Graham Ryan: 2 Weeks

*This was meant to go out last Friday (Feb 21st) but being the awesome blogger that I am, I forgot to hit 'submit'. So enjoy this slightly late post. ;)

Weight/Length: 9 lbs 3 oz (75th percentile) 21 1/4 inches (90th percentile)

Hair/Eyes: Hair is light...in the back and little fuzzy's on top. I am kind of in love with the fuzzy's. So sweet! He still has blue eyes, but I'm predicting they turn brown.

Diapers: Newborn during the day and size 1 at night. We've run into a slight dilemma with diapers. The problem is that his little tummy fits either size just fine...however, he has the tiniest little chicken legs and absolutely no butt, so I can't get either diaper tight enough to fit around his legs and little hiney. The result is A LOT of leaks up the sides of the legs and back. I seriously was changing his clothes with every diaper change. But I've found that while he swims in the size 1's, they at least provide more coverage up his back, which prevents some of the leaks.

Clothing: Newborn and 0-3.

Favorite things: Mama's milks.

Likes: He likes being held, which I can't say I mind. I love holding him. He really likes being swaddled, and sucking on his binky. He likes when Mama talks and sings to him. When I lay him on my tummy, he'll twist his head up so he can make eye contact with me and watch me sing to him. It melts my heart. He really loves sleeping on Mama and snuggle under my chin. He seems to like the swing, but hasn't spent too much time in it yet. He also seems to like his carseat and the car. He just looks around (maybe its the change of scenery he likes) and ends up falling asleep while I drive.

Dislikes: Gas pains, poor little man. I hate them too...he scrunches his body up, wriggles around, cries out...there really isn't anything I can do that helps. I try massaging his little tummy and pumping his legs. We've tried gas drops. The next thing to try is eliminating dairy from Mama's diet. I'm starting today, and really hoping we notice a difference in the next few weeks. He also dislikes being cold...which is basically when he comes out of the bath and during diaper changes if I use cold wipes.

Sleeping: He sleeps great! (Knock on wood). He sleeps for about 4 hour stretches at night, and then will just fuss until I wake up to feed him. He doesn't cry. He also sleeps in the bassinet! This is a huge change from Hannah...she wouldn't sleep anywhere but on top of me and would wake up crying every couple of hours. I'm really hoping this sleep pattern sticks around. :) Graham has been slightly stuffy the past few days (normal newborn congestion from living in fluid) which really effects him at night. I would wake up to hear him having trouble breathing through his nose, so we purchased an inclined sleeping wedge that he currently spends most the night in.

Milestones: He's been lifting his head since day 1. He's very alert and curious about sounds. When I have the T.V. on, he'll stop what he's doing and listen for the direction of the sound and then turn his head to look at it. It's adorable. He also is a smiley little guy...some smiles might be from gas, but he smiles a lot when I run my finger gently on his little cheek. We also had our first outing on Feb 18th to his well-baby check up and to Target. He did awesome, and it only took me a few minutes to get the hang of having a newborn in public and nursing in public again.

Mama Thoughts: So far I've lost about 16 pounds. I'm feeling pretty good, recovery wise, and definitely getting sick of laying in bed all day. Monday is our first day on our own, and I'm slightly anxious about it.

So far, everything seems to be running relatively smoothly though. My hormones seem to be in check....so far....meaning my emotional breakdowns have been far and few between. ;) Just kidding. Luckily, the good ol' 'baby blues' haven't seem to hit me...in fact, I'm feeling the opposite. I'm over the moon happy and constantly reminded how in love I am with this little man. And.....I am slightly embarrassed to admit this...but I actually have baby fever! Yes....I am crazy. I am 100% positive its the hormones though. I'm on some kind of 'baby high' still. Oh geeze!

Week 2...What we've been up to

It's been two weeks since we brought our precious little guy into the world and I bet you are just dying to know what we have been up to. ;) Okay, I bet not...but I am going to share with you anyways. 

Our first week at home was pretty much all recovery. We were so lucky that Noah was able to take the whole week off to stay at home with us as we adjusted to being a family of four. Prior to Graham's birth, I had visions of us spending the week all playing together and giving Hannah plenty of time to get to know her new little brother. Unfortunately with my c-section recovery, I was unable to get out of bed much...let alone walk up and down stairs. That meant that Noah pretty much had Hannah (and Mama) care 24/7 and I had Graham care 24/7....so we didn't actually get a lot of quality time altogether. I definitely missed my little girl that first week. It was tough to say the least...especially with post-partum hormones going crazy. I called my doctor a few times practically crying because I was convinced that all the symptoms I had were not normal...apparently they are very normal. Haha. 

Our second week was much better. Unfortunately Noah had to go back to work, but my Momma came to stay with us for the whole week. She was a huge help with everything Hannah related. I ended up signing Hannah up for gymnastics, just to give her something to do to get out of the house, which she started this week. I am so excited for when I feel up to taking her. I hear she loves the trampoline and foam pit. ;) 

We didn't do much for Valentine's day. In fact, I pretty much slept through it. I did get around to taking pictures of the babies in their Valentine's day outfits, however they didn't turn out at all how I imagined. Graham was still too little to fill out his outfit, and I was not feeling well enough to really get creative with my photography. Regardless, I documented Graham's first holiday, and that's good enough! 

These pictures just make me laugh. From the grumpy toddler, to the screaming baby, to the dripping chalkboard paint pen...I'm blaming my pain meds! 

Graham is doing wonderfully! We had our first outing on Tuesday (Feb 18th) for his 7 day well-baby check up and for a trip to Target. He did wonderfully. He is about 9 lbs and 21 inches, so he's definitely growing! He rarely ever cries...in fact the only time he cries is when he's cold (he hates diaper changes with cold wipes) and when he has gas. Which, unfortunately is a lot. I feel awful for the little man. He has the worst gas pains...something we noticed just 24 hours after he was born. He wriggles in pain and scrunches his face up. We chatted at his appointment about it and fear that it might be an allergy to dairy...which means Mama needs to cut ALL dairy out of her diet. I'm in the process of learning more about this lifestyle change and plan to start ASAP. I can't stand to see my little guy in pain....and if I happen to lose weight faster in the process, that's just an added bonus to him feeling better. ;) 

Hannah has been adjusting relatively well...this week has been tough on her though. She doesn't quite understand why Mama can't spend as much time with her and she has definitely been giving my mom a run for her money by fighting diaper changes, meal times, and naps. She clings to me and wants me to do all of that with her instead. I feel pretty awful that I can't quite juggle everything on top of continuing my recovery...but I'm very hopeful that next week (our first week on our own!) will have things return to normal. 

So, I think that about catches us up! I am SUPER excited for this weekend...I WON a free newborn photo session for this Saturday! We decided not to do newborn photos for Graham because they are ridiculously expensive and I knew I wanted updated family photos done in the Fall anyways. But I randomly emailed this photographer about a newborn model ad (not realizing it was a giveaway) and she emailed me yesterday that she picked us for the newborn session! I am SO excited. We have pictures at noon tomorrow and I get the pictures and all printing rights...for FREE! 

Then we have a few fun playdates to look forward to on Monday and Tuesday next week....a nice transition into our first week alone. 

Have a great weekend friends! 

Graham Ryan Cavanah...A Birth Story

*Warning...Instead of breaking this up into two separate posts, I decided just to write out the whole story here...so beware, it is long...and picture overload :) 

To start Graham's birth story, we actually have to back up to my 39 week OB appointment on Thursday, January 30th. Since it was my last appointment before my due date, my doctor decided to check my cervix to see if any progress had been made. Unfortunately, there was absolutely nothing going on to suggest that Graham would be making his appearance anytime soon. We chatted over some options if I were to go past my due date and my doctor had me schedule a biophysical profile ultrasound for the next Tuesday (my due date) to make sure Graham was still happy and thriving. Everyone in my doctors office was hoping that I wouldn't make it to my Tuesday appointment and that the Super bowl would kick things into gear. ;)

Despite our awesome win, the Seahawk's were not able to get Graham to want to come out, so on Tuesday, February 4th, we headed to our ultrasound to check out the little guy. Everything looked great on the ultrasound, however they estimated that he weighed around 9 lbs 9oz....that is one big baby! Shortly after my ultrasound I got a call from my doctor asking if  I was open to discussing other options of delivery....namely cesarean section. I chatted quickly with my doctor, then called Noah, then called my doctor back to schedule an appointment for the next day to discuss our options in person. On Wednesday morning I went in for a stress test to check on Graham and discuss my options with my doctor. We talked about the pros and cons of attempting to deliver a big baby vaginally and we decided that a c-section would be the safest option. So we officially scheduled the surgery and I left that office knowing that we were going to meet our baby boy in 3 days!

The next few days were crazy; lots of last minute cleaning and packing, repacking to accommodate this big guy and re-cleaning to accommodate my OCD cleaning habits. ;)

On Friday morning we woke up super excited! I wasn't nervous at all! My mom came by to pick up Hannah and I jumped in the shower and took my time getting ready. Finally at 11:30am Noah and I hoped in the car and headed to Overlake Hospital in Bellevue. I literally wasn't nervous at all until we stepped off the elevator onto the 6th floor of the Women's Hospital. We checked in and were brought back to our room to get started on pre-op stuff. 

I changed into my operating gown (managed to get one last picture of my baby bump before changing!) and got hooked up to my IV and heating system. My surgery wasn't actually scheduled to start until 2pm, so the next two hours were incredibly nerve racking. I went over tons of paper work with the nurses, met with my OB and went over last minute surgery details, met with the anesthesia team, and tried to pass the time chatting with family. Our support team for the day consisted of my parents, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law and of course our sweet Hannah. The ironic thing about all of this was that while I was hooked up to the monitors, I started having contractions. I couldn't feel them at first, but the nurses told me they were about 2-3 minutes apart. By the time I went into surgery I was definitely feeling them and could tell that they were progressively getting stronger. So funny, that regardless of how he was born, February 7th was probably going to be his birthday anyways. 

Last picture of the belly! 40 weeks 4 days

My sweet girl being goofy! 

Last picture as a family of three! 

Noah in his "breaking bad" get up

Chatting with the nurse

I have the sweetest girl who likes to hold my hand whenever she thinks I'm in pain...she even held my hand in an eyebrow waxing appointment ;) 

I love her

Finally we got the word that the OR was clear and we were ready to head back. We said our goodbyes and walked ourselves into the OR. The second we stepped into the OR, I had a moment of panic. It looked exactly like any OR I've seen on T.V. and I think the enormity of what was about to happen really hit me. In a matter of minutes I was about to bring another sweet little into the world and become a mom of TWO! 

The anesthetist had me sit on the table so he could administer my spinal and I have to admit that this was my one moment of breaking down. There were about a billion nurses (okay, more like 7) running around the room getting things set up, the room was freezing, I could see my OB "scrubbing in", and I was very aware that I was about to have a very large needle poked into my back.  It was all just super overwhelming, no matter how long I had tried to mentally prepare myself. I cried for about 2 minutes and then pulled myself together with the help of Noah and a very sweet nurse who literally let me cry on her shoulder. Then it was time for the spinal!

Honestly, the numbing shots before the spinal were the worst part of the WHOLE procedure. They sting like a biotch and made me grip Noah's hands to the point where I probably was cutting off circulation. However, the stinging didn't last long and then I only felt the pressure of the needle going in for the spinal. Before I knew it, the whole process was over and they were immediately laying me down because I started losing feeling in my legs that fast. 

Everything seemed to slow down after that. I just laid there, comfortably aware that I couldn't feel anything from my ribs down and trying to focus on my breathing. (The nurses prepped me ahead of time that some women hate the feeling of a spinal because the numbness makes it feel like an elephant is sitting on your chest and you have a hard time breathing....it totally does feel like that, and I was so thankful that they gave me a heads up beforehand because I just reminded myself that it was normal and that I would be just fine).

Before I knew it my OB was "pinching" me to test my numbness and when I said I couldn't feel anything he started! I honestly only felt pressure every now and then. At one point I looked up at the lights above the operating table and realized I could see my reflection...I immediately jerked my head to look at Noah because I definitely did not want to catch a glimpse of what was going on and risk a total freak out. The nurses and anesthetist did a wonderful job of letting me know what was going on the whole time which really kept me calm. 

About 10 minutes into the surgery my OB asked if I was ready to meet our baby boy! I said "definitely" and he said "good, because he'll be here in 30 seconds." And the next thing I heard (at 2:50 pm) was a gasp from a nurse and a "oh my goodness, his cheeks!!!" and I immediately started laughing because that sounded just like my son. Apparently I only make chubby cheeked kiddos. ;) Dr. Haines lifted Graham up over the curtain for me to see and I was a crying mess. He was so sweet and just perfect and all I wanted to do was hold him. The nurses took him to the warmer to clean him up, weigh him and get his footprints and Noah went over to get pictures and get prepped for skin to skin. I couldn't believe that after 9 long months, our little Graham was here! He was 8 lbs 11 oz and 20.5 inches long. So only slightly bigger than his big sister. Soon enough, Noah came back to sit next to me and he had our little baby Graham against his chest. I was able to just stare at him in Noah's arms for the next 20 minutes while they finished up my surgery and then we were being taken back to our post-op room. 

I LOVE his little pouty lip in this picture. Makes me just want to snuggle him into a million pieces

In our post-op room the nurse immediately unwrapped Graham and handed him to me so I could do some skin to skin bonding with him and start nursing. I was so over the moon happy to be able to hold him! It's amazing how little newborns are (and how easy it is to forget how little they are!) I counted all his perfect fingers and toes and kissed every little inch of his body. 

The next 48 hours were such a whirlwind. When I think back to those two days in the hospital, it seems like such a blur. My absolute favorite memories are of watching Hannah and Graham interact with each other (or more Hannah interact with Graham), holding and snuggle Graham and getting to know him and his personality (even from those first few hours we decided that Hannah was most likely going to be our sassafrass drama queen and Graham was going to be our chill baby), and growing even closer with Noah as we bonded even more over the birth of our new sweet baby boy. 

Graham, I am so proud and blessed to be the one picked to be your Mama. From the minute you arrived, I have loved every little bit of you. I'm already so proud of you and celebrate every thing you do. I can't wait to see the little boy you turn into, but in the meantime, I am enjoying all of these precious moments. I love you sweet boy.

Love, Mama