Fun with Baby, Beach, and Bottles!!

We went on our first road trip with Colton to Anna Marie Island on the Gulf with my parents and brother. My aunt has a house close to the beach on an inlet and allowed us to borrow it for the week.

The trip down turned out great because we left really late and so it was bedtime for Colton and he slept until we got settled into our hotel in Valdosta (about a 4 hour trip)

The next day we met up with Brigette's parents and brother at a family friend's house. Colton tries, but cannot fight a nap in the car after about 30 mins. usually, so we were good. We then headed over to my aunt's house for dinner and met up with several cousins and other aunts/uncles (my mom is one of 10!). It was great to see everyone again and introduce them to Colton. He did great being passed around to everyone and despite taking 2 hours to go to sleep, he did fine overnight also.

We went on over to the Gulf of Mexico for a week near the beach and it was a great time. Fishing off the dock, swimming pool (was really too cold for Colton to get in when he could be in the shade and try out his super cute bathing suit/swim diaper), and just relaxing. Was great to have some extra folks to help out with Colton and Justin and I even got to go fishing in the Gulf with my uncle for a few hours, which was awesome!!

Beach

We took Colton to the beach one day, although kept him out of the sun. The beach was HOT but pretty empty, which worked well for nursing. :-) Nice breeze off the ocean. Colton could only take it for about 2 hours but did chill in his homemade cabana for a little while.

We also took him to watch the sunset and also put his feet in the ocean at dusk one night. He really seemed to enjoy it!!

Bottles

Colton will be starting daycare in October and Justin and Brigette are very sad but know that is what we have to do. The place we have chosen is very close to home and very nice, highly recommended, but we both hate the idea of not being with him all the time and 'strangers' caring for him. ANYHOW, child is breastfed exculsively and we have had some disasters trying to give him a bottle before (flow was way too fast for him--choking) so we spent some time on this trip trying out bottles. Brigette got these no-drip nipples to use so he could only get milk when he sucked and would therefore not really choke. But he HATED those so we tried another early stage nipple and he didn't really like it but took it and we think that will work for him at daycare. Brigette had to hide while he took the bottles from Justin and her mom so Colton would know other people give him bottles when I am not there but I will nurse him when I am around. We will have trial run next week for the first 3 days I'm back at work when my mom will come to our house and keep him before he goes to a full week at daycare. Hopefully I can keep pumping while at work to be able to provide enough milk for him during the day. Too much info? Sorry. :-)

Colton got to meet his Uncle Eric and 'Uncle' Clark finally on this trip and he loved them, of course!! It was a great time but Brigette and Justin sured missed their annual trip to Yellowstone in the fall. The beach just didn't do the same thing for them, but we were glad to have a new adventure with Colton!

7 weeks! Where has the time gone?!

I can't believe Colton is already 7 weeks old, but at the same time seems like he has been with us forever! Last week he started smiling at us and giggling some (and not just when falling asleep or passing gas, although that still happens!) which is SO adorable!!





Tummy Time:

I call Colton my giant tiny baby as he is still so little but also seems huge each week! He is now 11 lbs. 11 oz!! Guess he isn't starving, despite latch issues! He is about 22 inches long now too. He is likely going to be a tall boy!

He is losing his baby hair and has some lighter hair coming in. Here is a good shot of the fun hair he currently has after I took off his shirt.

Our newest issue is that Colton has no interest in taking naps at all. Unless it is on me, which is very productive. He fights SO hard to stay awake, he smacks himself in the face until he wakes up good, it is crazy! He gets about 2 15-30 minute naps a day at this point, not counting the fact that he usually snoozes through nursing. Poor thing is SO tired! But not cranky, he is such a good natured baby! I will say that once I finally get him to sleep at night he is sleeping 4-6 hours and then goes another 3-4 before getting up for the day. So that is keeping me semi-sane. No naps means I get little done during the day, but the dishes and laundry eventually get finished, piece by piece.

Here is a cute video of Justin tickling his feet.

Happy One Month Birthday!!

Wow!! A whole month already?! Can't believe it has been that long already!! Course that means my maternity leave will be up before I know it. :-(

Things are going much better. Colton was NINE pounds when I weighed him yesterday! Much better than the 6lb 5oz he was at the week after birth. Our main issues with breastfeeding now are just latching issues (but have gotten better with help from super lactation consultant in Athens) and this week he has started 'cluster feeding' which means in the evenings he wants to eat as soon as he is done! Hopefully it is a growth spurt and won't last TOO long. Makes it hard to do much of anything!! We do get out some though!! Have been going to a "new mamas" group in Athens at the cloth diaper store which has been very helpful (and the owner is the lactation consultaton and she is AWESOME in general). Only other frustration has been trying to figure out if he should be awake or sleeping? Is he awake and moving around because he is still hungry (even though he was just zonked after his last feeding) or is he wanting to play? I'm sure we'll all figure it out eventually. :-)

My First Bath!

Very excited!

Feels good Poppa!

Ahhh!! Nice and clean!

Colton has the uncanny ability to know exactly when I am about to eat dinner, regardless if it is 6 pm or 10 pm, and that is when he HAS to eat. :-) But he is SO cute...who cares?!

This picture is from his first week home, LOVE his little 'elephant skin wrinkles'! They arenot as noticable anymore as he has gotten bigger though!

Cloth diapers

Many of you had a lot of questions about the use of cloth diapers, but we are using them full time and they really are a breeze. We just do a wash every other day and they are just as easy to use out and about (although the Fuzzi Bunz are SUPER easy to use when we are out). He has a cute, giant diaper butt with the cloth diapers so he looks a little bottom heavy in his clothes, but the diapers are super cute! Seems to annoy him more when he is wet than poopy, but guess it doesn't matter, he just needs to be changed. We have both been peed on and pooped on--so we are officially parents. :-)

Will try to be a better updater!!

The first two weeks!

21

Well, I really need to get high speed internet now to show off our cutie pie! Dial up and uploading photos really do not mix. :-) These are from my cell as they are lower resolution photos.

Coming home!

"Not another photo!" he said at the photo session.

Chillin' in my Crib

Hanging with Poppa

Sorry for the delay in posting but it has been a rough week and a half for everyone. In addition to the car seat we had at the hospital missing a crutial piece and the fact that we had to have my lovely friend Shenica get me one to borrow at the last minute, Colton almost did not get to leave hospital due to getting jaundice, but it was thankfully not enought to keep him there another day, my spinal headache was awful when we returned home and I could hardly sit up, which made breast feeding really difficult. We had some freak outs over the weekend as we were unsure if Colton was getting enough nourishment and me being totally wiped out and in pain. (Although he was such a good content baby through the whole thing!)

Doctor's appointment last Monday was bad due to the jaundice still being there and the fact that he was down to 6 lbs 11 oz. Had to go to hospital for blood work for the jaundice and Brigette cried more than Colton did, thank goodness for Justin being strong. Unfortunately, the next day's visit to the doctor was worse because he was down to 6lbs 5 oz and still jaundice, so back to the hospital for a MUCH worse experience at drawing blood. It was so horrible to see him scream and they had to prick him several times before they were able to get enough blood. The issue with the weight was not that he wasn't getting enough liquid, but due to my recovery issues and the medication I was taking for the spinal headache, I had no appetite, wasn't eating enough, and therefore my milk did not have enough calories in it. SO...made plan for eating like a pig and adding a little formula to a few meals to ensure he was getting enough. Wednesday he was up to 7 lbs 1 oz!! The pediatrician has been great and very supportive.

Breastfeeding is certainly difficult and hard to tell if it is going well or not! I appreciate the encouragement of those of you who have emailed and commented. What I love is that he can nurse for about 1 hour and sleep the entire time. Does he even know he if he is full?! Because I have no idea!! Sorry if this is too much information!! I was disappointed that he was not up to birth weight by his 7/20 appointment, but he is up several more ounces, his jaundice is almost gone, and the doctor was happy with his progress and gave me the go ahead to just focus on breast feeding. Have another follow up next Monday but I'll be going to a store in Athens this week to get another weighing for my own benefit.

Family has been to visit and love on Colton this week and that has been great. My mother stayed a couple days when Justin went back to work due to the medication I was on, just to make sure I had help if needed (including driving me to the doctor and such).

Had a great time getting Colton's newborn pictures taken over the weekend! Messed up his schedule some but they are SO adorable!! Here is a sample and a link to the rest of samples from the photographer's blog: http://www.stylizedportraiture.com/i-wanna-be-a-cowboy-baby/





More soon!! We are loving our son and enjoying every minute together (even the frustrating breast feeding moments!).

Thanks for all your calls, emails, cards and well wishes! We are certainly blessed.

Please welcome...Colton Augustus!!

Born at 10:40 pm 07-08-09! 7 lbs. 10 oz and 20.5 inches long!!





Well, it was a rough road! Was only 1 cm dialated Tuesday morning. Went in Tuesday night for dialation treatment. Didn't really take. Wednesday morning they induced me. Wasn't too bad til they broke my water and then the contractions hit me hard and fast (2 mins apart). Then when I asked for the epidural, it took three times and one hit my spinal fluid-so now I get to have headaches for up to 2 weeks. BUT eventually they got it right and things were going well and I flew to 8 cm quickly. THEN I got to 9 and we thought it would be soon, then we were at 9 for another hour, then Dr said if I was at 9 when she came back an hour later, we would have to do a c-section. :-( We were really upset because by now it was 8 pm and we'd been going at it for 12 hours that day and since 6 pm the night before. It was so frustrating to have come SO far and think we wouldn't make it!

BUT we did some moving postitions, increased contraction meds, and nurse did some warding off by setting up the c-section so we wouldn't need it. And it worked!! Starting pushing about 9:45 pm and he arrived at 10:40 pm!! It was exhausting but guess I was lucky to only have to push for an hour! Good thing I was working out so much!!

He is super cute and we are so happy to have him here finally!! Things are going well, we are hit or missing with the breast feeding but I'm sticking with it!! He is sweet and very content little man and we already adore him!

Will post more pictures VERY soon!! Thanks for all the well wishes!