5 Generations

A few weeks ago, Lincoln met his great grandma and great great grandma. I took a lot of pictures because I think it pretty rare to have 5 generations together. Mimi Betty (Ggma) and Mimi Kitty (GGgma) were both very excited to meet Lincoln although Mimi Kitty doesn't quite know who he is. A tiny baby is always a hit in a retirement community though!

It was very special to see an almost 100 year (98 year to be exact) span regardless of of the fact that Lincoln is too young to remember it.

He's got some good genes in him!

One Month!

Lincoln turned one month old yesterday! I cant believe it has been 4 weeks already. I'm not sure where the time has gone, but our little man is growing so fast. As of this week, he no longer fits in his newborn clothes. he is skinny enough, but too long. 0-3 month clothes fit great and a few 3 month outfits depending on how long they are. Most are still too long.

He is getting better with naps and usually takes a longish morning or afternoon nap, but struggles in the late afternoon.  He is fussiest around bedtime and we are working on getting a more consistent bedtime routine.  He's been such a good baby so far. When he is fussy, it is because he wants something. It makes me a little sad, but sometimes he just wants to be put down and to stretch out. No naps on mama's chest.

Here are pictures from his first 4 weeks:

 One Week!

 Two Weeks!

 Three Weeks!

 One Month!

Wordless Wednesday: Full Lap

Gun Show

This is how Lincoln sleeps all the time. We stopped swaddling him after he was 2 days old because he wiggled and grunted and cried until his arms were free.

He likes showing off his guns!

Also, I love my video monitor! How do people do this without one??

Date Night

With Mimi Cheryl visiting this weekend, Glenn and I decided to go out on Saturday night! We were only gone for about 4 hours, but it was nice to spend time with Glenn and not talk about napping, pooping and diapers. I think Mimi enjoyed the snuggle time too!

Glenn and I went to watch the Legwarmers, an 80s cover band that plays in DC and comes to town a few times a year. The people watching is worth it alone, but the band is great too. It reminded me of watching Kentucky Fried Mullet in college. Thursday nights at People's bar are some of Glenn and I's favorite college memories.

When we got home, Lincoln was sound asleep in Mimi's arms and had eaten without a problem.

Thanks Mimi!

Lincoln's First Baths

Lincoln has tons of hair and it gets pretty greasy after just a day or so. Before his newborn pictures, we washed it in the sink since his umbilical cord hadn't fallen off yet. He enjoyed it quite a bit. As long as our little guy isn't cold, he seems pretty happy with a bath. In other words, he's find once he is in the water, but getting in and out is not so fun!

A few days after we came home from the hospital, we tried out his tub in the bathroom. He looks so tiny in there!

 I love this sweet face! He was a happy guy once he was all wrapped up in his towel.

Smiles

I can't get enough of these!

He's Official!

Shopping Partner

Lincoln and I ventured out to Target today. His first trip in the big red cart!

He slept the whole time! Now that he is over two weeks old and surpassed his birth weight (he was 8 lb 9 oz at his appointment on Monday!) we are going to attempt to get him on a schedule. We are attempting a parent directed feeding plan now as opposed to an on demand schedule. We will probably end up with a combination of some sort, but we'll see how things go. Yesterday was a bust because Lincoln didn't want to nap at all and we had plumbers in and out of the house all day, but day 2 is going much better!

We got up with daddy at 6 am and have been eating and napping like a champ.

And just so I don't forget. Lincoln was in the 80% for weight, 70% for head and 20% for height. Looks like he might have some Chapman in him (Cheryl is ~5'1" and her mom is even shorter!).

Getting big!

I can't believe how much he has changed in just two weeks. He can focus on our faces now and recognizes our voices. Our big guy even took his first bottle this morning. He didn't have a problem taking a bottle and finished the entire 2.5 oz.

We managed to go out to dinner on Friday night and run some errands on Saturday, but we've mostly just taken it easy this weekend!

Lincoln's Birth Story

I've had quite a few people ask how Lincoln's birth went, so I thought I would share. I feel like I will forget the details, too, if I don't write them down. Sorry if this is too much detail about my nether regions, but please stop here if that is the case. :)

I woke up around 4 am on Sunday morning to use the bathroom. Lincoln was usually pretty active around that time of the morning. For the last week of my pregnancy, I was usually wide awake well before my 5:15 alarm clock. For whatever reason though, I felt like something different woke me up. Was it my water breaking? I went to the bathroom, everything seemed pretty normal. Regardless, I slept on a towel after I went back to bed. When Glenn woke up a few hours later, everything seemed the same so we went on with our day.

We stopped by the NEX where our alarm company called us since we had turned on the Roomba before we left. Oops. We figured if Stella didn't set it off, the vacuum wouldn't either. Wrong. We rushed home to check on Stella and make sure she wasn't all freaked out. She was fine so we continued on to the commissary and furniture store at the Little Creek base. I could tell I was moving slower and didn't quite feel like myself, but I brushed it off to being 5 days overdue. We grabbed some lunch, looked for a lamp and bought some groceries. By about aisle 9 of the grocery store, I had my first contraction. I still didn't think I was in labor since people have contractions for weeks before their due date. And my induction was scheduled for following evening. Since the contraction stopped me in my tracks as the nurse had said during my non-stress test 4 days earlier, I considered it slightly, but still didn't think I was in labor. Even though, for the last month, I had been telling Glenn that I thought he would be born on the 28th. Call it mother's intuition I guess. The number 28 was just stuck in my head for some reason.

We got home from the store and I changed my pants because they were wet. Hmmm... Glenn finally had to convince me to call the doctor. I called expecting them to tell me to wait it out until my contractions were closer together, but instead she told me to come in and they would check me out. We packed the car and I told Glenn that I wanted to pick up my parents at the airport at 4 and then go to the hospital.

We arrived at the airport and found out that their flight was delayed by 15 minutes so we got a few cheeseburgers at the food court. If we were having a baby that night, there wouldn't be any food once we got to the hospital.

Mom and dad arrived without a problem and we told them that there was "a change in plans." We dropped them off at the house and hopped in the prepacked Prius and drove the mile down the road to the hospital. We headed to the 3rd floor of the hospital around 5 pm and I told them that I thought I had a leak and the doctor suggested we get checked out.

The nurse did a paper swab type test and it turned faintly blue so she still wasn't convinced my water had broken. I felt like she was judging me slightly, like I was faking things. I didn't really like this nurse. I really didn't like her when she blew up the vein in my hand and then put the IV in my elbow. I couldn't bend my right arm without it hurting and without setting off the machine's alarm because I pinched the tubing. So annoying (my mom had to put my hair in a ponytail later that evening). They were monitoring Lincoln's heart rate and it was low, in the 110s so they were concerned about him, but after the IV, he seemed to do better.

Dr. Matthews came in around 7:30 pm after she finished dinner with her husband. She took a sample on a slide to the lab to see if it was amniotic fluid. Around 8 pm, she confirmed it was and we weren't going anywhere. She also told me that since it had been more than 12 hours since my water broke and I was only at 2 cm, they would start the Pitocin to speed things up. I was having contractions about every 5 minutes at this point and they were getting stronger and stronger, but I still wasn't making progress fast enough.

We moved to another room since the first room was about 85 degrees and they started the Pitocin. Mom and dad came back to the hospital around 9 pm and stayed until their grandson was born. I was so happy that they made it and could share the experience with us.

Around 11:00 they checked my progress and I was at 4 cm. Progress, but still slow. At this point, Jessica was our nurse and she was so much better than the first nurse. Loved her. The nurse anesthetists had already come by when we got to our new room, I had signed papers and told her that if I wanted her, we would let her know later. I was terrified of getting an epidural more so that giving birth. The contractions were no joke though. I had thought the pushing part would be the the worst, but I think the contractions were much worse.

I wanted to change positions often to help relieve some of the pain. I was on my knees, head on the bed at one point. I was on the toilet several times. I used the yoga ball at the end. Every time I moved, Glenn had to unhook me from the monitors and wheel my IV/Pitocin bags around with me and readjust once I was hooked back up. The nurse seemed to get annoyed a little but she stressed that on Pitocin, it was important to be hooked up to the monitors al the time. Glenn got good at hooking and unhooking the monitors.

Around 1 am, I asked that they check me again. The contractions were so painful, but I didn't want to get the epidural too early. I thought it would slow things down. I was at 8-9 cm! I think we were all very surprised.

I asked that they called the anesthetists back and give me my epidural (with some encouraging from Glenn). My parents had to leave during this part, but Glenn was able to stay and thank goodness. I couldn't have asked for a better partner through the experience. I don't think I could have done it without him. He literally held me steady and told me to breathe during the procedure. He was my rock and coach.

The epidural was perfect. I could move my legs, I could lift my legs and I could still feel the contractions. They were just a pressure now and not painful, but I knew when they were coming. For about an hour, I relaxed, texted and joked with family. I was regaining a little bit of energy that I knew I would need. Around 2:00 am, I was at 10 cm and was ready to push!

Pushing was slow at first. Jessica said that first time moms often take an hour or two. I didn't know any different so it seemed normal to me that an hour passed and then a second hour. The pressure towards the end was all the encouragement I needed to push with all my might. Glenn had to remind me to stop and breathe between pushes. My mom also took it as cues to breathe. :) After about an hour, Glenn could see how much hair he had and I was able to feel it. I had a feeling he would have a full head of hair just like I did.

At 3:51 am, our hard work paid off and our little man came in to this world. His little cry was amazing. Everything about him seemed perfect. One of the first things I noticed was the dark hair down his shoulders, back and legs. He really was a little man.

He weighed 7 lb 14 oz. Mom guessed 7/12, the rest of us guessed over 8 lbs. He stayed in our room for the next hour and we got to Ooo and ahh over every inch of him. They continued to administer another bag of Pitocin and I attempted to breastfeed, but with my unable-to-bend right arm and Lincoln's tummy full of fluids, he wasn't feeling it until later that morning.

Mom and Dad left our little family to bond and came back after everyone got some rest and Stella got some breakfast. I am so happy that Lincoln decided to come on his own and I didn't have to be induced. It was a painful experience but it is amazing how quickly our brains let us forget that fact. I'd do it all again in a heartbeat.

On Our Own

My mom left today so we are officially on our own. It's only slightly terrifying and brings me to tears when I think about it. I can't believe it has been 8 days since our little bug came in to our lives. It has gone by so fast!

We are getting the hang of things and Lincoln is figuring things out too. It took us a few days to figure out breast feeding, but he is getting better every day. He's like me in that he forgets to eat (I'm waking him up after a 4 hr stretch at night) so when he does finally eat, he is a bit cranky.

He fits perfect in newborn size clothes which is great except I only have a few things in that size. He's been wearing a lot of his funny onesies from the baby showers this week. Which is great since I seem to change him 3 times a day at least!

He seems to have a fussy time at night before bedtime and seems to eat every 90 minutes after dinner, but it has been giving us a little longer stretches at night. It's not quite a schedule, but we are working it out for now.

We go back on Monday for his two week check up and I'm hoping he has surpassed his 7# 14 oz birth weight!

Happy Birthday Papa!

Lincoln's papa turned 60 today! He's celebrating with friends in Florida for the week but he got to be here for 5 days first. We miss you already!

We had our first outing today too. A trip to babies r us and lunch at panera with grandma.

Happy 60th Dad. I hope it is fabulous!