3 month pictures

Many thanks to Dana at Modern Life Photography for Colin's 3 month photos!!!  Our favs are posted below :-)

Three Months (and videos!)

So I kinda missed Colin's 3 month update!  Things have definitely been hectic to say the least.

I started back to work on 7/25 which means Colin started at Goddard for day care.  So far, he seems to like it!  And the teachers love him!!!  Who wouldn't!  ;-)  Colin is a great kid, I must say.  He's always really happy and since about 9 or 10 weeks, he's been all smiles.  He recently started to coo at lot more... so cute! 

He has a great little personality.  Unfortunately, after his first week in day care, he ended up with a cold.  Then a week after the cold, he ended up with a double ear infection.  Poor little man!  But he's been taking his Amoxicillin like a champ and seems to be feeling better :)  He got weighed at the doctor and is 11lbs 2oz!  We measured him at home and think he's about 23-23 1/2 inches or so.  Still a tiny peanut!  Mom also got his cold and has been fighting it for two weeks.  But now on my second antibiotic, I am doing much better.  Each month that goes by, Colin is getting to be more and more fun.  I love him!

Lyrics

Okay - so I heard this song today by Brad Paisley while i was sitting in traffic and i nearly lost it... such great lyrics from a father to his son :) 

I remember saying I don't care either way
Just as long as he or she is healthy I'm okay
Then the doctor pointed to the corner of the screen
And said "You see that thing right there well you know what that means"

And I started wondering who he was going to be
And I thought heaven help us if he's anything like me
He'll probably climb a tree too tall and ride hes bike to fast
End up every summer wearing something in a cast
He's gonna throw a ball and break some glass in a window down the street
He's gonna get in trouble oh he's gonna get in fights
I'm gonna lose my temper and some sleep
It's safe to say that I'm gonna get my payback if he's anything like me

I can see him right now knees all skinned up
With a magnifying glass trying to melt a Tonka truck
Won't he be a sight with his football helmet on
That'll be his first love til his first love comes along
He'll get his heart broke by the time he's in his teens
And heaven help him if he's anything like me

He'll probably stay out too late and drive his car too fast
Get a speeding ticket he'll pay for mowing grass
He's gonna get caught skipping class and be grounded for a week
He's gonna get in trouble we're gonna get in fights
I'm gonna lose my temper and some sleep
It's safe to say that I'm gonna get my payback if he's anything like me

He's gonna love me and hate me along the way
Years are gonna fly by I already dread the day
He's gonna hug his momma, he's gonna shake my hand
He's gonna act like he cant wait to leave
But as he drives out he'll cry his eyes out
If he's anything like me there's worse folks to be like
Aw he'll be alright if he's anything like me

A day of firsts,,,

Just a short note to document that Colin and I both survived his first day at day care and my first day back at work (and Daddy survived too... but we knew he would).  :)  He ate 3 full bottles, napped, and peed with the best of them.  Only baby thing he didn't do was poop.  Which he does every morning by 10am.  BUT ... he did poop for his Mommy when he got home!  Good boy Colin!  :)  Here's to many more good days at day care.  And please don't get sick yet.  I can't handle it.  Thank you :)

Smiles!

Colin started smiling a little last week and they've been few and far between.  I actually got him to smile some (believe it or not) when we got home from his two month check up today... AFTER his shots!  I thought we were golden.  Until 2 hours later when he started to scream his head off.  Tylenol to the rescue!  I think his little thighs are just sore.  Anyways, Doug was trying to divert his attention and he was actually smiling again!  Little pooker!

Two Months

Update:  at his 2 month appointment on 7/5/11, he weighed 9lbs 11oz and was 21.25 inches long!  Still a tiny peanut :-)

Colin is 2 months!!!  Hard to believe but it's true. See - his onesies prove it!

 

Colin is doing great..  The second month had a couple firsts!  He smiled!!  The smiling only happened for one day and it hasn't happened much since, but I'm sure it's bound to start happening more frequently soon.  He was a happy boy!

He started sucking on his hands too... can't quite put them to his mouth yet, but if he happens to stumble across them, he just goes to town!  The noises this kid makes sucking on his hands is incredible... it's as if we starve him or something!

He also is sleeping really well for us.  The bed time routine starts around 8:30pm.  He gets changed into his pjs, gets his bedtime lavendar lotion, and gets one last bottle.  Usually, he is passed out by 9:30pm and will sleep until 3 or 4am and just wakes up because he is hungry!  He has slept for 7 hours straight a couple of times... usually averages 6 hours.  He goes back down after the 4am bottle until 8 or 9am.  Can't complain!  He's getting about 10 hours a night and seems to be doing really well on that.  Took him to the doctor once this month because he seemed really sleepy during the day (even after sleeping that much at night!) but they think he's fine.  Maybe just having a little growth spurt.\

He also had his circumcision this month... not too much to say there, but he did great!  Recovering nicely.  :-)  He also had lots of visitors which was a lot of fun!  Can't wait to see what the next month has in store...

One Month

 

Our little man is one month.  How the heck did that happen?  I fear this is only the beginning of time flying by...

At one month, Colin is 7lbs 15oz.  He is 19.5 inches long now, too.  We need this important stats for his baby book!

Finally, at 4 weeks, his umbilical cord fell off.  Woohoo!  We could finally give him his first real bath instead of just a wipe down.  Doesn't he look thrilled? ;-)

He actually didn't do too bad.  He only really cried when we first started and then I think he realized that a bath is a good thing!  He always smells soooo good afterwards.  I love it!

He is still eating really well.  Some feedings are getter than others, but by his weight gain, I'd say he's doing pretty darn well :-)  As I mentioned in the last post, the doctor wanted him to gain about 25 grams a day and he was doing 45 grams.  Now that he is 7lbs 15oz, I did the math again and he's up to 56 grams a day!  Yikes!  I'm glad he's gaining, but man, that's a good amount!  That's about 2oz a day... porker hehe ;-)

Nights and days are pretty straight with him.  Sometimes he doesn't go down until 11pm or 12am, but once he's down, he only gets up for feedings.  Which sometimes now are 5 hours apart!  I fed him last night at 9:45pm and he was asleep by 10:45pm... he didn't get up until 2:45am for the next one!  And then 6:15am after that.  Not too shabby kiddo!  Both Doug and I are still pretty tired though.  He naps off and on for me throughout the day (he's napping right now - otherwise this post wouldn't be getting written).  Yesterday he was really content and awake most of the day.  Today he was gassier and had to poop (twice) so he was a bit crankier.  When is Doug getting home again?  :-)

He's too stinkin' cute!!!

3 weeks!

I have been very lazy in updating the blog... well, maybe not lazy.  Maybe just insanely busy with the little man!  :-)

The last two weeks home have been both busy and slow.  Busy in the sense that there is always something that has to be done but slow in the sense that I'm not on the go like I usually am.  As much as I love him, it is hard for me to be home all day by myself with him.  Mommy loves it when Daddy comes home!  :-)

So Colin was born at 5lbs 6oz.  When he was discharged from the hospital at 7 days old, he weighed 5lbs 10oz.  Due to his small size, we had to wake him up every 3-4 hours to feed him to make sure he was gaining weight... a home nurse came to visit us on day 8 and said that he would probably have to continue this until he was about 6.5lbs.  His first pediatrician visit at 11 days old, he was up to 5lbs 13oz.  He went back for a weight check at 18 days old and was a whopping 6lbs 9oz!  The kid is eating like a champ.  The doctor said he likes them to gain about 25 grams a day... Colin was doing 45 grams.  Yay!  Which means we can let him tell us when he's hungry.  Which is still every 3 hours... but at least we don't have to set the alarm anymore :-)

Figured it was time to post more pictures too!

Colin at 1 week

Colin at 2 weeks 3 days

And this is him at 3 weeks :-)

 

He is just getting bigger each day :-)  He is a good sleeper at night.  We try to feed him his 10pm bottle (or whatever time it ends up being...) in his room and then put him in bed.  He sleeps for 3 hours and then wakes up and wants to be fed again but goes back down!  Knock on wood... so far so good.  He's awake a little bit during the day but usually still sleeps a lot! 

Daddy is great with Colin.  He definitely helps keep me sane!  He does feedings, dirty diapers, and just snuggles with him.  I love them! 

Colin had his first "bath" last week too.  We are still waiting for his umbilical cord to fall off so he can't have a real bath yet... it looks like it will fall off soon. 

And a baby is born...

As I think all of you know by now, little Colin Douglas was born on Monday 5/2/11 weighing in at 5lbs 6oz and 18in long.  My water broke at 12:15am on that Monday while I was passed out sleeping.  Colin decided he was a little cramped and wanted out!  I had Braxton Hicks contractions all weekend but nothing consistent so I didn't even think twice about them.  After my water broke, I woke up Doug and off to the hospital we went.  Didn't even think to call the doctor - just headed out the door!

I had some mild contractions on the ride to the hospital.  Not even really anything to note.  We got there around 1am and was in a room by 2am.  I was only 1-2cm dilated but 75% effaced. From 2am to 5am, Doug and I walked the halls and I made it through the contractions pretty well.  They were starting to get more intense, so I asked for some drugs.

I didn’t get the drugs (Nubane in my IV) until 5:45am… oy.  And I was still only 2cm.  It took the edge off a little, but I was still contracting every 2 minutes and was still having a ton of pain.  Colin even got the hiccups during all this.  We could hear them on the fetal monitor!  I asked for my epidural around 7:30am and the anesthesiologist was there around 7:45am to start it.  Because of my spinal fusion, it took him 5 tries and 25 minutes to get it in.  But at least he got it to work!

No one checked me for any further dilation before giving me the epidural.  While the anesthesiologist was trying to get the needle in, the contractions were super strong and painful.  I was crying and sort of screaming… trying to keep it down but it hurt a ton.  I barely even felt the epidural due to the pain of the contractions.  As I’m still sitting on the side of the bed and he’s still trying to get the needle in, I told them I felt like I had to push and they told me not to.  Ugh, really!?!?  C’mon!  Well, I pushed anyway because I just couldn’t stop it.  Colin was coming!

Finally, he had the needle in place and taped me up super fast.  The nurse had me lay back in the bed.  The contractions were strong but the epidural had kicked in so I just felt a lot of pressure – I was numb down to my toes :-)  The doctor checked me and said I was 10cm dilated!!!  So I went from 2cm to 10cm in 2 hours… see - I told them I had to push :-)  So Doug grabbed one leg, the nurse grabbed the other, and out came Colin 15 minutes later.  Kicking and screaming!

Since he was a late term premature baby (delivered prior to 37 weeks at 36w5d), he had to stay in the special care unit for 24 hours to get checked out.  It was then determined that he possibly had pneumonia, which was confirmed day two via a second chest x-ray.  That meant he had to take IV antibiotics and earned himself 7 days in the special care unit.  He was hooked up to oxygen since his breathing was super fast (due to the pneumonia).  He was also under a warmer to keep his body temp up.  He didn’t (and still doesn’t) have a lot of body fat to keep himself warm.  He’ll get there – maybe he’ll be a linebacker someday :-)

I was discharged on Wednesday and was glad to be home.  Unfortunately, it was without Colin.  But I spent every day with him, all day, so he knew I was close :-)  Doug went back to work for Thursday and Friday so he could spend more time at home once Colin was discharged too.  I was finally able to feed him his bottles beginning on day 4 (Thursday).  He was still hooked up to all sorts of sensors for his breathing, heart rate, and temp so it was hard to hold him.  But I enjoyed every chance I got!  On day 5 (Friday) he developed a mild case of jaundice and had to be under special lights.  Poor little guy… just couldn’t catch a break.  Luckily the jaundice cleared up and he came out from the lights less than 24 hours later.

Finally, Colin finished his antibiotics and was able to stay off his oxygen for 24 hours, stay off his warmer for 24 hours, and maintain his breathing rate in the 30-60 breaths a minute range.  That only meant one thing – HE COULD COME HOME!!!  :-)  He was discharged Monday at a week old.  I was definitely scared coming home though… he had been on all those monitors for so long and now he was coming home where we didn’t know if he was hot, cold, breathing fast or slow.  Just had to trust that they wouldn’t have released him if he wasn’t healthy.  And so the next phase of our lives begins... :-)