You may be wondering what I have been up to this past month (actually, you probably haven't, but in case you have been wondering), well I have been busy laboring, birthing and learning to be a mother to this precious little boy. Introducing Nathaniel David Oates:
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| Nathaniel David, 1 day old, in Daddy's arms |
Little Nate was born August 31, 2011 at 0133. He weighed a whooping 8 lbs 3 oz (that's whopping when you consider that my doctor told me that my baby was going to be small- "maybe 6 lbs") and was 20.5 inches long. I won't go into the details of labor and delivery, but I have to say it wasn't that bad. It definitely wasn't what I had expected. When you are pregnant (and I am learning it doesn't stop when you have a child) everyone has an opinion and a story to tell, and it seems like a lot of people enjoy telling their "horror stories." I was expecting labor to be like in the movies, but mine wasn't. Not that it is something I want to do often, but things went pretty smoothly for me this time. I worked an 8 hour shift through what I now know were contractions (I thought it was just back pain....and yes, I am a nurse. I think I was in denial) and didn't go into the hospital until I was 6 cm dilated and 90% effaced. Part of that was because as the back pain continued throughout the day I called labor and delivery to ask them if they thought that my symptoms sounded like labor and they said (twice, in fact) that "you will know when it's labor." So I stayed at home alone (Austin was working an evening shift) until I was 6cm and 90%. First thing I told the nurse that was checking me in was "I'm sorry I came in. I'm probably not in labor; you will probably send me home, but my husband is at work and is making me come in to get checked out." And low and behold, a few minutes later the nurse says, "you are going to have a baby tonight." (I actually didn't have Nate before midnight, but I would have if I had let them break my water sooner...but I wanted to wait for Austin to get to the hospital).
So, to make a long story short. Nate was born. And life has not been the same since. It's amazing.
Fast forward 4 weeks (time really does fly). Nate is getting big (last week he weighed 9lbs and 5 oz.), and I wish I could say that we are on a routine and I am getting a full nights sleep, that he is nursing perfectly and that I love nursing him. That is just not the case. The first two weeks were actually pretty good...Nate slept most of the time and I actually had to wake him up to eat but now it's a different story. He seems to have a routine, but it's just not the routine that I would like.
Well, that's all the update I have time for right now. I've got so many things that I should get done while Nate sleeps, but I almost feel guilty for not spending every single moment with him. This weekend I am throwing my sister a bridal shower and I have lots to still get done for that AND the laundry needs to be done AND I think the dishwasher may have broke, so I may be handwashing dishes now...
But I will leave you with a couple of more recent pictures of Nate:
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| The picture I took for his birth announement. About 1 wk old. |
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| Going on his first walk with mommy and daddy (Doesn't daddy look proud?) |
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| Look at those cute rolls... |
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| Taking a break after some fun playing with the activity gym |
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| And I feel bad for posting this, but this is a picture of Nate getting mad during tummy time and lifting his head WAY off the ground. And when he was only 13 days old! Must be the protein shakes Austin keeps sneaking him... |
