Nolan and Great Grandma Baines

This week Nolan and I are spending time in Goshen hanging out with friends and family. One of the family members that we are happy to see is Nolan's great grandma from England. Grandma Baines had originally said that her last trip to the States was going to have been at the time of our wedding, however after hearing that she was going to be a great grandma for the first time she decided that she needed to make another trip. She arrived last week along with my cousin Helen. It is truly a special time...4 generations all in the same house. We have some pictures of me as a baby with my mom, grandma, and my great grandma. I look forward to taking this picture with my son, my mom, and great grandma.

Here are a few pictures that we took today of Nolan and his great grandma!

A few new pics

These are a few recent pics of our little man that I absolutely LOVE.

He continues to grow and to amaze us more each day. He is now up to 9lbs 4 ounces (as of Friday) and is definitely starting to engage with people more. Kevin and I have even gotten a few smiles out of him while he was looking straight into our eyes..melts a momma's heart!!

He continues to eat well (cluster feeding in the early evening and some in the morning) and is still sleeping 2-4 hours at a time during the night (which means we are actually getting some sleep too!! :)). He is also still spitting up quite a bit but since he is gaining weight I guess it is something we will just deal with.

I will post again at some point this week with updates on our time here in Goshen. So far we have enjoyed spending time with family including aunts, uncles, grandmas, great grandma, great grandpa, and meeting lots of church family at Waterford and the Relief Sale.

SLEEP!!!

A quick update...Nolan has been sleeping on his own at night this week! the first night he slept on his own was Saturday night. We have this snuggle nest thing (looks like a cute, padded box thing) that is meant for safe co-sleeping that he has been sleeping in. We bought it because we thought maybe he had too much space in the pack and play and if he was in a smaller space it might help..and it seems to be. We hadn't planned on having him in our bed with us, and don't plan on keeping him there for long, but right now it has been working well. I didn't like the idea at first because we preach that babies should have their own sleeping place at work but I feel ok about it with him being in the snuggle nest. It also makes it easy for me to get up in the middle of the night for feedings. Sunday was a rough night but the rest of this week Nolan has slept anywhere from 2-3 hours at a time during the night. It has made such a difference!! Hope it continues!!



On the eating...he still loves to eat. This is probably the area that causes us the most frustration at this point. In the morning and then again early evening he just can't seem to get enough and wants to eat almost every hour and can eat for 30 minutes + at a time. This can get tiring and we are working on trying to figure out other soothing techniques to keep him satisfied between feedings. It's like he just can't get enough, although I think at times it's just more of a comfort thing than a being hungry thing. I also started pumping a little this week and hope to introduce the bottle to him this weekend so Kevin can help with night feedings and to get him ready for when I go back to work. This is another thing I have to figure out...difficult to figure out when to pump when the little guy is eating all the time! :)



He is definitely becoming more alert, spending more time awake during then day. We bought a bouncy/vibrating chair this past weekend which he LOVES!!! I can put him in there and he will just look around, moving his arms and legs, making faces, and some interesting noises. He is soooo CUTE!!!! I could watch him doing this for hours. We have also found that when he is fussy at times this chair also works in calming him down.



I will post more pictures soon. We are headed up to Goshen for the weekend for the relief sale (and to see family). Then Nolan and I are going to stay at my mom's for the week. My grandma (now great grandma baines) has come to visit along with my cousin Helen. We are so excited that they were able to make the trip and look forward to spending the week with them. It will definitely be a very special week. Hope Nolan travels well!!! :)

Irish Fest

Saturday afternoon we met up with several friends (Dori, Tom, and Laura Beth) and went to the Irish Fest downtown. We had never been and thought that it would be fun and a good opportunity to get Nolan out and about. We have gone on several little outings and figured that the only way that we were going to get used to getting all ready and managing being out in public (with diaper changes and breastfeeding) was to get out and do it!!! We had a blast and Nolan did sooo well!!! We ate some good food, listened to some music, watched some dancing, and enjoyed walking around doing a little shopping. Nolan was perfectly happy riding around in his stroller for the majority of the time. We had a few feedings using the hooter hider (thanks Lori) and a diaper change. He definitely wasn't afraid to let us know when he was ready to go home which was fine because I think we were all ready to head home as well. All in all it was a very successful day and I look forward to more family outings!

In other updates Nolan slept on his own last night in 2-2 1/2 hour chunks of time!!!! It was wonderful!!! Kevin and I were both able to sleep and only had to get up to feed and change diapers. We hope that this will continue.......

Here are some pictures from Irish Fest....

Huge Irish dog (don't remember the actual name...but they were HUGE)

Nolan and Laura Beth

My Little Man

Nolan is becoming more alert every day. This picture was taken the other day when he was practicing his many faces. I told Kevin to grab the camera and start snapping pictures and this is my favorite that we were able to capture. I LOVE it!!

A little update...we are growing!! Today Nolan and I went to our first breastfeeding support group at the hospital. It was awesome. We met lots of great moms and babies and received some good advice. It was great to meet other moms and to hear their frustrations and tips on what has worked for them. It is so easy to feel alone in the middle of the night and I can't seem to keep Nolan satisfied so it was nice to hear that other moms are experiencing the same struggles and feelings I am. There was one mom with her 1 1/2 week old twin boys as well as moms with babies the same age as Nolan all the way up to 13 week old babies. Besides getting to share our new mommy stories and feed our babies we also had the opportunity to weigh our babies before and after feeding. Nolan weighed in at 8lbs .08 ounces before feeding and 8lbs 12 ounces after feeding (and a very full diaper!! :)). So despite all of the spitting up he is gaining weight. I can't wait to go back next week!

Two Weeks!

Nolan is two weeks old today!!! Hard to believe it has been two weeks already. It sure has gone by fast and is kind of a blur (probably lack of sleep making things a bit hazy! :)) There are no major updates since the last post. Nolan continues to enjoy eating and sleeping pretty much only when being held. He also has this lovely ritual of spitting up after most feedings, which in turn makes him want to eat...AGAIN! I have talked to the lactation consultant who suggested a few things which we have tried but don't seem to have solved the problem completely...I guess it's pretty normal? I plan on attending the breastfeeding support group this week and also want to start pumping so we can start storing up for later and so Kevin can help with feedings during the night.

Kevin goes back to work on Friday, which could make things a little interesting around here with another adjustment to make...but I'm sure we will find our way. We continue to appreciate all the love and support that we have received from family and friends...keep it coming!!

Moms out there...any suggestions on how to get the little guy to sleep on his own or will he one day just decide it's ok?

Wonderfully Overwhelming

We have now been home for just over a week with our little peanut (what you can often hear kevin calling Nolan). It has definitely been a week of crazy emotions and adjustments. For the most part we have stayed at home cycling between feedings, sleeping, and diaper changes. It has been absolutely wonderful to have family around at different times to help out around the house and hold Nolan so Kevin and I can get some sleep. The last few days have been spent with just the three of us, which has been nice but also a bit more challenging as far as getting sleep goes. When we first got home Nolan would not sleep unless being held. He would be out cold in our arms but 10-15 minutes after being put down in his crib he would be wide awake wanting to eat and be held. I love cuddling with the little guy but this made getting sleep VERY difficult. We bought a snuggle nest thing to lay him in that can be used in our bed and also in his crib which seemed to help for a few nights. He actually slept for 2-3 hours at a time on his own....but last night was a different story. Little guy again did not want to be put down. I hear this is pretty common and we will continue to work on this until he gets to the point where he gets used to sleeping in his own space. For now I guess he just can't get enough of us! :)

We have also found that Nolan is quite the eater. It often feels like I'm constantly switching him from one side to the other with only short breaks in between. The little guy can't seem to get enough or if he does he is soon spitting some (or on occasion a lot of it up). We have tried several things suggested by the lactation consultant to reduce the spitting up but I'm convinced he takes after his dad and just gets super excited and just doesn't know when to stop. :) haha We know that he is keeping enough of it down to be nourished because at his doctor's appointment yesterday he was back up to 7lbs 11 ounces (he was 7lbs 14 ounces at birth and 7lbs 6 ounces when we left the hospital). I plan on going to the breastfeeding support group at the hospital on Friday. Even though he seems to have the whole eating thing down (still struggles a bit on the left side) I think it will be nice to be around other breastfeeding mom's.

So all in all things are going well. It definitely isn't always easy and I have cried many tears (joy, pain, and exhaustion) but at the end of the day I still feel blessed to have Nolan in our lives and look forward to each new day.

Here are a few pictures from the last few days...we have taken Nolan on his first walk around our neighborhood and yesterday after his doctor's appointment we went on our first family outing into broadripple for lunch and a walk on the monon....

The Many Faces of Nolan

The Last 6 Days

I sit now in our living room with Nolan laying across my lap. His tiny hands pulled up around his face. I find myself staring at him in amazement. It's hard to believe that a week ago we made the decision with our doctor to be induced and were admitted into the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at 4:30 pm last Tuesday and by 5:45ish I was in my fashionable hospital gown, hooked up to an IV of fluids and pitosin, and watching FRIENDS episodes with Kevin as we anxiously waited for labor to begin. The nurse came in every fifteen minutes to increase the pitosin and before long I was having consistent contractions that became a bit uncomfortable but not unbearable. Around 9:30pm Kevin's mom arrived at the hospital soon followed by my brothers, Jon and Jeff, my mom and sister, Julia. The rest of the night becomes somewhat of a blur as the decision was made to break my water and labor progressed rapidly after that point with Nolan being born less than an hour later. Labor was like an out of body experience for me and still feels very surreal...all done without medication!! The nurse (and other staff) couldn't believe how fast I dilated and how quickly he came since I was a first time mom. Things happened so quickly in fact that my doctor didn't get there in time for the birth, arriving a few minutes after, but there were several amazing residents who did the actual delivery.

We were in the hospital until Friday late morning/early afternoon. While we were greatly taken care of at the hospital we were all ready to be home in our own space. Kevin and I were ready to have Nolan home where we could really begin to adjust to having him in our lives. It was wonderful having my mom around for the first few days after coming home from the hospital. We have also enjoyed the company of aunts, uncles, other grandparents, and friends. Making the adjustment to having Nolan with us is ongoing and while overwhelming at times he is a great joy and has already brought so much happiness into our home.

In addition, we have already begun to notice little changes in him since he was born. It's amazing!!! his hair has lightened up and he is becoming more and more alert. I love holding him and watching his many facial expressions. One of my favorites that I noticed right away after he was born is that he has Kevin's pouty face....it just melts my heart. At this point Nolan has his days and nights a bit mixed up and does not seem to like to sleep unless being held. This makes getting any sleep at night between feedings and changes a challenge but we are working on it. He is a very good feeder...wanting to eat ALL the time. This can also be overwhelming but I also really enjoy this time with him. We also discovered yesterday that he loves having a bath, especially having his hair washed.

It's hard to believe that tomorrow he will be a week old....and even harder to believe that this wonderful baby boy had been inside me for the last 9 months. Nolan truly is a blessing and has already brought so much joy and happiness into our lives. Thank you God for this wonderful gift of being Nolan's mom.

Introducing......

Introducing Nolan Keith Myers!!! Nolan arrived on September 2, 2009 at 12:10 am. He weighed in at 7lbs 14 ounces (one more ounce than his momma weighed when she was born) and is 21 1/2 inches long. I don't have much time right now because he is letting us know that it is AGAIN time to eat, so more on his arrival and his first days will have to come at a later time. For now here are a few pictures.