2 1/2 Weeks Old

Blake is already 2 1/2 weeks old! It's crazy to think that tomorrow is his actual due date and he's already been here for 2 1/2 weeks. I guess we're doing an okay job with him - no major incidents yet! Luckily we've had visits from myy mom and Randy's parents who helped take care of things around the house and also helped with Blake duty so I could fit in naps here and there. Bless them! I had always heard about a newborn's feeding schedule but to live it is completely different. He eats every 2-3 hours and it takes 45 minutes or so to feed him. So by the time he's changed and burped and we get him back to sleep at night, it's time to eat again! Who can tell me how long this lasts? Overall though, things are going pretty well so far and he's been a really good baby. I'm a little scared to put that on paper in case I jinx it but I have to give him credit. He doesn't cry that much and he likes to be held and cuddled. The only thing is that he falls asleep while eating which can be frustrating but if that's the worst of it for now then we'll take it. Other than that, there's not a whole lot to report. He pretty much sleeps and eats. We try to fit in tummy time as often as we can so he's pretty good at lifting his little head up. He's been more alert for longer periods of time and just sits and looks around. Here's one of his tummy time videos.

His umbilical cord finally fell off too so he'll be getting his first real bath soon. Like most babies, he hates to be naked so we'll see how that goes.

Blake Is Here!

Sorry I'm so late in updating the blog but we've been busy because...Blake is here! Blake Hayden Smith was born on Friday, January 8, 2010 at 3:03 PM He weighed 7 lbs 4 oz and was 19 inches long. It was a crazy day! I'll try and keep the story short...Friday morning I felt dizzy and short of breath after getting in the shower so I sat down while still in the shower and blacked out for what was probably a few seconds. I called Randy and he rushed home to take me to the doctor. They hooked me up to a monitor just to make sure things were okay with the baby. We thought we'd just make sure the baby was okay and then go home but then the monitor showed I was having a contraction. I felt a tightening of my stomach but it didn't really hurt. If the monitor hadn't registered it as a contraction I would not have known that's what it was. The nurse thought that was odd so we waited to see if it happened again. 9 minutes later, it did. A few more minutes later it did again. At my 37 week appointment just 4 days before I was 0 cm dilated and 0% effaced. Now I was 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced - a very early stage of labor for someone having a normal delivery but they didn't want me to go into labor since I was scheduled for a c-section. So I was admitted to labor and delivery to get some fluids to try to stop the contractions and continue monitoring. Randy went home to get a few necessities but not a whole lot of things because I honestly thought we would go home. And at that point, we didn't have a hospital bag packed and the car seat wasn't installed in the car yet. Meanwhile, the contractions kept on coming. 2 hours later I was 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. The doctor said, "Looks like today is a good day to have a baby!" An hour or so later, Blake was born! We're having fun learning about everything he needs and getting to know his little personality.
Here's a link to a video with some pictures.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySdwQP3TCt4

Also, here are some before and after nursery pictures...finally!
http://picasaweb.google.com/amandajrsmith/Nursery?feat=directlink

We'll update soon with more pics!

37 Weeks!

As of Monday's 37 week appointment, little Blake had still not flipped yet. He seems to want to stay head up. At this point, he's pretty much run out of room and there's only a 5% chance that he will flip by d-day so we have scheduled a c-section for January 20. That's just 2 weeks away!

At first I was disappointed about the c-section but there's some benefits to it and now we've decided that we're happy with whatever way he comes into the world as long as he's strong and healthy when he gets here. Apparently I'm definitely not one of those people that can tell the baby's position. When he gets the hiccups, I feel them really low so I thought oh, he must be head down, but the nurse said no, you'd really feel the hiccups from wherever his little booty is. Then Randy and I thought he was moving to a sideways position because there were 2 big bulges on both sides of my stomach, so we naturally thought one is the heiny and one is the head. It happened at Monday's appointment and we said, "See he's sideways!" The nurse said "No, you're havings a Braxton Hicks contraction." Just further proof that Randy and I have no idea what's going on in there.

We also found out that he's weighing in at just over 7 lbs now. They gain about 1/2 pound a week at this point so the doctor thinks he'll be about an 8 pounder. Yikes! And he has a rather large head apparently! This c-section may be somewhat of a blessing! I am definitely getting bigger by the day and have the backache to prove it. Sleeping is becoming more and more difficult as it's hard to get and stay comfortable and bathroom trips are getting more frequent. I know I shouldn't complain about sleep at this point though. In 2 weeks I'll wish I was getting the sleep I am now.

Here is the last sonogram of little Blake, his little face. The next time we see him will be in person! (His whole face is to the left of the word FACE. His right eye is the dark round spot and those are his big round cheeks and pouty lips below that area.)




I plan to post more frequently over the next couple of weeks and add some nursery pics but until then, here are some other recent pics:
37 weeks!


This is cooking our Christmas Eve dinner of crawfish etouffee. It was our first time not to travel over the Christmas holidays and, though we missed being with family, it was kind of nice to just stay put.

Randy thought it would be funny to balance the salt shaker on my belly at Chuy's.

This is from our Christmas day dinner with my parents. That's sparkling apple cider in the wine glass. :)