Life As We Know It

I know this is going to sound so cliche, but I honestly can't believe that my tiny baby is already a month old. At two and a half weeks, he had already gained a pound and grown over 2 inches! His next appointment is in two days and then I'll know his one month stats.

Life is wonderful with little Trooper in our home. We are starting to learn more about him and understand his cues, so we're settling down into a comfortable routine (almost). Most nights he's an amazingly good baby and sleeps for over 4 hours, then I wake him up to feed him, and he goes right back to sleep for another 3 hours until it's time to wake up and start the day. At naptime, he usually either falls right to sleep or lays quietly in his crib until he gives in to his tiredness. Sometimes there's some crying, but that's to be expected.

I love to cuddle him and rock him in my arms. We just stare at each other for a good part of each day. It makes me feel good knowing how much he loves his mom. Sometimes at night we'll put him to bed and he'll start to fuss. Brent and I will get into bed and read the scriptures together or say our prayers and when Trooper hears my voice he'll get really quiet. Last night I held him until his eyes got droopy, then before I set him in his bed I gave him a kiss on the cheek and he flashed me the cutest smile. He loves us to sing to him and he loves to hear Brent play the guitar. He loves his dad to sway him and swing him since we don't have an actual baby swing to lay him in. He really is such a good little baby and he fills our home with so much joy and love.

Ok, enough with the writing. Here are the pictures I'm sure you've been waiting for.

Um, does he have cool hair or what?!?

Maybe I'm biased, but I think he looks like a little model baby. You can't really tell in pictures yet, but his eyes are turning into such a pretty blue.

Oh he's so cute.

Trooper's first day at the beach - Thanksgiving 2011.

Helping us decorate our Christmas tree.

He actually quite likes his carseat.

My baby's first baseball:)

11.6.11

I've been meaning to write this post forever now, but whenever I get some free time, I find I'd rather sleep or shower or hold my adorable baby boy. But here goes...

At my doctor's appointment on Thursday, November 3, the day before I was due (which I was sure I wouldn't make it to) I found out I was still only dilated to 1.5 cm.  What?! Even after all the curb walking and jogging and spicy foods and lunges and accupressure? But I told the doctor that I had my bag in the car and I was ready for him to send me to the hospital. He just laughed at me:((  But because he was going out of town in a few days, and him being gone would mean a different doctor at a different hospital, and because I live an hour away from the hospital and the APEC conference was the next week in Honolulu (meaning traffic would be a confusing nightmare) the doctor told us we could come in Saturday night for a post-date induction. We made an appointment to be induced late Saturday night (after Foodfest, because we couldn't miss Foodfest! Especially because Brent is now Pre-Med Club President and was in charge of setting up a booth).

So on Saturday, November 5 at 10pm, I checked into The Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii; complete with Brent, my Mom, a duffel bag, 2 backpacks, 3 pillows, a camera bag, and probably a few other things in tow. By 11:30pm, I was admitted into Labor and Delivery with an IV in my hand (probably my least favorite part of the whole experience) and Pitocin was started.

Then we tried to catch some sleep. Labor and delivery beds are not made to be comfortable, I'll tell you what. But Brent and my mom had it worse than I did.

The nurse kept coming in during the night to move around the heartbeat monitors. She'd ask me if I was feeling the contractions every four or five minutes, which I wasn't, and I thought maybe I'd be one of those lucky ladies who goes through labor without feeling any of her contractions! Not so much.

By about 11am on November 6, I started feeling the contractions. They weren't painful yet, I could just feel that something was happening. At noon, my nurse checked and I was still only 1.5cm. Dang it. By about 3pm, the contractions were really strong, painful, and 2-3 minutes apart and I definitely wasn't loving it. To my dismay, Brent and I had to start using the breathing techniques and labor positions that I had learned about in the birth class. I asked about the epidural, but it seemed like my nurse kindof blew me off, like "oh you don't need that yet." (Other than that moment, I really liked my nurse). Finally, while I was getting slightly cranky and tearful, my mom went into the hall and told the nurse to get my epidural. At 4pm, the anesthesiologist came in and gave me my epidural. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, and I honestly feel like I should be thanking Heavenly Father morning and night for the person who invented the epidural. It took just a few minutes to kick in, and life was heavenly after that. I have to say that Brent was amazing during those few painful hours. During the epidural, he was holding me and talking softly in my ear so that I didn't even think about what was happening. Afterward I kindof felt bad because I'm sure it would have been a cool thing for him to watch, but he was concentrating only on me. After the epidural, I was still only at a 1.5! Looked like we still had quite the wait ahead of us, so I fell asleep.

At 5pm, I heard the nurse come in and tell my mom and Brent that I was finally contracting on my own. My body had finally been convinced that it was time. I was at 3cm. Finally some progress. An hour later, at 6pm, my doctor checked and I was at 5 or 6 cm. My mom told my doctor that she went from a 6 to a 10 really quickly, but the doctor doubted that would mean anything for me. But...like mother like daughter. At about 6:45pm, I told my nurse I was feeling some pressure. She checked and I was at a 9! She started setting the room up for delivery and by 7pm, I was dilated to 10cm and the baby's head was +2 or +3.

It was time! At 7:15pm my nurse told me to start pushing whenever I felt the urge. I started shaking, knowing that in a few minutes I would be a mom and my life would change forever. I was nervous. At 7:30pm, Dr. Foley came in and got things really moving, and at 8:05pm on 11.6.11, our little Trooper Brent Lambson was born.

6 lbs. 13 oz. and 19 inches long. We were so surprised to see he had hair. And lots of it! He's absolutely perfect.

First time Daddy held his boy.

Grandma Brady

Dr. Foley-my favorite English doctor.

Although I got nervous when it was time to push, when I held Trooper for the first time, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of peace and love. This was right. Heavenly Father sent this little blessing to Brent and I and we love him more than anything. He is ours. And he's cute! Soon after Brent and I got married, I joked with him that a major perk to marrying him was that he'd give me cute kids. And boy was I right! This little guy is THE cutest thing I've ever seen.

11.8.11 Going home from the hospital!

11.8.11 First bath at home.

At first he wasn't too fond of bathtime, but now I think he knows that at the end he gets to have the running water run over his hair and the back of his head, which he loves, so he just endures the sponge bath as a means to a wonderful end.

I absolutely love his hair. I love to comb it and play with it while I'm feeding him.

11.12.11

His first Bronco GameDay. Luckily, he fell asleep so he doesn't know how disappointing/devastating the game was...

His nursery/wall:)

We just cannot get over his cuteness. We find ourselves just staring at him all the time. It's crazy how just 10 days ago he was in my tummy, kicking our hands and getting the hiccups. In some ways, 9 months seems like such a long time, but then again I can't believe it only took nine months to create this perfect little boy. Our lives seem so much more complete with him here. Losing sleep doesn't seem so bad every time I wake up and see how adorable he is. Brent is an amazing father and I love to see how much he adores his little boy. Becoming parents is the best thing we've ever done. It's even worth the humongous loads of laundry that we now accumulate within three days:)

Ok, now it's time to go feed and cuddle my little boy.