7 weeks

I got a surprise in the mail today!  I ordered some pictures to put in frames around the house.  If you're not on Facebook, then you probably haven't seen the professional pictures that the amazingly talented Jessica Wright took of our sweet boy.
And if you are on Facebook, well, you get to see them again. :)  Can't post them all because that would take FOREVER- well, not really forever- but every moment is gold in this house until JM starts crying again.  So, I'll start with the ones I ordered for the house- and then add in a few more of my faves.  These were all taken when he was just a wee two weeks old.  What a handsome lil fella!

Documenting the big stuff (or the little stuff)

For those of you who follow this blog, I need to back up and explain something.  I realize that I never explained my purpose for this blog, although I was thinking it in my head.  Since John Michael's arrival, I have been documenting each week with him, talking about the good and the bad, in hopes that I'll be able to look back at this one day and remember it all.  I may even print all of these posts out one day and put them in his baby book.  But I want to remember everything- not just the good things.  So, I plan to be brutally honest in this blog- as if I wasn't before. :)  But, I don't want you to get the feeling that I am complaining, or whining, or anything else for that matter.  I am simply documenting every thought, feeling, moment, and event.  Some things will be interesting for others- some may only be interesting to me.  So, with that all being said, here are a couple of things I want to remember that I have forgotten to blog:

January 13, 2011- 4:00am feeding

I went into the nursery for our usual feeding time, and everything was just as it always was.  However, this particular feeding was exciting to me because it was the first time that I changed JM's diaper in the dark without turning on his lamp.  This was a big deal to me because turning on the lamp inevitably made JM want to get up for the day, and I would have a hard time getting him back to sleep.  When I returned to bed, Michael asked if everything went okay, and thus one of the funniest conversations occurred.
Michael:  Was everything okay?
Me: I successfully changed his diaper in the dark.
Michael: Really?  How did you do that?
Me: I didn't turn any lights on.
PAUSE
Michael: Really Kay?  I feel like I'm in the movie Airplane right now.

January 26, 2011- 7:00am

This was actually this morning, but I felt like putting the date above it anyway to keep things looking uniform (OCD much?).
I fed JM at 6:00am, and put him down to go back to sleep around 6:30.  Somewhere between 7:00 and 7:30, I heard him starting to stir.  Normally, he starts to stir and it immediately turns into crying, and I will go get him and either feed him (if it's time for that), or soothe him, give him his pacifier, etc.  But today was different.  After the stirring, he started to coo.  It was the cutest thing, because it was like for the first time, he discovered his voice and was starting to have fun with it.  I stayed in bed, listening to this in the monitor for about 15 to 20 minutes, as his "AHHHHH" changed inflection, going from low to high pitch and back down.  Or the "Ooooooooo, ugh."  Or a loud "AH!"  After about 15-20 minutes, it started to turn into a cry, but it still wasn't a full cry.  I have to say it was the cutest thing I've ever heard.  Even as I sit here typing, he's doing it again from his swing.  Except this time he has the hiccups- so the cooing gets interrupted every now and then.

That's all I can remember today that I wanted to make sure I got down in print before it left me again. :)

6 weeks

John Michael turned 6 weeks old last Thursday, and it's amazing how much he has already changed.  The colic is in full swing now... (our doctor said it would peak between 6 and 8 weeks).  We've had three pretty rough days in a row, and I think it's safe to assume that Gripe Water makes our son gripe, instead of taking it away.  Everytime we've used it, the crying has gone from bad to worse- so I think we're going to put it away for good.
He has started smiling alot more though, so that makes the good times even better.  He's so cute when he smiles- I could just eat him up.  We're starting to have a little more fun with his clothes too.  He's already wearing three month onesies- and this kid is SO TALL.  I know, I know- I have no idea where he gets that from.
When we went to the doctor last Wednesday, he weighed 10 lbs, 4 oz.  And they sprung his first set of shots on me.  We were set to get those in February, but they decided to go ahead and do them since we were already there.  I think it was better that way, because I didn't have time to worry.  I also don't know if I handled it well because I'm just so used to the crying, or what.  But, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  He didn't really cry that long, and he slept alot when we got home.  That was nice.
JM is really starting to enjoy his activity mat alot more- which is great because it's one trick in the bag that we use for fussiness.  Other tricks are the swing, walking around the house, singing Barbra's greatest hits, Beatles lullabies, classical lullabies, car rides, sleep sheep, the fan, and so on and so on. Seriously, anything that we can think of, we will try.
But, we're hoping that things will get better soon in that department.  In the meantime, here are some recent pictures that make me smile.

A Time for Firsts

I'm sure there will be many more firsts, but today we took our first stroll around the neighborhood in the stroller.  John Michael slept the whole time, and then woke up just as soon as we hit the garage.  But, it was worth it just to get out and get a little exercise.

As an update from the last post, we went to the pediatrician's office last week hoping for some relief.  We were told that JM has colic and reflux, and now we have a prescription for zantac and we're adding rice cereal to his bottles.  He still gets fussy, but I'm thinking that maybe things are getting better.  I don't want to speak too soon because every time I think it's getting better we have a really bad day.  But, he seems to be sleeping better- and for longer periods of time.  This picture is horrible in quality, but it just shows that sometimes we don't even make it all the way through our bottle before dozing off.

He's just the sweetest little guy though.  We've gotten over our dislike of outfits going over the head.  I figured we needed to get used to that since he can't wear snap down the front onesies forever. :(  He's also starting to smile alot more.  Not at me though- just random things, like the blinds, or the fan.  It's still really cute though.  And he LOVES his daddy!  Something about Michael just seems to calm him (and me for that matter).  I love watching them together, and seeing how small John Michael looks in comparison to Michael's hand, or face.  It's incredible really.  I think I'm still in awe that JM is our child- that we're parents- that God has entrusted us with this precious life.  The past five weeks have been crazy and wonderful all at the same time.  I can't believe he's already going to be six weeks old this Thursday.  Well, I'll leave you with another really bad quality picture, but a cute one all the same.  (He loves sleeping with those arms up- and will Houdini his arms out of the sleep sack)  Night night!

4 weeks!

How did four weeks already go by?  I guess in the midst of midnight feedings, Christmas, New Years, and doctors' appointments... it just flew by!  There's so much to report on, but for fear that I will make this post eons long, I'll try to stick to just a couple of subjects.

First of all, we've had to change formula three times!  We started out on just the regular newborn formula, and then had to switch to gentlease because of fussiness.  Then we had to switch to soy because the gentlease wasn't helping.  Then the soy caused some digestion issues, so we switched again to nutramigen. This has helped with the digestion- however, the fussiness is still in full swing.  BUT, we have some good times too, so we're not crazy just yet.

As far as I can tell for the first month, here are some of John Michael's likes and dislikes:

Likes
The picture of Chicago above the couch
Any and all fans in the house
His swing
His sleep sheep
Eating
Strategically peeing on mom and dad while changing- and catching the wall in the stream if possible
When mom sings Barbra's "The Way We Were"
The changing table
Car rides
Classical music
Max

Dislikes
His back rubbed
Going to sleep sometimes
Afternoons
Any outfit that goes over his head
Initially getting into the carseat

We're exhausted... but he's such a cutie, so it really is worth it!  Here's a picture of him at 4 weeks.

John Michael- A Birth Story

If you've known me for any length of time, you'll know that there is always a story.  So, why would John Michael's arrival be any different?  I held onto the hopes that the labor and delivery would be smooth- but I think that in the back of my mind, I knew that wouldn't be the case.  And so it begins...

Wednesday, December 8th, was my due date.  I had been to the doctor on Tuesday, only to find out that there was no progression, and that I would have to wait another week.  But on Wednesday, I thought things were taking a different turn.  I woke up with contractions that were 3-5 minutes apart.  I called Michael and told him that he needed to come home, and that I was going to call the doctor's office.  They wanted me to come into the office first so that they could check me- so I did.  And guess what?  No dilation.  The doctor told me I was in pre-labor and sent me back home.  He said that we could walk around the mall and try to "walk him out."  My parents were already on the way to Birmingham, so I just told them to meet us at Brookwood mall.  We had lunch and proceeded to walk around the mall- all the while I'm having contractions and stopping every so often to deal with the pain.  After about an hour of walking, nothing had changed, so I decided to give up and go home.

Once we got back home, the contractions were getting stronger and more unbearable, so we called the doctor back.  He told us to meet him at labor and delivery, so off we went.  I was admitted, even though there was still no dilation.  They said they would give me something for pain so that I could sleep peacefully through the night and be "fresh and ready" for labor the following day.  So, I got a shot of morphine around 7pm, and tried to settle in for the night.  The nurse told my parents to go on home, as she was sure that labor wouldn't really begin until the following morning... "after dawn" she said.  So, they went home.  Around 11pm, the contractions were getting pretty bad so I asked Michael to go find the nurse.  My original nurse had gone down the hall to help deliver another baby, so I had another nurse come in.  She asked if I wanted a pill, and I told her that I would take whatever she would give me.  Well, it was an ambien.  At the time, I really didn't think about it- I mean, ambien is supposed to help you sleep, so maybe I could then sleep through the pain.  Not so.

Around midnight, I was making so much noise in our room that I told Michael the people next to us were going to think I was having a natural delivery.  My original nurse finally came in and asked if anyone had checked me since her last check on me at 6pm.  I told her no, she checked me, and informed me that I was 5cm dilated.  As she rushed out to get the materials for an epidural, my water broke.  When the anesthesiologist showed up, I finally got my epidural.  That was the least amount of pain the whole night.  At this point in the evening, Michael had now called my parents (who had just gotten into bed) to tell them that I was 5cm, water broken, getting an epidural.  They got dressed and got back in the car for yet another drive.

It seemed like the next thing I knew, my nurse was saying something about me passing 9cm- and that it was time to push.  I have no idea how long that lasted, but I do remember getting an oxygen mask at some point because they were concerned about John Michael's heart rate.  In between pushing, they told me to breathe deeply in the oxygen mask and rest.  Problem was... I kept falling asleep because of the ambien.  Michael kept waking me up, but I couldn't stop.  The morphine and ambien were just too much for me.

Finally, I realized that John Michael was not moving past a certain point, because everyone seemed concerned.  My doctor told me that we had a couple of options... he could use the forceps and if John Michael didn't come with the next push, that we were going to have to get a c-section.  I told him to do whatever he needed to do, so out came the forceps.  Luckily, the next push did the trick, but as John Michael made his debut, the doctor realized that he was wrapped three times in the umbilical cord.  Once around the neck, once around the waist, and once around the leg.  However, because of the Lord's amazing grace, he was fine.  He was born on Thursday, December 9th at 4:20am- and he was 7lbs, 6oz, and 22 inches long.

So here we are a little over a week later, and we have a beautiful baby boy who is an absolute joy!  Michael and I are beyond blessed, and can't believe that the Lord would bless us with such an amazing gift.  So, without further ado, I would like to introduce you to John Michael Sanford.

One day short of a due date

It's Tuesday morning, and I'm on my favorite perch these days... the couch.  I started having contractions last Thursday morning, and have been working from home since Friday.  My sweet mom came up on Saturday to bring some food for the freezer (gotta love stocked meals).  I was feeling good for once and really wanted to get out of the house to do anything at all, so we went up to the outlet mall down the street and did a little Christmas shopping.  I kept hoping that a little walking might urge John Michael to get a move on- but I think it just lulled him back to sleep.  Sunday was quite a bit more painful- not sure if it had anything to do with the walking or not, but the contractions went away... then they came back... then they went away... and so on.
I woke up at 3:30 this morning to some painful contractions, and decided to start timing them.  They were coming anywhere between 4 and 7 minutes... until 4:45 when I went to go wake Michael up.  Then as you can guess, they stopped again.  They're pretty sporadic now- and I have a doctor's appointment today anyway, so I figure I'll just wait until then.
IF I'm dilated at all today, we'll hopefully be scheduled this week- but if not, they'll wait and schedule something next week.  John Michael has definitely made it to his due date (tomorrow).  I wasn't sure if he'd be a late comer or an early arrival... the jury is still out until later today on whether or not he'll be a late comer.  His daddy likes to take his time too, so with any luck, he'll be laid back like Michael.
So... there may or may not be any new blog posts for a little while.  But, you can be sure that there will be TONS of pictures if I have anything to do with it!  Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement!