doctor visit and random other stuff

Well, we went to the doctor yesterday. Any guesses how big our little mister is? I won't keep you in suspense-
-weight: 13 pounds, 10 ounces (100%)
-length: 24 inches (100%)
-head: 39.2 cm (75%)

Yes, we have a big baby. But he's just so darn cute! Who wouldn't love this sweet baby?

We had a big weekend this past weekend. We went to Central High (John Mark's first road trip) for a wedding. He also got to meet his great grandpa for the first time. Here's a collage of pictures from the weekend:What? Why yes, those are real jeans, not maternity jeans in the picture of us with my grandpa. Thank you for noticing! :)

Other than that it has been life as usual. Right now he is asleep in Micah's lap. That's where I took the picture at right. His shirt says "daddy's little dude." He's a wonderful baby, and we love him very much.

In non-baby news, I made real mashed potatoes for the first time last night. They were excellent, if I do say so myself! And I made mom's homemade salsa today, but it's not the same... why are some things just so much better when made by our moms?

1 month

I can't believe that my sweet little boy is 1 month old today. In so many ways, it doesn't seem like it's already been a month and in other ways I feel like he's always been here. I love him more than I really ever knew was possible to love anyone- especially someone so small and who doesn't give anything in return. It's an amazing thing. This is a picture from today. Here are his HUGE feet.

Here's a few of the things that John Mark can do at 1 month:

• hold his head up
• turn his head 90 degrees
  
• grunt when pooping
• stick out his tongue
• get REALLY mad, as you can see in this picture-

silly little boy...

Well, it has been a very full few days since I last posted. What all have we done? We went to Norman on Friday to visit my friend Lisa who just had a baby girl (Reese Lauren). She is adorable. Can I just say that after carrying John Mark around in his car seat all over the hospital I was SORE- literally SORE the next day. I felt like I had done a serious arm workout the day before. Come to think of it, I guess I had. You try carrying around a 12 pound baby in an already heavy car seat and see if YOU don't get tired!

Saturday my parents came to visit us. We went shopping at Kohl's and had a fun time. I got to buy my first non-maternity clothes and that felt WONDERFUL. I am by no means where I was pre-baby, but I'm getting there... Saturday night we gave John Mark a bath in his baby bathtub. He hated it. He screamed the whole time- until I washed his hair. I don't know if he liked that, or if he just realized that screaming wasn't changing anything... either way, once he settled down, he was much easier to deal with! :)

And now the most exciting story from the past few days... we decided to take John Mark to church on Sunday. It was promotion Sunday, and Micah and I are teaching a class of sophomores. We wanted to be there to welcome them. So I got up at 7 on Sunday to get me and the baby ready to go by 8:45. Everything was going so smoothly and I was so excited. We loaded up and even made it to church a little early. John Mark looked so cute in his little polo shirt that I put on him. (I didn't get pictures because of what happened next...) So he is being the perfect baby, sleeping soundly in his car seat- sleeping through the crazy music blaring from the speakers and kids screaming and everything else that goes on in the student ministry on a Sunday morning. Then I notice he's making his poop face. No big deal- I thought I'd run to the preschool area and change him between small group and church... then I moved his leg and saw poop on it... and in a HUGE puddle in his car seat. YEP- first major blow out... so I pick up the car seat and walk to the PS area and start cleaning him up. I quickly realized that I had HIM clean, but nowhere to put him since the car seat was nasty. So I called Micah to come hold him while I clean up the seat. Anyway, 30 minutes- and most of small group- later, we had everything acceptably clean. And I managed to go through the whole ordeal without getting anything gross on me. :)

We went to the mall with Aunt Tiffy on Monday, and yesterday Aunt Kim came to visit us. We got groceries at Target. This picture is from this morning. I was changing his diaper and he just fell sound asleep. Where is he right now? In that exact same spot... hey, I'm not crazy enough to wake a sleeping baby!!

week 1 alone...

Well, we've almost survived our first week alone. Not that we've really been ALONE... what can I say? John Mark and I are just popular people. Lesley and Aunt Tiffy came over on Monday to play with us... then we spent the day on Tuesday with Aunt Tiffy. We went to Target and the new Old Navy. I've decided that I'm not exactly ready to get out alone with him... after it took Tiff and I almost 10 minutes to get the stroller out and him into it. We were both sweating like fat men by the time we got into the store... then the store was cold, so I told Tiff to get his blanket out. But we left the blanket in the car... so we used a cloth diaper burp rag to cover him up. Poor kid was stuck looking ghetto because of his forgetful mom and aunt! I wish I had a picture of that.

Yesterday Jamie and Caroline came to visit. Here's a funny picture of the John Mark and Caroline. Why is it funny? Caroline is 5 months old... She is a few inches longer than John Mark... but his head is bigger- and he is definitely a couple of inches wider than she is!! :) After they left, we had a rough few hours. Poor guy had a tummy ache. Tummy aches=lots of crying with no stopping. Lots of crying with no stopping=a tired, frustrated mommy! Fortunately Micah got home pretty soon and he is wonderful with crying babies!

But today has been a GREAT day. He's been in the best mood and slept a TON. We even ventured out with Aunt Tiffy again. We went to Mardel and Babies R Us. We got a wipe warmer to hopefully make diaper changes less painful! The picture to the left is him airing out after the car trip. Poor little guy sweats like nobody's business. The head rest on his car seat is usually soaked when we get him out... and his back will be wet from the sweat. No wonder I was so hot all the time I was pregnant- I had my own personal heating system! :)

2 weeks

WOW! I can't believe that it has already been 2 weeks since John Mark was born... I have to say that this has been the most incredible 2 weeks of my life. Everything has been a big learning experience- from figuring out breastfeeding to getting sprayed during diaper changes... from a baby sleeping soundly to a baby screaming at the top of his lungs... from knowing what 3AM actually looks like to changing baby clothes at least 3 times a day (and not just for the fashion side of things...)- and I know that I have embarked on a lifetime of learning.

We've had a really good 2 weeks. Of course, my mom has been here with us... I guess next week will be my reality check! He's had a couple of restless nights and some really fussy times, but other than that he has been perfect. I will say that I want to know WHY babies (and kids) fight sleep so much?? If only they knew how good they have it, sleeping away the day!!

I went to the doctor yesterday. She said that everything looks good and I have premission to drive and carry John Mark in his carseat... I guess that almost makes me fully functioning!

All in all, I would say that parenthood is a wonderful thing. Even this morning, when John Mark was pooping in Micah's hand... and then down my leg... I was thinking how great all of this is. I wouldn't change this for anything!

doctor's appointment and other firsts

man... in that first week of life, you have a LOT of firsts, let me tell you... here's a few of the things that it was John Mark's first time to do:

On Thursday, we went to the doctor. This was also John Mark's first time to wear big boy clothes...

He was so good for the doctor. He didn't cry at all until he got on the table and had to feel her cold stethoscope on his chest. Then he screamed and made a poopie diaper... He's made quite a few of those. Here's his stats from the doctor:

• Weight: 10 pounds, 8 ounces- 100%
• Height: 21 1/2 inches- 90%
• Head: 37.5 cm- 90%

So basically we found out what we already knew- we have a proportionately HUGE kiddo! He freaked the nurse out because she hadn't had a baby be in the 100th percentile before... Way to go John Mark!

He had his first poop explosion sans diaper- this was the 2nd time he had showered Micah in one day! Then it started coming out the other end all over the changing pad... this resulted in an impromptu bath for the little guy... plus the 3rd change of clothes for Micah! Because of my c-section, I'm not allowed to sit on the floor, so I haven't had to change too many diapers just yet.

Yesterday he took his first trip to Target. He slept the entire time we were there- he's a true man already! :)

I've had a few firsts as a mommy too. I had my first shower in the middle of the night- and it was a good one- soaked me and himself completely! I'm sure it was a funny sight to see me and John Mark just standing in the hallway dripping...

Another first for me is the ability to wake up completely at the slightest noise- and then stay awake long enough to actually do something about it! Normally, I love my sleep and once I'm out, there's no waking me up... but all that changed the second we brought him home! I've even found myself waking up because it's too quiet and I need to make sure he's breathing!

All in all, it's been a wonderful first week. I can't even remember life without him. My life is definitely better having this wonderful little guy in it!

this is the look we lovingly call the "one-eyed jack"

the moment you've all been waiting for...

I know you have all been anxiously awaiting the story of John Mark's arrival into this world. I finally got permission from the wardens (mom and Micah) to come upstairs and sit at the computer, so here it is.

As you know, we found out on Thursday that he was going to be big- most likely 10 pounds big. After spending the night praying and talking to people, we finally reached the decision to go ahead with a c-section. I called the doctor Friday morning and the appointment was set for Thursday (yesterday). We were a little disappointed that we were going to have to wait that long, but we felt really peaceful about doing the c-section.

I spent Friday hanging out with Jamie. We ate lunch at Saturn Grill, then did our favorite thing- walked around Target. While we were there, my back started to KILL me- and I was just feeling sort of crampy. I thought I had just walked too much and would feel better when I got home. I left Jamie's around 4:00 and when I got home I didn't feel well at ALL. I thought "oh my goodness- I think I might be going into labor..." So I laid down on the couch and started timing when I had the pains. By the time Micah got home at 5:30, I was feeling contractions about every 7 minutes or so. I called Jamie to see if I was really going into labor and she said she thought so and to call the hospital. I called, did all the things they told me to do (lay down... take a bath... drink lots of water...) but the contractions kept coming. Finally at 8:00 we called and said we were coming in. By the time we got there, I was having contractions every 3-4 minutes and soon found out I was at a 5. Fortunately, my doctor was the on call doctor. So when she got there, they told me I would be going into surgery around 10:45 and would have a baby soon after that.

I hung out in my room- Micah's family was there, and my family got there quickly after that. Seriously, nothing was bad at all. I would have contractions that definitely hurt more than others, but I was doing great. I called people... laughed with everyone who was there (mainly we laughed at Tiffany, who was bawling her eyes out)... and finally 10:45 rolled around and they took me back.

I walked to the OR and got my epidural. It's a very strange sensation to be numb from the chest down. Micah got all scrubbed in and we sat behind a sterile sheet just chatting about what it would be like to have our sweet boy finally here. The anesthesiologist stood at my head and kept me informed what was going on on the other side of the sheet. Not too long after being in there, I heard the sweetest little cry and the doctor say "man... she delivered a TODDLER..." and the pulled back the sheet, held him up and said "it's a boy!" The sheet was put back in place and Micah went to watch him being all cleaned up. I laid there just shivering and wondering what my baby would look like... This was at 11:30. I was in a recovery room and got to see my baby at 12:30. It was incredible.

I stayed in the hospital until Monday. We had so many friends and family come to visit us- I have honestly never felt more loved than I did in those 2 1/2 days. I think we counted up 12 people who were at the hospital the night he was born- just hanging out in the waiting room for Micah to bring him out.

I have to say, this is the most incredible experience of my life. I can't believe that just a week ago I was sitting at Saturn Grill, not expecting to see my baby until next week. And now he is here- and it's the best thing that has ever happened to me. I thought I loved him when he was growing in my belly- but NOTHING compares to the love that is inside of me right now. Speaking of, someone is crying, which means he is hungry- and I'm the only one who can take care of that! I'll update from our doctor's appointment yesterday the next time I get the green light to come upstairs. Here's a picture from yesterday:

John Mark!

The first family photo!

All snuggled after being born

Sleeping with mommy

wide awake

with grandpa

with grandma (any suggestions for fun grandma names?)

with great grandad and nanny

natalie, jamie, john mark and mommy

of course, I have about a million other pictures, but we'll stop here. if you want more pictures, send me an email and I'd be more than happy to email you some!