Ryan and Mindy.com

Baby news 7wks

2011-06-25T20:26:00.007-04:00

So as you may have noticed from the previous post, we are expecting another addition to our family. And as you may have noticed from the post before that, it pretty much takes a pregnancy to get me to actually blog. Despite going straight from a birth announcement to a pregnancy announcement, they're not actually that close together. Owen is nearly 2 and by the time the baby comes he'll be 2 1/2, which is the same age gap between him and Carter.

We won't find out if God is blessing us with another boy or the girl I've been praying for until September, so until I know for sure it will be "baby" and not "he" or "she". The official due date is Feb. 10, but since this will be another planned c-section, the debut should be around the 3rd.

It appears I may end up with plenty of time to blog about pregnancy again. I'm praying really hard that I don't end up on bed rest again, but I am already having similar difficulties to last time. My blood pressure has once again dropped (much earlier this time around) and for the sake of not falling all over the place I'm limiting my mobility to the essentials. At 7wks my BP has registered a low of 87/45, and will supposedly continue to gradually drop until around the 20th week. Let's hope at the very least it just stays put and doesn't go any lower. As it is the room starts spinning just by lifting my head. :-/

Even with the usual early symptoms, morning sickness, low BP, and frequent trips to the bathroom, it still hasn't really sunk in yet that we're having another baby. It's DEFINITELY sunk in that I'm pregnant, but I literally have to keep reminding myself that we're going to have a beautiful, if not noisy and fussy, newborn in just a few months. We've had the first ultrasound and saw the heart beating and it still doesn't seem real. I vaguely remember feeling this way with Owen and if I recall correctly when those kicks start making their presence known then it becomes very real. With Carter it felt real right away just because it was the first time and I couldn't make myself stop thinking about the baby. :-P

So that's the news for now. We go back July 15 for a 10wk check-up and they said they'll be doing another ultrasound at that point too. It's not too hard to sell me on getting ultrasounds done. I love getting a peek at what's going on in there. The baby was the size of a pea in the 6wk one and was basically a little speck with a flashing dot in the middle (the heart). This next time it should actually look like something! :-)

Check back again, I promise it won't be 2yrs before the next post! :-P

Baby Herman #3 is on the Way!

2011-06-22T19:37:00.004-04:00

Birth Announcement

2009-09-02T20:48:00.000-04:00

Owen is Here!

2009-08-28T20:04:00.002-04:00

Owen is here!! He made his big debut on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at 10:37am. He was 8lbs 10oz and 21 inches long. (1/2lb and 1/2” less than his big brother was, but also a week earlier).

The day started off a little rough. Basically the hospital has horrible communication between departments. The day before the registration lady told me I was scheduled for that day instead of the next, but they got that figured out. Then when we arrived at the hospital at 6:30am they couldn’t figure out why we were there so early. Apparently they had me down for an 11:00 c-section, instead of 9:30, but that was finally figured out too. However, they were full, so we got to spend over an hour in the waiting room, and then got prepped in the recovery room, because there still weren’t any rooms available. After a delay due to an emergency c-section, we finally got to go at about 10.

I had asked my doctor if there was any way I could see him being delivered and she was happy to accommodate me, even though she’d never tried it before. They didn’t have a sterile mirror, so they decided to incline the head of the table when it was time to pull him out and let down the curtain. It was perfect- they pulled him out and he was right there in front of me- the best view possible. There was also a clear view to his table, so I got to watch him getting cleaned up and assessed. (I didn’t get to see ANYTHING with Carter or see him until he was about 10min old and they’d finished all their assessments, so it really meant a lot to me this time). They then brought him over and laid him on my chest, another thing they didn’t do with Carter. (They had to knock me out after Carter was delivered, because I was hemorrhaging, so I only got to see him for a minute).

Once we were done there still weren’t any rooms available, so we got an extended stay in recovery. On the plus side, I got lots of attention, because the nurse can’t leave you unattended in recovery. On the down side, you’re not supposed to have visitors back there. They did however make an exception since we’d been there so long and let Ryan’s mom bring Carter back to meet his new little brother.

He instantly started petting him and pointing out his nose, ears, and eyes. I unswaddled him a bit to show him his hands and feet. Owen then proceeded to cry from being unswaddled. When Carter came back that evening to visit again, the first thing he said was that he didn’t want to tickle his feet, because he didn’t want him to cry again.

To my surprise and great relief, I wasn’t in nearly as much pain this time around after the surgery. I had been dreading the intense pain and not being able to do anything for myself. This time though I was able to get up out of bed on my own that very night. I knew it would be easier this time, since I didn’t go through labor first, but I hadn’t realized how untypical my pain was last time.

The last night in the hospital brought some frustration. They were again running short on rooms and had people coming in for inductions, so they wanted to move me down to a room on the surgery floor, since I was more recovered than some. I was a bit perturbed by this, seeing as 2 years ago I was sent to a different hospital for my induction, because they were full, but now they were squeezing people in. We did find out the next morning that all the local hospital maternity wards were overflowing though, so I guess they had to make room for people this time. We packed up our stuff and then waited, and waited, and waited. Again, the poor communication between departments showed up, as we found out the surgery floor had a room ready for me, but they never notified the maternity department.

Once we finally got moved I found comfort in the bed. The maternity beds are thin and uncomfortable and you can’t raise the legs, because they’re designed to come off for delivery. The new room however had a regular hospital bed with a soft, comfortable mattress that was fully adjustable. Poor Ryan though moved to an even smaller bed than he’d had before (and on his birthday too, what a sport).

We received prompt assistance when needed that night, because there was a maternity nurse sent down for the 8 of us who’d been displaced. The next day though it took forever to get help (if it ever came at all- frustrating when you’re talking about pain meds!) Owen was supposed to get circumcised that morning, but the doctor was busy doing her rounds on the maternity floor. I was finally asked if I wanted to be discharged at noon or wait until after 4p for them to get to Owen. We opted to go home earlier and take him back in on Tuesday. However, come noon my doctor still had not appeared to discharge me. She finally sent down my midwife, who had come in to visit, and she did my discharge and we were released around 2.

The following Tuesday was a LONG day. Owen had his 1wk check-up that morning. His weight had dropped to 7lb 14oz and he was jaundiced. We ran a few errands while we were in town and then went to our afternoon appointments. We both had a 2:15 appointment, me for my incision and Owen for his circumcision. I went in a reasonable amount of time, but we waited quite a while for Owen. You’re not supposed to feed them 1hr before the procedure and he was due to eat, which made it even more fun. After a long wait they took him back and said he’d be done in 5-10 minutes, but it ended up being 30 minutes. In total we were at that doctors’ office for over 2 hours.

We then had to take Owen back to the pediatrician on Thursday to check his billirubin level again for his jaundice. He went from 13.4 to 13.8, which means it was leveling off, but they want to check it again just to make sure it's coming down. We’re supposed to go for that tomorrow morning. He was also up to 8lb 1oz.

That brings us to today. Carter came down with a cold basically the same day Owen was born and Owen has now caught it. It’s been a little rough, not getting much sleep last night and having to hold him most of today. So that’s everything for now. It’s been an adjustment, but we are definitely loving our new addition and Carter loves helping out with his new baby brother. Click on our gallery to see pictures of the new little guy.

37.5 Weeks

2009-08-09T12:35:00.001-04:00

I guess I’m overdue for an update. My apologies to anyone who’s been keeping up with the blog and been waiting for info. My last 2 weekly appointments have given no new news other than the fact that we now have the c-section officially scheduled. If he doesn’t come sooner, which at this point I’m really starting to doubt he will, he’ll be born on Aug. 19 somewhere around 9:30am. The Dr. has another c-section that morning at 7, so whenever she’s done with that one, it’ll be my turn to go in.

Not much else has changed- still having lots of contractions. In general they’ve gotten more painful, but for the most part they’re irregular. There have been a couple days where they were 10 minutes apart for a good part of the day, but then they’d go random again. Hence the doubting he’ll come before the 19th.

I’ve been doing my best to keep busy and help labor come on. I’ve been going on walks with Carter every morning around our neighborhood, which is 1mile, plus all the other walking and chasing him around I do during the day. We’ve also started going to the pool in the afternoons. It’s not so much to help labor, but it is nice to feel lighter. Plus, it’s a workout. It’s amazing how sore my muscles are after walking around in the pool for a couple hours. Carter of course loves it. He can swim all by himself now with just water wings on. The school’s pool has a waterfall wall at one end, so he likes to play in it and catch/pop the bubbles in the foam.

My last appointment is this Tuesday. If there’s any news I’ll post another update, otherwise the next post will likely be to announce Owen’s arrival!

ANOTHER 35 Week Update

2009-07-21T19:12:00.002-04:00

After spending the afternoon doing some online research, getting feedback from other mothers on the wonderful ivillage forum and talking things over with Ryan, I have made a decision. I have decided against having the test done Thursday morning for fetal lung maturity. My reasoning is as follows.

1. Almost every site agrees that fetal lung maturity is usually reached by week 35, which I am at. Add in that Owen is a larger than average baby and has had the steroid shots to help develop his lungs, and it’s pretty guaranteed that his lungs are mature. From my understanding, the reason Dr’s have to perform this test is to protect themselves from being sued due to performing an elective c-section at such an early gestational age, which I completely understand.

2. The Doctor said repeatedly that if I were to go into labor that they would go ahead and deliver me. I wouldn’t have to reach hard active labor, since they’ll intervene with a c-section anyway, so whenever I get to the point of early labor (regular contractions 5-10 minutes apart), then they would go ahead and take me in.

3. Based on 1 and 2, I have decided to let myself off bed rest. I of course won’t attempt anything too strenuous like long walks or lifting Carter (it has been over 2 months since I’ve had any type of exercise!), but I will start doing stuff around the house again, like cooking and cleaning. If his lungs are mature and it’s ok if I go into labor, then I figure we can still schedule the c-section for 39 weeks as originally planned and if nature takes its course sooner, then so be it, but I don’t want to force him out.

4. The test is an amniocentesis, which does come with risks. The risks are low, but still risks. They include infection, hemorrhaging, leaking amniotic fluid, and preterm labor. The risks alone aren’t deterring me from having the procedure, but just one more thing against it. Also, I could live without the pain of having a needle shoved through my stomach and uterus, which apparently isn’t the most comfortable feeling in the world.

5. Finally, the test is expensive, and based on the above reasoning, an unnecessary expense. The cost of an amnio ranges from $1200-2000. Even after insurance we’d be paying a few hundred dollars out of pocket.

So we won’t be eliminating the guess work of when he’ll come by scheduling a much earlier c-section, but I’ll feel better about letting him “cook” a little longer if that’s how it’s meant to be. As for my suffering through the pain of cramping and contractions, I’ve already found it easier to cope with just by being up doing stuff and distracting myself. It’s much harder to re-direct your attention when you’re stuck in bed doing nothing.

35 Week Check-Up

2009-07-21T12:53:00.001-04:00

Well I made it though 4 days of regular contractions, only to wake up this morning to cramping. No Contractions! Still in a lot of pain though after having my muscles worked out all weekend. I went in for my 35 week check-up this morning and found that I am still 2cm dilated, which is good, but also frustrating after suffering so much pain. I am also still measuring large, but we already know that it’s because he’s a big boy.

The Dr. decided that since I’m having so much trouble with cramping and contractions, that she’d refer me to the high risk Dr’s to have an amniocentesis done to check fetal lung maturity. I will have that done Thursday morning. If his lungs are mature then we can go ahead and schedule the c-section for any time. If they’re close to mature, then I may be able to deliver about a week later. However if they’re completely immature, then they’ll try to get me all the way to 39 weeks. She did say repeatedly though that if I go into labor, they will not try to stop it, which is great news to me. Statistically, white males’ lungs develop slower than girls (and boys of different races). She did say that since I had steroid injections for his lung development that they may be further developed. Also, he is a big boy, so he has that working in his favor.

She did say that I will most likely have to have a c-section. Unless I was to go in to the hospital fully dilated and crowning, they’d probably still do a c-section. (Clearly she’s not a big believer in VBAC’s.) Personally, if I were to deliver early, I would love to give a VBAC a shot, since he’d most likely be smaller than Carter’s 9lbs+, but it doesn’t sound like I’ll get the chance. On the plus side, she did say she’d let me have a mirror in the OR to see the birth. She’s never done it before, so she’s not sure how the angle will work, but she’s willing to give it a shot. I’d heard of other women doing this so they could still see their baby being delivered. My one big disappointment with Carter’s delivery was not being able to see him born, so I’m glad she’s going to let my try to see. (From what I’ve read online, many Dr’s refuse this kind of a request).

Lastly, she told me to stop taking the Terbutaline, because it obviously wasn’t working for me. She prescribed me Procardia XL to take instead. It’s primarily a blood pressure medication, but is also used for Preterm contractions. We did ask about how that would affect me, since I have naturally low blood pressure and get really sick when it drops. Her answer was that if it makes me sick then I probably shouldn’t take it. With that in mind, I’m thinking I won’t be filling the prescription, because I already know that even a slight decrease in my BP makes my dizzy and nauseas, and I REALLY don’t want to go through that again.

So I’m a little disappointed that I haven’t progressed more over the weekend, but relieved that they will let me deliver now and not try to stop labor if it does begin (another reason I see to not take the medication). She didn’t say so directly, but Ryan and I both got the impression that I didn’t have to stick to such strict bed rest any longer. (Again, because it’s ok for me to deliver now.) So I am hugely relieved to be able to get up for a few little things. Maybe without the meds and being up a little more, I may go into labor this week after all! I can only hope. I’m definitely ready to get this whole pregnancy thing over with and meet my little boy. :)

34 Week Update

2009-07-17T17:27:00.001-04:00

So it’s been an interesting week. As mentioned in the last blog, the midwife gave me medication to take when I’m having contractions. Last Thursday night I started having really bad cramping, so I had Ryan take the prescription to be filled. Since it’s not a commonly used drug, the pharmacy didn’t have it in stock. If they couldn’t locate any in the area I would have had to wait for a shipment to come in on Monday. Fortunately they were able to partially fill the order Friday morning, since by then I was having regular contractions every 20 minutes. One pill and 30 minutes later the contractions stopped. That wonderful episode was after spending 2 days lying down and not sitting up, so I no longer have to do anything to provoke the contractions.

The weekend and the beginning of this week were uneventful, just the normal cramping, which has become par for the course. So I decided to schedule a professional photo session to get some maternity pictures taken. I knew there was a good chance that it would bring on contractions, but I really wanted to get the pictures done and I figured the medicine would help. I did have to stand a little, but mostly I was sitting (car, wheelchair, and poses). I was having a little more cramping then normal last night, but nothing too bad.

This morning though I was having contractions every 10 minutes. I went ahead and took one of my pills and waited for them to let up. An hour later there was no change so I went ahead and took a second pill. Another half hour later the contractions finally let up to just every 15 minutes, but never went away. This afternoon Ryan convinced me to call the midwife’s office for advice since the weekend was coming up. The midwife was concerned that the contractions had been only 10 minutes apart, even after taking the first pill. She instructed me to take 2 pills every 6hrs for the next 24hrs and then 1 pill every 6hrs after that if they haven’t stopped yet. She also said if they get stronger or closer than 15 minutes apart while on the medication to go into the hospital.

So it’s going to be an interesting weekend. The medicine makes me extremely jittery, so it’s hard to do anything. I’m actually only able to type this because the first dose is just wearing off and the next dose of medicine hasn’t fully kicked in yet. Hopefully the contractions will eventually let up. I’m scheduled to go back to the Dr. on Tuesday, at which point I will be 35wks. I hope Owen is able to hang on at least until then. I know he’s big enough to safely come out now, but my first choice hospital for delivery doesn’t take women before 35wks. And whereas I don’t really want another 9lb+ baby, I’d still like him to at least reach 7lbs.

I will post another update after Tuesday’s appointment. That is unless Owen decides to make his debut first. :)

33 Week Check-Up

2009-07-07T12:11:00.001-04:00

Well I had my 33wk check-up with the midwife this morning. I was anxious to see what she had to say, since I had a rough weekend. I hadn’t really been up doing any walking, actually less than normal probably, but I did do a bit more sitting up. I made it to church Saturday morning with the use of a wheelchair and sat up on the front porch to watch the fireworks that night, plus I ate all 3 meals at the table with the family. By the time I went to bed that night I was in quite a bit of pain. The cramping continued to get worse Sunday, even though the only sitting up I did that day was for meals. By Sunday evening I was having contractions 15-20 minutes apart and woke up several times that night in pain. By Monday morning the contractions had stopped, but I was having constant cramping and all my back and abdominal muscles were in pain from the contractions the night before. The cramping had significantly lessened by this morning, but after being up all morning to go to the Dr’s office the cramping has once again increased, though fortunately no more contractions yet.

After I told her all this she decided she needed to check my cervix again. I have now progressed to 2cm and my cervix is very soft. She said that sitting up probably pushes Owen’s head down onto my cervix, causing the contractions to have an effect. She said the bed rest does seem to be helping though, because if I had actually been up and active I would quite likely have progressed much further already. However, since simply sitting up is now causing contractions, I am to lie down/recline as much as possible. And to help combat the contractions she gave me a prescription for Terbutaline.

The other discovery made at this appointment is that I am once again measuring 3wks ahead, so she ordered another ultrasound to check my fluid levels again. The technician said the levels look good, but Owen is a larger than average baby, though not overly huge. She took several different measurements, but the ones that I remember were that his head measures at 35wks and his body at 36wks (again, I’m only 33wks). She told me at the end that he currently weighs in at about 5lbs 6oz. (Average for a fetus at this stage is 4.5lbs). We also confirmed that he is indeed a boy, as he gave us a nice clear shot between his legs.

I am of course a little disappointed in losing the privilege to sit up, but am reassured that Owen would be okay if he were to come at anytime now. The midwife said that by 34wks they don’t worry too much about lung development, and that at that point it’s just a matter of letting the baby put on weight, and since the little guy’s already over the 5lb threshold, I feel a lot better.

I did finally ask what the chances would be of being on bed rest again if we decide to have another baby in the future. She said she doesn’t know any specific percentages, but that I would have a slightly increased chance, but that all pregnancies are different. She did note though that this has been a healthy pregnancy and they haven’t actually had to stop premature labor yet, so the prospect of bed rest alone shouldn’t be a deterrent. As usual I go back in 2wks. At that visit I will be seeing the Dr, instead of my midwife, to do a c-section consultation and actually schedule the delivery. Fingers crossed I make it ‘til then without any extra appointments.

31 Week Check-up

2009-06-22T11:57:00.000-04:00

Well I had my 31 week check-up with the midwife this morning. Since I’ve been having more regular cramping she decided to go ahead and check my cervix again and run the Fibronectin test again, which tests to see if my body is preparing to go into labor within the next week or 2. Fortunately my cervix hasn’t dilated any more and is still at 1cm. She’ll call me if the Fibronectin test comes back positive.

She told me that 36-37 weeks would probably be too early to do a scheduled c-section, but if I were to go into labor on my own at that point they would let me deliver. So at around 36-37 weeks she’ll let me start doing a little more. So the reprieve off full bedrest that I was hoping would come at 34 weeks now won’t come until 37 weeks. I wanted to make it to 37 weeks anyway, since that’s considered full term, but it does double the amount of time I have left on bedrest. (6wks instead of just 3).

As usual I’m supposed to call if the contractions get worse or more regular. The bit of good news I got was that my glucose test came back clear and that Owen is now in a head down position. Of course that could change. He is much more the tumbler than Carter was and is always changing positions, which of course is getting more painful the bigger he gets, so I hope he decides to stay put.

That’s it for now. I have another appointment in 2 weeks. Hopefully there won’t be any need for an update before then. :)

Carter

2009-06-09T20:44:00.002-04:00

After the many updates on Owen and my pregnancy, I figured it was time to give an update on our other little guy. He's still growing like a weed and weighs in just under 30lbs. Not sure of his exact height since we haven’t measured him since his 2yr check-up.

He has a pretty full vocabulary and talks in full sentences. He also picks up new words immediately, so of course we have to be REALLY careful what we say around him. He's known his full alphabet for quite some time, but now is actually using it. I’ll let him send his daddy instant messages while he's at work. I'll tell him which letters to hit and he does the typing, so he's also learned "enter", "space" and "period".

Being on the computer is one of his favorite activities. We got him his own QWERTY keyboard that has oversized keys for toddler fingers and also a toddler size mouse. (It also came with a mouse pad that holds a picture and the only 4x6 picture we had handy was that of our friends NJ and Sebrena's little girl Kaitlyn, whom Carter's only met once in person, but adores through the internet. So he loves using his "Kait-Kait" mouse pad).

Anyway, the site we go to the most is Sesame Street, which has games specifically for toddlers. Many are as simple as just hitting any random keys on the computer, but others take more control, like using the mouse to select the correct matching pictures, which he is now able to do completely on his own. We're not trying to turn him into a computer/video game junky, but rather teach hand-eye coordination and basic computer skills that he will need in the future anyway. Plus the games are educational. He also loves to play the Nintendo Wii, which isn't so much educational, but very good for hand-eye and body coordination too (we also have Wii Fit which takes full body movements).

Other activities he enjoys are playing with Legos, Play-doh, and coloring, cutting, and gluing paper. He also really enjoys playing outside. He loves going to the park and playing on the swings and going down slides and through tunnels. At home he likes to blow bubbles, play with his t-ball set, “mow” with his bubble mower, ride his electric 4x4 “atv”, and draw pictures with chalk on the driveway. He also really enjoys helping with chores around the house: loading/switching/sorting/folding laundry, washing dishes, cooking, and sweeping. Next is teaching him to make his own bed. :)

Yesterday I noticed when I laid him down for his nap that he had several spots on his belly. On further examination I found them on his arms, legs, back, bottom, and face. He’d had the chicken pox vaccine, so we were unsure what could cause so many spots all over his body. Ryan took him to the Dr. this morning and discovered that our little boy is covered in bug bites, likely from chiggers. We figure he got them from playing in the backyard in just his swim trunks running through the sprinkler and sliding in the grass.

And finally, his latest “cuteness” started today. While coloring, I told him to write his name. He scribbled a little and said “Carter James Herman”. I then told him to write mommy’s name. He’s been saying for some time “Mommy Mindy, Daddy Ryan”, so he knows our names. So he scribbled some more and said “Mommy James Herman” and then scribbled some more and said “Daddy James Herman”. I had him “write” our names again this evening for Ryan and this time we were “Mommy James Mindy” and “Daddy James Ryan”. So apparently everyone has his middle name. :P

29 Week Check-Up

2009-06-08T17:51:00.000-04:00

Well I just got back from my 29wk appointment with the midwife. I got to do the wonderful glucose test today- I seriously can’t remember why as a kid I liked sweet/sugary drinks. I just find them disgusting now. Anyway I’m supposed to call back on Friday to find out my results from that. Hopefully that’ll be negative, because a 3hr follow-up test doesn’t sound like much fun (and neither does the prospect of gestational diabetes).

The good news is I am measuring normal again. I had a feeling I would. I measured myself last week and it was 4cm/wks ahead. Then over the weekend I noticed in the mirror that my belly suddenly looked smaller and lower, so I think he “dropped”. Hopefully that doesn’t mean he’s getting ready to come out, but at least I’m measuring back to normal again.

I also only gained 1lb in the past 2.5 wks, which isn't necessarily good for pregnancy (it' supposed to be about 1lb per week), but it sure is nice to not see the scale go up another 3-4lbs and it wasn't significant enough for them to comment on. And I do promise I am eating just fine, plus lots of sweets to fulfill my current cravings. So it's just a fluke I'm sure, but one that doesn't bother me in the least. :)

The midwife asked how the bed rest was going and I told her it does seem to be helping. I’ve been having considerably fewer contractions. However I did tell her that it also seems to take less activity to bring them on. She gave me the option of going on medication to control the contractions, but said that so long as the bed rest is working and I have people to help me, that it’s the better option. She also said that if it continues as it has, with it taking less and less activity to bring on contractions and taking longer periods of rest for them to go away, then to call her and they will go ahead and start me on the medicine.

It does sound more assuredly like I will get a little reprieve once I hit the 34 week mark though. She said that this (bed rest and possibly medication) is the course we’ll have to stay on until I reach a safer zone, which as she said last time is 34 weeks. So it lifts my spirits a little to think that I only have 5 more weeks of full bed rest. Of course I still want Owen to come as close to our scheduled 39 week c-section as possible, but it’s much easier to think of just 5 more weeks instead of 10.

So that’s all I know for now. She didn’t check my cervix this time, since I haven’t had a long stretch of strong contractions again like before. She’s always one to be cautious and doesn’t check unless she thinks there’s a reason, because there is a chance that checking the cervix will stimulate contractions. I am a little curious to know if I’ve remained at 1cm or if I’ve progressed any further, but I won’t complain about not being probed. :)

I have now reached the point of appointments every 2 weeks, so I get to go back again on the 22nd. Hopefully everything will be good until then and I won’t have any unscheduled appointments between now and then.

2 Weeks Down

2009-06-04T13:58:00.003-04:00

It has now been 2 full weeks since I was sentenced to full bed rest. The first week was pretty easy, since we were staying with Ryan's parents. With daddy, nana, and papa around Carter never lacked for attention. The hardest part for me has been remembering not to get up. I realize now just how much you take for granted the ability to get up for even the littlest thing. It can be kind of frustrating to be dependent on others for every little need.

This week has been a big adjustment, but we seem to be settling into a routine. I've had help every day this week and have most of my help lined up for next week already. Carter's gone out on play dates twice this week and threw a fit both times. But both people assured me that once they reached their destinations he was fine and played well with the other kids, which is a relief. He's very social and loves to play with his friends, he's just not comfortable leaving without mommy yet.

He's also having issues with going potty for other people right now. Actually he's having issues going potty for anyone right now- he's become very independent and gets frustrated when he's not able to do something on his own- in this case potty. He can do everything except get his pants up and down. A couple weeks ago I was keeping him in his PJ's for the mornings and he could get them up and down, but he can't manage regular pants yet, even if they have an elastic waist. So he's had a couple accidents this week, but hopefully that will just help him realize it's ok to let someone else help him.

I've been doing my best to keep myself occupied. I've pretty much made it through an entire 200 page variety puzzle book. I've also been hand sewing a quilt for Owen. I had the whole thing cut and pieced together within the first week. All I have left now is stitching the detail between the front and back panels to keep the batting in place during washing. That's on hold for right now though. Within the last 2 days I've received requests for 3 portrait drawings, so I'll be working on those commissions for the next little while.

I go back to see the midwife on Monday and hope that I haven't dilated any more. I've still been having lots of cramping and occasional contractions, but fortunately haven't had any more regularly spaced contractions. I don't know if it's normal after being idle for so long, but it definitely takes less action to bring the pain on. If I'm up for anything more than just bathroom breaks I definitely start feeling more cramping and it doesn't take much more to bring on contractions.

That's pretty much everything for now. I'll post another update next week to let everyone know what I find out from the midwife.

Full Bed Rest

2009-05-22T22:30:00.000-04:00

Well, I decided to call the nurse today to report some pain I’ve been having quite regularly in the groin area for the past couple days that won’t go away (I wanted to check in since we’re supposed to be out of town all next week for Carolina Camp Meeting.) The midwife was out for the morning, but the nurse suggested coming in this afternoon to get checked out just in case.

She started off with a pelvic exam to check my cervix. Last Monday it was still thick and completely closed. Today it was softened and dilated 1cm. I haven’t had too many contractions this week, but I did tell her about last week when I was having contractions every 30min for about 30 hours straight after being up tending to Carter for the morning. She went ahead and hooked me up to a monitor to make sure I wasn’t currently experiencing any contractions that I wasn’t aware of and that came back clear.

She then did an ultrasound to determine Owen’s position and found that he’s breech right now (which is completely ok at this point, he’s not due for another 3 months!) She figures that the groin pain I’ve been experiencing is from his position- his legs pushing downward when he moves. So she called it a lucky fluke that she discovered my dilated cervix, which she attributes to the contractions I’ve been experiencing, not the current groin pain.

So the result of all this is that I am now of full bed rest. I am allowed to get up to go to the bathroom and she said sitting should be ok, so I don’t have to be lying down 24/7. She also advised against traveling out of town, but since we will be staying with my in-laws and will receive more help with Carter than if we stayed home, she gave next week the go ahead.

After conferring with one of the doctors she decided to give me an injection of betamethasone, which is a cortical steroid to help develop Owen’s lungs in case he is born early and I have to have a second injection tomorrow afternoon. She also gave me a copy of my records to keep with me in case I do go into preterm labor.

She also told me that regular contractions 30 minutes apart at this point should be ok, but if they’re painful or more frequent than that to go straight to the hospital. Their goal is for me to get to at least 34 weeks. I’m currently 26w 3d, so I have 7 ½ weeks to go until it would be considered safe for him come out. He’d have about a 90% chance of survival right now, but with risks of complications.

And so the new countdown begins. I’ve been counting down to the planned c-sections day of Aug. 18 (88 days from now), but I have decided to now just count down to 34 weeks, at which point I will breath a huge sigh of relief (and hopefully be downgraded back to partial bed rest). So… 53 days to go, but it’s almost tomorrow, so 52. :)

Sofa Loafing- Week 2

2009-05-15T19:50:00.002-04:00

Well the week has passed and I never heard anything back from the midwife’s office, so I’m feeling pretty confident that both tests came back negative. It is a bit of a relief, but it also means that the cause of the contractions and measuring 3 weeks ahead remains a mystery.

The week has been up and down in regard to handling the partial bed rest. Monday of course was my appointment, and after being out all morning, I had lots of cramping for the rest of the day. Tuesday morning Carter decided to test every limit he could. He had that look in his eyes where he knew he was about to do something he wasn’t supposed to and was waiting to see what my reaction would be. Unfortunately for him and me, the reaction wasn’t good. He refused to stop when told, would not take time outs, and was just plain defiant every chance he got, so I was getting up quite a bit to deal with him (which included a couple spankings!).

That evening we went out to eat with Ryan’s mom, sister and her husband and kids. I figured it was a sit down meal, so I should be ok. However, after combining that with the morning’s events I was doubled over in pain from really bad cramping and contractions by the time we got home. I woke up several times that night with contractions and noticed the next morning that they were coming consistently about every 30 minutes. They weren’t very long or extremely painful like others I’ve experienced, but they were quite regular.

Fortunately for me, Carter was a perfect angel all day Wednesday (I think he learned a lesson or two from his spankings the previous day). I was able to stay on the couch and rest the entire day, but the contractions kept coming and were still 30 minutes apart when we went to bed that night and I decided that I would make a call to the midwife in the morning if they were still present. I woke up once that night from a contraction and by morning they had finally stopped.

Thursday was another restful day, thanks largely to a friend who took Carter out for a play date with her daughter for the morning (Thank you so much Lori!!). Ryan was able to borrow a wheelchair from the university health center, so I was able to go out on a “walk” (push) around the neighborhood that evening and get some fresh air and change of scenery.

Today I was up a bit more, mostly because Carter was having a fussy day and insisted on going potty every 5-10 minutes. As a result I’ve had more cramping and a few contractions, but nothing too horrible. I even made it out to Wal-mart this afternoon with Ryan. To keep from walking too much I used one of their motorized scooters/shopping carts, which Carter loved, since he got to ride along. It was nice to get out, but it’s hard to not feel conspicuous riding around in one of those things. Plus, they really don’t handle very well- they jerk around a LOT!

So that’s been my week. Nothing grand and fabulous, but I survived it. Here’s hoping there are more relaxing days in the future and no more “Tuesdays” for a good long while.

And so the sofa loafing continues

2009-05-11T12:18:00.002-04:00

Well I had my monthly checkup with the midwife this morning and she did a couple tests to see if they could find a cause for all the cramping and contractions. She took a swab of my cervix to run a test to see if my body is preparing to go into labor within the next 2 weeks. Fortunately, my cervix is still closed and thick, which means the contractions haven’t caused me to dilate any.

She also measured the height of my uterus (a standard thing to do at every checkup). I should have measured at 25cm (which correlates to 25wks). However, I measured at 28cm, which is 3wks ahead. Any variation under 2cm is considered a normal variation, but since I was over that she had an ultrasound done to check my fluid levels to see if they’re high. High fluid levels can cause contractions and could be a sign of things like gestational diabetes or congenital defects. Also, if my fluid levels are high, I could be at an increased risk of placenta abruption, preterm labor, premature rupture of membranes (water breaking), growth restriction for the fetus, cesarean delivery, and postpartum hemorrhage. Of course I’m having a c-section anyway, and I had postpartum hemorrhaging with Carter, so those two don’t scare me as much. I should hear back from the midwife later this week if they find a problem from either test and they’ll treat accordingly.

In the mean time, she extended my partial bed rest for at least the next 4 weeks (my next scheduled appointment). I am to rest as much as I possibly can and absolutely no sex (it stimulates contractions). She said it was a good thing that staying off my feet has been helping, but if it gets to the point that resting doesn’t help and they get worse then they’ll have to take a more aggressive approach to prevent early labor.

So that’s everything I know for now. If I find out more I’ll be sure to post it. I have survived one week of partial bed rest already (and went a little stir crazy). We’ll see how the next four go!

Oh yeah, we also got 5 more ultrasound pictures out of the ordeal. I’ll try to get those scanned in and posted sometime soon. :)

Long overdue update (sorry!)

2009-05-06T11:11:00.001-04:00

Sorry it’s been so long since we posted an actual update, but life has a way of getting in the way. Since the last real post, Carter has turned 2. He had a lot of fun at his birthday party, with lots of his little friends. Counting adults and kids, there were 27 people crammed into our house for the party, but fortunately it was nice weather and it ended with all the boys getting to play outside in the yard. The party was a football theme and we had face painting, a piñata, and a 3-D football cake.

Carter is a really good boy in general, but he is also your typical 2 yr old, meaning the “terrible two’s” are in full swing. He doesn’t always want to listen or do what he’s told, but we have a pretty good reward/punishment system that we try to stick to. Regardless, it can be very frustrating at times and in my opinion no woman should ever have to be pregnant and have a 2yr old at the same time, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it to have the boys close in age.

We have decided on a name for our new little one- Owen Rylan Herman. We derived Rylan of course from Ryan. We decided that Owen Ryan sounded too much like Nolan Ryan, the baseball player, so we modified it a little. I hit 24 weeks yesterday, so only 15 more to go. (That’s 104 days, but who’s counting?!) We’re having a planned c-section, so I only have to make it to 39 wks! We have settled on August 18 as the delivery day. We had considered the 20th, since that’s Ryan’s birthday, but after much thought and consideration, we decided it will be special enough to have their birthdays so close, but they’ll each still have their own special day.

For my part, my dizziness finally let up in my 5th month, but my blood pressure hasn’t really gone back up much. I guess my body just adjusted to it and compensated. It’s still really easy for me to get dizzy if I get up too quickly or anything like that, but it’s definitely better than suffering motion sickness around the clock, day after day.

After finally getting to the point of actually enjoying pregnancy, except of course for the frequent bathroom breaks, a new problem has arisen. I’ve been experiencing some really painful contractions and lots of cramping for the past couple weeks. I had Braxton Hicks contractions with Carter, but they didn’t get painful until the last month of pregnancy. This time I’m experiencing some that feel like real labor and cause me to double over in pain and yelp.

This past Sunday afternoon I had 5 in one hour (you’re supposed to call your dr. or go in if you have 4 in an hour). I held off on calling since they were getting further apart, rather than closer together. I called Monday morning and left a message for the nurse, not expecting a call back from the nurse until that evening. I was surprised by a call back from my midwife around noon concerned about what she’d heard in the message. After explaining what I’ve been experiencing she put me on pelvic rest for the next week or two with instructions to call or go right in if they start coming regularly or get really painful again. I had a few REALLY painful ones yesterday, because I wasn’t taking it as easy as I was supposed to, but fortunately they let up after just a half hour and subsided to just cramping.

For those who don’t know, pelvic rest is modified bed rest. There are different limits on different people, but for me it means no lifting, exercising, or sex and I am to rest as much as possible and drink lots of water. So I can get up and take care of Carter, but I can’t lift him or chase him around or do much around the house. Just walking around for a bit is enough to make me start cramping badly, so I’m trying my best to take it easy. Although let me tell you, it is really hard to stay off your feet when you’re drinking about 10 glasses of water a day. Even for someone not pregnant that would make you have to pee A LOT! I’m scheduled for my next appointment with the midwife this coming Monday, so I’ll probably find out more then.

In the mean time I’ll try to get some more blogs and pictures up. There has been a little more going on in our lives in the past couple months, but this post is already long enough, so… the end.

Results are in!!

2009-03-31T10:45:00.002-04:00

The final vote came out 11 to 20 in favor of a girl. And the result is.... 65% of you (and myself) were wrong. :) We're having another boy!!! We'll let you know when we decide what his name will be. We haven't quite narrowed it down yet. :)

Cast Your Vote for the Baby's Gender!

2009-02-27T16:57:00.000-05:00

The Countdown's On!!!

2009-02-27T12:32:00.001-05:00

Custom Countdowns & MySpace Layouts

11wk update

2009-02-08T18:09:00.004-05:00

So it’s been a long and rough couple of weeks. My morning sickness finally subsided a few weeks ago and I felt pretty good for about ½ a week. Then one day I started feeling really dizzy and as a result I was feeling motion sick- like being stuck on a boat on rough waters. The only thing I could think of was maybe a problem with my blood pressure. Normal for me is about 90/60, which is considered borderline low. Sure enough my blood pressure was down and was averaging 75/55 over several days. My doctor has assured me that it is normal for blood pressure to drop during pregnancy and that I should just be careful so that I don’t fall and hurt myself or the baby.

I went in for my routine prenatal checkup a week later and my BP was down to 74/48. After consulting with the Dr. my midwife assured me that I have nothing to worry about, but she did run some extra blood tests to see if there is an underlying cause. She also wants to see me in 2wks rather than the normal 4wks, because she is concerned that I have been continually dizzy for so long (even when I’m laying down). The good news is that at that appt (11wks) we were able to hear a nice strong heart beat, so the baby appears to be doing well. I just have to ride this out and hope my blood pressure goes back up soon.

Here is the latest sequence of pregnancy pictures. The one on the left is at 4wks, so basically the before picture. The others from left are 8wks, 9wks, and 11wks. I was too sick to take a picture wk 10. :( Believe it or not, I lost 5lbs between the 4wk and 8wk pictures and then lost 2 more lbs. after that, but I have yet to put a single pound back on. But that hasn’t stopped my belly from growing.

Here I am at 11wks and I am the same size that I was with Carter at 19wks.

And of course Carter still loves to give the baby some love.

Baby Talk

2009-01-19T15:19:00.003-05:00

So I was lying on the couch this morning and my belly was poking out a little from my shirt. Carter came up to it and said "there you are!" and preceeded to say goodmorning to the baby and give my belly hugs and kisses. He later came back up to me, when my belly was fully covered and he said "where did it go?" So he had to pull my shirt up and find my belly again to talk to the baby some more. I think he's getting excited about being a big brother. I asked him if he wanted the baby to sleep in his room when it came out of mommy's belly, to which he excitedly replied "yes!" (If it's a boy they'll share a room). It was the sweetest thing and I just had to share it.

Pregnancy Update (8 1/2 weeks)

2009-01-16T21:08:00.004-05:00

So we’re 8 ½ weeks into this pregnancy and I am feeling slightly better with the help of some anti-nausea medicine from my midwife, but there are still many bad days (they’re just not as bad as they were).

We finally got around to taking a belly picture today after we took down the Christmas tree that was blocking the “photo” wall. Here’s a look at the “before” picture (3 ½ wks) compared to now. I’ve done a lot of growing in just 5 weeks.

Clearly what they say about you showing sooner with your second is true. Here’s a look at my first pregnancy at 15wks compared to this one at only 8 1/2wks.

Carter already loves being a big brother and loves to give my belly hugs and kisses and talk and sing to the baby. He tells the baby “morning” when he wakes up and tells it “night-night” before he goes to bed. (Of course if the flutters I’m feeling already are an indication, the baby is actually waking up about the time he says night-night)

We got our first ultrasound picture last week.

Here's a little diagram I made up to show you what you're looking at. It's harder to distinguish on a still picture than it is while they're doing the ultrasound and you can see things moving, so I figured I'd offer some help.

And here's just a fun little thing I did in Photoshop. Nothing genius, but seeing as out last name is Herman, I always remember the character of Baby Herman from the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He's the cute little baby that's really a cigar smoking man off camera.

And just because no blog is complete without a Carter update- this week we're working on shapes. So far he knows: oval, triangle, diamond, moon, star, and circle. (He has one of those cubes with holes in it that you put different shapes through.) He had square down, but he just learned diamond and now he gets them confused (along with rectangles). He also occasionally confuses a circle for an oval, since he just learned oval too, but he's getting better.

So that's everything for now. Only 4 1/2 weeks left in the first trimester, so hopefully all the nausea will subside soon. In the mean time I'll keep eating whatever cravings hit me that don't make me want to vomit. :)

Announcement and Update

2008-12-28T12:51:00.000-05:00

So for those of you who haven’t heard the news yet, our family is growing. Carter is going to be a big brother come August. The official due date is August 25, but since Carter was so big (9lb 3oz), we will likely have a planned c-section about a week early. We’re considering the 20th, because that’s Ryan’s birthday, but we still have plenty of time to decide.

Carter is already talking to the baby. He likes to lift mommy’s shirt and kiss and hug her belly and tell the baby good morning or night-night. He also likes to sing to the baby. He’s going to be a great big brother.

As mentioned, Carter likes to sing. His favorite song by far is Twinkle, Twinkle. He also likes to sing the ABC’s, jingle bells, and several of the songs from his Sabbath School class. He has a hard time remembering all the words, but he’s pretty good with the tunes.

He’s still growing like a weed. He’s 36” and 28lbs now. That keeps him right at 95% for height and about 65% for weight, which is pretty much where he’s always been on the growth chart. Based on that he’ll likely reach 6’2” by the time he’s done growing.

He’s still learning things like crazy. He knows all his letters, though still not in alphabetical order, and he can count to 13. He can say any word he hears and is talking in full complete sentences now. He loves to read books and will sit and recite his favorite ones out loud to himself when we’re too busy to read to him. He’s heard many of them so many times, that he really can tell the stories himself as he turns the pages. A couple of his favorites are The Pokey Little Puppy and his Sabbath School Quarterly.

He also loves to cook. We get a step stool out for him when we’re making a meal and he’ll be right there helping measure things out and dumping them in and stirring. We even got him a little apron and chef’s hat for Christmas.

He still eats a lot and isn’t very picky, but he is showing preferences, asking for certain things a lot. As a Herman, his favorite food is of course tacos. He LOVES vegetables, especially beans (any type). There really isn’t too much he doesn’t like, but the few things he doesn’t we don’t push too hard, since he does like so many things that are good for him.

Vacation!!

2008-11-21T10:08:00.002-05:00

As promised here is the recap of our vacation to the Bahamas.

Just leaving was tiring enough to warrant a vacation. Ryan was in Dallas for a conference the week before our cruise. He flew into Chattanooga Friday morning and by the time we got home it was about time to go trick-or-treating, which we wanted to stick around for, for Carter. After that we made the trip over to Ryan’s parents in North Carolina, arriving there around 11pm. Poor Ryan was exhausted. We spent Saturday with Ryan’s parents and left for Florida that night after Carter fell asleep.

Fortunately the time changed that night, so when we stopped to sleep at 2a, we got 6 hrs of sleep before we woke up at 7a. As it turned out, I had packed 2 different black shoes for formal night on the cruise so we had to keep an eye out for a walmart that morning so I could get some matching shoes. (We figured a walmart would be the only thing open that early on a Sunday, which it was).

We got to port about 11 and were able to board at 11:30a. Our room wasn’t ready until 1:30, so we roamed around the ship and ate some lunch, while we waited around for a place to take a nap. :P After getting to the room we unpacked and relaxed until the safety drill, which was nice and short- they didn’t make us go out to the lifeboats because it was raining. We then finally got a nap. By the time we woke up we were out to sea and it was still raining. On top of it, by supper time, many people were complaining of sea sickness, myself included. Our dinner table passed around some sea sick pills, but I unfortunately had to leave early, because my stomach never settled.

The next day was much nicer- we were in Freeport by the time we woke up. There wasn’t much to that island, just some open air shops. Apparently there was a well hidden beach close by, so well hidden that there were only about 25 people there. (Someone at our dinner table discovered it). We, like many other people, ventured off to look at the shops and then spent the remainder of the day lounging around the ship. Ryan seemed happy to watch the huge barges being pushed into dock by the tugboats to load/unload their massive loads of cargo.

We left port that evening and the water was fortunately much calmer. The next morning we awoke in Nassau. After breakfast we ventured out to do some shopping and found a few things for Carter. We returned to the ship for lunch (why pay on shore when it’s all you can eat for free onboard!?) On the advice on a friend who’d been there before, we took a taxi over to Atlantis, a beautiful resort island with water parks and a sprawling aquarium that you can view from above and below. We wandered around the hotels and watched people scream their heads off as they went down the vertical waterslide. We didn’t venture into the water, because it was a nice mild temperature that day- perfect for walking around, but not warm enough by my standards to get wet.

The next day was our day at sea- the day I’d been dreading after the first night’s rough seas. Fortunately it was calm waters, but VERY windy. Ryan and I played a very interesting game of miniature golf. We’d hit the ball and the wind would blow it all the way back to us. Neither of us came anywhere near par on the course. :) By supper that night we were able to feel the ship swaying again. Fortunately it didn’t start getting really bad until after supper and we were ready to go to bed anyway. We found out the next morning from our cabin steward that the days going in and out of Florida are usually rougher. Apparently it’s something with leaving on the eastern side of FL, because we never felt a thing on our last cruise that left on the gulf side of the state.

All in all, we had a great time. Good shows, good food, good naps. It was very relaxing. And as for Carter, he didn’t want to leave Nana and Papa’s house. We asked him if Nana and Papa had spoiled him and he quickly replied “No”. We don’t buy it. :)

ABC's, football, and the Bahamas

2008-10-22T11:44:00.001-04:00

Wow! It’s been 2 months! My bad. I guess there just hasn’t been a lot to update on. Not a lot of new things going on in the lives of the Hermans. As mentioned before, Carter is potty trained. He’s been wearing real underwear ever since that last post. He still wears a diaper at night, but he’s starting to have more mornings where he’s still dry.

The only new developments I can think of are that he’s learning more letters and colors. He knows more than half of the alphabet, but he’s learning them in his own completely random order. He seems to really pick up on the “letter of the day” on Sesame Street. He also loves to sing twinkle, twinkle and the ABC song. He’s got the tune down (it’s the same for both songs), but he doesn’t have all the words of course. It’s mostly “tinkle, tinkle, tinkle….” or random letters for the alphabet.

Oh, and of course it’s football season now and Ryan has gotten Carter to completely fall in love with the game. He asks for “foobah” daily. And of course he’s a Panthers fan (he’ll say panther whenever he sees the team logo). He has his own little jersey with matching pants that he wears on game days. Ryan has also taught him how to hike a football, put his arms up and yell touchdown, and he’s getting better and throwing and catching his little football.

For Halloween I made a Spongebob Squarepants costume for our neighbor boy Tyler, and a smaller version for Carter just for the fun of it. But I don’t let Carter watch spongebob, so he has no idea who he is. So Carter is going to be Elmo (he LOVES elmo!), and his big stuffed elmo will wear the little spongebob costume to match Tyler.

As for the adults in this house, we are testing our building skills. I, Mindy, designed a twin bed and we are now in the process of building it. Assuming it holds up, it will go in our little back room that until now has served our storage needs. We’re going to turn it into a small guest room/playroom for Carter.

What we’re currently looking forward to is our cruise to the Bahamas, coming up in less than 2 weeks! Unfortunately, Ryan will be away in Texas next week for a conference, so after a week away, he’ll only get to see Carter for 1 day before we leave him with his Nana and Papa for a week. For my part, I haven’t had a night away from my baby since he was born, so I’m extremely excited about getting away, but of course a little apprehensive about being away from him for so long.

So that’s pretty much it. I’ll post another blog after we get back from our cruise to let you know how things went.

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!

2008-08-26T15:24:00.002-04:00

In just under a month we have gone from starting potty training to POTTY TRAINED!!! (at only 17 months old!!) It just sort of clicked the last couple days and he’s now telling us when he needs to go. The big success was yesterday- he had diarrhea all day and still told us EVERY TIME he needed to go! (yes, it's exhausting to take a toddler potty every 15-30 minutes with diarrhea, but still exciting.)

Today we were at a friend’s house and he would still stop playing and come tell me that he needed to go. We’ve moved on to pull ups, because diapers, even when they stay dry, can’t handle being taken on and off so many times. This is day 2 in a row that he has stayed completely dry all day. He’s still wet in the mornings, but we’ll work on that. We’re just excited that he’s going during the day! We plan to start regular underwear next week if he keeps up the good work of staying dry throughout the day.

Anyway, that’s the update. Gotta go for now. Little man is starting to wake up from his nap. Love to all!

POTTY TRAINING!!

2008-07-28T16:41:00.001-04:00

So the exciting day has finally come- potty training! As you may remember I started taking Carter to the potty when he was 4months old, doing the elimination communication method. It worked great until he started walking and began losing interest in sitting on the potty. So we didn't push too hard. The important thing was that he knew what the potty was and how to control his release. Lately he would pitch a fit if we tried sitting him on the toilet, which was very discouraging. So I decided to get him his own little potty chair that's just his size that he can use all by himself. It came in today!

I've researched and learned some handy little tricks and started as soon as we got it home. I gave him lots of juice and salty crackers to keep him drinking lots of juice. I then stripped him down naked and shut him in the living room so I wouldn't have to chase him all over the house. After a few mishaps (this is where it's great having wood floors instead of carpet) he's starting to get the hang of it. When it's time he'll say pee pee and go to his chair. We've had 4 in a row now (he's going every 5-15 minutes, so there are plenty of opportunities for success).

He's so proud afterward. He'll stand up, turn around, bend down and look in amazement at his pee pee in the potty, (something you can't do with a toilet- there's always fluid in there) and then he'll clap and dance.

I know it will take some time for this to become a regular habit that replaces diapers, but it's so great seeing him excited about going potty like a big boy again and knowing to tell me when it's time to go.

Anyway, it's only been 2 hours, so I'll post an update in a few days or so to let you know how he does when he has clothes on and isn't pumped full of juice. :)

Correction to previous blog post

2008-07-24T14:58:00.003-04:00

One quick change from the previous blog that I wrote this morning. Apparently after correcting him so many times that an "O" is not a "D", Carter now knows the difference. His affore mentioned blocks have letters on them and he correctly pointed out both the "O" and "D" blocks this afternoon. He makes his mommy proud. :)

Big baby steps for our little man

2008-07-24T09:18:00.002-04:00

There have been some big accomplishments this past month for our little man. His climbing skills have us going crazy trying to keep him off of things such as the kitchen table. We decided to beat him to the punch of learning to climb out of his crib and just switched him to his toddler bed this week. He does great and stays in all night and comes in to get us when he wakes up in the morning.

The vocabulary just keeps growing too. He’s using more sentences, like “where’d it go?”, “I want … (insert word)”, and my personal favorite “mama, boo boo elbow”. Of course I don’t like that he gets hurt, but the fact that he can put it together to tell me where it hurts is great. (He knows and can say all of his body parts, so we’re covered).

His new favorite toy is his blocks. He loves to stack them up and then knock them down. He can get them pretty high too. The biggest accomplishment with this has been counting. He’s only had the blocks a few days, but from the get go we would count his blocks as he stacked them and already he can count to 3 on his own as he stacks them.

He’s also starting to learn some letters. His favorite cartoon is Super Why, a relatively new series compared to most out there, so you may not have heard of it. They go into stories to learn lessons using the “powers” of the alphabet, to spell, rhyme, and read. He loves to “sing along” to their alphabet song and when it’s time to spell something he’ll repeat the letters as they say them, and then say the word at the end after they say it. Granted it’s all repeating at this point, but it’s a start. He also loves to answer the questions they ask, saying “yes” or “no” when it’s appropriate, and if it’s multiple choice he’ll usually say his favorite. I never thought I’d like letting my child watch cartoons, but he clearly is learning from them. God Bless PBS!! (FYI, we don’t watch nickelodeon and sponge bob type stuff. We try to stick to the educational stuff).

Carter’s favorite book at the moment is an ABC book of babies and their emotions. At the end is all the letters and he loves to point at them and say different letters. He insists that the O is “D”. It’s very cute and it’s amazing watching him trying to learn. Another note on books- he LOVES them. He “read”, (listened to and looked at), over 100 books for the summer reading program.

As of his 15mo check up (which was a month ago) He was 33" and 24.5lbs. Thankfully we don’t have to go back until he’s 2! (We have our fingers crossed he won’t get sick before then). According to our measurement and scale he’s now up to 34" and 25 lbs (which keeps him right at the 95% for height and about 55% or so for weight)

In not so pleasant news, we’ve had to start disciplining our little guy. He definitely is testing us to see what is and isn’t ok. We started using time out this week and for the most part it seems to be working. He already knows that when I say he’s getting a time out I’ll point him toward the corner and he’ll go stand in it with his head down while I count out his time (another opportunity for learning to count). It’s cute to see him do this all by himself, but a little frustrating. Sometimes it becomes a game, at which point the punishment changes to sitting on my lap without being able to move- he HATES that one.

In non-Carter news, Ryan and I have a new toy- a Nintendo Wii (although Carter likes to try to play, too). After 1 week with it I lost 4lbs! We just got Dance Dance Revolution the other night (which Ryan said he wouldn’t play) and we both love it. If the Wii Fit ever becomes available for its retail price we’ll get it too. (It sells for $90 in store, but they’re always sold out and they sell for double online- likely from the people who keep buying out the stores). Not that I’m personally trying to lose a lot of weight, but I’d like to lose some before we get pregnant again (apparently it’s harder to lose after a second one). Maybe toward the end of the year we’ll have some more news. ;)

2 months worth of updates

2008-06-26T16:56:00.002-04:00

So here’s yet another long overdue update on the Herman clan. We’ve had a busy couple of months between work and vacations. Ryan and I both had work for a conference Southern was hosting back in May. His office was the one hosting the conference and I was contracted to do all the materials (create the logo, promotional video, certificates, advertisements, etc- you name it, I made it/did it). That kept us VERY busy for the better part of the month and then we left right after the conference was over for a trip to my home state of Indiana.

The choir that I was in for 10 years (3rd-12th grade) was celebrating its 20th anniversary and invited all the alumni back. The choir was one of the biggest parts of my life and where my closest friends were, so it was nice to get to see (most) everyone again and reminisce about old times and the various trips (5 different countries and numerous states).

While there we got to visit with family, but sadly very few friends (that’s the problem with visiting during the week when people have to work). Hopefully we’ll get to see more people next time, whenever that may be.

After Indiana we headed to North Carolina (after a short stop in Chattanooga to see our new niece, Isabella!) where Ryan was presenting at Fletcher Academy’s graduation and then setting up for Carolina Camp Meeting. We enjoyed being back in the warm weather (it was only in the 50’s in Indiana) and Carter particularly enjoyed Nana and Papa’s pool. He also bonded with Papa since Nana wasn’t there (she was in TN with Amy and baby Bella).

We came home with a week and a half before Ryan’s cousin Tim got married. I was commissioned to do an oil portrait of the couple for use at the rehearsal dinner and that’s how I spent most of my time, while Ryan tried to get caught up at work. Ryan’s sister Julie was able to come down from Michigan for the wedding, so afterward we all went back to NC so we could get all the cousins together (a first since Carter was born).

As soon as we got back I was on to yet another project, this time a series of graphite portraits done from live sittings. This actually is still going on, with one portrait done so far and 3 more to go. (Needless to say, it’s been a great year for commissions so far). Ryan got to move offices when he got back. The enrollment office is finally getting re-modeled, so he’s working out of a dorm room for the summer until the new offices are done.

Carter goes for his 15mo check up next week, but we already know he’s growing like a weed. Before we left on the first trip he had to stand on his tip-toes to touch a door knob. Now he can just reach up and turn them. He’s also picking up on everything now. He’ll repeat just about anything. He knows all his body parts and will point to them when you ask (and say some of them). He’s also really good with peoples’ names now and he’s starting to learn colors. He recognizes and says the colors green, purple, and blue. As a matter of fact, while I’ve been writing this he brought one of his toys over and showed it to me and said purple hippo (which it was).

Last night he was talking to me in what I thought was his normal gibberish, but when I stopped to pay attention to him, he was quite clearly pointing to his coloring set saying ‘crayon’. I asked if he wanted his crayons and he responded by saying ‘color’. So we spent some quality time coloring in his coloring book. He’s not much of an artist yet, but he loves to color. He especially loves to go outside and use his sidewalk chalk on the driveway. It’s the first thing he goes to when we’re out there. It would appear that his favorite color is green- it’s the one he always wants and says.

Our big trial right now is Carter has gotten really good at climbing and will climb on (and often fall off of) just about anything. He can climb half way up his crib from the outside, so we figure it’s only a matter of time until he figures out how to get the rest of the way over (from the inside or the out), which means his toddler bed will soon be seeing more action than just nap time.

Carter now eats everything (literally- edible or not) and has no problem eating more food at a meal than his mommy does. Thankfully he doesn't appear to have any food allergies. His favorite word is 'no' and we have experienced the beginnings of temper tantrums. I know this comes with his developing vocabulary and his frustration with expressing himself, but it's frustrating for us none the less.

Well that’s all I can think of for now and it’s a long blog anyway, so until next time… toodles!

Candle Practice

2008-04-29T18:42:00.006-04:00

Okay, so this is an older video, but I thought it was worth sharing. This was the week or so before his birthday. We were practicing blowing out a candle for his birthday.

He's One! (ok, 13 months now, but read it and you'll see why it's a month late.)

2008-04-19T10:21:00.003-04:00

So it’s been a crazy month. The week before Carter’s birthday we made a trip up to Washington DC. Ryan had a conference there, but we went up early and spent the weekend with our good friends NJ and Sebrena and their little girl Kaitlyn (Carter’s future wife). We had a great time and really wish we could see them more often.

There was a big mix up with our hotel and had to end up staying at a different hotel the first night because they overbooked (Carter therefore was up until 1am- we were VERY unhappy). The next day they continued to have problems and long story short, we got a luxury suite, free tickets to the breakfast buffet for the duration of our stay, and $100 for the inconvenience of being re-routed the first night. So it all turned out pretty good and Carter got his own room. :) We also made a trip to the national zoo, which was walking distance from the hotel. Lots of fun.We made it back just before Carter’s birthday and had a party at our house with 27 people in attendance (it would have been 31, but one family was sick). Still, a big party for a little guy. Carter loves rubber duckies, so that was the theme of the party. I found a 3-D cake pan of a ducky and made and decorated it and a smaller version (the one Carter got to dig into). I also made a ducky piñata and filled it with candy and small rubber duckies. It was a great party and I think the kids had a good time.A week later we were on the road again heading for yet another conference (tis the season I guess). This time it was in Memphis, where fortunately, we have more friends. We got to spend a couple evenings hanging out with Cort and Anca and had a great time (again, we really wish we could see more of our friends more often- they keep moving away :( ). For my part, I spent the days shopping (even though every other mall I tried to locate on TomTom was either an empty lot or a big empty building :P ). We took one night to go see an NBA game with the other counselors from Southern that had come along as well. Memphis lost to Atlanta (Such great teams that I knew neither city had a team until that night).Shortly after arriving back home illnesses set in.

There were a couple days I didn’t feel so great and then Carter developed a cold/flu complete with runny nose, cough, and fever of 102-103. The fever broke in the middle of this past week and then Thursday night, after spending the morning at mommies group with a bunch of other kids, I notice a bunch of spots on Carter’s belly and thighs. If you haven’t heard yet, it’s the chicken pox. He received his vaccinations 2 weeks ago, including one for chicken pox, and developed it as a result. The plus side is that it is a very mild case since it was the result of the shot. The down side is that it’s still contagious that way, and we were around a few unvaccinated kids at mommies group. I guess that’s life.

Now that you’re all caught up, the fun developmental things about Carter. At his Dr’s appt a couple weeks ago he weighed in at 23lbs 6oz and was 34in long (that’s 50% for weight and 95% for height). He’s also picking up a lot of new words and using small sentences more regularly.

Example:
This evening I took him to the bathroom and while sitting there he said “done”. He says this both when he is done and when’s he’s bored from sitting there too long. I asked him a couple times to make sure and finally he said “done mom.” I asked “no more?” His reply was “no more. Done” After getting him down I said we need to go put a diaper back on and he took off for his room (where the changing table is). I noticed he had yogurt in his hair (he insists on feeding himself everything now) so I said he needs a bath tonight. He said “yes” and took off running back to the bathroom. He’s a boy who knows what he wants. :)

New words that have entered his vocabulary since the last update are: cheese, nana (referring to Ryan’s mom, he’s used if for banana for quite a while), Carter (he can annunciate it perfectly when he wants to), yea, yum, vroom (when playing with his trucks or boats), teddy, kitty, tiger, tigger, doll, please, thank you, and (you’re) welcome. Once again, there may be more, but those are the ones I can think of at that moment.

He is also getting good at imitating movement. He likes to go up and down, back and forth (he has a book with these motions), stand up and sit down, blow kisses, cover his eyes with his hands for peek-a-boo, and he really likes to dance whenever he hears music. He also sings along to some songs (the ABCs is his favorite), though he of course doesn’t say any of the words.

Almost 1!!

2008-02-26T10:20:00.000-05:00

With less than 3 weeks until my baby turns 1 (Eek! Is it really true?!), I figured an update was well overdue; though I will try to get another up to let everyone know how his big day goes.

Ryan wrote the last update, but left out all the big developmental milestones, so here is the update. He started taking steps 2-3 at a time right when he hit 7 months and 1 month later, right at 8 months, started walking across the room. Needless to say, he's a pro now. We're now onto climbing- yippee!

He has quite the vocabulary so far, which includes: mama, dada, hi, hey, bye, ducky, doggie, eyes, yeah, yes, no, down, more, done, and all done. There might be more, but those are the ones that come to mind right off, because he uses them most frequently. He'll also put together short sentences, his favorite being Hi daddy, when he sees Ryan in the morning or when he comes home from work.

He recognizes many of his body parts now and will point to and play with them when you ask him where they are. He knows his mouth, eyes, nose, ears, belly button (he loves sticking his finger in it), fingers, toes, and tongue, which he'll also stick out if you ask him what a lizard or giraffe does (we had to come up with something for them since they don't make a noise). He'll also give you five if you tell him to.

He also likes to imitate sounds now. He loves to bark when he sees or hears a dog and he makes a train noise, complete with his version of the whistle, every time a train goes by our house or he's playing with a toy train. Speaking of whistling, he went through a phase where he liked to whistle (I didn't know it was possible for a baby to whistle), but he seems to be past that for now. He also REALLY loves to read books, which is something he and his daddy do every night before bed. He also likes to dance and sing along when he hears music. He has a little toy piano that he'll turn on with a back beat and then play, stop to dance, play some more, stop to dance, and so on.

He still has a great love of food and insists on being able to feed himself now. He's pretty much had everything now, including nut products, with no signs of any allergies- yea! He also likes to drink out of a big boy cup (no lid or straw) at meal times. We of course still use the sippy cup for just around the house. Also helping feed his big appetite are his 9 teeth. His first molar broke through not too long ago, with another one and a canine looking to be close behind. (I must say, it was a nice break from teething while it lasted- molar teething = fussy baby).

For play time he likes to play on his Tonka truck, which he can climb on and off of by himself and push himself around. He also likes to dribble (kick) his ball around the room. He'll literally do laps around the room doing a very controlled kick. We'll start with soccer, maybe it will develop into football :). His most recent accomplishment is blowing out a candle. We've been trying to get him ready for his birthday, and he seems to have it down pretty well. Hopefully he'll be able to perform with a bunch of people standing around.

As of his last check up (back at 9 months) he was almost 31 inches long and nearly 22lbs. That's just over 50% for weight, but over 95% for height. Gee, I wonder who he got his height from?! :P. Needless to say, he's already in 18 month clothes, looking to be in 24 month by summer. He's also pretty close to outgrowing the size 5 shoes he started wearing at Christmas. Two months! 3 pairs of shoes for only 2 months!! He needs to slow down! On the up side for him, we broke the law and turned his car seat around to face forward when he hit 10 months, which he has the size for, but not the age (1yr). We figure he's bigger than your average 15 month old and on par with them developmentally too, so we're pretty sure he's ok. I really doubt a cop would question his age if they saw him, considering his size.

The final thing I can think of is that it looks like we're going to have a little lefty. I've read that as early as 6-7 months or usually by 8-10 months you can notice a preference, and he definitely tends to favor his left. Oh yeah, and he loves to give hugs and kisses. (although at the moment he's going through the mommy phase, but usually he'll hug and kiss anyone).

So that's 5 months of Carter updates. I will REALLY try to get another up shortly after his birthday. In the mean time- God Bless!

Carter's 1st Christmas

2008-01-22T10:20:00.000-05:00

Boy time does fly by. Carter is already 10 months old, meaning only two months left until his 1st birthday, yikes. We added 7, 8, & 9 month pictures to our gallery, and should be adding 10 month's pics soon.

Found this pretty cool website called Animoto that auto creates a video by uploading pictures and a song. The website does the rest. They offer free 30 sec videos and seem to be fairly inexpensive full videos. They say hi-res videos will be coming soon but we'll see. I think it's fun but don't know if we will actually purchase full video. Might give it a try since it is only $3. For some reason the embed code isn't working with WordPress right now but here's the link to the video on Animoto's site, http://animoto.com/play/2ec937f9855851fabc49b402c0faab88

Enjoy.

The almost 6 month update.

2007-09-07T10:19:00.000-04:00

So yeah, we're really bad about getting regular updates posted, but for those who have waited patiently- here's another one. Carter will be 6 months old 1 week from today. It's amazing how quickly the time has flown by. It just doesn't seem like he should be half way to a year yet. Of course sometimes I feel like I already have a 1 yr old on my hands.

He has started to do some crawling- although he's by no means an expert yet. But he can get where he's going given enough time. He'll also walk across the room if you hold him by the hands. I don't think he'll take off on that by himself for a little while though. He can't keep his balance very well, because when he wants something, he just lunges for it- he's not big on staying in one place.

The biggest development is that I have started doing elimination communication with him. What that means is that after naps and feedings and periodically throughout the day, I take him to the potty. He picked up on it right away and after just a couple days we cut our diaper usage in half! It hasn't quite been 2 weeks yet, but he knows what to do now when I take him in to the bathroom and he doesn't really care for having a wet diaper anymore. I have some training pants coming in next week, so at that point we'll only use diapers at night and when we're traveling, or if we leave him with a babysitter (which includes Ryan- he's still learning :P ).

Other than that he's just growing like a weed. We've managed to keep him in 9 month clothes for the last few months and he fills them out pretty well, but we're starting to use some 12 month clothes too. Still hasn't dropped off the 90% curve for his height and it shows. He's tall just like his daddy. That's also his favorite word- daddy. He's been saying it now for almost a month and still no signs of him saying mommy or mama. :(

He still eats like a Herman- not really anything so far that he won't eat. He's just getting used to textures though, which he didn't much care for at first, but he likes putting little dissolving finger foods in his mouth now and chewing them.

Clearly our lives revolve around the baby, but I guess I could mention the adults of the family too. Ryan's been doing really well with his second job. For those who don't know about it, he's a financial advisor in a company called Primerica. It's a part time thing right now, but he'd love to be able to go full time. He helps family's through life insurance, investments, and debt management. The company doesn't advertise, it's all done through referals, so if you know someone who could use his help just let him know (although right now he's only licensed in TN).

As for me, life as a stay-at-home mom is going pretty well. For the many who keep asking, no, I haven't done any painting recently. Aside from just being busy with a child that refuses to stay in one spot, I in general don't think it's a good idea to use my lead based oil paints while taking care of said child. So the only chance I get to do stuff like that is when Ryan's around, but he's out most evenings. And now with football season kicking off, Sundays are taken too. :P But I have been able to get some drawing done, purely for fun though. I've had a few free-lance jobs come my way over the past several months which helps bring in some funds and keeps me from going completely insane by having some interaction with the outside world. I guess the biggest news for me is that I just cut off all my hair and am now sporting a short pixie cut. I love not having to worry about doing my hair now and Carter now has a much harder time pulling it, so it was an all around great change. Plus it looks cute :)

Anyway, that's the life of the Hermans as of late. Just enjoying life. Oh and one more big exciting announcement- Carter's going to have a new cousin! A big congratulations goes out Amy who just found out she's pregnant again! We can't wait- we're very excited about having another niece or nephew.

Love to everyone and we'll try to have another posting up sometime in the next couple months- it could be sooner, but I'm not gonna set the bar too high. ;)

Carter update

2007-07-27T10:18:00.000-04:00

Well, Carter is now 4 1/2 months old and is doing unbelievable things. We went for his 4 month check-up this past week and he is almost 27" and just a few ounces shy of 17lbs. So he's still in the 95% for height and 75% for weight. He can already sit up unsupported and stand up if he has something to hold or lean on. He's also getting really close to crawling- he can get up on his knees and toes, but he hasn't quite figured out how to go forward yet. Although he can get where he wants to go by rolling, pivoting, and scooting. (let me re-state that he's only 4 1/2 months old!- he's gonna be a handful!) His Dr. got to witness all this and said those are the things she would have told me to look for him to start doing closer to 6mo or later!

He is also drinking out of a sippy cup now all by himself- he knew what to do as soon as I handed it to him. He can't really hold up a bottle well, cause we don't usually give him one, but since the cup has handles he can hold onto it easily. This past week he started holding his arms out when he wants to be picked up- it made my heart skip a beat the first time he did it. It's a wonderful feeling seeing him able to express what he wants.

The most recent development is that he got his first teeth in today- and yes I said teeth. The first one broke through this morning and to our surprise, the second one poked through this evening (the two front bottom ones). Nursing could possibly get really interesting now, but so far he's behaving.

So my boy is growing up fast, but he's so much fun. He's still the happiest baby. He loves to laugh, and he smiles at everyone. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family.

Carter's growing!

2007-07-01T10:17:00.000-04:00

Where to start? Carter is now 3 1/2 months old and is doing great. He's now 26.5" and around 15lbs. (We don't have a scale that measures oz. so we just guestimate). That puts him in the 95% for height and 75% for weight, which is what he was last visit to the doctor, so that's good. Needless to say, he's a big boy (he's wearing 9mo clothing already!). We've met a couple other babies at church that look noticably smaller than him, only to find out they're a month older.

Carter's getting really mobile. He rolled over belly to back at 2 months and back to belly at 3 months. He now goes over and over to get where he's going. He also started to try scooting as soon as he got from back to belly. He doesn't go far, but he definitely has the right motions to go forward.

We also started him on solid food this past week. We swore we were gonna wait until he was at least 4mos, because that's what's recommended, but age aside, he displayed every sign that he was ready. We started with bananas, because they say breastfed babies take to that easier than rice cereal, because of the sweetness. He took to it like he'd been doing it all along. No weird 'what did you just put in my mouth?' faces or anything. He just loves food- there's no doubt he's a Herman!

All in all, he's a very happy baby. He doesn't cry unless he's hungry or tired, and he loves to just laugh and 'talk'. What's more, he started sleeping through the night when he was 7 wks old (8hr stretches!). We are so blessed to have such a good baby. Be sure to keep checking the gallery. We have been posting more pictures, even when we don't post new blogs. Love to all!

One month update

2007-04-25T10:16:00.000-04:00

Ok, so Ryan lied, he never got around to that update he mentioned. Carter is now 1 day shy of being 6 weeks old. He had his 1 month check-up yesterday and he is now 23 1/2 inches long and 11lbs 11oz (that's 2" and 2 1/2lbs since he was born). That puts him in the 95th percentile for his height and 90th percentile for his weight. That's all I really have time to write right now. Continue to check the gallery regularly, because we add pictures a lot more often than we write blog posts.

Short Carter update

2007-04-04T10:08:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow marks Carter's third full week of life and things are going well. I started work again on this past Monday, which means Mindy is now staying at home during the day by herself taking care of Carter. I plan on writing a longer update this weekend so keep an eye out for that.
Also, we just uploaded 18 new pictures to the Gallery.

Short Carter update

2007-04-04T10:07:00.000-04:00

A Baby Story (Part 3 of 3)

2007-03-24T10:06:00.001-04:00

It was a little over two hours later, around 1:30 am, when Mindy was finally out of the OR and brought into the recovery room. She was given a blood transfusion for the blood that she lost. We stayed in the recovery room until 4 AM at which point we were finally moved back to the labor and delivery room with Carter where we attempted to feed him for the first time. We were both very happy that he started to breastfeed with relative ease.

Mindy has no memory of the events from right after Carter was born to the first feeding around 4 am and even then her memory is very vague. In fact the whole morning’s events are very limited. That afternoon however, the drugs that she had been given during the c-section where mostly worn off and we were together as a family, enjoying each others’ company. That evening we finally moved to the Mother Baby unit in the hospital and Mindy even made the walk with very little assistance. Mindy was very happy to be able to start eating again.

On Saturday several family members and friends stopped by to visit, then Sunday morning we were discharged from the hospital. At that time Carter had started to develop a slight case of jaundice and we were told to take him to his pediatrician the next day, but overall he was very healthy. On Monday at the pediatrician, we were told to keep an eye on his color and if it worsened then we should go back in, but it appears to be clearing up. Mindy continues to improve on a daily basis and is doing very well for only a week after the c-section.

We continue to thank God for the successful delivery of our son and pray that he continues to be healthy. We ask that you keep us in your prayers as we continue to grow as a new family together.

A Baby Story (Part 1 of 3)

2007-03-22T10:04:00.000-04:00

Okay so where to begin? Wednesday evening we made our way to Parkridge East Hospital to begin the induction. We arrived shortly after 8 pm and completed the necessary paper work for admissions. Around 9 pm we checked into our room for the next two days. The room itself was fairly nice; one of the larger labor and delivery rooms they had. They have some very small rooms and we were thankful for the extra space.

They started prepping Mindy for the process, drawing blood, starting the fluid IV drip, etc. Cervidil was scheduled to begin sometime from 9-10 but was delayed significantly. Before the nurses came back they had two busses and three wheelchairs come in for delivery and then a couple hours later around midnight had three more, so it wasn’t started until right before 1:30 Thursday morning. At that point we were finally able to get some sleep for the long day ahead.

Tuesday morning around 8:30 the Pitocin was administered to start the contractions. Two hours later Mindy was right at 4 cm and our Midwife, Amy Miller Anderson, decided to break the water. Because contractions intensify once the water is broken, Mindy decided it was time for the epidural to be administered. It took a while for the anesthesiologist to arrive in the room and by that point Mindy was very grateful for the relief. The afternoon progressed uneventfully except it appeared around 3 o’clock that she had dropped off the normal dilation curve which was a little bit of a concern. But when the Amy rechecked at 6 pm and she had reached 9 cm! Amy said she would go change and would be back to begin the pushing process. At 6:45 pm it began.

...

A Baby Story (Part 2 of 3)

2007-03-20T10:05:00.000-04:00

Before it began Amy (the midwife) said that 2 -3 hours was the longest they recommend pushing to lower the stress on both mother and baby. At first things seemed to be going well and that Carter would be born vaginally. As we progressed into the second hour the apparent progress had slowed but enough progress had been made to hope that it would still be successful. However, the further into the hour we went the more apparent it was becoming his downward movement had stopped. As we approached the third hour we started to discuss the next options.

Amy left at the beginning of the third hour to call the doctor to prepare for a possible cesarean section which gave Mindy a chance to rest. It turns out that Doctor Sabrina Collins was already headed to downtown Chattanooga to perform a c-section at Erlanger. About 30 minutes later Amy re-enter and Mindy decided to continue to push until the doctor made her way back to our hospital on the chance that he would become unstuck.

At the end of the third hour it was very apparent that he was not going to be born without help. Once Dr. Collins arrived the only option left on the table was a c-section and so the preparations began. They took her back into the delivery operating room while I waited in the hallway until they gave me the all clear to enter. Once in the room with her we were both waiting anxiously for him to be born. As the procedure progressed Mindy could definitely fell the pressure and a dull ache and so they started to administer additional sedatives.

Once Carter was born, at 11:07 pm, we heard “he’s a big boy” from the nurses and doctors in the room. Once they had him cleaned he weighted in at large 9 lbs 3 oz. They showed him to both Mindy and I and at that point Mindy’s memory of the night’s events are hazy at best as they put Mindy under deep sedation. They gave Carter to me to hold and for a few minutes we were all three together for the first time as a family. I then walked Carter to the nursery for his first exam.

After taking a few pictures of Carter, the concern then turned to Mindy and her recovery. It was taking longer than expected for her to emerge from the OR. It was then explained that they were having difficulty stopping the uterus from bleeding further and that she had lost around double the normal amount of blood during the procedure.

...

Carter is born!!!

2007-03-19T10:01:00.000-04:00

On Thursday, March 15 at 11:07 pm, Carter James Herman entered this world and our lives. He weighted 9 lbs 3 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long. This being the end of his fourth day of life, it seems so far that he is doing quite well. The biggest concern at this point is he has a slightly elevated level of jaundice, but so far nothing that is a concern. We just have to watch it carefully and make sure he eats regularly and gets some sunlight during the day.

We have uploaded pictures in the gallery from the first few days and, as time permits, over the next few days will fill you in on how the delivery went.

Labor?

2007-03-02T09:54:00.000-05:00

Wednesday morning Mindy started having mild, but consistent contractions. This lasted until Thursday evening with a few that where irregular. But it wasn't to be, this morning they had subsided and gone back to being very irregular. Regardless we did visit the doctor today instead of waiting until our Monday appointment. At this point things haven't progressed and our midwife doesn't expect anything for at least a few more days, but also said thing can obviously change at any point.

So we continue to wait.

Photo's

2007-02-25T09:46:00.000-05:00

The pregnancy is going well. Last Thursday we were at 37 weeks and there isn't much else to do but wait at this time. We are both getting anxious as we know that the beginning of labor could begin at anytime. I attended some meetings in Dalton, GA (about 40 minutes away) this weekend and while I wasn't that far away I knew that I could be making a rushed trip back up to Chattanooga. But as you can guess nothing so far.

We have upload new pictures to the Carter album in the gallery that you can check out. They include updated weekly photo, nursery, and some B&W photos that I took with our new Rebel XT. Enjoy.

From Carter James ...

Carter Update

2007-02-03T09:44:00.000-05:00

Since we found out we are expecting a boy we've been busy getting things ready in our spare time. Originally we had setup the house with one guest room and used the other bedroom as an office. We have since moved the office and guest room together, cleaned out the former guest room, and have begun setting up the nursery.

We are most greatful for the gifts we have gotten from our friends and family. Without them we would have a very difficult time coming up with everything we would need to fill his room. Clothes, furniture, blankets, bottles, etc, the items one needs to have a home for a baby is almost overwhelming. We thank everyone that has given not just to us new parents but to every expecting family.

Speaking of furniture we are using the same crib that I used as a baby. It was also used by my older sister, Amy; and Amy used it for her son, Tristin until around December when they bought him a toddler bed (he is now 2 years old). The glider should be here next week and then the room will be competed, well mostly, we have a few remaining items we will be buying to fill his room, but nothing that is a "oh you have to have this with a baby."

Mindy has been working from home, helping format a dissertation for Vinita Sauder, a VP at Southern. This has kept her fairly busy since the beginning of the year. This project has mostly come to an end though which means she is probably done working until after Carter is born. She has also kept busy getting Carter's things in order, she has washed most of his clothes and has put things away quite nicely in his room. We have hung a few things on his walls but have a couple more items we want to add. It is safe to say his room is coming along nicely. After the baby shower last week however, there are now a few more things to take care of but it will get done.

Oh yeah, almost forgot we can now bring him home from the hospital. On Monday we bought his car seat and stroller. And don't forget to check out the gallery again there are a few new pictures and videos.
That's about it for now, we are having a SuperBowl party here tomorrow night with some friends so we will be busy tomorrow morning getting ready, we are going to grill pizza's. Yummy!

IT'S A BOY!!!! Carter James Herman

2006-10-28T09:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, never before was I so thrilled at watching a black and white TV. Mindy laying on the exam table- belly covered with goo, me off to the side watching the TV screen, we anxiously listened to the nurse describe the different parts of the baby we were seeing. She started with the head, taking measurements and printing various angles. Slowly we moved from head to toe. We saw the heart beat at 152 bpm, his hand waiving at us, as if to say "Hello Mommy and Daddy." Being a Herman, he had to be difficult by crossing his legs. The nurse gently "poked" at him to encourage him to move around. And then......it was confirmed, "Most definitely, you are having a boy" said the nurse.

Of course in reality it really didn't matter, but we were definitely hoping for a boy. If you want to see the rest of our ultrasound pictures visit our gallery. Without further ado, we are proud for everyone to see Carter James Herman.

From Carter James ...

Majorly late update... sorry

2006-10-19T09:36:00.000-04:00

Well, here’s an all time low for us- 5 months without a blog. We sincerely apologize. For those who haven’t heard the news yet, we are expecting an addition to our family this coming March. We’ll find out in about a week if that addition will be a boy or a girl. We are really excited.

Also since our last post, we’ve both changed work positions. Ryan became a student finance counselor for Southern back at the end of May. I quit my job with Life Care back on June 1, because I had finally had enough of my boss and the social environment of the office was just depressing in general. I now work as a floater for Southern, filling in for offices when employees are out for vacation or medical reasons.

Most recently we took our first real vacation in our 3 years of marriage. We took a 5 night cruise to the western Caribbean, stopping in Grand Cayman and Cozumel. We highly recommend cruises as a vacation. Everything is provided and there’s always something to do, but you can also just veg if that’s your choice. However, be prepared to be restricted on the excursions you can participate in if you’re pregnant, but you can still find fun things to do. To bad we probably won’t get to go again for a while, or at least until the baby’s old enough to leave with the grandparents.

I’m sure there’s more to update on from the past 5 months, but those are the biggies I can think of right off. We will try to get updates posted more regularly, but as you can see, we’re somewhat slackers on our efforts, so no promises. But we WILL TRY.

Special News ALERT

2006-05-04T09:35:00.000-04:00

I'll start with what's been happening most recently. On April 28 Mindy and I started our journey to Logansport, IN. Why where we going? Besides the fact that is where Mindy's family lives we were going up to celebrate Kevin (Mindy's brother) and Trista's wedding. We want both of them to know we wish them all the best as they start their life together. Also, we're so glad you got your own place :).

We love you both.

Blogging apprently not my strong point

2006-05-03T09:34:00.000-04:00

Well I have come to the conclusion that blogging isn't my strong point. While I want to keep others informed I don't always want to take the time. Yeah, it's counter productive. However, I am determined to update more frequently. And if Mindy would post here sometimes it would help as well. She just needs to take a break from her MySpace account and post here. (Love you Dear :) ).

The last 2 1/2 months have proven to be quite busy. From my last post to the end of April, if my memory is correct we were home 2 weekends. Things have slowed down a bit and last weekend we enjoyed time with friends grilling some nice looking steaks.

We will try to post more info of what's been taking place over the last 2.5 months later this week. Tonight however, we will be out in town.

Congradulations!!

2006-02-16T09:33:00.000-05:00

We just want to send a congrads to Morgan Kochenower for his engagement. We are most happy for him and wish him the best.

The rest of the story

2006-02-16T09:27:00.000-05:00

The following Sunday, we noticed that the linoleum was starting to bubble in front of the fridge. We didn't think much about it at first. Figured it was an air pocket after moving the fridge. Well on Monday when Mindy got home from work it had enlarged considerably. We poked it with a sick-pin and a little bit of water started coming our. Not good news. It was then we realized what was happening. We moved the fridge away from the wall again, and sure enough the value was slowly dripping.

Instead of dripping on top of the flooring, it was dripping behind the drywall onto the plywood and then rolling under the linoleum. You might not think a slow drip could push up the flooring, but we are now a believer. We cut a larger piece out of the linoleum and started pushing and vacuuming the water out. In total we probably had at least one gallon of water in the wet/dry vac when done.

If there was any bright side of the story, we didn't have to pull up the flooring as we were able to re-lay the linoleum under the fridge and the rest is no longer bubbling.

A couple of days later, we pushed the fridge back into place and though all was finished. You guessed it, it wasn't. That evening we started smelling something hot. We quickly suspected the fridge but couldn't figure it out. After a little bit of time we realized the cooling fan was not running. GREAT!

The next day I was able to buy a replacement fan and started to install it. However, pulling the fridge back out and upon closer inspection there was a packing peanut stuck in the fan blades. Once removed and plugged back in, the fan started without a problem.

Finally some good news, the fridge was fine.

So something as simple as the cat spilling his own water cause a leak and a scare of the cooling fan dying. Let's just say we are happy it's over.

The Past Month

2006-02-07T09:26:00.000-05:00

It turns out a lot has happened this past month and I didn't have time to write about all of it this weekend. We definitely had a great time in NC over the New Year weekend. The whole Herman side of the family was able to make the trek to my parent's house. It was a full house with 15 from my parents to siblings to nephews and nieces, plus the four grandparents, for a total of 19, definitely full

While we enjoyed our time together, there were some low points from some of us getting sick. I suppose it started with Sarah (Mike and Julie's daughter). She had been sick while they traveled. Once in NC Sarah seemed to be better, but then Saturday Julie was sick followed that night by Mike. We tell Mike he brought it upon himself when that evening he said he never gets sick, yeah right.

While nobody else got sick that weekend, it continued to spread the next week. Both Mindy and I succumbed to the flu the next week. Mindy had it a little worse, getting sick on Tuesday feeling a little better the next two days but then relapsed on Friday. I was sick on Wednesday mostly healthy on Thursday and felt mostly normal on Friday. Since then we have gotten back to a normal schedule.

The other "major" even during January was trouble we had at the house and I have to blame it on our cat, Tippin. It started when Mindy arrived home from work one evening and found a puddle of water in front of the refrigerator. When I got home I investigated but could not figure out where it had come from. I cleaned it up and moved on. However, while I was looking under the fridge I realized that it probably hadn't been cleaned since it as purchased. So I decided I would clean it. The reason I blame the cat at this point is because the next day when I went home for lunch there was water on the flow again. However, this time there was a slight trail of water from Tippin's water bowl to the puddle on the floor. He had some how tipped his bowl just enough to spill his water on the floor.

That evening I and bought a fridge brush and started to clean. It was extremely full of dust and other items, some of them being a batteries, a calculator, markers and pens, plastic wrapping from food containers, and empty food boxes (similar to Mac & Cheese boxes). Making sure I cleaned thoroughly I moved the fridge away from the wall. Needless to say this is when the problem occurred. What we wouldn't realize was a small drip of water was now coming from the valve behind the fridge.

To be continued...

Long time, no post

2006-02-03T09:25:00.000-05:00

Its been over a month since our last update and there definately has been a lot happening in January. We are heading to NC this weekend for a special project. While I don't have time to detail what has happened last month, this weekend I plan to take the time and update it. This update will also include more photos from our New Years weekend with our family.

Jim Brickman Concert

2005-12-29T09:24:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday (Dec 22) we attended a Jim Brickman concert at the Tivoli in downtown Chattanooga. He performed with vocalists Anne Cochran, Mike Eldred, and Tracy Sliverman who also had his highly acclaimed 6-string electric violin. It was definitely a hit and was one of the other many highlights of the evening. We were lucky enough to get a "live" video conference with Kermit as he was tied up with Muppet's on Ice. They sang a lovely duo of "The Rainbow Connection" for us. In addition to the music there was a bit of comedy. Among other things he had to explain his unique body moments while he performs, which we won't even try to explain here.

He performed several songs from his new album "The Disney Songbook" along with several of his classics and other Christmas songs, it was his holiday tour after all. Overall, we enjoyed a wonderful evening of music and would highly recommend attending if you get the chance.

Christmas Wishes to All

2005-12-22T09:23:00.000-05:00

Welcome friends and family. For those that are visiting us because of our Christmas Card, we want to say welcome. Every week or two we post what is currently happening in our lives so feel free to look around and see what we have been doing.

Mindy is working on her paintings and we update her gallery when new pieces arrive, the next update will be either the 2nd or 3rd of January 2006. Ryan has started a photoblog of pictures present and past that he has taken.

We want to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Happy Holidays,
Ryan and Mindy

Business as usual

2005-12-18T09:23:00.000-05:00

So what have we been doing since Thanksgiving? Pretty much the usual, working during the day and enjoying the evenings at home. The weekend after Thanksgiving we awoke Sunday with no power. There was bad weather Saturday evening and while we don't know the exact cause of the outage, our whole neighborhood was without power. Because of this we visited Amy most of the day and Ryan was able to watch the Carolina versus Atlanta game and Mindy was able to play with Tristan.

Since then, Mindy has continued to work on her portrait portfolio and Ryan was able to complete a redesign of Ridge Rest's website, feel free to have a look. Mindy has also started tutoring of one of her coworkers daughers one night a week.

Currently we don't have plans for Christmas as New Years weekend is when we'll get together with the whole family in NC. We will probably get together with family in the area both nothing has been finalized.

Thanksgiving Surprise

2005-11-26T09:22:00.000-05:00

We were woken up Thanksgiving morning with a surprising phone call. Mindy's father was able to make it down as well. We had known he might stop by on Friday, but he was able to make it a day sooner. This was the first time in thirteen years they had all been together-brother, sister, mom, and dad. He was able to eat Thanksgiving dinner with us but had to leave later in the day. It was a wonderful surprise.

While we have taken many pictures, we didn't get a picture of our Thanksgiving meal including the Turkey. I may be a bit biased but I have to say it was a wonderful meal, complments to the chef. It was a treat to remember.

We have uploaded a some pictures of our weekend to the Holiday section of the gallery.

Thanksgiving

2005-11-22T09:21:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is upon us all, Mindy's mother (Ruth), brother (Kevin), and girlfriend (Trista) will be arriving late Wednesday evening from Indiana and we are excited to see them again. This will be our first holiday we host in our home and we do have to admit we are enjoying not having to travel.

We are busy planning and readying the house. We still have to finish painting the Kitchen although it should be finished this evening (at least we are hopeful). We finished most of the prep work last night and tonight we pull out the paint. Besides the kitchen we have to do the usual cleaning everyone does before guest arrive, we also have to buy the turkey and other food for the extended weekend. Things are going to be pretty busy, but we plan on making time for our extended family in the area, Aunts, Uncles, Sister, Nephew, and other in the area.

We'll try to take plenty of pictures this weekend and share our experiences next week. Till them, have a great Thanksgiving.

More Photos

2005-11-13T09:20:00.000-05:00

Been busy today with photos. There are several new pictures in the Family and Friends Album. Whenever we add more photos the newest ones will be first. There are three more photos in our wedding album from our engagement. Finally, there photos from our christmas in NC from 2003, this is in the new holiday album.

Wedding Pictures

2005-11-11T09:20:00.000-05:00

It may have taken 2+ years but we now have a few pictures online from our wedding.

More Wallpaper

2005-11-09T09:19:00.000-05:00

We finished removing the wallpaper on the lower portion on our kitchen wall last night. We worked a little on Sunday and then finished last evening. We have become quite effecient in removing it the more we go. The process we use is as we listed before. Score the wall, spray with DIF, remove outer layer of paper, wet second layer with water, and then remove it.

We now have to go back and sandpaper the wall, patch any holes, and then paint it.

Babysitting Tristan

2005-11-09T09:18:00.000-05:00

Saturday night we had the previlage of watching Tristan, our Nephew, for the night. He is almost a year old (11 months) and it sure has gone by fast. He is just starting to walk; he is a little wobbly but can take several steps. It won't be long before he is running and getting into even more trouble. We are lucky to live in the same town as my sister and so we get to babysit him fairly often. When Amy worked the night shift at the hospitial we got to watch him a lot more. But we are happy to help when we can now.

We have a few pictures of his visit in the gallery.

Removing Wallpaper

2005-11-05T09:18:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday we started removing the wallpaper in our kitchen. Neither of us have attempted this before so it's a learning process. We first scored the wall with a special tool (we are using the 'Paper Tiger') being careful not to break the drywall, then we spray it with a product call DIF gel. It sits on the wall for about 20 minutes and it is suppose to make the wall paper come off fairly easily. We don't have anything to compair it to so I guess it works okay. We had problems at first, but after a few sections we were able to get the paper to come off in full sheets instead of small sections. An alternative method is to use a steamer. We haven't decided if we want to go that route or not.

The DIF wallpaper remover seems to make the top layer of wallpaper come off, but leaves the backing. The backing is fairly easy to remove by making it damp with a sponge and then slowing using a straight edge to peel it off. This is where we stopped last weekend. We still have more wallpaper to remove and then we have to sand, clean, and patch the walls. At that point we will get to paint it.

Added Content

2005-10-16T09:17:00.000-04:00

The site is almost back to full function. There is still some work in the gallery, getting all the pictures back up. There was trouble converting from the old gallery to the new one, so we will probably just up all new pictures. Some will be the same of course as the old pictures, but I don't remember all the old pictures.

Our new site

2005-09-24T09:16:00.000-04:00

As you will notice our site looks a little different. Okay a lot different. We've changed hosting providers and decided to do a little house keeping in the process. Over the next few weeks keep coming back for updates.

The old site is still active. (execpt for the gallery which is down).

Edit: Removed link to old site as the new site has all the old content included.

Happy New Year!

2005-01-02T09:14:00.000-05:00

We have started a New Year together and there have been a few changes since our last update. We have a new nephew, Tristan Gauge Hulsey. Ryan's sister Amy had him on Decemeber 30, 2004 at 11:40 AM. You can find pictures in our Gallery section. We also got a dog - Buddy, he is a Beagle mix, about a year old, and quite adorable. Pictures of Buddy can also be found in our Gallery,

We've updated the look of the Gallery which makes it easier for us to update pictures, so hopefully it will be updated a little more frequently.

Open House

2004-09-09T22:00:00.000-04:00

Well after almost a month, we're able do a quick update. We signed on our home on the 18th of August as planned and we started the moving process the following weekend. We have setting in nicely and are have an open house this weekend, Sept 11 at 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. It's short notice, but if you see this in time your welcome to stop by. Give us a call and we can give you directions. Of course you can stop by anytime as well. Well thats all for now.

Buying our new home

2004-08-11T16:22:00.000-04:00

As most of you konw we are in the final stages of buying our first home. Our closing date is set for August 18, 2004, which means in a week we should be home owners. We are both very excited. We will post pictures as soon as we can

One Year Anniversary

2004-08-11T09:05:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was our one year anniversary. We had dinner at the Olive Garden in honor of our first meeting. We then went on a walk on the Coolidge Part walking bridge in downtown Chattanooga. We walked on this bridge on our very first date. Finally we returned home and followed the tradition of eating the top layer from our wedding cake. Surprisingly it wasn't that bad, although we still didn’t eat very much of it.

How We Met

2004-01-01T22:06:00.000-05:00

On August 19, 2002, an unexpected meeting would take place that would change the lives of two individuals forever.

August 19, 2002, was a Monday. Ryan was living with his Aunt and Uncle, Shirley and Greg Rumsey, for the summer while he taking summer classes and working at Southern Adventist University (SAU).

His parents had come to town to celebrate his 22nd birthday the next day, August 20. That evening, his family decided to have dinner at The Olive Garden to celebrate. The evening progressed as any normal evening until a friend of his Uncle Jim’s came into the restaurant. Upon seeing each other, Uncle Jim and Greg Sutherland started to visit. They visited for about 15 to 20 minutes, when Greg got this idea.

Greg had brought several young people with him that evening, as he usually does whenever he’s in town. In the group was a young lady, Mindy Price. Mindy had spent of most the summer at Greg’s house with her best friend, Janell Pettibone—Greg’s Cousin, in Arkansas. While there, Janell and Mindy painted several murals for the local church school. The day before they came back to SAU they had enjoyed skydiving and were riding high from the experience. They just got into town and also decided to eat at The Olive Garden to celebrate.

He brought over Mindy, a very beautiful young lady, who was totally embarrassed and completely red from head to toe. After the introduction, Greg gave Ryan Mindy.s phone number. Ryan immediately knew he wanted to see her again.

The next night Ryan called her and asked if she would join him on a date the next night. Not knowing what to do, Mindy said she couldn’t because her friends would only be in town for the next couple of days. Ryan, being persistent for once, asked if Friday night was open, but it wasn’t. This time she had to pick up a friend at the airport and didn’t know when the fight was scheduled to arrive.

Ryan was disheartened but wasn’t going to give up. The next evening, Wednesday evening, he called for a second time, only to be turned down once again. At this point Ryan didn’t have much hope they would see each other again. However, two days later-Friday night-Mindy tried to call Ryan.

Yet, as luck would have it, Ryan didn’t receive the call as he purchsaed a new cell phone and number. Luckily Mindy decided to leave a message at his old number. Ryan called her Saturday after church and invited her to lunch at his Uncle Jim.s house. She accepted the invitation and they spent 12 wonderful hours together.

And the rest as they say is history.

Mindy Herman

2004-01-01T22:05:00.002-05:00

Mindy Price was born on January 6th, 1983 to Ron and Ruth Price in Rochester, IN. She grew up in the town of Logansport where she became best friends with the girl next door, Alicia Sammons, who was 9 months older than her.

Though she lived in many different houses since her parents divorce, she has always called Logansport home.

After going all the way through to high school graduation in the public school system, Mindy was ready to attend a Seventh-day Adventist school for her higher education. She narrowed it down to Union college in Lincoln, NE, and Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, TN. To decide which one to attend, she put it in the hands of God and went with the one that accepted her first.

As it turned out, Mindy went to SAU, a full 8 hours away from home where she knew absolutely no one. Within a couple days she realized that there was a girl, Janell Pettibone, who was in almost all the same classes as her. Within weeks the girls were best of friends. They spent their spring break together freshman year and then spent 3 weeks together during the summer in Arkansas, vacationing and painting murals for the elementary school. Upon their return to Tennessee with Greg Sutherland, Janell’s cousin from AR with whom they had stayed, they went to the Olive garden along with Janell’s brother and his roommate. They were celebrating Mindy and Janell’s recent skydiving adventure. Little did they suspect that the celebration of one adventure would lead to a whole new adventure.

While at the Olive Garden, Mindy was introduced to Ryan Herman. From there the rest is history.

Mindy graduated on May 1, 2005 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

You can view Mindy’s art work at her own website

The Proposal

2004-01-01T22:05:00.001-05:00

The date was April 19th, 2003. The Sunrise Pageant was taking place on the campus of Southern Adventist University. Mindy, being a Campus Safety Officer, had to work all day for the event. While Mindy was at work, Ryan started to get the plan together and decorated most of the afternoon.

When Mindy got off work, she came straight over to Ryan’s apartment. As it was our 7th month anniversary she knew something was up, but in reality she had no idea what was about to happen.

As she came into the door, she was greeted the sound of her favorite song, \”When You Kiss Me\” by Shania Twain. At the bottom of the stairs was a Ryan original poem encircled by a heart that had a chain that guided her up into the kitchen. Once in the Kitchen she was greeted by a wall of white balloons. As she made her way into the balloon she came upon Ryan kneeling in the middle. He lovingly took her hand, looked into her beautiful eyes and asked the fateful question, \”Will you marry me?\”

The look on her face was priceless, if only a camera had been present. With sheer joy across her face she replied, \”Yes!\”

We made our way back to Olive Garden that evening to further celebrate and called family and friends to share the happy news.

Ryan Herman

2004-01-01T22:04:00.000-05:00

Ryan Herman was born on August 20, 1980 to Ron and Linda Herman, in a small town, Columbus, NC. Columbus has always been his home. He attended the local church school until his 5th grade year, when he then attended Captain Gilmore Elementary in Fletcher, NC. Here he met Kevin Johnson who was also in the 5th grade. Nathaniel Sawtell (NJ) also attended Captain Gilmore, but was a grade ahead of him.

Kevin and Ryan became close friends and have enjoyed many years of friendship that continues even today. After grade school, both of them decided to attend Mount Pisgah Academy. At Pisgah he made many new friends, among those were Cort Sommerville and Morgan Kochenower. During his junior year at Pisgah, NJ and Ryan became roommates and formed a close friendship.

After graduation in 1999, Ryan went to Andrews University (AU) in Berrien Springs, Michigan. NJ graudated the year before and decided to attend AU, to pursue a Computer Engineering Technology Degree. Since Ryan was interested in computers as well, he decided to attend Andrews with NJ. However, after his first year, he decided Computer Engineering was not the correct major. In 2000 both NJ and Ryan decided to move to Tennessee and attend SAU to pursue a B.S. in Computer System Administration.

Before his senior year at SAU, he was introduced to a lovely young lady, Mindy Price. (how we met) Mindy and Ryan started dating in September 2002, and by April 19, 2003 they were engaged.

Ryan and Mindy.com

Baby news 7wks

Baby Herman #3 is on the Way!

Birth Announcement

Owen is Here!

37.5 Weeks

*ANOTHER 35 Week Update*

35 Week Check-Up

34 Week Update

33 Week Check-Up

31 Week Check-up

Carter

29 Week Check-Up

2 Weeks Down

Full Bed Rest

Sofa Loafing- Week 2

And so the sofa loafing continues

Long overdue update (sorry!)

Results are in!!

Cast Your Vote for the Baby's Gender!

The Countdown's On!!!

11wk update

Baby Talk

Pregnancy Update (8 1/2 weeks)

Announcement and Update

Vacation!!

ABC's, football, and the Bahamas

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!

POTTY TRAINING!!

Correction to previous blog post

Big baby steps for our little man

2 months worth of updates

Candle Practice

He's One! (ok, 13 months now, but read it and you'll see why it's a month late.)

Almost 1!!

Carter's 1st Christmas

The almost 6 month update.

Carter update

Carter's growing!

One month update

Short Carter update

Short Carter update

A Baby Story (Part 3 of 3)

A Baby Story (Part 1 of 3)

A Baby Story (Part 2 of 3)

Carter is born!!!

Labor?

Photo's

Carter Update

IT'S A BOY!!!! Carter James Herman

Majorly late update... sorry

Special News ALERT

Blogging apprently not my strong point

Congradulations!!

The rest of the story

The Past Month

Long time, no post

Jim Brickman Concert

Christmas Wishes to All

Business as usual

Thanksgiving Surprise

Thanksgiving

More Photos

Wedding Pictures

More Wallpaper

Babysitting Tristan

Removing Wallpaper

Added Content

Our new site

Happy New Year!

Open House

Buying our new home

One Year Anniversary

How We Met

On August 19, 2002, an unexpected meeting would take place that would change the lives of two individuals forever.

Mindy Herman

The Proposal

Ryan Herman

ANOTHER 35 Week Update