Rowan goes to church-East Valley Bible Church

Rowan had his first outing to church this past weekend. He loved all the singing and music-and by loved I mean slept through it!

He is much more alert now when he is awake and he smiled back at me a few times last week, but I am not sure if he knew he was doing it because it wasn't consitant.

Rowan's Big Adventure

Rowan had his first big adventure this past weekend.....and slept through almost the whole thing! Theo got the Blaster fixed and running, so we took a little trek up to the top of Four Peaks. It was quite an experience and we did not quite know what we were in for! Typically in the past we would ride the quads up to the top and had never done it in the truck. Well, we relized as we were riding up the road there is a reason we never took the truck up.....it is a long bumpy ride over a mostly washboard dirt road. It took us an hour to get 18 miles from the Bee Line (87) up to the top.

Once up at the top we parked, unloaded the quad, and had some lunch....with friends.....we were surrounded by these annoying gnats! Theo and I took turns riding the quad breifly then we packed up and left.

We decided to try a different route back down to the Bee Line. We travelled down the backside of the mountain and the road was much more pleasant. We ended up in a small town, Punkin Center, where we hit a paved road. Then we realized we were 20 miles from Payson, so we decided we would eat an early dinner there. It was wonderfully cool in Payson and we even saw some rain. We found a great little place, Mackey's Grill, where Ramsey was welcome to sit out on the patio with us (along with another group that had a Great Dane enjoying the patio)!

As I mentioned earlier, Rowan slept most of the as we were on our adventure with the exception of when he was hungry! You may notice in the pictures, he has a slight case of baby acne. It does not seem to bother him, just looks bad. Other Mother's I have spoken with have refered to it as "milk bumps" and assure me it will go away soon. Also, he has lost most of his hair on the top of his head and looks like a balding old man. I feel a little guilty for this, but we have been calling him George Kastanza (from Seinfeld)! Again my Dr. assures me this is normal-he may loose all his hair or just some.

Rowan's First D-Backs Game

Rowan had his first big night out...to a D-Backs game. This was Monday 9/15 and we beat the SF Giants!

As you can see in the pictures, I carried him in the Moby Wrap. He slept most of the game despite all the noise and comotion around us. He started getting fussy in the 8th inning as it was time to eat. I ended up finding a section where there was virtually no one else sitting and fed him there. This was my first "public" feeding and I must admit it was a little uncomfortable.

Rowan James Chamberlain

Rowan James made his debut into this world Friday August 22, 2008 at 8:48AM! Today he is 17 days old and I finally have a moment to sit at the computer and tell our story. He immediately became the light of my world and I am blessed to be called his Mother.

It all started Thursday 8/21. I had received word the evening before I was getting an offer on one of my listings. I kept checking my efax to see if the fax had made its way into my email yet. By the time I went to bed it still had not arrived, so I went to sleep and figured I'd call the other agent first thing in the morning and have him refax the offer to me. I woke at 6:30AM....very unusual for me. I had breakfast with Theo, something we never do during the week, mainly because I am usually still sleeping. I should have known something was up!!!! I continued on with the morning and when 8:00AM rolled around I called the agent about resending the fax. As I am dealing with some technical difficulties with my efax I realized I had gone to the bathroom about 6 times already and why had I needed to change pantiliners 3 times in an hour and half?

My Mother, Ellen, had flown in from Chicago Wednesday night and Thursday morning was busy piddling around in the nursery on Thursday morning as I was dealing with business. As she was setting up the pack and play, I poked my head in and said, "something strange is going on." I ended up calling Dr. Alperin and he advised me to head to triage as it sounded to him like my water had broken and was trickling.

What? Holy Crap!!!! Really? Can this really be it?

Long story short I spent about 30 minutes figuring out the fax issue, calling my backup agent-Kathy Mayus, making arrangements for me to not have to deal with this offer while giving birth, and I took a shower!!!!!!!!

In the meantime I had called Theo and informed him this could be the day-I believe I told him to be on alert. After I spoke with Dr. Alperin I called Theo to tell him it was time. Theo happened to be in a dentist chair getting a crown fixed when I called with the news it was time to go to the hospital.

At 10:15 Mom and I went to the hospital. Theo arrived shortly thereafter. Sure enough my water had broken and it was "time." At this point I was not feeling any contractions, but was told I was having them, and I was only 3cm dialated. I was happily admitted to what the nurse called the "princess room." Apparently this was the biggest, quietest labor and delivery room in the place. For whatever reason there were not many other expectant moms there when I was admitted, so I got the best room.

Soon after I was admitted Dr. Alperin popped in. Since I was not dialated very much and not feeling contractions he said he'd be back later. My nurse, Grace, was amazing and so sweet. She was very respectful of my wishes to have a natural birth and gave me time and patience to see how things would go on their own. Not much happened between the hours of 11Am and about 4PM other than getting up and walking the halls of the hospital with Theo. I did start to feel the contractions and did dialate to 5cm -where I stayed until midnight!

From this point forward things are a little fuzzy in my memory. I know Sara, Audrey, and Em came by. Ken and Carol arrived, I think around 4PM. A new nurse came on at 6PM, Erin. At some point Dr. Alperin came back to check on me and assurred me I'd be having the baby in the night and the on call Dr. would be delivering me. at some other point I remember the nurse telling me there was a water sack between the babies head and my cervix, which we now know was what inhibited my progression of labor. Since I was not progressing on my own, it was time to start the Pitocin. I was unhappy about this, but knew things needed to be sped along. It was not until they jacked it up to 10 that I REALLY started feeling the worst pain I have ever felt in my life-serious labor contractions. I labored for 3 hours and finally demanded the epidural. I was still 5 cm and couldn't take the pain any longer. What sweet relief it was!

At 6AM Dr. Alperin and Grace were back, and asounded I had not had the baby yet. Dr. Alperin broke the forsack of water and within one hour I was dialated to 9cm. Why had the on call Dr. not even come to see me? Couldn't someone have brokern the foresack hours before?

Since I was numb from the epidural I could not feel anything below my waist. I had Theo on my left and Mom on my right, holding my legs up and coaching me while I pushed. I pushed for about an hour and 20 minutes and Rowan James was FINALLY born at 8:48AM-healthy!!! The moments that followed the birth were the most intense emotions I have ever felt in my entire life. I was so excited to see my son, filled with love for him instantly, exhausted from being up for 26 hours, relieved to have it all be over, amazed looking at Theo and seeing his reaction to it all, feeling so blessed to have Rowan with us and to be his parents!

A few last things I must note....Thank you to Theo who endured the sleepless night with me and was the BEST labor coach I could have had! I was slightly worried he would not be able to help me along, but he rose to the challange and said all the right things, touched me and soothed me in all the right ways, and remained my rock at the time I needed him most. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks also to my mother for her motherly hand and for also enduring the sleepless night with us!

Although the labor and delivery were very tough, I would not change it. Rowan is healthy and for what ever reason I have to believe he was born exactly when he was suppossed to be. I give all glory to God and cannot thank Him enough for blessing Theo and I with an amazing son.....Welcome to the world Rowan!