February '12- Welcome to Earth, Link!

Link has been such a blessing in every way!  He is such a happy, patient and sleepy baby yet when he is awake he is WIDE awake!  We have been able to get just enough sleep even from day one.  He is everything I have been dreaming of since I wanted a child (for 7 years)!  

Here is a glimpse of Link's first month of Earth:

2 Days Old:  He would sleep so hard the first few days we would have to wake (& annoy) him in the middle of the night so he would eat!!!  During these days he liked to be swaddled but eventually he preferred his arms out and then he preferred to be free!

Day 3:  Mommy's first photoshoot with her new model!  Followed by our first time out since Link's arrival.  We had all you can eat sushi at Japan Inn!  Link slept the whole outing.  Last but not least, he had quality time with Mimi before she left.

Day 6- Valentine's Day:  Here I am with one of my Valentines. It was so great to be able to spend this day with him to celebrate our love!  Jorma and I also had a lovely dinner followed by chocolate fondue.  Link of course slept through it all.

Day 9: Link's umbilical stub finally falls off!

Day 10:  Link had his first bottle from Daddy.  Later, Mom insisted to get back to walking!  Daddy and Susi went to the dog park while Link and I paced the Greenway.

Day 11: Link LOVES our bamboo lamp.  He is completely mesmerized.  

 

Day 17: Midwife Emily and Link together again.  We LOVED Emily and it was great to see her again.  Also, Uncle Stew & Aunt Kristen came for a visit!  

3 Weeks Old:  We ended February with Link's very first bath!  He did great even though his parents were completely awkward and didn't know what they were doing :)  He also didn't poop until the last minute!  We got a good laugh out of that!

I hope to update this blog at least once a month so stay tuned & feel free to comment! 

The Birth Story of Link Blount Pelto!

   On February 7th, I started noticing that my contractions were becoming stronger and closer together, yet there were consistent intervals of time in between.  I went to two out of three classes and took my exam as planned while having 3 contractions just in that one class.  When I got home that evening I noticed that my water was leaking, which caught me a bit off guard.  I ate dinner (Buitoni-for-2 made by Jorma) and went off to bed.  I would wake with each contraction and start timing them.  By midnight they were steadily happening about 20 minutes apart.  This went on and on and finally I got up around 5 am when they were 10 minutes apart and paged the midwife.  She suggested we make our way to Raleigh which is about an hour and a Half drive from our home in Greenville.  From Raleigh we are only 30 minutes from The Women's Birth and Wellness Center in Chapel Hill.  So we packed the car and took off at about 6:30 AM.  We spent a good amount of time laboring at Jorma's parents' house where we watched episodes of Lost and Up All Night, took a nice hot shower (while Jorma watched Workaholics), and had lunch outside.  We also took our last belly shot at 38 weeks and 6 days!

   When contractions were 4 minutes apart for an hour, our midwife Emily told us to head on over to the center.   That car ride was a bit more intense than the last.  In the 25 minutes I had about 4-5 contractions and Jorma was obviously too busy driving so he couldn't put counter pressure on my back.  We made it anyways and Emily checked me and said I was 6 centimeters dilated upon arrival at about 2:45 PM.  Then I started to get to the tough part!  Contraction after contraction Jorma was there with words of encouragement, love and awesome massages.  There is absolutely no way I could have gone all natural without his help.  Emily was also a wonderful midwife and kept suggesting ideas of comfort that I would try (some better than others).  Kamie arrived to the center at about 3:30 PM just in time to see me soaking in the awesome large bath tub!  Having Jorma and Kamie AND sometimes Emily there to rub my back or just encourage me helped a ton.  I wouldn't respond much but in my mind I was thankful.
   Once hard labor began the contractions were very difficult to stay relaxed through.  My breathing would sometimes turn into hyperventilating, which meant trouble.  During the pushes I have to admit, the hyperventilation and pain made me think I was having a panic attack!  But of course Jorma was there, right behind me in the tub, to calm me and remind me I needed to breath deep to gain control.  After what seemed like an eternity of pushing in the tub, I finally gained enough strength to move him on out and into the world.  With my hands on his head I had the final pushes and Link came up perfectly clean with eyes wide open!  Hardly a cone head and beautiful in every way.  He was placed on my chest where Jorma stared in awe and I caught my breath and tried to realize what was happening!   Link was so calm and interested when he came out and only cried for a split second.  He was born on February 8th at 6:19 PM, 7 pounds and 19 inches of perfection.  Once I was back to reality and the cord stopped pulsing Jorma was able to cut it and free Link from my womb for good!  He then got out of the tub with Link and dried off while i was able to clean myself up a bit and become human again.  The midwives were so impressed by our labor and delivery they said they wish it was documented to show at the Center's tours!  Apparently the delivery was quick, clean and as perfect as our baby boy.  Link never did cry even through all the visitors and commotion (not until the newborn exam that is, but with good reason).   Even on the long ride home he was quiet and just observed the world as it went by. We ended the visits with some of Lydia's awesome cupcakes and sang happy birthday to Link! We left the center late around 11:45 PM and headed to Raleigh to pick up Susi and then straight home to Greenville!  We arrived home at 2:00 AM, fed Link a little and passed out for the night with little Link sleeping next to us in our bed!  What a wonderful and rewarding way to end a day full of hard work (comparable to a 50 mile hike in one day)!

   We have been home 2 full days now and Link is doing perfectly!  He even let's us sleep a decent amount at night.  I am healing quickly and anxious to get active again (instead of this bed rest business).

  Link is our pride and joy and we are truly overwhelmed with love.  There is no greater gift then having our Perfect Pelto Pod complete!  

 

The waiting game...

So here I am 35 weeks pregnant! I'm large and in charge... 


   At the last baby appointment one of my midwives told me to come in 3 weeks later rather than one since I'm doing so awesomely. We were pleased! Another week we don't have to drive 4-5 hours for a 10 minute appointment. Then today, 2 weeks into that 3 weeks I get a call wanting to reschedule for next week instead. I accepted not having much any other choice. At this appointment I will 36 weeks and 6 days. That means I am FULL-TERM the next day! This seems unreal that the time is upon us already. Link has a safe window from January 26- March 1st. A day earlier or after means being transferred to Chapel Hills hospital due to "risking out" of the birthing center.  When will you come Link???  I'm soo curious! 


   In addition to our baby boy arriving soon, I just found out that I have gotten into the Master's/ Internship program at East Carolina!  Not only do I get an internship that is incredibly competitive but after only TWO years I will come out with my Master's in Nutrition Science as well!!!  My long term goals of starting a Wellness private practice are becoming more and more realistic! 

   I feel much better mentally and much more prepared to bring this baby boy into the world!  Let's get this going!

Baby Link Update!

Whoops!  It's been awhile since I've updated the blog! Here is what we have been up to!

We had TWO awesome baby showers!!!

The first one was in FL at Kamie's house on October 8th (21 weeks)!
JUNGLE THEME!

Mimi (Kamie) and Aunt Brandi slaved away in the kitchen all day to prepare our yummy treats!

Aunt Dawn made a  fantastical cake to go with the jungle theme and also put together some hilarious games to play.

Link got tons of awesome gifts and tons of love!

Our second shower was in Raleigh at the East Gate Park Community Center on November 12th (26 weeks)!  

Aunt Kristen and Aunt Lydia were the hosts and did a wonderful job with the decorations, food and getting everyone together!  We even had a Zelda soundtrack playing and onsie/bib coloring during the party! 

We have also completed Link's nursery!!!  We chose a Lion King theme and have been blessed to get 90% of all we need from friends and family!  

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!

 

It is the home stretch now.  We have made it to month 8 and I am feeling quite large and achy!  All our appointments have been going great and we are all healthy and normal!  Link has been head down since week 29 and is still active as ever.  I can tell he has been running out of room lately though.  I still love feeling him squirm around and it hasn't kept me awake at all!  Although, plenty of other things keep my sleep pretty down to a minimum.  

We can't wait to meet our little man and hold him tight!!! 

Only 56 days until Link Blount Pelto is due!

<3

Ultrasound Day at REX Hospital!

     I didn't sleep much last night and was up at 6:30 a.m. cringing in excitement over our first ultrasound!  I was nervous too but mainly excited! I had all sorts of crazy dreams with one thing in common... BABY BOY!  I woke up feeling more confident in my hopes of a boy and prayed we'd be able to call this Sprout "Link" by the end of the day!  Though, I didn't want to jinx myself so I kept my mouth shut...  If it was a boy then I was right and calling it "him" for the last few weeks is motherly instinct! If it was a girl, well then I have some apologizing to do and would need to go buy pink dresses ASAP! :) .

     We arrived at REX Hospital right on time and didn't wait very long at all before they were calling us back.  We went straight to the ultrasound room and got started!  Almost as soon as the technician confirmed we wanted to know the sex THERE IT WAS!

     Our sweet little Link!  We were both glued to the screen but I was repeating, "Oh my gosh, no way! I can't believe he's a boy!" and Jorma was just shaking his head with a big ole' grin.  That is... until we walked out the door... then Jorma was practically jumping up and down, hooting and hollering saying, "We got a boy! Pelto genes live on!"  So, when Jorma said he was 'neutral' on his preference of gender, he was obviously bluffing!!!   Needless to say, we are both absolutely THRILLED!  God has been blessing us with our deepest desires (as Aunt KC would say) and we feel so thankful he's given us our missing Link!

We can finally start buying and decorating!!! 

We Love You 

Link Blount Pelto! 

       

Heart to Heart

So we finally had our first appointment with Women's Birth and Wellness Center! We met midwife Kate and absolutely loved her! She is one out of seven midwives so its a slim chance she'll be the one on call for Sprout's birth but hopefully we love all the midwives! While we were there we went through their screening process (& passed!) and heard baby Sprout's heartbeat again. This time it is much stronger and slower and sounds human! As Kate found the heartbeat she took a quick listen and said, "I think that's a boy." Now no one know for sure of course but all the signs have been pointing towards a male! Slow heart rate, very active, and I'm carrying low. Soon we will know!!!

Heartbeat @ 18 weeks

Sprout's movement has been more and more noticeable lately. He/She seems to be a fan of somersaults and kicks! I first felt him on a Friday morning, August 26th (15 weeks). I was laying in bed stretching and when I released my legs from the fetal position I felt a strange flutter and movement! It felt as if he was slipping into a different spot. I let Kamie know that he was super excited for her visit since she was driving up to NC that day. :)
After the first time, I didn't feel him move for a couple weeks. But sure enough on 9/11/11 when we were at Aunt KC's house still in bed around 3 a.m., I felt kicks or punches over and over and the same spot! Then later that morning it felt as if he was flipping around! Ever since he's been more and more active. I feel him the most when I'm sitting in class or laying in bed. Precious!!!

Nursery as of 9/24/11

Mema, Mummi, & Ukki have all pitched in to supply furniture for the nursery!!! We absolutely LOVE it all! I spend a lot of time in that glider day dreaming about baby Sprout and life after the birth. We're so excited to add to our little family!

9/30/11 is our 1st ultrasound! Do you think it's a boy or girl?! Comment below!

Team Link or Team Senja

:)