6 Weeks Later

Look how much more he fills out the same outfit!

(sorry for the bad lighting and redness)

5am Sleep Smiles

Snapped these with my phone last night as Drew drifted back into a slumber on my lap. How much cuter could you get than some sleep smiles?

Cat Nap

Derek snapped this the other day when we both passed out after he ate.

I think it's funny seeing as how the remote and my phone are never out of reach when I nurse the munchkin.

Mother's Thoughts

It's a bit too early to tell if you are going to be a momma's boy or not, but I like to pretend that you already are. Nothing melts my heart more than to see you stop crying when you hear my voice, or fall asleep in my arms. You completely trust me with your life already and I want nothing more than the protect you from everything bad in this world. It's amazing how much I already feel 'motherly' toward you, but yet realize that I have so much to learn. Although I will never be a perfect mother, I will strive to provide you with the best life possible and surround you with endless love. You will always have an ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on with your mother. These things I promise.

Love you tons little man... smelly toots and all.

P90X

Yep. We got it. And starting on Wednesday when I'm released to do physical activity again, we're starting it. I can't WAIT to start running, but we're going to do this in conjunction with our other workouts in order to help speed up the process to getting back in shape! And I'll use the term 'we' lightly here as Derek worked out regularly during the pregnancy and only put on 4 pounds. I put on more than 10 times that, so it's more for my benefit in the end. Doing it together, however, will help in the motivation to follow through.

Stay tuned for results updates!

The Many Faces of Drew

Below you will see examples of "The Drunk", "The Pooper", "The Thinker", and a few others!

Preconceived Notions

"Preconceived Notion - a belief or opinion that a person forms, before actually encountering someone or something, or before learning of any evidence about them/it."

I had quite a few of these. And guess what? Most have already been tossed aggressively thrown out the window with this baby.

Sex - Get your mind out of the gutter! I'm talking about finding out the sex of our baby! Up until I was about 26 years old, I NEVER wanted to find out the sex. Partly because my mother said it was the best gift in the world, and partly because I would LOVE a surprise like that! I guess that being a 'planner' and 'organizer' type-A personality changed that as I'm not sure how I would have dealt with that big of an unknown.

Epidurals - Not sure why I even attempted to go natural. Where did I even get the idea that these might be 'bad' for the birth? Why reject something that makes you feel 100% better? The epidural was amazing and helped me completely relax (even sleep a bit). I'll probably opt to just get one as soon as I can next time around!

Showers - I was fully prepared to shower like once a week with a newborn. Thankfully, having family in town for 80% of the first 4 weeks of his life helped me to accomplish this small, yet wonderful task almost daily. Thank GOODNESS!

Breastfeeding - Why did I think he would latch on, suck for a bit and everything would be peachy? Breastfeeding, while definitely important to me, is a daily frustration with still some pain from time to time. I've seen three lactation consultants, had phone calls with more and it's still not something that is coming natural. We have to work daily at it! The priority is getting him my milk, right? So who cares if I need to give myself a break every now and then and pump/bottle feed him? He's still getting the 'good' stuff, right!

Cloth Diapers - We have several small sizes, but the fear of not wanting to squeeze his legs or tummy off, we're still learning the best ways to put them on to prevent leakage. My idea that it would be something we'd do from about week 2 or 3 has gone out the window as we're still using some disposables in week 6. We'll get there though.... soon enough. At least every cloth diaper we use now eliminates one disposable in the dumps!

Pacifiers - People are VERY opinionated on this. Some people say NEVER, some people say to start using them right away and some people say after a few weeks. I had this notion that I would never 'pacify' my baby... instead just let them express themselves. After reading on the American Academy of Pediatrics website that they recommend them as a way to prevent SIDS, we have decided to introduce them to Andrew. He does VERY well with them and we are now fans.

Emotions - Crying is for wussies, right? I'm generally not a huge crier. Sure, the occasional movie or book will bring me to tears, but everyday life just doesn't cause that. Well not now. I cried so much the first few weeks, with a 4-hour stretch one day that I just could not stop. I know that my body is full of hormones and it's "normal" for new moms, but I'm not a big fan of the uncontrollable crying at the drop of a dime. It's lessened quite a bit now, but those first two weeks were ROUGH!



I'm sure you have your own ideas as you read this, but please just know that these are my personal opinions and thoughts. As my best friends say almost daily - "every mom and every baby is different"... THAT'S the key!

A Gift from Machu Pichu

Uncle Matt (Derek's brother) was in Buenos Aires a few months back for a semester abroad and picked up this cute, wool outfit from the city of Machu Pichu. We think he looked adorable in it!

       

First non-sponge bath

Now that all cord pieces were finally off,  we decided to test out the bathtub with Drew and see how he would do. You can see the progression below viewing from left to right as to how he did. At first he screamed bloody murder, but with the warm water running down his body, he soon began to just look around with enjoyment.

The best part was snuggling my little, happy froggy afterward!



One Month Pictures

Happy 1 Month Little Bumblebee!

Wow. It's already been a month? Where did time go!

Stats: (We don't see the pediatrician again for another month, but 8 days ago at a lactation consultation he weighed 9 lbs 13 oz. I'd say it's safe to say that he's well over 10 pounds and longer than 22 inches)

Changes:

- He looks towards sounds, lights and motion

- His alert time is quite a bit more now

- He has allowed us to actually sleep 6 hours at a time a few nights in the past week

These professional pictures were taken when he was 10 days old -

And I'll have some non-professional pictures up later from today.

LOVE YOU TONS LITTLE MAN!

Happy Birthday Bean!

 Happy Birthday to my brother!

Love you tons and can't wait to see you in a few months!!

Full Freezer

Thanks to both grandma's and their 'extra' cooking they did while visiting, we have a completely full freezer to eat from now that all family has come and gone.

See all that foil?

There looks to be enough meals to last us at least a few weeks and we couldn't appreciate that more. It's probably the best gift we could have received during this time as I'm really not in the mood to cook big meals and Derek would probably get sick of pizza delivery!

First Crib Nap

Derek's mom, "Mimi", got Andrew down for his first nap in the crib on Monday and has since then taken a couple more naps in there! He looks SO tiny in his crib, but really enjoys his elephant mobile when he wakes up.

1 Week vs. 4 Weeks

Can you tell a difference? We sure can! Besides the yellow jaundice color being completely gone, he looks more like a 'baby' now rather than a 'newborn'.

Crazy how time flies.

Happy 4 weeks to our little munchkin!

Changing Table Time

As mentioned before, Andrew has really started to like his changing table (once you get the dirty diaper off him!). He likes to just lay there naked and look around.

We love nothing more than when he's awake and content and it's so fun seeing him recognize our voices and 'listen' to what we're saying. His dark blue eyes will just melt your heart when they look at you  and who doesn't love kissing the cheeks of something so soft and sweet?

Biased Mom

Nope, not of my beautiful son this time, but of my beautiful chocolate lab.

I think she's perfect and she LOVES hanging out in her baby's nursery.

Tummy Time

Our pediatrician and the nurses in the hospital recommended tummy time from birth in order to avoid flat spots on the head as well as develop more muscles in his upper body.

We've been trying to do tummy time 3-5 minutes a day.... or at least until he begins to scream. He does a great job already with lifting his head up and looking around, especially when he hears noises.

Grandmotherly Love

Isn't this such a sweet picture of Andrew holding my mother's hand?

My dad snapped it while they were here.

(I told you I was behind on some pictures!)

Lots of Love

Andrew has had lots of family visitors come to Cleveland to meet him. Derek's two siblings and both sets of our parents have now made the trip to meet the little guy.

His fan club is steadily growing by the day!

Faux Hawk

 

So I realize that this blog has become mostly just pictures of Andrew. Let's face it though.... who really wants to see anything else at this point?!

He seems to change everyday and we have loved getting to know our little man. Even his toots, burps and cries are cute sounds!

As far as changes, he has learned to like his bath time more and has also been crying less on the changing table. He likes to just sit in his bouncy chair and just look around. He LOVES snuggling up on his mom and dad and generally falls right asleep when doing so.

Anyhoo - this is a cute picture my mom caught when she was here of his faux hawk after bath time!

Sunny Sunday

This past Sunday we actually had some sunlight come into the house. I put Drew near the window he loves to look out and his doggies decided to join the party and pose for a picture!

Picture of the Day

Someone loves their animals!

Who says newborns can't laugh?

Often when Drew falls asleep in my arms, he smiles and laughs. I know most people say that it's just gas, but I did manage to catch him 'laughing' yesterday. I definitely believe now that newborns know how to smile and laugh when they are sleeping, they just can't perform when awake yet!

You tell me what you think....

(PS - His eyes look open, but when he's asleep, they are often kinda open like this!)

Big Boy Chair

Just a shot of our little man in his Pottery Barn Kids 'big boy chair' from Mimi and Grandpa!

First Bath

Andrew was not a fan of his first bath, but has since then begun to not mind it. He especially loves his little scalp massaged, but hates his toosh touched!

First Glimpse

Some of my blog posts are out of order as I'm still a bit behind on uploading and sorting through all of the hundreds of pictures we took the first week! I did come across this one and thought it was so sweet. It was from my first look at our beautiful baby boy.

I now know what they mean when they say that you don't understand how you could love something this much at first glimpse. He is a perfect little angel and I love him with all of my heart already. To think that Derek and I created this wonderful little life amazes me and I find myself tearing up often just looking at his precious little face. I'm so honored to get to be called his mother.

Andrew's Birth Story

I wanted to share Andrew's birth story on here as a way to keep it saved in time, but also fill in the details for friends and family who are interested!

Drew's induction began at 4am on January 12th at a wonderful Cleveland Clinic hospital here in snowy Ohio. The anticipation ran so high that I'm pretty sure I only enjoyed a few hours sleep the night before. Either way, I was ready.

Once checked in, my first nurse led me to the the room where I would experience my first contractions leading to the miracle of life. I remember her being completely not what I imagined. I was expecting this happy labor and delivery nurse who would walk me through the process with a smile on her face and a caring demeanor. Instead, her shift was ending in an hour or so and she shuffled me through the process with annoyance and a cold aura. She administered the pitocin, watched my monitor off and on and then her shift thankfully ended. The next nurse was wonderful. I wish I could remember her name, but she's what you want by your side when there is stress on your baby or questions to be asked.

Around 8:14am, my OBGYN, Dr. Jean Reinhold, came to break my water in hopes of speeding up labor. I was progressing fairly slow and I knew that breaking the water was a normal next step. The contractions still didn't really start until around 9:30am. I was quite surprised at how minimal they felt, even joking with Derek about how this wasn't so hard. My mind dwelled on the fact that my stomach was hungry as the contractions began to slowly increase. The idea of a natural labor was something I was open to try, but after an hour or so of deep contractions becoming exponentially worse, I knew it wasn't for me. Derek would later tell me that I looked and sounded like someone possessed writhing in pain. My power labor music wasn't doing it's job and I needed pain management. I opted for the epidural at 11:30am and it felt like forever for the anesthesiologist to get to the room. Just like the cliche, I was terrified of the huge needle and it's a joke when they tell you to hold still despite going through an incredibly strong contraction. I absolutely hated the fact that Derek wasn't allowed to be in the room for the shot, but my wonderful nurse helped me get through the fear and pain. And then bliss set in.

With the pain minimized, I was able to relax and enjoy the experience; even catching a bit of sleep! We watched TV, hung out with Matt and Whitney (who were in town) and just enjoyed what we could. That afternoon, however, my relaxed state shifted dynamics a bit when Drew began to show signs of stress. His heart rate wasn't reacting to my contractions how they should and I was quickly shifted into a few different positions to help. Nothing helped and we seemed to be slipping into a more dangerous state by the minute. I tried to hold back tears as Derek did everything he could to make me feel better over those two hours. The word "c-section" was thrown around and I was mentally and emotionally preparing myself to go that route. I always knew it was an option and wasn't one of those women who are "against" anything. I figured it was 2011 and the world of medicine knew what they were doing. I was more worried with the recovery time and the scar it would leave. Ultimately, I let them know that they needed to do whatever necessary to make sure my little boy came out healthy.

Finally, my amazing OB made the call to increase the pitocin back up to where it was earlier that morning. If Andrew's stress continued, we would go immediately into surgery to bring him out. If he handled the increase better, we could continue laboring in the room and hope for a vaginal birth. Our little angel decided he wanted to come out the natural way and did a great job keeping his heart rate at a solid level. At about 5pm, the pressure became extreme and I was fully dilated. It was time. Time to do what I had been preparing for the last 10 months. Time to make Derek a father and myself a mother. As Derek texted family with an update for the 79th time that morning, I braced myself and began to push with my OB, nurses and Derek by my side.

After an hour of excruciating pushes, I became very exhausted. With no calories to give me energy and each push feeling like I was going to explode, I remember the fear of not being able to continue. I CRAVED those 2 minutes in between contractions where I could relax. Finally, during one push I heard a nurse say "he has a bunch of light brown hair" and saw Derek's eyes begin to well up. This was the motivation I needed to make those last few painful pushes in order to meet our son. At 6:22 pm, after about 13 hours of labor, Drew emerged into this world and immediately let out a huge cry. I remember thinking I was so very thankful to hear his voice quickly and not have that as another worry. The cord was wrapped around his neck two times meaning Derek didn't get the honor of cutting it, but other than that, he was perfect. I will never forget seeing his face for the first time as they cleaned, weighed and measured him first. He was a big boy at 8 lbs 2 oz and 20.5 inches long with gorgeous blue eyes and an adorable head of hair. When they finally laid him on me, he opened his eyes very quickly and already began to take in his new world as we lay together. If we only knew this would set the tone for his personality as a baby and toddler, always one to sit back and enjoy watching. I was in heaven.

Eventually, Matt and Whit were brought into the room where they met their little nephew for the first time. And what they brought me was something I don't think I'll ever forget. Not being able to eat all day I was absolutely starving and that Steak N Shake cheeseburger and milkshake were absolutely delicious. I don't know if it was the drugs I was on or the emotional state I was in, but I doubt I'll ever have another milkshake that tasted like a little piece of heaven.

The next 2 days in the hospital were full of so many emotions as we spent time with Drew and fell deeply in love. I felt this extreme level of calm and peacefulness, more than I ever have in my life. Bonding with him was the most serene, warm feeling and I just loved every second. The nurses would constantly compliment his temperament saying he cried the least in the nursery, and especially during all the poking and prodding they have to do to infants. We went home 48 hours after his birth and after a quick breakdown from the fear of not being surrounded by medical staff, we settled in. Drew did have jaundice, which was at its height around day 3 and 4, but quickly decreased and was gone by day 8. My parents flew in when Drew was only a few days old and Derek's parents would come shortly after mine left. Our new 'normal' began and I loved being a family of 3.

I must say that I lucked out in the husband department. Derek was by my side every step of the way and did a wonderful job updating our families via text messages while keeping all focus on me. I could not have asked for a better support person and coach and appreciate everything he did for me. Although I know he was feeling what I was during our 'scares', he remained strong and was a shoulder for me to lean on. I'm not sure I would have made it without his encouragement, tender touch and loving words throughout pregnancy, let alone the birth. Love you more than ever babe. You are my rock.

So that's it. A pretty standard story in my opinion. The only thing that's not standard is our deep love and connection with Drew!

Piggy Paint

I HATE the look of bare nails on my hands. But now that I have a little one that likes to suck fingers, I obviously had to just deal with going without nail polish.

That is... until I found Piggy Paint! Piggy Paint, cruelty-free nail polish is specially formulated from natural, water-based formula ingredients, and contains no toxic chemicals.

I ordered a couple of bottles and now my nails have a nice color on them again that I don't have to worry about Drew sucking on. I call that a Win Win!

1st Cloth Diaper

At one week old, we officially attempted our first cloth diaper. It's VERY hard at this size and I'm glad that we didn't purchase too many for how little he is. They seem like it would be near impossible to keep leaks in, but still fun to try some out now!

Andrew seems to have a love/hate relationship already with them -

First Week Home!

What a whirlwind this first week has been. I feel like I've had to almost schedule time to go to the bathroom or get a bite to eat! Andrew has been an angel that has slept so much (partly due to his jaundice), but we really couldn't have asked for a better baby. We loaded him up on fluids to get his jaundice levels down and are happy to report that as of yesterday, he was back into the 'normal' range and has has several poopy diapers (finally!). We simply cannot stop staring at him and kissing his adorable cheeks and we feel so lucky for this little man to have joined our family.

Sanity has been kept here in the household mostly because my parents were in town. My mother has prepared every meal and has made a few extra for when she leaves. My father has done some much-needed projects around the house along with helping out with the dogs. But more importantly, they have provided 'baby-watching' services on demand..... although I'm thinking that has been probably their favorite 'duty'!! Having this help in the house has made our lives so much easier and we are very thankful to have them here.

That's enough rambling for now as I know you just want to see some baby pictures! Obviously, there's no time for pretty editing, so here are some raw photos. Oh, and yeah, we haven't caught the little guy with his eyes open much yet!

What's in a Name

Derek and I chose our sons name about 3-4 years back, but at the same time, didn't "officially" decide on the name until about 4 weeks before he was born. Confused? Let me explain.

Somehow, we got into a discussion about names quite a few years back (before even wanting children) and both were in love with the name Andrew (Drew) for a boy. Over the years, we always thought that's what we would name him when the baby discussion came up. Once we found out we were pregnant though, we wanted to make sure that we explored a variety of names before actually settling on the one that our child would carry for the rest of his life. We had a good list of about 5-7 names at one point, whittling the list down monthly. A couple months before he was born, it was down to Andrew and another name that we liked as well. Finally, we just both realized that Andrew was perfect for our son for a number of reasons.

     A) We wanted a name that could be shortened as neither of us got to experience that growing up.
     B) We wanted a name that could stand the test of time and was not a 'fad' name.
     C) We had both always loved this name for years so why second guess our original top choice?

That being said, neither of us are fans of 'Andy'. While we realize someone who doesn't know our son could ultimately call him Andy, we plan to start early with calling him 'Drew' so that his teachers and classmates brand him with that name early on.

And what about the middle name; Calvin? Well it's Derek's fathers name. This, again, was a VERY tough decision as there were quite a few options to choose from that would honor someone in our family on both sides. Ultimately, since it was our firstborn son, Derek really wanted to give him his fathers name in hopes he will carry on Cal's characteristics of a loving, intelligent, well-rounded, caring man. It sounded perfect with Andrew and that was that!

Who Does He Look Like?

Who do you think Andrew looks like more?

Derek had a lighter brown color and I had a full head of black hair!

NEW BUNDLE OF JOY!

Introducing Andrew Calvin

January 12th, 2011 at 6:22pm
8 lbs 2 oz

20.5 inches long

I will share his birth story as soon as I have the time to sit down and recap everything that happened. For now we are just overcome with joy and excitement...and obviously a bit tired. Stay tuned also for more pictures!

(For the sake of privacy, we don't have our last name on this blog anywhere and therefore,
you will not see it on this post!)

More Cleveland Visitors

Derek's siblings were in town for the past week to enjoy some time up here in Cleveland and meet Baby K! Even at 40 weeks pregnant, I have been with them every step enjoying the sites around town. From eating at our favorite's (The Melt and Angelo's Pizza), to visiting the Museum of Art and the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, to seeing the West Side Market, it's been wonderful having them in town.

This past Sunday, we took them to toboggan and were lucky with how short the line was. They got several rides in before we headed home to watch the Chiefs lose and KU win. Whitney even prepared a few meals for us to enjoy and Matt taught me Photoshop after installing it on my computer! I can't wait to practice some fun edits on Baby K's pictures.


Hopefully Baby K makes his debut soon and they will both get to meet him before they head home in the next couple of days! Either way, we will sure miss you guys and thanks for everything!!!

Goodbye Pregnancy

As my pregnancy comes to an end, I just wanted to reflect on the pros and cons I felt over the last 40 weeks. I've been extremely blessed during this time and honestly think I'll miss being pregnant, unlike many other women out there. I feel like Derek and I knocked on wood so many times throughout this journey, especially after knowing what some friends and family went through.

PROS
- Never once did I throw up.
- I NEVER felt "miserable" (only uncomfortable).
- I was able to work out consistently until the last few weeks of the pregnancy.
- I only suffered heartburn one time. It was horrible, but it was only one time!
- Stretch marks = 0. HUGE pro!
- I never got swollen feet or cankles.
- My back pain was only mild during the night when trying to sleep.
- The little man really only liked settling in my ribs for about 2 weeks and then he was done there.

CONS
- I did get melasma (the pregnancy mask), and some acne, early on and it is still hanging around.
- I gained about 10 pounds more than I really wanted to.
- I guess it's a con, but I never got the hair 'volume' that a lot of women get towards the end!
- Let's just say my 'two girls' never experienced a growth spurt. Isn't this supposed to be one of the BEST parts about being pregnant?!?!   :)


So here's to you, pregnancy, and all of the joy and ease that you have provided me. I would also thank my parents for my height which, I believe, was a huge factor to why I was so comfortable the entire time. As much as I will miss the idea of being pregnant and carrying our son around with me everywhere I went safe and sound, I can't wait to see his little face and move on to the next step in our lives!!

Homecoming Outfit

The outfit that we have chosen to bring Baby K home is the same outfit that Derek was brought home in! I'm so glad Lesa kept this outfit as it's an actual Feltman Brothers onesie from back in the day. I've cleaned it up, very carefully and it looks almost new! It's a super cute, light blue color with an adorable belt and cutesy collar.


Here is Derek at 6 weeks old in the outfit -

Heirloom Rocking Horse

One of my favorite nursery pieces is a rocking horse from my childhood.

Once purchased, my father stained the entire piece, then carved my name and year of birth into the seat. I think it's a perfect accessory for Baby K's room, don't you?