Lots of Changes

Let's talk about Luke. At his last appointment he was 9 lbs. 9 oz. (a total gain of 25 oz! when all they wanted was 5-10.. haha!) and 22.5 inches long. My baby is going to be a monster! Anyway, he's been sleeping ok, still not enough for us to feel well rested though. If I take a nap some time in the afternoon, it makes for a better night. Also, he's been making all kinds of faces. He now smiles at me! And recently he's started to raise an eyebrow. It's really funny. I've given up on breastfeeding (so many complications... next time I'll be prepared). I've also been trying to think of lullabies that I knew when I was little. At first I couldn't think of any so I resorted to some songs I learned in Freshman Spanish.. "The Cho-Co-La-Te Song" and "Los Colores". Well, it's better than Aldo. He just repeats "How Now Brown Cow" over and over.

As for me, I haven't been doing much. Once you have a child, your whole day pretty much revolves around them. On Mondays I've been going to Bible study. I've been wanting to get more involved for a while and last Sunday, Aldo told the youth pastors he wants us to be "youth pastors". He meant to say "youth leaders". There's a major difference between a leader and a pastor.... and so... I had to tell them what he meant to say. But.. ever since it came out of his mouth, I have no idea where this is going to go. Heh heh.

Other than that I'll be going back to work in August. Aldo recently applied for a job and was hired. So he'll start his training to be an ESL teacher with the school district in August also. And at the end of August we'll be moving in with my mom. Right now we're just trying to get the schedule managed out and two cars working. So.. there's been a lot of changes. Luke's maybe last?? baby shower is August 1st. And his dedication is August 15th. So I'll have pictures to post then and more stories.

P.S. Baby had his first booboo yesterday. Aldo's deodorant accidentally fell on his head and left a tiny mark on his forehead. He felt so bad. But I think it's a good starter. Boys end up with all kinds of bruises growing up. I better get used to it.

Apartment Living

Well, I've now been stuck in the house for 3 weeks. It's been crazy. Especially this past week. I've been in and out of the hospital with numerous doctors about breastfeeding. Turns out I developed a staff infection and an abscess preventing me from feeding him. I'm on like four different pills. And I actually saw a specialist today and had to have an ultrasound done to see if the infection spread any further. My goodness! I never expected this to be a problem. I thought it would be... something like sleep deprivation or jaundice... So anyway, that's that.
I also have my shows that I watch every night while my hubby is off supporting his family. Thank goodness I haven't turned to the soaps yet though. I've been following The Bachelorette and True Beauty all the way through. And I've been off and on with So You Think You Can Dance, America's Got Talent, Wipe Out, etc. Judge Mathis and Judge Judy are my favorite shows all the way. I'm pretty sure I could be a lawyer. Ha! I'll enjoy this while I can. I haven't been able to watch anything good for the longest time. All the good shows are on at 7 and 8 o'clock!
Luke is gradually getting a little belly. I think he grew taller too! It's weird to think someday I'll have a son that's taller than me. And he's starting to sleep longer hours at night and staying awake longer during the day. I can't wait until he gets to point where he's making faces and showing more of his personality. With me as his mother and Aldo as his father... he's sure to have a good one.

  

I love when he sleeps. As I hold him in my arms I can't help but think how this is exactly what I was made for. To take care of him. And raise him into a young man who's going to make some huge difference in the world. And when his eyes are closed, he is such an angel. Oh, I love being a mom.

It's strange having someone so dependent on you. He is a cuddle bug! We can't put him in his bassinet or set him down for five minutes without him getting a little squirmy and then waking up later. At night, he sleeps with us in bed. I know you're not supposed to, but I don't care. He won't sleep anywhere else. And I like knowing that he doesn't feel comfortable anywhere else but by my side or in my arms. 

And it's so funny when he's dreaming. His little mouth will twitch. He's got duck lips so he'll make this little duck lip face. I know he'll be a good kisser for sure, kid can pucker! And he'll smile in his sleep too. Other times he brings his eyebrows together like he isn't too sure about something. And then finally he'll have a face like it's the end of the world and whimper. I feel really bad during those times. I can't help but smile. 

 I don't have very many pictures with his eyes open. We keep trying to guess the color. One day they'll be blue and the next green. Most likely they're going to be brown like Aldo's, but for now they're a deep grey color. 

He has my ears! And he has Aldo's hair. Full of cow licks! Still waiting on the eyebrows, nose, and lips too. 

I'm still surprised at how cute he is! Looking at this picture just makes me want to smooch him. 

Till something interesting happens... or till I go crazy with the camera again..

Luke Anthony, I Love You

 So it's been a little over two weeks. To make the story short, I don't have internet at home. And Aldo spilt water on the laptop so now it makes random noises and blinks a whole lot and doesn't turn on. May it rest in peace.
Now for all the details. I was induced at 7:20am and I was already 3cm along. Immediately I started feeling contractions. I can't believe I was so worried I wouldn't know what they felt like. There is no way you can miss a contraction! The easiest way I can explain it, is that your stomach goes from a huge basketball shape to feeling like it's squeezed into a football shape. And it hurts. At 4cm I was thinking, If the pain stayed like this the whole time... I think I can make it. Of course, that's not half of what a 10cm contraction would feel like. I turned to Aldo and said, Honey, I think I'm gonna wimp out of this one. I think I'm gonna get the epidural. I got it about 30 minutes later. And thank goodness I did.

 

At first, I was a little worried. My whole left side was completely numb. I was covered in about three blankets and when the doctors pulled them off, I couldn't tell. My right side still felt the pain. So they made me lay on my right side so that the medicine would... I don't know... float over I guess. It didn't. So they pulled the needle/tube/whatever was in my back out slightly and I was in heaven. :)
The next time the nurse came in, I was at 6cm. Then 8. And I started feeling contractions again. About the ones I was feeling in the beginning. So they gave me another dose of epidural. Woot! And then all of a sudden I was at 10! It felt like the whole thing took about an hour. The only time I had to do any real work was when I was pushing. My nurse had me start with her. I pushed two times and she asked me Would you like to know what his head looks like? I was in shock! I thought this was supposed to take like a bazillion hours before we were that close. I said Is it purple? Noo.. Hairy? She said he was gonna have a full head of hair. Awww.... (I never had a dream about him. Or any thoughts about what he might look like when he was born. But at this point, I knew he'd be a cutie.)

 I pushed once at a "half push". And then one more full push and she called in the doctor. At that point she guessed he'd be out in an hour or two. Five pushes and 20 minutes later, Luke Anthony was born. So, pushing really isn't as bad as I thought either. It's exactly as what we went through in the class. They push your legs back and you hold onto them and put your chin on your chest and pretend to poo. Count for ten, take a deep breath and do it again and again. It's funny because I didn't feel his head come out or his shoulders. I felt the rest of his body. It was like suction. Hard to explain.
 Luke was born June 17th, 2010 at 3:03pm. He was actually 7.159lbs. but they rounded it to an even 8. He was 19.5 inches. My mom and sister were there in the room when he was born. And Aldo's mom and sisters were out in the hallway recording his first cry and celebrating Mexico's win in the World Cup. Everyone else showed up a little later, all wanting to see him. And man, was he cute! He was wiped down and put with me immediately. Yes, I cried. And even though I still don't feel like a mom sometimes, I was absolutely in love with him at first sight.

 That first night was kind of hard. Trying to breastfeed was difficult. He wouldn't quite latch on, or else I was doing something wrong. So all I could  do was pump and get what little came out on my finger and shove it in his mouth. They said it was fine, but it still worried me. At 24 hours I was a mess. But then about an hour later, he was eating like a pro. And all night I kept waking up checking on him. The next night I fed him, but in between sent him to the nursery. That way we could get sleep because the next day we were going home. 

We were surprised with this on our door when we came home. Mom made it for us. I thought I wouldn't want my mom at the hospital with me, and I wouldn't want to be bothered at home the first couple days, but I'm glad she was around! I love my mom. The first night was a learning experience. It actually wasn't too bad now that I think about it. I was up every 2-3 hours feeding him. And we were trying to figure out the order of things. Now we have that down. When he wakes up, check the diaper. Feed. Burp. Try to feed again. Burp. Rock to sleep. Make sure there is no light, no noise, no cold. Otherwise you'll be up for hours. (He's got such a big personality.)
About a week later we had a checkup. He gained all his weight back and grew an inch and a half! At the same time he had eye crusties. And when that happened I had bad thoughts that maybe he would get jaundice or cholicy or just something bad. It's funny how protective you get over your child. It went away in like two days. Now Luke has been going through, I think, a growth spirt. I've learned that all you can do is take it one day at a time. And I'm pretty sure that if I can make it as a mom, I can do anything.

 Moments like this are just too precious. I love my men. With all my heart <3