Who Does Max Look Like?

We get many comments on who Max looks more like. Is it me or daddy? I think he looks more like daddy with a smidge of me. I have been told he as my chin...yay, my chin. Anyway, I have my one week old photo as well as one of Andy to compare. Tell me what you think!

Me at one week old.

Mr. Maxim

Andy at a week old.

Tummy Time

Yesterday the big man had his two month doctor appointment and we learned our scale was a tad off as he is 7lbs 12oz and not 8.2 like Andy figured the other day. He is also 19.5 inches long. That gives me an idea on how big he would have been if I would have gone full term (which is this upcoming Sunday).

Poor guy started his immunization shots yesterday and I felt so bad for him. Once we got home he didn't feel very well and the only thing that made him feel better was to lie on my (or daddy's) chest with his tummy down. If we tried to move him he would freak out. Thankfully he got over this by the time it was bedtime because we really did not want to do that all night long, but we were prepared to do so if we had to.

The doctor also mentioned that we need to do tummy time with him for 15 min a day even if he screams. This will just help him get even stronger. So today I had tummy time with Max and he did really well.

We started like this and he was trying to eat the blanket.

He didn't last long with his face down as he tipped himself to the left and ended like this.

He was fine like this, but I put him back on his tummy. He spent his time kicking his legs as if he was trying to scoot forward. He also held onto the blanket pretty tight. This time there was no freak out and I am proud of him as he kept lifting his head and moving it from side to side.

We ended tummy time with a very tired big man.

Two Months

I cannot believe it's been two months already since Max has been born and its been two weeks since we brought him home from the hospital. Technically he is 39 weeks gestational age today as well as two months old.  It's crazy to think he wouldn't even be born yet and I would still be pregnant. We weighed him today and if our scale is correct he is 8 pounds 2 ounces.

 

He was kind of freaking out here because he was naked.

Maxim, you have taught me a lot about patience and love these past two months. I was not a very patient person prior to you being born. I love your daddy to the moon and back, but the love I have for you is completely indescribable.  It's a love like no other. Now that you are here I couldn't imagine not having you in our lives and I can't believe I waited so long to have you.

This was a big month for you as we brought you home from the hospital. It was a very happy day for all of us. I was excited and nervous all at the same time. Here is our first family photo.

Since you've been home you have been a pretty good baby. You sleep well as long as there is noise. You do not do so well in the piece and quiet. Good thing auntie Kim got you a noise machine to sleep to. Since you sleep in a bassinet next to mommy and daddy we too have had to learn to sleep listening to a heart beat all night long. I believe you can't sleep when it's quiet because the NICU was always so loud. If you fuss in the middle of the night I just turn on the night light in the bassinet and you fall back asleep. I believe this is another NICU behavior. Right now you wake up twice a night usually at 1am and then again at 4am. You still sleep with your arms above you head...just like mommy.

You absolutely do not like your diaper changed. This is when you have a complete melt down and right now, it's your only melt down. You freak out so bad that someone would think we are beating you, but we are just changing your diaper. I try and change you as fast as I can, but you don't make it an easy task with all of your kicking. Right now I think your meltdown is pretty cute, but I am sure once you get bigger it won't be cute anymore.

We do tummy time with you for a little bit on the floor so you can strengthen your neck and arms. The nurses said this will help prepare you for crawling one day. You get so frustrated during tummy time that you start screaming so it doesn't last that long. I think you get frustrated because you are trying to move, but you can't because you are so young. You will kick your legs and stretch your arms forward like you have somewhere to be, but since you are not going anywhere you get frustrated and mad.

We have had a few outings these past two weeks and you have done great in the car every time. You pretty much just fall asleep every time which is very nice. Let's hope you stay that way.

You are such a smiley baby. You are always smiling at us and sometimes you even laugh too. It's so cute and I can't get enough of this.

You love to be rocked all the time. This is something we started while you were in the NICU and if we stop rocking you start grunting until we rock again. Since we can't rock you 24/7 we borrowed a baby swing from our friends and you absolutely love it. If you get fussy the swing will surely calm you down.

Well, Mr. Maxim it's been two months already and mommy loves you a ton, I can't believe how fast time is going. I am cherishing every minute I have with you before I blink and you are 18 and heading off to college. I look forward to all the memories we create together as a family!

Love, your mommy

How Are The Animals?

I get asked quite a bit how the animals are doing with Maxim and the answer is, they are doing quite well.

Captain is curious, but mostly could care less. When Andy is holding him Captain will get up close to smell his head, but then leave. He likes to squeeze his fat butt underneath the crib. It's crazy how he completely flattens out and gets under there. If he gains a few more pounds he will end up getting stuck under there. Our challenge is to keep him out of the crib and so far so good, but we are keeping an eye on that sneaky cat.

Madison and Izzy are both doing better than I expected. Madster likes to keep an eye on him and check on him when he makes noises, but other than that, she really doesn't care about Max. Izzy on the other hand is being protective of him. She lays in front of his crib when he's in it. She's constantly checking on him. Any little noise he makes she is right there. Wherever Max is, Izzy is right there. One time Izzy was laying in front of the crib when Madison came to check on him and Izzy became territorial and snapped on her. Uhm, that's not good. So of course Izzy got scolded and we are keeping an eye on that behavior because that is not acceptable.

Newborn Photos

I did not get my maternity photos, so I made sure to get my newborn photos of Maxim. The lady that did them was the same person who did our engagement photos three years ago, and she did another awesome job.

We went to her house way down in Gilbert because of our crazy dogs. She offered to come to our house which would have been easier on us, but I didn't want to deal with the dogs going crazy and keeping Maxim sleeping throughout the shoot so we opted to make the long journey to "Mexico." This was the first event out where I had to get ready too, not just Max. Oh, was it rough to get out of the house on time. We left 15 min later than I wanted, but we still arrived on time. I am impressed how nice the family photos turned out since I spent zero time on my hair and record time on my makeup so I could get Maxim ready too. Ugh it was chaotic but it showed me that this is probably how it's going to be from now on. I see many half pony tails in my future.

The photographer said I would have a link to all the photos she took in a week, but until then here is a sneak peak at only a few. These turned out so nice that I can't wait to see all of them.

My favorite. I was super excited to arrive and see that she had this swing setup.

This one was taken for daddy. There are more with a football as well and I can't wait to see them.

The blanket he is laying on is the blanket my mom knitted for him. The hat was knitted by a good friend's mom.

My hair was a hot mess but you can't even tell.

Ali does such a great job and the bonus is she got all the shots within an hour and a half. I had no idea how long this would take and of course Andy wasn't into more than an hour photo shoot, so an hour and a half was perfect. The big man also did an awesome job. He only fussed a little but, but we calmed him down easily. He peed once in the swing, but Andy said it was on purpose since I made him pose like that. 😀  I did take a few receiving blankets to hold him while he was naked in between takes in case if he pooped and of course he did. A nice blowout all over one of them. I am just lucky it was in the blanket and not on me!

And The Results Are In

I saw my OB GYN doctor today and I found out the tests from my delivery that could help explain why I went into preterm labor. I went in hoping for a black and white answer. Something very matter-of-fact and nothing in the gray scale. Of course I found out that based on the tests my preterm labor was a fluke and there is no explanation for why it happened. There was bacteria in my placenta which caused me to go into labor, how the bacteria got there, the doctor has no idea. Normally bacteria will get there if my water broke early, but mine broke while I was pushing the big man out. So, she is dumbfounded on how the bacteria reached the placenta. Basically, it did and its a fluke that it did. 

My doctor told me that 3% of women go into preterm labor and I just must be in that lucky 3%. Yay me! Since I have a preterm labor on my history there is now a 6% chance of it happening again. The doc thinks that since it's a fluke the chances of it happening to me again are slim. If (and that's a BIG IF) we get pregnant again my doctor said she will give me the weekly progesterone shot (not a steroid shot like I previously mentioned) starting at the 16 week mark just to be cautious. I will also be classified as high risk because its now on my files, but my doctor can still be my doctor because she doesn't consider a "fluke" preterm labor that high risk. I agree with her. 

The big man sleeping in his crib.

The big man in a milk coma.

Welcome Home

August 11th will always be an important date as that is the day we got to bring home our precious baby boy from the hospital. It was a very long 6+ weeks in the hospital and I can't believe I survived. There were definitely days where I wondered how I was ever going to make it to the end. I also had days where I didn't think discharge day would ever come and the hospital was going to keep him forever. 

On Saturday morning during doctor rounds is when I got the best news ever that Max would come home the following day as long as he passed the car seat challenge. Once he passed it I was still worried that something would come up that would prevent the discharge from happening. Then on Sunday morning my phone rang and it was the NICU and I was worried at what they were going to say. Did something happen since last night that is going to prevent him from coming home? Nope, that wasn't it. They wanted to tell me to bring a large cooler for my breast milk they had stored away in their deep Freezer.  They had 11 large bags filled with milk containers. WOW! They also officially announced the Doctor's orders to start discharge and he can go home after 2:30pm. After that very positive phone call we hurried up on cleaning the house and took off to the hospital for our last NICU visit. The last time I would have to enter a secured room via a telephone, sign my name on paper saying I am not sick and the last time I would have a nurse watching over me as I took care of my baby. Don't get me wrong, I did not hate the NICU. In fact it's a great hospital with amazing nurses that I got to know quite well. In fact there are a couple nurses that I will even miss. 

We got to the hospital at 12:30 to start the discharge process. We also took our first family photo before it was time to get wheeled out via the red wagon.

Max is all strapped in and ready to go home.

As exciting as this day was, I was also extremely nervous. Now we are "full-time parents" who are 100% responsible for this little life. No nurses around to help and ask random questions to. Nope, now it's all on Andy and I. 

On the car ride home I sat in the back with Max staring at him to make sure he was breathing and could really truly handle his car seat. Yes, he did a great job on the ride home as he slept the whole way.

We got him home safe and sound and I just sat on the couch staring at him forever as I was in happy land because my whole family is together at home.

Daddy son time.

The first day was great as he just ate, pooped and slept. I did not sleep that night as I was so concerned if he was breathing or not. I did not have a machine to tell me is he has stopped breathing like in the hospital. Instead I just constantly looked in his bassinet as it was next to the bed. Yes, he made it through the first night with us as parents. I call that success!

Passing The Test

During lunch time yesterday Max went through the car seat challenge. They did this while we were out to lunch with good friends and we got back during the last 15 minutes of the test. 

Knowing this hour and a half can make or break him coming home tonight made me a little nervous. In the morning the doctor informed us that if he passes the challenge then he will be discharged Sunday night. It was very exciting news, but also made me anxious too. I was glad we were out to lunch with friends because it took our minds off the test. 

Once we got back and got the good news that he was doing awesome and he slept the whole time I was doing the happy dance, inside of course. Here's to Max's discharge day!

The Feeding Tube Is Out

They took out Maxim's feeding tube on Thursday and now you can see how super cute he is.  Just look at that face!

He is 6lbs 2.5oz and growing. They are watching him to make sure he can continue to eat on his own and gain weight. He was circumcised on Tuesday...poor guy. Andy was there for him during the procedure to hold his hand. He handled it like a champ! Maxim still needs to pass the car seat challenge before he can come home. It looks like that might happen today, so keep your fingers crossed that he passes. Hopefully we will be celebrating his homecoming very soon.

The Dogs are Excited

For the past 6+ weeks our routine has been way off and the poor girls have been confused and I am sure they miss us a lot.  Between work and the hospital I feel like I am never home and when I do get home the girls are overly excited to see me.  They have not been getting their nightly treats from me much because I think it's too late to give to them at 10pm when I am ready for bed.  I really don't want to listen to them smack their lips as they chew on their bones for a half an hour at the end of the bed when all I really want to do is sleep. 

In preparation for Max's homecoming I have been letting them smell me when I get home  I bend down to their level and watch their sniffers go to town.  They get really excited as they try to figure out the smell.  I think Madison has figured out their is a baby somewhere, but just now sure where.  Izzy on the other hand, has no clue what's going on.  She smells me, but is more excited just to see me when I get home. 

Madison is getting ready to go to town with her sniffer.

Another trick we have been doing to get the dogs ready for Max's homecoming is bringing the receiving blankets home that he's wrapped up in all day.  We will lay them on the dogs bed or where they lay on the couch.  Madison goes crazy trying to figure out the smell and wonders where the baby is.  Izzy will sniff, but then she is already on to something else interesting and exciting in the house.  We have quite a few of these blankets laying around the house and they will be great to use when Max does come home. 

I had them pose for the picture, with treats of course!

The girls are ready for Maxim to come home. Let's just hope they can behave themselves.

Bath Time

Andy and I gave Maxim his third swaddle bath in the hospital this weekend and we are pretty sure (or at least we hope) it's his last bath in the hospital.  He likes the swaddle baths as it seems to be really calming to him.  The nurse that day took photos so I will share them.

He doesn't like when we take his limbs out of the blanket.  He prefers just to sit in the water all wrapped up.

I love it when he makes this face.  He does it quite a bit.

 

Family photo during bath time.

 As I was swaddling him in preparation for the bath, poop came shooting out of him and all over the swaddle blanket.  Luckily it did not get on me.  Andy and I both started laughing as it was too funny because we just changed his poopy diaper that he JUST made.  I don't even know how many times he has pooped on me but nearly missed my clothes.  I feel I need to start carrying a spare tank top with me for that day he does not miss and it lands on me.  Yes, a spare tank top is a must for the diaper bag.