Jake Week 3

Wow, I guess given how crazy busy things have been around here I shouldn't be so surprised that my little baby is already 3 weeks old, but wow! I still can't believe it! I feel like I just got home from the hospital and here we are almost at the 1 month mark. To say he is the sweetest little angel is an understatement. He really is a very easy baby as far as babies go. Yes, we are still very sleep deprived and exhausted given the two boys and lack of sleep but overall he has been great. We are still super careful after every feed and I watch him very closely. He still seems very mucusy and there have been two occasions where he has started to choked a little but nothing we can't handle. We weighed him on our scale at home and he is 9 pounds 2 ounces at the moment and eating like a champion. He should be going through a growth spurt now since he is 3 weeks, but given how much he eats on a regular basis it is hard to tell. He averages between 23 ounces a day and sometimes finds it very difficult to last 3 hours during the day, especially when he has breast milk. I am trying to make him wait the three hours so it makes it a bit easier and now give him 4 ounces every three hours. At night he has a hard time falling asleep, but once asleep he does great and I have to wake him up for two feeds at night. I am still exclusively pumping and giving him formula twice a day. I decided to stop last night, but my conscience is still making me do it. I have just decided to not pump during the night any more which makes it a lot easier. I had a rough night with Max last night, who refused to go to sleep and had a bit of a meltdown due to lack of sleep and decided for sanity reasons I'd make my life a little easier by not pumping during the night. I am really tired right now and since both boys are sleeping I'm going to try to take a nap. Happy 3 week birthday little man, mommy adores you and I am the proudest mom of two sweet little boys.

Newborn Photoshoot Preview

It was very important to Steve and I that our second son receive the same treatment as our first. Therefore we signed him up for newborn photos as well, but this time with a photographer in CT who we had to meet at her home studio two hours away. It took me two hours to get the kids packed up and all of us ready so we could meet Steve at his office so we could all go together. Once we got there we were a little surprised to see her studio which was in her dark and dingy basement. Our photographer was a very sweet young mother of one who teaches 3rd grade and does this on the side. She sent us a preview the same day and we are ecstatic about the pictures. I can't wait to see the rest!

Jake Week 2

Jake's second week has been eventful. At 10 Days old he had to be admitted to the hospital after I found him blue, full of vomit and not breathing. I immediately called 911 who responded and suctioned him out. I then took both kids to the pediatrician who wanted him admitted to the hospital for 24 hours because they were worried about him swallowing his puke and having breathing problems. I felt better having him watched because I was so shaken up after finding him in such a bad state. To think if I had walked into the room a little later what might have happened. It makes my heart stop. Since then I have ordered all sorts of monitors and cribs to ensure it won't happen again. My heart stops every time I check on him (which is every minute these days) so I'm hoping the monitors will give me a piece of mind. He has started to cry a little more this week, mostly when he is hungry or gassy. He has a lot of gas and is constantly farting. We have him on a three hour schedule of 3 oz per feeding. I am exclusively pumping (3 oz every three hours) and I give him formula at his 10pm feeding.

We spread out the feedings to 4 hours at night if he lasts, which most nights he does. He has been an easier newborn than Max from what I recall. He loves his pacifier which is something Max didn't. His belly button stub fell out at the hospital when he was 11 days old. We gave him his bath last night and he didn't cry too much. He has such skinny legs and arms, which is funny because him and Max are built so differently. It has been pretty crazy with both kids and little downtime, especially with Maria being sick. But I'm managing pretty well and proud of myself for managing everything. I have been pretty emotional and broken down a few times but my hormones are crazy so what can you do. I'm still bleeding quite a bit but I'm feeling much better down below ;) I'm hoping in two weeks time I can start to workout a little. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be pumping for, I have wanted to quite several times but I'm trying to hang in there for as long as possible.

Jake had his 2 week pediatrician visit today and he weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces (50th percentile) Height was 21 inches (75th Percentile) and his head was in the 50th percentile. He still had jaundice which will take longer to go away sine I'm mostly exclusively breastfeeding. Everything looked great, so lets hope from this point forward everything goes smoothly!

Jake Sebastian has arrived!

We are so pleased to announced the birth of our youngest son, Jake Sebastian, born on May 3rd at 4:15pm. He weighed 7 pounds 12.2 ounces and was 19.75 inches. I was induced at 39 weeks so he is a big boy and super cute!




On Monday morning, May 2nd we drove into Manhattan to see my doctor for my last visit. I was still only 1cm dilated and 60% effaced. She told me to head to the hospital that night so I could get a room and get started on Cervidil. So that night, after we put Max down to bed we drove into the city to be induced. Of course we get there and they are fully booked, and we were put into a different wing so we could wait for a labor and delivery room to open up. I was given the Cervidil which looks like a shoe string and is inserted into ones vagina.





We slept that night and the following morning around 10 we were finally given a room and transferred over.



Once there I was checked again and now 2 centimeters and 70% effaced. Steve and I took a quick shower before the Pitocin was administered and my water was broken with a needle a little while later. That is when my contractions started to come on strong and were 2-3 minutes apart. It was a totally different experience from the first time around when my water broke on its own and my contractions started at 8 minutes apart and slowly got stronger. This time around they came on with full force, oh so I thought. I was still able to read a magazine and check my phone to which my doctor told the nurse "increase the dosage". The nurse warned me that I could get my Epidural before she did that, but I figured I'd still have time. Wow was I wrong. They came on so strong, I couldn't even talk, I was biting on a straw begging for the epidural around noon. Luckily they came real fast and I was given my epi which kicked in a little while later. After that it was smooth sailing. I couldn't feel my legs or the contractions and I felt much better. Steve jumped into bed with me and we watched Toy Story 3. Towards the end I started to feel a very heavy sensation in my vaginal area, and I just knew he wanted to come out. I told the nurse to get the doctor so she could check my dilation. She came in and put her fingers down there for two seconds and went "yup, we are ready, he will be out in three pushes". Steve and I were shocked and I started to have tears rolling down my face. I couldn't believe the time had finally come and we were about to meet our son. I started to push after I had asked for the mirror and to my dismay he was out 7 minutes later. It was such an amazing experience since this time around I wasn't as tired and was able to watch the entire thing unfold. This time the doctor wanted me to watch the entire thing in the mirror whereas with Max they removed the mirror once he was crowning. Then I got a lesson on Placentas when they showed me how it functioned. The entire experience was wonderful and when my son was placed on my chest the moment he came out, it was one of the happiest days of my life.






He was perfect in every way. Luckily this time around I only needed one stitch. His head came out without a tear, but his one shoulder made me tear a little. It is amazing how much easier everything was the second time around. And now I am a mom of two beautiful boys and I couldn't be more grateful!

I stayed in the hospital until Thursday morning when I was released to go home. I wasn't able to get a private room since they were all occupied. I ended up in a room with a first time mom whose baby wouldn't stop crying. If it weren't for the non stop crying it wouldn't have been so bad to be in a non private room since I got the bed with a beautiful view. My parents brought in sushi dinner both nights which tasted amazing. I had a few girlfriends come and visit which was really nice. Jake left the hospital in good health and us in great spirits.

Grandparents meet Jake for first time:





The happy parents: