One Month Bday and Two Year Anniversary!

Parker was officially one month old on Friday! Gosh, time is flying by! He is getting bigger and is more awake now with a little bit more of a personality. He will make eye contact with you now (which is nice as opposed to the blank stare we're used to!). He is also starting to use his voice to make sounds now instead of just grunting and crying. He just gets more handsome everyday! I can't help but stare at him all the time - how can you not when there is always a new and exciting face!? He is also probably getting annoyed with how much I slather him with kisses, but I just can't resist.

Although he is getting bigger, he is still in the Newborn size diapers. And let me tell you, we go through those like crazy! We use a whole 84 pack every week. People told us you go through a lot of diapers and they weren't kidding! We also are starting to give him some formula to make a slow transition off of nursing. He just gets one bottle a day right now and we will slowly start to add more. He is taking to it very well and it doesn't seem to phase him. He goes back and forth with no problem!

Our new found gadget that is AMAZING is the Itzbeen timer! This thing is a must-have for new parents! We just love how it keeps track of everything and alarms us when it's time to eat or nap, etc. I highly recommend this to anyone trying to keep a schedule for their baby and doesn't want to keep an eye on the clock all the time...

Kyle and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary this weekend as well! It was actually yesterday, the 29th, but he was traveling for work so we went out to eat on Sunday. That was our first time to go out together without Parker! It was nice to be able to leave him in the trusted hands of my parents for a little while. We needed a date night to ourselves and it was a much needed break. It's amazing how much has happened in the past two years since the wedding... we are just growing up so fast, but I know we also have so much ahead of us in the years to come!

Happy St. Patty's Day

Parker and I wore our green around the house today and showed our Irish pride! I got a few pics in before he got squirmy and decided he was done...

I also realize that on the last post I didn't really do Parker justice with the pictures I posted. So here are a few of my favorite pics so far..

 One of the first days home

Sleeping Baby

The Model

Daddy and Parker napping

Happy Dreams

Parker praying

Mesmerized by the skylights at the lake house

Cross my heart

Ok, enough pictures! I just have so many, it's hard to narrow it down! Things are still going good though. He is sleeping well majority of the time. We haven't been using the Gripe Water everyday and have only had a couple more colicky instances. We are just using it on an as-needed basis, which is still very helpful! Our big challenge now is trying to get him sleeping on a flat surface. We spoiled him by letting him sleep in the pack and play because it puts him in a cozy cradled position instead of flat like he will be in the crib. So, in an effort to make an easier transition to the crib in the future, our goal is to get him falling asleep on his own in the bassinet! He is pretty fussy in there, and I have to admit the past couple nights after awhile I just put him in the pack and play so we can both sleep. It's getting better though... he's sleeping in there right now! Hopefully tonight is better. Well that's all for now, more to come later...

Drumroll Please....

I know this is long overdue, but PARKER HAS ARRIVED!!! He was born Friday, February 26th at 6:35 pm - 7 lb., 20 in. Now that you have the vital stats, here is a quick recap of the day:

We checked in the hospital at 7:30 am. They gave us our room and I got my awesome hospital gown. They hooked me up to an IV (which they burst the first vein they tried and I still have a gnarly bruise to show for it!). My doctor was ready to break my water and get the show on the road, but we had to wait on the anesthesiologist for my epidural... there were 2 unexpected c-sections that he was tied up with. So we started the pitocin without him at about 10am. By 10:30 he came to administer the epidural (I only felt about 1 or 2 contractions!). Quickly after that, my doctor broke my water, then it was just a waiting game.

Things started slowly and the contractions weren't very strong. It probably took an hour or 2 to dilate another cm to 4. My nurse, Claudine, was a great French lady and she was motivated to get this baby out before her shift ended at 7pm. So, she kept coming in and increasing the pitocin to get things moving! Eventually I started making some quicker progress, meanwhile I wasn't feeling a thing! I could tell I was having a contraction only because my stomach would get really tight. Kyle and my Mom would watch the monitor and we saw how the intensity increased throughout the day. They started at about a level 7-8, then by the end of the day I was having level 15+ contractions and few that were off the charts!

We just watched movies all day and had a few visitors. Muffy, Marge and my Aunt Cindy came by to visit. Then my friends Allison and Whitney each came by to hang out for awhile. It was great to have a distraction and someone to keep me occupied!

Finally around 5pm they said I was at 8 cm and would probably push within the hour. At that point I could feel the pressure to push coming on and I knew I was getting ready! Sure enough, I moved along just as they thought and I was pushing by around 6pm. Overall, I pushed a maximum of about 30 minutes and Parker was born! Luckily it was a very easy delivery and he was a happy, healthy little boy! All the nurses said I was made to have babies considering how easy the delivery went! It was a really special experience for Kyle and I to share.

We got to spend about an hour with him and have a few visitors before they whisked him away to the nursery for a couple hours. The rest of our stay at the hospital was great! Well, except for the student nurse who put our embroidered pillowcases in with the rest of the hospital laundry!! What a mess, and we still haven't gotten them back...

We went home that Sunday and things have been going great! He had his first car ride to his 2 day checkup, and he had already gained weight from leaving the hospital! He also gave the doctor a little golden shower!!! We quickly realized that a spare onesie was a must for the diaper bag...

He has had a few colicky episodes, but it's not a daily occurrence. We are hoping his digestive system is just going through an adjustment period... Gripe water is our new best friend though! That stuff works magic. At his 2 wk checkup, he was over his birth weight as he should be. This now means we are allowed to let him sleep as long as he is willing during the night and only wake up when he is ready to feed. Unfortunately he is still on the every 3 hr schedule, so we are still getting up regularly throughout the night. We are lucky though that he usually sleeps straight through between feedings! He usually just falls right asleep in a food coma after a feeding, no matter what time of day...His umbilical cord finally fell off, so he got his first real bath today (full water instead of a sponge bath)!

Now that we are all caught up, I promise I will post on a regular basis to keep everyone updated on the latest happenings and pics! One last picture - Parker and his Daddy...

The Last Day

Well, today was the last day Kyle and I have alone before welcoming Parker into this world! We go to the hospital tomorrow morning at 7:30 to begin the induction. We're really excited, but I can't lie - I'm nervous about the actual delivery. I'm hoping everything goes smoothly and that labor isn't too excruciatingly long. As of my doctor appointment Wednesday, I was just about 3 cm dilated, which should make the induction a alot easier than if I wasn't dilated at this point. So everyone keep their fingers crossed!!!

As promised, I have pictures of the nursery. We are still lacking a few things on the wall and are waiting for pictures of Parker to put in the frames. It was really fun working on this project. We had the bedding custom made (thanks Mom!), then used the fabrics throughout the room where we could. I did lots of crafting - I made the drapes, painted his initials over the crib, painted the sign over the closet door and I still need to line some baskets with fabric! Pictures really don't do it justice, so that just means that you will have to come visit Parker and see his room in person ;) Enjoy and we will post updates tomorrow!

The Final Countdown...

First and foremost, the shower this past weekend was amazing! I want to thank everyone for traveling to make the event. It was great to see everyone from Houston and was nice to have the whole Austin gang in town for the weekend. We had quite a full house last Saturday night and cooked in. It was so much fun!

I think we are almost all set for Parker now... just a few things left to get. We went to Babies R Us today and exchanged a few items to get the remaining things we must have when he arrives. We also just have a few small details to take care of in the nursery, then I promise I will post pictures!

Well, I am officially 38 weeks now! At my appointment on Wednesday I was 2.5 cm dilated and 75% effaced - moving right along! I have experienced a few Braxton Hicks contractions over the last week as well.

Kyle and I have decided we are going to induce this coming Friday, February 26th! Don't worry, nothing is wrong - this just provides Kyle the opportunity to plan to have the store covered so he can stay home with us a bit longer. This also makes it easier for his family to come as well. It will be exactly one week early, and things should hopefully go smoothly considering the progress I have already made.

There is of course always a chance that he could come sooner... in fact, I went through a couple hours of false contractions last night from about 12-3am. That certainly did not feel good, but I guess he just wasn't quite ready to join us! We will go in very early Friday morning and I promise we will post pictures once he arrives! That's all I have for now - Have a great week!

Trying to get ready...

Well, I will be 37 weeks on Saturday - only 3 more weeks to go! So much has happened over the past few weeks, sorry I haven't updated anything!

We have been doing everything we can to prepare for Parker's arrival... The nursery furniture is in. We have the bedding (minus a mattress - we need to get that this weekend!). Working on all the decorations for the room (drapes, rug, pictures, nik-naks, etc). 

We had a lovely shower in Austin a couple weeks ago. It was great to see all the ladies and we really appreciated everyone making the time to come! Thanks so much to Caron, Kathy, Sis, Jenn and Kim for putting that together for us! And thanks to Jill for making the precious baby cookies and cupcakes - they were just adorable!

Last weekend we had a co-ed shower with all of our close friends and some of their parents. It was so much fun and everything looked so cute (western themed)! Ivy, Whitney, Kerrie and Dee did a great job! The boys didn't really understand why they were there, so we tried to zip through the baby stuff quickly for them. Kyle and I were opening presents simultaneously, and the funniest part was that he got the gift back with all of the breastfeeding items! It was hilarious!

 

 We have another shower at my office today and then the last one is this weekend with all of our family and friends in Dallas. We are so blessed that so many people want to celebrate our new bundle of joy with us! Thank you to everyone!

Well, as of my doctor's appointment yesterday, I am 2 cm dilated already and about 50% effaced! So I'm moving right along. We don't know if that means he will come early or not, it's still just a waiting game.  The doctor also thinks he is pretty big (close to 7 lbs right now), so there is a chance we could need to induce a little early. We will see after next week's appointment though if that is the case. We will definitely keep everyone updated though as things progress! I will also post pictures of the nursery once we have it all put together!

Picture Update

So here is the latest picture of me... Still growing! I can't imagine that he is going to double in weight in the next month and a half. I could be HUGE by the end of all this! Oh well, it's all for the little one!

Kyle is so sweet - I came home yesterday and he had put together some of the baby furniture while I was at work! It sounds like it was quite a process and I really appreciate him doing that. He is such a great husband and is going to be an amazing dad!