Baby James is 2 months old

It's amazing how time flies by. James used to be a little 8 pound baby with no neck or body control, limited vision, and a propensity for pooping all.the.time. He still poops all the time, but he has grown so much. His personality is starting to show through. He's impatient and stubborn like his mommy and curious like his daddy. He loves to be held, rocked, and patted, and hates being put in the car seat-but loves car rides. He is now 12 pounds, 6.6 ounces (as of July 2), 23 inches long, tracks objects with his eyes much better, his fine motor control skills are improving every day, and he is smiling. He sleeps through air shows, fireworks, and shattering glass, but wakes up if I cough. He loves blowing spit bubbles and having his chin and cheeks tickled. Our little boy is already turning into a little man! He is in the 84th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. He is all cheeks and chin and has almost no neck. During bath time we occasionally see it, but Matt says it's an optical illusion.

Happy 2 month birthday, buddy!

Hangin' with the ape.

He is sleeping better and going 4-6 hours between feedings at night. During the day he takes naps, and he is much less fussy thanks to Zantac. His reflux was causing him a lot of discomfort, so I'm glad we were able to find something to help him. We tried gripe water (helps with hiccups...sometimes), gas drops (did nothing for him), thickening the milk in a bottle with rice cereal and a smidgen of formula (didn't work, and the latter gave him a diaper rash) and a variety of positions for feeding, burping, and sleeping. We're finally starting to get the hang of this whole "parenting" thing and getting into a routine.  Sort of. Oh, and we're getting peed on during diaper changes less often (a cloth diaper over his nether-regions while doing a diaper change=best idea ever from my friend Sherri!). The thought of going out with him in public is still a little intimidating, but it gets easier every time.

It's been a challenging past 5 weeks (sorry it's been so long since I posted!). Besides figuring out how to make James more comfortable because of his gas and reflux issues, I've been having issues with thrush and then mastitis, and needed to be hospitalized. That was incredibly hard, to be very ill and be away from James. Luckily my mom was here to take care of the baby so I could focus on healing. My c-section incision is finally mostly healed, too. Things are looking up! We are so very blessed to have a wonderful support system. Our friends and family are just awesome. You know who you are. :)

We had professional photographs taken by Jayson and Rachael photography taken when he was one month old. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Next Sunday, the 14th, James will be baptized. It's very special for us because it will take place at the church Matt and I were married in, Providence Forge Presbyterian Church in New Kent. It's also my birthday, and I couldn't ask for a better present.

Here are a few pictures from the past month (ok, more than a few...it's just so hard to pick the best!)

I just love this. NWU galore!

Right before his first air show on the beach (which he slept through). 

The boys :)

Happy 1 Month, Sweet Baby James!

James and Mr. Snuggles!! 

Budda Belly!

Big brother is watching...

Tummy time!

Auntie Alissa came for a visit in early June!

Daddy and baby cuddle time in bed

Grandma cuddles

Have you heard? The bird's the word! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WNrx2jq184 for the reference)

Mommy cuddle time

Baby Jamesasaurus smiling!

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." (and on the back: "Mischief managed") Love this onesie from my friend and fellow Harry Potter-phile Ashley!

Happy Fourth!

He has this expression quite often.

We call this his astronaut pose (taken July 6 by Aunt Kitty)

"I'm sorry sir...but the prognosis...it's not good." (I. love. this. bib. He's a little respiratory therapist!)

Katie also got me an absolutely beautiful and sentimental necklace for my birthday:

It's an emerald (James' birth stone) and a hammered sterling silver disc with his name on it. And a pearl, because I love pearls. I love mommy jewelry!

Hopefully we will be posting more now that we're getting into some sort of a routine and getting the hang of being a mommy and daddy. Thanks for reading! 

James has arrived!

Has it really been 3 weeks since the last blog post? Oh my goodness, how time flies! The past 16 days have been a whirlwind of love, happiness, and sleep deprivation. Oh, and lots of poop.

James Eric Maclauchlan was born on Tuesday, May 7, at 0855. He weighed 8 pounds, 9 ounces and was 21 inches long. My c-section was textbook and James got a 5 minute apgar score of 9-nice and healthy!

They took me back around 7:00 am, and took my vitals, checked James' vitals, and had a few doctors and nurses come in to make me sign a bunch of paperwork and drink a really gross antiacid thing that tasted like rotten tequila (that's how I envision it, anyway). They wheeled me back to the OR and gave me a spinal, got me situated on the bed, then brought Matt back. After he was born and they did the apgar scores, Matt laid him next to my head so I could nuzzle and kiss him. He was very alert! He only cried when they stretched his legs out to measure his length. He looked exactly like his dad and Matt's dad. He started peeing before he was completely out of me. They had to make my incision longer than normal because of his position. Silly baby!

I'm really glad they had a narcotic in the IV I was hooked up to because having my arms strapped down was a little intense. I wasn't able to hold James until about two and a half hours after he was born because I was in recovery and he was in the observation nursery. It took a bit longer for the anesthesia to wear off than usual, and they gave me Benadryl because the narcotic in the IV made me very itchy.

Once I was out of recovery and he was out of the observation nursery, we were able to have some skin-to-skin bonding time. Holding him for the first time was just...beyond incredible. The love a parent has for their child is just beyond compare. The other day I went to a doctor's appointment by myself and I cried because I missed James so much. He's my little man! Seeing my incredible husband and perfect little son together is just heaven.

<3

Matt posted this on facebook and said: "I thought seeing my wife walk down the aisle on our wedding day was the most beautiful sight I would ever see. Boy, was I wrong..." :) (Needless to say, that made me cry. So sweet.)

I have had some complications from my c-section but am able to manage without any pain medicines, and it's finally starting to heal. Yay! I'm very lucky that James is a great eater. He still doesn't understand the difference between night and day, but we're working on that. :)

Here are some more pictures of our handsome little man:

Some daddy and baby tummy time!

Little hand. <3

Grandma!

James' going home outfit. Cute-a-saures Rex. :)

High five!

That's grandpa's pinky he's holding. 

Uncle Keith time!

More Uncle Keith time. 

One of my favorite pictures. My man in uniform and my precious little boy. So much love!

Grandpa and Nonnie in the hospital. :)

Our first family walk together.

Aunt Dee visited us in the hospital!

Uncle Brian and Aunt Kitty! <3 

Danielle and James in the hospital. :)

Silly faces!

Hopefully I'll be able to update the blog a bit more regularly once we get into a routine. Until then, much love!

38 Weeks, 1 Day

This will probably be the last blog post until James is born-only six days to go! Six. Days. Oh my goodness. Matt and I are so excited! We haven't been sleeping very well...but that isn't going to change anytime soon! It's so amazing to think that in less than a week we'll be holding our son, our precious little baby boy, our greatest blessing...in our arms. EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! It's also May 1 today-the month that he will be born!

James is nice and healthy and moving like crazy tonight. He is moving like I had loads of caffeine and sugar, but all I had was pizza and water. Hmmm. We've had a couple of appointments this week. I had a pre-op appointment with an OB (not my regular OB) who went over the c-section surgery and answered the list of questions I had, then I met with a nurse to go over paperwork, then I had an OB appointment, then I met with an anesthesiologist regarding the c-section. Goodness gracious! I also had another nonstress test yesterday. My OB appointment went well. James's heart rate was in the 140's and 150's (normal for him, and in the normal range), my blood pressure was good, and for the first time this pregnancy, I went over my pre-pregnant weight. Eeek! I gained 6 pounds in 11 days. I have been very hungry, but haven't eaten *that* much! Good thing I won't be pregnant for very much longer at that rate. James is still in the strange breech position (no surprise there).

I feel much more emotionally and mentally prepared for the c-section now that I've been able to talk with the OB's about the procedure and what to expect. I am lucky to have time to process my emotions now, unlike some women that need a c-section after laboring for days, or that need an emergency c-section.

Baby websites James is around 6.8 pounds this week. Nah. But he probably is around their estimate of 19.5 inches or so.

He weighs about the same as a pumpkin:

This is especially appropriate because Matt loves anything pumpkin (pie, cupcakes, coffee creamer, candles....) and it's his birthday week! His birthday is on May 4. Happy birthday, sweetheart! You're the best husband and dad a gal could ask for. :) 

James is as long as a leek:

At 39 weeks (next Tuesday), James will be about the size of a watermelon:

This is what he feels like right now. Huge and heavy. But not green.

It's getting cramped in there.

He is ready for life outside the womb! All of his organs are developed. At this point, he's just hanging out and waiting. His skin is creating new layers and he is losing some of the vernix coating and the downy hairs that kept him warm a few weeks ago. 

I have one nonstress test and blood work to do on Friday morning, am getting a growth scan/ultrasound done Monday, and we're having a baby Tuesday! It will be interesting to see how big they estimate James's weight to be and how much he actually weighs the following day. I estimate his weight to be around 28 pounds, based on how my pelvis and belly feel, but I think I might be going over just a tad.

My mom is flying in Sunday and that also marks Matt's last day at work before his baby daddy leave starts. Yay!

Baby pictures to come soon. :) But for now, here's Sirius putting his paw on my belly (right where James's head is). James did not like it, but it was still adorable.

37 Weeks-Full Term (and C-Section scheduled)!

We are full term today, YAY! Good job, James. <3 If he were born today, his lungs would be developed enough to support himself...but some 34 weekers are born that way. Regardless, 37 weeks is a great milestone!

We had a semi-big day today. We had the ECV done, and it wasn't successful. James is just happy right where he is! We got to the hospital around 7:30 and they had me hooked up to the monitors by 8:10, and James's heart rate and my vitals were great. He was wiggly, but cooperated. Then we waited. And waited some more. And then (surprise!) had some more time to pass by waiting. They had to do an emergency c-section on another patient, and that was, of course, a higher priority than my ECV. My friend Beth asked if there was any update and I said that the doctor is doing an emergency c-section. I forgot to mention that it was on someone else, oops!

The team of nurses and doctors were awesome! There was only one nurse that was a grumpy gill. As my OB had previously mentioned, some doctors like to use an epidural during an ECV, and others do not. The doctor that was on staff today does not like using epidurals for an ECV because then the mother's gauge of pain is thrown off-and if it's incredibly painful for the mom, they need to know that because they don't want to hurt baby. The success rate is only 50/50 for ECV's, and even though the higher fluid levels can make it easier to move a baby, it also means that the baby is more likely to not stay head down, so our chances weren't very high to begin with. The procedure was uncomfortable and was quite painful, but I am glad that we tried. I did laugh at first because it was ticklish, then the pain overrode the tickling. They said they had never had someone laugh during the procedure...but I also tend to giggle during ultrasounds. It gets awkward. They were able to move his legs, but his head wouldn't move very much. Once they left the room, the moved right back into the position that he was in when we started. Ha! I guess he found a comfortable spot. There is a slight chance he will move head-down by himself, but it's not very likely, and even if he did move head down, he'd probably go head-up again anyway because of the higher fluid levels.

He's also in an odd position-he's sort of sideways, but he's face up with his legs underneath him. I can't figure it out, either. A baby is in distress when the heart rate drops, but his heart rate rose because he was moving and wiggling. I think he might have liked it, silly boy. They monitored us for two hours after the attempted ECV and we were both doing well. My pulse was high, but that was because of a uterine relaxant they gave me. It felt like I had an overly caffeinated beverage. We left the hospital around 2:30pm, got some food and water (by that point I had been fasting for about 18 hours...I was pretty cranky-sorry, Matt!), came home, and slept. I didn't sleep well last night because I was anxious and had horrible heartburn, so it was nice to take a nap. My belly is sore, like someone punched it, and I was instructed to take Tylenol. It seems to be helping. I'm so glad Matt was able to be with me today! He only has two more shifts on the night shift, then he switches back to days. Woohoo! He was such a sweetheart, stroking my hair and holding my hand during the procedure. I love being married to my best friend. :) James is so lucky to have him as his daddy, he doesn't even know!

So, in summary, I am scheduled to have a c-section on Tuesday, May 7 in the morning. Yay! I only have 3 more nonstress tests, 1 OB appointment, 1 growth scan, and a pre-op appointment left before we get to meet our baby boy! My mom is flying up May 5. I can't wait to see her. :)

Babies typically gain half a pound a week during the last 4 weeks, so James is somewhere around 8 pounds right now based on the ultrasound 8 days ago. According to baby websites, he's either 6 1/3 pounds (baby center) or 6.2-9.2 pounds (thebump)...but The Bump has that range for each week from now until 40 weeks. He's probably around 19-20 inches. It feels like he's six feet tall already. Those legs sure can kick!

James is the size of a winter melon or the length of a stalk of swiss chard (ew).

 

He is continuing to add layers of fat (hence the 1/2 pound weight gain) and his lungs are continuing to develop. His head diameter is over 3.5 inches. Oh my goodness, he's getting so big.

Size=accurate(ish). Position=nowhere close.

I have been working on some sewing projects for James, including bow ties, bibs, burp cloths, and a swaddle wrap.

  
Sewing has been a way to keep my mind busy so I don't freak out about the fact that I'm going to be a mom in 2 weeks. I am so excited, but nervous, too. We are just so ridiculously blessed!

Let's add some humor to our day!

Not James's exact position, but this sums it up. ;)

Have a great week! :)