A month old...

Already?!?!?!

Okay, I've always heard parents say, "when you have kids, time starts to fly by". But, I never really knew what they meant until I became a parent myself.

Holy smokes. Each day he is changing, and each day is passing EXTREMELY fast. Saturday he turned a month old. What?!

Now, I know that doesn't seem like a huge amount to most, but if I think about where this past month has gone, I wouldn't be able to tell you. Sure, there's been doctor's appointments and visits from friends and family, but it seems like it all zipped by in the blink of an eye. I'm scared to think that the next 11 months are going to be the same. I want to take in and hold on to each moment that he's little. I don't want him to grow up too fast.
And every time I mention it, I get other parents who say "You think time has gone fast for you? My child is..." 16, 19, 30...etc. Which scares me even more. To think that I'll sneeze and Andrew will suddenly be on his way to University or having kids of his own...

*pauses*

Well, that's just crazy.

I'm sure I'm not the first parent to say that I wish there were some way that I could keep him this small, this needy, this fragile and cute... So, why hasn't anyone come up with a concoction to do so yet?

Oh, I know. I've been told.
"Just wait til he's 3 months and he coos and smiles at you"
"Just wait til he's 12 months and crawling and eating solids"
"Just wait til he's 4 years and gives your fingerpainting with 'I love Mommy' on them"
Just wait til, just wait til...
I know there's so much to come. So much of him I'll see and learn about. But I can't help just wanting to freeze time now.

Sure, I'm not always getting sleep at night right now. I've got twice the amount of laundry and barely time to take a shower during the day (lucky for me, I'm getting a blog-moment in now while he naps in a carrier on the table in front of me). But he's just so cute at one month old... I'm scared how much he's changing every day, and I feel like I have to stare long and hard at him before bedtime, 'cause I know he's going to be a new boy the next morning.

I already look at pictures of him from when we brought him home from the hospital leading up until today. It's so strange to see that he's transformed so much in such a short amount of time.....

Day One

Week One

 Week Two

Week Three

 Week Four

One Month

St. Patty's Day

I hope everyone had a green day!

Peek-a-boo!

I'm here! And so is our new little guy!

Ho ho, so, I should have put the disclaimer at the beginning of the last post that it most likely would not happen that I would post again until some time after I gave birth. I knew in the back of my mind that I wouldn't have the want or ability to bring myself to do it. So, for that, I apologize. But! I am here now, and I hope to keep up on the posts. I have lots to report.

Where I left off in my last post was to discuss what happened to me during the last few months of pregnancy.
In early December, I developed a condition (only pregnancy related) called Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy (or ICP). What this is, is a liver disorder that (they think) is brought on by the spike in hormones from pregnancy. It causes the bile, from the liver, to back up into the blood stream and cause a nasty horrible itch all over the body - with no rash. It's a pretty horrible condition, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Basically, the bile levels in my blood were off the charts, which hospitalized me twice for two weeks. Once over Christmas, which really, really sucked.

So, because this bile crosses the placenta, there's a really high risk of stillbirth near the end of pregnancy (and it makes you really miserable). My OB made the decision to induce me 3-4 weeks early, depending on how I felt, and how the babe was doing in the womb. She had to go on holidays during my 36th week, so she had another OB look after me while she was gone. During that time, on the 24th of February, I spent the day at home crying with agony from the ICP. I had an appointment with this other OB the next day, where I told her I had had enough.... so, they made the move to induce me without my OB. Much to my relief.

I was induced using the gel, which they had to apply twice, giving me very mild contractions. I was allowed to go home and return the next day. So, when I went back, and my water still hadn't gone on it's own - they decided to break it for me. Six hours later, our beautiful baby boy, Andrew, at 6 pounds 4 ounces and 18 inches long, was born. :)

 

The past couple of weeks have gone so fast! And I've quickly learned the ropes of being a mommy. I have to say that I love every minute of it.

Andrew is doing fantastic, and so am I. Doug is a very happy and proud daddy.

It's so strange that I feel that I've picked up motherhood so quickly... and how much I relate it to being a kitten foster mama. There are a lot of similarities with taking care of human babies and hand-rearing kittens. I think it's been good experience for me ;)

So, today, we stand at the 18-days of life mark. Our little guy is growing and changing every single day. 

 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥