Motherhood...7 Weeks In

So I've only been doing this "mom thing" for about 7 weeks. I have to say it is both the most fulfilling and hardest thing I've ever done!! The first few weeks were difficult, getting up every 4 hours to feed Matty. My mom and dad came to help on the weekends, and them taking over 1 overnight feeding was SO helpful. We may have gone crazy without them!!

Our little man is growing up so fast! He's started to smile at me and Matt.

He loves his Mets Mickey Mouse (thanks Aunt Chaunte!) And he's starting to interact more with us. We started more scheduled naps this week and they have been going well.

There have been several things I've learned over the past 7 weeks that I think you can only learn...not be told. My main complaint? All the conflicting information! It is no wonder first time parents are confused. Not only are they sleep deprived, but they are getting a lot of information (much of it conflicting) really fast.

For example:

Breastfeeding is best. Your colostrum is the only thing baby needs. Just kidding, your baby is losing too much weight or your baby is jaundiced (and every medical professional knows milk doesn't come in on day one) -- you need to supplement with formula. But be careful giving him a bottle because that could confuse the baby and then he might not breastfeed anymore because he'll be used to the bottle, but remember breastfeeding is best!!

OR

Make sure you know how much your baby is eating. He should be eating between 20-30 ounces a day. Yes, we know there is absolutely no way you can tell how much your baby is eating if you are breastfeeding without having a scale to weigh him before and after, which is absurd because it's expensive. You don't need that. The only way to be completely sure (and if you want to stick with breastmilk) is to pump and feed from a bottle. But be careful pumping because pumping can hurt your supply, unless you're trying to build up your supply, then adding a pumping session can actually help your supply because it sends a message to your body that you need to produce more milk, but remember that baby is more efficient at getting milk out, although he'll probably eat less than what you pump. So pumping is good...except when it's not.

HOW is a new parent supposed to keep up??

The best advice we've gotten is to listen to everyone and do what you think is best. That's good advice, but how do you know what is actually best? Sometimes I think I'm overfeeding the baby, but the next day I worry he's not getting enough. AHHHH! In the end, it probably doesn't matter what you do as long as baby is happy and healthy, and Mom and Dad are staying sane.

Nevertheless...I love my little guy so much! I am loving the quality time I'm getting with him. Every day brings a new adventure and something new that each of us learns about one another.

I'll leave you with some of his newest pictures...

Eating was just TOO tiring!!

"Are you talking to me?"

In our next post...look forward to Matty's two month stats! He is a growing boy!!!

Until next time...

Look Who is 1 Month Old!

Has it really been a month already?? Part of me feels like it has been much longer...how has this little guy not been a part of our lives forever? The other part of me feels like we just got home from the hospital. I suppose I technically lost a week of that month actually in a hospital, but still...

He has certainly lived up to his name's meaning. Matthew means "gift from God." He has truly blessed Matt's and my life.

It has been a crazy busy month to be sure. Just after we got Matty home from the hospital he got dehydrated -- and gave us a pretty big scare. We rushed off to Kennestone's ER and they transferred him to CHOA at Scottish Rite. Note: I was NOT happy that my 5 day old baby boy was in an incubator being driven down the interstate in a specialized ambulance that said "pediatric/neonatal critical transport." The doctors at Children's were pretty sure he was just dehydrated, but since the ER docs at Kennestone had done a spinal tap and blood cultures, they admitted us for observation to be proactive with antibiotics just in case something developed from the cultures. Thankfully, everything turned out to be just fine...we figure it was a combination of a few things that led to Matty's dehydration, but given the amount he's eaten this past week, I don't think it is a problem any more.

As a side note, I have to give a HUGE shoutout to Children's Hospital of Atlanta. They were thorough, kind, and treated the entire family. When we were in the ER about to be admitted, they called upstairs and told them I'd had a c-section and was breastfeeding so the nurses brought in a bed for me so I could stay with our baby while he was being observed. They got a lactation consultant in to help us out. They provided me with a pump since the baby was being hydrated via an IV. And since I was breastfeeding, they provided me meals at no extra charge to us. The doctors were excellent. And the nursing staff was incredibly helpful during for our 3am feeding. They took Matty, fed him, and stayed with him so Matt and I could get some sleep!!! I did wake up up in the middle of the night and they hadn't brought him back, so naturally I freaked out a bit. Matt found him at the nurses station...apparently the nurses were enjoying holding him, and I guess I'd rather have my little one in someone's arms rather than a cold bassinet.

In fact, it looks like Matty prefers to be in someone's arms as well.

Matty with Grandfather

 Matty with Lynnie

As you can see, holding Matty is incredibly rough on my mom...

Anyway...our little guy turns ONE MONTH OLD today!! We celebrated with a trip to the pediatrician to get the latest stats on him!

Length: 22.25" (he's grown more than an inch since he was born!!)

Weight: 10 lbs 11.5 oz

Head size 15" (it's grown 1.25" since birth!)

The pediatrician says Matty's muscle tone is excellent, and he said Matty has already reached a 2-month milestone of holding his head up while he's on his stomach. And Matty is starting to "crawl" while he's on his tummy. (I know...it isn't real crawling just yet, but the pediatrician told us we are in trouble!!!)

Here are some pictures from Matty's first month. It's crazy to see how much he's changed from birth to now! I would encourage all new parents to really take the time to see their baby over the first few weeks...they change so quickly!

Coming home at 4 days

  

1 Month Old

I'm 1 Month Old!!

I've managed to get some great pictures of our little guy asleep...

One of my favorite pictures!!

I guess labor was tough on him too.

Just after a midnight feeding...he is "milk drunk"

Such a stressful day...he had to nap in his mamaroo

And I love some of the funny faces he's making!

Most of all...I am loving his smiles! I managed to catch one on camera, but most of the time I'm too busy lovin' on him to get too many other shots.

I suppose the right thing to say is I'm looking forward to watching our little guy grow up, but truth be told I want him to stay in this stage for a bit longer (although I will be happy when he can finally tell us exactly what he wants).

That being said, I have such big dreams for this guy. I am excited to see the little person he's going to grow in to. I want him to be sweet, kind, thoughtful, trustworthy, loyal, honest and funny (I'm sure I left off a few attributes). All of these traits should come easy for him...they're all traits his Daddy has.

I am loving spending quality time with my little man. We're definitely still figuring things out, but I hope he'd say that we're getting better at it!

Until next time...

Meet Matthew Anthony

He's here!! Our Matty arrived on June 18th at 7:51pm. He is such a precious gift!

We did have an unplanned c-section. Turns out our "little" one weighed 9 lbs, 4 ozs when he was born. He was 21 inches long. He definitely wasn't a fat baby...just long!!

Unfortunately, we developed a little bit of jaundice before he left the hospital and Matty had to spend some time on a bili bed to help him process the bilirubin that was in his system (we learned a lot about that during the first few days of his life!). That also led to a bout of dehydration that weekend which landed us back in the hospital -- although this time it was Children's Hospital of Atlanta at Scottish Rite. I have to say, we were incredibly impressed with their facilities and attention to families.

Our first visitors after Matty was born were Grandfather, Lynnie and Aunt Carrie. All seemed to be taken with our little guy!

Aunt Carrie is a natural with the babies

And not to worry...it took just seconds for this little guy to steal his Daddy's heart as well!!

Matty and Daddy played "got your nose" at his first pediatrician visit

Matty got here just in time to see David Wright's 1,500th career hit. He also got to see a little bit of Zach Wheeler's major league debut here in Atlanta!! Not to worry...he is already a Mets fan! In fact, he was already wearing his very own David Wright onesie when he met Cobb.

I'm not sure Cobb is all that impressed with this tiny human that has permanently moved in.

Our first official family picture

We did take a minute to check out the pool as well -- he doesn't look impressed, does he?

I'm sure there are PLENTY more pictures to come...but to tide you over until then...

Until next time...

BabyWatch 2013

Well, it looks like we are officially on BabyWatch!

Matt and I made an exciting, and yet uneventful, trip up to the hospital yesterday after I started having regular contractions. Turns out -- just contractions. Baby isn't ready just yet -- or at least I'm not! Hopefully we'll see some progress at today's doctor's appointment since I've been having the contractions for almost 24 hours now!

In other baby news...the nursery is done!! SOO excited. We got the name letters this past week and hung them up...aren't they adorable??

The letters match the bedding that we got for Matty. Gotta love Etsy!! :-)

 

It is FINALLY warm enough to play in the pool! Water temperature got up to 85 this week, which was delightful. I just floated around...being weightless was a welcome relief!!!

 

So where do we stand??

How far along? 38 weeks

How big is baby? Watermelon (19-22 inches, 7 lbs) -- yep, I could have told you he was watermelon-sized

Sleep: Somehow I'm getting more than I think! I think I got a solid 5 hours last night!! :-)

Best Moment this Week: Thinking yesterday was the day -- but then that was kinda a disappointment

Movement: He's a very active one (not that I have anything to compare it to)

Food cravings: None

Food aversions: None

Pregnancy symptoms: Reflux is getting less -- I think it's because he's dropped. But my feet are pretty swollen to the point my flip flop straps leave indentions in them

Belly button in or out? In, but it's fighting it

What I miss: Wearing my wedding rings...it's a small thing, but they mean so much to me

What I'm looking forward to: Baby Wooley's arrival

Upcoming appointments/events: Doctor's appointment today -- hopefully we have some progress

Weekly wisdom: I wouldn't call it wisdom, just a note to everyone else...yes, life is going to change. But do we need to hear that on a daily basis? I'm not sure who thinks having another person that is completely dependent on you wouldn't change your life. But still, everyone is like -- "you know life will never be the same! Life as you know it is about to change drastically!" Ummm...I hope so!!! That's kinda why we wanted to have a baby -- to add to our family and turn the page on the next chapter of our lives!!

Milestones: We made it to June! He can come any day now!!

Coming next time: Hopefully a baby announcement??