First Smile

smiling...he was moving so much it was hard to take a picture

more smiles

At exactly 3 weeks, Alex smiled for the first time. Although it took me a whole week to actually get a picture of his smile. He gets so distracted by the camera and stops smiling and looking all serious when he sees the camera. Luckily, he is super happy when he first gets up in the morning when I change him that I was able to catch it right then. I just love his little smile. I can't wait for giggles to start in the next month.

It's hard to believe that Alex is already 4 weeks old today. Time is flying by so quick and he is already growing so much. He is now out of all his newborn size clothes and wearing 0-3 month size. His skinny little belly is just starting to get a little bigger, but he still has really skinny legs.

1st week just me and Alex

We take our afternoon nap together

Alex is getting little curls on the top of his head...so cute! Maybe he will have curly or wavy hair...we will have to see

The first week just Alex and me went by so quick. I can't believe he is now 2 weeks old! I love him so much and still can't believe he is ours. Becoming a mom has been the most awesome thing. I know he won't stay this small for long so I try to enjoy these days right now where he can sleep on my chest or cuddle all curled up in a little ball.

His face is filling out a little and he is definitely gaining weight. He had his two week appointment today and gained 9 ounces in 6 days and now weighing in at 8lbs 6oz.

Alex is such a good baby. He doesn't cry or fuss much and usually we are able to calm him fairly quickly. He eats so much and so frequently that sometimes I feel strapped to the couch feeding. Poor Chris gets home from work and all Alex wants to do is eat for several hours straight. I'm glad he eats so well and is so healthy though. Breastfeeding is such an investment of your time but it seems like it is getting better and better as each day goes by. Alex is already getting into a little bit of a schedule and letting us sleep for 3 hours at a time at night which is great because that means we only get up 2 times! Auntie Katie's tips on a dark room and music really helped Alex sleep longer.

Alex loves his little play mat and just looking up at the hanging toys. He is always so alert and looking around when awake and so I got him a mobile for his bassinet which I hope will help him stay in there a little longer. Right now he seems to sleep best in the infant seat or one of our chests.

Some cute pics I had to share

Sleeping with daddy

1st Bath

Perched up and staring at daddy

Happy to be wrapped up after the bath was over...the bath was not his favorite thing

Grant's surprise visit home

All of the siblings (Jackson, Grant, Katie, Me), Chris and Jordyn & little Alex

Uncle Grant with little Alex

We had the most awesome surprise visit this Saturday from Grant. He is stationed in San Diego on the USS Carl Vinson and doesn't get much time off work. Chris and I hadn't seen him since April when he came to visit last. It was so nice that he got to see his new nephew when he is still little. We hope Grant graces us with more surprise visits since he is now only a short plane flight away.

Belly Bandit Review

1 week post partum

1 week post partum

So I normally would not be showing pictures of my belly as I am pretty conservative, however, I am so amazed with the results I have gotten from using the Belly Bandit ( http://www.bellybandit.com/ ) that I just had to share. I am almost in disbelief that it is actually working since I was expecting to look pregnant for weeks to months. I am now 1 week post partum and my stomach is already flat and firm. I would definitely recommend this to anyone post partum. It supports your back so nicely in that first week. Chris even tried it on and thought it felt really good and wished he had something like that on since his back is getting a little sore from leaning over to care for Alex. It does get a little wrinkle in it that doesn't come out if you are short waisted like myself, but it doesn't change the effectiveness. I did exercise and ate really healthy the entire pregnancy and think that the belly bandit just sped up the recovery. So probably not a substitution for good diet and exercise in my opinion.

1 week old

Alex is 1 week old today. We think he is pretty cute and already showing lots of personality with all his funny facial expressions. We can't believe how fast the past week has gone. He is doing so well and the pediatrician says he is an over-achiever. He is already almost back to birth weight and lost his cord as of 5 days old. Pediatrician asked if we had a natural birth because she could tell by how well he was doing and his alertness which I thought was crazy. He loves to eat and it seems like I am feeding him every hour which is making me so hungry...more than when I was pregnant. But the crazy part is that my body is getting smaller and smaller by the minute...much faster than I had anticipated. We have had several rough nights but every day are learning new tricks to make the night go better. I think we may have had a total of 7 hours of sleep last night broken up and we both even had dreams which was awesome. I hope he can do that tonight.

Alex is here!

Immediately after he was born, Alex was put on my chest

He weighed 7lbs 15.2 ounces and is 21 inches long

With Nana Evans

With Grandpa Evans

First kiss from Daddy

With Grandpa Higham

With Auntie Chelsey

Cuddling with Grandma Northcott

Me and Alex

Our first family photo

With Auntie Katie

Sleeping with Daddy after a long night

Sleeping in the bassinet…for a cat nap

His favorite place to be…cuddled up against daddy’s chest

With uncle Jackson

Alex was born on September 2nd 2010 at 8:16am. He was 7lbs 15.2 oz and 21" at birth and absolutely perfect. We are so in love with our little guy and can't believe we are parents now. Just when you thought you couldn't have more love in your life, then this little person comes into your life and it's just such an awesome feeling.

The birth story.....

I started to go into labor around 9pm ish on September 1st after getting off the phone with my mom and thinking everything was fine and definitely not that I would be going into labor in minutes. In fact, Chris and I had gone for a 3 mile walk that night. I had been showing signs of being in early labor over the previous couple days and my doctor thought I would go into labor the 1st or 2nd...well she was right.

My contractions started up right away at 4 mins apart lasting for 1 minute and I was able to manage them just fine with the hypnosis techniques I had been practicing. By 10pm, Chris could tell this was different than contractions before and called the oncall doctor who said to come in to the hospital. Chris packed the car while I tried to stay focused in hypnosis. Chris called our parents on our way to the hospital and my mom, Chris's mom and Chelsey met us there. We got to the hospital triage at 11:45ish where I was checked and sure enough I was in labor and already 5cm dilated. I was admitted and quickly my contractions were picking up. I used the jacuzzi tub, my birthing ball and different hypnosis cues and scripts. The most effective for me was "release" with pressure on my forehead and everything else seem to not matter. By 3am, I was 8cm dilated. By 5am I was 10cm but a little lip of cervix still there. That is when I knew I was in transition and the contractions were on top of one another with no break. It was at that point that I felt like I couldn't do it anymore and I was simply moving forward knowing that there was an end in sight and that this horrible pain I was feeling would end with a baby. My mom and Chris were by my side during that whole time and I couldn't do it without them there. Chris's mom made sure I had cold clothes which helped a ton in making me feel more comfortable. I thought I would have wanted to move in various positions, but while in transition for about 2.5 hours, I didn't want any part of my body to move due to the pain. At 7:30ish, we started to push, which was scary because I had no urge and I was in so much pain that I could not tell when I was having a contraction or not. Chris and mom helped me so much through the pushing stage and at 8:16am we had our beautiful baby boy on our chest. He was alert with eyes wide open looking up at both of us and nursed right away. That was one of the most awesome things about having a natural child birth just for that moment.

The hypnosis was different than I had expected in helping me to manage my labor, but it seemed very effective up until I got into transition and I just couldn't focus anymore.

He is so perfect and we can't believe he is ours. I just love his little facial expressions. A little too early to tell who he looks like but some similarities in the eyes and nose to mommy when she was a baby.

As my due date approaches tomorrow, I have been getting more and more excited to meet this little Alex. I keep wondering what he will look like...like daddy or mommy or maybe neither of us. I am now on my 3rd week off work which is hard to believe. Time is flying by so quickly. Normally, if I had been off work this long, I would have been bored out of my mind and going crazy, but I think I was so tired that this has really been a much needed break and I am glad I did it so that I could be fully refreshed and ready for Alex when he arrives. It is not like my job is physical easy to do.

Chris's dad, Don, gets home tomorrow and my mom is now starting to feel better from being sick so I think it is perfect time for Alex to think about coming.

Overall, I have been feeling good considering I am 40 weeks pregnant. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and my doctor was practically ready to induce me if I had agreed to it. I think it is crazy. I have been planning for a natural birth experience using child birth hypnosis and spent many hours practicing for this. My doctor says she will let me go until 41 weeks and 6 days but doubted I would go much past tomorrow. I think she just jinxed us from having Alex more sooner than later by that comment. Maybe she knows what she is talking about though. My body is definitely acting like it is getting ready and Dr. Bird said I am in early labor. Cross our fingers he comes soon.