Letter to Gray// Two months

Dear Gray,

At two months you already loved playing on your mat and looking at your toys. Near the end of your two months you even began to grab the toys that were hanging above your head. You also celebrated your first Fourth of July. Your dad and I decided the best way to celebrate it was by staying in, playing with you and barbecuing as a family. 

You weighed 12.9 pounds and were 24 inches long. You received your first round of shots this month. The first day you were really not a fan. The only way we could get you to stop crying was if we were holding you and you began to get a fever.  We had to give you some Tylenol which helped and after your fever went down you were thankfully back to your old self. 

During your second month of life you also went on many adventures. You are such a good baby we are able to take you anywhere. You went to happy hour, shopping, to the beach several times and we even flew to Texas so that you could meet your aunts and uncles.

We ended up having a 20 hour travel day but you handle it like a champ.

At two months you began sleeping longer in the night (!) it would commonly be between 6-7 hours and towards the end of the month we reached the 8 hour mark!

One of my favorite things about this month is the way that you sneeze. You sneeze often and generally in threes. On the third sneeze you get very dramatic and yell at it. Your dad does the same thing and I just looooove it. 

As the days go on you are smiling more and more. That smile of yours melts the hearts of many.

What gray was doing at one month

xo

your proud momma

Letter to Gray// One month

Dear Gray.

Your first month of life went by way too quickly. You have spoiled us from the beginning. From the day we brought you home you were already easy to please and loved sleep. You loved sleeping on us during the day ((which we were all okay with)) and loved being swaddled in the crib at night.  At first in the night you needed to be fed every two-three hours so we were pretty exhausted but thankfully you would go right back to sleep after each feeding. The trickiest part for us was breastfeeding. There was a point where I almost gave up, but after two weeks (( and with the help of a lactation consultant)) we were able to figure it out. Thankfully we figured it out just in time for your first growth spurt. For a couple of days there all you wanted to do was eat!! At this point my nickname in the house became "dinner".

Even at a young age you were already expressive. We cant get enough of that sweet face of yours. You also would curl your little toes and stretch out your pinkie finger like you were drinking tea. 

Several people came out to see you during your first weeks of life! Your marmee, gramps, sugar and papa all made there way out to Cali from Texas. We also had special friends come over to meet you and bring us ((much needed)) cooked meals!

In such a short period of time you have already brought so much joy into our lives.

You are very special little one.. never forget it!

xo

your proud momma

Birth Story

My sweet baby boy made his way into this world 3.5 months ago.

My mind has been blown by the amount of love that I have for this little guy. He is growing up way too fast and I do not want to forget the little details that make being his mom so wonderful. With that being said.. it is time to officially come back to the blogging world and to write everything down. 

The first place I would like to start is with the birth story.

....................

My contractions started at 4:00 am on May 1, 2014 ((exactly one week after my due date!)). I timed them for about 30 minutes before waking up Ben because I wanted to be sure that they were actual contractions. I then woke him up and told him that this could be it! The contractions kept coming for several hours. We decided to take walks around the neighborhood to try and speed things up. It was an unusually hot day in San Diego ((in the 90's!)) so between the heat and the contractions we had to stop often. I'm sure we were quite the site to our neighbors who most certainly knew what we were doing! ;)

The contractions consistently kept coming within 10 minutes of each other and were about 30 seconds long. After 5 hours of contractions we decided that what I was experiencing was definitely true labor pains and we let the rest of the family know what was happening. At this point my mom came over to our house and my MIL started to make her way to California! 

At around 2:30 pm my contractions were coming every 2-5 minutes but were only lasting for about 30 seconds. I had been told to come into the hospital when my contractions were coming every 5 minutes and lasting a minute in length, so I was unsure on whether or not I should head to the hospital.  Thankfully my mom convinced me that it was time for us to head in.

The car ride was so surreal. Ben and I kept looking at each other and saying, "We are having a baby!"

When we got to the hospital my contractions were 5:1 and they confirmed that I was indeed in labor and was 4 cm. They then officially checked me in and sent us up to a room. Of course once we got into the room I decided that I was starving. Thankfully there was an unlimited supply of popsicles.  After about an hour the pain was getting pretty intense and it felt best when I was walking around. I could handle it at this moment but knew they were just going to continue to get stronger so I decided it was time for an epidural. ((I knew before I went in that I wanted an epidural but was nervous about timing.))

I was given the epidural very quickly (( in between a contraction.. I was amazed!)) and once it kicked in it made things a lot easier to handle. I was able to relax for a bit and take in all that was about to happen.  

They checked me an hour later and I was 9 cm. It was time for them to break my water and get things started. When they broke my water they noticed that there was meconium so we had NICU personnel in our room just in case. It made me feel better that they were in there but in the back of my mind I started to panic a little. Ben was amazing during the entire process. He remained calm, held my hand and kept count. ((It wasnt until weeks alter that he talked about how nervous he was about the meconium)) While I was in labor he just kept encouraging me and telling me that everything was going to be okay!

After two hours of pushing and still no signs of my little man coming out the Doctor told me that I either needed to use the vacuum or we were going to have to have a c-section.  

We decided that the vacuum was the best option for us and one push later.. our baby boy came into the world! ((at 10:13 pm))

He weighed 7.09 lb and was 19.5 inches long.

I will never forget the moment that they put him on my chest. It was so surreal. I just couldn't believe that he was finally here and that he was ours.

 xo

anna lizbeth