I am going to attempt combining the first 6 months of our precious Phoenix into 1, hopefully not too long, blog.
It all started the end of October when I was suffering from a severe migraine. I knew we tried to get pregnant that month, so instead of just taking my medicine, I drove my crying self to the doc in the box for a blood-drawn pregnancy test. I told them I couldn't even wait for the results because I was in soo much pain, but they assured me it would only be minutes. Those minutes felt like hours. Upon receiving the news, I drove myself home, layed on the couch and cried-from the pain, not the results. I finally convinced myself to get up and iron-on a t-shirt the word KNUCKLE. Let me rewind for second. Back in March when we discovered I was pregnant, we referred to the Baby as Knuckle. That pregnancy ended in a miscarriage the first week of April. Anyways, I thought this would clue Jason in to the fact that I was pregnant. So I ironed the word on the shirt and assumed my position back on the couch and cried and cried and cried so more. The pain was unbearable, but waiting for Jason to get home made it that much worse. He finally got home and was soo worried about my head he didn't even notice my hot pink shirt! I finally got frustrated and just told him to read it. He didn't quite catch on so I had to explain to him what was going on. The look on his face was priceless. I have never seen him so happy!
We went to the doctor November 2 and again the following week. We wanted to wait to tell people since we had the miscarriage just a few months prior, but I think we were both too excited! We told a few people through letters sent via snail mail from KNUCKLE. Because of the prior miscarriage, we had ultra-sounds every visit for the first 4 months. Jason's excitement never changed with each viewing of our KNUCKLE. He was over the moon. We were both over the moon.
Finally the time came to find out if Jason was going to have a hunting partner or if I was going to have a shopping partner. We asked the tech to keep it a secret, but to put it in an envelope for us to open at a later time. The agreement between me and Jason was that since we were finding out (against my wishes), he had to let me open it when I was ready.
We left knowing the sex of KNUCKLE was right there in our hands. The anticipation got the best of us. We decided we would go to dinner that night and open the envelope. Well, I decided to call Publix and have them make a cake with either blue or pink icing. They were kind enough to get it done within a few hours. I picked up the cake-and as hard as it was for me to not sneak a peak-I knew I had to wait. Dinner time finally came and I met Jason at the restaurant. He was surprised to see the cake.
He was soo excited...he was going to have a hunting partner!!!! We were both thrilled!!! Now all we had to do was wait until the end of June to meet KNUCKLE. Now that we knew it was a he, we started trying to decide on a name. The nursery was set-regardless of the sex, so really the only preparation we had to do was decide on a name. I told Jason if it was a girl, I was naming her, but if it was a boy he could name him. BAD decision on my part. We went back and forth on several names; I guess I should have been thankful we had it narrowed down, however; I still wasn't satisfied. We went from having a KNUCKLE to a NO NAME LANG. One day Phoenix came to me. Don't ask me from where-I'm still not sure. I sent Jason a text asking what he thought of it. To my surprise, his text back was that he loved it. Finally, NO NAME LANG had a name. Phoenix Michael Lang was now residing in my belly.
DELIVERY DAY: As time got closer and I got bigger (yes, I gained close to 90 lbs.), my doctor and I finally started discussing an induction date. With her going out of town the first week of July, she gave us the option of June 29th or 30th. We decided to go with the 29th so Phoenix would have his very own day. Our anniversary is the 30th. We later came to find out that they cancelled all inductions for the 30th, so we would have been in big trouble had we picked that day. Isn't funny how God works everything out! We arrived at the hospital at 5:00 that morning. I was told I would arrive, get checked in, IV's started and then they would break my water by 5:30. Well, all that started happening and we were soo ready for Phoenix to get here. My dad came by the hospital about 5:30 and stayed for a bit before heading to the restaurant. It was nice to have him there. They did some blood work to check my platelets before breaking my water. Once the results came back and my levels were high enough, my water was broken and the pitocin was started. Before that, I was about 2 cm. After breaking my water, I was 3. The contractions started and I was not happy. They hurt. They came every 1-2 minutes and they came strong. There was no easing into them. I opted to go ahead and get the epidural at this point. I was checked again and I was 4. Then we waited. My mom finally arrived, as well as my sister and my 4 sweet nieces. It was nice to see their faces. They checked me again. Low and behold, I was ready to push. Within an hour I went from 4 to 10. This was happening a lot faster than anyone had anticipated (I guess thats why the contractions were soo close and strong). My sister was still there (with the 4 girls), along with my mother. My mother stayed in the room with Jason and I while I was pushing. About 5 minutes before his grand entrance, she went in the hall and allowed my sister to come in. She took all the pictures and videotaped the whole thing. All and all, I think I pushed around an hour or so and we finally had our precious Phoenix. He arrived at 1:36pm, weighing in at 8 lbs 8 oz. and 21 1/2 inches long. He was PERFECT.
We had lots of family and friends visit while we were in the hospital. We truly are blessed. We had very special appearances from Jason's brother and his girlfriend all the way from Iowa. His Aunt and her daughter also came to meet Phoenix. They are from Missouri.
Month 1: This month was pretty uneventful. We spent our days at home, other than a visit to the doctor. Jason's family stayed with us for about a week. It was great having them here to witness such a blessed time in our lives. Phoenix was a very easy baby. My sister Michele and her two boys also came to visit from Michigan. My brother made it as well from California. His Grandpa Bill and Grandma Tara also came to visit. He slept for stretches of about 4-6 hours and he ate like a champ. He only cried if he was hungry or sleepy. He truly was such an easy baby. He made his first outing to M & M and attended his first birthday party. This was also the first time I left him-at my sisters while I went and had my hair done. He attended another birthday party at Davenports. We also went over to ReRe's to play. Phoenix was also Churched on the 24th. My sister and brother were both in town to witness this special event in his life!
His Stats:
Week 1: 8.5 lbs, 20 3/4"
1 Month: 11.8 lbs, 22"
Month 2: Phoenix giggled for the first time. The sound of me whistling brought it on. He loves when you whistle to him. He wore his first pair of shoes and attended yet another birthday party! He took his first nap in his big boy crib and moved from sleeping in a swaddle to a sleep sac. He was also still holding his head up unassisted and grasped his first object.
His Stats:
2 Month: 14.7 lbs, 23 7/8"
Month 3: This month was filled with lots of "fun" stuff. Phoenix got his first cold this month. He also started having more trouble with his breathing. He was a happy reflux baby, meaning he had reflux, but it didn't seem to bother him. Therefore, we opted the no medicine route. However, this month, the reflux started really affecting his breathing. I took him in for x-rays of his chest. We also started medicine to help control the reflux. We hoped this would allow the reflux to come up instead of blocking his airway, causing him to gasp for air. It was soo scary when he would start gasping, and we felt so helpless. We prayed the medicine would fix this issue. The medicine didn't help and within a week we were back at the doctor. This time we tried 2 different meds. Again, Phoenix is quite the social butterfly attending yet another birthday party! He also started sleeping through the night, had his first sleepover guest, shook his rattle, and started putting himself to sleep.
His Stats:
3 Month: Approximately 16 lbs.
Month 4: We took our first family trip to the mall. Phoenix also grabbed and held on to a toy. He began sitting alone this month as well. We were blessed enough to hear his first laugh. We had our first roll from tummy to back, as well as having spent some time in the exersaucer. This was a big month for our family as Phoenix was Baptized into Christ on October 1, 2011. What a blessed day. He was such a good boy during the whole event and even stayed awake to celebrate at his party afterwards! We were soo proud of our baby boy! Phoenix also had his first "bump in the road." Seeing that I still have nightmares about it, I'll leave it at that. Phoenix was also able to celebrate Halloween. Although we didn't trick-or-treat, we did carve pumpkins! This was also a very exciting month, in that Phoenix's grandparents and Aunt came to visit from Iowa. He got soo much loving while they were here! We also took our first vacation to Pigeon Forge, Tn. with them. It was such a special time for our family and the memories will last us a lifetime!
His Stats:
4 Month: 17.9 lbs., 26 1/4"
Month 5: This month was a big one for Phoenix. Daddy went on a hunting trip, so I took it upon myself to move Phoenix upstairs to his big boy crib (we finally got the gasping for breathe issue under control). Daddy fought with me when he returned home to find his baby sleeping in his own room. However, I won that battle! He did great the first night-sleeping through the night! I was soo proud of my big boy! Phoenix also began really sitting my himself this month and even mastered rolling from back to front! Our baby is getting so big! Unfortunately, we also experienced our first ear infection this month. However, Phoenix was a trooper and showed no signs of pain other than the 102-103 fever he was running. We also celebrated Thanksgiving this month with family.
His Stats:
5 Months: Approximately 18 lbs.
Month 6: This month was filled with lots of holiday fun! Uncle Michael came to visit again and we loved having him here! Phoenix got to experience Santa at the Bass Pro Shop and he didn't seem to mind him one bit. We had our annual St. Nicholas program at church and Phoenix loved seeing Daddy as St. Nick. He also enjoyed the evening with apples and icing! Phoenix started eating food this month. We have tried bananas, avacados, prunes and applesauce. We have yet to find something this boy won't eat. He is just like his daddy is soo many ways! Unfortunately, Phoenix also got hives this month. We are thinking from the antibiotic from the ear infection, but until he tries the medicine again, we won't know for sure. Phoenix loved Christmas-the presents, the family, church, everything! It was such a special year for us. We also had more visitors-Phoenix's Grandpa Bill and Grandma Tara came to visit! Big News: Phoenix got his first tooth on his 6 month birthday!
His Stats:
6 Month: 19.3 lbs., 28"
Okay, I tried to be brief. Not sure it worked out so well. However, Phoenix had a wonderful first six months of life and we are truly more in love with each passing day. He has been such a happy baby. We also tell each other how blessed we are. We wouldn't change a thing about the past 6 months.
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