Welcome Owen Daniel

Owen Daniel O'Brien made it into the world

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 at 3:05 p.m.

He was a whopping 9 lbs 4 oz, 20 inches long and a head the size of a coconut! (well actually 14.75")

Mommy had a rough, but natural delivery and Mr. Owen came out a beautiful little baby!

Owen then had a bit of a rough go with some fluid intake and high jaundice levels which landed him a stay in the NICU for 3 nights. We got to come home with Owen on Friday!

We are unfortunately still monitoring his levels at this point and praying for continued healing of the little dude.

Other than that, he is gorgeous, loves to sleep, not too keen on eating (unless from a bottle), hates to have his arms pinned, loves to squirm and toot. Today, Owen is a week old, and really it's hard to believe we've had the little guy for that long. We are still working out the scary kinks on this parenthood thing, but we're wishing, hoping and praying and getting on thanks to an awesome hubby, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends!

Oh, and we really weren't holding out on the name! Joe and I were still making lists on the Monday night of our induction.

D-Day!

That's right folks. We're there. We have it in our sights! We have a plan of action.

WE HAVE A DAY!!!

Tuesday, June 15th, to be precise!

We will be going in Monday night to prepare for the arrival of our little dude sometime Tuesday!

Um, crazy. When we first started talking about this with our doctor two weeks ago, I about had a heart attack when we left. I couldn't stop thinking of all the things we needed to do and hadn't gotten and would NEVER be able to do again...

But now, oh, I am sooo ready (well, in some ways). We are nervous and excited, but mostly pretty good with the whole thing. I can obsess about all the little things, or just relax and let God do what He's going to do. And so far, that sounds like the best plan.

So, Monday the parents are arriving, Ryker gets to go visit his puppy pals at the vet for a few days, I get to eat a last meal, and at 8 p.m., we go in to have our lives altered forever! EEEKK!

Please say a little prayer for our family, the doctors and nurses that will be looking after O'Baby and for things to go as smoothly as they can. If you are available to visit, just give Joe a call, but I'm sure we'd love to see you!

I think that's about it. Little dude, we are excited to meet you and I hope you will enjoy your new family. We already love you so much, we can't wait to hold you and tell you in person.

Alrighty, off to remind myself not to panic and perhaps finish packing my bag and maybe, just maybe, put the car seat in! =)

37 & 38 Weeks

Big things! And I do mean really big things!

Doctor appointments have gone well. No major concerns or bad things to report.

On the home front, man, I am so done. It is just hard. Hard to wake up. Hard to get up. Hard to get motivation. Hard to maintain energy. If this doesn't end soon, I do believe the dog will ask for a new family! =)

However, I do believe we've procured all the necessary baby gear - stroller, car seat (still needs to be installed), glider, crib, pack-n-play, diapers. So, we'll just see where that gets us. These poor neglected kids these days.

Big news coming soon to a computer near you, so I'll keep you posted! Until then, you'll just have to sit and wonder (if you don't already know, and if you do, don't spoil the fun!)

36 Weeks

Yesterday, I hit the 36 mark in my pregnancy with O'Baby. Oh, this is a very welcome milestone. We are in the home stretch. We are to weekly visits. We are that much closer to meeting our little boy and finding out who this guy is that keeps bumping around in my tummy!

The doctor's visit went well. Seems we're getting a bit more intrusive in our visits. Neat. Alas, no progress as far as his approaching arrival. I didn't have any thought that there would -- that would just be way to easy.

As far as how I'm doing, I've hit the wall. I am done. I've had some lovely back/sciatic pain, and it is kicking my butt and my self-esteem. So, we press on towards the goal and pray that we'll be ready!

O'Baby we'll check back in with you next week and see where you stand, sit, lay...oh, you know!

Yea! for the Nursery!

This Saturday we worked hard. We worked hard to have a room that someone would actually want to hang out in. Specifically, a very small someone set to arrive one month from today!

With the generous help of so many and the sweat and mobility of Joe and his mom, we got the baby's room up to snuff this afternoon --- and I LOVE IT!

It's so friendly, peaceful and not overdone (in my opinion at least!).

Here's a few pics of what we've done today...

This is right inside the door, a fun scripture and eventually O'Baby's foot or handprint.
Looking through the door along the nearest wall. The fun polka dot lamp makes me smile and the dinosaur bank was mine when I was little!
The awesome dresser and nifty swing. Eventually, we'll get a rocker or glider to go here sometime soon.
Going to make some fun tie-backs for the curtains and perhaps add some color blocks to the bottom.
Love the crib bedding! We're planning on putting O'Baby's name or initials somehow in the middle of the two pictures.
So, that's about it! I love it! It makes me happy and I hope it makes O'Baby happy too! So, anytime you're ready little dude, so are we! Love you!

O'Baby Shower!

Last weekend, I had the blessing of celebrating our upcoming little guy with our wonderful friends and family! We had a lovely shower hosted by my sister, sister-in-law and awesome cousin! (Thanks girls!)

We truly are so thankful for all the wonderful people in our lives and how they are already supporting our son, even before he's here! Here's a few fun shots from the shower!

33 weeks...

Oh dear...seems we are almost there.

I fear I am losing my belly button! There is not much more there. AGHHH!!!!!

Oh, and it is shower weekend for this almost-mama! I'm so excited! Update coming soon!