Alimentum = No Good!

Ok. So. This new formula BITES! Mac apparently doesn't like it because he is NOT wanting to eat it. He'll drink maybe an ounce of it... then doesn't want anything to do with the bottle. I'll even try to put it back in his mouth and he either spits it out or purses his lips so tight, I can't get it in there in the first place. And then he cries. No. Screams! That kid certainly has a remarkable set of lungs! I really think he's just hungry. And I think he's not liking the taste of this... what do you call it?... crap? So Brent decides that he's willing to taste it. He takes a sip... then shudders! HAAA! He's all, "Quick! Grab some Pepsi for me!" Not even that did the trick. He had to go brush his teeth... then gargle. Oh my! That was THE grossest stuff, EVER!! He said, "No wonder Mac won't drink it!" Then made the decision to put him back on his regular stuff tonight. Well. We tried this Alimentum for 24 hours. Hopefully that was a good enough go of it. We don't want to make Mac suffer! Plus, we wanted some sleep! As soon as we gave him a couple ounces of his regular stuff - which he gobbled up, by the way - he was out like a light! Ahh. Peace and quiet once again. We'll have to give the Dr a call on Monday to let him know what's up. I don't want Mac to starve. So we'll finish out the weekend with his regular stuff. Po' little dude.

4 Weeks Old

Good grief. I feel like I just blink these days and another week goes by! At least I have pictures this time. Nothing in particular. Just a few candid shots on this day. Happy 4 week birthday, Mac!




We also had to go see the Dr today. Mac had a poopy diaper that looked a little mucousy and slightly blood tinged. Dr Roy said that the regular formula might be kinda hard on his little system. He said that some kiddos don't tolerate or break down the proteins in the milk-based formula too well. He gave us some samples of this other formula to try for a week - Alimentum from Similac. Ok. We'll give it a whirl. Then we're to call next Friday to let him know how the formula is working. We finished off the rest of the regular stuff, since we already had it made. Then started the Alimentum this evening. So far, so good. Although, he doesn't seem to be wanting/ eating as much of this stuff as he did the regular stuff. I guess we'll keep an eye on that.

Still Exhausted

It's totally true, what they say: It really is helpful to sleep when the baby sleeps! Otherwise, exhaustion sets in and things can get overwhelming at times. For me, I slept wherever and whenever I could. If I was holding Mac and he fell asleep, I'd just go ahead and sleep until he woke up. Today was one of those days! Brent caught me snoozin' in a position that looks a little less than comfortable. But at least we were both able to grab some shut-eye. ;)

3 Weeks Old

Our sweet little baby boy is getting so big already! It's fun to watch him change and grow. I'm bummed I didn't get an pictures today - so no photo documentation. I guess yesterday's photos will have to do. Here's just a quick note to say: Happy 3 week birthday, little prince! Mommy and Daddy love you so much! :)

Baby Shower #2

Wow! Two baby showers in a row! The one this evening was given by the church ladies. Also a fun time. And lots of great visiting, fun games, good food, and cute gifts to open. I think they all wanted a chance at holding MacGregor, too! We didn't get too many pictures from this shower but I can post a couple of what I have. Thanks to Laura for allowing us to meet in her beautiful home! And thanks to Christy for putting it all together and coming up with some fun name games for us! Loved those. All the Fairview Naz ladies are a blessing to us! We are grateful!

This is the one and only shower that Brent attended. He said that if he never attended another one in his life it would be too soon. But he was a good sport! He made us all laugh several times and took these pictures for me.

Baby Shower #1

Today the gals at work threw a baby shower for me. What fun! They had a potluck lunch and I got to open LOTS of gifts! Way above and beyond what I even expected! There was even a cake for Mac! Well. He didn't get any... but it had his name on it. :) As always, Steph brought her camera so there were lots of really weird and some unflattering pictures taken of me. Ugh. Perhaps I'll post a couple. Or not. ;) Anyway, it was a fun day. A good chance to get out of the house. And now that Brent's back to work, I enjoy times of interaction with others a lot more now. Who woulda thunk? Unassuming, introverted me. Craving conversation with others.

Plasti- What?

Not much going on today. Just thought I'd share the news that Mac's Plasti-Bell fell off this morning. Now he can finally have a real bath! His umbilical stump didn't fall off until right before his circumcision so we've been doing the spongie baths up to this point. Ooo. There's another story in itself: Mac does NOT like baths! According to him, they're no good. But then again, he doesn't like to be naked or cold. Ever. I haven't even attempted to get a picture in the tub because I just wanna get it over with! He just screams and his face gets so red! Anyway. At some point I'll get a bathtime picture to share. At this point, it's not fun.

Pictures With Jen

So. My friend, Jen, came over today to get some pictures of our new little person while he's still in that snuggly, scrunchy newborn stage. She brought over some props, told us to crank the heat up to about 90* and make sure Mac has a full tummy, and she went to work! She took lots of pictures, then narrowed it down to several of the better ones. You can find those at this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14749&id=1126050313&l=c0bf9ee8a9

Here's my fave:

She really is quite talented. She's just starting out though, so she thought it would be fun to practice with Mac. Fun day! Cool shots!

2 Weeks Old...

+ 2 Dr visits makes 4 a busy day! :)

Happy 2 week Birthday, Mac! Our gift to you? A visit to the Dr! This one wasn't too bad though. Just a re-check from the previous hideous visit. Made sure that everything's still lookin' a-okay! It was. Then went to my Dr for a 2-week postpartum check. Mostly just made sure that my BP was back to normal. And it was. Back to 120/80 again. I'll take it! All else for me is lookin' great - movin' like it should. Yay! And I'll see my Dr again in a month. Oh yeah, I almost forgot the best news! I'm 9 lbs below my pre-preggo weight! WOO! Lovin' it!

Another notable thing: Today was the first day that Mac got me! Oh, he's peed outside the diaper before... I've just been able to grab something quick with which to cover "the faucet" and soak it all up! ;) But today, no such luck. He got me right on my arm as I was reaching across him to grab the new diaper. Completely startled the lovin' hoo-haw outta me! Funny little dude. But I'm sure that won't be the last time!

More Pics

Not much to write about at this point... just more of the sleepin', eatin', poopin' and cryin' goin' on. So I'll just post more pictures today. Such a sweet boy!I think Henry figured if he was gonna get any attention, he'd just have to jump on my lap. Po' neglected kitty! He prob'ly thinks Mac is an attention hog... taking his place up by mom's face! The nerve! How dare I bring this noisy little person in here to ruin his purr-fect kitty life! This is actually the first time Henry has even attempted or bothered to sit near Mac. Baby (kitty?) steps, I guess. ;D

Today's The Big "C"

Circumcision. Oh my. What a day! I was nervous about it to begin with. I mean, I work at the clinic so I knew he'd be in very capable hands... but, as the mom, I was still nervous. Then, on the way to the appt, I made the mistake of telling Brent how it's done. Great. Now he's nervous. Once we got there, we sat in the parking lot and prayed about it. Ok. It'll be ok. It's in God's hands. When it came time to remove Mac's clothing, he starts screaming! Not helpful. I know he hates to be naked but I'm almost in tears. Brent looks like he might be sick. Then he says, "I need to go for a walk." Ok. Thank goodness my friend, Steph, came to talk to me. Talking helped to take my mind off Mac's procedure and made the time not seem so slow. FINALLY! Mac is back in my arms. And I can clothe him and feed him and comfort him. Whew. That's over with. We made it through. All's well with the world again. Mac slept for a long time afterward. We were told he might do that. We have a re-check scheduled for this Friday - just to make sure everything is looking good and going ok. And we can call if we need anything before then. Yay! We made it through this day!

Cute Baby

Just thought y'all might like to see a couple pictures of a really cute baby...



As you can see, he likes to sleep. We think he does his best growin' when he sleeps. So we let him. :)

One Week Old!

Dear Mac,

We've only been able to hold you and love on you for one week now - but we've had you in our lives and have been loving you for the past 9 months! Looking back, 9 months wasn't a lot of time to prepare ourselves for the blessing of you. We wanted to learn everything we could to be the perfect parents for you. I suppose only the seasoned parents know: it takes experience! And even then, parents with the best of intentions have their faults. But we were so excited to meet you! We hoped the day would get here as fast as it could. And when it finally arrived, we were apprehensive, to say the least. We wondered, now more than ever, what the future would hold. Then, all of a sudden, we were holding you! And that felt so good. So right. There's a peace about it. This first week has been fabulous. We're thrilled to be on this adventure with you: to watch you grow and become the person God has designed you to be. You are certainly a gift from God! Our sweet little baby boy. Our miracle.

We love you so much!

Mommy and Daddy

Visitors!

Today we got a visit from Brent's Aunt Shirlee and Uncle Burton! It was sure nice to see them. They brought a bag full of goodies with them to give to Mac. A nice hooded bath towel, bath wash and lotions and other miscellaneous items. We visited a little while Shirlee held Mac and then they snapped a few pictures to share with family. I should stop right here and apologize to everyone (especially the in-laws) for my lameness in not getting pictures posted sooner. My bad. Hopefully my attempts to get caught up and stay caught up at this point will make up for any time lost. As long as I keep the pictures comin', right? No harm done? ;) Well, we did snap a couple of our own photos of their visit...

Another thing we did today (I'm not sure why) - we set him in the car seat for a picture because he just looked so darn small in there. I guess we figured we'd be getting more pics of him in his car seat and perhaps we wanted to be able to compare with future photos. Right now, he's light as a feather. I'm sure he'll be growin' out of that thing in no time at all!

First Day Out

Today was the day of Mac's first Dr appt. This whole gettin'-ready-to-go-out thing had better get easier! I suppose it gets better as I begin to understand what I need to do now to get TWO people ready and out the door. I feel for all you moms who have 2+ kids to put together! All that said, I'm pretty sure we were late to the Dr's office. But the appt went well. He only lost 3oz from his birth weight and Dr Roy said that was normal. He has good skin coloring - no jaundice. Yay! Our 101 questions were answered. :) And we were on our way... to the comic book stores. Brent wanted to make sure that our 5-day-old baby's first outing was made complete by taking him to "meet" Spiderman. Ok, not really Spidey... but the guys who sell the books. And that was our day. Oh yeah... Except for the HUGE laugh we (i.e. I) had when Brent went wild with the diaper rash cream on poor little Mac's privates this evening. Hilarious! It was all over the place! And, yes. I got a picture of it... I'll only post it here though if I can figure out how to censor his "babyhood". ;D Anyway. That stuff was everywhere! From his belly to his butt. Some even got on his legs and toes! Ha! And Brent had it all over his hands and arms - OMW! Too funny! Good times.

Exhausted!

Well. It's only day #2 at home and we're all exhausted over here! Baby's doin' great though! He doesn't care... he just sleeps whenever he wants to. :) Here's the proof:

As you can see, I haven't even taken down Christmas stuff yet! Oh well. At least Brent will be home with me for the next couple of weeks! Yay! Funds will be tight but life is good. Even in exhaustion, life is good. :)

First Day Home

First of all, I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that the drive home from the hospital last night was taken with extreme caution! The construction speed on the freeway now is 55 and, despite the fact that most others were driving 65 and flying right by us, daddy set the cruise for 55mph!! We even have a picture to prove it! :)

Ok, so maybe it was 56... but still!! Normally, we'd be flowin' with traffic at 65! ;) And, of course, mommy's sittin' in the back seat - just to make sure everything goes ok. I don't know what I thought would happen... Mac slept the whole way home! :DSo, the first day we were actually home wasn't too eventful. It was filled with feedings, diaper changes, naps! And not just for MacGregor! Ok. Maybe the didee changes were just him. :D Brent, of course, needed to play a computer game or ten. And then he got this "fabulous" idea to put Mac in the shot. So here's "Mac's First Game."As you can see... Mac's totally into it! ;D

It's nice to be home. Now? Time to get used to the schedule and... each other. Fun times ahead.

Going Home Day

The 1st 'Going Home' is sad. My mom had to go back home to Oregon City today. She left fairly early in the day so we were actually still in the hospital when she had to say goodbye. I'm pretty sure we were still there when her plane touched down in Portland even. I really wish she could've stayed longer but, alas, the duties of her daily life call. Love ya mom! I'm so glad you were able to be here for this exciting event!

The 2nd 'Going Home' is happy! We get to go relax in the comfort of our own home this evening! I'll have to admit, I was a little sad that I couldn't take my nurse with me so that she could continue to help out! I think we were spoiled in the hospital! Anyway, the 8E nurses at St Lukes RMC in Boise are great - friendly and caring. Made the stay nice. Thanks everyone! :)

Something funny about the picture with the bags: When we were doing our "tour" of the hospital a while back, there was a lady leaving who also had a cart of about 5 or 6 bags (perhaps I wrote about that in a previous post)... and when we saw her, we looked at each other and kind of chuckled about it. I think I may have even said that I doubted I'd have that many bags to take home! Well. Guess what? Here I am with my cart full o' bags! At least I can laugh at myself now.

Another funny thing: I had no idea about what kind of 'going home' outfit to bring for Mac! I think this one that he's wearing is something like a 3-month-sized jammies outfit that's about twice as long as he is! Those little jammie legs were just dangling because he was all curled up inside of it! Cute. :)

Hospital Stay (Day 2) + Visitors

I cried today. I think everything just hit me all at once: the exhaustion, the fact that I'm a mom now and responsible for a little life, the realization of what a miracle and blessing from God my son is. Also the disappointment over certain baby feeding issues. But it's a good day. I'm finally a mom! :)


Something hilarious: I ordered a Belgian waffle with strawberries for breakfast because the menu made it sound like it was a meal fit for a king. I think it even said it was "a meal in itself" or something like that... like I'd be entirely stuffed if I ate this waffle. I even ordered some blueberries to go on top in addition to the strawberries. So. Imagine the disappointment when I took the lid off the tray to reveal: a teeny, tiny waffle about the size of an english muffin!!! HAA! The ramekins filled with berries were bigger than the waffle itself! I think I ate the entire waffle in about 3 bites! Here's the picture (of course, I just had to snap a photo!):

Brent and I were so cracking up about this! Thankfully, I had ordered another whole breakfast consisting of eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and gravy so I didn't go hungry by any means. And Brent just finished what I couldn't eat.

We also had some visitors today! That was fun! Our friends, Brian and Jen and their 2 kiddos, came bearing gifts. Jen held Mac for a while and we visited. By the time they were getting ready to leave, some other friends, Derek and Steph and their 3 kiddos, were just popping in to say 'hi' and hold Mac for a few moments.

After they headed out, Aunt Nadine stopped in to say 'hi' and she brought a cute blue teddy bear and some flowers. How fun! It was quite a busy day! That evening, mom came back to the room with Jodi and kids and they brought dinner from the Spaghetti Factory for Brent and me! YUM!! And, once again, we took some pictures. This time of cousins. Cute! :)




Mac looks so tiny next to them! But I guess they were all that small once. ;) Jess was so great to watch her siblings yesterday so that my sister could be with me during delivery... so, I told her she could be the first one to hold Mac. Sweet picture. :) Awesome day.

The REAL Labor Day!

So we get to the hospital at the utterly inconvenient hour of 5am to check in. (Talk about NO sleep the night before!) I get settled into my room, produce some more of my pee upon the nurses request, get attached to monitors, and proceed to prepare for my IV massacre!! Good grief!! Could they POKE me in any more places?? The 1st nurse didn't seem confident... but she tried once. Bless her heart. But to no avail. The 2nd nurse was overly confident - aggressive, even. Is that repetitive? She seemed to think she was the BEST at it and, by golly, she was gonna get it! She tried only twice and blew out my veins both times! Then had the nerve to tell me that I wasn't holding still!!! Now, mind you, for each stick of the IV needle, there's a preliminary stick to administer Lidocain to numb the area. Ordinarily, no prob. But when I can feel her shove that needle down my vein and out the other side, one word: OUCH!! And I'll be dinkered if I'm gonna sit still after that! Well, after 3 holes and 2 bruises the size of Texas, they finally brought in the real pro: nurse #3. So while pseudo-pro (nurse #2) was finishing up with trying to amputate my right arm, real pro was quickly and easily sliding the IV needle into my left arm - without Lidocain, I might add! Funny how I sat still for her. :\

Now, just when I'm ready to take a breath and relax a moment, it's 7:30am and time for the Dr to give me the induction med. Ok. That's done. But wait! Now some mild contractions! Owwwww!! Those don't seem mild. Apparently, I'm a wuss. What?? I'm only dilated at a ONE?? A couple hours go by and already I'm so exhausted. I'll take some of that loopy drug now please! And after that, I slept. Loopy? Eh. Oblivious to what's going on around me and any aspect of time? HOH YEAH! So, from this point on, I could possibly tell you what's being done to me... but I have no idea in what order and for how long, etc. I do know that I had to have a catheter placed. Looking back, I think that hurt worse than giving birth!! The Dr broke my water. That hurt too. At some point, I must've been dilated enough for an epidural. 'Cause I got one. It didn't hurt though - at least, not that I remember. I do remember the nurse coming in to check on me a lot. It seemed like I had only been sleeping for a couple minutes when she'd come and check on me again! Oh bother! I remember starting to feel some of the harder contractions and the nurse telling me I was doing a great job pushing. I even vomited a couple times at some point. When it felt like I really had to push, I remember it going from one nurse in my room to 3 or 4 nurses and 2 Drs. really fast. Then they told me not to push. Aaaaaack!! I HAVE TO!! I also remember Brent talking politics with everyone. Not sure at what time that was though. Umm... 'scuse me... havin' a BABY HERE!! ;) Then, finally, at 8:49pm, Mac was born. Whew. And what I thought was about an hour of pushing, Brent told me was over 2 hours! He also told me the reason they didn't want me pushing for a while was because the cord was wrapped around Mac's neck. Ok. I get it now. When they set Mac on top of me, I remember thinking that he looked so big! Then when they brought him back to me all swaddled and cozy, he looked so tiny! I think it was about 11pm when I was wheeled from my labor and delivery room up to my maternity room. Ahh. Comfort. Content. Clueless. :)