Long time, no post

Ok...so I know I said I wasn't going to slack anymore and I'd keep the blog updated. Hmmm...guess I was wrong about that one! I honestly forgot how when you have a newborn around, time flies by throughout the day and you are ridiculously exhausted by the time you have a few minutes to yourself in the evening! And to think...Jacob even sleeps during the day...how did I EVER get anything done when Andrew was an infant?

That brings me to today's post...hopefully pictures will come tomorrow! Anyone who knows anything about Andrew as a baby, knows that we fully relied on a product called "Miracle Blanket" in order to get a few hours (sometimes even minutes!) of sleep when he was an infant. We became so addicted to the Miracle Blanket, that we used it up until the day that our pediatrician told us we absolutely could not use it any longer, as Andrew was just too big for it. I guess at some point, you have to let your children move their arms and legs when sleeping. If you ask me, I think it's overrated! Before giving up the MB, we actually thought about having Derek's mom make a larger sized one, but decided it was probably not in the best interest of our child and his growth. So, we reluctantly gave up the coveted MB, worked our way through some rough nights, and eventually we had ourselves a MB-less sleeper.

So, at about 36 weeks pregnant, I made my way to Buy Buy Baby to purchase a MB for Baby Banocy #2. Of course, I had to buy cream colored, because we didn't know if we were having a Sophie or a Jacob. Jacob has proven to be a good little baby...doing just what he's supposed to do...eat, poop, sleep and cry. However, I must confess, Jacob is now 3 weeks old (I can hardly believe it!) and has been sleeping in his car seat every night. He much preferred this, to the Pack-n-Play, in which he would only stay asleep for brief amounts of time. Since the pediatrician told us this was perfectly normal (and ok) for newborns, we decided to stick with it. Hey, whatver you can do to get some sleep, right! Well, we decided last night, to give the good ol' MB a whirl and it has once again lived up to its name. It truly is a MIRACLE blanket! Jacob slept for a 5 hour stretch, woke up to eat and then slept for another 4 hours!!! So, for those of you who want to check out this MIRACLE, you can find it at http://www.miracleblanket.com/ or your local Buy Buy Baby. I must warn you...you will feel like you are turning your baby into a burrito when you are wrapping him/her for the first time...don't worry, once your child sleeps well at night, you will feel no guilt about this! Here's to making MIRACLES happen!

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Our package has arrived via Standard Overnight Delivery

Ten hours after my water broke, Jacob Ellis Banocy pushed (well, actually I did most of the pushing) his way into the world. He made his grand entrance at 6:47am, on Saturday, June 14, 2008. Here is the tracking of our little bundle of joy…delivered via standard overnight delivery...

Friday, June 13 (note…Friday the 13th!)

8pm...
After enjoying a nice dinner date at Café Asia in Rosslyn, Derek signed the bill and we stood up from the table. I looked at Derek, with a grin from ear to ear and laughter arising, and said “Ummm, Derek. My water just broke. I need to go right to the bathroom.” I honestly had no idea what to do, since I had not experienced this when pregnant with Andrew. I sat down on the toilet and just laughed, as this fluid poured from my body.

Some of the thoughts running through my mind were:
“Are you kidding me! This is supposed to be our date night.”
“Ok, so they were right. I would know if my water broke. Well, either that or I’m experiencing extreme incontinence.”
“So, what do I do now.”

After realizing it would not be a good idea to sit in the bathroom of Café Asia any longer, I tried calling Derek from my cell, to tell him to get the car and meet me out front. Well, can you believe I didn’t have cell service in the bathroom! I decided to stick a wad of TP in my pants and hope for the best. Anyone reading this who has experienced the breaking of your water, you are probably laughing right now, because you know that this wad of TP was not going to do a darn thing! I soon found that out :)

We made our way to the car, laughing, as my pants continued to become soaked and this lovely fluid made its way down my legs. Luck would have it, that I had a towel in the car...how handy! We called the doc, headed home to get our hospital bag and then headed to the hospital.

9pm...and beyond...

We arrived at the hospital and made our way through registration, to Labor and Delivery. I was checked and was only 2 cm dialated. After several hours, I still was not dialating enough, so I was started on pitocin, to help increase contractions and dialate more. How ironic...here I'd been taking meds to stop contractions and pre-term labor...and now, my water breaks and I NEED something to get the contractions going!!! Can we say stubborn baby?!?! I'll spare you the details of the next several hours, but let's just say, it was a LONG night!

Saturday, June 14th

6:30am...
My contractions became very strong and the epidural just wasn't doing it's job anymore. I also felt that if I moved, the baby would literally fall out of me. I let the nurse know and she paged the doc.

6:40am...the final push...
After hours of laboring, I was now 10cm dialated and the baby was low and ready. It only took 3 series of 3 pushes each and Jacob was here! He weighed in at 8lbs. 4 oz. and measured 20 3/4 inches in length. Derek and I were both a bit shocked to hear the words "It's a boy!", since we were both convinced this was going to be a girl. After recovering from the shock (all of about 2 seconds) we decided on the name of our newest addition, Jacob Ellis Banocy.

Jacob - just a name we both like
Ellis - in memory and honor of Derek's grandma, Elsie

It's now Monday night and we are home from the hospital. Andrew is slowly adjusting to being a big brother. Funny note - he said he doesn't like the name we chose, and he has decided to nickname his little brother, JJ.

I should really be sleeping right now, since Jacob is doing just that. I know it is only a matter of time before my presence will be requested from him :)

I will try to keep up to date on the postings, but for now, enjoy the pics...

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I've thinned out...

...well, at least my cervix has :)

Report from the 38 week doc appointment...I'm now 75% effaced. A little education, for those of you who may not know (aka, my single friends or those w/o child)...it means that my cervix has thinned out even more, which is necessary to move forward toward childbirth. For more graphic details, simply google "effacement of cervix" and click on "images"...you'll find more than you ever wanted to know about childbirth!

I am still just 1cm dialated, but that was somewhat expected. Not that one pregnancy is any indication of another, but with Andrew, I remained 1cm until just days before giving birth, when I progressed to 2cm.

So, while I have a feeling it will be quite a while before I myself "thin out", at least I know that some part of my body is progressing in that direction. Wouldn't it be great if the thinning out process starts with my cervix, and then immediately following childbirth, makes its way to my stomach, and then moves right on up to my chest. That would be fantastic, but something tells me it's not likely to happen that way! I can honestly say, I am not looking forward to having boobs the size of hams! Guess that's one of the small (well, big!) prices we pay, to bring a beautiful baby into the world.

The doc estimated the baby's current weight to be somewhere between 7-7 1/2 pounds. Keep in mind this little nugget still has the potential to gain half a pound each week he/she decides to remain inside my waterworld. So, if I go full term (2 more weeks), it could possibly be a 8-8 1/2 pound baby. Side note...Andrew was 8lbs 6 oz, born at 40 weeks and 4 days.

Here's an idea of what the baby looks like now. If you ask me, I think she looks just like her mommy ;). No, that's not an indication that we found out the sex...just my own premonition.

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