5 months...finally

Ok, so it's been awhile.  Apparently blogging isn't your first priority after you become a parent...who knew?  This is just a quick recap of the last few months.  We'll start with month 5.

So no appointment this month.  Sam has started sitting up for short periods of time.  We usually use the Boppy to help him out a little.  He is still really interested in most dogs and often tries to "communicate" with them.  This communication is usually a bunch of really high pitched screeches.  He also really enjoys trying to blow raspberries.  The only other noticeable change was that he really became aware of faces in June.  If anyone picked him up, he would start playing with their mouth or nose.  And of course, here is our monthly pic of our little man:

And of course, here are his previous months to compare:

 

 

4 months

Our little boy is getting so big! 

  

He turned 4 months old last week and we headed back to the doctors office.  We got his measurements and then it was time for the dreaded shots.  Luckily Sam was only upset for a few minutes afterwards.  Having his mom there to pick him up right away certainly helped a bit.  These were his measurements:

Height: 25.75 inches (79%)          Weight: 16 lbs 15.4 oz (81%)          Head Circ.: 17 inches (91%)

Last week, we also got to see our friend Melanie and her daughter Micah.  Micah is only 3 weeks older than Sam, and it was obvious they hit it off right away!

As of right now, Sam absolutely loves to smile.  He is an extremely happy baby first thing in the morning.  He still wears size 2 diapers, is already wearing 6 month clothes, and has already grown out of size 2 shoes!  He started blowing raspberries this last week and it's really adorable since he hasn't mastered it yet.  It's mostly just blowing lots of small bubbles while making an "ooooo" noise.  Sam's eyes are still mostly blue, and he's getting a little more hair on the sides of his head now.  He's definitely getting stronger and tries to exert his own little will when we hold him.  Sam still likes to nap in his swing during the days, and sleeps in his rocker at night, only waking up one time somewhere between 2-5am.  He's definitely starting to notice the dogs and seems to recognize people he spends alot of time with, namely his grandparents (especially Mimi).  Last week, Sam also finally had the opportunity to meet his great-grandparents on Joey's side!  We also went to family dinner last Thursday where he met Kristin's cousin Ted and was able to hang out with her Grandmommy again.  For those keeping track, we'll leave you with his 4 month picture(s):

And previous months:

3 months

Our little Samuel turned 3 months on Sunday, and is 13 weeks old today!

He's moving from 3 month size clothes to 3-6 month, and is finishing up his size 1 diapers to move into size 2. He averages 6 diapers a day. At his 2 month appointment he weighed 13lbs 13oz (84%), was 23.25 inches long (62%), and his head circumference was 15.8 in (81%). We estimate that he's getting close to 16 lbs at this point.  

Last Monday April 28 at my (Kristin) Bible Study he rolled on the floor from his stomach to his back during tummy time. He has done it a few more times since then. His cradle cap has greatly improved (with anti-dandruff shampoo and using a comb. The first time I used the comb, it was really scary! It felt like I was scalping him). He continues to lose some of his hair, mostly in the sides of his head. For a while his top hair would stand up and give him a little baby-hawk. It also looks a little lighter in color. He'll occasionally reach up and grab his own hair. While I hold him, he likes to hold on to my hair for support, although he doesn't really pull it. Sam likes to be held a lot, but will play in his playgym, swing, bouncer, and bumbo. He makes more ooo noises, and more recently while he's nursing, which is kinda funny. He still likes to be bounced or be moving a lot. He enjoys standing all wombly like on legs. He kicks more than he grabs, but he's starting to hold onto a few toys. We can tell he continues to grow, get a little stronger, and smile and watch people a little more. His cousin #2, Isaac, was born yesterday :). We can't wait to get the 3 amigos together!

Here are the best couple pictures from our 3 month shoot (we'll pick the winner later):

And previous months:

Weeks 2-7 (In Review)

   So it's been a busy couple of months since Samuel entered our lives.  Luckily, I was able to get time off for a majority of the first few weeks, but it has certainly been an adjustment.  At first, Sam was waking up every 2-3 hours.  He slept for a couple 4 hour spans by the end of the first month.  Since then, he's actually slept for 6 hours a couple times.  Kristin generally wakes up to feed him at least once, if not twice a night.  We had so many friends and family come to visit us during those first few weeks.  Several of them brought really good food with them, as well.

Sam really likes to sleep in Kristin's arms.  He's spent a few whole nights in his rocker, but has spent several more sleeping safely held by his mom.  We've had a few days of seemingly non-stop crying, but one of those also lead to his best night of sleep yet at the time so we try to find the silver lining.  Most of the clothes he's been wearing recently were so generously lent to us by our friends the Snokes and Defishers.  It's such a blessing to have friends willing to help us out and provide clothes and good advice.

  A few weekends ago, we got to take Sam to his first wedding.  His Uncle Mike married Kirksey Ervin in Morganton, NC and the wedding was so much fun.  Sam only fussed once during the ceremony, but Kristin moved so fast when he started that hardly anyone noticed.  A quick change later and we were all back in time to watch the new bride and groom make their way down the aisle.  It was so great to see so much family during the occasion.










This week, we got a big surprise.  Sam's cousin Ian was born on March 25th at the same hospital where we had been just last month.  Even though Sam was only a little heavier when he was born, Ian just seemed so small!  It really made it easy to see how much our little boy had grown in the past 7 weeks.  Anyways, that's all for now, but I'll add a few more pictures.  Oh yeah, did I mention he's finally starting to smile!  Kristin says it's just a "social smile," and he doesn't actually think I'm funny, but I don't know... :)

 

Day #5 - Sam and his surprises

The first couple nights after we got home from the hospital were pretty rough, sure.  But they still had their fun moments and K and I feel like we've started to get a better grasp on this.  The most important thing seems to be having a positive attitude and we're doing our absolute best to keep that in mind.  That brings me to our adventure this morning...

Sam started crying and we knew he had eaten not too long ago.  So it was only natural we checked his diaper next and K found a fairly wet one.  We went about changing him and getting the Vaseline on per doctors orders, when Sam decided to change things up a bit.  Next thing we knew we had a nearly two foot geyser that was putting some of the artwork in the room in danger.  Kristin was so shocked, she stepped back and started laughing.  I did my best to block the picture, but he was pretty much done by the time I really moved.  Sam wasn't done yet, though.  As soon as the pee started to slow down, he began pooping onto his shirt and blanket since we hadn't gotten the clean diaper in place yet.  Whew.  K and I finally stopped laughing long enough to get him clean and all the dirty stuff to the laundry room shortly after.  I think this was Sam's way of initiating us into parenthood.  This little guy is gonna make life interesting...

Welcome Samuel Rhys Connelly!!

So we left off when Kristin and I arrived at the hospital around 8:30.  We hadn't called anyone except K's parents so they could take care of our dogs in the meantime.  No need to get people excited if it wasn't the real thing after all.  We were admitted and waiting in triage by 9:00.  K was now 3cm and the doctor wanted us to walk around for a bit to see if we could keep the labor progressing.  By now, we knew it was the real thing!


We walked from 9:45 until close to 10:30 and K was getting more and more uncomfortable.  Dr. G checked her again and after finding her at 5cm, we were sent to our very own delivery room by 11.  By midnight, K was already getting an epidural and relief finally started to come.  We managed to get a little sleep in the next few hours.  I tried to act tough like I wasn't tired, but I hear I slept way harder than Kristin (yes, my wife who had an epidural haha).  The doctor broke her water around 2am and everything continued progressing just as quickly after that.  By 4:30, the nurse informed Kristin that she was at 10cm and nearly ready to push.  She started pushing at 4:50, Dr. Gausmann was called shortly after, and our little guy Sam made his entrance at 5:22am. 

For some quick stats, Samuel Rhys Connelly was 8lb 7oz at birth and 21 inches long.  He was born with a full head of hair and a healthy set of lungs.  We know that the rest of our lives are forever changed, but we are so so thankful and blessed to have a healthy baby boy to take home.

Sam had visitors galore the first day, but we never felt overwhelmed.  To be honest, everything was still kind of surreal.  We also had so many wonderful family and friends that offered to bring snacks and food anyways.  The first few nights in the hospital were a little rough, but we did take advantage of the opportunity when the nurses offered to take him to the nursery for a few hours both nights.  The real adventure was still yet to begin though!

A few more pictures from Sam's first days in the hospital:

 

FF!

For those of you that don't watch TV with Kristin and I at home, that stands for fast forward :).  Obviously I haven't been great at updating so we're going to go for a quick, one-post update here.

Back on Memorial Day weekend last year, Kristin and I got quite a good surprise.  We had just recently visited my parents and, on a whim, decided to pick up a crib while we were in Ikea.  God obviously had a plan for us because, only a few days later, we found out that Kristin was pregnant.  We took tons of pictures of Kristin's bump (our future Sam) along the way and Kristin kept track of all of this on her blog Little Baby C!

At the end of September we also found out that Kristin's sister and sister-in-law were also expecting in 2013.  It was a wild last quarter of the year, but that's a story for another time.  For today we'll start on Kristin's due date, January 30, 2013.  We already knew she was at 2cm and our little guy was only days away.  However, on that Wednesday, the doctor told us that it was not likely going to be soon.  We scheduled another appointment for Friday (one last check before the weekend), but we were both honestly hoping that Sam would be early rather than late.  After Kristin asked a couple questions Thursday afternoon, an impromptu appointment had to happen that day.  Once again, though, we were told to get comfortable because Sam didn't appear to be ready just yet.

Despite tons of walking, plenty of spicy food, and even a full moon, Monday morning arrived with no Sam and we headed to the doctor office for Kristin's next appointment.  She was checked again, told Sam was in for the long haul, and also informed she might start feeling some cramps for a little bit due to being checked.  About an hour later, the cramps started as predicted and Kristin thought nothing of it.  I (J) had to head to work for a meeting at 4 and made Kristin promise me she was OK before I took off.  Apparently the "cramps" had never stopped and even kicked up a notch around 5pm, though.  By the time I got back around 6:30, Kristin was starting to get really uncomfortable.  My stomach had been a little out of whack for the last day or so.  Kristin tried to downplay her pain for a bit to take care of me, but she had already started tracking how far apart they were just in case.  They probably averaged about 3:30-4 minutes apart and about 35-45 seconds apiece.  We called the doctor to ask a few questions around 8 and Dr. Gausmann did confirm that Kristin just might be in labor.  She said the triage center at Rex hospital was packed so try to hold out as long as possible, but we were in the car with the bags packed within 30 minutes.  We're getting pretty close to present day, but I think I'll end it here for this post.  We'll pick up next time when we arrived at the hospital on Monday night!