Family Photography

We were out in a beautiful historic area yesterday and took some family photos while we were there.

Alyssa is turning 7 (OMG) on Friday so it was good timing to get some photos of her.  The worst thing, we needed a 5th person to take some photos of all 4 of us together, but oh well...  Another time.

Officially Cloth Diapering!

I'm not super educated on cloth diapering and I'm very new to the whole thing - but I'm already wondering why more people don't do this!  It is, for the most part, simple.

Carter has been in cloth diapers, during the day, for 5 days now.

Here's his FIRST official cloth diaper (Sunbaby)

How cute is that!?!

First first day of wearing cloth diapers.

I wanted to try out as many brands/styles as I could to test them out.

We tried Sunbaby, Alva, FuzziBunz, Lil Joey, Kawaii, and a Flip

The Lil Joey was just to put on him before he grows much more (it's a newborn size).  I don't have any complaints about any of them yet.  Carter doesn't seem to mind them.  I have to say, it's going to take me awhile to get used to all the snapping, but it's doable.

We are still using disposables at night and while we are out.

I did my 1st load of cloth diaper laundry last night.

Again, really simple.

I went on YouTube and watched a few laundry routine videos, wrote down the one that worked for me, and put it in the laundry room so I didn't forget.  At some point I won't need it anymore, but for now, it's just a reminder.

I put my drying rack up in our bathtub and the diapers were dry by morning.

Inserts went into the dryer.

I stuffed all the diapers this morning and we are ready to go!

I really think in a week or two, it will all be second nature.  It wasn't gross and it wasn't a burden doing the extra load of laundry.  So far, I think I'm going to like cloth diapering. 

4 Weeks Old

I can't believe TODAY (May 16, 2013) my baby boy is already one month old.

Really!?

REALLY!?!

Things have just gone way too fast.  We've been so lucky that he's been a great eater and sleeper, with only a few days/times where he's been a challenge, that time really did fly by.  It's those tough times, where things seem to drag on, but we haven't had a whole lot of those.

I got to go out, by myself, for the first time with no kids on the 14th.  We had a quick girl's dinner at AppleBee's.  I also ran into the store to grab a few things while I was out.  All in all I was gone about 2 1/2 hours.

I did pump ALL that day to make a bottle for Carter to have while I was gone.

It took me all day to get 2 1/2 oz.  I told Steve to take a picture if he ended up using it, it was his first bottle after all...

Big sister giving Carter his first bottle

I almost burst into tears at the dinner table when this picture popped up on my phone.  It was a mix of emotions, proud to see my daughter being so good with her brother, sad I was missing out on the milestone, and kind of panicked that I wasn't there to feed him from the breast and that he had to have a bottle.  They did fine while I was away though and it was nice to get out of the house.

We had such a BUSY month with this little guy.  I can't believe we did so much, all while trying to adjust our lives around having a new member of the family:

Family staying with us, friends and family popping in and out, a vacation, Mother's Day, keeping up with Alyssa's activities, Steve getting a new position at work and adjusting to that, 2 doctor's appointments (with a 3rd tomorrow), and more...

We are so blessed to have a son.  I am looking forward to his 2nd month, but sad to see him growing up already.

Mother's Day

I got to celebrate my first Mother's Day as a mom of two this year!

What a busy Mother's Day it was though.

Alyssa was so sweet and made me a fruit salad and toast for breakfast, all by herself.

It took us forever to get out of the house, but once we did we headed to my grandmother's house, who lives an hour and a half away.

This is my Grandma's first great grandson and it was her first time meeting him.

How sweet!

Unfortunately, Carter wasn't the best burper the night before and had a rough afternoon.  He spit up a lot and was very restless.  It was sad to see him like that, and sad that he was not being the best baby while at my Grandma's house.

Luckily, he did sleep the way there and the way back.

Before going home we went to see Steve's mom, sister, and aunt and uncle for Mother's Day as well.  We ended up staying till 9pm, which was way too late.  Carter was feeling much better that evening though, and it made it easier for us to visit.

We didn't get home till 9:30pm.  There was nothing relaxing about this Mother's Day, but at least we got to see family and introduce Carter to so many people.  But after 4 hours of driving and being gone all day and night, we were exhausted!  We all fell asleep by 10:30pm.  Carter got up at 2:30am and nursed for 8 min, went back to sleep and didn't get up till 5am again.  So I think he was pretty wore out himself.

Mother's Day 2013

I can not tell you how fortunate I am to have my babies!  Not only that but also to have such a wonderful husband who always goes above and beyond.  Blessed and grateful.

Baby's Routine

I'm lucky in the fact that Carter has kind of made his own routine that happens to work for me and the family.  He's also only had a couple nights that were a little rough, but for the most part, he's not gotten his days and nights mixed up.

Here's a round about overview of our days/nigts:

10:30-11:30pm: Bedtime

2:00-3:00am: 1st night feeding

5:00-7:00am: 2nd night feeding

9:00am: Carter wakes up for the day

11:00am: 1st nap

2:00pm: He usually nurses so he's ready to go pick up big sister from school by 3pm

He'll usually take one good long nap between 3pm and 6pm 

then a shorter nap before 9pm

I pretty well let him decide when he wants to eat and sleep in the afternoon and evening and just go with the flow for the most part.

He's been a great baby just from the routine he's set for himself.  I'm getting some sleep at night which is the main thing.  I still hold him A LOT during the day, even when he is sleeping, so I don't get a whole lot done during the day, but I know that will get better.

At only 3 weeks and 2 days old, I couldn't ask for more, and I don't mind getting in these extra snuggles while he still lets me :)

40 Weeks and 4 Days of Pregnancy

This is what I worked towards for 9 months!

It wasn't easy getting a photo taken every 4 weeks because of not feeling well, lighting not being right, moving furniture out of the way, making sure I was put together, setting up the camera... etc.

BUT IT WAS SO WORTH IT!

I had very few photos of me pregnant with Alyssa, I'm so glad I have this progression to look back on.  And that last photo, makes me remember that all the hardships of pregnancy reap a blessing in the end.

Breastfeeding Update: 3 Weeks

I am now 3 weeks into exclusively breastfeeding our son.

I couldn't ask for it to be going any better.

I had hoped and prayed that this would be something I could do for him.  I was able to breastfeed our daughter, but only till she was 6 weeks old, when I had to return to work.  This baby, I really hoped I'd make it a lot longer then 6 weeks.

My short term goal:
6 MONTHS

I knew I was ABLE to breastfeed after having done it before, but the other 50% of successful breastfeeding is up to the baby.

When Carter was given to me after birth, I got to snuggle him for about 2 minutes before they had me try to nurse him.  I keep telling people he was like a "magnet."  He latched right on, so issue at all ever since.

He has a great latch, and from what the nurses told me, I have great nipples for nursing.  A great combo for successful breastfeeding.  Thank goodness!

Nursing in Public:

I've gotten brave, lol!

I didn't do this with my daughter.  If I needed to nurse, I did it in the car or in a closed off room.  This baby, I have a nursing cover, and I'm not afraid to use it.  I've used it at home when we have company, I've used it in the car when we were out and about, and I've even used it out shopping on a bench or sitting at a table that is convenient.  

Warming up to the idea of nursing in public and figuring out how to use my nursing cover.  Nursing in the car. 

Milk Supply:

I think I have just the right amount of milk for this little guy.  He has had some spit up issues, but nothing like my daughter.  I had a large over supply with her, which made it to be too much for her and uncomfortable for me.  With Carter, I'm rarely engorged.   My nipples have gotten a little sore here and there, he has extra strong suction when he is really hungry (FEED ME!).

I have been pumping a few morning a week.  I want to get a stock going in my freezer for when he goes to a babysitter.  I usually get 1-2 oz. after I feed him and then pump.

Nursing Schedule:

During the day he nurses anywhere from every 1.5-3 hours

At night he goes 2.5-4 hours

He nurses on average 8 min. on one side and 5 min. on the 2nd side

Sometimes he will hang out and comfort nurse and I'll let him stay there up to 10 min., but after that I know he's going to start having spit up issues.

A lot of times he will pop himself off when he is full though, I don't think he really is an over eater (yet).

After nursing, he is always a happy baby.  He will most of the time either fall asleep with a full belly or he gets into his "observation mode" where he is awake and looking around.

All in all, I've had a great experience this time around.  I love that I can have this bond with my son and it be a positive memory for me instead of a period in my life with a lot of challenges and frustration.   I only wish this would be every women's experience with breastfeeding.

Baby Update: Weeks 2 & 3

Carter's belly button stump fell off the 2nd week and he got to take his first real bath!

 I weighed him on our home scale and he'd gained 1 lb. 1 oz. in just 2 weeks!!

The doctor said I must be making "buttermilk."

He got his first ride in the Baby Bjorn

He got to meet Great Aunt Jamie and Uncle Larry

Carter's Grandpa came in to stay the weekend to meet Carter

First trip to the park and stroller ride

We also took a 4 day/3night vacation to use our timeshare.

Great Uncle Terry and Aunt Sue meeting Carter at the Outlet Mall

Steve and I got our first date WITHOUT kids on vacation while my mom babysat them.

We had ALL YOU CAN EAT CRAB LEGS - yum!

Saw this antique station wagon and had to get a photo of Carter in it

He also did a lot of watching sister swim. 

 He had his own swimming experience getting his bath on vacation in our giant jacuzzi tub with mommy.  He loved it!

And we hung out as a family, which was the best part of the whole vacation

TODAY Carter is 3 weeks old!!!

He's officially grown out of his newborn clothes.  He's just so long!

This is his first 0-3 month outfit, it's also the 1st thing I bought when we found out we were having a son.

It has a polar bear on it that says "bear hugs" with that cute bear hat!

I had ONE newborn diaper I accidently bought 2nd hand.  I knew we wouldn't be cloth diapering till his was bigger, so why I bought this one, I can't remember.  Since I had it, I had to at least try it on him!  1st time in a cloth diaper (then I took it back off, lol)!

And I got out his floor mat gym.  I think he will like it, eventually.  He looked at everything, but got a little overwhelmed after awhile.

It's been a wonderful first 3 weeks with this little guy.

Don't know what we did without him in our lives.

3 Weeks Postpartum

3 weeks already!

Current weight: 117

*3 lbs UNDER pre pregnancy weight*

As far as recovery goes, it's still going...

I don't remember still being this sore at this point after having my daughter.

I'm still wearing a thicker panty liner and am taking an ibuprophen here and there when I'm feeling like I need something for the irritation.  The worst part of this recovery, is are the hemroids.  I didn't think I'd need to Doculace, but it's almost a must now.  I can deal with the rest, but that part sucks.

Other then that I am getting some sleep and Carter is doing great.  Breastfeeding is going great too, I'll do separate updates on those subjects.