40/1, 2, & 3 Weeks

Ok, I am so far behind I am going to combine the weekly posts into one so I can hopefully get caught up.

First, here's my 40 week photo:

I thought it'd be fun to take one last picture in the blue tank to serve as kind of an 'ending' to the weekly pictures. It and my jeans were definitely a lot looser than the last time I had them on, lol!  :)

Now, onto the little guy. I plan to do a weekly picture for the first 4 weeks and then I'll do monthly ones.

1 Week:

We spent most of the first week in the hospital (he was born on Thursday, July 21st and we didn't go home until Monday, July 25th). He lost almost a pound during our hospital stay, so when we got to go home he was down to 7lbs 7oz. The pediatrician wanted us to come by for a weight check 2 days later on Wednesday. He was already up to 7lbs 14 oz, so they weren't worried about if he was getting enough to eat, lol!

The first few nights were really tough. I was exhausted still from the c-section, and I was also the only one who could feed him. My mom stayed the first night we were home and I knew she needed to get her rest, so I was also trying to keep Wyndon as quiet as possible so he didn't disturb her or Wyatt too much. I just remember being so tired/exhausted/drained that I'd fall asleep crying (I wasn't sad or upset or anything, that's just the way I release it, I guess).  After a couple of days and nights, I kinda started figuring out his mannerisms and could soothe him better. He was on a pretty good eating schedule - eating every 3 hours. It takes him about an hour to eat (including diaper change, burping, and of course some falling asleep). So, I was getting 2 hours of sleep or less each stretch. Even though that first week was really tough, it was worth it. I am SO in love with our little guy!

2 Weeks: 

The second week went a little better than the first, but I was still feeling pretty sleep deprived. I borrowed a pump from my aunt, but we were waiting on the new tubing to come in, so we bought a little manual pump. It took FOREVER to get about 1.5 ounces! I remember one night Wyatt let me sleep & he fed Wyndon that little bit that I pumped. I felt soooo much better after that little extra sleep! But I definitely needed to feed Wyndon or pump when I woke up, lol! I wanted to see how much he weighed, so I weighed myself and then weighed again holding Wyndon. He was up to 8.8lbs! I felt like I was starting to kinda get the hang of this whole 'mom' stuff, but still have a lot to figure out. All I know is that I love this little guy more and more each day! I look at him and can't believe he is mine or that I am a mom! It seems so weird to me to have a little guy that is completely dependant on me. I remember dreaming about being a mom when I was a little girl and what I thought it'd be like. Although it is tough at times and I am so tired all the time, it is soooo worth it. I love being a mom!

3 Weeks:

And here are a few more (just cause he's so cute!)

I can't believe Wyndon is already 3 weeks! I feel like I'm getting to know him a lot better and have a better idea of what is wrong when he starts crying. There are still times that I have no idea what is wrong with him and I'm pretty sure I'll never always know just what he is wanting/needing. He had his first doctor's appointment on Thursday, August 11th. His weight was 9lbs 2.5oz. and his length was 21 inches. The doctor said most babies gain about an ounce a day, so he actually gained more than that! He is definitely good at eating! During the day, he eats about every 3 hours (sometimes he is ready to eat after about 2-2 1/2 hours). At night, he'll usually go 4 hours after his last evening feeding and then 3 hours. A couple of nights, he went 4 hours between both feedings, so I actually got 2 stretches of 3 hours of sleep. It's amazing how much better that 1 extra hour made me feel! Hopefully he'll start doing that more often, lol! If anyone has any recommendations on how to get him to sleep longer at night, I'd be glad to hear them. I did read Babywise, but I need to reread it. I know that I'm going to be going back to work in a couple of weeks, and I definitely need to be able to get more sleep.

There were a couple of 'firsts' for Wyndon this week. He had his first visit to Arkansas. We went over on Friday night and he had his first backseat feeding, lol! It took us a little longer than planned to get gone after I fed him, so he was hungry by the time we got into the edge of Tontitown. So, we pulled over at a gas station and I climbed in the backseat. I fed him about half of what I normally would and then continued on to my parents house. This picture is 4 generations:

My dad, me, my grandmother, and Wyndon

Saturday morning we went and had some newborn pictures taken. They turned out sooo good! Here are a few of my favorites:

Thanks Becke', we LOVE them!

We came back home Saturday night to no electricity. We were locked out of our house and were fortunate enough to be able to go stay with a couple from church. Then, Wyndon went to church for the first time on Sunday, August 7th. We planned to go to Sunday School and church, but we didn't make it on time for Sunday School. Note to self: it takes A LOT longer to get around with a baby, lol! I've managed to shorten my getting ready process, but now I've got another person to get ready.

As for me, I'm doing pretty good. My outer incision is healing nicely and doesn't really hurt, but my inner incisions are still pretty sore and I can tell when I've 'overdone it'. I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight at about 2 1/2 weeks! I am still a slightly different shape though, lol. Each week, I've had a little more energy and felt like doing a little more (along with figuring out how to do stuff while taking care of Wyndon). It's sad that I only have 2 weeks left before I have to go back to work :( We had someone lined up to take care of Wyndon during the day, but her & her husband have been chosen to adopt a baby. We are so happy and excited for them! So, she will watch him for September, but we'll need to find someone starting in October. If anyone knows of anyone, please let us know and pray with us that we can find someone so we don't have to go the daycare route.

Hopefully, I can stay on top of things a little better and it won't be so long until my next post. Sorry this one was so long... I hope everyone has a great rest of the week (tomorrow is Friday, yay!) and weekend!

Wyndon's Arrival

Sorry, this is a pretty long post - I tried to keep track of what happened when so that I could document all the details.

Last Wednesday started just like any other day. I got up and got myself around. I needed to go by my doctor's office to pick up some forms they filled out and then I was going to have lunch with an old friend. When I got in the car, I just felt more scrunched than normal and actually had to recline my seat some. As the day progressed, I just felt uncomfortable. We went to church like normal Wednesday night and then we went to Braum's with two other couples for ice cream. I called my mom on the way home and was telling her that I just felt uncomfortable. After we got home, I was changing and thought that maybe my water had broken. It wasn't a huge gush, but several smallish trickles. It was about 9:45. I called my mom to ask her about it and she didn't know. We decided that I should call the doctor. I called and left a message for the doctor on call and it turns out it was my doctor. She called me back about 10:20 and said that I should come in to be checked because that's the only way to know for sure.

I got myself ready to go and put my last minute items in my hospital bag. Meanwhile, Wyatt decided to clean the kitchen and straighten up the house just in case we stayed at the hospital. I wasn't in a huge rush to get there but I did start having contractions around 10. I gave Wyatt a hard time that I was going to have the baby at home, lol! Here's me right before we left:

We finally left for the hospital at about 11:30. We got a block away and Wyatt realized he left his phone. We turned around and came back to get it. We left the second time and got a few more blocks and couldn't remember if we put the garage door down. So, we turned around and came back again. It was down. So we headed for the hospital a third time!

On the way, we stopped at a QT for gas and Wyatt wanted to get a snack. We went a few miles down the road and I realized I had to go to the bathroom really bad and couldn't wait until we got to the hospital. We were coming up on a McDonald's so we decided to stop there. I was also going to get some fries while we were there since I knew I couldn't eat once we got to the hospital. Well, I got out and went up to the door and wouldn't-ya-know-it, the lobby closed at 11! There were several cars in the drive thru, but I had to go so bad I didn't want to wait in line for some fries (I was wishing I had later). So we went on down the road and stopped at the next QT we came to (which was only a little over a mile away from the hospital - but I really couldn't wait!) We finally arrived at the hospital at midnight and figured out where we were supposed to go.

They got me checked in and took me back to one of the Labor & Delivery Rooms. I put on the little gown and she checked me at 12:35 and I was already dilated to a 4 and 90%. She said my water hadn't broken but that they were going to keep me. They hooked me up to a monitor to measure my contractions and also the fetal monitor. I had decided that I would go as long as I could without any pain medication.

I started having pretty strong contractions and the nurse checked me again at 3:45. I was still at a 4, so I figured I was in for a long labor and decided to go ahead and get the epidural. I requested it at 4:15 and got it at 4:40. Talk about relief! It was so much better! The nurse came back to check me at 5 and my water broke right as she was checking me. I was now a 6-7. I was pretty happy to have progressed that much. Now it was time to rest a bit. This was all Wyatt had for a 'bed'

The next time I was checked was at 6:45 and I was still a 6-7. The shift change was at 7 and my new nurse's name was Libbie - I thought that was kinda cool. I noticed that I was starting to feel the contractions again in my back and abdomen around 7:45. I told the nurse that my epidural was wearing off and they gave me some more medicine at 8:05, but that didn't do anything. The anesthesiologist came in and repositioned the epidural at 9:50, which involved them pulling all the tape off my back and applying more tape. That didn't do anything to the pain either, so they came in and gave me a new epidural at 10:30, which once again involved pulling all the tape off and applying more. Luckily that new epidural lasted the remainder of the time. Needless to say, I'm pretty sure my back was completely hairless after them pulling all that tape off a total of 3 times! I remember saying I received a free back wax as they were pulling the tape off the last time.

The next time they checked me was at 12 and I was an 8. They checked me again at 2:10 and I was barely a 9. I was still barely a 9 at 3:30. At that point, the nurse was worried about Wyndon because his heart rate would drop with each contraction and she wasn't sure he'd do well once it was time to push/deliver him. Also, I wasn't progressing as quickly as I should have been. I was so ready to be done, tired of laying in the same position, and very, very HUNGRY! So, we made the call that it'd probably be best to do a c-section. We just had to wait on the doctor to come and check me out. She finally got there at 5:30. She could tell that he was pretty big because he was all the way up to my rib cage and agreed that a c-section would be best. They got everything ready and took me back. After they got me all prepped, they let Wyatt come in. Here's a pic of him in his scrubs:

After they made the initial cut, I realized I could feel what they were doing. Talk about some serious pain! It was indescribable! Wyndon was born at 6:05. They took him off to be cleaned and Wyatt went with them.

He was 8lbs 6oz and 20.5" long

I guess they gave me a shot of morphine right after that because the next thing I remember was waking up and them being done and getting ready to take me back to my room. I got back in the room at 7 and got to see & hold Wyndon shortly thereafter.

Wyatt had already told me that he had my eyelashes, chin, and toes. Then they moved me to a regular room at 9:15. I finally got to nurse him for the first time at 10:50. He knew exactly what to do, lol!

Wyatt and I were in love with our little guy immediately. Here are a few pictures from his first couple of days. I'm sure most of you have already seen all the pics on facebook. Enjoy :-)

I can't believe he's already 2 weeks old today! I have a 1 week post to do and now a 2 week post, so hopefully I can start getting caught up!