3 months

Well, this month has been a blur. And mom needs to slow down and take it all in. I finally posted the 2 month blog update and now I just hope I can remember the important things from this last month!

Christopher turned 3 months old yesterday, on the 28th. First of all, the fact that I have a three month old just amazes me. We officially no longer have a little newborn.  But, this has been such a fun month. He's experienced many new things these last 4 weeks.

 Outfit made by Meme!

 Attempting to pull the lamb over and toss the burp cloth around at the same time. Multitasking.

Highlights from Month 3:

• Chatting. This is hands down my favorite thing you do. You love to solve all the world's problems during our conversations on your changing table. 
• Crib. We moved you into your crib at 10 weeks. It was 4 nights after we returned from our 10 days at the beach and honestly I think it was the perfect way for us to transition  me you. Since you were already getting the hang of sleeping in new places it seemed to make it easier. Plus, you had really outgrown the Moses basket. You have been such a sound sleeper in there. The second and third nights we found you, asleep, laying sideways, with your legs propped up on the side rails :)
• Sleep Sack. You also outgrew your newborn size Swaddle Me! We noticed at the beach around 9 weeks it was pretty tight so I planned to buy the next size up when we got back home. Well, I never got around to it and we had been given a sleep sack as a gift so I used that one night and never looked back. It's probably better anyway, you've always slept great with your arms un-swaddled. You would fight until they were free and once they were you would almost immediately fall asleep!
• Diapers. We went up to size 1s at 81/2 weeks. I really wasn't expecting it to be so soon. In fact, it took an entire day of leaky diapers for me to realize that maybe you needed a bigger size?! ;) 
• Wubbanub. So, you have more or less won the battle of the paci. We still don't give it to you constantly, but more than we did before. Again, mostly when we are in public and you fuss, or when you have a hard time going to sleep. You had it at the beach a lot because I made myself so anxious over worrying about your cries bothering others. But now that we are home if it's in when you fall asleep it usually falls out of your mouth and you are okay with that, or you try and put it back in (successfully a few times!), or you toss it around the crib.
• Spit up. This one's fun. You started spitting up at about 10 weeks. Of course, you had done it before then, but it has become much more regular. 
• Tummy time. You really despise it. *Scratch that. I wrote this yesterday and spoke those words to friends today, only to get home and have you not cry a single tear every time you were on your tummy this afternoon! You've always been able to hold your neck up very well, especially if we have you on a shoulder, so I knew it was only going to be a matter of time before you would tolerate being on your belly again. It sure would make it more enjoyable for the both of us...
• Sleep. You are now sleeping through the night. Not up to 12 hours yet, but you sleep soundly from 10:30-6:30/7:00am. Since you were only waking once in the middle of the night anyway it really wasn't that bad to begin with. In fact, I honestly miss those middle of the night feedings, they were my favorite.  
• Reaching & tracking. You started reaching for things a few weeks ago. And now on your activity mat you usually have 3 different toys in your hands at once. :)You also started really tracking us when we were at the beach, now you will watch me walk across the room!
• Standing. Holy cow, if my arms are not in rock solid shape by the time you are walking...your favorite position is standing up, facing whomever is holding you, and having them lift you straight up and back down just so your toes touch. It's quite the workout after a while, little buddy...
• You smile when I tell you I love you. I'm sure it's my tone of voice but I like to pretend it's because you know what I'm saying.
• You smile when your daddy gets home and picks you up. 
• You smile when we sing.
• You smile even when I'm not looking at you, which is my other favorite thing you do.
• Still exclusively nursing. Now that we've been home for an extended amount of time our plan is to supplement a bottle of breastmilk for a feeding at night. 

Other fun things from this month:
Morrow family beach trip to Dauphin Island. It was such a fun and relaxing week! We are so thankful for all of our family beach trips that left us feeling like spoiled beach bums.

Dauphin Island Sea Lab with Uncle Scott and Uncle John

New Schedules:
No more middle of the night feeding as of 11 weeks 6 days old.
Now you are eating 6 times a day, still napping between each one. You've started stretching out the morning nap a little bit longer which is perfect for both of us. You have been even happier and it gives me some time to get some things done around the house instead of you waking up while I'm in the middle of folding clothes.
This week we've fallen into a nice consistent schedule of
7am first feeding
8:20 nap
10:30 eat
12:15 nap
2:00 eat
3:45 nap
5:00 eat
7:00 nap
8:00 eat
10:30 dreamfeed

In other events, my 10 year high school reunion was this August! VHHS Class of 2003. We had a wonderful time. Chris says our group of friends didn't need an official reunion because we have one at every wedding, shower, or when "out of towners" come home. And that's what I love about those friends - both guys and girls- I made in high school, or earlier, we continue to have amazing friendships 10+ years later.
Here are the only pictures I took on my phone..

2 Months

This past month was a lot of fun. I can't believe how many changes there were in Christopher, physically and in his little personality.
Our one month appointment was actually at 6 weeks old because we were unable to get in earlier. Stats from that appointment:
14.5in. head circumference
9.4 lbs
21.5" long

• kicking and batting at toys on your activity mat
• cooing ALL.THE.TIME.
• smiling. 
• You love when I sing to you. Your favorites are: By The Sea, Skinnamarink, Jesus Loves Me. 
• At weeks 5-6 only daddy could soothe you, and now, only mama can do the trick.
• I could burp you for hours after you eat and you'd still get the hiccups
• Daddy "airplanes" you around the room and you love it. Sometimes it's the only way we can calm you
• I introduced the pacifier (previously only giving it to him in the middle of the night if we could not calm him) and you like it fine. Typically I only give it to you if we are in public and you are upset, or if you are overly tired and won't go down. 
• When I give you the wubbanub you almost care about gripping the lamb more than the paci part! so sweet..
• You took your first 2 beach trips with my mom and then with my dad (Morrow family trip coming up next week!)
• We gave you your first bottles this month and they didn't interfere with nursing so we might find a time for daddy to give you a bottle on a daily basis.  
• walks. You almost always fall asleep but when you are awake you're content to just sit there quietly and look around.

After our walk with friends

Beach

 Smiling at Uncle Ricky

 Beach

 At Boshamps in Destin

Happy Two Months baby of mine! I love you with all of my heart.

GCM II

I have waited entirely too long to put this on "paper", and even though I will never forget this day, I want to remember all the little details that are starting to blur..
At my 39 week appointment Dr. Freeman suggested inducing but would start the night before with some medication (Cervadil) to help dilate me. This entire pregnancy I felt strongly about not being induced, even if it meant going to 41, 42 weeks. But, he had a few reasons for wanting to do so and, obviously, I trust him or he wouldn't be my OBGYN.
First was the gestational diabetes. There is always a concern in true gestational diabetics that their babies will arrive into this world larger than average causing complications during pregnancy. Christopher arrived only 3 days early at 6 lbs 5 ounces...soooo I have no reason to believe that he would have gained some 2-3 pounds in those 3 days. one more reason to seriously question that diagnosis
Second was my progress, or lack thereof. 37,38, & 39 week appointments I had zero dilation and not much effacement.
And lastly, Dr. Freeman's words to me were "You have just run out of room!" My fundal measurement had actually decreased by an inch.
So I went in for my last appointment on a Friday and they scheduled me to be induced that next Tuesday, going in Monday for the Cervadil.

Monday May 27th.
We checked in at 6:00pm, I changed into a gown and the on-call doctor arrived to give me the medication. Dr Freeman mentioned that it will sometimes also start labor contractions, which was my great hope! The nurse said she would check on me constantly  periodically through the night and they would come back Tuesday morning and give me the Pitocin to induce labor around 6:30-7am. The Cervadil did bring on stronger contractions through the night, but nothing too severe so I figured I'd end up being induced.

Tuesday May 28, 2013.
They showed up at 5:30am ready to fill my IV with 3 bags of fluid and then start the Pitocin (what happened to 6:30-7?! I had grand plans to re-shower, apply fresh make-up, etc. to look my best for "labor day"). Dr. Freeman checked me and found I was a little bit more effaced but still only 1 centimeter dilated, if that.
5:30am- IV filled with 3 bags of fluid and then the Pitocin
7:30am- Dr. Freeman broke my water
10:30am- At this point the contractions began to get much more severe but I was still not yet dilated enough to receive an epidural. Chris and my mom were trying to comfort me with cold washcloths, rubbing my back, etc. and one minute I welcomed it and the next I didn't. The nurse suggested pain medication, which I agreed to. BAD IDEA.
I should have known better...anything stronger than Tylenol and I am sick as a dog. Always.
Long story short, I got sick 3 times over the next 6 hours. I was honestly really scared that I was going to feel out of it during the "pushing" part of labor so they ended up giving me whatever anti-nausea meds I needed (this was a lot of medicine for someone who, again, usually takes Tylenol at the most)!
12:00pm- I received the epidural. Complete relief. I spent the next 4 hours in and out of sleep. My mom was in there the entire time, and my dad and Jayne came in for a few minutes also.
4:00pm- 10 cm! Finally!
I started pushing shortly after that and continued for just under an hour and a half. I'm not lying when I tell you it felt like about 10 minutes. Honestly, that was the easiest part for me. Call me naive and crazy, and I'm sure it was all the adrenaline (especially because my epidural had worn off so much, the only thing numb was my right leg!) but I was ready to go. Ready to meet this baby. Ready to find out if we were having a little boy or girl.
5:32pm- HE'S HERE!
All I remember is Chris crying and myself laughing. Like an idiot! :) I just couldn't contain my excitement!
I know I don't have to tell all you mamas and daddies out there what a magical moment it is.
There is nothing in life that will possibly compare to the minute that our baby boy came into this world!

6 lbs 5 oz

19-3/4" long

13.5 head circumference

The first time they laid Christopher on my chest.

Daddy & baby

(GCM I & GCM II)

I was so swollen from all the fluid they pump into you! Up until that point I didn't have a problem with swelling, fortunately, but the day after Christopher was born I could barely get my shoes on!


We stayed in the hospital Tuesday night and Wednesday night and arrived home around 1pm on Thursday. Brookwood Women's Center was amazing. Our experience there was wonderful (except one night nurse) and I would highly recommend it to anyone searching for an OB.

It was my intention to take pictures of every single hospital visitor, but considering we had 20 visitors the day after GCM II was born I realized I couldn't keep up! Chris and I were overwhelmed with love and blessings through each visit/call/text, and we sincerely thank each of you from the bottom of our hearts! We are so fortunate to have an amazing support system in our family and friends.


Welcome to the world baby boy! Your daddy and I hope and pray that we can raise you to be strong in your beliefs, brave enough to stick up for those that need help, kind to everyone you meet, loving, and filled with Jesus' spirit. May you never know a day that you don't feel loved by us.