One Month

My little boog-a-loog is one month old! I can't believe it!

He loves:

• Eating! We have the breast feeding down, and as long as he gets to eat at the first hunger signs, he is a happy baby. My nips still hurt, but I am sure it will continue to get better. The Lanolin helps a lot. He is exclusively breast fed and I pump once a day and freeze it. I want to build up a good stash for when I go back to work in January. I usually get 5-6 oz in a 10-15 minute pumping session. I definitely do not have supply problems. I love my Lansinoh disposable breast pads - I would be covered in milk otherwise.
• The SwaddleMe wraps. They are seriously my favorite baby item. He can't get them off like a regular swaddle blanket, I can change his diaper in the middle of the night without taking it all the way off and he sleeps so well in them.
• His swinging/vibrating seat. He usually naps in it or sits in it with us in the kitchen when we cook.
• Being in the Ergo. He loves to be carried around in it. It's perfect for grocery shopping, Target trips and beach visits.
• His stroller. I started going on walks with him, since it has cooled down for a few days, and he enjoys it.
• Staring. He loves to watch our faces, stare in the mirror, watch the kitties and Apollo. He is quite fascinated with things. He is tracking things with his eyes very well.
• Tummy time. He is very strong and lifts his head up a lot, especially if we use the Boppy. He also pushes really hard with his feet and was moving himself across my in-laws carpet!

He does NOT like:

• The bulb syringe. He hates when I get his boogers, although he's getting better.
• Being strapped into his car seat. Sometimes. Other times he is fine and falls asleep.
• Being cold. Cold baby wipes can sometimes be a problem. I can see the need for a wipe warmer.

Other tidbits about being one month old:

• He smiles at me :) He smiles and laughs in his sleep almost every day, but these times he was wide awake. I was smiling and laughing at him. My heart melted!
• He no longer fits in his newborn clothes, so he is wearing his 0-3 month and some 3 month stuff. The sizes vary so much by brand.
• He is wearing size 1 diapers, and has been for the last week. We have mastered the quick diaper change after being peed and pooped on several times. That is always the most fun at 3am ;)
• He slept 5 1/2 hours on Thursday night! Woohoo! He normally gives me 3 to 4 hour stretches every night. He sleeps great - definitely got that from his Momma.

Happy One Month, baby boy! Mommy and Daddy love you so much.

xoxo,
Megan

My little piggy

Grayson had his 2 week pediatrician appointment today and he is up to 8lbs 14oz!!! We are so thrilled! He gained a whole pound since his last weigh in. The pediatrician was happy and told us that we can let him sleep as long as he wants now at night. He usually goes down at 10 or 11pm, wakes up at 3am for a diaper change and to eat, back to sleep by 4am, I wake up around 8am and I have to wake him up to change & eat again. We are very lucky that he sleeps really well at night. I cannot take naps because they give me awful migraines, so I am really thankful for his sleep habits.

I am so proud of myself - and Grayson too - for sticking to the breast feeding, even when it was challenging in the beginning. We did it!

xoxo,
Megan

Two Weeks

This feels like both the fastest and slowest two weeks of my life!

I am down 33 lbs so far. My incision has healed up nicely and physically I feel great. I've been walking as much as possible, and just started swimming again, and I am excited to start doing more once I am cleared by the doctor. I will see my OB on Tuesday. I am having hormonal migraines again, something that completely went away while I was pregnant, so I am going to ask her if there is something I can take for them while breast feeding.

Grayson is doing really well now too. We had a slow start with his weight gain because of breast feeding issues. I was determined to work through them so we did not have to give him any formula. It was tough. My milk finally came in and then I was engorged and then he was latching, but not swallowing as much as he should have been. We think the pacifier was part of the problem too, so we stopped using it.

His birth weight was 8lbs 11oz and he was 7lbs 10oz at our appointment on Monday. I was devastated that I was failing my son. The pediatrician was getting concerned. I started pumping and we are supplementing two bottles a day with the 8-12 breast feedings. On Thursday he was up to 7lbs 14oz - what a relief! He is finally gaining weight and the breast feeding is going really well now. He is a great sleeper so I am getting two 3 1/2 - 4 hour stretches of sleep every night. A well rested Momma = a happy Momma :) We have been taking him out and about - to the pool, to the beach, out to eat, shopping - and he has been wonderful. We have lots of fun stuff planned while Nick is off work with me. He goes back in September and then I'm on my own until January.

The Blue Steel :) Zoolander, anyone?!

 xoxo,
Megan

p.s. I swear that one day I will post the nursery reveal. Promise :)

The Birth Story

Sorry it's taken me forever to finish this, but I don't want to forget a thing. This is going to be really long!

I woke up in the morning on July 28th, feeling the same as usual. By about 10am, I started having contractions that were different from the Braxton Hicks I had experienced. I started timing them and they got closer and closer together. I sat on the exercise ball and paced around the house. I knew labor takes quite a bit of time to progress for most first time Mom's so I wanted to labor at home as long as I could. By about 3pm, I was really hurting and feeling nauseous. I called the on-call OB and they told me to go to labor & delivery. I took a shower and Nick and I headed in. They took me into my room and hooked me up to the monitors. I was definitely having contractions, but I had not progressed at all. I was maybe 2cm. I couldn't believe it and I was pretty bummed. I was apparently very dehydrated and that was causing the intense contractions. I usually have amazing veins, but not when I am really dehydrated. They wanted to get IV fluids in me because they thought that would slow down the contractions and they talked about then sending me home. They stuck me six times before they finally got a vein in my wrist. I noticed my contractions began to reduce in intensity.

The nurse came back into my room after being in L&D for a couple hours and said "Well, we are going to have a birthday today! You are going in for a c-section immediately. Baby isn't tolerating the contractions well and he needs to come out. Now." Huh?! I thought I was going to be sent home. Holy crap. I looked at the monitor at that point and saw that Grayson's heart rate had been stuck way up at 180. I called my Mom really quick and let her know what was happening. They got me into the wheelchair and into the OR within minutes.

The anesthesiologist was awesome. She was super funny and talked to me a lot. Thank goodness because I was pretty freaked out at this point. They took Nick to get dressed while I got my spinal. I've never been so happy to see him! They started the surgery and Nick held my hand. Everything went really fast. I felt some tugging and then I heard the most amazing sound - our son crying. I immediately lost it sobbing and Nick went over to take pictures of him. It was so crazy to think he had just been inside my tummy moments before and now he was here. It's definitely something that must be experienced and is really impossible to put into words.

While the doctors finished up on me, they set Grayson on my chest. That was the first time I saw him. I couldn't stop smiling, despite the shakes and the nausea. I was holding my son! Once they finished, they moved me onto another bed and wheeled me into recovery. I started vomiting, so my skin-to-skin time was limited. But I did my best. They kept ordering more anti-nausea meds, but none of them really helped. They didn't want to wheel me into my room until I stopped throwing up. I finally got to my room a few hours later. I was really out of it, but I remember the nurse telling me that they needed to start me on 24 hours of magnesium to prevent seizures due to my post-birth preeclampsia. The magnesium makes you feel horrible :( I felt like a truck hit me and I was seeing everything in double vision. Ugh.

I eventually could feel my legs again, had my IV removed, had my catheter taken out, was moved to the Mother Baby Unit and then had to be straight cathed because I couldn't pee the second time they asked me to. Not fun. The nurses and Nick took great care of us, and we had a pretty ocean view :) I started breast feeding right from the start. It was difficult, as I expected, because Grayson was still learning to latch, I didn't have much to feed him yet and I was still recovering myself. I started walking around, had my staples taken out and we went home on Tuesday, July 31st. We couldn't wait to be home and sleep in our own bed!

We had a tough few days in the beginning. Post-partum is hard. I was so tired I was having trouble forming words. I have never experienced fatigue like that. I wasn't 100% physically and that is frustrating when you are trying to take care of your baby. Breast feeding was REALLY hard in the beginning. You definitely have to be determined to do it and have a great support team. Nick and my Mom have been wonderful, cheering me on and helping me through the tough parts. A week and a half in and I am beginning to feel like an old pro already ;) Things are getting better and easier as time goes by.

I am so thankful and happy that Grayson was healthy and my recovery has been pretty smooth, considering all things.

5 days old

Still writing my birth story, but thought I would share some pictures from his first 5 days. We are so in love! :)

 Just after he was born, in recovery beside me.

 Tired momma in the hospital. I was a mess. I had to have 24 hours of magnesium post birth. That stuff is awful.

On our way home!

 Norman says hi to Grayson

Burrito baby -  4 days old

Grayson & Nana

 The awesomely huge sign my Dad & Mom ordered for our front lawn.

5 days old