Family and Newborn Pictures

We recently went and got some pictures taken because I really wanted newborn pictures taken of Reid and I blinked and he was a month old already. I finally made an appointment and we got them done. Reid was 5 1/2 weeks old at the time and he did great! He was alert the whole time and was so good. He only cried once and I think that he loved all the attention. It was really enjoyable and I was so happy with how they turned out.

Our first family picture and everytime I look at it I want to cry a little. I am seriously the luckiest girl alive. I could not be any happier!
He was holding his head up. I have no idea how he was doing it but it makes for the cutest picture!

These pics with his dad just melt my heart

Nursing

This whole nursing thing has probably been the hardest thing that I have ever done (besides giving birth). I didn't expect it to be nearly this difficult and frustrating. I thought it would be natural and the baby would know what to do. SO WRONG!! I know that I have already talked about Reid's problems with nursing but I just had to write about again because it has taken over my life and tha'ts pretty much all I think about now. Reid has had such a hard time latching on, mainly due to his being so early. We have been continuing to work with Terry (the lactation consultant) and after much fighting we got him to latch on a few days ago. I was so happy but also physically and emotionally exhausted from fighting with my 1 month old. Even though it was really hard and frustrating I kept trying and a few days later all my hard work paid off. He has been latching on with no problem now and I haven't had to use the nipple sheild once. I am so grateful that I kept going and didn't give up. He is so worth it and I could not be happier. Now what's next to worry about?!

4th of July

This 4th of July was a little different than previous ones because we have Reid with us now. Since he was only 4 weeks old we didn't want to go anywhere so we went over to my parents house to hang out with just the family. My sister and her kids came over and my mom was still in town. My mom made some dinner and we did some swimming. Later, we went up on my parents balcony and watched the fireworks. It was the perfect way to spend the holiday without having to go anywhere.

I actually got to go swimming for a little bit because my mom watched Reid for me.

We took Reid in the slightly warm spa but he didn't like it very much. I think that it was still a bit cold for him. He loves his baths so I think we will just stick with those for a while.

Wes can't wait for hime to get bigger and go swimming for real.

Reid is 1 month

Reid is 1 month old today! I can't believe it has already been a month. It is weird because it feels like it has been the longest and shortest month of my life. It is hard to even remember life without him but it also feels like yesterday when we brought him home. He has been such a joy to have. He is such a good baby that only cries when he is hungry. We had a bit of a hard time after we brought him home. He was jaundice and it peaked around day 7. At that time he stopped eating. It was really scary and I didn't know what to do. I called Terry, the lactation consultant that I met in the hospital, in a panic. She told me to feed him with a dropper and then to just go with a bottle. I had to start pumping around the clock and try to get as much milk in him as possible. He wouldn't really eat a lot so we had to try and feed him every 1 to 2 hours. The doctor was pretty concerned because he wasn't gaining weight and lost 11 oz from when he was born. We continued to do our best and met with both the doctor and Terry a few times a week. Eventually he gained .5 oz and I was thrilled. After a few more days he started gaining weight and hasn't stopped. He is now 8lbs 2oz. I could not be a happier mom!

He is starting to be way more active and alert. He loves to look around and just stares at us when we are holding him. He actually fixes his gaze on us and follows our face when we move around.
He loves to sleep with his hands in his face.

He is so cute!!!!!

Reid is still working on nursing. I am trying to nurse him as much as possible but he still gets frustrated and will only nurse with the nipple sheild. We see Terry at least a few times a week still to work on him but I see improvement everyday. I'm hoping that he will be nursing exclusively by the time he is 3 months. I am very grateful that I have tons of milk so that I haven't had to give him any formula. Wes has been home the past few weeks so it has really helped. I actually get some sleep because he takes over a few times during the night. I am so blessed and so happy.