Evan's first week home!

Well, it's been a while for sure...but we are back!

We have been up to quite a lot in the past 6 weeks since our last post. Between changing diapers, feeding Evan, doing laundry, recovering from giving birth, making bottles, getting some sleep, and snapping numerous photos, we have had little to no time to blog! After a long enough period of time, here we go again!

Evan had a great first week home! Lots of visitors and tons of people to hang out with! Here are some photos of Evan's time at home!

 Evan with his new favorite stuffed animal, Blue Bear, from Jamie and Jared

Evan's first doctor's visit! Such a good boy!

 Evan's first shabbat dinner!

 me, grandpa Mark, grandpa Dudley, and grandma Noreen

 Evan needed his tushy washed...Kimberley is holding him in the bathroom sink

 Mommy and Daddy bathing Evan

 Mommy with Evan

 Aunt Erin and Cousin Rena with Mommy and Evan

 Great Grandmother Sylvia holding Evan

 Kimberley getting Evan to burp

Gena Simon came to visit Evan!

 Mommy with Anna Zane holding Evan

 Aunt Polly with Evan

 smiling at such a young age!

 Daddy trying to use the boppy!

 our little glow worm...

 Mommy with Evan

Cousin Rena looking at Evan

 Patty Marks came to see Evan

 Evan with Grandpa Mark

 Aunt Polly with Evan

 Great Aunt Nancy

This was a great week...and next to come...Evan's Bris! 

Better late than never: Birth of Evan Alexander

As sure as I am that my name is Jennie, is how sure I was that Tshabalalah was never going to be born! On Sunday, October 30th, we woke up and decided to go about our normal weekend business of a late breakfast and a Costco run. We got to Costco, and I started feeling very funny. I had a stomach ache and was having difficulty walking, though I really didn't think much of it, because I had convinced myself that I would be pregnant forever. When we got home from our adventure to Costco, Brad went to get some work done so that he could get ahead for the next day, and I relaxed at home...or so I thought.

Brad left, and I had contractions for the next several hours. They were about 15 minutes apart, and not exactly what you would call consistent. I called my doctor and he said to call him when they are 10 minutes apart for an hour. Around 5 pm, exactly when Brad got home, the contractions stopped. By this point, I figured that I was in false labor and would be going to work on Monday as planned.

I went to bed on Sunday night as usual, woke up twice in the middle of the night to go potty, and by the time I got back to my bed after my second trip to the bathroom, I had a contraction. Immediately I looked at the clock, seeing that it was 1:54 am. When the contraction stopped, I tried to go back to sleep....but was not successful. I had another contraction at exactly 2:00 am. My contractions were 5-6 minutes apart for the next 30 minutes, at which point I decided that since I did not want to have this baby in my bathtub, I called my doctor again. Keep in mind, this was the 3rd time we had spoken in 2 days, and all the while, he was on call. He told me to wait an hour or two and then come to the hospital if I was still contracting at the same rate.

As most of you know, I am not exactly the most patient person...so at 2:45 am, we left for the hospital.

Upon arriving at the hospital, we made our way to Labor and Delivery. We checked in, went into a room to change, and the doctor came in and said that I was 2 cm dilated. She then proceeded to tell me that I had a choice: I could be admitted or I could go back home, and 'labor at home for a few more hours.' Without missing a beat, I told the resident that I would be staying and to admit me, for there was no way I would be 'laboring at home.' My pain could be managed at the hospital, not at home.

By the time we decided that I was being admitted to Cedars Sinai, it was about 4:30 or 5:00 am. They started my IV, my contractions were getting closer together, and I was in pain. I dealt with the contractions for a little while, until the nurse was able to convince me that I could in fact get an epidural, and it would not slow down my labor, which I had heard and was nervous about. I do not do well with pain, and my biggest anxiety about the giving birth process was in fact, the epidural. We called the Anesthesiologist, and two came within 15 minutes. There was a resident and an attending who came. They were amazing! They calmed my fears and talked me through each step of what they were doing. Once I had that epidural, I was golden!

This is me, after I had an epidural and they broke my water

A few short hours later, the resident doctor came in to check my progress. I was 5 cm dilated and while she was there, she broke my water. I now realize why I was so big while I was pregnant, my stomach at least. It was filled with tons of fluid. When the doctor broke my water, there was fluid everywhere! As soon as all of that liquid came out, I was much more comfortable and I could breathe again. By this time, it was about 12:30 pm and I was moved to a Labor and Delivery room. Brad went to get some lunch and I stayed and hung out with my nurse, Miranda!

This is our room when we got to Labor and Delivery

This is the monitor of our baby's heart rate

Several hours went by and I made progress to 7 cm dilated. By this time, my mom and sister had arrived from Nashville! It was exciting to see them, but I have to tell you, at that point, I was so exhausted after being up all night, it was difficult to really have a conversation about much. 

The next time they checked me, it was 11 pm on October 31st, 2011. I was so done with being pregnant, I wanted to get this kid out of me! By the time they checked me, I was 10 cm dilated and ready to push. I started pushing at about 11:15 pm. My epidural was starting to wear off and I was in so much pain feeling contractions. I freaked out, refused to push anymore, and made them come in and give me more medicine manually through the epidural. They came in and gave me 3 manual medicine shots through my IV. It helped a little, but by the time my doctor came in, he had to call the anesthesiologist again to give me more. 

After an hour and a half of pushing, several more shots of medicine through my epidural, and some tears...

Evan Alexander Zagnoev was born at 1:43 am. He was born 9 pounds 2 ounces and measured 19 inches long. 

Me and Evan, right after he was born

 Evan on his first scale!

Evan right after he was cleaned off

Evan did not like his first bath in the hospital

 Hanging out with Evan, the day he was born

Evan and his daddy

 Tiffany came to play!

 Grandma Goldie came to see Evan

Aunt Polly came to see Evan

 Albert and Rachel

 Our first family photo

grandma Noreen came to hold Evan

another family photo

Diane came to visit Evan in the hospital

Going home from the hospital

In the hospital, we had several visitors! Mike and Nathalie came by to visit and meet Evan! They brought him his first cupcakes from Magnolia!

Look forward to more from Evan's first week at home!

arts and crafts day....

For today's Arts and Crafts project, we are going to make art for the wall, using painter's tape, acrylic paint, canvas, scissors, and paint brushes. These are the supplies we will be using:

Step 1: Begin placing the painter's tape on the canvas, in no particular order or place, just abstractly place the tape so that it looks like a cool design. Here are Gena and I placing the tape on our canvases.

Here I am with my canvas, after applying tape and before painting.

Step 2: Start painting. We used acrylic paint, small paint rollers, and regular paint brushes for the second coat of paint. I began painting with the brown paint on my large canvas. We did one coat of paint on each canvas and then let them dry for about 2 hours.

Me and Gena getting started with the painting:

Step 3: After about 2 hours, our canvases were dry and the tape was still in tact. Since it was warm outside yesterday, and by warm I mean 85 degrees in October, we set them outside on our patio while we waited. This is what the canvases looked like after 1 coat of paint and dry.

Step 4: We returned from getting a bit pampered, manicures and pedicures, and painted the canvases with a second coat of paint. The tape was still on and we added the second coat with regular paint brushes instead of using the rolling paintbrushes this time. Though the texture of the roller paintbrushes was nice, you could still see some white from the canvas, so we decided that we would try the other brushes. They worked very well, and gave a nice, smoothe look to the canvases.

Step 5: After the canvases are completely dry (we let ours sit over night), remove the tape very carefully, and then display them in any room of your home that you like! The blue and brown ones are for Tshabalalah's room, and Gena's is the hot pink one!

Here is a photo of the final product from Arts and Crafts day:

This was such a fun day! All that is left to do now, is to hang them up! I am looking forward to many more Arts and Crafts days in the future!

Eat Mor Chikin...

Last Saturday Brad and I ventured to the new Chick-Fil-A here in Los Angeles. It wasn't until we got there that we realized what a disaster it is. Whoever designed it, really should not still have a job. The drive through is the same entrance as the parking lot, and in LA, it is rare to even have a parking lot. The fact that the parking lot was blocked really was disappointing. When we got to the actual building to go inside and sit down, we realized that there is no inside! I thought for a minute about leaving, since really, who builds a Chick-Fil-A where you cannot walk inside to order or has no bathroom!! I am 38 weeks pregnant, and I mean, how inconsiderate!!! As we walked up to the window to order, I showed Brad the menu and guided him in the right direction of what he should order.

Brad ended up getting the spicy chicken sandwich meal and I, of course, got the original chicken sandwich meal.

After we ordered, I saw the Chick-Fil-A cow and insisted on being in a picture with him/her....I thought it only appropriate given my current condition of pregnancy....check it out here:

It only took about 4 minutes for our food to be at the window, and when we got our food, we realized that there were no tables for us to sit down, as they are all outside, but occupied. People were eating at all of the tables, and 9 months pregnant in 95 degree weather, I was not waiting around until someone decided that they were done eating.

Instead, Brad and I decided to take our food home with us to eat. When we got home, about 10 minutes later, it was still warm, and tasty! I was a little sad that Brad's first experience with Chick-Fil-A had to be in our apartment, and not actually eating at the "restaurant," but maybe next time...and who knows, maybe there will be 3 of us the next time we go!

I ate all 31 flavors

After we went to dinner with Emily and Teddy Davis, on Sunday night Oct. 9th, Teddy insisted on taking a photo of me and Brad, and Tshabalalah of course! Though I blend in a little with the sign behind us, you can still see how big the belly is getting!

Over the course of the week, I have been getting progressively more uncomfortable! The acid reflux/heartburn is really starting to bug me a bit....I'm just hoping that it goes away when Tshabalalah comes out, whenever that may be! My ribs, the left side in particular, are really sore. It feels as though I have a bruise on the left side of my ribs....

Tshabalalah still has not dropped yet, though he is making his way down to where he needs to be. After going to the doctor today, Thursday October 13th, I am still almost 1 centimeter dilated, just like last week. We monitored Tshabalalah's heart rate for about 20-25 minutes, and everything looks great. 

On another note...all of Tshabalalah's laundry is done, the car seat is in the car, and our hospital bags are packed and ready to go....I just can't believe that my due date is only 2 weeks from today!

All strapped in and ready to go....

So, this week we decided that we are going to start getting ready for the fact that we are having a baby....

Now some people may think that we ARE ready for a baby because we have a stroller, some washed clothes, and a changing table....though it occurred to us that we will need to have a way to get Tshabalalah home from the hospital! This is not the 1900's, where it is acceptable to put the baby in a bassinet and place it in the back seat of the car. We are in 2011....where there are so many gadgets for Tshabalalah that it is hard to know what you need to have and what you don't.

Brad took a field trip to the CHP (California Highway Patrol) on Thursday, when I was 37 weeks! He needed to have the car seat installed and wanted to know how to do it properly so he had the CHP officer help him with it. She was very helpful and gave him several hints about what should and should not be attached to the car seat. Most cars have hooks to hold the car seat in, but they have a weight limit, so the CHP officer told Brad that it is best to use the seat belt if you can.

Here are some photos of the finished product!

Safety first!