Life is Good

Great-Aunt Dona, these are for you! He sure looks cute in the outfit you sent to him!

It looks like he has red (or ginger as his dad would say) hair...doesn't look that way in person...wonder if we will have a ginger-haired Irish boy? Would be cute!

O's Converstation with his Animals

We have stuffed zoo animals on the changing table that O "talks" to while we change his diaper. He used to scream during every diaper change, but now that he can better see his new friends, instead of screams we get to watch the cutest display of very early conversation. We need to get this on video, but for now, here are a few shots of the different faces he makes (some of these come with noises that are cute, too) with his animal friends.

Don't we have a sweet boy?

O is Growin'

O had his two week check up today! He is growing! O weighed in at 8 pounds 13 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long today! What a big boy! I asked if my little Piglett was eating too much and the doctor assured me that I will only make so much milk so that it is virtually impossible to over-feed a breastfed baby. Hmmm.

Here is a picture of O in his too cute outfit that Rob and Leah got him! We love the monogram on the front! He was enjoying playtime on the activity mat that Kristin and Jason got him! He really likes looking at some of the toys that came with it--I guess because babies can see black and white so well, it is really entertaining for him.

O is Two Weeks Old Today!!

I can't believe we have had O for only two weeks! What a joy these fourteen days have been! Here is how his fourteenth day of life went...

O was up just after midnight to eat! Went back to sleep around 1:00 AM. He woke again at 4:40 AM. Dad changed his diaper and I fed him. O has been hanging out with Dad after this feeding to watch the Australian Open the last couple of nights, but I guess he wasn't that excited about Andy Roddick, so he went back to sleep this morning at 5:15 AM. He stirred a lot around 6:30, so I pulled him into bed to snuggle -- it was cold in the house, so I think he got a little chilly ;-). We slept until 8:30AM, when Piglett ate yet again. Got another diaper change and then hung out with Dad for a while so I could take a shower. Dad did 3 diaper changes in 30 minutes--its a new record! Then, we got a clean outfit on O, he ate again, and then was bundled up (it was about 36 degrees out today-- drastically different from the 75 degrees when we brought him home from the hospital) so that he and Dad could take me to the doctor! Isn't his hat hilarious on him?!?

The doctor's office has cleared me to drive again and to lift the baby PLUS his carrier--big day! We ran a couple of errands and then returned home. Dad went to work and O and I spent the afternoon eating and napping--what a great afternoon!

Around 4:00 O woke up ready to be entertained. I took the opportunity to snap a few photos. This one where he is smiling melts my heart. I know he is only two weeks old, and I totally understand that the smile isn't for me (YET), but goodness it was precious!

Dad came home from the office pretty early. We hung out for a bit, and then O ate again at 5:45. Napped an hour, and ate again!! Napped another hour or so and ate again--this is why we call him Piglett. Now, it is 8:30 PM and he is sound asleep. I think he will stay that way until midnight!

What a day!

Little Boy in Blue

Since we didn't know if Baby Q was going to be a girl or boy, we bought mostly unisex outfits (which now that I see them on my little boy I wonder how they would have looked on a girl!). So, we have finally gotten O in some little boy outfits thanks to the gifts of friends and family and one frantic trip to Target by mom! Here are a couple of pictures of the little guy in blue! Can't wait to put him in the one that Leah and Rob got him--it has his monogram on the front--way too cute! Look for a photo of him in that one in the next couple of days!! Most of the others he has to grow in to! He is still small for Newborn in most brands, so we are kinda limited these days!!



In the picture below, Piglett is doing his hungry dance. It is hilarious. He does his arms like he is milking a cow, he roots (moves his head back and forth), does his lips in an "O", and starts breathing really quickly. Too, too funny.





Grammie just left to head back to work. We sure will miss being looked after. Thank you, mom, for spending this time with us! I am feeling much better than I did when you got here! Looking forward to the lasagna and enchiladas you left us with! Then, I guess I am in the kitchen next week!

More pictures of the Little Man!

We have spent the last few days getting to better know O. He has spent more time awake and it is so fun to watch him watch the world around him! He has had more visitors and received a lot of gifts from our very generous family and friends. I can't wait to take photos of him in all of his cute new outfits!!

Here is O with his Grandpa S. Grandpa brought O his first history book, America 1908. It is a compilation of thoughts from 1908 and includes a photo from Harper's Weekly that shows what they thought the first cell phone would look like. The significance of 1908 is that it is the year that O's Great-grandpa S was born--100 years before O. Pretty neat, dad!

Here is O with Paw Paw Mc!

And with Grammie, who has been taking good care of O and me!

O with Grammie's friends, "The Janes." Jane H. and Jane N. came to visit last Saturday! They brought too cute outfits for O! Can't wait to wear them!

Visitors!

O has had some visitors the last couple of days!

Here's O with Lindsey!!! Sorry 'bout your jeans Linz; we will work on getting O's diaper on better ;-)



Elizabeth, my incredible doula (http://www.earthboundbirth.com/ and http://www.earthboundbirth.blogspot.com/), came over to visit O and give me some tips for caring for a newborn! I got to put the "swaddle the upper half of his body during diaper change to keep him from screaming" one to good use right away! Thank you, Elizabeth, for your tireless support over the three-day labor that led to O's arrival! You were incredible and we thank you very much for you presence, guidance, and knowledge!

Elizabeth posted some great pictures on her blog of the birth! Good one of Grammie waiting for the big moment!! Elizabeth said her first words were "We thought it was a girl"! Mine, too, mom! What a fun surprise!!



Kristi and Erica came by with tons of fun boy things for O. I forgot the camera for this visit--can you believe there is a moment of O not on film? We sure do appreciate all of the fun boy things!!

We are looking forward to Grammie's return tonight and to Paw Paw Mc coming tomorrow! Think Grandpa is making a return trip as well--O, you are one popular grandbaby!

Over the Last Two Days, Owen...

Tried out his swing! Loved it! He is a little jaundice, so we had him in his diaper in the direct sunlight.



Enjoyed a nap in the sun!



Got to know his dog, Tobie, better.



Spent some time checking out his mom and dad.







...and took long afternoon naps!

Its a Boy!

Baby Quinlan is here! He weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces and is 19 1/4 inches long. I am so in love with this little man! Here is a look at O's first four days of life!

January 4th - O's Birthday

O is only a few hours old in the next two pictures. We are waiting on the nursery to take him for testing because he was running a fever at birth (so was I).

O has a high white blood cell count. His Pediatrician came to check him out and decided to err on the safe side and give him an IV for antibiotics. Poor guy! He is a trooper, though!! So, they inserted the IV and then took blood and sent it off for testing--then we had to wait 48 hours to learn the results and know for sure whether or not he has any infection.

Here are pictures of O with Daddy and Grammie on his Birthday!

January 5th - One day Old (Grammie & Paw Paw Mac's 17th Anniversary)

O has a lot of visitors!! Thank you to everyone who came by!!

O with his Grandpa...

O meets his friend Mr. N--they are 6 months apart and will go to school together! Hard to believe that one day their age difference won't seem as great as it does in this photo. N's dad and I were born on the same day and went to school together Kindergarten through Bachelor's Degree from college! Neat that our kids will probably be in the same grade, too!

Some friends came by... thier 14 month old was sound asleep in his stroller behind the curtain!

More friends came by. Here are the proud Dad's with their little ones! Look at Miss E's sweet smile! Love it!

And last, but not least, the Hoyles came over. O really liked his "Uncle Nige"! Grammie enjoyed listening to all of the English accents in the room!



O also had his first photo shoot today. Melanie Johnson of Melanie Johnson Photography came and took some amazing photos of him! She truly captured the many faces of O. It is unbelievable how many little faces he makes right now and I am blessed to have the moments she caught on film to cherish. These first days will go by so fast and I don't want to forget how he looked, smelled, and felt. Her photos will enable me to always go back to these moments and remember the smell of his hair, the snorts and grunts he makes when he eats (I call him Piglett), and the soft touch of his skin. Thank you so much, Melanie!

January 6th - Two Days Old and Going Home from the Hospital!

First, O had his hearing checked. This was really neat. The specialist came in and put ear muffs on each ear. She had sensors she put in three places on his head to measure his brain's response to the sounds. O passed with flying colors!

Then, O's Pediatrician came in to give him a check up. He was officially released from the hospital, pending the completion of his last round of antibiotics! Yeah--his IV came out. As of 11:00 AM when the doctor was there, all of his cultures had come back fine. We would know officially at 7:00 PM if there was anything to be concerned about--and there wasn't! Thank goodness--I don't know how I would have left him in the hospital and gone home without him. It would have been so hard.



Then, my midwife, Aliza, came by and officially released me to go home! Aliza is was absolutely amazing! Thank you for helping me to safely bring O into this world--what an experience it was!

We are out of here! I can't wait to see the outdoors--I had been in the hospital for 97 hours!

So...off we go! It took us so long to get O into the car seat that Daddy could probably have pushed us in the wheelchair the whole way and we'd have been home sooner. But, instead Daddy drove us very safely home in the car--the 1.5 mile trip went by very quickly ;-) Don't worry, his feet were covered with a blanket and it was 75 degrees out. We just had to snap a quick pic of this, cause it looked so funny!

January 7th - Three days old & first full day at home

Wow...can a baby really eat that much? We got very little sleep as O turned into quite the oinker last night. Wanted to eat for 30 minutes every hour and a half. Unreal. We started off with Dad checking the diaper and getting O alert enough to eat. Then, I would feed him and go back to bed. Then, we would hear him stir, start his little "I'm hungry" clues and start again. Finally, at 3AM we decided that our plan wasn't working on this particular feeding cycle ;-) So, Dad got some shut eye and I just stayed up with O. I slept for about 30 minutes total on the couch between the 3AM, 4:30AM, 6AM feeding--really, that often and HE woke up for each of them wanting to eat AND ate for 30 minutes each time. Then, Dad got up at 7--I fed O again and Dad hung out with him so I could get some sleep. I managed to sleep until 9:30 or so. It was great! Today, he has slowed the pace to the "normal" every 2 - 3 hours. Let's hope that lasts through the night!

Here is our alert little guy at 10AM this morning--very content after all of that eating last night!!

I couldn't resist taking a picture of him napping this afternoon. His fist under his chin is contemplative and oh so cute! It looks like he is having a very serious dream! He must be deciding whether or not he will let Mommy and Daddy have some sleep tonight--have we been good enough today, O?

O met Mimi today! She will be taking care of him once I go back to work. I think he really likes her! Mimi's daughters thought O was quite cute--we look forward to having them baby-sit in a few months!

We are so blessed to have O in our life. He is such a sweet baby and has given us so much joy already. I want to capture every little moment to be sure that I don't forget them! I just love sitting with him in the window watching him look at his world around him. He is particularly drawn to Tobie--we think he ponders whether or not every house has a big black dog with an under-bite!

Signing off to go and feed Piglett...

Due Date is Here!

I had my 40 week check-up this morning. After talking with my doctor, we have decided that it is in the best interest of Baby Q to induce labor. The baby is totally fine right now, but my fluid levels are dropping and I have started to feel less movement. Because we are at 40 weeks, the doctor is concerned that my fluid will keep dropping and that a prolonged stay in utero could become a less hospitable experience for Baby.

So...we will check in to the hospital today at 3:00 PM start the process. Most likely, we will have this baby in our arms tomorrow! If the induction doesn't take and the baby remains fine, then we will try again the next day.

Stay tuned...