8 Weeks

Logan is now 8 weeks old. Sometimes it seems as though he was born just yesterday... other times it seems as though he's been a part of our family forever. I hardly remember life before he joined us. He's at such a sweet age right now!

Logan, my favorite things you're doing are cooing and smiling! Your coos are so sweet! And you smile at me in the mornings when you're on your changing table and I talk to you. A few days ago you and I were watching Oprah and Garth Brooks was her guest. I sang along (doing my best Garth impression) to "Friends in Low Places," and you loved it! You tried to sing along with me! It was awesome! You also smile a lot at the elephant that hangs in your play gym. Every time you grab hold of his legs and pull on him, you smile so big!! Its precious! You and I are headed on our first trip to Dallas together later this week. We'll get to visit some of our best friends, Gigi and Papa, and you'll get to meet your great-grandparents for the first time! We'll be flying together, so I'm praying that you'll be in a great mood! Lately we've been taking lots of walks together around the neighborhood. I'm so glad you enjoy that! This weekend we've been hanging out with Uncle Ryan and his fiance' Chelsea. You're going to have a new Aunt in just a few months! She already loves you so much, I can tell! Our family is growing and its a beautiful thing!

Six Weeks Old!

Logan, you are six weeks old! I can hardly believe it! It feels like we’ve had you with us for far longer. I’m dedicating this blog post to Logan’s daddy, Jeremy. He’s not only an amazing dad, he’s been the best partner in parenthood that I could have asked for. Jeremy takes such good care of me when it seems I have no time or energy to take care of myself. Jeremy has the magic touch with Logan, too. He always knows just what to do in every situation. I am so thankful that God saw fit to place us together as a family. We’ve had so many sweet moments together these past few weeks as we marvel at the precious little boy that we get to call ours.

At six weeks, Logan, you are holding your head up so well! I think you are such a big strong boy! You are so observant and love looking at everything in the room. You love to lie in your play gym and swat at the toys that hang over your head! At your one-month check-up with Dr. Byrum, you weighed 9 lbs 14 oz and were 22.5 inches long, which places you in the 45^th percentile for weight and the 76^th for height. You’re starting to sleep a little longer at night, which we really appreciate!! Here are some pictures of you and daddy! We love you, Little Man!!

3 Weeks Old

Today, February 2^nd, you are 3 weeks old. You are the most precious thing I’ve ever seen. Your daddy and I can’t stop staring at you and kissing you and telling you how much we love you. Today you outgrew your newborn clothes! You’re getting too long for them, so we’re moving you up to 0-3 month clothes. You are finally long enough to wear the cute fleece outfits I bought you at Baby Gap! And just in time for the Super Bowl, you’re long enough to wear the Jets sleeper that Uncle Jerry gave you (even though the Jets didn’t quite make it to the Super Bowl.)

My favorite thing you’re doing at this stage is stretching when you wake up. Your stretches are the cutest ever! The way you raise your arms over your head (imagine Superman’s arms) and the cute faces you make are adorable. I look forward to seeing you stretch every time I wake you up to eat. You have a really strong neck and strong legs! Its fun to watch you try to stand up. You’re so observant during your wake time. You just look around the room with big wide eyes, taking it all in. We’ve read Guess How Much I Love You and On The Night You Were Born, and Gigi read some books to you, too. She and Papa taught you all your colors last weekend! They sure do love you! They’ve been here with you 8 days of your life and are coming back this weekend. Andre’ loves you, too. He loves to watch you and sniff you, and he sneaks in a lick here and there! You two will be best friends before long!

Your daddy and I decided to call you “Little Man.” That’s our nickname for you! You are our little man! So far you have met Elijah and Slayton. These will be some of your best friends growing up! And we can’t wait for you to meet some of your other friends!

First family photo with Andre'

Logan's Birth Story

On Tuesday, January 11th I woke up around 7:30am and immediately started having contractions that were 30-45 seconds long and 5 minutes apart. We were out of school on a snow day, which turned out to be quite perfect since I would spend the entire day in labor and Jeremy was able to be home with me. The contractions were very mild, but noticeable. I timed them on my Contraction Master app all day. Beth and Elijah Freeman came by to visit for a while, which was a lot of fun! We were in touch with our doula, Amy, keeping her updated on my progress throughout the day. Around 6pm the contractions were still mild, but I decided to call in a sub for school the next day… just in case this was the real thing. Amy dropped by for a visit and checked my cervix. I was only dilated to 2cm. So she gave us some suggestions on how to rest and keep my energy up for the road ahead. Around 9pm my contractions kicked it into high gear, immediately jumping to 1 minute long, 2 minutes apart. These were intense! Jeremy helped me work through the contractions for a couple of hours before we called Amy to come back to the house. When she arrived she again checked my cervix and I had progressed to 5.5 cm. It was time to head to the hospital! We arrived at Baptist Hospital around midnight. As we were walking across the sky bridge from the parking deck into the hospital, I had a big contraction and my water broke! Now, this was no trickle. When I say “broke” I mean busted like a water balloon! My socks and shoes were instantly soaked, thus beginning my freak out moment! It took me a bit to calm down. I guess reality set in at that moment and I realized I was about to have a baby!

It was now Wednesday, January 12^th. We got situated in the hospital room, met our nurse, Holly, and got a visit from Dr. Breniman who happened to be on call, thankfully. I prayed that he would deliver Logan. Since we didn’t know how much longer I would be contracting, I decided to spend some time in the Jacuzzi tub. I’m sure it helped with the contractions for a while, but the longer I was in the tub, the more intense the contractions became. About an hour later I decided, out of fear of the unknown that I should ask for an epidural. But before my nurse called the Anesthesiologist, she wanted to check my cervix again. Low and behold I was 9.5 cm! All I could think was, “Holy Crap! Time to woman-up!” I had almost made it through transition. Needless to say, the rest of the delivery went very quickly and there was no time for an epidural… so I opted for a little bit of morphine, which I don’t think helped at all, but is a safe option for baby. My nurse said the morphine would “take the edge off” the contractions. Believe me, the “edge” was still there! Ha! It took me just over an hour to dilate from 5.5 cm to 9.5 cm. Then it took another 30 minutes or so for my cervix to totally disappear. Logan was very engaged and ready to go! I pushed for an exhausting 1 hour and 20 minutes and he was born!

Now the question everyone asks me is, “What did you think the first time you saw him?” My honest answer: “He’s HUGE!” He looked so big to me! It was a while before they weighed him to confirm my suspicion… 8 pounds 3 ounces and 20.5 inches long. How on earth did he get so big 11 days before his due date? When I went into labor so early, I kept thinking, “Oh yeah, this is going to be easy… surely he’ll weigh 7 pounds or less. I can push out a 6 or 7 pounder- no problem.” Well, Lord have mercy, he was a big boy! And we love every ounce of his precious little body!

Beth and I are officially introducing Elijah and Logan while I was in labor.

A few hours after delivery at the hospital

Daddy and Logan together at home. I love this one!

Uncle Ryan and Chelsea with Little Man

Proud Gigi and Papa holding Logan

In the beginning...

I'm blogging! I never been into keeping a journal or a diary or anything like that, but now that I'm at home with a sweet baby boy, I feel compelled to log every little thing about our Little Man and our growing family. I'm creating this blog with the intent to have it turned into a book chronicling Logan's first year of life. So, here goes nothing!