One Month!!

I can't believe our baby is ONE MONTH old today!!!  Where is the time going!?! 

In one month, I have learned...

That the baby carrier can totally double as a purse in a pinch.  Ex: I carried Wyatt into the post office today with my iPhone on one side of his feet, my wallet in the middle, and my keys on the other side.  He didn't seem to mind.  But then again, he was asleep.

That it's NEVER a good idea to shop for/try on nursing bras when it's time to nurse.  No explanation needed.  (And if you need an explanation, don't ask!)

That putting a baby in his cute little swing right after he eats is a really bad idea.  Needless to say, we ended up changing his clothes for the third time in 2 hours yesterday.

That Wyatt is great at multi-tasking while he's eating.  (Food goes in one end and out the other simultaneously.)  Oh no, I just blogged about poop when I swore I would never be THAT mom.  Oh well.

That the infant carseat has a chest clip for a reason.  In our defense, the chest clip was hiding behind the little headrest thing, so we didn't even KNOW it was there until about a week after we brought him home from the hospital.  Speaking of the hospital, can you believe they let us leave without having our baby properly strapped in his carseat?  That is scary!

That baby acne is a blemish on the face of infanthood--literally.  Does anyone have any suggestions/advice on what to do to prevent/treat this?  My sweet little baby doesn't seem to mind at all, but I sure hate it.

That little boys like to wait until you're changing their diaper to pee.  Sam and I have both been sprayed numerous times, and Wyatt has definitely peed in his own face at least 3 times.  And there I go again, blogging about pee now.  What has happened to me??

In one month, Wyatt has learned...

That bath time is SO much fun!  (Okay, that's a bit of a stretch.  He doesn't exactly LOVE bathtime yet, but he only fusses at us if we stop pouring the warm water on him.)  Plus he's SUPER cute afterwards in his little duckie hooded towel & tiny baby robe.

That naps are much more fun when mom or dad is holding him.  Which has been fine (we LOVE snuggling with him!) up until now, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to teach him how to take a nap on his own before I start back to work in less than 2 weeks. And when he sleeps, he likes to have his little arms up by his head.

That the TV has lots of fun colors & sounds.  He has started straining his neck to turn his head in the direction of the TV.  Boys & their toys!

That he can make squealing sounds when he's looking at his mobile.  He has also started cooing more when he's happy or excited about something.  I love, love, love those sweet baby noises.  Here he is watching his mobile...

That if you stick your tongue out at him, he can mimic you.  Uncle Cody was the first person to teach him this.  I'm sure that will be the first of many "lessons" his crazy uncles are going to teach him.

That he can ALMOST smile when we tickle him or kiss him on the neck.  I DID catch a half-smile on my phone yesterday when I was taking a picture to send to Sam's mom.

That when Mom takes a nap on Sunday afternoon, there's a good chance Dad is going to pose him in the midst of all his stuffed animals in a "Where's Waldo"/"E.T." type setting.

Here are a few more pictures of some "firsts" and other cute things...

First family walk (Zoey was PUMPED!)

First time to be a Texas Rangers fan (Dad was PUMPED!)

First family picture where I don't COMPLETELY look disgusting (Mom was PUMPED!)

First trip out to the softball fields for Dad's game

First bottled with pumped milk (just practicing for when I go back to work...)

3 weeks...

4 weeks...

In other news, this past weekend was my 10 year high school reunion, but that is an entirely different post for another day...

Introducing...

Mr. Wyatt Owen Ward...born July 17th at 12:30 AM

8 lb. 5 oz, 21 inches

I realize this post is about 3 1/2 weeks overdue, and it's not really "soon" (as promised in my last, very brief post), but given the fact that I have a newborn I'm cutting myself some slack.  My little boy is just the sweetest thing and I am absolutely loving every minute of being his mommy.  I'm writing this post at Starbucks right now, where Wyatt is making his first of many appearances.  Sam is sitting beside me rocking the infant carrier back and forth while Wyatt peacefully snoozes right through the delicious smell of fresh-roasted coffee!  (Apparently the ability coffee has to instantly wake a person up is NOT innate...)

Anyway, I digress.  Disclaimer: Random thoughts and/or tangents can and probably will happen frequently during this post because I'm slightly sleep-deprived.  (Not horribly, this baby is a great little sleeper, but sleeping in 3 hour increments is still not ideal for feeling well-rested and clear-minded!)  I thought I would type up a quick recap of the not-so-quick labor & delivery so that I won't forget any of the little details as time goes by.  Note: if you don't want to read the whole story, just scroll on down to the bottom for lots of pictures. 

So here we go...

Wyatt's due date was July 13th.  He said "No way, Jose".  Fast forward 3 days.  It's July 16th and I'm set to be induced, with instructions to arrive at the hospital at 4 AM.  (Whoa that's early.)  The night before, the hospital called me (at 10 PM, I might add) to let me know that they didn't have a bed for me and that I should wait and call back at 7:30 AM the next morning to see if they have a bed yet.  Are you kidding me?  Do NOT tell an overdue pregnant woman in the middle of July that the induction she thought was supposed to happen in a few hours may not be happening after all.  I nearly had a nervous breakdown in the middle of Sam's softball game (which is where I was when I got the call...)  So, at 6 AM (like I was really going to wait until 7:30, please) I call the hospital and they tell me to head on up there.  Hooray!

At 7:15 AM we get to the hospital and get checked in, where I meet my first labor & delivery nurse, Beth.  Beth is fabulous.  I instantly love her.  I tell her how strongly I feel about not having a C-section unless I absolutely have to, and she assures me that she will do everything in her power to help make that happen.  We start the pitocin at 8:30 AM.  My doctor comes in and breaks my water at 9:30 AM.  At this point, I was still only dilated to a 1, 30% effaced, and at a -2 station.  For those of you who have no idea what any of this pregnancy-related jarble means, here's a quick translation:  I was nowhere close to being in labor yet.  I had pretty strong contractions from about 9:30 until 12:00 PM.  And then they got REALLY intense.  Despite checking every hour, at 4 PM I was only dilated to a 2.  That's 6 1/2 hours of contractions that were 2 to 2 1/2 minutes apart without any medicine.  Yikes.  Normally they don't give epidurals until you're dilated to at least a 3 or 4, but since I wasn't progressing, they decided to go ahead and give me the epidural to see if that would help my body relax & let the contractions do what they were supposed to.  Slowly but surely, they started to work.  And I do mean SLOWLY. 

As 7 PM draws nearer, I start panicking because Beth's shift is about to end, so I ask her if she knows who is taking over for her.  She says she will go look at who's on that night and will "pick me someone good".  She came back and told me that she hand-picked Racquel to take over for her, and that Racquel delivered her baby!  (Beth's baby, not Raquel's. That would be weird if Racquel delivered her own baby.  Kind of Kardashian-ish, I think.)  Anyway, Racquel comes in at 7 and She. Is. The. Best.  She tells me that she will do whatever she can to help my labor continue progressing quickly, and then proceeds to start positioning me in different ways to help speed along the process.  At 8 PM I was still only a 6, but thankfully once I got to that point, I went to an 8 and then a 10 over the next 2 hours.  WHEW!! 

Here comes the fun part.  I started pushing at 11 PM (after talking my way into FINALLY getting some ice water, which I promptly threw right back up.  But it was SO worth it--I hadn't had anything to eat or drink in almost 24 hours at this point!)  Racquel calls my doctor at midnight to tell her we're getting close, but when my doctor comes in, she says that his head is still way too high.  So Racquel looks at me, and says, "Show her how you can push!"  And boy did I.  I was NOT going to have a C-section after being in labor for 16 hours if there was ANY way I could avoid it.  Finally, at 12:30 AM, our little guy finally decided that he would let go of my ribs and come on out.  Of course they took him away almost immediately to clean him up and check his vitals, but Sam has all that on video.  (The video camera & regular camera were both banned until after delivery...nobody needs to see that.)

I can honestly say that nothing in life compares to giving birth to a baby.  It is truly the most amazing, incredible experience.  I am 100% positive that God was taking care of us the WHOLE time, starting with the unexpected delay in the induction that morning.  If I HAD gotten to the hospital at 4 AM, I would have had a different nurse, who may or may not have helped me through the labor & delivery in the same way.  I know that everything that transpired that day happened just as God had planned.  And our sweet little stubborn baby decided it would be fun to wait until just after midnight to be born so that his birthday is still a day later than we thought!  Little stinker :)

The next few days are all a blur with our new sweet baby, lots & lots of visitors, and blessed painkillers & icepacks.  But seriously.  And now, here are some pictures from the hospital and coming home...

The first time I got to hold him

Daddy & Wyatt

The Paparazzi (AKA: Grandparents)

Wyatt's first girlfriend, Addie Rose (and Marie & me)

4 generations of Ward boys

Great friends

Great Grandma & Grandpa Baird

4 generations on my mom's side (with my mom & Grandma Qualls)

Our first family picture

All ready for the 100 degree car ride home

Walking in the door at our house

And I will be posting again sometime in the next couple of days with pictures from the first few weeks home because A) This post is already entirely too long and B) It's feedin' time again!