First Bath

We gave Chase his first bath last night - it was just a quick sponge bath since his umbilical cord is still in. He wasn't too big a fan but he was a trooper:) It will be a little more fun once we can actually put him in the water to play.

Dancing with Grandma!

Chase's First Week

Well, Chase is 1 week old today! It has been an exciting, absolutely amazing and of course tiring week:) He amazes us with every noise and all his funny faces he makes all day long. We have had some help this week thanks to Aunt Christine and Grandma. Christine stayed with us from Sat to Monday and Chase just loved taking naps in her lap. Grandma got here Monday and Chase has loved having her around to help give Mom and Dad some much needed extra hands!

Chase has been such a great baby - barely crying at all. He sleeps a lot during the day and we are getting much better at breast-feeding. Our typical night has been up till 12:o0 or 1am with him then sleep a few hours then up from 3-5am then a few more hours of sleep and then up at 8am. It is definitely a little tough but worth it! Chase had his first outing yesterday as we made our way to the pediatrician. He is 7 lbs 9 oz so almost back to his birth weight, which is great! She checked him out and said he is perfect - which of course we could have told her:) It was great to hear and he was such a good boy while there.Today Grandma, Chase and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. I think Chase liked being out in the fresh air. He looks so tiny in his carseat though - it is hilarious! We couldn't go too far as I am still in a little pain but it was good to get out and walking.

Welcome Chase Nicholas!!!

Chase Nicholas Hoelting has made it into the world and melting our hearts already! Chase was born Wednesday, May 21st at 2:06pm. He was 7 lbs 11oz and 20.5 inches long. Here is a link to some pictures...

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=5ec1a092bf003bd86100ee&skin_id=601&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

He gave all of us quite a scare and a long couple days deciding to finally come out and play with us. Here is a synopsis of his birth: (sorry it's a bit long!)

Tuesday morning I woke up with labor pains and Craig and I made our way to the hospital at about 2pm. I was only 3 cm dilated so they had us go walk around for a few hours. We came back and was still only 3 cm so they sent us home. We stayed home until 11pm and the pain was getting really bad so we went back. They checked us again and I was still only 3 cm but after doing an ultrasound they found my amniotic fluid was pretty low so they decided to admit me. I got my IV and epidural going so I was nice and pain free! Dad showed up as well around 4am and then Mom and Dad left Craig and I to try and go get a couple hours sleep. Around 5 am Craig and I were getting a couple minutes sleep finally and a nurse rushed in and told me to switch sides I was laying on and threw an oxygen mask on me. About 6 more nurses rushed in, gave me a shot and kept pushing me from side to side and were calling for Drs to go to the operating room. I guess the medicine they put me on (Pitocin) to help speed up labor caused Chase's heart rate to drop dramatically. Thank goodness everything they did brought his heart rate back up so we didn't have to do surgery yet.

Around 10am we moved to a labor and delivery room where they broke my water and tried to put more fluid in my uterus and tried the Pitocin again because I was not dilating on my own.

At this point because I had been laying on my right side all night because of Chase's heart my epidural wore off on my left side (crazy painful) so I was waiting for more drugs to be put in and all of a sudden Chase's heart dropped again! They rushed in again swaying me side to side and turning the medicine off. After this second scare everyone had had enough and the Dr told us we needed to go ahead get him out with a C-Section.

We moved to the Operating room about 10 minutes later and about 20 minutes after that we heard Chase's first cry! It was the most beautiful sound Craig and I could have heard. There was lots of tears and emotion to finally see our baby boy out and healthy.

The recovery the first few days was rough and painful but Chase and I are both doing great now! We had one last little scare in the hospital finding out that Chase has a little heart murmer. Of course that sounds super scary and we weren't sure what to think but after an ultrasound and x-rays of his heart the pediatric cardiologist assured us it is very small and should close on it's own. Talk about relief. We will go back in June to see him and hopefully it will be gone by then.

We got home Saturday afternoon and are so relieved to be here and able to relax a little more. It has been so helpful having my Mom and Dad and sister helping out and Craig has been nothing short of an amazing husband and Dad. Chase has his days and nights mixed up so we are running on minimal sleep but it is worth it:) He is the sweetest baby, we are absolutely in love!

Thanks to everyone for all the texts and phones calls, we love you and appreciate all your love and support!

Due Date Come & Gone?

Well, today is the day our little man is supposed to make his arrival - I guess we wait and see if he decides to come in the next 13 hours:) As of Friday he was pretty happy still in Mom's belly as you can see. Craig and I went on a long walk Friday evening around the neighborhood and have been eating spicy food and he even gave me a foot rub last night! Ha Ha love all the wives tales!

One great thing that came from Craig and my walk Friday night is we found an overlook by these huge homes near us that have an amazing view of the marina, city and the ocean. Don't know what those people do but pretty sure one was a prof athlete since they had a car outside with an ESPY's monogram on it. We also found a neat dog park - not that we need it, but it was full of people that were super friendly. Lastly we found a Little League park that had an amazing view off the cliffs of the ocean - it was a little ridiculous. I really love our neighborhood!

Oh my - how I've grown!

January 23, March 6,
March 29, April 25

I thought I would share some photos of the growing belly bump along the way since most people in CO never even saw me pregnant:) It is weird to look back and see the one from January - I actually thought I had a big bump back then! If only I would have known how much it would grow!

Baby on The Way!

Well, here is my first post. I decided to get a blog set up and since I am on maternity leave already and our little man has decided to hold off on arriving - I figured this would be the perfect time to get started!

I am officially 39 weeks and 3 days pregnant - meaning we should expect Baby H to be here by this Sunday but unfortunately I think we may have to wait a bit longer. I went for my weekly Dr appt today and there was zero progress. I will have to do Craig and I's walk everyday since it is up and down some crazy hills to get down to the beach - maybe that will help:) We are ready to meet him. I have been blessed to have an easy pregnancy this far - no sickness - but we are ready to finally hold him in our arms!

We have his nursery pretty much done - just waiting on a valence and drapes to arrive. Craig did a great job painting stripes on the wall. It was definitely frustrating when he discovered the room was not square and the level just would not work perfect but he won the battle and it looks great! We think it turned into quite a cute little boy's room!