Family Pictures

Well, it took three weeks to coordinate, but we finally got everyone together to take family pictures. This is something my family hasn't done in a very long time. And now I remember why. After much debate and rescheduling, we settled on Sunday at 3pm. Everyone would meet at my parents house and we would take the pictures in front of the wood pile. It would look rustic, but not like a back drop.



Now, what to wear. My mom had bought my nephews matching sweaters to wear for their annual pictures at Sears, so we went with a color palate that would match that. Everyone was told to wear blue jeans and either a red, black, or white shirt. The black was for me, being only 3 1/2 months post baby, I need it to cover the jiggly parts.

Finally, it is time. Everyone has arrived, the Redskins are winning, time to get the pictures before the skins loose and ruin the moods of my brothers. We start out inside and take some pictures in front of the bay window. My mom has dragged out this horrible picture we took in the 90s and now we are trying to recreate it. It is a shame my younger brother weighs about 150 pounds more now than when we originally took it.



Next, we move on to our outdoor shots.  This actually goes remarkable well.  We took a variety of shots that included the whole family, each individual family, grandparents and grandkids, ect.  Emily was kind enough to take the picture for us and I don't think I can ever thank her enough.

 Alex did very well during the photo shoot, but by the end, he was unamused and wanted a nap.  I am happy to say that we not only got some great shots, but actually had enough to make books for my parents and siblings that included pictures of Alex and the family from 2009.  They made for great Christmas presents.

Circumcision

Wow, what a highly debated topic this is.  I had no idea that it would be so controversial for Matt and I to decide not to circumcise our child.  Everyone has an opinion and is more than happy to share it.

I left this decision up to Matt.  My only conditions were:
1. If we decided to have this done, it be done in a urologist office, not the hospital.
2. He was going to have to take him to have it done, I would not.

I prefered to not have our child cut, but felt like that was a decision that his father should make.  Matt did a ton a research, polled all of our friends, and finally decided not to do it.  This made me very happy. 

Breastfeeding

I never thought of myself as the kind of mom who would breast feed my child.  I alway found it to be a little creepy.  However, after attending my natural childbirth class and being around a bunch of people who planned on breastfeeding, I felt like I should at least give it a try.

From the begining, it was a challange.  Alex was in the NICU for a week being bottle feed, he had a tounge tie, that made it difficult for him to latch, and he just didn't seem interested. 

I pumped every two hours the first week he was in the NICU.  It took about 4 days for my milk to come in and once it did, boy did I know it.  We tried to get him to latch on towards to end of his stay in the NICU, however he would just get so upset, his breathing would get elevated again, and it was a little bit of a disaster.  Finally, the lactation consultants gave me this nipple shield that basically turned my boob into a bottle.  He took immediately to that and I thought we had solved our problem.

About a month into feeding him, I had noticed that my supply had gone down substancially, and I could not figure out why.  I told Matt about my concerns and he didn't think it was a problem. Well, one day I went out to the lactation center to get e new bra and found out that I was suppose to be pumping evertime I used the shield.  I had not know that and it caused my supply to dwindle.  Apparently, if you use the shield, there is not the direct stimulation needed to keep your supply going.  I immediately started pumping after each feeding and also drinking mother's milk, a tea that helps to promote milk production.

I continued to breastfeed Alex for another month.  The week right before I started back to work, I moved him over to only bottle feeding.  He still got breast milk, since I was pumping, just from a bottle.  I was much happier with this arrangement.  I had been so fustrated with the whole process, and I liked being able to see exactly what he was taking in at each feeding.

The kid on the block

Well, having a new baby is definately a challange.  Matt and I are very thankful that Alex is such a easy going and well behaved baby.  It doesn't change the fact that having a newborn is exhausting.  When Alex came home, he would wake up once a night to eat and that was great.  However, you are still only getting 3-4 hours of sleep at a time.  The first couple of nights, we were okay.  We even thought, "This isn't so bad."  But after about two weeks of never getting more than four hours of sleep at a time, we are now offically exhausted.

Doctors, Doctors, and more Doctors

We brought Alex home on a Monday, then had to take him to the Pediatrician on that Tuesday to be weighed in and have his vitals checked.  That appointment wasn't too bad, lots of questions to answer and some poking and prodding at the little man.

I also had to take him to and ENT to have his tongue tie corrected.  This was probably worse for me than for Alex.  I took my mom with me, and boy am I glad I did.  We got to the doctors office and the nurse was kind enough to let me nurse him before they started messing with him.  Then I had to hold him in my lap while they numbed and snipped the tissue that was attaching the tip of his tounge to his month.  Alex screamed and I cried while to procedure was happening.  It took no time really, and once it was over, Alex was fine.  I think I may be traumatized forever now though.  It is the worse thing to have to haold your baby while he screams and know there is nothing you can do.

He has now been to the pediatricians office about 10 times.  Most of the appointments were for well baby visits, but at least three have been because of his breathing.  He now has a nebulizer and is on singular once a day.  He is a very congested baby, and sometimes at night, he sound absolutely horrible.  His doctors say he will be that way for the duration of winter, but then it should get better.

NICU

Alex spent his first week of life in the St Francis NICU.  He was diagnosed with pneumonia and transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN).  TTN is basically rapis breathing.  He was breathing over 100 breaths per minute.  Anything above 60 is considered rapid.  He was not even allowed to eat until he was consistantly under 80 BPM.

The hardest part of giving birth was leaving the hospital without my baby.  I had walked in with him, worked for many hour to deliver him, and now I had to go home without him.  It was the first time I had been without him in 10 months.  It was very hard and very weird.

Everyday, I would go to the hospital and spend time holding Alex, feeding him, and trying to produce milk for him.  I was on a very strict pumping schedule.  Even at night, I would pump every two hours.  Matt would come around 5pm to spend the evenings with Alex.  My good friend Jessica lived just two minutes from the hospital and was kind enough to fix me lunch and let me come over to rest at her house.  Her mom was there at the time, helping out with Jess's new baby, Sawyer. 

Alex was probably the most viewed NICU baby on the internet.  He had lot of people who would watch him every day.  I loved being able to log in and see him when I was at home.  It allowed me to keep and eye on what was going on even when I wasn't there.

The hospital let us stay in a room there the night before we where bringing him home.  We were allowed to have him in the room with us most of the day.  When we got into the room, I had suddenly become very cold.  So cold in fact that I was shivering uncontrollably.  I just figured that is was the room and asked Matt to turn up the heat.  We had visitors that day, including my parents, Matt's dad and step mom, my brothers, sister-in-law, nephews, and of course, my best friend.  She stopped by to bring us lunch before she went back to DC.  Once everyone had left, I was still not feeling well, so Matt took my temperature.  It was 102 degrees.  We called my midwife and the on call doctor sent me down to the ER to be checked out.  After about 5 hours in the ER, and lots of uncomfortable tests, I was told I had a severe UTI and needed to be on antibiotics.

I finally was able to come back to my room around 6am that morning, and got a couple hours of sleep before Alex was brought back in from the NICU. 

Alex finally came home on August 24th.