Picture!

From Baby 5th Month

This pic was taken the night we saw him do this. I am so glad we got his picture since I can never catch pictures of him getting his feet!! Oh and I try let me tell you! Click the pic to see some more new ones.

More New Things!!

As I have said so many times it seems one or more of these new things pops up everyday. I guess it is not quite EVERY day but the new things he starts he gets better and better at every day for sure.

In the last post I forgot to mention that he’s been touching faces. Not just mine and Daddy’s but he is starting to touch other people’s faces too. He really likes my mom’s face I think because she wears glasses and they are pretty. She’s already training him to not grab the glasses but to look!

He stomps his feet when standing, especially his right foot. I think he just gets excited and it’s like when he kicks while laying down on his back!

He’s grabbing his feet when he is on his back now too. Just started this a couple of days ago and now that he’s found them he doesn’t want to let go, even when mommy is trying to change a diaper! They aren’t going into his mouth just yet but I am quite sure they will, everything else does!

He is practicing sitting on his own! I stick him in front of his boppy pillow and he can actually balance himself for quite a while unless he sees something to reach for! Most often he rolls on to his back to grab his toes! It really is nice that he can entertain himself for some time with no toys whatsoever!

His humming has decreased, sadly and with no mention of “mama,” but he’s picking up new noises still. And they seem to vary day to day. He still does his “Gggggg” some and is still humming a small bit, I think he does it when he is hungry, maybe he’s trying to say “milk!” But he is also doing some good A sounds, “Ahhhh,” “Aaaaaa,” and “Ah-aa-ah-aa-aa-aa.” Still doing his high pitched squeal when very excited and that one is usually reserved for when he is standing and especially when he is looking at his daddy!

I think he tries to wake Daddy up already. We’ve talked about how someday when Daddy lays on the couch to “think” that Andrew will come running and jump on him. Well, fortunately Andy can sleep through baby noises most times because right now Andrew will sit or stand on my lap and look over at his sleeping Daddy and just squeal and holler, and I swear he’s trying to get his attention. The other night Andy half woke up, he doesn’t even remember this, and he looked at Andrew and smiled. Well, that just fueled the fire and Andrew was squealing and calling for him even more!

Still growing! Thankfully his Aunt Sandi gave us his cousin’s old clothes that are size 12 month mostly because that seems to be what fits him best, especially when he is in cloth diapers. Today he is wearing a 6 month size and it actually fits, snuggly, most of his 6 months things are ready to be put away, but he is wearing a plastic diaper because all his covers are in the washer.

He started crying at his Grandpa, Andy’s dad! I think it may have just been circumstantial, but it was funny, cute and sad all at the same time. He used to laugh at Grandpa but Grandpa has always come here. The last two days we were at a funeral for Andrew’s Great-Grandmother Binford and there were a lot of people there and he isn’t around big crowds like that often, Wal-Mart doesn’t count, and whenever his Grandpa tried to talk to him, he would break out in screaming cries! Poor Grandpa was a bit heartbroken. Hopefully he’ll try to visit us here before he has to go back out to work so he can see Andrew smile in his own home! Grandpa wasn’t the only person he cried at but he was the only person he cried at every time!

2 days ago Andy and I were getting dressed in the bedroom and I'd put Andrew on the floor on his tummy to play. When I looked down at him I noticed he had pushed up on his hands and straightened out his arms! I've never seen him do that before but ever since then he's done it every time he is on his tummy! He's so strong! Getting ready to crawl maybe?

He’s started giving me hugs and kisses. This is of course my favorite new thing! I will hold him up to me and hug him and tell him I am hugging him and sometimes he will wrap his arms around my neck and squeeze back. I always thank him for my hugs and I usually can get one or more a day! He also will plant big old slobbery open mouth tongue kisses all over my face. Daddy doesn’t get them as often as Mommy just yet but I am sure the time will come when everyone will get their fill of Andrew kisses! Except Mommy, who could never get enough! :D

Another new thing is he is rubbing his eyes when sleepy. He’s been doing this for a little while now but it is becoming my biggest clue that it is time to start settling him down. We still put him to sleep in his bouncy seat more often than not. I am sure he has outgrown the weight limit on it since his butt hits the ground now! But he still loves it so what are we to do. Just because he is the size and weight of some one year olds, he is still only 4 and a half months old and needs to be treated like a baby!

New Things

It has officially been over one full year that this blog has been in action. Thank you to all of you who stop here to check in on us, it means so much to me to feel so loved!

I wanted to tell you all a few of the new things Andrew is doing lately.

His vocal repertoire has grown quite a bit in the last weeks. He recently added a hard G sound, “g-g-g-g-g,” and I have been singing to him songs using the words Goo-goo and Gaa-gaa since it almost sounds like what he says! Yesterday he added even one more sound, he started humming. “Mmmmmm.” I am convinced it is because he is about to say Mama! He hummed all day yesterday! He’d go up and down, “MMMMmmmm. mmmmMMMM.” And when he does it he pulls his lower lip in slightly and pooches out his upper lip a little. Mmmmmmmm

He’s also been quite the drooler. I am sure he is starting the teething process but not sure how far we are from any teeth. He hasn’t seemed bothered with discomfort but that may mean it won’t bother him! Some kids just aren’t bothered by teeth. I know babies don’t know how to swallow their spit and he’s been drooling for a while now but it seems to have increased a lot as of late, and he can soak through 2-3 bibs a day.

He is getting quite good at grabbing. He gets lots of practice! Though it often takes him a few tries to get what he’s reaching for. He is getting better and sometimes he can catch it on the first grab! And objects have become more likely to make it into his mouth. For a while there he would turn his hand when he brought it to his mouth so that it was his own hand and not the object he’d bite, but now he actually bites the object more often than his hand. Especially it seems if it is a toy he is familiar with.

His exersaucer toys stand no chance! He bends and pulls on them as best he can! I swear there are two that will break any day now! I doubt it seriously, I am sure it is built to withstand such abuse but it sure does get pulled to its limits!

He is also into banging his toys. This is very recent. He will just whack them on whatever surface is closest, usually his exersaucer, but sometimes the floor or even last night at a dinner table!

Still quite the kicker, which I love. His little chubby legs get going to town! On his tummy or his back he will kick like crazy.

Not too interested in rolling over though. I keep trying to tell him if he rolls he can get somewhere but he’d usually rather cry. I know I am supposed to let him get frustrated but I am not sure how frustrated. I can’t take it for very long! And our floors are cold so I don’t like to leave him down there too long anyway! At least I have seen him roll over several times so I know he can do it.

When we were out last night, it was a fundraising event in our town by the local Mason group, he was sitting at the table in his Bumbo and people were all commenting on how well he held his head up! I am surprised by that. He’s been holding his head up for a long time, and I did too when I was a baby. I just assumed most babies do that well by 4 months, but I guess not. Which makes me feel much better about the whole rolling over thing! He must be not only on target but maybe even ahead!

Still sleeping really well through the night, 10-12 hours waking only a few times to eat and not even really waking for that! It took us a little over a week to completely recover from the shots and get back on this schedule and mommy was getting pretty tired but now that my sleeping baby is back I am back too! I try to get up about an hour before he does so I have some time to get all the way woken up. It’s been nice having some time to myself too. But I tell you what, I sure am ready for him to get up by the time he does! I miss him!

Make sure you check out the webalbum in the Holiday folder. We took some pictures on Valentine's Day!

From Baby Holidays

4 month check-up

Andrew is such a big boy! Like we didn’t already know that but the doc confirmed it for us. He weighed in at a whopping 19 lbs and 8 oz, and measured 26 ¾ inches long. I knew he was big for his age because he no longer fits comfortably in 3 -6 month outfits. He can wear some 12 months though they are long on his legs but fit his waist.

Some may say it’s the breastfeeding. Like breastfed babies are just somehow bigger. Not completely true. Healthier yes, but bigger? Not always. I am a member of a breastfeeding mommies message board and there are some mommies that exclusively breastfeed as well and have 9 month olds that are much smaller than Andrew! I think it’s in his genes. His Daddy was a hefty sized baby. Andy and I are both pretty tall humans though I think we are more on the new average. Andrew is just going to be a big human. So good! I will just never buy him clothes brand new because he’ll outgrow them before he can wear them more than twice!

I had about a billion and one questions for the doctor. The last visit I had no questions but he’s gone through so many changes since then. I just wanted all his baby parts generally checked and okayed. He gets congested and has a lot of earwax so I wanted her to check all of that, and he is, of course, fine. He might have had a touch of eczema on his arm but it has cleared up with a little cortisone that she recommended so I am going to keep an eye out for another occurrence. And I am still hoping that isn’t what it was. Eczema often means there is a food allergy and those are a bummer to deal with. It is unlikely Andrew has any since Andy and I both have none though so that’s encouraging.

I asked her if we could take him swimming in a pool since he seems to enjoy swimming in the tub so much. Her only things were to make sure the pool was heated and that he didn’t drink the water! So we will start looking in to that soon. It has been awfully cold here lately and I am not interested in swimming.

I also discussed with her my plans to delay solids. Some pediatricians tell moms to go ahead and start giving rice cereal at about 4 months old. Well, the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) actually recommends waiting a full six months before starting any solids to help prevent food allergies from forming. And especially breastfed babies to give them even more of the breastmilk benefits for longer. Babies will often nurse less when they start solids. And it is a myth that cereal helps them sleep through the night. More often then not it upsets their tummies and makes it harder to sleep. Anyway, enough preaching, sorry. She was totally on board with me delaying as long as I wanted. I said six months she said sounds good, I said maybe later even she said sounds good! I am glad I didn’t have to butt heads with her over it. But I think there is zero concern about Andrew’s weight gain! I just want to make sure he can sit upright on his own without propping to be completely safe.

I also talked with her about skipping rice cereal all together. By the time he does get solids it shouldn’t be necessary to start him on cereal because his intestines will be more ready and she said great! I want to start him on spinach mixed with breastmilk since it is high in iron and will help any iron stores he is depleting by then. I do read mixed results about iron stores in babies. Some say they get plenty from breastmilk and it is more absorbable than any other form and some say they can deplete. Who knows. I am well above the norm in my iron levels so I am not worried about my breastfed baby!

The sad part was the shots of course! We hate it. And the nurse that took care of him seemed very inexperienced and may not have even been a nurse but a medical assistant. And Andrew is big and squirms so it was hard for her to get him still and she took a lot longer than the last lady to get all four shots in. Then he was just yucky for about 2 days. No fever, no real symptoms, just sad and crying and needing to be held. So he got held! He also got his first doses of Tylenol. They really seemed to help him feel better but it was still a full two days before he was back to his normal happy smilie self.

I was so grateful to have him back yesterday too because Andy was sick! He was actually sick the day before too so I had a sick Daddy and a sick baby! But at least Andrew got better and then I just had a sick Daddy. Andy spent most of the day in bed and is feeling all better today. I said I need a normal week next week, no one is allowed to be sick! I was so tired from Andrew not sleeping well but I am recovered also.

So we are all back to normal today and planning to have a much needed fun family day together!

4 Months Old Today

And one year ago today I took the test that told us we'd be having our Little Andrew. Such a great day to celebrate!

The last entry of 4th month pics have been added to the photo album!

From Baby 4th Month

Don't miss them!

I will start a new album for his fifth month tomorrow and it will start with the pics we take today on his 4 month birthday!

Just So Busy!

This one will be brief because my time to sit still for extended periods seems to be slowly coming to an end. Our Little Mister, not so little anymore btw, is becoming quite the busy bee! He has rolled over a few times but not into just rolling around yet or anything. But he does not like to sit still! He used to just sit on my lap while I played online or worked and would be content just to be close to mommy and look about a little bit. Not anymore! Even from the moment we first get up in the morning, and believe me I am in no shape for playing first thing in the morning, he is raring to go! I can’t just set him in his bouncy anymore and talk to him or read to him from the internet. He is always looking over my shoulder when I hold him now for something to do, looking at his toys or at the cats. He doesn’t like to be on the floor on his tummy for long, but I feel like even when he starts to get frustrated, I should leave him so he can learn to go, you know, be motivated to move. Not that I want him to hurry!

I feel like my baby is growing up now that he doesn’t want to be babied so much anymore. He spends most of his time in his exersaucer playing or playing with one of us on the floor. He always wants his toys or just any old thing I give him that’s new (box of Jello perhaps?) or he loves some peek-a-boo and getting tickled with “goochie goochies.” Oh we are having a ton of fun! He giggles and talks so much now! He has all kinds of things to say.

I am actually excited for his to become mobile now though I am not in any rush just because I know how much he is going to love exploring! I’ve been thinking of cleaning out drawers in the living room and filling them with things he can get into and explore. I already moved everything around in the kitchen so he can get into all the lower cabinets with no dangers and can pull everything out and inspect it all.

Well, he just pooped so I must go!

Something New Everday

Wow, what an amazing trip this has been so far and we are just getting started! It already feels like the days just fly by. I cannot get enough of my son! I want to hold him and play with him pretty much all the time. I have to make an effort to put him down to let him do some alone time playing and get his naps!

It feels like everyday he starts a new thing. His newest thing which he has been doing for a while now but he’s really picking up at it is standing. He LOVES it! And now when he stands he makes more noise than in any other position. He high pitched squeals and coos and laughs and just jabbers on while I hold his hands and he stands.

He is also pulling his feet up more when lying on his back. He grabbed one with his hand the other day but hasn’t since. I know he will soon figure out how to get those precious toes of his into his mouth!

He’s rolled over twice in the last week. Not that I’ve actually seen him do it! He isn’t much of a show off yet, but don’t worry I’ll be teaching him to be!

The first time he rolled over, I set him on the floor in the living room on his tummy with a toy to look at and grab at. I went to the kitchen to get something and I heard him start a little bit of fussing. Nothing major so I let him fuss while I finished what I was doing. He sounded frustrated. Then his fussing turned into all out screaming and I came back to check. He was no longer on his tummy but on his back! He didn’t seem too happy about it at the moment though. We do have hardwood floors so he might have hit his head a little when he rolled. He is of course fine.

The second time I put him on the floor in his room on his tummy after a diaper change in the morning, this was yesterday. I went to his cabinet to get him an outfit and when I came back he was on his back smiling up at me! I had turned for not more than a minute! When I tried to put him on his tummy to get him to do it again while I was looking, he would have no part of it. But at least this time he seemed happier with the results.

I am glad I put him on the floor! Though I have read they learn to roll in one direction only first and it can take a while before they learn to go the other way and do a full roll. Still I will not be walking away from him on his changing table.

The other night I put him on his back on the floor in the living room on his super soft Pooh blanket from his Aunt Clair and put his play gym over his head. Andy and I were watching a show on his computer and I looked down to check on Little Mister and he was on his side twisted all up in the gym and trying to get his toes!

I swear the time is drawing near where we will not be able to take an eye off of him for a moment!

He still loves playing in his exersaucer and has gotten good at spinning himself around to look at whatever side he wants. Since he likes standing so much this is one of his favorite spots. He also likes sitting in his Bumbo especially barefooted and staring at his toes. Did I mention how cute his toes are?

He in his bouncy seat right now next to me and just woke from a very brief nap. And he is now kicking my foot that is bouncing him and cooing and squealing trying to get my attention. If I look over at him and say hi he tenses with excitement and smiles and throaty laughs. Such a sweetie.

I have started actively signing to him when we do things to help him learn to communicate to us sooner. The only one he has really picked up on so far is the one I made up. I take both hands a make a come here type movement with all my fingers at once and ask if he wants me to get him before I pick him up. I do it a couple of times then I pick him up. He has just started lifting his arms for me when I do this so I think it is working and he understands. Soon he’ll be making the hand signal to me when he wants to be picked up!

We see the doc on the 7^th so we’ll get an official weight then and I want to ask her about taking him swimming. There is an indoor pool in Denton and I’d love to get him in it!

Only For This Day

At this age in a baby’s life they change so much so fast. He really seems bigger everyday when we wake up. He seems to learn some new thing everyday. He has a new noise everyday.

Now I don’t want to slow his process or development or anything but I am afraid that despite his great new standing skill, he may be a little slow to walk or crawl. Why you ask. Well, because I don’t want to put him down! I do put him down a lot through the day but he spends the most time I think just in my arms chilling. We chill at the computer reading, or in the recliner watching TV or Daddy’s computer or Daddy playing a video game. But I just like snuggling and holding him close.

I know too may parents and they all say the same thing, “They grow up so fast,” “they don’t stay little long,” or “enjoy him while you can!” I have listened!

Oh sure we’ll have another kiddo someday, hopefully a few more! But none will ever be the first. And all will be special and individual and none will be this one. And I want to enjoy this one, just as I hope to enjoy each of them, while they are little and will let me hold them while chilling out.

Yeah, the laundry basket is full and there are dishes in the sink. They can wait! This little baby is going to grow again by tomorrow and I need to enjoy him today!

He’ll only be 3 months and 4 days old for one day you know! I don’t want to miss it!

I’ve also been doing some thinking about him being the first and the troubles that brings.

I know babies. I’ve worked in infant care plenty. I also read from the experts as well as from other moms. But I still get lost tons of times. All kids, just like all of us big people, are different. And what happened with and what works for one may not be the same for the next.

Now because of this a lot of times Andy and I feel like we are fumbling through the dark trying to take care of this baby. I already find myself thinking, “On the next one I’ll be sure to do X like this or that.” And just the things I have learned that will carry me through to the next child we have.

But there are many advantages to being the first. One, he is probably going to be the only one of our children with a normal name! This one was for you grandparents so get ready for us to get crazy on the rest of them! Also, since we don’t have a ton of money (and people with multiple kids seldom do or can), we will have to do the old hand me down business. Which means Andrew may be the only one who gets new things a lot of the time and then he’ll give his old books and toys and clothes to his younger siblings! He’s also the only one who gets this alone time with mommy and daddy. Though he may not realize it terribly or remember it later, he will be the only one that didn’t have to go through his infant months with some other child around.

Speaking of other children:

The cutest thing happened today. Andrew has been around other kids so rarely. I think Christmas was his first real awake experience with other kids. The times before he was under 2 months and not totally aware. Today we went to a pal’s home quite a distance from ours so that when we go there we stay the whole day. This pal’s younger sister had come to the house for a visit as well and brought her son. We’ve all been friends quite some time but the last time I saw her and her son I was pregnant so I was really looking forward to catching up. The boy’s name is Riley. He’s a cute kid! But he is startled easily, a little sensitive I guess. Andy even startled him once several months ago when I was hardly pregnant.

Well, today Andrew was hanging out with us and checking out the place. He’d been there before but it’s still all new to him and there were many more people this time than last. He was introduced to Riley and Riley to him. Riley seemed to really like the baby! Then our friend, Riley’s uncle decided to play a little chase with Riley through the halls and ended up scaring him pretty badly. It was cute though. Until Riley started crying. And then Andrew hearing Riley crying got upset and he started crying! It was too cute! Andy and I took Andrew into another room and we’d get him calmed and then he’d hear Riley crying from the other room and he’d start again. Or they’d get Riley calmed and he’d start up again when he’d hear Andrew! It was so funny I couldn’t stop laughing which of course makes me feel bad. But how cute is it that the babies kept crying for each other!

Andrew was also very tired, and in a new place and excited, he didn’t want to go to sleep. It ended up taking quite a long time to get him clamed down and to sleep but once he was there he was good to go. And Riley kept wanting to go to the other room to see the baby! He’d ask, “Can I go see the baby?”

I am enjoying our son as a baby and every day that we have him but I also look forward to the days when I can teach him and talk with him and play with him. Andy looks forward to all of this as well, but mostly he can’t wait to wrestle!!

Check the photo album, 4^th month added!

18 Pounder

No I’m not talking about some giant fish we caught on an outing in a boat. I am talking about my favorite baby, Little Andrew! Well, Little? No not really!

We went to my mom’s home last night for dinner and a computer check up and while we were there I was anxious to get Andrew on her scale. Andy did the weighing this time and with two steps on the scale, one was 19 pounds and one was 18. Yes, he is barely 3 months old, I swear!

He is fitting comfortably in most 6-9 month clothing however.

I fear this may cause him some struggles as he grows because many people will think he is older than he is. They will then expect him to be at a certain maturity and ability level which he is not. These are challenges we will all face together!

He is however not just big, tall and mildly chunky, but also quite strong! He can stand on his feet, sometimes his toes, sometimes his toe knuckles (as Daddy calls them!) with only holding on to my fingers. His little fat knees support him for quite some time before collapsing. And he really seems to enjoy it. He’ll stand on your lap, on the floor, anywhere someone will hold him up for it.

It will be very hard for me to not start giving him solids before 6months, which is my goal! He seems so interested in watching us eat. I do try and encourage that behavior by eating right in front of him and dramatically chewing and taking bites and things.

Though I am sure I do not have to worry about his eating! I have a feeling as soon as he gets his hands on some finger foods, he’ll know exactly what to do with them!

I’m still not sure what his first food will be. It will not be cereal as some recommend. Upon further research I have found that baby cereal contains little health benefits and nutrition. The iron in it is not as absorbable as the iron in meats, it is no gentler on the tummy that vegetables, and it contains less fat and calories than breastmilk so he should really get more of that than cereal. Foods in the first year are more about play and experimentation than nutrition anyway, he gets plenty of nutrition from his mommy milk, obviously!

But as for the first food he does get, I have always thought spinach. It is one of my favorite vegetables and I will mix in breastmilk so it has a sweetness and familiarity to it. I plan to make all our own baby food. Most of it will just be what we’re eating smashed up eventually anyway. And I have heard those jar foods just don’t taste good and are poor representations of the real thing! Besides, I have the same blender my mother used to make my baby food, so it is meant to be!

Aside from his new standing trick he is also a great kicker! He likes to kick his bouncy seat Kick and Play even when there are no toys on it. Just when he is being talked to! And oh yes, he talks back. You can certainly tell his Mommy and Daddy talk to him. He is trying very hard to speak. And he kicks in the tub on his tummy and on his back. We are trying to get him to splash the water with his hands and his feet. Something we may just regret someday!

But as usual poor Andrew, he is the first. We will make many “mistakes” and mishaps with him as we figure this whole parenting, baby taking care of thing out.

He has also found out that his fingers taste good. He isn’t a thumb sucker, but a finger sucker. Usually the first one and sometimes two. He’ll even turn his hand when he grabs things to put in his mouth so it is his own hand going in to his mouth instead f the toy he’s grabbing!

I am so proud of him for grabbing and putting things to his mouth though. It is a big milestone and it will be very important for his development and understanding of the world around him.

His hair has yet to fall out but I am still waiting. I love his hair. We wash it every day even when he isn’t getting soap because he gets so sweaty and it gets greasy. But it is so super soft and fun to pet and he seems to enjoy it when people gently stroke his hair.

He is such a beautiful baby if you ask me! I may be a bit biased, I don’t know, hard to say for sure, but I think he is precious and handsome!

I have put more pictures on our album and have a few more to add to his 3^rd month but we should be starting his 4^th month very soon. I have pictures from his 3 month old birthday that we’ll start that one with.

Happy New Year!

I started this yesterday and finished it today. It is long since I have been neglecting my updates so I apologize for both things. Hope you all had a merry Christmas and have a happy safe New Year!

Andrew’s first Christmas was awesome! We went to Andy’s dad’s side on Christmas Eve for the traditional Goin celebration. It was a hard one this year being the first without Granny, the mother of the 6 siblings that are now becoming grandparents. But it was a happy one too to have Andrew as the new baby and to find out one of our cousins is pregnant again and we’re getting another boy in Andrew’s generation. No girls yet, they have all been boys.

Andrew was so good. He was tired but he let people hold him and he nursed in the downstairs bedroom no problems. Grandmomma was there with us for the first year and she enjoyed time with him more than meeting new relatives! She played with him on her lap several times while he looked at tree lights and the older kids playing with their toys.

It was his first time to see other babies, though the other babies were all over one year old they seemed quite interested in each other.

I hope we don’t have to wait a whole year to see them again!

He even took a short nap on Grandmother Lorna’s shoulder. It is so funny to see her with Andrew. He’s her first grandson and she seems to go right back to what she did with her youngest son and just bounce him and rock back and forth with him. It worked and he slept for about 20 minutes and was good to go for another hour after that!

Then that night Grandmomma stayed with us in Sanger and we all opened our presents to each other. Andrew was awake for most of that. He went to sleep without a bath that night too.

We were so anxious for the next morning and still processing through the evenings events that I think Andrew was the only one who got much sleep that night! I fell asleep before Andy though.

I got up with Andrew a little after 6 so he could spend some time with me and Grandmomma and get in a nap before going to Grandmother and Granddaddy’s for Christmas morning.

We had fun and opened stockings and got Andrew all dressed up in his cute little Tree jammy’s from Grandmother before we left.

He did take a short nap at home and one in the car on the way there. He even slept through it when we drove past a farm where a calf had gotten out of the barbed wire fence. Andy pulled over and turned around. It could have been very dangerous for a driver had the calf wandered in to the road! It is a very curvy 2-laned back road. So Andy “Ya-ed” the calf until it ran back through the hole in the fence. Then he scared all the cows back away from the fence so they might not try to get out again. At least not right away. It was chilly and windy and Andy had a good time doing it anyway!!

Then we got to Grandmother’s and Andrew was still so sleepy. He wanted to spend time with Grandmother and Meema though so he didn’t want to sleep right away! Grandmother tried to put him to sleep in her room but he needed to just be rocked on his own. We didn’t have his trusty bouncy seat with us but she has an infant carrier that he likes to lay in too. I put it by me at the kitchen table and rocked him and he fell asleep pretty quickly. He even slept through his cousins (2 and 6) coming over very excited and yelling.

We all enjoyed Granddaddy Ken’s famous Christmas breakfast. We look forward to it every year!

Then we moved to the living room for gift time. There were so many presents under the tree, they weren’t even under the tree!! Andrew woke up for a short while and sat in his bumbo and looked at a few of his gifts. Then he got hungry so I sat in a couch corner and fed him under a blanket while his Daddy opened gift after gift after gift from his grandmas for Andrew! Andrew eventually fell back asleep and nothing we did would wake him again. He slept through pretty much the whole present opening!!

Grandmother and Granddaddy and Meema gave Andrew so many gifts! He got tons of toys and clothes and things. I am still un-packaging the toys and washing the clothes. Can anyone tell me why they put so much packaging on those toys??? Such royal pains in the you-know-what!

Meema gave him the cutest little rocking chair. It isn’t one of those stuffed chairs that are all over now, he’d have had that squished in a month! It’s a nice wicker type white rocker that is sturdy and I can see him spending many hours rocking the thing to its limit! He’s still a little small for it now, but I am sure it won’t be long until he’s filling it out!

He had such a busy weekend before Christmas too. We took him to Lake Ray Roberts Friday night and Saturday afternoon to visit some other relatives on the Goin side, Andy’s aunts and uncles. They were all enjoying holding Andrew. He did pretty well. He napped at the site in his stroller both days! We can’t wait to take him camping. We’ll be in a tent of course not nice RVs like they had. But we plan to get started as soon as the weather turns nice again.

Andrew also turned 12 weeks old on Wednesday this past week. Huge birthday I think. Sad that time is already going so fast. He seems to learn and do something new each day, whether it be a new noise he can make or just longer in his exersaucer or at tummy time. He has been grabbing things on the exersaucer and trying to put them in his mouth. He stays in tummy time for a very long time now, though he prefers it on a lap! He was on his tummy for quite a while this morning as we put the tree away, he and I, and we talked about everything we were doing. He talks so much now! I wish I could spell the things he says. Mostly ‘Naaaa’ and ‘Nnngaaaa.’ And several various vowels.

I think he may be hitting another growth spurt. Either that or his tummy is just bigger. He used to never nurse from two sides in one sitting and the last couple of days at more than one feeding I have had to switch sides. Plus he’s sleeping on average 12 hours a night and still napping 3-4 hours during the day. He does play hard though and when he’s awake, he’s very alert.

Everyone at Christmas couldn’t believe he was only 12 weeks old. They all said he was so big for one thing but also so alert and really looking at people and things. Trying to learn as much as he can.

I love taking him with me around the house as I do chores and talking to him about what I am doing. Sometimes he’s in his bouncy, sometimes bumbo, and today he was in his exersaucer watching me do dishes and sweeping up tree mess. I think he learns a lot just watching me be. I also talk with him and he answers.

Andy works hard most of the day on his computer taking care of the various sites we have but once he turns around and starts talking to Andrew, Andrew’s face lights up and he giggles and gives one of those big open mouthed baby smiles. You know the ones, they take up the whole face and have no teeth! The cutest for sure!

One of our favorite times of the day is bath time! We all spend time together as a family and it’s so great. Andy and Andrew usually in the tub though sometimes we switch and Mommy gets in the tub. Andrew likes to go ‘swimmin’ and this week he prefers to swim on his tummy and kick his feet out behind him. It is seriously the cutest darn thing. He only gets soap every other day but we bathe him every day to keep with the routine. After bath he gets his swaddle and nurses to sleep. Most nights go just like that for now. The time may be different but the routine remains the same.

Andrew is also really exploring his voice. It seems he’s making a new sound every day. He definitely talks to me.

I am also very lucky to have a good sleeper. He fights it sometimes if he’s over tired or too excited about something. But on a normal day he’s only awake for almost 2 hours in the morning before he’s ready for another nap! Great chance for me to sweep the floor or finish dishes or whatever. He’ll only sleep 30-45 minutes usually but it’s just what he needs to keep up his good mood!

Tummy time is becoming more of a favorite and less of an exercise. He can roll from his tummy to his back when he is on a bed or the futon. Sometimes he needs a little help but he’s done it several times on his own. Scared Daddy one day when he set him down and turned to do something and Andrew rolled himself right off the pillow. Good thing it was in the middle of the bed! We are keeping a much greater eye on him when he is on a bed now.

He still sleeps with us at night. I want to put him in his crib to start the night, after bath and all, but it is so cold in there and I worry the cats will jump in the crib. And I just cannot shut the door on him. Even with a monitor. It’s hard enough to be away from him in the same room when he’s asleep. I miss him. I couldn’t bear him being in the other room with the door closed. Now he sleeps in his swing by Daddy’s desk until I go to bed. Daddy is always sad when I take him too, but by that time he is ready to eat again so I just nurse him in bed. If I even suggest to Andy that we put him in his crib, he immediately shoots it down too. He says he’s still too young to be so far away from us, especially at night. I will admit I do not sleep as well as I could with no baby in the bed. But I do sleep better than I would if the baby was in the other room! Plus we can stay in bed much longer. Andrew may not sleep the whole time, I feel him kicking me a lot as he works out his farts, but at least we get to lie down for a long time. We are often in bed for 10 hours. It’s hard to get much sleep when he wakes me up with farts, kicks and needing to eat, but I know I’d sleep less if I just heard him doing it on a monitor from across the apartment. Especially since I’d be getting up to feed him and check on him! And if I am not there to pat him right away he may wake up entirely and then neither of us would be getting any sleep at all! I do sometimes worry about how we will get him into his own bed someday but I try not to obsess about it. We may just have to put his bed in our room or something. Once we have another baby, the newborn will be in bed with us and Andrew will be too big to share the bed with a new baby. But for now he’s only barely 3 months old and still has a long way to go being a baby!

I love just holding him. He sure isn’t lacking any loving in this family! In the mornings I have a hard time waking up so after his diaper change I will just sit in my computer chair with him and hold him. He doesn’t always need to eat since he often nurses right before we get up, that’s usually what wakes me. But I will just hold him and he holds his head up and looks around the room. I hug him and tell him he’s so awesome and I love him.

Yesterday he gave some super cute open mouth kisses. We got it on video too. He used to just open his mouth after I gave him a kiss and now he’s opening it preemptively. He did it to Daddy which is too adorable for words, and then he gave his Santa toy big open mouth kisses too! Thank God we have a video camera!

Speaking of which. We gave the grandparents all a DVD with various videos of Andrew for Christmas. I will try and get Andy to upload a couple of them to youtube or something so I can post them here for everyone to see.

Remember to check the photo album. I can’t keep up with it as much as I’d like, I have a baby to hold you know! But I do try. We didn’t get many pictures at Christmas but we got good video so again, I will try and get them uploaded. I’d do it on my computer but my video editing software crashes my machine!

Happy New Year everyone!! Be safe.

2 month check up

I actually wrote this 2 days ago but the blogger system was down. So here it is a couple of days late:

Well, our Little Mister as we call him may have had his 2 month check up, but we were told he is the size of an average 4 month old! My oh my, what a big boy we have. I really must keep up with my exercises, which I have not been, so I can keep up with him!

He is super healthy of course. He also got his shots. L Made us very sad. He screamed in such pain when the nurse did it Andy and I just held each other’s hands trying to calm down. Then when she was done, and she was very quick about it, Daddy scooped him up and sang to him and walked with him. The two of us got him to calm enough to leave with singing walking and nursing. Such a traumatic experience for us all!

He hadn’t slept much the night before because we all got up so early due to a storm. Any snow and ice in Texas is cause for closings so we weren’t sure if there’d even be an appointment. But we drove home in the sleet and all slept in bed most of the day. He was a little sore but overall did awesome. The next night was rough though. He was obviously feeling the effects of the shots, and Andy and I had a hard time cheering him up. We did get Andrew calm in the tub for a while but you can only do that for so long. He wasn’t so sick he didn’t eat or anything so there was no alarm, it was just the worst we’d ever seen him as far as discomfort goes. We probably should have giving him Tylenol but in the moment we just couldn’t be sure it was the shots that had made him ill and he had no fever. He’s had zero problems since then so now we know it must have been the shots and we’ll give him some medicine if it happens again next time.

He really is such a good baby!

Monday was his first big awake day! He stayed awake for about 9 hours total and that’s a record. Plus he’s slept through the night every night this week so far. He’s stayed awake about the same amount each day since and I am thrilled! I thought at first it was because his Meema came over but since he did it again yesterday I am thinking it is his newest phase of life. We play more now. He isn’t really grasping toys yet, I mean literally grasping with his hands for them, but he seems to like to look at them briefly. Mostly he still just enjoys being talked to. He is also getting much better at his exersaucer but he doesn’t play with the toys on it, just likes to be upright looking around.

Andy and I have been debating what to get him for Christmas. Our family will probably have the tradition of one nice big present every year. Not a bunch of filler gifts from us. We will see how that goes as he grows up anyway. For this first year just one gift is needed. I had wanted to get him a mirror toy and some blocks. But we saw this really neat seat online called a Bumbo. It holds them upright and encourages them to use the right muscles for sitting, and they can use it before they can sit up and long after. Now I am torn about it. It doesn’t seem like much of a fun toy but it may be just the right thing. Andrew seems to love sitting up when he’s held up and in his exersaucer. I have put a mirror low on the wall for him too which we could set his Bumbo in front of if it’s what we decide on. Maybe wooden blocks will make a better gift for his birthday or sometime around 6 months. I do want him to have a set of good wooden blocks to play with so we’ll see. Still trying to decide on that one.

We took his Christmas pictures this week so check the photo album. His Thanksgiving ones still aren’t up but I am going to work on that today so be looking! Plus I have of course taken just some of the sweetest pics of him around the house so be sure to check on the regular album as well.

He is such a joy to watch grow and change. I get so excited for each new phase! He is quite a mellow content baby for the most part. He seems happy to just hang with me in the kitchen while I do dishes or make my morning coffee if I am talking to him. Until he gets hungry that is! And let me tell you a 2 month old that is 14 pounds 4 ounces and 25 and ¼ inches long, is hungry a lot!

First Thanksgiving

We are learning more and more about our boy every day and his unique and individual personality. He is a sensitive baby. As he grows and becomes more aware of his surroundings and wakes up more and more each day, he is becoming sensitive to atmosphere. He has always been sensitive to position. When being held if he decides the position you have him is no longer working, he yelps a few times to let you know it’s time to try something new. Often times he just wants to be put down into his bouncy seat, breaking the heart of whoever wants to hold him. Now we are starting to see he is also cautious of new places. Most places we have been since Andrew has started ‘waking up’ we have been many times before, Grandmas’ homes, friends’ homes, things like that, but since he can now see where he is and he seems to know it is not HIS home, he gets upset. At least the first few times we are there. He has gradually gotten used to a few of the places we visit.

I have noticed also a curiosity developing. He is starting to prefer to be held upright or sitting up instead of lying in his bouncy, unless he’s sleepy. He wants to look around more. He is holding his head up very well, though it is still quite wobbly, and he is even enjoying the exersaucer we were given as a gift from an online friend. His feet don’t quite touch the bottom but when it’s stuffed with a blanket he can hold himself up.

His limbs are not yet his own, he still startles and doesn’t have control of his arms so he can’t really play with toys. But he is enjoying looking at them and likes it when they move, make noise or light up. We’ve been able to lay him under his gym and he really sees the things hanging there. Also his mobile in his crib is being noticed. We had to go get batteries for everything finally! Lol

He gets most upset with crowds of people. We took him to my mom’s church group so everyone could see him. There were a few young kids running around making loud noises as kids do and it really seemed upsetting to Andrew. I think he wanted to see everything but was tired and hungry and couldn’t calm down enough to eat and sleep. He was quite over-stimulated.

Because of that we decided it would be best to keep him home for Thanksgiving. Originally we wanted to take him to a family get together, but due to the distance we would have had to drive him and the number of people and children to be there, we thought it best to just stay home. It would have been awful to drive him over and hour and have him wake up in a strange place with tons of strange faces and noises and then when he got upset and we had to leave (we don’t keep him places when he gets upset!), we’d have had to drive him the over an hour back home again. By Christmas hopefully he’ll be a little better equipped at handling these situations. But the family get-togethers we go to then are much closer also so if he is upset and we have to leave, we can get home quickly and meet whatever needs he has.

Andrew is such a treat to have around! He is seldom fussy. He only gets cranky when he’s tired really. Sometimes when he has gas but he is getting better at getting that out, and mommy and daddy are getting good at helping him get it out! When he’s tired he often wants to fight it so then he’ll cry. But he sleeps through the night most nights. We do have an occasional 2am night, but it’s usually due to him sleeping too much in the evening and he just wants to sit and hang out some more. There has been maybe one night in the recent weeks of him crying with gas till 2am.

I am so grateful to have Andy here to help with Andrew too! I couldn’t do it without him for sure! He won’t go to sleep if the baby is crying. He wants to help. Neither of us can usually sleep if Andrew is upset, we just want to make him comfortable and happy. And let me tell you, when he smiles at us and giggles in our faces, our hearts melt and it makes us want to do whatever we did to get him to do that over and over again!

Andrew still has most of his hair. In fact it looks like it’s all still there, but his head got bigger and no new hair has grown in! It is the softest hair in the world and he likes it when we gently rub it.

His favorite time so far seems to be bath time. He loves his face time with mommy and daddy and he gets the most of it in the tub. We are both there and all of our attention is on him. He also seems to really enjoy being in the water. Andy and I both enjoy being in water also so we’ll be a water loving family for sure. As soon as he can hold his head up a bit better, I want to take him into a shower with us too.

He is still exclusively nursing. No bottles. Andy has tried to give him a bottle of water and Andrew didn’t seem to know what to do with it. He just chewed it! But I wouldn’t mind if he took some water from a bottle on occasion too. Just in case he needs to be comforted and I am not around.

I think he is in the middle of a growth spurt right now. He has been sleeping more than last week and he eats for longer periods of time. Not more often, just longer when he is eating. I can’t even imagine how big he will be for his appointment next week!

I am not looking forward to his next appointment as much as I am because he gets his first round of shots. He did very well with them in the hospital but again, he is more aware now and if his body is feeling some new sensations he may react to it. But I am very excited to find out how long he is and how much he weighs.

Be sure to keep checking the album linked at the right! We have pictures from Thanksgiving we will put up very soon. I also plan to take some Christmas pics of him this week that will be put up there as well. Remember to let me know if there are any pics you see that you want a copy of. We can order it for you and have it shipped to you or sent somewhere you can pick up!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you all have as much to be thankful for as we do!

Size 2?

Today is Andrew’s 6 week old birthday. Happy Birthday Andrew! And wow has he changed. We are trying so hard to keep up with pictures (check link on the side of page!) but I feel like if we miss a day, we miss a lot, and it happens.

Last week we went to my mom’s home for dinner. She had out her digital scale and we wanted to weigh Andrew. He doesn’t go back to the doctor until the end of the month and even an estimated weight would be cool to know. So I weighed myself first and was pleased to see I am still losing weight at a reasonable rate and then weighed me holding Andrew and did the math. Um, 11 pounds. 11 pounds? At 5 weeks old? The doctor told us at our 2 week visit if he kept gaining like he had been he’d be 12-13 pounds by 2 months. Yeah, 5 weeks. And my back has been feeling every pound of it. I have been good for 6 weeks and not done any strenuous exercise but now my back is paying the price. Needless to say, I started working out again yesterday. Little walks are not enough, we’re talking push ups and back strengthening stuff.

So this week we went to another friends’ home, just a couple of days ago, to hang out and discuss the big weekend coming up. For those of you who don’t know, Nintendo is releasing its new console this weekend. Andy is a huge Nintendo fan and lover of all things gaming so he’s been saving money since last summer to get this machine. Unlike most new consoles, this one is actually affordable by us normal folks!

So anyway, at our friends’ home we asked to borrow their scale. It had after all been a week since we weighed our little man last. I got on and was again pleased to see another pound or so gone, then took my baby. Um... 13 pounds? Could that be right? Let’s try this again. OK. 13 pounds. Even if the scale is off with the weight, could it be off with the math? I don’t think so.

So yeah.

I use cloth diapers most days. Some days if he’s kept me up most of the night, are disposable days. Days we are out and about, he gets disposables and nights, he wears them as well. We co-sleep and the cloths don’t soak up his massive amounts of pee!

Well, yesterday I had to retire the size 1s. I kept him in the disposables all day just to use up the last of the package of 1s we had, and this morning when I was planning to take him back to bed, I busted open a size 2. And it wasn’t such a tight squeeze. He’ll be in his clothies today, which are getting small too.

Fortunately Andy’s mom bought us diapers of all sizes and we are stocked up. We also have plenty of 1s left for our next baby even! And should have plenty of 2s to last however long he can wear this size! Like what a week or so?

Also, fortunately, my mom bought us good cloth diapers, so I already have the next size up, I just need to get them washed and prepped. I really didn’t expect to be doing it quite this soon!

Our big boy!

He is holding his head up well, but not for too too long. We put him in his exersaucer for some neck exercise at least once a day for as long as he can stand.

And this week, he started laughing. He laughed at me on Monday. When he had finished nursing he looked up at me and saw me. He broke out in a huge smile and started giggling! Oh yeah, my heart melted. That was no gas bubble, that was an “I love my Mommy!”

Then yesterday he laughed at Andy! You never heard such joy from a grown man! He’s been doing it at least once a day all week and we can’t wait to see what he does next.

Still doesn’t take a pacifier or suck his thumb so that’ll be neat to see if he picks one of those up, especially once he notices those hands of his!

Thanks to all the grandmas for all your help!!

We love this whole family so much and are looking forward to showing off the new boy for the holiday season!

One Month Old Already!!

The official one month birthday was passed yesterday and our little man is getting huge! We haven’t been able to weigh him as we have no scale nor access to one, but let me tell you, our backs can attest to his weight gain for sure! When he is extra tired and doesn’t want to sleep and when he has his minor fussy hour or two at night, my arms, elbows and lower back feel the burn from walking him around the apartment! I tried to pass it on to Andy to carry him in the papoose carrier and we take him outside, but even that is wearing Andy out! Definitely time to start working out, he’s only going to get bigger!

We don’t see the doc till the end of this month so I may have to find a scale before then to weigh him. The curiosity is killing me!

We’ve been getting some real smiles from him every day and it is absolutely amazing! In fact just a bit ago, I was nursing him and singing a lullaby and every time I started singing, he’d grin at me! So adorable

!.

His Granddaddy and Grandma stopped by today for a very welcome surprise visit. Our place is a mess but it was so good to see them. And Andrew was quite fascinated by his Granddaddy. He is totally learning to be more aware of people and surroundings! He even smiled for Granddaddy, too cute! Of course Granddaddy wants to take mommy’s baby out hunting and riding on his bike but we’ll have to wait a few years before we can even discuss such adventures! :D

We had a great Halloween. Went to Grandma’s dressed in the costume she got for Andrew. He was a little frog and super cute of course! There are pics on our photo album and the link is on the side of the page.

I also got some cute shots of baby and Daddy at bath time – no real nudity so don’t worry! But it is about the cutest thing I personally have ever seen!

We are all doing well. It is hard to figure out our timing on things still. He doesn’t usually sleep or eat in any real pattern so it’s hard to plan around him. And it seems the last couple of days he’s been eating more often and more at a time too so maybe he’s about to get even bigger! He slept a whole lot yesterday but not as much today. He was up for four straight hours thanks to our visitors. He was sure impressed with his Granddaddy! I think he likes deep voices because eh likes his Daddy’s voice a lot too. And Granddaddy did a lot of talking to him.

It is as usual a struggle to live in the moment. We want to enjoy every day, we know they will be gone and over too quickly. But at the same time there’s such a sense of wanting him to acquire new skills every day. He’s getting better at holding his head up and there’re so many toys and things we can show him once he can hold his head up! And in a few months we can start playing more games. Right now our games really consist of, following the rattle with his eyes, turning his head towards Daddy’s voice, holding his head up on his tummy, or just some good face time and conversation. He does a lot fo grunting and talking of his own so we try to answer him and make his noises back at him as well as talking to him. He won’t usually let me read to him right now. I miss our reading times at night like we had when he was in my belly! But he seems to prefer my eye contact now. I can sometimes hold him on my lap at the computer and read a few news stories before he gets bored or just needs to move.

I hear him calling right now so off I go!

3 Week Birthday

Our Andrew Scott is 3 weeks old today and I can’t believe how big he’s already gotten! He’s gained at least 2 pounds since birth and over 3 inches. He’s such a big boy. And I see him changing every day. He looks more alert and I can see him growing. He’s even already outgrown some clothes!

All this, I feel grateful to say, is thanks to my breast milk. I love nursing him. He’s so good at it too! He latched on properly almost immediately and hasn’t had a problem since!

It really is the most amazing thing in the world. Growing him from my body, inside my body was pretty awesome but there’s just something even more incredible about making his food from my body. Not just feeding him through my blood. I make his food! And he eats it from me. I can’t describe for anyone who hasn’t experienced this how cool it is. It makes me feel a connection to him on a level that we cannot see with our eyes.

If he’s napping and I see him stir or hear him grunt and coo, I will produce milk. I can feel it coming in! Thankfully I have gotten a free manual pump from WIC and I use that to start storing up some reserves whenever I get that.

Sometimes he needs to nurse for just a minute to help him fall asleep. Sometimes he wants to eat a full meal. Sometimes he just wants to look up at me. I can’t wait until he starts to really smile!

We are not on any consistent schedule just yet. I feel it is too early to try and force him in to one, but we are trying to follow his lead and cater to him. I feed him on demand and during parts of the day, that is every hour! We are back to about every 2 hours at night though, we were at every hour for about 2 nights last weekend. I thought I’d never be able to get out of bed!

Andy and I have rapidly turned our days and nights back around. I go to bed with my son at about 1030 or 11. He’s usually been asleep for about 4 hours already before that. I just started putting him in another room to sleep for that time. It’s been hard for me, but I just get up and walk in there to look at him. And it seems fair to him to give him a nice dark room to sleep in instead of with us in the living room while the lights are all on and noise and such, just because I want him close! It is still hard for me. I miss him every moment we are apart right now.

I must confess it is still a bit difficult having him separated from my body. Maybe that’s why the nursing is so special too. I still feel completely needed and connected to him then. And at night when we sleep, I can feel him.

The first few nights home when he slept next to me, I could feel his little feet kicking my belly from the outside and found it quite comforting. After months of feeling him every night kicking me from the inside, it helped a lot.

He is such a good baby! He is gassy though. I mean he farts a lot! Good thing he can get it out most of the time. He does get a little fussy when he’s stuck and he grunts a lot I think because he is working the gasses out. But it’s so cute. He also grunts when he’s ready to eat, right before he starts to cry for it. I am learning to read his hunger cues. Though I sometimes still mistake gas for hunger. Then he just pukes on me and then burps, and he feels all better and can eat again! We’ve had to take a few baths together after a bit of a vomiting on mommy! I love it!

Right now Daddy is taking baths with him almost every night. It helps me a lot. Andy gets in the tub and holds him while I wash him off. It’s a lot easier than trying to get Andrew to stay in any of the other things we have for him. He’s too big! And it increases the bonding with Daddy. Andrew will just lie in Andy’s arms and stare up into his eyes the whole time. It’s adorable! Every now and then he’ll glance over at me as I wash him and be like, ‘Oh you’re here too, ok.’

Sometimes, when Andy is the only one who can calm Andrew down when he’s upset or fussy, I get sad and feel like I am just a boob. Just a food source and not good at making him feel better in any other way. But then I realize that Andy and I are different people, and we both have special things about us we can offer our child and they are different things unique to us, and that is what is important. And I am not just a boob to my baby. I am a great source of comfort for him many times. But sometimes he really just needs his Daddy.

I couldn’t be happier!

Especially now that we are getting some sleep and not going to 4 doctor visits a week!

Scenes of Andrew

Just some things of the baby around the home. He is only on his first weekend in most of these clips and much bigger now. We'll get more video made of him soon.

Baby Belly Growing Video

All the belly pictures put together to watch it grow. YIKES I got big!

Finally Got Our Baby!

We’ve been home for almost a week now and it seems like the time has been flying by already!

Andrew Scott Goin was born on October 4^th at 847am after over 12 hours of labor.

I must say, I puzzled quite a bit about what labor would be like and feel like before it happened. I read accounts from women after they’d had their babies and what their labor experiences had been. They all agreed it was the most pain they’d ever had, yet I could not imagine it. Well, let me tell you, it was the worst pain I have ever had!

It started Tuesday at my weekly doctor visit where he stripped my membranes, a kind of natural induction. We also scheduled an official induction for one week later if he didn’t come on his own by then. Because of this, the doc wanted us to have a couple of procedures done to check the baby, a sonogram for measurement, movement and to see breathing and a non-stress test to check his heart rate with his movements. Unfortunately we hadn’t eaten since breakfast and my little pumpkin was asleep for his sono and wouldn’t move or do his practice breathing. This concerned the doc so much so that while we were at the Labor and Delivery having the NST done, he said to go home and return the next morning for a follow up sono. It was neat being on the monitors because it affirmed for me that the pains I’d been having for a couple of days actually were contractions! And I honestly thought they weren’t that bad. Painful and not what I thought they’d be, which was why I didn’t know they were contractions, but not so bad I didn’t think I could handle it.

Then we went home and things got bad fast. I started having very regular contractions almost immediately after we got home and I was bleeding from my earlier doctor visit. Andy was timing my contractions on the computer and the closest ones were about 3 minutes apart so he said, we needed to go. I was really afraid we’d go all the way to the hospital only to be sent home in false labor and I couldn’t bare the idea of leaving there with an empty car seat! But I said we could go after I took a shower and shaved my legs, you know how it is! That was easier said then done with contractions coming minutes apart. But I made it through that and washed my hair and got it dried and Andy was rushing me out the door!

We got to the hospital and got all checked in and hooked back up. Our nurse was very nice and I told her I hope we can stay; she seemed to think without even checking me that this baby was coming tonight. I guess working L&D for almost 20 years you get an instinct about such things.

She was very nice and understanding about my birth plan but reminded me that this is going to get worse and there’s no need to suffer when I don’t have too. And it can slow labor when I am not relaxed and distress the baby so she encouraged us to stay open minded. Which Andy and I had already decided to be anyway. The fear of the epidural came mostly from the needle in the spine thing and the fear of it being messed up, but we had no idea what we were getting in to.

Between contractions at this point I felt so good, almost euphoric. It was like the moments of pain were so bad that it made the moments of ‘normal’ feel like extra good!

I got in the tub for a while and labored when I’d been laying on the bed laboring in pain for a couple of hours. The grandmothers on Andy’s side were there being supportive and after I got in the tub, my mom showed up. The tub helped but after about an hour there I felt like I wanted to sit on solid ground again. I was already starting to think that I couldn’t do this. The moments of euphoria were getting shorter and shorter!

I managed to labor for about 6 hours medication free but as the contractions got closer and closer, I needed something to help me. I wanted to try the IV drugs first because of my fears of an epidural although I had heard some women say the IV drugs didn’t help. This turned out to be my experience also!

The IV drugs made me feel like I was so doped up and out of it. The nurse said I needed to rest and try and sleep, but I would get sleepy between contractions and then wake up for every one and feel all of it! So that was a bummer. Didn’t help much at all really.

My mom and Andy’s mom were so helpful during this time. Tressie had to leave since she was on call but she was back in time for the birth. Our mom’s would rub my hips and legs through my contractions one on each side as I moaned and groaned and was probably a total bitch. Plus I could hear them all chatting in the background of my doped up mind and it soothed me.

Andy was so sweet and comforting to me. He kept telling me how proud of me he was and how strong I was being and helping me to remember to breath. He was an awesome coach and handled seeing his wife in such pain very well.

Shortly after the meds were given maybe 2 hours, I have no concept of the time, I was getting worse. It felt like I had no time to relax between contractions, and my water wasn’t breaking, and I wasn’t progressing very fast. The doctor came in and said he wanted to break my water and I freaked. I knew once that happened the contractions would really kick it up a notch or two and I was already getting such feelings of fear when I could feel each one approaching.

I cannot tell you if you have never had kids what this pain was. Just like I could not have been told beforehand myself. All I can say is it was much much more than I thought it would be and unfortunately I was unprepared and unable to handle it. I told Andy I couldn’t do it. I said, that’s it, I can’t do this anymore, I’m so scared. He went and talked with the doctor and the nurse about me having an epidural. I wanted one at this point because I was more afraid of the pain of the next contraction than of life long paralysis from a missed needle in the spine! He felt better after talking with them and we agreed I’d try it out. I am so glad I did. I always used to say I’d try anything once, so I am glad I got to experience the epidural. I had a little guilt about not going completely drug free and then some about getting the IV drugs because they doped me up so much, but I am over that now. I feel like I had a complete labor experience. I made it for half of it with nothing and experienced that, a few hours of IV help, which I will never do again, and an epidural, which I will get next time if I need any help. Perhaps if I had been more prepared and known what to expect and my body had done it before, as will be the case with the next child, I can make it through with nothing. Though to be honest I couldn’t imagine pushing him out without the epi!

So after I got that the doc was going to come back and break my water and they were going to start pitocin to speed the process. I didn’t want the pitocin, I wanted my baby to want to come out! I really felt like he did though. That whole day I’d felt like he wants to come out. And the nurse managed to get my water to break on my next check and after that we were rolling.

It was probably another hour or so maybe even over 2 before it was actually time to push. We made it through shift change!

Two things went wrong with the epi that had concerned me and been partial reasons why I didn’t want it. In hindsight, I’d rather have it than not, even with these things. The first one was, it didn’t work too well on both sides. My left side was numb but my right was not. And as time went on, it wore off completely on my right side, which had been my most painful side all along! Of course! I ended up getting a second dose about an hour or so (who knows my time concept was so screwy!) before time to push. This led to my other problem, I couldn’t walk for about half the day. But that was kind of cool! So yeah, overall, thumbs up to the epi.

The moment arrived, I was complete, the doc was called and my new nurse told me it was time to start some light pushing. I am getting a little teary right now just thinking about it and how it felt in that moment knowing I’d see my son very soon. She told Andy how to help and we did some little pushes to move his head down in to position. Then she coached me on some smaller pushes to keep him there until the doc came in.

It wasn’t long before the doctor arrived and he said I looked much better than the last time he saw me and let’s do this!

I won’t get too graphic but I do want to say I pushed about 3 really hard pushes before his head came out. Then short break and maybe 3 more pushes total with Daddy’s help and this little baby’s body was laid across my lap with all this gorgeous hair. All fingers and toes and major parts were accounted for, and I wanted to nurse him right away, but once the cord was cut by the doc the nurse took him to his little bed by my bed and cleaned him up a little while the doc fixed me. Andy videoed the babyl from that point on and I watched him as he almost burst in to tears while the nurse cleaned our first son.

It was so amazing and awesome and the greatest thing I have ever done. He was returned to me and I nursed him immediately and he was a pro! Latched right on and knew what to do. I felt an immediate connection to this little being, this little human, that I’ve never felt before.

We had wanted these first few moments to be just for us and our newly born family and the grandmothers respected that for only a few moments. Soon though they couldn’t stand it and had to come it. It was fine. He was in our arms at last and nothing else mattered.

He’s so perfect. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in all the world. We have really enjoyed him the first week. We are so exhausted, more than I’ve ever been in my whole life. Nursing is hard work. He needs to eat every few hours so I don’t sleep more than 3 hours at a time and I am lucky to do that once a 24 hour period and then get a couple more catnaps in as well. But he’s awesome. I’ll tell you more about our experiences with him next time. For now, see the videos. And check the link for our family album!

Our Family Photo Album, check back often, most pics will go here from now on instead of in the blog posts. If you want any prints, email me and we will get them for you!

No Baby No Rules

We felt a ton better this week after seeing our doctor. Not only did he say there’s a good chance we’ll make it through the weekend without any labor, but he reassured us that the other doc in his office shares his philosophies and listening skills so not to worry. He said they couldn’t work so closely and not have those things in common. Also, as much as he said he thought I could make it through the weekend, he said there’s just as much of a chance that I wouldn’t! AAAARRRGH!

There are no rules for birthing babies. There is nothing consistent in any of the stories I have read or heard. I have spoken with just about every mother I know personally and heard their birth stories, most even have more than one. I have read accounts on many webpages from women with babies from this month and from years past. The only thing I have learned - they are all completely different! There is no sure fire way to tell, nothing that every woman said happened to them before their labor began that let them know, this is it, it is time.

So I sit here waiting and hoping for a sign, a contraction pain, bleeding, anything to make me think something might be happening, and it matters not. I could get no signs at all and suddenly start labor and have a baby 12 hours later! Or I could have signs and signs and more signs for a week or more and no baby. Awesome.

I have heard from most mothers that the only thing that is the same for them all is the last few weeks are the worse. It starts to feel like you’ll be pregnant forever and like the baby is NEVER going to come out. Of course rationally and logically, we all know this is not true, but let me tell you, in this moment, it feels like I am going to be like this forever!

My stretch marks have gotten worse since he dropped, though still not bad and something I have great pride in, they are sore and itchy. Once he’s out they won’t be as big of a problem. My tummy is in the way of everything. I can’t do dishes without getting it wet! I can’t bend over to pick things up easily. I can’t sleep on my stomach or lie on my stomach to watch TV or play a game. Sure, I’ve been going through these things for a while, but I feel like ok, enough is enough.

Another sign I think it is time to have the baby is, my maternity clothes aren’t fitting too well any more. Phyllis got me a ton of clothes to wear and they got me through the summer greatly. And even since the weather has cooled off, there were a couple pairs of pants and shirts I could wear that were warmer. But the pants are getting too tight and I can’t wear dresses when it’s cold, they seem to get shorter and shorter! I can’t even wear my own PJ pants, which are some of my favorite clothes, and I had been able to wear this whole time until very recently, nor can I wear my own boxer shorts! I can only wear some of Andy’s. My maternity panties are even getting too small!! And they say one size fits all!?! How can that be when they don’t fit me anymore?

And now I am starting to feel like people blame me for holding on to this baby. Even Andy says to give it up so he can hold it too! Believe me, if it were up to me, I’d have had him out a week ago! I am so ready to get this show in the road.

Actually, we’ve been saying we aren’t NOT ready anymore. I don’t know how ‘ready’ we can be until he’s here and we get it going, be we definitely don’t feel not ready anymore. We’re totally ready to meet him and hold him and see him. Are we ready for the lack of sleep and stresses of parenthood? Maybe not, but is anyone ever ready for that before it actually happens? No. I doubt it. But we’re not NOT ready, that’s for sure!

So when am I having this baby? Don’t ask me. Ask him! Ask nature. Ask God. My body doesn’t even seem to know yet, it sure hasn’t given me any signs. It’s all a matter of him finishing up and signaling my brain to start the process. Though he should be finished by now! He should have his lungs very well put together, he could breathe on his own, his digestive tract won’t be quite ready and he’ll be sensitive to all his senses with his immature nervous system, but thus is the life of a baby. That’s no reason for him to hang out much longer in my belly!

I just keep reminding myself and my loving supportive husband, that it can’t be much longer. The doctor won’t want us to wait much longer as certain risk factors come up. But not just that, nature won’t wait much longer. Baby and I are healthy and I feel that both of our bodies are truly ready for this experience. I even thought that I wouldn’t make it past this weekend. Mostly because the doctor is gone and that figures! But I have been saying since I first heard my September 27^th due date that he’d be born in October. Let’s just hope not too far into October! Like the 1^st or 2^nd would be good!

Keep us in thoughts and prayers and thanks for your support!

Tyler says "Turn off that light!"








Biggest belly yet! This was taken tonight actually and I swear ot looks so much bigger in person! You can see my newest stretch marks coming in on this side, too.






Tyler lounging under a blanket.








Here's Mr Thunder with momma's belly. I posted a pic like this a couple of montsh ago too, so this is a size comparison for those who remember. He's the only cat we're worried might get jealous because of his close relationship with his daddy. Andy has promised to make sure he spreads his attention around!