Friday, November 30, 2012

1 month

Sam is 4 weeks old today! I can't believe that we've had a baby that long.  It still seems like a surprise when I walk into the room and see him sleeping there.

Then again, considering all the quality time I've spent taking care of him instead of just wasting that time by sleeping it seems like he's been with us forever!



Sunday, November 25, 2012

Live and learn

No one really told the ear doctor and I how intense it is to have a new born baby. Or maybe people tried to tell us what it was like, but we didn't really get it. Because, to tell you the truth, it's really hard to describe just what it's like to have a new baby. I don't think I could totally capture how hard/awesome/totally engrossing the experience has been.

Last night I was at a breaking point. I sat on my bed at 9 pm, nursing my little baby while tears streamed down my face. The very thought of attempting another night of feeding him ever hour and a half literally broke my spirit.


My husband and in-laws rose to the challenge. I seriously don't know how people do this on their own...I have an amazing army ready to help lift me up when I think I can't do it.

I pumped a bottle of milk, moved his bassinet out of our room and my mother-in-law enabled the ear doctor and i to sleep straight from 1:30 am until 6 am.

It was glorious.  I woke up happier than I've been in the last 2 weeks.


I now know the perfect way to help a new mom...and I really wish I'd had this kind of perspective when I went out to "help" my little sister after she'd had her babies. I could have been so much better had I just known what to do!

Sunday, November 11, 2012

What I give to my son

I always think it's really hard to tell which features come from which parent on a newborn. Maybe I don't have the eye for it or something, but I can never definitively say, "oh, he has your nose" or "those are mom's eyes"

But with my baby there is one feature that he most definitely go from me. His adorable, smushed up ear.

Observe, my ear:



His ear:





Case closed.

Friday, November 09, 2012

Little no name

I can't tell you how excited I am about my son's dimples. They're perfect. Here's my favorite photo of him so far. SO thrilled I caught those little babies. 



Thursday, November 08, 2012

Post baby tip

I hope this isn't too much information for everyone, but it has been one of the bigger post-baby worries for me, so I thought I'd share.

I had to have a c-section in order to welcome this little man to the world. As a result I wasn't up and walking around much right after he entered the world. Also, I was on a clear liquid diet. Result? No poo. 

Everyday I was in the hospital people asked me about my poo.  I started to stress out about it. The doctor told me to drink some Maalox, but she didn't know that Maalox is the absolute only medicine I can't stand. 

Probably because one Christmas eve my mom had me drink some in an attempt to prevent the inevitable yearly festive barf-extravaganza. Backfire...the chalky taste of the stuff was too much and I puked it all over the floor of my grandma's basement bathroom.

I really tried to drink the stuff in the hospital thinking that now, as an adult woman who had just attempted to go through labor, I could handle it. No dice. I got through half of a tiny bottle and had to stop for fear of puking and ripping the staples in my belly. 

So they let me leave the hospital without having a movement...which I was both happy and scared about. First day home, no action. Second day...no action. I was starting to get really nervous. My wonderful father-in-law went to the grocery store and picked me up these little beauties.


Let me tell you...they are magic little things. 


Get some...you won't be sorry.

Wednesday, November 07, 2012

work out

My sister's first baby, Charlotte had a strange neck problem when she was a baby. She favored pulling her head only to one side and as a result it hurt her a little to hold it the other way. She had to go to physical therapy with her infant where the doctor told her to do tummy time.

Charlotte HATED tummy time.


My sister is younger than me, so my whole life I've been doing things first and she had the privilege of learning from my experience. Well, me having this baby has totally reversed our roles and I'm loving being the one who isn't blazing the trail!

I know what to watch for and the importance of tummy time...which is why this happened this morning:


Tuesday, November 06, 2012

He's here!







No name yet, but he's totally here.  And pretty much the best baby in the world.