Avery Steven Manternach is born

That's right! The big day finally got here. Jen and I are proud to announce that our son was born and here are the details:

Feb. 25, 2008
Avery Steven Manternach
Born: 3:45am
8lbs. 1oz.
20 1/4 inches long

It was such an amazing experience to be there when my son was born. We woke up on Sunday the 24th and Jen was feeling ok. I was out watching TV, when Jen yelled for me to come in the bathroom. Jen's water had broke, but we weren't sure what it was. So I said, let's go to the hospital and just see. When we got there, they took us up to a room and the nurse said that there were going to a litmus paper to see if her water broke. If it turns blue, the water broke. That thing turned bright blue in 2 seconds flat! That was it...we were staying there.

The labor was long. Jen was in labor for 15 hours. That is a long ass time to be in labor. I think the worst part was the 3 hours of pushing. It wouldn't have been as bad...if Avery hadn't been turned sideways and facing the 1 o'clock position. But, alas, Avery decided that he wanted to get helped out with the use of a vacuum. This was not a Hoover by any means.

As Avery was being pushed and pulled out of Jen all I could think of was, wow, I can see his head and he has lots of hair. I was so emotional as I saw him coming out. I cried and he was born, and so did Jen. Although that might have been from the pain of it all. Avery came out peeing too. My little man pissed all over the Doctor, and the assistant who was cleaning Avery off under the warmer.

We got let out of the hospital on Wednesday the 27th (our original due date) and came home for the first time as a family. Aunt Greta and Grandma Pam were here already to help out.

We have not slept too much since he was born, but we are loving every moment with Avery. He is so beautiful and precious. He looks like the both of us that's for sure. He sure does have a set of lungs on him. Right now he likes to scream for a few hours from 1-2am. We really need to work on that.

39th Parallel

Just got back from the Doctor's office. Jen didn't get an exam or anything but we did hear the heartbeat again, which is always exciting! We had some questions for the good Dr, and he was more than happy to answer them. We have our 40 week appointment on Wednesday the 27th...our due date....to see how things are going and Jen will get looked at then to see if there is any progress. We asked how far after the due date he would wait to induce, and he said at the most a week. After that, there is a whole list of complications that he wants to avoid. So...the good news is we will have a baby by March 5th/6th. It's really nice knowing that this will all be over in at the most 2 more weeks. We are so anxious and excited that it seems like forever till March 5th.....or.....he could be here on the 27th like he is scheduled to be. :)


Other family news......we got the girls haircuts and boy do they ever look cute!!! I think they are getting ready for the boy to get here as well. They have been staring at the baby furniture for a long time now and really want to know what goes in there, because they get in trouble everytime they chew on it! :)

Hopefully this will be one of the last few blogs B.B. (before birth) I know everyone is really anxious not only for the boy to get here....but to find out his Name!

The Exam

38 weeks. Really? Is there only 2 weeks left to go? It seems like forever since we announced that we were preggers, and now, it's only a matter of days.

We had the exam today and I was hoping for better news than what we got. Jen is soft but still thick. :( I was a little disappointed when he said there was nothing really going on down there. I thought for sure that there would be some kind of something. Oh well. I have been waiting this long, I can wait a few more days. I was thinking that now that we have had the exam, things could start taking off this weekend.....or not. There is a place in Studio City that claims to have this salad that when pregant women eat it, they go into labor within 24 hrs. They have sworn testimony from all the mother's who have given birth after the salad. If this boy is going to come out on the 17th like I predicted....I might have to get a salad to go tonight! ;)

Valentine's Day was last night and Jen did the sweetest thing. She made me dinner and fruit dipped in chocolate. The dinner was the beef stew, that she happened to make me the very first time she ever cooked for me. It was so much fun. I got Jen a nice "Mom"necklace from Tiffany's. I think she liked it...she won't take it off!

So next week is week 39 and I have no idea what is going to happen. The boy could be here....or he could just be stuck and like where he is at. The longer he cooks the better...but I still want him here soon. I want to hold my little boy and look at him and shower him with love.

Week 37 has come and gone

Well last week was the start of week 37 and it was pretty uneventful. We had gone to the Dr. last Friday and all was well. I got to feel my son's head! That was the coolest part about the appointment. We always get to hear the heartbeat. It's pretty fast, but still in the normal range. The Dr. said that once we hit the 38 mark he will be considered full term. That was an interesting comment. All the books we have read, each says a different date for being full term. 36 weeks, 37 weeks, 38 weeks.....I think we will go with what the Dr. said.

This weekend was really nice outside. It was about 75 degrees, and Jen and I took advantage of that. We walked in the park, talked about the future, and just enjoyed each other's company. It was a long walk since Jen is really slow right now. What would normally take us about 30 min took an hour. It was worth it though.

Jen is offically done with work until June when her leave is over. I, on the other hand, am still at work until the 22nd, or whenever the boy decides to come out. This will be a good time for her to relax and have some down time to herself. She does have to take care of the puppies, but they sleep most of the day anyway.

Our friend Chad was in LA last night, so we went and had dinner with him. Him and his wife just had a baby girl about a month ago. We didn't get to see them, but at least we got to hear how awesome fatherhood is. It seems like all of our friends are having babies. I just hope our little guy comes out soon....I am so ready to start this part of my life.

Next up in the blog.....Week 38 and the exam!