One Month Old

Yesterday I took Alex in for his one month doctor's visit. He was 10.25 lbs and 21.75 inches long. I think he's growing just fine. In the month that we've been home Alex has proven to be a good baby. We had a brief bout with colicky like symptoms but after talking to Dr. Challey and eliminating milk and yogurt from my diet, things have improved greatly. The past two nights Alex has only gotten up twice to feed after his last feed before I go to bed. So that has helped me feel somewhat human again.

It's been interesting, wonderful and challenging to adjust to having two kids all day. Some days are great, others not so much. Brandon tends to cry when Alex cries - I guess out of genuine concern... or not to be outdone by his little brother, I'm not sure which. Those can be long, long minutes. I'm also learning to re-adjust my expectations about what I can and can not get done during the day anymore. For anyone who thinks two hours is a long time, think again. I know that on a Friday afternoon at 3pm and you leave work at 5pm, those two hours are an eternity. But when it's all the time you have between sitting in a chair nursing a baby, that just isn't enough time to do what you need to do. Add a two-year-old to that equation and it's less time. Add sleep deprivation to it and and the sum total equals hysteria. I wouldn't have it any other way right now though. The first month has flown by. Alex is about ready to smile consistently at us when we smile and him and he's tracking me and other objects with his eyes, becoming more alert and aware of his surroundings and generally showing a sweet disposition. It's good.

Alex also had his first "play date" with Mandy and Kai yesterday. Our good friends had their first baby 2.5 weeks after Alex was born so they came over for a visit during Brandon's nap. It was really cute to see the boys lying next to each other on the floor. It was cool because just 5 weeks ago we all went to dinner and the boys weren't born yet and Mandy and I were commiserating about lower back pain, the inability to find a comfortable position to sleep in and general annoyance of both of us having to have c-sections. The boys were worth it all though.

Alex's First Week Home

Alex's Birthday & Hospital Photos

Alex's Bedroom

 

 

 

 

Alex's bedroom theme is based on the Lambs & Ivy set called Spelling Bee Baby. We bought the lamp and the fleece blanket from the set but that was it. My mom made the wall hangings again, I made the curtain and we just bought some simple sheets. I love it! It's warm and cozy, a perfect place for a little boy to sleep and eventually play.

Update & Redeeming Mommy

Ok so thank you to everyone who has emailed us to congratulate us on Alex's birth. We are doing well in our first week home, figuring out the sleeping and nursing patterns and generally having a good time with Alex, and of course, Brandon.

My OBGYN allowed us to be discharged at 3:30pm the day after Alex was born (bless her!) and it was wonderful to be home and sleep in our own bed. Needless to say that our hospital stay was not exactly the picture of rest and being taken care of. I wouldn't say our night time nurses went in to medicine because they liked people. Daytime staff, much different story, they were great. I just knew I couldn't handle another night with those nurses without crying all night. So regardless of it being unusual to leave less than 48 hours after a c-section, my OBGYN knew I could handle it and home we went. Much to our relief.

I feel the need to redeem myself now on all the comments I've gotten about how fast I put up a blog about Alex and posted photos, etc. Yes, we were still in the hospital when I sent the email out... but I had the blog set up long before Alex arrived. So at the hospital, which had wireless internet for the patients, we hooked up the laptop and all I did was write the post, upload the photos and hit send on a group email that I also had set up before we got there. Easy! Took about 5 minutes. And I had to get out of bed anyways because it's good for recovery. So on my first jaunt out of bed (from the bed to the table and chairs, about 15 feet) this is what I did. Maybe it's strange to some people for me to get on the computer first thing, but if you know me then you'll know that I was just so excited about my baby boy that I wanted to share him with all of you. Enough said.

I'll post some photos of Alex's room and some stories from our first week home in the next few days. Thank you all again for your well wishes and we look forward to you all meeting Alex.

Happy Birthday Alex!

 

 

 

 

Today at 8:32am, Alexander Jacob Messer was born. He weighed in at 7 lbs, 10 oz and was 20.5 inches long. Alex was born via c-section.

Big Brother Brandon, and all Alex's grandparents were at the hospital today to meet him when we were all ready for visitors. Big Brother Brandon was especially empathetic to his Baby Brother and was very concerned every time he cried.

So far Alex is sleeping and feeding very well. He has had several messy diapers already so we are sure the plumbing is working fine. He looks a lot like his Big Brother right now but we know that he'll grow in to his own sweet self soon enough. For now though, we're happy to have a tiny baby to snuggle again.

We're thrilled he's here healthy, happy and thriving. There's really no greater joy in the world than hearing your baby cry for the first time.

Update

Hello Everyone!

Ok here's the latest on our family -

I have my 20 week OB visit/ultrasound today! They say we're having another boy! Now I can finally start thinking about baby names, room themes and all the other good things we have to do to get ready for the baby! We're so excited. Everything looked great and he was moving around a lot too. Which is all that really mattered anyways!

News

Just a quick note this morning to share some good news with everyone (some of you have already heard though).

Joby, Brandon and I are expecting another addition to our family. I am due November 15th! We are very happy! My doctor says that everything is fine so far. I've had two ultrasounds and all looks good.

I am almost 11 weeks now and starting to feel better more often than I feel nauseous (this morning being an exception). I am already starting to do silly things that I going to blame on the pregnancy hormones - like this morning I left the house with two different black sandals on my feet... and one is almost an inch taller than the other. Thank goodness my mother lent me a pair of her shoes!

:)

I hope you all have a great day!