Months 3 and 4

Will is now 4 months old and the time just keeps flying by! My daily routine consists of all-things Will, and although it is frustrating at times (tired anyone?), I wouldn't want it any other way:) Will brings so much joy and happiness to our lives it's sometimes hard to think that he wasn't always here.

Will didn't have a check-up at 3 months but he did have his circumcision done at that time. This was a torturous experience for both he and I and if I could go back in time I probably would not have had it done. Needless to say, there is nothing I can do about it now. Anyways, Will was weighed before his procedure and he weighed 14 lbs 2 oz(48th percentile).

At 3 months Will could:
*Hold his head up all on his own
Roll from tummy to back in both directions (I still don't think he can make himself do this, it's just more a result of propping himself up and looking around)
Sit in his exersaucer (he didn't really play with any of the gadgets at this point)
Drink 7 oz bottles every 3 hours (and he's only in the 48th percentile? I'm just as shocked as you)
Stare at Chris and I as we ate and make chewing movements with his mouth
Smile and interact with others
Make more and more sounds
Suck on his hands/fingers
Play with his tongue
Grab at things
take 4-40 minute naps throughout the day

Took Will swimming for the first time at 3 months and he liked it. The water was kind of cold and he didn't splash or anything but he was alert and aware the entire time. And when I put him on his tummy he would kick his legs and laugh at me as I commentated about him winning an Olympic race:)

At Will's 4 month check-up his stats were as follows:
Height-26.5" (93%)
Weight-15lbs 14oz (17%)
Head circumference-42.25cm (49%)

At 4 months Will can:
*sit up on his own for short periods of time (he usually falls to the side in attempt to reach for something)
Squeal, scream, and talk really loud
Drink 8 oz bottles every 3 hours
Eat oatmeal cereal once every few days and try occasional things mommy and daddy give him:)
ALMOST roll from back to tummy! He arches and bends and reaches but his hands get in the way because they're always in his mouth:)
Push off his legs when he's on his tummy which sometimes moves him forward or backward
support his whole body weight when standing on his legs (the pediatrician was impressed)
Actually play with the toys in his exersaucer and is learning the cause-and-effect of pushing this or hitting that
Grab things and pass them back and forth between his hands
Laugh when he is tickled just under his neck:)
Reaches for and sucks on his feet (I hope that isn't a habit he intends to keep)
Takes 3-4 naps during the day, the first one is usually 1-1.5 hours and the rest are about 40 minutes


Got his immunizations at 4 month appt;didn't cry after the first shot but did after the second:(

He loves looking in the mirror and gets super excited at his reflection, he loves being outside(especially the trees), baths, white noise, diaper changes, being sung to at nap or bed time, being read to to talked to, watching football (or really anything on the tv...that's bad, huh?), car rides/stroller rides

Doesn't like having his face covered by anything, doesn't like to be ignored???, Getting dressed, being scared, solids (so far, but we're not giving up), being strapped into the car seat,

Beach Vacation and Hansen Family Time

Chris and I were able to go to North Carolina at the beginning of August and vacation at the beach with the Hansen family. It was sort of a last-minute decision but it is one we will never forget! To start off, the drive to NC is approximately 10 hours. It took us 15 hours to get there...yes, 15. I hate traveling in the car but this drive was more than eventful. The morning we were set to leave, Colton throws up. Landon is complaining about feeling sick too. But we don't let getting a late start deter us. We pack into the Odyssey and the Pilot and set out on our venture. The GPS takes us down dirt and gravel roads which we know aren't necessary (dang GPS) and once we find paved roads Mike hits a vulture with his van. We only know this because we see it bounce off of his windshield from behind in the Pilot. After that, Landon says he needs to throw up. Luckily we had the foresight to take an empty gallon ice cream bucket in each car for such an incident. We have to pull over to toss the puke and where is the nearest pull off? A cemetery. Jenny feels really bad about tossing the puke-filled bucket onto someone's grave but better than the side of the road, right?

We continue on, laughing about our misfortunes so far. Little did we know this was only the beginning. The following events occurred:

#Landon threw up again
#Colton has to go #2, not a side-of-the-road thing
#William has a poopy diaper
#Lydia threw up (not in the bucket mind you so this was an hour long stop for clean up)
#Landon has to go pee and Chris doesn't believe in pulling over so we pass back an empty Gatorade bottle. Landon proceeds to pee with the bottle tipped upward and I frantically correct him. Only 2 drops got on the floor:)
#William has another poopy diaper (4 in total that day)

Practically every child and nearly every adult became sick on the trip which was unfortunate and Chris and I got sunburned on the very first day but we all still managed to have a great time. The drive home wasn't nearly as eventful but it still took us a good 12.5 hours just for gas and bathroom breaks. Chris still doesn't believe in road-side bathroom stops.

William loved his first trip to the ocean (lucky little guy) and Chris and I enjoyed the time with family. So many more fun and enjoyable things happened while we were with family but with a 4 month old it's hard to find time to write it all down:)

P.S. Don't mind our awful pictures--we were having a "care-free" vacation:)

At the pier

On the beach:)

Will with cousin Olivia

2 Months

Will is 2 months old, can you believe it? He is the cutest baby ever & Chris & I are so blessed to have this little boy as ours. We've had our rough patches with fussiness but Will really is a good baby. He's changed so much since he was born & we love being able to see him progress & develop his own personality!

Will's stats at 2 months
11 lbs 14 oz (52%)
24 in (84%):)
40 cm head circumference (48%)

As of 2 months Will can:
*Smile
*Coo (he makes about 4 different noises)
*Hold his head up while on his stomach & most of the time when he's sitting upright
*Briefly stand on his legs when he is being held up
*Drink 6 oz bottles practically every time they are offered
*Roll from tummy to back (he's done this 3 times but it's definitely not a controlled thing yet)
*Turn towards voices, sounds, & light
*Recognize mommy & daddy (he wasn't too sure about the nurses at his check up)
*Sleep a 6 hour stretch at night (and sometimes a 4 hour stretch after that)
*Entertain himself in the bouncer or on his rag quilt for a few 15-20 minute stretches throughout the day (mommy is really grateful for this)

And since I know you really visited this blog to see pictures of Will, here he is!

July 4th

Family pictures--Chris was none too thrilled about this idea:)

Glad he was so happy after getting his 2 month shots!

After going to dinner with mommy and daddy to celebrate their anniversary

My precious sleeping baby boy

These next pictures are from his blessing at the end of June so they're quite a bit older but he is so cute I just couldn't resist:)

Daddy

Chris is a great husband, he really is. He is so much better than me on a number of levels & his personality is exactly what my personality needs. But Chris is a SUPERB father to Will. Here are a few things about Chris as a dad so far:

*Will's birth was the "ok" to open his matchbox collection of luxury & exotic cars

*While in the hospital, Chris showed Will every car picture on his phone. He told Will the make & model of each car as well as which were his favorites. At one point, Will started fussing & it just so happened to be on the picture of a British made car. Chris simply told Will that he didn't care much for that British made car either:)



*When I come down the stairs, I often hear Chris telling Will to pretend like he's asleep cause mommy is coming

*One day when I was upstairs I heard Chris hollar up "Nicole, come down quick! Will's body parts are falling off!" Will's umbilical stump had fallen off:)

*One time I was changing Will and the wipie got stuck to the sticky tab of the diaper and while I was trying to get it unstuck Will started peeing. Chris was lying on the floor next to us and was the receiver of the shower. This resulted in Will's first official bath. I still laugh when I think back on the experience but Chris doesn't think it's funny at all.


*Even though Will doesn't interact much with us yet, Chris still plays with him and teases him

*Chris sings "Will's sexy and he knows it" and has started making a movie of Will to that music

*Chris takes Will whenever I ask him to and he won't do anything if it makes Will cry. If Will doesn't want Chris to sit, then Chris paces around the apartment, sometimes for an hour or more. If Will likes being rocked in the rocking chair, Chris rocks him until he just can't rock anymore.

*Chris talks to Will about his future and what he will and won't allow him to do or like or become. I love listening in to these conversations:)



*Chris has done all of the cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc. all while working overtime at Honda. He also puts up with my complaining and bad attitude when the occasion calls for it.

As you can see, Chris loves having Will lay on his stomach and I think it is the cutest thing ever (and a great photo opportunity)! I am so grateful to have Chris as my husband and even more grateful that he is the father of my precious baby boy. Will and I love you Christopher!

The Birth

So labor & delivery didn't go quite like I planned, but then again, whose does? I was scheduled for a c-section on May 25th because Will had been breech since 34 weeks & there was little chance of him flipping. My ob/gyn didn't bother checking me at my last 3 appointments because Will was head up, breech, & riding high so naturally she thought nothing would happen on its own.

I won't go into gory details about anything because although I don't mind hearing about those kinds of things (biology grad here), I know lots of people would be totally grossed out. Suffice it to say things started happening the weekend before my scheduled c-section & Tuesday morning (the 22nd) I woke up at 3:30am with pretty intense pain. I had been having minor contractions on & off for weeks but this was definitely different & my suspicions were verified when the pain came 10 minutes later, and then again 10 minutes later. This happened for over an hour & I was pretty sure these were real labor contractions. Chris was going into work early that morning so he was up at about 4:30am. I told him I'd been having contractions but that they were far apart so to go to work but keep an eye on his phone just in case. He kissed me goodbye like always & since I couldn't sleep because of the pain I decided to finish packing for the hospital, shower, & get some things done around the house. I didn't eat or drink anything though because I knew with a scheduled c-section I wasn't supposed to eat or drink after midnight & I wanted to be on the safe side.

After a few hours the contractions were becoming more erratic--some 4 minutes apart & some up to 15 minutes apart--so I decided to call my doctor's office to see what I should do. I hadn't discussed with my ob/gyn about what to do if I went into labor because neither of us thought I would. Well, their offices didn't open until 8:30am & all I got was a recording so I called the hospital. They said to wait until 8:30am to talk with my doctor since my baby was breech. Figures. So I waited & it was really hard to not eat or drink anything since I was just trying to pass the time until my ob/gyn's offices opened!

Once 8:30am rolled around I called my doctor's office & left a message. A nurse called me back, asked me a few questions, & told me she'd like me to go into the hospital to get checked out. At this point my contractions were coming about every 6-7 minutes so it made sense but I didn't want to go into the hospital. First of all, the hospital was about 40 minutes away & I didn't want to waste my time driving all the way there just to have them send me back home if I wasn't really in labor. Second, they told me I couldn't drive myself so that meant calling Chris to come get me & I didn't want him to take off work if nothing serious was happening. So what did I do? I called my mom:) She said to call Chris. If these contractions were a fluke & I wasn't in real labor & dragged Chris out of work for nothing, then so be it. It was better than not calling Chris & later realizing I really was in labor.

So I called Chris. Half-hour later my mom called to see if Chris was on his way home yet. Nope. Chris hadn't called me back. So much for checking his phone often:) So I did the next best thing, I emailed Chris. This got his attention & he replied within minutes telling me he was on his way home. When Chris got home I was curling my hair & he thought that was odd but I told him I didn't think I was allowed to wear makeup or contacts so I wanted some part of me to look "ready". While I was taking my time getting "ready", Chris was throwing things in a duffle bag & putting things in the car & running around like a mad man getting ready to go to the hospital. I saw what I assumed to be a little bit of panic in my normally stoic husband & I love him all the more for it:)

On the way to the hospital I sent out a text to a few family members telling them we were on our way to the hospital, but weren't sure what all was going to happen & that we'd keep them updated. We checked into the hospital a little after 11am & they set me up on monitors to check my heart rate, Will's heart rate, etc. Chris just sat there, bored as heck, while we waited to see if we were going to be sent home or not. Finally we got some news: they were going to wisk me away for a c-section. Seriously?! While being monitored, they assessed that my contractions were now 2-3 minutes apart & they didn't want me to labor anymore since I was going to have to have a c-section. They gave me something to stop my contractions & didn't wait for any blood work to come back before they started prepping me.

Before I knew it, I was walking into the OR. Things were happening so fast & I could hardly get my bearings. I had been worried they would send me home because I wasn't in real labor & here I was in the OR, minutes away from surgery. Once my ob/gyn walked into the room I broke down & cried. I was also feeling the burn of the spinal at the time, but let's blame the crying on my feelings of being overwhelmed since I consider myself to have a fairly high tolerance to pain. Once Chris arrived, I felt so much better. The crying pretty much didn't stop until after Will was born, but knowing Chris was there made me feel more at ease.

At one point before the surgery, my ob/gyn showed me a pair of tong-like instruments & informed me that she had just pinched me really hard with them. It was at this point that she said I was ready for the procedure. Gee, thanks. During the whole 5 minutes or so it took to get Will out my ob/gyn kept a running commentary & I really appreciated it. Chris reiterated what she said as well & I was so grateful to be informed every step of the way. I was really surprised that Chris actually peeked over the curtain to see them pull Will out & snap a few pictures. He had always joked that he didn't even want to be there because the whole idea grossed him out. I was so proud of my hubby!

I remember the first cry. I remember the look on Chris's face. I remember the first time I saw my baby boy. I hope I never forget. I remember when I held him, thinking this whole thing was so surreal. How was it possible that I was holding my baby? It was a beautiful & wonderful experience.

Without further ado...


William Christopher Hansen
9lb 11oz
21" long
12:55pm

New Picture, New Car

36 Weeks

Here is a picture at 36 weeks. I feel so big and uncoordinated and just about every part of me is swollen (see Natalie, it did happen:)) As of today we have exactly one month until our little William Christopher is due but I'm hoping I don't have to wait that long! And according to my mom, I won't. She is wagering my little one will arrive on Mother's Day and I would be perfectly fine with that:)
I now have weekly doctor's appointments and am getting anxious about being ready for our little guy. I feel like there is so much to do and not enough time to do it! I am also starting to feel a little nervous about both labor/delivery and the fact that I'm going to me a mom...A MOM! I've taken care of siblings and babysat on so many occasions that I couldn't even begin to count up, yet the idea that this is my baby--my responsibility wholly (and Chris's too)--is overwhelming. So don't be at all surprised if my blog turns into an "I need advice" blog in the near future:)

The title also states that Chris and I got a new car so I should probably mention that or Chris would be thoroughly disappointed. We actually won the car in an online poker tournament and are now worried about paying the taxes on it...............totally kidding! Chris and I have been saving our pennies and dimes waiting for an opportunity to purchase a new vehicle. We both feel a lot better about toting around our baby in this new car and have been very pleased with it so far. We feel so blessed to have the job we have, the (new) car we have, the apartment we have, and to be bringing a baby into this world. Life is pretty darn good and it's all too easy for us to forget how fortunate we truly are. We know that we owe all of our blessings to our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ.

Exterior shot

Interior shot

Anywho, we will be sure to keep you all updated on baby news and hopefully you'll hear from us sooner rather than later:)

Baby Shower

So almost 3 weeks ago (I know, I'm a bad blogger) we had a baby shower for William! My mother-in-law and sisters-in-law threw the shower and the food was great and the games were fun! I appreciate them taking the time and effort to do it for Chris and I! And I'm so thankful for all those who attended and those who have given gifts! We definitely now feel more ready to have this baby! One game we played was the "guess how big around Nicole is" game and sad to say I surpassed my wildest guess (I was days away from being 32 weeks at the time of the shower)! Hopefully Will doesn't get too much bigger but I have the feeling he's a Hansen boy baby:) Anyways, here are lots of pictures of the event, so enjoy!

I love this!

Party favors and "Thank You" sign...thanks mom and Natalie :)

"Sweet William"

My mother-in-law and sister-in-law

Me and my pregnant sister-in-law

See my awesome rocking chair?!

The kids really liked helping open gifts :)

The rag quilt my mom made :)

Bear diaper bike...so cute!

Some of the guests

A picture at 33 weeks