Listen to Your Baby

Parenting is hard work. There is no magic book you can read or special seminar you can attend that will let you in on all the secrets to this wonderfully rewarding job that the Lord has entrusted you with. I am not suggesting that there aren't plenty of helpful tips and pointers out there, because I know there are, but look closely at what I am saying. No one will ever be able to tell you how exactly your child needs to be parented. LISTEN TO YOUR BABY. I am sure this kind of a "duh" statement for some of you reading but it is something I had to come to realize through the first few months of Harrison's life. When you bring your sweet little newborn home everyone always has tons of advice to offer you ranging anywhere from how and where they should sleep to how often they should eat to what they should and should not wear, and the list goes on and on! The best piece of advice I can offer, LISTEN TO YOUR BABY. I promise you they will let you know what they need. When I first brought Harrison home I was instructed to only nurse him every 3 hours during the day and 4-5 hours during the night. Wrong. This baby was hungry. I tried to follow their instructions for about 2-3 days and that was about it. I could tell that he was hungry about every 2- 2 1/2 hours during the day and I didn't see the need to "push his feedings out" any longer than that. Many will argue that babies will learn to eat on a schedule and will eat more when they do eat because they realize they won't be eating for another however many hours. I just never saw the point in listening to him cry for 30 minutes because he was hungry simply because it was not "time" to eat yet. Now, as it is becoming time for Harrison to begin eating more table foods and less baby foods, I am still listening to what my baby wants. Am I following any chart or table that tells me what he "wants" at this age? No. I give him some of what we are eating along with his regular baby food and that's that. If we are having spaghetti, he has spaghetti. I we are having lasagna, roast, pancakes, eggs, muffins, rice, cooked vegetables and so on guess what- he has it too. If he does not "want" it, I promise you he makes it very clear :)
Another concept I have never been able to agree with is crying it out. I have rocked Harrison to sleep every nap and every night for the past 9 months up until the past few weeks. Why? Because I never felt that I was so busy or that my life was so important that I could not take that 30 minutes of time to sooth and comfort my baby at these times. I listened to what my baby needed and I am still listening to what he needs now. Recently he has not wanted to be rocked anymore while going to sleep. When I try to rock him, he squirms, twists, turns and wiggles all over the place. I can tell that he simply wants to lay down, so I lay him down. He will jabber and flip around for about 5 minutes and then he is asleep. It was that simple. I never fought him at bed time. There were never any all night cryings or weeks spent sleep training in our house. If he woke/wakes up during the night I go in, if I think he is hungry I fed/feed him, if I think he's cold I cover him back up and rock him. Do I loose 30 minutes of sleep, yes. Is it better than listening to him cry it out while he sits in his room alone in the dark getting more and more upset until he finally realizes that no one is coming and stops crying- yes.
I heard someone once say that babies in orphanages do not cry. Why? They have learned that no one is going to come when they do. How pitifully sad. My child, and all future children, will know that someone will always be there to comfort them. They will not feel alone and abandoned. Will I regret this decision? Will my children not develope good sleep habits? Will they need to be rocked at the age of 4? Who knows, who cares. Listen to your baby. In all aspects, not just these three. They are very aware of their needs, all we need to do is take a little time to figure out what it is they are needing.
That's my advice :)

The Many Faces of a Sleepy Harrison

Watch Me Grow! 2 Months!

I am a little behind posting this, but the picture was taken the day he turned 2 months old :)

He wasn't really in the mood for a photo shoot, but I insisted :) 

Jump, Jump,Jump!

Ok, he's not really jumping. He is more or less pushing himself off of Mahlon's hands but he still had fun! He is so ready to be a big boy! What happened to my newborn baby?!?!

It's true

Yes, it's true

I hold my sweet baby while he sleeps.  

I just can't help it. 

I only have 11 more days with him until I have to go back to work, which is incredibly sad, and therefore I do not feel guilty about holding him while he naps :) 

Harrison's Birth Story

Thursday September 1, 2011 Mahlon and I checked into the hospital at 4:30 pm. 

At 6:00 am Friday September 2 I started receiving pitocin through an IV to begin labor.

15 hours later.......

Harrison Michael Cowan entered the world! 

He was born at 9:23 PM

 Weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and measured 20.5 inches long. 

We have never felt more joy than we felt at this moment! 

After an almost  48 hour stay in the hospital

We were heading home to begin our wonderful new life as a family of 3! 

Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock

*Sigh*
Today will quite possibly be the longest day of my life! At my Dr. appointment on Tuesday my doctor scheduled me to come into the hospital this afternoon to be induced. Being my stubborn self, I truly wanted to go to school today! However, I did take the advice of my co-workers and friends who said that teaching 23 rambunctious kindergarten students all day and then being induced would be way too much for one day ,and stayed home. I have been wide awake since about 4 am this morning! I mean seriously, how are you supposed to rest or relax at all knowing that you are going to be meeting your newborn baby so soon?!?!

So, in an effort not to go stir crazy today, I have made a list of activities!

* Unpack and repack the hospital bag- just to make sure we have everything we want/need :)
* Finish writing thank you notes(which will not be mailed until Harrison has arrived to allow for a few extra special touches!)
* Clean, clean, clean! I don't think there is really anything else left to clean in the house- but I'm going to do my best to find something!
* Play with Orson! He is about to have a rude awakening not being the center of attention around here anymore!
Maybe this will keep me busy until at least noon :)

39 Weeks!

How far along: 39 weeks. 

Total weight gain: I guess I'll spill the beans since I am at the end now! Total weight gain for this pregnancy to date (according to my dr. appointment yesterday) is 29 pounds. However, I have gained more than that at points but have lost some towards the end- which my dr. said was totally normal. 

Maternity clothes: I got a set of super cute pajamas to take to the hospital :)

Sleep: So-so. I think I just get to anxious at nights to really sleep well. 

Best moment this week: By far the doctors appointment yesterday! We now have a date that Harrison will be here by if he does not decide to come sooner!

Labor signs: Continued pressure, some cramping and contractions but none have been strong enough or long enough to be the real deal :)

Movement: He is still pretty active, despite his cramped living quarters!

Gender: Boy

Name: Harrison Michael Cowan

Belly button in or out? The top is poked out, but the bottom is flat. 

Weekly wisdom:  Spend some time relaxing this week. 

Milestones: He is fully developed and is packing on the pounds this last week. 

What I'm looking forward to: Seeing Harrison and finally being a family of 3. 

38 Weeks

How far along: 38 Weeks 2 days. 

Total weight gain: Enough :)

Maternity clothes: I am refusing to buy any more maternity clothes, so my co-workers get to see the same 7 outfits on rotation :)

Sleep: Some nights are better than others. I have a hard time getting comfortable and in a position where I can breath :) but I'm never too terribly tired in the mornings so I can't complain. 

Best moment this week: 1)Getting our maternity pictures back :) 

2)The ultrasound that I had done today! Dr. Gass wanted me to have another ultrasound done to check Harrison's size and position. I go for my weekly appointment tomorrow where he will discuss the measurements that the ultrasound tech gathered with me. 

Labor signs:  More pelvic pressure lately and Braxton Hicks contractions in the evenings.   

Movement: He is still movin' and grovin' in there :) Although she wasn't able to tell me much information about Harrison today, the ultrasound tech did say that he was one squirmy baby :) 

Gender: Boy

Name: Harrison Michael Cowan

Belly button in or out? The top is starting to poke out!

Weekly wisdom: Ask your formerly pregnant friends lots and lots of questions! I am so thankful for my friends who already have children and their willingness to answer my off the wall questions! 

Milestones: He is considered full term now! All his organs are developed and ready to function outside the womb. His brain will still continue to develop between now and delivery- and of course after that as well :) 

What I'm looking forward to: My appointment with Dr. Gass tomorrow. I'm very anxious to see if I have progressed any from last week and to hear what he thinks about Harrison's measurements from the ultrasound today. 

Dear Harrison,

We

 Are

 Ready

Whenever

 You

 Are :)

Baby Shower Part 3

Our final baby shower was this past Thursday at the school where I work. 

My AWESOME kindergarten team worked extra hard getting everything together before Harrison decides to make his arrival! 

This was our super cute cake by Amanda Hammock-check out all her awesome cakes at Crumbs Cakery

 Mahlon was so excited to get the bath tub frog! Ever since he saw this frog at our friends Lauren and Will's house he has been determined to have one :)

We received many wonderful gifts and can not say thank you enough to everyone who was a part of this shower. I am truly blessed to work with such a wonderful group of people! 

Baby Shower Part 2

 For the record, I am super behind on blog posts! 

The following are pictures from the baby shower Mahlon's awesome family hosted for us!! (3 weeks ago- oops!)

 Snacks

 Diaper motorcycle :)

 Jungle blanket

 Mahlon's high school art teacher made this one of a kind print for us :)

 Personalized monkey diaper bag for Harrison :)

Personalized tractor blanket and pillow- in the correct color according to Mahlon :)

And a super cute cake to top it all off :) 

Thanks Carole, Stephanie and Audrey for all your hard work putting the shower together! We really appreciate it!

Counting Down: 31 Days

Yes I wore this shirt last week too. I want to take pictures in the same spot and same outfit for the remaining few weeks :)

How far along: 35 Weeks 3 days. 

Total weight gain: The scale and I still not friends. My Dr. says I did loose 3 pounds from last week, though I'm not sure how really. 

Maternity clothes: I got 2 new dresses from my mom's this past weekend :)

Sleep: I sleep pretty good. Still wake up with numb hands but my Dr. said that was nothing to worry about. 

Best moment this week: 1)Taking maternity pictures- again :) Our photographers external hard drive crashed and she lost everyone's pictures so we re-took them Wednesday. We did not mind at all to re-take them :) I felt really bad for her because she felt so bad about loosing them. We reassured her over and over again that it was no big deal, I'm still pregnant so it was not a problem at all to take them again ;)

2) Doctors appointment. (explained below)

Labor signs:  At my appointment yesterday Dr. Gass said that I was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. EEEKKK! This both excites and frightens me! 

Still not sure about the contractions- the top part of my stomach will tighten up occasionally (which makes breathing a trick) but it's never my entire stomach, so I'm not sure if those are Braxton Hicks or not. 

Movement: I can feel him stretching a lot more now. He will extend his legs-right up under my ribs :) and arch his back throughout the day. 

Gender: Boy

Name: Harrison Michael Cowan

Belly button in or out? Flat

Weekly wisdom:  Pre-register at the hospital. We have not done this yet but are planning on visiting Labor and Delivery next Tuesday after our appointment. 

Milestones: His fingernails should reach the end of his fingertips by now. All organs are developed, the last to reach development is his liver which has begun to process waste and he is still packing on the pounds! 

What I'm looking forward to: 1) Our baby shower this weekend with Mahlon's family.

2) Starting school on Monday-I'm excited to start off a new school year and hopefully this will help me focus on something other than worrying about going into labor :)