March 26, 2009 - We meet our Son

When we started talking about induction, Dr. Talsky told us that the goal was to have a baby by midnight on our due date.  Well, he was only about 38 minutes over on his estimation!

Rather than give a first hand account of my c-section, I'll skip to the sweet ending of the story!  However, for those interested, tune into any TLC Baby Story episode for a good idea of what it's like.  Here is a quick pic Jer snapped of me after Owen was born.  Yep...that's my eyes, peeking over the drape!

Our son, Owen Wyatt Linley, was born at 12:38 am, March 26, 2009. 

8lbs. 14oz.

21 inches long

What a miracle :)

One year ago today we met YOU.  Happy Birthday Little Man.  We love you so much.

Love, Momma and Dadda

March 25th...last year...

was our due date.  Note the "was" from the previous statement!  March 25th came and went...with no baby.  But we were very very close ;)

This day last year began with a 5:30am wake up call, a shower, and pitocin drip!  Then we were off and running.  Within a few hours I was in pretty good labor...and spent the better part of the morning working my way to my epidural.   For me it was the best thing.  After that I was able to talk to people. I could concentrate.  It was nothing short of amazing!!

The rest of the day flew by us in the blink of an eye. And before we knew it...I was fully dialated. Around 8:30pm I was told I could begin pushing. I pushed for 30 minutes and my contractions stopped.  So my epidural was pulled back and my pitocin kicked up.  I was told I could begin pushing again...and so I pushed and pushed and pushed.  We soon learned that Mr. Owen was facing upwards and therefore my pushing wasn't accomplishing near what it should.  Dr. Talsky arrived and we gave it another 45 minutes of me pushing so hard I thought I was going to pass out.  I was told my pushing should have been more productive and I was doing great...but Owen wasn't positioned correctly.  So around 11pm we threw in the towel and decided it was time for a c-section.  I was prepped and readied for surgery; while Jer slapped on booties, a full set of scrubs, and matching hat and facemask ;) It was almost time to meet our son!

Tune in for the rest of the story tomorrow!  But before we go any further...we need to give a shout out to Aunt Steff. Last year she faithfully and lovingly kept our blog going while we awaited Owen's arrival. It is so awesome to have this to go back to and read.  The comments and stories make me cry every time!  If you are interested in re-reading the story before tomorrow go here to follow along as Steff kept everyone up to speed and documented this important time in our lives!

This Night Last Year

Jer and I took these pictures and packed up the car to go to the hospital.  I can't even put into words all the emotions going on in my head.  I had no idea what laid ahead of us, but I knew that whatever it was, we would have our new baby in the end and I could not wait! 

Our story about the birth of our son begins here.

Something New in my Kitchen...

I just purchased one of these from someone having a book party at work.  It's a Tupperware Squeeze It. Does anyone else have one of these? Any tricks you can share with me?  I thought it looked super easy and kind of fun.  Plus you get five different tips with it.  I'm no icing expert...but I think there might be some trick to it, b/c my first attempt at making the cool cupcakes I'd envisioned wasn't successful.  I won't repeat what I thought my icing looked like on top...but it was chocolate icing and you can use your imagination!  I'm not one to give up too easily, so I'm hoping my next attempt comes up with better results ;)  Wish me luck!

My Piggy Bank

This is my piggy bank.

The Bear Side

And the Helmet side

It’s not actually a piggy. But I think it is WAY cooler! The bank came from Grandpa Mike and Grandma Stacey. Daddy cut the hole in it and Mommy glued the paper on top. Great-Grandma Flo filled my first bank…which also wasn’t a piggy but a monkey. Is this confusing to anyone else? I’m still trying to figure out why you put money in a piggy anyway and just exactly what a piggy and a bank are in the first place! Anyway…Mommy said she always wanted me to remember how Great-Grandma Flo came over with Ziploc baggies full of change she saved up just for me…and how much she LOVES to put that change in my piggy bank. I guess I’m pretty special if people are saving up their change just for me huh?

Thanks Great-Grandma Flo and everyone else for helping fill my bank. Mommy and Daddy say it's getting really heavy! They also say we need to go start a savings account for me…whatever that means!

I hope you liked my first official blog entry!

By the one and only Owen ;)

A Thankful Thursday Blog on Friday...

Here's what I was thankful for over the last week!

Spending a Friday night with my husband and my son...even though it was at Barnes
Taking Owen to Barnes to see Mike and watching him give Grandpa a high five and make him smile...he also got a little excited and smacked his eye...which hurt Grandpa...but the visit was great none the less.
Seeing Mike at the hospital and hearing him talk, seeing him eat and realizing he was going to be ok
Buying my dress for Jackie and Paul's wedding in October.
Finding the coolest dress store in Fairview Heights...we had our own room, complete with couch, huge mirrors and lots of room
Having the dress be 10% off
Dinner with Jonnie and April on Saturday night
Blue Margaritas at El Mezcal...they are a bit strong
A Sunday around home
Renting DVD's from Blockbuster for the first time in a long time
Making homemade Banana Bread out of my old, brown bananas.  It was delicious!
Baby Motrin for Owen's fever
That even though Owen had a fever for 3 days, it's now gone
That the doctor said his problem was a cold and only a cold...nothing major
My Best Friend and her ability to be positive.
Jer's grilled pork chops...also delicious!
Sticking to my Thursday night cleaning plan two weeks in a row and waking up this morning to a fabulously spotless house!
Having an amazing weekend to look forward to...just around the corner!
Thank you God :)

Sneak Peak

At a photo shoot with Owen!  We thoroughly enjoyed a quick trip to the park this past weekend.  There are some really great shots...but I wanted to put out a few of my instant favorites.  Hopefully more to come!

Thankful Thursdays...

This week's Thankful Thursday was a bit different for a number of reasons.  The small things seemed bigger. The big things were miracles and in between was well...just that.

Time with the Linley Crew
The delicious pasta special on the menu at Don and Penny's
Spending time in an old family hang out
Laughter at funny memories
Kleenex
Hugs
Seeing all of Jeremy's family come down from Walnut
Having weather nice enough to enjoy the park on Saturday afternoon
Having weather nice enough again to enjoy the park on Sunday
Spending an evening out with Jonnie, April, Jackie and Paul at Dave and Busters
Cherry Berry Mojito's at Dave and Busters
Shuffleboard at Dave and Busters
Being made fun of b/c of my awful lack of control over the shuffleboard discs...whatever they are called
Family
Support systems
Miracles and advances in medicine
Barnes Jewish Hospital and their neuro wing
MRI's, cat scans, medicines
Vending machines, cafeterias, Seattle's best coffee stands
Best friends and homecooked meals
My little boys smile
That Mike might be getting out of the ICU soon
Prayers and hope and faith in something bigger than myself

If I were honest...

I'd say up until last Wednesday, my lack of blogging was pure and total laziness.  Nothing more.  I wasn't up for doing any extra computer time when I got home.  Owen was going through some fun stages...and I just wasn't feeling it.  Now...the lack of blogging is all together different.  Since last Wednesday I debated blogging about this. It's not something I really want to blog about b/c it's not fun. It's also impossible to continue blogging as if it weren't affecting every minute of our day since then.  But if I'm being honest...it's life. Real. Hard. Staring us straight in the face.  And sharing it here is sharing life for real.  Not just the cute pictures of our little blessing or the fun weekend plans we had.  It's the dirt under our finger nails, the cracks in our plaster and the reality of this thing we call life.


There aren't tons and tons of moments in my life that at the moment they happen, I realize I'm going to never ever forget what it feels like...right at that very moment. Sure...there are moments. My first kiss. The first time I looked at Jer after the pastor said...I now pronounce you...Husband and wife. The first time I held Owen. Most of them are good. Some are not. And last Wednesday...unfortunately I had one of those moments I know I'll never forget...but it wasn't the good kind.

Jeremy's Dad Mike has been through a lot. He beat cancer when we were 17 years old. Ten years ago he had surgery to remove a mass on his brain. Through surgery, radiation and chemo therapy he was able to overcome his battle. But last Wednesday...we found out that he will once again resume the battle. He has another mass on his brain. In a similar location but more difficult area, similar size and more aggressive. The moment I won't forget is hearing the head of neurosurgery stare at the black and white images of my father-in-law's brain on a screen. Using a mouse to drag lines over the entire mass...which is the size of a baseball. Hearing him say...the words large mass. More aggressive. Dangerous procedure. Mike asked if the fight was worth it. Wanting to know what his chances were. My heart broke into a million pieces. This strong, very independent head of the family we all love was facing his mortality. We all were. And in that moment the world kind of stopped spinning.

Luckily enough, the surgery though risky, was an option and Monday he conquered the first in many fights of his battle.  8 hours later they were able to remove a significan part of the tumor.  The doctor was even able to begin chemo immediately by placing these discs called chemo wafers on the remaining tumor.  It's instant and immediate cancer fighters doing their job on Mike's mass.  It's comforting knowing that he's barely awake, but he has something inside of him working to shrink his cancer already.

There is little left to say, but to simply ask, if you read this and you are the praying type...please add one in there for Mike.  He's strong, onry and will fight like crazy...but I'm sure a little nudge from the big guy upstairs would help us all.

Dad we love you.