4 Generations

We visited Grandma and Grandpa a few weeks ago and went to see Poppy in the nursing home. We are so blessed to be able to get the 4 generations together. Owen loved meeting his Poppy and thought he was one funny guy.

O's newest picture face...since he's ALWAYS talking all his pics have his mouth wide open :)

Smiling with is Poppy (Great Grandfather)

Slacker!!!

I have been a slacker, I admit it! We have been super busy with traveling that I have not had a chance to write an update. My reminder has gone off for weeks and I keep saying that I will get to it next week. Well it's almost been a month and we have so many updates...so this may be a long one.

First, O is almost 5 months...where has the time gone! He has started foods and loves them! So far he has liked everything we have tried, bananas, apples, sweet potatoes and even prunes. Yes, we had to give him prunes because the solids are making him a little constipated. I wish I knew how to upload videos because the few we have are super funny. As soon as O sees the spoon he opens his mouth really wide and dives forward to eat it. He makes this little grunting noise too when he's ready to eat...it's too funny! He has just figured out how to eat off the spoon where all he could do last week was suck the food off. He is still having his 5.5ozs of breastmilk every 3 hours and he has cereal mixed with food twice a day. I feel like he is eating so much but I guess he's a growing boy so he needs his calories. Here's pics from O's first feeding :) What a mess!

Yummy...Banana's and Cereal :)

Attacking the spoon!

Yumm...I like this stuff!

Wait...is that all???

Reflux...Ugg, it's back and in a bad way! We have had O off his meds for almost 2 months but now have to restart them. The past week O has had AWFUL gas pains and we have had many hours of screaming until he is relieved. Poor boy! It broke my heart to hear him cry so hard and I couldn't do anything to make it better. His doctor said that reflux babies have more sensitive tummies and that he will probably need to stay on the meds for a few weeks, just until he gets used to foods. We can't wait! I hate giving him medicine! The thought of pumping meds in my 5 month old makes me a little crazy but if it makes him feel better then it's worth it.

What's Owen doing these days? A LOT! I think the months 4 and 5 are have been the fastest for him growing than any other. He went from sitting in the bumbo a little unstable to almost sitting up by himself completely! He pulls up on anything and everything and now really doesn't like his bouncy seat too much. He used to live in his bouncy seat. Now he wants to move around and prefers to be sitting up or laying on the floor. He is rolling from side to side and can wiggle himself all around and he loves it! He does really well on his tummy but now he knows that he can roll onto his back from his tummy so he doesn't stay on his tummy for too long. He thinks it's super funny when he rolls over and has the sweetest laugh. I can't get enough of him!

He is still talking up a storm to anyone and everyone that will listen. I can now tell his personality and how he's a bit shy when he first meets people then he warms up and will chat with anyone. He has started recognizing people and gets really excited when familiar faces are around. So far we've noticed it with me, Chris and his teacher Katie...of course...he sees us all daily :) It's really cute to see him get excited when I pick him up from school or come home after work...melts my heart!

Hair...or I should say the thinning hair :( I know, so sad! O still has a ton of hair but he is losing some on the sides and the back. But there is new hair coming in so I am not sure that he will be bald at all. As much as I love bald babies, I think O looks too cute with his mane...hope it stays. The new hair is short and a little lighter...maybe we'll have a blonde baby for the summer :)

Sleep...or rather the lack of sleep! O is still not sleeping through the night. We thought once he had cereal and foods that he would sleep...nope! We did have a week of going through the night w/o feeding him but we were still getting up from 3am-6am several times when he woke up to get him back to sleep. He is just hungry and I think he may still want to eat in the middle of the night until he can get on a more regular schedule with eating real foods so that he's full when he goes to sleep. He has never been a big eater at night or in the morning so I think his middle of the night snack makes up for how little he eats before bed and in the morning. Oh well, honestly it's easier for me to get up and feed him because I know that he will go back to sleep until we wake him up in the morning, rather than getting up and trying to get him back to sleep from 3am-6am. So for now I will continue to feed him until he decides to sleep through the night on his own.

We did lots of traveling the past few weeks and I am working to upload pics from our trip to Chris' parents house and to Oma Sue's for Thanksgiving. O had lots of visitors to meet him for the first time and he loved all the attention. He's such a show-off and we just love it!

4 Months

I can't believe it, Owen is 4 months old and we went to his check-up today. He is one healthy and TALL baby boy! We can't get over how long he is. He's going to be a model. We knew he had grown because several outfits that we just bought are too short for him in length and also in his torso. But he's a slim little guy so the next size up looks so huge on him. We're going to have to find him some slim outfits.

His stats below:

Length 27 inches - 95%-tile

Weight 15lbs 4ozs - 55%-tile

Head...well let's just say it's still huge and in the 90%-tile :)

We talked to Dr. Chris about getting Owen to sleep through the night. Yes, I am still getting up with him once a night and sometimes more. He does so good from 7:30-8pm and will sleep until about 3am but then he wakes up hungry. I feed him and he's back in bed by 3:30am and will sleep until around 7am, when we get him up. I have tried several approaches to cut out that night feeding and the only one that has worked so far is dreamfeeding. We have heard about it but after talking with our neighbor last night we decided to try it. Basically he will eat and go to bed at his usual time, 7:30pm then before we go to bed around 11pm, I get him up and feed him again while he's still asleep. We were surprised last night that we could change his diaper and feed him while he was fast asleep. I decided to bottlefeed him b/c he never nurses good when he's sleepy and as soon as I put the bottle to his lips, he started sucking...while asleep. He finished about 3ozs and was in a deep sleep. We put him down and went to bed. At 6:15am my alarm went off and I didn't remember hearing him at all...well, the I realized that I forgot to turn the volume up on the monitor so I am not sure if he woke up or not :) We asked Dr. Chris about it and he had never heard of this method and was not too sure that it was the best thing for Owen. Guess he thinks it could screw up how Owen acts when he is hungry since we are feeding him without him signaling to us that he's hungry. So I am back to deciding if we should continue the "dreamfeeding" of just let him dictate when he eats and sleeps. And as much as I would love a full nights sleep, I want what's best for Owen and if that means him chowing down at 3am for a bit longer, then so be it.

Dr. Chris also told us that we can start real foods now. I couldn't believe that he was saying that and thought for sure that we would start on cereal first. He said that he just went to a conference where they discussed the benefits of giving nutritious foods over cereal, which is basically empty calories. They discussed how in other countries they introduce fruits and veggies at a young age and babies/children are so much more healthy. The US is really behind when we introduce foods and it may be the reason we have a higher percentage of sickness. He even said that we could puree Thanksgiving dinner and give O some...not too sure that we're all ready to try that yet but we plan to introduce some basics in the next few weeks. And definitely will give O yogurt...it's so good for him.

This past weekend our friend Tina came over to take some pics of O for our Christmas cards. We all had so much fun and O was a perfect model. He was all smiles and giggles the whole time and she took 200+ pictures. It was so hard to pick just one but we love love the pic and card we choose.

Here's a pic of our little bugger...we are so blessed to have such a happy and healthy baby boy.

17 Weeks

I can't believe that Owen is 17 weeks and on Monday will be 4 months old! Where has the time gone. He's a big boy and full of laughs and smiles morning and night. We are so blessed to have such a happy boy. Even when he had an ear infection and didn't feel good, he was all smiles. We just love our little guy.

Things Owen is doing:

Rolling over from tummy to side and back. I was a little worried that he was behind b/c I couldn't get him to roll over more than just from his back to his side. But Miss Katie has been working with him and I have too at home and tonight he rolled over from his tummy to back several times. He still hasn't figured out how to go from back to tummy but think that will come soon. He knows how to kick his feet up and hold them and he leans to one side but he just hasn't been able to push himself over.

Feet in his mouth! Yes Owen has found his feet and he holds his legs and puts his feet in his mouth. A few days last week he came home from school with scratches on his legs and I thought, ok maybe another baby scratched him but he came home with more toward the end of the week. I was going to ask his teacher but then saw how those scratches got there. Owen constantly holds his legs now and he had a snagged nail so he was scratching himself :) I trimmed his little nail and no more scratches.

Pulling up and sitting up. Owen is starting to pull on our fingers to sit up and to stand up. We have been working with him to bear more weight on his legs and we found that he LOVES to pull up and bounce. He's getting better but I think he needs a little more practice. He has also started pulling up on his own when he lays back so that he's in a sitting position. He of course can't sit on his own but I was so impressed to see that he is able to pull his body to a 90 degree sitting position....then 2 seconds later he nose dives into the couch. Of course he thinks this is the funniest thing and laughs and wants to do it again.

Talking, talking and talking. Owen now talks all the time and talks very loud. We think he just likes to hear his own voice it's too funny to watch and listen to him. He will talk very fast and loud and then will laugh. For the first time this week we heard his laugh. He always has had this little laugh but yesterday he was flat out laughing. It's soo cute!

Drooling...yuck! Yes Owen has started to drool like crazy. He has been blowing bubbles and drooling a little for weeks but this week he has started drooling so much that we have to keep a bib on him all the time. I think he is teething now b/c he will put my finger in his mouth and chew/gum it. Where before he would suck on my finger.

Reflux...say goodbye (so we hope). We have been weaning O off his Zantac and so far so good. He is taking such a small dose now that it's probably not doing anything for him but he hasn't had any problems for weeks! And I have been able to add a few foods back in and he has tolerated those great too! Yeah for green veggies...I have missed you!

Here's a recent pic of our little guy! Will post updates at his 4 month appt next week.

Halloween

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! This post is a bit late but wanted to share a pic of our two pumpkins...ha! We dressed Owen up in his pumpkin outfit for school on Friday and also for our neighborhood cook-out on Sat, he was so cute :) We didn't keep him out too late b/c he had an ear infection but it was fun to take him around other children. I can't wait until next halloween when he can walk and we can go trick-or-treating.

Our Little Pumpkin

Our Family & the cutest pumpkins ever!

Positive Note

This post is several weeks late but it's a positive one. From my last post I thought my world was coming to an end with going back to work. I had a very hard time adjusting to my new schedule and also not being able to spend my days with my buddy. It was the hardest two weeks I have ever had to go through and I made it and am doing great with the new schedule. Owen really likes his school and his teacher Miss Katie is great. She gives him her full attention all day and really listens to my concerns. Owen has started napping better at school so when he gets home he's not a complete zombie. We figured it out, if O takes a nap around 4pm then he's wide awake when Chris picks him up and then I get a good 2 hours to play with him before he goes to bed. Some afternoons he doesn't get his nap and he is super sleepy but I have learned to love our cuddle time while he has a quick nap and then we can play. So no, the world didn't come to an end and it did get easier. Everyone was right but a few weeks ago I didn't think so.

Back to Work and School for Owen

Sad post this week...

This week has been a hard week in the Frederick house. I started back full-time on Monday and Owen went to school for his first full day. Owen seems to really like school and his teacher and is adjusting well...me however, I am not :( It's a huge adjustment for me going from spending 24/7 with him to barely spending 2 hours a day. Everyone says it will get better and I can only hope so but for now, I am just taking it day by day. The hard part is my commute and not getting home before 6pm every night. And Owen has always gone to bed at 7:30pm-8pm no matter what. We try to keep him up later but it hasn't worked...he has decided his bedtime is 7:30pm and that's it! Monday I was a mess, cried all day pretty much and then came home to a sleeping baby. Chris tried his best to keep Owen awake but he was so pooped from school that he couldn't hold his eyes open. I held him while he slept and cried and cried. I was finally able to wake him up just in time to give him a bath and feed him, then back to sleep. I didn't even get to see his sweet little smile at all that night. This is going to be hard for me, not being able to spend any time with him at the end of the day. And everyone says to hang in there, it will get better and I hope so but am having a hard time understanding how and when. Owen will continue to be tired from school and I can't do anything about my commute. I am just hoping that he will start napping better at school so that he's not a zombie when he gets home. We have thought about several options if this doesn't get better but I am really hoping I can be strong and get through this. One option would be to put him in daycare near my work. We opted against that b/c we didn't want him in a car for 2+ hours a day. And being at school close to home and his doctor's office, if he gets sick, Chris can get him and be at the doctor's office in less than 10mins. And Owen's school is really nice and I really like it there so I want to keep him there. Praying for strength to get through this! I never realized how hard this was going to be :(

Owen Updates:
Growing, Growing and Growing! Owen is getting to be a tall boy! He is so long now that pants and outfits that I bought just a few weeks ago are too short on him now. I can't wait until his 4 month appt to see how long he is. We measure him at home on his tummy mat and our measurements say 26.5 inches long. But we'll see for sure in a few weeks. I think he has gained weight too and I am guessing he's probably close to 14lbs now. He's now wearing 3-6 month clothes easily. We had to do a little shopping last week to get him some outfits that fit for school...at least that's my excuse for shopping for him :)

Owen is holding his head up great on his own now. They do 30mins a day of tummy time at school and we can really tell that it's helping. His teacher says that when he does his tummy time that he turns his head from side to side a lot so he can see everyone, which helps strengthen his muscles. I have also been working with him to roll over and he can do it on his own every once in a while. But if not, he grabs my finger and pulls himself towards me and rolls over onto his elbows where he then just looks around :) Then when he's tired he kicks his leg over and rolls onto his back. I think he'll be rolling over on his own very soon...oh boy!

I have also been working with him to sit up. Not sure when they are supposed to do this on their own but I think he's very close :) When we put him in his bumbo chair now he leans up and isn't supported in the back much so we think that maybe he can start to work on sitting up. Sure, he can sit up and lean against anything but we want him to sit alone. Can't wait until that day! Hope he's not at school when it happens :(

Well that's about it for us. Excited for a weekend of nothing and spending every minute with our little guy.

Owen...Kramer???

Bad Hair?? Owen or Kramer??

Everyone is always saying how adorable Owen's hair is and how thankful we must be that he has such a head full of hair. We are and in the front, it's absolutely adorable...in the back is a different story :) We have tried to brush it in every direction and still it sticks up like a fan in the back.

He's our little Kramer(from Seinfield)...ha!

Weddings & 12 Weeks!

This past weekend I went out for the first time since Owen was born. I know, it's been 3 months but I just can't seem to leave him. I constantly wonder if he's going to wake up and be upset b/c I am not there...I am sure every mom can relate to this feeling. But Saturday was my night! Chris was so sweet to stay home with Owen while I went to my friends Dani & Andrew's wedding outside of Baltimore. I had a really good time and did a lot better than I thought with being away from Owen. Of course I checked in on him every hour. He and daddy had a fun night and he slept until 3am, which was nice for me since I was out until after midnight. It was so great to see everyone and especially Penny, Teenie and Crystal who I haven't seen in FOREVER!

Chi Omega Girls

Owen is 12 weeks...I can hardly believe it! He is such a fun little guy right now and loves attention! He will talk all day if you talk back to him. And if you don't pay attention, then he will talk really loud to get your attention. He loves to sit up and to be carried so he can see what's going on. He still likes to lay on the floor and kick and play but he is much happier sitting up.

He has grown so much! We had his weight checked to make sure his Zantac dose is correct and he's 13lbs 3ozs and 26 inches long....WHOA! He's going to be a tall little guy. We're having a hard time finding clothes to fit him right now. He's still in the 0-3month but they are getting too short. The 3 month and 3-6 fit length wise but are way too wide on him. Renee told me about extenders that snap on the bottom of the onesie to make it longer so we will definitely be buying some of those. But other good news, Owen's doctor thinks that he may be able to come off the Zantac soon so we're cutting down the dose and only giving it twice a day to see how he handles being off it. We're so excited b/c Owen HATES it! I don't blame him, it tastes horrible.

Owen starts school on Monday...I am not happy about this at all! I know, it's really daycare (I am sure my mom is laughing at me right now for calling it school). He will be at Minnieland Private Day School which, out of all the places we really liked it a lot. They really work with him on developmental aspects so he's not just sitting there all day. We went 2 weeks ago and met with the director and then went on Friday to meet his teacher and observe the infant room. I have to say that both days went really well and I only teared up once. His teacher, Miss Katie seems really nice and she was soo understanding that I was having a hard time letting go. One good thing, well I think so anyway, is that she had long blonde hair and the same skin tone as me so maybe she will look familiar to O. I always thought I would be happy to go back to work but I can totally see how moms end up staying home. I have cried every day this week :( Just the thought of not spending my days with my little guy make me so sad. I am happy to get back on a schedule but I just wish he was closer so that I could pop in during the day and check on him. Thank goodness I will be working 1/2 days the first week back so hopefully that will help us both get used to Owen going to school. I'll let you know how it goes...pray for strength for me...I will sure need it!

Owen 12 Weeks!

Big Boy & New Tricks!!

Owen is such a big boy and is holding his head up so great to be 10 weeks old! He hates tummy time so we decided to put him in the Bumbo seat a bit earlier to work on his neck and he loves it! He can sit up for about 10mins and can follow us around the room. We love to see his little head turn around from side to side :) As soon as I figure out how to post videos I will take one of him moving his head and giggling...it's really funny!

Owen's New Ride!!

Owen got a new car seat last week and he sure does love it! Steve and Mel gave us their infant seat so we didn't have to buy one which saved us a lot of money...at first :) I guess when they bought the seat they had smaller sizes that fit babies up to 25inches and 20lbs.

Well Mr. Owen is a tall boy and is now 25inches long so his feet hang off the end and his head reaches the top of the seat. We didn't realize how much this bothered him until our trip to NC...he got so mad that he couldn't stretch out his legs and kept kicking the seat. He's a very active boy!

At his 2 month appt we talked to his doctor to find out how long he would need to be in the infant seat and riding rear-facing. He said that they usually stay in the seat until they reach 20lbs or 1 year, whichever comes first. Of course we could buy the convertable seat and put him in it as soon as he can hold his head up pretty good but with that seat we would have to take him in and out of it everywhere we go. That just seemed like a lot of work especially when O usually falls asleep in the car and we just pop his infant seat on to the stroller base and go. He will sleep in it anywhere; dinner, shopping, even just sitting in the house.

So we decided to just buy another seat even though they are expensive with thoughts that we will need it anyway for the next baby :) We got the new Peg Perego SIP 30/30 which is the best on the market for crashes and infant comfort. It's also bigger and allows for a baby up to 30inches long and 30lbs. So O will have room to grow! Thanks to Grandma Sue for helping us buy it! O loves it and is so much more comfortable!

Lots of Visitors...Owen is one popular guy!

Owen and Mrs. Lauren. O loves her and they got to play for hours!

Lauren & Jon come to visit

Lauren & Chris come too!

Aunt Mel sees me almost weekly...I sure do love her, Cailyn and Uncle Steve!

Andi comes to visit again...Sadie loves her and O loves when she comes to see him.

Clay and Lexi come and bring champagne to celebrate

Matt and Kelly...practicing before baby Chase arrives

Owen has had lots of visitors and here are a few pictures. He loves his new friends and can't wait for everyone to come back to see him soon!

More Pictures - Beach Trip

Pictures!!!

Owen's Baptism at my church in Pink Hill

Owen wearing Chris' Baptism outfit...so cute!



Our Family!

Owen's First ECU Tailgate!

Long Blog...from 2 weeks old to 9 weeks...

Sorry to everyone that reads our blog...I am sure we have lost some readers since I promised to post weekly updates and it has been 7 weeks since my last post. I will try to catch you all up in one blog :) For those that I talk to daily, you all know that I have had some challenges with breastfeeding, infections, INFECTIONS, thrush, yeast, reflux and last and the worst Owen's reaction to one of his vaccine :( Between all that, I have wanted to spend as much time with my little guy as possible...so forgive me for not blogging!



With that said we're all doing great! I will start with breastfeeding, just a short little note to say that it's much harder than anyone ever tells you. It's week 9 and we are just getting things on track. From me having mastitis to yeast to dealing with a month of thrush...we have had our fair share of trouble in the feeding department! I also had a poor milk supply which by eating oatmeal and pumping lead to an over-supply. Wouldn't think that would be a problem, right? Think again...imagine a baby trying to drink from a fire hydrant versus a slow water hose. Nursing during this time always ended up with me and Owen crying and then Chris bottle feeding him then consoling me that I wasn't a failure and it would get better! And it did :) I go to a weekly bfeeding moms group and they all say that I am the poster mom for bfeeding b/c I am so determined even after all the problems I went through. Maybe I will become a lactation consultant in my spare time. But we got it...at least for now. THRUSH IS GONE after a month of treatment. It's a nasty virus that is pretty much impossible to get rid of. Maybe Owen has had his share and will never get it again.



On to Owen, or as we now call him "O Man" he's doing great and gaining weight like a champ. We went for his 2 month appt on Tuesday and found out that he is 12lbs 2ozs (75th percentile), head is in the 75th percentile (yes he has a huge noggin), height 24.5inches (90th percentile). We can't get over how tall he is. He is still wearing some newborn clothes but they are too short in the torso for him so we've moved into the 0-3 which most are still a little big. It's strange how they all used to fit well and then all of a sudden he grew longer and got leaner. Don't get me wrong, he still has a chunky belly but he looks more proportioned now.



Things that O Man is doing lately: He has started to recognize our voices and will follow them around the room looking at us. He smiles all day and laughs at himself...it's really funny to watch. He loves looking in a mirror and laughs. We have a mirror on the back of the seat in our car and he just watches himself and laughs. He is swatting things and just last week actually was able to grab onto things in front of him. He hasn't quite figured out how to let go but I am sure that will come. And he coos all the time! This week he has just started trying to make the same sounds that we make. We think he's pretty smart :)



Other O Updates: Poor baby has reflux. I had to take him to the doctor about 2 weeks ago b/c he was having horrible gas pains and couldn't get it out. We were constantly doing bicycles with him to help his little tummy but a few weeks ago it got so bad that he wasn't nursing properly. He would nurse for 3-4mins then pull off screaming. I would burp him but that didn't help. I realized that his little belly was hard as a rock and knew that wasn't normal. The doctor said that he may grow out of it as his GI system matures. We sure hope so! The Zantac that he takes 3 times a day tastes AWFUL! He has learned how to spit it out so it's a challenge to get it in him. I didn't realize that 90% of all babies have some form of reflux.



O got his vaccines on Tuesday and of course he would be one of the 3% to get a reaction. He had 3 shots and then Rotavirus which is a sweet drink. He loved it and did good with this shots. Our doctor told us that he may be fussy for a few days or he may be sleepy or both. We got home and he napped from about 10:30am until 4pm only waking every 3 hours to eat. I was in heaven and got some things done around the house. Or so I thought...O woke up around 4pm screaming and nothing I did helped. I walked the house with him for hours and hours and he was just not feeling good. We started him on Tylenol every 4 hours but that didn't seem to help. Finally around 10pm he fell asleep and we thought that maybe that was the end of his fussiness. He had a low grade fever but nothing to be worried about. He slept about 4 hours and then was up for the rest of the night. I held him and rocked him then when he did fall asleep, I put him down only to wake up 30mins later with him crying. This was so unlike Owen as he isn't really a crying baby. The morning wasn't any better so I finally called the doctor around 3pm to see if it was normal for him to be that fussy. Also, he had gone through about 10 dirty diapers in less than 12 hours which was a lot. They wanted to see him and we found out that he had a mild reaction to the Rotavirus, meaning that he got it. I have never had it but the doctor said it's really painful and you have horrible cramps and upset tummy. That explained it! So I came home ready for the challenge we were about to have with night. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I think he was so tired from not sleeping and crying that he was able to relax and sleep a bit. He went to bed around 8pm and woke up at 12:30am, then slept until 2am and was up every 30-45mins after that. I went to bed at 9pm so I was not a zombie like the night before. Today has been better and he has napped and nursed a lot. He went to bed at 7:30pm so I am hoping that we will be back on his normal schedule (7:30pm - 1:30am then back down until 5:30am...wish I could stretch that until 7am but I will be happy for just getting up two times instead of 5-6!!).



Last week was our first family beach trip. We all had a great time. It was so nice to get away for a week. It was Sadie's first trip too and she wasn't too fond of the water. It took her all week to get in and when she did, it was a short time. She made friends with a lab pup and she followed him into the water. They were too cute playing. Owen loves the beach...just like his mom and dad! We bought him this neat tent that was SPF 50 and he napped in it every day. He spent about 20mins laughing and cooing and then was out. Something about the fresh beach air and the sound of waves relaxed him completely! He sleeps with the sound of the ocean so he was in heaven on the beach. Both of the grand parents were there and it was nice to spend time with everyone and to also have some time for just me and Chris. Grandma Sue came back mid-week to watch Owen and also the last weekend. Chris and I got some good beach time together while she watched him. Much needed alone time for us. We were so sad to come back home after 10days in NC :(

Owen also went to his first ECU game, well the tailgate. I couldn't take an infant in the stands :) He had a fun time and spent most of the time in his bassinet talking to anyone that came by. He met our good friends and we got some cute pics. Daddy went to the game and we went to lunch with the grandma's and did a little shopping. O is such the shopper...maybe b/c he knew that we were buying him things...ha!

Owen was baptised that same weekend in my church at home. Chris' parents were able to come and it was great to have all the grand parents there all that was missing was Aunt Jen. We haven't found a church in VA yet and wanted to have him baptised now and then we will do something else when we join a church here. Owen did great and it was such a special day! It was really special b/c Owen wore Chris' baptism outfit from when he was a baby.

I think that's about it for us, I am sure I am missing something but here's a bit of an update. Now that we have established a good schedule, I will...SERIOUSLY, I will update the blog weekly.

I will post pictures in new posting since this one is so long...ha!

Love the 4 of us!

Owen Ellis

Sorry this post has taken almost 3 weeks to write. I am sure you all know how crazy things can be with a newborn. First, we are all doing great and are trying to get into a groove...slowly but surely :)

Owen Ellis was born July 16th at 7:04am weighing 8lbs 5ozs and 20.5 inches...WHOA! A bigger baby than we ever thought.

Birth Story

I want to share this with you all because I had such a positive experience and feel like you only hear the bad stories. Wednesday night around 9:45pm I started having cramps but didn't think much of it since they didn't have a start and stopping time. Just all over crampy with some more intense than others. Around 11:30pm, after the cramps had not let up we decided to call my doctor, well the doctor on call. I had just been to my doctor earlier that day for my 40 week checkup and during the appt I lost my "MP" so she said that he should come any day now but not that night because she wasn't on call. My luck he decided to come the one night that she wasn't on call :)

Dr. Wolf was on call and after talking with her about the crampy feeling and if we had to time them we would say they were 5-6mins apart but again, nothing that hurt too bad that I thought they were labor contractions. She thought that maybe I was having contractions from my doctor's appt because sometimes that can bring them on. So she decided that she would call the hospital and let them know that I may come in. Chris and I decided that if they didn't go away in the next 30mins that we would head in. I of course didn't want to go AT ALL because I was for sure that it would be false labor because, in my opinion they were not strong enough to be labor contractions. Needless to say after 20mins I still felt crampy and the only thing that felt good was to walk around. So we headed to the hospital.

When we arrived we were sent to triage where they check you to see if you are going to be admitted. I was so sure that I wasn't in labor I apologized to all the staff for having to do a ton of paper work for my false labor. They all laughed and said it happens all the time but they would be able to tell when I was checked. I even made Chris park in the garage and I walked in with him...no way if this was false labor I would be seen being wheeled in a wheelchair...ha!

I was checked and found out that my contractions were indeed real and were 1-1.5mins apart and I was 5cm dilated. So I was admitted to Labor and Delivery and waited for the doctor. This was close to 2am. Dr. Wolf asked if I wanted my epidural and I decided that since I was breathing through the contractions easily that I would wait a bit. I thought for sure that I would be there forever and wanted to be able to walk around for a little longer and not stuck in my bed. Next Dr. Wolf decided to break my water to see if the contractions were still strong and every few minutes. She said most people need pictocin to keep them constant and we would be able to tell after my water broke how I was progressing. Note to self with the next child MAKE SURE TO GET THE EPIDURAL BEFORE THEY BREAK YOUR WATER!! Needless to say contractions are 100x's stronger after your water has broken so within 30mins of these contractions I was getting my epidural :) I was very scared to get the epidural because I have heard stories of how women lose feeling completely and can't move their legs after. Those of you know know me well know that I have a HUGE fear/anxiety of my legs and arms being held down and not being able to move them. I freak out! I talked to my good friend Jennifer Conde about what should happen with the epidural done correctly and she assured me that I should be able to feel and move my legs. If not, there is a problem. I talked to the doctor and told her my fears and she assured me also that I would be able to feel my legs. I also talked to her about turning down the epidural close to time so that I could feel the contractions and know when to push. She was great and listened to all my fears and requests and the epidural was a breeze! Didn't hurt one bit and I was able to feel and move freely. This was around 2:30am-2:45am and Dr. Wolf said she would be back in a few hours to check my progress for me to get some rest. Yeah right! Rest when I am so excited that Owen would be here soon...rest when the nurses were coming in every 30mins to check my contractions and the baby's heartbeat. Needless to say, Chris slept for a few hours and I just watched the monitor and chatted with the nurses when they came in. My contractions held strong and I didn't need pictocin to keep the contractions steady so that was good news for us.

Dr. Wolf came in and checked me around 6:45am and told us that I was 10cm dilated and ready to push. OMG, we had no clue it would happen so fast. Less than 20mins later and just a few pushes, Owen was born. One thing about pushing that helped a lot, although was somewhat traumatizing at the time is that Dr. Wolf had me watch when I pushed in a mirror at the end of the table. It freaked me out a bit but I was really able to see when I was pushing correctly. So, I saw Owen's birth from the minute I started pushing until he was completely out (sorry a little too much info). I am thankful and think that this is one big reason that I had a great experience and didn't have any tearing.

One thing the nurses said and Dr. Wolf said was that with my second child that when I first felt contractions that I needed to run to the hospital! I guess since I had less than 9 hours of labor from the first contraction to his birth, that was pretty quick and with the second child, things tend to go a lot faster. So, note to self, next child it's probably not false labor...get to the hospital ASAP :) Can you imagine if I didn't listen to Chris and tried to make it through the night until I could talk to my doctor the next day??? Gosh, Owen would probably be born at our house.

That's the story of Owen's birth and we are loving every minute we have with him!

Owen will be 3 weeks old tomorrow and it's amazing how much he has grown and changed in such a short time. Just in the past few days we can tell he has grown. He weighed 8lbs 5ozs when he was born, left the hospital weighing 7lbs 12ozs and by the time he was 2 weeks old, he was already past his birth weight...he's a chunky monkey :) I can't wait to see how much he weighs tomorrow at my breastfeeding support class.

Breastfeeding...this has been our biggest challenge. Let's just say that mastitis is the WORST infection ever! I think we have gotten past the hard parts but I can honestly see why women give up on breastfeeding. It's a test to your patients to stick with it. I was determined and still am to breastfeed, even though I am still working through some challenges. I met with a lactation consultant last week and she assured me that he was latching on correctly and encouraged me to stick with it. Our hospital offers a weekly support class that's free and the lactation nurse that I met with runs it, so I am going to go weekly with my long list of questions to make sure I get it and correctly! Also, they do weight checks so I will be able to tell how much Owen is taking in when he nurses. They weigh him before feeding and after and we can monitor this weekly. Makes me feel better because my biggest fear is that he's not getting enough to eat since I have no way to measure how much he is taking in. Wish us luck that we make it the next week or so with success!

I will post updates weekly on Owen...promise not to go this long without an update :)

The Waiting Game

This week marks 40 weeks for us and yes, we're still waiting. Even though at my last appointment my doctor was still sure that she would see me at the hospital this past weekend...we're still here. Anxious and ready plus uncomfortable makes for a moody pregnant lady :) I know baby boy will come when he is ready so we're just trying to be patient.

This weekend was pretty busy for us even though we didn't plan for it to be. We have been walking like crazy and trying every old-wives-tales to make baby boy come soon and well, let's just say they are all tales...nothing worked for us. We ate eggplant parm, spicy buffalo wings, spicy Thai food and nothing. We have also been walking several miles each day which has been great for Sadie, she's in such good shape right now :) Chris has this hunch that women that work out and stay in shape during their pregnancy are the ones that go to 40 weeks and even after, oh well. Saturday we cleaned the entire house, baseboards and all the things you never think to clean. I did the vacuuming of all 4 levels and stairs and all the hardwoods, still nothing but sore arms. It was a workout lugging the vacuum up and down the stairs.

We did get to enjoy Saturday and Sunday workouts and going to the pool which was nice for us to spend some time together, just us before baby boy comes. This week we plan to take it easy and get some nice walks in at night. Maybe a few more date nights before baby boy comes :)

Some exciting news, our stroller came in today! I can't wait to pick it up and see how it works. We have waited soooo long for it and I am excited to test drive it. Isn't it funny how a stroller can get you so excited :) Maybe we will stroll Sadie around the neighborhood tonight...ha!

Some exciting news, my friend Jennifer Snee Urban had her baby this weekend! I can't wait to see pics of baby Cole. She was due the week after me, yes that is correct, after me and she had him a bit early. We have gone through our pregnancies together and shared updates and changes daily and it's so exciting to hear that she had him. We were hoping that we could have our boys on the same day but she beat me to the punch. So happy for them!

That's about it for us, nothing too exciting in these last few days. Here is an updated belly shot, hopefully my last. Nothing really has changed, actually lost a little weight because I have no appetite and no room for very much food.

38 Weeks, Feeling Great and Excited to Meet Baby Boy!!

We had our 38 Week Appointment Thursday and we're well on the way to meeting baby boy soon...maybe sooner than we thought :) Without going into too much detail, things are progressing, baby boys' head is VERY low and easily felt and I am dilated. My doctor has told me all along that she thinks he will come early and she is sticking to her instincts...we can't wait! But we're hoping to at least make it for another week b/c Chris is working a HUGE proposal at work and it just so happened that his two employees are both out next week. So we will just have to wait and see.

I am feeling great! Was a bit uncomfortable last week but now that he has completely dropped I have found more room for me :) Yoga has been my life saver and doing the elliptical a few times a week has really helped with my hip pain. Since we are so close to having him she has given me the ok to work out as much as I want...this is very exciting! I am still not doing too much but being able to work out has given me so much more energy these past few weeks. Hopefully it will give me more strength for delivery :-)

Belly Update:

I have gained a total of 20 pounds as of today. I had an afternoon appt this time so I think it's a little less since I had breakfast and lunch before getting on the scales, but I am still happy with this number. I actually feel a bit smaller but think I look the same. Still feeling big rolling movements and he kicks the heck out of my right ribcage. But he's moved more in the center so he's not killing my right side like he usually is. I had a few BH contractions this week, mostly at night and on Sunday. Still wasn't sure they were contractions but my doctor told me they definitely were. She said some women don't have any contractions until just a but before they go into labor, so that may be the case for me. Plus she said that because I am keeping hydrated really well and my AF is perfect, that helps a ton with contractions. I bet as time gets closer I they will get stronger and stronger but for now, it's nothing I can't go about my day with.

I think we're ready, but I don't think we will every be 100% ready. We washed all baby boy's clothes, blankets, sheets, etc today to get him through the 0-3 month stage and will wash the next set as he gets bigger. He has so many onesies, it's crazy! Not many little outfits but I guess with it being July when he's born he will not need layers of clothes.

We installed our car seat bases and got the snap-n-go stoller in place so if baby boy does come early, we're all set. We can't wait for our Bumbleride stroller to arrive but until then, the snap-n-go will do. We tested it out and it really is handy and super easy to use...not the best looking thing but who cares, right?!? I got an update and our Bumbleride shipped on the 29th so hopefully it will get here soon. I know Chris is eager to see how well it works while jogging.

Camera update...WE HAVE A CAMERA ON ORDER!!! It shipped on Friday so hopefully it will be here in the next week. We have been struggling with our old camera to get weekly belly pictures and that's why we haven't posted updated nursery pictures. I promise as soon as it arrives I will post the finished nursery pictures.

This weekend was very relaxing for us. We had a great 4th and went to the pool on Friday and Saturday. Reston has so many pools but we were told that the nicest one was walking distance to our house. The pool was super nice and we spent several hours there. Not too long though b/c pregnant skin tends to burn easy...so I went with loads of sunscreen in hand! We had a lunch date on Saturday and got a few more errands taken care of. We grilled out for the 4th, burgers and hot dogs of course and then ventured out to see the fire works. We parked about a mile from where we sat to watch them and had to walk. Chris was so funny b/c he asked about every 2 minutes if I was feeling OK...I think he was afraid I would go into labor walking that much :) We followed the rest of the group and got our seats about 30mins before the fire works began and really excited (we both love fire works). Only to realize that they were shooting them behind a row of trees...needless to say we couldn't see anything but the tops :( So we decided to walk back to the car. On the way back we saw another group of fire works and even though they were at a distance, we could see them clear as day. So there we sat, on the side of the road watching the fire works...romantic huh? Baby boy liked them and was super active when they went off.

That's about it for us, just relaxing today and anxious to see what next week brings...maybe baby boy!

We're in Trouble!!

The pictures below say it all! This past weekend we caught our adorable little Sadie walking around the house with baby boy's paci's in her mouth...oh no! We should have been good parents and immediately take it away from her but it was soooo funny we just let her run around sucking it for a bit. I know, not the smartest thing to do but you had to be there to see this ;-) Not only did she walk around with it in her mouth, the correct way she was actually sucking it...so unlike our destructive little Sadie. We took it away from her and then a few hours later she had another one and had chewed open the package and was laying on the floor sucking it...Oh boy, we're going to have our hands full!!