One Month

This is a tad late, but I'm still adjusting to my free time in mommy-hood. Emerson is one full month old! One month ago my world completely turned upside down, but in the best way possible! Emerson has made me such a better person in every way. I never knew that I could love anyone as much as I love my son. 

Watching him change everyday, every week is just amazing. Over the last week he's found his voice. He is cooing all day and it's the cutest thing I've ever heard! In addition to finding his voice, he's also found his fingers. They have become his new favorite item to suck on. He also knows that he can grab things with his little hands, like my hair, ouch! He's also started tracking really well. He can follow me and AJ when we are talking to him. He's also officially SMILING :) in reaction to things now! We get the best smiles when we are singing and talking to him. He also loves having his cheeks pinched. I'm working on catching his cute smile on camera.

Some more changes include the new George Costanza hairdo Emerson is rocking. He's lost almost all of his hair on the top of his head. He still has to be the cutest baby I've ever seen! He's rocking the receding hairline! 

Emerson had his one month Dr. appt last week. We were very excited to see how much he's grown and boy has he! Emerson now weighs 9 lbs 2 oz and and is 22 in long. That's a gain of 2lb 3 oz and 2 in. He is in the 70th percentile for height and 30th for weight. The Dr. actually said he was tall! Considering his Dad and I are both 5'6", we never thought we'd hear her say that. His head also measured in at 15 in, which is in the 74th percentile. I told AJ he must have my big brain! We go back at 2 month where he'll get shots; I hope I'm he's strong!

We went through all of the shots from Emerson's newborn photo shot and I'm obsessed! Our friend is working on the editing and I can't wait for the final prints. I promise to share ASAP! For now here are the pics from my little photo shoot. Love this perfect little client!

Even if he is crying

 Which way to the gun show?

I'm hoping to get similar shots in the glider every month so we can see how big he's getting. Isn't he just so handsome?! Quick look at "Just Born" and 1 month:

Is this the same kid?

Here are some more shots from the last two weeks (think I take enough...no, me neither):

Kisses

PASSED OUT

First play date with Paige who's 9 months old

My whole life!

Love this face!

3 weeks

My son is three weeks old; our days disappear in a blur. As an example, I started this post a week ago and am just getting around to finishing it. Emerson eats, poops, pees, eats, then poops again, eats, then sleeps. My boobs are hanging out all day, but I'm finally getting the hang of this breastfeeding thing. I am a little concerned that Emerson might not be getting a good balance of foremilk vs hindmilk (Google it, I had to). One of the many benefits of breastfeeding is that you know what color your baby's poop should be. Emerson's has been green this week (it's not TMI cause it's a baby) and that's what led me to Google "green baby poop" and find the info on this milk imbalance. We see the Dr. on the 21st so if it doesn't change by then I'm sure she'll have some suggestions.

He seems to get bigger everyday so I don't think this imbalance is keeping him from growing. In fact, this week we started using size 1 diapers (right after we opened a brand new box of newborns, of course). He doesn't exactly fit into them just yet, but he's out grown the newborns. The newborn diapers are too tight around his legs. The other day I was holding him while trying to brush my teeth (around noon, cause that's the first chance I had) and noticed his leg was turning purple so I undid his diaper and it went back to pink. We've also noticed that some of his newborn onesies are starting to fit a little snug. He is getting so long that only his long and lean onesies are fitting good. They need to make half sizes for these in-between stages. We started packing away his onesies that don't fit anymore. 

Emerson got his first real bath this week. Although his umbilical cord fell off two weeks ago, there were still small pieces needing to fall off so we were keeping his belly button dry. When we were registering for baby stuff I came across this neat little find; the Blooming Baby Bath. I ended up finding a great deal on this bath on Zulily (obsessed with this site!). We tried using it and it didn't quite work just right. We have a large sink and this would work much better if we had a double sink. Until he get's a little bigger, we will have to use the basic plastic tub.

I just want to eat him up!

Bath time is a hit and miss for Emerson-some baths he loves and others he screams. But bath time means super cute towel pictures! Check out our Shark Week baby.

On Sunday we finally took Emerson's newborn (or three week old) pictures. Our amazing friend/photographer, Brad Wood snapped some great shots and I can't wait to get the final prints from him. He did such a great job with our Save the Date pics so I know Emerson's pics are going to be amazing!

Speaking of Save the Date, AJ and I celebrated our 6 year dating anniversary this week. We had plans to go out for dinner sans baby, but as we were getting ready I had a minor melt down. I have nothing to wear because I'm still carrying lots of baby weight. I'm trying not to get down on myself, but when none of your pre-pregnancy clothes fit, it's hard not to get discouraged. Yes, I have been blessed with the breastfeeding magic fat melting power, but it's only going to get me so far. Any other time in my life I'd be ecstatic about losing 28 lbs in three weeks, but all I see is another 20 left. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

This week Emerson had a growth spurt. Besides his newborn clothes/diapers not fitting anymore, we knew he was going through a spurt because for two or three days he was on the boobs ALL DAY LONG. This was followed by a day of him sleeping 4+ hours between feedings (only during the day of course). We have noticed that he is starting to know the difference between day and night. During the day he normally stays awake between two feedings and thankfully this does not occur at night. He's starting to be a lot more vocal with his fake cries and his happy coos. He had bad baby acne on his forehead earlier in the week, but it's cleared up. Although he still isn't smiling as a reaction to anything someone is doing, he is smiling a lot more! I can't wait to catch one of these cute smiles on camera. Emerson is getting stronger by the day. He doesn't really like tummy time, but he's great at it. He gets so frustrated that he can't lift his head up all the way, but his effort is so cute! 

Our son is changing and growing everyday! Better soak it all up, cause it'll pass in a blink!

Almost caught his smile!

2 weeks old

My little Emerson is already two weeks old. He is changing every day and I just want it to stop! I wish time would slow down just a little bit. I want time to take in every new face, noise, and movement he makes. Pictures can only capture a still image so I'm going to have to start using our video camera to catch his growing personality. 

This week was a busy week for Emerson and me. We had two visits with the lactation consultant. The Friday after he was born we saw the LC and he was weighing in at 7.13 (left the hospital at 7.9). On Tuesday we went back for a follow-up and Emerson hadn't gained any weight. Since he had been having 8-12 poop/pee diapers the LC said he was only eating enough to stay hydrated, but not to gain weight. She told me to start pumping and adding 2-3 extra feedings each day. She also wanted me to start taking the herb, Fenugreek, which is known to increase your milk supply. I did my homework and we went back on Thursday; Emerson gained two ounces in two days! She was very happy with his progress and told me to keep doing what I was doing and we wouldn't need to come back unless we had other concerns. So basically I spend more time with my boobs outside my shirt than in it, but Emerson is worth it!

What my daily chores include now.

On Thursday we also saw a surgeon to decide if Emerson's frenulum (little piece of skin that connects your tongue to the bottom of your mouth) needed to be snipped. When we were in the hospital the nurses told us that Emerson was tongue tied because his frenulum was too close to the tip of his tongue. This did create latching issues and it could create speech issues later on. At the Dr.'s office I got a feel for what it must be like to be a single parent. I had held off on feeding Emerson because they requested that I feed right after the appointment so he was a little cranky and I had no one to help me calm him down. Since this was our first visit we had a lot of paperwork to be filled in and signed. It was very difficult to get anything done with a crying baby. Luckily he's an easy baby and it only took a little soothing to get him to stop crying. After 15 mins of trying to keep him from crying, we finally saw the Dr. Immediately the Dr said a snip was necessary and he did it right there. Emerson was already crying because the Dr had his hands in his mouth, but when he snipped it he didn't cry harder. I fed him right away and then the nurse checked his tongue one last time. The tough guy didn't even bleed! His latching is so much better; I'm so happy we took care of this now instead of waiting to see if it would be a problem for his speech. 

Saturday Emerson attended his first bridal shower for one of my oldest friends. He was the talk of the party; all the ladies loved him! He was such a great baby and he slept the entire time we were there. AJ and I are still nervous about having a lot of people hold him because we don't want him to get sick so it was nice that he was sleeping because no one wanted to bother him. Auntie was able to get her fix and his Grandma was able to look, but not touch (she's getting over a cold). It felt so good to get all dressed up and spend the afternoon with the ladies. AJ is having to work a lot of Saturdays so it's just me and the babe 6 days a week. He is trying to only work two Saturdays a month; I guess this will have to do. He is taking another week of his Baby Bonding time the week of Labor Day and Emerson and I can't wait!

My loves

This week Emerson's hair started to thin out a lot. He also started getting a tiny bit of baby acne on his forehead. Big news, he lost his umbilical cord! We had noticed some blood on the inside of a few onesies, but the Dr said that would happen. On the 31st I picked him up and the cord fell off on my chest along with a lot of gross blood. We are so happy this thing is finally off because it makes diaper changes a lot easier. He still has a tiny piece inside his belly button so we can't give him a real bath.

Ribbit!

Emerson has started to show a lot of neck strength this week. He likes to lift his head off your chest, but we have to be careful or he'll slam it back down. He has also started doing baby push ups off our chests; I think he just wants to take a good look around. Emerson has finally started smiling, but we still think it's just a reaction to gas or some bodily function. We can't wait until he smiles in reaction to something we say or do, or just when he sees us. He is changing so fast!

Sleeping Beauty (beauties)

Our Birth Story

I've said it before and I'll say it again, whoever said pregnancy was 9 months, doesn't know math. My pregnancy lasted 40 weeks and 5 days, but it was ALL worth it because I got this little guy.

At our 40 week Dr appt when the Dr told me that I had zero progress we decided to schedule my induction for Saturday, July 20th. I had been avoiding being induced, but I couldn't imagine going another week pregnant. So for the rest of the week AJ and I did all the last minute things needed to prepare for Emerson. On Friday I met up with my mom and sister to eat some lunch and then hit Babies R Us. At 40 weeks, walking becomes some what of a chore, but this day was worse than any other before. I was having a VERY hard time getting around, but I didn't think anything of it. On Saturday AJ had to work and I was planning on giving the house one last vacuum, but Emerson had other plans in mind. Friday night I woke up with extreme pains, which I assumed was a stomach ache because they didn't last long. When I woke on Saturday I had a lot of pressure in my groin, enough that I had trouble walking and standing up from sitting. Around 3:15pm I started getting cramps, but thought nothing of it since I'd been getting them for the past month. I quickly realized they were coming regularly. I started tracking them and after an hour they were coming 5 mins apart. My Dr told me not to go to the hospital until my contractions were coming 5 mins apart for two hours. Well another hour later and they were still 5 mins apart. They weren't painful so I didn't rush to the hospital.

We were scheduled to check into the hospital at 9 for an induction, but the contractions grew stronger and we decided to head over earlier at 8. Luckily it was a quit night in L&D so they were able to admit me right away. Around 8:30 the nurse checked me and I was dilated to 1.5cm. The Dr. came in around 9:30 and I was still 1.5cm, but he decided to change that. He forced me to go from a 1.5 to a 3-WORST pain ever! Once he did that my contractions started coming faster and stronger. By midnight I was dilated to a 4 and the contractions were intense and coming every 30 seconds. If it had been up to me, I would have had my epidural the minute I was admitted, but my Dr. wasn't that liberal. When he checked me at midnight he decided to break my water and that's when I demanded my drugs! Lucky for me the hospital was slow and the anesthesiologist was in my room within 10 mins. I've heard some epidural horror stories, but my experience was nothing, but amazing. The epi was in and I was pain-free within 15 mins; I was one happy camper!

At 1:30 my mom and sister decided to go home since all I wanted to do was catch some shut-eye. I slept pretty solidly for the rest of the night, except for the intermittent nurse check-ups. At one point the nurse came in to start pitocin because my contractions had started to spread out, but 30 seconds after she started the drip, Emerson's heart rate dropped so she turned it off. She wasn't sure if it was just a coincidence, but she wasn't willing to take that risk so I went the rest of my labor with NO pitocin. At this point the nurse removed my external fetal heart monitor and attached an internal monitor to Emerson's head. 

My mom and sister came back to the hospital at 5am and by that point I was close to 8cm. Although I was feeling no pain my body was still going through some very strong contractions, which left me feeling nauseous and eventually led to me getting sick once. I tried drinking water and eating Jell-O, but my stomach wasn't having it. I tried to get some more rest, hoping that these shakes would just go away. At 7am, the nurse checked me again and said I was basically at 10cm and that she needed me to give a couple of pushes to get Emerson in place. Since I couldn't feel anything, I just did what I assumed equaled pushing. Lucky for me the nurse said my pushes were great and Emerson was down and ready. My mom took this to mean that I was going to continue pushing and pop this baby out. She started texting the family to say that I was pushing, but the pushing never continued. She was very frustrated, but I just saw it as another opportunity to catch some Zzzs. Since my shakes were so bad I layered three heavy blankets on me and passed out.

A little before noon the Dr. came in to check me and got concerned that I might have a fever. The nurse took my temp and I did, but it was only 100 degrees. To be safe they hooked up a bag of antibiotics to my IV. After the Dr. checked me he let me know if was GO TIME! Originally I had only planned on AJ and my mom being in the room with me, but throughout the night my sister had been in the room during my checks and had already seen it all so I asked her to stay. Once Team Push-This-Baby-Out was ready, I started pushing during my next contraction. I tried pushing two different ways and both were exhausting! I have the utmost respect for women who go through labor and pushing with no drugs; I don't know how you do it! You are all superheroes in my book! Pushing takes everything out of you and to think of having to push after dealing with labor pains for 12-14 hours prior is just insane. Thank goodness for modern medicine!

After 2 1/2 hours of hard pushing I gave birth to this perfect little boy. I can't even begin to describe the rush of emotions I felt when the Dr put my son on my chest and I got to see him for the first time. I was instantly in love and in awe of this perfect person that AJ and I had made. 

We did skin-to-skin for two hours before we finally let all of our family and friends come in to meet the newest Jimenez family member. This boy is already loved by SO many. We have a line of babysitters just waiting to get our phone call!

Around 6pm the nurse came in to give Emerson his first bath. AJ snapped a few pics and then headed home to take a shower himself and check on the pup pups. Right after he left the nurse let me know she was concerned that his oxygen levels were low because he had purple splotches on his legs. She hooked him up to the O2 machine and his stats were 100%, but his heart rate was only 98. Apparently babies should have heart rates between 110-160 so the nurse decided to take him to the nursery to run some more tests. I immediately called AJ and told him to get back ASAP. He was back within a half hour and thank goodness he was because I was a hot mess. I couldn't control my emotions, thinking of every worst case scenario. AJ just held my hand and tried to keep me calm. Finally an hour later the nurse came in with an update. She let us know that his temp, heart rate, and sugar levels were all down. They gave him some formula, which fixed his sugar. She called the pediatrician and the Dr said to just get his temp up and his heart rate should follow; she was right! Once his temp was normal so was his heart rate. They continued to check his temp through the rest of our stay in the hospital and it was never low again. It was the longest hour of my life and it made me realize how scary it was to be a parent. AJ and I are now responsible for the life and safety of someone else and it's overwhelming, but in the best way ever! It's a fair trade when this is the life we are responsible for:

Here are couple (JUST a couple) of side effects from my labor:

Look at that sausage foot-retaining water much?

Bruised from the damn blood pressure cuff-I wanted to stab that cuff!