3 Weeks

This week has been so fun and I've seen so many changes in my little boy. It's so amazing to watch him grow and change every day and I'm constantly reminding myself to take the time between feeding, changing, and cleaning to just enjoy him.

We've been taking family walks around the neighborhood every night and I really enjoy the time out of the house. It's good exercise for me too until I can start running. Connor really seems to enjoy our walks and always falls asleep.

My mom went back to Honduras after being here for 3 weeks and it was really hard for me. I cried a lot but I'm getting along just fine and talking to her everyday (of course). A friend of mine wrote me on Facebook and said "it's traditionally excepted to freak out when mom leaves" :) I guess I'm not the only one!

The one good thing about my mom not staying with us anymore is that I had to take over all the household duties again. It would seem that this would add to my load and be overwhelming but I've actually been enjoying it because it breaks up my day and makes me feel accomplished.

Connor is eating like crazy as usual and as challenging as it is for me to feel like I'm always feeding him, its such a good feeling to know he is healthy, strong, and growing like he should!

His personality is definitely showing and he's so much like me. My mom said I was a pretty opinionated baby and I guess it's my turn to get what I gave to my mom haha. He's really a good baby but when he wants something he lets you know! I've been learning that I just have to find ways to make him happy and he will be a doll. If I don't do the things to make him happy he's well .. not too happy lol.

This week he hasn't been napping as much as at the beginning and I spent a whole day just trying to get him to sleep and failed. He only napped a total of about 1 1/2 hrs all day. I was frustrated but the next day I decided I needed to get a little more creative. Instead of just holding him and trying to calm him down I tried some other ideas like pushing him around in his stroller, putting him in his swing, and turning on his sound machine.

Guess what?! It worked! Being a new mom isn't always easy but it's so rewarding. Not to mention all the cuddles and love!

Next week Connor will be one month old! Ahhhh so crazy! I love him so much.

xoxo Jessenia

Connor's Birth Story Part Two

After Johnny left the operating room with the baby I was still laying on the table while they sewed me back up and all the nurses said congratulations to me. I was so full of excitement and was looking forward to holding my little man for the first time very soon.

Johnny stayed with Connor while he got weighed and measured and my parents got to see him for the first time!

They transferred me to a rolling bed and brought me into the recovery room where I had to stay for a while so they could monitor me and make sure that I was doing well. While I was there Johnny brought Connor in and I got to hold him for the very first time. It was such an amazing feeling and it finally all made sense and I really felt like he was mine.

It was such a beautiful moment of our little family being together for the first time. We took lots of pictures and enjoyed our new little miracle.

Next I had to be brought to my hospital room and Connor went for a blood test while I was wheeled upstairs. I waited with some family until Connor and Johnny came back and then I held my boy again.

We only spent two days at the hospital because I made a pretty quick recovery and Connor was doing great. Even though I was in pain during the stay I enjoyed those first two days his life so much. They were so special. We had lots of visitors but also had lots of alone time as the three of us, which is so amazing in itself.

We love this little guy so much!

xoxo Jessenia

**All photos are by Hannah Mayo Photography! Check out her work here.

2 Weeks

Well here we are at two weeks! I'm probably going to say this every week but I can't believe it's been 2 weeks already. I also can't believe how much my boy has grown in the past week. He already looks and feels so much bigger to me! As you can tell from the pictures below his belly sure is filling out! :)

This week has been full of new adventures. Connor seems to be much more awake during the day and I have been trying to talk, read, and sing to him when I can. He's a poop and pee machine and I know all newborns are but seriously he goes a lot! I started using my cloth wipes this week but I am still using disposable diapers because I don't think I could keep up with how much he goes with cloth diapers. 

I really like the cloth wipes so much better than disposable wipes. I make my own disposable ones from paper towels and wipe solution. We use the disposable ones at night because when you're half asleep you don't want to fuss with rinsing and such. I like the cloth ones better because they clean better and they are so soft on baby's bottom. They are much easier to use than I anticipated and require relatively little maintenance. 

I have them in a normal wipes box for easy access and I have a spray bottle of solution on the changing table. All I do is grab a wipe and spray it a few times then take off the diaper and wipe up as much of the poo with the old diaper as possible then wipe the rest with the cloth wipe. Once I'm finished I rinse it in the toilet, ring it out, and toss it in the dirty wipes pail and sprinkle on some baking soda. 

People use either dry or wet pails for cloth wipes/ diapers. I've been using the dry one and I like it so far. I've been washing them every other day. When I used to think about cloth wipes I would think of them covered in poo but really they don't get much on them unless it's a huge blow out. ;) 

I'm getting a little nervous to start using cloth diapers in a few weeks but I'll let you know how it goes! 

Breastfeeding is still going well and Connor is continuing to gain weight. He wants to eat all the time! What a boy! We went to the pediatrician this morning and he weighed in at 7lbs 15 oz. At first we were confused why he only gained 2 oz but then the Dr. figured out that they weighed him with his diaper on at the one week appt which means he was probably only about 7lbs 8oz last week and he gained about 7 oz this week.

I'm still using a nipple shield for breastfeeding which is super annoying. They can be really helpful if you really need one but the consultant at the hospital started me on one for no reason and I really wish I would have known more about them because I definitely would have told her I didn't want to use it.

Basically they are used when the baby has problems latching and they are usually only used when every other option was explored. Not the case for me. She started me on it without really trying to get him to latch normally. They make such a huge stink about your baby gaining weight at the hospital like they are going to waste away if they don't learn how to latch asap! As you can tell I'm not too pleased about the situation because now I have to teach him how to latch without it and its such a pain. He hates it! But it's also a pain to use it and I would much rather go natural and not have to use the stupid thing! In the end though at least he is eating and that's really all that matters but I still really want to be able to wean him of the shield. I guess I have my work cut our for me.

Here's a few pictures from Week Two:

                                    Baby feet :)                                    Hubby caught us sleeping

                     Hubby sunning our little man                                     Bath time!

I promise I will write the second half of the birth story tomorrow (I think) haha! Until next time!

xoxo Jessenia

One Week!

I can't believe it's already been nine days since my little man was born. Time seems to be flying by! Life with a newborn seems to make the days go by so fast. I'm trying to treasure every moment with my baby boy because I already feel like hes getting so big and changing everyday. Its so amazing to watch him grow. I love him so much.

I wanted to take some time and reflect on the first week of his life and my first week of not being pregnant anymore.

Connor's First Days:

Day One: You finally arrived and you were so gorgeous with chubby cheeks and bright eyes. Your daddy and I had a long first night with you and he had to walk back and forth and rock you to get you to sleep. I think you missed being inside my belly. When you finally fell asleep you slept on my chest and I loved feeling you so close to me. 

Day Two: Lots of your family came to visit you and they all love you so much! You got your ears checked and you passed the test at the highest level in both ears at the same time. The nurse said that means you are very smart! You slept with me again and you made the most adorable baby noises. Even though I was tired I didn't want to fall asleep because I just wanted to stare at your adorable face. 

Day Three: We took you home and you had your first car ride. It was pouring rain when we left the hospital. When we were leaving the hospital a transformer blew right where we were about to drive and it made a bunch of sparks. It was like fireworks celebrating you going home! 

Day Four: You seemed very comfortable at home and you love to sleep in your little rocking crib in the living room. The cats are curious about you and I cant wait until you are big enough to play with them. You are a very picky baby and you know what you want but you are a very good boy and you don't cry very much unless you are hungry. You are the sweetest boy ever!

Day Five: You had more visitors. You are one loved boy! I'm really enjoying breast feeding you because we get plenty of snuggle time. Sometimes you hold onto my finger while you are eating. When I woke up in the morning you were laying on your side and now you love to sleep on your side. You are so strong and already roll to your side from your back all by yourself!

Day Six: We went to your first Dr appt and you did so well. We found out that they measured you wrong at the hospital and that you are really 20 1/4 instead of 18 1/4. We knew you seemed longer than that and we were right! You weighed in at 7lbs 13oz which is two pounds above your birth weight! You were down to 7lbs 3oz on your second day and you gained all that back and then some! You are a great eater and we spend lots of time on feedings. The Dr said its because you are going to be tall like your daddy. 

Day Seven: You are one week old! When I burp you, you hold on to my arm and its the cutest thing ever. We love you so very much! When you are fussy or hungry you kick your legs as fast as you can and your daddy said that if we put you on the ground that you would just start running. I hope that means you will be my running buddy when you get older!

I'm sure there's a lot more that happened that I missed but overall its been just amazing for my husband and I to bond with our little guy and its so crazy that he came from us and hes part me and part my husband. So so cool!

How I've Been Feeling:

Since I had a c-section I've been having to recover from that, get used to having a newborn, and learn to breastfeed all at the same time. I'm not going to lie its been a challenge and I felt really overwhelmed at times and even had a few emotional breakdowns (dang hormones) but even though the first week was a challenge, its worth every single tear, ache and pain because our little boy is such a blessing! Everyday I feel a little better and more like myself and I think overall the husband and I are settling into parenthood fairly well. 

My husband is the most loving father and it amazes me how he transitioned into fatherhood so easily. Its like he was made for it! 

During my pregnancy I gained just about 30 lbs. At one week postpartum I was down 18 lbs. Here's me at 8 days postpartum.

 I obviously haven't done any sort of exercise and I won't be able to until I get cleared by my doctor. I want to make sure I am healing well before I start any kind of workout. The 18 lbs I lost so far was solely from Connors weight, fluids, placenta, etc, and breastfeeding. So I still have 12 lbs to go and as much as I miss my old body I'm more concerned about healing and will ease into working out soon with my Dr's permission.  

I'm probably going to give updates on my little guy once a week and will give another update on my recovery/ postpartum weight loss at one month. Also, I know I promised the second half of the birth story and it's coming, I promise! Being a mom is a busy life. ;)

Now I'm off to spend more time with my little bundle of love! 

xoxo Jessenia 

Connor's Birth Story Part One

It's finally time to write the birth story! I'll say now that it is not how I planned it but the end result is more amazing than I could have ever dreamed. Having a baby is the most amazing feeling and I love him so much it's crazy.

Connor's birth story really starts at 37 weeks even though that is about 2 weeks before he was actually born. I found out at 37 weeks that he was breech. In other words, he was head up with his feet down towards my cervix. It was really surreal when I found out. The midwife said she suspected he might be breech and they quickly got me in for an ultrasound between other patients.

When the ultrasound tech turned on the machine I was sure it was going to show him head down but unfortunately that was not the case. Since we didn't actually have an appt for the ultrasound the tech was going super fast and basically said oh yup he's head up and quickly wiped my stomach and send us on our way to talk to my midwives.

They said they were sorry he was breech and started their whole spiel about c-sections and what was going to happen and also went over what to do in the meantime to try and get him to turn naturally. When I look back it seems like that hour or so was such a blur and everything happened so fast. I had planned the perfect natural birth complete with birth plan and high hopes and everything seemed to be crashing down. I held it together during the rest of the appt but when my husband and I got to the car I started hysterically crying.

I know it seems like a minor issue compared to what can potentially go wrong in a pregnancy and I am so thankful for my beautiful healthy baby but when you are pregnant everything is a big deal and I had been planning for months. The following weeks were full of doing every exercise possible to get him to turn, going to the chiropractor to see if she could get him to turn, and mentally preparing myself that I might have to have a c-section.

I'm not going to lie, it was a really rough 2 weeks. I was constantly fighting with myself in my head between holding on to the birth I wanted and hoping he would turn and facing the reality that if he didn't I would have a c-section.

The days passed and there was tons of movement (my little guy is strong!) but there was no movement into the head down position. As the days dwindled down until the c-section date set for Sept 4th I become more and more at peace with what was going to happen. I decided that I needed to let go of everything I had planned and make a new plan. Just because it wasn't what I planned didn't mean it wasn't going to be the best day of my life and the first day of my sweet little boy's.

My parents came in the day before the c-section and I was so happy to see them. I went to be early and got up early to take a shower, do my hair, put on makeup and get ready to go. As I packed the rest of my things I couldn't help thinking how weird it was that I knew in just a few short hours that our baby would be here and that this would be the last time we would be at our house as a family of 2.

We took some last pictures of me pregnant and we hit the road on the way to hospital. When we got there they checked me in and and I got in my hospital gown and the first thing they did was an ultrasound to see if baby had moved or not. I had become very aware of his head in my ribs since he was so big at this point so I knew he hadn't turned and of course the ultrasound showed his head right at the top of my uterus.

After that it all become very real. I looked at the clock and it was around 11:30 am. The surgery was scheduled for 12:30 pm. In a little over an hour I was having a baby.We did a lot of waiting, my friend Hannah came to take some birth photography photos of the before and I visited with my family.

Soon the Dr. came in and said hi and asked if I had any questions. The anesthesiologist also came in and explained the spinal to me. I just listened and stayed focused on the end result, skipping by all the other stuff mentally.

Then it was finally time to go into the operating room. I walked in and it looked so cold with bright lights and instruments everywhere. Luckily, I'm a biology teacher and have always loved everything having to do with human body and thoroughly enjoyed every dissection I've ever done so thinking about getting cut open didn't really scare me. As weird as it sounds, it was actually intriguing.

They sat me down on the table and I had to curl my back for the spinal to go in. I'm not scared of needles either but the nurse that was holding my shoulders was talking to me trying to get my mind off of it and she made it seem like it was going to be really bad. When the needle went in I was surprised at how not bad it was. The nurse was like wow you didn't even flinch. A little prick and some pressure and instantly my toes went numb. Weirdest feeling ever!

The turned me flat on my back and called my husband in. I started getting a little queasy because everything was going so fast and within minutes I couldn't feel my entire lower body from about mid ribs all the way down. Losing control is such a strange feeling. Once I saw Johnny all dressed up in his hospital scrubs everything was fine again and I started to get so excited I could hardly stand it. They put up the big blue curtain and I stared at the light above my head.

I felt some pressure and instantly asked the Dr if I was cut open yet. He probably thought I was weird because I was talking during the whole surgery. He said oh ya we started already and I told Johnny to look at it and tell me what it looked like. He stood up and said it looked like a big cut and he could see my insides.

About 30 seconds later I heard one of the nurses say "I see feet" and Johnny stood up and starting saying "oh my gosh, oh my gosh" and laughing. It was so amazing to hear his reactions to seeing our baby for the first time. Within seconds I felt more pressure and I finally heard my boy cry for the first time and even though I couldn't see him I starting crying and was so overwhelmed with love for him already. It was unlike any feeling I have ever felt before.

Johnny wasn't allowed to go over to see him for a minute or so because they had to check him out and make sure he was okay. Johnny had videoed the whole thing and he showed me the video as I laid there. I was so amazed at what I was seeing and in the background I could still hear my little guy crying and crying as the nurses checked him out. It was all so fast and amazing and crazy all at the same time. So technically, I saw him for the first time on Johnny's phone and then soon after Johnny went over to see him and I was still just laying behind the curtain completely unable to move while they sewed me back up.

I soaked up the experience and marveled at the fact that the baby I heard crying was actually mine, the same baby I carried for 9 months, the one whole kicked and rolled inside of me and gave me so much joy. I couldn't wait to see his face and soon enough they brought him over to me all wrapped up like a little burrito and I couldn't believe me eyes. He was so beautiful.

After I got a peek at my precious little man they took him to the nursery and Johnny waved and said see you later and I remember thinking about how happy he looked. Like a proud new dad. It was absolutely amazing.

That's all for part one! Part two will be coming tomorrow!

xoxo Jessenia