A great baby!

Things still have been going great around here!

Thursday when Mark got home we took Jim for a walk around the neighborhood. It was nice to get outside for awhile, and get some exercise in. Mark is going to go to Lowe's and look for a storage cabinet that we can put the stroller in, and I can start taking him for walks during the day. Still haven't felt like I've been up for lugging the stroller outside just yet. Jim slept great again Thursday night (that is once he fell asleep). It took him awhile to go down - it was the same as Monday night, he'd fall asleep, you'd put him in his crib, and 10 minutes later he'd start to fuss. When he finally went down, it was good! He woke up at 1:00 to eat, and then went right down and slept until Mark brought him into bed with me.

He's been great so far today! He ate at 6:00, and went back down to sleep until 9:30 or so. I was able to sleep until 9:00 which has been wonderful! It make things a lot better when I get a good night sleep :) We did some tummy time today - which he loves! And just have been hanging out.

Jim has been such a great baby! We've definitely lucked out with him. Let's just hope he stays that way :)

Our 1st days - Just the 2 of us...

Things have been going good here with just Jim and I. It's very hard to say good-bye to Daddy in the morning, but we've been enjoying our time together.

Monday was his 2 week check-up, which went well! His measurements are:

Head - 14 3/4" - 50th percentile
Height - 21 3/4" - 85th percentile
Weight - 8lbs. 3 oz - 30th percentile

I think we may end up with a tall skinny boy on our hands. I need to start giving him some spinach so he can grow up to be big and strong like his dad!

Tuesday we didn't do much at all. I was pretty exhausted since he didn't sleep that well for us Monday night. Mark was great when he got home! He took him off my hands and I was able to go upstairs and nap! And he took care of him until 10:30 when it was time to feed him, and I was able to get another hour of sleep.

Wednesday we stopped by work so I could show him off to everyone. He was very good - sleeping the whole time. It was nice to get out of the house for awhile! Think we were there for 2 hours or so. He slept very good Wednesday night. Went down at 9:00...woke up after 11:00 to eat, and then went down around midnight, and slept for 6 hours. That was a wonderful stretch of sleep for me!

Thursday we went to Daycare and met up with Terri. We got the application, and need to fill that out. It's going to be very sad once we start having to send him there, but will be reassuring knowing that he's in great hands!

Our weekend with Uncle Robbie & Aunt Jenna

Rob & Jenna made their way down to VA on Friday to meet their nephew! Rob worked a 1/2 day and they got down here around 4:00. They were very excited to meet Jim! Rob got us dinner for the evening - we grilled vegetables and burgers. All very yummy! It was a nice night out, so we all sat outside. I attempted to drink another beer, and probably made it through half of it again before I had enough. I'll get there soon! Jim even hung out with us in his stroller out back! He's going to like it outside! It did start to get chilly, so we came in, Mom held Jim, Mark & Rob stayed outside for another beer...And that was our Friday night.

Mark was on night duty since he didn't have to work. We didn't do all that well - I feed Jim just after 8:00 and instead of making sure he went down after he ate - we were playing with him - which ended up in a long night. He was up fussing for 2 hours before he finally went down. But once he went down he was good! We stopped waking him up every 3 hours to feed him - instead we're letting him tell us when he's hungry. That's made a huge difference! There were a couple times when I'd get him up and he did not want to eat, which got pretty frustrating. Jim also lost his umbilical cord stump the other night. That's one less thing we need to worry about now.

Saturday morning we got up - mom & dad came over and we said good-bye to them :( And then Rob & Jenna came over shortly after the parents left. We spent the morning hanging out. Having a newborn makes for a pretty eventful day! I think they loved just hanging out with Jim. Mark and I did leave for a bit. Since it was a rainy day I decided to go to the gym with Mark. I went to DSW 1st to get some new sneakers, and then went to the gym and walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes. It was good to get out of the house for a bit. Saturday night we ordered sushi for dinner, which was pretty yummy. Although I don't think Jim liked it too much. He was up crying again for 2 hours. Think maybe I should've stayed away from the wasabi. But once we got Jim down, he woke up once to eat and then slept for 6 hours! What a great stretch of sleep for us!

Sunday morning Rob & Jenna came back over and enjoyed some more time with Jim before they hit the road. It was very sad to see them leave. Them leaving also meant we were done with family visits for awhile which is very sad.

Sad to see them go :(

We had to say good-bye to grandma and papa today. It was a pretty sad morning to see them leave. They were a huge help having them here for 2 weeks! And am very thankful for all that they did for us! From sitting in the hospital room with us...To taking care of all our laundry...To helping out with a fussing/crying baby...To taking me to the store, while Papa babysat...To helping out with fixing dinner...It really was great to have them here!! And we all are going to miss them lots!! We love you guys!

Wonderful Grandparents!

Like I had already said, Grandma & Papa D. were here since on Sunday. They spent the 3 days with us in the hospital. It was great having them there, giving Mark a chance to go home. And then they've been here the past 2 weeks! They've been wonderful! They have definitley made the past 2 weeks a lot easier on us! They've been helping out getting dinner ready, taking care of laundry, and changing many dirty diapers. We're surely going to miss them when they go home!

Nanny & Papa V. as well as Aunt Casey came to visit us on Wednesday. I think they too fell in love with their grandson the second they met them!

We are blessed to have such wonderful family!!!!

Aunt Ashley & Aunt Allison's visit

Grandma & Grandpa have been in town visiting us. They were kind enough to drive up to BWI airport to pick up Aunt Ashley & Aunt Allison Thursday evening. Their flight got in a little after 8:00, and they made their way down to Alexandria to meet their nephew. They walked in the door - and this is what Mark & I saw for the next 5 minutes before they even said hello to us.

It was great having them in town! They were on night duty for us, and took care of Jim - which was great! It helped Mark & I make the adjustment to parenthood a lot easier. They slept downstairs in the living room with Jim in his Moses Basket. They would bring him upstairs for me when it was time for him to eat. It definitely was a much better adjustment from our first night home with him.

We really didn't do a lot when they were here except for enjoy our time together! And get used to being parents. And we took lots of pictures!!! Friday we took our first walk together! Jim enjoyed that, until we got almost home and went over a bump that woke him up. We also hung out outside - playing some cornhole together. It is nice that the weather is good and we can enjoy some time outside!

Sunday we gave Jim his first bath. I know, we're bad parents, waiting that long to bathe him. But we were going to do it earlier but then something would come up, or he'd fall asleep. He seemed to enjoy it! And was very cuddly after it was done!

It was very sad to see the girls go on Monday morning. (Again a big thanks to the parents for getting up at 4:45 to pick them up to drive them up to BWI!) Jim is going to miss his Aunts! And Mark & I for sure are very appreciative for all they did for us!

1st Doctor's Appointment

Jim had his first Doctor's appointment on Thursday the 15th. They weighed him everyday in the hospital, and when they checked his weight on Wednesday, it had gone down lower than what they wanted to see. (It's normal for newborns to drop their weight, but they don't like to see them loosing anymore than 10% of their birth weight). It really wasn't that big of a deal - it just meant we had to go to the Doctor on Thursday to get him weighed.

Mark & I got Jim all ready and took him to his first appointment. Jim did great!!! (It took us a minute - we were in the waiting room and the nurse called back for Jim, and we just sat there. It was weird hearing his name being called.)

He had put on a couple of ounces, so all is good! I was a little worried that they were going to tell me that we needed to supplement formula - but that wasn't even brought up! A big sigh of relief for me!

We go back to the doctor on the 26th for his 2 week check-up.

Our first night home

Our first night home wasn't all that great. Jim did not want to be put down...Nor did he want to fall asleep for us. We were up all night with him. Mark let me try to get some sleep, while he laid downstairs on the couch with Jim. And we took turns with a fussy baby.

Thank goodness for Aunt Ashley & Aunt Allison though - offering to take care of night duty when they were here visiting!

The hospital

We were in the hospital until Wednesday when we were finally discharged around noon.

Like I said earlier everyone there was wonderful!! I had such great nurses taking care of myself and Jim!! Which made things a lot easier for us all! There would always be nurses coming in and out of the room checking in on us, seeing if there was anything that we needed. Dr. Adhoot, and Liz Itote both came upstairs at one time just to check in on us!

Sunday night was rough. They woke me up at 1:00am to 'Dangle' which was pretty much getting me out of bed to use the bathroom. That wasn't fun at all. Monday was a pretty good day -- I think I spent most of it in bed relaxing. I did go for a little walk out in the hallway with mom, so that was good to get up and walk around a bit.

Tuesday I got up and showered - which was much needed! And even got dressed in regular clothes. As time went on I slowly was getting better and better. Monday night we did have the nursery keep Jim for 3 hours after his check-up so Mark & I could get a couple hours of sleep.

Wednesday was going home day. Again I got up and showered, and was feeling better than I was on Tuesday! We did the same thing Tuesday night, keeping Jim in the nursery for 3 hours which gave us a chance to sleep.

The grandparents were there the entire time! It was great having them around. They would show up at 11:00...And Mark would go home for a little bit. He took care of stuff around the house, and showered, and took a nap. I think the grandparents enjoyed their bonding time with Jim, and we sure enjoyed all their help!!!

We got Jim all dressed up and before we knew it we were on our way home! Jim enjoyed his first car ride home - I think he was sound asleep the entire ride home! Mark & I got home and settled, and then were joined by Grandma & Grandpa DiLoreto, and shortly after that the VanZandt's showed up to meet their grandson!

He's Here!!!!

James Robert entered the world on April 11, 2010 at 5:24pm. He weighed in at 8lbs 4oz and was 20 inches long. Contractions started at 10:00pm Saturday night. After several hours, Mark decided it was time to call the hospital at 4:00am when the contractions were coming every 5 minutes, and they lasted about a minute each. We were admitted and brought to our Labor & Delivery room. The nurses were all WONDERFUL!!! I couldn’t have asked to have delivered at a better hospital.

Things didn’t really go as planned though…There were 3 different times when James’ heart rate dropped below the number that they were comfortable with. Whenever this happened a bunch of nurses and doctors came running into the room and had to get his heart rate back up, which they were able to do. But as time went on – I was stuck at 6cm dilated, and after every contraction his heart rate would drop, which was a big concern to everyone there. It was a little after 4:00 when the doctor came in and said that it would be in our best interest to have a C-section. So before we knew it, we were getting prepared to go back into the operating room to meet our son! Mark got his scrubs and had to hang out in the room until they were ready for him. There were a bunch of people in there, and everyone was great!

Once we were all done, we were brought back to our room for recovery for a couple of hours. I was wheeled back holding our new son! Once we knew that we were having a C-section Mark called my parents and they made their way to the hospital so they’d be waiting when we were all done. Once we got situated, the Doctor went and got the new grandparents, and we got to introduce them to their first Grandson – James Robert! The proud grandparents and new daddy left to grab some dinner, while the nurses brought me upstairs where we stayed until Wednesday. I’ll update more about those days next.