Brayden Samuel Schanker Arrived on Januray 11th!

The Birth Story (no gory details, I promise)

Born: 1/11/2011Time: 4:32 amWeight: 8 pounds 6 ouncesLength: 21 inchesI was past my due date and scheduled for a induction on Jan12th since it seemed that Brayden just didn’t want to come on his own.  On Tues Jan 10th I started feeling contractions. I hadn’t felt any up to this point, so I didn’t think I was really in labor. I had an NST scheduled for that afternooon, and figured I’d find out what was going on then. The contractions started around 2pm, but were infrequent and not with consistency. Thinking I could be in labor I took the dog for a 45 minute walk then went to the DR. We did the U/S to check on him and he looked great. His estimated weight was 8.5 pounds which shocked us becuase I have not been showing much and only gained 19 pounds. We were thinking a 6 pound baby. After the U/S the DR checked me and I ws at 5cm. Since the contractions were very inconsistent I was sent to L&D for monitoring. Contractions were still sporadic while I was in bed and on the monitors, so they had me walk around and thats when things intensified and become consistent. At that point I was having them every 3-4 minutes and I was now at 6cm! So I was admitted.It was now 7pm ish and I knew I was in true labor. My plan was to see how far I could could go without the Epi. Being that I am very active, I was not interested in being stuck in a bed for many hours. So I used the ball and even got in the tub. Around 9ish things got really bad. As much as I was thinking I didn’t want an Epi I also realized with the time of day and the fact that I didn’t I really sleep the night before that if I didn’t have an Epi I wouldn’t be getting any rest that night. So after I got out of the tub I asked for the Epi. It turned out it was a good decision cause I really needed some rest. I slept from 10-2am off and on and Dave got to does to.  The nurse checked me around midnight and I was at 9-9.5 cm. At 2am the Dr showed up to break my water. And that is when pushing began. I was hoping this was going to be quick cause I was at +2. Well, I was wrong. Two hours later the L&D nurse decided that we may need some help and called the DR back in. We tried with some additional force but no luck. This guy was big! So then the DR decided the vacuum could really help. I agreed and we proceeded. In 2 more pushes he was out! It turned out that he was pretty big and had a big head so that was what caused the issues. The end result was that I had a 3rd degree tear tough! ouch! So after a very easy pregnancy I am now dealing with the discomfort of the tear. But very glad our little guy is here. We are so in love with him!!!

We spent the next 36 hours in the Mom and Baby area of the Birthing Center. I have to say our hosipital is pretty awesome. The baby stays in the room with you the entire time. They only leave for some testing, in which you can go with them. We loved having him with us all the time. We had a lot of help to, the nurses and lactation specialtists were willing to help you with anything  that you needed help with. They all knew about my tear to and were always trying to make sure I was comfortable band providing advice.

So we are home now, and enjoying our little guy. He is very healthy. He did lose almost 10% of his weight by the time we got home, but he is eating great now and gaining it back one day at a time.

I’m going to be checking out the new moms group at the hospital and I’m excited to meet other new moms in the area.

Its totally amazing how much you fall in love with your little one the moment you lay eyes on them. I honestly can’t get enough of him. I love just watching him , even if he is sleeping. I totally love his facial expressions to. I’m not sure who he really looks more lie at this point, but he does have my fingers and toes (the long lanky type). But I think he has Dave’s nose.

Almost 34 weeks

Yup. Can you believe it…this baby will be here before we know it! My 32 week appt went well, everything is looking good. Only issue is my weight. They aren’t even concerned about the baby, they are concerned about me. At 32 weeks I’ve only gained 12 pounds. Which is pretty far under the normal range. Last night, we toured the hospital. The baby center seemed pretty nice. I was happy to see the labor and delivery rooms are pretty large. The mom and baby rooms are pretty nice to. I really hate hospitals, so it’s nice that it doesn’t really feel like a hospital so much. Dave and I ran a 5k last weekend. I did about the same I’ve been doing for the last 6 weeks. Dave however ran awesome and did a PR. He also ran 3 minutes faster than he did at the last race. So, yup…he beat me by about 45 seconds! I was very proud of him. Not sure that we’ll do any more before the baby comes. But I’m so glad that I can still exercise and run. I’m not the type of person to sit around. So being able to still go to the gym is great. Plus everyone keeps telling me how labor will be so much easier that I exercised throughout the pregnancy. So only 6 more weeks! I can’t wait to meet baby Schanker!

Iceland Day 1

I’ve been meaning to blog about our trip since we got back, but just haven’t done it. I like to do this so I can look back and remember the trip. So here we go.

Day 1 – It was a Saturday when we left Colorado for the cool climate of Iceland. When we left here it was in the 70s and we were excited to get to a climate of 50s for 2 weeks. Our flight took off from Denver and went to NYC. We had a 6 hour layover and were determined to not camp out at the airport. So we took our bags to left luggage and got on the metro into the city. Neither of us were interested in the “touristy” stuff. Dave was raised in NYC and I grew up 4 hours south. So we kind felt like “been there done that” as far as NYC goes. Dave’s goal was NY pizza. So we got off the train in Greenwich village and walked until we found a place that looked good. After having our fill of pizza we just wandered until it was time to head back to the airport. Our flight left NYC at 11pm Saturday night. Delta had decided to stop service to Iceland and we were one of the last flights to go out there. Because of this there were less than 40 people on our flight! Awesome!  So once we were airborne I took my pillows and laid down in an empty row. The flight from NY to Iceland though is only 5 hours, so still not much sleep. We arrived at 9am on Sunday morning. Found our bus to get us into the city and went to our hotel. We stayed at centerehotel Thingholt. A really neat place to stay. ts right in the middle of the city and the rooms are very modern and comfortable. The breakfast rocked too. Our day in Reykjavik was spent wandering and seeing the sights. We had read in our tour book that you should eat at fish and Chips in the harbor. So that is where we headed for dinner. It was rather yummy. You got to choose your type of fish and the sides as well. We really lucked out on Sunday and had a great weather day. Temps were in the mid 50s and it was sunny. After dinner we wandered the main street with all the shops. But by 7pm I just couldn’t take it anymore. I told Dave I was beat and we headed back to our room. I immediately fell asleep and didn’t wake up until 7am the next morning.

My impressions of Reykjavik:

Small city

Friendly People

Not much crime – people will even leave their sleeping baby’s outside of stores while they shop

Overall I liked it, but I know I wouldn’t want to live there.

 

31 week Update

So at this point…I often wodner why some women “LOVE” being pregnant. My honest feelings..I can’t wait to have our little boy here but I honestly do not like being pregnant. Maybe if I were a bit more sedentary (sp?) it wouldn’t bother me so much. But it does. Plus I hate that I can’t eat much and I constalty feel horrible. I’ve had stomach issues for years and they just seem to be worse with a baby pushing on my stomach. I feel like I’m uncomfortable most of the day. I had my 30 week appt earlier this week. I had to see a different doctor this week. There are 4 doctors in the office and when your in the 3rd trimester they start to pass you around so you get to know the other doctors in the office. This doctor definalty didn’t seem very happy with my weight gain. But as normal, baby schanker is growing just fine. According to the scale I am up 11 pounds from my first appt. Yup, that is on the very low side, but it is what it is. I’m thankful they aren’t worred about the baby at all. I know I’ve always had a good metabolism and then there is the fact that I can’t seem to eat very much. They think I may reach the 20 pound mark by the time the baby is here, which is pretty low.This doctor thought someone like me should be more around 30 pounds.

Dave and I did run a 5k last weekend. It was the eerie Erie 5k. This time I was about 30 seconds slower than my last 5k. So I came in just over 30 minutes. We plan on doing one more in the next few weeks, but it’ll probably be my last one until the baby is born. I’m planning on working pretty much up until the baby is born, as I know being at home would drive me crazy. One of the downfalls of being someone who is very active. So it seems the I’ll probably have the week off at Xmas but then go back for a week or so before calling it quits for 3 months.

Random Update with the Schankers

Well, I’m now at 28 weeks!  yup!  3rd trimester and only 12 more weeks to go until we meet our baby boy! Pretty exciting and a little scary. The nursery is coming together. We’ve ordered a crib and dresser that I love. But it won’t be here for another 6 weeks or so. So far I’ve gained like 9-10 pounds. I can’t really eat very much as I get full very quickly and then I feel sick. So I have to watch how much I take in at a time. Of course I’m stil exercising. Most of my workouts are at the gym now instead of outside which is kind of a bummer. But Dave and I ran a 5k last Sunday. It was hard for the competitive side of me as I was getting passed by strollers and girls that shouldn’t be passing me. But at the same time I loved being out there and getting a workout in. I finished in 29:47…my normal times are in the upper 23 and lower 24 range!  So a big difference! Dave and I actually ended up running only 15 seconds apart. I’m pretty sure the only reason I beat him was because he stopped at the water stop! We are planing on doing another one on Halloween weekend. I probably won’t stop running fully until my body just says it can’t take it anymore. Other than that we had our 7th anniversary this week. Can’t believe its been 7 years! So this weekend we are going to try and celebrate some by going to Aspen for the weekend. I can’t wait.

Baby Update – 6.5 months

As of Sunday I will be 26 weeks prego. I finally have a noticeable belly. In fact two people at work that I haven’t told, noticed in the last week. I am somewhere between 7-8 pounds heavier than I was before I got pregnant. I guess The DRs really want to be around 14 pounds right now, so I’m a bit under. But in my defense I eat all the time, just like I normally do. But I do eat healthy. I was told to eat some ice cream and maybe switch to whole milk. Honestly, I think its just hard for me to gain weight. I don’t think pregnancy is an excuse to be lazy and eat anything I want. So I’m still exercising. Although I’ve stopped biking. I know its not recommended due to the center of gravity changes. But my biggest concern is being clipped in and not being able to get out in time if I were to crash. So I think I’ll be sticking to running, the gym, and swimming. I completed a 10k last weekend. Although it was the worst time of life. But I didn’t mind cause it was all about getting out and getting some exercise. I am feeling him kick more often now, which is weird.  We are starting the nursery preparations. The walls are gray Then we will have newborn photos that I will take on one wall. Another wall is going to have some modern circle shaped decals in various colors.  We also ordered a monogrammed wooden letter from etsy in orange. The color scheme is really blue and brown with highlights of green and orange. I think its going to look great! Its definitely a modern design. So no cute little animals on the wall, or anything like that. The name…so its about 90% (it better stick cause I ordered the letter for the wall) decided. His name will most likely be Brayden and I think that is how we will spell it to. Well, that is my update. Check back soon for more.

Iceland

We’re back! From 2 weeks in the land of Fire and Ice. What an amazing experience. So amazing that we may go back next summer.

Some things I learned about Iceland:

It is true…Iceland is Green.

Icelandic horses are not allowed to breed with other horses. If an Icelandic horse leaves the country it is not allowed back in.

Icelandic cuisine is not something I will crave…only the fish and the lobster soup

It is true about how Icelandic people love to party and do it late! (12am-5am)

Beef and chicken is hard to come by…in Iceland they have dairy cows and they use their chicken for eggs

Sheep are everywhere…there are more sheep than people

Parents will leave their kids sleeping in a stroller outside of a store while they are inside

There are not a lot of polar bears in Iceland…they come over from Greenland.

One of the thoughts of why the name Iceland was given was a marketing ploy to try and get people to stop coming to Iceland to live.

Iceland does not have any snakes.

I plan on doing some blog entries to detail the trip soon. So check back for photos and stories.

Almost 17 weeks

This Sunday I will be 17 weeks! What does that mean…only 3 more until the BIG Ultrasound. So what do you think…Boy or Girl? I had my 16 week appointment this week. I have gained 3 pounds since the 1st appt. I got to hear the heartbeat again and even “heard” movement. Which is totally cool since I can’t feel a thing yet.

Last weekend Dave and I did the Urban Assault Ride in Denver. All I have to say is if you live near a city that does this you must participate! It was so much fun! The obstacles were really cool..we had to jump in a pool and collect beer cans, do a 3 legged race, ride on big wheels, sling shot shoes into a basket, ride on the handlebars of a bike and grab flag football flags, complete a puzzle, and go down a slip and slide. Yes I did the slip and Slide but I went down on my but and made sure I went really slow.

I’ve also been running in the mornings. Usually I do about  5-6 mile route but when I feel good I do an 8-9 mile route. Its nice to feel so good and that I am able to still run like this. Although I do realize things will taper off soon. But before it does I’m entertaining the idea of doing a half marathon. Obviously I won’t run it hard and will have a slow time, but that is all right.

Catching Up

So now that summer is here and the snow is melting in the mountains that means two things for the Schankers’….Hiking and Camping.

Over July4th weekend, we went camping at Yellowstone National Park. We saw all the sites and spend a day hiking in Yellowstone Canyon. This hike was 10 miles round trip and we ended up at the Yellowstone river where we had lunch. It was a great time and as always we really enjoyed camping. The first night was rather cold and I was very thankful for my backpacking sleeping bag.  I do have to say camping just wasn’t the same without beer and wine by the campfire. Oh well, there is always next summer.

Last weekend, we decided to hike a local 14er. A little over an hour from our house is Mt Bierstadt with an elevation of just over 14,000 feet. The hike is 7 mile round trip and climbs up 2800 feet in elevation. We took our dog and he seemed to love it up there. This was only our 3rd Colorado 14er. But we have some more planned for this summer.

Right now I am at week 14! Still not really showing. I have a little bit of a bump but it hides in my normal clothes. I haven’t gained any weight either so if you haven’t heard the news then you probably don’t know yet just by looking at me. I have to say this is probably going to be one active kid as I am still running and biking and then there is the hiking as well. In fact this morning I ran 5 miles and felt great.

I’ll update this post shortly with photos from our trips.

A Little Schanker

Wow its been a LONG time since I have posted on here!

So If you have not heard….Dave and I are expecting a little schanker in January! Yup you read that right…a baby is on the way!

Dave and I have been married for 6.5 years, we’re settled in our favorite place ever, have good jobs and even got a dog. You know when we got married we both agreed that we didn’t want to rush into having kids. We wanted to enjoy a few years together, see California (which I think we did a great job of), and travel internationally. I wouldn’t change anything for the world….the last 6 years have been so great. In 2008 we hiked the grand canyon. I remember getting to the top and Dave said “now we can have a baby schanker?” and my answer was “yes”. We tried for close to a year with no success. It was a bummer at times and kind of depressing. Then Dave was showing that he was burnt out of his long commute and we both knew we didn’t want to raise a kid in Palmdale, CA. So we started talking about moving to our dream location…Colorado. As soon as it looked like it was going to be a reality we knew that starting a family just didn’t make sense. So everything got put on hold. It took me about 8 months to move to Colorado and it was HARD spending all that time apart.  People kept telling me they could never do that…my thoughts…why not? I’ll take a little bit of stress to live out my dreams. Once Dave and I were reunited in CO we knew it was time to refocus on the family thing. Another 6 months went by and no luck…so off to the doctor we went. No major issues were found…whew! But a small one made the Doctor recommend us for an IUI. I was kind of down about that cause I was not looking forward to fertility drugs, etc…So Dave and I filled out our 30 pages of paperwork and made the appointment. The night before, I said to dave  “I should probably take a test cause it would be quite awkward to go to the fertility doctors if we didn’t need to”. Guess what….Positive!!!! No way! I remember just putting my hand up to my mouth and staring at the test.  It was like we scared our bodies with the threat of a fertility doctor. So here we are…I am 8 weeks prego. I know its still early but we’ve been trying to get here for so long and we are excited!

The first ultrsound was yesterday  and everything looked great. Saw the little bean and heard a nice strong heartbeat.

So I’ll plan on doing a better job of posting here and keeping everyone informed of the Schanker happenings.

Hope everyone is doing great!