Three Weeks!

Can you believe this little guy belongs to me??  I still am struggling to wrap my head around his cuteness, let alone his existence.  Now, while this post is almost a week late - I have a newborn, cut me some slack! - this picture was taken at the 3 week point.  He's already growing!

Or I should say he's STILL growing.

And yes.  I realize this will continue to happen.  For a long, long time.

Now, here are the notable points of our 3 week development:

1)  Spitting up!  And gas!  My goodness, these things appeared almost overnight.  Last Monday we had a very fussy baby that would not sleep.  We tried gripe water and now we know - gas was the culprit.  The spit up has been... interesting.  I don't really think it's gross.  I'm just surprised by how much a baby can spit up without having any issues with colic (so far) or reflux (please, Jesus.  Let's skip that part!)

2)  Floor time!  I include tummy time with this, since we started them at the same time.  For the most part, E loves it.

I do think that when he isn't the happiest, it's usually because there's another culprit.  Like gas.  (See above.)

3)  We went through a growth spurt!  At least, that's what I think led to a recent period of cluster feeding.   I wish I could take him to the pediatrician every week just to see how much he's growing.  He is a great sleeper and eater... for the most part.  (He's human.  And new at it.)  The sudden change in needs while he cluster-fed was startling to this rookie mom.

I also  wanted to share some things that I've learned as a mom:

1)  There is spit up and there is milk dribble.  They are different.  Sometimes they are accompanied by a burp. Sometimes they aren't.  Either way, I can't get burp cloths through the wash fast enough.  In fact, the only pack of burp cloths we own are from my mother-in-law.  I thought it was silly to give us a set of plain burp cloths.  Now I know!  (Thanks, MIL!)

2)  Sleeping and eating patterns can change on a dime.  Last night we were cluster-feeding every two hours.  This momma was struggling to stay with the program and her good attitude.  (The attitude may have lapsed for a bit.  Sorry, hubs.)  Then suddenly, E went five hours between night feedings.  That was the longest ever!!   Needless to say, I was grateful for the extended sleep time for both of us.

3)  Paranoia is like freckles.  Yep.  Freckles.  I have freckles.  You may never notice them, but I know they're there.  And they're always present, right in front of my face.  My fears are part of who I am as a mom in the same way that my freckles are part of my appearance.  I don't think either go away.  When E sleeps in his swing instead of his crib due to a fussy night, I have to consciously give him to God.  We have a motion-sensing monitor in the crib to help prevent SIDS.  The swing does not come so equipped.  I know that it would be easy to curl up in a corner with my baby boy and never let him go.  However, this is not practical nor faith-filled.  Thus, I acknowledge my propensity to worry, confess the worry as sin, and ask God to continue watching my sweet boy.

4)  There is no way to prep for this sleep schedule! I initially asked God to let E sleep well and sleep long (which in newborn speak means four hours.)  Now, I ask God to change me to make suitable for E's sleep schedule.  The cool thing is that He is.  I have always been the full-8-hours-of-uninterrupted-sleep-required sort of girl.  Now, I can nap off and on with him.  

The next couple of weeks hold a lot of fun events.  Can't wait to chronicle more adventures!

Most sincerely (albeit sleepily),

Stephanie

Surviving Week 2

Despite the lack of communication on my blog, we did in fact survive week 2 of being parents.  I feel a bit like I'm working through a dense fog of broken sleep or maybe even a coma, but I have made it.

(This is E on Daddy's t-shirt.  Looking forward to watching him grow!)

And it's still worth every bit.  I mean, look at this face!

(Note: Even as I write this, he's being unusually fussy.  I consider this a test of how much Mommy and Daddy don't love sleep as much as we love him.  Oh, and Daddy's holding him.  Didn't want you to think I would neglect my kid to write a blog post...)

So, what exciting things happened this week?

1)  We went to our first restaurant!  While running errands, we stopped at S&B Burgers.  If you're in the OKC area and haven't been, you should check it out.  The food is delicious. (Chili Lime Burger.  Need I say more?) The music is loud.  And baby boy slept the whole time!

2)  E had his first chiropractor visit.  This rookie mom was a bit nervous about taking her new baby to see someone who pops bones and joints for a living, but it was actually a really gentle process.  I've heard about the benefits for a while - preventing ear infections, helping with spitting up and colic, adjustments after the adventure of birth.  My favorite part was that I got to hold E for a majority of the adjustments.  And really, the "adjustments" looked like Dr. Doyle was just massaging E's back.

3)  We got to take E to small group!  At our church, our Sunday School class is composed of three small groups.  Each small group meets every 2-3 weeks.  We all gather at someone's home and enjoy dinner and discussion.  We have been with our small group for four and a half years now.  They have seen us grow from newly married to grieving over a miscarriage to celebrating the birth of Emmitt.  To say that E is an answer to prayer is an understatement.  E has been the answer to many prayers from many people.  That's why I was so excited to share him with our church family.

4)  E is starting to smile more.  It's just in his sleep, and people say it's things like gas bubbles, but I think it's adorable.  I pretend that it's not gas bubbles, but that he's truly cognizant of being happy and content here with us.  Either way, the smiles are cute.

5)  We went on our first walk!

The walk only lasted five minutes, but it was a chance to get some fresh air and test out the stroller.  For the record, E spent the whole walk like you see above - asleep and happy.  The brevity of the walk was due to the fact that rookie mom thought that she has recovered enough to walk for exercise, rather than just around the house or a short trip to the store.   Also for the record, new moms should allow more than a week and a half before they try to walk with purpose and quickness.  Things are still healing, people!


This next week is the last week that Dad is still taking time off work. As of Thursday, Tim goes back to work full time and E and I are truly going to find out what it's like to be a stay-at-home mom for the summer.  Before Dad goes back to the office, we'll have a pediatrician appointment.  I hope we can go on another walk or two. (We'll go more slowly this time.)  I hope we can sleep some.  (We hope that every day!) 

Have a great week! I'm going to try to catch some Zzz's.

~Stephanie

1 Week!

E is one week old already! (Technically, this occurred yesterday.  Can we pretend that this post was written yesterday too?  K. Thanks.)

I wanted to take a moment and record all of those notable events that have occurred in the last week.

1)  We had a baby! 

A bit obvious, but still mind blowing.  Two weeks ago, I was hoping that I could get everything together for school if we did deliver early.  Now I am grateful that I am an over planner.  Tim probably has summed up our experience the best: E is a game changer.   And we are so thankful!

2)  E had to be on bili lights twice.  This was the hardest thing for mama. 

This is quick pic I snapped of the bili lights we had here at the house.  So glad these are done!

3)  E came home!

Having a baby in the hospital where there are nursery nurses to help is one thing.  Having baby at home when there are no nurses to take the midnight watch between feedings or answer questions is another.  We've made it and haven't felt too lost along the way.  There seems to be a cycle to a newborn:  eat, sleep, poop.  Repeat every three hours.  Order may vary. 

4)  We've tackled clothe diapers! 

We jumped in right away and started E on clothe diapers as soon as we were home.  It hasn't been gross or hard.  The truth is that we've already saved ourselves so much money due to diaper changes.  Even in our exhausted state, washing diapers has not been a burden.

5) E has slept for three and a half hours straight in his longest stretch!  It was a glorious three and a half hours.  Tim and I woke up feeling like we could tackle the world.  (Until the next long stretch without sleep.  Yeah.  Evidently they don't sleep for the same duration every time.  Bummer.)  Also, there is no picture to document this occasion.  Why?  Because we were sleeping.  Which is more important than pictures. 

Technically, I could document everything E has done in the last week - his first breath, first blink, first feeding, first cry, first diaper change, first outfit...  Everything is a first for him and for us. 

We are absolutely in love, which is exactly how life should be with your newborn. 

Overwhelmed by God's blessings,
Stephanie

Grandparents

One of the fun parts of having a baby is the excitement and anticipation.

Two questions that continually made me laugh were
1) Q: Are you excited?  A:  Yes! Who wouldn't be even a little bit excited??
2)  Q: Are you ready? A:  Haha! Is anybody?

And it's not like all the fun and anticipation is for the new parents.  Our friends and family have been winding up with excitement, too.  Especially our parents.

Or rather, E's grandparents.

It was a joy to watch them each meet E for the first time.  Everybody responds a little differently, but each with joy and satisfaction.  Our family has waited more than a little while to meet this guy.  (More on that later.)

He's also the first grandchild on both my side of the family and Tim's.

Yeah.  Spoiled much?  Not yet.  Give it time...

(We are two first born children bring home our own first born child.  I know there are studies about birth order and personality.  Was does this mean for our household of three??)


Here's the list of grandparents:

Grandma Jill (or Grandma A)

 This is Tim's mom.  Who is like my mom #2 since Tim and I began "going out" in middle school and dated through pretty much all of high school.  (I had a few irrational moments.  We won't go there...)  I loved watching her grin and smile the whole weekend she was with us in the hospital.  She was an emotional support to me and Tim both.  Look at her grin!  Does she care that the little guy pretty much slept the whole time?  Nope.  Not one bit.  Love it!

Grandpa Alvin

This is Tim's dad.  Also like a dad #2.  (See above.)  Not only was he excited to see his grandson, but he was a huge help to Tim while we were at the hospital.  Since we went into labor so suddenly, Tim had a house project he was working on that wasn't done yet.  Tim's dad and brother went to our home and finished everything while we were still in the hospital (with assistance from the family.)  My heart was touched not just by the help, but by watching how much his help touched my husband.  (If you haven't read the 5 Love Languages, you are missing out.)  At a point when I was essentially no help to my spouse, it did so much for my emotional strength to see others make sure he was okay.  Tim was spending all of his energy on me and E.  His family made sure some one took care of him.

Grandma Jantha (Whom I like to refer to as "Granny Mac")

This is my mom.  She was the first one at the hospital when we went into labor.  She was the first one to meet E.  She also was gracious to stay with us the first night we were home to assure us that we weren't doing anything to harm our newborn.  Plus, she took the morning watch when E woke up a little fussy the first morning home.  (Thanks for the sleep, mom!!)  She did the dishes before we came home and when she left I noticed she had done them again.  So grateful!!  When having a baby, there's just something about having your mom available for questions and support.  It makes me feel more comfortable to have my mom there.  And it's fun to get deep and philosophical and think, "This is what she went through with me!"  Love you, mom!

Grandpa Steve

My dad has been my hero in a lot of ways as I've grown up.  In some ways he's bigger than life - a former Marine, over 6 feet tall, and the brains and courage to create and run his own business.  I love how it doesn't matter how big your dad may seem or how tough.  When it comes to grandbabies, they all seem to melt.  My dad has been my champion through out life - calling to say I was doing good in school and to keep it up, that he was proud of me, to make sure everything was good.  Not only is my dad supportive of me, I love that he sends me texts that say things like, "Can I get a pic?  I need my Emmitt fix."  That and the fact that he is also a touch goofy.  This picture is really my favorite one of him and E.  Maybe of all the family pics:

See how much fun grandparents are?  And we're just a week old today!  I can't wait to watch our parents while E grows.  All of four of them have loved on us and loved on E.  They each mean so much to us - a lot in the same ways and each in their own ways.

So, to each of you grandparents -- We love you!  We wish you lived closer!  Thank you for loving us too!

Sincerely,
Tim, Stephanie, and E

Meet E

I am a planner.

Although, I tend to fill my schedule or to-do lists with more than could actually be accomplished in a day. Or in 9 months.

E arrived earlier than planned. At 36 weeks, my water broke and 13 hours later our little man arrived. The whole birth process was easy, thanks to an epidural. I was a little worried about how E might be affected by being almost 4 full weeks early.

When he was delivered the nurse, Becky, grabbed him from my chest after just a moment saying, "He's a little too limp" and commenting that she wanted him to make more noise. E was whisked away to the warmer where daddy went with the camera and I was left on the bed trying to pretend the doctor wasn't doing anything else in my nethers (placenta, stiches... uh!) I listened across the room as the nurses explained things to Tim the new dad. "His color is looking better already." "Do you see how his chest is moving? That's what we need to watch." After a few minutes, Becky swaddled E and carried him over for me to see.

See. Not to hold.

"We're taking him to the nursery. He's having a little trouble breathing," Becky explained. "A couple of breathing treatments and he should be just fine." When I asked how long he would be gone - I hadn't even held him yet - she said each treatment would only take 15 minutes. That seemed like both a short time and a long time. However, I wanted E to be able to breathe well and stay healthy, so away he went. Luckily, Tim snapped this photo of our little man before he left.

It was only 45 minutes before Becky wheeled E and his bassinet back into our room. I was in the middle of eating lunch, but quickly pushed the tray away to make room for my boy.  (Food has no meaning when you finally get to hold your brand new baby for the first time.)

The rest of the day was a blur of visitors, adventures into breastfeeding, and poor attempts to grab a nap between interruptions.

The next day we had a new, unexpected adventure with E. The nurses informed us that E's bilirubin levels were high and the pediatrician wanted him placed on bili lights. For some reason, this brought on the tears. I hadn't cried when E was born, I didn't cry when he was taken straight to the nursery before I could really see him. I did cry when I saw a bassinet that had lights in the bottom where the padded mattress used to be. E was to be velcroed inside, up to his chin, except when we were feeding him. This meant we couldn't hold him or love on him like we wanted. Or, more importantly, like I wanted.  My mother-in-law and husband gently reminded me that this was all to help E stay healthy and get rid of the little bit of jaundice he had. My mom's comment was that it was normal for many newborns. For me, the whole bili bed was just too much for my exhausted, emotional, hormonal brain. There was one benefit, beyond the medically obvious. We had ourselves a cute little glow worm.

Our hospital stay was extend by half a day so that E could have a full 24 hours under the bili lights. (Think of a tanning bed for babies that puts off light but doesn't give you a tan.) We were warned that he might need to go back under the bili lights, but that we could do this from home. Unfortunately, we found out yesterday that E did need the lights again.  I'll get to that later.  For today, I just wanted you meet the little boy who rearranged my end-of-the-school-year plans. Do I mind? Not one bit. Who could when the baby is this adorable?

Over and out,
Stephanie