1 Month

A couple days ago Tyler celebrated his 1 month birthday!

 The night before my little man turned one month old I was doing a late night nursing session and was staring down at him and realized just how much he's grown already. I was reminded of a blog post I read by a dear friend the day after we came home from the hospital. The blog post had a quote from another blog I believe:

"There is a song from "Big:The Musical" that sums up the bittersweetness of raising children. It's called "Stop Time," and the first time you hear it, it stops your heart. "Nobody warns you of this parent's paradox. You want your kid to change and grow," the song says. "But when he does another child you've just begun to know, leaves forever." link to her post

When I read this I cried, hormones played a role, of that I am sure. But nursing my little boy late at night I got it. This little boy is growing so fast. He's no longer the boy who was growing inside me, or even that boy I gave birth to, he is slowly but surely becoming a whole new person. As excited as I am to watch him learn and grow I want to keep this little boy, just as he is, forever. But I can't.

So grow baby grow! Become that smart, handsome, kind hearted, strong, beautiful person I know is just waiting to bloom from inside of you! I will be here to help you on your journey, to love you, to wipe your tears, and to share in your joys, but most importantly to encourage little you to blossom just as you are meant to be.

First Few Weeks Home

The first few weeks home as a family has definitely been a wild ride. Tyler does ok with sleeping. He usually does wake up every 2-3 hours but luckily at night I just feed him and he goes right back down without a problem. We only had one night of screaming (knock on wood). Shortly after coming home my parents came to visit and it was really great to get to see them and have them meet Tyler even though Tyler was a bit of a cranky pants every evening during their visit. Kevin has been working some crazy hours due to a new contract at his job so we snatch any minute together we can. Hopefully things will slow down soon and we can start doing more fun things together as a family. Well anyways here are some pictures!

My dad enjoyed telling Tyler bible stories and about
 his dad, Joseph who his middle name was chosen after. 

Tyler sleeping in his bouncy chair. 

Meeting Grandma! 

Reading stories with daddy!

Newborn Pictures

At exactly one week of age we took Tyler to get newborn pictures taken with Sobecki Photography and they came out just stunning! I couldn't be happier and will treasure these forever. Here are some of the shots!

If you want to order photographs and need the link just let me know :-)

And Baby Makes 3!

Thursday August 23 was the beginning of my real labor (yes just the beginning). I had some cramping upon waking up that morning, but didn't think much of it. I had a Doctor's appointment at 10:30 and on my way to that appointment is when I felt like my twinges turned into contractions. At the appointment the Doctor stripped my membranes to help kick start labor, if you don't know what that is ask Dr Google. I had an NST after since I have a slightly increased risk of blood clots we were keeping a close eye on baby at the end and the test showed contractions but the nurse didn't seem to think much of it so I went home.

I got home about lunch time and started timing my contractions. I told Kevin, who had a short day at work so was home, that I thought baby was coming today. While timing contractions I cleaned the house, last second nesting??? I changed the sheets on the bed and vacuumed the entire house and other picking up and Kevin cleaned up the yard a little. By 5:30 Kevin started to get nervous about the prospect of delivering a baby at home so we decided to go into the hospital. We grabbed all the bags I had pre packed and drove the 45 minutes to the hospital.

Once at the hospital the monitors showed regular contractions, but unfortunately my cervix wasn't showing much progress. I had been a 3 at my appointment at was maybe a 3.5 when I got there (ugh!) They send us to walk the hospital to see if I could pick things up. We grabbed a quick bite to eat knowing if they admitted me it would be a while before I had a chance to eat again and then we walked the hospital like mad. We took the stares and walked all 8 floors up and down and up again. I was sweaty and out of breath and only at a 4! Double ugh! Anyways, thanks to a very persuasive nurse they decided to go ahead and admit me, though I didn't actually get a room until midnight. We wondered the halls of L&D and my contractions were getting pretty intense but at 4 am. NO PROGRESS! So they decided to start me on pitocin. So since they were putting me on pitocin and it was 4 am and I was making no progress I decided to get the epidural at that point, thinking maybe I could get some rest, but I didn't I just could not rest. The progress was still crazy slow going until they decided to break my water at 9 am. At 12:30 the nurse told me I was complete which was immediately followed by a lovely barf fest and some pushing. I pushed for about an hour and Tyler Joseph Duclos was born at 1:31 pm on August 24, 2012. He weighed 6 lbs 15 oz and was 19.5 inches long. And now what you really want to see, the pictures.

 I love the pictures of Tyler with his daddy! There's something so special about the first moments of a father with his child. I got to bond with him while he was inside but for fathers this is when it becomes real! We are officially a little family and we couldn't be happier!

Tyler did have a small little battle with jaundice. The complete fatigue he got with it was a little scary for mommy, but he over came it quickly and I really appreciated out pediatrician keeping a close eye but not wanting to jump in and intervene or make me supplement. Breast feeding is going great and our bodies worked together and did exactly what they were supposed to do. Now begins a whole new adventure and chapter in our lives.

My Pregnancy

I figured we ought to start at the beginning. Kevin and I found out (unofficially) that we were expecting a little bundle of joy early last December. We were thrilled, but honestly still surprised! Seems like no matter how hard you are "trying" pregnancy always comes with an element of surprise. We went to our first doctor's appointment January 9 and confirmed that I was 7 weeks and 2 days pregnant and the baby had a strong heartbeat. The first trimester was a challenge exhaustion and nausea kept me on my toes or rather in my bed. It was manageable though and signs of a healthy pregnancy all around.

Second trimester was great! I felt great and we were past the scary time of the highest miscarriage risk. At the 20 week ultrasound everything looked amazing and we found out we were expecting a baby boy! We shared our joy with all our family and friends and I felt like my belly was growing at an astronomic rate (ha!). Here is a picture of me in my second trimester when I thought I was really starting to show.

I know! Who was I kidding??? Notice our fabulous ultrasound pictures on the wall? I think I was about 24 or 25 weeks here.

The third trimester wasn't bad until the last couple weeks when I anxiously began counting down days and paying attention to every twinge as a possible sign! I actually got some horrific round ligament pains and the very end and thought how I could ever survive labor if I could hardly survive round ligament pains? The fatigue returned and I spend my time preparing for baby's arrival. I prepped the cloth diapers, washed and put away laundry, and made lots of frozen meals (thank God I did that!) We also got some professional maternity pictures done. Credit Sobecki Photography. Here's a taste of them and what my massive pregnant belly became by 36+ weeks.

I just want to say I know maternity photos are kind of a new trend but I highly recommend them. Pregnancy is a more magical time than you realize at the time and images of that special time will be held close to your heart!

Now just to wait for the arrival of Baby!