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!

2 Weeks Old!

Here are some pictures of Jackson at 2 weeks old! Things are going well and he is continuing to eat like a champ. Sleeping, however, is another story! We have our good nights and our bad nights, but on average he is feeding every 2 1/2 hours. The challenge arises in getting him back to sleep after feedings, and his favorite time to be awake is around the 4 AM-7 AM time...yay for mommy and daddy! ;) We have a pediatrician appt. this coming Wednesday and Justin and I are excited to see how much he weighs now. We are guessing around 7 1/2 lbs, so we'll see! Justin and I are still adjusting to this new life, but I think we are doing a great job so far. Today I went grocery shopping by myself...the first outing for me alone since giving birth and it was a strange feeling. It felt weird to drive, be away from Jackson, and to not be pregnant anymore. Justin has been doing such a great job in holding down the fort and keeping everything in order so that I can focus on feeding Jackson and sleeping. Justin also makes sure to get lots of time with Jackson and has already been peed on more than once. HA! But Justin and I make a great diaper-changing team! I am looking forward to when Jackson turns 1 month old and we are able to take him out of the house and do things with him. I am getting a little stir crazy staying in all day. There is only so much daytime tv and "price is right" that you can watch before you start to go a little crazy! Still, I wouldnt change things one bit and even at 4 AM when I feel like crying from lack of sleep, I am still thankful for every moment with our precious little baby! :)

Birth Story

OK, this post is promised to be a very long one! Last Friday (8/7) Justin and I went for my regular 39 week check up with my OB. All day long, my feet were SO swollen and Justin was calling me "baked potato feet". I have never seen my feet/ankles look so big in my life. When my dr. came in, Justin and I were joking with her that it would be fine with us if we needed to go ahead and have the baby that day. In reality though, we had just been planning our weekend and were fully expecting to have at least another week of preparation. Well, our dr. called our bluff because she said that I had protein in my urine, elevated blood pressure, and excessive swelling causing a diagnosis of mild pre-eclampsia. We were both shocked, as the pregnancy has been 100% uncomplicated so far and my dr. said that we would be delivering the next day. Im sure the look on our faces was priceless! She immediately sent us over to the hospital to be admitted overnight so that I could receive Cervidil in order to prepare me for labor the next day. One (of many) wonderful things about the time of this is that my dr. was the physician on call for the weekend! By the way, I was still 1.5 cm dilated and 70% effaced. Justin and I felt like two stooges wandering around the hospital in a fog while the reality of things was setting in! We had a wonderful nurse check us in and get us all settled into our room, answer questions, etc. Justin then went home to switch out cars, feed the kitty cat, and get our bags. He got back to the hospital and then they gave me the cervidil and also IV drip to slow some mild contractions that I was having, although I couldnt feel them. We settled in for the first (of many) loooong sleepless nights!

The next morning we began to induce labor bright and early at 7 AM. My dr. came in and broke my water (Ouch!) and started a pitocin drip. We also met our labor and delivery nurse, Kathy, who as it turns out, lives 3 doors down from us and we hit it off with her immediately. It was not long at all before I was hit with very HARD and painful contractions that got worse by the second. My mom and Meri arrived about that time to find me bawling my eyes out through each one. I was trying to hold of on an epidural until I reached 5 cm, but I gave in after an hour into labor. Boy am I glad that I did, because after I got the epidural, they checked me and I was at 6 cm!! I went from 2 to 6 in a little over an hour, so it all made sense why I was in such agony. After the epidural, everything was gravy. I felt in a complete state of relaxation and could not feel a thing. I stayed that way for a couple of hours until they came to check on me to find that I was a full 10 cm. I went from 6 to 10 in 2 hours! Then it was time to push. My mom and Meri left the room and 3 nurses came in to start the process. Pushing was not so bad until we were about 1 1/2 hours into it and my epidural began to wear off. I began to feel strong contractions again and was exhaused from the pushing. I should mention that Justin was ABSOLUTELY the best labor coach in the world and was calm, collected, and extremely encouraging throughout the whole process. At 2:17, Jackson decided to enter the world. He did have the umbilical cord around his neck, which was coincidentaly one of my biggest fears. In reality, the wrapped cord did not affect him at all and his heart rate never once dipped, so it was never a concern for us and there was never any real danger from it. When Jackson came out, he didnt cry much and the poor thing was getting spanked and slapped by the nurses to shock him into some good cries. We got a few, but they still wanted to take him to the NICU to check his oxygenation level, which came back at 100%...yay! Also, Justin got to cut the cord. The biggest thing I remember when I first saw him is how much smaller he was than I expected, and that he had a full head of dark hair! He was also so much more alert than I expected and was just looking around taking it all in. And of course, I was thinking that he was absolutely perfect and beautiful.

Justin and I were just in awe of him and Justin followed him to the nursery for his first bath and check up. Meanwhile I was getting stitched up from a 3rd degree episiotomy...(yikes!). Justin and the nurses brought the baby back to me to attempt to breastfeed, and after about 5 minutes I told Justin to "take the baby!" just in time for me to get sick, most likely from the whole experience and being weaned of the meds/magnesium. After that, the real fun began. Jackson and I were trying to get the hang of breastfeeding, and it was quite painful at the beginning but I soldiered through. Luckily we have both gotten the hang of it now! The next day (Sunday) Jackson's pediatrician came for a visit and to do the circumcision. Justin really took a lot of time to pick the perfect pediatrician, and he did a wonderful job picking a physician that he already knew and really respected. I can tell that our pediatrician thinks the world of Justin, as he was SO excited when he walked in and saw that it was us. He told us that we made his day. The funny thing is that our pediatrician was the one on call that weekend, and he just got his hospital privileges a few days before the birth....crazy! Also, as an interesting side note, Jackson's doc is also an assistant priest at an episcopal church in the area. He did the circumcicsion right before he put his priest collar on to head to the church. The best way that I can describe him is that he is just like Edward Norton's character in the movie "Keeping the Faith".

During our hospital stay, Jackson was the only baby born that day and the L& D floor was slow, so we got so much attention from a wonderful staff of nurses who will always hold a special place in my heart for really helping me to get thing hang of this mommy thing/breastfeeding. Also, in addition to Justin, my mom and Justin's mom have been a big source of support and comfort these days by taking care of us. The thought of coming home with Jackson seemed a little overwhelming at times, but for some reason, just knowing that the nurse who helped deliver Jackson is a few doors down (and only works weekends) gave me such peace. Yesterday we passed her house and she was outside grilling with her family and it made me happy to see her again. Also, we have a friend who is a pediatrician who lives 10 doors down, so that is completely comforting as well. He and Jackson's pediatrician have both given us their personal cell phone #s if we need them for anything...how cool is that?! As for Jackson, he hardly cried at all during those few days and has continued to be a pretty peaceful baby. We came home on Monday and got Jackson all settled.

The past few days have been a blur! We have had one night where he seemed gassy and cried what seemed like forever. That was a trying night, but we all got through it together. In my opinion, Justin was born to be Daddy, and has been the most supportive husband/father that anyone could ever ask for. I honestly dont know how anyone does this alone. The rest of the nights have been pretty good and he is feeding on a somewhat regular 3 hour schedule. The breastfeeding is going great, and he is a champ at that already! We had to take him to the pediatrician yesterday because he started having some yellowy discharge from his eyes, which turned out to be a very common blocked tear duct. It should clear up in a few days on its own, and he got a clean bill of health. When Jackson was born, he was 6 lbs 9 oz. When he left the hospital he was 6 lbs, 2 oz. At his visit yesterday, he was 6 lbs, 10 oz!! The pediatrician said he is a little rockstar feeder and he got a gold star for his progress. You know if theres one thing that I fully expect our baby to excel at, it is eating!! :) HA!

Anyway, I am feeling more refreshed today after a decent night's sleep last night. The past week has been completely exhausting for us, but we are definitely getting into somewhat of a groove. As I said before, Justin has been running around making sure that me and baby are comfortable and happy and he has been reminding me to eat as well. I have dropped 24 lbs in a week!! Its amazing how this little guy is calling all of the shots right now! We love holding him, changing his diaper, giving him a bath, playing with him, and just staring at this little gift from heaven. We still can't believe that he is ours and that we had such a wonderful experience bringing him into the world. All of the little pieces came together to make his birth a perfect memory.

I am slowly in the process of getting back in touch with people and adjusting back into the real world. People arent kidding when they say these first few weeks are survival mode, but we are doing great and looking forward to what each new day brings. Jackson is officially one week old today and is the biggest blessing of our lives!!