Eli One Month

This first month has flown by and I have tried to enjoy every minute snuggling this adorable little guy!  He is growing so fast and having two other boys just makes the days go by faster.  Eli spent the majority of his first month sleeping.  I feel like he has been the sleepiest baby of mine.  He definitely has more awake time now.  He sleeps between every feeding.  He does pretty well at night.  He usually goes every three hours but we usually get one longer stretch of about 4 hours.  He sleeps in the rock and play in our room for now.  His nursery is still not 100% finished because I waited to do the nursery until we knew if it was a boy or girl.  The crib and sheets are ready so technically he could sleep in there.

Eli is still breastfeeding!!  He is officially my longest breastfed baby, but that is not saying much.  He usually eats every 3 hours but sometimes he will eat every 2 hours.  I have had a lot of guidance from the lactation ladies at the hospital because breastfeeding does not come naturally for me.  I did find that Eli had a tongue tie, which I had never heard of.  Basically his tongue was too connected.  We ended up taking him to a dentist that specializes in this to have it repaired.  Not the most fun thing I have witnessed!!!  The tongue tie was causing some problems with nursing and could cause more problems in the future.  Things are going better but it will take time for him to learn to use his tongue correctly.  I take breastfeeding one day at a time and have not put any kind of timeline on it.  I think Mark misses being able to feed him everyday.  Mark has fed Eli a few bottles but we kind of stopped that after the tongue procedure.  

Eli's one month appointment went well.  He was 9lbs 5.5oz 30% and 22.5in 85%.  He is definitely my first baby to see the 30th % in anything.  He is just about out of newborn and in size 0-3 months.  His length is the problem.  Size newborn is too short but the 3 month is too wide.  He is just changing over to size one diapers.  I will not be buying anymore newborn.  He got one shot and he wasn't a fan!  He bled more than normal just like Lucas!!  At least I am not worried this time because Lucas did the same thing.  

Going home from the hospital!!

Grandma snuggles

Awake for a minute

First Bath

Not sure if he is a big fan!

All Clean!

Sleeping in the swing

Little Colts fan!!

Meeting Mema!

My first play date!!

We spent a lot of time snuggling on the couch!

Caught a sleepy smile

This is where Eli sleeps

Always has his hands by his face

A little tummy time

Still sleeping!

Eli is such a sweet little baby!!  I wish I could bottle up this baby time with him!  I love cuddling with him.  Since this is probably our last baby I try to cherish every moment!!  We all love him so much.  

Newborn Pictures

Here are few of my favorite pictures from our newborn session.  We used our friend Kelly for these pictures.  She was so nice to do a few pictures at the studio and some at our house.  It was so hard to get a picture of all 5 of us!!  Lucas is at a hard age for pictures.  Kelly did a great job and still got some really good shots!!  I also love the one at the top of my blog page and the one on the right side of my blog page of the boys!!

That hair...I love it!!!

Andrew is such a loving big brother!!!

I think I am a little outnumbered

I love this one so much.  Anytime I am holding Eli, Andrew wants to sit right next to me and Lucas wants to touch him. My days are long and I am tired, but I feel so blessed and complete!!!  I wouldn't have it any other way!!

Big Brothers

Andrew and Lucas are doing great being big brothers!!  Both boys are obsessed with their new baby brother!  I can't keep the boys away from Eli.  I knew Andrew would do great because he did so well with Lucas.  I had no idea what to expect with Lucas, but he is doing better than I ever imagined!  They both always want to kiss and hug him.

Andrew meeting Eli at the hospital

Lucas checking out his new baby brother

This picture might be right before he poked Eli in the eye

I love this one!!

My boys!

Andrew loves holding Eli.  I am pretty sure that he holds him at least once a day!

These 3 boys are going to be so fun!!  I love them so much and thank God for them everyday!

Eli James

He is finally here!!! It's a boy!!  Eli James was born on January 3, 2015.  For some reason with this baby I felt like he was never going to come.  For some reason I had it in my head that I would have baby #3 before 38 weeks.  I guess because Lucas came at 38 weeks I thought this baby would be earlier.  Obviously, I was wrong!!  He came on a perfect Saturday afternoon.  God's time is always best and I just kept telling myself that everyday he didn't come.  Every night for about 2 weeks my contractions would start up around dinner time, but they always died out by bed time.  I seriously felt like each night would be THE night, but every morning I would wake up with no contractions.  It was so annoying!!  At my 38 week appointment on Monday I was still 2cm.  Dr Fenoughty said we would strip my membranes at the next appointment.  I thought for sure I would be 3cm.  My mom ended up heading home the next day and I had no idea what we were going to do when it was time!!  That week I continued to have irregular contractions.  I started to google how to naturally induce labor.  I bounced on the yoga ball, ate pineapple, and tried to be more active.

On Friday January 2nd we went over to Bev's house for a play date.  Mark came home from work and my normal evening contractions started.  After dinner I started timing them and they were 8-10 minutes apart!!  After about an hour of that I decided to call the Dr.  She told me to come in!!  I was so excited but nervous that the contractions would stop.  The kids were already in bed so I went by myself to the hospital to see what was going on.  When I got there they said I was still 2cm!!!  I was so embarrassed!!  The nurse told me that it happens all the time and that I shouldn't feel stupid.  She said she would put me on the monitor to see what my contractions were doing.  She came back a little later and said my contractions were pretty regular and gave me the option to walk around for 30 minutes and see if that changes my cervix.  So...in my fancy gown and tennis shoes I walked!  They came in after my walk and I was 3cm!!!  So something was happening!! I was so excited.  Do I get to meet my baby soon??  The nurse said it was up to me if I wanted to go home or spend the night.  I didn't really want to spend the night if I wasn't having a baby.  We decided to take another walk and see if that would make me go to 4.  Then again I walked!!  I heard another mom have her baby while I was walking.  I was so ready to meet my baby.  After the 2nd walk...still 3cm!!  I was so frustrated, but by this point it was like 2:00am.  The nurse told me my contractions were still pretty regular so I should try to sleep for 2 hours and then they will check again.  It was so hard to sleep.  When she came back in she told me my contractions had really slowed down but I was 4cm!!  Dr. Fenoughty told me that once I got to 4 she would break my water.  I called Mark around 7:00ish and told him he needed to get ready to come in.  WE WERE HAVING A BABY!!!  We were able to get my mom on the way to watch the kids and 2 amazing friends helped out with the kids until my mom came.

Dr. Fenoughty came in about 8:00 to break my water but Mark wasn't there yet.  She agreed to wait until he arrived.  She actually went home for a little while.  Side note-Dr. Fenoughty was actually sick with some type of virus.  I was so worried about her delivering the baby but she promised she wasn't contagious.  Mark arrived around 9:00 and Bev arrived not too long after to take pictures for us again.  She is amazing for putting her life on hold to capture our special moment.  Dr. Fenoughty came back and broke my water.  I had to walk once again to get my contractions a little more regular.  This time it was fun because I had company :)  The contractions got much stronger after the walk!!  By the end of the walk I could barely walk through them.

Best nurse!!

I finally decided to get the epidural!!  After the epidural I continued to slowly progress.  This baby decided to take his time coming out.  Dr. Fenoughty and the nurse hung out in our room for awhile and we had some interesting conversation.  Around 1:45pm I started feeling like it was time.  The nurse came in and checked...it was go time!!

In a little pain before the epidural kicked in

It's baby time!!!

After a few contractions of pushing, Eli James was born at 1:55pm on January 3, 2015.  It was a boy and he was perfect in every way!!  I was in love the moment I saw him.  He was 7lbs 6oz and 21 inches long.  He is my smallest baby.  It is so amazing how you can love someone so much and so fast!!!  I am so thankful that God has blessed us with 3 healthy boys.  Not a day goes by that I don't feel so blessed!!!

It's a boy!

Eli James is here!