Introducing Noah Benjamin Thompson

I have been meaning to write this post for the past three weeks, but as you can imagine we have been a little busy.  My goal moving forward is to update the blog at least weekly with pictures and updates, so please check back and see how I do.  As this may be a long post, feel free to jump to the sections you are interested in!

Leading up to Noah's arrival:
I had a post entitled '10 days and counting' drafted that I obviously never finished.  In the days before he arrived, I was pretty busy getting ready for him.  I ran what felt like a million errands, froze 8 meals for us, finished our Christmas shopping and wrapping and organized the house (our fridge and pantry have never looked so good!).  We also attended several holiday parties and got to catch up with a lot of friends.  Below are pictures of us the weekend before he arrived.  I continued to feel great the entire time and we had no indication he was coming early since just 2 days before he arrived I was only 2cm dilated (and 100% effaced).  I was absolutely certain he would be late and I would be induced.

Noah's arrival and my labor experience:
Noah arrived 9 days early on December 20th at 6:50pm.  He weighed in at 6lbs 10.5oz and measured 20in long. 

I had several people tell me what labor felt like for them and did a lot of reading about what to expect, but in spite of all that, I was convinced I was not in labor until I was pretty far along.  I woke up the morning he was born and felt some mild cramps, so I figured I was 'preparing' for labor and went for my daily run.  Then, when I was getting ready to meet Ben for lunch, I really started to not feel great (more cramping and quite a bit of nausea), so I called him to cancel but convinced him I was fine and just needed to rest (except that I soon discovered laying down was even worse than standing).   I finally decided to call my OB around 12:30pm, and the nurse asked me to time my 'cramps' for an hour and call back.  I timed them and found they were happening every 4-5 minutes (during this hour I continued to be extremely nauseous and even made a trip to CVS for a sprite).  Despite the horrendous pain and timing of the 'cramps', I was still convinced it wasn't labor, but the nurse asked me to come in , so I had Ben to come home and drive me (too much pain to drive but not in labor, obvously).  He rushed home and took me to the OB office (and yes, we left our bags at home since, like I said, this was not labor).  

When we finally got to the office, they hooked me up to a machine to monitor the potential contractions, and low and behold, it was labor!  The OB then checked me and discovered I was 5cm dilated, so she had us walk immediately to the hospital to check in.  What should have been a 5 minute walk took us 20 because I had to stop every minute or so for a contraction.  When we finally got to L&D and checked in it was around 3:30pm and I was ready for an epidural.  Unfortunately I needed a bag of fluid first, so that took at least an hour thanks to our nurse trainee who couldn't start my IV.  Finally by about 4:45pm I had the epidural and life was good again.  At this point I sent Ben home to get our bags and take care of George.  Ben got back right around 6pm when the OB came to check me and discovered I was 10cm dilated and ready to start pushing.  Luckily I only had to push twice and Noah arrived! 

I got to hold him as soon as he arrived and it was the best moment of my life.  He was (is) perfect, and Ben and I couldn't be more in love.  Here are some pictures from his birthday:

Our hospital stay:
Thankfully our stay was pretty uneventful.  The nurses were nice and we had a few wonderful visitors, including my parents who arrived the morning after he was born.  We did keep him with us both nights, and our lack of sleep was definitely more due to the nurses constantly checking us than him waking up.  Thankfully there were no issues with me or Noah, so we got home less than 48 hours later.   Here are some pictures from the rest of our stay:



Aunt Michelle

Grandma Bea



Grandpa Art



Going home!

His first month:

I can happily say this has been the best month of my life.  Yes, I'm a little tired and have had a minor meltdown or two due to exhaustion but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  He is generally a happy baby and only fusses when he's hungry.  He has been sleeping in a bassinet in our room since we got home (Ben and George have been in the guest room) but may move to his crib soon.  I will be sad to see him go but think it may help both of us sleep better.  We are using the Moms on Call method and are working our way up to having him sleep from 9pm to 2am and then until 6 or 7am.  So far we've gotten to 2am some nights but have had a few where we only got to 12:30 or 1am. 

The first few days he was tired all the time and wasn't gaining weight so we had to supplement with formula.  This was much harder on me than on him as he was more than happy to get milk out of a bottle (yes, he's a lazy eater or a 'snack and snoozer' as we like to call it).  I felt like somewhat of a failure but have come to terms with it since it was best for him.  Since week one I have been spending a lot of time pumping and he now only gets formula for his 9pm feeding (this is in an attempt to get him to sleep to 2am).  I plan to keep pumping as long as possible, but it is starting to wear on me because I'm feeding him 7 times a day and then pumping 8-9 times a day.

We celebrated our first Christmas with just the family and it was wonderful.  Noah got a million presents but slept through us opening most of them.  We've also had a lot of visitors who have come bearing advice, food and great company.

Over this last month Noah has gradually become much more alert and is most awake in the mornings after his 9am and noon meals.  We 'play' as much as possible then, and play pretty much involves him looking around the room (he is just starting to make eye contact and stare at objects), tummy time, swinging and lots of cuddling. 

We try to do one outing most days, such as a grocery store trip or lunch with a friend.  This is as much as we can handle since he still eats every three hours during the day.  In the afternoons when it is nice we also go for a long walk in the neighborhood.  He likes to sleep in his bassinet during our walks but will hopefully start being more alert for them.

I could go on for pages about everything that's happened so far, but to spare you all too much detail, I will stop now and just post highlight pictures.  The last thing I will say is that we haven't forgotten our other two boys, and they are adjusting as well as could be expected.  George needs a lot of attention from Ben but likes to lick Noah and shows great concern when he cries.  The Nibby on the other hand pretends that Noah doesn't exist.  The first two weeks he wouldn't even sit on the couch with us but has since resumed his normal position while continuing to ignore Noah.



Arriving home

 

Our stork - thanks Grandpa Art!

Our first walk

Our first bath

Merry Christmas!



Heather and Garrett (sorry for the pee G)



Our first visit to the doctor

Grandpa Thompson

Grandma Thompson

Tummy time!  Thanks for the help, George

First lunch outing

Nibby is at least a fan of the stroller

2 weeks old

3 weeks old

Snacking and snoozing

Happy Birthday Mommy

free at last

Let the countdown begin!  Baby Noah should be here in two and a half weeks, but I have developed a completely irrational fear that he will never come.  Yes, I realize this is crazy because he can't stay in there forever, but I also can't imagine going into labor anytime soon.  Thankfully my OB will only let me go about a week past his due date, so he should certainly be here by the first week in January (for tax reasons, everyone keeps telling me to make sure I have him before the end of the year, as if I'd wait longer if it were up to me...).  At my appointment last Thursday, which was a few days shy of 37 weeks, he weighed in at exactly 6 pounds, so it doesn't sound like I'll be having an enormous baby, and that is just fine by me.  I was 8 weeks early, and Jake and Ben were in the 7 pound range, so it seems fitting that Noah will be in the 7 pound range too.  The dilemma I am having with this is that I don't know what size clothing he'll wear, so I am stocking up on a few newborn and one preemie outfit just in case.   As Ben has pointed out several times, baby Noah already had more clothes than he does, but the majority are for 0-3 months or older, and I have a sneaking feeling those will be too big right away.  The good news about being half way through week 37 is that Noah is now considered full-term.  Of course the closer we get to 40 weeks the better, but at least he is fully developed should I unexpectedly go into labor.  I am having weekly OB appointments now, and at my appointment last Tuesday, I was only 1cm dilated and 50% effaced.  They will check me again next week, so I am crossing my fingers for progress.

As I near the end, I am still feeling pretty great.  I've noticed I get really tired after being on my feet for a long time (aka after a full day of shopping), but I am still able to exercise and generally have a good amount of energy.  The heartburn is still here but not as bad as before and sleeping hasn't gotten any easier.  To continue to prepare for his arrival, we completed a childbirth education class two weekends ago, and both Ben and I found it to be rather unhelpful.  The only important thing we learned is when to go to the hospital after labor starts, which is something I'm pretty sure my OB would have told me.  This weekend we're doing a breastfeeding class, and I am hopeful that it will be more informative.  We also met Noah's pediatrician yesterday and really liked him.  He'll come meet Noah the morning after he's born and check on him each day until we leave the hospital. 

In other news, I am finally free from work and officially on vacation!  It was a rough few weeks transitioning all of my projects, but eventually I wrapped almost everything up and hope to do minimal work for the rest of the month.  My first few days of vacation have consisted of a lot of errands to get ready for Christmas and Noah.  Ben and I adopted a family through an organization called Families First, and I had to deliver their gifts yesterday, so Monday involved a lot of shopping and wrapping.  It was really fun to get gifts for the family and we'll definitely make that a tradition.   I've also almost completed my Christmas shopping, and once that is done, it will be time to tackle some house projects and make some meals to freeze.  Ben is a little nervous about the nesting that has been happening but generally tries to humor me.

This past weekend we also had our first two Christmas parties, which unfortunately fell on the same night this and last year.  The first was Ben's work party, and it was great to spend time with all the wives I don't get to see enough.  Then we had a neighborhood party at the Millers' house, which was just as fun as last year except that I was completely sober (I figure I've made it this far, what is a few more weeks?).  We have three more parties this weekend, and I have to say that the maternity clothing world is sorely lacking in holiday attire.  I have searched everywhere for holiday outfits and come up with almost nothing, even if I were willing to spend a lot of money.  In the end, I found one shirt that is holiday-ish and have one that I can still wear even though it's not maternity, so I am scraping by. 

Since I don't have any good pictures of me from the last few weeks (I'll take one this weekend), I figured I'd share some George and Nibby holiday photos.  Jingle Dog, as George is now known as, loves his jingle collar, but the Nibby wasn't feeling it.  Also Ben has boycotted shaving since the middle of November and I'm not sure at this point what it will take to get him to shave.  Labor maybe?

Thanksgiving and the Nursery

With only four and a half weeks left, it is finally starting to hit us that we're having a baby.  There is actually going to be another person living here in just a few weeks, and I realized the other day while Ben was out of town that I may never stay at home by myself again.  So, at this point I am trying not to panic about all the things  I haven't yet done and just enjoy the final few weeks of freedom from being responsible for Noah.  That is easier said than done, however, because there seems to be so many projects I haven't tackled, including cleaning out the rest of our closets, cleaning out the fridge and pantry, packing my hospital bag and organizing all of Noah's clothes.  At least I am finished washing his clothes, so if he does surprise us by coming early, then he will have clean things to wear.  The saving grace with all of this is that I only have 6 more days of work, so once next Friday rolls around, I can really focus on his impending arrival as well as finish my Christmas shopping.

I am now 35 and a half weeks, and that makes Noah a little over five and a half pounds.  He is approximately the size of a honeydew melon, and while it is (sometimes) hard to imagine that I'm actually carrying that around, when I look at myself in the mirror I do realize how huge I look and that I'm getting bigger every day.  He is still pretty active and gets the hiccups a lot and my only complaints continue to be not sleeping and the occasional heartburn.  

I am happy to announce that we've checked one item off our to do list...finish the nursery!  It was hard to get good pictures but I did my best.  We still have the wall about his dresser to fill, and I think we'll do either his birth details (you can get really cute prints with all the details on etsy, my favorite place to shop) or some of his newborn pictures.

Two other items we crossed off our list were picking a pediatrician and touring the hospital.  We get the meet the pediatrician in early December (not that I have any idea what to ask him), and hopefully he will be at the hospital when Noah's born.  Our hospital tour went well, and I figure that in the midst of us panicking when I am actually in labor we will hopefully remember one or two things they told us like where to park and where to check in.

We also got to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family in Ellijay, GA, which is a small town in the mountains about an hour north west of Atlanta.  Jake was here for a full week, and we spent three nights in the mountains with my parents and the dogs.  We didn't fall in love with our cabin (mainly due to the large number of bugs), but the view was pretty and we had fun spending time together and eating really good food.  My mom and I did some shopping on Black Friday at the outlets, and then Jake and I did more shopping when we got back to Atlanta, so I am happy to say that I'm at least half way done with my shopping!   And speaking of Christmas, we also got our tree and plan to decorate this weekend.

weeks 32 and 33 & my chapel hill shower

At almost 34 weeks, Noah has made it further along than I did (I was born at 32 weeks).  He is the size of an average cantaloupe, weighing 4 3/4 pounds.  It is hard to imagine that something that big fits into me and that he is getting so much bigger each week (he gains approximately 1/2 a pound per week).  On our second to last (yay!) ultrasound this morning, the tech confirmed he has a full head of hair, which explains the heartburn I have been having.  Of all the crazy things you hear about pregnancy symptoms, it sounds like this link may be true (Johns Hopkins thinks so at least -http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/health/20really.html).  Since he is so big (well technically average), the ultrasound pictures aren't great.  He still loves to cover his face with his hands, so this is the best profile picture we could get. And, yes, we realize his lips and nose look huge, but they promised he has a cute button nose.  We'll see...

34 weeks

Also, I have gotten several requests for a belly picture, so here I am:

34 weeks

Besides getting bigger each week, I feel pretty great.  Sleeping is still a  pain because I can't get comfortable, and both Ben and I caught colds this weeks, so the congestion has made sleeping even harder, but otherwise I feel as good as ever.  I keep waiting to feel worse, and maybe/hopefully I will be lucky enough to feel good until the end (famous last words?).  I will say that I have been extremely hot, so the start of winter couldn't come at a better time.  Poor George, Nibby and Ben (especially Nibby who hates the cold), are dying at our house because I keep turning the heat off.  I figure at least I'm saving money on the heating bill, and we can use that to buy the 10-12 diapers he will apparently go through every day.

Noah and I have had a pretty eventful couple of weeks.  Nesting has hit in full effect, so the disorganization of the closets and refrigerator at home are driving me crazy, which in turn is driving Ben crazy.  Ben was out of town last weekend visiting his family, and that gave me a chance to revamp all 3 closets downstairs.  The container store may become my home away from home for the next 6 weeks - it is basically a dream come true for someone who can't stand clutter.  I have several more projects lined up, so as soon as I'm done with work (12 more days!), I will get started.

Two weekends ago, Leni, Leslie, Jess, Kristen and Heather threw me a baby shower in Chapel Hill.  There were lots of amazing decorations, delicious food and fun games.  Noah and I are so blessed to have such great friends and overwhelmed by everything they have done for us.  We also are grateful to now be almost fully stocked with the baby items we think we need (yes, I expect we have plenty of things we don't need and that there are a million things I don't yet know that we need). 

The Nibby has helped us test out some of our gifts, namely some outfits and our stroller.  As you can see, he is definitely larger than a 0-3 month old baby.  I think he might be more in the 9-12 month size.

While I was in Chapel Hill, I got to see baby Annabelle again, who is still doing great (although she is keeping Leni up most of the night), and that same weekend was Madison's first birthday, so we got to celebrate with her.  It is hard to believe that just a year ago she was born - Noah will be able to learn a lot from her, and he is certainly meant to be with an older woman.