Jack had his first trip of many to the lakehouse at Cedar Creek this past weekend! Tyler officially finished his 3rd year of medical school last Friday and wanted to get away.  It was a relaxing weekend and Jack was great in the car there and back.  We're getting him used to long car rides early...he'll have lots of trips to Dallas to see his grandparents! 



Jack got to see all of his grandparents, Aunt Taylor, Uncle Layne, and Uncle Jeff.  Also, his great aunt Peggy and great grandma Palmer stopped by on Sunday.  Needless to say he was held pretty much the entire weekend and got very spoiled! 



The lake is very low right now so it is more like a beach!  We are lucky because unlike most people on the lake, we are still able to get the boat out (although it's very tricky getting in and out of the boat when it's SO far below the dock).  We took it for a spin Saturday afternoon and Tyler and Jeff slalomed.  Majority of the weekend we did alot of this....




One month ago today Jack was born!  It is so hard to remember what life was like before he was here.  He is our everything and we love seeing him grow and change.  Each month I'm going to try and do an update on his life and how is progressing.



Sleep: You are slowly becoming a better sleeper.  During the day, you take naps for about an hour between almost every feeding.  Every once in a while you will stay awake the whole time, but you normally make up for it later!  We had alot of trouble the first few weeks getting you down at night.  You would sleep all day and then decide you wanted to be wide awake from about 9pm to 2/3am.  Now you are doing much better and will usually go to sleep after your late night feeding around 11 or 12.  From then on you wake up every 2-3 hours for a diaper change and to eat so I'm normally up with you about 2 or 3 times before we wake up for the day in the morning around 8.  You are sleeping in the family bassinet in our room.  I love knowing that your grandmother, uncle, and I all slept in that exact same bassinet (in addition to extended familiy, too).  We are even using the same linens that your grandmother used for Uncle Layne! 

Eating: We are working on feeding you lots and packing on those pounds! Your weight fell pretty fast after you were born.  You went from 6lbs 11oz at birth to 5lbs 14oz five days later.  We took you into the pediatrician a few days ago for a weight check to make sure you are gaining like you should and you are!  On June 18th you were 7lbs 2oz.  It was quite the challenge to feed you to first few days after you were born, but you slowly got the hang of it and are doing great now!  You eat every 2.5-3 hours like clockwork. 

Sizes:  You are still a tiny little baby!  Most of your clothes are too big for you, but you will be fitting in them soon.  You are wearing a few of your 0-3 month onsies that are on the smaller side.  At night we always have you in your Gerber wrap shirts with mittens that Grandma Marshall bought you after we brought you home from the hospital. Some of these are Newborn size (5-8lbs) and I have since picked up some 0-3 month ones that fit you well. You still tend to reach for your eyes when you don't have gloves on so these are perfect at night and sometimes during the day.  It also makes it very easy for mommy to change you in the middle of the night. 

Things you love: You are living the life of a newborn right now and pretty much eat, sleep, cry, pee, and poop!  In the last week you have been more alert and will have periods of time when you are just wide eyed and looking around.  Dad and I like to say this is your "thinking" time and that you are quite the thinker.  During this time I try to stimulate you and will sing & talk to you, give you a bath, or put you under your mobile gym or swing. You really love your swing and it pretty much always calms you down!  You love it when Dad or I just rock you in your big comfy chair.  Also, you love to snuggle up to my chest after you eat and often like to fall asleep there!

Activities:  Not too many activities, yet.  Just hanging out in your newborn lounger, swing, or under the mobile gym. 

New things you do:  Everything is new and we love it!  Whether it be a sound or face you make, you are always entertaining us and we love just watching you. 

Routine: We normally wake up for the day around your 8am feeding and hang out in bed for a bit.  Our routine pretty much runs on a 3 hour schedule.  After you eat, I try to keep you active and alert for about an hour and then you take a nap for about an hour before you eat again.  You have been very good at running errands with me these last couple of weeks.  We normally get out of the house once a day whether it be to run to HEB, Target, Babies 'r Us, or to meet dad for lunch/dinner.  You stay in your carseat and we cover you up whenever we're in public.  The car puts your right to sleep.  Every couple of days I'll give you a bath in the afternoon or evening.  We try to put you to sleep right after your late night feeding anytime between 10 and 12 depending on how active you've been so far that night. 

Today was our first big holiday with Jack!  We had a great time celebrating Tyler's first father's day by relaxing around the house and visiting with Aunt Taylor & Uncle Jeff.  Tyler has a test Friday (his last day of 3rd year!) so he spent some time at the library but was able to be home most the day to hang out with us.  I can say he used the father's day excuse to get out of any diaper changing duties!  One of his father's day gifts is still on it's way but today he got a personalized photo book that documented the pregnancy and Jack's birth!



We love you Tyler and you are the best dad!  It has been so fun seeing you with Jack these last few weeks and how great you are with him.  I can't wait for all the years and memories to come! 

Happy Father's day to our dads!  We love you so much and missed being with you today.  We have had wonderful role models to learn how to be the best parents possible and we can never thank you enough.  Love you!

I can't believe Jack is almost a month old!  Time is already flying by and I keep telling myself to enjoy every minute I get to spend with him while I'm on maternity leave.  I know that he'll only be this size for so long so I love holding him and cuddling with him!  We have lots of fun during the day and he has had lots of firsts over the last month including first bath, first time out to eat, first trip to Plano, first walk around the neighborhood, and first trip to the pediatrician. I know over the next few months and years the list of firsts will grow and grow.

Tyler and I gave him his first bath soon after we got home from the hospital.  Jack does not like being naked.  Every time we change his diaper he cries and cries and cries.  Well, same goes for bath.  There will be a second or two he seems to calm down, but majority of the time he's not very happy with us.




My favorite part of bath time is afterwards when we get to wrap him in his cute towels and he just relaxes.  I call it the calm after the storm, but he's always so alert and just looks around like "what just happened to me."  My favorite thing after his bath is his blonde hair.  It is so fluffy and smells so good.  Thank goodness we got a baby brush at one of the showers because I didn't think we needed one, but I love to brush his hair afterwards.  He's such a cutie!

BEFORE:
At 37 weeks and 5 days, contractions were the last thing Tyler and I were thinking about. In fact, that evening when I picked Tyler up from school to grab dinner he said "I think this baby might stay in there past 40 weeks." Little did we know, he was about to be on his way!

We headed to dinner at a Thai restaurant (which we eat about twice a year).  The next question most people ask is "Well, did you eat something really spicy?"  No.  Just chicken, veggies, rice, and a mild sauce.  Later that night around 10:30 I was sitting on the couch, working on the computer and I started getting stomach cramps.  It was a weird feeling and I told Tyler my stomach hurt but just figured it'd go away.  Then my back starting hurting.  I hadn't felt any contractions previously in my pregnancy so I didn't know exactly what they felt like.  Where these contractions?  I had no idea.  When I told Tyler I thought they might be, he just kept saying "This isn't happening" and laughing them off.  I tried going to sleep around midnight and about every 10 minutes would have to sit up or switch sides because of the pain.  Eventually, I headed to the nursery where we have a twin bed.  I had downloaded an app on my iPhone previously to time contractions and started using it (it's called Full Term for any of you preggos out there).  I would fall asleep for 8 or 10 minutes and then wake back up in pain. 

As morning approached, they were getting closer together.  After Tyler woke up, we talked about what to do and decided I would call the doctor's office when they opened at 8, tell them what was going on, and see if I should head in to see the doc.  Meanwhile, we started packing our hospital bags. 

After talking to the office they told me head in to see the doctor.  Tyler and I decided he would go check in at his rotation downtown so he had as little absence as possible (his family medicine rotation only allows 2 absence days and requires the student make it up so we wanted him to have as much time with the baby as possible).  I proceeded to drive myself to the doctor's office/hospital while contracting...that 20 minute drive was not fun. 

The doctor checked me out, told me I was in the early part of labor, and sent me to labor & delivery!  I immediately called my mom and told her it was time and to get moving to San Antonio!


DURING:
Luckily, my platelet level was 107 and quickly thereafter I was given the epidural around 11am.  My doctor came in and broke my water and we were on our way!

The next 5 hours were pretty chill and Tyler and I were able to spend our last time together as a family of two. The nurses would come in and check me every so often and things progressed pretty quickly on their own.  They tried giving me potocin multiple times throughout the day, but each time his heart rate would drop and a bunch of nurses would come into the room quickly to move me. In the end, my body progressed fairly quickly and naturely without the pitocin.


Around 4:15 I started pushing.  About two pushes in she became concerned with his vitals and quickly called the doctor.  She said what she was seeing was similar to if the cord was wrapped around his neck and mentioned we might need to get him out ASAP and even mentioned the word vacuum.  By the time the doctor had gotten to the room his vitals seemed to be back to normal and so I was able to resume pushing as normal.   About an 30 minutes later baby Jack was born at 5:05pm. Tyler was so great through the whole process and kept me very calm and relaxed between pushes.  I couldn't have done it without him.  The feeling of seeing Jack the first time was surreal.  When they put him on my chest it was a joyous and overwhelming feeling.  I couldn't believe he was mine!  I had been concentrating so hard on pushing and it was hard for me to comprehend that he was actually here!  The doctor and nurses immediately commented on how wide eyed and alert he was as he entered the world.  It was a moment I will never forget and I keep replaying it in my mind.  It was a feeling like no other to visually see this baby that you have held so close to you for 9 months.

AFTER: