Had my 6 week pp appointment last Friday (I was at 7 weeks but the 4th of July holiday influenced when I could get an appointment). My blood pressure is still low! And I'm at about 2 pounds heavier than when I got pregnant, which I'm happy about. My stomach needs a ton of toning but that will come. All restrictions have been lifted, which I'm happy about. It means that I can start exercising but I need to start slow (like walks). If we weren't having yet another heat wave, I would be taking Drew out daily. Hopefully next week will be cooler. I'm also back on birth control (a progesterone only pill which is breast feeding safe). They want to control my PCOS like symptoms and there is a chance that I could get pregnant on my own. There is no way to tell if my body has now figured out how to work correctly. Mike and I don't want to take any chances as we are fine with 1 kid right now and want to wait to discuss number 2.

I also got my return to work letter which has been sent to HR. So I'm all set to return. It's bittersweet. On one hand, I'm looking forward to more adult interaction. On the other hand, it has been nice having a break from work and spending every day with Drew. It'll be good for him to be at daycare and I know he will be in good hands.

We've had to pack up almost all of the newborn clothes now and have him primarily in 0-3 month sizes. He's also figuring out how to play with toys and is smiling a lot more. Every day he is a bit more alert. He's also figured out how to wiggle himself off his activity mat in a short time span. And he desperately wants to get up and go. I have taken a few videos of him, so of which have been posted to youtube. Let me know if you want the link.

Pumping and bottle feeding has been going well. I definitely have an oversupply. Drew's eating about 22-25 ounces per day and I'm producing anywhere from 45-48 ounces per day. The freezer is getting quite full. I'm debating purchasing a mini freezer from Amazon. Mike and I still need to discuss that. Ideally, I would want a full freezer, however, we don't have space for it and it would not fit in the basement as we couldn't get it down there. Here's what the freezer looks like as of 10 minutes ago:

The storage bins that I got work very well. I need to decide if I want to purchase a few more. Although that would take up basically all the room on the top shelf.

Here's a few pictures of Drew from the past few days:

 Shows that he has liked having his hand by his face since at least my 19 week anatomy scan. 

On his activity mat before I started shooting video.

My little guy is getting so big! We have to move the straps up on his car seat this weekend and we removed his head support. He's picking his head up more and he's starting to creep. He's pushing himself off on people when he gets the chance. He's going to be mobile before we know it! I've started washing the 0-3 month clothes that we have as he's growing out of some of his newborn clothes.

He had a busy weekend and 4th of July. We spent the 4th with Mike's parents and grandparents. Saturday, Mike's parents babysat for us so we could go on a date night. It was nice and weird to leave him and not have to worry for a few hours. Sunday, Drew got to meet one set of my second parents and then we went to a cookout at my Aunt's house. There he got to hear some Swedish as a family friend was in town with his boys.

Thankfully he hasn't seemed to mind this heat too much. Granted we have AC units in our bedrooms and will retreat in there if he is getting too sweaty.

Approximately 2 more weeks and he'll be 2 months old! I'm dreading it in a way as he has a doctor's appointment that day and he's going to be getting a bunch of shots. The poor little guy will not be a happy camper.

Maternity leave half over

It's hard to believe that my leave is half over. It does mean that Drew is getting older and I'm basically back to normal.

The little guy is definitely getting bigger. He's staying up for longer periods of time. And he's cooing and ahing a lot more, which is super adorable. He is also getting more curious and can hold his head up for longer periods of time. He's started to creep a little bit when we put him on his tummy. He gets frustrated easily when we put him on the floor for tummy time so a majority of the time I put him on me. Of course he is able to scoot up me and usually ends up head-butting me.

The cats have gotten used to him. Ming still runs away when he starts screaming and she's still a little nervous. Elsee occasionally comes over and sniffs him. Both of them have gotten over us bringing another member into the household as they have realized that we still give them love and attention.

Here's a few pictures that I took today:

 Giving me the side eye look

 Yay! Or I'm about to start screaming

I'm doing my "Oh" face but Mom wasn't quick enough to catch it.

1 month check-up

It's hard to believe that I have a 1 month old! I took Drew to his 1 month appointment today. He's looking good. He's continuing to gain weight (7 pounds 15 ounces, 5th percentile) and he's now 20 inches long (3rd percentile).

He's starting to be more alert and his coos are adorable! We got him a swing which has been wonderful as he likes movement and it gives me a break, especially since Mike has now returned to work.

I've decided that instead of making a new blog, I'm just going to keep updating this one. Easier and for those who follow via a RSS feed you don't have to change. FYI - anyone who uses google reader, remember that it is disappearing as of July 1st. Feedly is a good substitute (I'm using it) and there are a bunch of other possibilities.

We dressed him up in this outfit to go visit with friends the other day. 

Quality Drew & Dad time while watching the Bruins. 

If anyone is interested, we have gotten newborn pictures taken. They look awesome! Send me a message and I can provide the link if anyone is interested.

newborn pictures!

We took Drew to get his newborn pictures done today by one of ours friends who is an amazing photographer. It was a little bit of a drive as his studio is south east of Hartford, CT. But it was so worth it. The raw pictures we were shown were just amazing and I can't wait until his posts the proofs.

I ended up calling Drew's doctor today as he has had some eye crustiness. They are about 95% sure that he has a blocked tear duct. They did sent a culture to the lab just to be on the safe side. He was weighed today and he has gained almost a pound since his last appointment about a week and a half ago. He's now up to 6 pounds, 10.5 ounces! I guess I didn't have to worry about him not getting enough to eat.

feeding issues

I've made the decision to switch to exclusively pumping and bottle feeding. After 2 weeks of struggling with breastfeeding where both Drew and I have gotten frustrated, it was time to try something new. It also didn't help that he was up for 2.5 hours this morning where he fed on and off for that whole period of time.

Mike was able to feed him not too long ago and he seemed much happier by the end opposed to when I try to breastfeed him. I'm glad that I have a dual electric pump that works very well. It'll also cut down on the time it takes to feed him. 15 minutes to pump plus 15-20 minutes to bottle feed him opposed to 30-40 minutes per side.

If anyone is looking for pictures, they can be found here: http://kames12.imgur.com

2 week post delivery appointment

My blood pressure is back to normal! 112/80, which is so much better than 2 weeks ago. They are checking me again next week to make sure that I'm completely back to normal. And not to completely brag, but I'm almost down to my pre-pregnancy weight. Which makes my theory that I was just retaining a ton of fluids more plausible as I'm not really swollen anymore.

I can drive again shortly, which I'm excited about. I need more nursing related attire since I only have 1 tank top and one shirt. I can't exercise for another 4 weeks and by exercise, I was told can start going on walks in about 4 weeks, maybe in another 2 but that might be pushing it. After everything that I went through 2 weeks ago, I'm fine with taking it easy.

I'm debating starting a new blog to document the life of Drew. If I do, I'll post the address here. If I do, it'll probably be a little more generic than just Drew but mainly focused around him.

We'll be able to send out birth announcements shortly as we're getting Drew's newborn photos taken really shortly. Mike and I haven't had any formal pictures of us taken since we were married. So it works out since we're close to our 5th year anniversary.

Drew's birth story

I was put on modified bed rest on May 21st due to my blood pressure being really high. My number of appointments increased as well as adding weekly ultrasounds and non-stress tests (NSTs).

At my next appointment on Thursday, my blood pressure was sky high (150/96). They gave me the go ahead to drive home to pack. Mike was already home and had starting finishing putting the bags together. We got to the hospital around 5:45pm. My cervix was only 1cm dilated and was high. They started me on meds to reduce my blood pressure and also put me on magnesium sulfate. Within a few hours, they inserted a pill (forget the name) to try to dilate my cervix that way. About 5 hours later, my cervix was only 1.5cm.

They then decided to start Pitocin. I was having regular contractions but they weren’t being that productive. They also decided Friday morning to give me a Folly ball to help my cervix open that. The combination of the Pitocin and the Folly ball jump started the process and really started to dilate me. My water broke and the contractions started getting really intense. I eventually broke down and got an epidural. That allowed me to sleep for a few hours. When everything was all said and done, it only took about 30 minutes to push him out.

Drew was born at 9:36pm Friday (5/24) night. He weighed 6lbs 1oz and is 18.5 inches long. We’ve had some challenges with breastfeeding, but have been managing. I was officially diagnosed with severe preeclampsia. They kept me on the mag for 24 hours after he was born and they finally allowed me up Sunday morning.
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It has definitely been a transition but we absolutely love our little guy. The cats are slowly getting used to him and we are adjusting into our new normal.

Drew is here

I'll post more details later since I've been kinda quiet. Drew was born Friday evening and he is an adorable little peanut

35 week appointment

Since I'm only 1 day away from 35 weeks, I'm comfortable with titling this post that way.

My appointment today went well. I'm only measuring about a half a week ahead now. So my OB thinks that he just had a really early growth spurt and has slowed down with growing for the moment. That works for me since I really don't want to birth a 9lb kid. My blood pressure looks good. His heart rate looks good. Things are moving right on track. Had my fun Group B Strep test today, which I should find out the results in a few days. If I test positive for it, it just means that I'll get antibiotics during labor.

Since I've basically hit the 35 week mark, it's time to start packing the hospital bags. I need to review the lists that I have made. Also need to wash the PJs that I bought for post delivery and wash the two potential outfits that he could wear home. I think the plan for this weekend is for Mike to install the car seat and bases into our cars so we have that all set. One less thing that we'll have to think about when we are racing to the hospital.

It's hard to believe that there is not much time left before we get to meet our little one.