One Month Old

As of yesterday, Brayden was officially one month old...can you believe that?! I certainly can not! This month has been filled with lots of visitor's, lack of sleep, many life changes, but most importantly LOTS of love!! Dan and I continue to adjust and learn Brayden's needs and desires every day and are just loving each and every moment of parenthood. Well most of them, haha. Being a parent is absolutely the toughest job I have ever had, but also the most rewarding too! We are still amazed my our little man and can't believe how much love he has brought into our lives. What a blessing!

We are also amazed how quickly the days and weeks have just been flying by since Brayden was born. It is amazing how quickly he has been growing and changing as well. During this past month (mainly the past two weeks), Brayden's neck has gotten a lot stronger and he can now lift and turn it back and forth about 3 to 4 times when on his tummy before he gets frustrated. He is also able to hold his neck up on his own for the most part now, however we still give him some added support. One of our favorite developments is that Brayden is making more and more eye contact with us each day and is learning to hold onto things, such as our shirts and his bibs. It is so cute. We can't wait to see what the next month will bring, as the doctor told us that he will most likely start smiling more in response to things we do, cooing more, maybe laugh once or twice, and continue making more and more eye contact and responding to our voices. Dan is looking forward to the smiles the most...he can't wait. Me on the other hand, I think it is bitter sweet. Yes, I can't wait for these changes and interaction, but at the same time, I want him to stay my "little" baby forever!!

So for the one month stats:

Height - 21 1/4 inches and 50th percentile (was 19 3/4 inches at first doctor's appoint - they measure differently than the hospital which had him at 21 inches).

Weight - 10lbs 8oz and 75th percentile (was 7lbs 1.9oz at birth and 6lbs 10oz when we left the hospital).

One month pictures:

A Few Pictures

Here are two pictures. The first picture is of Brayden and I post-delivery, while the second picture is of Dan, Brayden, and I getting settled in at home.

First Two Weeks

Life with Brayden has been very busy and eventful thus far, but also absolutely amazing!! He is a wonderful blessing and has taught us so much already! All in all, he is a wonderful baby and we all continue to figure each other out a little more every day.

The first two weeks my parents were here visiting/staying with Dan and I so that they could help us out and also get to spend some precious time with their grandson. They were an amazing first two weeks, filled with lots of appointments (doctors, blood work, photographer, etc.) and visitors!! All of our friends and family have been very generous and extremely helpful bringing us dinners to make things a little easier for us during this adjustment period.

This past Sunday we had to say goodbye to my parents. It was a really tough day for me (and Dan and Brayden as well). We miss them so much and can't wait for them to come back for another visit!! Better yet, I wish they would move closer...I would take even a few hours away at this point!! I just can't imagine them living this far away forever while Brayden is so little and growing and changing so quickly! Growing up, my grandparents lived far away...and I don't want that to be the situation for Brayden. So we just keep praying that a job will bring them closer to us!!!

Some milestones, Brayden is growing very quickly and weighed in at 8 lbs 2 ounces (gained almost 1 lb in a week) yesterday when we went to the doctor. We had to go back for a quick visit because his belly button was not healing properly. However, it finally fell off yesterday evening and is doing much better now! We can't wait to give him a "real" bath tonight! Brayden is also very strong and can already pick his neck up when you are burping him. He also picked his head up one time and turned it to the other side yesterday during tummy time! Last week Dan printed out some black and white shapes online, and Brayden loves to just stare at them when he is awake and alert! So far we are all doing well and getting settled in a little more each day. Dan goes back to work next week and it will be my first week alone all day with Brayden, so we will see how that does. Brayden and I are both very sad that Dan is going back to work and think that he should just retire and stay home with us every day!! But reality is that he has to work, and I am sure that we will all settle into a routine at some point...

Birth Day!!

Brayden Dillon Cooper was born August 16, 2010 at 7:47 pm and weighed 7lbs 1.9 ounces and was 21 inches long. We are overjoyed to finally meet our baby boy and begin the amazing journey of parenting!! As you can tell because my post is about two weeks late, he has been keeping us very busy!! These first two weeks have been amazing and definitely a roller coaster ride, but we are enjoying every moment we spend together!!!

Okay, for labor. I started having contractions Sunday night (the 15th) around 7ish. I was not too sure at that point if they were going to stick around or if they were just Braxton hicks contractions, so Dan and I went about our normal business...had dinner, took Bailey for a walk, etc. The contractions were not too bad at that point and around 10 pm when they were still coming consistently, we started timing them...about 7 minutes apart. (On a side note, the contraction app on the iPhone is awesome). So needless to say, I was excited and very anxious and never went to bed that night. So, as the contraction got closer and more intense (4 mins apart), we called the doctor on call (it was now about 3am Monday morning now) and they said to come in. However, when we got to the hospital, I was not dilated at all, so they sent us to walk around for 2 hours. Longest two hours of my life, having to stop every 4 or 5 minutes to breath through the contractions and increasingly intense pain. After 2 hours of walking around (now 6:30 Monday morning), I still was not dilating so they sent us home for a little while.

At home, I tried to rest, but could not even sit down with the pain from the contractions. So I kept walking around, rocking, and breathing through them. Around 10ish we headed back to the hospital because the pain was so intense I could not take it. The nurses kept telling me how low he was and saying that once I dilated he would come quickly, but that didn’t make be feel any better at the time when I was have such strong contractions. Again they sent us home around 12 noon saying I was in early labor and gave me an Ambien to take so I could rest some. Yeah right, not with these contractions. At this point I was becoming a little frustrated because the pain from my contractions was so intense, yet I was not dilating. I will admit that I did tell Dan at one point when they sent us home for the second time to just get a gun. However, I "tried" to just keep focusing on the son that we were about to meet.

We went back to the hospital for the third time around 3pm because again the contraction were so intense and I thought that I was going to delivery this baby at home. This time when the nurse called my doctor she told him that I was shaking from all the pain. However, again I was not dilating very much and was only 2 cm, but fully effaced. Being our third trip back to the hospital and because I was in so much pain, the doctor finally admitted me and gave the nurse the go ahead to get me fluids to prep for the epidural. Ahh what a relief.. but I still had another hour of painful contraction to endure. So again I will admit that I got frustrated one more time and this time with Dan. I said, "hello, help me" because he was watching TV instead of telling me when my contraction was starting to come down. He now says that he didn't know that I was even having a contraction because I was breathing and controlling my pain so well...haha yeah right. Anyway, I got my epidural about an hour later around 6:30pm and my doctor came in to check me. I was 9 cm!! I went from 2 cm to 9 cm in an hour. The doctor was shocked!! They broke my water and I started pushing a half hour later...and our beautiful bundle of joy was born in 30 minutes!!! Honestly the contractions were very intense and the most painful thing I have gone through thus far in my life, but I just kept praying "Dear God be with me" and telling myself that this is a natural process. That's what got me through and I would do it all again in a heartbeat for him!! Maybe I am crazy, but love does great things!!!