1 month

baby M was 1 month old yesterday and no, i can't believe it! the last 4 weeks have flown by and i know they will just keep going:)
max is starting to put on some weight...topping the scales at just over 8 1/2 lbs. he has grown out of his newborn clothes and is in his 0-3 stuff. his cheeks are starting to fill out and his arms and legs look a little plumper...his belly needs a little more work as that's where all of his clothes seem to be a little big. i think he's going to be tall like his daddy!
he is loving his big boy bathtime...not so much the hair washing! he continues to be a good sleeper and that is best christmas present papa_mona and i could have asked for:)

M came back and did some more pictures so hopefully (i'm confident that she did) got some good ones...can't wait to see them and get the birth announcements going.
papa_mona's parents have been here since sunday and they are loving on max...he especially loves dad_dad's brand of bouncing and shaking:) we have also kept dad_dad busy with a to-do list which he has all but finished so i guess we need to add some more to the list! dad_mom made some orange bow knots for papa and they are delish!

specialist and picture fail

22 days old

so max saw the specialist (dr j) today...hernias confirmed...surgery scheduled for feb 4. it is an outpatient surgery and should be pretty simple. max also had his newborn pics today. M (she did our wedding) came over and of course, baby was pretty fussy=photo FAIL! we got some photos but not all we wanted so she is going to come back at a later date (hopefully early this coming week) and try again...we'll shoot for earlier in the day when he sleeps more soundly! the birth announcements might be a little delayed.
my parents left this week so max and i have been hanging out on our own...its been going pretty well but we haven't ventured too far from home.
papa_mona and i left max for a couple of hours last night so we could attend his company christmas party...thanks S for coming over to sit with him...he loved making a new friend:) we had a fabulous time and mama_mona got to have a grown up drink for the first time in almost a year!
papa_mona's parents come on sunday (dad_dad and dad_mom) so we are really looking forward to that and we know they are super excited to meet max!
oh, and he's gaining weight like a champ...weighs about 81/2 lbs!!! he has officially grown out of his newborn diapers...we discovered this after he peed through about 5 outfits and pooped out of his jammies:) he is now in size 1 which should be good up to 14 lbs-ish.

showing his christmas spirit!

2 week well check

16 days old

max saw dr j yesterday for his 2 wk well check and it went smashingly well!!! his current stats are 7lbs 10.5oz (2oz above birth weight!), 21in (he grew a whole in) and 35.25cm for head circumference. he slept most of the visit and only startled a bit when they did his heel prick for his blood draw.
dr j said to continue with the breastfeeding and supplementing for the next 2 weeks and then if there was no change in my milk supply (so stinkin low) that we could just starting doing all formula. baby max is a fantastic sleeper (please knock on some wood if you are reading this) and she said we can do one 5 hour stretch at night and then 2-3 hour stretches between feedings during the day. it was a success last night so hopefully it continues. papa_mona and i don't know how we got blessed with such a wonderful little momona baby!!!
some little fun facts about baby M...he eats and sleeps like his daddy...super fast and like a rock:)

he makes the best faces...especially when he is pooing:) his belly button fell off so he is going to get a real bath on friday! the hiccoughs are his archnemeis. his specialist appt for his hernia is next friday, although dr j couldn't palpate them yesterday...they seem to pop up when he is unhappy. we are having newborn photos done the same day...the birth announcements will probably get out after the first of the year:)
my dad, or momdad as papa_mona likes to call him, arrives today so we are all really excited about that!

Max's birth story!

10 days old

it's been a busy couple weeks around these parts:) i'm going to try and give this birth story thing a shot and give you brief update of how things are going!
on 11/21, papa_mona played flag football with people from work and i went and visited with the Q's...they have a new baby, L, who was born about 2 months before max. i spent most of the morning there and then after the game we went to homeslice for pizza...my fav! my back was really uncomfortable sitting in the booth which was really unusual for me...J called it at the time and said papa_mona wouldn't be at work on monday:)
after we got home, i started to get more and more achy, almost like i was getting the flu, which i was a little worried about. i took a nap and started googling early labor signs:) i went to bed and around 130am i started to feel some contractions (felt like period cramps) and around 2 i decided to get out of bed and lay on the couch so i could time them without bothering papa, and yes, there is an app for that (used the iphone to time contractions!). around 530am the contrax were getting pretty strong and i was debating on if i should get papa_mona up...i was walking towards the bedroom when i saw edward on the floor...i thought "you have got to be kidding me" and i decided i was getting papa up for sure so he could get edward outside:) it took papa a moment to wake up but he did and got edward outside and made me something to eat.
i called the oncall dr around 7 and she said i could labor at home for a few more hours and then head to the hospital. papa_mona and i got all of our stuff around and kept timing until 9ish when we got in the car and headed to the hospital.
we got sent up to L&D and got put in the triage room. they checked me and i was 4 cm dilated and 100%effaced. the nurse called the dr and she said to walk around for an hour and check again...so we did and by that time i was 5cm and i was admitted. we were the only couple there and we got to pick our room:)
grandma O (or mom_mom as papa likes to call her) was set to arrive that day at 6 so we had called big Csquared so she could pick her up at the airport...baby M has great timing:)
i kept progressing steadily throughout the day was handling the pain pretty well...i did a lot of walking and used the labor ball. my water broke on its own around noon on the 22nd.
around 5, i was just over 9 cm dilated but had anterior lip on my cervix that was staying put. over the next couple of hours we tried different positions to try and get the lip to fully dilate. the dr. came and checked me around 7 and i just had about a quarter of the cervix left to dilate but i couldn't push until i was are fully dilated.
by this time, the contrax were pretty fast and furious and i didn't know how much longer i could go (it was getting very hard for me to relax)...let me just say that papa_mona was beyond wonderful this whole time, coaching me and helping me get through the pain. around 830pm, we tried some practice pushing and they tried pushing the last bit of the cervix out of the way but it wasn't working. at this point, i decided to get an epidural so i could hopefully relax and get dilated all the way and meet our baby boy!
the epidural was like a little slice of heaven...i couldn't really feel the contractions and it was so much better. after an hour they checked me and i was 10 cm dilated and almost ready to go. the epi had slowed my contractions a bit and they needed to be strong and closer together so we could do some serious pushing and get baby M into this world. they started me on some pitocin and around midnight it was time to start pushing (they had shut the epi off so i could feel the contrax and do better with the pushes). the first thing the dr said was that baby M had a full head of hair:) i pushed around 20-30 minutes and got to see my little guy enter the world at 1229am on 11/23/09.
papa_mona cut the cord and we were just so happy that max had arrived. i had to get a few stitches but couldn't feel anything because of the epi so that was nice. papa watched as they did all weighing, etc with baby M. i fed him right away and he latched on pretty good and it was just wonderful. giving birth was by far the hardest and most rewarding thing i have ever done. i was/am very happy with how everything turn out!
baby M got his circumcision on 11/24 in the am and we got to leave the hospital that day around 5pm...it was nice to be home and back in our own bed!
side note, mom_mom made it in just fine and it has been beyond wonderful, helpful (there really aren't enough words) having her here to help!!!
a brief update on how things are going...the pedi did find bilateral iguinal hernias so baby M will have to see a specialist on the 18th of this month and probably have surgery at 3-6 months to have them corrected. he also stopped peeing and pooping when we brought him home from the hospital because my milk hadn't come in. have a couple calls to the pedi, we started to supplement with formula and he is peeing and pooping like a champ. my milk still isn't in like it should be so we are still supplementing after every feeding and i'm pumping after every feeding to try and get my supply up. we have settled into a pretty good routine and he is a wonderful baby!!!
we are going to try and take pictures on wednesday and i'll try and post on thursdays but we'll see how that goes:) here are a few pics to tide you over til next time!!

he's here!!

just arrived in this world

maxwell james was born on novemember 23rd at 1229am. he weighed in at 7lbs and 8ozs and has lots of black hair...like his mommy when she was born. i am going to put a few pictures up and hopefully come back and put up his birth story when i have more time. we are having some feeding issues (mama_mona isn't making milk like she should) but we are all doing well and hanging in there!

first feeding

max's first sunrise (thanks papa_mona for the great picture!)

first thanksgiving

6 days old

39 weeks

just got back from our 39 week appt. dr. L said i am a good 2 cm dilated and 75% effaced so definitely some progress from last week. she also said my cervix is soft and ripening which is good:) baby M's HR was in the 140's and my BP continues to look good so we are just cruising right along. i was also able to get a H1N1 shot while i was in the office so that was good. we have an appt to go back on wednesday but we will be seeing the PA as the schedule was pretty full due to thanksgiving (they are closed on thursday and friday). papa_mona and i are hoping maybe we won't need to keep the appt!
we did a little shopping after for some last minute stuff, as well as we got a fireproof safe for all of important documents, etc. not too much else exciting going on...just waiting on baby:)
we had our breastfeeding class on monday night. we got some useful information but most of it i had already read in the books we have. i think we have decided if it's not going well after 7-10 we will seek out a lactation consultant for a private consult. here's hoping we don't have to do that! i'm still feeling pretty good...able to walk and hit the gym, sleeping well most nights so i don't feel like i have anything to complain about:) i did have a little trouble putting on my socks monday night (we had just eaten and we were on the way to class), i got to giggling and papa_mona had to help me put them on. it hasn't been a problem since then but it still makes me giggle:)
i am going to new moon tomorrow (twice!) and grandma O comes sunday evening for her 3 weeks stay. hopefully baby M makes his appearance just in time for grandma!!

38 weeks

saw the dr. yesterday and there really wasn't a whole lot of change from last week:) she said i might be 1 1/2 cm dilated but still 50% effaced. he is still head down and pretty low in the pelvis. she did say that my cervix is starting to move forward a little which i think is good. she guestimated his weight at about 7lbs right now. i think he'll be in there another week or so! the last couple of nights after dinner baby M has been super active (he really likes lasagna)...i look like i have a alien in my belly:)
we celebrated my birthday last weekend, just in case baby M decides to share the big day with me! we went out for brunch and then hit the movies later in the day. papa_mona got me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and we really enjoyed spending the quiet weekend together. we also were very productive. the swing, bouncer and snap n go frame all got put together. the closet got reorganized so we could get both of the strollers in and everything that needed a battery got a one...i think we have decided to buy stock in duracel:)
i have a bag downstairs and a pile started next to it so i'm sort of packed but figured i should have plenty of time to get the last minute stuff in there. been cooking and baking, so we have some stuff in the freezer...there are only a couple more things i want to get in there and i think i'll get it done before the end of the weekend! we have our breastfeeding class on monday and i head to the dr's again on thursday so i'll probably update after that!

37 week appt

just got back from my 37 week dr's appt...there was really no change from last week. baby M's HR is in the 130's (normal), i am 1 cm dilated, 50% effaced and his head is at station -2. all is looking good!
we did our big shop at babies r us last weekend and got the car seat. we got it into the car and now papa_mona is driving around with the base in the backseat:)
we also got the car seat adapter onto the stroller. i did a big shop at target yesterday and got almost everything else, including some seriously tiny diapers. i got one pack of newborn (goes to 10 lbs) and then a pack of size 1's. the newborns are tiny, tiny:)
we will probably spend some time this weekend getting the diaper pail set up, as well as getting the swing and bouncer seat functional! i have just 2-3 things left to get and then we should be all set! i did go get fitted for some nursing bras so i have some to take to the hospital with me...huge (34E)!!
we did our hospital tour this week as well. it takes us 6 minutes to get to the hospital:) it was very nice and i'm happy with our decision to deliver there. i did get his laundry done on monday...4 loads later:) i did all of his bedding and bath stuff, as well as his 0-3 clothes. my plan is to start doing some cooking and getting some things in the freezer, hopefully will start that in the next couple of days.
we are definitely getting anxious to meet baby M! my appt is on wednesday next week so i will update after that.

we have some progress

so i had my 36 week dr's appt this afternoon and we have some progress! i am 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced...baby M is head down and has dropped a bit as compared to last week. dr. L said 2-3 weeks...but it really could be anywhere from 2-6 weeks just depending on when baby M decides to make his appearance:) i haven't gotten a H1N1 flu shot yet as the OB's office doesn't have them yet so i'm not sure i'll get one before baby M gets here. i think we have pretty strong immune systems so i'm trying not to worry about it too much.
we had our childbirth class on sunday and we both found it very informative and helpful. i definitely think it was worth the extra money to have her come to the house. it's a lot of information to take in and those birthing videos are pretty intense!
i have my last day of work tomorrow..woo hoo! i will then be in nesting mode getting ready for baby M's arrival. i have to do his laundry, buy some supplies, cook and freeze some food, clean, etc. i think i am going to have plenty to keep me busy!
we are going to do a big shop at costco this weekend and utilize all the coupons:) we are also planning on getting the carseat and seeing if we can get that installed. i picked up the infant car seat adapter for the BOB so we'll see if we can get that figured out as well. i'll take some pictures, hopefully:), and get them up next week. have my next dr's appt a week from today...it will be interesting to see if there is more progress or i stay the same!

i meant to do this yesterday:)

so i really did mean to do this yesterday but our dr.'s appt was later in the afternoon and by the time we got around to taking my picture, i didn't feel like doing the blog, so i'm getting it in a little late today:)
three years ago, yesterday, this is what we were doing...running and finishing the 2006 chicago marathon!

i know, i can't really believe it either, and if you would have told me then, that three years from that point in time, i would be living in austin, tx, 5 weeks from having my first baby, i'm not sure i would have believed you:)
so yesterday, we did have our 35 week appt with dr. L. everything is looking really good. baby M is head down, HR in the 140's, no dilation and she gave her best guess at his weight at just under 6 pounds right now:) he'll be cooking in there for a little bit longer! i now have to visit the office weekly.
we have a very busy weekend ahead of us (mostly papa_mona). he has his livestrong challenge this weekend which consists of a 5K run saturday morning and a 20 mile bike ride sunday morning. we are attending costume party saturday evening that benefits dell children's hospital here in austin and sunday we have our childbirth class from 230-630pm. i'll have lots to fill you in on early next week!
now for a little photo comparison...4 weeks apart!

31 weeks

35 weeks

shower weekend 2 (twilight, baby!)

me and the Csquardeds

so i had my second shower this weekend, it was in my neighborhood and hosted by the Csquareds:) mama C shares my love for all things twilight (yes, we already have our tickets for new moon!) and one of the first things she said when i told her i was pregnant was, "ohh, i can throw you a twilight themed baby shower!" and true to her word, we had a fantastic twilight shower this weekend. we had a wonderful time!!! lots of good food, good friends, and of course, baby M got lots of great stuff to help fill up his room! all the guests decorated onesies for baby M, i must say i was very impressed the artistic talent:)

papa_mona did a 33 mile rode ride saturday morning on some serious hills so he was tuckered out:) we did go out for dinner with D&A saturday night so needless to say we slept in sunday morning. we had fantastic weather this weekend (i think maybe we are done with the air-con) so papa_mona did yard work sunday and we relaxed. it was a great weekend! i have a dr appt on thursday afternoon so i will post an update and this week's picture after that.

34 weeks

that means 6 weeks left!!!! can't believe it! not too much to report here. we've just been getting back into the swing of things this week. we had some cooler fall weather over the weekend but it was 91 yesterday and is supposed to get to 90 today. we are supposed to have some fantastic weather over the weekend so we are looking forward to that. i have my second shower this saturday so i'm excited about that. i'm sure yard work will be done on sunday, as it's supposed to be dry this weekend.
on a side note, i spotted a common house gecko in the kitchen this morning...yuk! it's really tiny and i was not going to attempt to catch him. called papa_mona who so wonderfully offered to come home from work and catch him but i said no:) papa said that they eat lots of bugs and we have decided to call him edward:) i just announce myself when i am coming into a room and ask him to please leave if he's in there:) i'm a total sissy but i can't help myself! i have already explained to baby M that i can tolerate edward but he is, under no circumstances, ever to bring a frog into the house. we'll see how that plays out in the future!!

shower weekend

well, we had a very busy, very fantastic weekend! it all started saturday morning with papa_mona sporting his new bike jersey...it is soooo kick ass!

then we got to pick up K from the airport. she came in from chicago to go to my first shower...she also got to roll some work in at the end so it worked out great. it was so great having her here just to hang out...she got to see baby M's room and all the fun stuff he has acquired so far. she wanted to get us the beaba babycook (it's an all-in-one steamer/processor to make your own baby food) so we ventured out to buy buy baby to pick that up. it is such a great gift and baby M will reap the benefits when he gets a little older!!

K and i

sunday we had my shower over at W's house, she co-hosted with J and it was so generous of them to do this for me and baby M. we had a great time, the food was fantastic and we got some wonderful things for baby M. thanks so much to everyone that was there...it really means a lot to us!!

W (co-host) and i

J (co-host) and i

A was the unofficial official photographer. i figured since she had a camera almost like ours that would work out the best...thanks A!

A and i

i can't put all the pictures up as it would take forever but W sent some out that i can forward along if you would like as well as i'm going to try and get ours transferred over today...just let me know!
it was a wonderful weekend and we were sad to see K leave and keep trying to push a TX job at her:) have my second shower this coming weekend, here in the 'hood, thrown by the Csquareds so i'll update on that early next week.

33 weeks (a couple of days late)

slow and steady wins the race...baby M steadily continues to grow and round out my belly:) i didn't feel like taking a picture on wednesday and i had a dr's appt. yesterday so i figured i just wait and post all together!
the appt. went great...HR in the 150's (normal), my BP was good and baby M is measuring right on track. i asked dr. L if this means he is going to be "normal" sized...papa_mona was a little over 9 lbs and i'm a little concerned about that:) dr. L said that baby M is not measuring big and will probably be between 7-8 lbs. wonderful news! i go again in 2 weeks and will have my first internal exam (fun times) and then after that i will be going every week...crazy! next time, we'll also talk about the "birth plan", just getting a general idea of what is going to be happening:)
baby M had his first case of hiccups this morning in bed, at least i think he did:) either that or he was very rhythmically bopping along to his own little tune. it didn't bother me and hopefully didn't bother him but it stopped shortly after i got up.
we a fun filled weekend coming up...papa_mona, in a kick-ass new bike jersery (pics to come), is racing (bike) a co-worker saturday morning and then K is coming in from chicago for my first shower here in austin...can't wait!!! the weather is supposed to be perfect! i will post pics and such early next week.

shelves are done!

we made our trip to pottery barn this weekend and got 2 crown molding ledges for baby M's room. we put them up yesterday and i must say they are much better than the first set of shelves i purchased. these are much sturdier and i'm not afraid to set things on them!


we had another rainy weekend that was quiet so we really enjoyed that. we got a box full of clothes for baby M that grandma O got while at garage sales...some really cute stuff!! thanks grandma O!!!! we also figured out how to use sykpe or at least we got it to work once to talk to my parents and sister. it was pretty cool...i'm sure we'll get tons of use out of once baby M and his cousin arrives:)
we were supposed to have our breastfeeding class tonight but the instructor is sick so she had to reschedule. her first make up class is this sunday but K will be here from chicago (woo-hoo!) so we are going for the nov. 16th option. this way all the information will be fresh in our minds:)
one last picture...this is what we do on the rainy weekends:) i love that i am soon going to have a smaller version of this to hold in my arms, i don't know how my heart will hold all of the love! papa_mona likes to snuggle up on the chaise and soon he'll have a little baby mona to snuggle up with in the chaise too!

32 weeks

32 weeks along...8 weeks left...holy buckets!!! baby M is going to be here before we know it! i've still been feeling pretty good. sleep is getting a bit more uncomfortable, mostly because of my hips...they get tired of being laid on:) my upper back has also been a little more sore but, all in all, nothing really to complain about! baby M is still rockin and rollin around in the belly, he's up under my right rib cage as i type. he doesn't like it when i bend or rest anything on the belly, i think it squishes him and he usually gives me kick or something to say "get off of me, i have limited space in here as it is!".
it has been a pretty low-key week, except for some minor car problems:( mine to be exact...it is in the shop now and hopefully, it's nothing critical. next week we have a little more going on so i'll have more to blog on but for now here are a couple pics to enjoy! sorry if the bare belly offends anyone...just close your eyes...don't think we'll have too many of them:)

Prints

we got a call on saturday that the prints we got for baby M's room were done at the frame store so i went out in the afternoon and picked them up! i think they turned out pretty good:) we got them up on the wall this morning...the second picture isn't that great but at least you can see where they are in the room.

i had also purchased some shelves but they turned into a big, fat fail! i will be returning them this week and next weekend papa_mona will go with me to home depot to pick out some good, sturdy shelves for baby M's walls.
we've had another great relaxing weekend. papa_mona got a new xbox game yesterday and that is what he spent a majority of the day doing. today he is off for a bike ride with some friends from work...sadly or funny, depending on how you look at it, he needed a part for his bike which the store didn't have so he had to take mine out on his ride. i'm sure he'll get a few looks on a red bike with a basket and streamers:)

31 weeks

well, i had my 31 week check-up this morning. nothing too exciting to report...BP was good, baby M's HR was in the 150's (normal) and i am measuring right on track. i go back in 2 weeks. as of today, i believe i only have 62 official days left in this pregnancy...i really can't believe it! i am preparing myself to be a bit over due though:)
we have been enjoying much cooler weather the last 3 days, along with some much needed rain. i don't think it even got out of the 60's yesterday and we've gotten to sleep with the windows open...it's been so nice. in honor of this beautiful fall weather, we are having a little fall feast tonight with home made sloppy joes and autumn apple cake...yum!! it's supposed to be back up near 90 over the weekend so we are taking advantage while we can:)
papa_mona called this morning to let me know they have a confirmed case of H1N1 at his office...gasp! we'll just be washing our hands a little more vigilantly. spoke with dr. L about it and she said it's really running rampant right now and just to take extra precautions, ie. washing your hands. i think all will be fine...papa_mona and i are pretty healthy and we rarely get sick...we have super strong immune systems:)

dirt and cake:)

well, we had a very nice weekend which included a wonderful second first anniverary! saturday papa_mona worked out in the yard, mowing and composting the gardens. we got to use dirt/compost from our very own compost pile...it was some good looking dirt!

that night we went to dinner with D&A and their little guy, A. we hadn't seen them in awhile so it was great to catch up.
on sunday morning, papa_mona went on a bike ride with S, actually his second of the weekend, he is training for a live strong challenge at the end of october (http://austin09.livestrong.org/lsmart95). i went for a walk with Csquared. for our anniversary lunch, we went to homeslice for pizza...it was so yummy!!! we followed lunch with a wonderful nap...it was such a great day:) we had left over pizza for dinner and then followed that up with our wedding cake, which i have to say, held up exceptionally well and tasted really good!

we are really enjoying our peaceful weekends while we can and man, are they the best!!!