Two Months Old!

Time FLEW by and suddenly my baby was two months old! Trey changed SO MUCH from one to two months. He gained a good amount of weight, he’s still small – but Allan and I are pretty much average and I was always small for my age and it looks like Trey will follow suit.

10 lbs 4oz and 22” long

and for comparison:

At two months Trey started to smile – not a ton, but a little bit. He started to find his hand to comfort himself and he would follow me after I set him down. He is definitely a tummy sleeper, and can lift his head like a pro. Everyone comments on his pretty blue eyes (will they change? We will see!) and his amazing hair. They also comment on his crazy good head control.

He ALWAYS sleeps with his mouth open. It's so cute.

About a week before his two month birthday I had set Trey on the floor for some tummy time while Allan and I played a game. We both were looking down admiring our cute baby when all of a sudden Trey started to roll over – and then he shocked us by rolling all the way over! At two months this was CRAZY early. He did it a couple more times before he was three months old, but not consistently.

We sure do love ya little guy!

Mother's Day

Mother’s Day was nice this year. I have always felt like a mother since marrying Allan, but having my own baby made this year’s Mother’s Day extra special.

A photographer friend of mine, Anbre Elise Photography, offered free mini-sessions for moms and their kids as a Mother’s Day gift. These were done at a cute nursery with beautiful flowers the day before Mother's Day. I took advantage and went and got some photos of me and Trey. They turned out so cute!!

Allan cooked a lovely meal for me and all in all it was a great day. :)

Lindy's Dance Recital

Lindy has been in a Tap/Ballet combo class for the past year. She absolutely loves being in dance. I’m so glad she loves it!

 

 

Lindy had her recital at the end of April. I was glad that I could go to it and see Lindy perform. She did a fabulous job!

I will say this though, I’m not a fan of the studio she dances at right now. The recital was not very professionally done. It was basically just a series of dances, there was no professionalism in the audience and people just up and left as soon as their kid was done. (granted we did this too, but only because that was the environment of the recital and we wanted to see Lindy before she left with her mom.) There was no story line to the show and it just felt….cheap. I have taught at several studios, and maybe I’m spoiled, but every studio I’ve taught for has been more professional in their recital then what I say that night. PLUS the technique of the few older classes I saw left much to be desired. Lindy looked great, but she’s only six. The older girls I expected to have their toes pointed and knees straight. They did not. I hope that if Lindy wants to continue on with dance that we can help encourage her lessons to be elsewhere because I am not impressed with her current studio. (okay, end of rant.)

"Newborn" photos

We had our newborn photos done by the amazing Lindsay Romer Photography. I really didn't want these photos to be done when Trey was on oxygen, so we waited until after his one-month appointment. 

He was a little stinker and didn't stay sleeping for most of the photoshoot, but Lindsay still got some ADORABLE shots.

Lindy just LOVES her little brother and is constantly talking about how cute he is. She tells anyone who will listen about her baby brother. Melts my heart.

Like Father, Like Son.

How I just love his chubby cheeks and awesome hair.

One Month Old: April 30, 2016

At One Month Old little Trey weighed in at 8 lbs 9.5 oz. He didn’t really get any taller, and I think the nurse at birth might have been a little generous with his height. It’s all good though. We started weaning Trey off of oxygen and he did so well! I was a very happy camper when all of the oxygen equipment left our house. That was a good day y’all.

At one month this little guy was doing the normal stuff. Eating, sleeping, pooping....he was still a newborn after all!

FMLA: aka 12 weeks of Maternity Leave

So…. The United States pretty much sucks when it comes to maternity leave. Other than having this great thing called FMLA where your job is protected for 12 weeks, one gets nothing for taking time off after having a baby. Weber’s policy is that you can get paid with whatever sick leave and PTO you have built up. I didn’t have a ton (I tried so hard!) but Allan and I both decided we would make 12 weeks (most of that without me getting a paycheck) work.

I am SO GLAD that we did this. Those 12 weeks with Trey were so wonderful. I was definitely ready to come back to work (more on that later) but I loved being a stay at home mommy for that short time.

I did my best to go out about once a day and do something so that I wasn’t always cooped up inside my house, but I’m not going to lie there was a lot of Netflix binging. My two favorite shows that I binged through everything they had to offer: Fixer Upper and The Good Wife. I now want to tear down all sorts of walls in my house Joanna Gaines style. ;)

Basically, life was pretty grand and now I’m back to work and I’m trying to find my new “normal.” If there is such a thing….

that one time I had a baby PART THREE

After I was finished being stitched up I remember Allan coming in and showing me pictures of our cute boy and I was able to order some lunch. That was the best lunch ever.  I hung out in my delivery room for a little bit longer (they were keeping a very close eye on me with all the blood I lost) and soon they took me to my recovery room.

We were able to stop by the NICU so I could see my sweet baby, but I couldn’t hold him as he had just had a shot of Surfactin to help his lungs out and had to stay laying down. I napped a lot that day. The hospital lactation consultant stopped by and brought an electric pump so that I could start pumping.

Allan stayed the night with me and the next day my midwife stopped by to see how I was doing. I was still very pale from the loss of blood and so she ordered two units for me. I got one unit that morning and then was able to go see my baby. This was the first time I was able to hold him since he was born. I couldn’t believe how much hair he had!!

I was wheeled back to my room for round two of blood and Allan went to go see Lindy. She wanted to come see Trey SO BAD, but with traffic there just wasn’t time. I started pumping frequently and am proud to say that other than one (or maybe two?) feedings ALL of Trey’s feedings at the NICU came from me. Proud mommy moment right there.

Lindy did get to come to the hospital that weekend as she was with us for the weekend. She loved getting to see him. ( the NICU nurses were so great to let us take him to the window for her to see him!) And luckily she had another fun thing planned: her birthday present from us of getting to see Beauty and the Beast by Ballet West II. Her and daddy got all dressed up and had a lovely time. BreeAnn came to see me with Café Rio and Cheesecake Factory cheesecake. Best girls' night ever!

Days in the hospital were pretty boring, I pumped, visited Trey every few hours, held him and slept. I was released Saturday and was able to stay two more days at the hospital with the hope Trey would be able to come home Monday. Unfortunately Trey wasn’t ready to be released and I had to leave him there while I went home. That was SO HARD. I’m tearing up now typing this.

The next six days were hard. I would pump for Trey through the night and call the NICU when I woke up in the morning to see when he had last eaten. I would then go to the hospital for his next feeding (by this time he was breastfeeding like a champ!) and hang out most of the day. A couple of days I went home and ate dinner with Allan and we’d go back for one last feeding before going home and sleeping.

A LOT happened in my family this week medical wise, Daelynn had some epilepsy-related issues, I was dealing with a NICU situation and my brother-in-law Tyler had his appendix removed. My mom felt like she needed to come out (originally she wasn’t going to come until May) and we found an AMAZING last minute flight deal and out came my mom. This was the best. She came up and saw me and Trey at the NICU one day and we went to lunch. She then came up that weekend when Allan and I roomed in and came home with Trey! It was so nice to have her around when we came home with Trey.

We did have to come home with oxygen, but that as okay. I was just glad to be HOME. Trey was on the oxygen 24/7 for about 2.5 weeks and then we started weaning him off. Two weeks later he was officially off the oxygen. I was a VERY happy camper that day. :D

So there you go, the wonderful story of how Trey joined our family.