Jacob Ryan

Welcome to the family Jake!

Jacob Ryan Stanley was born September 25, 2014 at 11:20 AM in Augusta, Georgia.

7lbs 4oz 20 inches

A little about his arrival. The day before I had a doctor appt and had been having more cramping and frequent and more painful braxton hicks contractions. The doctor checked me and said I was a 3-4 cm dilated and 80% effaced! That was a big change from the week before and she thought I would have him in the next couple days!! I was stoked! Vince and I played outside a lot that day and went on a few walks. All day I was still having braxton hicks and getting more painful. I woke up around 2:00 AM feeling now definitely contractions that were uncomfortable. I started timing them and they were about 5 min apart!! Holy cow, I was thinking, is this really happening now!? I waited an hour and wanted to make sure this was for real because I didnt want to go to the hospital, literally, in the middle of the night, and be sent back home because I really wasn't in labor. So after an hour they were still there and continuing to get more painful. I woke up Ryan and we got ready to go. My friend Melissa offered to watch Vince, so we woke him up and dropped him off at her house and made our way to the hospital. Got there around 4:30 and I was admitted at 4 cm dilated. I thought I'd be more but at least I was admitted. Now I was trying for a VBAC and you can't be induced at all, so I had to be in labor on my own and not have it stop. My doctor also wanted me to get an epidural in case things went south and they had to do an emergency C-section. Well like I said I couldnt have my labor stop and I was nervous to get the epidural at first because Ive heard they can slow things down. So I labored a few more hours and they were getting closer and stronger. They checked me and I was 6-7 cm dilated!! We were so excited and surprised how fast I was progressing and got the epidural. Man, they are amazing :) After a few more hours I was feeling pressure, they checked me again and I was a 9! They broke my water had me push a few times and he seemed to be not exactly face down or in the best position. So they had me lie on my side for about 20 minutes then checked again and he was ready. I pushed for about 20 minutes and he arrived!!! 

It was incredible!!! They were able to give him to me right away, even before they weighed him for skin to skin. It was night and day compared to Vince's birth. We are so blessed and so many prayers were answered. We're so grateful to our Heavenly Father for our healthy boy and know he came straight from His presence. Being a mother is the most incredible gift and to be able to raise one of God's children truly is a miracle.

I had been prepping Vince for months on being a big brother and the arrival of Jake. We let him hold him in the hospital and he enjoyed it for about 30 seconds then was done. He's warming up to him more being at home and will talk to him and even gave him a kiss today. :) But he still does his own thing and doesn't seem to notice much changes.

Ryan's been home this weekend, obviously, but spending tons of time with Vince and Vince loves it. He was having lots of fun with his friend Elmo in their seats next to eachother :)

I love this face!!

39 Weeks!!

Wow, baby is literally almost here!!! I can't believe how close it is. I really hope this is my last post before baby comes, but I guess we'll see. This has been a good pregnancy. Going through the Georgia summer is definitely something I would try to avoid next time if possible, but how can I complain when I get a baby at the end of it! :)

 If there was a rainstorm, Vince could literally stand under my stomach and stay dry! haha 

Baby come soon!!!

Vince is excited for baby, he's going to be a great big brother!!

Pirates and Ducks

This is Vince's good friend Isaac. It's so cute seeing them play and I had to snap some pictures when they were having a snack together!

Friday was pirate day at Krispy Kreme. If you came in talking like a pirate they gave you a free donut, but if you dressed up like a pirate you would get a dozen free donuts!! So we decided to go for it and had fun. Isaac and his mom joined us.

Ryan made this cute pirate hook

Vince LOVED the donut and kept wanting more :)

Afterwards we went to see dad at work and bring him a donut. Vince had fun seeing him and the tractor outside.

Happy camper!

We have this pond near our house with ducks and geese and we decided to bring some bread to feed them today. They were not shy at all and Vince had fun seeing them. We'll be back soon to feed some more.

Popcorn Popping

Vince LOVES nursery and primary songs. Some of his favorites are 

The Wheels on the Bus

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

and

Popcorn Popping

He'll ask you to sing it over and over and over until you have to change the subject haha. He loves all the actions to them as well and will sometimes copy you. Lately we've been singing Popcorn Popping and he'll say "ME" when it occurs in the song. We were at the dinner table and Ryan started singing the song and pausing at the end of each line to see if Vince would sing and how much he knew and he took us both by surprise! :)

37 weeks

37 weeks down, who knows how many more to go!!! We are SO EXCITED to meet little man!!! I can't believe how close it is. Everything is looking good and the doctor said the head is down which is great news because Vince was breech. I feel like the baby has dropped and hopefully everything  goes well as we're trying to have a VBAC! We've been so blessed with Vince and this healthy pregnancy and know it's all in our Heavenly Fathers hands.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a good Labor Day weekend. We got to spend a lot of family time together and get some projects and things around the house worked on. On Monday we went to the lake for a little swimming and Vince has turned into a little fish! He's not swimming but, really enjoying the water. He used to be pretty timid but this time he was having a ball and would walk straight in and probably over his head if you weren't next to him! Not really, but he seemed to have no fear.

He LOVED throwing his shovel and did it practically the whole time

This is before church on Sunday. The past couple weeks he kept commenting on Ryan's tie, so I decided to put one on him and he was so proud and kept it on all of church, I was impressed! He's such a little man!!

I've mentioned this before but tomatoes are one of Vince's absolute FAVORITE foods! Especially cherry tomatoes, but who can blame him when they're straight from the garden. It's been great :)