A Month of Motherhood

Well, my little man is growing way too fast! I can't believe he's already a month old. Right now, he is sleeping in his swing with a full belly of milk. He loves when it's time to eat, and I find it hilarious when he roots around on the hubby for a snack :) This past month has been everything I expected, and then some more. I've had my ups and downs over the past month, but I wouldn't trade in the laundry, throw-up, crying, diapers, diapers, and more diapers and the lack of sleep for anything else in the world. Parker has not only grown in size (he's 9lbs, 2 oz now), but he's also growing in his development. He is picking up his head when he hold him and looking all around. Sometimes he loses control and causes a headbutting incident, but most of the time, he's got pretty good control. About a week and a half ago, the hubby and I saw him watching the birds spin around on his swing and he's been tracking things pretty frequently now. Aside from those big developments, the biggest thing this month has been his sleep pattern. For the past week, he has been sleeping for 5-6 hours at night. He often sleeps from 11-4:30 or 5. How did we do it???? you ask. Well, let me tell you.

During his first week at home, we tried putting Parker to bed wrapped up in his swaddle. He enjoyed being all cozied up, until around 1 am. Then he was up screaming and I could feel the sweat on his back coming through the swaddle. So we gave up the swaddle while it was so hot outside still. At around 3 weeks old, we started a bedtime routine with Parker. At that time, his last feeding was around 10:00. After he ate, we decided to swaddle him and read him a story, followed by rocking him to sleep. After that first night of doing that he slept from about 11:00-3:45. Well, that was better than getting up at 1 again to eat. So we tried it again, but different the next time. I tried to schedule his eating so that he ate at 9:00, followed by a bath (using bedtime bath and lotion, of course), cuddle time to get warm, swaddle, story and more rocking to sleep. That night he was in bed by 10:30 and awake at 4:30. Ding, ding, ding, we had a winner!!!!!!!! From that night on, we followed the same routine. Sometimes he was hungry at 8:30 and I fed him then. If I fed him a little earlier, he'd be up earlier in the morning, but the key was that I was getting around 5-6 hours of straight, uninterrupted sleep :) One night, he woke up at 12:45 am, and put just cooed and made funny noises for about 5 minutes until he went back to sleep. He slept until 4:45 that night. Another thing we did that came recommended on some sleep forum, was to put him in bed when he was still partially awake. We've been doing that too, and he will fall asleep on his own, just sucking on his bink. I love that he is sleeping good at night, and being more awake and happy during the day. I love my little man :)

Life as a Mom

So Parker will be 3 weeks old on Tuesday, and I keep asking myself, "How is he so big already?" It is amazing how quickly time flies with the little man. Seriously, I never believed people when they said, "Cherish the time with them because he'll be grown up before you know it." Now I totally believe it! I mean, just about 3 weeks ago, I was holding a brand new, slimy baby in my arms. Now he's lifting up his head and looking at us and watching his birds circle around on his swing. It is really crazy. Now that I'm a mom, and the hubby is a dad, life has definitely changed for us. Here are a few ways that life has changed for us.

1. I still have to clean up vomit. Only, now it's from a baby that drinks too much milk, way too fast. It's not from adults drinking too much alcohol, way too fast.
2. My breasts are no longer soft and cushiony. They are hard and sore and filled with an obscene amount of milk.
3. I rarely put on makeup. What's the point of having a lovely, put together face, when I've got white spit up on my pants and shirt.
4. My favorite kind of music is no longer playing loudly in the car, with the windows down while I sing along, out of tune. I now love the lullaby music on the swing, as it helps calm cranky babies at 3 in the morning.
5. I sleep on my back now, which I hate doing. I thought after pregnancy, I'd be able to peacefully sleep on my stomach. Nope, please refer to #2 on the list to understand why stomach sleeping is not an option.
6. I'm no longer being woken up in the middle of the night by the hubby's snoring. Now I am being woken up by a shrill cry begging me for food. I can sleep through the hubby's grizzly bear like snoring extremely easy now. 
7. My hubby is no longer the only man in my life that I allow to cuddle me and nuzzle in my neck. I have my cuddly little baby to do that too.
8. Our freezer is no longer full of ice cream and frozen treats. Bags of breastmilk take up an entire shelf. Good times :)
9. Sleeping during the daytime is no longer considered lazy. It's considered necessary. If I didn't get a chance to nap during the day, I'd be one cranky, emotional mom.
10. Crying is a common thing to hear in our home. Yes, most of it comes from our little man. But some of it comes from the extremely tired mommy that is awake from 11:30-1:30 every night during the week trying to calm a baby that is screaming. 

Even though there are a lot of life changes, I really wouldn't trade it in for the world. When I'm holding the little man, and he meets my eyes and smiles, I can't help but forget about how tired I am or that I have vom on my shirt. I just smile back and give lots of cuddles and kisses. I love seeing my hubby take on his new role of dad. He is an awesome dad and an even better husband now. I love our new family.

I Could Look in Those Eyes Forever

On Monday, August 20th, I was at school teaching my first graders and thinking that my baby would never be here. Around 11:00 I started getting really intense back pains. I just chocked it up to the fact that I had done so much walking and being on my feet over the weekend and that being on my feet at school was just really starting to hit me. I called my principal and expressed my level of pain and told her that I'd be taking a 1/2 day or a full day the next day to just rest my back. She said I needed to do what was best for me and the baby. I let my sub know that I'd need her the next day and I spent a couple hours after school making sure all my ducks were in a row for her, in case I was in labor (which I didn't think I was until later). Around 4:00 I called my hubby to let him know I'd be taking the next day off and that I was having intense back pains. He asked if I was in labor, and I told him I wasn't sure because I only had back pains. He told me to finish up what I was doing and to head home. I seriously thought I just had a sore back. Labor didn't cross my mind until a little later. Anyways, onto what happened after school.

When I got home around 5:00, the hubby was already there. I told him that the pains were still persisting. Again, he mentioned that I might be in labor. I think at that point I kinda knew that was what was happening, and I began to cry a little bit. He hugged me and asked what was wrong. For the first time, I realized that Parker was coming and that as excited and overjoyed I felt, I was scared too. I wasn't scared of becoming a mom, I was scared of what labor would be like. He reassured me that even if it was tough, it would all be worth it once we were holding Parker in our arms. That helped me calm down. We decided to eat PB&J sandwiches for dinner, and then it all got super real. At about 5:30, the pain stayed in my back but came and went to the front. It was intense pain in my back that wrapped around to the front. We decided to start timing contractions. Oh, the iPhone came in handy for that via a wonderful app called, Full Term. The contractions were lasting for about a minute, but were still pretty far apart. At around 7:30, they were about 7 minutes apart and we decided to start packing up the car with all of our hospital stuff. 2 overnight bags, 1 snack bag, 2 pillows, and 2 cameras later, the car was packed. At around 8:30, I called my doctor's exchange and asked them to place a call to him because I was having some bleeding along with the contractions. By the time he called back at 9:00, my contractions were more intense and were lasting close to 2 minutes and were a little over 5 minutes apart. He said it was time to go to the hospital. Oh, snap. We kenneled up the puppies and told them the next time we saw them we'd have a baby brother for them to love on.

We arrived at the hospital and got checked in at the emergency room. A little over an hour later, after sitting in a triage room getting examined to make sure my contractions were real, I was told that I was in labor and that we'd be going upstairs to a labor and delivery room. I couldn't believe it was really happening and that Parker would be in our arms sooner than later. I called my parents and the hubby called his and we let them know that we were in the hospital and that soon they'd have a new grandbaby. I got wheeled upstairs in my sweet hospital gown and got settled into our new home for the next 18 hours. As the hours passed, my contractions became stronger and even closer together. As I was having back labor, the contractions lasted in my back for about a minute before moving to the front for another minute. I literally had a minute, maybe 2, before the next one started. I tried breathing as Chris held my hand and rubbed my head, but the pain was getting so intense. The nurse called my doctor and he ordered some pitocin because I had been at a 2 for a couple hours. At around 1:00 a.m., I was sure I had dilated to at least a 4 or 5 with the intensity of the contractions, so Chris called the nurse in to check me. Well, I was wrong. I was only at a 3. For the next half hour, I fought with the idea of getting an epidural so early. Chris reassured me that it was okay if I got one. I was having no real break between contractions, and after going back and forth for a while, I finally got one around 1:45 a.m. The epidural was so difficult because my contractions were so close together that it was so hard to keep still while the needle was going in. The hubby held my hands and helped me through the whole thing. Without him, I would have been absolutely lost. After the epidural, I finally began to feel better. My legs felt like tree trunks, and I could barely move my left leg, but I actually started to feel better. I couldn't feel the contractions and I thought I could finally get some sleep. Well, I was in for a rude awakening.

After the epidural kicked in, Parker didn't like it. My water still hadn't broken and the nurse was checking me when she accidentally broke my water. She said I was almost at a 4 and things went downhill from there. Once my water broke, Parker dropped and was in a little distress. His heartrate was dropping or spiking with each contraction, and my blood pressure wasn't doing so great either. She decided to fill me back up with fluids to take some pressure off of Parker and she turned off the pitocin and decided to put me on oxygen to help the baby. I was so scared at this point that something might go wrong, but I was also so exhausted, as it was around 4 a.m. that I couldn't even work up any tears. I let the hubby sleep because I knew I'd need him in the morning. At around 8 a.m., my parents came up and were hanging out with us. The nurse had just checked me and I was still at a 4. She called my doctor to come up and he said the same thing. He doubled up my dose of pitocin and took me off the oxygen. He said that I'd have a baby around 8 pm. He mentioned that I'd dilate about a cm an hour and then it'd be time to push. Boy, oh boy, was he wrong.

Chris and my dad decided to go and get breakfast around after the doc came to visit and I sat and hung out with my mom. I was so tired, and I fell asleep for about an hour. It felt great to get a little cat nap in. At 9:25, a little over an hour after my doctor checked me, the nurse came in to check my progress. I was shocked to hear that I was fully dilated and effaced. She said it'd be time to have the baby soon. I was an emotional wreck at that point, but I didn't even have the energy to show it. I texted the hubby and told him that it'd be time to push soon. He was surprised and headed back ASAP. At around 10:15, I had the overwhelming urge to push and asked Chris to get the nurse. My parents left the room and I was left with the best coach in the entire world. For the next hour, the nurse and my husband helped me through the emotions of giving birth. A little less than an hour in to pushing, the doctor came in and we knew we'd be meeting our little guy soon. Dr. Young talked about how much hair Parker had and I became so overwhelmed with love that I just wanted to meet him. I pushed and Dr. Young said, "Give me your hands." I gave him my hands and life changed for our family of a husband, a wife and 2 crazy puppies.

At 11:56 a.m. I gave Dr. Young my hands and helped pull out Parker. I pulled him up to my chest and held our baby so close that I could feel him in my heart. I waited for what felt like an eternity to hear his cry, and when he cried, the hubby and I cried too. As I kissed him and held him, I looked up at his dad told him that our son was here. We held each other and he cut the cord. I got to hold Parker for a minute or so longer and he was off getting checked out by the baby nurses. Dr. Young talked to me and Chris went to take pictures of our new child. All I wanted was to hold him again and be with my husband. I patiently waited and as any first time parent would, asked what they were doing and if it was okay that they had him on oxygen. "It's just a precaution we do with all babies" I was told. After he was all swaddled up, Chris brought him back to me. I looked down at our little guy and I can't even put into words the amount of love I felt for our new family. He gazed up at with the biggest eyes I've ever seen and I decided right then and there that I could look at them forever. I was amazed with how alert he was and I couldn't stop snuggling him. Chris came over to hold my hand and as complete as our life was with our puppies, we realized that now it was really complete. We looked at his long fingers and long toes and stroked his chubby cheeks and rubbed his beautiful, full head of dark hair and talked about who he looked like. After impatiently waiting for 40 weeks and 2 days to meet him, our son was finally here and we were never letting him go.

The hubby holding him :) I love those 2 more than anything else.

Holding onto Daddy's finger

So much love

40 Weeks . . . It's Time to Come Out, Parker

Well, it's currently the little guys due date and as of right now, he's not here. I'm having some back pains that are coming and going, but I'm not sure if they are contractions or not. With it being my first baby, I have no idea what contractions feel like. Everyone tells me something different when I ask how a contraction feels. So for right not, I'm just sitting tight. I'm hoping a hot shower will help the pain a little bit. I was so hoping he'd come this weekend because the hubby and I are so ready to hold him in our arms and finally get so see his face and his cute little fingers and toes. We did a lot this weekend to try and bring on labor. We walked the dogs for about a half hour on Saturday and then walked around at the Festival of the Little Hills for about 4 1/2 hours. We then went to an anniversary party at my uncle's bar, and I stood or tried walking around a lot there. Today I went shopping with my mom for about 4 hours, which includes following behind her as she power walks to find the best deals. So I was power walking/waddling to catch up with her for a while. I guess there's still time for him to come today though. I've got my sub stuff all out for my sub, hoping she will need to use it tomorrow :) Oh well, wish me luck, as this will definitely be my last post until he arrives.

How far along? 40 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 28 pounds
Maternity clothes? Yep, and I'm very pleased that my maternity clothes have fit me the entire way through my pregnancy :)
Sleep: Not so good. I've still been getting up every few hours to pee, which is so fun.
Best moment this week: The hubby and I had a great time shooting maternity pictures last Sunday with my amazing colleague and friend, Julie. She did such a wonderful job and I love the pictures so much :) I can't wait to share them once I get the disc of all the images, including Parker's hospital and newborn pictures. She is so awesome. My husband said the best moment this week was that he almost hit a hole-in-one at golf today. Thanks for your input honey :)
Miss Anything? I miss what it feels like to not be pregnant. As much as I love feeling the little guy move around in my belly, I really just want him to be here. I want to be able to walk up the stairs without my back aching and bend over without straining myself. I want to feel like a young'n, not an old lady :)
Movement: They are definitely not as frequent, but I still feel him. I feel like he's doing more of stretching and adjusting himself in there.
Anything making you queasy or sick: When I get too hot, I get a little queasy.
Have you started to show yet: I'm not even going to answer this.
Labor Signs: As you read in the introduction, I'm not sure.
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? Off still :(
Happy or Moody most of the time: I'm definitely moody. I was in tears yesterday and Friday because I just want Parker to be here. Also, I'm about tired of people asking the following questions and statements:

• How are you feeling?
• When are you due?
• Will your doctor induce you?
• How far are you dilated?
• Are you done being pregnant?
• You're still here? (No, I'm just hanging out up here at work with a basketball stuffed in my shirt.)
• You haven't had that baby yet?

I'm sure there are more, but those are the most common questions. And when I say common, I mean on a daily basis, every time I run into someone. Maybe that comes off as cranky, but I've seriously been asked most of those questions since telling people I was expecting.
Looking forward to: I cannot wait to hold this little guy in my arms. I want to hear him cry and see him smile and look at me for the first time. I know my husband feels the same way too :)

It's the Due Date

Well, it's the due date . . . and he's not here yet. Surprisingly, I'm okay with it. Now, I'm not bragging and I really do know how lucky I am, but seriously, I've had such an easy pregnancy. I've had swollen feet a few times and I've had a little bit of an aching back right here at the end, but other than that, I have been so blessed. This past weekend, I was walking across wet rocks and getting up and down off the ground getting pictures taken. Thanks Julie for awesome pictures! Today I was bending down tying shoes, walking around and inspecting my kiddos work and picking up messes from my little 1st graders. I am exhausted by the end of the day, but I've been told by quite a few people, "When I was as pregnant as you are, I was teaching from my rolling chair." This is why I'm okay with the fact that he's not here yet. Yes, I so want to meet him, but No, I don't want to go back to school for 1st quarter. After looking ahead at the calendar, if Parker waits to come until this weekend, I won't need to go back to do report cards or parent-teacher conferences. And then I'll get an additional 2 weeks off for our fall break. So a 6 week maternity leave will turn into a little over 8 week leave. I would so love 2 months at home with my little guy. On to other "My baby is almost here!!!!" thoughts.

I can't believe that this little guy that has been growing healthy and BIG, according to the doc, could really arrive now at any time. I think like all other first time moms, I'm feeling a plethora of emotions. Not only am I excited, but I'm nervous, anxious, scared, worried, happy, and anxious again. I'm not really scared and worried about being a mom and being in charge of keeping this little guy healthy and happy for the next many years, I'm more worried and nervous about the labor and delivery part. I have unfortunately had people tell me horror stories about labor and delivery. My favorite was, "My sister in law just had her baby. She was in labor for 33 hours and pushed for 4 hours before her kid came out." Oh yeah, great story to tell a woman who is going to give birth any second to her first child. I would have rather heard, "My sister in law had her baby. She was in labor for 5 minutes and she pushed for 2 minutes. Basically, the baby just slid right out. She didn't have time to sweat or ruin her hair and makeup." Now, that's a birth story to tell someone :) I'm pretty sure my husband has no idea what labor and delivery could be like. He thinks it's going to be lots of crying, whining, and a big mess. Oh, and he said boring because he's just going to be waiting for stuff to be happening. Ummm, I actually agree with him. I'm sure I'll cry, whine and yes, birth is messy. But I really don't think it'll be boring. Maybe boring for him, but I'll be the one having painful contractions as a large baby is making it's way out. I love his viewpoint of everything :)

Well, as I wrap up, I have one more little thought . . . I could be a mom any day now. Seriously, I'm touching my belly more often and I'm savoring feeling each and every little movement (unless it's 2 am and I just want to sleep). I know that soon, he won't be with me at all times. Soon he'll be out and part of the world. Soon the hubby and I are going to have a handsome, maybe chubby, little baby who will rely on us for EVERYTHING. As daunting as that sounds, we are both really looking forward to it. I am pretty sure that the hubby is more ready for me to be done being pregnant than anything else :) I'm sure I won't post again until he's here, so the next time you hear from me, I'll be a mom and I'm sure I'll be blogging during nap time.

38 Weeks . . .The Doc is Expecting a Chunky Monkey

Yes folks, it's true. I asked the doc to estimate the weight of this little guy and he gave a rough guess that he's already 8 pounds. Now, at first, I was quite shocked when he told me. How could that little guy already be 8 pounds??? I'm wondering if he will slow down his growth or I'll deliver a newborn that barely squeezes into his 0-3 month clothes :) We have newborn clothes packed for the hospital, but I guess we'll throw in our favorite 0-3 month outfit too, just in case. Aside from that, the doc told me I'm right on track. In the home aspect, we are ready for this guy to arrive. When thinking of the current situation at school, which is no substitute for my maternity leave, I'm not quite ready. Let's hope my principals find a wonderful teacher to take over for me :) Coming back after 6-8 weeks to a class full of hooligans because they had no structure during 1st quarter will not be a fun time for me.

How far along? 38 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 25 pounds
Maternity clothes? Yep, although in the pic I'm sporting a regular shirt that I wore before I was even pregnant. Again, if it fits, I'm wearing it..
Sleep: Yeah, that's a thing of the past. I was up at 4:00 this morning.
Best moment this week: While driving home from my hubby's 10 year reunion, he revealed a very important piece of information to me. Now, he was quite intoxicated, but I have found that he is most honest after a few, 6 Blue Moons. He told me, "You know, I'm ready to be a dad." During the pregnancy, he has been worried about becoming a dad. He worried that he wasn't ready, but he told me that he's ready now so Parker can come whenever he wants. I found myself smiling, and thinking that I've known that he'll be a great dad. Last night, when I went into the bedroom, I saw that he had also went ahead and put the bassinet in there. After asking him, "Why is this in here already?" He responded with, "We have to get used to it being in here at some point." In all honesty, I think he's more ready than I am. As soon as I get a substitute, I'll be ready.
Miss Anything? Sleep.
Movement: Yes, and they are gigantic.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.
Have you started to show yet: More and more everyday
Labor Signs: I've felt pressure and some shooting pains, but nothing severe. When the doc checked me, there wasn't much going on at all.
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? Off. My fingers in the heat have gotten too big to make it fit comfortably anymore. I really want to be able to wear my ring again :(
Happy or Moody most of the time: I've definitely been moody lately. I was great until a few days before school is ready to start, I found out that the girl that was doing my maternity leave got a full time teaching job. She apologized for backing out on my leave. I congratulated her and told her I would have done the same thing. I then promptly almost broke down in tears from stress. But I just smiled and shook my head because this is something that I should have known could have happened. I'm trying not to stress myself out, and to just relax, but the hubby did tell me I was acting like a Pregosaurus Rex.
Looking forward to: Meeting Parker!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Nursery is Complete

So after months of hard work and impatiently waiting for our furniture to arrive, we finally finished the nursery. And by finished, I seriously mean it's done. Picture frames are hung, clothes are organized in the closet, books are on the shelf and even Parker's toys are all sorted out into baskets. Every once in a while, which means at least once a day, I catch myself opening the door to our little guys room and just taking a peek. I imagine myself sitting in the glider rocking him or his daddy reading him a book before bedtime. I'm not the only one who finds interest in the nursery. I often find Oshie laying in there, cozying up on the rug. And Bella . . . well, she's just nosy. So she just creaks open the door and goes in and sniffs around. I really think that each of them knows things are going to change in the very near future. It amazes me how intuitive they are. But anyways, enjoy the pictures. For a larger view, just click on the pictures. I hope you all love it as much as we do :)

At the beginning it was a definite work in progress. Those of you that have been to the house, this is the room where my scrapbook room used to be. The walls were painted a cantaloupe orange. It took 3 coats of brown and 2 coats of blue to cover it. It was a fun way to spend the evening with my hubby. On another note, I am in love with his furniture, which was purchased from JC Penney. His bookshelf came from Target.

I also love the corner shelves we picked out from Target. And seriously, the owl is one of the cutest things I've ever seen. And yes, his crib is not centered on the wall. It drove me crazy for a couple days, but I eventually got over it. His name is definitely centered though, thanks to my insanely perfectionistic dad.

Just some cute things around Parker's room . . . The hand-painted piggy bank was done by yours truly. We loved all the cute stuff that matched our bedding set. I'm loving the owl diaper changing pad cover. And no nursery in our house would be complete without a Blues build-a-bear.

His changing station is all complete too. I love the idea I found on pinterest (Yes, I'm addicted) to organize the top drawers with baby goodies including diapers, wipes, Desitin, and all of the other baby care stuff. I also love the organizer basket we got at Target. My husband didn't understand the importance of this amazing buy, but I convinced him it was a definite necessity. Also, how cute are the little bear and deer that Parker can calmly gaze at every time I change his diaper :).

We got so lucky with all of the awesome stuff we found at garage sales and got from our family and friends as gifts. The entire bottom of the closet is full of diapers from showers. I highlighted a few of our favorites including his adorable and much needed Blues jersey from Julie and his adorably cute Adidas shoes from Kelly. That was definitely the hubby's favorite gift. In the black box are another pair of Adidas shoes.

We just really love everything about his room. My fabulous Aunt Peggi got us the sign above his window and it is definitely a factual statement. I personally love all of the books he already has. We got tons at my friends baby shower and my lovely friend and co-worker Julie gave us 2 bags of board books. She rocks!

Just a few finished views of his nursery. I can't wait to put the room to use :)