Baby Zachary Daniel Itri

Name: Zachary Daniel Itri

Birthday: February 18, 2014

Time: 11:11 P.M.

Weigh: 8 lbs. 6 oz.

Height: 20.75 cm

I still can't believe that Dan and I have a baby. It's been almost a week so I decided to write down my labor story before I forget. I'll keep it PG, but if you don't like hearing about labor stories you probably just want to scroll down to the pictures :). 

So after my due date came and went I started thinking that he might never come out and I will forever be a beached whale with heartburn for the rest of my life. Well luckily at 4:30 A.M. on February 18, I woke up realizing either a) my water broke or b) I wet myself. I started getting very little contractions every 3-5 minutes so I called the doctor and was told to go to the hospital. The whole time I was terrified I would be that type of pregnant lady who just peed myself and would have to go back home in shame. When they checked they said I wasn't dilated at all and it didn't look like my water broke, but they would run one more test before they let us go home. After 30 horribly long minutes, they came back and said my water did break and we would be staying for good. Since I wasn't dilated, they started me on a pill (I can't remember the name) to help slowly put me in labor. After 4 hours, I was dilated to 2. They didn't give me anymore in hopes that I would naturally continue into labor. 4 hours labor and pretty obnoxious contractions every 2-3 minutes I was still at a 2. Then they started me on Pitocin. 4 hours into it, I was in extremely horrible pain with the contractions coming every 2-3 minutes and throwing up. I was dilated at a 4 and got the epidural. As soon as it kicked in I felt amazing! For anyone questioning whether or not to get one, you definitely should! I couldn't feel any of the contractions and after 2 hours I was fully dilated and ready to push. After almost 2 hours of pushing, Zach finally was born! He came out looking blue and had a bit of a cone head, but was perfect in my eyes. Overall it was a very good delivery and both us are nice and healthy. 

I would say the aftermath of it all is probably more painful then the actual delivery. From the stitches, to nursing, to your first poop it's not the most glamorous or exciting time, but I wouldn't change it for the world. 

So now here are some pictures mostly from my fabulous sister-in-laws that might as well be professional photographers:

Pregnant and Ready to Pop!

So it has been a very eventful last 9 months. We are so excited to be bringing baby Zach into our family any day now. Here is a fun questionnaire to help me remember stuff about the pregnancy:

Pregnancy Questionnaire

How far along: 39 weeks, 3 days

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Since I first got pregnant, I have gained 16 pounds, but I lost 10 pounds during the 1st trimester to technically 26 pounds

Maternity clothes: Yes, and lots of Dan's sweatshirts

Stretch marks: Unfortunately yes. I got some on my hips during the second trimester and was hoping that was the only spot, but about a month ago, it started showing up on my stomach :(

Sleep: Pretty horrible. Between heartburn, hip and wrist pain, getting up to use the restroom and him kicking at night it's not the best. I usually take a nap during the day though to help compensate.

Best moment last week: Hearing his perfect little heart beat, and he loves to move around whenever there is music on.

Movement: Lots of moving around.

Food cravings: Fruit, sour candy and egg Mcmuffins. Surprisingly I also don't like chocolate very much.

Gender: A boy! I thought for sure it was going to be a girl, but I was wrong! I am so excited though to bring another Itri boy into the world :)

Labor signs: No :( I have been trying to do natural labor inducers like spicy food, bouncing on an exercise ball, walking around, dancing, pineapple etc. but nothing yet.

Belly button - in or out? barely in still...

What I miss: Not feeling like a beached whale

What I am looking forward to: Seeing what he looks like and finally being able to hold him!

I tried to be consistent on taking pictures, but failed. So here are the random ones that I did take:

 12 Weeks

16 Weeks

20 Weeks when we found out it was a boy!

Week 23

Week 26

Week 29

36 Weeks

39 Weeks

Dan setting up the crib!

Zach's Nursery 

Christmas Light Scavenger Hunt

One of the fun things Stephanie thought we could all do was was a Christmas Light Scavenger Hunt and then after an hour we would meet at a place called Cosi for dessert. It was a lot of fun and since most of the Itri's are competitive, everyone was working hard to find all of the things on the list. Unfortunately Dan and I didn't win: Todd, Megan, Lila and Margie did, but we did get a make-your-own s'more kit at Cosi which was really cute and delicious. 

Itri White Elephant Party

It was the first Itri White Elephant Party in Pennsylvania and it was a success! We had a lot of fun with a  minute to win it games, get to know you games, gift exchange, a photo booth and yummy food.

Photo Booth Pictures

Minute to Win it games:

Face the Gingerbread Man, Marshallow Toss, and Merry Fishmas

And other fun stuff

My 25th Birthday

It's official, I am a quarter of a century old. Crazy! Anyway for my birthday I wanted to spend the day in the city so we went to my favorite place to eat which is the Reading Terminal Market. It's a place where there are a ton of different vendors and I love going to different vendors and getting food so it was perfect. I really wanted sushi, but since I am pregnant I had to just stick with tempura shrimp sushi, a fruit drink from a different vendor, cannoli from Termini Brothers and hot chocolate before we left so I could drink it while we were walking around. Dan of course got his favorite sandwich in the world which is Dinnicks roast pork sandwich.

Then we went to the Macys Light show, the Christmas Village at love park and ended the night by watching Catching Fire at the movies theater. It was over 60 degrees outside which was fabulous and overall was a great birthday!

Christmas Tree

One of the traditions Dan's family does is go to a tree farm and cut down there own tree. This was my first time doing it so I was really excited. We walked around the place 3 or 4 times because it's hard to find the perfect tree, but we finally found the one! I'm excited to add this to our yearly traditions.

Margie and Dan spent a lot of time trying to make sure the trees were tied down tight enough because we don't have ski racks. They did a good job and we made it home without any trees falling off. 

 End Result