Third Times a Charm?

Round 3 of Mastitis, an infection from nursing.  :(

I'd write more if I had more energy and wasn't aching from head to toe with a headache and pretty sure I've got a fever too.  Boo.

Here's to hoping this is the last time.

Extra! Extra!

Matt spent last Tuesday and Wednesday down in Goshen filming an LDS Bible Movie.  He portrayed a Roman Soldier in Golgotha and was in scenes casting lots for Jesus' garments and when Christ is crucified on the cross.

John 19: 34 But one of the soldiers (Matt Putnam) with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

What a great experience.  I can't wait to see it when it comes out.  It's supposed to come out around Easter of next year.  I barely recognized him when he came home from filming.  His beard was gone and he was covered in dark brown makeup from head to toe.  It was really weird ... so you might not even be able to tell its him when the movie comes out.

Matt said it felt a little too real at times being there.  Here's what he had to say about the whole thing:

"I spent tuesday and Wednesday out in the middle of nowhere dressed up as a roman soldier. It was a very emotionally varied experience. The set is massive incredibly realistic. I don't feel like I need to go to the real place anymore. I went from being in awe of the set to having fun just talking and goofing around with other extras to having three hundred people be silent from emotion for an hour any time John, who is Jesus, climbed up the big orange ladder to hook himself onto the cross. More than once we were sitting in a circle between trailers and John/Jesus would walk by in his underwear, covered with blood ,with the crown of thorns and would smile and wave. While I was practicing sticking the spear into the side of the cross we had a little conversation   which was strange considering he was ten feet above me and looked exactly like you would think Jesus on the cross would be but he's talking to you in a normal voice and impressed by your ability to move a big rock by yourself. My beard was gone twenty minutes after I showed up. Good food. Tons of brown makeup.   Baby oil in your hair makes you look sweaty.   Sandals from that time give you blisters.   John/Jesus is an Irishman with short, bright red hair and a red beard that gets dyed every day."

The 2 thieves

All the Roman Soldiers (Matt's on the far right)

More pictures to come.

In Honor of The Beard

So Ridiculous. Tuesday was Matt's last day with this beard and this is how it was decided that the beard would be best honored.  My brother, Mike, took some incredible awkward photos.

Matt's been growing it out for the last 5 months in hopes of participating in an LDS Bible movie, and he had that opportunity on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I'm so happy it's gone! I can actually kiss him again.  He's having withdrawals though.  He really misses it and is already asking if he can grow another one.

All About Bear

Tuesday, July 31 - 3 weeks old:

7 lbs. 

19 1/4 in.

When he was born: 

5 lbs. 9 oz. 

17 1/2 in. 

He's growing fast.  

I can already see his personality shining through.  He's a cutie and I feel so blessed.

Here's some little things about him that are unique to him: 

• He loves to eat ... if you couldn't tell by how much weight he's already gained
• He's a 2-sneezer 
• He's a cuddler, he loves being held and sometimes will demand nothing less than being cuddled
• He loves his fish mobile
• He likes having his hands up by his face
• His hair is getting lighter every day, it's going to be super blonde
• He's a smart one ... or at least it seems that way
• He's very observant to what's going on around him
• He rarely spits up ... which I am extremely grateful for
• He's all about his stretches and making funny faces when he's waking up
• He doesn't like to be wet

Mom Moment

I was mid-shower yesterday when Bear decided to wake up and started crying.  So, I had to jump out of the shower to console him.  Unfortunately, he decided that he wasn't going to go back to sleep or continue to sleep unless I was holding him.  So I was stuck, only half-showered, dripping wet in a towel rocking Bear.  I didn't manage to slip away till nearly an hour later to finish showering.

It's official, I'm a mom.

Bear's Story

Tuesday, July 10th.  It was late morning when I realized I hadn't felt the baby kick at all that day when I would normally feel him move around several times within an hour.  Just so happened that I had a doctor's appointment early that afternoon, so I decided to wait until then.  I tried poking and prodding my belly to get him to move without any luck.  At the doctor's, everything seemed normal, I was measuring properly and baby's heart beat sounded normal and good.  However, since I hadn't been feeling him move, Dr. Ollerton told me to go home and lie down for 2 hours and count how many times I felt him move.  If he moved less than 10 times, I needed to go to the hospital.

While lying down, he moved only a couple times, but then he got the hiccups. So I called the doctor's office and they said that if he got the hiccups, everything was fine and we didn't need to worry.  But, as the afternoon progressed, he still wasn't moving like he normally would, and I decided we needed to go the hospital to get tested because it just didn't seem right.

We checked into the hospital at 8:30 p.m.  I got hooked up to do a non-stress test.  Within a few minutes I had a contraction (that I couldn't feel) and baby's heart rate dropped significantly.  The nurse came in and said, "that might have just gotten you admitted."  It happened again with the next contraction, and the nurse said she was calling the doctor.  Not only would his heart rate dive with every contraction, but it was flatlined at 150 in between, rather than slightly varying.  It seemed like only a few minutes before Dr. Melendez was there.  He looked at the baby's tracing from the non-stress test so far and told us we were staying and having a baby.

Pretty sure I went into shock.  I started trembling and couldn't stop.  I changed into a lovely hospital gown and the Dr. broke my water.  He said we'd know within 20 minutes whether our baby would be able to handle a regular vaginal birth or if I'd need a c-section.  I started signing paperwork galore while  lying there and then our baby's heart rate plummeted and wasn't returning to the normal rate.  The nurse called out and I was immediately wheeled off for an emergency c-section.  

I felt like the whole scene could have been in a movie or medical tv show or something.  One of the nurses took Matt to get him covered up and another nurse was calling out to the others to get more help.    I was wheeled into the massive operating room that was already filled with several nurses prepping everything and the main nurse trying to keep me calm and keep me up to date on what was going on.  I could see the monitor with our baby's heart rate still dropping and could hear the beat getting slower and slower.  The mood in the air was very tense and I could tell everyone was moving as quickly as possible.  The operating doors were left wide open and the nurse cut my gown off (that I had just put on) because she couldn't get the knot undone quickly enough. 

I was doing alright until I looked over and saw Dr. Melendez's worried face.  He was making quick sharp glances between the baby's monitor and the anesthesiologist trying to get him to hurry since I hadn't been numbed yet.  Then the nurse yelled at the anesthesiologist, "Come on! We're in the 70's!" Yes, our baby's heart rate was now only beating in the 70's, from 150, and was not going back up at all.  I was pleading silently with God that our baby would be ok and that they would be able to get him out in time.  Then Dr. Ollerton walked in (found out later that Dr. Melendez called him and asked if he wanted to come in and help with my c-section).  The spinal anesthetic was done (they didn't have time to an epidural) and I was laid down on the operating bed.  Matt finally came in all gowned up and came and held my hand as they lifted the curtain just in front of my face so I wouldn't be able to see the surgery. 

My belly was sanitized as the anesthetic was taking effect and I was slowly becoming more and more numb.  Literally, as soon as I was fully numb, they started cutting.  They poked me a few times to make sure and then went for it.  It was like when your foot falls asleep; you can touch it and feel that something is there, but you can't really feel it.  I could tell where they cutting and feel the pressure but I didn't actually feel any pain or anything.  Matt stood up while holding my hand and looked over the sheet and watched the doctor's pull out our baby.  It only took them 3 minutes from the time they started cutting to get our little guy out.  And he was born at 10:08 p.m. (Remember, we checked into the hospital at 8:30 p.m...that's how incredibly fast everything happened). 

I can't describe the immense relief I felt when I heard his cry and I knew they had gotten him out safely.  Matt started telling me what was going on while the doctor's started stitching me back up.  He went over and watched the nurses wash him off and took some pictures, and then came back and showed me the pictures and video so I could see our baby.  It seemed like forever before the nurses brought our baby over for me to see.  I couldn't hold him but there's still nothing like seeing him for the first time after I had carried him in my belly for 9 months.  

They took our baby down to the nursery and Matt went down as well while the doctor's continued to stitch me up.  They wheeled me back to the room we had been previously and gathered all my belongings.  I had to wait in the room for about 10 min because they said they were still working on preparing my actual recovery room where I would be able to see our baby.  It was about 11:00 when they wheeled me into my actual room, where baby Bear and Matt, my step-mom Christy, and my brother, Mike were waiting.  I got to have my proud mom moment of holding our baby for the first time, a truly humbling experience. 

I feel so blessed and grateful to have Bear with us and am so thankful to the doctors and nurses.

Berrex Read Putnam

5 lbs 9 oz

17.5 inches

10:08 p.m. 

July 10, 2012

Ultrasound

Here's some pictures from my 22 week ultrasound.  Only half of them would upload though so hopefully I'll be able to get the other ones up shortly.