Happy One Month Birthday to Our Little Chunky Monkey!

Wow! It's hard to believe that it's already been a month since our little boy made his (quick) entry into this world. Neither one of us is well-rested and we're still trying to adjust this Jacbo's schedule. We're happy to report that while he was born four weeks early but at a healthy 6 lbs 3.4 oz, he's not officially a chunky monkey. A visit to the pediatrician's on Monday not only had him peeing all over the place but he weighed in at 7 lbs 13 oz and he just keeps growing. He's a voracious eater and eats every 2-3 hours like clockwork and takes about 3-3.5 oz of milk at each feeding. Ahhh, to be an infant! And like a true male, anytime he goes to the boob, he sips and falls asleep...

We've both enjoyed our new adventures in parenthood. It's interesting how gas and poop become such natural parts of our conversations as do the number of times we've been peed and pooped on since Jacob came home...I think Roger's been pooped on twice, peed on once and I've been peed on four times and had a near miss of being pooped on once.

Life the way it use to be has changed but for the good. Gone are the nights of sleeping through the night, I've temporarily retired my make-up bag and flat iron and they only get used a few times a week when Jacob takes a longer nap. We never thought we could spoil someone as much as we do but we do every day. Grandparents are in love with this little boy as much as we are and who can blame him - he is so darn cute. We'll take the sleepless nights, poop and pee on clothes and sometimes even on the wall, endless loads of laundry and so-long to spontaneous dinners out, trips to the mall or out with friends, and movies, because parenthood for us...a dream!

Happy one month birthday to our little Jacob!

Happy Three Week Birthday Jacob!

Well it's hard to believe that our little boy is already three weeks old and still has one week until his original birthday. He's doing well and while we still face a few challenges on the nursing front, he is thriving and is already at seven pounds. He eats like a champ but has his nights and days mixed up.

Here are a few highlights from the last three weeks:

• Tuesday, March 23: Obviously, this is the biggest one! His arrival was quite a surprise but wow! What an amazingly handsome boy we made and we are instantly in love with him.
• He's a nosy one: Even though he's considered a premie, he's lifting his head and looking around. He's been doing this since he was a week old and we continue to be amazed at how strong he is.
• Daily christening: Almost on a daily basis, just when I think I have the diaper thing figured out, he pees on me. He hasn't pooped on me yet...Roger had the pleasure of being peed and pooped on when we did his newborn photos last week.
• Hitting the bottle: Because he was born a premie, we've had our challenges on the nursing front. First he was "tongue-tied" and then there is the latching problem. We were using a supplemental nursing system which basically had us finger-feeding Jacob, and because of the latching problem this is how we fed him exclusively - a nightmare for my carpal tunnel. It was causing a lot of anxiety for both of us and with the help of a lactation specialist, we are making progress on the latching thanks to the introduction of a bottle. The bottle has also given us more flexibility.
• Diaper marathon: They weren't kidding when they told us we would be changing upwards of 90+ diapers a week at our baby prep class. I think we probably hit that number in the first week...you lose count when you're sleep deprived.
  

Everyday we look at this little guy and are so thankful for the opportunity to be parents to such a strong, healthy, happy baby! Happy Three Week Birthday Baby Boy!!!

Jacob Thomas Has Arrived

Well, it was ironic that my last post was about the things I learned about pregnancy because the day after that post, our son arrived. Our baby boy, Jacob Thomas Pelphrey, arrived on Tuesday, March 23 at 5:22 p.m. weighing in at 6 pounds and 3 ounces and measured 20 inches long. It was such a surprise that neither Roger or I were prepared for his arrival. In fact, I kept telling Roger and my girlfriends that have experienced childbirth "there's no way I'm having a baby today...he has four more weeks to bake. I must have just peed on myself..." Ha! Was I wrong!

So here's the short version of how our precious baby made his way into the world....

• 7:30 a.m. Water breaks. Convince myself that I lost all bladder control and peed on myself...twice in a row.
  
• 8:08 a.m. Contractions begin and come eight minutes apart. Send Roger to work convinced that it's just Braxton Hicks and if I do go to the hospital they'll just send me home after an embarrassing exchange about bladder incontinence.
• 9:30 a.m. Tell Roger he needs to come home, contractions are only four minutes apart.
• 10: 30 a.m. Driving to the hospital, praying Roger doesn't kill us diving 100+mph to the hospital.
• 11:00 a.m. Arrive at the hospital - nurses don't bother to ask if i'm in active labor, they can just tell and my contractions start coming full-force at 1-2 minutes apart and I'm already 5 cm dialated!
  
• 11:30 a.m. Fentanyl is my friend, my BEST FRIEND! I can relax just a little and catch my breath between these quick contractions.
• 12:30 p.m. Checked into our labor & delivery room and beg for an epidural which I get shortly. From here on out, it's just a lot of huffing and puffing until...
  
• 4:45 p.m. It's go time! Pushing begins and a little more than 30 minutes later...

our little man, our little peanut, made his way into this world! What an amazing day, an amazing experience and I don't think we ever thought two people could fall in love with another little person like we did the minute we heard his cries and met him face to face.

This new chapter in our life has begun and we are enjoying all of the new adventures it has and will bring. He's now two weeks old and although he is considered a premie he's eating like a champ and everyday, we fall more in love with our son. Here are some pictures from the first few weeks of his life.