Noah - Week 3

Sleeping: 4 hour stretches are amazing, especially during the middle of the night! Our first stretch of sleep at night is usually 4 hours and then 3 hours or so. He usually wakes around 2-3 AM and then 5:30-6:30 AM, which works for us. On Wednesday, Noah decided to stay up 1 AM (which M stayed up with him), I fed him quick shortly after 1 and then he gave us a 5 hour stretch!! I woke him up to feed! I couldn't believe it!! Another 5 hour stretch on Thursday night! 

Saturday morning he napped in his bassinet for the first time!! We are trying to transition him out of our bed (where he sleeps in the bummzie). It was rough on all of us!! M kept getting up to check him, I'm stared at the video monitor and Noah kept making noises in his sleep!! But we survived!! 

Feeding: Every 2-4 hours, sometimes hourly or half hourly, depending on his mood. We still dislike the hiccups! We have introduced gripe water, but I don't find it helps with the hiccups like the bottle indicates, but we haven't tried the full dose, just dipping the soother. 

Noah got super gassy on Saturday late afternoon, it was bad! Poor little man was just out of sorts!! Soo hard to see him like that! We ended up buying Ovol at 10 pm -amazing! Instant relief!! 

Clothing: Newborn size!

Diaper Changes: Noah is still wearing newborn diapers. our first evening without Daddy, N peed through his first sleeper, I think because Daddy had checked it before leaving and there must have been a gap in the leg. Then when I went to change the outfit, he was losing his mind and peed over the next one... two outfits down in a matter of minutes!

Remember last week when I said we hate huggies diapers?? We hate them even more now! Noah peed through a huggies diaper, onsie and sleeper while we were out and about. They just really don't work for our little man! I think we have one left... We do like the huggies wipes. 

We also stopped putting vaseline in his diaper for his circumcision towards the end of the week, which he transitioned fine with!

Looks: his eyes are more blue everyday!! Hopefully they stay that way and he ends up with his Daddy's eyes!! His hair is still spiky, skin is still darker than both M and I's - I swear my uterus must have been a tropical destination, little man has a tan! 

What The Doctor Had To Say: no doctors appointment this week for Noah, although he did get to meet our reproductive endocrinologist, who was pretty happy to meet Noah, and then we had a follow up for me with my OB. I was hoping the doctor that delivered Noah would be in the hospital today, but no such luck! Hopefully we can catch her at my next appt!! 

Nicknames: Stretch, Spike, Captain, Mr. Magoo, Little Man, Mama's Monkey, Mr. Shake Rattle and Roll.

Likes: The mamaroo! Car rides, walking when he's fussy, his fleece blanket, bathes, moving, the mamankangourou wrap, country music, the bouncer and snuggles. 

Dislikes: diaper changes, outfit changes, when Mommy can't walk him around to settle him, hiccups.

Fur Baby Update: Lux is taking more and more interest in Noah, sitting beside him or sniffing him, but still spooks with sudden movement. He even "baby-sat" while I was in the shower! Noah was in his bummzie and Lux sat on guard beside him! He also checked on Noah while he was sleeping in his bassinet when he fussed. I wish I had a camera available, it was precious!! Gracie is still his best friend, love seeing these two together, Lily will watch him from the distance, but still isn't sure of him, but no one is giving me the cold shoulder anymore! 

Personality: This week he has been fighting sleep, little turkey just wants to stay awake, but then gets over-tired, which makes matters worse. I have struggled personally with getting him to sleep during the day when I am home alone with him because I cant just walk laps around the house with my blood pressure to calm him. But this is getting better!! 

My Recovery: Blood pressure seems to be dropping more and more, I am cutting myself down to one pill twice a day instead of one in the morning and two at night. Appetite is still lacking, although cookies are enjoyable! Down 4 more pounds, 11 to go - not that I'm even trying yet! 

On Wednesday we went to see my OB, who took me off of my blood pressure meds to try, since it kept dropping. He was happy with my progress, cleared me to drive and instead of seeing him in 2 weeks, we can see him in 4 for my 6 week follow up! We will follow up with my family doctor in 2 weeks for Noah's 1 month follow up! Here is to hoping we can stay off the meds, but should it spike, he have me instructions on what to do! I actually felt like a human on Wednesday, was able to go shopping, I was tired from walking but no dizziness!! 

Since stopping the meds, I have felt good. I do tire easier, but I'm often reminding myself I had major surgery!! 

News on my ankle... It is feeling soo much better!! Amazing what taking anti-imflammatories can do for healing!! 

Events: We both survived our first full day and evening of Daddy going back to work and then having fire practice. It was very tiring, neither one of us can lie, we were both beat by the time Daddy could take over! But our second day was perfect!!

We did our first outing together on Thursday to go and get weighed at the baby clinic!! Little man is back at his birth weight!!! We also went for wings in the village with friends Thursday night, so we had a chance to introduce him to a few more people, but he slept through the just about the whole thing! 

Friday morning we finished his newborn pics:

Saturday my cousin M and her hubby J came for a visit! My Mom came for the night on Saturday as well! 

Weekend Rewind

Let the warm temps roll!!! They are calling for 6 degrees today friends!! 6!!! I don't even care that it might rain, 6!!! (Yes, celius).

Our weekend was a busy one!! Friday night we ended up in town doing groceries and a little shopping at Bonnie and Togs (which is a baby store) where I found a $2.99 sale!! This mama finally got to shop gender specific!!! And a certain little boy added to his shoe collection... I may have a problem!! 

You know what I like about Carter's stuff? Leave the tags on up until they can wear it and keep your receipt! If they don't end up fitting in the right season, etc you can return it!! Hence the two pairs of sandals!! 

Saturday morning we tidied the back of the house, bathed the little man and had company. My cousin and her hubby came down for a few hours to visit! Noah slept through the whole visit. But after they left seemed to hit the fan. Noah had his first gassy attack. Oh my goodness. Nothing worse than gas (so far)! We had never seen him out of sorts like this and there was nothing worse than feeling helpless! Luckily my Mom came for the night at just the right time to help us figure it out. We tried gripe water and it wasn't helping. My Mom was going to a family buck and doe that night, so while she was getting ready, M's parents had popped into return the truck M's Mom borrowed and they came in to find unsettled Noah! So they took turns with holding and soothing him. Then when my Mom was ready, we packed N up in the truck and headed to town to drop Mom off. We popped in to buy tickets, introduced Noah to the family quickly, although even the car ride didn't put him to sleep, but he wasn't crying! 

We decided we better make a pit stop and grab some Ovol, which was instant relief!! We were soo worried we weren't going to get any sleep or that when my Mom got back from the buck and doe that he would keep her up all night too, but little man slept!!

Sunday we had our content baby back!! He was all smiles and peaceful. Which meant, my Mom could take him, so M and I could get stuff put away in the bathroom!!

 Phase 1 is just about finished and it is awesome!! Such a transition!! We still have one bin of stuff to put away, but got the other 2 bins put away!! I will be honest, I cant wait to get those cabinets for the bathroom!! We need the extra storage for a whole bunch of things!! But in the meantime, I cant wait to start using the bathroom as a full functioning space again!

My Dad popped over on Sunday as well for some Noah cuddles and that is when the gas started back up again!! Luckily Noah semi-co-operated so that M and I could get his name hung in the nursery!! Love it!! I cant wait to share the space with everyone! We still have the gallery wall to do, but I figured since we were on borrowed time, we will wait to start that project! I still have some pictures to print/frame and some to make with photoshop. 

Both my Mom and Dad headed home, just as M's friend J came over for a visit. Unfortunately he didn't get much Noah time because I ended up taking him to the bedroom to see if I could get him to sleep, as I knew he was overtired and uncomfortable.

M and I battled out the gas issues with Noah all evening and the Ovol finally worked around 9:30, I fed him and M put him to sleep. By 10:30 we were all in bed and fast asleep! M surprised me and put Noah in his bassinet. He slept for almost 5 hours! I slept great, but I guess M was constantly checking on him and didn't sleep as well! I fed him around 3 AM and M put him back in the bassinet, where he slept for another 3.5 hours waking at 7 AM!

And today he is soo far content :

Happy Monday friends!!

High Five Yo

I figure it's about time to give Friday a high five for the following reasons:

- I finished Noah's newborn shots this morning!!! Little mister was feeling co-operative, and although he wasn't as smiley as the pictures I lost, I'm happy to have them finished!! If you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen a sneak peek, but here is a new one: 

- I'm ever hopeful to start putting stuff away in the bathroom this weekend!!! M just has the shower curtain bar to hang, along with some other small tasks, but nothing that will stop us from giving us back the mudroom!! I do look forward to warmer weather when we can paint the mirror and over the toilet storage, but we put them in there anyways. M has some caulking to do on the trim and the pendant lights to hang. But the shower and vanity are hooked up with water and work!! I'm excited to be reunited with my new bathroom!! 

- last night we hit up the pub for wing night here in the village with friends! It was great to get out and see everyone! Noah pretty much slept through it all, waking up at the very end. I was beat by the time we got home! Outings apparently exhaust me still!! I tend to forget I'm still recovering!! 

- hopefully we can get up in the nursery, hang his name and start the gallery wall! I may as well wait to post pics of it finished now!! I'd also like to take some newborn family pics in there, since my belly shots didn't happen in there!! 

- this weekend brings our official due date!!! Can't believe he will be 3 weeks!!! Time flies when you are having fun!! 

Last but not least, I'll leave you for the weekend with this: 

Maternity Photos

Soo glad we had a chance to get these in before having the baby, little did I know just how close we would be cutting it- with just over a week to spare.

These photos were taken at 35 weeks by the amazing Damian Dudek at Dudek Photography. We had a great morning with him, although it was super cold, in the middle of a snow storm, but it was sooo worth it, as I couldn't be happier with the results!!

Enough talking, I know, bring on the pictures. We received 100 pics, so clearly I won't post them all, but some of my favs!

Okay, okay, I could keep going!!! haha! 

I am still getting over how chubby my face got, but I can see past it, because I was pregnant, but I will full on admit, I am glad to have my face back for the most part!! I didn't see that it was "that" chubby during my pregnancy. I noted it during weekly bump dates, but those are all spread out. 

But either way, I couldn't have been happier to experience this pregnancy, it was amazing journey and something I will cherish forever! Such a blessing to see my body transform and create a little being, that is both M and mine! All ours, made from the best of both of us, against the odds. 

Noah - Week 2

Sleeping: Is getting better and better! We aren't waking him to feed at this point, but he wakes us every 2-4 hours. He had one 4 hour stretch during a nap, which was awesome! Towards the end of the week, he spent more time awake in the day and fought sleep off. But it turns out he was just uncomfortable with his circumcision, as Daddy stopped putting Vaseline in his diaper! Once he started again, no more crankiness, settled and slept fine. 

Feeding: Breastfeeding is going well!! I am also trying to pump one feed/day to help us get through the fussy hour. I don't love pumping, as breastfeeding is soo much easier, but it is encouraging seeing myself produce milk and have an idea on how much he is getting.

Clothing: Newborn size! Grandma V went out and bought him a bunch of sleepers thinking they would fit and sure enough they are too big still at 0-3 months! But they will fit him soon enough!! She also got him some newborn ones the next day that do fit! Otherwise we are getting by with the 7 sleepers we do have and trying on more outfits!

Diaper Changes: Noah is still wearing newborn diapers. We officially hate huggies diapers - they don't fit him very well. Pampers for the win! Noah has peed all over his change station, which is often nicknamed the contamination station until M gets it all cleaned up. He has only done it to me once, but M forgets to put a cloth over him before he pees everywhere. He is learning.. the hard way! His umbilical cord fell off at 12 days!! This makes me happy, as I found it creepy!!

Looks: His eyes are looking more blue now, skin is still dark, as is his hair, which is also still spiky, especially after a bath! His hair appears to have lightened up a little bit, but is still dark!  

What The Doctor Had To Say: Noah was circumcised on Tuesday (9 days old). I think it was more traumatic for M and I as they took him off, but he didn't even cry!  The health nurse came for a visit on Wednesday and weighed him and we were happy to see a gain!! 6lbs 12.5oz (naked) and then on Thursday he was weighed at the doctors and he was up to 6lbs 14oz (with his onesie and diaper on). She is very happy with his progress!

Nicknames: Stretch, Spike, Captain, Mr. Magoo, Mr. Shake Rattle and Roll.

Likes: The mamaroo! Car rides, walking when he's fussy, his fleece blanket, bathes, moving - he loves being walked around the house which M has been stuck doing because of my blood pressure, I'm more afraid to move around too much with him in my arms depending on how I'm feeling, the mamankangourou wrap, country music and snuggles. 

Dislikes: diaper changes, outfit changes, and when Daddy doesn't put Vaseline in his diaper.

Fur Baby Update: The dogs are adjusting much better! Gracie still keeps a watchful eye on him and anyone holding him. 

Personality: Super chill! He really is a peaceful baby. Now that we have figured out his fussy times, which I know will change as he grows, he is soo content! We did see the unsettled side of him, which was no fun, but once we figured out the problem, he calmed right down! 

My Recovery: My blood pressure has been super crazy as of this week, from one extreme to the other! It is LOW throughout the day and high at night, which doesn't make for me feeling all that great! M went back to work a few afternoons this week, leaving N and I alone, which we used most of the time to nap! My appetite is still not present... I'm forcing myself to eat, but nothing tastes good and it's easy to throw off my stomach with just mention of some foods. 

What would have been 39 weeks, now 2 weeks!! 

Events: This week he met my cousin Brittany, M & J brought little G over to meet him, and they were able to hold Noah without wires hooked up to him, as they visited while he was in the NICU.

We had our first outting to go shopping!! Noah slept the whole time! We also made our first family trip to the farm!! Gracie was super protective! 

We also did some newborn pic this week.