Four weeks! Kian wore his Tiger's onesie today. It's still a tiny bit big through the shoulders, but I remember just a few weeks ago when it practically fell off of him. He's starting to get to the point where we need to think about going up a size in diapers too. He's been wearing Huggies which are bigger than the Pampers for a while already. Brian weighed himself, and then weighed himself again with Kian in his arms and he seems to be about NINE POUNDS now. Holy smokes. I need to take him to the Breastfeeding Support group to find out an official weight, but it's only once a week and it's in the evening and I can't seem to remember.
Friday Grammy Tina, Papa James and Aunt Jaime arrived. It's so nice when they are here. Not only do they help out around the house, but Kian always has another pair of hands waiting to hold him and it frees me up to do some things.
Friday he started sounding just a little congested off and on, 'snortly in his nose' as I like to say. It worried me some, but at that point it wasn't too bad.
I took a fabulous bath on Saturday and shaved my legs and everything. Heaven!
Grammy Tina put herself on late night duty. She kept Kian up and entertained until 8:30 or so, then we gave him a bath and fed him and I went to sleep. She would either feed him a bottle or at least keep him until the next time he was hungry so I could sleep. It was just what I needed. Even if he goes 2 or 3 or the rare 4 hours between feedings he is SO NOISY at night. Really all the time he's a very vocal baby. He seems to make some kind of grunt or squeak or groan every time he moves, and he moves constantly :). It makes for a rough night, every night. We're pretty sure he's going to be making the transition out of our room and into his crib pretty soon.
Papa James cooked fabulous food the whole weekend, and the three of them cleaned my whole house on Monday.
That day Kian was sounding worse and worse, more and more stuffy, so I finally called the doctor. My mom had suggested having him sleep in his swing so he'd be on more of an incline, and putting Vicks on his chest. I wasn't sure the first was safe, and the second... well, I hate Vicks but the label also says babies 3 months and older. Of course, my mom knows everything, and the nurse suggested those very things, plus saline nose drops and a humidifier. We made a Walgreen's run and stocked up on all sorts of congestion fighting goods. I moved into the nursery, with Kian sleeping in his swing so that he could sleep on an incline, and the humidifier wouldn't kill Brian. I crashed on the futon mattress on the floor. It seemed to help, although I didn't sleep very well myself and I had a hard time finding a good place and position to nurse.
Tuesday they headed home, which was hard as usual. It never seems to get any easier, only harder. I'm still struggling with them missing out on being with Kian even more than I miss them myself. I keep having a lot of guilt because it's my choices that are separating them, neither one of them chose to be apart from each other. I wish we could live closer so Kian could see his Grammy and Papa and Aunt every few days. :(
Tuesday night I hardly got any sleep at all, and Wednesday morning Brian got up with him for me. I talked to the nurse on base again per their instructions. It sounded to me like he was starting to wheeze a bit, but it only happened once. Brian and I each heard a cough as well. We were told to keep an eye on him, and if the cough or wheeze became consistent to call in again. Otherwise, we should call the first of the week to update them.
What a busy week!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Week 4: August 2-8
Kian's three week birthday! Holy smokes how time flies. I dressed him up in his baseball outfit for the first time, which of course made Brian very happy. It's true that he's awfully cute. There are pictures of him in it, with his Detroit Tigers tiger - a gift from Grandma Becky. On that same day is a picture of me with him, disheveled hair and all. Someday the pictures including me will be less embarassing, I hope! I still really need a haircut (even at the time of this writing, a few weeks later). At this point I may as well just try to grow it out, but THAT is a pain too. Bleh.
Anyhow! This week was a fairly quiet one. We had a weekend with just our family which was nice. We did a lot of hanging out, snuggling, and just enjoying each other.
Saturday Brian went and picked up my new glider-recliner. He put it together the next day, and for now it's in the living room. We got an ottoman too, and the combo is really very nice. It's a good place to sit with the laptop, so to some degree it's daddy's baseball watching chair for now. I don't mind sharing! The plan is for it to go in the nursery eventually, giving me a place to nurse once Kian is sleeping in there. For now though, my parents and Jaime are coming to visit next weekend and we'll need the space for the futon mattress so in the living room it sits. Surprisingly it fits pretty well and I think when we move it, we might just miss it!
On Sunday Kian had his first tummy trouble day, leaving him squirmy and fussy for most of the day. Now, Kian's fussy would be some babies' sunshine I'm sure, because he hardly ever cries or even fusses. If he does you know he needs something and as soon as you change, burp or feed him he's content again. This day he was obviously uncomfortable and he spit up far more than normal plus he seemed to have other gas in his tummy too. He didn't scream or anything but he just seemed uncomfy and wiggly the whole day. It was so bad I put a bib on him for the first time. He was sure cute in it! If you look at the pictures, somewhere in there he actually spit up on the bib, and I kept snapping photos but ended up taking the bib off and changing it not too much later. *sigh*
Kian's loving his bouncy seat now too, which is pretty new this week. He's heavy enough to stay in it instead of just sliding right off, and now that we put the batteries in he's loving the lights and sounds too. It has a mode where moving the hanging toys sets off the lights and sounds but I think it surprises him more than anything. I wonder when he'll start to have some concept of cause and effect, like, if I hit this the lights come on. For now sometimes it really startles him when his foot accidentally bangs a toy hard enough, so I mostly just leave it on the 'play music' mode for him :).
Now that Kian is more than 3 weeks old, I can start to pump for bottle supplements. I'm not pumping every feeding or anything, just occasionally. Monday Brian gave Kian his first bottle since the hospital. We decided to do it right before bed so he'd be really full and hopefully sleep. He ate over 4 ounces - I couldn't believe it! And THEN he was still hungry so I ended up nursing a little. Honestly that was OK with me, because hearing him fuss and suck had my milk rushing anyhow. Unfortunately it didn't really help him sleep better either, but on the plus side he took the bottle really happily, and that will evenutally give us a lot more freedom. Yay! Oh, and Brian was so cute! Pics at Shutterfly.
Wednesday we had our first play date. My friends Lauren and Bevin brought their kids, Carter 8 months and Masyn 3 months for lunch. I vacuumed because Carter is in the rolling around stage and I straightened a little, but in all the house did not get cleaned ahead of time. I just didn't have the energy to worry about it. Luckily everyone was so busy with the babies I don't THINK they noticed. Nice and neat and fresh vacuum marks goes a long way, apparently! They brought Quizno's, and stayed for a few hours of girl talk. At one point all the babies were fussy at once, but it only lasted a few minutes. My little angel hung out in his bouncy seat and fell asleep, letting me eat. Maybe he'll do that more often one of these days :). The visit was really nice, but oddly I don't really feel desperate for adult conversation. Brian's been coming home early at least a few days a week, my mom and I talk daily, and I have other folks I can call to chat. I guess I've always been a bit of a homebody, so I don't feel like I'm losing my mind or anything. Still, it was good to see them and to hang out. We'll have to do it again.
I can't believe my little man is almost a month old!
Anyhow! This week was a fairly quiet one. We had a weekend with just our family which was nice. We did a lot of hanging out, snuggling, and just enjoying each other.
Saturday Brian went and picked up my new glider-recliner. He put it together the next day, and for now it's in the living room. We got an ottoman too, and the combo is really very nice. It's a good place to sit with the laptop, so to some degree it's daddy's baseball watching chair for now. I don't mind sharing! The plan is for it to go in the nursery eventually, giving me a place to nurse once Kian is sleeping in there. For now though, my parents and Jaime are coming to visit next weekend and we'll need the space for the futon mattress so in the living room it sits. Surprisingly it fits pretty well and I think when we move it, we might just miss it!
On Sunday Kian had his first tummy trouble day, leaving him squirmy and fussy for most of the day. Now, Kian's fussy would be some babies' sunshine I'm sure, because he hardly ever cries or even fusses. If he does you know he needs something and as soon as you change, burp or feed him he's content again. This day he was obviously uncomfortable and he spit up far more than normal plus he seemed to have other gas in his tummy too. He didn't scream or anything but he just seemed uncomfy and wiggly the whole day. It was so bad I put a bib on him for the first time. He was sure cute in it! If you look at the pictures, somewhere in there he actually spit up on the bib, and I kept snapping photos but ended up taking the bib off and changing it not too much later. *sigh*
Kian's loving his bouncy seat now too, which is pretty new this week. He's heavy enough to stay in it instead of just sliding right off, and now that we put the batteries in he's loving the lights and sounds too. It has a mode where moving the hanging toys sets off the lights and sounds but I think it surprises him more than anything. I wonder when he'll start to have some concept of cause and effect, like, if I hit this the lights come on. For now sometimes it really startles him when his foot accidentally bangs a toy hard enough, so I mostly just leave it on the 'play music' mode for him :).
Now that Kian is more than 3 weeks old, I can start to pump for bottle supplements. I'm not pumping every feeding or anything, just occasionally. Monday Brian gave Kian his first bottle since the hospital. We decided to do it right before bed so he'd be really full and hopefully sleep. He ate over 4 ounces - I couldn't believe it! And THEN he was still hungry so I ended up nursing a little. Honestly that was OK with me, because hearing him fuss and suck had my milk rushing anyhow. Unfortunately it didn't really help him sleep better either, but on the plus side he took the bottle really happily, and that will evenutally give us a lot more freedom. Yay! Oh, and Brian was so cute! Pics at Shutterfly.
Wednesday we had our first play date. My friends Lauren and Bevin brought their kids, Carter 8 months and Masyn 3 months for lunch. I vacuumed because Carter is in the rolling around stage and I straightened a little, but in all the house did not get cleaned ahead of time. I just didn't have the energy to worry about it. Luckily everyone was so busy with the babies I don't THINK they noticed. Nice and neat and fresh vacuum marks goes a long way, apparently! They brought Quizno's, and stayed for a few hours of girl talk. At one point all the babies were fussy at once, but it only lasted a few minutes. My little angel hung out in his bouncy seat and fell asleep, letting me eat. Maybe he'll do that more often one of these days :). The visit was really nice, but oddly I don't really feel desperate for adult conversation. Brian's been coming home early at least a few days a week, my mom and I talk daily, and I have other folks I can call to chat. I guess I've always been a bit of a homebody, so I don't feel like I'm losing my mind or anything. Still, it was good to see them and to hang out. We'll have to do it again.
I can't believe my little man is almost a month old!
Week 3, Part 2: July 31- August 1
July 31st was a big day! It was Brian's last full day at home with us, a bittersweet event. I knew we would miss him like crazy, and I was a little worried about how well I would handle being all alone with my baby. At the same time, a big part of me was looking forward to "just us" time - we hadn't really had any at all since he was born.
Before we got there though, we hit yet another milestone! The evening of the 31st Kian had his first real bath. We had given him lots of sponge baths, but since his circumcision was healed and his umbilical cord was gone, the time had come to use his infant bath and give him a good dunking. There are pictures at kianogrady.shutterfly.com, look for the 'July 31' album. As you can see, he generally did pretty well. There were definitely points where he got grumpy, and I didn't have the routine down at all so he got a little chilled at the end. His favorite part is still getting his hair washed, which I do separately in the sink once he's all wrapped up in his towel. You can probably tell by the pictures that all the fussing stops and he gets very quiet and still. It's one of my favorite times too because of that. Probably the best part is when he's all warm and bundled afterwards though. He's so cute and content and snuggly! I am extremely grateful for the blessing of a cuddly baby. I am a snuggly sort of person and I know that not all babies are cuddlebugs, but mine definitely is!
Wednesday was our first full day alone together. We lived! It actually wasn't terribly different, because I went back to sleep when he did, getting up around 10:30am. Brian came home in the early afternoon because not much was going on at work (and he missed us I think), so all in all we still only had about 5 hours on our own. It was a great way to transition.
So, I'm tired (imagine that), but things are good. I swear he's growing like a weed, and getting more and more alert every day. He's really starting to be a baby and not just a newborn. Imagine, I'm not supposed to be able to meet him for over 2 weeks yet. I'm so glad to have these weeks - it's like bonus time. :)
Before we got there though, we hit yet another milestone! The evening of the 31st Kian had his first real bath. We had given him lots of sponge baths, but since his circumcision was healed and his umbilical cord was gone, the time had come to use his infant bath and give him a good dunking. There are pictures at kianogrady.shutterfly.com, look for the 'July 31' album. As you can see, he generally did pretty well. There were definitely points where he got grumpy, and I didn't have the routine down at all so he got a little chilled at the end. His favorite part is still getting his hair washed, which I do separately in the sink once he's all wrapped up in his towel. You can probably tell by the pictures that all the fussing stops and he gets very quiet and still. It's one of my favorite times too because of that. Probably the best part is when he's all warm and bundled afterwards though. He's so cute and content and snuggly! I am extremely grateful for the blessing of a cuddly baby. I am a snuggly sort of person and I know that not all babies are cuddlebugs, but mine definitely is!
Wednesday was our first full day alone together. We lived! It actually wasn't terribly different, because I went back to sleep when he did, getting up around 10:30am. Brian came home in the early afternoon because not much was going on at work (and he missed us I think), so all in all we still only had about 5 hours on our own. It was a great way to transition.
So, I'm tired (imagine that), but things are good. I swear he's growing like a weed, and getting more and more alert every day. He's really starting to be a baby and not just a newborn. Imagine, I'm not supposed to be able to meet him for over 2 weeks yet. I'm so glad to have these weeks - it's like bonus time. :)
Important Labor Story Addition!
It has come to my attention (the source shall remain nameless) that I have been grossly negligent in my recount of my labor story! It's true, in my haste to get the story down on paper... er, on the internet, I missed whole chunks of very important information.
So let me state for the record, my sister is amazing! She did NOT just panic when my water broke, which is somehow unfortunately the only thing I really mentioned. I am sorry Jaime! She was a wonderful rock throughout my labor and I would have had a vastly different experience without her. I'm not just saying that because she pointed it out either, it is very true. She held my hand, she prayed with me when my anxiety over Kian's health got to be too much, and most of all she was just THERE with me. When Brian fell fast asleep on a cot, she tried to get some rest too but the only place for her was a bench. It was cushioned, but far from comfy, and I think she ended up trying to sleep on the floor just so she could stretch out. Needless to say, I think she was the only one who got absolutely no sleep at all. On the plus side, that left her free to get me ice chips when I woke up in pain again. What a sweetheart.
So, in short, Jaime was an angel and I don't know what I would have done without her. Thank you Jaime!
Love you,
Sissy
So let me state for the record, my sister is amazing! She did NOT just panic when my water broke, which is somehow unfortunately the only thing I really mentioned. I am sorry Jaime! She was a wonderful rock throughout my labor and I would have had a vastly different experience without her. I'm not just saying that because she pointed it out either, it is very true. She held my hand, she prayed with me when my anxiety over Kian's health got to be too much, and most of all she was just THERE with me. When Brian fell fast asleep on a cot, she tried to get some rest too but the only place for her was a bench. It was cushioned, but far from comfy, and I think she ended up trying to sleep on the floor just so she could stretch out. Needless to say, I think she was the only one who got absolutely no sleep at all. On the plus side, that left her free to get me ice chips when I woke up in pain again. What a sweetheart.
So, in short, Jaime was an angel and I don't know what I would have done without her. Thank you Jaime!
Love you,
Sissy
Monday, August 6, 2007
Pictures!
No time for a good update just now, but I put up pictures! We're all doing well, Kian is getting so big! New pictures can be found at http://kianogrady.shutterfly.com
A better update should be coming shortly.
A better update should be coming shortly.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Week 3 Part One: July 26-30
Kian's 2 week birthday was a big day.
Our nursery furniture finally came. It was supposed to take 4-6 weeks to arrive and ended up taking 10-11. The last few weeks of trying to get it delivered was a whole pain in the rear, but I don't think I'm going to go into details. It's here now, it's beautiful, and Kian's room is finally done.
Brian and I set everything up, including Brian moving the furniture around a few times until we found the best arrangement. My husband should be a designer I think, because none of my ideas worked and his is just right. We had the items delivered and set up so we didn't have to put anything together, but the highest mattress level on the crib was really high, so Brian already moved it down one level. All of the Pooh stuff looks just fab with the furniture, and the wall color is perfect. I still need to take pictures of the nursery all set up, but they will be coming shortly.
That night Brian's mom (aka Grandma Becky) arrived. She was so happy to meet Kian and couldn't stop saying how beautiful he is.
Friday was Kian's 2 week appointment with his doctor. Getting everything together to leave the house seems to be at least a little easier now, though I still feel like I'm taking half the house with me, and we only use a few things out of the bag. Again we got right in to see the doc which was really nice. He really has grown a ton, and is now weighing in at 6 pounds 7 ounces! That's half a pound in the last seven days. Holy cow. I'm glad he's gaining weight and doing well, and it helps me to relax about how breastfeeding is going. At the same time, he'll never be as small as he was, ever again. It's a bittersweet moment. Once again, it goes way too stinking fast!
His jaundice is totally gone now, his circ is healed and all is well! We had to get one more heel prick to do the follow up PKU test. It's a test for twenty-something genetic diseases required by law here. Other than the incredibly long wait at the lab it wasn't so bad. I think most of the crying was because the tech had to hold his foot and dab it on the paper over and over and he doesn't like being restrained. Another lady was there with her baby and when we walked in she said "See, that's what a real newborn looks like." Apparently both little boys share a birthday, but hers was 9lbs 9oz when he was born! To be honest he did look really huge to me, but I'm really used to my little tiny guy.
Saturday was yet another milestone, and one that as hard but also exquisite. We left Kian with Grandma Becky and went out for sushi! It's been over 8 months since I last had sushi, and Brian abstained with me, so this was a big moment. I know it's silly but we used to eat sushi a few times a month and it is the one thing I craved consistently all through pregnancy. Of course I cried when we left and tried to distract myself most of the time we were gone. Becky is totally capable and he ate well before we left, plus we were only 20 minutes from home but I still had a hard time with it.
It was pouring rain when we left and Brian joked that the power would be out when we got there. Just like that he jinxed us! Sure enough, when we pulled up there were cops directing traffic at the intersection and all the lights were out. I went inside and asked if they had any idea how long it would be, and their only estimate was 'quite a while'. We debated about what to do, and decided to try another sushi restaurant that I've heard is really good. We drove another 15 minutes or so, only to find it was closed! Oh man. One more sushi restaurant wasn't too far away, and I have eaten there before. It wasn't the best but it wasn't bad so we headed that way. As we got closer to our favorite place (which was on the way to this third place), I decided to call and just check. Lo and behold, their power was back up and they were serving food again! Hooray! We felt like we probably should have just stayed there and waited, but we had no way to know that. We were totally happy because they have some unique rolls we really wanted, and who knows when we'll be able to get away again. Hopefully soon Kian will be able to just come with us, but right now we have to limit the time he's in his carseat which makes it really hard.
Incidentally, the food was DELICIOUS. And in spite of feeling like Kian was a ticking time bomb at home, we made it before he was too fussy at all. I can't imagine leaving him with anyone who isn't family, or really leaving him at all for a while. It was just a few hours and I missed him so much. Only sushi made it worth it at all.
The rest of the weekend was laid back, and this morning (Monday), Becky headed for home. It was nice to have her here, but to some degree it is going to be nice to be 'just us' for a while. Brian goes back to work on Wednesday and then Kian and I can start to work on our routine. We'll see how we do. Right now Brian is at work for a short time, after dropping Becky off at the airport. It's the longest it has been just us two (and maybe the only time I've been alone with him - I can't remember if Brian has run any quick errands without any other family around). It's been good though. Clearly I'm updating my blog and I ate too! He's such a wonderful little guy, and I love him so much. We're incredibly lucky to have him.
One more note! Rather than putting pictures here, I opened a Shutterfly account. I'm going to see how it goes for now, though I know there are other picture websites available. For now you should be able to go to http://kianogrady.shutterfly.com to see all kinds of pics. It does give you the option to order prints as well if anyone wants to do that. Otherwise you can just click on the thumbnails and see a larger picture. I haven't done any editing on any of them and some may be dark and/or blurry just so you know ;). If anyone has trouble with this feel free to comment here or shoot me an email and I'll see what I can do.
More to come later!
Our nursery furniture finally came. It was supposed to take 4-6 weeks to arrive and ended up taking 10-11. The last few weeks of trying to get it delivered was a whole pain in the rear, but I don't think I'm going to go into details. It's here now, it's beautiful, and Kian's room is finally done.
Brian and I set everything up, including Brian moving the furniture around a few times until we found the best arrangement. My husband should be a designer I think, because none of my ideas worked and his is just right. We had the items delivered and set up so we didn't have to put anything together, but the highest mattress level on the crib was really high, so Brian already moved it down one level. All of the Pooh stuff looks just fab with the furniture, and the wall color is perfect. I still need to take pictures of the nursery all set up, but they will be coming shortly.
That night Brian's mom (aka Grandma Becky) arrived. She was so happy to meet Kian and couldn't stop saying how beautiful he is.
Friday was Kian's 2 week appointment with his doctor. Getting everything together to leave the house seems to be at least a little easier now, though I still feel like I'm taking half the house with me, and we only use a few things out of the bag. Again we got right in to see the doc which was really nice. He really has grown a ton, and is now weighing in at 6 pounds 7 ounces! That's half a pound in the last seven days. Holy cow. I'm glad he's gaining weight and doing well, and it helps me to relax about how breastfeeding is going. At the same time, he'll never be as small as he was, ever again. It's a bittersweet moment. Once again, it goes way too stinking fast!
His jaundice is totally gone now, his circ is healed and all is well! We had to get one more heel prick to do the follow up PKU test. It's a test for twenty-something genetic diseases required by law here. Other than the incredibly long wait at the lab it wasn't so bad. I think most of the crying was because the tech had to hold his foot and dab it on the paper over and over and he doesn't like being restrained. Another lady was there with her baby and when we walked in she said "See, that's what a real newborn looks like." Apparently both little boys share a birthday, but hers was 9lbs 9oz when he was born! To be honest he did look really huge to me, but I'm really used to my little tiny guy.
Saturday was yet another milestone, and one that as hard but also exquisite. We left Kian with Grandma Becky and went out for sushi! It's been over 8 months since I last had sushi, and Brian abstained with me, so this was a big moment. I know it's silly but we used to eat sushi a few times a month and it is the one thing I craved consistently all through pregnancy. Of course I cried when we left and tried to distract myself most of the time we were gone. Becky is totally capable and he ate well before we left, plus we were only 20 minutes from home but I still had a hard time with it.
It was pouring rain when we left and Brian joked that the power would be out when we got there. Just like that he jinxed us! Sure enough, when we pulled up there were cops directing traffic at the intersection and all the lights were out. I went inside and asked if they had any idea how long it would be, and their only estimate was 'quite a while'. We debated about what to do, and decided to try another sushi restaurant that I've heard is really good. We drove another 15 minutes or so, only to find it was closed! Oh man. One more sushi restaurant wasn't too far away, and I have eaten there before. It wasn't the best but it wasn't bad so we headed that way. As we got closer to our favorite place (which was on the way to this third place), I decided to call and just check. Lo and behold, their power was back up and they were serving food again! Hooray! We felt like we probably should have just stayed there and waited, but we had no way to know that. We were totally happy because they have some unique rolls we really wanted, and who knows when we'll be able to get away again. Hopefully soon Kian will be able to just come with us, but right now we have to limit the time he's in his carseat which makes it really hard.
Incidentally, the food was DELICIOUS. And in spite of feeling like Kian was a ticking time bomb at home, we made it before he was too fussy at all. I can't imagine leaving him with anyone who isn't family, or really leaving him at all for a while. It was just a few hours and I missed him so much. Only sushi made it worth it at all.
The rest of the weekend was laid back, and this morning (Monday), Becky headed for home. It was nice to have her here, but to some degree it is going to be nice to be 'just us' for a while. Brian goes back to work on Wednesday and then Kian and I can start to work on our routine. We'll see how we do. Right now Brian is at work for a short time, after dropping Becky off at the airport. It's the longest it has been just us two (and maybe the only time I've been alone with him - I can't remember if Brian has run any quick errands without any other family around). It's been good though. Clearly I'm updating my blog and I ate too! He's such a wonderful little guy, and I love him so much. We're incredibly lucky to have him.
One more note! Rather than putting pictures here, I opened a Shutterfly account. I'm going to see how it goes for now, though I know there are other picture websites available. For now you should be able to go to http://kianogrady.shutterfly.com to see all kinds of pics. It does give you the option to order prints as well if anyone wants to do that. Otherwise you can just click on the thumbnails and see a larger picture. I haven't done any editing on any of them and some may be dark and/or blurry just so you know ;). If anyone has trouble with this feel free to comment here or shoot me an email and I'll see what I can do.
More to come later!
Week 2: July 19-25
Kian's one week birthday! We couldn't believe how fast everything went. It is just craziness. He was already starting to look bigger and seeming to change before our very eyes.
We decided to try out his new tummy time mat, a gift from Grandma Becky. He seemed to like it, and started wiggling and kicking right away. Then came a big surprise! He somehow managed to plant one foot and shove himself over. My tiny little guy rolled from his stomach to his back on his one week birthday! Excuse me, but I am ABSOLUTELY supposed to have months before I have to deal with this sort of progress, kid! He did it again just a few minutes later, but I've decided not to really count it as rolling over. It's more like... flinging himself, and not terribly consistent. Or something. He's holding his head up by himself more and more too, and I'm starting to get visions of him running around at 2 months old, 2 feet tall and scampering under the coffee table and stuff. We better go get all of the babyproofing supplies, and quick!
That evening the thought of my parents leaving the next day totally wrecked me. He was still sleeping very inconsistently and I felt like all that was holding my sanity together was having them there to hold him while I napped during the day. They were wonderful enough to give me one more day, and planned to leave Saturday instead.
Friday we had our second doctor's appointment, this one with Col Murphy on base. We got in for our appointment very promptly which was a pleasant surprise. He was still at 5lbs 11oz and about 19 inches long. She said he looked great, and that was a relief too. At the end of the appointment she asked if he was our first child, and then said we seemed like old pros. Go us! We think it must be because I knew a lot of the medical details of his hospital stay (bad handwriting left her with a lot of questions), when he cried I calmly plugged in his pacifier, and in general I wasn't freaked out by the whole process. She was very gentle and generally fantastic so it was a good experience.
One more day of grammy and papa snuggles for Kian, and a freshly vacuumed house for me, and on Saturday grammy and papa headed for home. It was hard and emotional for all of us, and even as I write this I am crying. It's so, so hard for them to not be here. I feel like they are missing so much, and he is missing them, and I am missing them so very much. Living far away has never been easy, but Kian amplifies it all a million times.
On the plus side, he actually slept pretty well Friday night so I felt much more prepared for them to leave on the practical side. Emotionally, no, but I was less worried that I would never sleep again. At this point he started going about 3 hours between feedings even at night, and sleeping soundly in between. Brian referred to it as 'sleeping through the night' but really he just meant actually sleeping at night in his bassinet. Phew. There's a lot of 'phew' going on I'm noticing. Welcome to my life.
Saturday the 22nd was my baby shower. I kept telling the ladies who threw it that we needed to make it sooner but no one would listen to me! I decided I felt up to going to it, and it ended up being a great time! We had a ton of people there, and I still maintain a big part of it was the chance to actually see and hold my little guy. Everyone seemed surprised to see me up and about, dressed and in makeup no less! I wanted to tell them I had makeup on in the hospital, but I kept that to myself :). It was an amazing show of support and love, not to mention the incredible amount of presents this tiny kid hauled in. When you add on all the stuff that's been delivered to our house in the last 10 days, we got all of the necessities and a lot of the 'fun stuff' on our registry. There are still some things we'll go get ourselves, especially babyproofing items, a few decor pieces, and some breastfeeding accessories. Then there are a lot of 'later' pieces like toys and stuff for solids feeding. We should be getting a coupon for 10% off of everything left on our registry soon, and we've received some gift cards which will help cover a lot of what's left. What a spoiled... er, lucky and incredibly loved little boy!
Brian took this week off, so we had a few days with just the three of us. He is of course fantastic, and we managed just fine. Of course, I'd like my house to be a little cleaner and clearly it's taken until now for me to update my blog, but were all bathed and clothed and fed and emergency free.
On Tuesday we actually took a trip up to Babies R Us, which is a decent drive away. We made a couple of exchanges, picked up some gifts from family that were being held there, and purchased a glider for the nursery. The latter was the purpose of the trip, and we drove Brian's truck so we could get it home. They come with assembly required, but the box is still big and my car is not. Unfortunately they only have a few in stock (information I could have used YESTERDAY when I CALLED and asked a bunch of questions about what vehicle I should bring to pick it up) so we have to wait a few weeks. It's gorgeous though, and worth the wait.
Kian seems to be getting much bigger now, filling out and changing every day. We think his circ is healed pretty well now and are looking forward to 'real' baths and not having to use vaseline every time we change him. His schedule is getting even weirder now, and he's eating more frequently at times and less at others. On the plus side he seems to have 2 stretches of 2-3 hours of sleep and one of 4 at night, which is just FANTASTIC for me. One nap during the day and I'm all set.
It's getting easier all the time but again, going WAY TOO FAST.
We decided to try out his new tummy time mat, a gift from Grandma Becky. He seemed to like it, and started wiggling and kicking right away. Then came a big surprise! He somehow managed to plant one foot and shove himself over. My tiny little guy rolled from his stomach to his back on his one week birthday! Excuse me, but I am ABSOLUTELY supposed to have months before I have to deal with this sort of progress, kid! He did it again just a few minutes later, but I've decided not to really count it as rolling over. It's more like... flinging himself, and not terribly consistent. Or something. He's holding his head up by himself more and more too, and I'm starting to get visions of him running around at 2 months old, 2 feet tall and scampering under the coffee table and stuff. We better go get all of the babyproofing supplies, and quick!
That evening the thought of my parents leaving the next day totally wrecked me. He was still sleeping very inconsistently and I felt like all that was holding my sanity together was having them there to hold him while I napped during the day. They were wonderful enough to give me one more day, and planned to leave Saturday instead.
Friday we had our second doctor's appointment, this one with Col Murphy on base. We got in for our appointment very promptly which was a pleasant surprise. He was still at 5lbs 11oz and about 19 inches long. She said he looked great, and that was a relief too. At the end of the appointment she asked if he was our first child, and then said we seemed like old pros. Go us! We think it must be because I knew a lot of the medical details of his hospital stay (bad handwriting left her with a lot of questions), when he cried I calmly plugged in his pacifier, and in general I wasn't freaked out by the whole process. She was very gentle and generally fantastic so it was a good experience.
One more day of grammy and papa snuggles for Kian, and a freshly vacuumed house for me, and on Saturday grammy and papa headed for home. It was hard and emotional for all of us, and even as I write this I am crying. It's so, so hard for them to not be here. I feel like they are missing so much, and he is missing them, and I am missing them so very much. Living far away has never been easy, but Kian amplifies it all a million times.
On the plus side, he actually slept pretty well Friday night so I felt much more prepared for them to leave on the practical side. Emotionally, no, but I was less worried that I would never sleep again. At this point he started going about 3 hours between feedings even at night, and sleeping soundly in between. Brian referred to it as 'sleeping through the night' but really he just meant actually sleeping at night in his bassinet. Phew. There's a lot of 'phew' going on I'm noticing. Welcome to my life.
Saturday the 22nd was my baby shower. I kept telling the ladies who threw it that we needed to make it sooner but no one would listen to me! I decided I felt up to going to it, and it ended up being a great time! We had a ton of people there, and I still maintain a big part of it was the chance to actually see and hold my little guy. Everyone seemed surprised to see me up and about, dressed and in makeup no less! I wanted to tell them I had makeup on in the hospital, but I kept that to myself :). It was an amazing show of support and love, not to mention the incredible amount of presents this tiny kid hauled in. When you add on all the stuff that's been delivered to our house in the last 10 days, we got all of the necessities and a lot of the 'fun stuff' on our registry. There are still some things we'll go get ourselves, especially babyproofing items, a few decor pieces, and some breastfeeding accessories. Then there are a lot of 'later' pieces like toys and stuff for solids feeding. We should be getting a coupon for 10% off of everything left on our registry soon, and we've received some gift cards which will help cover a lot of what's left. What a spoiled... er, lucky and incredibly loved little boy!
Brian took this week off, so we had a few days with just the three of us. He is of course fantastic, and we managed just fine. Of course, I'd like my house to be a little cleaner and clearly it's taken until now for me to update my blog, but were all bathed and clothed and fed and emergency free.
On Tuesday we actually took a trip up to Babies R Us, which is a decent drive away. We made a couple of exchanges, picked up some gifts from family that were being held there, and purchased a glider for the nursery. The latter was the purpose of the trip, and we drove Brian's truck so we could get it home. They come with assembly required, but the box is still big and my car is not. Unfortunately they only have a few in stock (information I could have used YESTERDAY when I CALLED and asked a bunch of questions about what vehicle I should bring to pick it up) so we have to wait a few weeks. It's gorgeous though, and worth the wait.
Kian seems to be getting much bigger now, filling out and changing every day. We think his circ is healed pretty well now and are looking forward to 'real' baths and not having to use vaseline every time we change him. His schedule is getting even weirder now, and he's eating more frequently at times and less at others. On the plus side he seems to have 2 stretches of 2-3 hours of sleep and one of 4 at night, which is just FANTASTIC for me. One nap during the day and I'm all set.
It's getting easier all the time but again, going WAY TOO FAST.
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