Zander's Second Week

Daddy went back to work on Wednesday so it was just mama & baby all day. We did what we normally do, nurse & sleep. :-) Wednesday night we went over to Doug’s parent’s house for dinner and Dani, Mikey & Madison were there as well. We compared Zander’s feet & hands to Madi’s, they are pretty darn close! Zander has huge hands and feet!

Thursday Doug took the day off from work because I wanted to visit the Lactation Nurse. First we went and visited Mamaw (Doug’s grandmother, so Zander’s great-grandmother) at her work: Dunkin Donuts. Zander slept for a while in his car seat but then woke up. People were commenting what a cute kid! Then we went to the Lactation Nurse because I was paranoid about getting nursing right. After waiting for a few minutes and having a big ol’ messy diaper & clothing change we got to see her and Zander was pretty hungry! He latched right on and ate great, so she said we were doing good. It was a great relief to see her though and know we were doing all right. She also gave us tips for the future and we can call her any time we need to.

Doug and I decided to go mattress shopping because we suddenly realized our mattress was wrecking our backs. Instead of lugging around the baby seat or trying to get the stroller in and out for such quick trips we tried the baby sling for the first time. It worked great, we could get Zander in and out of his car seat and in and out of the sling and he would just sleep. I think he liked being so close to me. So we went to two mattress stores and then to Target, Zander slept the whole time!

Saturday night we went to my parents for dinner, so Zander got to see Mimi & Poppa again. He slept and ate most the time.

Sunday we gave Zander some tummy time since his cord stump had fell off on Friday. He is so strong! He can lift his head up and move from left to right. He also kicks his back legs around like he wants to crawl.

After Zander & Daddy took a long nap we headed to Baby’s R Us to get a few things, Zander slept in his sling while we were there. Doug and I were hungry and trying to figure out what to eat. We both thought Red Robin sounded good but we hadn’t dined out with Zander yet, plus he was so new! We decided to give it a shot and took him in his baby seat. We asked to sit on the patio because it was a nice night and there was only one party out there. I have just started getting used to nursing in front of people and hadn’t done it yet, so I figured that was a good place to start if I needed to. Zander slept in his seat the whole time and Doug & I got to eat dinner out for the first time since before he was born (Ok, it wasn’t even 2 weeks but it felt like a while!)

Then we stopped by Doug’s parents house and Noni & Pappy bought Zander some really cute outfits including a Diamondbacks outfit, an outfit with tools on it, and Halloween outfit with little Frankenstein slippers! Too cute!

On Monday Zander decided to nurse most of the day. I want my baby to be big and healthy so that’s just fine by me. They call them “growth spurts” when the baby decides to nurse all day long for a day or two. Generally, babies get them around 2-3 weeks. Zander has these little smiles while he’s dozing off nursing, it’s so cute!

Babymoon: Zander’s first week

Zander was born Wednesday on Wednesday 9/15. (See the Birthstory)

Zander was greeted by most of his extended family just a few hours after birth:
· His Mimi & Poppa (Grandma & Grandpa Murphy)
· Aunt Melissa & Cousin Mickenzie
· Uncle Mike & Aunt Lindsey
· Uncle Marty & Aunt Colby
· Noni & Pappy (Grandma & Grandpa Morrison)
· Aunt Dani, Uncle Mikey & Cousin Madison
· Maw & Paw (Morrison Great Grandparents)

We stayed in the hospital until Friday 9/17. Daddy was with us most of the stay except when he went home to rest, shower and play with the dog, Vinnie. Daddy spent the night with us though, sleeping on the uncomfortable bench in the hospital room. He brought movies from home for us to watch on the second night, which was nice. Auntie Melissa spent a lot of time with us in the hospital, too. She helped me get positioned for nursing, get in and out of bed because I was pretty sore, and got me ice and water. It was great having her there.

When we brought Zander home on Friday he was greeted by the family dog, Vinnie. First, Doug came in to say hi to Vinnie, then Doug came out and I went in. Vinnie must have missed me a lot, he was going nuts. Then Doug brought in Zander. Vinnie was fired up most of that day, crying and barking a lot. He didn’t seem to be jealous of the baby but he’s never seen a person that small before.

My parents and Melissa and Mickenzie came over and my mom & dad made dinner for us. Vinnie would get very anxious when others would hold Zander. My mom held him for a while on the couch and Vinnie stayed right by her side. He’s protective of Zander. He’d much rather Zander be held by Mama or Daddy.

Saturday night Doug’s parents came over to visit with Zander, Vinnie got a little bit better. Sunday night we went to my parents for dinner and Zander got to visit with the Murphy family again.

Doug was off work Monday & Tuesday so we just spent our days getting to know our little boy, babymoon is what they call it. He is just so beautiful and precious. Zander seems to be wired just like his parents and would rather sleep during the day and stay up at night. Zander just does what he needs to do: eats, sleeps, poops & pees. This makes me very happy because I know he’s eating well. I also discovered we can nurse laying down in bed, and that’s a very nice thing because I was exhausted those first few days!

Tuesday Doug & I took Zander to see the doctor for his 1 week check up. She said he was a perfect 10! He got weighed and had put on 2 ounces since checking out of the hospital, so he was up to 9 pounds 6 ounces! He’s been eating great!

Birth Story

I typed up the Birth Story of Zander. You can read it HERE

Welcome to the world Zander!

I've been meaning to give an update here but ya know how it is when you have a new baby. Time just flies...

As you probably know, Zander arived Wednesday 9/15 (right on his due date!) at 1:18 pm. He weighed 9 pounds 8 ounces and was 21.5 inches long! There's a bunch of pictures on the website already, go check them out. We think he's pretty darn cute.

Zander is doing WONDERFUL. He's a beautiful, perfect, healthy little boy! We're enjoying every moment with him.

I've wrote up the birth story and I have a ton of pictures to post to the website. I'm working on getting the website reorganized so it will be easier to navigate. I'm also trying to organize all the pictures I've been taking.

So, hopefully more on the website soon!
~Michelle, Doug, and Zander

Still hangin in there! But I think we might be getting close...

Here is a picture Doug took of me Friday night:

39 weeks & 2 days pregnant!

Almost there!

Wow, just 5 days until my due date, I can't believe it! I thought maybe baby boy would arrive a little early but I guess not. Doug says he likes where he's at, who can blame him?

I'm doing pretty good - just feeling uncomfortable and huge. And I've developed a lovely little rash on my tummy that is supposed to go away after having the baby. I'm still working, but just half days since my feet swell up pretty nicely if I sit in my chair at work too long.

Doug did a great job painting the baby's room and getting everything ready. There's pictures of the room on the baby website: Click here to see. When we get the bedding and the rest of the things in the room we'll update the photos.

So I just wanted to update this journal since it's been about a month since the last update. Hopefully my next update will be all about baby boy's arrival! I can't wait to meet him! :-)