Joseph James Kalita - The Birth Story

After all of the waiting and anticpation, he's finally here....

Welcome to the world Joseph James Kalita!!!!

Weighing in at 6 lbs 14 oz, 19.5 in long, he is absolutely perfect!

Following in his brother's footsteps, he decided to surprise us and come early.

3 weeks early to be exact.  The crazy thing is at my last doctor's appointment, she told me if I

made it to 39 weeks she would induce me.  The baby was positioned really low and she figured

it was going to be a fast delivery.  With an induction it would allow the whole process to be a

little more controlled.  I went back and forth at first about how I felt about an induction.  I like the

element of surprise with a natural delivery never knowing when it is going to happen.  At the

same time I am very much a Type "A" personality, so having everything planned out and ready

to go sounded awesome.  I had actually just made up my mind on Saturday that the induction

was the way to go, so I focused my energy on hoping to make it to 39 weeks.  I guess I didn't

put quite enough energy into it because at 37 weeks we were blessed with our new baby boy.

I should have known.  Not more than 10 minutes after I put the check mark next to the final open

thing on my list of "Things to do before baby" did my water break.  I had just finished making a

map of the parks close to our house that my mom could take Owen to.  And Ryan had just run out to Walgreens to get memory cards for the camera because we realized the day before we were out.  I told him I hated to make him run out on Sunday night to grab memory cards, but

if something was to happen, I didn't want to be left without any.  Thank goodness he made that

run to Walgreens.  We were just about to sit on the couch and watch a show before bed when I

felt a crazy sensation like a muscle twitch or snap in my belly, and then came the water.  I called

my mom right away to let her know.  Every time I called her for the past week she kept thinking I

was calling to tell her I was in labor, so when she picked up this time I told her this call was no

false alarm.  This was the real thing.  Then Ryan called Tim and Val so one of them 

could come over to stay with Owen for the night.  

I was much more prepared this time around so I had my hospital bag completely packed and ready to go.  Little did I know that the "New Baby" iTunes list I so carefully compiled would

never even have a chance to be played.  My water broke around 8:55PM.  We wasted no time

and made it to the hospital by around 9:30PM.  My contractions were already 3-4 minutes

apart.  As I was being taken back to my room in Triage I tried to explain that my doctor told

me this baby was going to come fast and so anything they could do to get me upstairs quicker

would be appreciated.  The nurse didn't seem to care about my concerns.  It wasn't until about

30 - 45 minutes of sitting in the room without having the nurse return that I decided to page 

Dr. Onia (the doctor on call from my practice) and told her what was going on.  Before long the

original nurse came in and scolded me for calling the doctor, but then sent in a 2nd nurse who

checked me over.  I was already 6 cm dilated and extremely uncomfortable.  It wasn't long

before she got me a wheel chair and wheeled me up to the delivery room.  

By the time I got up there I was in a lot of pain.  They were trying to get my IV in and get the guy

with the epidural up to my room.  Everything from this point on was an absolute blur so it is hard

to remember the details.  What I do remember is by the time I got upstairs I was fully dilated.

They were still going to give me the epidural, but as I sat on the edge of the bed ready to get my

pain relief the baby decided to try to make his way out.  I had no choice but to start pushing.

Childbirth without an epidural is by far the most painful thing I have ever experienced.  After

going through that, I stand behind my Pro-epidural stance 1 million times over!  I hope I never

have to experience that pain ever again.  I'm just thankful everything went quick.  I pushed through one contraction and Joe was born at 11:12 PM.  Approximately 2 hrs and 17 min

from the time my water broke.  They laid him on my chest and I just sat and stared at him in

awe.  A little over two hours ago I was sitting at home relaxing on my couch and now here I 

was with our brand new baby boy.  Pregnancy and childbirth is truly amazing to me.

It is also amazing how all things seem to work themselves out.  What if Ryan didn't go get the 

memory cards that night?  What if I hadn't been as proactive with getting things done so they

were ready when we needed to go to the hospital?  What if I had gone into labor in the middle

of the day and Ryan had to drive home from work before we even made our way to the

hospital? What if we hit traffic on our way into the hospital?  Sure everything would end up

being ok in the end.  We might have just had a baby along side the highway 

without any photos to show for it. Thank God that things happen for a reason.  Sure I didn't

get an epidural, but at least we made it to the hospital on time.  If and when baby #3 comes,

we might just have to camp out at the hospital starting at week 36.  If each baby comes

faster than the one before, it's going to be a photo finish for baby #3.  :)     

Go Stacey!!

My brother in law ran the Chicago Marathon today, so Ryan, Owen and I drove

down to bulk up his cheering section.  My sister Sarah was there with two of her boys and 

then Stacey's brother Troy came with two of his kids. 

The kids had a blast.  Between running back and forth between the blocked off streets,

 

Playing at the park,

 

Or making a high five line for the runners,

 

There was always something to keep them busy.  Way to go Stacey!!!

Hopefully you had as much fun as they all did.

Pumpkin Farm - Round 2

We decided to make a second trip to the pumpkin patch today.  

This time we went to Goebbert's Farm out in Barrington.  

The place is huge so there is tons of space for Owen to run until his heart is content. 

We got there in the morning right as it opened so we could avoid the majority of the large

crowds.  We let him play around by the pumpkins,

 

Then set him loose to explore the rest of what the farm had to offer.

 Owen had a blast and it was fun spending some family time together.  Our days of a small

family of three are limited, so we're taking advantage of it while we can.

 

Shark Teeth

Tonight I went to get my hair cut and colored before the baby comes.  As I was sitting

waiting for the color to set I saw a message from Ryan on my phone.  I opened it

and laughed out loud as I saw my two favorite guys showing me their shark teeth

after bath time.  Thanks for making me smile Ryan.  What a great Daddy!  :)

 

Oak Park Gymnastics Center

A new gymnastics center just opened in Oak Park.  There are a few times a week

when they offer Toddler Open Gym, so I decided to take Owen there to check it out.

He LOVED it!  He did not stop running the entire time we were there.  From the

balance beam, to the parallel bars, to the tumble trampoline, to the foam pit,

there was always something new to peak his interest.  

The place is huge, so finally after an hour and 15 minutes of nonstop running I had to 

call it a day.  I figured they would prefer it if I didn't go into early labor while chasing my 

son down the trampoline.  ;)

Growing Up

With Owen changing so much and learning so many new things each day, I wanted

to take a minute to jot down some of the fun things we're experiencing with him at this time.

Let's start out with his vocabulary.  It seems like every few days he'll pick up a new word out of

the blue.  And he is doing so much better with repeating words when we ask him to.

Current words - Ball ("ba"), Bus ("bu"), No No, Oh No, Dog ("Da"), Mama, Daddy, Two, Three,

Love you ("ya Oo"), Bubbles, Grandma ("Gammy"), Bye (accompanied by a very enthusiastic

wave)

Animal Sounds - Dog ("woof woof"), Lion ("raar"), Cow ("mmmm"), Elephant (puts his

lips together and does his best to make the sound like we do), Duck ("cack cack"), 

Snake ("ssss"), horse (makes a noise and then has his voice break up like I do when I am 

neighing like a horse - almost like he is clearing his throat), Pig ("oi oi")

The cutest part has been the little phrases he started saying.  I'm not sure where it came from

but he started gasping like he is really surprised by something and then occasionally will follow

it up with "oh no!".  He has the sweetest little voice, so it sounds super cute coming from him.

Add the genuine surprised look on his face and it is one of the funnier things I have seen.

Then there are his counting skills.  I have not practiced counting with him, but when Ryan and I

are walking with him we'll each grab a hand, count to three and swing him in the air. We were

on one of our walks when Owen grabbed both of our hands.  I said "One," and before I could

 say another word, we heard Owen shout out "Two" in his sweet little voice.  I repeated and

reinforced his "Two," at which point he blurted out "Three" and we swung him in the air. 

It amazes me how much he soaks up from listening to us.  I might have a 

biased opinion, but this little guy is smart!

He listens to directions pretty well (most of the time), but I'm noticing we are entering a little bit

of a headstrong phase.  We're in the process of transitioning to one nap, so I believe his lack of

sleep is partly to blame, but I am also aware it's just that age where toddler tantrums begin.  It's

not all the time, by any means, but if he is having a rough day I can typically expect a fight

getting him into the car seat, putting his coat on, changing his diaper, leaving somewhere he

doesn't want to go, or in the reverse staying somewhere too long that he doesn't want to be.

Basically trying to get him to do anything that he is not 100% in agreement with.  Thankfully

the happy days and times far outweigh the frustrating ones.  Please remind me of that 

when I am amidst one of the more trying days.  :) 

We are having so much fun watching this little boy grow up and I can't wait to see what each

new day brings.  Pretty soon he'll have a little brother to play with and he can teach him

everything he knows.  After all of the fun we've had with Owen up to this point it makes me even

more excited for baby #2 to get here!!  They are going to have a blast together and Ryan and I

are fortunate enough to be along for the ride.  Eve  as crazy as that ride might sometimes get.

Didier Farms

Embracing the Fall spirit, we took our first trip of the season to the pumpkin patch.

 

We decided to let Owen try out a pony ride for the first time.  Even though Ryan was 

right next to him, he was very unsure of the whole situation and ended up bailing as soon as the 

horses started walking.  The man running the ride didn't seem surprised at all 

and told us he was used to having "jumpers."  :)

After our failed attempt at the pony ride, we chose an activity that was a little less scary.  

Owen spent some time checking out all of the pumpkins until he found the perfect one.

"Holy Cow!  Do you see the size of that pumpkin?"

"Don't worry Dad.  I can get it."

After he realized the pumpkins were a little too heavy for him to carry, he decided

his time was much better spent having us chase him through the pumpkins instead.

 We had a great day and hopefully baby #2 will stay put a few more weeks so we 

can have some more pumpkin farm fun.