One Month {baby}

As I start typing this... it is 3:30am and you just got done eating (at least I think you are done - you could wake up any second screaming for more) and you are laying in my arms. I cannot believe it has been a month since you came into this world. You have already changed so much and are growing into a little man b4 my eyes. Our days fly by and I am still not quite sleeping enough so I want to make sure I don't forget a thing! You have changed my life so much in the past month and I cannot imagine my life without you. As much as I cannot wait for you to grow and watch you change, I don't want you to get big. You are the biggest cuddle monster and I could literally spend the entire day holding you and cuddling you. We are so blessed to have you in our lives and love you so much! Happy 1 month birthday Connor!
Love, Mommy & Daddy

One Month Stats:

Height: 

Birth: 19 1/2 

2Weeks: 20 3/4

Weight:

 Birth: 9lbs 

2Weeks 9.6lbs 

1Month: 11.4 lbs  

(per our home scale, not 100% accurate)

Hair color: 

Light brown/blonde

Eye color: 

still dark blue

Clothing size:
Can still fit into Newborn if he wants to look like a member of the Jersey Shore cast, 0-3 months fits perfectly, but he can fit into his 3 month clothes with a little extra room to spare.

Sleep:

You are still all over the place when it comes to sleeping. I can't quite get you to be consistent. One thing I can say is that whenever you are in my arms you fall asleep very quickly. You had one night last week where you slept the entire night. Sad thing is, I did not. You do not like to be swaddled anymore, so I always worry you are never warm enough, but you are. You have started to stay awake for most of the day with only two real big naps. And slowly you are sleeping for longer stretches at night. 

Eating:

You are an eating machine! My plan was to EBF and my first goal was to make it 8 weeks. Well, you lost 10% birth weight at about 4 days after you were born, so I was instructed to supplement formula after each feeding. After getting your weight back up and meeting with a LC I went back to EBF. At your 2 week check up your weight was up to 9.6lbs! Yay! But after or during your 3 week growth spurt, you just were not getting satisfied with my BM alone. We would spend hours on feedings and you would eat every 2 hours and just not get full. So now I am supplementing again. I am OK with that b/c the majority of your food is BM with a little formula to top you off. I want you to be full and happy and if that means you need to eat formula too, that is what we will do! So, for now you are BF and FF. Not sure what the future will bring. 

Random Milestones:

You are a very strong baby. You love to grip and hold on to whatever you can get a hold of (mostly my hair!!) You are able to hold your head up for a short period of time when we do tummy time. If I would let you, I am sure you would try and hold your bottle on your own. You also LOVE to look at the world around you. I catch you being mesmerized by whatever is catching your eye. You LOVE ceiling fans and the painting that is hanging in our living room. You are able to recognize mine and dad's voices. Whenever your dad comes home your head perks up and tries to find where he is. (you did that in my stomach too... you would always move to where his voice was and kick) I catch you smiling (even though I know they are not true smiles yet, I love them just the same) Grandma swears she hears you laugh... but I don't believe it. You stretch your vocal cords at every chance you get... I have a feeling you are going to be a talker! Of course everything you do, I think is amazing! =)

Favorite activity:

You love to be in your swing! I wish we had a swing in every room so I didn't have to move it around so much. It is the only way I can get a shower in without you going nuts!   You also LOVE music. Grandma plays the baby Einstein play list on Pandora, and that seems to get you to calm down. Your dad bought a horse that is black and white and vibrates when you pull on it, and that just fascinates you so much - which is good because it took him like an hour to pick it out! =) 

Firsts:

First doctors appointment

First real shot =(

First outing with mom

First crying breakdown in public (fun times!)

First bath

First blow out diaper (a story your dad and I will NEVER forget)

I still cannot believe you have been in our lives for one month! I am grateful for every second we spend together. I am trying to capture every second of our time together because the next thing you know - you will be off to college!

HAPPY ONE MONTH BIRTHDAY!!!

=) Rachel 

Stoppin' By to Say 'Hi'

The Last almost 4 weeks has been a crazy and wonderful journey! Needless to say my little guy has consumed 100% of my time - but since he is so adorable I cannot resist showing him off... so we just decided to come and say HI!!! 

Talk to ya'll soon!

=)Rachel (&Connor)

He's Here!!

Connor Joseph Donahue was born May 15th 2012 @ 4:36 p.m. Weighing in at 9lbs. and 19 1/2 inches long!!!

1 CM.!!~!!

Good Morning!

It is currently approx. 4:45 am and I am wide awake! =( not cool!!! But since I have exhausted all of my other forms of useless activities to occupy my time, I thought I would do something useful and BLOG! I know I went M.I.A. again... but as of today I am officially 37 WEEKS PREGGO!!! yay! The last month has been nothing but getting everything ready to go for this little guy... and yet I seem like I have nothing ready.

I am officially out of commission as far as work goes... we are now down to a one income family - which leads itself to a whole other set of issues and anxiety. But I know we will be just fine!

My mom, brother and I visited San Antonio back over Easter weekend... I don't think I have ever been so swollen in my life! I will share some pics of that event with y'all.

So... getting back to the title of this bloggie... which I am sure caught your attention because of its riveting creativity! I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday (I am now down to the weekly doc appointments) and I found out that I am officially 1 Centimeter dilated! I don't know about you guys... but for me that feels like an accomplishment! The prior week there was no glimpse of any sort of progression, and a week later... ta da! 1 CM. I know that I can very well just stay this way up until I am full term, but as of right now I will take what I can get!

I just wanted to touch base with you guys and let you know I am still breathing... I will leave you with a little to-do list of things I should probably get done in the next 24 to 48 hours!

- Pack Baby Bag

- Pack Hospital Bag

- Install Car Seat 

- Wash ALL of baby's clothes and blankets

- Take as many naps as I can before baby arrives!

=) Rachel

1st Trimester.... or 3rd?!

So as I approach 34 weeks (hooray!) I am starting to feel like I have a case of Deja Vu!!! Waking up each morning takes a little more effort and it seems that I have a bad case of nausea each sunrise!!! hmmmm extra tired and nausea? This can't be... a repeat of the 1st trimester... yes, unfortunately IT IS!!! My 2nd trimester was a breeze!!! The worst part was when I caught a nasty head cold that knocked me on my booty for a couple of days... but this... this is much worse! I went to the doctor today and begged him to tell me that I have a high chance of going into labor next week!!!... YEAH RIGHT! I have no sign of contractions and my cervix hasn't budged AT ALL! It looks like I am in it for the long haul! I know I want my baby to cook for as long as he can... but you couldn't pay me to get up every morning and go to work! (oh wait, i guess i already do get paid to wake up and go to work)  I am so exhausted. 

We did however get to take one last peek at our little munchkin on the ultrasound... so far he is in the 73rd percentile weighing in at a major 6lbs!!!! This little man is not messing around! I am guessing by the time I give birth that he will be at least 8 lbs. I am shocked because this is my first baby and me and my husband were just around 7lbs at birth. I didn't think he would be that big. They gave us 3d ultrasound pics but our little guy didn't feel like cooperating (hmmm stubborn like his dad much) all the pics ended with parts of his cute little face covered by his arm. He did not want to come out and play. So I have another appointment in 2 weeks and then begins the once a weekers! I am so anxious for this little guy to come... we've read the books, took the classes and got his room almost 100% complete!

Have a good night!!

=)

Week.... 31!

OK.... So I am completely aware that the last time I did a Weekly update was from Week 28. But, I am not going to lie, I fell behind and instead of catching up, I am just going to start back up where I am right now. To be honest, I can't even remember the specifics from the previous weeks... they all seem to blend in together, so when I am answering the questions for week 31 I may incorporate things from Weeks 29 & 30 that I remember. =)

How far along? 31 Weeks 6 days
Maternity Clothes? Still mixing and matching maternity and non maternity... it is getting much warmer so I did pick up a few more warm weather maternity pieces so I am more comfortable
Stretch marks? None to report
Best moment of this week: Our Crib came this week, my in laws are visiting this weekend, so we will put it together then.
Miss Anything? Not really... I am able to sleep anywhere anytime for the most part and other than that I keep slowly and slowly getting bigger nothing has really changed
Movement: Yes... and now that he is getting bigger there will be times I look down at my tummy and it looks like there is a sea creature causing my stomach to make ripples and waves
Food Cravings: I have been craving sweets now more than usual... but nothing CrAzY
Anything making you queasy or sick: No... I still get a little nauseated in the morning if I wake up hungry.
Have you started to show yet: Um... Yes. And apparently I have gotten "REALLY BIG" ugh I love people's comments (NOT!!)
Gender: Boy... although in a few weeks I will have another ultrasound, so I will make them confirm that.
Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? It is still in which I am very surprised/pleased about. It definitely has almost leveled out, but it is not protruding like through shirts or anything!! But definite alien type qualities.
Wedding rings on or off? Still on. But if I get really hot I have to soak my finger under ice water to get it off.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy... but now that delivery is creeping up I am very anxious and nervous
Looking Forward to: Getting the nursery 100% done. We have our last set of visitors this weekend, so we will remove the bed and start organizing and setting up the baby room! It will give me a little piece of mind.

I go back to the doctor later today. Usually I am spending more time in the waiting room than with my actual doctor. Nothing exciting to report. Everything is normal and perfect and nothing to be concerned about. I know that I should be completely grateful for this, but for some reason I just feel like if I am going to the doctor every other week now, shouldn't it be for a good reason. I have definitely become a pro and peeing in a cup that is for sure!! =)

I have like 5 posts that have been started... but not quite finished - so my goal for this weekend/early next week is to get some of those posted. I have received my first Blumm box and my second one is on its way...so I want to share all of my goodies with y'all and as well as the nursery progression. I have been taking pics so hopefully I can show you where we started and how far we have come!!! Sheesh! So much to do!!

58 More Days!!
But more importantly: 40 more Work days!!

 

=)Rachel

Random Belly Pic!

This picture is actually the one I talked about in the post below... I found it on my cell phone. It was originally taken back on January 29th. So my belly has grown quite a bit. Please don't mind the very serious look of concentration on my face! =) and you can take a peek at the stroller and car seat that we picked out as they create a wonderful back drop for this pic! LOL. I never said I was a photographer!!!

Hope you enjoy!!!

=) Rachel