We're HOME!!!

Well, I (Sara) finally cried. Those who know me well, know I'm not much for tears but when we walked in our front door this afternoon, the floodgates opened. I am so excited, thrilled, relieved, elated, and proud to be home! 


We cannot begin to thank our family and friends for all their support and love. We know that the stress and worry of the past 9 months has not been ours alone. Specifically the "grandparents" and our siblings that have been so supportive and helpful to our family.


Grateful and truly blessed,
Sara, Mike, Haley, and Jalen Jwaskiewicz

All ready for the car ride home!

Last "family" pic at the hospital, yipeee!!!

Home sweet home!

Haley enjoying her cookie with her new baby brother :)

Jalen Michael is here... 2/13/12

Just one day after Mike's birthday and one day shy of Valentine's Day our little guy decided it would be a good day for a birthday!  Jalen Michael was born today at 12:26 weighing in at 5lbs. 8 oz. , 18 inches long. He made a speedy arrival as we arrived at Strong around 8 a.m., after a fun rush hour traffic drive and a little more than 4 hours later we had him in our arms.  He is being monitored for low blood sugar and body temperature regulation, both are common with 36 weekers, but for now they have kept him in room and not taken him to the special care nursery. We are hoping to be discharged on Wednesday! This has been a completely different experience, filled with happy tears and all the "firsts" we never really had with Haley. Below are some pictures that captured some of these moments.

Mission Accomplished!

From our original consult with the High Risk Perinatologist their goal was to get me and baby safely to 36 weeks.  We will never know which intervention was the key or if it was the combination of all 3 but regardless on Thursday we made our goal and we couldn't be happier. The stitch was removed Wednesday and I am allowed to join the land of the living again. Although going back to work is not in my future, as I am begin directed to "ease" back into moving again, I can start to build back some of the muscle and stamina I have lost over the past 3 months.


So in my new found freedom so far I have cleaned and organized 2 closets and I hope to organize Haley's clothes for donations next week. I found this great blog: iheartorganizing.com and it give great ideas and visuals for ideas~ although I'm pretty sure I could never live with this woman (holy, Type A).


Today's "outing" was to Wegmans (not too sure I missed these Saturday morning adventures) and I will probably need a nap to recover but it was nice to get out of the house, despite the snowy winter weather that decided to finally make its return. 


Another celebration will be on Sunday for Mike's birthday. Haley and I are going to make him a chocolate cake! It's going to be a quiet day since he's battling an ear infection and can't hear out of 1 ear :( 


We hope everyone has a lovely Valentine's Day!!  


Start making your bets! My original due date was March 8th!!  


We are still relishing in the GIANTS win...

Giants Win!!!

Well, the excitement at our house Sunday was up there in Mike's "best day ever" along with our wedding and the birth of Haley. He is more than excited that his son is going to be born in the same year and he has high hopes for the SU basketball team to make it a trifecta!  I was just happy I didn't go into labor during the game :)


With that said, baby boy is looking good. He gained nicely this last few weeks and he was an estimated 4lbs. 14oz. (35 weeks) at the ultrasound on last Wednesday. We go back in this Wednesday for the cerclage removal, they docs are going to try it as an in- office procedure and go from there. Since I am contracting they are taking it out 1 day shy of 36 weeks and I am hoping for a easy, (painless?) drama free experience. I am hoping it is successful so we can skip the spinal and an entire day of hospital intervention.  After that I can begin to move around again but we will have a better idea of what to expect once it's over. Hopefully the last few days/weeks are typical and soon enough we will have some good news to share!


Continued thanks for the support and prayers! Friends at work made us my favorite Wegmans tomato orzo soup last week, thanks Marissa and MaryJane it was delicious :)

Baby Photo Shoot...

I was a little hesitant to put these on the Internet, but some of them are just too darn cute to resist. My friend from Canton (we've known each other since grade school) moved with her husband to Rochester last summer and offered to give me a session since she is staring to take photos more professionally. It was great she came to the house and essentially we "played" with baby stuff for a few hours. Near the end of the session, Haley came home and joined the fun. Thank you Tasha for documenting this special time for our family!


Other than that it's been pretty quiet :) Mike started painting the nursery this weekend, it's a Vintage Sports theme, he commented this morning that he might want to move in there with the baby to which my response is, "go right ahead". :) I will post pics when it's closer to completion. We also got out some of the baby gear this morning, to start cleaning it, in which Haley had a grand old time. She had every baby doll she owns out and was testing each piece for baby brother. 


No scheduled appointment this upcoming week :) Last week baby boy measured 3 lbs. 10 oz. and all looked good. After this I will start going in weekly again. 


We continue to received generosity from friends and can't seem to keep up with the thank- yous. We don't know how to repay the kindness. We hope in some way we can pay it forward someday. Thanks again to Mary Jo, Deb, Samantha, Jenn, Diane, and Erin all friends from school for their generosity!!


Lastly, I got to Skype this week with some very special 4th graders. We spent 40 minutes talking and they read me a Reader's Theatre story they have been practicing and caught me up on what is going on in 4th grade. If I have realized anything during this time is that I LOVE MY JOB. I truly miss my kids and co-workers each day.


Go GIANTS!!!

This is one of my favorites, this isn't even all the ultrasound pics!?!

Haley playing "telephone" with baby brother!

staying put.

We are staying put lately, mostly due to the turn in the weather. It seems winter has arrived in Western New York. We have finally gotten back into the swing of things since the holidays have passed and Haley was very excited when the "noe" (snow) came this week.

Here's a few pics of some recent "activities" that keep us busy as we await the arrival of baby boy!

Reading with Mommy- our nightly ritual

Her new fav sweat suit. It's bright pink and has a kitty...what's not to love?

Mommy and Baby boy @ 31 weeks.

Daddy and Haley after sledding

Haley is getting better about wearing her glasses, but bribes work too.

Hello 2012!

In some ways we were happy to put 2011 behind us, but we can also reflect on many good memories. Obviously, we are elated that our little man is going to be a 2012 baby! Haley has been practicing singing the 'Happy Birthday' song (everyday, several times a day) so that she is ready to sing when baby brother arrives. It is also Mike's birthday on Feb. 12th so we'll see who gets to hear the song first...


We had our weekly appointment yesterday. It was uneventful in a good way :) Baby boy is still in the "ready" position, according to the ultrasound, but he is growing nicely, they estimated he's about 3lbs. 5 oz. which is the 40th %. I am 31 weeks and we will continue all the interventions (progesterone shots, stitch, restricted activities) until 36 weeks. After that the docs say I may still carry for a few weeks, especially if scar tissue holds the baby in, so I will be like every woman the last month in her pregnancy, anxiously anticipating delivery and SO ready to meet him. Although, I figure I will have plenty to keep me busy.  I have been doing very little to prepare for his arrival. Mike will be starting the nursery soon and getting out all the baby gear but I still have a long list of things to do before he gets here!


In other news, Haley already broke her new glasses, luckily they have a year warranty and we figure we will be taking them in for repairs quite often but she seems to be doing better with wearing them.  

Before the holiday, some of my "school friends" came over and we made ornaments.

Haley bounces between the 'librarian and the secretary' 

She also irons every morning with Daddy

We look forward to all the good things to come in 2012! 

We wish everyone a healthy & blessed Happy New Year :)