Jackson or Ethan...? Can you guess?

OK - so the consensus from everyone is that "Ethan looks like Ryan." Ryan and I agree though - Ethan looks like Jackson! I think everyone has forgotten what our little stinker looked like before his eyes turned brown and hair grew cute and curly... So I took it upon myself to find some comparison pictures for your personal enjoyment! :-) Can you guess which is Jackson and which is Ethan? :)




(Above: Top is Jackson, Bottom is Ethan)

(Above: Top is Ethan, Bottom is Jackson)

(Above: Top is Ethan, Bottom is Jackson)


(Above: Top is Jackson, Bottom is Ethan)


(Above: Top is Jackson, Bottom is Ethan)


(Above: Top is Jackson, Bottom is Ethan)

(Above: Top is Ethan, Bottom is Jackson)

(Above: Top is Ethan, Bottom is Jackson)

(Above: Top is Jackson, Bottom is Ethan)

(Above: Top is Ethan, Bottom is Jackson) - and yes, Ryan's wearing the same shirt! haha!

(Above: Top is Jackson, Bottom is Ethan)

Visitors at Home!

We have the most amazing friends and family that a person could ever imagine! We have not had to cook one single time since we've been home because of all of our friends' generosity and love! Thank you guys so much for coming to meet our new sweetheart and for taking such great care of us! We love you!

Emily and Ethan (isn't she so beautiful!?)

Brandon and Ethan

Charrisce and Ethan

Connie and Ethan - (Connie is Jackson's new BFF cuz she brought him a train when she came... So sweet! Thanks honey! Love you!)

Jim (Emily's husband) and Ethan

Aunt Janet and Ethan (I want those arms!)

Nicki and Ethan

Katie and Ethan

My amazing grandma Betty is here now - staying w/ me and helping me SO much this week!

Rachel and Jackson (thank you so much for the yummy dinner!!)

Heather and Ethan - Thanks for dinner Heather!!!

We missed a picture w/ my friend Heather who brought us a HUGE dinner on Thursday and our neighbors Richie and Lisa again! We'll get them eventually! Thanks to them for dinner... Also Jenny Searcy who brought us dinner AND homemade peach cobbler! YUM!!! I'm blown away at how kind people are... WE ARE SO BLESSED!

More Hospital Fun!

We left the hospital on Wednesday around 3 or 4 pm. Ethan only lost a few oz by the time we left - he was 6 lbs, 13 oz when we left, so that made me feel great... especially since he had 12 poopy diapers in the short 40 hours or so that we were there... I was SO ready to head home to get in my own bed and get our family together!

Ryan's mom - who lives in Milwaukee - sent us these beautiful flowers to the hospital. We're excited about seeing her next week!

My mom made me a HUGE tub of chocolate chip cookies w/ extra chocolate chips -my favorite!

One of my best friends in the whole world - and my college roommate - Stephenie came to visit w/ her beautiful baby girl Abby. :)

Ryan's dad and Debbie drove up from Little Rock to see their new little grandson (their 5th grandson/grandchild)

Ethan w/ Debbie

I love these pictures that Ryan captured... Poor little Ethan's skin was just flaking off. The pediatrician said that means he was ready to come out.. I'd say so!

Fist bump!

Leaving the hospital...

He wasn't too happy about getting put in his car seat!


Our amazing nurse Landra who took care of us both days we were there... She was amazing.. even though I hate this picture of me!

5 Day Pediatrician Visit

Our family of 4 traveled together for the first time yesterday - to Ethan's first pediatrician appointment. It was a really cool feeling for all 4 of us to be riding together in the car - knowing that this is our new life! Such an amazing feeling to feel that change in our family! Ethan did perfect in the car - as most newborns do! Jackson seems to really be starting to understand that Ethan is here for good.. and he seems to be ok with it! He doesn't really care that much when Ethan cries - he just says "E-fy crying" and pets his head.. I don't know how long it will stay that way, but we're enjoying his affection toward his baby brother so far.

The pediatrician checked Ethan out completely and told us what we already know - he's perfect! :) He was born at 7lbs, 2oz and at 24 hours (and 10 poopy diapers later) the hospital weighed him at 6lbs, 13oz - so not too bad!! On Friday, the doc office weighed him at 6lbs, 14oz - so we're making progress! My milk has definitely come in now so Ethan spent almost the ENTIRE day yesterday eating.... like every single hour! He has some lungs too - which quickly lets me know that he wants to eat NOW.... so we battled through the pain yesterday (which I know will soon end - I pray anyway) and fed him every hour.... then around 845pm, I fed him again and at 930pm, Ryan gave him the swaddle of the century and I laid him down and woke up at 100am realizing that my baby boy didn't wake up and was still fast asleep! So at 130am, I got up the nerve to wake him up - oh, I hated doing that - but I knew he needed to eat and I don't want my supply to go down... So we repeated the process and after eating, Ryan swaddled him up really tightly again and he slept another 3 hours before waking up on his own... Then we did that one more time and I feel GREAT!!!!!! I'm LOVING that he created this 3 hour schedule on his own - and I just pray - PLEASE LORD - let this last! I was waking up every 2-3 hours to go to the bathroom when I was pregnant anyway, so this isn't too much different! I can definitely notice a happier baby today than yesterday, so thank God for my milk coming in just in time!
I hope that I can balance the time that I really need to spend with Jackson with Ethan's tiny little needs. This week has been a little easier because Ryan has been home but starting Monday, he'll be back at work. My grandma is going to come spend the week with me and then the next week, Ryan's mom (and possibly aunt) will be here too - so I think we'll be ok! I am so thankful for everyone in our lives - bringing us food and praying for us! We're so extremely blessed. :)

The Birth Story - Ethan Chase

The following is the grand story of how Ethan Chase came into this wonderful world! I plan on making my blog into "blurb" books - so I want to recount this for documentation so Ethan can have a record of how amazing his life is right off the bat!! A friend of ours did this for her blog recently and I thought it was a great idea! I will say - that if you're sensitive on these kind of details - you may want to pass up this post. :)

The evening started normal - Ryan, Jackson and I had spent the weekend just relaxing and spending time together. We had my parents over on Friday night to play cards. Saturday, we went to Target and just chilled out around the house... On Sunday, we got up and went to church. I knew that Sunday night was a full moon - so I was hopeful. After church, I was feeling pretty normal - back to thinking I may be pregnant forever. My due date was Tuesday, July 27th - but since the doc said there was no change at my 39 wk appt - I was getting a little discouraged that I may be late again. So that evening - when it cooled off a little, Ryan and I put Jackson in the stroller and went for a walk around the block - As we walked, I told Ryan I didn't think the walks were working... my doc said it's more just to prepare the mom for the physical endurance you need to push the baby out vs actually moving things along. Oh well - I was willing to try anything and walking is good for you, so what the heck. As we walked around, we saw our neighbor Richie mowing his yard - stopped and talked to him... then we ran into new neighbors just a couple houses down and introduced ourselves. They have a little girl who is 3 days older than Jackson and they have one due in September... I teased with them and said I was trying to walk this baby out of me... as I said that (literally) I felt this weird pain down very low - like a menstrual pain - but surged around my back too. Just uncomfortable but worth noting... So as we talked and got to know each other a little - I had a couple more of those but dismissed it to being on my feet too long and chasing Jackson around - who is running around all through the streets at this point. Then, we left there - and met with Richie's wife Lisa, Richie and their 3 year old Holiday, who were leaving to go to the store and stopped at their car and talked to them for awhile. As I talked to them, I noticed those pains still coming but just decided we needed to stop our walk and go in cuz they were starting to get really uncomfortable. We walked in to our house at 800p after the walk and Ryan took Jackson up to put to bed (the Daddy/Jackson routine for several weeks now) and I went in to take a shower. While I was in the shower, I felt more of those pains.... I decided I was going to get out of the shower and time them since they might be contractions. Note: I have had contractions since 32 weeks - Braxton Hicks - but they centered around my middle abdomen and were never painful - just annoying. These were very low and all around my lower back. That's why they didn't occur to me at the beginning.... So at 815p, I started the first recording and wrote it down. I then called my mom and just wanted to fore-warn her that I am going to start recording.. I told her that I don't know what these are and I'm sure they are nothing at all but go ahead and stay dressed in case she needs to come to the house to be w/ Jackson. So she got VERY excited and wanted me to call her back at 900p. So at 900p, on the dot - she called me and asked how it was going. I told her that these contractions are officially starting to get painful... I had to stop what I was doing when they came and sit down. I felt it the most in my lower back around - very strong. So she said she wanted to come and I told her worst case, if they don't last, she can go back home. In the meantime, Ryan had just finished with Jackson and was "resting" watching the Cubs/Cardinals game. I sat with him for a few minutes and told him I think he needed to go get in the shower. I think these are for real. He said "ok - after this inning." So I got up and started getting busy... I think he got the clue cuz the next thing I knew, he was in the shower. When he got out, he saw me sitting through one of those contractions and said - ok, where's the list of stuff to put in the car? So I told him where he was and he quickly started getting everything loaded. My mom showed up and was very happy that we were leaving.... I kept saying - I just hope they don't send me home. I'm going to be so mad if I have to go home. So we left her with Jackson at the house at about 945pm. It was raining - not hard but Ryan parked in the front - and of course the doors to Willow Creek are locked so we had to walk around to the ER. Ryan kept apologizing but the rain actually felt really good and it reminded me of when we got married - it was pouring down rain on that very special night too!! So I didn't mind the walk! When we got in, they checked me in very slowly... asked a ton of dumb questions that I know they have in the system somewhere... told me to put on the gown, etc. So she checked me and I was dilated to a 4.5. She said she wanted to see what the contractions looked like and they had the monitors on me and the contractions.... So she stepped out and left me behind the curtain on a table in area #1. So I sat and sat.... I started noticing these contractions were very painful. I watched on the paper and they weren't really even showing up on the monitor thing - I think she had it in the wrong place or something... so I told Ryan to go find out what we're waiting for - these are really hurting now. So after he dismissed the idea and saw my look, he said - ok.. and the lady came back in. She checked me again and said "you're definitely progressing!" and I said these are HURTING now - please get me on some list for an epidural or something! She said they had to follow the procedures first. She wanted to call down the doc first. I figured she had already done that was not too happy to hear that I had just been sitting there with nothing being done.... all while these contractions were getting to be 2 minutes apart and VERY painful. So she left and turns out MY doc is the one that was there that night - so I was so happy to hear it would be him but I wanted it NOW! So then she came back and said "ok - Doc said he wants you back there now. " I said, Yes!!! So then she said - we need to run your lab work and we can't give you the epidural until that comes back. It checks your blood platelets. WHAT THE WHAT!!? I was freaking when she said that! I could barely breathe through these contractions now and was just in agonizing pain and she said it was "at max" going to take 30 more min to get it back!!!!! So I asked Ryan what time it was 1120pm.... OH MY GOSH! I told him I didn't think I would make it 30 more minutes - it was just too painful. I was dying or really really thought I was. So I told them to put a RUSH on that lab work!! So then she wheeled me into the hospital labor room... I do NOT remember this part because I was hurting so bad that all I could do was breathe SUPER rapidly (Ryan said I was going to hyperventilate but he didn't realize that was all I could do and that would have been better than feeling ANY of that pain) and squeeze my eyes shut. So when they got me in my room, I asked my nurse for my epidural... She said "sorry - lab work is not back." OMG!!!!! It was almost midnight. I was creeping into the coffin. I was looking at death in the face!!! I could not control my mouth or my anything. I was hurting so bad. I told her the contractions were on top of each other -no breaks whatsoever between them anymore... So she got the info on the lab work and got the anesthesiologist in there pronto. When he came in, I told him to get it going NOW!!! He wanted to carefully ask a "few questions" all of which I was NOT patient for whatsoever and all of a sudden, I had a big contraction (haha - a bigger one than normal) and told the nurse I needed to push! She checked and said "OK doc - she's at a 9 but her sac is still in place." So the anesthesiologist rushed into position. I grabbed the nurse with all my might and fought through 2 terrible contractions while they put the epidural in - all while the other nurses called in my doctor and said he needed to get here now for a delivery. After he got the epidural in -he asked if I felt any different and I said not really - he said it could take 15 min for it to kick in. Right then, I told her I needed to push again. They said "NO!! Don't push - breathe!" I yelled back - there will be no breathing - only pushing so someone better get over there and catch this baby. They put me in the position just as Doc ran in the door. As soon as I saw him, I said "Doc - I need to push right this second!!!" - so he said "hold on Keisha - I'm coming" - as he threw on some gloves and booties like the wind... As soon as he set down, I had a big contraction and he said "ok - let's go! push for 10" - so we did that for 3 counts... and then waited for the longest minute in history and pushed for 2 more counts of 10 and out he was!!! The funny thing is that him coming out is the strangest feeling but not near as painful as the contractions themselves! After they put Ethan in my arms and gave us a few moments, I started feeling my legs going numb. Doc finished up w/ me and by the time he got the stitches going on, I was really starting to feel numb. The epidural went in about 1205am and Ethan Chase was born at 1217am! So if I would have known he was going to pop right out, I may have skipped the epidural, but oh well - the doc said it made stitching me up easier and the "after pain" more bearable. I will say that after having an epidural birth w/ Jackson and a non-epidural birth with Ethan, I would GET AN EPIDURAL!!!! lol! But the end result is the best result of them all - a beautiful, healthy baby boy! Thank you Lord! :)

So, there's the long drawn out story... poor Ryan was a total trooper. I know he probably never in his wildest dreams imagined seeing me in that kind of pain and the crazy things that came out of my mouth due to that pain, but I know it definitely brought us closer. My nurses found it all very funny afterward and reminded me of some of the things I said while I was "drunk in pain" - which I don't remember saying! I do remember snapping at Ryan several times but overall, I only used one curse word and it was when they said those lab results weren't in yet! I think I did pretty good!

I think Ryan summed up all the rest of it - We are at home resting as much as possible this week. We've been so thankful for our friends and family who are bringing us food and coming to see us! We love showing off our little man! He has been nursing well - which is another big change from Jackson. He has a doc appt tomorrow so we'll find out how he's doing overall and update again. I think he's just perfect. Jackson has been so sweet with him - very fascinated with his sounds and calls him "E-fy" which just melts my heart. God is SO good!!!!!!

Introducing Ethan Chase Stearle!

The day we've been anticipating for what felt like forever has finally come! Around 8:00pm on Sunday night (after we had just taken a walk with Jackson), Keisha noticed that her contractions were becoming a bit more uncomfortable. We started timing them, and about 2 hours later it was go time!! We headed to the hospital at 10:00pm on Sunday night, we were moved from the ER to our own delivery room at 11:45pm, and at 12:17am on Monday morning we finally got the meet one of the two most beautiful baby boys ever to grace the planet Earth (Jackson being the other one, of course)!!

As for stats, Ethan Chase weighed in at 7lbs 2oz and was 20 1/4in long. He was born with short, whispy dark hair and long eyelashes. He was also sporting some pretty long fingernails - ouch!!

This is Ethan's first pic with mommy - this was only about 10 minutes after delivery!


Proud papa


He was pretty sleepy most of the day...




Keisha's Grandma Betty made us several burp cloths for the little guy, and Keisha had some of them monogrammed.



THE MEETING:

Keisha's mom Judy was kind enough to take a couple days off of work to watch Jackson while we are in the hospital with Ethan. Yesterday after J-Man woke up from his nap, she brought him by to meet his new baby brother.

As anyone who follows this blog knows, Jackson LOVES anything to do with Thomas the Train. Keisha came up with a GENIUS idea of bridging this love of Thomas to good feelings towards Ethan for Jackson. For the last couple weeks, we have been telling Jackson that Ethan is coming and he is bringing a gift for Jackson. When Jackson met him yesterday, we gave him his present from his new brother - a shiny new train for his set!! Jackson LOVED it!! Here is Jackson showing off Edward, the newest addition to his growing Thomas the Train collection.


Jackson was very grateful. He gave Ethan a kiss and said "Thank you, E-fee!"


Here is the first pic of our new foursome:


After about 1o minutes in the room with Ethan, Jackson was ready to go and terrorize the rest of the hospital. He and I ran up and down the halls yelling and playing for the better part of an hour, which I'm sure all the new babies and mothers in the hospital appreciated... ;) Our play time got interrupted by a very important phone call that Jackson received:




VISITORS:

One thing is for sure, our family has been blessed a million times over! Many of those blessings come in the form of our wonderful friends and family. Here are some pics of Ethan's visitors from his first day:

Jenny is the mother of one of Jackson's favorite play pals, Cole. She is going to be a new mommy again in just a few more weeks!


Megan came by with her two girls Channing (who also goes by Ali) and Bella.


Everyone knows Keisha's mom, Judy (Mimi)


...and Keisha's dad, Don (Poppie).


Sarah popped in fresh from her new job...


Kacie came by with her husband Derek and her mom Sheri (Mama Craft). Kacie and Derek are currently pregnant with twin boys, so this was a great introduction to baby-handling! Their boys will be here near the middle of September, and we are all anxiously awaiting their arrival as well...


Sheri (Mama Craft) made it, but Eddie wasn't able to. It's important that she be introduced to Ethan because she will most likely end up babysitting him sometime in the future!


Kacie's husband Derek...


My buddy Ken was able to make it by, too. Ken lives in Ft. Worth, TX with his wife Hollie and their beautiful daughter Clayre (she's almost 2). Lucky for me, Ken has been working on a project with Walmart for the past couple months which means that we have gotten to see a lot more of him than usual! He was even gracious enough to bring me a sandwich from the best BBQ joint in NW Arkansas! *It's important to note that he offered to bring one for Keisha too, but she had already eaten her meal from the hospital =)


Our good friends (and neighbors) Emily and Lisa stopped by along with Keisha's Aunt Janet, but we didn't manage to snap pics of them. Regardless, we appreciated their company!

I could not be more proud of Keisha. She handled the whole delivery process like a pro, and I am still in absolute amazement about how the female body is able to pull off something so spectacular! She is definitely a Rockstar Mom!!