Thursday, June 28, 2012

Randomness...

Here are some random pics from the past few weeks...

Will and Laynie hanging out at the park.
Napping after the park.
Playing on the play mat.
Hanging out at the Spansel's while Mommy was at work.

Not the picture of Kitty and Will I was trying to capture, but this is what I got.
Out shopping.
Trying on some shades at the store...not too cute.
Sportin' the new shades...way too cute!

The future Mr. and Mrs. Norwood.
Napping with his Lily dog.
Auntie Brooke came to keep us company while Daddy was in California.
Enjoying drinks together while Daddy was in California.


Sunday, June 17, 2012

Father's Day

Happy 1st Father's Day!  

Saturday, June 16, 2012

5 Weeks Old...(and 2 days)

Little Man - you're now five weeks old.  Not much has changed since I posted when you turned a month old.  We estimated your weight to be 9lbs. on Monday, so I can only assume you are between 9 and 10 now.  You are still wearing newborn and 0-3 month clothes.  We have you in size 1 diapers now.  They are slightly big, but do the job.  You love being held and looking around the room.  Every morning we snuggle in bed together and I LOVE it.  Mommy left you for the first time on Wednesday to go to a training for work.  I spent all day Tuesday holding you and crying.  I refused to put you down and even cancelled plans with friends that wanted to visit you because I didn't want to share you with anyone. I didn't get to post on Thursday or take pictures because you were not feeling well at all. You perked up in the evening and were back to your normal self thank goodness. I'll end this post with a pic of you now sound asleep (of course on me) while I write this post.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

One Month Old...


William Aston...You are ONE MONTH OLD!  Where has time gone?  You're growing up too fast for Mommy.  You are still wearing newborn clothes and newborn diapers.  Mommy did have to put away two of your newborn sleepers this weekend though and get out the 3 month size.  The newborn size was just a tad bit too short.  You're about to run out of newborn diapers, so instead of buying more we are going to attempt to use size 1 diapers.  We took you to the doctor on Monday the 4th and you weighed 8lbs 5oz and were 20in long.  You are a growing boy!  You're still eating 3oz every 3 hours.  I think you'll be moving up to 4oz very soon.

You have become VERY fussy over the past week.  I think your tummy really bothers you.  We had been putting Little Tummies in your bottles, but I don't think it was helping.  So after two nights of only getting about 1 hour of sleep and a really rough weekend with Daddy out of town, Mommy decided we needed to try something else.  I got you Gripe Water and that seems to be working wonders!  You sleep so much better and are easy to put down in the middle of the night after feedings.  You even slept 6 straight hours on Friday night!  Mommy was in heaven!

Friday night we went out to dinner for the first time as a family of three (I forgot to take a picture).  You slept the entire time.  We went to Rio Grande.  Daddy and Mommy started going there on Friday nights before you arrived.  Another first for you this week was apple juice.  Since you have trouble going potty and just strain the doctor suggested giving you 2oz of apple juice.  It definitely did the trick.

You are staying awake for longer chunks of time during the day.  Usually you'll stay up for about an hour to an hour and thirty minutes after a bottle.  You focus on various objects for extended periods of time.  Mommy and Daddy bought you the playmat Mommy originally Wanted to buy you, but went with something different instead.  You weren't liking the piano playmat and Mommy wasn't thrilled with it either (maybe when you're a little older we'll like it).  You LOVE your new mat.  You stare at yourself in the mirror for a long time and then stare at the animal toys.  I can't wait until you start grabbing and hitting them.  If I put you in your bouncer you stare at the blue bird the entire time.

May 10, 2012
Happy Birthday!


June 10, 2012
ONE month old

Here is a look back at you over the past four weeks...



Saturday, June 9, 2012

Newborn Pics

We finally got to preview our newborn pictures!  I absolutely love them.  I was worried that there would be no good ones because little man seemed to be having a rough afternoon during the session.  We had them done when he was 10 days old.  Here are the sneak peaks from our photographers blog.










Friday, June 1, 2012

May 10, 2012


On Thursday, May 10 at 12:24 pm, Colin and I welcomed our first baby into the world.  William Aston came into this world weighing 6lbs 13oz and measured 18.75in long.  He was absolutely perfect.  This day was absolutely amazing and I want to remember as much of it as I can so here is my lengthy replay of events of our son's birthday.

Everything started on Wednesday, May 9.  I chose to be induced because I couldn't wait any longer to meet my baby boy.  The doctor hesitantly agreed to do it, although she preferred that I wait it out up to two more weeks.  She didn't think my induction would go as smoothly as it did.  I'm very happy that I proved her wrong!  Colin and I arrived at the hospital at 8:10pm to check in to start Cytotec to thin my cervix.  When we arrived we were asked to wait in the waiting area for someone to come out and talk to us. I was confused and was getting angry because I thought they were going to come out and tell us they were full and didn't have room for me.  At 8:45 my nurse finally came out and took us to the L&D room.  I was relieved that I wasn't being turned away.  Everything moved quickly as soon as we were in the room.  I was quickly changed into the fabulous hospital gown and hooked up to the monitors.  Before I knew it my IV (which was excruciatingly painful).  I signed all the papers necessary and then the Cytotec was put in at 9:40.  Before giving me the  Cytotec Wednesday night I was only 1.5cm dilated and not thinning.  The day before at the doctor I was only 1cm dilated and not thinned at all.  Contractions started quickly after the Cytotec was in place.  They weren't too painful, but they weren't comfortable.  At 1:30am Thursday morning they attempted to give me another dose of Cytotec, but I began bleeding (which had occured twice before in my pregnancy, so I shouldn't have been surprised).  The nurse's reaction scared the crap out of me and I began shaking uncontrollably and crying thinking that I was going to have to be rushed to have a c-section.  The nurse called in other nurses to come and help her check and monitor the bleeding and they thought my water might have broken on it's own.  (It didn't.)  They notified my doctor of my situation and it was decided I wouldn't get anymore Cytotec, but they would just monitor me and start Pitocin at 4am.  They check me again at 2:30 and I hadn't made any progress, but the nurse chose to tell me she could feel the baby's forehead and that it was wrinkled like a bulldog.  At 3am the nurse shows back up with the anesthesiologist ready to give me my epidural.  They thought it would be best for me to get it to help me relax.  Getting the epidural was the one thing that I was scared of the most when it came to labor.  Getting the epidural was basically painless compared to getting the IV.  At 4am Pitocin was started and I was 2cm dilated and still bleeding.  The upped my Pitocin at 5am.  At 6am they checked me and I was only 2.5cm dilated and still bleeding.  At 8am my doctor arrived to check me and break my water.  When she checked me I was 3cm.  At 8:15 I was able to feel contractions again with the epidural.  The nurse checked me at 9:00 and I was 4cm dilated and 100% thinned.  The nurse told me to prepare for a long day of labor.  I complained about feeling contractions in my belly and lower areas and was told to press the magic white button every 5 minutes, but after 30 minutes I was feeling no relief.  The nurse called the anesthesiologist back to give me another dose of medication.  That helped with the contractions in my belly, but didn't take the pain away down below.  Around 10:45 they called the anesthesiologist back again, but he insisted that I be checked before giving me another dosage.  To the nurses surprise I was 9cm dilated.  She said get ready and sent the anesthesiologist away.  Around 11 everyone came in to prepare for the pushing.  It was a party in my room.  Everyone (except the baby nurse) had a student shadowing them!  With Colin on my right and Tracey on my left at about 11:25 I began pushing.  Labor and delivery was nothing like I expected/thought it would be.  It was easy.  It was painless.  It was fast.  Between pushes we would all just talk as if nothing was going on.  I remember all of us (including the staff) talking about push presents and clarifying that Colin couldn't combine push and Mother's Day presents into one unless the gift was really good.  I told the people a million times to cover the mirror in the room, Colin finally solved the problem with medical tape and a pillow case since no one else would.  Tracey was continuously feeding me ice in between pushes until I sadly ran out and I remember the nurse having to call for my doctor 3 times to tell her it was time.  My doctor finally arrived and we continued to push, but little man just wasn't getting through.  The doctor gave me the option to keep going as is or to speed things up by cutting me herself.  I elected to be cut - 100% painless.  At 12:24pm, William Aston was born.  I remember them telling me his head was out and then I felt the pressure of the doctor twisting and pulling him the rest of the way and him fully emerge.  AMAZING.  He was immediately layed down on top of me and I just cried and stared.  I couldn't believe he was really here and I couldn't believe how incredibly easy it was.  The rest of the time in the room is almost a complete blur.  I remember them measuring him and telling me the numbers and I remember seeing Colin hold him for the first time.  I remember just lying there while the doctor did her thing to finish me up.  Sadly, I don't remember holding my baby for the first time.  The last thing I remember is Colin holding him.  Everything from that point on in the L/D room I can't remember.  Once moved to post-pardum, the visitors came flooding in to meet our little man.

Colin did his first diaper change on Thursday night while Brad, Tracey, and Laynie were visiting and eating dinner with us that they had brought (THANK YOU!!!).  It was hilarious to watch Colin attempt the diaper change.  Tracey caught part of it on video, but sadly not the whole 30 minute ordeal.  Thursday night we kept Will in our room instead of sending him to the nursery like everyone had told us to.  He was just so quiet and so good, I couldn't send him away.  He slept through the night and only woke up when I woke him for a bottle.  Friday was a relaxing day with just us three.  It was nice to spend time together just the three of us.  I remember him getting his hearing test done and thinking for most of the time that my baby was deaf.  The nurse tried to tell me it was normal, but I kept asking questions and at one point she said she couldn't answer one of my questions.  I nearly flipped out.  He wasn't passing the test and she wouldn't answer my question.  Luckily, he finally passed.  Visitors started rolling in at 4 that afternoon and remained until 8:30 that night.  Friday night was hard.  Will became very fussy and was spitting up ALOT!  We also learned he has jaundice late that night and so the pediatrician changed his formula to help with the spitting up and because Will needed to keep more down to help get rid of his jaundice.  THE NEW FORMULA WAS AWFUL!!!!!!!  My poor baby was spitting up even more and at times is was very scary.  At 3am Saturday morning the nurse took Will to the nursery to do more test and in hopes that I would get some sleep.  I cried.  I slept for about 3 hours and then called the nurse to bring him back.  Saturday morning discharge papers were started for baby and me and we were free to leave around 1:00pm.  I was scared to go home because the night and the morning had been so hard with his spitting up.  Before we left we had discussed with our baby nurse about how we weren't liking the new formula and we decided that we would make the choice to try something different on our own.  BEST CHOICE EVER!  (We immediately gave Will a third type of formula when we got home (Similac Sensitive) and saw huge improvements by the second bottle.)  We made it safely home with our baby boy and my life is now forever changed.  I'm beyond blessed with an amazing husband and a beautiful, sweet, baby boy.


















Time is going too fast...

I had every intention to post when my baby turned one week old, then two weeks old, and now here we are at three weeks old.  Finding the time to blog is extremely difficult.  Between snuggling, housework, errands, doctor appointments, and taking care of my baby, there seems to be no time.  I started this post two weeks ago and it will probably take me a few more days to complete it.  Here we go...


William Aston,

At your first doctor's appointment you weighed 6lb 10oz.  You gained one ounce back since leaving the hospital.  You eat about every 3-4 hours, but would go longer if we didn't have to wake you to eat (doctor's orders).  You currently get 20 minutes of tanning time one to two times a day to help with your jaundice.  You loved to be swaddled for the first couple of nights at home and now prefers not to be.  You wear newborn diapers and newborn clothes.  You love tummy time (most of the time) and especially enjoy sleeping curled up on Mommy's chest.  I spend all day snuggling and loving on you.

At your 2 week appointment, you weighed 7lb 3oz.  You're jaundice was gone!  YAY!  You're still eating every 3-4 hours, wear newborn diapers and clothes.  We have started feeding you 3oz each feeding.  You had newborn photos when you were 10 days old and lost your umbilical cord during the photos.  You were not enjoying having your pictures taken and kindly went potty all over the photographer and all of her things.  You still enjoy snuggling on Mommy's chest.

Your first big outing was on May 19th.  We had to quickly go sign papers for Daddy's new car and didn't have time to drop you off at Nonni's before.  That same day you also got to go to Target!  =)  You'll be making lots of trips there.

Your 2 week appointment was on Monday, May 21st and we had to go back that Friday because you had a gunky eye.  They said it is probably just a blocked tear duct.  After the doctor we hit up a few stores and did some shopping for you.  You're definitely one spoiled little boy!

You're now 3 weeks old today.  Sadly you have been one unhappy little boy today.  You constantly want to be laying on your tummy on Mommy and most of the day you have required that I be laying down too.  Over the past week you have started stirring around 5 or 6 in the morning and won't stop until Mommy puts you in bed with her.  As soon as you lay on my chest you fall fast asleep.  I love that you just want to snuggle, but I would prefer you change the time.  Mommy wants more sleep.  =)  You are still wearing newborn clothes and diapers.  Your feeding schedule and amount is still the same.  Over Memorial Day weekend you did sleep for 7 hours straight two nights in a row.  That didn't last though.

Here are a few pics out of hundreds from the last three weeks.

Snuggling on Mommy.  
Sleeping in your bed wearing the first thing Daddy and I bought you after finding out you were a BOY!

                                                    
Enjoying your tanning time for your jaundice.  
A pic of you at ONE WEEK!   Time is going by too fast!

A pic of you at two weeks old.  
Your first trip to Target!

You and Daddy saying bye to Daddy's G35 coupe before we went inside to sign papers for Daddy's G37 sedan.  That was a sad day for Daddy.

You at three weeks!  This was the best pic I could get with you not crying!  
This is how we spent pretty much the entire day you turned 3 weeks old.  It was the only thing that made you happy...or a bottle.