Birthday Boy

Happy 31st Birthday to my sweet husband and baby daddy!

 I am one lucky lady to have you as my husband and Anderson couldn't have asked for a better dad.

We can't wait to celebrate with you tonight!

3 week chunker

Random thoughts from a sleepy momma...

I cannot believe Anderson is 3 weeks old already!  It feels like it is going so fast and yet so slow at the same time.  Crazy, I know.  

Mommyhood is so much harder than anyone can prepare you for...and I'm only 3 weeks in. 

Have I had the baby blues- YES, lots of self doubt- YES, missing work and my routine-YES, wondering if I will sleep more than 2.5 at a time- YES...but I'm realizing that is all very normal.  I love my son and husband more and more each day and we're on this crazy journey together.

But the good news- we're slowly getting Anderson on a schedule.  WOOT WOOT!  I know each day will be different and I am learning to be more flexible (sort of).  But having a routine during the day is making me very happy. 

Mike has been off work all week and it was been AMAZING!  Mike's parents and brother were vacationing in the mountains so we got to spend a few days with them earlier in the week.   The rest of the week, we hung out as a family of 3 and tried to figure out our new normal (with many ups and downs).

We had his 3 week check up yesterday and he now weighs 8lbs 8oz.  He has 6 chins, more fat on his bird legs, a growing rat tail, has almost outgrown his newborn sleepers and long finger nails b/c I'm too scared to clip them. 

Enough rambling...here are a few pictures of my growing boy!

 His cheeks are getting so big, they are starting to sag. ha!

 our multiple tummy times each day- he loves looking at himself

 Sleeping babies are so sweet

 Anderson's first bath was a success

 He looks miserable, but I promise he liked it

 He knows his roots

Naked Baby

Who doesn't love a naked sleeping baby?!

Our sweet photographer posted some pictures from Anderson's newborn photo session!  It was a fun surprise to see when I was awake at 1am and 4am feeding a hungry baby.

http://www.kandimcphoto.com/?p=1540

Enjoy!

Due Date

I can't believe that today was my due date...which means I have an 11 day old baby!  I really thought he would be late and I would have to force him out on July 18th.  Obviously he had plans of his own and I am so glad I got to meet him early.

The last 11 days have been such a learning experience and will continue for the next 18+ years.  I could NEVER have survived and remained sane if it weren't for my mom, sisters and husband.  I think the hardest part about being a new mom is not knowing part.  Mostly, its the not knowing his exact schedule....especially at night.  I LOVE schedules and to be in control so this has been a big adjustment.  My mom said that God is going to use Anderson to teach me to be flexible and relinquish control.

Anderson is proving to be a pretty good baby but of course has his moments.  We are on an every 3 hour feed schedule during the day and he stretches to about 4 hours at night.  I am sure that will change since he seems to be going through a growth spurt already.  I am still in awe of how much he has changed in 11 days.

We are taking this new journey of parenthood one day at a time.  I will probably have my major breakdown once everyone leaves...so stay tuned!

Here are a few of my favorites from the past 11 days (sorry- picture overload):

 survived the first night of motherhood

 The Moore's came for a visit

 A's coming home outfit was WAY too big

 First family picture at the house

 Uncle Scout & Aunt Scrappy came to visit

 Meeting the Pugh's for the first time

 He loves sleeping on the boppy

 Playtime with Aunt Em

First tummy time

 First bath and massage from Nanny

 Aunt Bones flew into town to meet A

 Nanny, daughters and grandchildren

Baby Whisperer

When we bought our house, we got to meet the owners during one of the walkthroughs.  During conversation, Kandi told us she was a photographer and loved doing newborn photo shoots.  She gave us a few business cards and I couldn't wait to work with her!

A few days before Anderson made his early arrival, I emailed Kandi and arranged for his newborn photo shoot.

Kandi arrived bright and early this morning with a car full of blankets, baskets, props and so much more!  

She quickly went to work and scoped out the best places to take all the pictures.  We started out upstairs in the master bedroom and I quickly saw she was a serious baby whisperer.  Not only did she sooth my crying baby, she moved him into various positions while making sure he was calm and relaxed.  

 Taking a little snack break

For 3 hours, I watched in amazement as she moved Anderson around the house to capture the perfect pictures.  We ended the session with a few family pictures in our front yard.  It was such a fun morning and I can't wait to see all the pictures.  I have no doubt we are going to have a hard time picking out our favorites.  I mean really, who doesn't love a naked baby?!?!

To all my Knoxville friends, I highly recommend Kandi for ANY event.  She is a fabulous photographer and you will not be disappointed.  Check out her website HERE.  I am already thinking about A's 1 year old birthday party and Kandi will definitely receive the first invite!

I will let you know once she blogs about Anderson's newborn session.

 **all the pictures in this post were taken by my mom.  She couldn't help but capture a few pictures while Kandi worked her magic.

Anderson's Arrival Part II

Both families were hanging out in my room when 2 of my nurses rush into the room at 7:30pm.  Apparently Anderson's heart rate had dropped and set off an alarm at the nurses station.  They had me rotate and lay on my right side and his heart rate quickly stabilized.  They then asked everyone to leave because they thought I was 10cm and it was time to start pushing.

Everyone started grabbing their stuff and rushing out of the room.  Meanwhile, I'm calm as can be just laying in the bed waiting to get my pushing workout on!

The nurse checked me and said I was 10cm and it was time to push.  A few other nurses came into the room to set everything up and then my AMAZING doctor came in as well.  (side note- my doctor lived and worked in Charlotte before and after her residency so that makes me love her even more)

Once the room/equipment was set up, the doctor told me it was time to start pushing.  At 7:42pm, the doctor told me to take a deep breath and give her a long push.  After that push, the doctor said to take a quick breath and give her another push.  Then she said take another breath and once I started to push a third time, she had already pulled Anderson out.  My sweet husband (aka-photographer) did such a great job taking so many pictures.  He got a picture of the clock the second Anderson was born- love him!  

The doctor held up our son and I didn't cry because I was in too much shock that it was over.  I even said to her "wait, is it over"?  She laughed and laid Anderson on my chest.  He had the sweetest cry and the worst cone head.  bless him!

I held him on my chest for a few minutes trying calm him down and get him warm.

Mike cut the umbilical cord and we hung out as a family of 3 for a little bit.  After he was measured, weighed and cleaned up, Mike went to grab our families from the waiting room.

Em and the kids must have run down the hall because they were the first ones in the room...followed by nanny.  We spent the next few hours hanging out with our families, passing around Anderson, eating dinner and taking a million pictures.

By the the time all the nurses left the room, it was 1am and Mike and I were exhausted!  Welcome to the rest of our lives.

1 Week Old

More on the Birth Story part II later...

I wanted to make sure I remembered to post Anderson's "1 week old" pictures.  I'm not going to do these weekly, so don't worry!  The little man is still a peanut so most of his 0-3 month outfits are swallowing him alive.  This outfit he has on was the first one I purchased when I found out he was a boy and I can't wait for him to grow into it. 

Chicken legs anyone?

We will need to work on his posture for the next photo shoot!  Eating the applique was way more fun though.

Anderson's arrival part 1

I have been meaning to blog for days but somehow it hasn't happened yet.  I guess trying to get my act together after a baby is a little bit harder than I thought.  Thankfully my sis has been blogging and posting pictures of the sweet babe.

I'm breaking this into two parts so get ready for a lot of reading...

I had a regularly scheduled ultra sound for my 38 week appointment on Tuesday, July 3rd.  We got to see the little nugget move around, check his weight (which they said was 6 lbs 5oz), measurements and make sure he was healthy. 

When the doctor did her "check" she said I was 3-4cm and she thought his arrival would come sooner rather than later.  That was music to my ears until she said, "would you like to meet your son on Thursday"?  Mike said my face turned white and I looked shocked.  All along I wanted to plan the exact date of his delivery and here she was trying to hand it to me on a silver platter.  As much as I wanted to plan the date, I wanted him to make an entrance on his own time (thanks Auntie Ellen for drilling that in my head).

I told her that Thursday was too soon due to a lot of deadlines at work and needed another weekend as a family of two.  She made me agree to come back  on Thursday to get checked again because she felt like he would come any day.

When we left the doctor's office, I started to have more contractions but didn't want to admit it to Mike.  I was determined not to have this baby in the next few days.  We ran a bunch of "baby errands" on Tuesday before heading home to finish the nursery.  I spent the night finishing a lot of "to do's" for work because I was having anxiety I would have this baby sooner than I expected.

Wednesday morning, July 4th, we went for our usual walk along the river, ran errands, had a blast hanging out at the pool with the Moore's and then decided we would skip out on fireworks and have a date night.  We jokingly said that it would be our last date night and we needed to make it special.   It was the perfect night just hanging out with my husband and talking how our lives were about to change.

 

 Thursday morning, July 5th, I woke up early to try and finish some of my work projects.  Mike got ready for work and packed his hospital bag "just in case".  Mine had been packed since my work trip to Charlotte.  After my conference calls ended, I headed to the doctor's office around 11am.  As I waited in the room for the doctor, I made a to do list of everything I wanted to accomplish that weekend.  The doctor checked me and said I was 5cm and my "bag" was bulging.  I said, "I'm glad I'm progressing so hopefully we will meet this baby next week."  She said that I needed to be admitted to the hospital now because he was going to arrive sooner than we all expected.  After I tried to negotiate with her for a few minutes, I realized it was a losing battle.

The doctor called over to the hospital to get us a room while I called Mike with the news.

I got checked into my room around 12pm and the nurse started my IV and hooked me up to all the machines/monitors.  Mike headed home from work to pick up his hospital bag and to grab my work computer.  He got to the hospital around 12:35pm and the waiting began.

My water broke at 1pm, got the epidural at 1:45pm and then laid around the rest of the day.  While I was laying around, we made a few phone calls, texted with family and friends and I finished a few work projects.

 My blood pressure got really low as did Anderson's heart rate so I had to wear a lovely oxygen mask in the late afternoon.  My parents dropped O'Malley off at our house and then arrived at the hospital around 5:45pm.  Mike parent's and brother arrived at the hospital around 6:45pm.  Em and her family were speeding as fast as they could to get to the hospital before I started pushing.

Part 2 tomorrow...hopefully!

Knoxville Love

Some VERY sweet girlfriends threw us a couples baby shower this weekend and it was SO.MUCH.FUN!  Lauren, Erica and Amanda went above and beyond with every single detail and I couldn't have been happier.  They carried my love of "build your own parties" throughout the entire night as well as Anderson's chevron bedding.

Monogram koozies for Anderson- they know me so well!

After I was stuffed silly from all the amazing food, everyone filled out "wish cards" for Anderson.  Mike and I read all the cards out loud before opening presents.  Most of the cards were really sweet and even made me choke up.  Its comforting to know that our friends are praying for Anderson's future just as much as we are.  There were a few cards that were hilarious and gave everyone a lot of laughs.

 Perfect diaper cake from Erica.  The best part, there is a champagne bottle in the middle for us to bring to the hospital!!! Feel free to judge, but I will be toasting our new family after I push this baby out.

 Some of our sweet friends

The rest of the night was spent building our own parfaits/sundaes and laughing the night away.   The night was absolutely perfect and you know it's a success when I don't leave a party until after midnight! 

My baby daddy

 Biggest dessert award goes to Tony...this was only round 1

 The BEST shower hosts!

We are on the 2 week countdown now...Anderson, we're ready for you!