3 Weeks Old

I can't believe he's already 3 weeks old (halfway to 4 weeks almost)! Three weeks really isn't that long to have had him, but I really can hardly even imagine what life was like without him.

I'm planning on trying to take weekly pictures of him with this bear to show how big he's getting. I didn't do too well with the pregnant pictures, though, so I'm not promising anything... It's hard to get pictures of him because he's never still unless he's sleeping. He's such a little wiggler!

He's starting to be a lot more alert and know more of what's going on around him. Noises have started startling him (he used to sleep through anything and not be bothered). He definitely recognizes the sound of my voice. If he's crying and I start talking to him he usually calms down a little bit (at least momentarily). He'll also look at me intently like he's listening to what I'm saying. He smiles and giggles a lot now too. It's unintentional, of course, and doesn't really mean anything, but it's really cute. He has a gorgeous little smile. It will be so much fun when he's really smiling at me. I can't wait to see what his personality is like!

He's still eating a lot, but not quite as much. He goes almost 2 hours now, which is better. Plus, I've started going out more. We run little errands (Today we went to Wal-Mart to buy diapers. I hate Wal-Mart.) and go for walks. We walked to Panara and had breakfast this morning. It was a gorgeous day! I can't wait to him to be a little older and for fall to come so we can go out more (it's a bit too hot most days now) and we can start jogging :-)

Mom came over yesterday and tried to give him a bottle and it worked really well. He took it great! The problem is that I'm having difficulty getting enough milk to fill up a bottle at this point. The pumping is not going very well. I'm not sure if it's a supply problem or that I'm doing something wrong pumping-wise. It's very frustrating and I don't really know who to ask about it. I guess I should be thankful that the breastfeeding itself is going well. At least now I know that once I do get the pumping down he'll take bottles from other people so I can leave him (and also so that Tim can help with the feedings). Ideally, I would like to get enough every day so that Tim can give him a bottle in the evening. I think it would be good for them to bond that way. I think breastfeeding is a wonderful thing in terms of convenience, bonding for mom and baby, and nutrition, but it really makes it hard for dads to bond with their babies. I'm really struggling with that because I feel like Tim doesn't know the baby nearly as well as I do. Part of that is because I'm home with him all day, of course, but part of it is because he spends so much time eating and Tim can't be a part of that.

38 Weeks 4 Days... and in Labor

We finally took my 38 week picture 4 days into the week. It was a good thing too because I was having contractions which turned out to be the real thing. Here's what I looked like in the last few hours of being pregnant.



I had been having cramping all day at work but wasn't sure if it was anything. It did get progressively worse throughout the day, but I still didn't know what it was since I really didn't know what to look for. It was still 10 days before my due date! Also, I had been feeling weird things for weeks anyway. By about 12:30 in the morning it was clear that I was in labor, though. It was getting more painful, but still not anything unbearable. We started timing them and by 1:30 or so we were pretty sure they had been about 5 minutes apart for a solid hour so I called the doctor. Dr. Gerwe ended up being on call, which we were excited about because we had wanted him to deliver the baby. He seemed pretty laid back about what I was telling him so I took my time getting ready. I took a shower, had a snack, packed my bag. By the time we were ready to leave the contractions were only about 3 minutes apart and getting more painful so I started rushing Tim because I wanted to get to the hospital. When we got there and Dr. Gerwe checked me he determined I was already 9 cm. Crazy! It hadn't even been that painful up until that point. It took him awhile to find my cervix and I honestly thought it was because I wasn't dilated at all. (that's how little pain I was in). Of course, the reason he couldn't find it is because it was almost gone! Anyway, the whole thing progressed REALLY quickly from there. We walked into the hospital at 2:55am and Will was born at 4:02am. Needless to say, there was no time for an epidural or any pain killers of any kind. I definitely didn't set out to do the whole natural childbirth thing, but it really wasn't as horrible as I had imagined. I'm sure part of that is because I was only in serious pain for about an hour or so. People with slower labors that have to feel what I felt in the last hour for several hours must be crazy if they choose to do that! Anyway, I will be getting to the hospital earlier and opting for an epidural for baby #2.



So at 4:02 on the morning of July 28th William Michael Adair was born. He was 7 pounds 9 ounces, 19 1/2 inches long, and absolutely precious! I'm biased, of course, but I think he's one of the cutest new babies I've ever seen. He has a perfectly little shaped head since he came so quickly. I'm still amazed at the whole thing. It's really absolutely incredible that Tim and I made this little person and now we are parents.

It's definitely been an adjustment having him home, though. I always knew that taking care of a baby was hard (especially the lack of sleep thing), but this is even harder than I imagined. It doesn't help that I'm stuck in the house resting because of some complications that I had, either. I feel pretty lonely and isolated. And it's frustrating because I feel like I do nothing all day other than sit around and feed the baby. I can't get anything done around the house. That was fine at first, but now that I'm 2 1/2 weeks in I'm started to get pretty frustrated with it. I'm hoping as he gets a little older he won't need to eat so often. It's definitely worth it, though. He's just wonderful.

Here he is at 1 week old.

Tim went and picked up our stroller (also my running stroller, obviously) after Will was born. Molly quickly took over it as her favorite napping location. She even put a dryer sheet in it one day (she carries them all over the house) so I know she's laid serious claim to it.