4 months

I have been bad at making sure this stays updated. So while I have time, meaning husband and baby are sleeping I am going to update on Jaxon.

He is currently 4 months and 2 weeks.
At his 4 month appt he weighed 12lbs 14oz
He was 23in long.

At this point here are some things he can do, his likes,and dislikes....
He eats 2-5oz
Sleeps 3 hours
Dislikes naps
Loves being sang to
Loves moving his arms around
Favorite thing right now is mommy saying in a sing song voice(while moving arms to the words) up down up down touch the ground touch the ground...open and close open and close, touch your toes touch your toes. This can usually get him to giggle.
Has started to giggle
Smiles really big now but if you have a phone or camera..not gonna happen
Has started to lift his bottom off the ground
Hates tummy time
Loves laying on his back while daddy holds him
Will coo back at you
Plays with his tongue ALOT
Is generally a happy baby in HIS own enviroment :)

Everyday we feel blessed by his milestones and accomplishments. Constantly have to remind ourselves and others he is really only suppose to be 10 weeks old (he is 18weeks) so if he doesnt lift his head on his own or roll over its not a BIG deal. We love him so very much and I feel Heavenly Father does as well.

2month old pics

He always has this quizzical look on his face

Super cute!!!

Looking around, it was a sunny day and was enjoying it

Once his arms are out he loves to move them around

2 months old

Today Jaxon turned 2 months old. I cant believe it. Time has gone by quickly. It seems just like yesterday. He has changed so much in the last few weeks. We are starting to get into a routine as a family and are getting use to the early hours and no sleep. We are enjoying being parents to such a wonderful little boy. It does help that he is so dang cute. Here are some things about Jaxon at 2 months...

*Now weighs 8lbs 20z
*Is 20 and 1/4in long
*Still has not reached his due date
*Smiles alot, although we cant get him to do it yet
*Is starting to trac things with his eyes
*Now wears size 1 diapers
*Finally is in newborn to 3 months clothes
*Loves to be read to by mommy
*Loves to be sung to
*Likes bath time, although he will cry when you get him undressed but as soon as he is in he is fine until you take him out
*Hates being naked or having his diaper changed
*Eates 2oz of formula every 2-3hrs
*Loves to have his fuzzy head rubbed, it usually helps him go to sleep
*Loves to be held by just about anybody
*Always has a stuffy nose so mommy has to clean it out and he does not enjoy that too much
*Has to be burped alot daddy usually is able to get the great big ones
*Has found his tongue and enjoys sticking it out
*Licks on anything that goes near his mouth. We have caught him sucking on his blanket a few times.
*Has super chubby cheeks...its a Gunter trait and I wouldnt change it. I just love it pinch them.
*Still is fussy when he eats but we are grateful when he eats and doesnt cry
*Loves mommy and daddy

He is the little boy of our dreams and I wouldnt change any single thing about him or the things we (as a family) have gone through since his birth.

This is cousin Natalee, my sister Katie's little girl.

Cousin Lily, Dayna's little girl.

Road Trip

My husband and family all decided to gang up on me and strongly "suggested" that I needed to get away for awhile. So I took their advice. We decided on a road trip to go see grandma Mitchell. Its so weird calling my mom that now, lol. We left Friday mid morning and arrived later that afternoon. Jaxon was such a great baby. He slept most of the way only waking up enough to cry cause he was hungry but fell right back to sleep. When we got there everyone came outside to greet us. My two little nieces were super cute with him. I would say where's the baby and they would point to him. They loved to watch him and give him open mouthed kisses with lots of slobber, but thats how they kiss. At times they would get over excited and throw a tantrum because we wouldn't let them hold him or touch him. My nieces both turned one this month and its crazy to see the contrast in size, weight, height, etc... While we were there my mom wanted to get the Easter pictures out of the way. Needless to say not everyone wanted to participate at the same time. One would cry which would set off the other, while one slept etc... Crazy so we will have to try again around his blessing.

So his dr's appt went better then I hoped. He currently weighs 5lbs 6oz and is 18in long. His pediatrican was very pleased with the progress he has made since being home from the NICU. He told us that after he gains a few more pounds that we could probably switch him to a regular car seat...YAY!! He also got his first immunization. He only cried with the poke but was fine after that. Such a tough guy. The bigger and bigger he gets the more I am beginning to think he looks like his daddy. At first everyone including me thought he looked more like a mitchell but now all I see is a miniature Sterling. He has my eyes, fingers, and lips but the rest is daddy. I feel very blessed that he is part of our family now. He has such a strong spirit and personality. I can't wait to see what that turns into. He is such a big part of my life right now and he is a constant reminder that there is a happy part of life that goes on. For now I am content with my life. I definately needed the road trip.

How time flys

So I can't believe how long it has been since I have looked at this. Its amazing that time goes by so quickly and before you know it its been a month. So much has changed and happened in the last 4 weeks that I dont know if I will be able to remember it all. Especially because I am running on little to no sleep which has definately affected my ability to think and remember things. So here's a quick update on Jaxon...he spent one week and one day in the NICU. I dont know what was harder for me, watching my own child trying to thrive or knowing that I might have somehow contributed to his early delivery. It was a struggle and still is. He did really well and his Dr. (Dr. Hadeed) asked us if we were willing to move up to the Pediatric floor. The reason they ask you this is because as parents you have to be willing to stay there and help with the baby. Our situation was one that we were able to move up to the Peds floor. The rooms they have are called stay in rooms where they have a fridge, tv, nice bathroom with shower and a couch that turns into a bed and in another room all the amenities you might need like a washer and dryer table to eat dinner on etc... The floor is brand new to the hospital and we totally fell in love with it. Jaxon spent a total of one week 3 days on the Pediatric floor. Though to me it felt like forever. It was nice to be able to be there with him, but it was hard because he was hooked up a heart, oxygen and resperation monitor. Any time they dropped an alarm would go off in the room and up at the front nurses station. There was one time his heart rate dropped and wasnt coming up fast enough I jumped from the bed just as the nurse came through the door at the same time, at that point it started climbing back up. It was scary, and I hurt myself getting up so quickly. we loved almost all the nurses and had a overall good experience, if you can call it that. FINALLY the doctor gave the okay light that Jaxon could come home which happened on the 6th. There was so much that we had to do and that he had to be able to do on his own before he could come home. We had to take a CPR class which I think all parents should have to take but thats just me, and he had to pass his car seat test. Well he failed, but dont worry they said we could still take him home he would just have to be in a car bed. Which he lays flat in and the seat belt goes all around the thing. Well I hate the stupid thing because the straps going around his neck dont give any give and he will start to turn blue around his lips, nose and chin. Needless to say we dont go anywhere. It kinda sucks but I am a paranoid mom anyway. I honestly didn't think I would be this bad but we sleep with a light on all night. Oh well. He has an appt to see his Pediatrician on the 17th and at that point I will ask about the car bed. Last week he had is appt with WIC, he weighed 4lbs 8oz and was 17in long. If I had to guess I would say he now weighs 4lbs 12oz, we will see. He has changed so much since that first picture we took. He has filled out and is no longer wrinkly. He is still wearing pre-mie clothes and diapers although tonight we put a new born onesie on him, it looks like a dress, lol. We no longer have to set our alarms to make sure he is waking up to eat, he has decided that he wants his own schedule and we should cater to him...which we do. He has us wrapped around his little finger its so not even funny. I think he knows it too. He has learned that after he eats if he wakes up a little bit more he knows mommy will lay down next to him and talk to him till he falls asleep. It all started out okay now when I try to move him to the bassinet he will wake up. Oh well, I love him too much not to comfort him and give him what he wants. Yes I know I am spoiling him and yes I know I might regret it some day but right now I am living in the moment. Ster and I are both totally wrapped up in him. We love him more then we thought possible.

As for me...well I have my good days and my bad. I know most of it is post-partum depression and I am trying to work through the depression because I dont want to take something unless absolutely necessary. My depression stems from several things. 1-I feel jipped out of being pregnant. We tried for so long to get pregnant and it was all we have ever wanted and so we got all these expectations built up and then things started to fall apart. Yes I know I should just be grateful my baby is happy and healthy but I was honestly enjoying my pregnancy and looking forward to that last 10 weeks I didnt get. 2-A lot of the OB and NICU nurses told me that since I has one baby, my first, at 30 weeks the likely hood of having another is extremely high. It has made me wonder how fair is it To have another child and put them through all this? How fair is it going to be to Jaxon when mommy cant be there for him? I am beginning to think maybe one is enough even though I want more I dont honestly think I could put the baby, Jaxon and me through that. The last and final reason I am depressed is our living situation. I have felt very blessed that Jay and Carol have let us into their home and live with them during this time but it is hard to be dealing with your own depression and having people watch you through it. There are days when I dont shower or I dont want to leave the bedroom but I dont want people to judge me for it. I am trying to deal with it. I know my emotions will have ups and downs I just am very grateful that I have Sterling. He has been very supportive and lets me know he is there when I am ready. Our lives have forever changed and my only hope is that while it continues to change my heart and soul accept the change.

Jaxon Gunter 2 days old

This is right after they took him from daddy. Ster was keeoing him warm and comfortable.

Jaxon Clyde Gunter born at 30 wks 5 days weighing 3lbs 10.3 oz, 15 3/4in long.

Our beautiful son...Jaxon

So its been awhile since I have found the time to update our blog. So much has happened in such a short amount of time. So I will have to start at the beginning, please bare with me cause this will be a long blog.
About 3 weeks ago I started having contractions. We went into the doctors office and he ordered a test called Fetal Fibro Nectin (FFN), which allows the doctors to know whether or not the baby's birth is imminent. He also ordered an ultra sound to check fetal growth and how long my cervix length was. It was a little nerve wracking not knowing what the test results would come out as. They also checked to see if I was dilateing. I was dilated to a finger tip which is not much to be concerned about but he was concerned because my cervix was thinner then it was suppose to be and it felt shorter. The test results for the FFN came back negative which made us relax a little. However the next day was our scheduled ultra sound. During the ultra sound the tech was able to get a good side profile of Jaxon, he was being stubborn and had one hand over the other side of his face covering it up. He was definately cute though. The ultra sound showed that fetal growth and amniotic fluid was good. It did show that my cervix was shorter then normal. A normal cervix measures at 4cm, at 2.5cm the doctors will usually admit you and keep you on bedrest. My cervix was 3cm long. Not bad but not great. Our doctor decided to be on the safe side and put me on bed rest anyways. He also started me on a medication called Procardia to help stop the contractions. He said it would give me a migraine but to push through it but if it made my feet and legs sweel that I needed to stop the medication. So I started the Procardia and pushed through the migraine, but on Saturday my feet began to swell and so I stopped the medication. I wasn't due to see him again till that following Tuesday. However on Monday morning and into the afternoon I was cramping and contracting. We went up to L&D and they monitored my contractions and watched Jaxon on the fetal monitor. The nurse that we had mentioned that we should talk to Dr. Smith about doing the 2 shots to help mature Jaxon's lungs if we were flirting with pre-term labor. So after having the contractions stopped and Tuesday came Dr. Smith checked another FFN and to see if I had dilated anymore, he also changed my contraction medication to Terbutaline. I was then at that point dilated to 1cm. He agreed that it was a good idea to give me the steroid shots for Jaxon. We returned 24hrs later for the second shot. On Wednesday I told the doctor that I wasn't feeling Jaxon move as much and so they hooked me up to the NST(non-stress test) machine. Jaxon was doing good. Movement was great. We went on throughout the week with no other complications. The Terbutaline was working and we were feeling very optimistic that I would be able to continue on bedrest and that Jaxon would be carried full term.
That all changed on Sunday morning. I was trying to get my fetal kick count in after I had eaten breakfast and before church. I got the ten kicks in an hour but he was still being abnormally quiet. I had this nagging feeling that I needed to keep paying attention to how often he was moving. As the afternoon went on his movement got less and less. I became very concerned and tried doing the few things the doctors recommend. I had 3 Sunkist soda which are loaded with caffine, I had something to eat and 5 Capri suns. He didnt move, even if I were to push on my stomach he wouldn't move much. I got 6 kicks in 2 hours. At that point I called the on call doctor and he said he thought it might be a good idea if I came in and had Jaxon monitored. Never in mine wildest dreams would I have imagined having to have him delivered. As they watched him on the NST machine he was having declerations in his heart rate. They started me on fluid IV's and had me lay on my left side. That didn't seem to help. So the doctor ordered an ultra sound that checks for 4 things, tone, amniotic fluid, breathing and movement. The highest you can score is 8/8. We were happy to find out that that is what we scored, However the doctor was still not satisfied and decided to keep me over night. As the night turned to morning Jaxon's movement did not change. He was still pretty flat lined meaning not moving. At that point after consulting with the high risk doctors and neonatologists our doctor decided to proceed with an emergency c-section. Having received a preiesthood blessing earlier in the night I felt okay with this decision. I felt the Lord would be on our side and things would be okay. I am still pretty tired and groggy about the whole procedure but I do remember a few things. I remember Sterling holding my hand and rubbing my cheek telling me it was okay and that he loved me. I remember Sterling was able to stand up and watch as they took Jaxon from my stomach, cut the cord and pass him off to the NICU team. At that point he leaned back down and put his forehead to mine. He was smiling so big and I couldn't keep from smiling as well, especially after we heard Jaxon cry for the first time. What a beautiful sound that is. Sterling then went over and watched as they cleaned him up and wrapped him. When they finally decided to take him away I asked Sterling to go with him, that I would be okay. They brought Jaxon over and let me kiss his face once before they left, taking Ster with them. As I laid there on the OR table I couldn't help but feel so elated to know that he was doing okay. I thanked my Heavenly Father for without him I know this could have been worse for us. When I was done being sewed up they took me back to my room where Sterling and his parents were both waiting. The doctors had given me a spinal and they said I couldn't go see Jaxon until I could get up into a wheelchair without much help. It kinda sucked not being able to go see him but I knew Sterling was passing on all my love to him. Ster was able to take his parents and his sister Shannon in to see him. They would take pictures for me so I could see what a cutie he is. They decided at some point that he wasn't getting enough oxygen on his own and put him on a ventilator using 60% oxygen. They also gave him surfactant to help mature his lungs a little more. I tried so hard all afternoon to get my legs un-numb so i could go see my boy. Finally around 3:00pm I had enough feeling in my legs that I was able to get up. The nurses came in and took me over to see him. He was doing much better only needing 45% oxygen. That made me really happy. Sterling was at home. I made him go and sleep. There is no reason both of us be so tired that we were none functional. After being able to see him I went back to my room. It was hard not being able to pick him up and hold him. I told him how much I loved him and how much his daddy loved him. I thanked him for breathing and for coming into our life. I thanked my Heavenly Father for everything, my son, my husband, the doctors, medicine, hospitals, knowledge...the list goes on and on. I went back to my room and waited there for Sterling to come back. When he finally made it back we went in again and saw Jaxon. This time they had put a few tubes through his belly button and he was only requiring 25% oxygen. Doing leaps and bounds better. Because of how tired I have been and how time consuming recovering is this blog has taken me a few days to write... So right now its Wednesday morning...
At this point Jaxon is doing awesome. He is off the ventilator and using only a nasal canulla as needed. They have removed the tubes from his belly button and I finally got to hold my baby :).
They call it Kangaroo care meaning holding him skin to skin. I was able to hold him for an hour and half, sleeping some of the time. It was such a wonderful feeling having his body against mine and feeling his breath on my chest. He was so content and peaceful that when the nurse said it was time for shift change and that we would have to come back and removed him from my chest his little cry broke my heart in two. Im sure they were able to get him to stop but I couldn't stay, it was too hard on me. I went back to my room and made a few phones calls. As for Sterling he was able to do the Kangaroo care a couple hours later. They were so cute...father and son. I am so blessed to have 2 important men in my life now, both whom i love so much. As for me, I am doing better. Having a c-section was not the ideal way for me to deliver but I will be able to carry a baby to term next time as well as deliver vaginally if I want to. I am sore and it takes me a while to get up and moving but I can do it on my own. I was finally able to shower, what a glorious wonderful feeling that was. The doctor said that I am okay to go home but I am more then welcome to stay till Friday. I think I might do that because Carol has been sick and I dont want to not be able to come see Jaxon. My whole family is also coming up this weekend and I am anxiously awaiting their arrival to show off my new baby boy. As more information comes along about Jaxon I will do my best to make sure I post it. Oh at this point they are saying that he might be able to come home in 2-3 weeks. Yeah!!!

Thanks to all those who have been praying for us and our safety. We appreciate it. We love you all. Enjoy the pics of Jaxon, me and Ster.