One Month

Jackson's 1st Christmas

It is hard to believe that it has just been a month since little Jackson came into this world, yet it's ever harder to believe that a whole month has passed us by and I still have not recorded his birth story. Being a mother of 2 under 2 is definitely demanding and extremely difficult at times. I hardly ever get free moments to blog about what is going on in our lives, much less free moments to run the vacuum or wash the dishes! There have been many exhausting and frustrating moments over the past 4 weeks, but they have all been more than worth it.

Jackson has grown so much in the past 2 weeks. His face is beginning to fill out and his little tummy is rounding by the day. His personality has started shining through and the sleepy newborn is starting to slowly fade away. He is extremely needy and wants constant affection. For the first 2 weeks he slept in his bassinet next to our bed (most of the time he was on the bili lights for jaundice) and he slept well. Since the bili lights were taken away he has refused to sleep alone, always wanting to be held. Last night we actually got him to nap on our bed for several hours which was nice. Normally he is in my arms or in the sling passed out. Of course I love giving him affection as often as he wants but it has been hard getting things done around the house. I have adjusted to doing laundry and taking care of Tristyn with a sling around my front side...I feel pregnant all over again!

Luckily Jackson has taken to nursing very well so we have both enjoyed the rewards of that. With Tristyn I tried so hard for the first month of her life to make it work but she just wouldn't allow it. I felt so guilty for letting her down and not being able to do what was best for her, so being able to do it for Jackson has been more than rewarding. I am very proud but thankful that it has worked out so well. As of now he nurses every 3-4 hours, stays alert for a few minutes and then shortly thereafter falls asleep. He sleeps quite often, he doesn't really have long alert periods. He has been quite fussy and difficult the past week but I believe he was having a growth spurt. He was nursing every 1-2 hours and that was physically and emotionally draining. Thank goodness he has stopped doing that for now!

Since the day Jackson was born he has had great control of his head and neck. At times it's unreal to watch him lift his back off of your shoulder and hold it for minutes at a time. Often times he gets fussy when you cradle him like a baby because he wants to be up on your shoulder looking around and observing. He is definitely quite different than my always snugly and never fussy Tristyn was. I guess this is just a precursor to the future! I've already told Josh that we're in for it when Jackson is older. I believe he's going to be relentless because he certainly is when it comes to crying for attention. If you don't hold him he won't quit crying...that's all there is to it.

We are still waiting for him to find his cute little voice. Yesterday morning he coo'ed twice while sitting in his chair in our bathroom while we were getting ready for the day. Josh got to hear him both times but I only did once. I am so anxious for him to start making sounds, other than crying that is!

I plan on posting his birth story this evening if I find a few free moments. I'm waiting on some times that my Mom had written down so I can make sure everything is in order. After I post his birth story I will most likely combine this blog with our family blog to makes things more simple.

My little one has awaken is fussy so I must go for now!

He's Here!

Jackson McClain

Wednesday, December 6th at 4:05pm

7lbs 8oz, 20 1/2 inches long

...birth story to follow...

38 Weeks and STILL Pregnant!

Yep, I'm still hanging around pregnant as ever. At times it feels as if I am about to bust at the seams. Baby B has not been very active during the past several weeks, I'm sure he is running out of room rather quickly. At my last appointment the estimated his birth weight to be somewhere in the range of 7 1/2 pounds, thankfully not too big. We are really anticipating his arrival. I just cannot wait to see what he looks like!

Right now I'm doing birthday invitations for the Big Sissy. I'm trying to get everything together before his arrival! I will update more later on this week :)

Catching Up

Over the past few weeks we have really started to prepare for this little ones arrival. I have been so busy trying to get everything in order that I have not made the time to blog about what has been going on. I have at least made time to sit down and work on my pregnancy journal and his baby book. All of his belongings are washed, folded and put in the place. Our bags are packed and ready to go. The car seat has been installed. Medical release forms and instructions for Tristyn have been typed and printed for whoever gets the privilege of keeping her while we are at the hospital. The house is clean, amazingly. I think we are ready, actually I know we are.

The weekend before last a few girlfriends of mine hosted a couples barbecue in honor of his impending arrival. We had a great time hanging around the bonfire outside and munching on a ton of different snacks. They served hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner and then we played a few fun games. Afterwards Josh and I opened gifts. We received more than we could have ever expected! The little one is not going to need anything for a long time. We are so grateful to have such caring family and friends.

Josh & I before opening gifts

a few of the goodies

Me with the Hosts of the Party

Yesterday was my 36 week checkup. My hemoglobin came back a little low so they retested it and if it comes back low again I will have to be put on an iron supplement. On Sunday evening while we were lounging around watching television the little man decided to make the difficult move into the head down position. Josh and I watched for nearly 2 hours and he wiggled his way down. It was extremely uncomfortable and somewhat painful for me, but I am glad he decided to get ready for his arrival. I was really starting to mentally prepare myself for a planned c-section due to him being breech. Thankfully we will not have to worry about that any longer. Midwife Emma confirmed yesterday that he was in fact in the correct position. She also decided to check my cervix because of the contractions I had all day Monday. I am only dilated 1cm and he is still very high up so we aren't expecting his arrival anytime soon. We go back the day before Thanksgiving for the 37 week appointment. Until then I'll leave you with a few pictures...

36 weeks

34 1/2 weeks

The big sis loving on her bro

33 Weeks!

33 weeks today! Amazing huh? I am still in shock that we've only got approx 7 short weeks left. If it sounds like a long time to you just think of it like this...only 7 more weekends to sleep in! Hahaha. Speaking of sleep, I have been pretty exhausted lately. I've started going to bed pretty early but I'm still waking several times a night. Other than that I have felt better than ever.


Last Tuesday we had a 32 week ultrasound which showed little baby B to be in the frank breech position (folded in half!) and they also found that the placenta is anterior (between my belly button and boobs). Those two factors combined are why I do not feel strong fetal movement. They said the chances for him to somersault into a head down position are great, but I am extremely worried that he's not going to make that flip anytime soon. He weighed 4lbs 6oz which is on the hefty side of things. I had an ultrasound done with Tristyn at the same exact time and she weighed only 3lbs 4oz! It looks like he is going to be a big boy.


On Monday the crib was delivered while my Mom was here. We spent two frustrating hours putting it together, but in the end it was all worth it! It looks beautiful. Now she just needs to finish the crib bedding, which is almost complete. I am getting so excited that everything is coming together =) Next weekend is the couples shower my girlfriends are hosting and I am totally excited about that. Everything is coming upon us so quickly!

30 & 31 Weeks

Last Thursday I had a 30 week checkup at the OB. They ended up doing a non-stress test because I complained about not feeling the baby move as much. Everything looked alright but they decided to go ahead and schedule an ultrasound just to make sure. The ultrasound is scheduled for Thursday, October 19th at 2pm. I am sure everything is fine, he's actually been moving a lot more. I have also started keeping up with "kick counts" and since then I've realized that he does move a lot, sometimes I just don't notice it because I am so busy with Tristyn.

I have started feeling light headed and faint on a daily basis which is very frustrating. At times I have to lay down to regain my strength and balance. I called and spoke with a nurse about the way I've been feeling and they told me to take it easy and make sure I'm eating enough (haha, that was funny!). The braxton hicks contractions still happen on occasion but they aren't more frequent than they've been in the past few weeks. Last night I had a sharp stabbing pain in my left side for about an hour. It really started to worry me but it finally let up and I was able to fall asleep. I'm assuming it was just an extra long growing pain seeing as how I've been having those quite frequently too!

I'm still majorly craving brownies. I buy a box to make every time I go to the grocery store and they are usually gone within a week. I have also been craving very fresh foods like fruit and salads. The thought of greasy food curbs my appetite.

There hasn't been anymore progress on his room in the past few weeks. I think I'm just a little discouraged because the crib will not be delivered until next month. I have all of his laundry color sorted but it still needs to be washed. I was actually hoping to accomplish some of that this evening, but my energy is beginning to diminish.

The name debate is still ongoing. At this point it looks as though he will not have a name until he is born, which I am totally fine with. We have come up with several things that we both agree on and then tell our family or friends and they have smart comments to make about how they dislike it. This has become extremely annoying and frustrating to me so I've decided just not to discuss it with many people! I would rather have a list of names that Josh and I both like and decide once we meet him, without influence from others. After all he is our child and it is our decision so why should we let everyone else's opinion sway our decision?

I will update next week regarding the ultrasound. Keep us in your prayers!

30 weeks

31 weeks

29 Weeks

Here are my 29w1d belly shots. I just wanted to post them while I had time, I'll update on my ever expanding midsection tomorrow. Excuse the hideous boo-boo on my tummy, I scratched myself...funny, eh?!