Our Pride and Joy Has Arrived, Michael Anthony Armand

Labor and Delivery
Well, the wait is over… little Michael Anthony Armand is finally here!! YAY! We were scheduled for an induction on Thursday March 11th 2010. That morning I woke up having contractions, mild and ranged from 4 minutes to 1 hour apart. We had a 9:00 A. Dr’s appt that morning for an ultrasound to verify that the little man was correctly positioned. He was head down however his back was towards my back, which meant a more difficult delivery and a lot of back pain (which was pretty normal by this point anyways, lol). We left there, ate some food, and ran a few last minute errands and returned home to finish up getting ready for our departure that afternoon.


After a short nap and grabbing a small bite to eat we headed up towards the hospital to be induced. Nick and Tabby were there to greet us and make sure everything was okay. Shortly afterwards my dad and step-mom arrived along with my brother Jeremy to spend a little time with us before they started the drugs to ‘officially’ induce me. After the nurse was done Dad, Liz, and Jeremy came back in to visit and keep us company while the mild contractions started kicking in. Shortly after that it started becoming a bit of a blur, ha-ha! My mom, Pops, Vinnie’s parents, Derek, Alicia, and I think even Josiah came by to see how things were going and visit for a while. When the moderate contractions set in I asked everyone to leave for a bit. They all went, got a bite to eat, walk around outside, or even just hang in the waiting room to kill some time.


In the mean time, the contractions got stronger and closer together. Shortly after I reached 4 cm dilated and was 75% effaced the contractions were getting quite painful due to the back labor I was having, so I asked to get an epidural. They said I could get one but the anesthesiologist was in surgery and it would be another hour at least before they could give it to me. I was a little upset because I told the nurse (and gave them the birth-plan) that I wanted the epidural as soon as possible especially since I was at a higher risk for a c-section. After she told me that it would probably be over an hour before I could get the epidural she gave me the option of a very low dose I.V. pain medicine, which had little to no side effects to the baby. It was about 11:30pm or so and I decided to go ahead and receive the I.V. since I was almost in tears from the back labor. She gave me the I.V. and in seconds I started feeling a little woozy and slight relief. Within 20 minutes the anesthesiologist from the O.R. came in to administer the epidural, since the anesthesiologist from the labor and delivery was still busy. He did a great job and I felt almost instant relief from the back labor pains. After the epidural had time to kick in and things settled down again, everyone came back in to visit for a while. It was a nice to see everyone and converse about everything that was going down. Everyone was getting anxious and we started taking bets on times he would be born (which we all were wrong on, LOL). Everyone said I must be feeling good because I was laughing and cutting up during major contractions. Alicia even said that I ‘danced’ during one contraction. The nurse came in to check and see how I was progressing so, once again, I asked everyone to leave while the nurse checked my vitals and progression. She said that it was hard to read my contraction monitor with all the commotion so I told I informed everyone that we needed to calm down and be quieter so my body could relax and continue to make the progression towards labor. That seemed to help my body transition into labor a bit faster, which was nice and before I knew it, it was time for the nurses to check me again. Everyone left for the last time before Michael made his debut so the nurses could check my vitals and to see what phase I was in. At that point, around 3am, I was about 6cm and 75% still. I decided that from that point on I just wanted it to be the two of us in the room until Michael got here. We enjoyed everyone’s company and support but since I was in the last stage of labor I wanted to spend some time with just Vinnie and he felt the same way.


About 7:30 am, just after staff rotation switch, the new nurse came in to check me and she said that I was fully effaced and completely dilated. She said she had to step out to call Dr. Doyle and let her know. When she came back in she informed us that the doctor wanted us to start pushing real soon. The nurse got everything together and ready to deliver the baby and we started pushing just before 8am. So we started pushing and shortly after the nurse said she could see his head and asked Vinnie if he wanted to see. Without hesitation Vinnie went to take a peek as his little head and from then on he decided to observed little Michael work his way into the world. Right when Michael was ready to make his entry the Dr. had just finished suiting up for the delivery. Three hard pushes later out came a little miracle. Overflowing with emotions we both began to cry with feelings that no one can describe. It was the most amazing feeling in the world to look upon this miracle that God had blessed us with and think that he was here and ours to love and care for. The wait was finally over, 9 months of carrying this child inside my womb and roughly 26 hrs (including the start of contractions) of labor he was here with us! He was born at 8:36 am, 7lbs 13.8oz, and 19 inches long. Daddy cut the umbilical cord and they placed him on my belly to clean him off. We gave him hugs and kisses before they took him to clean him off, get his APGAR test and weight. While they were doing that Vinnie sent out a text to everyone letting them know that Michael was here. The nurses gave Michael to Vinnie and Vinnie brought him to me to be breastfed. Before I was even decent and barely got started breastfeeding we could hear everyone gathered right outside the door, lol. I told Vinnie to make everyone go wait while we bonded and everything was cleaned up. Vinnie went and told everyone that we needed a little time as a family before everyone came in to see him. Everyone was very understanding, despite the LONG night they had waited up in the hospital waiting room to meet the little man. After a little bonding time and the clean-up I told Vinnie that everyone could come meet and hold him before they took our baby to the nursery whenever Vinnie was ready. Vinnie went and got everyone pretty much right away. I bet it must have looked like a herd of people coming down the hallway because they all piled in to see the little guy minutes later. Everyone was able to hold him and get a picture with Michael before the staff had to take him away for his bath, vaccines, eye ointment, and incubator to stabilize him temperature. Everyone left to get some rest shortly afterwards and we were transferred to the recovery room by about 10 am.






Recovery at the Hospital


After a long night of labor and delivery, we were brought to our recovery room to rest and recoup while they had Michael in the nursery. We got a couple hours to rest and catch some sleep, though looking back I don’t think we got any actual sleep (After a night like that it’s hard to relax with all the adrenaline pumping through your system, Lol). I had the worst headache and was very nauseous after my epidural started to wear off. About 1:00 lunch came by and I was so hungry that I stuffed the breadstick down and started eating my spaghetti. I wasn’t able to eat much because of the nausea. The nurses brought Michael to our room after they were finished and his temperature was stable to spend some time with us and be fed. Dad, Liz, Mom, and Bruce all came to visit and see how we were doing a few hours later. The hospital brought dinner and as soon as it entered the room I became very flushed. I paused and asked Mr. Bruce to hand me the cover to the food and the fumes from the food filled the room and my lungs. Right then I sat up fast and vomited all my lunch, and then my headache got twice as bad instantly. Mom and Bruce decided to give me some time to rest and recover. Dad and Liz chose to do the same, especially since they had a 4 hour drive ahead of them but before they left they prayed for my recovery. The nurse gave me some medication for the nausea as well as for the headache. They had the doctor who gave me the epidural come in and talk to me. He said that I very possibly could have a leak of spinal fluid from the epidural. He recommended laying down as much as possible and drink lots of caffeine and that if it did not go away I had the option of getting a blood patch (which is where they draw roughly 20 mL of blood and inject it into the spinal column through an epidural needle, that way the blood clots the hole that was made by the 1st epidural). After taking meds and drinking a lot of fluids and caffeine the pain subsided. The next night it came back when I went to get up it hit me like a ton of bricks. The day we went home they did a blood patch on me and I began to feel relief immediately. They told me that we could go home that day according to my doctor’s orders and instructed me to lay flat for the next 24 hours so the blood patch had time to clot and fix the hole. My doctor gave us the okay to go and we were discharged Sunday afternoon, after a few hours of making sure the blood patch was working. During our stay, we did have a few visitors to see Michael and visit with us. Thanks to all of you who stopped by at the hospital to see us!


Arriving Home


Once we got Michael loaded up in his car seat and put in the car, I got in the backseat with him and we headed home, finally!! We were so ready to be home. As we drove down the street we saw a bunch of balloons tied down to the mailbox. I was excited to see them, it was a great idea and we felt so special. Then we got out the car and headed into the house with Michael for the 1st time. We opened the door and there was a huge banner saying ‘Congratulations and Welcome Home Vinnie, Jolene, and Michael’ with signatures from Derek, Alicia, Josiah, Mom, and Bruce. The house smelled wonderful and everything was so nice and clean. They had also set the table with some gorgeous flowers and balloons tied a chair. It was fantastic to walk into a nice clean house with a newborn baby. Everyone was so extremely awesome and thoughtful to do all of that for us. Thank you all a billion times over for all you’ve done for us, we really really appreciate it all!


The 1st Week


The 1st night was horribly long, we didn’t get but maybe 2 hours of sleep that 1st night. Trying to figure out his sleeping/eating patterns, not freaking out about every little thing, staying sane, trying to sleep, and TRYING to follow the dr.’s orders by lying flat seemed impossible to do all at once. We were both already exhausted from the labor, delivery, and hospital stay so lack of sleep and general exhaustion from the 1st 2 days home really started to set in. But after the 1st 2 nights things started to calm down and become somewhat ‘normal’ or at least more so that it had been. Each night is a little different and has continued to improve for the most part. We are generally able to get about a 3 hour stretch of sleep at a time, and sometimes 4 – 4 ½ which is nice. Let’s hope and pray he continues to sleep well. We have really enjoyed having him here with us. He’s a little gas machine but we love him anyways, Lol! We are soaking up every little minute we get to just sit there and spend time with the little guy. It’s so hard not to just hold him all day and kiss his little hands and feet. He truly has been a blessing from God and we feel so honored to have him in our lives. Words honestly can’t explain the feelings you have for the little life that has entered your life and changed it in every way. I know this is just the beginning of the new chapter in our lives but we are so excited and can’t believe that he’s finally here. Thanks for reading the blog and sorry it took me a week to get it up. Lol! I want to thank all of you for coming to visit us in the hospital and during our 1st week home. We also want to thank and let you know how much we appreciate all of you who prepared dinner for us. It really did make a Huge difference and gave us more time together as a family. We greatly appreciate it. Also, Thank you to those who helped get the house all beautiful for Michael’s arrival. Take care and God bless! Feel free to leave comments.


Love,


The Armands <3

Moving and Baby Shower Adventures February 2010

These past couple of weeks have been very productive! We have had 2 wonderful baby showers and have completely moved into the house on Bixby. We are so stoked to start this new and exciting chapter in our lives! God has blessed us in so many ways! We found out that I have an increased risk of getting a c-section. With that said, the Dr thinks its best for me to be induced. We are scheduled to go into Sacred Heart @ 5pm on March 11th to start the induction, if we make it that far. We will keep you posted on what the Dr says and when everything goes down, lol. Here's a bit of whats been going on.


The move: (Feb 14th - 21th)

We started moving into the new house on Feb. 14th and got completely moved in by Feb. 21st, thanks to some hard work by our families. Jeremy and Mom came over the evening of the 13th and helped clean the house so we could start moving the following day. My mom, Pops (Mr. Bruce), and Josiah started helping us move all the boxes over that Sunday, the 14th, after Vinnie and I had a Valentines breakfast and had the car tire fixed. I was quite under the weather that day and didnt do anything but stand there and watch. Luckily Vinnie made up for my lack of ability to do anything. Throughout the following week Josiah and my mom came by and helped clean, put up curtains and move things as they could. This weekend (February 20th) was the baby shower from my family and my dad came in town to attend. Not only did he, Liz, and Hannah (as well as Jeremy and Josiah) attend the shower but after that they came by and helped us finish moving what was left and the next day they helped clean up the apt before they rolled out to LA. It was such a blessing to have everyone so willing and able to help us move. We thank you all for all of your help moving and cleaning, We can't begin to tell you just how much we appreciate everything you've done for us. Thank you and we Love you!!


The Baby Shower at Jolene's work: (Feb. 17th)

My work held a baby shower for Vinnie and I mid-week, though Vinnie was unable to attend due to work. Sandie, Heather, and Bonnie did a wonderful job planning it. It was so pretty, had lots of yummy foods, and the punch was amazing! Hehe! Sandie had me go to the staff room at 11am and told me not to clock out. So I went and stuffed my face for 2 hrs, haha. It was a pretty busy day but I got a chance to see, talk, and hang out with everyone at one point or another. Everyone welcomed the break to eat some tasty food and watch me open the present that they picked out for the little guy. We got all kinds of great stuff, even got 2 of some things (which was pretty funny when it came to the whale bathtub). Everytime I thought I was almost done opening card and gifts someone else would pop in and bring something. By the end of it, I was barracaded in my seat by gifts on either side of me, haha. I had a very nice time and thank you ladies and Doc for everything. You guys are great and we appreciate you!

The Family/Friends Baby shower: (Feb 20th)

My mom, Vinnies mom, and Vinnies sister all got together and collaberated this blissful baby shower for us. I'm sure it was a lot of headache to get 3 minds on the same page, but it turned out to be just perfect. It was held at the Club House of Govenors Gate, where Vinnie's parents live. Josiah sat by the entrance directing everyone where to go and letting them into the gated community. It was pretty funny because he sat in the truck slouched over with big 'ole sunglasses covering his eyes that barely peered over the steering wheel, as if he were undercover. Haha! They had signs up telling the guests (and us) where to go. The decore was beautifully set. It was too cute, the punch was blue with little duckies floating in it. Sheri had a friend make the cake, which was way cool. The top was blue with clouds and airplanes. It was just as tasty as it was pretty. Vinnies mom made an edible arrangement which looked just as good, if not better, than the ones you spend a ton of money on. They put a lot of love and work into this baby shower. After greeting everyone and hugging their necks for coming and celebrating little Michael with us, we all got a plate of food and munched on that while playing some fun games such as baby word search, baby word de-scrambler, and creating words from the name Michael Anthony Armand. We also played a few other games like guessing how many items were in the container and one of my favorites: Guess Whats in the Diaper - for the guys. It was pretty comical to watch them open those diapers and guess which candy bars were melted in the diaper. Which, by the way, they all got right. Then after all the games everyone gathered around and we started opening gifts. We recieved a TON of things. Some people were so creative in their gifts it was pretty impressive. There were a few duplicates but not a whole lot, suprisingly. At the end of the present opening, second round of hugs, and thank you's Derek was nice enough to help get everyones attention so we could make our big announcement - that we were scheduled to be induced on March 10th because of my increased risk of a c-secton. Everyone was excited (and shocked) to hear that we had a set date for Michael to come into the world. I know one thing, He is going to be loved and will always have what he wants. All he'll have to do is ask one of his 3 sets of grandparents or one of his many Aunts and Uncles. I want to thank each and everyone of you for attending the shower and also for all the awesome gifts.

Shout-outs:

Heres a list of what everyone got for us and a Thank You to each and everyone one of you! We greatly appreciate what you've done for and picked out for us!!! We love you all and pray that God blesses you 10-fold-over for everything you do.

Mom and Pops Morros - Polka-dot blanket, puppy dog outfit w/hat and socks

Mom and Dad Armand - Car seat, puppy dog stuffed animal

Dad, Liz, and Hannah - Swaddeling blankets, bottle drop-ins, bottle warmer, changing pad, sippy cups, baby hats, socks, burp cloths, onsies, milk bags, LSU outfits, carrier mirror

Grandma Billie – Nursing Bras, Glider

Grandma Joanna - Crib and mattress

Kirsten, Jesse, and Ira - Swing, toys, clothes, and fitted bed sheets for the crib.

Josiah - LSU Booties

Sheri, Chuck, and kids/Grandma and Grandpa Peterson - Pedialyte, blanket, Michaels 'relief case' with name printed on it.

Uncle Vinnie and Aunt Anne - Camo outfit, I love mommy tee, bus outfit, sailor outfit, MVP outfit

Derek and Alicia - Whale baby bath, burp cloths, onsies, baby clothes hangers, fishy wash cloths, airplane socks, stuffed puppy, socks, pacifiers, rubber ducky (along with all the other things you've gotten him along the way, hehe)

Jenai, Jenny, Susanna, and Mr/Mrs Newkirk - onsies, tote bag

Aunt Carolyn and Erica - diaper genie, changing pad, baby wipe warmer

Uncle Mike and Aunt Debbie - Handmade winnie the pooh blanket

Belinda and Geno - bottles, sleeper, receiving blankets, cloth diapers

Ryley and David/Amanda, and Ryan - wash cloths, sea creature bath toys, changing pad

Elaine and Ron - Jungle outfit w/bib, doggie outfit, puppy blankie buddy, sleeper

Christine - Boppie, sling/hip carrier, jungle receiving blanket, fuzzy snuggle blanket, carters monkey

Aunt Linda and Uncle Calvin - Target gift card

Sandie - Stuffed piggy, piggy book, diapers

Heather P. - Diapers, journal, nursing pads, Lanosil cream, baby wipes

Lisa G. - Whale bath, fishy towel, fishy bath cloths, rubber ducky, baby body wash, baby lotion

Dr. Dawson and Dr. Inomata - Whale bath, benjamin and peter rabbit books, onsies, blue basket, baby body wash

Ilka - Fishy towel, fishy bath cloths, rubber ducky

Bonnie - Disney bedtime stories, spoons, bottle washer, dishwasher basket, slo-flow bottle nipples, take-along-pack, bottle drying rack

Donnette - Baby oil, head-to-toe baby wash, baby lotion, baby bubble bath, spoons, socks

Shannon - Hand print kit, onsies w/matching pants

Dr. Berberich - Nursery rhymes book, diaper genie refills, Boudreaux’s butt paste

Shelby - Target gift card

Tina - Monkey outfits w/matching bibs

Lisa R. - Health care kit, diaper rash cream

Doc and Mary Joe - Monitors, froggie outfits, target gift card

Callie - Bottles, onsies

Melissa - Rattle, doggie print sleepers

Becca - Froggie jumper, sleep-n-play, rattle pal

Paige - Target gift card

Courtney - Baby bouncer

Cameron - Target gift card

Amanda - Hand made blankie, stuffed laughing doggie, hand print set

Nick and Tabitha - Curious george book, diapers

Stephanie - Hand made fuzzy blanket

Heather G. - Boppy pillow, car mirror

Joe - Mattress, pack & play





Thank you again!! If I forgot anyone or anything, I am sooo sorry. I tried to write everything down but my pregnancy brain effects me sometimes. So please forgive me if I did forget anyone or if you gave it to us after this post. We appreciate everything and want to give a special shout-out to those who helped plan, prepare, and help clean up afterwards for the baby showers. It could not have been possible without you! Thank you so very much, from the bottom of our hearts! We love you!

Love,

~Vinnie, Jolene, and Michael~



* Be sure to check out the Videos and Pics on the website @ www.littlemichaelanthony.com. If they're not up and running yet, they will be uploaded shortly. <3