Week Two Photos

Some photos from our first full week at home!

Chillin in my swing

I make the cutest faces ever!

Daddy is my best friend!

Just hanging with Daddy again

Comfy cozy

I was not a fan of the newborn sailor suit!  And that hat....WAY TOO SMALL!

Mommy, get me out of this outfit!

Watching the Red Sox with Daddy

Rise and Shine-The cutest 5 a.m wake up call!

"Auntie" Holly came to meet me!

Our first family walk around the neighborhood!

I swing my arms around waaaay too much when I sleep!

I love getting bottles from Daddy!

What do I do with these things??

Two Weeks Old!

I can't believe we survived a whole week at home with a newborn!  It seems like he has been here forever though.  Kiel and I keep saying that it seems like he has always been here with us.  Not much has changed this week.  Kiel had to go back to work, which was a huge bummer for me.  I cry every day when he leaves and everyday when I get the text or call that he is on his way home.  These hormones are killing me!  My mom and sister spent the week with us and that was a huge help.  I was able to get a lot done around the house while they tended to Maddex.  I have recovered very well considering I had major surgery and stopped taking any pain meds just nine days after procedure!  Two nights ago I was even able to sleep on my belly again!

We are trying to get into a routine with Maddex, but I don't think that is very possible with a two week old.  He likes to eat every 2-3 hours during the day (sometimes every hour) and at night a few times we let him go for a six hour stretch without eating.   Kiel seems to think that letting him go for a six hour stretch at night makes for a fussier, hungrier baby throughout the day so last night we made sure to wake him up every 4 hours.  It wasn't too bad considering he finished eating and was asleep by 9, we were up again at 1 and 4 and he let me sleep until about 7.   Not too shabby for a newborn (I think).  Kiel is a huge help at night and it makes me feel so guilty.  He is the one who has to get up and go to work, but he still gives Maddex his "after breast 2 oz bottle" of pumped milk, gets my pump ready, and then washes my pump supplies while I either change Maddex or rock him back to sleep.  I pretty much married a rock star husband.  He is the best!


- The Weekly List -

2 Weeks Old
Total weight gain/loss:
Mom: - 40 pounds!  Only 4 pounds to go, but I clearly still have work to do.  I still have a little belly.  I can't even see my incision since my bump blocks it.  I lost a lot of my muscle mass during pregnancy since I didn't run or workout so I will have my work cut out for me in four weeks when I can begin physical activity again.    

Maddex: He is gaining weight like a champ.  At his two week appointment he weighed 9 pounds 5.4 ounces!  We are doing something right with all the breast feeding and pump feeding!  
 
Maternity clothes? I wore maternity jeans the other day and they still fit pretty good.  I pretty much still wear dresses and yoga pants and they all fit perfectly.  Some of the dresses are a little too big now.  

Stretch marks? Kiel found one....it is in between my belly button and my stupid belly ring scar.  If only I could be 18 again and talk myself out of that stupid act of rebellion!  

Sleep: His schedule is pretty good now considering he is only a newborn.  He pretty much wakes up sometime between 7am and 9am and hangs out for 1-2 hours in the morning before napping again. Wakes up early afternoon for a feeding, usually hangs out for another hour or so.  Then sleeps until 4 or 5.  Then he is up the WHOLE evening until around 8 or 9 when he goes down for the night and only wakes up about 2 times a night.  I really don't think I should complain about his sleep schedule.  I am also sleeping better now too.  I don't get up every few minutes to check on him.  Now I just wake when he makes a sound.  I also should mention that I am not as thrilled to be waking up in the middle of the night as I was last week, but it still is not as bad as I thought it would be! 

Best moment this week: Spending time together as a family.   Enjoying all the little moments together.   Thinking about the future, but not wishing for time to move any faster.  

Miss Anything? Not feeling anxious.  I definitely have some anxiety issues right now.  I am afraid to go out in public with him.  I am afraid to leave the house without him.  I am only away from Maddex when I go to the bathroom or shower.  I need to mentally prepare myself for a short trip outside the house one day soon or else I'm afraid I will never be able to leave him! 


Looking forward to: Feeling more comfortable being a mom.  Not having this anxiety looming over me.  Figuring out what Maddex's cries mean!  

Likes:
Mom: 
-[LOVES] Baby Maddex!
-That I can be a mom
-Staring into Maddex's eyes
-Rocking Maddex to sleep
-Watching him sleep in my arms-he makes the cutest faces ever!
-Watching Kiel be a Daddy-He has been beyond amazing.  I picked the perfect husband!
-[I can't delete the above bullets since I love all of them so you will just have to read them over and over again every week!]
-The silly faces Maddex makes
-The Pack 'n Play.  It gets so much use and I could not live without it! 
-All the help I received the past few weeks. 


Maddex: 
-Being rocked to sleep
-Peeing when Mommy forgets to cover me during a diaper change
-Eating lots and lots of food (From Mommy, Pumped from Mommy)
-Listening/watching Mommy sing and sign the ABCs
-Bottles from Daddy
-Watching baseball with Daddy
-Listening to Daddy pretend cry like me
-Sleeping for long periods of time at night
-Things that vibrate me
-Walking around the house in Mommy or Daddy's arms
-Sleeping in the newborn napper feature on the Pack 'n Play
Dislikes:
Mom: 
- Hearing Maddex cry.  
-The days are flying by.  I want time to slow down!
-When Maddex prefers a bottle to the breast. 
-When Maddex poops in a just changed diaper!
-Pumping

Maddex: 
-Sleeping on a flat surface
-Nursing from the breast when he is falling asleep-He is so lazy and prefers a bottle when he tired. 
-Sitting still 


Firsts
Mom: 
-Feeling major anxiety for the first time in my life


Maddex:
-Walk around the neighborhood
-Day out-To see Auntie Corey's hair trial and dress fitting


New Friends 
Sue
Great Uncle Greg
Great Aunt Donna
"Auntie" Holly
Julie
Dave and Lori (Auntie Corey's future in-laws)

Week 1 Photos

Many other blogs I read do "Wordless Wednesday" posts with pictures of the week.  I plan to do the same.  I have been taking lots of pictures with my iPhone and I want to share them with the world.  I just wish I knew how to take nice pictures with our big fancy pants camera. One day soon I'll work on that, but until then, enjoy the pictures from my camera phone.  

(Daddy took this pic when Mommy was recovering.  Maddex's first photo!)

(This picture was taken at 6:27am July 2-His one day birthday!)

(A closer look at his face)

(Sleeping peacefully at the hospital)

(Maddex needed some phototherapy to help with his Bilirubin levels.  He got to spend the 4th of July "tanning" in the nursery!)  

(Getting ready to go home in his "Just Arrived" onesie)

(Waiting patiently for the "OK" from the doctors with Daddy)

(Packed up and ready to go home.  Cuddling with Mommy's baby blanket)

(Dressed up in 4th of July clothes-size 0-3 months is still too big!)

(Sporting a homemade onesie by "Auntie" Erin.  We made these at the gender reveal party!)

(Passed out with Daddy!)

Great Grammy came to meet me!

Hanging with Auntie wearing my "Cool Like Auntie" onesie

Pesky keeping watch during Maddex's One Week photo shoot.  

Milk-induced Coma

Chillin in my bassinet 

One Week Old!

I am already a day late!  Kiel and I decided to post one day late since we were late posting his newborn picture anyway. (And then I couldn't find my card reader, so now I am two days late!)  Hopefully by next week we will be back on track and I can post updates every Sunday!  


This week has been beyond amazing.  I am loving every second of being a mom.  Maddex is just so perfect and I can't even remember what life was like before him!  Several times a day (like right now for instance) I just break down and cry because I am just so head over heals in love with this child.  Kiel often catches me wiping away tears as I rock my precious baby in my arms.  I hate that I am so emotional, but I don't know how to express all my emotions any other way.  I just feel so blessed to have such a perfect little baby boy.  


We have had tons of visitors over the past week and it has been wonderful to see everyone holding and loving our baby boy.  I love that I can share such a precious gift with the world.  He bring such joy to others and I am more than happy to share him.  But I also love our quiet family of 3 down time.  The past two nights we have slept together on the couch for an hour or so.  Kiel holds Maddex with the help of the arm of the couch, while I lay on his other side.  It is so perfect and makes me so happy that the three of us are finally together!  


Yesterday (on his one week birthday) Maddex had his newborn photos taken by his "Auntie" Lauren.  I cannot wait to share these photos with the world.  She did an amazing job and Maddex was beyond cooperative during all the outfit/set changes-he just slept through the whole thing!  


He is doing a great job sleeping and wakes pretty much every 4 hours for a feeding.   We have been having a problem with diapers and he last night he peed through 3 diapers!  It is a pain to change his clothes and his sheets in the middle of the night, but guess what?  I smile the whole time.  If you told me a month ago that I would be smiling and singing several times a night when my baby woke me up I would have told you that you are crazy!  I need my sleep!  But something changed when I became a mom.  I don't nearly need as much sleep as I needed before and I actually enjoy getting up to change and feed him.  It just means I get more time to interact and see my baby boy.  I am so in love!  


- The Weekly List -

1 Week Old
Total weight gain/loss:
Mom: - 30 pounds!  I still have about 14 more to go.  Clearly a lot of my weight was water weight that came right off after I got this little man out of me!  I still have quite the little baby bump, but it is shrinking every day!

Maddex: Maddex started off at 8 pounds 10 ounces, I think a lot of that was from all the fluids they were pumping into me during my labor.  He dropped as low as 7lbs 14oz.  At his one week check up he was 8 pounds 8 ounces.  Doctor was very happy since it usually takes two weeks or more to get back up to birth weight and he will do that much sooner!  
 
Maternity clothes? I am wearing dresses since I had a C-Section and I am not quite ready to have a band on my belly.  I can fit into non maternity medium dresses, so I think I am doing pretty good. 

Stretch marks? I checked my belly out quickly and didn't notice any.   But I do have the linea negra still going on.  It seems even darker now.  My belly button is still mostly out too!  I hope that go back in!

Sleep: He is a pretty good sleeper.  We can pretty much guarantee about 3-4 hours at a time.  Last night was our first restless night.  We ended up having him sleep in his vibrating chair from 4am-7am since he just couldn't get settled in the cosleeper last night.  We will have to try again tonight.  Worst case scenario we will move the Pack 'n Play into our room and use the basinet feature we have attached to it.  He is in that right now and seems to like it.  I have a feeling he doesn't like being perfectly flat.  

Best moment this week: EVERYTHING!!!  Seeing him for the first time.  Holding him.  Seeing Kiel with him.  Seeing him smile (it is soooo not gas!).  Feeding him.  Soothing him.  When Maddex recognizes my voice or Kiel's voice-I swear he did turn to Kiel in the operating room.  Being able to figure out what he needs and fixing it for him.  Realizing that I can be a mom!  

Miss Anything? Nope!  I thought I would have said sleep, but being up in the middle of the night with Maddex is so wonderful, I don't even mind that I am missing out on sleep!

Movement: Everyone comments on how much this kid squirms!  Now everyone can see what I was dealing with for the past few months!  He is such a kicker that he doesn't stay swaddled or keep blankets on.  He also makes changing quite the ordeal since his legs are constantly going! 

Looking forward to: Being able to go for walks around the neighborhood.  Maddex meeting my grandmothers.  I am trying to cherish every moment and not look forward.  I want to live in the moment with this perfect little boy!

Likes:
Mom: 
-[LOVES] Baby Maddex!
-That I can be a mom
-Staring into Maddex's eyes
-Rocking Maddex to sleep
-Watching him sleep in my arms-he makes the cutest faces ever!
-Watching Kiel be a Daddy-He has been beyond amazing.  I picked the perfect husband!


Maddex: 
-Being rocked to sleep
-Peeing when Mommy forgets to cover me during a diaper change
-Eating lots and lots of food (From Mommy, Pumped from Mommy, and Formula [more on that later])
-Listening/watching Mommy sing and sign the ABCs
-Bottles from Daddy
-Watching baseball with Daddy

Dislikes:
Mom: 
- Hearing Maddex cry.  I have been pretty good at soothing him, but once he had quite the scream-fest!
-The days are flying by.  I want time to slow down!
-When Maddex prefers a bottle to the breast. 


Maddex: 
- Being changed

-Peeing out the side of my diaper and soaking my bed
-Sleeping on a flat surface
-Nursing from the breast when he is falling asleep-He is so lazy and prefers a bottle when he tired.  


Firsts
Mom: 
-Holding my first born child
-Breast feeding a baby (it is really not that bad, I actually really enjoy it. I find it very relaxing and could fall asleep during most sessions!)
-Signing a medical form for Maddex as his "mother"
-Getting a phone call for the parent of Maddex
-Waking up several times in the middle of the night for a newborn and loving it
-Being responsible for another life


Maddex:
-Pretty much everything has been a first for baby boy this week!  
-He is such a trooper and very curious and when there is a lot going on he watches everything
-His first day (when Mommy was all drugged up) Daddy said he was up all day looking around and taking everything in. 



New Friends 
We met lots of new friends and family members this week:
Mommy
Daddy
Mem
Papou
Nana
Papi
Auntie Corey
Uncle Chris
Uncle Niko
"Auntie" Lauren
Uncle Jay
Auntie Angie
"Uncle" Dana
"Auntie" Erin
"Auntie" Jennifer
"Grandma" Debbie
"Auntie" Becky
Great Grandpa St. George
Great Grandma St. George
Cousin Brandi
Jonathan
"Auntie" Sue
Fur Brother Yaz
Fur Brother Pesky

Weekly Updates

I will now be posting my weekly updates on Sundays (hopefully!) since Little Boy, Maddex, was born on a Sunday.  I will try to keep the format similar to what I was doing on a weekly basis throughout my pregnancy with a little narrative about the week followed by weekly responses about his growth and development.  I will also share pictures of his beautiful face as often as I can.  I most likely will start a Wordless Wednesday post and upload pictures taken from the previous week from either our phones or cameras.

Also be on aware that I will have a sequence of pictures of Maddex on a page Titled A Year of Maddex.  The newborn picture is already up and ready for you to drool over.  He is absolutely perfect!!

A Week Ago

A few minutes ago while walking around rocking my little boy to sleep I looked at the clock and realized that this time last week we made the call to my doctor saying my contractions were five and a half minutes apart for one hour and he said, "Why don't you come on in and we will check you out."

We finished packing our bags, grabbed some snacks, and I took a quick shower.  Then we were on our way.

As we drove down the street I couldn't help but think that that could be the last time the two of us would be alone in the car together- "just the two of us."   Little did I know how much life would change in just a few hours.

I still can't believe that exactly 7 days ago at this time I hadn't laid eyes on my beautiful, perfect Maddex.  I can't believe how much my life was lacking then.  I can't even begin to describe how much my life has changed for the better.

I was born to be a mom and after nearly 30 years of waiting, my dream has finally come true.  I wish I could put into words all the love I feel for Maddex and Kiel, but all I am able to do when I think them is cry!   I am overwhelmed by my feelings of love and gratitude for having these two beautiful, amazing men in my life.  I am so incredibly blessed, and I vow to cherish every second with them for the rest of my life.  

Our Little Homerun!

Our little homerun, now known as Maddex Francis entered the world on Sunday July 1,2012 at 6:27 am. He weighed 8 pounds 10 ounces and was 21.5 inches long. He has a full head of dark hair, gray eyes and is absolutely perfect in every single way.

Once we are home I'll add more details about his birth,but for now know that mama, daddy, and baby are doing well and we are scheduled to go home on Thursday!