Two Months Old - Santa, shopping and gallstones...

Brody is two months old!

At his two month appointment, Brody weighed 11 lbs, 8ozs. He also got his first shots, which were not fun. He did ok. I also did ok. His band aids fell off, however and there was blood all over his blanket and my hand. Freaked me out, but everything was fine. He got new snoopy band aids and we moved on. He passed out on the way home, and by midnight, he seemed to not even have any tenderness in his legs. He started wearing wearing his 0-3 clothing at about 6 weeks with the exception of a few newborn outfits. He's in size 1 pampers swaddlers diapers. This boy has big feet, though. He fits into all 0-3 size baby shoes and is quickly outgrowing his socks.

Lots of fun things happened in the last month. The Holiday season was in full swing, so we decided to take Brody to the mall to meet Santa. We went on a Monday afternoon, so it was very quiet and no line at all. Santa was very friendly and great with Brody. Even though Brody was sleeping, we got some great pictures. Santa recommended that they take a picture where he's also sleeping and it came out so great. We got lots of compliments. I had already ordered our Christmas cards, but if I hadn't, this picture would have been used for sure!

Brody also got to attend his first Christmas Party for his Daddy's work. He slept most of the time, but also got some love from a few work friends. He also visited my work a few times and got lots of attention from both my co workers and the students.

December was a pretty nice month, weather wise, so we were able to get out and about. We did some Christmas shopping, lunched with friends and had outings with Daddy. It was so nice to have time during the holidays. We went on a lot neighborhood walks. For the most part Brody falls asleep right away when we got on a walk- just like he does in the car, but at least he seems to enjoy getting out.

When Brody was 6 weeks old, I had emergency gallbladder surgery. He spent one night with just his Daddy and the next two days and nights with his Nana (Joe's mom) and Nan (my mom) helping out. I missed him terribly, but everything worked out. It was a crazy time and one that will be detailed in my next post, so stay tuned.

I healed rather quickly from my surgery, so Christmas was not disrupted at all. We kept most of the same traditions that we've done for the last few years and added some new ones. Brody enjoyed his first Christmas Eve breakfast with my family and family friends and enjoyed Christmas Eve dinner at Frankie Johnny and Luigi's with my family again that evening. We decided now that we're our own little family, we want to start celebrating Christmas morning at our house. We used to go to my mom's for brunch, but now she comes to us. Brody got a fun play mat, that he actually seems to enjoy as well as a bumbo seat. He has lots of fun things to try out. We spent Christmas Day at Joe's Aunt and Uncles house with the rest of his family. It's a great group to hang out with, so we all had a lot of fun.

The Monday after Christmas, we went to the doctor and ended up putting Brody on soy formula. I guess his little tummy was having problems digesting the milk proteins. My brother had a milk allergy as a child and so did Joe, so I guess we passed it on. He's been great on the new formula. Prior to switching, he was having a few meltdowns at night and he no longer has those. I'm guessing the regular formula was just upsetting his belly. Now he seems much happier and appears to even be gaining more weight! Hooray for chunky babies.

Cari and Steve arrived just a few days after Christmas to visit with us for the week. Brody had such a great time with them loving all over him. I think he definitely reinforced their baby fever! We headed up north to the family cabin to celebrate New Year's Eve and Cari's birthday. Lots of fun was had by all. It was a very low key weekend with lots of snacks, wii and card playing and SNOW! The snow was a major surprise to us. We were up late playing the wii when Joe looked outside and noticed what he thought was snow. He called over the east coast experts who confirmed that it was in fact snow! We figured it would be gone by morning, but there was even more when we woke up. It was so beautiful. Cari and Steve may not have thought so considering that they'd just left a blizzard, but Joe and I were in heaven. It has snowed at the cabin before, but not since 2001. I thought it was a great way to start off 2011!

Brody is no longer sleeping in the hallway! Hooray! When Cari and Steve came to visit, we had them stay in Brody's room, so we moved Brody to the pack 'n play in the family room. It had both a changer and a "newborn napper" so it was multi functioning. He took to the napper really well, and has been sleeping great.

Cari did a little photo shoot the day before she had to head back home. The pictures came out amazing! She's really talented and just keeps getting better and better. Thank you so much, Cari for such stunning photos of our little monkey. Here are a few pictures from his 2 month photo shoot. Check them out and then check out more of Cari's work here.

December was a great month. Our holidays were wonderful and we loved visiting with our out of town guests! Only a few more weeks of maternity leave left. :(

One Month!

Brody is one month old!

(Technically he's now 3 months old, but I'm starting at the beginning. I'll catch up- eventually)

So much has happened in the last 4 weeks! We brought Brody home from the hospital with a little bit of jaundice. We were told to put him in the sun as much as we could to try to get rid of the bilirubin. He actually enjoyed sunbathing.

He went to the doctor twice in the first two weeks. Both times were to check on his jaundice. His levels were low the first day, but the pediatrician still recommended he come in two days later to be checked again. We continued to lay him in the sun and by the end of the week, the jaundice was gone.

Brody definitely lost weight in the first few days. He was born at 6lbs, 7ozs and weighed in at just over 5 1/2 lbs during his first week. The doctor wasn't concerned, so we tried not to be as well. Needless to say, he's a pipsqueek that will be in newborn clothes for a while. Even some of the newborn stuff is too small for him. He's also in the newborn size pampers diapers and probably will be for a while.

I nursed Brody for ten days, before realizing that it wasn't working for us. We went to formula, and Brody took to it like a champ. We're using Enfamil Newborn formula and feed him 3ozs every 3 hours. Our little monkey (that's what I call him) is also a fan of the pacifier. We're calling them binkies or binks. He took to the Nuk brand moreso than the soothie one that the hospital gave us. They look so big on his little face!

Brody had lots of firsts this month. First bath, first time eating out in a restaurant. First walk. First trip to the mall, target, and babies r us. Brody loves to shop with mom.

Brody was only 2 1/2 weeks old for his first Thanksgiving, but he got to meet his Grandpa Larry and Grandma Judy. They flew in from Illinois to meet our little man and spend the holiday with us.  My dad very much enjoyed getting to spend time with his new grandson. He also got to spend some time with his cousins and Aunts and Uncles for Thanksgiving. His cousins definitely think he's a cool little guy.

Brody is a pretty good sleeper, but it's definitely more sporadic at night. He definitely knows when it's been 3 hours and he is ready to eat! He's a noisy little guy when he's sleeping, so although he started out in the 'newborn napper' in his pack 'n play he has recently moved to the bouncy chair which is strategically placed right outside our door. It's close enough that we can hear him when he wakes up, but not so close that we wake up to all his "peeps and squeeks" as we call them. He sounds like a little monkey. It's cute, but we like our sleep too. So, yes...our son sleeps in the hallway. You'd think that we'd just move him into his own room, but that's to far away. Maybe next month. :)

We're having the best time with our little guy and are looking forward to lots of fun to come in the next few months. We've Got Christmas coming up, as well as a visit from our east coast friends, Cari and Steve.

Two Became Three. Brody's Birth Story- Part Two

So we were on our way! We hadn't even gotten to the first stoplight when I realized that I was having contractions. They weren't awful- but they were definitely contractions. After timing a few of them we realized they were exactly 5 minutes apart and stayed that way for the entire car ride, getting only slightly stronger. I called my sister in law on the way and informed her that we were heading to the hospital. Joe also called his parents. I had already called my mom and texted many many friends! We were about halfway there when I realized that there was something I just had to do....so I promptly turned on Party In The USA, and proceeded to rock out and made Joe join me. You see, I figured if I listened to that song every day on my way to work while I was pregnant, maybe Brody would literally be born to love that song! I'm not sure if it worked, but we still had fun "bobbing our heads like yeah"... :)

It was after hours when we arrived to the hospital, so we had to use the night entrance. Basically this just meant that we went to the back of the building and called on the little phone to let someone know I was in labor. We were buzzed in, so we headed to the front desk. As I was filling out paperwork, I heard Joe ask the nurse behind the counter if she went to our high school. She did! She was one year ahead of us, and after she shared her maiden name, I completely remembered her. This was coincidence #1. There will be more. The same nurse took us to the Labor and Delivery room, to get me settled and changed. My contractions were getting stronger at this point so my belly started to feel a little uneasy. This subsided within a half an hour or so, but getting up and going to the bathroom is not so much fun when you're attached to an IV.

The nurse we knew ended her shift shortly after we got there, and a new nurse came in to greet us. I had a total of 3 nurses throughout the delivery and this 2nd one was not my favorite. She had a lot of personal stories to share- long ones. And she didn't seem to quite have the bedside manner that the other 2 had. However, she was very helpful during my epidural-which we'll get to in a minute....

Anyway, I'd only bee there for an hour or so when my in laws showed up. It was fun to have company. They live nearby, so it was easy for them to pop over. I also got a call from my friend Kerry who was just up the street at a function for her son's school. She also joined us, which was awesome. She delivered both of her kids at the same hospital and was super excited to be there with us. We all chatted for a while before I decided to get the epidural. I knew before coming to the hospital that I was going to get one. I had planned on it even before I got pregnant. My thinking was that I wouldn't get a cavity filled without Novocain, so why wouldn't I get an epidural. :) Everyone pictures what their anesthesiologist will look like, right? Well, I did. He was going to be an older man- maybe in his 60's- with white hair, glasses and a nice big smile. I guess the hospital didn't get my mental memo, because they sent in some hot-shot looking 30-something woman who was all business. Needless to say we did not become friends after my experience. I wasn't really nervous about the process at all. I had heard that it was super fast and basically just felt like a pinch. This was not the case for me. It was AWFUL. I felt the pinch, which wasn't bad. I also felt that damn woman digging around in my back for what seemed like an eternity. I think she tried 3 times to find "the spot". She also made reference- rather flippantly- that either the tattoo on my back wasn't straight or I had a mild case of scoliosis. Two thoughts here: 1. are you using my tattoo as a guide, because that's weird. 2. Really, you're trying to tell me now that I may have scoliosis? Awesome. Needless to say, I was crying bawling. It wasn't the best experience, but it did end up working and I started to feel my contractions less and less.

We were told that I still had a ways to go. I don't even remember how dilated I was. Since my water had broken, they didn't check me very often because they didn't want to create and infection by continuously going in there. Since it was after midnight, we decided to try to get some rest. Joe's parents and Kerry left so Joe and I tried to settle in. Joe had gone into work at 6am that morning, so he was exhausted. He passed out rather quickly, but I was too excited to sleep. I spent most of the night texting whoever was awake. My sister in law was up and excited so we were texting back and forth. Her son was born 3 months before Brody and apparently in the same exact delivery room! (Coincidence #2) I think I may have gotten an hour or so of sleep, but at 4am, I realized that my bff in Maryland was surely awake with her kids, so we texted back and forth for an hour or so. I think I probably got another hour of sleep after that, and then my mom arrived. She was there for a while before heading out to get some coffee for herself and Joe and returned just before I began pushing.

Our 3rd nurse arrived at 7am and she was wonderful! She came in with this big smile on her face and said, "hi, I'm Judy!". Just her smile and her warm personality made me instantly happy that she would most likely be with us for the delivery. She was amazing. It was just she, Joe and my mom in the room for the delivery which to me was perfect. Judy was super helpful and got Joe and my mom involved. She was the best coach and cheerleader. She praised me for a push well done and kindly let me know when I could do better. Before the pushing began we chatted a bit about where I worked and what I went to school for. She was telling me that she went to San Jose State for her nursing degree and mentioned that she did her undergrad in Pennsylvania. I told her that I also went to school in Pennsylvania, and before we knew it, we discovered that we both had the same alma mater! (Coincidence #3) Definitely a small world on that one, considering that almost everyone I tell where I went to school responds with "huh?".

I hadn't read a lot of birth stories and the ones I did read seemed to deliver their babies rather quickly. This was not the case for me. I began pushing at 8:45. Judy told me that because this was my first baby, I could push for up to 2.5 hours. That seemed like an eternity to me! I had a clock directly in front of me, so I just watched the hours go by. After about 45 minutes of pushing I was pretty sure my epidural had worn off. My legs didn't feel as heavy and the contractions were getting more and more painful. I was pushing and pushing, but his little humongous head was not descending. The doctor came in a few times to check. And although he was not overly concerned about myself or the baby's health/safety, he told me that I needed to keep working on getting that baby down because he wasn't where he should be by then. The pain continued to get worse and I felt like I had zero strength left. I remember telling Joe that I couldn't do it, that I didn't think I could keep going. I think that was about an hour and a half in. Things are kind of a blur after that. Somewhere between an hour and a half and three and a half hours in, I found the strength. I remember Judy telling me how close I was and then running to get the doctor to see if he could help me a long. He came in shortly thereafter and said, if I could just get the baby down a little farther he'd use the vacuum to get him out. I must have gone into full force because I was giving it my all. I pushed and pushed and pushed. I pushed for longer than I was supposed to, and didn't really rest in between each push. Before I knew it, our gorgeous baby boy had arrived. He was perfect. We were so anxious to find out how big he was because everyone estimated that he'd be big. When he measured 6lbs 7ozs, we were beyond surprised! His head was definitely larger than average, but it was perfect. He was perfect. He was immediately bundled and then placed on my chest.

The first picture of him still makes me laugh. It's the cutest things ever, but he doesn't look anything like he does now. I guess four hours down the birth canal can do that to you.

Two Became Three. Brody's Birth Story- Part One

I had planned on taking thirteen weeks of maternity leave. One whole week to myself, and then the next twelve to be with the baby after he arrived. Instead, I got all thirteen weeks with my little guy...

My last day of work was Friday, November 5th. I had been counting down the days because I was tired. It was still pretty warm and I'd been going to a lot of meetings on campus that last week. Needless to say, I was ready to do some relaxing. I couldn't wait to finally be on leave. My boss told me I could take a half day to go home and relax. So after lunch with a co worker, I headed home. Joe went in to work at 6am that day, so he was home at 2pm. We sat around on the couch together for a bit before deciding to go to Chipotle for dinner. Before we left for dinner, I made a quick potty trip- ***TMI ALERT***- only to discover that I'd lost my mucus plug. Not just some of it, not just a tinge of blood- THE WHOLE DARN THING. There really wasnt any confusion. I knew what it was, and was kind of excited. However, I'd read that it really wasn't much to get excited about, as it could take weeks to go into labor after it's appearence. I of course called to tell my mom, who apparently called my brother who called my dad. My mom also spoke with a friend who is a nurse and she said that it is definitely a sign that "things are starting".  My sister in law also said that she want into labor within a few hours of losing hers. I still wasnt buying it.

Anyway, Chipotle was quite delicicious and apparently the last thing I'd eat for the next 20 hours. After Chipotle I wanted to stop by Target and see about getting a new camera, since ours was pretty junky and we'd need a better one to take pictures of the little man. We picked the one we wanted and then headed back home.

When we got home, Joe went out to the garage to work on a putter that he was cleaning up for a member at the club. I was super excited to plop on the couch and watch Private Practice- it was the episode after Charlotte got attacked and I couldn't wait to find out what happened. So there I was, all of 15 minutes in, when I realized I had to pee. As soon as I stood up, however, my water broke. Right there. Just a small gush. Then some more. I ran to the bathroom, where it was completely evident to me that, "holy crap, my water just brok". I ran to the garage (still leaking amniotic fluid- it's never ending, apparently) to tell Joe. He responded with "seriously?" before jumping up and coming inside.

I called the hospital who informed me that the on call doctor woul call me back- she did within ten minutes and said to get things together and get to the hospital by 10pm. This was at about 8pm, so we had some time to kill. Joe took a shower and I made sure I had everything packed. I was so giddy! I couldnt feel any contractions, so other than the constant leaking, everything was bliss! I ran around packing up all the last minute items we had on our list....computer, ipod, new camera( good timing, huh?), snacks for me and Joe, cell phone chargers, etc. Then I jumped in the shower- redid my hair and make up- yep, I did it- and then put a cute little headband on and of course took a picture to document the still blissfull state I was in.

Then we threw everything in the car, and headed out the door...

To Be Continued!

Getting back on the horse...

Is that what people say? I've only been on a horse once and it wasn't fun. hmmm

Anyway, I'm making a new year's resolution to start blogging again. Not that I blogged a lot, but now I have the best reason to blog. Who doesn't want to read about my super cute baby? Well, I realize not everyone does, but more than anything I want to document Brody's life. People kept telling me to write things down because I'd forget them. Guess what? I didn't write things down and now I forget.

Well, I haven't forgotten everything, but there are things that in the moment seemed so important, unbearable, crazy, etc but once those moments are over you totally forget about them. I also forget certain stages, but I figure that he's only 3 months old, so I can probably go back and make stuff up write about what I do remember.

So anyway, get ready to go back in time a whole three months. I hope to start with the birth story and move on from there.

And because blogs are always more fun with a picture, here you go....

This one of my favorite pictures of Brody. He's probably about 2-3 weeks old here. Funny guy. 

Stay tuned.....

Love this post...

I found this a few months ago, and knew that I'd want to post it for myself when the time came. I just have to laugh out loud when I read these. I obviously have my own frustrations. Gotta love the humor in it. :)

What Not To Say To A Woman In Her Last Few Days of Pregnancy:

1. When I call you, don't answer the phone "Are you in labor"

2. When you call me and I answer don't say "So I guess you haven't had the baby yet"

3. If I don't answer, don't freak out. Don't keep calling!!! And don't start calling everyone else to find out why I didn't answer. Maybe I was in the shower. Maybe I went for a walk. Or maybe I just don't want to talk.

4. Don't tell me what day to have the baby because it is "better" for you. 2 reasons why:
     A. I have been carrying this baby for 10 months and really don't care what is more convenient for  you.
    B. If I really had any control over when the baby came do you think I would still be pregnant????

5. Don't tell me "It will all be worth it." Well, duh! I am not a terrible person, nor will I be a terrible mom because I want my pregnancy to end sooner rather then later. I know it will be worth it, but I still have a right to vent if I want.

6. If you don't want to hear a woman who is 39.5 weeks pregnant vent, then don't ask her how she is feeling or read her blog. She feels like crap.

7. If you have been pregnant before, don't act like what she is going through is totally normal and it is no big deal....mother nature makes you forget how terrible the end is so you will have more babies. In the moment it is bad and painful and you have just forgotten that.

8. If you are the Publix cashier, don't say to me "you still haven't had that baby yet". Yes I told you very proudly last week that I hoped this would be my last shopping trip without the baby....but clearly I am still fat and haven't had the baby. I ran out of food so I had to come back, ok? (Ok- so this one is directed at one individual)

9. Please STOP asking when the baby will be here. I do not have a crystal ball. I don't know!!!

10. I will let everyone know by phone call, text, email, facebook, and blog once the baby is here. It is not like I am going to forget to mention it!!


source: http://babybignon.blogspot.com/2010/03/what-not-to-say-to-woman-in-her-last.html

Am I Just Being Sensitive?

It's pretty easy for me to get wrapped up in my emotions these days, and I do have some fears about bringing home a newborn baby. However, I wonder why it is that with all the excitement that comes with the impeding arrival of my son, everyone and their mother decides that it would be helpful or funny or maybe it's just a right of passage (for them) to make not so helpful comments about how hard/negative everything is going to be.

"You better get your sleep now"
"I hope you and Joe are spending as much time as possible together now."
"Enjoy the peace and quiet, you wont get it back for a long time."
"Just wait....you'll see how hard it is"

No, I have never had a baby, so I don't know what it's like in those first few days, weeks and months, but I have figured out that there will be a lot less sleep than normal. I know things will be hard and there will be a lot of adjustments. But, I chose to have this baby. Both Joe and I did and we know that we will have our share of challenges as our lives change with caring for child.

I value more than ever the positive comments that people share with me. I love that it's not just us that are excited about Brody's arrival and the joy that will come with it. I've heard that I will fall in love all over, both with the baby and my husband, as I watch him be a father. I love when people tell me how sweet their babies were when they first came home, and how much they really cherished that time. I've also had moms tell me, that honestly it's not that hard. Be positive, sleep when you can, ask for help and just enjoy the experience. All things I want to be hearing at this point!

I am so excited for this next chapter in my life and can't wait to share it with my husband and family. I hope to remember these feelings that I'm having right now and when I have a friend who is expecting their baby to arrive, I will share all the positive things that I can with them.

**Sorry for the vent, but I had to get it out.**

Stay tuned for a post that I'm stealing from another blogger about "What not to say to a woman in her last few days of pregnancy" as they kind of relate.