Elijah: 3 Weeks

Weight: We don't have an update on this. But he seems so big! 

Height: We measured him tonight and he is 22 inches. So that means he grew 1 inch!

Clothes: A few of his newborn outfits seem to be getting a little tight. Mommy doesn't like this! But 0-3 is still way too huge.

Diapers: His cord fell off on Thursday! Finally! He isn't going to college with his umbilical cord still attached! He is able to wear Happy Flute newborn diapers now. Though he is now often leaking out of the THX newborn diapers! If his legs were just a little chubbier he could fit into the rest of his newborn cloth, but right now they are still a little too loose. We also started using cloth wipes on Friday. We are big fans! He continues to surprise us quite often during diaper changes with "open-air accidents" no matter how careful we are! You can often hear exclamations of "woah!" or "ohhhh!" from the nursery.

Sleep: Still sleeping about 2 hours at a time most nights. Some nights he goes right down after waking to eat. Some nights he just wants to hang out each time. Friday night he slept from 10:40-2:40 (with only a quick wake up and rock at 11:15)! I, however, did not sleep that whole time. 

Eating: He still loves to eat. He is eating for longer periods of time sometimes. He still needs that diaper change between sides to keep him awake. We had our first feeding in public at his cousin Emma's birthday party today. It was a bit hot and sweaty, but we managed!

Likes: His pacifier, grabbing things, and looking at lights. He especially loves to look at the light in his nursery. Being cuddled is also a favorite activity. He doesn't mind all of the snuggles, cuddles, and kisses from mommy all day long. As soon as I put him in any of the carriers, he goes right to sleep! So far he likes the Boba Wrap, Mei Tei, and woven wrap! We haven't mastered the sling yet.  

Dislikes: When his pacifier falls out (OMG THE WORLD IS ENDING) and hiccups (which happen pretty often). Diaper changes are getting a little better, but he doesn't like to be cold!

Oh! And this: I had it in my head that I didn't want to introduce the pacifier until 3 weeks because I read that somewhere. Well Tuesday evening he was awfully fussy, so we tried it. And it calmed him right down! I figured that he is a nursing champ and my supply is good, so why not make things a little easier for us! The paci still requires a lot of monitoring because it falls out and he knocks it out all the time, but we have some Wubbanubs on their way here (thank goodness for Amazon Prime!). 

New Tricks: He seems to be starting to use his hands with a little intent. They still fly all over the place and knock into his face or knock his pacifier out, but he also seems to be attempting to grab things or push things with them.

5/25/25

I was "shushing" and jiggling him during the night to get him back to sleep and Adam said he was looking at my like, "What you are doing is a waste of time."

5/25/25

Getting ready to go work in the garden with Mommy and Grandma

5/25/25

Feeling clean after a bath

5/26/25

Making one of his hilarious faces

5/25/25

First restaurant trip!

Lunch at Panera with Daddy and Mommy on Memorial Day

5/27/14

Eli snuggles

5/27/14

Looking cute in a Harry Potter onesie

5/27/14

I was nursing, eating, and Instagramming at the same time!

5/27/14

This pacifier stuff is pretty awesome

5/28/14

Making faces at Mommy in the morning

5/28/14

After a doctor visit for me, Elijah had his first trip to Target

5/29/14

He enjoys the MamaRoo while I get ready in the morning

5/29/14

Enjoying a Thursday morning photoshoot

5/29/14

There's not much Mommy loves more than Elijah snuggles

5/30/14

More of Elijah's hilarious faces!

5/30/14

Loving being worn in the woven wrap for the first time

5/30/14

Eli loves looking at Daddy

5/31/14

Snuggled like a burrito at night

5/31/14

Mommy was super impressed he slept for 4 hours!

The State of My Body: 2.5 Weeks Postpartum

I've given Eli updates, but here is an update about me! Maybe you don't care because this is way too much information. Maybe you are interested if you are going to have a baby and want to know about the recovery. Maybe it will be good for me to write down so when I have another baby I can remind myself it will get better!

Weight: I am down 22 pounds. That leaves 21 pounds left of pregnancy weight. Not to mention that I was overweight to begin with. But we aren't mentioning that. So we will focus on the 21 pounds left to lose of baby weight. That seems like a lot. Ergh. Obviously I am still wearing mostly maternity clothes. Definitely maternity pants because otherwise they hurt. But I have worn some regular t-shirts and that's exciting!

Feet: You wouldn't believe it, but my postpartum feet were way worse than my end of pregnancy feet! They were out of control swollen. When I was discharged, the doc said it would get worse before it got better. He was right. At about 12 days PP, they actually seemed normal again! It is lovely to wear regular sandals again. Last night when we were up in the middle of the night for a feeding, I was just admiring my feet as they were propped on the ottoman. Yeah, I'm a nerd.

Staples: I was more than a bit nervous about getting my staples out. I went on the Friday after Elijah was born to the office to get them removed. Erin told me it was no big deal, but it was hard to believe. She was right! It was a total non-event. The nurse was super sweet and chatted with me while she pulled them out. She said everything looked great and even said she didn't see why I couldn't talk about a VBAC during my next pregnancy if I wanted.

Incision: Sneezing continues to make me a bit nervous. But it's never as bad as I imagine. I've yet to explode my insides out of my incision! On Wednesday this week I had my post-op appointment. Everything looks great. I think my doctor is a super surgeon. She said I have a super healing body. Its just this little line straight across. She did say that because of the situation surrounding my c-section, the chance of having a successful VBAC is lower than a typical VBAC (such as breech, fetal distress or something). But we will talk more about that in a couple years when that time comes.
Emotions: At this point my emotions have pretty much leveled out. From about 24 hours after having Elijah until about a week postpartum, I was having some rough emotional issues about the c-section. Adam was amazing and had conversation after conversation with me reassuring me that I pushed hard enough, I didn't give up, and we should be happy to have a perfect, healthy, son, no matter how he came out. He is right!

Nursing: Though pushing a baby out didn't go the way it was supposed to, my body is rocking at this nursing thing. My milk came in about Tuesday after Elijah was born and I handled the engorgement phase pretty well. I think because he became such a champ nurser, we were able to power through it. I've been trading off between using coconut oil and the Earth Mama Angel Baby cream and it is tolerable. And getting a little better now! I'm leaking like a sieve though. It is out of control! It's like Daytona Beach Spring Break over here...but it isn't beer spraying everywhere!

Sleep: Last Thursday night was a momentous occasion when I was able to sleep on my right side for the first time! Until that point when I laid on my right it felt like my insides were tearing. Friday night I even half laid on my tummy and it was fine. Getting up from that did cause a bit of "insides tearing" feelings, but it was a good start! The first few days home were rough because getting in and out of bed was pretty painful. And I couldn't bend and reach to grab Elijah like I wanted. Adam would have to get out of bed, come around the side, and grab him to hand him to me even though he is in the Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper right next to my side of the bed. It has been getting better all of the time though! And now I can hold him and scooch right out of bed myself.

Other Body Stuff: I don't know if my doctor is just a super surgeon or if it is combination with what I did in preparation for birthing a baby, but I am doing really well. I would have thought a total of 4 hours pushing would cause some issues, but....somehow it didn't. One of my nurses told me to just feel lucky and don't expect it to be so lucky next time! And the big event that most postpartum women dread....really was no big deal. Not to say it isn't painful once in a while, but really, it is fine. 

Overall: For having a c-section, I know I am doing really well. Of course recovery is slower than I want it to be and it is hard for me not to jump in and do everything I want right away, but I just keep reminding myself I am lucky with how well I have been healing. 

Elijah: 2 Weeks

2 Weeks

Weight: On Wednesday he was 8 pounds 1 ounce. A week and a half after he was born he surpassed his birth weight. Yay! He doesn't need to go back for any more weight checks now. 

Height: We don't have any update on this. 

Clothes: Still wearing newborn clothes, but a few of the onesies are getting a little tight with his fluffy cloth diaper butt. I can't imagine him ever wearing 0-3 pants though. They are so huge!

Diapers: Still wearing newborn cloth diapers. We are waiting for his umbilical cord to fall off so we can only use a few of the kinds that have the umbilical cord snap down. Daddy much prefers the all-in-ones. He isn't so much a fan of the prefolds or fitteds. When the cord falls off, we will have lots of pockets to choose from. Cloth is still going well. We do laundry every day or every other day. We haven't started cloth wipes yet, but we will soon. I can't believe the number of wipes we have gone through!

Sleep: On Friday night he slept 3.5 hours at once! That was amazing! Most of the time it is 1-2 hours. He is getting better about falling asleep right away after a feeding...most of the time. Sometimes he still wants to hang out. Once he is asleep, we wrap him in the swaddle blanket and lay him in the Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper right next to the bed. Sometimes he needs to be patted for a bit or needs my hand on him and then he is out. We have to wait to swaddle him when he is sleeping or his only mission is to free himself from the swaddle. If we let his arms go free he wakes himself up though!

Eating: He loves to eat! During the day when we are holding him or if I am wearing he can go up to 3 hours and we have to wake him to eat. He just loves snuggling! He usually eats on one side, then we change him, then he eats off the other side. If we don't do a diaper change in the middle then he is too tired to eat and then gets hungry again quickly. 

Likes: He loves being worn in my Boba Wrap. It puts him right to sleep. We tried the Mei Tei, but he wasn't in the mood for it that day. He loves being held by mommy and daddy and loves when we snuggle and kiss him! Sometimes when someone holds him he doesn't know he will close his eyes and peek at them and pretend to sleep until he gets back to mommy or daddy. 

Dislikes: Being hungry. When he wants food he wants it NOW! He also does NOT like to be awake and have his arms swaddled. FREE ALL THE ARMS!

Oh! And this: Thursday was the last day of school for my students so my mom and Eli and I walked to the park near the school where they were playing to say "goodbye" and let them meet Eli. They were super excited to see me and him and I'm really glad we did it since 5 of my kiddos are going to kindergarten. They were super sweet and kept far enough away from him in the car seat and my arms so I wasn't worried about germs. Apparently one of my girls said, "I already miss Miss Stephanie and the baby" on their way back to school. I miss my kiddos too!

OH! And I swear he smiled at me Friday night. He was awake and smiled. It wasn't an accidental sleep smile!

5-18-14

We went to church and Eli was like a celebrity. We barely made it in the front door before getting swarmed by excited friends. I put him in the wrap in the car and wore him the whole time. He slept the entire time and it kept people from touching him!

5-18-14

We love talking to him at night when we are all in our bed.

5-20-14

Sweet sleeping smiles

5-20-14

Cute baby in a cloth diaper!

5-20-14

I just love him in this onesie. It won't fit much longer!

5-20-14

I can't get enough of his snuggles. I could sit there all day snuggling with him. 

5-21-14

The Mamaroo has been a lifesaver for letting me shower every day. He loves the movements because that's how he likes us to move with him!

5-21-14

Hilarious faces he was making at me when I had him in the Boba Wrap at the pediatrician for his weight check on Wednesday!

5-21-14

We took him for his first walk on Wednesday evening. He slept the whole time! It was my first walk too and it went really well!

5-22-14

Russian dance moves in his sleep

5-22-14

This boy  loves nothing more than to break his arms free from his swaddle! And he's awfully proud of himself when he does it! 

5-22-14

I shouldn't post a picture of my students on here, but this is from our walk to the park on Thursday to say goodbye to my students. Bridget was excited to get some bonus Elijah time too!

 5-23-14

I got to celebrate the best birthday I have ever had with the best present I have ever received! 

Also, Adam was super sweet and got some of my favorite flowers from Eli and a super sweet card too. I can't believe I got a mom birthday card. I am a mom!

 5-23-14

 I love skeptical baby faces!

5-24-14

More snuggles with mommy!

5-24-14

This is what happens when you leave Daddy alone with a baby. I was brushing my teeth and heard "Mommy! Come here! Take a picture!"

5-24-14

Sweet pictures with Daddy! Elijah has the best Daddy around!

Elijah: 1 Week

1 Week**

Weight: He was 7 pounds 10 ounces at birth. When we left the hospital on Monday the 12th he was 6 pounds 15 ounces because he was a sleepy little dude. At his weight check on Wednesday he was 7 pounds 3 ounces! That was a great improvement. We go back in another week for another check. 

Height: 21 inches at birth. But at the doctor on Wednesday they said 20.5. Did he shrink? He doesn't really like his legs stretched out, so I'm not sure how accurate that was.

Clothes: Mommy didn't have enough newborn clothes! I was so sure that he was going to be huge and he wouldn't fit in newborn clothes. Boy was I wrong! He has short little skinny legs! Grandma, Aunt Erin and "Second best Auntie Erin" all brought us some newborn outfits so he doesn't look like a ragamuffin in too big clothes anymore.

Diapers: We jumped into cloth on Wednesday, our 2nd day home. We were close to running out of the samples of newborn diapers we had, so it seemed as good of a time as any! He looks so adorable with his fluffy big butt! And it makes his pants fit even better!

Sleep: It was really nice to have daddy home all week. He did most of the diaper changing during the night so I could get ready to feed him. He eats every hour and half to 2 hours during the night.

Eating: He has become a nursing champ! Thanks to Kristin's suggestion (from her mom!) we tortured him by putting a wet washcloth on his naked body to keep him awake for feedings for our first few days home. Now he doesn't need to be tortured, he loves to eat!

Likes: Being snuggled. He is the best snuggler around! He also loves to show off his super strong neck. At the doctor we saw a milestones thing that said by 1 month they should be trying to lift their heads off a parent's chest. He has been doing that since birth!

Dislikes: Being naked or changed. He does NOT like having his skin exposed. I guess that is pretty similar to mommy who is always cold!

Oh! And this: We had his newborn photo session on Saturday with Lil Snaps Photography. It was quite the intense adventure. Newborns are supposed to sleep through their photoshoots so they can be posed. Well, Elijah was having none of that! He made Jessie (the photographer) work hard to get her shots. We ended up being there for 4 hours! She was SO patient and loving and amazing with him. I cannot wait to see them!

**I am a little behind on posting his 1 week update. I guess you can forgive a new mom for that, right?!

Here are a few..cough...many...cough...pictures from his first week!

5-12-14

Pretty flowers (on the left) that we received in the hospital. And the pretty tulips that Elijah sent me for Mother's Day before he was even born! He didn't know that we would be in the hospital and not home for Mother's Day to get them!

5-12-14

Cute baby in a cloth diaper to take our coming home picture.

5-12-14

Daddy getting to give him a bottle because I was pumping for a day when we got home from the hospital to help him gain weight.

5-13-14

Our first night at home, Eli staring at his daddy in the middle of the night.

5-13-14

Elijah wearing the onesie I used to tell Adam we were pregnant!

"My daddy drives a tractor"

5-13-14

Milk Drunk

5-13-14

I don't think there is anything better in the whole world than snuggling your own newborn

5-14-14

Little Man wanting to hang out in the middle of the night. This face he makes cracks me up!

5-14-14

Adorable baby in a cloth diaper!

5-14-14

We went to the [pediatrician and a follow up visit with the Lactation Consultants at the hospital. 

He is skeptical of car rides. 

5-15-14

Can you tell I am addicted to his cute little fluff butt?!

5-15-14

Finally wearing some adorable newborn sized outfits!

5-15-14

Mommy loves cuddles!

5-16-14

We woke up to Facebook posts about it snowing! 

So we had to go outside and take a picture to prove it snowed on May 16th!

5-16-14

Elijah's first (sponge) bath at home. He was not a fan. Baths involve the whole naked thing.

5-17-14

Auntie Erin helped us figure out the Boba Wrap. Eli loves being worn!

5-17-14

Snuggly Baby

5-17-14

Mommy's favorite face!