Baby Update

So our little man is now 3 1/2 weeks old! It is crazy how quickly time has flown by. This is our first week of being home all alone and things have been going pretty well.

I had it in my mind that I would start working on getting our little guy on a schedule but that has been easier said than done. The biggest road block has been Braden's lack of wake time during the day. More often than not he is still feeding and then within a few minutes nodding back off to sleep. When he does have wake time it is usually in a big block of two hours. He then wants to feed and then crash. I am hoping that we get things a little routine over the next few weeks. I know that he is only 3 weeks old so I can't push too much.

On the note of feeding, breast feeding has been going really well. We were lucky enough that our little man took to feeding very easily. I on the other hand have had to learn to adjust to feeling like a "dairy cow." In reality I wouldn't want it any other way. In order to prepare for going back to work and to give Rusty a little more bonding time I finally started pumping. It has also gone surprisingly well. Last night was the first night that we attempted to give Braden a bottle. I tried to do plenty of research to make sure it went well. I was also a little hesitant to introduce a bottle any earlier in case it caused any issues with breast feeding. Last night's first attempt went incredibly well. Even though he was a little drowsy, Braden took to the bottle very well. He also had no problem switching back for our late night feeds.

We had also waited to give Braden a pacifier. Something about it terrified me. I have no idea why but I was just hoping to really avoid ever giving him one. Lately he has had an increased desire to suck during his long stretches of wake time. In an effort to not have me constantly give him a human pacifier I finally broke down and offered him a pacifier. The best thing is that he will only take it if he isn't actually hungry. In 3 days he has probably only taken it 3 or 4 times. That makes for a very happy mom!

Well I haven't taken any new pictures this week but I will try to put some up with next week's update!

He's Here!

I finally have a few free minutes to update everyone on Braden's arrival. Now I apologize in advance for the story I am going to tell. My doctor has already warned me that many first time moms will be a little jealous of how quickly everything went. I can honestly say I was totally surprised and so thankful that everything worked out the way it did.

It all started Sunday afternoon when Rusty and I did our weekly grocery shopping. While shopping I noticed that I was having some mild cramping. Nothing terribly alarming just uncomfortable. By the time we got home and made dinner they were getting a bit stronger. I ate a small dinner and decided I would go upstairs and relax a bit to see if that would help. Of course things didn't end up calming down and the cramps which were really contractions were coming just about every 4 minutes. My doctor had advised that I call when they were regular and coming every 5-6 minutes but I felt silly calling seeing as they didn't really hurt all that bad.

I finally picked up the phone and spoke with the on call doctor around 8. She told me that because I could speak and breathe through the contractions I was probably just in early labor. She recommended that I stay at home as long as I felt comfortable but that I could come in at anytime to be evaluated. I figured that I would stick it out a little longer...and took the time to put on my makeup and finish packing our bag. By 9 the contractions were significantly stronger and I told Rusty is was time to head to the hospital!

We made it to the hospital and got checked in for evaluation around 10. I was honestly terrified that with my contractions coming so quickly and now much stronger that I still wouldn't be very progressed. Luckily I was very wrong. The resident informed us that I was already 6cm and 100% effaced. Considering the fact that I wanted an epidural they moved me pretty quickly into a delivery room. Once we were in the room my fabulous L&D nurse started my IV. Unfortunately while she was working on the IV, Braden started having issues with his heart rate. The contractions were too strong and too quick and he was not a happy camper. After a little medication and a fancy fetal monitor, things were back under control. Once we were both stable the anesthesiologist was able to get the epidural going...and it was AMAZING!

By this time it was about 11:30. Our nurse gave a us a few minutes to relax and take our last picture as a twosome.
Around 12 I was already at 9cm and it was time to get to work. After about an hour of pushing we welcomed our precious little boy!

He weighed in at 6lbs and 8oz and measured 19 inches.

Rusty was one very happy father, here with our nurse Winnie.

Here we are in our first family photo.

Our fist few nights in the hospital were a tad long but we certainly enjoyed our time as a new family. They gave us the green light to head home Wednesday and begin our lives!

So far Braden has been an absolute joy! He is eating well and even sleeping pretty well. As of now he is sleeping in about 4 hour blocks during the night. We certainly can't complain. Now we are looking forward to having a little bit more wake time with him. Considering he is only 10 days old we can't really get him to stay awake for too long. We know it will come with time but we are really excited about more interaction with our little guy.

As I am able to get some free time I will try to keep the blog updated with pictures and stories but here are a few we have taken over the past week.

Nursery News!

I realized I haven't really posted any pictures of the completed nursery. It has been done for awhile, but in an effort to finish my nursery scrapbook page I finally took some pictures.

What you see when you come up the stairs:


Our boys waiting for their little brother:

Eventually we would love to put a small table and lamp next to the chair. I may just be picky but I haven't found anything that I love. I had found a great "branch" looking table but realized the protruding leaves would eventually be a total hazard in a child's room.

Changing station:


A view of the window:

The Roman shade was a total steal on Etsy. When I ordered the bedding I was able to order a few extra yards of the paisley fabric. A great seamstress on Etsy was able to make a beautiful Roman shade at 1/3 of the cost of the bedding company!

A closer view of the crib:


A full closet:


We are so excited to meet our little guy and see him in all of his cute clothes! We did have a doctor's appointment this week to get an update on his expected arrival. No news on my progression yet but we did hear that we have a "normal" sized baby (whatever that means) and that our doctor thinks it will still be awhile before delivery day. In fact, he opened up the conversation about induction around 41 weeks. Basically if Braden doesn't make his appearance next week we will probably be scheduling an induction for the following week. We have our next appointment next Thursday and should know more by then and will keep y'all updated!

Better Late Than Never...

Well I finally got my computer working so I can post my 36 week picture.

As of tomorrow I will be 39 weeks! It is so surreal that we have made it to this this point. After a pretty restful but productive weekend we have pretty much everything done. I honestly feel a little nervous not having a to-do list. If you know me, I run my life off of lists and so it is incredibly hard to just relax.

Rusty is probably pretty happy that he doesn't have a to-do list to work on. We are both trying to take this time to try to catch up on as much sleep as we can and keep on top of the laundry (I had to have something to do!).

As far as how things have been going pregnancy wise, everything has been good. At our 38 week appointment last week we had an ultrasound. Braden seems to be head down but he hasn't dropped quite yet. Since that appointment he has continued to keep moving and every now and then I have what I would like to think are Braxton Hicks contractions but who knows?!

If he keeps baking we will have our 39 week appointment this Friday. If we find anything out we will try to keep y'all updated!

32 Weeks and Counting!

Well I finally took another picture. From my last picture there has been a pretty significant change! I certainly have a bigger belly and a rear to help balance :)



Our little boy has certainly been on the move. Now that he is a lot bigger I can feel just about every little wiggle. Luckily he doesn't move a ton around my bedtime but that hasn't stopped me from losing a little sleep. I have finally gotten to the point that my belly is big enough to make sleeping a tad uncomfortable.

Though I am losing a little sleep everything has been moving along normally. I have officially switched over to our new doctor, Dr. Ivey. He is a great doctor and has been a good fit with me and Rusty. I miss Dr. Vyas but seeing as she is due to deliver her second baby this month she will not be able to continue with my prenatal care. We are very happy with our new doc and are looking forward to working with him over the next 7 weeks.

On another semi-related topic, Rusty and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary this Friday! We were lucky enough to be celebrating the upcoming wedding of some of our best friends and couldn't have been happier to celebrate together! Here we are 5 years ago and then this last Friday!



Now that we are in the final stretch we have lots of baby showers to attend (and throw) and a few more nursery check list items to take care of. I will try to keep you updated on our decor and all of the fun we are having celebrating our upcoming bundle of joy!

More Construction!

I have been horrible about taking pictures! This next week I promise to take a 32 week (yes, 32 weeks!) photo and get it posted.

Since our last update on the nursery Rusty has put in a lot of hard work. The first thing on his list was putting together the furniture. Before drilling he broke the man code and read the directions!

Luckily the furniture wasn't too hard to put together. We were able to get the crib and dresser together in just an hour our two!

Once the furniture was put together I was able to lay out some of the fun decorative items that we have collected. There is even a shot of his coming home outfit!

In the next few weeks, once the bedding and drapes come in I will get some final pictures of completed nursery. It is hard to believe we are starting to countdown but we are so excited for what is to come in 2012. Happy New Year!

Busy Bee

Well maybe one busy bee. I have officially been put on sofa duty while Rusty has been doing some heavy lifting. I like to think that I can still work like I used to but Rusty has kindly reminded me that I am almost 7 months pregnant and am not allowed to do manual labor!

There have been several things on our nursery to do list. The first step was cleaning everything out! We finally got the bed out which now lives at my mom and dad's house. We were also able to clean out the closet. We had to practically play Tetris with all of the boxes in our remaining closets but we have finally gotten everything organized. On the note of closets, Rusty has done a great job starting our closet "renovation."



He started by building a second hanging row on the left long side of the wall. It still needs a coat of paint but otherwise it is all set. This will allow us to have to full rows of hanging on the left side with storage in the back right hand corner. I already had a great Elfa unit that just needed some upgraded drawers. I ended up choosing a bigger drawer for toys at the bottom and then a few smaller drawers for things like socks and hats! We are also thinking about installing a few shelves above the drawer unit for books etc.

The next part of our nursery decorating list was choosing a paint color. Unfortunately, Rusty went out of town when I was given the job to choose a shade of blue. My original 2 choices grew to 6 by the time he got back!

Luckily, he and some of our houseguests all agreed on the same color. I was pretty happy because all of the shades were starting to run together!

Today our family painter, Tony, came to paint the room. I was so excited to see the final product and couldn't be happier with the way it turned out!

Now that the room has been painted we can start assembling our furniture. We already have our crib and dresser just waiting to be put together. By the time those pieces are assembled it will be time to pick up our glider and ottoman. I can't wait to see everything put together!

The most important part of the decor should arrive in early January...our bedding! I also ordered a few extra yards of fabric so I can sew my drapes. Until then Rusty and I will just be setting up the basics and enjoying our busy holiday season.

I will try to take a breather this weekend to get a week 28 picture!