several days late but within the 5 week range, nonetheless…

29 Sept 2014

today was the turkey’s first time going out with just one of his parents.  i took him over to chef’s house to visit with her and her daughter, ash, and grand-peanut-to-be.  they were kind enough to allow us to borrow their mamaroo soother/swing/thing so that we can test it out with daily fussy time.  they won’t need it for another six months anyhow.  we had a great visit and momma had no trouble getting around with the turkey by herself.  he is enamored with ash.  i’m not sure if it’s because she’s a black-haired beauty and he’s a flirt or if he can sense that she’s got one of his playmates in her belly.

just momma and me

hubby kicked the turkey out of our room yesterday.  it was so hard putting him in his own room all the way on the other end of the house but i think i did pretty good.  i only watched the monitor for a few minutes every couple hours 😉

he looks so tiny in that great big crib

mesmerized by the new mobile

reality tv at its finest

another new development today… he picked up and held onto an object for the first time today.  we were doing a diaper change when he picked up the peepee teepee and started waving it around.  while i was marveling over this new motor skill, he proceeded to spray a healthy stream of pee all over his changing basket and pack-n-play.  my boy has a great sense of humor 🙂

it is just amazing how he grows and changes and develops every day, right before our eyes.  on sunday, he started to actively grab onto our fingers and hold on.  yesterday, he started tracking our faces… not only is he following us with his eyes now but he’ll actually move his head back and forth to keep us in focus.  it doesn’t sound like much but considering that he hardly seemed to be able to focus on our faces just days ago, it’s a huge accomplishment.

look at me, i'm grasping!

we’ve been tracking weight by weighing ourselves with and without baby. today, he hit 10 lbs. our little chunky monkey is growing like a weed!

12 Sept 2014

i have adorable feets

big hands to grow into

04 Sept 2014

we had our two week checkup today and another clean bill of health. he’s growing way too fast for momma’s liking but i guess that means i’m taking good care of him.

I'm two weeks old today. I've grown 1.5 inches and gained almost a full pound since birth! I am 21 inches long and 8 lbs 7.5 oz.

as for momma: by the end of the pregnancy, i had gained fifteen pounds (compared to weight at dr visit one week prior to conceiving). we stayed two nights in the hospital after birth so by the time i got home, two days after birth, i had lost ten pounds of baby and womb. i then lost a pound a day for most of the first week, getting back to pre-pregnancy weight by day 8. i’ve finally plateaued at five pounds below pre-pregnancy weight. no, i have not been trying to lose the weight… i haven’t been exercising (ouch – although everything seems to be healing well) and i haven’t been dieting. i have been eating everything in sight because nursing takes a lot out of me (obviously). apparently, all you need to do to slim down is have a baby and breastfeed it. i love the nursing because it’s such a special bonding time but it wears me out much more than i expected. most of the time, i have a hard time keeping my eyes open through it because it just makes me so sleepy and then i’m always parched and ravenous afterward.  i also seem to be finally experiencing some of the pregnancy symptoms that i had missed out on during the actual pregnancy – after birth, i developed that dark line down my abdomen, i’ve been crazy emotional and crying over everything, and i am now craving sweets non-stop.

for the turkey’s one week birthday and daddy’s birthday, we did our first family bridge run. the turkey even got dressed in a tank top for the occasion.

the family that runs together...

daddy did the full run while me and baby walked to the top of the bridge and back. we got approximately two miles in and baby finished just ahead of me 🙂

made it to the top

okay, technically only six days since i got too excited and took the pic a day early.  it still counts.  i still can’t believe he fit in that belly!

27 Aug 2014

one of his favorite things is cuddle time with his daddy.

daddy waited 9 months for this bonding time

my husband has been fantastic.  he was a super supportive partner throughout the pregnancy and has been a devoted father since the turkey’s birth.  the one thing that he always maintained that he just wouldn’t do was to change diapers.  of course, i repeatedly told him that he was downright delusional.  as the pregnancy progressed, i heard him change his story to people, saying that he would change wet diapers but not poops.  naturally, he ate crow on all of this right off the bat since i had limited mobility the first day in the hospital and he had to take care of our son’s needs.  when we got home, he gagged over the first few post-meconium diapers but he soldiered on.. for the most part.  this afternoon, i overheard him talking to the turkey while changing one of the stinky ones.  he told him how much he loves him but that he’s not changing those diapers because he loves him.. he’s changing them because he loves momma and is amazed at all that she does to take care of him.  it brought tears to my eyes.  my husband, whom i admire so much, was telling our son how lucky he was to have a mother who sacrifices her nights and days to make sure that he is fed and changed and soothed and rested.  i couldn’t possibly have a better parenting partner.

in other news, today was also the turkey’s first bath (at home) before his first appointment at the pediatrician’s office.

ready for my first sponge bath at home

for his five-day checkup, he got a clean bill of health… the dr was pleased with all his wet diapers (he even wet the exam table before the dr came in) and he was impressed that he was almost back to his birth weight already.  it can take up to two weeks for a baby to regain the weight they lose after birth… our turkey weighed 7lbs 9oz at birth, had lost back to 7lbs even when we left the hospital (two days), and is back up to 7lbs 8.5oz now.  what can i say?  he’s a really good nurser!  he still measures 19.5 inches today.  i actually would have been surprised if they said his length had increased but they said it does happen.  the dr didn’t seem concerned about the umbilical cord falling off prematurely yesterday and said everything seemed to be healing as it should.  we went from the dr to the dept of health to pick up his birth certificate and we got to try our first public nursing.  i sat in the backseat and nursed while hubby was inside getting the cert.  mostly everything worked out well but i think the nursing cover was a little warm on him.  it was harder than usual to keep him awake and alert through the feeding.  I’m not sure whether it is better to sit in the car with a/c or to try to find a place to sit outside where there’s some actual moving air.  since it was his first time with the cover, though, i thought he did well.  i would imagine it will take getting used to and learning to adjust temp is just part of that.

other milestones of note:  he’s been smiling since day 2 and yesterday he started doing big belly laughs in his sleep.  i don’t know what babies dream about but his must be pretty happy ones 🙂

we had all kinds of family here over the weekend to meet the little guy.  my sissy made it here in time to help with the labor and delivery.  my dad got here his first night.  hubby’s parents and siblings arrived late saturday night, after we had gotten home from the hospital.  my sissy was a huge help around the house and the grandparents all enjoyed their time with the newest grandchild.  everybody left this morning so we’re officially on our own now.

we are family

my son decided to make his grand debut today.  he was born at 10:50 this morning and was 19.5 inches, 7 lbs 9.2 oz.  he and i are both healthy and happy.  birth story to come later…

our first meeting

"give me my mommy back!"

first family pic

contemplating this life

I’ve gone through this entire pregnancy with very little emotional turmoil.  i don’t think I’ve had a single “mood swing”.  I’ve never bitten my husband’s head off.  i had a few days of irrational depression when i failed my first glucose test but that’s pretty much been it.  yesterday, for whatever reason, was a very sobby day for me.  i cried before and after church when we were approached by two different people asking about bringing us meals after the baby is born.  seriously, i am just completely and totally overwhelmed by all of the generosity we’ve received.  we’re so not deserving of it all.  i cried during church while listening to the message.  i cried in the car while listening to a song.  i cried last night when hubby and i were watching our son’s limbs poking out all over my belly and i realized we’ll never, ever be this close again.  i was just an emotional mess all day.

in other news, the stripping of the membranes, as far as i can tell, did nothing more than put a stop to everything.  i actually got a little worried Saturday because our very active boy was suddenly quite sedentary for most of the day and I thought it might have affected him somehow.  i was happy when he started jumping around again Saturday night.  also, i completely stopped having contractions over the weekend.  none of the menstrual crampy ones, none of the lightheaded-tightening ones.  up until the appointment Friday, the latter were constant and the former were getting more frequent.  after the appointment… nothing.  very strange to me.  but they’ve started back today so i guess that’s good.  he’s still clinging to the ribcage though so he’s not going anywhere soon.