Oy.

Yesterday was a rough day. Mister Henry was super grouchy, sleepy, gassy, etc. He didn't want to be put down all day, but then he didn't really want to be held either.

So, yeah.

Here's a cute picture with Uncle Kurt until I have time to write a real blog post.

I want to write about his three-week appointment today (8 pounds, 10 ounces!).

I also want to write about how it's time for me to start cooking again. I need to start cooking again in a major way.

This Is Where I Eat My Words.

God bless the pacifier.

We aren't using it for naps or bedtime, which means there will be another blog post in a few days saying "now we're using it for naps and bedtime."

Oh well. I have no problem admitting it's nice to have a soother when needed.

How cute is this picture?

Some Family Love.

We have a pretty great family.

(not pictured - a lot of people)

Dave's entire family and my parents have been fantastic. Tons of visits, food and lovely gifts. We've also gotten tons of cards and well-wishes from friends and even grandparents of friends.

We feel very loved.

Not a Pretty Sight.

This whole post-baby, post-ceserean body is the pits. My gut is definitely going down....but not enough and not nearly as fast as I would like. There's a sweet layer of jiggly fat with some awesome stretch marks to boot.

(day one at home - so gross.)

They say it's harder after your second kiddo and they aren't lying. They say it's harder after a c-section and they are freaking right. Sucks so bad, but at least I have two awesome kids to show for my efforts.

Totally worth it.

The Plug.

We don't use a pacifier.

Crazy, huh?

I mean, we tried using it in the hospital and it just pissed him off. We used it at home the first two days/nights and those were our worst nights of sleep by far. Actually, our only bad nights of sleep.

(he looks so cute with one!)

Did I mention Mr. Henry sleeps from 8:15pm until 1:30am until 5:00am? And then rolls out of bed around 8:30-9:00am? He doesn't even cry when he wakes up. He sort of squeaks a few times until I can figure out it's Henry and not something in my dream.

He's very patient.

So back to the pacifier. With Hallie, pacifiers were used from day #1. The nurses used them to quiet my fussy little baby in the hospital and we kept using them afterwards. They got to be a huge pain in the butt, because every. single. time. one of them fell out...she woke up. We finally went all sorts of mean mommy and daddy and did cry-it-out, which involved letting the pacifier fall out and stay out. It worked. Whew.

So with Henry, we just stopped using it and had a rockin' sleep schedule down by day #3 at home.

Awesome. 

He doesn't use it during the day either. He's a fussy little man sometimes, but he usually just needs to have the burp beat out of him. Or he's tired. Like right now, actually. 

Things will probably change as he gets older and spunkier, but for now it's working.

Houston, We Have a Puker.

Don't let this face fool you.

I have gotten puked on the past few days. Actually, not today (yay!). It turns out Henry's excitement of breastfeeding has lead to an oversupply of breastmilk.

Poor guy gulps down milk and then barfs it up later. Like a ticking bomb, sort of.

I've done my research and figured out a few things to get us through this rough time. Because it seriously sucks, for real. Getting puked on is no joke. And this isn't spitup, it's the entire contents of King Henry's stomach. I hate it for him.

The best ting so far has been keeping him on just one breast. I was switching after he was done nursing on the one side, but it's just giving him too much milk on top of the milk he had already gotten (did that sentence make sense?). By keeping him on the one side, it keeps the flow slower, but he is still getting milk.

Anyway.

I'm also keeping him more "uphill" when I nurse so that gravity works in our favor.

And then I burp the crap out of him.

Today was the first day I haven't been barfed on, THANK GOODNESS.

Hopefully we are figuring things out!

Henry Thinks

Hiccups are amusing.



Henry the Hungry Hippo.

Oh, my.

Henry loves to eat.

He latched on great at the hospital and things have been fantastic ever since.

When Hallie was born, she latched on great at the hospital too. Or so we thought. It was only after my nipple almost came off (seriously) did we figure out that her latch was not right. She wasn't opening wide enough and it was killing me. I call it my Nipple Injury and it was no joke.

I remember crying when Dave would bring her to me to nurse. The most comfortable position to nurse her in was on my side, laying downdown, and even that was torture. I would pump and get bloody milk. Nasty, yes.

We stuck with it and by using lots of lansinol and feeding her on my side, we got through it.

Boy, was it rough.

With Henry, I knew what not to do. I went to the hospital armed with my lansinol. I made sure each latch was perfectly nice and wide. I demanded perfection for the sake of my breasts.

And it paid off.

We are a champion breast-feeding duo.

I nurse on demand, whenever that little crazy eater wants to, which is always.

 I am at his mercy and I love it.

(these pictures have nothing to do with breastfeeding. I was going to post a picture of me breastfeeding Henry, but it was right after my milk came in and I resemble a porn star. And I don't think my Grandma Chronister would approve.)

Sleep Log: Week #1

Sleep.

Sleeping in the hospital sucks, period. Between feedings and having your vitals checked you just don't get much of it.

Our first night at home wasn't too bad. I expected worse, honestly. He was up every 2-3 hours to eat.

But he didn't fuss.

And he went right back to sleep. Hmm, interesting. I don't remember it being like that with Hallie.

The next day mister Henry slept all the live long day. Slept and slept and slept. And slept. And I got more and nervous. With good reason.

He was up a ton that night. He wanted to eat the whole night.

But again, he didn't fuss. He didn't cry. He slept a bit between feedings, but just wanted to eat. A lot. Like, a lot.

I hope I'm getting this through that he wanted to eat a lot.

The next day he wanted to sleep again. Great. I charged Aunt Melissa with keeping him awake - mission failed. I tried keeping him awake - nope. He was just too sleepy from a night of milking me dry.

But then as the day progressed he stayed awake more and things were looking up.

And sure enough - last night he was king of sleep. He woke up twice to nurse vigorously, get his diaper changed (poop explosion!) and go immediately back to sleep.

No fussing, no crying.

We will see how things continue to go. But so far....lookin' good, kid, lookin' good.

Who? Seriously, Who?

Who does this kid look like?

My dad? Maybe?

Tomorrow I will try to write out a real blog post.

Life is pretty sweet right now. We are settling into this family of four thing pretty nicely. I've got amazing friends and family bringing me food and giving me company. I've got an husband who is stepping up in every way possible and a little blonde-haired girl who is obsessed with her baby brother.

I've got a birth story that makes me cry every time I tell it or think about it and a tiny little mister who makes it all worth it.

I'm pretty sentimental these days. Loving every second of it.

For sure.

This is Life.

Henry Says Good Night.

Henry Says Good Afternoon.

So does Dave.

Introducing

Henry Paul Mason

June 8, 2011

7 pounds, 4.5 ounces

21 inches

Our precious gift from God, and well worth the wait.

And his big sister, Hallie Elizabeth Mason  

Virginia BBQ

Saturday we hit up the Virginia BBQ for some seriously sweaty fun. Barb shelled out the cash for a good half hour or so of rides and rip-off games.

The kiddos loved it.

And we all loved the pizza at T.Os. Definitely my favorite ever. I put away a LOT of pizza. Like, a lot.

Whoa, mama. Look at that belly!

A Day on the Lake.

After we chopped Hallie's hair off we joined Chad, Melissa and the kiddos for an afternoon/evening on Lake Jacksonville. It was there that Hallie got to pee in the lake for the first time. She was a little unsure, but then ended up thinking it was pretty cool. Too funny.

I have a million and one pictures, so I'm just going to let them do the bloggin'.

And no, I did not actually go tubing. That picture was just for Barb.

First Up - Hallie's "bob"

Found my camera cord!!! I'm going to back up and post pictures from the past few days, but wanted to showcase Hallie's new haircut.

She wanted short, with bangs. I wasn't convinced, but it turned out darling.

Still Here - 40 Weeks, 3 Days.

Still here.

Back to work.

Doesn't that suck?

The comments have already begun - what are you doing here? I can't believe you're still here! When will this baby come out?

PLUS - we have no air conditioning, phones and soon, no internet or email. Today is also the first day of classes for the summer semester.

How much sense does it make for me to be here?

Still Here - 40 Weeks, 2 Days.

No changes! Like, zero contractions, anything. So don't ask.

We are still very much enjoying our time as a family of three. Living it up or whatever.

Yesterday was BUSY - breakfast with friends, sprinklers with friends, Virginia BBQ with family followed by swimming and some much-needed sleep.

4am came quickly when hallie had a dream she peed in Lake Jacksonville...and woke up peeing in her bed. So that was fun.

Today is church, family lunch and possibly a pedicure.

I'm actually enjoying still being pregnant. But anytime, baby, anytime. COME OUT.

Still Here - 40 Weeks, 1 Day.

I have about 18 million pictures from a very fun day yesterday. But I think I left my camera cord at the hair place :( I've already called and left a message, but I'm screwed otherwise.

Yesterday was another day of keeping me distracted. And it worked. We took Hallie to get her hair bobbed off (with bangs!) and then headed out for an afternoon of boating with the Gerards. It was

so

much

fun

I could have stayed out there all night long, except I got hungry for some frozen pizza. Delish!

Anyway, lots of pictures to come as soon as my camera cord is located. But the kids were amazing - minimal fussing and lots of jumping and swimming. It was seriously a fantastic afternoon. Very distracting.

Today, breakfast with Jenna and Brandon, play-time with Abbie, Anna and Sam and then the Virginia BBQ.

You might say I am living it up these last few days.

Swimming.

OUT

May 29

Auntie Melissa

May 30

LC

Papapa (my dad)

May 31

Grandma Granny (barb)

Liz

 

June 1st

ME!

Jenna

Abbie

June 2nd

Dana

Betsy

STILL IN

June 3rd

Griffin!

June 4th

Sara

Nana Jo

Alison

Kelly

 

June 5th

Kurt James

40 Weeks = Fully Gestated. Supposedly.

Today is June 3rd, which means today is my Due Date. Or, Duty Date, as Hallie called it for awhile. Cute.

There is nothing to report - no progress reports to offer - so don't bother asking.

Today will be a regular Friday.

Except it's going to be a Super Awesome Friday.

On the agenda for today:

• Popsicles for breakfast
• Haircut for Hallie - she wants it short!
• Boatride with cousins

It's going to be super fun.

We have a few productive things to do today to:

• Laundry - clothes on the line! Love!
• Clean Hallie's room
• Post office
• Groceries

***********

Last night we had another fun and distracting night as we wait for this baby to arrive. We call it,

Golf With Bob.

This means they all come and pick me up from work and we head to Nichol's Park for some golf. They drive the golf cart while I do a brisk walk behind and do squats on the green. It's very fun.

Golf was followed by dinner at the Brickhouse and some hanging out on the front porch after...it was a great night.

Making It Count.

Still here!

Tomorrow is the due date..but when will the baby really come?

I am loving this rainy, rainy day. It reminds me of when I had Hallie. I was pushing and could hear thunder booming outside.

Pretty cool.

We are making every last evening count as we wait for the baby. Last night, we had pizza and park time with friends. It made for a good distraction and the kids got good and dirty. I think kids should just be filthy all summer. It's a sign they have played hard.

I think Dave looks pretty hot in a do-rag...Tice's do-rag.

Is that how you spell do-rag?