12 Weeks of Awesome

I can't believe that J will be 12 weeks old tomorrow and I have yet to make a blog post.  Oops!  I've taken a gazillion pictures at least.  :)  So, here is a little recap of his first 12 weeks.

J wasn't in a hurry to make his skinside appearance.  At least, not at first.  He was 6 days past due, and then all of a sudden he was in a very, very big hurry.  I started feeling contractions at about 2:30 a.m., but they really weren't any big deal so I didn't wake up the hubster.  Around 6:20 a.m. they suddenly got very intense and I knew I needed help, so I woke him up.  On the advice of our doula, we decided to go ahead and meet her at the hospital instead of having her come to our house at that point.  (As a first time mom, I had assumed I'd be in for one of those super long labors that it seems like all first time moms go through...)  We left for the hospital around 6:45 a.m. and J was born without pain meds at 8:14 a.m.  He was 7lb, 4oz and 21 inches long.

What a perfect little man!

When we got him home he slept and cried and slept and cried and slept for the first week.  So much sleeping!  No problem, I thought, I can do this mom thing.  :)

He was ridiculously cute, and we had a lot of fun taking pictures of him and just getting to know him.

Then he started sleeping less and crying more.

But that was ok!  Stressful, yes.  But we figured things out.  I started wrapping him for naps, and that seemed to help.  When he wasn't crying he was the cutest thing ever.

Even when he was crying, he was still the cutest thing ever!

To be honest, it got a bit more stressful, because he was crying more and more.  Poor little guy.  He just wasn't happy, especially in the evenings.  And, not to overshare, but mama wasn't happy either, because of some serious pain associated with breastfeeding.  Unfortunately, the pain was worst in the evenings, right when little J wanted to nurse the most often.  But we muscled through.

J had his tongue tie clipped, and that seemed to help a bit.  And we took lots of walks in the neighborhood together.

The best news was that, although I was having a lot of pain, J was getting plenty to eat.  He was gaining weight like a champ, averaging just over an ounce gain per day.

Then he hit the six week mark, and the crying started to taper off a bit.  Either that, or we just figured out a better routine and I started to understand what he needed more quickly.

He started to smile more often and stay awake longer, and was still ridiculously cute at all times.  

His favorite place to take a nap during the day is snuggled up right next to his mama.

The older he gets, the more fun we have.  He is starting to explore his world more and more each day.

We've been to the botanical garden and to Food Truck Fridays.

At his two month checkup he was 12lb, 8oz and 25 inches long.  Giant baby!  His pediatrician said that was the 60th percentile for weight and 98th percentile for height.  Where did this giant baby come from?

He got his tongue tie clipped again, because it healed back partially after the first time.  And I got some medication to help with a blood vessel constriction problem that was causing a lot of pain.  Yay!  J could finally eat without causing me intense pain.  I cannot express what a relief that was and is.

When he is really happy, he'll smile with his mouth completely open.

He likes to suck on his thumb, and absolutely hates pacifiers.

Lately, he's really happy a lot, so I get to see that big gummy grin all the time.  Makes my heart melt!

I won't say that being a mom was easy from the beginning, but I'm having so much fun learning.  Each day is a new adventure, and J is amazing.  I wouldn't give this up for the world.

  

39 weeks

So close!  And yet so far.  :)  Here was my 39 week pic from yesterday:

So I'm technically due next Saturday.  (Due dates are at 40 weeks gestation, for those who aren't overly-informed about all things pregnancy/baby.)  While I have not done any kind of poll or pool to see what other people think, if I had to pick a day, I'd guess that he's going to come at 41 weeks and 2 days, which would be 4/9/12.  I'll gladly be wrong if he comes earlier than that, not so gladly if he comes later.

I'm not sure that I've mentioned this here, but I am fervently hoping for a med-free, intervention-free birth.  Of course I won't do anything that will jeopardize the baby's health, but if he and I continue to be healthy, I'd like him to come in his own time and with as natural of an experience as possible.  (Yes, I will be giving birth in a hospital, but otherwise I hope it will be without interventions/meds.)

Maybe it's because we needed medical intervention to become pregnant, or maybe it's because I'm a bit crunchy at heart, or maybe it's because I have a penchant for historical stuff and I want to emulate the millions and millions of women who gave birth naturally over thousands and thousands of years before the modern era.  I don't know.  Whatever the reason, it's what I want to do.  If it doesn't happen, it's not the end of the world! I"m just excited to meet this guy.  :)  But, the later he waits to make his appearance, the more likely we'll need some kind of intervention to force the situation.  So please keep us in your thoughts that he doesn't wait too long.  :)

Panda Nursery Photo-bomb

Alrighty.  Here it is.  The "finished" product, the culmination of some 12 or more years of anticipatory planning of having a panda-themed nursery.  The idea was first suggested to me in undergrad as a way to use my panda collection.  After that, I started getting more panda gifts and baby-themed panda stuff.  I didn't keep track of each dollar we spent on the room, but it was definitely a budget project, with lots of hand-me-downs and items that have been gifted over the years.  The big wall decor was our big decorative splurge, and the chair is a gift from my dad.  Hope you like it!  And, I hope the little guy likes it when he makes his arrival sometime in the next month or so.  (I'm 37 weeks today!!!)

View as one enters the room from the hallway:

Corner opposite of the door:

Next corner over:

Wall with the door:

Wall opposite of the chair/crib corners: