Connor!

Connor James Zwickl

7: 48 am, October 10, 2008

7 lbs 15 oz, 19 3/4"

Sorry it's taken so long to get some pictures up, but it's hard being a new mom! :) So let me catch you up...

We checked in to the hospital on Thursday, the 9th, at 10:30 pm. The nurse started the induction process, and Andrew and I were settled down to sleep a little after midnight. As we were warned, we didn't get much sleep (and the chair that "turns into" a bed that Andrew slept on was pretty uncomfortable for him!). About 6:30 am, the nurse came in to tell us that we were going to have to do a C-section, since our baby didn't like any of my contractions, and his heart rate would go down after each one. Since they were early contractions, and not too strong yet, they didn't think that he'd do well with labor. So, Dr. Cheng was on her way in. We frantically started the phone tree off, and let people know that it was go time. I was really unprepared for the C-section, and a little scared, but it all went really smoothly. Because of the short notice, I didn't get to see anyone before I went into the operating room. Long story short, Connor was born at 7:48 am, and it was so reassuring to hear his little lungs let out that first wail! And our beautiful baby boy is the spitting image of Andrew. :) Andrew was with me for the first part, but then followed Connor when he left to go to the nursery. I ended up falling asleep shortly after I got to hold Connor, so I kinda lost touch on the timing. I do remember waking up as they were done sewing me up, and I asked them to make sure they didn't have any extra parts leftover!

Doctor Andrew - ready to go into surgery!

Our First Family Photo

Daddy and Auntie Brittany in the nursery

Connor - with his arms up, the way he likes it!

Auntie Elizabeth, Nana, and Auntie Maria

Apparently, it was quite a while before I came out of the recovery room, but as I mentioned earlier, I had really no concept of time. It all happened quite quickly on my end, but I guess we can blame the drugs! :) Mom did "sneak" into the recovery room to make sure I was okay. Andrew hadn't told anyone Connor's name - and we didn't really have a chance to confirm with each other that we were going with Connor James until we were in the recovery room, anyway (we were still kicking around other middle names). But eventually, we were in our own room, and Connor was brought back, and the free for all to hold him began!! We had a lot of visitors over the days we were there!

Mommy and Connor

Connor, Mommy and Daddy

The Paparazzi

Connor and Jiaji Peter (Polish for "Grandfather")

Connor and Nana

Connor and Grandpa Ron

Auntie Maria and Connor

Auntie Shannon and Connor

Mommy, Ella, Connor, and Auntie Brittany

Mommy, Auntie Brittany, and Connor

Connor and Geri

Auntie Brittany and Ella - who needs to see everything that's going on!

Auntie Shannon, Mommy, Connor, and Auntie Maria

Uncle Scott, Daddy, and Connor

Andrew stayed at the hospital pretty much the whole time, although he did make it to the Bronco's game on Sunday ('cause I'm the best wife in the world! Although it would have been nicer had they actually won!), and he went to class on Monday. But he did manage to "relax" on the dad bed. :)

Daddy and Connor on the chair bed

We ended up spending five days at the hospital, much longer than we expected, especially since we hadn't planned on the C-section. But we left with a healthy baby, so there's not much else we could ask for! :) We did try to leave on Monday, since they'd given me the okay, and took out the staples, but we had a bit of a set back when they came in and said Connor wasn't able to leave. His weight had gotten down to 7 lbs 2 oz. Most babies lose weight after they're born, but because Connor had lost more than 10% of his body weight, he wasn't going to be able to leave. Most of the problem was because I was nursing, and my milk hadn't come in yet. So, after many tears (mine!), we stayed another day and supplemented with some formula. We were able to get Connor's weight up to 7 lbs 4.5 oz on Tuesday, so we were all able to go home! Both Andrew and I were excited to get back to our house and sleep in our own bed!

Going Home!

On the way to the car

The Thursday after we got home, Whitney, Lorelei, Brittany, and Ella all came over, and we got to catch up, since Whitney was in town for a couple of days. She also brought dinner, which was awesome - since making dinner wasn't a top concern for Andrew and me!

Heather and Connor, Brittany and Ella, and Whitney and Lorelei

We've taken a couple more pictures of Connor over the last couple days. And I'm sure we'll have more, especially since there are so many "big" days coming up!! :) The holiday's are my favorite time of year! :)

Connor's Tummy Time

Connor in his swing - which he loves!

We getting used to the different little noises he makes, and we're completely smitten with our baby. We've got about a half a dozen different little nicknames we call him. He's just so sweet! And we can't wait to see what he does each day. He's over 8 lbs now, so he's growing and getting bigger. Each time we go to the doctor's for his check ups, they're surprised at how strong he is (it must be because we watched Ahr-nold so many times while I was pregnant with him!).

That's it for now... I'll try to keep the updates on baby Connor frequent for you all! :) Have a Happy Halloween!!

Introducing Connor James Zwickl

At last, we have a baby boy! :) We'd like to announce our new arrival, Connor James Zwickl. Connor was born on Friday, October 10th, at 7:48 am. He was 7 lbs, 15 oz, and 19 3/4".

Mom, Dad, and baby all doing fine, and hope to be home from the hospital tomorrow. We should be able to get pictures up soon!! We'll also get all of those details out for you, as well!

Due Date

Well, it's October 6th, and there's no baby on the horizon! So we're still waiting for him to make his appearance. We had our doctor's appointment today, and I am still at about the same almost one centimeter. But everything is going well - the baby's heartbeat was 140 today, and he's been unusually active. We have scheduled the baby to be induced on Friday, October 10th. The doctor says that we could wait longer, but we really don't need to, since it seems that the best estimates are that we've got an 8 1/2 lbs baby in there! Whew! But we're managing to stay busy, of course!

Andrew's Birthday!
Andrew celebrated his 28th birthday over the weekend, which was pretty exciting. Friday, we had a nice dinner with Ron, Judy, Adam, Jamie and Ellen at Mt. Vernon. We had some yummy crab and prime rib (well, I didn't have the Prime Rib, but everyone else did!). We also celebrated Ron's birthday, since it's on Wednesday (early October seems to be a popular time for these Zwickl babies!).

On Saturday, we went to Casa Bonita with a group of over 20 people, including several newbies! Andrew was hoping that the "delicious" Mexican food and the atmosphere would help the baby to come join us. It almost worked, because I did have a couple serious contractions on the way home, but there were only four, at four-minutes apart, and then they stopped (at the time, I was happy because they hurt!!). Before we left, we did get a cute picture of Andrew and I in front of the fountain (and yes, he's actually smiling!!), but my camera cord doesn't fit my camera, so I can't upload it until I go to my parents again, since my mom's cord works.

Okay - here are the pictures at the fountain. :)





On Sunday, Andrew's actual birthday, he did exactly what he wanted - and watched football all day. :) The Bronco's won, but he didn't do so well in his football pools. We ended the weekend with dinner at Outback with my parents, Maria, Jeremy, and Shannon. Andrew did have some more homework to do, but he managed to get it mostly done before we went to bed.

Overall, we had a nice birthday weekend - lots of relaxing for the chaos that we know will come with the baby!!

Thursday Plans
My last day at work will be Wednesday (I can't wait!!), so I'm going to be able to spend Thursday at home, getting anything last minute ready that we need to, and resting (I'm really looking forward to sleeping in!). Andrew will go to work, and then we've got a softball game at 7:50, and then afterwards, we'll "check in" to the hospital at 10pm - and I've been told that we probably won't be able to sleep much. We'll see how that goes! So hopefully, some time Friday morning or early afternoon (at the latest!), we'll have our brand new baby. :)

Five Days?!

So it's getting down to crunch time. We're getting really close to having the baby - or at least I hope!

I'm still at work - and planning to continue to do so right up until the baby is born (hopefully, I'll avoid going into labor there, even though the girls are hoping to use it as an opportunity to not work!). I'm trying to drink water constantly and keep my feet up as much as possible, too, since my ankles and feet have suddenly started to swell (which is new for me!). My sneakers are kind of tight, so I'm happy that we're still having good weather so that I can wear my sandals and flip flops! :)

I haven't had a chance to get pictures of the baby shower - or other recent events - uploaded on the computer, so I'll add that to the list of things I'd like to get done this weekend. Since the weekend seems pretty packed, chances are supposedly good that we'll have this baby soon! Everyone keeps telling us to make plans, since that's when he'll make his appearance.

I am having some contractions - or at least I think they're contractions. Basically, just super sharp pains, but they're one or two or three, and not really something worth timing. The Braxton Hicks contractions are weird, and I can feel that the baby isn't moving as much as he did before - though he still definitely manages to find space to push out at mommy and kick. Two weeks ago, when we were at the doctor's office for a normal check up, he had the hiccups, and the doctor's assistant had to just give up on trying to get an accurate heartbeat since he kept moving. It was funny. :) After two weeks solid of being not dilated at all, we got the "good" news on Monday that I was almost one centimeter dilated.

We also did tentatively plan to induce if the baby doesn't come soon - so, it looks like if he doesn't pick his own day, we'll go with 10/10, which my doctor says is a good birthday. :) So it's a little weird to think that in only a few more days, Andrew and I will be parents. I'm anxious to meet the little guy and see what he looks like. We've got this informal contest about who's going to have the biggest baby - between Ella (who was 7 lbs 2 oz), our baby, and Venessa's baby (who's due mid-December). Dr. Cheng guessed that the baby was already 7 lbs two weeks ago, so Andrew's pretty confident we've got this one in the bag (there goes my hope for a nice little baby!).