7 months under my belt.

So, here I am writing the 7 month post two weeks late. Technically JoJo (Joseph, Joe, Little Joe – we’ve yet to figure out what we’re going to call him) is 7 months and 2 weeks as of the date of this post, but I’m going to assume that Joseph at 7 months and 2 weeks is the same Joseph at exactly 7 months. 

Here’s my little man for his photo session (which was taken right around 7 months).

Looks like he’s whispering sweet nothings into the owl’s ear.

 
Temperament:

Now that Joe is becoming more mobile, I can definitely see into my future, and it’s going to be a hectic place.  He’s very strong and wild, and every little boy trait that I see in crazy little boys I’m now starting to see in my own little boy.  I didn’t have to baby proof much with Anna.  I have a feeling that I’ll have to bubble wrap my house once this little man is totally mobile. 

Despite his wildness, he’s still the sweetest baby I’ve ever been around.  He smiles and laughs and has no fear of strangers or new places.  He’s a charmer for sure. 

He rarely fusses or cries, and when he does fuss, it’s usually because he’s tired or hungry.  Even then he quiets very quickly when I pick him up or give him what he needs.  Rarely have we had a total melt-down where a little TLC didn’t fix him.

Feeding:
I started my new job this past month and was a bit worried about if I’d continue nursing.  I’ve made it work thus far and am happy to say that I’m still going strong in this department.  I just have to pump once daily at work, and I nurse Joe the rest of the time when I’m with him.  Since I don’t quite make enough milk, he’s supplemented with formula while he’s at daycare.  He does great with the transition.  My new goal is to make it to 9 months.  And then 1 year.  I’m not going to put any pressure on myself at this point because I’ve made it a lot longer than I ever thought I would.  He’s healthy, happy, and thriving regardless, so I’m content.

He loves the following solids:
Squash
Sweet potatoes

Turkey and carrots (YUCK)
Bananas
Pears
Carrots
Apples

He doesn’t like:
Green beans
Peas
Mixed vegetables

Sleeping:
Well, we’ve finally transitioned him once and for all into the Pack-N-Play.  The Rock-N-Play is not a safe sleeper once the infant can sit up and move.  Even strapped in, the baby can easily wriggle his/her way out and fall out of the sleeper.  If I were to have another child (God no), no way would I use this again.  It’s too hard to transition the baby out of the sleeper into something flat – at least it was in our case. 

So, a few nights of sleeplessness, and here we are with a baby who finally sleeps flat on his back.  However, I’d be lying if I said he sleeps through the night.  If anything, he still sleeps like a new born, and I have to admit that I’m exhausted.  Even in the Rock-N-Play, he was still up every 4 hours.  Now he’ll go to sleep early (around 7:30/8) and wake up at midnight.  Then again at 3 a.m. and every hour after until I wake up for the day.  It’s pretty miserable.  I honestly have no idea how I’m still functioning on such little sleep, but I guess I’ve adapted.  I just fear he’ll never sleep all the way through the night. 

I eventually want to transfer him to his nursery crib, but it’s on the other side of the house, and no way am I trekking across my house every hour in the night just to pop his paci back into his mouth.

Milestones:
Joe is progressing so quickly!  He can sit up on his own for a while, but I’m still not 100% comfortable leaving him since he does still topple over. 

 
While he’s  not quite crawling, he’s definitely kind of pin-wheeling his way around a room.  He’s able to turn himself 360 degrees and roll around to get to where he needs to go.  Last night Anna and I were playing with him in his room, and he lifted his butt up a few times in an effort to scoot himself.  He’s almost there.

His two bottom teeth are almost fully in, and he’s getting a top tooth which makes him look a little like a vampire.  I guess it’s the incisor tooth?  The pointy one. 

Health:
Well, as expected, starting J at a new school invited a new round of germs into our house.  Both Anna and J have a nasty cough that makes our house sound like a TB ward at night. 

We took Joe to the pedi, and she put him on antibiotics because she said he was in the beginning stages of an ear infection.  Two rounds of antibiotics later, and he still has the infection.  He also has a nasty cough and a runny nose.  No fever, though.  

Size:
He’s wearing 9 – 12 months clothes and size 3 diapers.  Size 2 shoes.  He’s super long and has out grown most of his pants. 

Activities: 
We took the kids to a pumpkin patch this past month, and it was a total cluster.  My sister brought her two kids, so trying to corral four kids was nearly impossible.  We spent the majority of the time trying to tame Anna and my nephew Jackson, and the rest of the time trying to appease two crying infants who were hungry and tired.  Never again.  Until next year has erased all of these bad memories and we stupidly bring them all there again.

Siblings:
Anna is still very much mom #2 to Joe.  She loves taking care of him and is even strong enough now to pick him up for a few seconds. 

6 months under my belt.

The days are flying by like seconds. It’s scary to think that 6 months ago I was laboring in a hospital when it really only feels like 6 minutes ago.  Both of my kids will be married with their own kids before I can blink. 

Here are Joseph’s 6 month photos.  He is just getting over RSV (more on that in a bit), so, once again, he was under the weather for these photos (and it really shows near his eyes).  Our photo session was very brief today!

 

Temperament:
This monthly temperament update has somewhat been skewed since Joseph has been sick pretty much the entire month.  My poor baby contracted RSV somewhere (I’m thinking when I took him to church and he stayed in the baby room), so he’s been a bit fussier and needier this month.  We’re at about two weeks of dealing with this junk right now, and prior to that he was dealing with a cold/sinus crap from the pollen in the air.  Even with all of that funk, he’s still pretty content and happy, still smiles and giggles all the time, still enjoys pretty much everything.  Loves his mama. 

Feeding:
Well, I made it to my six month breastfeeding goal, and I’m so excited that I made it this far.  I will be starting a new job on the 15th, so I’m on the fence as far as if I’ll continue pumping and nursing.  I probably will because, at this point, it kills my heart to think about stopping, but I’m not going to feel any guilt (at least I won’t let myself) if things don’t work out past this point.  I just really enjoy it now, much more than I ever thought I would.  And since Joseph is our last, I want to hold on to it as long as I can. 

Other than that, we started him on solids at exactly 6 months (Wednesday, October 3).  I put it off as long as possible because if I can be honest here, it’s kind of a pain in the butt.  A sloppy, crazy pain in the butt! 

Anna was the first to feed him, and she did a great job.  His first meal other than boob milk/formula was squash. 



Sleeping:
Well, the pack-n-play didn’t quite work out.  He hated it.  So, he’s back in his RNP sleeper and strapped in like he’s wearing a strait jacket.  I have no idea what we’re going to do to transition him to his crib.  He still refuses to nap/sleep in his crib, too.  Le sigh.  I love the RNP sleeper, but it does set a rather ridiculous precedent that no standard crib mattress will be able to live up to. 

Joseph isn’t 100% consistent with his nightly sleep ritual.  He still wakes up some nights more than once, others only once, sometimes not at all.  He’s just a mixed bag. 

Milestones:
Joseph is flipping from front to back and back to front like it’s no one’s business.  He’s also sitting up constantly in his swing and RNP.  He’s not quite ready to sit up on his own on a flat surface yet, but I know he’ll be there shortly.


Such a little creeper.

He has two teeth on the bottom (front).  Anna didn’t get teeth until well past her first birthday, so I was a bit shocked to see not one but TWO of those little suckers.  So cute, though! 

He started eating solids on Wednesday, October 3.  First on the menu: Squash.



Health:
Unfortunately, my guy has had a rough month this past month.  He was diagnosed with RSV on Monday, September 24th.  He is only the second case his pedi’s office had seen this year.  He had a weird bark cough which I initially thought was croup.  So, moms, if you’re wondering what an RSV cough sounds like, click below. 

Joseph’s RSV cough

I’ve been having to give him breathing treatments – initially every four hours around the clock.  He slept through the night ones, so that was great.  He didn’t fuss or fight the daytime ones too much.



And then Anna wanted to give her baby a treatment as well.  ATTENTION: THIS IS NOT JOSEPH, THIS IS A BABY DOLL.  A VERY REAL LOOKING BABY DOLL.  THIS BABY FREAKS ME OUT ON A DAILY BASIS.  I HATE THIS BABY. 


So, I brought Joseph in for his 6 month pedi appointment on Wednesday, October 3.  He checked out fine although his chest is still “junky” from the RSV.  One thing that did concern his pedi was his weight.  Here are his stats:

Height: 26.5 (50th percentile)
Weight: 14 lbs. 12 oz. (10th percentile)
Head: 17” (40th percentile)

While he’s gaining at each appointment, he’s still on the lower end of the chart.  She wasn’t too concerned about it since he’s so darn active all.the.time, but she did instruct me to feed him solids three times/day vs. the regular two times/day that is recommended at this age.  He may have been down a few ounces from being sick, but I’m definitely feeling a bit let down that maybe my boobs aren’t giving him the nourishment he needs.  He’s also super pale, paler than I’ve ever seen him.  Granted, Joe and I are one shade from mime paint, but Joseph is just way too pale.  I’m hoping that the solids will put some meat on that boy’s bones and help him get his color back.  He just looks so pitiful and wiped out all the time. 

Other than that, he’s meeting all of his milestones, early even, so he’s right on track with everything.  He’s just my lil’ peanut. 

Since he was still under the weather, his pedi recommended we bring him back within a week for his 6 month shots.  I was glad she decided that because my poor baby has been through enough these past few weeks.  Round the clock breathing treatments, nose running like a faucet, pale like a vampire –poor kid doesn’t need shots just yet!

Size:
He hasn’t grown much since the last time I posted.  He’s still wearing 9 months clothes (I think I’ve even put him in a 12 month outfit because he’s so long).  He’s in a size 3 diaper.  Size 2 shoe.

Activities:
We haven’t really done much this month, but we did go to an off the beaten path pumpkin patch.  It was so off the beaten path that we were the only people there which was quite nice. 

Two Joes

Anna wore this costume everywhere we went that day.  Eh, why not?

Siblings:
Anna and Joseph are little buddies.  She’s really taken a motherly approach to sisterhood with him, if that makes any sense.  She treats him like he’s her child – very gentle, kind, loving.  It’s adorable to watch.  She was so excited to be able to feed him his first solid, and he took it from her better than he does from me, actually. 

The stork paid us a little visit.

I’d like to introduce the newest addition to our little family – Joseph Bruce III.

Joseph made his grand entrance on Tuesday, April 3, 2012 at 6:50 p.m.  He weighed a whopping 7 lbs. 12 oz. and was 20.5” long. 

So, how’d it all begin, you ask? 

I’m not sure why I automatically assumed my body would evict Joseph at week 37 like it did with Anna.  Week 37 came and went.  Week 38 came and went.  Every day, every hour, every minute of those last few weeks honestly felt like torture. 

What frustrated me the most was the constant “this is the beginning of labor” signs that teased me on a daily basis.  Timeable contractions, cervical changes, dilation/effacement, baby dropped into a low position and was ready – every little sign made me think that today would be the day I’d finally get to meet my son, but morning, noon, and night came and went with no baby.  Every woman who has been pregnant can totally commiserate on how miserable those last few days truly are. 

So, the morning of April 3 – the day I officially hit 39 weeks gestation – I woke up around 5 a.m. and noticed that I was having some pretty intense contractions.  Not wanting to jump the gun again like I did the Saturday before (I went to L&D late at night after having contractions all day, but we left after a few hours when no cervical changes were happening with the contractions – false alarm), I decided to just wait it out and see if the contractions continued or stalled out. 

I used my contraction timer app on my phone and saw that they were about 10 minutes apart.  At least they were timeable, but 10 minutes is really nothing, so I just went on about my day.  I’d been working from home the past few weeks because sitting at my desk all day long at work was killing me.  As each hour passed at home, I felt more pain with each contraction, so I decided to go lie down in bed and time them again.  At this point, they were coming every 8 minutes. 

Hmm, they’re getting closer.  Could this be it?

I tried to work in between, but each contraction hit me harder, and it was hard to focus through them.  Timed them again – 5 minutes.  Holy hell!  It’s go time!

I jumped in the shower and quickly got ready.  Joe was supposed to go into work early that morning, but he hung out around the house once I told him my contractions were getting closer together and harder to handle.  I’d had my bags packed since 35 weeks, so I only had to throw a few things in there before we took off to bring Anna to my cousin’s house. 

We got to the hospital around 10:40 a.m. and checked in through L&D.  They asked us to wait in the waiting area until they could move us to the triage unit for observation.  While we were waiting, I was having intense contractions that were becoming more unbearable to talk/walk through.  A particularly bad contraction started coming on, so I walked out of the waiting area since an older woman and her granddaughter came into that area – I didn’t want to scar them when I started cursing like a sailor through the contraction. 

I went to hallway outside of L&D and leaned over to work through the intense contraction.  As soon as I bent over, I felt a small pop and gush and quickly realized that my water had broken.  YES!  Definitive proof that I would finally get to meet my little boy.  There was no turning back at that point, it was show time. 

I ran into the waiting area where Joe was and said, “Joe!  My water just broke!”  We told the nurses at the front desk, and they said the triage room had just opened.  They quickly took me back there because who wants a leaky pregnant woman standing in the main waiting room?  Thank God I was wearing jeans and not a skirt.  At least it wasn’t too blatant that my water had broken. 

The nurses were very quick in getting me setup in the triage room.  Unfortunately, all of the rooms were full or being cleaned, so I had to stay back in triage for quite a while until they could put me into my own room.  It’s a pretty miserable space, but at least I was the only one back there at the time. 

I was checked as soon as I got there and was surprised to hear that I’d already dilated to 5 and was 90% effaced.  At that point with Anna, I was in such horrific pain that I was close to vomiting.  This time around the contractions, while painful, were much more bearable.  The nurse asked me if I wanted my epidural now, and of course I said hell yes!  I admire women who go without medication, but it’s just not for me. 

Just waiting for an epidural. 

Please give me my damn epidural.

In between contractions doing what I do best.

The angel of mercy, aka the Anesthesiologist, came in rather quickly and administered the back crack.  My, was it heavenly!  He was actually the same Anesthesiologist who administered my epidural with Anna.  It was nice to see him again – super funny guy!

While he was administering the drugs, the nurse who was giving me support throughout the process said that she didn’t think I’d labor long at all and that baby J was ready to come quickly.  I had a panic moment at that point because I was GBS+ and had to have a four hour round of antibiotics administered before the baby could arrive.  My last labor went fairly quickly, and given the fact that I’d already dilated and effaced halfway and showed no signs of stopping, I was concerned I wouldn’t get the full four hours. 

After my epidural was in place, I was finally moved into my own room where I would labor and deliver my little boy.  Once everything was settled, my mom and sister came, and Joe’s brother also came. 

Here I am feeling a little bitter that I can only eat ice chips!

(My sister did sneak me a piece of cheese, though. Tsk. Tsk.)


We’re just waiting.  And waiting.  And waiting.

After hanging out for a few hours, one of the nurses checked me again and noticed that my fore bag of water (this was something I’d never heard of) was still in tact and was stalling out my labor.  I was still at 5 cm/90%, so I’d made zero progress even though I’d been contracting steadily the entire time.   While it was a bit disappointing, it was actually pretty miraculous since I needed the extra time to labor while my antibiotics kicked in.  Had the fore bag not been in tact, I would’ve labored very quickly and not had sufficient time to get the antibiotics in my system. 

So, we just waited some more and took goofy pictures.  Joe’s face in this picture is hilarious!  He’s really excited to meet his namesake!


Thank God I couldn’t feel these bastards…or could I?

After laboring for quite a while, being checked every few hours and progressing a little (about 1 cm/hour), I’d finally hit the active labor stage where my contractions were coming very quickly and lasting for long periods of time.  As each contraction came, I could feel them hitting harder and harder. 

I  kept pressing the epi button to administer more back crack, but nothing was really working.  At this point, I’d been on the epidural for about 6 hours, and it was obvious that the effects of the drug were starting to wear off.  I spent the better part of the day not pushing the button because I didn’t think I needed it, but by not keeping on top of the pain meds, I let the pain get away from me.  Even with the epi, the contractions were about an 8 on the pain scale, and since I was essentially paralyzed from the legs down and hooked up to IV bags and antibiotics, I couldn’t get up to position myself better to deal with the contractions. 

That’s when nice Natalie went away and evil Natalie came out in full force.  I was shaking, I was crying, I was begging for my Dr. to come and break the fore bag (yes, it was still in tact after all of this) so the baby would just come.  The nurse kept telling me that my Dr. would come by around 5 and that she didn’t want anyone to break my water since I needed to be on the antibiotics for as long as possible.  It was 4 p.m. at this time. 

This is basically how I spent the next hour and a half until my Dr. finally did show up.

cry
push the button
nothing
cuss
cry
push the button
nothing
begged my mom to find any Dr. in the hallway to come in and break my bag of water (the pressure was impossible)
begged my mom to find a monkey or a donkey or anything with a pulse to come and break my bag of water
begged my mom to give me a wire hanger so I could break my own bag of water
cry
push the button
nothing
wish for death

If I’d had the ability to be more mobile, I probably could’ve dealt with the contractions better, but being confined in an uncomfortable bed for that long a period of time just makes them that much worse. 

Finally, the nurse got a hold of another anesthesiologist who came in and gave me another dose of the drug.  Within minutes, I could feel it taking effect, so I was much more comfortable at that point.  This is a good thing since my Dr. showed up right around that time and discovered I was fully dilated and ready to go.  She popped that stubborn fore bag, and it was time to go! 


Getting the stirrups all set up!  I love this photo because I’m looking at the baby incubator and thinking how crazy it would be to see my son in there in just a short while! 


After a few test pushes, it was time to get real and finally meet our son!


My Dr. is getting suited up!

After pushing for maybe 5 minutes (3 sets of pushes, I think), baby Joe was born into the world at 6:50 p.m. 


Big Joe instantly assessed his son and was happy to report that he had all of his extremities – 10 fingers, 10 toes, and 1 manly part.  :)


Joe was so excited that he got to cut the cord with this baby.  The Dr. who delivered Anna never gave him an opportunity to cut the cord.  He still talks about that to this day, so I made sure I asked my Dr. to allow him to do this with his son.  He was a pro! 

Oh, and in this photo you can see them passing my son over to me for the first time. 

The first moments:

Our first official family photo

The love I felt in this moment was so incredibly overwhelming that I can’t even describe it. 


I was lucky enough this time to get a photo with my Dr.  She was absolutely wonderful throughout the delivery – she kept me calm and motivated. 

Here she is showing me a picture of her new baby girl – she had her FOUR weeks ago!!!  What’s funny is that my Dr. actually went back to work after two weeks.  I guess Doctors don’t need as much maternity leave as the rest of us.  I

‘ll take as much as I can get!




Mimi is excited to hold her new grandson


Aunt Lea Lee is excited about her new nephew and probably a little freaked out that she will have to go through this in a few short weeks (she’s three weeks behind me with her pregnancy).


Here’s her adorable baby belleh.

He wasn’t a happy camper at first!

After not eating for the entire day, I was begging for some food – specially a large chili & cheese fry from Sonic. My goals for the day were to 1) pop out a child and 2) eat a large chili cheese fry.  I’m happy to say I accomplished both.  My mom and sister ran to Sonic for me while Joe stayed back to take photos of our son getting his first bath/weighed.

It seems like they took forever and a day to bring him back to my room.  When they did bring him back, Joe got the pleasure of changing his very first tar poop diaper.  His facial expression says it all.

Since I was so tired that night, I opted to have Joseph stay in the nursery except for when he needed to be fed.  He was extremely sleepy (probably from all of the epi I had while delivering him), so he only woke to eat every 3 – 4 hours.  He had a lot of fluid that he kept spitting up, so most of the precious colostrum I gave him was sent right back up. 

Joe and I woke up the next morning feeling pretty darn good for just going through such a huge ordeal.  He left fairly early that morning to go and pick up Anna from my cousin’s house.  I couldn’t wait to have her meet her little brother for the first time. It was a moment I’d been looking forward to pretty much my entire pregnancy.

Forgive my swollen mug in the following photos.  I’m retaining about 10 extra lbs. of fluid from the IV drip.


Anna holding baby J for the first time.

Family of four!

Anna was super excited to meet her brother and a little upset with me for leaving her overnight.  Her first words to me were, “Mommy, I missed you so much.  I cried for you.”  How do you even respond to that?!  Tore my heart right out!

Anna was quite possessive of her brother and wanted to hold him herself w/o any help from us.  When we put our arms near her, she would get really upset and try to push us away.  Baby Joe was HER baby, not ours, and she really tried to take ownership of him.  It got to be a little frustrating throughout the day, and after a few hours of it, we opted to bring her back to my cousin’s house.  (That’s awful, right?) Being in a hospital setting with a sassy three year old and a newborn is not my idea of a fun time. 

For the rest of the day I nursed Joseph and just took it easy.  It was nice having round-the-clock care, and the nurses were absolutely fabulous.

My Dr. came back to give J his circumcision around 7 a.m. that morning.  The whole process scared me, but he came through it just fine and was not fussy at all after the procedure. 

We checked out the next day around 2ish in the afternoon.  It seemed like the process took forever to discharge Joseph and me. 

Before we left, I was able to grab a few more photos of my little squish while Joe was loading our stuff into the car.

Then came the daunting task of putting the baby into the car seat.  We’d forgotten just how tiny newborns are and how little the infant seats are in comparison to Anna’s huge convertible seat.


All strapped in and ready to go.

One last picture before we check out.

This lady was so friggin’ sweet.

Our get away car. 

Anna greeted us as soon as we got home.  She couldn’t wait to see her brother again.


Then she brought us our bills.

She couldn’t wait to hold him again. 

The first night at home was pretty tame.  Joseph is a very chill baby.  The only time he cries (which sounds like an injured bird) is when he’s hungry.  He eats every 2 – 3 hours, sometimes more, sometimes less, and he’s a little pro at breastfeeding.  He pretty much latched on right away in the hospital, and he’s been continually amazing me by how great he’s doing.  I certainly hope he keeps it up.  I also plan on not giving him a pacifier until at least three weeks.  I think I messed up Anna’s latch by giving her a bottle and a paci too quickly.  I wound up having to exclusively pump for months because of that, and I’m trying to avoid that at all costs now.  We’ll see how this pans out!

Easter Sunday was a nice, laid back day and also the first day that Joe’s parents got to meet their grandson.  They’d scheduled a cruise months before we found out about the baby, and he decided to make his grand entrance while they were gone.  What a nice coming home gift!

This is Joseph meeting his grandfather for the first time.

Three generations of great men right here. 

Meeting grandma (maw maw) for the first time.


Anna’s face in this photo is hilarious!


Anna’s Easter loot from Mimi.  We totally dropped the ball on egg dyeing and egg hunting this year.  I figure having a baby excuses me from this duty – right?

If you’ve made it this far, you deserve a cookie.  I just feel so blessed to have such a wonderful and supportive family and wonderful in-laws who have been with us every step of the way.  I couldn’t have asked for a better pregnancy, and a more awesome labor and delivery experience.  I’m also grateful that Joe has been able to stay home with me for a longer amount of time this time.  I don’t think he had any paternity leave when I had Anna.  I feel truly blessed in so many ways.

P.S.
I have some video as well, but I need to carefully go through it to make sure there aren’t any choice scenes that I don’t want the viewing public to see.