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4 Month Stats

Well, I was right about guessing that we would be in the higher percentile on Evan's growth stats.

He weighed in at 17 lbs 1 oz; 90%, length is 26", 85%; and head circumference 17 1/4"; 85%. The doctor said she would be very happy if all her babies were as healthy as Evan.

'Twas the day after Christmas

'Twas the Day After Christmas and all through the house were laughter and smiles ! Evan was a little crank bucket on Christmas day but really seemed to enjoy the day after when Daddy got home from work. He doesn't seem to do his best when he is around big crowds of loud new people. I guess he doesn't take after his social mother. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and we are wishing everyone a magical new year!

Favorite Firsts

Four months old and Merry Christmas!

We have been having so much fun! The most amazing thing about motherhood for me is all of the wonderful "firsts" that I get to experience with my child. Evan and I are having so many adventures together. In his first four months he has experienced:

• Halloween
• Sleeping on his own in his crib (yay!!)
• Thanksgiving with cousins
• Play dates with first baby friends
• Plane trip to Boston
• New "big baby" toys
• Hanukkah and Christmas parties

Today we went to the pool for the first time! Evan loved the water and enjoyed watching all the big kids splash and jump in the pool. He was way more interested in the big kids than he was in his mother. No pics though- juggling the baby and a camera in the pool didn't seem like a great idea. For Christmas we plan on spending the day with friends because Daddy has to work at the fire house.

Our four month appointment with the pediatrician is on Tuesday. I'm working on my list of questions, boy do I have a lot of them this time. I'm not sure how much he weighs and won't know his stats until Tuesday but I'm guessing he is in the higher percentile based on the reactions I get when I tell people he is only 4 months old . We'll report back with the stats this week!

Proudly Presenting Evan James Hooper

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Birthday: August 21, 2009

Time: 6:49 a.m. MST

Weight: 7 lbs 11 oz

Length: 20 3/4"

Location: Denver, CO


With some gentle encouragement from several friends, I am finally updating our baby blog. It is my intent to do a better job now that I have a beautiful baby boy to show off. I believe I will have endless content with the new adventures we are now beginning.

So far our first month has been a whirlwind of learning, changing, and lots of love- accompanied by many, many diapers, bottles, loads of laundry and sleepless nights.

To begin, I will recap our birth story.

On the morning of August 20th I was sitting in the training room of Re/Max international in DTC learning how to better sell bank owned homes. Around 10 a.m. I realized that the crampiness I was feeling had to be the start of labor contractions. By the time the class was over and I politely excused myself from the company of fellow colleagues and headed home as I had no doubt that what I was experiencing was, in fact, real contractions. Always trying to squeeze one more thing in, I contemplated proceeding with my errand of exchanging cameras at Best Buy. Between contractions I was sure that I could handle this tiny errand, but each time another contraction came along I would decide to head straight home instead- which, thankfully, is what I ultimately did.

Around 1:30 p.m. Eric and I found ourselves at Rose Hospital checked into the Labor and Delivery Triage walking the halls and hoping that they would not be sending us home. Somewhere around 3:30 p.m. I was checked into a Labor and Delivery room and was really looking forward to the jacuzzi tub to help relieve the contractions before the epidural. Eric ran the tub for me and due to complications starting my IV and the contractions becoming too strong I vetoed the tub and went ahead with the epidural around 5 p.m. I'm really foggy on what occured during all these hours but around 10 p.m. the nurse broke my water.

Meanwhile, back in Louisiana- Ginny, Eric's mom, was frantically changing flights, nervously packing and rushing to get to Denver - pronto. She was determined to be here for the birth of her grandson who had decided to make his arrival 2 weeks early. Ginny, now more commonly known as Nana, arrived at Rose Hospital by way of plane, dud shuttle and taxi around 1 a.m. Still more than 5 hours before baby's arrival.

Around 5 a.m. my doctor and the L & D nurses were advising me that we should proceed with a c-section because baby boy Hooper's head was wedged in my pelvis and was starting to swell. The nurse upped my petocin dosage and gave me one more hour to see if we would make any progress. At only 5 cm dialated and 17+ hours of labor (13 with epidural) we were rolled into the OR. All I really remember was being horrified that my son's head was swelling, seeing the nurse seemingly toss bright blue scrubs at Eric and hearing Ginny yell out farewell down the hall. I'm pretty sure the whole floor heard her! That was the first time I realized she wasn't coming with us. The c-section was an expierence I'll only share with those who ask, so we'll just skip ahead to Evan's arrival at 6:49 a.m.

It was apparent to everyone in the room except me that Evan had officially made his debut. He took a moment to let out a cry that I was much anticipating, but now hardly remember. What I do vividly remember though was all of the doctors and nurses exclaiming how much red hair he had and asking us if we had red heads in the family (which Eric does). Of course, I'm not imagining pretty red hair like Aunt Tonya- I'm imagining Carrot Top red hair and thinking to myself that they must be wrong. Of course, all I can see is a huge blue paper sheet and the florescent lights of the OR and all I hear is the ooohing and ahhing over our newborn red head son. Eric's very comical reaction was, "He better not have red hair!" Finally, after what seemed like forever, my beautiful son was presented to me all bundled in a hospital issued blue and pink striped swaddling blanket. I remember his beautiful blue eyes (no surprise) and his head full of hair was actually more of a beautiful apricot color. He was quickly taken away from me and off went Eric and maybe "Evan" while I was put back together again.

The rest of that day and much of the following is a complete blurr to me. I should have Eric write something about those two days because he did most of the changing and feeding. Even though I was the one taking most of the classes, reading all of the books and making mental notes from friend's experiences, Eric was the one who really took on his new parenting role as a complete natural. He exceeded all of my expectations.

More updates on our adventures to follow soon. For now I must go check on my napping angel, Evan James.

The Countdown Is On!

Officially, we have 8 weeks left until Baby Love is due. The biggest question is will he be an early bird or will we have to take measures for eviction? According to the books he weighs in around 4 pounds and all stretched out he would be around 16 1/2" in length. He is strong and while he doesn't seem to be overly active, when he makes a move it is usually pretty firm and we can even see my tummy jump like baby is tying to poke his way out through the area where my ribs used to be. I'm sure he is beginning to feel a little cramped in his cozy little den.

The nursery (his new den) is nearly finished and we are thrilled with the way it turned out. I think Eric was pretty impressed when it all came together just as I had envisioned it would.

What is baby's name you ask? Well, that too, my friends is a big question. For now it is just Baby Love sometimes affectionately known as critter, stinker, peanut, boo or other miscellaneous terms of endearment. We are nearly positive we have the middle name agreed upon, but you may just have to wait until his arrival to learn what our final decision will be regarding his first name. We do still have 8 weeks, after all. I still have to talk Eric out of the name "Reggie".

Eric has finished the huge yard project and it looks amazing. It feels nice to finally enjoy our yard! Of course, never the one to stay idle, Eric is looking for his next project. Will it be finishing the basement or covering the patio? The debate is still open. We will see where his creativeness leads us. Eric recently obtained his child car seat installation certification. This was a mandatory course required by his job that took 40 hours of class and practical application. Just in time- we will surely have the safest installed car seats in the neighborhood.

As for me, I'm still working hard. Business is steady and I'm thankful people still trust me with their home purchases and sales despite my steadily expanding belly and ever constant foot attire of Birkenstocks. I have great clients I am working with right now and they certainly help make my job more fun. I plan to keep working as long as I can and then I have a few other Realtor colleagues who will help me out when Baby Love comes along.

Thanks for keeping up with us. We can't wait to introduce our bundle of joy to all of you!

Boy! Oh Boy!

Well, life seems to be all things boy for me lately. I see blue everywhere and am so excited about our little munchkin's arrival. Only 4 more months. I've started on the nursery and am excited to buy paint and get started.... yes... with open windows and plenty of fresh air. I believe I've decided on the perfect shade of blue. I've started organizing Baby Love's closet and am so excited to see all the wonderful things he is already accumulating! When daddy is at work we read bedtime stories before bed because from what I have ready Baby Love can hear me now. This past weekend I visited Wendy and McCain in Atlanta. Baby boy was not very active at all and had me worried a bit. Interestingly, he perked up again when we returned to Colorado. I think he must have missed hearing his daddy's voice.
The anatomy scan that we had on 4/20/09 showed a healthy baby boy that was nearly a pound in weight. He is in the 95th percentile in length. Doc says he has his daddy's legs. I can feel those legs kicking quite a bit now- the best feeling ever! He particularly likes to wiggle after I have eaten a meal, when driving/ riding down the highway and he seems to take after his momma and is quite a busy boy in the evening hours. I hardly ever feel him in the morning!
Our next check up is on Tuesday May 12th. I always look forward to hearing my little man's heartbeat. Nana and Aunt Lelia are coming for a visit in a little more than a week and I hope that he decides to kick really hard so that they can feel him.