4th trimester no more!

Well, time has truly flown by and today marks the official 3 month mark for Joseph. All I can say is, wow, what a difference three months has made! Soon after I gave birth to Joseph, I heard the term "4th trimester" used to describe those first three months of transition -- both for baby and parents. Understandably, babies in their first few months of life need a little bit of time to adjust to all of the stimulating sights, sounds and smells that the outside world has to offer. After all, the majority of their life has been spent in a very cozy, warm and dark place until they are abruptly introduced into their new bright, loud and chilly environment (especially in our case!). Can you blame them for needing a little time?!?

I can share that, although Joseph has so far exhibited an overall pleasant temperament, I can truly see how he is now embracing his outside world wholeheartedly. With each day we can see even the smallest of changes in him that, to anyone else, might seem a bit boring. Okay, I admit that suddenly beginning to produce enough drool to fill Lake Michigan isn't exactly an earth-shattering accomplishment, but it's a big change nonetheless! So, bear with me as I share some of the ways that we've observed our little Joseph grow over the past couple of months:

Physical - As we all know, Joseph was already off to a pretty good start in this department. At his 2 month appointment, he measured 25 and 3/8 inches in height, 14 lbs 6 oz in weight and 42.1 cm in head circumference. Now what does that actually mean, you ask? Bottom line . . . little Joe is a very big boy, ranking in the 98th, 95th and 92nd percentile respectively! As daddy says, straight A's across the board!! Perhaps we should get some sort of bumper sticker to commemorate the achievement . . . hmmm, maybe something along the lines of "Big-boned, Big-brained and Lovin' Life" or "Baby Goliath on board"!?! Here is a picture from the holidays capturing him in all his glory:

Now, let's keep in mind that the average American gains 7 - 10 lbs during the holiday season, so I think we can cut Joe some slack!

Motor Skills - Since Joseph didn't really have many of these coming out of the gate, he really only had one direction to go from there. Thankfully, we have seen very steady improvements in this area . . . marked primarily by his ability to grasp onto toys and persistent attempts to put them in his mouth (we're still working on that one!). He's also recently started reaching for toys which I've captured on a lazy afternoon basking in the oh-so-rare winter sunlight.

I would also like to note that he has developed quite the knack for foot-activated devices, exhibited primarily through the karate kicks that he likes to give to his bouncy seat. Once he figured out that the little hidden foot pedal made his animal band light up and play, he kicks with such purpose and fervor that I'm sure he'll either be a fantastic soccer player or winning the lead role in "The Karate Kid: The Next Generation". I noticed that he even kicks a lot more when mommy or daddy are holding him. Perhaps he's hoping that we too will begin to light up and play nice music! You've gotta love all of the baby gadgets available nowadays.

Social/Emotional - This can be best summed up in this picture.Although we began to see the first true smiles at around 1 month old, he is now constantly lighting up the Hunter household with smiles, coos, giggles and I even got him to reach such hysterical levels recently that he had his first hearty belly laugh. Perhaps I should take my act on the road! The best part of his smiles are the recognition that comes along with it. Okay, sure, now he'll pretty much smile at anyone who talks to him a pleasant tone or flashes him their pearly whites. However, nothing beats the smile that I receive when I first peak into his crib in the morning without even saying a word. He goes from an "I'm starving!" type of cry, to intent staring and then slowly breaks out in the biggest grin. It's priceless!

Sleep Patterns - Okay, I realize that this isn't one of the major developmental areas, but Joseph's advancements in terms of his sleep schedule have been simply huge and definitely deserve an honorable mention. During the holiday season, Joey began what we first believed to be an isolated Christmas miracle, but thankfully became what is now a pretty well-established pattern . . . at least for now! He has started to consistently sleep through the night and, when I say "sleep through the night", I don't mean the mere 5 hour stretches that all of the developmental guides talk about. No, I'm talking about approximately 10-12 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night! Although we are still working on an established daytime nap routine, we are truly thankful for this accomplishment and hope that this is only the beginning of many restful nights in our little boy's future!

That's all I have for now! I hope you enjoyed reading about the progress that Joseph made during his "4th trimester" of life. At least I know our fellow parent friends can probably relate to the feeling of pride that washes over you the first time your little one discovers his or her hands!

Remembering Grandpa Martinie

Melvin Jay Martinie

(May 8,1926 - December 30, 2007)

For those of you who may not have heard, Brad's grandfather passed away right after the holidays. Grandpa held a very special place in our hearts and we were grateful that he was able to celebrate Christmas with us and hold Joseph for the first time. It was a moment that we will always cherish and I wanted to share with you the words that Brad spoke in tribute to grandpa at his funeral:

Hello I’m Brad Hunter, Mel’s grandson. I feel that grandpa’s faith guided much of what he did in life so I want to talk about two ways that faith was evident to me and the people around him.

First, my grandfather, as many of you who were privileged enough to know, was a passionate and convicted man. He was committed to being a positive force in others lives by being joyful, optimistic, and most of all humorous. Those convictions would also shine through when my grandfather would get onto topics that the best I can describe as “the way things oughta be”. He openly shared his viewpoints passionately describing his thoughts on what could be changed in our world. Well, a topic that has been taught in the church I attend lately has caused me to look differently at the way my grandfather discussed world events. The idea that’s been frequently touched on in our church is that God instructs us to look at the world as an inherently good place, that people are inherently good, that all things work themselves out in the end for good. But the world tries to tell us, through the nightly news and most of things on TV, that everything is bad, our world is full of pain, true love is not attainable, etc. I think what Mel was trying to say is THAT is what is wrong with our world! Not that there are problems, or not that bad things happen; but that our world and our lives are to be enjoyed, that our relationships with others are a gift, and that we’re all here for a reason.

Second, my grandfather gave us all enough forewarning about his health and what would eventually be. And interestingly enough, I feel today like that was intentional on the part of my grandfather. He certainly held onto life much longer than many of us thought, a testament to his courage, faith and perseverance. I think a bit of that was by design. He had a way about him that took into account the feelings of others and how they would react to a situation, and I think his passing is no different. He prepared us for it—if there is a good way to leave this world—the best way WE would be able to cope with it. He made sure we were okay with his passing. And today, I honestly feel that example should be used to feel the same about all of our loved ones…that we be in the right place with all those around us.

Finally I would like to read from 1 Chronicles where God is telling King David that his son will be chosen to build the temple. These verses are often quoted when speaking about the responsibility we all have in fulfilling God’s wishes for our lives, even though sometimes we are discouraged because they seem unattainable and out of reach. Let us remember my grandfather as someone who carried those out in many aspects of his life:

"1 David summoned all the officials of Israel to assemble at Jerusalem: 2 King David rose to his feet and said: "Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it. 3 But God said to me, 'You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.' 4 "Yet the LORD, the God of Israel, chose me from my whole family to be king over Israel forever. He chose Judah as leader, and from the house of Judah he chose my family, and from my father's sons he was pleased to make me king over all Israel. 5 Of all my sons—and the LORD has given me many—he has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel. 6 He said to me: 'Solomon your son is the one who will build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. 7 I will establish his kingdom forever if he is unswerving in carrying out my commands and laws, as is being done at this time.' 8 "So now I charge you in the sight of all Israel and of the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God: Be careful to follow all the commands of the LORD your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever. 9 "And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. 10 Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do the work."

A New Career

As many of you know in mid-2007 I began a career as a financial advisor with Edward Jones. I have been in a extended training period for almost 4 months which finally ends tomorrow, December 3 as I move into my new office in Grand Rapids. Karen and I are excited about this new direction and the possibilities it brings. Thanks to those who have expressed encouragement and support. That encouragement has made all the difference during this time.

One thing our family has decided to do as our first priority is to begin planning for Joseph's education. We are starting what is called a 529 plan, which is like an "educational IRA". Basically the contributions are a deduction for those who participate & the funds are withdrawn for the beneficiary tax free.

We are posting this message as an option for friends and family who may want to contribute during the Holiday season, or anytime thereafter. If you are interested please call Karen or me if you wish to discuss this further.

We hope the holidays is a blessed time for all of you.

Brad & Karen
616.285.5427

That time of year

Hello All! Get ready, the month of December is upon us! Between work, family, and jockeying for position in checkout lines, the real meaning of the season is sometimes lost. So as we take a collective deep breath for the roller coaster drop into Christmas and New Year, I wanted to quickly send out a wire with a message of encouragement and hope, to fend off missing the best things about this month.
When I step back to think about the many people in my immediate and extended family and the hundred or so new family members I have after Karen I were married, I cannot believe all the wonderful stories. We have those who have gotten married this year and some who are planning weddings. We have those (too many to count) who have delivered healthy babies and those who are expecting. We know of many who are not 100% in health, others who have battled back from sickness. The bottom line is it's just amazing to sit back and think of the many who are in this "circle" and provide encouragement for us, through their stories. If overlooked however, these things--simple stories of other people lives--may cause us to miss something important. So, I wanted to let you know Karen and I are thinking of you today, wishing you all the best.

Happy Holidays,

So much to be thankful for . . .

Wow, I can't believe over one month has already gone by since Joseph has been born! It seems like ages ago -- we can't even seem to remember what life was like before his arrival.

This past month has been full of many exciting new adventures. Adjusting to our new roles as parents and learning all about our little guy has been as exciting as it has been challenging, but we wouldn't trade it for the world. On our end, adapting to life with very little sleep has been interesting to say the least. Thankfully, we've had a great deal of help from friends, family and neighbors. As you can see from the pictures that we've been updating over the past month on our Flickr page, Joseph has had many visitors over the past month, and each of them graciously lent a helping hand. We'd like to give a special "shout out" to the Grandmas for all of their help as well as Joseph's aunts and uncles who have helped us in ways that we can't even count. Especially those who have travelled from afar -- Uncle Michael, Aunt Kelly and Aunt Sarah -- we are extremely grateful for help with some of those late night feedings with Joseph as well as helping us with our own feedings!

In terms of Joseph's past month, it seems that he has already changed in leaps and bounds! As the days go by, we've noticed how much more alert he's become as well how much longer he can hold up his head, and, best of all, how much more he's smiling. Although he has struggled during his early weeks with some gas issues, his smiles have recently become about more than just "passing wind". Usually it starts with him very studiously focusing in on our features and then he suddenly breaks into a big gummy grin. I can honestly say that there is nothing like it in this world -- it makes all of those sleepless nights entirely worth it!

So, in commemoration of this upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, we have so much to be thankful for . . . primarily, our good health, our family and friends and those little gummy smiles!




Happy Thanksgiving!

Joseph's Birth Story

Well, here it is almost one entire month after our little Joseph's birth and I've finally found a moment to sit down and write about his exciting arrival. Who knew that becoming parents would give us an entirely new appreciation of free time. Yeah right . . . what's that again?!? As I'm typing this, the little one is actually attempting to nap on my lap, so we'll see how long this lasts! Hopefully I'll be able to complete this story before he turns one year old!!

Anyways, as many of you know, I went into labor on the morning of my due date. Not bad for a first-timer! I labored throughout the day, but the contractions didn't really become regular until the later part of the afternoon. After calling my doctor's office, they told me to sit tight and labor a bit more at home before coming into the hospital. We waited it out and tried to distract ourselves with some Monday night football. Brad was even lucky enough to catch a quick nap! Now, before you say anything, I did tell him that it was perfectly okay for him to take a snooze. Little did I know that he would actually be able to sleep. I swear, my husband can sleep through anything! Regardless, it wasn't long that he was able to enjoy his peaceful slumber. Approximately 45 minutes had passed and my contractions were at least one minute long and averaging 2-3 minutes apart. Based on the increasing pain, I decided it was time to go. I alerted Brad and I swear that I have never seen him move so fast out of deep sleep as he lept into action. He ran upstairs to get our bags and we hustled out the door. He was so focused on making it in record time to the hospital I began to wonder if we were going to make it there in one piece! Of course, Brad came through and I was speedily and safely dropped off at Spectrum Hospital emergency.

When we arrived, I was wheeled up to triage and monitored for a while. Then I was shown to the birthing room which was a corner room with a beautiful view of the city. Unfortunately, I was in too much pain at this point to truly enjoy it, but I took comfort in the great treatment that I was receiving from the hospital staff as well as the wonderful support that my loving husband and coach was lending me. I didn't opt for pain relief right away -- rather I decided to give the whirlpool a whirl to see if it could help to alleviate my pain. It did for about a half an hour and then, as I got out of the tub, my water officially broke and . . . holy contractions! They aren't kidding when they say labor is hard work! A three minute contraction later and I was ready for them to bring on the epidural. After the lovely anesthesiologist administered the pain relief, I wanted to hug her and secretly thanked God for the individual who invented the epidural. Sweet relief! I didn't even feel the next contraction and was able to relax through the remainder of the night. Once 7:30 a.m. rolled around and the sun began to rise, it was about time for me to push. I was nervous, anxious, excited, along with about 1000 other emotions were racing through me, but I didn't care. Before long, I knew that I was going to be able to finally to meet my baby. Ten months of hard work was about to pay off and I was ready to do whatever was necessary to get down this final stretch.

Up to this point, the nurse kept saying how my labor was "textbook". Being the overachiever that I am, I felt so proud and thought maybe I'd even get a gold star when this was all said and done. Little did I know that when I began pushing was exactly when my labor became anything but textbook. During the 3 hour process, we discovered that our little one was tranverse (i.e., facing sideways) and my pubic bone was unusually low for the baby to travel through. Not impossible, but the doctor said that it would present some unique challenges.

I pushed "perfectly" as the nurse described and she gave me a true glimmer of hope at the two hour mark when the big light lowered down from the ceiling and she told me that this was the beginning of the end. Before I would know it, she reassured me, I'd be holding my baby. A few more pushes later, the doctor walked in and completely deflated all of my hopes when he informed us that the baby hadn't made any progress in a while because he was stuck. Let me tell you, after 40 weeks of waiting and close to 3 hours of pushing, that's the last thing you want to hear! Regardless, I was willing to do anything to deliver a healthy baby, so I informed the doctor that I could push for 3 more hours if he needed me to. One look in his eyes and I knew that was not going to be an option.

After a few minutes of considering a forceps delivery, he decided that the baby was not in the correct position to do so safely. The decision had been made for me . . . we had no choice but to deliver by a Caesarean secion. As upset as I was, the doctor and nurses were very reassuring as what seemed like half of the hospital staff frantically rushed around to get me into emergency surgery. Before I even knew what was happening, I was wheeled into the O.R. and they began working on me. Thankfully once I saw Brad's face -- or at least the small part of his face that wasn't covered by medical gear -- I felt like everything was going to be okay. I tried to stay focused on the fact that I would soon be able to meet our little one.

I said a prayer of thanks, once again, for the wonder of the epidural as they worked away at me. I didn't feel any pain, but there was quite a bit of pressure from all of the tugging that ensued from trying to get him out. I could feel the entire table shaking because his head had gotten stuck, but I finally felt a great release from the pressure and heard a good, solid cry. Misty-eyed, Brad finally was able to get out the words that I'd been waiting to hear, "It's a boy". At the same time, I heard various murmers through the O.R. proclaiming what a big boy he was and how surprised they were at his size. The doctors and nurses that had worked so closely with me throughout this process had predicted that the baby would be somewhere between 7 and 8 lbs. However, one look over at the warming table that they had placed him in and it was confirmed . . . he was indeed one Big Boy!! While trying to take in all of his features, I absolutely could not get over the size of his hands and feet (see below for the true to size image of his footprints)! Brad immediately kicked into father mode and held his son's hand and got many great photos of his first moments of life. It was truly a magical moment! Once they were finished checking him out to ensure that he was healthy, they were finally able to bring him over to me and rest him on my chest. That first thought that I had was similar to the one I feel every time I look into his little face . . . Thank God for this miracle and for allowing us this little piece of heaven. Happy Birthday, Joseph Bradley Hunter!

Waiting No More

The time finally came like it has for so many first time parents to leave excitedly for the hospital as Karen and I did Monday night. But before I go any further, I have to brief with this description, I'm expected back at the hospital shortly. I'll claim the role of a stereotypical male in my birth description, so that Karen can fill in all wonderful details Friday when she arrives home.
Our son, Joseph Bradley Hunter was born at 11:08 Tuesday morning October 16 in Grand Rapids, Michigan to Karen and Brad Hunter. He weighed in at 9 pounds and 2 ounces. As many who saw Karen in person can attest, she carried every ounce of the baby very well--he was much bigger than anyone thought he would be. His cry is a not-so menacing, pseudo-angry kind of whimper, really. We only once have heard him really belt it out. The lactation consultants have been great. And so far Joe has eaten well from mom, as they both figure out the complex process of feeding for the first time. What else...what else....oh he has a little dark hair mostly in the back. He has more of my features like hands and feet, while his face is strikingly, almost scarily Karen's resemblance. Which as all of you know, is a good thing! Gotta run for now, go to Flickr to see the rest of the pics. We're just a wee bit proud right now. Thanks for visiting. Cheers!