Knox - 2 Months

What a great 2 months with our little man it has been! He is changing so much, and part of me looks at him and wishes he would stay just the way he is! One of the things I love about him is that he wakes up smiling every morning. He will just lay in his little bed next to mine smiling and cooing until I pick him up. It makes getting out of bed in the morning a lot easier when you have a smiling face to greet you! I caught him on camera just after he woke up a few days ago.

He is still a great eater, eating every 2 hours during the day, and he now weighs 11 pounds and 9 ounces and is 24 and a quarter inches long! That puts him at 90th percentile for length and 50th percentile for weight (his head circumference is also 50th percentile - guess he didn't get an Anderson head after all!). We finally moved from newborn to 0-3 month clothes at about 7 weeks. We are up to size 1 diapers now too, which is good because we were given tons of those before he was born.
David and I are loving Knox's little noises. His squeals, grunts, and coos are so much fun to listen to and he "talks" to us more and more each day. He is still a very noisy eater too!
One of Knox's favorite places is his changing table. Go figure! He loves having his diaper changed, and will immediately calm down, smile, and coo when placed on the changing pad. He also loves baths - he is definitely his father's child.
Knox has started taking most of his naps in his swaddle. I can usually swaddle him up, stick his pacifier in, and lay him down and he is out within minutes (works at bedtime too!). The other day he managed to get one leg out of his swaddle during a nap and I thought it was pretty cute.

We went to visit Michael, Natasha and Lillian a couple of weeks ago and brought home Lillian's play mat. Knox loves laying on it and kicking and grabbing the little animals that hang down. He also stares at the middle of the top of the canopy, which is just an orange circle, for long periods of time. He also enjoys staring (and smiling) at lights and ceiling fans.

Overall, Knox is still a very easy going baby - he does great in the car as long as he isn't hungry, loves to sleep in his carseat while mommy shops, and only gets up once in the night to eat (lately between 3 am and 4 am). His hair still sticks straight up on the top of his head and seems to be getting lighter with almost a reddish tint, and his eyes are still blue. I'm anxious to see whether they will turn brown like mine or stay blue like his dad's. Time will tell! I can't wait to see what the next month brings!

My Favorite Baby Things

One of my friends recently posted a list of her favorite things that she has been using with her new baby, which got me thinking about what would be on my list. For all you new mommies out there, here's just a few of the things that have made our life with a newborn a little bit easier. 

Summer Infant Swaddlepod

I never mastered the art of swaddling with a regular ol' blanket - I really never had to because we had the Swaddlepod! Knox is a big fan of the swaddle, but he is also really good at wiggling out. The Swaddlepod kept him pretty much contained and had a zipper instead of velcro like a lot of swaddle blankets. I am not a fan of the velcro kind because they are loud when you open them which wakes up the baby, and they attach to things in the laundry and ruin them. The Swaddlepod has a zipper with 2 pulls so that you can open it from the bottom or the top, which was great for middle of the night diaper changes. I would just unzip from the bottom, change his diaper, and zip him back up! We only had one and I made sure to do a load of laundry everyday to ensure that we had the Swaddlepod for each night. With our next kid I will purchase several more. The only down side is that it only comes in the 7 -10 lb size. I've ordered a Woombie now that Knox has outgrown the Swaddlepod, so we'll see if it works as well. 

Graco Duo 2-in-1 Swing Bouncer

I would never get anything done without this genius device! The bouncy seat attaches to the swing so it's a great space saver. The seat vibrates, which put Knox right to sleep as a newborn and allowed me to keep my eye on him when I took showers and got ready in the mornings. Knox takes lots of naps in the swing now that he is a little older - it has 6 speeds and 3 different sound settings. 

Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper Mini Bassinet

I opted for this mini bassinet instead of a fancy pack n' play and have no regrets (we got a simple pack 'n play for when Knox is older). This bassinet's mattress is elevated so that it is almost level with our bed, and has a lowered side so that when it scoots right up to my side of the bed Knox is easily accessible for me in the night. I can put his pacifier back in, pat his back, or pull him into bed with me to nurse without getting out of bed. It also has wheels and fits easily through doorways so I can move him to other rooms during the day if I need to. 

Puj Tub

My mom bought this for us and it has been a great little newborn tub. It fits in a kitchen or bathroom sink and cradles Knox in a comfortable sitting position for bath time. It is made of foamy material and so it weighs hardly anything and unfolds to be completely flat, so you can hang it up to dry and it doesn't take up precious cabinet or bathroom space. 

Baby Jogger City Mini Stroller

This stroller is super light (15 lbs) and is a dream to open and collapse - you literally just grab a small handle on the seat. We bought this stroller with a car seat attachment instead of getting the travel system for our Chicco Keyfit 30 carseat. The weight limit of the stroller is 50 lbs, so we should be able to use it for a lot longer than the Chicco stroller. It has lots of other great features that you can read about on the Amazon website. 

Dr. Smith's Diaper Ointment

Clears up diaper rash fast! We have tried several different types of diaper rash cream and this has worked the best so far. 

iBreastfeed iPhone App by Medela

This free app is great for the first few weeks of breastfeeding when you really have to keep track of how long your baby is nursing and which side you last nursed on. I tried several other apps and this was by far the best, even better than one that I paid money for. I also used it to keep track of how many dirty and wet diapers Knox had throughout the day. 

Baby Blessing

Our church had their baby blessing service on Sunday, August 12 and Knox was the youngest baby included. Ashley, Jonathan, and Jackson came up for the occasion, and of course Nana and Papa were there too. We love our church home and know that we will have many people there to help us as we raise Knox up to know the Lord.
We attended Jonathan and Ashley's church in Houston when I was still pregnant and they happened to be having one of their baby blessing services. The pastor told what each baby's name meant, and then related it to a Scripture passage. David and I had already chosen the name Knox, and realized then that we had no idea what it meant! We looked it up later and found that it meant "a round topped hill." Not exactly the most meaningful name ever... But then we thought of Matthew 5:14,16: "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden...In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Our prayer for you, Knox David, is that you will grow up to be a light in this dark world, a city on a hill, not afraid to shine the light of Jesus to everyone around you. That you will stand for what is right and good, a man of integrity, and that through your life and good deeds others may be blessed and praise our Father in heaven.

Knox and His Daddy

I love watching my husband with his son. He is such a good dad, and he and Knox already have quite a bond.

Many evenings and Sunday afternoons are spent napping on the couch together.

Knox reserves his biggest smiles for his Daddy. 

How sweet is that little hand gripping his father's finger?!

Knox's First Month

We have been so fortunate to have a very easy baby! Knox has eaten and slept well from the start and been "very chill," as his daddy would say. During his first month he ate every 2 hours during the day, and by his second or third week he was doing about 4 hours between feedings during the night. He only fussed when he was hungry - we had no sleepless nights of crying with him.  For his first 2 weeks of life Knox slept either in my arms or my mom's in the rocker in his room, or in a bassinet in my mom's room. I just couldn't sleep when he was in his bed in the room with me because I responded to every noise he made and was too scared to close my eyes for fear he would stop breathing and I wouldn't know. So he mostly stayed with Mom, and she would change his diaper and bring him to me when he needed to eat, and then put him back to sleep. It was a great setup! By the time my mom left (oh sad day!) and he moved into our room I was over the first mom jitters and slept just fine with him next to my side of the bed.

  Knox's first week home he had some issues with pooping. He did great at the hospital, but after several days at home there was still no action in the diaper. At his 1st appointment our pediatrician took drastic measures to induce pooping (I'll leave out the details so as not to embarrass my son on the world wide web). I had only come to the appointment equipped with one extra diaper which the nurse had already used after weighing him, so the doc had to improvise by creating the world's biggest diaper using a big disposable towel thing and tape. It looked ridiculous. 

After the doctor's appointment there still wasn't much action. That weekend we made a trip to Houston for his cousin Jackson's birthday. Knox had not one, but three blowouts! Since then things seem to be pretty regular and I wonder why we were so worried - we saved a lot of money on diapers during that first week! 

We introduced the pacifier at 2 weeks, at which time he could take it or leave it, but by 3 weeks he was really starting to enjoy it. He loved to be swaddled, but always managed to get his left hand or arm out. It didn't seem to keep him from sleeping though. He loved the little bouncy chair seat with the vibration turned on. He would fall right to sleep once we turned on the switch.

His umbilical cord finally dried up and fell off around week 3, thanks to his father's determination to dry it out with alcohol and q-tips. He has the cutest little belly button you ever saw!

Knox had his first smiles between 3 and 4 weeks old. I don't know exact date of his official "first smile" - I wasn't sure at first how to tell the difference between gas and reflexes and an actual social smile, so he may have smiled even earlier than that. Either way, he smiles when you get close to his face and talk to him and it melts my heart every single time.

My Not-So-Natural Childbirth Story

 Early on in my pregnancy I decided I wanted to try "natural" childbirth. David and I took a Bradley method class for 6 weeks, I read several books about childbirth the Bradley way, I did my exercises, ate my 80 - 100 grams of protein each day, typed up my birth plan, and told everyone I WAS NOT having an epidural. Well, of course with labor things don't always go as planned. First of all, Knox decided not to come before or on his due date. This was especially stressful for us since my doctor would be going out of town the day after my due date and wouldn't be back until almost 2 weeks after I was due. On Wednesday, one day before my due date, after much agonizing (and many tears on my part), we decided not to induce before my OB left town. I was only 1 cm dilated (if that!) after having my membranes stripped 2 days earlier, and Knox passed 2 non-stress tests with flying colors. I also really wanted the experience of going into labor on my own, and wanted Knox to come when he was ready.
Fast forward to the next week. My mom got to town on Monday and she was exactly what I needed to get my mind off of the misery of going past my due date because if you know my mom, she never sits still. So she had all these projects for us to do. Also, my sister in law, Leah, drove down from Austin with her two boys. Here we are at Chic-Fil-A.

 We tried all sorts of things to induce labor, my mom even tried acupressure on me after we watched several YouTube videos demonstrating the technique. Still no labor. Leah left with the boys on Tuesday, and Wednesday my mom and I spent the whole day hanging decorations in my house (there were only 3 things hung in the whole house and we have lived here 2 years!). I felt horrible all day and my mom says I was really cranky! That night David and I went on a walk and tried out a labor inducing technique that our friend Ashley had told us about: walking with one foot on the curb and one foot off. We laughed about how funny it would be if I actually went into labor that night. Not long after we went to bed I woke up with really strong back pains. They didn't seem to have a distinct starting and ending point, so I didn't think it was labor. David woke up because I was apparently doing a lot of moaning and groaning. He immediately started timing my pains and told me he thought I was having contractions and that they were 2 minutes apart. He was immediately up out of bed saying we needed to go to the hospital. Still not convinced that I was in labor, I stayed in bed and tried to talk him out of it. Everything I had read and heard had told me that you labor at home for a long time before you go the hospital and that when contractions began they were usually 15-20 minutes apart. David was insistent, so we hurriedly packed up our things and headed to the hospital around midnight.
 We got to the hospital room and the nurse verified that I was indeed having contractions one and a half to two minutes apart, but I was only one and a half centimeters dilated. She called my doctor, who said we could go home if we wanted to, or since Labor & Delivery wasn't crowded I could stay. We opted to stay and thus began a very long, sleepless night of intense contractions one on top of another. David took this picture which gives you a pretty good idea of how I was feeling.

 I was having back labor (which is excruciating!), and started throwing up with some of the contractions, which sent David running to the other side of the room so he wouldn't throw up too (eventually my mom came to the hospital early in the morning and helped me during my bouts of nausea). I was still determined not to have an epidural, and the nurses kept remarking how good I was doing.
  In the morning we got a new nurse, Amanda and she was exactly what we needed! She took charge and got me in different positions, gave me these amazing hot packs for my back, told me when my hair was looking "wild" and needed fixing, and just made me feel like I could do this! At about 9:00 am, Dr. Smith (who was standing in for Dr. Garant since she was on vacation) came to see me and I was only dilated to a 2. We talked about the possibility of breaking my water, and I decided to go ahead. After he broke my water my contractions got really intense. I was still throwing up, and just felt like I couldn't do it anymore. David and I talked (apparently I said to him, "This sucks!) and I told him I wanted an epidural. I had been so determined not to have an epidural that nurse Amanda and David both had talks with me to make sure I wouldn't regret it later. I told them I wouldn't - I just wanted relief as fast as possible. At 10 am, after about 10 hours of "natural" labor, I got my epidural (apparently nurse Amanda had everything ready for the epidural outside the door for several hours before I actually asked for it - ha!) and it was HEAVEN! They also gave me some anti-nausea medicine in my IV to stop my vomiting. Here I am after the epidural. I highly recommend them.

Nurse Amanda ordered David and I to get some sleep, and we did for a couple of hours. Then it was time to get ready to push. This involved me putting on makeup and David taking a shower and getting his haircut by one of the nurses. Don't judge, we had to look good for pictures!

 At 2:03 pm, after pushing for about an hour and a half with the assistance of about 5 nurses (we talked and laughed in between contractions - it was fun!), Knox David was born. Dr. Smith calmly told us that the cord was wrapped around his neck, so he was going to be taken by the nurses to get oxygen. David went with the nurses to the other side of the room with Knox, while I watched for what seemed like an eternity from my bed, tears of joy streaming down my face, anxiously waiting to hold my little boy. Finally David brought him to me, and we held our little boy together, and said a prayer thanking God for our healthy little boy.

Getting ready to have his umbilical cord cut by his dad. 

First moments as a family.

Nurse Amanda with Knox.

Childbirth is exhausting. Even for dads - David was with me, encouraging and comforting me the whole time.

 So pretty much nothing went according to my natural birth plan. Not only did I have an epidural, I also had an episiotomy, had my water broken, had an IV, got pitocin in my IV to speed up contractions while I was pushing, didn't get to hold my son immediately and breastfeed because the cord was around his neck, and I didn't get to choose my labor positions once I had an epidural so I gave birth lying on my back. The one thing that did go according to plan was I had a vaginal birth - I really didn't want a C-Section!

 I have no regrets about any of it - especially the epidural. I fully intend to have one the next time around. All that matters is that in the end we had a beautiful, healthy little boy, for whom we thank the Lord daily. 

First Comes Love

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage! Our little bundle of joy, Knox David, was born on June 28 (exactly one week past his due date) at 2:03 pm, weighing in at 7 lbs, 13 oz and measuring 21 1/2 inches long. When he came out, my first thought when I saw him as they whisked him away was, "He's huge!" Not in weight, but in length!

Words can't describe the feeling when you see and then hold your child for the first time. Here we are all together as a family of three. 

Some of Knox's distinguishing characteristics that we noticed from the start: lots of dark hair that started pretty far back on his head (already a receding hairline?!) and that stuck straight up, LONG fingers, and  what the nurses called "flip flop toes" (big toe spaced far apart from the middle toe - perfect for sandal wearing!).