Drew Carlson Leadbetter

Drew Carlson Leadbetter
Born October 7, 2011, 01:40
7 lbs 6 oz, 20 cm

Those are the stats, here's the little story... We put the kids to bed and at 9:15 the contractions got a bit more serious (plus it was pouring down rain and I was assuming this drop in pressure, change in weather just might be the trigger). We tracked them for an hour while catching up on modern family (sometimes that show would be enough to start labor! So funny). We called my midwife Sabine at 10:30 and thought we would give it a few ore contractions... They were pretty serious, so off we go!!

The door is locked at the clinic, shocking right, as we fumble for the switch light or anything to get in a nurse rescues us, Sabine greats us, checks everything out and we start sailing, she breaks my water (sorry to be gross, but really it's painless and nothing gross) but surely makes for stronger contractions! I remind her that YES I do want an epi,so let's not miss that. Honestly that procedure is always the scariest with me as I hate anything that affects the back.....

Epi in, pain is curbed.... Not gone by any means as I clarify with the dr. That I'm not sure if it's strong enough... Doesn't matter as it's time to push! At that point Sabine who is so mild manner runs off to call our dr. and asks me to hold of for just a sec. Our doctor is literally there in 5 minutes. 15 more minutes and so is the baby!! Chris and I are totally shocked!! All I can remember is staring into Chris's eyes and knocking out the longest push ever no stopping!!

Thank you Chris for keeping the faith;). He did get to cut the cord and once again the whole process seemed simple and natural. My dr. headed back home 40 minutes after his arrival. Not bad for a nights work, now let's enjoy some baby time.

Not his most flattering photo, but it's the first.


Chris was absolutely fumbling the camera which I found hysterical at the time. Nice flash. Wonder if drew is seeing stars??


Chris testing the flash, honestly, i cannot stop laughing.....


O.k. A little better


Chris, give me the camera, you hold the baby.


Sweet drew (but currently nameless)


He cried for maybe 30 seconds and than just looked around wondering what the heck happened.


Can you believe we did it? One last time!!


Drew with our midwife Sabine, love her!


About an hour later we move up to our room. Drew nursed like a pro and than slept like a champ. Being so new, I didn't as I kept wanting him to wake up!! Chris was at home trying to get a few hours of sleep and wanted to greet the boys in the am.


Our new little snuggle bug.


Yes, it took us 34 hours to struggle with a name. At 10am this morning the dr. Arrived to preform his circumcision. That was the true crunch time. It was the name we planned on, but were agreed to be certain once we saw his face.

Drew Carlson Leadbetter it is


This is my favorite position. At the moment, Drew would prefer not to sleep in his cradle, but likes the warmth of mom. Right now, I am more than happy to oblige.

This could be it!

So we had a Doctor's appointment on Tuesday - during which he told us, nothing had really changed, I was about 3 cm, but could stay that way for about a week.  It was a quick appointment and at the end I was just crushed.  We asked his tips to speed it along and he lead us out as I had tears in my eyes.  Chris made the appointment for Thursday and off we went.  Ground hog day again.....

So this was Thursday what could be our final Doctor's  appointment in Downtown Stuttgart.  The Dr told us we were at 4+ cm, things were progessing, he was hoping to see us sometime tonight, but if not, I might get to enjoy the German Induction cocktail stuffed with Champagna, Vodka and a bunch of other stuff (notice, I like to block some things out!)

Here are some hopefully final photos!

I was using the 'nicole' method of putting the camera on a timer.  I found a great electrical box that worked quite well.  Just thought this one was funny.  it was the lunch hour in downtown stuttgart!

next to do some pumpkin picking with my favorite boys and wonder woman Oma Sue

is that really a pumpkin under that sweater, guess we will find out soon!

Ready with pumpkins

Lets cash out and head home - momma's having contractions =)

While my mom offered to cook dinner, I took the boys bike riding. Shane just amazes me on this run bike. it was love at first sight. Last night he biked all the way home from Ice Cream. Easily. He tends to follow the same path as Nick (shocking right) but I love watching his little feet move. Its amazing how quickly they start to understand 'balance' Run bike - truly my favorite German experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93BlEuypj88

One final bellie shot - at least lets hope so.

Last chance for name suggestions!!

To the tower and back! and Shane's birthday train ride

So when your mom is with you, you really feel like you can tackle anything right!!  Yup, lets load up the kids and head to my favorite park - Killesberg!!  Time to ride the train and what a beautiful day.  Here Shane is acting like a natural - however, if you were to be walking with him, its not the power walk I needed or expected =) 

Lets call this bikers and a bellie

Here's Oma Sue and the reason we can do all this!  (BTW - Chris stayed home from work, finally sick in my book)

They were having a festival of Dahalia's 10,000 of them - just beautiful!

We took some extra photos for Jeannine who is also an expert Dahalia grower

Oma Sue was LOVING the gardening

Than, onto the playground and Turtles

Serious 2 year old here.  (BTW, lots of pictures in this one since the other was too much writing....)

Nick was my trooper who wanted to scale to the top of this tower.  Love his sense of adventure

But must admit that he beat me.  Those legs go too fast!

We got to the top and he ran right to the edge in search of Oma Sue and Shane - who were slowly walking the run bike up the hill.  I about fell over, mostly from the height as i HATE heights, but a bit from exhaustion....  lets be truthful, I am over due!

At the base of the tower having an apple snack time

Now, lets find this train!  Perfect, we grab our tickets and hop on the bench

Shane, a smile for your birthday train ride?  Nope, cause he just annouced he was pooping, great.  What kind of poop you might ask (wait, I'm sure you didn't) but lets remember, Shane hasn't gotten the bug yet...  Yup, one of THOSE kind of poops.  Quick change and get on the train!

Look at these cuties

Shane, are we gonna make it?  He actually held my hand which of course i enjoyed every minute of!

This one is for dad - yup, there are crane's in the air everywhere here. 

our day actually ended by getting lost in the killesberg park - I know you all know how that happened, i was leading and parked somewhere i am not accustomed to parking....  excuses excuses....  So three diaper changes and some tired feet later we found the mini van and headed home for soccer.  The baby didn't seem to mind, matter of fact, i think he enjoyed the ride.  Nick was thrilled to head off to soccer and I enjoyed a power walking session around the field with Eleanor.  Still nothing more to report outside of the fact that Chris is feeling better!!  My labor coach is back!

Tomorrow is Tuesday, we will keep you posted, or entertained to say the least. 

Birthday boy

I love when they know its 'their day' and this morning Shane did.  He got to make the rules (as Nick phrased it since SHANE got to play with all the cars)

  He got to wear the hat, eat spagettios and run the show.  Not bad for #2

I made him a soccer ball cake mostly because i love hearing him say soccer ball (which he obliged us with MANY times)

A little song =)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k3rqT-209g

 

Its present time!

It was almost funnier to watch Nick try to restrain himself.  He kept trying to over zelously 'help' with the unwrapping

Nick picked out Francesco from Cars II, great gift (for Nick too!)

And the favorite gift of all, the Shane size run bike.  He LOVES it and immediately started riding it around the house.  Nick pulled his out and showed him a bit, but Shane didn't need much coaxing - and PLEASE don't touch his bike!  Nice work Oma Sue and Goomba!

Love at first bike!

No pictures Please

On Saturday we enjoyed a morning of soccer - Nick scored 2 GOALS! Yippee little David Beckam! We love how much he really enjoys playing and its fun to see his improvement as he understands the game.

I popped in to see my doctor and midwife who had been on vacation for the past 2 weeks and had a quick check up. I must say one of the things I truly love out here is the prenatal care. We started with a stress test for the baby where I basically laid there listening for the sweet heart beat and watching for contractions. Next up, the doctor did a very thorough ultra sound examining the amount of amniotic fluid remaining as well as the nutrient transfer within the umbilical cord. It was hard to see the baby's head as it is getting close quarters in there and the angles are tough to see. But I left feeling confident that the little guys was happy and healthily and having a few more days to go was no problem....



But it happens in 3s right? If you have a weak stomach, don’t read on…



Later that afternoon we walked into town and enjoyed an awesome dinner in our town. Beautiful weather, beautiful evening great walk home. Until, we got home -

#1, my mom barely made it and managed to get sick right over our fence.



#2 the spare key to get inside was accidentally taken inside (by.....) therefore locking us out - totally! Anyone who has lived here knows how easily the doors lock and how difficult it is to UNLOCK. While my poor mom is getting sick, Chris has to find a ladder, scale to the 2nd floor where the windows are opened a bit more simply. We are in! My mom scurries downstairs where she spends the rest of the evening worries about being a burden to us. Chris and i put the kids to bed and stare at each other wondering when the next shoe will drop......



#3 - 10:30 - it’s me. Seriously? I hit the bathroom while my body conducts a mass exodus. I try to keep it rather quiet, but of course Chris is there offering up whatever he can - most of the time a wet towel or pale - yup, it’s horrible. He lit candles, washed toilets, you name it. At one point I had the chills so bad I hopped in the tub only to realize our German water heater takes a break from 11pm - 6am, must be nice! I laid in bed in-between extreme bouts of illness hoping for sleep, but finding comfort texting a cry of help to folks in another state. At one point Farrah asked me to vow to have my tubes tied as this baby has been trouble from day one (its amusing looking back at the texting conversation - thanks for keeping me alive missy!) I remember Chris asking me what the baby thought of this, I remember thinking, I'm still pregnant?? Then of course I was reminded by a few horrible contractions. Yup. I laid in bed wondering how this would play out, will I have to rush to the hospital, will they cut the baby out, will they just drug me, what?!?! At some point, I fell asleep, waking up at 5:15 to a serine quite in the home and 'sea legs' beneath my waste. Assuming Chris is asleep downstairs, I text Farrah who was wondering if I was still alive. Being in CA, she hadn't gone to sleep yet. She asked if I was having contractions and oddly enough, I had 2 rather quickly - so yup! In a conversation with Chelcy she asked if i cried to which I responded, the entire time!



Its Sunday and the baby and I are still alive. Weak, but alive. Now we start having contractions every 5-35 minutes. Nothing heavy, just a ‘hey im in here and thinking about coming out’ At first I don’t have the energy, but than the idea of pushing the baby out starts to sound better and better so I start tracking them. All the while – its Shane’s birthday (I will keep his blog separate as who needs that?!) and they continue all day! Sweet. My midwife starts her shift at 7pm so we all decide to meet up at the clinic at the beginning of her shift. It was surreal packing out bags for real, saying good night to the munchkins etc.. How exciting. Until we get to the hospital.



Its wonderful to see Sabine standing at the door. She brings us right in and checks things out – now please insert what every woman wants to hear – “wow, you are at 5+cm, lets get this going” or, “Gosh your only at 3, I don’t think you are ready” Yup, the latter…. Well, my doctor who was in the neighborhood visiting patients (and is just as awesome as can be) pops in. What does he say – ‘a little pitocin and this baby will be out in 4 hours – lets get this train started!’ now I like that!! But I brought my still sensible husband who proceeds to ask me if I think I am strong enough to push this baby out. What am I thinking, with a little pitocin and a lot of epidural, heck ya! But then I am reminded that HE hasn’t fallen to this illness yet and his number is coming. The idea of crunch time hitting and him spending it in the toilet for our final pregnancy is horrible. Thankfully Eleanor was waiting in the wings for the labor coaching role, so please know, that was in HEAVY consideration. We discussed it for 10 minutes and than headed home, all the while with Chris wondering if he was going to toss his cookies before he got home.



Well, he didn’t, and I must admit, when I woke up Monday morning and he was sleeping soundly in our bed still not having gotten sick and I wasn’t holding a baby in my arms – it was a little tough to get going. I went downstairs to watch Army wives in hopes of living some true drama instead of the stuff I concocted in my head. Of course I was again connected by the texting world to the voices of my friends (who are always better than a husband in these times) and I was encouraged to make a date day with my boys as they would soon be shuffled aside…. Farrah always has a way of knowing I’m pissed but helping me NOT to wallow in it….. Frustrating at times – but truly irreplaceable. So, I pulled up my big girl pants and off to Killesberg for the day for Shane’s birthday train ride. Onto a brighter perspective.

The final day of September

Was Friday!  We met up with Shannon and Wendy at our favorite beirgarten.  its planning to close for the 'winter' on October 3rd, so we were happy to make the best of it.  Beautiful evening.  The boys loved the playground and I love this photo because Nick Helped Shane get on the see saw than sat with him to make sure he didn't fall off.

Here are the kids with all their ice cream.  Wendy and Shannon were super sweet to shower us with some FABULOUS Super Friends videas and books.  To those that remember (and I don't) the super friends were who we grew up with, so its prefect and not TONS of action.  The super heros are the more current stuff.  So I enjoy watching the old ones with aliens, big computers, etc...  The videos will be perfect for those rainy fall and winter days when we are stuck inside.

Chris spent about an hour at the Real Beer Fest, the Volksfest in Bad Constadt - he than grabbed the train and linked up with us.  As he went to board one of his connecting trains they told him it was closed as there was a possible bomb scare.  A piece of luggage with no one there....  either someone is in search of their underwear, or they were hoping to hit some drunk germans......  Either way, Chris found us, yippee

The bellie really never stops growing does it 

Here's our family photo.  Love having Oma Sue!