Days 1&2...and the fun begins!

Well when your life begins at 4:25am you have a lot of day left...this is what Cohen's first two days looked like:

Is that you mom? I know that voice but am still not so sure I would like to be out here yet!

and we're off to our post partum room

His little crib

hanging out in the new room with mom

and dad...and if you could see the clock you'd see that it is only 6:30...so much more day to go!

like time for sleeping (Troge men do this best)

trying out a pacifier

reading with daddy

some more sleeping

and every once in a while a little awake time

then...some more sleeping

he almost always falls asleep at the end of feeding, so cute!

Because of the falling asleep during feeding the first day we had to pump and trick him into eating the little bit I was pumping at that point. Dad would put on a glove, get him to suck his finger and would then squirt it in through a syringe.

daddy with his first of MANY diaper changes

this kid meant business as he pooped FIVE times the first day!

he LOVES to be swaddled up

More to come...

Pictures of the little guy...

Fun facts about Cohen:

1. He was born August 14th which was also my grandma's birthday

2. He has the middle name von because Sam thinks von is the best name ever and makes even lame names such as "Bruce" sound cool...ie: Bruce von Troge. Granted this would not work with all last names...

3. He was the 3rd of 23 to arrive when we came to the hospital (YAY baby way to go!!)

4. He LOVES his hands

5. I will put it in writing now that he will be a mini-Sam...I think he looks JUST like him, however every once in a while when he is turned to the side I think he looks a lot like my little brother did when he was born...and Scott looks just like me...so there is some hope for me somewhere. :) (I'm just saying 40 weeks and...nada...doesn't quite seem fair!)

his little forcept mark...which is almost completely gone already

What a difference a day makes!!

I have no doubt that this will be my longest written blog post ever...but to cover the most exciting day of our lives thus far I figure it is necessary. For those of you that don't want the whole story feel free to scroll through and look at the pictures!

DURING THE DAY...

As you'll remember I was posting about how the birth countdown widget was mocking me on our blog on the 13th. Well to add to the fact that my blog was now counting back up I really didn't feel well all day. I had a headache and my back really hurt and I was tired...but figured it was just another day of not feeling so great. I stopped working around 3:30 figuring I'd work again later that night as I often do. I went to lay down and ended up taking a nap for about an hour and a half. In the meantime Sam had come home and started dinner for the 2 of us. He made some great pasta but I just didn't feel like eating much (which turned out to be a good thing but I'll get there).

HERE WE GO...

We decided we'd then go for a walk around the park across the street because it would be easy to walk for as long or as short as I wanted. We started walking and about 20 minutes in I was having what I thought were mild contractions, however I wasn't sure. But heck if the walking was bringing on contractions let's keep going...so we did. By the end of the walk I was having to stop when the contraction started because they had gotten quite a bit stronger. When we got back to the house I sent a quick message to our doula letting her know I thought I was in labor but we'd see how it was going. She called back shortly after that and the contractions had already started getting longer and were still consistently at about 5 minutes apart and suggested I walk up and down our stairs and also that when the contractions came to keep moving instead of stopping. She was right it helped move them along. After one trip up the stairs as the contractions came I felt a little pop and had some water trickle down my leg...I told Sam I am pretty sure my water just broke (this was about 10:45 now). Well that trickle turned into a whole lot more as soon as I moved...and kept coming out for the next hour and a half. We decided based on the timing and length of the contractions and my water breaking that it was time to call the doctor. She said to go ahead and head to the hospital.

OFF TO THE HOSPITAL...

We arrived at the hospital around 11:30 and had to get checked in and make our way to the birthing room. We lucked out as there were 22 people before us that had checked in that night to deliver and we got the LAST birthing room! We met our labor and delivery nurse Tania who was EXCELLENT and called our doula Ariana letting her know we were moving along and she could go ahead and come in. The contractions since the water breaking had gotten very strong and after about half and hour I decided it was time to do the epidural, which is good that I did because it took another hour until it had finally kicked in. We are now at about 1am and they checked to see where I was at. Well the reason the contractions were so strong was that I was already at 9cm and close to 10. It wasn't long before I hit 10 and it was time to push. It went ok but the little man just didn't want to come out but eventually, 3 1/2 hours later, with the help of a great husband, a very supportive doula and nurse and a doc that really knows how to use forcepts...Cohen von Troge entered this world!

Here we are looking at our little boy for the very first time

dad's favorite skeptical look

our first family photo

Sam held him first and estimated the weight accurately at 6 10. Impressive.

Cohen von Troge

born 8/14/2009

4:25am

6 lb 10 oz

19 1/4 in

Widget Confusion!!

Yesterday I was wondering what would happen to the baby countdown on the right hand side of the screen today...would it go in the negative and flash a big SUCKS TO BE YOU???? No instead it is now counting back up telling me I have 1 day to go...when in fact folks we are now in the red. Interesting, it must not deal with those of us that don't actually have the kids on time very often!

Baby Room

I know I've been promising pics of the baby room for quite some time...they are finally here!

The room came together with work from a lot of different people.

here is Sam working on the pictures for the wall
here is one with his sketch above the final picture
Sam's next project was a toybox, which ended up being bigger than we had originally thought but are so glad it is since toys are so bulky!!

Here is a view of the room put together. We went with the "Oh the places you'll go" theme more from a travel standpoint than Seuss but a bit of a combo of both. Sam did 7 paintings...one for each continent. The changing table was a craigslist find that my dad painted and fixed up a bit. The curtains and dust ruffle were done by my friend Brooke's mom, Barb. The toybox, as you saw earlier was done by Sam and my mom made the cushion for the lid.
And another view...I made the frame on the wall with some sand and shells from our trip to Mexico (I did block his name out for the pic so you'll all still have to wait)

And another view...I do have to mention that my sister Kate and mom came down and spent a LONG time helping me organize the room and all of the clothes, etc. that we have gotten for this little guy.

Here is his bookshelf that I repainted...already stocked and ready to go...so excited to read to him. And the final addition to the room is not done yet but will be a fun canvass of random scenes from Oh the places you'll go painted by my brother who is still in summer break mode and not moving along too fast on his painting project. :)

Finally, the bathroom is ready for bathtime!

40 Weeks...STILL hanging on!

Well if you would have asked me 2-3 weeks ago if I thought I would be posting this pic I would have said no...but alas here I am at 40 weeks!

I have an induction date for next week so if this kid doesn't get a move on he will be forced to move on! Feeling pretty good still, tired from not sleeping well but that's to be expected when the belly is so big there is NO way to get comfortable! Other than that we're just waiting for the little one to arrive. My sister flew in from Texas last night so maybe, and I say this with a LOT of hope, he was just waiting on her! We'll keep you all posted!

Kung Fu Panda

Friday night we went with some friends to see Kung Fu Panda in our town center. We lucked out with a great night outside. Sam LOVES this movie...and loved that all of the kids that made it through the whole thing were doing kung fu on the way back to their cars. If you haven't seen the movie it is definitely worth watching!

The Bachelorette After the Final Rose Final Partaaay!!

For those of you blog followers you will recall that this past fall I gathered with many gals to watch the Bachelor one of ABC's most quality shows, then back in May we begain our journey with the Bachelorette who was a reject from the last season of the Bachelor.

This is Jillian Harris...who we are still convinced looks like the 80s era Amy Grant but for sure had some help this season with hair and wardrobe. To make this season a little more entertaining we decided to add some fun with weekly voting. We not only chose who would get voted off each week we also tracked from early on who we thought her final pick would be. In addition to the two main votes we had many others just for fun, like how many guys will she kiss, how many times will she squeal that annoying squeal, etc. So to celebrate the end of yet another "dramatic" season we gathered at my house last night to view the After the Final Rose episode and award prizes for the season.

This is Ed, he was Jillian's pick for the final guy. For those of you missing out on this amazing show, each week she goes into the deliberation room prior to handing out the final roses and looks at all of the guys pictures in silly frames surrounded by a ton of candles...thus Ed surrounded by the final rose and a bunch of candles.

Of course we needed our own final roses!

And some festive desserts/drinks!

Including my favorite punch.

We then gathered in the living room where I had goody bags for all of the gals.

I had written the following little poem recapping the season for their cards:

It's been quite a season waiting for that bling...

Does our dear Jillian even deserve a ring?!

From the start with not twenty-five but thirty guys

To us realizing she is not very wise.

The show has been quite entertaining I think

Especially when they all have lots to drink.

From the toe loving Tanner P

To short shorts and oil by the sea

From a raging drinker Dave that likes to try to cop a feel

To having to listen to Jillian's infamous squeal.

From having to hear a horrible country song about love coming easy

That I am positive made us all quite queasy

We've seen some guys going a little too far

And Jillian not once but twice dancing on a bar

From a horribly awkward goodbye off a train in the mountains

To a ridiculous make out session in a Spanish fountain

We've been waiting to see who will propose...

And now we're here at After the Final Rose!

Brittni excited she finally got her bag open...

some of the schwag...including the Mango nailpolish that was a favorite of Tanner P

Crystal and Emily showing off the bling

All of the gals (minus Clare and Catherine) awaiting the final scores...

Which were displayed on our lovely star chart...funny how getting stars still makes you smile! :) (I will note for Catherine's sake that she moved mid season and was not able to watch for a while...thus the very sad row of stars for her) The gals had a chance during the night to gain a few more points before the final prizes were awarded.

And here is the happy couple...we shall see if they do as well as just about any other couple that has ever been on the show...yet we STILL watch!

39 Weeks OYYYY VEY!!!

The little girl (who is no longer so little) that I used to nanny for used to say "OY VEY" all the time and it always made me laugh...but is EXACTLY how I feel now.

Come on kid...enough is enough already!!

It is now time to bring out the labor inducers:

PINEAPPLE

ALMONDS

SPICY FOOD

MASSAGE

(granted the last one sounds the best of all!!)

Bluff Lake

Our friends Brooke and Jim started a group for parents and kids in Denver focused on doing outdoor activities so we went along for the first trip...granted we are participating in utero but he HAS to go wherever we go at this point! We're excited to do fun outdoor stuff with him when he arrives!

This is Brooke and Jim and their little guy Hudson
and THIS is why Sam is going to be such a great dad...we are the ONLY ones on this trip with no kids and he is out running around...
trying SOOOOO hard to catch...
a dragonfly! :) It was quite fun to watch!

Wedding Dance

I think all of you know at this point that I love to find fun videos for the blog...this one just makes me smile. You will have to click here to see the video but it is well worth it.

My friend Jill has always said she is going to dance into her wedding so it just made me smile thinking of her while watching this!

38 Weeks...2 to go???!!!

Puffy feet...puffy face...puffy fingers...I am soooo ready for this little guy to come out!

40 weeks is really 2 weeks away so I am trying to mentally prepare myself for 2 more weeks but would be lying if I said I don't wish on a daily basis that he would arrive TODAY!

He currently moves around like crazy allowing for very little sleep and awkward sitting positions. He has also for sure dropped...not that the pic this week shows it that well, but my belly is WAY lower than even last week...so hopefully that is a good sign!

Every night Sam says it would be great if he could come tomorrow morning so a: he could have at least slept the night before b: he could miss work and c: the baby would be here! However Sam has also now requested that he be born on August 8th or 9th because the Red Sox are playing the Yankess and it will be on Fox and ESPN so he could see it in the hospital...if I could make him carry this kid until then I'd make the deal...I'm still hoping for a July baby but it isn't looking too good at this point!

37 Weeks...are we there yet?!?!?!

Well this week has been a rough week...I even missed my normal Tuesday night photo since I didn't feel good...so instead you get a photo post Wednesday night cleaning night...lookin' good!! Oh well I figure this outfit shows how ready I am to get this little guy out!

Since it is 37 weeks I still technically have 3 weeks left, however my weekly email this week said he was fully baked (their words not mine) and is ok to come out at any point. Baby...are you listening?! It is ok to come out NOW!!

I have HUGE feet, can not sleep much at all and waddle like a duck which Sam finds quite amusing! I keep telling myself that it will be so great to just be able to sleep on my back again...then remember I won't be doing much sleeping once he comes anyway so that is not the best carrot to get me through.

Here's to hoping he's listening and knows it is ok to come anytime now!