Size two...

I had to put my little boy in a size two diaper today. I honestly found myself very sad about it. Everyone always says how fast babies grow and they are not kidding. He probably should have been moved up to size 2 a few weeks ago but I was having a hard time accepting that my little 6 pound 9 ounce tiny baby is now turning into a little boy, no longer a baby.  It really is amazing to see him change and grow and learn new things. I am so amused just watching him as he is exploring new toys and sounds and becoming stronger and more coordinated every day. He looks completely different from when he was born. It has been so exciting to see his face change and get even more chubby.

When we got home from me picking him up at daycare, he napped for about 15 minutes, which gave me just enough time to clean bottles and make some for tomorrow. I fed him some buzbuz (that's bottle for those of you who don't know Matt and I's baby language) and then we went and did some tummy time. He is getting better and better at it, and getting closer to rolling over. He really hated it for a long time. We would put him on his belly and he would scream bloody murder. We felt so bad but we let him fight it for a few minutes before we would pick him up. I think that putting him in his walker, the bumbo chair and putting him in his stroller the "big boy" way has helped him tremendously in developing this back and neck muscles. Again..he's growing up too fast.

After tummy time I fed him a little more bubba and then we hung out and talked. I took him back into the dining room to lay under his activity contraption. He was flinging his arms like crazy hitting all the things dangling and was even grabbing a few of them. After that he finished his bottle. I then put him in his bumbo chair on the dining room table. He got to try carrots for the first time tonight. He loved them so much that he ate half the container. It's been so fun watching him learn how to swallow his food.  Matt and I get such a kick out of it when he gets his hands under his bib and then tries to rub his face. He gets food all over his face! We laugh and he smiles at us or gives us the "what the hell are you laughing at?" look. He has some of the best faces.

He took a 30 minute nap before I woke him up to take a bath and put him to bed.  We had some snuggle time before I put him down in his crib. It is one of the best feeling having him lay on my chest. I love to rub my cheeks on his soft hair, sniff some of that baby scent in and kiss the top of his head. He is my perfect little angel!

I used to think it really sucked when Matt was at work for 24 hours but I have actually come to enjoy it. I get Brody all to myself! It's pretty tiring having to get up with him during the night, then wake up at 5:30am to get ready for work, then get him ready, drop him off at Barbara's, work a full day, pick him up from daycare, come home and spend time with him and play, try to get some bottles washed and made, feed him, put him to bed and then try to eat dinner some time after 8:30 or 9pm. Then I'm getting clothes and lunch ready for the following day. I then go to bed and do it all over again. The only difference is if it is a weekday, Matt picks him up in the early afternoon after he's gotten some sleep. Since Matt is now home from work, I have help in the evening. If it is a weekend, I get up with Brody in the morning and we go hang out downstairs so Matt can sleep if he was up all night at work. By this time I am flat out exhausted but it is so worth it. I am glad that Matt is able to be at home 3 out of 4 days during the week with Brody. I honestly don't know how people do it when both parents have 9-5 jobs. Life would be crazy...er. As tired as I am, I still enjoy my "alone" days with Brody. I enjoy getting up with him at night because it is that much more time I have to spend with him. I don't get to spend a lot of time with him during the week because of work so I now cherish the time I do have...even if it is getting up at 3am to feed and change him.

Going out to the bar and getting hammered used to be fun...Now, my idea of fun is goo-goo and gaa-gaaing at Brody and really anything else involving Brody! Wow...can you say LAME?! I'd much rather sit home on a Friday night and play mommy to that little boy than go out to a movie or hang with friends. People always say that I need time away from him and to go out and do stuff every once and a while. I think what people don't realize is I do do that..I go to work. I spend 11-12 hours a day getting ready, commuting and working. So call me crazy for having my priorities straight and wanting to spend time with my baby who is growing up too damn fast. I love him and want to spend as much time with him to see him hit all those milestones so I don't miss any more than I already have to from being at work. If I need to go out I will, I just choose not to. If that makes me a bad mom, then so be it. Once he's done hitting all the really exciting milestones like rolling over, crawling and then walking, I won't feel so bad about going out with friends and going on date nights more frequently.  Right now, it's more important to be at home.

Epic Fail

I had really high hopes of keeping this blog about Brody updated on a frequent basis but I have failed...epicly.  I usually post updates about him on Facebook but I need to quit that and use this instead.
Here's to try #2 on keeping up to date with everything Brody.  Ready...set...GO!

Umbillical Cord!

Sometime early in the morning on 4/27/11(Wednesday), Brody's umbillical cord fell off. We were changing his diaper and it was stuck to his belly. I can not belive how fast it fell off. I thought it would take a week or longer!  Yesterday we also took Brody back to the pediatrician for a follow-up weight check to make sure he was gaining back the weight he had lost. On Monday he was down to 6lbs 1ounce and 7 grams. On Wednesday he was back up to 6 pounds 5 ounces and 2 grams.  They said by his 2 week appointment that he should be back to his birth weight but I know that he will have gained more by then. He's been eating almost every 2 hours so he will be a little fatty in no time!!  Then maybe he will actually fit into his newborn clothes. I still can not get over what a tiny little turd he is.
After we left the appointment, we went back to Babies-R-Us to return his broken clock and got him a few new things.  After that we ran over to Home Depot to return 3 outdoor hoses that Matt had bought.  A day or 2 after he hooked them up outside they literally blew holes in them when we turned the faucets on.  We also had to buy some ant spray and hornet killer. We came home, I feed Brody and then my mom and I went to get pedicures. It felt amazing!! After we left the nail salon we ran to the grocery store to get stuff to make spaghetti for dinner. Yesterday was a busy day but it was nice to get out.  Time for me to get back to my little angel. He needs to be feed again!

4 DAYS OLD! 4/26/11

Today was full of breastfeeding and sleeping for Brody. He was having a hard time latching on the first few days so I was mostly pumping and bottle feeding him but now he really has it down. He latches just perfectly.  It's funny because the nurses and lactation consultants in the hospital told me to not be surprised if it took him about 5-6 weeks to really get the breast feeding thing down.  They said because babies learn how to suck and swallow in the womb at 36 weeks, he probably didn't have it down yet. They also told me it takes "normal/full term babies" about 4 weeks to really have breastfeeding established. Well I have news for you. At 4 days old he has it down. Take that!! I don't know how much more established you can be.
We gave him his first bath tonight. He only cried once we took his diaper off and cleaned his wee-wee and butt. We put a diaper on him right after and he quit crying. I can't believe how content he is all the time. He's not a fan of crying a ton, which is fine by me. I like to see him happy, although I have to admit he is cute as shit when he cries. He just looks so innocent.
Funny story about tonight. Matt brought him upstairs to change his diaper. He had pooped and peed. He got Brody all changed and clothes, socks, and mittens back on. Then he let out a huge fart. Matt said, "You have got to be shitting me! Did he just shit again?!" He checked his diaper. He had pooped a little bit in his diaper. No sooner had he put a new diaper on him, put all his stuff back on and layed him down on the bed and he did it again!! He went through 3 diapers in a matter of minutes. It was so funny. I thought I was going to pee my pants I was laughing so hard. Jon, Matt and I laughed for a long time.
I am so happy with being a mother. It's kind of funny to me how things used to gross me out and now it doesn't phase me. I don't get all freaked out if I get poop on my hands. It's funny how motherhood changes you.
Last night my milk came in. It hurt so bad. I could not pump enough to relieve the pain. I jumped in the shower to let the hot water run on me right after I pumped. I got out of the shower and I was dripping. I was so amazed that that is even possible. They were like faucets!! My breasts are not sore today so I am very thankful. Another funny thing about breastfeeding is how you leak when the baby cries. I don't leak any other time but once I hear him cry....it's like the faucets get turned on again. I'm learning so many new things everyday.  It's really amazing to me what a woman's body is capable of. From conception to child birth to producing milk. Absolutely amazing.
Tomorrow we go back to the pediatrician for him to get reweighed.  They want to make sure he is gaining weight now.  He was 6 lbs 9 ounces at birth and weighted 6lbs 1ounce and 7 grams yesterday(4-25-11).  The doctor said it was fine but wanted to see him gain a little of that back by tomorrow. I've been feeding him every 2 hours.  They said doing so would help him to gain the weight and help with jaundice. He doesn't have jaundice but the nurses basically told us that he 100% would get jaundice and to be prepared for it.  When we took him for his first appointment yesterday the doctor said he looked great at not jaundiced at all. I will be a little disappointed if he hasn't gained some of his weight back by tomorrow's appointment!
Time for the mommy to go to bed! Night!

My Labor and Delivery Story

So here's how the story goes....

On April 22, 2011 at about 1:45am I woke up and felt like I had diarrhea pains. I went to the bathroom and only had to pee. I could not poop. So I went back to bed. I woke up a little later with the same pain. Same thing. I peed but could not poop. After the third time of this happening I thought, "Shit, I think I'm having contractions. People said it feels like bad period cramping or diarrhea cramps. I woke up and decided that I should probably pay attention to these contractions since I was told to call my doctor if I had more than 4 contractions in an hour before 37 weeks. I was 36 weeks and 3 days. I waited till I had 6 and called the midwife at the hospital. She said that since I was so close to 37 weeks she wasn't going to consider it preterm labor. She also said once the contractions get about 2-3 minutes apart and I need the epidural to come on in. I called Matt, who was at work, and told him what was going on. He said that he wasn't going to leave work until they got a little closer together because they were so sporadic in the beginning. I agreed with him, especially since the pain was not bad at all, just uncomfortable. I had always heard women were in labor for hours and hours so I wasn't worried.  I called my mom and told her what was going on. The contractions started getting painful enough that I had to stop talking and breathe through them. My mom started timing them. The were about 4 minutes apart. I told her that I should start packing my hospital bags since we had not done that yet. She kept calling and texting to make sure I was okay. I would say by now the time was 3am. My mom called and again began timing my contractions. There were 2-3 minutes apart lasting 30-50 seconds. She was getting really worried and told me that I really needed to call Matt and have him come home and to go to the hospital. I told her that I didn't think the contractions hurt that bad and I was still feeling okay, but I did call Matt and tell him he should come home now. They were getting closer and it was the safest bet. He got a call as I was on the phone with him. He said he would hurry and leave work. An hour and a half later at 5am he was on his way home. By this time the contractions weren't just period crapping feeling. They were going all the way around my back and tightening the muscles. I was having a hard time relaxing and breathing through them now. I put my heat pad in the microwave and went to get my exercise ball to sit on. Matt called and said the highway was starting to get busy and that I needed to drive to the HOV parking lot to meet him to make sure we had enough time to get on the highway and not be in rush hour traffic. At this point I was running around the house like a madwoman putting our hospital bags in the car and grabbing the car seat. I went to the bathroom before I left and saw that there was some bloody discharge in my undies and in the toilet. My bloody show!! SHIT!! I ran out to the car and drove to the parking lot. It took me about 15 minutes to get there. Being in labor and driving is NOT fun by the way!! I got to the lot at 5:50. Matt was trying to rush me out of the drivers seat but I was in the middle of a contraction and I could not move. I was finally able to get out and I walked around the car to the passenger seat. We drove to the hospital and I was really in pain now. The contractions were every 2 minutes and lasted a good solid minute or more. I was making all sorts of weird noises and breathing weird. Matt was trying to talk to me and calm me down. After I finished the contraction I remember saying,"When I am having a contractions, I need you to shut the hell up and just let me make noises and breathe! I need you NOT to talk!!!" I know he was trying to help but I didn't want to be touched or talked to. I was trying to focus and get through the pain. I honestly can say the contractions were tolerable for me until Matt started driving. I think I knew that I had to remain calm and get myself to that damn parking lot. Once I had nothing else to worry about, all I had was the pain to focus on....and I will not lie..IT WAS REALLY HURTING NOW!! We arrived at the valet at the hospital. The attendant ran inside and got me a wheel chair. Matt grabbed our bags and wheeled me up to the L & D floor and to the registration desk. There were 3 other girls standing at the counter registering looking at me like I was crazy. One was a scheduled c-section and the other 2 "thought:" they were in labor. I want to say, "Bitch, if you can stand there and smile and talk with the nurses, YOU ARE NOT IN LABOR!!  Get out of my way" The put me in an observation room while Matt was checking me in. They were asking me my name, birth date, last menstrual period...etc. I was answering the questions, changing into my gown and trying to breathe thru the contractions. Finally the nurse said that the midwife was on her way in to check to see how dilated I was. She asked me if I was dilated at all yet and I told her that they hadn't checked me in the office yet. She walked out of the room to get the midwife. As soon as she walked out, I began getting a really, really bad contraction. I was so uncomfortable so I tried turning sideways. As soon as I moved. BAM!! An explosion of water!! I said "OMG Matt I think my water just broke!!" He pulled up the blanket and looked. "Ummm..yeah it definitely just broke" he said. He ran out into the hall to get the nurses. The midwife was putting her gloves on as she walked around the curtain. She asked me if I wanted to have natural child birth or get an epidural. I told her I definitely wanted the epidural. She then checked me and looked at the nurse with a worried look on her face. She turned to me and said "You are 8 cm dilated, you don't have time for one!" Of course I said, "WHAT?? Are you serious!? I need an epidural! I can't do this without pain meds!!" Matt's face looked worried. She turned to the nurse again and told her that we needed to get into a room right away. We had to go now. I knew by the look on her face that I was 10 cm and she could feel the baby's head. She just didn't want to say that and freak me out. The immediately grabbed my bed and started wheeling me down the hallway. Not 5 seconds later I started yelling. "I feel like I have to poop or push!!" They told me not to push but when you have that pressure down there, you can't help but push. It was the only response my body could do. I was pushing and I couldn't stop. We finally got into the delivery room and the midwife was putting on her robe and gloves telling me not to push and puff air out instead of push. I yelled "I can't!!!" I was pushing. I could not help it. They were all finally ready and told me to grab my legs. I physically was not able to grab them. I told Matt to grab my leg and the nurse grabbed the other one. The midwife said he was right there. Matt told me I was doing great and that he could see the baby's head. I thought they were kidding! They told me to do a big long push and I did. Matt said his head came half way out and them went back in a bit when I stopped pushing. The midwife told me to push really hard again and hold it. They all told me his head way now out. She told me to push slowly now while she rotated his shoulders. I pushed once more and he was born. They immediately threw him on my chest. I remember how blue he looked. I was really worried. He started crying after the rubbed him down a bit. They clamped his umbilical cord and Matt cut it. They then took the baby away to clean him up and suction him and do whatever else they do. I was still trying to breathe and get over the fact that I just had a baby. Holy crap I thought. I'm a mommy!  They said he was doing great and was perfect. I then delivered the placenta. That felt reallllllly weird. I ended up with a first degree tear so the midwife said she was going to give me a few stitches. I remember her doing it but I had sensory overload from everything going on so I didn't really pay attention to her or how many stitches I got. After about an hour and many fundal rubs, I got cleaned up and we got ready to go upstairs to the post-partum room.  I have to say, those damn fundal rubs hurt like a bitch!! I asked the midwife if I pooped at all. She said "just a little bit." I laughed and apologized. She said "Everybody does it. No need to apologize!"
The wheeled my upstairs and I finally got to really hold Brody. I just remember staring at him thinking, Matt and I made this baby. That is amazing! Of course I was so happy and relieved to finally be a mommy and not be pregnant anymore. I just was not one of those people who thought being pregnant was fun. It was uncomfortable and sometimes painful and of course gaining 30 pounds was not something I was in love with. I loved being able to feel him move around inside me and all those things but overall, it was not my cup of tea, but I'll do it again.  It was totally worth it!!  Overall, I really didn't think the whole experience was that bad. I would even possibly consider doing it natural again.  I think I have a pretty high pain tolerance.
Anyways, once we got upstairs, I got a really good look at him. I can not believe still how tiny he is. He's very long and skinny. I absolutely love him!!
That's how it all happened! I'm so glad that we made it to the hospital just in time. I can't believe we pulled up to the hospital at 6:10am and I delivered him at 6:35am. We barely made it. THANK YOU JESUS for letting us make it in time for for giving me a beautiful baby boy!! He is our perfect little angel! We could not be happier!

On a really exciting side note: 2 days after delivery 4/24/11, I weighed myself and have already lost 14 pounds!!! I only have 15 pounds of fat to lose to get to my prepregnancy weight. That is some great motivation for me!!

6 pounds 9 ounces - 22 inches long - born at 6:35am - 36 weeks 3 days

Day in the life....

Last night I was laying in bed watching "One Born Every Minute" on Lifetime. I was trying to fall asleep and just like any other night, Tyson starts snoring. I have no clue how it is possible for a dog to snore as loud as he does. I think he has sleep apnia!! I was trying to find something on my night stand to toss at him to wake him up so I could get some sleep. While I was trying to find something, Matt started snoring. I rolled over and looked at him to be sure it was him. I layed back down and just listened to the two of them snoring for about a minute. I started giggling. Then the giggling turned into laughing. Then the laughing turned into howling on my part. In a matter of seconds I was crying because I was laughing so hard. My laughing/crying ended up waking Matt up because I was so loud. I couldn't help it! Poor kid thought something was wrong with me. He was pretty pissed when he realized I was fine and I was just laughing. I had to go into the bathroom for about 15 minutes because I just could not stop. He asked me this morning what the laughing was all about. I told him the story and he too began to laugh. I asked him, "How's a pregnant girl supposed to sleep with you two?!"

Just some new purchases!

Some blankets, swaddling blankets, changing pad cover and valance. 

Mr. B's Bedding!