So finally an update!

Our family is now complete!


Our sweet baby boy! He's so pink and perfect!



Ok, so most of you know that we welcomed our little miracle, Evan Joseph Helgemoe, on June 13th at 10:26 am. He weighed in at a hefty 6 lb 4 oz and was 19 inches long. He is such an amazing little boy already and our hearts are so full of love for him, I feel like it could burst! I am especially happy that he took it easy on me for labor! So here's the story of his delivery, as it is kind of interesting!

So I was 2 days over due on Sunday June 12th. We got up and went to church and I noticed that "the baby" hadn't been moving as much as normal. We came home and I counted his kicks in 1 hour and they were less than what they recommend so I called the on call doctor. She told me to go to the birthing unit to have a non stress test. We headed there, thinking that we would be home in about 1 hour, we would soon find out that we thought wrong! So we got to the birthing unit and got hooked up to find that luckily everything was ok! But they did notice that I was having frequent contractions, so they decided to check my cervix. In doing so she said that my cervix was still closed, but the nurse apparently broke my water! We had to have a test to make sure it was amniotic fluid and it came back positive. So after speaking to the doctor on call, they gave us the option to induce that night or to just monitor and possibly induce later in the week. Ummm, let me think? You guessed it, we decided to induce! They placed cervadil Sunday night and were planning on starting pitocin in the morning. With the impending arrival of our little munchkin, I couldn't really sleep and about 3:30 in the morning I started to have some pretty uncomfortable contractions. Nothing that was intollerable, but painful. I breathed through them until about 5:30 when they became extrememly painful and I was in full on labor! I asked the nurse for pain meds and after offering it to me all night, she said that I should try a shower first! WHAT??? Whatever, so I showered (which did not help!!) and luckily the day nurse came on shift and she hooked me up with some meds that at least took the edge off! By about 6:30 in the morning my cervix was already dilated to 4 cm so I asked for my epidural right away! My nurse was amazing and got me the 1st epidural (out of like 7!)!!! After that it was a cake walk! Ok, maybe not, but definately more enjoyable! It didn't take long and by about 10 am I was fully dilated!! After needing some oxygen and repositioning, I was able to start pushing! After about 25 minutes of pushing, we finally found out what this little miracle was! It was a boy!!!!! He came out screaming and just perfect. It is amazing that you can love someone so much after about 2 seconds (especially for only making mom go through 5 hours of labor)!

Eric was such a proud papa and was able to go to the waiting room and announce that we had a little boy! Grandpa Keating and Auntie Ricki and Uncle Colin were there and Grandma Keating was able to be in the delivery room. We were so happy that it worked out the way it did so Papa Keating could be here to meet him! He left the next day! Grandma and Grandpa Helgemoe were about 45 minutes out when he came into the world and we were so happy that they were all there!!

He had a few issues after he was born though. Because he was SGA (small for gestational age) they did a blood sugar that came back low. So he had to have it rechecked a few more times to make sure that it was okay and after a few attempts at breastfeeding, his blood sugar was up where it needed to be! Also, his bilirubin was a little elevated so we had to supplement breastfeeding with a little bit of formula for a few days, but it came down and we stopped supplementing. We were able to go home on Wednesday and we were so excited to get home and start this new life with Evan. The dogs were very curious when we brought him home, but they have been great with him. Molly sure didn't like it when he cried at first, but she is adjusting well. I do feel bad that I can't spend as much time with them at this point. I hope they will forgive us!

Evan has been an amazing little man so far. He is sleeping great and he hardly ever cries! He is such a chill baby, thank goodness! He took to breasfeeding right away and so far have not had many issues. We were so lucky to have my mom here for a few weeks after Evan was born. She was such a great help and I don't know what I would have done without her! Eric was able to take 1 week off work so he was able to spend some good time with Evan. Evan really calms to Eric's voice, I think because he talked to my belly so much during pregnancy! They are going to have so much fun when Evan gets older! But he better stay my momma's boy forever!

He has had a couple of doctor's appointments and he has had good reports at both. He is gaining weight and currently weighs 6 lb 11 1/2 oz and has grown 1/2 inch already :( I told him he has to stay little and mushy forever! Probably not gonna happen though! We are adjusting well to life with a little man and couldn't imagine our lives without him. He totally completes our family and we feel so blessed to have him in our lives. We look forward to what the future holds for us and him and hope to guide him the best that we can. So I will try to keep up with posting pictures and updating you all about how he is doing. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers and well wishes after Evan was born! He is so lucky to have you all in his life, as are we!

38 week update

Today we are 38 weeks and 4 days, but who's counting? We had a Dr. appointment today to see if this baby is ready to meet the world, and you guessed it, he/she is comfortable and no where near where we hoped they'd be. So, maybe the baby has already anticipated the world it would be coming into, or it is just really comfortable. I think probably the latter. Although this has been a bit frustrating for Angie, I think it is a good sign. A sign that she truly is going to be an amazing mommy and that this child already knows it and won't let go.

So we continue to wait. We are so excited to meet this little nugget, and look forward to the day he/she makes their debut. We just hope it is closer to June 10th (the actual due date) than the 2 additional weeks the Dr. said we could have to wait, if in fact this child is not ready to come out. Either way, we aren't going anywhere. We'll wait right here, nesting. I do not recall ever organizing my sock drawer, but I am pretty sure I have done this 3 times in the past 9 months. Of course, we just want to be prepared.

Angie also asked the Dr. what we could do to speed up the process and he said sex and walking. So you know what we've been doing a lot of. Oh yeah, I think we could both use a new pair of walking shoes.

We have our next appointment on Monday so please send good juju our way that the process is at least moving along!! Up until now, we have been so busy getting everything ready that we hadn't had time to really think about what is coming. Now that we are pretty much ready (as anyone can ever be for a baby!), the time seems like it is dragging. Angie's mom comes on Monday and her dad comes on Wednesday, so we are looking forward to that and just hope that they don't spend most of their time here with no baby! That's about it for now, we will keep you posted after our next appointment. Again, good vibes are welcome!!

So today we are 37 weeks and 3 days! Only 18 more days to go, but who's counting?! We have been trying to slow down a little bit as D-day approaches, but to no avail! I did surprise Eric with a little "staycation" at a bed & breakfast over the weekend and that was just what we needed! We were able to spend some quality time together and the B&B was beautiful. It had a little "lake" that we went out on and Eric did some fishing. He successfully caught a snapping turtle and hooked a fish on it's side when he was top water fishing! We relaxed by the pool and in the hammock and had a nice dinner. We hated to come home, but know we will be going back there again!

We are at our weekly appointments and had one today. I am just starting to dilate, but the baby still hasn't dropped yet. Everything is going well as far as my health. No signs of pre-eclampsia or diabetes. My blood pressure is great and my weight gain is right on at about 20 pounds. He said that he estimates the baby is about 5 1/2 pounds at this point and by delivery, the baby should be about 7 pounds. Music to my ears as I'd hate to have a giant baby!! I have been taking walks and mowing the lawn to get this party started! I just don't want to go over my due date! I have been trying not to think about the fact that this baby actually has to come out!

I have been sleeping ok, getting up a little bit more to pee and I have been having some bizarre dreams! I think (without going into gross detail) that I am having some major unconscious (and conscious) fears of pooping on the delivery table! Oh well! Eric continues to be great and taking my crazy request of cleaning/nesting in stride. We are both getting so excited and can't believe that it is only 18 days away! We remember when we still had 240 days to go and it felt like it would never be here! I am terrified that if it goes by this fast without the baby here, it is going to go even faster when it is here! I feel like I'm going to blink and the baby will be graduating from high school. Makes me want to really take everything in!

On a sad note, just last night a devastating tornado went through a town about 2 1/2 hours south of Kansas City and killed over 100 people. It's hard to feel excitement and anticipation when there are so many people who are mourning the loss of loved ones and their homes. We just pray for all of them.

That's about all for now. We have our next appoinment on Tuesday so will update after that!

Belly pictures!

Here are our belly pics that we had done a few weeks ago. We had so much fun and were at a beautiful state park called Watkins Mill. Hope you enjoy! Will update after our appointment next Wednesday.

35 week update

So today we are 35 weeks and 3 days and we have been super busy since the last update (that's the reason for the 3 week wait!)! We went to Minnesota for another shower hosted by my awesome sister-in-law Tani and my awesome mother-in-law Nancy. It was so great to see everyone and the shower was beautiful! Again, we were overwhelmed by the love and support from our family and friends. Thank you all so much! We happened to be there for Easter weekend and it is always great to spend holiday's with family.

We have been really busy getting the nursery organized and all the clothes and bedding washed. It is crazy how much stuff this little 7 pound baby (hopefully) requires! We got the swing and bassinet put together which makes it seem so much more real! We are pretty much finished with the nursery now, just going to wait to decorate until after the baby is born.

We had a doctor appointment last week and everything is still moving along great! The baby is measuring right on and the doctor said that if we were to deliver, everything should be okay. We sure hope that we don't deliver quite yet though! I am starting to get more and more contractions and the baby is running out of room, so it's movements are getting more and more uncomfortable. I am feeling pretty good most of the time, just a little more tired. Surprisingly though, I still have a good amount of energy. After long days at work, I definately have some ankle swelling (so cute)! I still don't have any cravings or food aversions and I figure, at this point, I probably won't! We are going to be putting together our hospital bag this week and then hopefully we will have some time to relax and spend some time together before we become 3!

We got belly pics done last week and hope to have them soon. I will post some when we get them. It was really fun, as we went to a local state park called Watkins Mill. It was a gorgeous day and Rachel was great fun to work with!

Lastly, on Sunday, I celebrated my first Mother's Day! It is amazing because just 1 year ago, I thought that I would never be able to celebrate a Mother's Day and here we are just 4 weeks from realizing our dream! Eric made the day so special! On Friday, he surprised me at work with flowers, then Sunday I got breakfast in bed, we went to church, then had lunch on the lawn of the Nelson Atkins Art museum and then we toured the museum. We came home and he let me take a 2 hour nap while he cleaned the house and then we ended the night watching a movie and snuggling! It was the best day ever! I truly am the luckiest girl to have Eric as a husband and this baby will be the luckiest baby to have him as a dad! I am so happy that he will also be celebrating his first Father's Day in a few weeks, with a real live baby!!!

We have our next appointment in 1 week and then we will go weekly until we deliver. Hope you are all doing well and Happy Spring!

32 week update

Well, where do I begin? It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks and it was topped off with an awesome baby shower, hosted by my girl Ricki with the help of lots of people! I want to thank all of you, my mom, Nancy, Amber, Holly and Trudi for all your help in making the shower amazing! We got so much great stuff and are now stressing about what we will do with it all! We truly are overwhelmed by the love and support of our amazing family and friends! It was so good to see the Oklahoma clan and we want you to know how much we appreciate you coming all the way out here for us! We were missing lots of people, but know you were there in spirit!

So today we are 32 weeks and 6 days! We had a dr appt yesterday and everything is on track! I have been feeling pretty good, however, I have started to get a little uncomfortable. I have a hard time breathing sometimes and the baby is moving around like CRAZY, which most of the time feels like it's having it's own tumbling class in there!! I have been having more and more Braxton-Hicks contractions and my ankles are starting to swell. Other than that, I have no complaints. Still no crazy cravings and no heartburn yet, but I have had some indigestion. I still feel bad, but I haven't had many baby dreams yet. I have had 2, and they were boys both times. I still think we are having a boy, and most days, so does Eric. We haven't really talked about names yet either, but are planning on doing that this weekend.

We are heading up to Minnesota on Friday because my lovely sister-in-law Tani and Eric's mom Nancy is throwing us a shower too!! How lucky are we? We are so looking forward to seeing everyone and we will also be celebrating Easter with the family, so that is always nice! We are looking forward to the weekend, but are ready to start settling down as it has been a crazy few months!

The nursery is as done as it's going to be before the baby comes as we will wait to decorate until after the baby is born. We have a few things to pick up before, but the big stuff is done.

We still can't believe that we will have a baby in less than 8 weeks! It is so surreal, but I guess we better get with the program because this baby is coming! Eric is getting so excited and he likes to talk to the baby and read it books. It is so cute!!! The baby even responds when he talks to it, which I know he loves! Other than that, everything is pretty much status quo. I will try to stay updated as much as possible and thanks again everyone for your support and love! We truly are blessed beyond what we deserve!

30 week update

Steve getting ready to use the saw! Lookout! Nancy helping decorate the living room! Looks beautiful!

At the Under Sea Adventure in the Crown Center KC!

Celebrating Angie and Ben's Birthday! We sang to Ben first, then sang for Angie.

So a lot has been going on since we last updated the blog! Today we are currently 30 weeks and 3 days! I can't believe we have less than 10 weeks to go. We have been so busy that time just keeps going faster and faster. So after our last appointment, we found out that I had failed the 1 hour glucose test and I am anemic. So we had to go in for a 3 hour glucose test and I started iron supplements. Thank God, I passed the 3 hour glucose test so no worries about gestational diabetes! Otherwise, everything else is going great! The baby continues to move a ton and my belly continues to get bigger and bigger! We have our next appointment in 2 weeks, then after that we go to every 2 week appointments!

The weekend of March 19/20, we had Eric's brother Chad and his wife Tani and their kids Ellie and Ben down from Minnesota. It was my and Ben's birthday on the 20th. We had a great visit and were happy to have 70 degree weather so we enjoyed most of our time outside! We always have a great time when they are here! They are growing up so fast, it makes me nervous for our baby! I feel like we have blinked and Ellie is almost 6 and Ben is 4 already! Makes us want to make sure we take in each and every moment with our little nugget no matter how crazy life gets!

After they left, Eric tore out our guest bathroom and we began renovation on that. We are super excited about this because that is our last project for the upstairs and we are done! Eric did an amazing job on the tiling and I did what little I could to help. We had an issue with the drain pipe for the sink and thank goodness Eric's Dad has skills! Steve and Nancy came last weekend for a visit and he helped get the pipe fixed and the bathroom is now complete! It looks amazing and we wouldn't have been able to do it without him! So, needless to say, while they were doing the manual labor, Nancy and I went on a little shopping spree! (I think we got the better end of that deal!) We got lots of good stuff for the house and it looks great! So thank you to both of them for all their help! I think it goes down in the record books that WE wore them out for once!

We have our first baby shower on April 16th and I am looking forward to seeing all of my family and friends! I am so grateful for Ricki for throwing us this shower and for all the people who are taking time out of their busy lives to come! This baby sure is lucky to have such great family! Other than that we are looking forward to slowing down a bit and enjoying our last few weeks of being just husband and wife! We will post more after the shower!