs 6 3/4 oz - 50th percentile
height: 27 inches - 97th percentile
head: 25th percentile

At 4 months Ryder
can reach and grab for object
still has blue eyes
goes to bed between 6 and 6:30
wakes up 4 times a night

big brother Mason loves to be near Ryder.

Ryders Birth Story

I have finally sat down to write Ryder’s birth story – 4 months later. Luckily I took notes so I can remember what happened.

I’m first going to back up to Mason’s birth since some of that will come up. With Mason I went into labor on my own but wasn’t progressing so I was given pitocin to speed things up. His head was sideways and after pushing for over 2 hours the vacuum was used to help. I ended up having a severe 4th degree tear to my rectum- including some muscle. It was so severe that at my 20 week appointment with Ryder I was offered an elective c-section. If I had another severe tear I could risk incontinence. I asked the opinion of several of the OB’s at my office and stuck with the Dr.’s answer I liked the best. The rest of my visits were with him. He was basically playing things by ear. We would do a growth ultrasound if I hadn’t gone into labor by 40 weeks. He didn’t seem too worried about it. Can you believe one of the midwives told me to eat less and exercise more so I’d have a smaller baby!? I was already working out 3-4 days a week. Anyway, now onto Ryder’s birth.

On Wed Sept 15 I went in for my 39 week appointment. I was 1 – 1 ½ cm dilated. I made an appointment for 40 weeks and set up a growth ultrasound for the next day. Around 4pm mild contractions began every 15 minutes. They continued all night long and I was convinced the baby would be here sometime on Thursday.

Thursday morning the contractions were still coming. They were about every 5-10 minutes but not very consistent. We went to a MOMS Club play date since I had no clue if this was actually it and things didn’t seem to be progressing. Around 1pm my contractions started to get closer – about 5-6 minutes. I had an ultrasound scheduled later that day so at 2 I called the OB’s office to see if they still wanted me to come in for it since it seemed like I was in early labor. They told me to come in for a labor check and to bring my bag just in case. Chris called his parents and said we had to go into the ultrasound earlier and to come over. I said goodbye to Mason since I wasn’t sure if we would be back and off to the OB’s we went. At 2:45 pm I was 3 cm dilated. They did a non-stress test and then I had the growth ultrasound where baby was measuring approximately 7 lbs 11 oz. At 4pm I was checked again and was 3 ½ cm so they sent me home. If I was 4 cm they would have sent me to the hospital. I was instructed to wait until my contractions were about 4 minutes apart for roughly 30 minutes since it was my second.

At 6pm they were coming less than 4 minutes apart and had been for about 45 minutes so I called and was sent to the hospital. I was checked at 7:30 and was already 5 cm dilated and 100% effaced. I couldn’t believe how far I had made it already. I have a very low pain tolerance. With Mason I was begging for the epidural at 1 cm and they finally gave it to me at 2. Another great thing was that the OB I had seen the most of and knew about my tear issues was on call from 7pm – 7am! I was moved into our room and was told that my doula was on her way. They also asked me if I wanted pain medication and hooked me up to an IV so I could get the epidural. My doula, Monica, showed up right before I was getting the epidural at 8:45. Danbury Hospital has an amazing doula program where it’s only $100 for the on-call doula. I kind of felt bad to have her there since I was getting the epidural but she said it’s about 50/50 when I asked her if a lot of the births she’s been at are med-free. Even with pain medication she was worth her weight in gold. We chatted for a while and I brought up my delivery with Mason and my fear of having another bad tear. At 10 pm I was 7 cm and -2 station. 12:40 am I had progressed to 8 cm and the OB broke my water. Even with the epidural I was having a lot pressure that became quite painful towards the end. Monica was so helpful getting me through it. She was rubbing my foot and kept on telling me how great I was doing. It was little encouraging things like that that kept me going. I was in so much pain that the anesthesiologist came back to give a little extra something to help with the pain.

At 1:55 am I was almost fully dilated but there was still a little lip. Because of my tearing concerns I was told to keep on laboring down even after I was 10 cm. This would help bring the baby down more so I wouldn’t have to push as long and hopefully prevent a bad tear. I kept on laboring until I couldn’t stand the pain anymore and was ready to push. I began to push at 3:40 am. After roughly 2 sets of 3 pushes I was told to stop. The baby was crowning and my OB wasn’t there. They rushed out to get him while I was trying my hardest not to push. It was like straight out of a movie. My OB comes in and they are putting the gloves, mask and other items on him. Finally they let me start pushing again. My OB had some oil and was putting it on my perineum. A couple more pushes and at 3:53 we found out we had another baby boy! They brought him straight to my stomach (which I didn’t get with Mason because of meconium) and I got to meet Ryder for the first time. After a little bonding time they brought him to get weighed and cleaned up (everything was done in room). The nurses kept on commenting how big he was and I was very much surprised when they said he was 9 lbs 2 oz!! Despite his size I only had a 2nd degree tear which was like a walk in the park compared to the previous tear. We are so excited to welcome our second baby boy into the world.

Ryder Edward
Sept 17, 2010
3:53 am
9 lbs 2 oz – 21 inches

snowy walk

We haven't been spending too much time outside with the cold temps and snow everywhere - but fresh air is needed at times. We bundled the boys up and took a walk around the block. It tuckered Ryder out!

snow, snow & more snow

The month of December started off very slow in terms of snow. Chris plows in the winter - so we usually want snow so we can pay the bills. Our wish was granted on Dec 26 with a blizzard dumping about 13 inches on us. The snow has not stopped falling. Since then we've had several other storms, one we even got over 2 feet of snow! To be exact, 27 inches of snow fell on us. It's going to be a long, long winter.

Merry Christmas

Christmas was different this year. Not bad - just different. Something I'll have to get used to. Ever since I was born Christmas has been at my Grandma's house in New Jersey. There are 30 + people there. My cousins, aunts, uncles & even great aunts & uncles. I have so many wonderful memories of Christmas with my large family. Since Christmas is also Mason's birthday and we have a new addition we decided that we weren't going to travel anymore. We were hoping to host a small gathering but everyone else carried on with their usual holiday plans. So it was just the 4 of us. We opened Christmas presents in the morning and stayed in our pj's all day. For lunch Chris made bacon wrapped filet for me and he had a gorgonzola steak. After Mason's nap we gave him his birthday present. For dinner we had Mason's favorite - chicken with mozzarella & tomato and had cupcakes for dessert.

Mason's 2 year stats

On Mason's birthday post I forgot to post his new stats.

Weight: 25.5 lbs - 25th percentile (that is up from his previous 10th percentile!)
Height: 35 inches - 75th percentile (and that is up from his previous 50th percentile)
head: I think she said that's 50th percentile now? I forgot to write it down. His head has previously been in the 25th percentile.

I guess he doesn't want Ryder to catch up to him soon :)

Mason is TWO!

Wow - Mason is two. These past two years have gone by so fast. It's hard to believe I have a 2 year old and an almost 4 months old! We had a great day for his birthday party. Our family came over for a breakfast brunch to help celebrate Mason turning 2.

Mason is 2.

-He can jump with both feet off the ground
-He likes to sing and dance
-His favorite TV show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (we finally gave in to TV about 6 months ago when I was 6 mo pg and he was waking up at 5am!)
-He likes to color with crayons and markers
-He says over 70 words
-He just started putting 2 words together occasionally
-He repeats just about everything he hears
-He likes to talk to his Nonna on the phone
-His best friend is Savannah
-He loves to "cook"
-He can make coffee in the Kurig machine
-He can drive a kid's quad
-He loves tractors and sitting on Daddy's lap in one
-He loves trains

His 3 sets of grandparents all went in together on a kitchen.I made Mason a train cake

Mason and Poppy

On his actual birthday - the 25th. We did Christmas in the morning and after his nap we gave him his birthday present - a train table. He had so much fun playing with his Dad. We had his birthday dinner - his favorite, chicken w/ tomato and mozzarella. Cupcakes for dessert!

Christmas Pageant

Every year our church holds a Christmas pageant - it's the Sunday before Christmas. In 2008 when I was pregnant with Mason our pastor wanted him to play baby Jesus but Mason didn't come in time. However this year Ryder was born at the perfect time. He was baby Jesus, Mason was an angel and Chris and I were Mary and Joseph. We had a great time and even made the newspaper!