THANKSGIVING!!!

We spent the week of Thanksgiving in sunny San Diego. It was a fun-filled week of the zoo, the beach, and hanging out with the family. Yes, it was about 80 degrees on Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time thanks to my Aunt Kathryn and Mary, as well as my parents who brought all the traditional Stevens Thanksgiving trimmings all the way from Salt Lake including turkey nut cups and frozen rolls that made the trek in dry ice. I love my mom :) Here a few of the pictures of the trip. Unfortunately, we didn't really take any pictures of the Thanksgiving just before and after.

My Dirty Little Secret

Dear TIGI,

Thank you so much for making Dirty Secret. I have never been a wash-my-hair-everyday kind of girl and so this was right up my alley. It is ingenious. Now I don't have to smell like baby powder every third or fourth day. It totally rocks (No pun intended).

Love,
Amy

Watch out!

We dressed up as a knight, princess, and a really scary dragon or really adorable dragon. You can decide.

Our Current Favorite

Rainy Day

This is what we did inside today!

Our thumb-twiddler

For what ever reason Todd has started twiddling his thumbs. It is so cute. He will interlock his fingers just right and start twiddling his thumbs. Here are a few pics we took of him tonight during dinner.



I love that orange crust around his mouth. He definitely wasn't eating this:



FRESH tomatoes, FRESH mozzarella, FRESH basil and a little balsamic vinegar...i love garden vegetables.

It guess it must be true

kids really do give their parents' gray hairs!

A Few Firsts

Todd has experienced quite a few firsts in the last little while.


First official photo shoot with the new camera!


First time wearing a real bib, as opposed to ones for drool.



First real try of rice cereal. As you can see, most of it ended up on his bib.


First time feeding himself.


His first time wiping his own mouth with a napkin. What a polite child! He is getting himself ready for Hawaii already.


Maybe not.

And first time being sick....I'll spare you the pictures of the bilious vomit :) Luckily he is feeling much better today and sleeping a lot.

NEW CAMERA! ---hmmmm, what (or who) should we try it out on?

Our digital camera has been slowly dying for several months and it dawned on us recently that we have not taken many pictures of Todd as a result (Dad does videos --- as this blog can attest). Therefore, we have decided to join this decade, and upgrade from out 3MP camera to a 12MP -- which oddly is still about the cheapest camera on the market. Amazing how technology advances!

Here's some pics of Todd's bath the day the camera arrived in the mail! Everybody thinks he looks like his mom --- probably because he smiles with his mouth wide open.

Well, He's Done It Again!

Need I say more.

Props to Jon

I found this on our friends' blogs and I can't stop listening to it. I haven't really listened to Jon Schmidt since high school, but this one is great.

First Father's Day

We enjoyed great weather and an even greater Father's Day this past Sunday. I don't say it often enough, but my husband is the greatest Father on earth. He is a complete natural! Ever since we've been married Matt has been a kid magnet because he is so much fun. Now that we have Todd with us, he is in his element 24/7. I love when Matt puts Todd to down for a nap or to bed at night and it takes him twice as long because he just sits there and converses with Todd to the point that Todd is wide awake and laughing. He then remembers all too late that he is supposed to be putting the child to bed and so he sets up all sorts of decoys so that Todd doesn't freak out when he leaves. I love it that they can't get enough of each other. Matt, I love you and think you are the greatest dad.



This is my favorite picture from Father's Day. I gave Matt this great book "Tickle Monster" that also had "tickle mitts" that went along with it. Todd loved them.

Segway Birthday

For Amy's Birthday, we decided to learn more about Sacramento by taking a Segway tour downtown. The tour itself was just OK, but riding segways was quite an experience. Amy was pretty good despite her apparent difficulty keeping her balance on Wii fit. We rode around the state capital building and had a blast. That technology is amazing!

M.D.

I've decided to jump in and start helping with blog upkeep since Amy's schedule is a little less predictable these days. Getting up-to-date with our life begins with knowing Matt graduated from medical school on May 15th. It was a day full of pompous robes and formal ceremonies, which was fun and interesting. I even got my diploma in a tube -- which I didn't think anybody actually did anymore. As exciting as the event was, it seemed a little anticlimactic after the roller-coaster day we had two months earlier when Todd was born. One unexpected perk on the day came when I was awarded an endowed prize (which we have since put toward new couches in our new place).

I can't believe how fast the last 4 years have passed. I'm very excited about residency.

Another wonderful video by Dad

Todd is getting so big, I can hardly believe it.  This is his most recent toy that he loves.  He is getting so exciting about grabbing things these days.  It is so fun to watch him mesmerized as he opens and closes his hands.  Life really is exciting watching it through a baby's eyes.

*Disclaimer* Matt was afraid this was a little cheesy, but in his defense he is using all these little movies to try out the many features of our video editing software.  

Another little video of Todd by Dad

Todd was showing off his new onesie this morning that Grandad sent him for Easter!  He seems to like it.

Presenting...Todd!

Matt made this little video of all the photos his lovely sister took for us when Todd was a week old.  This Thursday he will be a month old!  I can't believe it.  Everyone said it would go by quickly, but I never imagined it would go so quickly.  I guess it may have something to do with not ever leaving the house or not knowing what day of the week it is :)  (Those of you who have had children can relate).

We just love this little guy!

Here's the Story...

What is it about big events in our lives never turning out quite like we envisioned them? The two days I will continue to describe from here out are a case in point. First off, the obvious - Yes, we had a baby boy and not a baby girl. If you are at all astute, you will have noticed that there is picture of me in the last post with blocks spelling "girl." Don't be confused. It isn't a trick. We were told by the sonographer all those many months ago that we were having a girl. All I can say is thank heavens my mom was here to be the returns queen and take back all the girl stuff we had bought and been given. So our son is named Todd Kenneth Swenson. He was born on March 19, 2009 at 8 lbs 4 oz and 22 inches long. He is super adorable and such a good baby so far. We are keeping our fingers crossed that he stays this way :)

Now, from the top...I started having pretty regular contractions the night of March 18th (which I found out at my Dr. appointment that day, was my actual due date. (Mind you, I had never been told that was my due date, not once. Super random.). I tried to go to sleep at around midnight but to no avail I was waking up all night with the contractions. At about 4:00 a.m. I woke Matt up and we decided to go for a walk and start timing the contractions. We walked around our university housing complex for about an hour and the contractions were steadily 4-4.5 minutes apart so we figured it was time to call the on-call doctor at the hospital from my Ob/Gyn group. After speaking with her, we went in to Triage. Shortly thereafter, I was admitted to the hospital. That was about 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 19th. It just so happened that this very day was the day we have been waiting for all year. Not because we had premonitions that our baby would be born this day, but because it was "Match Day." For those who are not immersed in Medical School lexicon, this is the most anticipated day of medical school when all the fourth year graduating students find out where they are going to be doing their residencies. It is a big deal here since the University is one of the biggest employers in the city and as such there were a couple of news stations present for the big announcements. Matt was interviewed by the station as he said he was just picking up his letter to take it upstairs to open it with his wife who was in labor.

So in the middle of labor, Team Swenson opened the infamous residency envelope to find that we will be heading off in about 8 weeks to live in Sacramento where Matt will be doing his residency in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at one of the University of California programs.

So the labor continues, with a little help from the pitocin drip that my kind nurse was administering to me and the epidural given me by a fantastic second year resident (these two friends brought to modern medicine play an interesting role as the story continues to develop). Pretty much after we opened that envelope I was 7 cm dilated, my water broke and the contractions starting getting stronger. However, at this point ever time I had a contraction the baby's heart rate would totally drop off. This obviously concerned the residents and nurses monitoring my progression. So they started pumping saline back into me to try to "float" the cord. They thought that with the loss of the amniotic fluid the cord was getting pinched somewhere every time I had a contraction. While all this was going on they also decided to have me change positions about every 10 to 15 minutes. So for a couple of hours, I went through this routine of having a contraction coupled with tons of fluid pouring out of me followed by a subsequent move to one of the three positions - on my left side, on my right side, or up on my hands and knees. Yes, on all fours people after having an epidural! That is to say that I had enough feeling in my legs to get up on my hands and knees every 3o minutes or so for at least two or three hours. At this point, they decided to stop my labor completely to get the heart rate under control. So off the pitocin, I went and within five minutes and the help of another little drug I was no longer in labor having contractions. Once the heart rate was back up, the pitocin was started again. They started it out slow but as my contractions started getting stronger the baby's heart rate started to drop again. So it was back to the same drill of side to side and up on all fours. After another two hours of this I was completely exhausted and Matt was trying to stay under control although he was starting to get visibly concerned. At this point my doctor decided to have me undergo a Caesarean Section to avoid possible complications that could ensue if I tried to deliver normally. I couldn't have been more thrilled. At this point, I just wanted the baby to be safe and healthy. So they whisked me off to the Operation room, and within a half hour Todd was born with his umbilical cord wrapped around his head, arm, and ear. We were so grateful that he got here safe and healthy. I can't even imagine what a scary experience it could have been trying to push him out with his heart rate dropping every contraction not to mention my doctor thought that it would have been almost impossible to have pushed him out with the way his umbilical cord was wrapped around him, so it would have be a long, arduous labor that would have ended up the same way in the end. Can I say I am glad we took the easier route on that one!

The second half of the story - As the doctor pulled out the baby she kept referring to him as a her and then the chief resident abruptly quipped, "That is not a girl." I obviously was on the other side of the curtain, but the face Matt made as the doctor held him up on the other side of the drape was priceless. A boy! The disbelief of everyone in the room was unbelievable. The parents and the doctors were all at a loss. My doctor said that in all her twenty years practicing medicine she had only seen that happen maybe one other time. It was the strangest feeling, but it made for a great story as I called friends and family to say we have a 8 lbs 4 oz baby boy! We weren't the only ones that thought so.

Remember back to the news clip, the same channel after having announced that we were having a girl on their 5 o'clock news decided that they wanted to do follow up story all about the girl being a boy. So a couple days after we got home from the hospital they came over to our apartment and interviewed all three of us. Todd pretty much slept through the whole thing, but we are pretty much famous around here now(If you want to see the two news clips, email me and I will send them to you).

Well, needless to say it was quite a day, but we couldn't be more pleased to have Todd in our home. I love being a mom and I adjusting to life at home. I am mending well from the c-section and although I am not willing to admit it, the recovery is going to take more time than I am hoping. However, I so grateful for all the love and support from my family and friends. It means the world to me. I also have to thank my wonderful angel mother who saved me by being here and running around doing all the laundry and cooking that I would have inevitably felt inclined to do. I miss her dearly.

Any way, here are a few more pictures of the little man that my very talented sister-in-law took.

We Do Live!

I know, I know...it has been four or five fortnights since you last heard from us. We had a fabulous Christmas with family in Utah (we will post pictures soon). However, the reason for this post is show all of you that have yet to see my pregnant self that indeed it is true; I am currently 33 weeks pregnant and growing. My fabulously talented sister in law took these pictures. Enjoy!