The first month

I have seriously been trying to blog about Thomas's first month for weeks now. I guess I have been a little preoccupied. :)

Thomas went for his 1 month check up on October 5. Baby boy was looking good! He weighed 6lbs 8oz. at birth and at this check up he weighed 8lbs 2oz! I was thrilled to see those numbers. You see, with Savannah, I was not successful at nursing. She never did well with it, I would get frustrated, we always supplemented with formula and quite honestly, I felt like a failure. This time around I was determined to nurse. Maybe the positive attitude helped because Thomas has been a champ so far. I never worry if he is getting enough and it was obvious by his weight gain that he was. Ok, back to the actual visit. He is 20 1/2" long and his head circumference is 14 1/4". The doctor came in after the nurse had finished up all her measurements and began his exam. At this point in time, the visit was going well until the doctor took off his diaper to check him out. Almost immediately, he said, "Hmmm, he seems to have a hernia." (WHAT!!??) I realize what a hernia is and in the grand scheme of things, it really is not a big deal, but when you are hearing this about your 4 week old baby, believe me, it is NOT somthing you want to hear. The next thing he said didn't make me feel any better. "We will need to refer him to a specialist at Childrens' Hospital who can get a better look and make a decision as to what needs to happen." (again, WHAT!!??) insert panic mode here:
Although that is not what I did. I remained very calm and started to ask questions. The doctor assured me that something like this was normal in little boys. It will more than likely be something that can be left alone but that will be up to the doctor at Childrens. I sure hope they don't have to operate on my sweet boy to fix this. It is one thing to have a minor procedure like tubes be done when your child is a little older but the thought of hernia surgery on a 2 month old? I honestly don't know if that will happen but the thought of it terrifies me. Our appointment is on November 8. Until then I am trying not to worry too much. Quite frankly, there is nothing I can really do now and Thomas is not in any pain. Those two things put together will help me get through the next few weeks.

SLEEP. Something that I haven't had much of this past month. Savannah came home sleeping through the night but Thomas is not quite there yet. This past week has been better. I feed him sometime between 7 and 8pm and he will sleep until at least 1. I feed him again and he sleeps until 4 or 5 and from then, he eats about every 3 hours. After his night feeding we put him in the swing to go to sleep because, as of right now, he DOES NOT like his crib. Aric and I wonder if putting him in the swing every night is safe. I believe it mimics him being in the womb that is why he likes it so much. We will wait a few more weeks and start to transition him to the crib. The tricky part is going to be letting him cry it out. Savannah usually goes to bed by 9. If we put Thomas to bed earlier, let him cry it out, I think we will be ok. But if Thomas goes to bed later, we risk him waking up Savannah with his crying. (something that is very real in this household) SIDENOTE: The first couple of weeks with Thomas I thought Savannah was never going to get any sleep. She woke up everytime he cried.

This first month as been interesting. I thought my life changed with one baby. With two, it is a little more interesting. It is a little bit more busy, a little bit more stressful, a little bit more tears. I never thought I would be a mother of two, but here I am. Every day is going to be interesting. Every day is also a blessing. A blessing that I am here, a mother with two beautiful children. Thank you Lord!


Have a great Friday everyone! :)

Professional Pics of THomas

http://poshpics.net/viewing/?slideshowID=83204

password is: wareagle

Enjoy!

Hello Fall...

how I have missed you in my life! How about this cooler weather?! I am loving it. I stepped outside this morning to take out the trash and just wished I could have stayed out there for a few hours.
Here are some things I think of when I think of fall: (in no particular order)
College football (AMEN?)
Leaves falling and changing color
pumpkin spice latte (one of my favorites)
baking
fall festivals
cooler weather
less humidity
pumpkins
sweaters

To me, fall is the perfect season. There are usually so many fun things going on and the weather just makes it that much more enjoyable.
Here's to the 2010 fall season! Hope everyone enjoys it as much as I do!

2 week birthday!

Happy 2 week birthday Thomas!
You are already growing so much mommy and daddy and big sister can't believe it. We went for your two week weight check today and you were already up to your birth weight plus a few ounces. 6 lbs 11.2 oz!
I was very pleased to see that number. I have been exclusively breastfeeding (except for 1 oz of formula in the hospital because he was not having a good day) and so far it is going great. Savannah never did very will with nursing and I felt like we constantly had to supplement with formula but so far, Thomas has caught on and is doing great. I will admit sometimes it is difficult, especially when he decides he is hungry and hour or so after he has already eaten but, I realize with a newborn, that is just part of it.
The past couple of nights have been rough. Thomas has decided that when we are ready for bed, he wants to be wide awake and fussing. It all starts between the 9 and 11 PM hours and he usually doesn't settle down until the wee hours of the morning, like 3 AM. Can we say, HUGE lack of sleep?! It is all worth it though. As he is laying there fussing, keeping us awake, I can't help but think, how fast he is going to grow up and before long I will be wishing he was a baby again. I am hanging in there and I think Aric is too. Bless his heart; at least I have the opportunity to take naps during the day, he is up all night helping me and then at work all day. He is wonderful! Aric, if you are reading this, I LOVE YOU and THANK YOU for being you.

Next week we are having some pictures taken of Thomas. A sweet friend is an amatuer photographer and trying to build up her portfolio. She offered to take some photos of Thomas while he is still little so, be on the look out for those sooon.

Today also marks the end of my "no driving" days. The only problem is, I am still not supposed to lift anything heaving than Thomas for 4 more weeks so, being able to drive now really doesn't help me out. Oh well, I am recovering well from my c-section and am very pleased with the progress I have made. :)

Well, my down time is about up. Both kiddos are napping but I hear one of them stirring so I better hop to it.

Have a great day everyone! God Bless!

Emily

Pictures of the newest Lobenstein

Here are a few pictures we've been able to take so far.  Things have been busy, and we need to take some more, but I wanted to go ahead and get some out there...

Thomas is here!!!

Well, we've been a little busy around the Lobenstein household for the past week or so...  BUT, I am very happy to announce that Thomas has joined us and is just as PERFECT as he can be!  Praises to God for the blessings that He imparts on us!

Thomas was born at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, September 3, 2010.  He weighed in at 6 lbs, 8 oz and was 19.5 inches long.  Mother and baby are at home and recovering well.

We did have a slight hiccup, in that his bilirubin levels got a little higher than the doctors like to see - at discharge, he was right at 11 and at 5 days old, he was at 6 lbs, 1 oz and a 15.2 bilirubin level, which is right at the lower end of the "at risk" range.  However, we took him in for another test this morning and on his 6th day, he was back up to 6 lbs, 2.6 oz and a bilirubin level down to 13.3.  The doctor says we're out of the woods now and we don't need to come back until his 2-week weight check.

Emily is recovering well also - her doctor is very pleased with her progress and her incision is healing nicely.  Thankfully, we are blessed with having both sets of grandparents in town, so Grammy has been coming over to help Emily in the afternoons while I go into the office for a few hours each day.  Today, Nana is helping this afternoon and giving Grammy a little bit of a break as well.  Thank God for Grandmothers!!!!

We will post more soon, but I wanted to go ahead and get the word out - Thomas is here, healthy, and generally very happy!  We are amazingly blessed with these two beautiful children and with so many family and friends who have just loved all over us as we celebrate together the blessing of bringing another of God's children into this world.  THANK YOU ALL!!!!

Is ready for this...

WAR EAGLE Y'ALL!!