Month Two = The light is ON

At any given point of time in the day I will undeniably have a combination of either pee, spit-up, milk or poo on me. At the moment I have spit-up on my neck and a tank top covered in milk. Should I shower and change? yes. Will I? Probably not.
I'm not sure when it happened but some time over the past three weeks a light switch clicked on in Liam's brain. He started looking at us and smiling. What a feeling! This mostly happens when he first wakes up in the morning. I'm sure he does that on purpose because he sees my grouchy sleep deprived face and can't help but smile which makes me smile and able to start my day right.
He is also entertained my moving things that make noise. Rattles, blinking lights, he loves his mobile in his crib. He was fussing like crazy one day and Mike put him under a toy cat that has flashing lights and plays music and he went absolutely silent. He was totally enthralled. I am liking this new phase. There are phases I am not enjoying. He now totally hates car rides. I think he gets bored or lonely or something but I can't even run a quick errand without having a crying baby on my hands. He's totally happy once we get there, it's just the car ride. I'm REALLY hoping it's a phase he'll grow out of.
This month he was able to meet his Uncle Brian and Uncle Jon which was really awesome. They were so good with him.
He also had his first trip to the lake and to the swimming pool. It's just too darn hot not to be in the water in Texas.
I've started watching our neighbor's baby a couple of days a week for extra income. He is 7 months old and really fun for the most part. There are those moments when both babies are crying and I have to decide who to pick up first and how to calm them both at the same time. It's at those moments that I think "Thank God I didn't have twins" I have to give kudos to anyone who has raised twins. It's hard enough with just one baby! I can't believe I wanted twins so badly!
Liam has also been using his voice a lot more. His baby talk is so cute and loud for such a little guy! A part of me is hoping this means he will start speaking sooner rather than later.
This month he weighed in at 17lbs 10oz and 26in long. He has outgrown most of his 3 month clothes and is now wearing 6 month clothing. I'm a little nervous what his size will be at 6 months!
I have to admit, it is a lot of fun seeing him develop has quickly as he has been. I know it's just going to get even better.

One Month = sleep, poop, poop, eat

I am writing this late. Liam is two months now but I am going to reminisce from last month as the thought of doing a blog post never crossed my very sleep deprived, baby distracted mind.
As most of you all know by now, Liam is a beast. Just his size, his personality is that of an angel, a very very hungry angel. He popped out of the womb hungry! He was eating about every hour and a half to two hours everyday all day and night. It's funny, I was once one of those people who said "I've got two dogs, I'm prepared for parenting" HA hA HA! If only it were as easy as scooping dry food in a bowl twice a day!
I am keeping with my natural parenting and breastfeeding Liam. It is beautiful and wonderful but a lot of work. I read recently that breastfeeding is a labor of love and that could not be more true.
You can easily say that about parenting in general though.
I can't even begin to describe the feeling that child brings to my heart. He has opened a door in my soul that I never knew was even there. I could literally stare into his face all day and night and not tire of him. I look at his little hands and eyebrows and lips and toes and think to myself "I made that, I created that from just a couple of cells, WOW".
There wasn't a lot visually happening with his development during this month. I think it was just a major adjustment time for Mike and I getting use to this little human in our lives.
He is strong and has been able to hold his head up from the first moments after birth. Each day I see him getting stronger and stronger too.
He weighed in at 15.5lbs this month and 24.5in long.

Welcome to the World Liam!

It has been an absolutely crazy past 17 days. For those of you who don't already know, the world welcomed Liam Tommy Kilpatrick on April 11th at 10:35am. Weighing in at almost 11 pounds (10lb 14oz) and almost 2ft long and born au natural. I still am not sure how my body handled that one!

My water broke at 11:55pm on April 10th. This is after literally trying every natural labor inducing method out there (with the exception of caster oil). I still didn't have any signs of labor so my midwife said to get some sleep and I would probably start labor within 6-8 hours. 30 minutes later, I went into labor.

This picture was taken pretty soon after I went into labor. I wanted to document how massive I was before he arrived. (39 weeks 5 days)

Time is funny when you are in labor. You would think that it would drag on because of the discomfort of contractions but it flew by. In no time at all my contractions were 3 minutes a part and Mike suggested we call the midwife again. We met her at the birthing center at 4:30am. I was really relieved to have my favorite midwife Roswitha for these first stages of labor. She was reassuring and comforting. The next few hours were a blur of handling contractions. Sometimes I like being massaged, other times I hated being touched. I knew things were progressing nicely when I was in writhing pain and Roswitha came in really excited and said "yes, this is going wonderfully!" It did not feel so wonderful at the time. Luckily I was far enough along to finally get in the big tub. She didn't want me to get in too soon because it may slow labor down. I'm not sure how long I was in the tub for but eventually Roswitha had to go home and we got a midwife we'd never met before named Michelle. I was so far gone it could have been a homeless man in scrubs and I wouldn't have known the difference. After some of the hardest contractions of my life they told me I could start pushing. So I pushed, and pushed and pushed, then they said I had to get out of the tub "do I have to?" yes. So I did. Then I pushed some more. Mike then announced that he could see the head! Keep pushing! All I could think of was what my mom had told me "Once the head comes out, the rest of the body will just slide right on out" so I pumped myself up. All you have to do is get the head out, that's all. Push..Push...Push..Push..."Okay, the head is out! Now I need you to give me two big pushes and some small pushes" PUSH..PUSH..."Okay, I need you to give me two more big pushes!!!" what the hell?!? What seemed like centuries later, Liam finally made it out. He was put on my chest and he was blue with a cone head and he was the most beautiful creature I have ever laid eyes on. He hadn't cried yet and Mike said "What do we do?" the midwife said "Talk to him" so he did and as soon as he heard Mike's voice he took his first breath, well wail. It was magnificent.

He lay on my chest for over an hour or maybe it was two. I hadn't slept all night and sleep was far from my mind. I kept looking at his little hands and feet and his wrinkly little face. He is so perfect.
Eventually it was time to weigh him and the midwife said "anyone want to take a guess?" I don't know, 9 1/2 pounds? Nope. Almost 11 pounds! It was the biggest baby the midwife or the midwife assistant (also named Michelle) had ever helped deliver. They measured his head and then his chest. It turns out his chest was bigger than his head! No wonder it was so hard to push him out!

The days that followed have been a bit hazy. It turns out that newborns eat a lot and often. I sometimes find myself feeding him every hour! We are continually learning to communicate with each other. I catch myself just staring at his face and totally losing track of time. I can't believe we created this amazing creature. I met a woman once who had a son. She described him as her heart walking around outside her body. I totally get that now. I am so excited to share this amazing world with him.

We have also been graced with some of the best friends this world has to offer. Shortly after Liam's birth we were given loads of pre-prepared meals. I cannot even explain how amazingly helpful and wonderful these gifts have been. I cannot help but think that if it weren't for all this food, we would be living off of Ramen noodles and cold cereal. Thanks to everyone who has helped us!

Instead of posting all of Liam's photos on the blog which would take forever, I've created a photobucket album which I am continually updating with his most recent photos. If you would like to see them, you can check it out here:
http://s1181.photobucket.com/albums/x432/Britt_Kilpatrick/Liam%20Tommy%20Kilpatrick/

Once I get my bearings a little better, I will try and continue posting on this blog updates on how our little man is doing.

Get Ready Earth, I'm Coming! Weeks 37-38

Last week I started having much stronger Braxton Hicks contractions. (side note: for those who don't know what these are they are considered "practice contractions" or "false contractions") It dawned on me, he could come at any minute now! It was a really overwhelming feeling that this was actually happening! Then...nothing happened. The contractions stopped and I realized I had to get myself really mentally prepared for this!
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, dummy, you've had 9 months to do that! I thought that I was mentally ready until the actual symptoms of labor began to happen. Skip forward to a week later at present time. The contractions haven't stopped, the morning sickness hasn't stopped, the limbs numbing haven't stopped, my hips hurt, It takes me several minutes to do simple tasks like get out of bed or get up from the couch. I AM READY!! I am mentally ready, physically ready and now, thanks to a week of final preparation, I am baby ready!

I have my birthing bag packed with receiving blankets and tiny hats, I have the nursery ready and almost complete (with the exceptions of just a few more alphabet letters) *Pictures posted below*, I have cleaned the house top to bottom, I hand-washed the car and vacuumed it out so our little man wouldn't be insulted by all that Nico hair, I made a birthing music mix and I stocked the house with labor foods like Gatorade and frozen peaches (my favorite).

Last week the day after I started having contractions the midwife checked my baby making bits to see my progress. I was pretty nervous because of the last examination. She was even a little rougher which made me even more nervous but all went well. She told me that I was still 1cm dilated and that I had gone from 30% effacement to 80% effacement (side note: for those of you who don't know what that is it means my cervix or "baby exit" is getting softer and easier for him to come out). I decided not to get checked at this weeks visit. I wasn't as comfortable with this midwife and Mike wasn't with me which is always a sign that something bad will inevitably happen. It's interesting on that note. I'm discovering that if Mike is not at the appointment with me my blood pressure is higher than when he is there. I'm not sure if it's coincidence or if he really does calm me. I am going with the fact that he calms me. Which is perfect for someone who is going to be my labor coach.

Also on the big news front, we have FINALLY decided on a name!
Liam Kilpatrick
It's a name we've liked from the beginning but have avoided because it's fairly popular right now. Mike and I were driving one day and I was thinking about the name Liam and he said out loud "you know, I still like the name Liam" I took it as a sign, that and it has been the only name so far that just feels right. Now all we have to do is come up with a middle name! Zeus? Thunder? Man Hammer?

I am hoping beyond all hopes that this is my last pregnancy picture to post and that the next blog will be me actually holding my son. If not though, you can bet it will be a really sour face picture.

On a fun note, I am posting a picture of my Mom the day she went into labor with me. She looks like how I did 3 months ago! Needless to say, our pregnancies have not been the same. She is so cute!

The Nursery!

 The infamous Alphabet Wall! 

*Beka and Rooney, you may notice that your cookie shaped "C" is not on the wall. I am sad to say that shortly after we received it, the dogs ate it, well attempted to eat it, it was pretty hard. They are such jerks sometimes!

It's the Final Countdown! Weeks 34-36

This little guy is packing on the pounds!
At least I would like to think that it is him gaining all this weight and not me.
There are lots of changes happening to my body that it has now become an alien force that I am unfamiliar with.
I now have fingers and toes that no longer look spidery but sausagey. It takes all the strength in the world to move from my right side to my left side once I've laid down in bed. I'm like a reverse turtle.
I also find several of my limbs falling asleep from just sitting or laying down. Like I said, alien body.
It is also 100% impossible to find any outfit that covers my belly. That sucker cannot be tamed.

I am now officially full-term; meaning that if I go into labor I will be able to deliver him at the birthing center and have him be healthy.

There was a slight scare the other day when I had my midwife appointment for my 36 week check up. She did an exam to check my cervix to see how it was doing. She said I was 1 centimeter dilated and my cervix was softening nicely. After the exam was done I began bleeding a lot. Enough to scare me and the midwife. We ended up doing an ultrasound to make sure my placenta was in a good location and not compromising anything.
The ultra sound found that everything was normal and our little guy was doing just fine. He is head down and facing the correct direction and everything.
Eventually the bleeding stopped and I was able to calm down. Apparently it is fairly common for bleeding to happen on those types of exams, it was just very worrisome. I wasn't prepared for that kind of a scare.

After my midwife appointment, I was really able to feel my Braxton Hicks contractions. Before they had been painless but now I could really feel the pressure. I can't help but feel like this is a sign that he is going to be slightly early. That and he is monstrously huge.

Today is also my last day of work at Evolution Graphics. It is bitter sweet because I hate to leave the job but I am also excited to be able to relax a bit before this little guys comes.

Now for the freak show...My belly:

Balloon Tops and Baby Drops Weeks 32-33

When I first got pregnant Mike and I sat down and made a list of all the things we were going to need as new parents. Needless to say the list was very over whelming. How on earth were we going to have enough time or money to gather all of these essentials?!
Little did I know, that with the amazing support of my family and friends this list would not only be fulfilled but then some! These last two weeks we were showered with even more amazing generosity!
My older sister Jen, who as most of you may already know, lives in California. She came up with the brilliant idea of throwing a shower by mail. This way family and friends who live far from the lone star state could help outfit our little baby bean (that's right no name yet) and get him ready for this world! The shower was themed to go along with the nursery idea we have for his room:

Each guest mailed a gift and an alphabet letter. I can't even explain how fun it was opening these gifts! We signed on to Skype and via internet I opened some of the most spectacular gifts and letters. With the exception of just a few letters, I am almost ready to decorate the alphabet wall. I will hopefully have it all put together to show pictures in the next blog post.
My sister, even though she was so far away made this day so special, she even surprised me with balloons!

As if this weren't incredible enough, this past weekend my amazing friend Kendall threw me a shower with all of my friends from Austin. I couldn't believe how many people gathered together on Mike and I (and bean's) behalf! It wasn't until I sat down to open my gifts and looked around at all my friends that it hit me how absolutely blessed the three of us really are.

I just want to thank everyone and I mean EVERYONE for not only helping us fulfill our baby "necessity list" but supporting us in this exciting adventure of new parenthood.
I am so grateful to have such amazing family and friends that would bend over backwards for us. I can't even express enough how much I truly appreciated all of your generosity. It is bringing tears to my eyes just thinking about how absolutely blessed we are. Thank you all so so much.

On a quick note about Baby Bean, he is now head down (yay!) and my iron levels are back to normal. He is still moving around like crazy all the time. This past Friday he was trying to kick his way out through my belly button which really hurts! It kind of freaked me out so I called the Birthing Center to make sure that something wasn't wrong. I feel silly now but at the time I was thinking "is this was a contraction feels like?" I was assured that it was normal to feel pain around the nerve endings in the belly button if he's moving around there and no, that is not a contraction. It's really crazy to think that in about 7 weeks he will be here. I forget sometimes to appreciate these quiet moments in my life because soon they will be no more.

I now present my belly!

I had a bit of a shocking realization that he is still going to double in weight before he is born. Where on earth am I suppose to put that much baby?!

Decision 2012...The Name

Not having a name for our unborn bean is driving me bonkers!
I've worked up a survey so you guys can put in your opinion and help me pick a name in the process.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2CG68PV
I look forward to seeing what you think!