I’ve been waiting to have a few spare moments in my new upside down world to share with all of you the wonderful blessing that’s now officially a part of our lives, our son Drake.  I will make this blog post go live at 2:47 p.m. today–marking exactly one week since our beautiful boy was born.  This has undoubtedly been the wildest, most tiresome, and most joyful, blessed week of our entire lives.

I was set to hit the 41st week of pregnancy on Monday, December 12.  So my doctor scheduled an induction for 7:30 a.m.  Floyd and I already knew that Sunday night would likely be a sleepless one as we anxiously awaited the big day.  But Drake had other plans!  After we fell asleep Saturday night late, we’d both barely started dreaming when I felt an uncontrollable trickle of water coming out of me.  I looked over and said, “Um, Floyd–I think my water just broke.”  He sat straight up and jokingly said, “Are you sure it’s not just pee?”  And as I waddled my way to the bathroom, we were both convinced that the steady gushing of water that followed was our little boy finally deciding he was ready to enter the world!  Floyd rushed around grabbing up all the hospital bags.  I combed my hair and yes–don’t make fun–put on a little makeup.  I knew it would be a long day ahead and wanted to at least start it feeling pretty gosh darn it!

We got admitted to the hospital around 12:30 Sunday morning.  When we first got there, my contractions were 5-8 minutes apart and I was dilated at 2.  I progressed through the early parts of labor fairly quickly, dilating to a 5 by early morning, and made it to a 9 by mid-morning.  I did 6 hours of labor on my own before I asked for the wonderful relief of an epidural.  Once I’d hit the 9 dilation, I didn’t move anywhere for almost 2 hours, so the nurses started pitocin.  It kicked me into a 10, and we started pushing around 12:30 p.m.–12 hours of labor down.  I pushed for an hour and the doctor said we were taking one step forward and two steps back with each contraction.  She was concerned baby Mashek was just too big for me to do this thing on my own, and suggested we move ahead with a c-section.  Floyd and I talked it over, and decided that since the doctor was only going to let me push for another hour max–with no guarantee we’d make progress in that hour–that we’d save myself the agony of more pushing, and get our baby boy here safe and healthy via surgery.

The c-section went quickly and was a success.  Floyd and I both cried when we heard Drake’s first squeals after he was pulled from the womb.  And I was overwhelmed with joy looking at our little miracle as they cleaned him off, weighed him, and then layed him on my chest.  The anesthesiologist was kind enough to snag our camera from Floyd and took A LOT of amazing photos of our first moments with Drake–photos we will cherish all our days!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

My parents and grandparents were among Drake’s first visitors when we got back into our room.  Two of Floyd’s brothers, twin Vaughn and youngest Matt, also made a surprise trip up to see us from St. Louis.  We were overwhelmed and thrilled and felt so much love from so many directions.  A friend of mine from high school, who now lives in Iowa, happened to be passing through the area and also got to stop by and see us, which was an extra treat!

 Drake’s uncles Vaughn and Matt with us

 

 

 

On days two and three in the hospital, a few teachers from Floyd’s school came to visit us.  We also debuted Drake to the KWWL family.  One of our photographers came by to take video of our new little family.  At the station, we often work with the PR staff at Covenant, and my frequent contact there accompanied the photographer and brought us a gift.   Drake also gets to share his birthday with my colleage and friend, Mark Schnackenberg and his wife Melissa’s daughter, Madison, who was born a few hours after Drake.

http://www.kwwl.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?ClipID1=6540849&h1=New%20KWWL%20Babies&vt1=v&at1=undefined&d1=56233&LaunchPageAdTag=News&undefined&activePane=info&rnd=57091577

 

That evening, staffers from Prairie Lake Church also visited, which was a wonderful surprise.  We got to come home around lunch time on Wednesday.

My aunt Julie and Uncle Joe came up from Missouri to see Drake that afternoon, spent the night in Waterloo, and we all had brunch together Thursday before they headed back home.

My parents awesomely fixed several meals for us, ready to be unfrozen and cooked at our will.  They kept our house clean, did tons of laundry, and took care of our dog Aleah.  They left Sunday morning, giving us Drake’s one week old birthday as the first afternoon we’ve had with just our new little family at home.

Drake’s had some bad nights and some good nights.  But for the most part he is an INCREDIBLE baby!  He really only gets fussy when he is ready to nurse or has a diaper that needs attention.  I knew Floyd would be an awesome support system for us, but he has far exceeded my expectations.  He provided some amazing, much needed back rubs, hugs, kisses, and encouragement during labor.  And he’s great about getting Drake out of his bassinet for mid-night feedings and diaper changes.  This was especially needed this week as my mobility has been restricted, recovering from the major surgery it took to get Drake here.  We both just love spending time staring at our little guy–treasuring how perfect he is to us.  We giggle when he pees all over the place.  We smile with every grin and cherish tummy time and snuggle moments.  We knew he would, but Drake has no doubt forever changed our lives for the better in so many ways and we are blessed beyond measure to have him.  I will do my best to continue sharing our special moments with you while I take some time off for maternity leave.  Let the next chapter in our journey to “happily ever after” begin!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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So December 5 has come and gone, and baby Drake is still hanging out in my belly.  Anxious barely begins to describe how Floyd and I are feeling in these final days, as we await the time he decides to make his debut.  We have so many family and friends who are almost equally anxious—ready to meet our little man! 

 

While I immensely look forward to mommy-hood, and all the joys it will bring, I am also greatly looking forward to the end of mom-to-be advice.  There’s been no shortage of it through my pregnancy–which I’m sure many of you moms and other parents-to-be can relate to.  And I’m not put off by it for the most part.  I think their intentions are good, and I know the tips will keep coming long after Drake is born.  And truly, I’m fine with that.

But in the past couple of days, so much of that attention has been centered around–”OK.. Here’s how you can have that baby!”  And people proceed to tell you every old wive’s tale in the book:  eat spicy foods, walk, have castor oil, be intimate with your partner, rub on pressure points between your fingers and on your ankles, YOU NAME IT!  I will admit I’ve tried a few of these so-called remedies–primarily walking.  The treadmill has become a new best friend every night.  The time walking isn’t strictly aimed at hoping it will help induce labor, but it’s also nice “me time” and is calming and relaxing.  Monday morning when I was having contractions, it also helped alleviate some of the physical pain I was experiencing.  Unfortunately, the walking hasn’t  helped spur the labor process along too much.  God’s got a plan, and Drake will be born when the time is just right, regardless of when I or anyone else might *want it* to happen. 

The good news is–I can still be optimistic.  And a new countdown mode is underway.  We’re officially scheduled for induction Monday if our little boy doesn’t decide he can do this ‘enter the world’ thing on his own by that point.  And 12/12 would be a pretty cool birthday to have.  So even if we have to endure a few more days of advice, and I’m pregnant a little longer than I’d like–I know it will all be WELL worthwhile to hold our little boy, love him like crazy, and teach him to love the Lord.

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I just briefly wanted to thank all of you wonderful, loyal blog readers.  My writing is fun for me, at times cathartic, and hopefully insightful at times for you and me.  I was walking up to the check out at Hy-Vee a few days ago and the cashier said, “Oh I hope next time you come in, you’ll have the baby with you!”  This same gal has checked me out before, and informed me that she is a blog reader.  I was interviewing the mayor of Raymond at his home on Thanksgiving, and his wife told me she enjoys the blog.  One of the coordinators at the daycare we’ve chosen for Drake is a fan, too.  Truthfully, I probably enjoy people appreciating my blog probably more than when I get recognized for my on-air reporting.  I think that’s because this is such a personal endeavor for me, and “viewers” don’t always get a chance to connect with me in that kind of way.  So I just want to let you all know that I’m quite appreciative and grateful that you enjoy what I write.  It really does mean a lot! 

Baby Drake Update:  As I write this, contractions are still hit or miss.  As of Friday, I’d dilated just past 1 cm.  Final ultrasound is Monday (our due date)!  If he hasn’t decided to come on his own by week’s end, we will be induced.  I plan to share photos and baby updates as often as I can while I’m on maternity leave.  Be watching my blog–and you can also “like” my Kera Mashek Facebook page, or follow me on Twitter @ kera_tvnews.  Baby watch ’11 is officially on! 

Thank you all so much for your kind words and support!!

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