Ten for July

10.  This month has definitely been a month of phone calls.  With my family spread all over the country, it can be hard to actually find time to talk to them on the phone.  But, with me not at work during the day, it's opened up a lot more options.  I've appreciated being able to stay close to my family over the phone while they are so far away.  It's really made it feel like they've been part of Calvin's early life--and my early life as a mom.

9.  This month we started taking family walks.  The dogs have learned to be wary of the stroller but do really well walking with it.  Calvin seems to enjoy the outdoor experience, too, on pleasant evenings.  Unfortunately, there haven't been enough pleasant evenings as far as we're concerned.  We have substituted the family walk with hanging out on the porch swing during the rain while the dogs stay on the lookout for stray cats.  Thankfully, they are well behaved enough to stay on the porch even if one passes by us.

8.  My favorite errand of the week is still shopping at Publix.  It's probably become even more of an obsession now, though.  We usually make a point to go during the day when the store is a little calmer.  Calvin is always in his Moby Wrap and draws attention from the cute older women and couples shopping, too.  The butcher/fish man has come to recognize us, and has had conversations with us about the carrier.  I've also enjoyed the menu planning and list making leading up to the trip as it's pretty fun to eat without pregnancy restrictions anymore.

7.  Calvin and I survived having a cold this month.  While it absolutely broke my heart to see him with the sniffles (and made me almost cry every time I had to use a nasal bulb), it was actually a great learning experience for me.  I'm grateful that the first time he was "sick" was something pretty minor.  I also feel like I'll be much more able to handle it the next time he is sick.  Plus, I loved all the extra love and snuggles from my little man.

6.  I've had a lot of time to really fall in love with my Kindle this month.  Middle of the night feeding sessions, Devin's late nights at work, and all of Calvin's naps I held him through have given me plenty of reading time.  Devin gave it to me for mother's day for those very reasons, and it's been great!  So far, I haven't bought a single book but am loving all the free ones to which it has given me access.  I've read through quite a few this month, have two currently going, and have many more in the queue for later.

5.  While we prefer to do errands together as much as possible, I've become quite confident in managing and enjoying outings on my own with Calvin.  Devin had to work a couple Sundays, so I took Calvin to church by myself twice.  Also, we've done several shopping trips with just the two of us.  Depending on where we are shopping, I either use the Moby Wrap or the stroller, and it's gone pretty well.  So far, I've been able to hold off meltdowns from happening in the car, but a couple times he's been pretty unhappy for the last part of the drive home.

4.  We made some pretty amazing foods over the month of July.  Our short list of new foods include salmon quesadillas, homemade salsa, baked chicken & potatoes, breakfast burritos, (a better) banana bread, chocolate covered bacon, and cheesy bacon croquettes. We've thankfully been able to still find time to cook together, although much of the cooking still falls to Devin.  I have made a couple meals on my own, too.  Also, we've eaten a lot of sandwiches this month to make up for nine months without lunch meat.  It's been wonderful!

3.  This month was Devin's Emergency Medicine rotation.  This is the specialty he's declared and has wanted to do for years.  So, it was nice that he finally got to get in there and do it.  As we expected, he fell even more in love with it as the month went on.  Not all of it was glamorous (lancing hemorrhoids, anyone?), but he did pretty awesome with it all and made a pretty good impression on the residents and attendings.  He powered through some pretty crazy schedules and dealt with a lot of sleep deprivation like a rock star, too.  Now, it's on to board prep and multiple tests for the next month!

2.  I love that I'm no longer truly "postpartum."  It's kind of nice to feel like just myself again.  While I still have a couple pounds left I'd like to loose, I'm back to a normal pre-pregnancy weight for myself.  I've also packed away the maternity clothes and fit into most of my regular clothes again.  I'm able to exercise once more as well.  Of course, I'm still dealing with a healing tailbone, but that could take quite a while longer to be 100% normal.  For 6-ish weeks out, though, I'm feeling pretty darn good!

1.  The best part of this month has definitely been enjoying our Calvin.  He really is just about the best baby anyone could want.  He's gotten into much more of a routine these days and is growing in leaps and bounds both physically and personality wise.  Lately, my heart has been melting from his happy little smiles he saves for us.  Calvin also started making spit bubbles a couple days ago which has officially been labeled "one of the cutest things ever."  Eating, sleeping, and pooping are still going well making up 80% or more of every day.  It's amazing how much he is his own little person already, though.  I'm loving falling more and more in love with him every single day!

One Month

What a month this has been!  It's really, really hard to believe that Calvin is now 30 days old.  I feel like I blinked and his first month of life had ended.  If I don't record a few details now, I'm afraid I may forget them altogether.  So, this post is just as much for my sake as it is for anyone else.

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One month and a day ago, I started to feel a shift in my contractions around lunchtime. They were different from the prodromal contractions that had been going on for weeks. I'd had a couple things scheduled for that day that my midwife had flat out told me she didn't think I'd make it to unless I planned to take a baby with me. Thankfully, I got them all taken care of while trying to ignore my contractions. I slept somewhat fitfully for a couple hours that night, finally giving up around 3 am. I woke Devin up around 5 am with my contractions getting pretty intense. I insisted he go into work for the morning, though, as I felt things could move very slowly and didn't want to waste any of his time off.

Throughout the morning, my contractions intensified a great deal. I was just trying to make it until Devin would be done at noon. The doctor he was with, though, found out what was going on and insisted he leave immediately shortly after 11 am. I will be forever grateful to her. Devin arrived how to find me attempting to get ready to go to the hospital. He started timing my contractions to find out that they were about 3 minutes apart lasting for a minute and a half. Between them, he helped my get ready, loaded the car, and got the house ready to leave the dogs alone.

When we arrived at the hospital, I insisted on walking up to labor and delivery as the thought of sitting in a wheelchair seemed unbearable. So, no one quite took me seriously when I arrived. After being in a room for several minutes while a nurse was asking questions about my family history and putting off our pleas for someone to check me, I suddenly felt the need to push. This hurried things up exponentially. The nurse checked me and went running out of the room. She returned with two residents who also checked me and went running. When the attending came in, he gave me the option of breaking my water immediately or trying to hold off for fluids and medication although I was completely dilated and effaced. I chose option one. I surprised everyone getting him out within 4 contractions while keeping a pretty good sense of humor between them.  He was born only a little over an hour after the time we arrived at the hospital.

I will always remember hearing Devin tell me we had a boy as he was getting in there to cut the cord.  The first thing I noticed (besides his hair) was his size.  There are some pretty tall genes on my side of the family, but we had been expecting a baby around eight pounds.  Calvin was 9 lbs 5 oz and 21 inches long.  The time spent in the hospital with him was pretty wonderful.  We both received our wristbands at the same time as they hadn't even had time to admit me before he was born.  I also got to hold him for the first hour and a half of his life.  We had many visitors and lots of good food brought in.  Calvin barely slept that first night but was an awesome breast feeder from the start.  For that whole hospital stay as well as the first couple days home, Devin changed every single dirty diaper.

As wonderful as the hospital staff were, I was pretty ready to get home.  We were approved for discharge the day after he was born.  When we arrived home, Blue and Moose got the chance to meet him.  They were curious and a little apprehensive at first.  Now, they are nothing but wonderful.  Those first few days were great to get settle in, enjoy foods that had been banned, and venture out once to go to see the pediatrician and meet a few of our coworkers.

Over the past few weeks, we have settled in quite nicely as a family.  Calvin continues to be a "stay up late" kid like he was in the womb.  Predictably, he was super active around bedtime.  Now, he rarely is down for the night before midnight and almost never before 11.  But, he does sleep pretty well once he's down usually only waking up twice to top off his belly quickly.  He is sleeping in the bassinet next to our bed at night, but naps can happen just about anywhere.  Slowly, he has increased his amount of awake time during the day to where he typically has at least one awake period at least two hours long.

As far as eating goes, Calvin is definitely a champ.  Four days after birth, he had only lost less than 5% of his birth weight.  By two weeks and four days, he'd not only gain that all back but had gained a pound and a half above his birth weight!  Honestly, we have almost no schedule as far as eating goes.  His is pretty much completely an "on demand" nurser.  Usually, he eats every two hours although it can vary widely.  He tends to nurse a lot longer just before bed and shorter during the night reliably, though.  His dirty diapers have thankfully decreased over the past month.  We can almost predict when he'll have his dirtiest diapers and can count on his nighttime ones only being peed, which is great.

As for milestones, Calvin's cord fell off at day six--his original estimated due date.  He has his first tub bath two days later.  For my birthday, we went to Athens for the weekend.  This was his first time going out to eat.  He started grabbing things between two and three weeks old.  Between three and four weeks, his smiles started to become deliberate and he began following my face with his eyes.

At this point, Calvin is a pretty laid back kid.  He is not easily ruffled and is generally pretty pleasant.  He is happiest when being held, although he is liking his swing more and more.  He typically likes being in his car seat--especially if he's just eaten.  He is also very happy when being worn in his moby wrap.  The first couple weeks he liked his bouncy seat a good bit, although that's fading.  Calvin loves to rock in the rocking chair and generally likes when we sing to him.  He likes to sleep with his feet tucked up and his arms free and by his face, so we've been doing a half swaddle since leaving the hospital.  He can be calmed by the sound of a vacuum or hair dryer.  At first, he didn't like feeling wet dog noses although this is bothering him much less.

When I look back through all these pictures, I am amazed to see the changes that have happened.  I still see Calvin as such a small little guy, but I have to realize that he has gotten bigger and bigger.  The first time I realized he'd outgrown an article of clothing was bittersweet.  Now, I'm already having to pull items from his drawers almost daily.  I feel afraid to blink sometimes because he is changing so quick.  Every day he is cuter and more wonderful.  But, I am already a little nostalgic for the tiny(ish) baby he started as one month ago.  But, I'm also so very, very excited to keep watching the wonderful little person he is becoming every day!

Trading Spaces

These photos were taken about 15 minutes apart.

If you added button down shirts and some home improvement, it'd be just like the show...sort of...

5 + 5 = 1 Awesome 4th

We've had five years together.

There are now five of us.

I find that pretty awesome.

Happy Fourth of July!

Four Three Two One

p.s.  Happy Birthday Mom and Nicki!