3 Months Old

Okay, so I am aware that Kai is actually 3 1/2 months old but it has been a BUSY month. We took a 2 week vacation and life has been crazy since we got back. I will post on the vacation, Kai's blessing, and  the craziness that has transpired once we got home later, but for now it is 3 month picture time! 

Kai is getting so BIG! He is a monster. No one believes me when I tell them that he is only 3 months. He has an appointment next week but last time I measured and weighed him he was still in the 99th percentile for height and 95th for weight. He is in 6month clothes because they are the only things long enough for him. 

3 month developments:

-He rolls, I have to keep my eye on him now

-He drools A LOT...Seriously, there are puddles wherever he lays

-He is getting a bunch of hair and it is basically white blonde

-He chews and sucks on EVERYTHING - his hands, his toes, his toys, your shirt, anything

-He laughs, and daddy seems to be the funniest...mommy, not so much

-He smiles at everyone

-He stares, it is actually kind of creepy but he can stare for hours

-He sleeps through the night! Wahoo (and sleeps with his eyes open...scary)

-He is getting independent and loves to sit in his bumbo seat or play on his play mat alone

-He talks, more like babbles but it is pretty cute because he will mimic you

-He loves story time and is even starting to reach and grab the book and feel the textures

 Cute little cowboy

  I know it's blurry but look at the lip sucking sweetness

 Slobbery mess

 Monkey feet

 Eating his hands, as usual 

 Happy boy

 Finally chunking back up

 The stare

Memorial Day

Yesterday, we took Kai to his first museum. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art was having a free day, so we drove out to LA to check it out and check out the Mid-Century Modernists exhibit before it finished this next week. It was a really cool museum with quite the variety of exhibits. We had a ton of fun and Kai did awesome!

He is now big enough and holds his head well enough to sit front-facing in the Baby Bjorn, which he LOVES. He is such a social guy, so being able to face out and see people makes him a happy boy. We even walked around the La Brea tar pits and the adjacent park. We ended up walking around for 6 hours so today my calves are killing me. We came home and just passed out on the couch for the rest of the night.

The La Brea Tar pits

Kai grinning

Brad's favorite part of the exhibit: the Eames House

Outside of the LACMA (Kai was napping) 

LACMA 

Cool lampost photo op

Kai and Keeva hanging out (Keeva has a habit of biting herself we are trying to break with the cone) 

Kai and Daddy playing around before his diaper change

Kai and Brad in the LACMA 

Cute Boy 

He was such a good boy all day!

Kai is 2 Months!

Kai is two months old! Actually he has been two months old for about a week now, but I am really slow on getting stuff up. We took his 2 month cowboy pictures and he was hamming it up! I tried to put on the cowboy boots that he wore for his 1 month photo...but they were too small. Sad :(

 Smiling at mommy instead of the camera

 Are you looking at me?

 His favorite position

 Being a cutie

 Trying to pick up his hat

 Look at those legs!

 Obligatory picture of Keeva of course

Rocking the hat

What's new at 2 months?

• Kai is in the 99th percentile for height, the 95th for weight, and the 97th for head circumference
• He loves to snuggle...so much that he wont sleep by himself because he just wants to snuggle all night 
• He smiles A LOT and his learning to laugh
• He loves to get kisses and smiles when you give him kisses
• He likes to be in the football hold dangling off your arm
• He learned to suck his thumb
• He can scoot his body like an inch worm wherever he wants to go and if he is really determined will roll over to where he wants to be
• He sneezes every time he sees the sun
• He likes to pretend his leg is a machine gun with daddy and chase Keeva around the house
• His eyes are getting bluer and bluer each day 
• He LOVES to hear his own voice and coos and squeals all the time
• He thinks mommy is the funniest the person ever
• His hair is starting to grow in more in the front so his receding hair line is not as bad
• He is starting to look just like daddy
• He is still eating about 5oz every 2 hours other than at night when he sleeps 8 hours straight

We love our fun boy. He is turning into such a happy mellow little guy who just likes to play all the time. 

1 Month Old

Kai is one month old now! I cannot believe how fast time has gone. This little boy has been with us for a month and we couldn't imagine life any different, and frankly, I can't remember what life was like before him. He is such a sweet little guy, always wanting to cuddle with you. He is starting to sleep much better at night but we are still working on getting longer stretches of time so we can sleep a little bit more. 

We have also learned that he has a temper. He is either happy and smiling or his flat out MAD. He can scream louder than any little baby I have ever heard and when he gets mad there is no talking him out of it unless I am cuddling him. He is quite the momma's boy! 

He doesn't have another appointment until 6 weeks but Brad weighed him and he weighed 13lbs on our scale! He has also grown about 3 inches since he was born. He is really starting to chunk back up too...we love our BIG boy! 

Each month I am going to take a picture on his blanket with the hat to show his growth (he will unfortunately grow out of the boots soon).

our big boy

blue-eyed boy

relaxing 

hey there good lookin'

those boots are made for walking

"I am done mom, no more!"

Hezekiah WIlliam Woodard

Seeing as how Hezekiah will be a month old tomorrow (I can't believe it), I figured it was time to do a post about his birth:

 Hezekiah William Woodard was born on March 20, 2012

9 lbs 14 oz 20 inch long

I was so huge that people in the stores kept asking if I was having multiples

On March 19 we went in for an ultrasound to check out how big Kai was because I was past my due date. At that point he still hadn't dropped, I was not dialating at all, and I was getting so huge I could barely walk. I had spent the weekend walking non-stop, bouncing on a birthing ball, and eating everything under the sun that is known to induce labor...and still no progress. The ultrasound tech kept re-takin the measurements and was shocked because he was so big that he didn't measure on any of the charts. They estimated his size to be about 10.6lbs and his head circumference was too big to even measure. My doctor told me that he was most likely too big to drop down and that he was not going to safely come out without a c-section. Brad and I decided that it was safer for Kai and I if we scheduled the c-section and got him out before things got dangerous.
We headed to the hospital at 4a.m. the next morning for my pre-op testing. I was super nervous! I was way more prepared for having a natural labor than I was for this surgery, but before I knew it, Brad and I were sitting in the operating room (I guess I was technically laying) and they were cutting me open. I really wanted to see him be born, so I asked the anesthesiologist – side-note: the anesthesiologist was so awesome and sat with us chatting the whole surgery and giving us a play by play so we felt more comfortable – if I could somehow watch. They held a mirror up for me so I could see them pull Kai out and see that first adorable scream and those HUGE cheeks. The whole surgery was only about a half hour long and we were headed to our room for our four day stay in the hospital. Kai was so chubby and cuddly and even handled the constant foot pricking and tests like a champ (they had to make sure he didn't have diabetes or anything because he was so big).

 first family photo while they were stitching me up

 Proud daddy and his sweet baby boy

Kai right after his first bath

 Sweet baby with his hand out of the swaddle as usual

 Cuddling with daddy 

Going home!

After 4 nights in the hospital, we finally got to go home. I was so excited to get out of the hospital and in my own bed. The first couple of weeks were rough at night because he had his days and nights mixed up, but we are getting it a little more figured out each day. I can't believe it has already been a month! Brad and I are so grateful for such a healthy happy baby boy and soooo grateful for the non-stop family we have had here helping since his birth. 

Perspective

We will be at week 39 in just a couple of days. Shoot. I am doing everything possible to distract myself from the fact that my baby is not here yet. The doctor really shouldn't have teased me by saying that he would be here "any day now" because I am dying for that day to be TODAY. He is healthy, developed, huge, and ready to be in my arms instead of my belly. I am actually convinced that I may sleep better having to wake every few hours for feedings than I do now (and if I don't sleep, poor Brad doesn't sleep). 

I have tried every suggestion: spicy food, raspberry leaf tea, evening primrose oil, vacuuming, scrubbing floors on hands and knees, dancing, walking, swinging at the park, and we may even go bowling tonight to see if that helps. I even sit on the floor in "butterfly position" flapping my legs like elementary school because I read that can help the baby engage. (FYI: it's not working). 

The full moon is tonight, which oddly enough is a day a lot of women's water break and they go into labor...so lets keep our fingers crossed. 

In the mean time, I was going through my phone looking at all of the belly shot pictures over the last 9 months. Even though my friend Laura has been taking beautiful pictures of the growing bump for me, my sister Sam wanted a weekly belly shot and would bug me until I sent one pretty much each week.

It is funny to look back at them because in my mind, I thought week 16 was when I was starting to show. I remember telling my family I was getting so big haha. Maybe I don't remember what I looked like pre-pregnancy but I would be happy to look like week 16 again. 

Week 21 was when Brad and I went maternity clothes shopping and I thought I was so big filling out all of those shirts. I actually didn't end up buying that striped shirt because I was worried it wouldn't fit in a month or so...good call. 

Week 23 is when I think I could actually qualify as showing, and from then on I just got bigger. At about week 30 I was convinced that I couldn't get much bigger. I was wrong. I never imagined I could go from that to what I am now. :) Too funny. It is fun to look back with a different perspective now. 

Get this kid OUT!

Now before you go judging me and saying "the baby will come when he is ready" or "You still have 2.5 weeks" or "don't rush it", listen to my side of the story! 

Monday morning I went to my usual weekly pre-natal appointment. I was sure I would have made some progress because I had been having some pretty intense contractions throughout the past week. I was also sure that Hezekiah had dropped, because there was some pretty constant pressure in my pelvis and I was peeing even more than usual. Unfortunately, there was NO progress. No dropping, no dialating, no effacement. My Dr. was a little concerned because she said at this point she would have liked to see him at least drop and be preparing for birth. She then measured to see how big he is and she just looks at me and goes "Wow. That is big. He has really grown A LOT this week huh?" She even commented on the stretch marks that are now all over and weren't there last week. Well turns out, according to her measurements, he was measuring at 42 weeks (I am 37) . She ordered an ultrasound to make sure this was correct and check to see if it was just excess fluid... and if it wasn't, to make sure he had enough fluid. 

The ultrasound tech looked at me and assured me that is was probably just extra fluid and no worries. That was until she started the ultrasound. She kept re-measuring everything to be sure that it wasn't wrong. This baby is HUGE. His head is measuring at 43 weeks, his body at 39-40, and he is in the 91st percentile for weight at almost 8lbs! Basically, if he continues to grow at this rate, he could be over 11lbs. if he is born at full term. As for fluid, he has just the right amount (not too much, not too little).

It was kind of fun to see him since our last ultrasound was at 20 weeks. He is a chunk, with every available space filled with fat. We got to see his face, his hands and feet, and even checked out his heart for awhile. The ultrasound tech seemed impressed with how "mature" his heart was at this point and his development is great. 

Now, we are just waiting to see what the Dr. says on Monday at my appt. He is perfectly healthy staying in right now, we are just worried that he is not going to be able to come out. If I am still not progressing by Monday and if the Dr. determines his head to be too big for my pelvis, we may have to consider other options to get him into this world.

Brad is thrilled because we wanted a fat, healthy baby. I am also happy that he is so dang healthy, I am just on the uncomfortable side. I guess this is what I get for having such an easy pregnancy. As for now, I am sitting, waiting, moving as little as possible (I am so big it hurts), and just hanging out hoping this little guy decides to come today. Wish us luck! 

Don't let the smile fool you...I am not feeling happy about this haha.