The Rest of February

 I really need to get myself caught up quick, so I can start blogging about the present, however, I have so many pictures and little things I want to share, partially because I think my baby is awfully cute and partially because I want to document some things for my own memories sake. February was such an amazing month. I absolutely loved becoming a mommy and there is absolutely nothing sweeter than having a little tiny newborn in your home.We had lots of visitors after we got home from the hospital Nixon is so loved and so many people wanted to see him again or meet him for the first time. I was tired but pretty content and happy. My mom and Natalie got us lunch when we got home and then my family came over as well as Russ and Misty. I loved having so many visitors. My sweet mom said she'd make us dinner after some of the crowd left and we took her up on it. She said I should go rest while she made it, I didn't feel like I needed to but I am really glad that I did. I thought she'd come wake me up when it was done, but she didn't. I woke up and all of our guests were gone. Tyler was just soaking in some time with Nixon. I ate, spent a little time with Nixon, and then Tyler recommended I go back to bed. I did and I decided to take my baby with me. Tyler came in later to see if I needed him to take Nixon and I told him, it was okay. He was asleep on me propped in his Boppy (best invention ever, btw). I fell to sleep with him there and told Tyler he was fine to stay there even when he came to bed. An hour or so later I woke up and carefully moved him off of me so I could go to the bathroom. When I came back, Nixon was practically hyperventilating.  He was so stuffed up he couldn't breath very well. He was fussing, but not crying. Nixon didn't really cry at all the first 2 weeks. He really is the perfect little baby. I suctioned his nose a little but he continued to sound so stuffy and couldn't sleep. To make matters worse, when it came time to eat, he became more stuffy and was also having a hard time keeping anything in him. He'd eat for about 2 minutes and then would start spitting up. Long story short, he did this over and over again all night. We basically took turn sleeping for most of the night, but neither of us really got any sleep. Tyler was awesome with him, and did his best to keep the emotional mom (who was convinced her baby wasn't going to die of starvation or stop breathing) as calm as possible. The next few days all kind of blended together but they were wonderful! Nixon was born pulling faces and still keeps me laughing. I swear he's got hundreds of little faces he is constantly pulling. Its always easy to know how Nixon feels.

 This is very classic Nixon and kills me everytime!

 The first day home, Nixon was sooo sleepy. He isn't really a deep sleeper so this was kind of a one time thing, we were trying to wake him up and absolutely was going to get him to come out of it. So me, my mom, and Natalie laughed away at all his funny faces he would make as he continued to sleep.

 My mom came over almost everyday for weeks to help us get things done and made sure we had groceries and lunch everyday. Talk about a good mom and Grandma. Nixon loved cuddling with her everyday.

 My dad loves his little buddy. He is convinced that him and Nixon "get" each other. They also speak the international language, which is NOT love by the way, it is tooting. He does love this little guy a lot though! Before I went back work, if I didn't send Grandpa a picture a day of Nixon, I was in trouble. He also is constantly telling Nixon how he can't wait for him to get bigger so they can play and Grandpa can spoil him with cool toys. He can't wait to take him on a 4-wheeler ride! No doubt, with Grandpa around, he's going to be one spoiled boy!

 Misty,Russ, and Bryce came to visit the day we got home. Russ had been sick earlier in the week so he didn't want to come to the hospital unless he was for sure over it.

 Bubba loves being an Uncle. Its been so fun to see him learn how to interact with a baby. Nixon is his first experience interacting with a baby at all.

 I absolutely loved Nixon's hairline when he was born.

 The Mower's came to visit when Nixon was 2 days old. Brinley loves babies!

 How sweet is this?

 Nixon really is/was the sweetest little newborn. He was usually very content and happy. He never really even cried the first week he was home. Instead when he was tired or hungry, he'd quietly fuss, grunt, or snort. It was really cute.

I was very cautious about germs with Nixon and had planned on not taking him out at all for weeks, but things never go as planned. Nixon was born on Friday and got to go on his very first outing on Monday. He was borderline jaundice, so he had to go get a 2nd bilirubin test at the hospital. He had to be poked so much in the hospital, I felt bad that he had to go get poked again, but it turned out to be just fine. The tech we got was awesome, he kept Nixon in his carseat and Nixon slept through it. He told us that he is the very best and said only 1 in 10 babies who he sees cry! I wish he would have been at the hospital when Nixon had to be poked every 2 hours...that wasn't fun at all. I am so grateful we had a healthy baby, I can't even imagine what it is like for parents whose babies have to be hooked up to machines and poked at for days, weeks, and months! It isn't ever fun seeing your baby cry.  He went on several other adventures his first week too! One to get his newborn pictures taken and a visit to the pediatrician.

 Grandma Hunsaker, Aunt Misty, and Bryce came to visit one day before they went up to Midway to see the Ice Castles. Bryce got very jealous when his Mom held the baby, but he was very fascinated by him. He liked to point at his eyes and nose and arms. He also would point at his hair and say, "haircut." It was really cute.

 I love every minute with this cute little snuggle bear. He refused to sleep in his own bed for weeks. The first week or so, he slept in the Mamaroo, because being propped helped with his stuffiness. After about a week though, he wouldn't go to sleep or would wake up the second we would put him in there. His bed wasn't working either. He can't stand being swaddled and would go to sleep in his bed, but within 5 to 10 minutes would wake himself up with his arms that he loves to constantly move. Sleeping on me proved to be the best solution. Once we figured that out, he'd sleep for 4 hours or more at a time. It was hard on me and sometimes uncomfortable, but if it meant I got to sleep at night, it was so worth it. Plus, who can complain about being able to cuddle up with this sweet thing?

 On Valentine's Day Nixon had lots of visitors! It was also his one week old mark! My Mom came over while Natalie was at school, then Aunt Sara and Jack came over, Natalie and my mom came back, then Grandma Hunsaker, Grandma and Grandpa Thornock, and Nana and Grumpy. It made for quite the day and it was all before 3 o'clock! That's when daddy got home!

 Nana and Nixon

This picture cracks me up, this basically describes Nixon's life. Constant paparazzi! He is one loved boy.

 Grumpy is a baby whisperer, I swear.

 Natalie asked him to be her Valentine and he said yes.

 I don't know why I don't have pictures with our other guests, I swear I took some! But maybe I took them on someone else's camera?

 This is how Nixon feels about dad's whiskers!

I hear ya, bud!

 Best Valentine's Day Ever!

The day after Valentine's is my birthday. We stayed home most the day and my family came over to babysit Nixon so Tyler and I could go to dinner. We planned on going to Outback, but since Valentine's Day was the day before and it was the weekend, it was crazy busy and the wait was really long. I didn't want to be away from Nixon for too long so we just decided to do it simple, and went to Noodles & Company instead. We then went over to a boutique I like, but I since I was only a week postpartum, I didn't feel like trying clothes on yet. The thought of it was a little depressing, so we went to the Liquidation Team, because Tyler loves it and about 5 minutes after getting there, we bought a couch! A couch he'd been dying to buy and it had nothing wrong with it, was a good price, and was on sale for $100 off. Not too shabby. When we got back, we had some cake and opened presents.

After my family left, Chelsey and Mitch came over to visit and took a family picture for us.

Just a few more random pictures from the rest of the month.

Notice the back of his hair...its so thick and long! I love it so much!

Already being silly for the camera!

Going Home!

Saturday it was time to go home, but not before we had a few more visitors! 

Melanie, Troy, Marisa, and Chelsey came to visit us and so did my Mom and Natalie. Natalie was having serious Nixon withdrawls on Friday night, she was really glad to be back.

 I love this one...(photo cred: Chelsey)

Once the doctor came and discharged me, we got all of our stuff together and took a bunch more pictures of Nixon before leaving.

Coming home was wonderful, having Nixon with us has made us both feel like we have a piece of heaven in our home!

Nixon's "Birthday" Continued...

Our parents and Natalie didn't stay long, since it was 2am or so by the time they were able to come in and see him for the first time. They all took a little turn to hold him and took some pictures and then they left. They gave Nixon a good little bath after and the nurse couldn't believe how strong he was. They brought me and sandwich and a few snacks to eat and helped unhook me from all of the iv's and took out my epidural. The worst thing for me among all that was still going on was my lack of control of my arms. They were very shaky and I really couldn't control them. In order for me to nurse Nixon the first time, I had to have the nurses help. She had told me the easiest way for me to hold him but I couldn't physically get my arms to go there. She basically picked them up and placed them for me and then propped them there because I had no strength in my sad arms to keep them there. A little after 3am they were ready to move us out of delivery and into my regular room. Once I was in there and my new nurse came in, Tyler decided he could go home. Since it was almost 3:30, I thought that was a good idea. The nurse said she'd be right back and I figured she'd come back and get me situated to sleep. Little did I know my night was just beginning. She came back shortly after he left and took Nixon's temperature, checked a few other things on him, wrapped him back up and gave him to me. ***now remember, at this point my arms were still out of control and I had zero strength in them. I could hold him but not well. I basically had him cradled with most his weight laying in my lap. She began going over all sorts of stupid information with me. While she was talking I noticed that Nixon had a string in his mouth from the blanket. I told the nurse and she said, "oh." And then proceeded talking. The normal, alert me would have told her I needed her to get it out or something, but the very out of it and exhausted me was panicking internally and trying to get it out myself. All the while very upset that the nurse would rather stand there talking than help keep my brand new baby from choking. Not to mention, keep him from getting who knows what kind of germs from my fingers (I'm pretty sure the last time they'd been washed was before leaving to go to Target). When she finished talking she left and I just waited thinking there was more that had to happen before I could go to bed. She came in around 4:15 to check on me and I finally asked if I was ok to go to sleep(I'd actually dozed off a little before this)..I was dying for sleep. At this point I had been up 24 hours. She said yes and looked at me like it was the dumbest question she'd ever been asked. Without warning, she flipped off my light and was gone before I could respond. At this point, i had just had it. I started to cry and I'm not sure if I've ever felt so alone in my life. Here I was, completely sleep deprived, arms that were completely dead, and left with my new baby. I was so confused why she would think i could go to bed with a baby i was struggling to even hold. and how am i supposed to sleep and not worry if my baby, who is only a few hours old. i was really in no shape to take care of him. i also realized that my contact stuff, and so many things I needed were on the opposite side of the room. This meant I would be sleeping in my contacts and I really wished I had the boppy to help me hold Nixon. I ask myself now, why on earth I didn't call the nurse back for some help, but I didn't. My brain wasn't working normally at all. Somehow my shaky arms managed to get Nixon into his little bed thing and he went to sleep. I was paranoid he was going to stop breathing at any moment. If I hadn't been as exhausted as I was, there is no way I would have gone to sleep but I couldn't keep my eyes open for anything. After only a few minutes, he woke me up crying. I realized he needed to eat. Again, don't know why I didn't call the nurse to help me but I somehow managed to get him out of the bed...it was much harder than getting him in. And then miraculously I was able to hold him well enough to be able to nurse him. I had expected to struggle but I didn't. He ate and then back to his little bed he went. And I went to sleep for a whole 2 hours or so. When I woke up, all of my epidural had clearly worn off and I was feeling a lot of pain. Thankfully my horrible nurse from the night before was gone and I had a nurse who was so awesome. She was so nice and wanted to bend over backwards to make sure I was doing well. She even told me several things the nurse should have told me the night before and didn't. Things that would have been very helpful to know. She had lots of great advice too for recovering and being a new mom. They took Nixon to the nursery pretty early to be evaluated by the pediatrician. He came and talked to me before they brought Nixon back. He had 3 concerns-the biggest being Nixon's body temperature. It was way too low and so he said we shouldn't let anyone unwrap him or take his hat off. The only time he was allowed to be unwrapped was for diaper changes and skin to skin with me, because it would actually help raise his temperature. encouraged that we do lots of that to help him out.  His next concern was more of a peecautionary concern. He wanted to make sure Nixons blood sugar was okay, its something he likes to check with any large baby. This meant Nixon would have to be poked in the foot every 2 hours for the next 24 hours. Tyler got to the hospital at 7:30 or so and  sympathized over my horrible night experience. I really don't know why I didn't at least call him to come back either, but I didn't. I took a quick shower before lots of visitors started showing up. We had lots of visitors come and see Nixon and it was so fun to see how loved our little guy already was. It was definitely a rough day though, by the days end I was so glad to just enjoy some time with the 3 of us. Keeping Nixon warm was tough, I was exhausted from my lack of sleep, Tyler was exhausted, and we'd had an emotional day worrying about Nixon's failure to eat. He would eat well when he would eat, but instead of eating every 2 hours, he was going 4-6+ hours. Luckily he passed every glucose test they took and the nurse assured me that he wasn't starving and was doing just fine. Tyler went home around 11:30 and thankfully the nurse came and took Nixon to the Nursery for me around midnight. She brought him back to me to eat around 4 and I was so happy to see him. He ate and I figured I'd rock him back to sleep and send him back to the nursery, but he just wanted to stay wide eyed so I just spent almost 2 hours enjoying his company and then we snuggled up and slept for a couple of hours until the nurses came to get it him to do the last of his tests, before it was time to go home.

Picture overload of Nixon's visitors.

He's one loved boy!

 First sights at Nixon

 Papa Schaef

Grandpa Hunsaker

Aunt Nat-Nat

Grandma Schaef

Nana

This might be one of my favorite pictures. The last baby born in my family was Bubba who just happened to be born on Nana's birthday. Nixon is also the very first baby Bubba has ever held.

Grumpy

Uncle Kev

Grandma Hunsaker, Aunt Kristin, and Grandma & Grandpa Thornock

Aunt Kristin

Grandma and Grandpa Thornock

Aunt Misty

One tired mama!

Chelsey

Mitch

Sam, Sara, and Emmi

Jack was so cute when he first saw Nixon, I wish we would have been ready with the camera. He also had me laughing, because he was completely amused by the garbage cans in my room, because you could step on the pedal and they would open. He thought it was pretty amazing!

Emmi was dying to hold Nixon

 Keaton is the sweetest!

Sam is always such a ball of energy, I think this is the calmest I'd ever seen him.

Daddy and Nixon time

All tuckered out at the end of a very long "birth" day!