Milestones

Since we never filled out a baby book, we thought it would be a good idea to get some of Logan's milestones written somewhere besides just the loose paper in the drawer.  So not to brag, but here's what Logan has been up to the last 10 months.

Rolled over from stomach to back - 1st time at 1 week, 1 day, consistently at 18 days (12/26/11)

Started "talking" - 2 months old

Laughed out loud,  3/20/12 - 3 months

Sitting up, May 2012 - 5 months

Rolling over from back to stomach, 6/15/12 - 6 months

Up on all fours, 6/24/12 - 6 months

1st tooth (bottom middle), 6/25/12 - 6 months

Pushing forward (army crawl/the worm), 7/28/12 - 7 months

Started Crawling, 8/7/12 - almost 8 months

Pulling up, 8/9/12 - 8 months

Says "mama" & "dada" (doesn't really know what he is saying), August 2012 - 8 months

Able to use sippy cup by himself, August 2012 - 8 months

Clapping when someone says "Yay" or "good job" , Labor Day weekend - almost 9 months

Standing alone for short periods of time, 9/4/12 - almost 9 months

Waving and says "buh bye", September 2012 - 9 months

Clapping after a song, September 2012 - 9 months

Says "dada" and knows who that is, September 2012 - 9 months

Feeds himself puffs (similar to Cheerios) and claps afterwords, September 2012 - 9 months

First steps, 10/11/12 - 10 months

A Baby Story

For the short and sweet version go here.

Dear Logan,

This is the story of the first week of your life.  Hopefully, one day you will be able to read it and appreciate how you came into the world.  This is also to help mom and dad remember all the details.

The date that the doctor anticipated you being born was November 30, 2011.  Since mom couldn't travel for Thanksgiving, Grandpa and Grandma Mac came up to help us celebrate.  We even thought you might make your arrival when they were here.  But you didn't come on Thanksgiving.  When you hadn't come on your due date, we made plans with the doctor for an induction on December 9, 2011.  We made plans to go in the hospital early Friday morning and let everyone know to get ready.

You had other plans, however.  Mom woke up early Thursday morning feeling uncomfortable.  After unsuccessfully trying to get more sleep she decided that she might be having contractions.  I finally convinced her to call the doctor and they told us to come on in.  When we made it to the doctor around 9am, they sent us back and hooked mom up to a monitor to check your heart rate and see if there were contractions.  Your heart rate was good and mom was having contractions about every 3 minutes lasting about 50 seconds apiece.  The doctor came in to check how dilated mom was.  At previous appointments she was dilated 2 centimeters, but now she was up to 5 cm.  They put her in a wheelchair because her blood pressure was a little high, and we went on over to the hospital. 

We were in the hospital room around 10am.  Mom was ready for an epidural, so the nurses started getting an IV ready.  It took a couple tries and a blown vein to get it in correctly but they got it in.  I had to leave the room after feeling queasy, but I made it through without passing out.  Next came the epidural.  The anesthesiologist got it in without any issues and the next few hours went well.  Before we knew it all of your grandparents were here or on their way and mom was dilated to 9 cm by around 3pm.

Things started to slow down after that, but we were ready to start pushing at 6pm.  Mom started pushing and was doing a great job, but things weren't moving very fast.  You were trying hard to come out and making a little progress, but not enough.  Over the next three hours we saw several different doctors, midwives, and nurses.  Mom hung in there while I tried to encourage her.

At 9pm Dr. Martin started his shift and came in to see us.  He said we could try the forceps or the vacuum, but he couldn't promise that would work.  We talked about it and decided to go ahead with a C-Section.  I put on an awesome hair net and some scrubs and mom was wheeled off to the operating room.  Before we knew it, we could hear your first cry coming from the other side of the room.

You were born at 9:54pm.  You weighed 8 lbs, 9 oz and were 20 inches long.

Mom was sewn up and taken back to the room.  Your grandparents patiently waited while mom fed you for the first time, but the time finally came when they were able to hold you for the first time.  After a couple of hours they took us to a new room where we would spend the next few days.  It was around 1:45am by the time we finally got to sleep.

The next day there we lots of people that came to visit you.  Grandpa and Grandma Mac and Papa and Nana Horton were there.  Aunt Connie also brought your cousin Emma Kate.  Lots of our friends from church came.  Travis and Tawny, Chelsea, Lindsay, Lacy, Jim Dalton, Doug & Angel Couch, and Melissa all came to see you after you were born.  Josh, Holly, and Conner also stopped by.

We originally thought that we would get to take you home on Sunday, but we had another thing coming.  Overall, you were a healthy baby.  You started to lose a little too much weight so we started a little bit of formula to supplement nursing.  After that, things went well for you.  You were actually released from the hospital before mom was.

Since you were released before mom was, I got to take you to your first doctor appointment by myself.  While this could have been an adventure fit for a sitcom episode, you were a very good boy and we didn't have any issues.  You were measured and were around the 48th percentile in height, weight, and head circumference. 

Mom's blood pressure was high all during labor and after you were born.  It reached as high as 180/120, but was typically less than that.  However, the doctors weren't comfortable sending us home until they felt is was under control.  They put her on medication and increased the dose and added a second medicine to try and figure it out.  By the time we left the hospital, mom was on 1200mg of Labetalol and 90mg of Procardia. 

After mom's blood pressure was averaging about 150/90, we were able to talk to the doctors and they let us go home Thursday morning.  After we got home and got some rest, mom's blood pressure went down significantly.  We are still monitoring it, but we are down to 400mg of Labetalol and 30mg of Procardia.  It is likely that that will be reduced again when we see the doctor.

After all was said and done, we spent a week in the hospital, which was about 4 days longer than we hoped, but we left with a beautiful, calm, sweet little boy.  If you asked either one of us, we would do it all over again.

Love,

Dad

A Baby Story (Dragnet version)

"Just the facts ma'am" Version of Logan's Birth.

Logan Scott McReynolds

Born December 8, 2011 at 9:54 pm via C-Section at Overland Park Regional Medical Center

8 lbs 9 oz

20 in long

14 1/4" head circumference

The hospital stay lasted a week due to Stefanie's elevated blood pressure during and after labor.

Partly Cloudy with a chance of Showers

We were treated to a lovely shower from our Red Bridge family.  Thank you for all the wonderful gifts.  They will be a great help as we continue to get things ready.  Stefanie is now 32 weeks along and we are getting closer to arrival day.  We are getting anxious and trying to make sure we have everything prepared for when he arrives. 

It's a ...

BOY!

For those of you who weren't aware, Stefanie and I are expecting our first child around November 30th. We are very excited and anxious about the way our life will change from now on. Hot summer days will quickly turn into brisk fall evenings, and before we know it, baby will make 3. Our new addition will be the first grandchild for my parents and the first one in several years for Stefanie's.

Ever since we first started talking seriously about kids, I have found myself observing parents much more as I have struggled with all the different challenges that are sure to come our way. I have no doubt that I have underestimated both the joy and difficulty that this child will bring, but I know that I have never met a parent that would give his child back.

Stefanie will not be going back to school this fall and is looking forward to staying at home with our little guy. Names are still being discussed, but the inner planner in us will soon take over and a decision will probably be made sooner rather than later. The last sonogram showed no signs that the baby was abnormal in any way, but we continue our prayers for a healthy baby and mommy.

We would love to hear your thoughts about what you wish you knew before having kids or any recommendations (diapers, toys, furniture, cameras ...) that you are willing to offer.

Thanks for checking in with our seldom updated blog!

Summer Happenings

It seems like once a season is about as frequent as this blog gets updated these days. Stefanie and I have had a busy, but enjoyable summer, so far. At the beginning of the summer we sat down and started talking about all the things we wanted to do. Even though most of the items on the list were only weekend long excursions, dates filled up fast. We started out the summer by heading to Piedras Negras, Mexico with a group from Joplin. This was one of several times for me to go with the church I grew up in. However, this was Stefanie's first trip and we were very excited for her to get to experience it. Vida Nueva (New Life) Ministries is the organization we have always gone down to help. It is amazing to see how this area has changed since the first trip I made in high school. One of the special things about this trip was the decision that Stefanie and I made to sponsor a child so they can attend preschool. The cool thing was that we got to meet Maria, the child we are sponsoring before we left (Thanks for the picture, Bethany). If you are interested in sponsoring a child I would encourage you to get in contact with Lorena (lorenavidanueva AT hotmail.com) and see how you can make a difference in a child's life.

After Mexico, we've spent about every weekend traveling to see our family and friends across the midwest. We've purchased tickets from scalpers, danced in the car, and watched fireworks with captivated preschool boys.

For the most part things have been positive. However, there is always the good that comes with the bad. I lost my last living grandparent in May and Stefanie's dad has been in and out of the hospital a couple of times for surgery to repair some of the ailments that are a result of the cancer that recurred two years ago. He is home now and has started recovering, but we would still solicit your prayers.

In all things, we know that God is good and that we are Safe in His arms.

It's been awhile

August 29, 2009. That's the date of our last post. It seems like we have been going almost non-stop since then. Stefanie has been busy with her new 4th grade class and I've been staying busy at work. In our free time we've been on the road quite a bit. We've been to Rogers, St. Louis and Joplin all in the last several weeks. We've visited family and friends and enjoyed spending time with everyone. We finally had a weekend at home to relax a couple of weeks ago, and I did a pretty good job of making it less fun by being sick all weekend. Now that there is a little bit of a lull before holiday season starts, we hope to do some relaxing again.

Our first offspring

Her name is Bonnie. Bonnie McReynolds. Bonnie McReynolds, the tomato plant. We adopted her from Lowe's at the beginning of summer. She hasn't been overly fruitful in her limited time with us, but that is not completely her fault. She only received partial sun in the mornings and we failed to ever give her any Miracle Grow. We're not sure if being in a pot affected her, but it's possible. We picked her fruit earlier this week, and it will probably end up on a sandwich within the next few days. Maybe next year we will have enough to share.

Summer's heating up

Temperatures are rising, bugs are biting and the smell of BBQ is in the air.  Summer time is here (although not officially until June 21st).   This will be our best summer yet as a married couple.  Yes, that's right it's our first summer as a married couple.  Anyway, we have a lot of fun already planned and I know that just as much enjoyment will come from the unplanned events.  Baseball games, relaxing by the pool, family/friend visits, cookouts, church activities and float trips are all ready planned.  Who knows, we might even make a trip to Branson.  If you are going to be in the KC area, please let us know so we can try to meet up.

Who Said You Can't Go Home?!

This weekend will mark our first visit back home since our move. I cannot wait!!! I really do like the Kansas City area, but the thought of returning to a place with our family and friends brings such warmth to my heart. We have some wonderful people in our lives here. Scott has several friends who live in the area, and we have enjoyed getting together with them over the past few weeks. We've found a church home where we feel welcomed and loved... already! Such great people!! Still, I am very excited about seeing some familiar faces and places. Pretty sure that I won't be ready to come back when it's time to leave... but maybe I will. Like I said, KC is starting to grow on me. :)

Stefanie