2 Month Dr Visit

Well it went better than expected!

First things first: Jackson is officially 10 lbs 12 oz! Also, he is a little over 23 inches long. The Dr. said that he is in the 25th percentile for weight, 50th percentile for height, and the 25th-50th percentile for head circumference. Jackson had a great check up and Dr. Drew said he is just perfect. Jackson was SO good for the appt. and was just looking around checking things out.

At the end of the appt, the nurse came in to give him his shots. He got three shots and as soon as the first needle went in, he just looked to be in so much pain and started crying. His face turned beet red and he was so upset he could barely take a breath. But it was over as soon as it started and he calmed down almost instantly. I went ahead and nursed him right in the exam room afterward and he fell fast asleep. He seems fine now and does not seem like he is in pain at all...thank goodness! Lets hope that was the worst of it!! We are so proud of our big boy!

8 Weeks

Hope you enjoy the pics of Jackson from today. He is officially a little over 8 weeks old and a couple days short of being 2 months old...Time is flying! Tomorrow is his big dr. appt to see Dr. Drew (pediatrician) and Justin and I are both dreading having to take our precious baby for his shots. I hope he doesnt hold it against us too much :( His little frown still breaks my heart every time he is unhappy.

He has been doing great with this sleeping and gives us anywhere between 6-7 1/2 hours every night, which is great! He is also napping a little more during the day and has begun to like his swing again which gives me a little more of a break. He loves to be held a lot and to snuggle with mommy or daddy during naptime. We have also come to the conclusion that he is just not going to be a pacifier baby. He would take it for about 5-10 minutes at a time during his first few weeks, but now he wont take it at all. We have tried several different types, and he gets extremely offended when you put any of them in his mouth. If he is already crying and upset, you can FORGET trying to give him a pacifier, as it seems to make him even more mad! We are so fortunate that although he hates the paci, he will take bottles of pumped milk, usually from his daddy. He only gets an occasional bottle (about 2 per week) but he goes back and forth between the bottle and breast easily...thank goodness!! He is still exclusively on breastmilk and I plan to keep it that way for as long as possible. So far so good :)

We weighed him tonight and we both got 11 lbs even for his weight...We will have his official weight tomorrow and I am looking forward to that because I want to see how accurate our weight estimates are. He is definitely getting heavier to carry around. He is like a little piglet or butterball turkey! In the pictures above, he is wearing his "Leo" onesie, which was the very first baby purchase that Justin and I made. If you can read the small print, it says "born leader and loves the limelight"...I think that will be true!

I realize that every post is all about Jackson, so I will add that Justin and I are doing great! We are just enjoying every day of this new life and getting out a good bit. We try take Jackson out several times a week for picnics in the park, lunch out at restaurants, shopping, etc. We have already been for family walks on the Battery, Waterfront Park, Azalea Park, the County Park, and many others. Justin and I got to go out on our own to a friend's couples shower last weekend and it was strange to be alone, but really nice to get out for a little while with just the two of us. Still, we missed Jackson so much when we were out and thought/talked about him most of the time! :)

Well, I will try and do a short update tomorrow after his appt about how it went. Heres hoping that it goes better than we are expecting :)

7 Weeks

Here are a few photos of Jackson at a little over 7 weeks. I feel a little silly doing weekly updates, but he is growing so fast and I want to try to document all that I can. Justin and I are pretty sure that he is about 10 lbs now...big boy!! He is all smiles these days and loves to smile non stop in the mornings. He is continuing to sleep well, giving us about 5-6 hours each night, although occasionally he has nights where he wakes up early. I think this is related to gas because he will grunt really loudly until he wakes himself up and wakes up really upset. Luckily it doesnt happen too often though! Our days consist of reading ("Goodnight Moon" and "Guess How Much I Love You"), taking walks outside in the Baby Bjorn, singing (Jesus Loves Me and Counting Crows :), looking in the mirror, eating, taking short naps, tummy time, bouncing up and down, and of course diaper changes! Justin and I were a little sad yesterday because he wore his last newborn diaper...he is officially in size 1 diapers now. We took a picture of his last newborn diaper change! I am amazed at how fast he is growing and learning new things. Also, he is almost ready to sit in his Bumbo. He just needs a tiny bit more neck control, but he sat in it for a while today until he started getting tired.

Jackson is such a good baby. Justin and I both feel so blessed that he seems very healthy and happy so far. I have some friends that are dealing with a recent late pregnancy loss of twins and others that are dealing with infertility and it makes me hold Jackson a little tighter every day. I dont know or understand why these things happen to such wonderful people, but I trust that they will have this happiness one day very soon. I pray for that everyday! I am also very aware that Justin and I will blink, and Jackson will be graduating high school and that is why I try to hold on to every moment that I can and appreciate what a gift we have been given. And Jackson is truly the most perfect gift and a joy to be able to spend each day with :)

6 Weeks

Just look at that beautiful gummy smile! This week he has begun smiling at mommy and daddy several times a day and we now know that they are for us...which melts out hearts every time! He is all smiles when he gets his diaper changed and has also begun "talking" to us as well. His personality continues to come out more and more each day. He also seems to have found out how to make saliva and loves to dribble and blow bubbles with it now :) This week has stayed pretty routine with Jackson sleeping every night from 10-3 or 4 AM. Then I feed him and he goes back down from 5:30-7. We are so thankful to have been able to establish a nightime routine with him so early on. Again, during the daytime we are still not on any routine yet.

This week we have been having lots of "tummy time" and I swear the boy has such wonderful and strong neck muscles already. He loves to hold his head up and we have also been working on our leg muscles. We hold him up and he starts bouncing up and down! We estimate that he weighs about 9 1/2 lbs now. We weigh ourselves and then take our weight again while holding him and that is how we try and guess his weight. I know this is not entirely accurate, but it gives us a weekly basis of comparison. He is getting so long and tall! His head and feet touch the ends of the bassinet now, and he is quickly getting too tall for his newborn clothes. He doesnt really look too chubby, but we think its because he is getting so tall. I can't wait to find out his official weight/height at his two month appt in two weeks. At that visit he will also get his shots :( I know that is going to be such a hard thing for me to watch!

I am still working on getting pictures of Jackson and me together. My goal is to get some this week. Also, our wedding photographer is coming next week to take Jackson's newborn pictures. Then I can work on getting his birth announcements out. My 6 week checkup went great and I have been to the gym 4 times so far. It feels GREAT to work out again, especially doing ab exercises. I hope the pounds start melting off soon! It has been neat to see all of the people at the gym who last saw me at over 38 weeks pregnant. Justin and I have had a lot of people (many we didnt even know) ask us about the baby! Also for some exciting news, Jackson is going to have TWO more cousins! Both of my sisters-in-law are pregnant! We know that one is a girl, and we are excited to find out the gender of the other! Congrats Becca and Brooke :)

I know this sounds rediculous, but I sorta miss being pregnant. NOT that I am in any rush to get pregnant again soon, but I really enjoyed pregnancy. Now of course the last few weeks were challenging, but it was overall such a wonderful experience from the start of the pregnancy all the way through labor and delivery. I hope that we are blessed with a similar experience the next time as well (again, YEARS from now!) :) I hope you enjoy these most recent pictures of Jackson...I could stare at them all day!

5 Weeks

Sorry I am a little late with the 5 week update! I think that Jackson has definitely had a growth spurt in the last week because he has been feeding non-stop! Everytime I get a second to myself, it seems that he wakes up ready to eat again. This past week we put Jackson in his stroller and went for a walk down our street. We didnt get very far because we stopped to talk to several neighbors who were out and about, but it was so nice to show him off and to get out on such a nice night! This past week Jackson has continued to sleep for 5-6 hours at night. He goes down at 10 pm and wakes up about 4 am on a pretty consistent basis. Justin basically takes the nightshift and then I take over at 4 AM so that he can get some uninterrupted sleep. I still have to get up and pump around 2 AM, but that is ok. Our days, however, are not near as predictable. He doesnt really keep to a schedule during the day, but we are ok with that since he is giving us such great nights :) He also prefers to nap snuggled up against mommy and daddy now and has decided that he no longer likes his swing for very long anymore. It's amazing how quickly things change with a baby...you think you have some things figured out and then they switch it up on you! Jackson is still giving some of the cutest, gummiest smiles...but they are usually followed by gas (or EXPLOSIVE poos), so the verdict is still out on whether they are for us yet. He has also started to enjoy bath time a little bit more now. Tommorrow I am headed for my 6 week post-partum visit with my OB, and I am excited to get the go ahead to work out again. I have lost about 32 lbs so far, but my goal is to lose another 15. I want to get back to my wedding weight from 3 years ago. I think I can do it, especially since I am breastfeeding, which burns a good amount of calories. I just realized that I have very few pictures of me and Jackson together, so I am going to make sure that we get some soon! That would require me to put on make up, which only happens about every other day these days!! :) Hope you enjoy the new pictures of Jackson...we think he is plumping up nicely and we estimate that he is between 8.5 and 9 lbs. He is such a joy to be with everyday and we love him so much!

4 Weeks!

I can't believe that 4 weeks have already gone by since little Jackson entered this world! He is doing great and is giving us some good long stretches of sleep at night. For over a week now, he has given us no less than about a 5 hour stretch at night, and one night we got 8 hours! That was great, however, when he woke up he fed and fed...and fed until the afternoon when he finally got back to sleep! I was one tired momma that day! I am hoping that he is learning his nights from his days, and we are encouraged that he has been sleeping well at night for a couple of weeks now. This week he got a bit of a rash and some baby acne has appeared, but it looks to be clearing up a little bit. He has also learned how to cry even louder this week. When he gets really worked up (which is rare, thank God!), he can really belt out the cries and lets us know that he is unhappy.

We went on our official first outings with Jackson this weekend. We went to Charleston's Cafe for breakfast and then ran some errands. I got to go to the mall and do a little shopping, which was really nice! Jackson was an angel that day and slept through most of it, only waking up to feed and then falling right back asleep. Yesterday we went shopping at the outlets and then to Babies R Us. He did great at the outlets, but hated Babies R Us! He cried and cried until we walked out of the store and then he stopped immediately. I guess he didnt like it there! We were really happy with how our first ventures with him went and we are officially calling it a success.

It has been nice for me to get out of the house because I have slowly been going stir crazy staying inside all day. It feels good to be able to go for walks him now and get out among the living again. I am still averaging about 5-6 hrs of sleep at night because once he is up around 4 or 5 AM, he doesnt go back to sleep for awhile. Justin has been taking Jackson for an hour or two each afternoon/evening so that I can get good naps. I am so thankful for this!! I think this past weekJackson has seemed more alert and his personality is coming out more and more by the day. He loves to have diaper explosions while sitting with his daddy and seems quite amused with himself when it happens. His little face is getting chubby and is really filling out now. I have been catching more smiles from him lately even though they are not yet at me...I think its just gas at this point! But he definitely has Justin's mouth and my chin and his smiles are adorable!! He also does not like to get naked and cries until Justin offers his fingers for Jackson to wrap his baby hands around and it seems to comfort him...it is TOO cute! Also, Jackson has begun getting Wild man hair after naps and his hair has horns like his daddy. I will have to get a good picture of that and will hopefully post it next week! :) Happy ONE MONTH to our little angel!

3 Weeks

Jackson had his 2 week appointment earlier this week and he weighed in at a whopping 7 lbs 10 oz! At two weeks, they only wanted him to be back to his birthweight (6 lbs 9 oz), so his doctor was more than pleased with his progress and said he couldnt be doing better than he is. That made Justin and I feel great and reassured that our little "milk monster" is getting more than enough to eat! I can't say enough just how much we love our pediatrician. He is a wonderful physician and just seems to love baby Jackson so much! We can both tell that Jackson's face is filling out more and his little thighs are starting to fill out some. Also, he is trying to move his little head around and his neck muscles seem to be getting stronger by the day. For the past few days, when I burp him he keeps trying to lift his head and show off for daddy! Jackson also loves to stare at both of our faces, and also anything in the room that has a drastic color contrast, such as our brown ceiling fans against the white ceilings. His belly button is all healed as well, which means we have been taking baths! The umbilical cord stump fell off after only 8 days, and his circumcision is officially all healed. Bath time is always an adventure, and he does really well...until it is time to dry off. It breaks our heart to see/hear him crying and reaching out because he is naked and cold, so we work fast to wrap him up tightly in his towel!!

As for sleep, I miss sleep SO much! We really can't complain, though, because I think we are doing better than most. Here is his recent sleep schedule:

Wed night: 12-3

Thurs night: 12-4

Fri night: 11-4

The past few nights, we have woken him up and probably couldve gone a little longer to let him sleep. Im not sure how long this will last, but we are enjoying these longer stints of sleep while they last. I am thankful for these spurts of sleep, but he usually only goes back down for an hour or so before he is up for the day. So I have been awake at 6 AM pretty much all week. Then he doesnt really nap well in the mornings. The afternoons are the best for that and thats usually when I catch up on sleep. Justin usually averages 7-8 hrs a night, and I get about 6-7 (including daytime naps). Even though its broken sleep, I am thankful that we have not had anymore nights where we are up all night like we did in the first week. I am sure that will change when he cuts teeth or has growth spurts!

So thats week 3 in a nutshell. We stare at him all the time just amazed at how stinkin cute he is! After next week we will be able to take him out of the house and go for walks with him, etc. I am so looking forward to that!