Levi's New Ride

Blake got an earlier flight since he didn't work today. He'll be home in an hour! Yay!

Friday we have our first family pictures scheduled! I have no clue what to wear. I bought outfits today but I don't think we'll end up wearing them. It's so hard to find stuff for Levi because he's in between a preemie and a newborn size. Some newborn sizes fit him and then some are huge! So frustrating!

I bought him a new toy today. It's not really a toy but ya know. I figured we could use it as a bed for him while we're staying in the hotel in Oklahoma rather than just laying him on the bed. He likes to sit in it and just look around. It rocks back and forth but he's still in the stage where stuff scares him and his hands go flying around.

This week is gonna be super busy with trying to see everyone before we head to Oklahoma. But also fun because we have the whole week off and get to actually spend time with each other!

Levi's crying....gotta go!

Just because...

I can't believe how fast he is growing! When he was first born he was so tiny I was almost afraid to pick him up but now he is quite the little chunky butt. He's starting to stay awake during the day now. And last night he only woke up once which was at 5am. I ended up taking an extra long nap last night so I was wide awake until 2am. We definitely need to work on getting on the same sleep schedule.

My little sleepy boy. He looks so different in every picture.

 This picture makes me laugh! His little monkey feet are sticking out.

 He loves to cuddle

 Went to get him a bottle and came to him trying to eat his blanket lol

 He loves bright lights so he either watches tv or watches me play on the computer.

He has yet to cry while taking a bath even when water gets in his eyes. He loves it! 

 This was yesterday. We were out all day running around. This is what he was wearing and he got called a Princess. Really? He doesn't even look like a girl. Not to mention his car seat and blanket have all boy colors. People are crazy!

Blake comes back tomorrow night! Yay! I actually can't wait to go to Oklahoma next Monday. It'll seem like a vacation and I haven't been on one in forever! We could fly there and his work would pay for it but then I would be stuck with out a car so we're driving. It takes 12 hours. So we're gonna stop and stay in Little Rock Monday night. This should be an interesting drive with a one month old. But luckily his work will pay for the gas to drive there also. So far I'm loving his job! I get to stay home and he makes good money and they pretty much pay for everything. Can't beat that!

Happy Monday!
~Christine

Cheesy Potato Soup!

I have an obsession with finding recipes on Pinterest. It's seriously an addiction. I love to cook and bake so of course it comes in handy. Blake always likes to make soups so I looked to see if I could find a potato soup that tasted like O'Charleys. And of course I found one. Here is the original recipe that I used. We didn't follow the recipe exactly so here is our version....

We buy potatoes at Save-A-Lot because they are the biggest potatoes I have ever seen and you can get a bag for around $3! So we use 2 gigantic potatoes and cut them up into small pieces. You can choose to peel them or leave the skin on. Put them in a pot with 1/2 an onion or so finely chopped. Sprinkle in some salt and pepper. 1 chicken bouillon cube and 1 cup of water. Cook until the potatoes are soft. In a small bowl add 1 1/2 cups milk with 2 tbsp flour. Mix together and add to the pot of potatoes. Stir until the soup thickens. Add 1/2 pound of Velveeta cheese and stir until it's melted and you're done! 

The first time we made this we just ate it plain. But the second time we added bacon and green onions to it and topped with shredded cheese. This is the best potato soup I have ever had. Maybe even better than O'Charleys and it is super easy to make!

Now I want some! Enjoy!

Have a good Saturday!

~Christine

One Month Old!

Levi is one month old today! And it's also my original due date! I never got around to ordering those monthly stickers that everyone has so I tried to think of something else I could do. And this is what I came up with....

He absolutely loves baths! He was actually crying right before I put him in his tub. By the way the tub I use is called Puj. I saw it in a magazine and wanted it but it was around $40. No way was I gonna pay that much. One day I was at Target and walked by the baby beds and there was a box sticking out with a clearance sticker...low and behold it was this bath tub! And it was marked down to around $10. Not sure why it was stuck in by the beds but oh well! You can find them here. I think it is super neat! It's actually made out of foam and it's flat but it has 2 magnetic buttons that hold it together when you want it formed into the tub. Pretty neat!

A little Tax talk. Since we aren't married yet obviously we have to file separate. We've been engaged for like 2 years. We don't ever plan on having a big wedding so we weren't ever in a big hurry. We've made attempts to plan something but it never works out. Being 'married' is just a piece of paper anyways in my opinion. But anyway...Let me tell you! Having a kid is crazy when it comes to taxes. I finished Blake's today since he's in Oklahoma. I watched the number keeping going up and up. I felt like I hit the lottery! So needless to say the car will be paid off soon!

This year has started out amazing for so many reasons and I am soooo grateful for all of them. Especially my precious beautiful son! He's starting to show so much personality already and he's such a little piggy! His time to play and be awake is from 8pm to about midnight. I was letting him sleep in my bed but decided not to make it a habit so I wrap him up tight in his swaddle blanket thingy. He cries a little at first but then goes right to sleep. I was setting my alarm clock to feed him every 2 hours but now he's use to it and wakes up when he's hungry which is usually every 3 hours or so at night. He still has gas and I was using Gripe Water but I don't think that helped so I picked up some gas drops today and also some new bottles. I'm officially done breastfeeding/pumping. So glad I took a friends advice and just slowly stopped pumping because lemme tell you that would have hurt to just stop cold turkey! The worst part is that the boobs still leak. Why did someone not tell me all of the weird things that come with pregnancy!

This is how he fell asleep yesterday. Pacifier in his mouth and all! lol

Oh and Blake comes home in 4 days!!! I can not wait! A whole week off to spend with him. Minus the weekend he has drill. Boo! I give props to single moms because it is rough! Trying to figure out how to run here and there and if you have to run into the gas station you can't because you can't leave him in the car. It's exhausting to say the least and I couldn't imagine having to work and do all of this. I always thought being a mom would be a breeze but it's definitely a lot of work!

Time to go do mom duties! Washing bottles and folding clothes....never ending!

~Christine

Brain Fart

I've been having so many brain farts lately! What the heck! I can't blame it on prego brain anymore! So yesterday Levi was 4 weeks old. So I've been thinking all this time okay he's a month old now. Umm no! lol Duh! I guess I'm use to counting like you do when you're prego. Blake won that argument! haha And then today I had 2 different appointments. Which I will never schedule 2 in 1 day btw! I was running around from 9-3. One was all the way across town which they took an hour to even call us back. And then I ran home to eat lunch, feed Levi, change him and get gas. So I get to my 4 week post delivery check-up and there's like no parking anywhere so I have to park behind the building down the road. I'm lugging Levi around in his carrier and the ground is wet so my pants are soaked which I hate more than anything. Then they tell me the wrong floor and I see a lady with a stroller and I'm like WTF! Why did I not get the stroller out of the trunk! Holy cow!

So yea....Today was a stressful day filed with brain farts and blonde moments!

Blake went out on a job and when they do they could be out for days so who knows when I'll get to talk to him again. Sad face. But on the plus side he comes home in 6 days! Yay!

Levi's first faux hawk. He's getting so big :(

Poor little man still has gas even tho I've been giving him the Gripe Water so tomorrow I'm going to make a run to Target and see if I can get different bottles or something and maybe that would help. I talked to the nutrition lady and she said the formula he's on is for gas. It's the Good Start Protect Plus. And lemme tell you, formula is expensive! And diapers. Luckily I haven't had to buy any yet but I'm almost out of diapers. I finally got all of the cloth diapers washed so I'm going to attempt to use those again.

Time to watch American Idol!

All about poo....

Blake comes home in 9 days! I feel like those 9 days are gonna take forever! And little boy will be a month old on Tuesday. Just crazy! I've posted a million pictures and he always looks bigger in the pictures than he actually is. I noticed today he has been extra cranky. He pooped this morning but hasn't since and I noticed he would hold his breath and grunt more than he normally does. He passes gas a lot! So I assumed he was constipated. So I ran to the store and got gripe water and gave it to him. And I also googled what to do to help him. And it said to take a q-tip and put vaseline on it like you would when you take his temperature. It obviously worked because he pooped. Other people recommended giving him prune juice but I'm not so sure about that. He gets hiccups a lot to and the gripe water is suppose to help with that. Hopefully his business returns to normal. I know it's because he's strictly on formula now.

TMI but about this boob business. How annoying! I stopped pumping completely yesterday and this junk is still leaking! I can not wait until it stops! He cries and it's like a faucet turns on!

I was talking to Blake earlier and looked over and this is how Levi was laying...

Just loungin! lol He's spoiled already but that's okay! He deserves it!

We have tornado warnings tonight! Scary! It's on its way here. I put some stuff in the bathroom already in case we need to run in there. They spotted tornadoes in Arkansas. I'm just hoping it all stops before it gets here!

~Christine

If you don't have anything nice to say....don't say anything at all.

After yesterdays post Levi's doctor called and said his Bilirubin level is at 6.8. I asked if that was normal and was told he wasn't sure because Levi looks normal and he doesn't ever test normal looking babies so he has never tested a baby this far out. Really?? He could tell I was still concerned about the whole syndrome thing that he brought up. Which now that his levels are I guess normal he doesn't seem to be concerned. I'm just confused by the whole thing. He's referring us to a specialist at Vanderbilt and scheduling an ultrasound on his liver. We should know when that is by Friday. His pediatrician doesn't need to see him back until he's 2 months. I've been told by numerous people that I should find another doctor or get a second opinion. Which is why we are going to the specialist so he can tell us if all this is normal or if something really is wrong. I'm not sure if it was from the breast milk or if it was caused by the steroid shots I had while pregnant or what.

What I said in my previous post before I got my cased jumped on. Yes we are doing something about this and taking him to a specialist to make sure there is or isn't something wrong. But what I said was that I will not have a 3 week old baby be tortured by getting a biopsy on his liver. If a doctor has to google what is wrong with your child and tell you oh this is what it could be.....something is wrong. I think he may need to go back to school. I could have googled it myself and told him that. Which is pretty much what I had to do.

We should be moving with in the next 6 weeks to Oklahoma so I'm going to have to find him a new doctor out there anyways. If this doctor was a good doctor I would just commute but that doesn't seem to be the case so far.

And if no one agrees with anything I say...this is my child. And you know what they say....opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one and some stink worse than others!

That's all.

Doctors Appointment...Again!

Just got back from the doctor. Levi's jaundice looks like it's gone but the doctor for some reason thinks it was caused by one of 2 syndromes. I've never heard of them and I figured the jaundice was because he was over a month early and because he was breast feeding. It's been 2 1/2 weeks and I think it's finally gone. He did a check today and will call later with the results. So the syndromes are either Gilbert Syndrome or Crigler-Najjar Syndrome. One of them says it is hereditary. No one in our family has had jaundice. And the other one sounds a lot worse and even says the child's life expectancy is 30 years. WTF! He said the only way to know is to go to a specialist and have them do a biopsy on his liver. If the numbers are normal I don't see how it could be either of those. And the only reason he thinks that is because the numbers haven't dropped drastically. Well let's see here. I took him off breast milk for 2 days before his last appointment and then I was doing half formula half breast milk. So if it is the breast milk causing it then there's no way it could drop because he was still getting it! He hasn't had any breast milk since his last appointment so if the numbers are high then I would be concerned. But I don't think it's either of those and there's no way I'm going to put him through the torture of having his liver biopsied. If he has it so be it. He will have the best life and enjoy ever minute of it! Ughh! Stress!

And with that I'm going back to bed! Oh...and he now weighs 7 pounds 3 ounces!

Pinterest

So like everyone else...I have an obsession with Pinterest. As if it wasn't obvious. My mom found a recipe for Bourbon Chicken. I wasn't to sure about actually making the recipe because the last time I tried making my own chinese food I followed a recipe off of pinterest and it turned out horrible. I wouldn't have even fed that mess to my dog! I have made chicken lo mean and crab rangoon that have turned out yummy tho. So last night I decided to take another go at it. And....it was amazing! I pretty much had everything I needed except garlic and soy sauce. So rather than spending the $8 and something per meal I spent less than $4 for 2 people. Anything to save a penny! The recipe said bourbon chicken but because this had red pepper flakes in it, it tasted more like General Tso. Which is okay with me because that is my favorite! Any who....you can find the original recipe here.

This is what their version looked like...

And this is what mine looked like...The color is off but I'm sure it's because I don't exactly have the best quality camera. That will be fixed soon!

This is the way I make it! I buy chicken in the big bulk packages and divide it up before I put it in the freezer so I don't really measure by pounds. I just use enough to feed 2 people. Which would be about 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I pour oil in the pan and turn it on medium heat. Cut the chicken into small pieces. You can chop it smaller once it cooks all the way. Cook the chicken just enough so it's brown all over. Remove it from the pan and set aside. To the pan you just cooked the chicken in add 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup apple juice, 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1 tbsp cornstarch. You need 2 tbsp ketchup ( I don't measure, I just squirt it in the pan) and sprinkle in some crushed red pepper flakes. If you don't like it hot then you could skip the pepper flakes. I add about a teaspoon because I like it spicy. Stir everything together until it's blended. Return the chicken to the pan and cook until the chicken is done and the sauce is thick. I serve mine over rice. Yum Yum!




Have a good Thursday!

~Christine

Never enough pictures!

I think I have an obsession with taking pictures of Levi. He is way to cute and makes to many faces to not take so many pictures. Plus he's already growing way to fast. And I'm still not so sure that I would ever do this again so I'll take as many pictures as I can!

Poop face??

 Maggie is like where's waldo in every picture I take! LOL

 Smiling like his daddy!

 He busted out. He hates having his arms tucked in the swaddler.

 This is his signature pose. He sits like this all the time!

 Can't wait for his hair to grown some more. He looks like a bald man lol

Oh....and screw waiting for the girl scouts to sell their cookies. Thanks to pinterest I found a really easy recipe to make my own Samoas! I HATE real coconut but this is the only thing I will eat that his it. Here's the recipe if you are interested! Soon as I get off my butt and go to the store I will make them!

Happy Hump Day to those that work! Thank god I don't have to! ;) And I guess I should probably mention that this whole being away from Blake thing is way harder than I thought! He comes home on the 31st and is home a week. Then he has to go back for 3 weeks and it repeats. They pay for all of his flights and all that junk but I decided that since this is so hard and it isn't far that he has to miss his son growing up that when he goes back we are going with him for a week or so to find a place to live. Oklahoma does not look very interesting but that's life! He works an hour and a half away from the city and there are no places out there to live so looks like he's gonna have to drive. At least we won't be in bfe and I'll have places to go! And I've always wanted to go to Texas and it's just a hop skip away! Yay! Plus when we go on cruises we can go out of Texas now! But that's a whole different topic!

~Christine & Levi

3 weeks old

Little monkey is 3 weeks old today! I can def tell he's getting bigger. Hopefully the newborn size clothes will fit soon because he has a ton of them!

 This is his favorite position

 Pouting face

Grumpy face

I should start an album called the faces of Levi. He def makes some funny ones!

Happy 3 weeks old little baby!

~Christine

Good Times

Levi's cousin Brody is staying with us again tonight...

 Hoss

 Notice Maggie sitting in the boppy! lol

 Baby Buffet

 I need to work on a tan!

Daddy <3

We went to lunch with my dad and his girlfriend today. I got asked if Levi was mine and I said yes and the lady said well you look good for just having him. At 2 weeks I was still laid up at home. Made me feel good! And I love how many times people compliment on how cute he is!

Taking Blake to the airport in the morning. Sad times :(

Oh and I got a ton of these yesterday thanks to my dad and his girlfriend. I gotta figure em out. Hopefully they won't be a pain in the butt!

~Christine

Out and About

Levi is finally getting out. It's cold and started snowing yesterday. Tennessee winters are nuts! Almost 70 one day and snows the next. Plus unlike up north people here flip out and buy everything they can from the grocery store. And they drive like 10 miles an hour on the interstate...in the fast lane. Come on people!

We met Blake's sister for lunch yesterday before an appointment. Levi is going to love his aunts! He hasn't met his other one yet. They're both so pretty!

Last night I cooked and baked up a storm. I made Crab Rangoon dip found here via pinterest. And Smores bars found here also via pinterest! I love finding recipes on that site! And so far just about everyone I've made has been really good! I also made homemade pizza! And this morning I made breakfast cups found here via pinterest also.

Today we have to run a bunch of errands and take little man to the doctor again to get his Bilirubin checked. So annoying! Blake's last day of his old job ended at 6am this morning. He leaves for his new job on Sunday. We have to drop him off at the airport at 7am and he flies to Oklahoma for 2 weeks. The only time we've been apart in the last 3 years was when I went on a cruise. I think I will probably cry a few times. But I'm gonna have to get use to it because he's only going to be home one week out of the month from now on. But in the end it will all work out because like I said before I get to be a stay at home mom and we have big plans for the future! (ok maybe not me but Blake has mapped everything out lol). Plus the week he is home we get to do fun things! Like vacations or what ever we want!

Little man has been waking up every 2 hours during the night to eat. It's like clock work. He must have an alarm in there or something. I'm still pumping. We got his formula finally that we're going to be using from now on. As of right now I'm mixing one ounce of formula to one ounce of breast milk. So far so good. And I must say I have never heard a baby fart so loud or so much! Is that normal??? He does good when it comes to burping him and he's only spit up twice so far. But his butt is just on full blast!

Poor Blake fell yesterday. He'd probably be embarrassed if he saw I put this on here. He was walking down the ramp and I was in front of him. Next thing I know I hear a bang and him saying Oww. Because of the snow and his boots he slid and landed with his leg underneath him. Thank god it wasn't his bad knee he's had surgery on. He does have a nice little shiner tho! LoL! As I type this sitting on my bed Levi and daddy are napping. As always! So cute!

If only you could hear them. Blake snores and Levi grunts, farts and make noises. Like father like son!

Gotta go!

Oh yea...Happy Friday the 13th!

~Christine

2 weeks old

Little monkey is 2 weeks old today! Crazy how time flies! And I can tell he's getting bigger :(

Love you little boy!

Another doctors appointment...

We took Levi to the pediatrician again today to get his weight and Bilirubin checked. I switched to formula over the weekend to see if it would put some weight on him and it worked! He gained 4 1/2 ounces in 2 days! Yay! As of yesterday I was adding 10ml of breast milk to 30ml of formula and feeding him every 2 hours and it seems to be working well. I noticed today that when he finishes his 40ml he still acts like he wants more so we are upping it to 15ml breast milk and 35ml of formula and trying to feed him every 2-3 hours. He has no problem with feeding. He burps good and doesn't ever throw up. He does get hiccups every once in awhile but I'm not surprised because he had them 1-2 times a day when he was in my belly. And the pediatrician said that was normal. He checked his Bilirubin levels and called us a few hours ago and said it was at 12. Which is down from the last time it was checked. So I guess as long as he keeps gaining weight the jaundice will eventually go away. His skin is still a slight yellow but nothing like it was. The pediatrician was wondering if he was just naturally tan. Which Blakes great grandmother was full blooded Cherokee. And when Blake is out in the sun he gets really dark and his dad gets mistaken for being mexican sometimes. Lol!

Dr. S told us we wouldn't need to come back until his 2 month visit which is when he gets his shots but because his level is still up a little we have to go back Friday to get it checked again. I love his pediatrician but I hate waiting! I guess because he's a newborn once we walk in they take us to the back and we wait in a room back there. Kind of annoying but I know it's way better than sitting in the lobby with all the sick kids that come in.

Blake starts his new job on Sunday. Kind of sad because he'll be gone for 2 weeks in Oklahoma but I know that it will all work out and it's allowing me to be a stay at home mom which is what I've always wanted to do.  He works 2 weeks on and 1 week off. I know he's going to hate being away from Levi but he is the best dad ever and wants to be able to do everything he can to make sure Levi has a good future. We aren't the type of people that live above our means. What we have is nice and because we don't have a million bills like some people I know we can live on a budget and finally start to put a lot of money in savings when he starts this job. I can not wait until things are back to normal! I've worked since I was 14 so staying at home won't feel normal to me but if it means I get to raise my son and not have someone else do it I'll take it!

This morning right before his doctors appointment I decided to take some pictures of him. I almost forgot I crocheted him a bear outfit while I was in the hospital. He got fussy so I had to snap fast but the few I got are cute. After 3 1/2 months on unplanned bed rest we don't exactly have the extra money to pay to get pictures done at the moment so this will have to do for now. My mom and I were talking about getting Levi and his 2 cousins together and getting professional pictures done one of these days. Plus we have never had professional pictures done so a family portrait is a must! And I know it just passed but I can not wait for Christmas this year! He'll almost be 1! That's crazy to think! Ok...enough blabbing...time to show some pictures!

He is so stinking cute! I kiss his cheeks a million times a day and sing him a lovely song I made up lol It's called Yittle Baby Levi.

Have A Good Week!
~Christine & Levi

Jaundice is a pain!

So...I forgot to update Friday. Let's just say I was beyond tired and thank god Blake was off because I finally got some sleep! It's not that little man keeps me up it's just the whole having to wake up to pump and feed him every 2 hours. We got to go home at like 8am on Friday. The doctor that clipped the skin thing under his tongue came in and told us that his Bilirubin level went from 9.8 up to 10.2. Which to me doesn't sound good but she said that normally it goes way up when they take babies off of the lights but his only went up a little. We had an appointment today with his pediatrician to check his levels again. Why is it that you have an appointment time yet you sit there for ever! Drives me insane! He called us when he got the results and it is now up to 13 something. What the heck! This whole jaundice thing is about to drive me up the wall! Levi has another appointment on Monday to check his weight. Which that's a whole different topic. But because of his levels going up they're going to weigh him and check the Bilirubin levels again. And then Wednesday he has his 2 week wellness check-up. He's gonna be 2 weeks already! Crazy how time flies!

About the whole weight thing. When he was born he weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces. When we left the hospital he weighed 5 pounds 11 ounces. Which I know it's normal for them to lose weight. But it is now almost a week later and he hasn't gained anything. I was told it could take up to 2 weeks for him to start gaining the weight back and that sometimes breast feed babies take longer. Well with this whole jaundice issue breast feeding doesn't help get rid of it. So the pediatrician and Blake and I decided that until Monday we're only giving him formula to see if that helps with putting weight on and with making the jaundice go away. I know the older they get and the more they weigh the higher the Bilirubin level is allowed to be. It's kinda like they grow into it in a way. And if he isn't growing then it isn't helping him any. I feel like this is never going to end! I asked the pediatrician what the heck they do if it stays and he said it doesn't. Some babies just take longer than others.

I was going to let my milk just dry up and forget about it and just feed him formula. But I feel bad. I feel like as long as I can produce milk that I should give it to him but at the same time it isn't helping him so what's the point. So I asked advice on the easiest way to make it dry up and of course I got pretty much the same answer. Just strap them tight and don't let anything warm touch them or try cabbage leaves. So I got out the ace bandage and put it tight around the boobs. To me...this isn't going to work. That lasted about an hour and I said forget it. My boobs are way to big to be doing all that. So I talked to another friend who has done this plenty of times and she said to still pump but just do it less and less each time and it will eventually dry up. Which that's what I was going to do in the beginning but I was just really confused and had no clue what I was suppose to do. So we'll see how that goes.

We haven't taken Levi anywhere yet because I'm paranoid about all this jaundice stuff and him getting sick from being around people. The joys of being a parent! Today my nephew came over. He is 7 1/2 months and is a hoss! I swear any day he's going to start talking and walking. He stares at Levi like he has no clue what he's looking at. They laid next to each other and he kept wanting to grab him. I think he might be jealous because Levi has more hair than him. Ha!

He was trying so hard! lol

And Levi was blocking him! lol Made Brody mad!

I finally got a picture of Levi smiling! He makes the funniest faces. I kiss his cheeks a million times a day and this time it made him smile :)

His hands are always by his face!

Cutest baby ever. Love him!

Daddy had to go to work and was saying bye. Blake starts his new job in a week :( He's gonna miss his daddy.

Time to go feed little man and get some sleep while I can!

~Christine & Levi

Update 1/5/12

Levi's bilirubin level keeps dropping! It started at 21 and went from 18 to 14 and now it's 9 something. Yay! And his bowel movements went from being that mustard yellow color to a brown/green color. They aren't really sure why because they said it should still be yellow since I breast feed but they're thinking it's all of the bilirubin coming out. They just said to keep an eye on it and I have to save every diaper to show them.

They gave us the option of whether we wanted to go home today and then just go to the pediatrician tomorrow and get his levels checked or to just stay at the hospital another night. I def decided to stay at the hospital another night. Around 7pm they turned the bili lights off! Yay! I can finally hold my baby again. He laid on my chest and we took a nap. They're leaving the lights off and rechecking his levels in the morning. Hopefully the jaundice will be gone. He looks so much better! When we left the hospital last time he was still yellow. That's why we never noticed any difference. This time I can def tell he has a normal skin color. He's still getting fed every 2 hours but I noticed he isn't wanting to eat as much which I wouldn't blame him. He has a small tummy and eating that much every 2 hours just seems like a lot. As long as he is eating something that's all I care about but I'm not going to try and force him to eat.

Hopefully his levels will stay down and we can go home in the morning! The pediatric unit is new in this hospital and I was told if it hadn't opened I would have had to go to the other local hospital. He's only the 8th baby to be here and I'm the first mom to actually pump and breast feed so I got the pleasure of working out the kinks for them and they got in trouble by the lactation department because they don't have a separate fridge for breast milk. They call me the milking queen because at 9 days after him being born I get a ton of milk. They brought me the Medela double electric pump which I used when he was born and it worked great. I only own the Medela manual pump which has also worked really well for me at home. Today I tried using the electric one again and it took forever and I barely got anything out! So I think I'll stick with the manual pump. Gives your arms a workout but I get a lot out in a short amount of time. Nothing more annoying than having to sit and pump for a long period of time every few hours.

There's only one other baby here besides Levi and she has RSV. Poor baby. So there's like 3 nurses to every patient. It can be annoying sometimes when you just want piece and quiet or when your trying to pump and all these people keep coming in. Can't wait to go home!

I forgot my camera at home or I would have taken a picture of him getting his tan on. He actually seemed like he liked being in there. Probably just because it's so warm. But he hated the sunglasses being on him. He screams bloody murder every time he gets his blood drawn but this last lady must have had magic fingers because he didn't even move.

That's all I have for an update so far. I'll post tomorrow if we get to go home!

~Christine & Levi

Pediatrician and Bad News

We had Levi's first appointment with the Pediatrician today at 2pm. When he was born he weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces and today he weighed 5 pounds 11 ounces. He said with breast feeding it takes a little bit for his weight to go back up. He did the normal check up answered any questions we had. He also noticed how yellow he looked. To me he has looked the same since we left the hospital so I haven't noticed anything different. He took some blood to get tested to check his Bilirubin level. He told us it would take a few hours and that he would call us later.

At 6:30 the phone rang. I was in the bedroom with Levi and Blake was in the kitchen so I could hear his part of the conversation and I heard. "Is that something we need to do now?" That didn't sound good. He came and told me that his Bilirubin levels were up to 21.4 which is bad! And that he wants us to take him over to the hospital asap. So I cried the entire way there because I feel like I could have done something to prevent this. We got there and took him up to the 3rd floor. He has his own little room and I was worried to death because I thought I would have to just leave him there. They let me stay and sleep on the pull out bed. Blake has to work tonight until 6am. They did have him laying naked in an open bed with he bili lights on him but he got cold so they put him in an incubator. Looks a little scary but he's comfortable. He has to wear these black foam sunglasses and when he relaxes he looks like he's just sun bathing.

They checked his Bilirubin again a few hours after getting here and it dropped to 18.7 which isn't good but it's good that it's going down! Since it's dropping they're waiting until the morning to check it again. I have to feed him every 2 hours and the pediatrician wants him to eat as much as he can see he will poop and pee out the Bilirubin. It's crazy that you can actually see it come out. Since the jaundice makes you yellow his pee and poop are bright yellow.

Right now it's 2:45am. I still haven't been to sleep. They wake him again at 4am to feed and to do his vital signs again. So I guess I will try and take a nap. Hopefully everything will be normal in the morning and he won't have to stay here for long.

I love you little baby!

Good Morning!

Levi just wanted to say Good Morning! He has his first doctors appointment today. Hopefully they'll tell us the jaundice is still under control. He is such a good baby! Only time he cries is when he's cold while you change his diaper. He makes the cutest faces! He was watching me play on the computer this morning :)

So as far as losing baby weight goes as of a few days ago I was already down 15 pounds and only need to lose 8 more to get back to pre-pregnancy weight. Woohoo! And I thought this was going to be hard. I can't wait until I heel so I can start doing the zumba on wii. Love it! I really need to lose about 30 more pounds which apparently breast feeding really does work! My body shape feels completely different now. Where I once had belly fat it like disappeared! It's still a little flabby obviously since I just had him a week ago but it's soft now. Not  the hard fat like it was before. And I still only have that one small little stretch mark. Thank you god! Can't wait to be able to wear a bikini this summer instead of a one piece. That's my goal anyway!

This morning I'm going thrifting with my mom! It is so much fun and I haven't been able to go in months! Should be fun. Levi is staying home with dad. It's to cold to have him out and I would never take him into a thrift store anyway. Way to many germs from strangers!  I'll update later about little mans appointment.

This is how we cuddle at night. He is the cutest thing I've ever seen!

Have a good day!

~ Christine & Levi

Home at last...

Friday we got to leave the hospital with our little miracle! We only stayed in the hospital for a total of 3 days and for all the trouble I went through and delivering at 35 weeks I was really surprised. All I've heard the entire time is you need him to stay in as long as he can. He never had to go to the nicu and the only problem he had was jaundice. Not to bad!

I decided to keep breast feeding. The first few days was really frustrating but now it's easy. He doesn't actually feed from the boob but I pump into a bottle and give it to him that way. I do it for about 40 minutes at a time and I end up getting enough for 3 bottles. I have a bunch in the freezer right now so when he's hungry we just get one out and heat it up. It's much easier than I thought it would be and we don't have to spend money on formula!

He is a super easy baby. Hope it stays this way! I don't really get much sleep anyway because at night I never seem to be tired. Just during the day when I have a ton to do of course. I feed him every 3 hours and the pediatrician told me to feed him as much as he would take. So right now he's eating about 35ml each feeding. Sometimes more. They want him to put on some weight because of the jaundice and he lost weight while in the hospital. He barely ever cries. Just when he's cold or hungry and even then it's like a little whimper. I feed him at midnight and then I have to set my alarm clock at 3 am to wake up and feed him since he doesn't ever cry and wake me up. And then the nights that Blake works he gets off at 6am so he feeds him when he gets home so I can at least sleep in some. Helps a ton! The only thing I hate is having to wake up to pump. It probably isn't a good thing but I pump at midnight and then I don't do it again until I wake up. So far it hasn't done anything to the boobs. Lol! They do get a little sore on the sides like towards my arm pits but it's mainly when they're full like in the mornings. I also read that for the first week or so they just tend to be sore because the milk is still coming in. When babies are first born they're poop is like tar. They want Levi to eat more like I said because of the jaundice and they were worried about his poop staying like tar. But as of yesterday it's normal! I knew babies fart obviously but he farts up a storm! Yesterday I guess I wasn't paying attention while I was changing him and I look up and there was a huge wet spot on my bed! Oops! Guess I'm not use to the boy parts doing what they want!

Right now Levi is laying in my lap as I type this. It still seems like a dream. The whole pregnancy process is just crazy and mine was trouble to say the least! I've heard a million times...Oh when he's here you'll forgot all about the pregnancy and you'll want more. I refused but I'll have to admit....They were right. Having a baby is the best thing in this world! Every pregnancy is going to be difficult for me but if I get this little miracle in the end I think I could deal with it a million times more! He is the cutest thing I have ever seen and I'm so glad I get to look at him every day. I couldn't imagine going through life and never having him. I hold him and kiss him as much as I can because you never know what tomorrow will bring. I'm just thankful for today and for everything that I have! And thanks to having the best future husband and father of my child  I can stay home with Levi and enjoy every second of him being here. I couldn't imagine having to put your baby in daycare and leave him with a complete stranger. The world is full of crazy people and there's no way I could do it! I've definitely worked to hard for this.

The weird thing is I've always wanted a little girl. But now that I have my little boy I could have 10 of them and be okay. I just want to pinch his cheeks and eat him up he is so cute! I just wish they stayed little forever! I can't wait to see him get bigger and do all of the fun things that parents do with their kids. Hopefully next spring or summer we can take a Disney cruise. Not that he would remember any of it but he deserves everything in this world and more. I love him to pieces!

My little miracle

This is how he is laying as I type this

Bath Time!

He's a thumb sucker!

Love him!

Cuddle Time!

Levi, 

I love you more than you will ever know!

Your mom <3