5 weeks

Well, each day Jack seems to be more and more like his mommy...or at least picking up the not-so-wonderful qualities when it comes to the good ol stomach.

We were still concerned about the reflux because once Jack started the meds, he started to get diarrhea and green mucusy poop (TMI I know), but almost everyone reading our blog has children or is about to.  For those of you about to have your little bundles of joy, get ready :)  Jon and I laugh because our convos now consist of "did you do a diaper change?  What color was it??  Was it seedy"...oh boy how times have changed LOL!  So, back on track- the doctor did a stool collection (so much fun for mommy & daddy) and they called today to let us know that Jack has an allergy to cow's milk protein.  They said I can still continue to breast feed, I just need to get on a strict dairy (all animals) free diet and cut out coffee as well, which we had already done.

Dairy free.  Sounds simple.  Don't drink milk, eat yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese and ice cream.  That list is pretty much all things I hold dear to my heart.  Not to mention cookies, cakes, most processed foods are out the window.  The ONLY 2 upsides?  Obviously most importantly, Jack's tummy will feel better. Also, this will clearly get my booty back in shape haha.  We aren't doing gluten free yet, but that seems to be the next step other than soy.  Apparently, most children that have allergy to dairy, also have an allergy to soy...which is pretty much in all processed foods.

Everything else has been going well.  We had our first outing last week (aside from the doctors appointments).  Jack did pretty good.  I strapped him in the baby carrier and he pretty much just slept on my chest the whole time.  

I'm becoming a pro at doing everything one handed :)  I'm even eating left handed sometimes.  Jack always seems to wake up right when we sit down to eat.  Even if we change the time...so he eats while we eat.  We promise to not do this when we have company over.  

Jack had his first bottle this week (with breast milk).  I am most excited about this I think, because this means Daddy can help with a feeding!  We are going to keep it at one for now, so he doesn't disown me and just want the bottle. He's still loving his mobile. He's started making sounds as though he's talking and even squeals because he gets so excited.  He also likes to stare at the blinds.  We have the white wooden blinds and he will stare at them quite often.  

Jack is smiling much more now and we are getting more awake time.  He has also found his tongue, which is hilarious to see.  We are getting into somewhat of a routine.  It seems to be working??  He has been sleeping for about 6 hours at a time at night.  He wakes up, feeds and goes back to bed fairly easily.  He usually gets up around 7 or 8 and then feeds and is back down until about 9:30. (KNOCK ON WOOD).  I'm sure he'll change it up on us soon  :)

I went to my post pardom appointment today and I passed :)  Starting next Tuesday, I am cleared to start running again.  I absolutely cannot wait, though I'm sure it's going to be an interesting start.  I signed up for a 5K the first week of May, so no time waste. 

Well, that's all for now.  Below are pictures from the last week and a few from last week where he is just having too much fun watching the mobile.

Lots of love!
The Waags

The life of having a baby with reflux :)  At least we got a few while he was clean!

Hanging out, just looking out the window :)  These bibs are perfect for his reflux!!

 
 

Milk coma!  Mommy was multi-tasking :)

 
 

Jack's first month

It is hard to believe our little Jack is already 1 month old.  There have been some amazing nights/days...and there of course have been some not so amazing nights/days :)  I read this and think it's dead on! "I never understood until we went through it, that it was possible to feel frustrated, delighted, overwhelmed, exhausted and crazy in love with one tiny person all at the same time- it's a this constant state of butterflies-in-your-stomach joy that I could never have grasped before."

Jack was a fairly good sleeper from the start.  He slept for about 4 hours at a time in the hospital.  We were released on Thursday and got to finally take him home.  Jon's parents drove down from Pittsburgh and got here Sunday.  That first week we had his first doctors appointment (which went well) and his first big photo shoot.  I of course think the pictures are wonderful :)  The drive to the photo shoot was hell for me.  We had to keep him awake and couldn't feed him 2 hours before getting there.  That wouldn't have been so bad if we were only traveling 15 min or so but it was an hour drive.  We rolled the windows down, tickled, talked, turned up the music- we tried just about everything to keep him awake and he wasn't having it.  Luckily he was very hungry when we got there, so we put him in a milk coma and started snapping pictures.

We also hit a growth spurt around day 10 and boy was that NOT fun.  He was cluster feeding (about every hour) and was fussy the entire time.  We also learned that with full term babies, there is an hour or so in the evening that they say the babies are "bewitched" and they can't be consoled.  We noticed this kept happening around 8PM.  We tried a drive, feeding, changing, cuddling- nothing worked.  Then, after about an hour he was completely fine.  I think we have finally grown out of this.

Somewhere between week 2 & 3, we noticed he was getting really, REALLY fussy after eating.  He would turn bright red, scream bloody murder, spit up and stiffen out straight as a board.  After googling many hours during his feedings, I started to think he might have reflux and it's not just gas.  Then he started to grunt during the night which sealed the deal for me.  We took him back to the doctor and sure enough, she said he has "GERD"...basically acid reflux.  The doctor prescribed him some meds and said he will likely grow out of it.  He seems to be doing much better and is finally gaining some weight.  He gained 12 ounces in one week, and the doctor only expected him to gain 6 at most.

Now that he's feeling better, he's also sleep much better.  Lately he's been doing about 6 hour blocks and then gets up for a feeding and diaper change and then back for about 3 more hours of sleep.  

Each day we get more time with him where he is awake and alert.  You can seem him taking inventory of the house and trying to figure things out.  He's enjoyed his story time and absolutely LOVES the mobile.  We put him in his pack n play and he just starts smiling and cracking himself up staring at the little owls on the mobile.  

We tried bath time and that was an epic FAIL.  He is like his mommy and hates to be cold.  Our nurse suggested that we put him in the shower with Daddy.  I remember when I was pregnant, he would curl his back/butt up towards the water when I would shower.  Sure enough, he loved his shower with Jon.  No crying at all...until we took him out.  :)

We have a million pictures already but here are a few that haven't made Facebook.

Jack has been trying to hold his head up since he was placed on my chest.  The staff at our doctor can't believe how strong he is.  He almost has it down!

He started pushing off like he wanted to stand, so Jon helped guide him.  We might have our hands full sooner than we planned!

hand in mouth...no surprise

Our first walk

After our shower

Our pants are a little too big :)

The face we get after we give him his meds.  What a face!

Chatting with dad while watching golf :)

Everytime he wakes up, he stretches his arms over his head.  So dramatic :)

Thanks for all the visits, home cooked meals, gifts and love you've been sending!  We are truly blessed with so many amazing & thoughtful people in our life.  Can't wait for Jack to meet everyone.  Now that we have a semi schedule around here, I'll try to update this weekly.  Have a great rest of the week!

Much love, 
The Waags

Jack's arrival

Where do we even begin!?

Last we left off we were still waiting for the little guy. He had received a good report from the doctor and was in position for the big arrival. Uncle Mike, Aunt Molly and cousin Riley came in for a visit on Sunday hoping Jack would make his big debut before Mike left for his training.  Unfortunately, Jack was in no hurry and decided to stay and cook a bit more.

We chose to do the "Bradley Method" for our birth.  This is a husband coached birth and no medical interventions.  Jon didn't get to just sit on the couch and say "good job honey" :)  He had to work for Jack too!  

We ended up getting acupuncture on Monday because our doctor would only give us a week before medically inducing labor (which we didn't want).  They say to give the acupuncture about a week in case you need multiple treatments.  I did my treatment at 11:30 Monday afternoon and then Jon and I went home and rested the rest of the afternoon. I was already feeling a bit under the weather that morning and figured sleep would be the best thing for both of us in case the acupuncture really worked.  We went for our normal workout that evening and I woke up at 2AM with contractions.  I had been having contractions for about 3-4 days, but they would only occur at night and taper off in the day, so I wasn't sure if this was going to do the same.  I started timing them after about 30 min and woke Jon up about 3AM to let him know it's probably go time :)

We continued to time the contractions and then called Amy, our doula about 5AM.  She arrived at 6 with breakfast tacos.  By then, food was about the last thing on my mind haha, but Jon dove in.  We labored in the tub, on the birthing ball, and in bed until about 11:30 and then decided it was time to head to the hospital.  Contractions were lasting over a min and coming about every 2-3 min.  To me, it felt like they were lasting 5 min and coming every 30 seconds!  I was ready to get the hospital just so we could get the drive over with.  I was dreading that drive the most.  10-15 min in a car with these contractions seemed like pure hell...and it was.

When we got to the hospital I had dilated 6cm.  We thought we should be at about 8, but come to find out, Jack was facing sunny side up and had his head turned to the side.  This little wiggle worm just couldn't stay in the correct position!  This way he was facing was causing massive back labor and slowing things down. I can't say enough good things about our doula Amy.  Amy and Jon must have done about 1 million hip squeezes each throughout the day.  That was the only thing that would provide me relief during each contraction.  They both said they were sore the next day...or 2.  We labored mostly in the shower (Jon was in there with his swimsuit too haha), but also on the ball and in the bed.  Amy and Jon were both great at making sure I switched positions to help things progress.  

When we reached 8cm, my bag of waters still hadn't broken.  My doctor suggested that I let her break it (YIKES!)  Wanting to keep everything natural without any medical intervention, we weren't sure what to do. Speeding things up sounded great to me, but we wanted to stick to our plan.  Amy spoke up and suggested we get back in the shower and labor for 30 more min; so we did.  Once in the shower, I had a contraction instantly and my bag of waters broke...on Jon :)  Now it was time to PUSH!

My brother was supposed to fly out of Dallas that day, but switched his flight to leave from Austin so he could see Jack.  Once the pushing began, I kept looking at the clock, counting down how much time I had to get this little guy out so he can meet his uncle before he left.  Unfortunately, I was about 20 min to slow.  Jack arrived at 5:23 PM weighing in at 7.1 lbs and 20.5 inches long.  

Jack sporting his terrible towel.  He looks so blonde here.

Hands in his mouth...this hasn't stopped.  He hates the swaddle because he can't get to his hands.

Amy (our doula) and Jack

 Jon got to cut the cord and they placed Jack on my chest immediately.  Within seconds, Jack was already nursing.  I don't know how babies know what to do, but it's absolutely incredible.  It felt completely natural and I was instantly over the moon for this little guy.  We soaked up a little more skin to skin time and Daddy did too before letting in the whole family.  It was definitely a day that neither Jon or I will ever forget.