Ramsey gets his pupils

Ramsey's Room

Here's the room that was literally finished the night before Ramsey arrived.





The room and tree were painted by Scott amidst trying to prepare for his comprehensive exams.

Welcome Ramsey Lawrence Hoffmann!!

Ramsey Lawrence Hoffmann arrived on Monday March 15, 2010 at 2:27pm. He was 18 inches long and weighed in at 6 lbs. 10 ounces. His head is covered with hair and we think he is going to have blue eyes. He caught us a little off guard by deciding to come 3 weeks early, but we were ready for him. In fact, I can remember sitting in the rocker on Sunday night and saying, "I finally feel like if the baby came tomorrow, I'd be ready!"

The labor started out around 8 am. We thought it was a false labor at first since there were 2 hours of irregular contractions. Then the contractions became very intense and were 2 minutes apart for an hour. At that point Scott called the doctor and started racing around the house. We still weren't sure if the baby was really coming or not. By the time we got there, I was pretty sure it was the real thing. The 2 minute contractions were extremely strong and not letting up.

I was immediately hooked up to monitors and IV's because the doctor was suspicious of a placental abruption. This is where the placenta detaches from the uterus and can cause the baby to not get any blood. Even though it was extremely painful, we waited and monitored to see if we could go through with the natural birth. I progressed from 1 cm to 7 cm from about 10am to 2pm, but it still wasn't fast enough. We had 3 contractions in a row where the baby's heart beat dropped to 60 (130-150 is normal). Needless to say, the doctor made the call to get him out immediately.

We were rushed to the operating room and I was given an epidural. They started the surgery right away. In fact, they started so fast that I was even more numb afterwards than during the surgery. Turns out that my placenta was half way removed from the uterine wall. Luckily, there were no complications with him. He is a perfectly healthy, happy, and beautiful boy. We feel so blessed to have him. And I am especially blessed with a wonderful husband who stayed by my side the entire time. I couldn't have done it without him.

Baby Shower!

Last weekend my wonderful Utah friends threw me a baby shower. I received lots of useful items- including of course many adorable articles of clothes, books, handmade swaddling blankets, changing pad, monitor, bouncer seat, and more! There were of course some games... guessing different baby foods, a bottle drinking contest, and guessing the baby's birthday, weight, and name. We'll have to wait and see if there are any winners...
I feel lucky to have so many great friends out here! (The slideshow photos to the right were also taken by our friend and very talented photographer, Aimee.)

36 Weeks Today!

Officially one more month left to go! The baby's room is almost done...just waiting for the finishing touches on Scott's tree. Everything is going well. The doctor predicts that the baby will be born a little over 7 pounds. He is head down and in position - ready to go. The worst thing this month is that the swollen ankles have arrived. I hear that they are here to stay. I guess Scott will just have to learn to love rubbing my feet!