William Vincent Gutke

     After a long, long wait, our baby boy is here! He arrived Monday the 31st, 2011, weighing 8 pounds, 8 ounces, 20 inches long. I was induced at about 5:30 am, and he was born at 5:09 pm. I had a very slow progression until the last hour I went from a 7 to a 10 and only pushed for about 15 minutes (thank goodness). It was very tiring... Near the end William's heart rate dropped in the 40's and the doctor was going to aid him out with a vacuum for the last bit, but the nurse didn't have it out, and I already had a 3rd degree tear, so he grabbed his scissors and performed an episiotomy. After that, Joe was able to aid his head and the rest of his body out. Joe was very happy and proud to be the one to deliver Liam. :)
     We are thrilled to have William's sweet spirit in our home. He is such a happy baby, very content. He has jaundice and we are waiting for his bilirubon (sp?) level to go down. He was in the intermediate high risk zone and is looking pretty yellow, so we're praying it's getting flushed out of his system.We're not taking any visitors for a while, the doctor says he needs to get stable and healthy and there are too many viruses out there right now, and they don't have immunizations for some of them, so we're going to be shut away in our house for a while. Recovery is tough for me...very painful. It's tough getting around and I've been sitting on a donut pillow to help. We've had to call the doctor for some pain prescriptions and some antibiotics because I got a UTI on top of everything. My swelling is finally going down, and I almost have no cankles!! :)
     Joe is a wonderful dad. He is so sweet with William, and he can calm him if he ever does get upset (which is rare). They are going to be best friends. :) We're glad Joe's surgery came at a good time so he can stay home and watch Liam grow, it will be tough to have him go back to work. Joe's mom has been here for about a week helping out and cooking some delicious meals and soaking up time with her new grandson.
     Life is wonderful, and we couldn't imagine not having William. He is our miracle. I love smothering him with kisses and feeling his soft skin, and smelling his sweet scent. He is the perfect baby!

Nursery

One of our major projects was to get the nursery finished...and that's the only one we've fully completed. Our house is becoming more like a home now that we've actually been able to move our stuff in, but we still have a bit to do in each area of the house. It was fun redoing the dressers for Williams room/guest room/art room/storage room/library... :) It will be nice to have a house where each of our requirements will have a designated room. Anyway, we're ready for him to come now!

The two dressers before

We didn't know our hand me down dresser had a broken drawer until we were sanding it down! :)

We added handles to this storage cabinet

 

1 More Day!

       All our bags are packed, we're ready to go! Monday morning at 5 a.m. I'm going in to get induced!! William didn't come early like the doctor predicted, and now that he's measuring 41 weeks and I'm only 39, he said we NEED to get him out. I'm in total agreement and hoping he doesn't weigh over 9 pounds-that's what the doctor is thinking he's going to weigh, and now I'm a high risk pregnancy :S But I'm glad he's healthy, and I'm super glad I will not be going home pregnant-we are getting him out here into the world one way or another! :)
       I haven't wanted to post any pics of myself this far along in pregnancy because I feel so nasty and huge...but I'm swallowing my pride and showing you all my 39/41 week belly-whatever way you want to look at it :)

Baby William

   We got to see William today in 3D and he's a cutie. Stubborn, but cute. His hands were in front of his face the whole time and we were only able to get a few pictures with them put down for a minute. He would suck on his fist, rub his eye, and he even grabbed onto his toes at one point! :) We're sure excited for him to make his grand entrance into this world!
    We had a great Christmas this year. We went to my parent's house and had the quickest opening of the presents we've ever had :) My mom and dad spoiled us with things for Liam (and ourselves)! We got so much from them, and from my brother Jake and his wife April-thanks guys! I go into Liam's room several times a day and will unfold and refold all his clothes and blankets, feel all his soft outfits, and try to imagine what it's going to be like to have that room occupied and never be without him again...it's kind of overwhelming at times...
   We're getting ready to do what is hopefully our last project for his room. We're going to sand down a dresser and paint it fun nursery colors and we're going to use that for a changing table as well. It should be a fun process! :) Pictures will follow.
        Here are some pictures of our bun in the oven.

                                                                           foot

33 Weeks

A little over 33 weeks along and the sleepless nights continue....

Dishwasher Magic

Wow, I say!!!! Wow!  We moved into a new apartment and our dishes have had a gloom about them ever since.  At our last apartment we had the same problem so I took apart the dishwasher, submerged my had in the the most disgusting cold slimy liquid, pulled out gobs of gunk, only to find my heroic attempt at fixing the dishwasher was in vain.  So this time around I decided to take a different approach.  I went to Walmart, our handy go-to store, and purchased two products from Jet Dry®.  The first miracle I grabbed was Finish® Jet-Dry® Dishwasher Cleaner, a cleaner that you run alone in your dishwasher to unclog those hard to reach, and those "I don't want to reach" places.

This alone was wonderful.  When the cycle, which was set to the hottest and longest possible, ended I opened the dishwasher and fought back tears as I finally smelled the savory aroma of cleanliness.  I then was so excited about this new phenomenon that I was eager to start my first load in this newly reborn dish-vessel.  So I loaded up the dishes, and attached the second product Jet-Dry® Rinse Agent Baskets to the right corner of the upper tray and waited a second time, impatient for the result.
Elated a second time, I unloaded the dishwasher, savoring the warmth and grip that each fresh dish emitted.   To my marvel, the dishes were wonderfully clean.  They sparkled like new and I again took pride in my dish ware.  We use Cascade Complete® Gel Packets for detergent, but next time I head to the store I'm going to try a Jet-Dry® brand detergent to see if it's a triple threat.  Until then, farewell to you all and good luck with your dishwasher endeavors.  Joe

32 weeks

         We're getting closer! And from what my doctor said  last week, our due date might be earlier than what we expected-by about 2 weeks. I guess we'll see what happens! My doctor readjusted my back and hips-he said my alignment was way off- 2 inches! No wonder I'm in such pain. It helped for the first few nights sleeping, but I can feel my back and hip pain coming back, so I'll probably get readjusted every few weeks now. 

          Joe and I are a sight to see right now. He got surgery on his ankle Saturday for his tendonitis, so we're both hobbling around, being miserable together. But he gets 6 week off of work and he'll be home for Christmas and hopefully he'll be healed by the time William gets here. Joe was pretty funny when he was coming out of the anesthesia. The nurse came and got me right when he woke up and said he was ready to go and asking her all sorts of questions about his surgery, which she didn't know the answer to, and that was getting him frustrated. :) That sounded like Joe, he always has so many questions for everyone and always wanting to learn. When I got back there, he was sitting up and trying to get out of bed. He wasn't very happy she was making him stay there, and his endless questions kept on coming-repeatedly. :) When the physical therapist finally came with the crutches, Joe was all ready to leave, but the therapist made him walk around with him with a safety belt on. Joe was hauling through the halls and up the stairs, and the therapist kept telling him to slow down. That's Joe for ya. He's insisted on continuing to do things on his own and even for me, opening all the doors and such. I've got such a sweet husband.

       Last night we had a huge scare. Joe woke up with excruciating stomach pains, and I've never seen him like that. From what he was telling me, I was afraid his stomach was bleeding. I got his prescription instructions and read signs of overdose, and we think that's what happened. He usually took one pill with food, and if that didn't work after an hour or two, he would stagger another one, because the amount is 1-2. Well, he ended up taking 2 right before we went to bed without food, and the food usually dilutes its effectiveness a bit. He noticed right away he was super dizzy and drowsy, and then he woke up with these pains a few hours later. We got some food in his stomach and the pain slowly went away. Whew! I told him today I was ready to call an ambulance to come get him because he was too stubborn to go to the ER, or Redicare. I'm glad he's okay, and he's only taking one pill at a time now. :)

        Here I am at 32 weeks (or 34 for the size William is) He sure is active. He's always kicking and pushing out at me, and now he's kicking up in my ribs. But it makes me glad that he's healthy and active. We have been very blessed lately. We're grateful that Joe is still mobile after his surgery, and especially thankful that we didn't have to pay for his surgery! (He got injured in the Army, so they're paying for everything) We're so thankful that William is healthy and that he doesn't have the cysts in his brain anymore, and we're praying that he continues to do well after he's born. We're thankful that we're finally out of debt! After Joe's dad died a few years ago, Joe was left on his own, and had a hard time climbing out of his financial struggles, but it's great now! We're so thankful for our family members that have kept us in their prayers and been so helpful to us before our new little family member arrives. Thank you all! We love you!