#12: Hudson's First Christmas

Hudson celebrated his first Christmas yesterday, at 13 days old! We started off our Christmas celebration with Christmas Eve service at Bel Air Presbyterian church. It was a beautiful service and there were 2 other newborns sitting in front and behind us that were born within days of Hudson. Following church we came home and had a homemade lasagna dinner with my parents.

On Christmas morning Hudson woke up at 6:30am, so I fed him and put him back down for some more sleep. After his 9:30am feeding we all gathered around the Christmas tree and started to open our stockings. While Indiana got a white Christmas with beautiful snow, we enjoyed our version of a white Christmas with our DVD of winterscapes and Christmas music looping on our TV. It was the best of both worlds!

Mommy and Daddy got Hudson a little activity owl for when he's a little older (3 months), Grammie and Papa (my parents) got him a warm long john from Baby Gap, Santa brought him a Baby Einstein music book, and my sweet Aunt Karen sent him the adorable "elf" outfit and book One With Sky that came with a cute finger puppet! Hudson gets an extended Christmas with his other grandparents, Nana and Pops, who are visiting later this week.

Later in the afternoon we drove down to the beach and a took a stroll outside. After over 8 days of rain, it was nice to get outside and enjoy what we love most about LA - the weather!

Activity Owl from mommy and daddy

Christmas present from Grammie and Papa

Elf outfit and book from Aunt Karen

#11: Welcome Hudson James Prusz!

Hudson James arrived on Sunday, December 12 at 1:33 am. He weighed 7lbs 5oz and measured 20.5 inches.

Here's how it all went down:

To our surprise my water broke on Saturday early morning, without any signs of contractions. The day before was my last day of work and we attended my company's holiday party that night until almost midnight. I wasn't showing any signs of labor at my doctor's appointment that Tuesday and was scheduled to be induced on Wednesday, December 15.

We arrived at the hospital around noon and the doctor gave me Cytotec to start my contractions. By 2:00pm, I was having full contractions 2 - 3 minutes a part. And around 7:00pm I had my epidural started. About the same time, the doctor gave me Pitocin to help speed up my labor, since I was not showing much progress after 7 hours. With the Pitocin, my doctor thought I would deliver sometime between 4:00am - 7:00am.

Unfortunately, I had some issues with my epidural. It wasn't taking to my right side and made my left side completely numb and feeling like dead weight. Between 8:00pm and midnight the doctors kept trying to fix it. Finally, a little after midnight the anesthesiologist decided to take out and redo my epidural completely. However, when the nurse checked my progress I was ready to start pushing. I went from 3 centimeters to 10 centimeters in 3 hours!

Because of this there was no time to redo the epidural, the doctors gave me a medication through my IV to help reduce the pain and an anti-nausea med to help with the nausea.

While my labor was tougher than I planned, the rest was much smoother. My doctor arrived around 1:20am and Hudson was born at 1:33am! I joked that I had a "natural" birth on my right side and "medicated" birth on my left.

Luckily my mom was able to get on an earlier than planned flight to LAX. She arrived in perfect timing to the hospital around 8:00pm and was able to greet Hudson when he was born!

We brought Hudson home on Tuesday afternoon and we can't stop staring at him! He's just so precious and innocent, it's an overwhelming feeling of love and joy. Joe and I feel so blessed and are excited to celebrate Christmas with Hudson this year.

First day home from hospital!

#10: Viva Palm Springs - a Babymoon Getaway

This past weekend Joe surprised me with a babymoon to Palm Springs! We left LA on Friday after work and stayed for two nights at the Riviera Resort and Spa. It was pure relaxation (minus the Friday night traffic).

Friday night we grabbed a late dinner at the resort's restaurant, Circa 59. We sat outside next the fire, and under hanging lights and enjoyed some Manchego-stuffed Dates wrapped in bacon, Pomegranate-Citrus Salmon and Lemon Risotto, Beef Tenderloin and Purple Potatoes and finished off the meal with a Toffee Bread Pudding, topped with salty butterscotch!

We started our Saturday morning with massages at the Spa Terre. Then we lounged by the pool all day and got caught up on all our magazines and books. Joe sipped on frozen drinks for the two of us, and I enjoyed some fruit smoothies. It was nice to get away and do absolutely nothing. Our weekends have been packed with errands, condo updates and baby prep - so to spend some time together by the pool was perfect.

For Saturday's dinner we went to Copleys, which is a restaurant on Cary Grant's old estate. The ambience was amazing - we sat outside on the front porch. It was another good meal - Joe got the Beef Tenderloin topped with Beef Short rib, served with potatoes and pumpkin mac n' cheese and I got the Chicken stuffed with Sun-dried Tomato and Goat Cheese, served with potatoes and green beans. Of course I saved room for dessert - the Apple Crumble topped with homemade cinnamon ice cream!

On Sunday we enjoyed breakfast by the pool and a late checkout. Then we headed to the other side of Palm Springs to have brunch at Norma's, at The Parker hotel. The hotel and grounds were something to be seen, like an adult version of Alice in Wonderland. Everything was over-the-top in an retro-chic kinda of way (designed by Jonathan Adler). The food at Norma's was superb, and completely over-priced. We thought brunch is LA was expensive - until we saw Peach Pancakes for $18 on the menu (but they were absolutely heavenly)! It was a fun experience to do once.

Now it's back to the grind. We have 30 days until his due date! Joe and are looking forward to his arrival and are getting our hospital bag packed, or as Joe calls it..."our go bag".

#9: A Baby Shower Tea Party

On Sunday, November 7th, Jessica Roberts, Stephanie Tsai and Tiffani Rogers hosted a beautiful, cozy baby shower tea party. Jackie Hanselmann brought some delicious treats and Sarah Spencer drove all the way from San Diego to be there!

These ladies have a special place in my heart, and are part of my small group through Bel Air. Some of us have been together for 3 1/2 years, and others joined the group more recently. Our group is a blend of guys/girls and marrieds/singles - so it was fun to just have some girl time over tea celebrating new life!

There were sweet place settings for each person, complete with adorable name cards and tea cups with saucers (Jessica's tea set). Jessica also made the aqua and orange table cloth, which are the colors of Baby Prusz's room! Stephanie made some beautiful flower arrangements with farmer's market flowers, and Tiffani was the creative mind responsible for the adorable name cards (each person's was different!)

There was an assortment of teas - including chocolate peppermint, vanilla and pear rooibos, green and black teas. There were some delectable tea party snacks as well, including a pear gorgonzola salad, onion and goat cheese puff pastries, tea sandwiches, maple scones, mini pigs-in-a-blanket, homemade cranberry tart, chocolate chip cookies and peanut-butter rice crispie treats. Everything tasted as good as it sounds!

We played some fun games which included a baby-item version of The Price Is Right and a How Big Is Baby game in which you have to match up fruits and veggies to the baby's week-by-week size during pregnancy. I didn't win either of these games, so not sure what I'm getting myself into!

The girls showered Baby Prusz with some sweet gifts including lots of cute clothes, blankets and bath-time items!

#8: Boy, Oh Boy! A Rooftop Baby Shower

This Saturday, our good friends Jill Lamb and Jen Johnston hosted an amazing baby shower for us in Santa Monica.

The shower was outside on the rooftop overlooking the city.  Luckily it rained the night before, leaving the sky clear and blue for Saturday afternoon. It was a perfect, fall day!

Even more perfect than the weather was the amazing set-up for the party. Jill and Jen transformed the rooftop from an empty deck into an inviting party space. There were round tables with seating, a couple cocktail tables in the corner for mingling and an adorable table for gifts with a colorful "lollipop" centerpiece. To top it off, there was a delicious food spread with chicken salad sandwiches, Jen's famous corn dip (I've ruined so many meals by eating too much of this!), farmer's market vegetable salad, walnut cheese dip, a fruit platter, and yummy lemon cupcakes. I'm pretty sure everyone at least got seconds! Guests could also choose from wine, beer, champagne, apple cider, or water.

Jill and Jen spared no details. They made this very sweet welcome sign for Baby Prusz which coordinated with the napkin rings, food signs, table centerpieces and invitations. There were also some delicious rice crispie treat party favors for guests (which I was thrilled there were a few leftover, now stashed in my pantry...and purse).

The shower itself was a wonderful time to catch up with some good friends and co-workers. We had a shower game of Celebrity Baby Trivia, and one of my co-workers, Skyler, managed to answer almost every single question correct. She won a year subscription to US Weekly...although, we're not quite sure she's the one who needs the subscription!

Baby Prusz was showered with lots of fun, practical and stylish baby gifts. And he has a lot of baby-friends awaiting his arrival this December.

45 more days until his due date. Joe is convinced he's coming early, I'm hoping he does, and according the stranger who approached me at Nordstrom he's definitely coming before December...not sure I want him to come that early though!

With the hostesses, Jill and Jen

#7: Big boy!

We had another appointment this week with our specialist for an ultrasound to check his kidneys. Good news is his kidneys are just fine!

During this visit we also found out his latest stats...and it looks like he's going to be a big boy. At 33 weeks, he's weighing in at 5-pounds...which means if I go full term he's on track to be a 9-pounder! To top that, his head and abdomen are in the 92nd percentile, meaning 92% of the babies around 33 weeks have a smaller head and abdomen - but there are 8% of babies with a bigger head and abdomen.

We'll see what this means for delivery, I'm hoping he'll come a little sooner now. But we're just so happy he's healthy, what a blessing that is!

#6: Hello 3rd Trimester!

It's official...I'm in my 3rd trimester as of today. 28 weeks down and and 12 more weeks to go!

28 Weeks

The baby moves around a lot these days and is packing more heat behind each punch and kick. It's amazing to think that we'll be holding him so soon.

According to the baby books, by this week he weighs about 2.25 pounds and measures 14.8 inches from the top of his head to heels. He can blink his eyes, which now have lashes, and can even start to see the light that filters in through the womb. He's also packing on more body fat, and will more than triple his weight in the next 12 weeks. 

Paddleboat

We have been making more and more progress on the nursery. A couple weeks ago Joe painted the room this color called Paddleboat, which a dark turquoise. He is also tackling the crown molding in the room, which has proven to be quite difficult. We've been wanting to put crown molding in our condo, and figured starting with the nursery (since it is just 4 straight walls) would be a good test. We're going to give it another go this weekend to hopefully finish the room. Once the crown molding is up we can start to put the room back together. We have almost all the components (except the chair slipcover and window treatments), and hope to have it completed in the next few weeks!

#5: Evansville Baby Shower

Over Labor Day weekend one of Joe's dear family friends, Anne Heinrich, hosted a beautiful shower for us in Evansville. We had such a wonderful time and were completely spoiled with her party-perfection hosting. She had this beautiful center piece with lots of baby boy items...all which were additional gifts for our son. There were toys, and boutique pacifier holders, cuddly stuffed animals, bottle holders, blankies, Little Giraffe burp clothes...pretty much everything a baby boy could want!

Guests were greeted with fresh Peach Bellinis, and enjoyed the fresh shrimp cocktail being passed around. For brunch, Anne catered in an amazing spread from a place in Newburgh. For dessert we had delicious cupcakes, chocolate-dipped oranges and chocolate fruit cups. She even had custom-made water bottles for the shower!

The guest list was made up of lots of Nancy's (Joe's mom) friends who were so kind to take time out of the holiday weekend to spend with us. We were also very blessed to have received an amazing amount of baby gifts. Luckily, we were able to get most of the gifts on the plane with us, and some gifts will need to be shipped back before his arrival. Which will give us little bit more time to find space for all these wonderful baby things!

On Sunday, we had a Labor Day celebration on the lake with Joe's extended family. Nancy surprised us with a mini-shower and an extended-family gift...our BOB stroller! We also got some special keepsakes and fun outfits from the family - Joe is especially excited about the Colt's onesie. It's the perfect size for a Super Bowl outfit...so Go Colts!

Now that we're back in California our task is to finish the nursery. We've got most of the components, but need to start painting first before we put anything together. Our goal is to have the nursery complete by October 30th...which is quickly approaching!

As of today, I'm 26 weeks along...almost to the 6 month mark. I've been feeling really good and enjoying this as long as it will continue.

#4: Week 22 - our full-pounder

We're in the 22nd week now and can't believe how fast time flies. Our baby is about 11 inches (head to toe), which is the length of a spaghetti squash. He is also almost a full pound, and I can feel him moving more and more!

This week our crib arrived, it's in the middle of the nursery now waiting for Joe to assemble it! It's a modern-style crib in espresso and white. We found our crib bedding from Serena and Lily, which Joe's parents are buying for us and plan to give to us at our Evansville baby shower. We can't wait! The walls will be a deep turquoise which will provide a nice contrast to all the white furniture and trim. Now we just have to get it all together!

On a seperate note, some people have been asking me about cravings. I can't say that I've had any "unusual" cravings like pickles with ice cream - however, I do find that I could eat spaghetti and meatballs pretty much every day...along with any other carb-heavy food item! I also love tomato soup and grilled cheese.

We have a couple weeks here in LA to enjoy the summer weather that has finally arrived, then we're heading back to Evansville for Labor Day weekend. A dear friend of the Prusz family is throwing us a shower in Evansville, she made beautiful hand-made invitations so we can't wait to see what else this party planner expert has in store for us! Joe's parents also throw a fun end-of-summer Labor Day party on the lake, another reason we're heading back home.

#3: Indy Baby Shower

I had my first baby shower this past weekend in Indy. It was very  beautiful and lots of fun. The shower graciously hosted by J. Nichole Phillips, Bethany Lewis, Sarah Holsapple and Sarah Gaspary.

The hostesses definitely went all out, and this baby has a lot of love already! There were 2 diaper cakes, blue punch (complete with rubber duckies), delicious food, fun games and decorations.

It was a present in itself to be able to catch up with my girlfriends and their moms - especially since my hometown girlfriends all live in 6 different cities at this point. Plus, my dad's family drove from Ohio, and my mom's friends were also able attend. It was so nice to see everyone!

Also felt very lucky to have been showered with all the wonderful baby presents. At least when you get married, you typically have some of the basics already. But when you have a baby, you don't really have bottles, car seats and diaper cream lying around! We're definitely off a great start with some practical and cute baby items. Plus, lots of great baby and children's storybooks (the hostesses asked guests to bring a book instead of a card), which means Joe will soon be building some type of bookshelf for the corner of the nursery!

Indy Baby Shower | August 8, 2010  | 21.5 weeks

#2: 20 weeks down, 20 more to go!

So I've officially made it to the halfway mark! 20 weeks today. The baby is about the size of a cantaloupe, average size is 6.5 inches and weight 10.6 oz. In the next 20 weeks he will grow to be 15 times his current size.

We're looking forward to these next 20 weeks, we have some visits planned back home, baby showers and of course the holidays. Plus, we have so much still to do - pick a name, decorate a nursery, and finish all the parenting and baby books on our nightstand!

20 weeks!

#1: It's a boy!

Joe and I had our second trimester ultrasound appointment on July 19, and found out we're having a BOY! We're so thrilled and just can't wait to meet the little guy in December.

During this ultrasound appointment, the doctor also did a complete anatomy scan. It was amazing to see the detail in his heart, brain and skeletal system. He found a comfy resting spot and wouldn't let us see his full spine, so we have to go back in 4 weeks to get that checked out. But overall, our baby boy is looking very healthy. We feel very blessed.

Baby Boy at 18.5 weeks, 3D Static Ultrasound