Just because

Since he is changing so fast, I though doing some just because photos might be nice. I will try to do this every week. Here are just a couple favorites from the last week.

One Month

Nothing could have prepared us for this first month of being parents. We were so blessed by Charles' schedule that he was able to be around so much for the first two weeks of Wills' life. I was so blessed that my mom came to stay with us for the third week! The fourth week of his life flying solo wasn't too bad either.

Sleep has definitely become a commodity around here (for me). My friend Erin told me to be prepared that a baby's cry is the first thing a woman will wake up to and like the 75th thing a man will wake up to. This is definitely true. There have been nights where Wills' is screaming his head off while getting his diaper changed (does that ever stop?) and I will ask Charles the next day if we woke him up. Needless to say, the answer is no.

Some struggles we have encountered this month have mainly been with breast feeding. My milk didn't come in as abundantly as it should have, so we had some weight gain issues with Wills and had to start supplementing. I started the fun task of nursing, then pumping, then feeding Wills a bottle eight to nine times a day to help boost my supply. I also started taking some fenugreek, an herbal supplement that makes me smell like pancakes and Reglan, a prescription of GI stuff that randomly helps boost milk supply. Thankfully, over this last weekend we confirmed I was officially making enough to feed our son and we no longer have to supplement! I am so glad. My mom contributes this to my stubborness. I say I was just determined! 

Some awesomness this month have been that he is awake more often so we get to see his pretty eyes. He is still a snuggle bug, which I love. Just this week he has started to follow you with his eyes. We read that tracking is a stepping stone for good hand eye cooridination. As Charles would say, "this is important for his future as an elite athlete".

One Month Stats:

Weight: 8 lbs, 9 oz

Length: 22 1/4

Clothing Size: Newborn stuff is getting snug, but 0 to 3 months is still a little loose

Nicknames: Buddy, Buster, Buttercup (we like "B's" I guess)

Must haves: Moby Wrap, Sakura Sling, Miracle Blanket Swaddler, Rumparooz Diaper Covers, Bac Out

Milestones: 

July 26th: home from the hospital, met big sister Holly for the first time. Neither of them is too impressed with the other just yet.

July 29th: first doctor's appt and first trip to Target

August 1st: belly button stump fell off
August 3rd: first photo shoot

August 4th: first date with baby Blaine

August 11th: back to birth weight

August 17th: finally gaining weight appropriately!8LBS, 3OZ

August 21st: following mommy, daddy, and keys with his eyes

                                                                                   

This month has truly been the most amazing, exhausting, and wonderful month of our lives. I can't wait to see what next month brings!

Newborn Pictures

When Wills was 10 days old, we headed to Edmond to see Kristi of Twice Blessed Photography. We were having our newborn pictures taken!

Wills did amazing. We got up early that morning and ate, then we took a bath, and then we ate again, and then we headed to Edmond. Wills fell asleep in the car on the drive and proceeded to sleep for the next two and half hours. He woke up at the very end of the session ready to eat again!

To see some highlights from his photo session, you can check out my facebook page. 

To see the rest, you can go to the Twice Blessed Photography client proofing page and enter wills831 as the password. You will need to hurry though, because it will only be up for 14 days!

We were so pleased with Kristi and how the pictures turned out. We will be seeing her again in late October/early November for our 3 month photos!

"Birth" Day Visitors

We tried to get a picture of Wills with all his visitors on his "Birth" Day. We were not 100% successful with this. For one thing, neither one of his grandpas would hold him. They want him to be a little more substantial and maybe have some head control first! =) Other times, we just kind of forgot.

Here is Wills getting lots of love from his new friends and family:

Aunt Sara and Grammy

Grandma

Our pediatrician (and friend) Kris. She will be providing Wills with a girlfriend sometime in late August.

Kris' husband Dave

 

Caroline, who just had baby Blaine last Thursday. Another girlfriend for Wills!

Grammy

Aunt Janice

One of Wills' Godparents, Nelson

Josh

Dressed to head home from the hospital.

First time in the car seat. Not a fan!

Our "Birth" Day cookie cake that we got from our Godparents, Erin and Nelson

Baby Boy wreath Aunt Sara made

Gigantic cupcakes from Aunt Janice

So many visitors and so many treats. This is one blessed little boy!

Birth Story

Below is the birth story of Wills. This is a warning that you may get some details you might not want. Feel free to skip this post if you would rather not know!

At my doctor's appointment on Wednesday the 20th, I was dilated to a 1 and 80% effaced. We discussed scheduling an induction for the next week, but Charles and I both wanted to at least go to our due date of July 30th. I went ahead and scheduled my weekly appointment for the next Wednesday.

On Friday evening, I lost my mucus plug. I wasn't entirely sure this is what happened, so I called my sister to confirm. I then used google images to double check. Amazingly, there are people out there who actually took pictures of theirs. Luckily for you, I didn't. When you loose your mucus plug, labor could be hours to weeks away.

So on Saturday, July 23rd I cleaned the house, I made a casserole to freeze for maternity leave, and I packed my bag and the baby's bag. Looking back, this was probably a sign that labor was imminent. We went to dinner with some friends and that night I made the remark that I thought we would go past our due date. Baby Te had other plans.

I was having a really hard time sleeping and getting comfortable that night. At 2:15 am on Sunday, my water broke. Mine was an actual gush of water. I tried to stop it like when you try to stop your urine flow and it wouldn't stop. This made me realize I was not actually peeing the bed. Just to be sure, I sniffed it, and sure enough, it did not smell like pee. Thank goodness! I woke Charles up to let him know that the baby was on his way and then I called my mom to tell her. I then took a shower. Now this is probably not how it is for everyone, but my water continued to flow. I was leaking large amounts and every time I thought it stopped, more would come. I put leggings on to wear to the hospital to keep it from dripping down my legs and grabbed a towel to put in the front seat. At this point, my contractions were lasting about 30 seconds and happening every 2 minutes. I had an app on my phone to monitor my contractions. Charles hopped in the shower and packed his bag and we headed to the hospital. Charles called his dad to let them know and called the hospital to tell them we were on our way.

We checked in and went to delivery room 7.  I was hooked up to a fetal heart rate monitor, a contraction monitor, and an IV was started. They checked me and I was only dilated to a 2. This was so disheartening, because I felt like the contractions really hurt! They asked if I was going to want pain medication and I said definitely. They gave me stadol to help with the pain while we waited on the anesthesiologist to give me an epidural. After the epidural, I felt pretty good and the contractions didn't really hurt anymore. At around 5:30 they checked me again and I was at a 4, but my contractions were starting to slow down. They decided to give me pitocin to help them pick back up again. At this point, I noticed that my epidural was only working on the right side of my body. Not cool. They had me roll on to my left side to see if that would help. It didn't. The anesthesiologist came back in and adjusted the placement and also gave me a direct line of pain medication. The contractions had become very painful. I honestly felt like if they would just let me push him out I would feel so much better! I told my nurse this and she decided to check me again. This time I was dilated to an 8! In the meantime, my mom, stepdad, and sister had arrived. Just in time too. The epidural finally kicked in on both sides of my body and the contractions didn't hurt anymore, it was just a feeling of pressure. My OB is awesome. She wasn't on call that weekend, but came in anyway to deliver our little boy. When she got there, she checked me and we were fully dilated and he was at position +2. It was time to push. I was told to take a deep breath and push during the contraction, 3 pushes per contraction. This is the awesome part, 2 contractions later, and we had a baby! That's right, I only had to push 6 times!

Before the pain kicked in:

Wills' first picture:

Weighing in and getting measured: 

First family photo:

So that is our birth story. I can honestly say it wasn't too bad!