8 weeks

Richie is getting so chunky! I love it!! It gives me a huge feeling of accomplishment! It's a great feeling knowing that I did that!
Daycare has been going good. The girls all love him! They are always calling him handsome. I can't call them liars! He's such a good boy! They were pretty concerned that he didn't poop very often. By very often I mean every 5 days. But I think he's starting to go back to "normal", even though it is normal for breast fed babies to go up to 10 days without pooping. I had to educate them of that :P

He goes to bed around 8-8:30 then wakes up around 2 then again in a couple hours but usually not to eat, just to get cuddled by momma. If he does wake up to eat around 4 then he wakes up after he hears me and WallE up and getting around. Otherwise he will wake up around 5 to eat then go back to sleep until I wake him up to get ready for school. He's such a good boy. I really can't complain, AT ALL! .. Well about him anyways! WallE has been acting out lately. It's a lot to take in so I'm trying to remember his feelings. I'm hoping that it turns around for him soon. I know he misses his daddy.

I'm trying to keep us normal every evening. When we get home I only have about 15-20 minutes to get something to eat and then eat before Richie is done being in the bouncy seat. It's not that he wants anything but he is in the swing and bouncy seat all day at school so he doesn't want to come home to be in them too. I get that so I try not to but sometimes I just have no other choice. I'll be glad when Jeremy gets home so I don't have to tip toe around or carry him just to do laundry so he's not crying. I never thought I would be that type of mom. I thought I would just let them cry. Until I'm in that position. There's no reason a baby should cry and not be comforted. A baby is looking for comfort, trust and love. It's stressful if they feel like they need to scream just to feel loved. If he gets older and doesn't want to sleep through the night, we might try the cry it out method by going in after 5 minutes of crying to pat his back and comfort him, then 6 minutes later, then 7 minutes later.. you get the idea.

We are continuing to learn from each other and work around each other. He has stolen my heart and I absolutely LOVE being a mom!

7/14/12 8 Weeks!!

 He is leaning against 2 boppys and he fell asleep watching me do the laundry :) I had to snap a picture before putting him in the swing

 SMILE!! I LOVE his smile!

Big boy!! He's so precious! He has had a strong neck since he was born

June

On June 4th he had his 2 week Well Baby Visit.. he weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces (19th percentile), he was 19.6 inches long (13th percentile) and his head size was 14.6 inches (48th percentile)! Hadn't grown much since he was born, except in his weight since he dropped down to 6 pounds 7 ounces.

7 weeks

Today I was looking at pictures of Richie and I can't believe how much he has changed in just 7 weeks!

 5/19/12

 6/2/12

 6/10/12

 6/16/12

 6/24/12

6/30/12

Wow! He's getting so big so fast! With each with comes an improvement/change..
I think they started around 3 weeks.. from 3-4 weeks he had a growth spurt and was nursing around the clock. At week 4 that stopped and it became a little more consistent.. about ever hour and a half. At week 5 he went from Newborn diapers to size 1 and he was introduced to his crib. He would sleep there until the first time he woke up to eat, then I put him in the swing or bassinet. At week 6 he started sleeping in his crib full time because I went back to work. I would've kept him in my room for convenience but he's such a noisy sleeper I can't do it.

We've also made some major strides in sleeping. The first night home he didn't want to be put down, he just wanted to be held. So my mom and I took shifts holding and sleeping. The second night he slept all night (11-5) with his Popeye (Jeremy's dad). Then was waking up a quite a bit to eat. I couldn't put him in the bassinet or he'd cry so he slept in the swing. I told Jeremy that I don't care how much batteries are, they are worth it if he sleeps! He used to wake up if I put him down when he fell asleep during the day, which made it really hard to eat, clean, let WallE out.. do anything! But now he will stay asleep. Also at week 6 it was no longer a procedure to put him down for bedtime. I used to have to pat his back and sway side to side. Then the patting got lighter until I stopped, but still swaying. Then I swayed him until he landed in bed where I would put my hands around him tight and slowly release one hand, then the other. And that didn't always work right away. Now I can put him down and he's out. Hallelujah! :)

We went to Texas June 22-28. It was so good to get out of the house, but I was glad to be back too! It's his norm and he wasn't ready to be out of his norm yet. He sure did love seeing his Popeye and Grandbob! I got to do some shopping so it was good :) That was my first time flying, and I did it with a newborn baby! He was so good though! On the way there he only woke up once for about 30 seconds to cry then went right back to sleep unil we landed. On the way home he slept the whole time, until we landed. He's such a good boy!!

I'm very fortunate to have a good baby and thank the Lord every day for that! It would be really hard to have a difficult baby and do it alone!

Jeremy is doing good, I think he's getting adjusted to being there finally. I think it helps that I'm back to work so he doesn't have to split up his evenings between getting off work at 6, eating, working out, talking to me and getting to sleep at a decent time to get up at 4:45.
We sure do miss him! I know WallE does. I feel bad, I never wanted to leave WallE out but I know he feels that way. It doesn't help that he wants to go outside EVERY time the neighbors come home. He acts like the sky is going to fall if he doesn't go outside. It's ridiculous and really annoying! Especially when I'm trying to nurse Richie.
I try to play with him while Richie is having tummy time.

We have had a few visitors. Elissa came up on June 1st.

Mom and Sherry came up on June 10th and left on the 12th.





















Then Janet and Luke came up on June 29th and left on July 1st. Everyone has been a really big help! When "the moms" were up we made freezer meals and that has been a HUGE help! I couldn't even open the fridge without Richie waking up.. so there wasn't any time to make more than a sandwich. A couple times I actually forgot to eat. He would wake up and I would nurse him then I was so tired I went to sleep and didn't realize that I never actually had supper until midnight when I'm nursing him and my stomach is growling.. not good!

Richie is doing good at daycare. He sleeps about 3-4 hours then wakes up for an hour and goes back to sleep. I asked them to wake him up ever 3 hours because he slept from 1040-4 on his second day! He was still tired that night but he was extra hungry but he couldn't stay awake long enough to eat, so we nursed, slept for 30 minutes, nursed for 5 minutes, slept for 30... you get the idea. That was exhausting!

Speaking of sleep.. it's time for this momma to get some! :)

Finally!!!

He's here! He's here! The biggest blessing of my life.. Richard Lee Coldwell II
Born on May 19, 2012 he weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long :)

My contractions started at 2 am but I wasn't sure if they were contractions or Braxton Hicks (because I didn't know what either felt like) so I called my mom at 3:45 and I told her that she might as well come up because if he doesn't come today he's coming tomorrow. She ended up leaving town around 6 and got here at 11:45. I called Jeremy at 4:30 (they had to go get him so they had him call me back) and he called me back shortly after. I told him that Jessica and I are headed to the hospital. I called Jeremy's dad at 6:45 to let him know what was going on.

When we got there they check to see how dilated I was. I was dilated to 5 and they told me I could either go home or stay but if I go home I'd be back shortly after. I asked if they were going to let me eat if I stayed and they said no so I told them I'd be back. It was early and I hadn't eaten anything yet! So we came home and I tried to take a bath, that helped for a short period so I got out and had some breakfast while using the massage pillow on my back. I decided I couldn't take it any more so we headed back to the hospital at 8.

When we got there they checked me again, still only dilated to 5 so I got in the whirlpool bath and it was awesome! I was falling asleep in there (remember I had been up since 2!) until it stopped (it was on a timer) and that made me wake right up and my contractions got worse so I got out and we got going on the epidural. My contractions were one right after another.. no break in between. The nurse told me I was doing a good job considering they are strong contractions with no break. When the anesthesiologist came in I felt like the heavens opened up! I was really happy to see him! He was funny, he asked me if my tattoo hurt worse than getting the epidural put it. I told him that considering my tattoo took and hour and 45 minutes, it hurt worse. He said that his record for an epidural is only an hour. I told him it better not take that long to put it in!

Once that kicked in, all was right with the world again! Meanwhile Jessica is keeping my mom and Jeremy in the loop. They broke my water at 11:30 and my mom got there at 11:45. So it was just breathing through the contractions and once it started wearing off they gave me a little extra which all went to my right side. So I asked the nurse why and she told me to just lay on my left side so the medicine will go to that side. It worked and it was awesome! I was trying to fall asleep but my phone kept ringing, my voicemail alarm kept going off and I kept getting text messages. Needless to say my phone was driving me CRAZY!

The doctor(s) (1 doctor and 2 residents) came in and they said we were going to start slowly pushing so things could slowly stretch out. That started at 2:15 and well Richard Lee Coldwell II was born at 2:29! Jeremy got to be there for all of it, helping me breathe through the contractions and encouraging me. I was so grateful that it was easy to get ahold of him and he had a good internet connection.

When they put Richie on me he peed (there wasn't any gusto behind it thank goodness)! It was amazing. He's such a blessing to us!

WallE and Richie meeting for the first time!

5 days old!

7 days old! He loves sleeping on his belly!

8 days old and definitely looks like daddy!

10 days old!

We LOVE snuggling! 

April

Wow! April has really brought some changes! I'll just start from the beginning..
I believe it was March 8th when we found out that Jeremy is being deployed. We had the 27th in mind as his leave date.
Sherry came to visit on the 1st for a couple days. We had a doctors appointment on April 4th, everything is going good! Then we really got our butts in gear to get Jeremy ready to leave. He took leave from the 11th through the 18th. He did some golfing and got stuff marked off his to-do list, given to him by me.
On April 11th my work threw me a baby shower. It was great! We got so much stuff and even got stuff that we didn't think about! They all pitched in and got us a high chair too! We love it! That was really really nice of them! It's times like those that make the stressful days bearable. I could easily quit and go work somewhere for more money but I wouldn't get that close, family feeling like I have there. Everyone is understanding and helps each other out. I know how lucky I am to have these ladies (and Stuart) as coworkers.

Friday the 13th- we toured Bellevue Medical Center. We found out that in order to Skype the birth we just have to bring our own device (laptop or iPad) to use. The hospital is really nice, we know we will be in good hands.

On Thursday the 19th we found out that Jeremy leaves MONDAY! All tears aside.. It's time to buck up and deal with it. We had another doctors appointment on the 20th. Everything is still going great! We asked questions about inducing and they said they don't like to induce but if it's after the 24th and my cervix has started thinning then we can talk about it. Ugh! That wasn't what I wanted to hear but it's not that big of a deal. After we got home we just waited for Luke and Janet to arrive! I was really glad they came up, it kept my mind off of the sadness. We always have a great time with them! Janet and I went for pedicures while the boys went golfing. Then Janet and I did a little shopping and found my newest guilty pleasure.. Orange Leaf!! It's the best frozen yogurt ever!

Then comes the dreaded MONDAY. Jeremy and I just hung out and talked. We both hated this feeling but knew that the sooner he leaves, the sooner he comes back! Eddie, Brittney, Chris and us all rode to the airport together. Their flight was delayed but we were able to go past security and sit with them until they left. It was a sad goodbye. I tried everything to keep Jeremy there. I threatened to push him down the stairs, break his leg or even fake my water breaking. He wasn't going for any of my ideas so I let him get on the plane.

Of course the next day I ended up tripping. I landed on my hip but still went in to Labor & Delivery to get checked out. Jessica (my neighbor) went with me, bless her heart. She's so sweet. Everything was fine but protocol is to keep me there until 4 hours after the fall so we ended up leaving at 12:30 am!

All of Jeremy's flights were delayed but after all that with no sleep he made it to his final destination on Thursday night/early Friday morning our time. He is 9 hours ahead of us. He had his first shift yesterday. Sounds like its slow there but I think he'll live.

WallE has seen/heard him on FaceTime (it's like Skype but only for apple products). It's so cute to see WallE respond to Jeremy saying his name. He sure does miss his daddy!

Baby Richards room is all ready so now we sit and wait for this hiccup-filled baby to arrive!

March 30, 2012

April 4, 2012

April 14, 2012

 

April 19, 2012

(I'm wearing a 'belly band'. I wear them under my scrubs to make it look like a tank top so my belly isn't hanging out underneath of my shirt)

April 27th (ever since Jeremy left baby Richard has been all about my right side, can you tell?)

WallE is laying his head on momma's belly :) He's ready for him to be here too!

WallE is ready for Richie to get here for other reasons... for example so that he can play with his toys!! That sock monkey was upstairs in Richie's room. WallE brought it downstairs and upstairs twice. He's such a turd!

I know that he doesn't need any more clothes but this is one that HAD to be gotten! Jeremy's dad call's Jeremy 'Big Man' so this was just perfect! It's size 6 months so he'll be wearing it when daddy gets back home :)

Busy March

I didn't realize that I went so long without taking any pictures until now! I've been taking a lot lately so hopefully that makes up for it!

2/19/12



2/24/12

2/25/12

3/4/12 (laying down on the floor, look how much it shrunk!)



3/8/12



3/12/12

WallE has been so darn cute lately! Today we were sitting on the couch and I was watching my belly and so was Walle. Then I put my my hand on my belly and Walle put his paw on it :) It was just too cute!
He has really been enjoying the weather lately too! It's been beautiful out!! His favorite thing to do is face the wind and just let it blow through his hair.



Last weekend (March 3) was my baby shower. It was a wonderful time! I got to see our family and my church family! We are so lucky to have such loving people in our lives! We went home with the car packed! On the way back to Nebraska WallE helped me break in the boppy and I put it in my lap and he layed on it. Again.. SO cute!

We also got to stop and see baby Jack! He's a cute, chunky monkey!

I've been working on Richie's room/stuff. I got his 0-3 and 3-6 month clothes washed and put in the closet. I keep fidgeting and moving stuff around. I think I finally have the 6-9, 9-12, 12-18 & 18-24 month clothes sorted and put away! Tonight I sorted stuff from the guest room closet and threw a bunch away. We're slowly getting ready! I also put together the pack n play already. I couldn't help it, I'm just so anxious!

While we were home, Aunt Brandi took some maternity pictures for us! We got them back today and she did a GREAT job (like always!!). She's awesome! Here are just a few of them. Enjoy :-)

BUMP!

Here is all of my 'growing' pictures so far! :) The first one makes me laugh really hard.. what exactly was I taking a picture of?? hehe

11-6-11

 11-21-11

12-2-11

12-12-11

12-20-11

1-3-12

1-5-12

1-10-12

1-30-12

I better start taking more pictures!!