My husband Jon and I (Rachel) got married on Dec. 15, 2007 and we found out on October 17, 2008 that we were expecting our first baby! This was my first pregnancy and I am really anxious and excited to learn about the process of being a mommy now and what to expect as each month passes.

June 14, 2009

Gregory Fausett was introduced to the world at 7:59am. He weighed 9 lb 2.4 oz, was 21 inches long, and was quite the conehead. lol. I'm so glad he's here, but I'm terrified at the prospect of actually being a mom. Good thing my mom is here to help me for the first few weeks. He has been quite and drowsy, and I love him so much! It wasn't quite love at first sight...I was tired and in shock and felt surreal when he was born, but now that I can look him in the face and hold him and love him, life is amazing.

June 18, 2009 (4 days)

Greg is doing really well! He was diagnosed with some moderate/severe jaundice, so two days ago (my discharge day from the hospital) we rented a bili light system to treat his jaundice. It makes me sort of sad because I want to hold and cuddle him so much, but I can't because he's stuck in his lights. I know the lights are a huge blessing...I don't want him to go back to the hospital... but I am looking forward to tomorrow when we can take him off of the lights. He's had two blood draws after discharge for his bili levels, and they finally went down today. So as long as he keeps on eating well and pooping a lot, our pediatrician said we can take him off. Breastfeeding is going well. I'm still pretty engorged (oooow, it hurts), but it's starting to go down thank goodness. It'll be easier for both Greg and me. Greg's pretty good at latching on, but we both have a loooong way to go before we'll be efficient at the whole process. I am not discrete at all, so my respect for ladies who can breastfeed in public without making a scene has gone up tremendously.

June 22, 2009 (8 days)

Can I say how tired I am? Like, exhausted, but in a very happy but sometimes frustrated way. Greg sleeps all day long with brief periods of awakeness...then at night he will get up about every hour and all hell breaks loose if he doesn't get to eat. I am exclusively breastfeeding and I can get so frustrated at myself, and overly tired. I don't blame Greg at all, if he's hungry he can nurse all day long, but my body just can't handle it. My DH does all he can, but he can't BF. He does change all the diapers at night if I ask him to, but he still gets a lot more sleep. *sigh* Greg is really doing better. He is staying awake for much longer periods of time and his skin is slowly getting less yellow. His scleras are still yellowish as is his face, but his arms, legs, and body are almost clear of yellow. Yay!

I sort of have to laugh at myself because I don't know what to do with an alert newborn...I try to talk to him, show him mirrors and bold toys etc, but I don't know what else to do. Hopefully I'm doing enough to gently stimulate him. :) I started tummy time two days ago for a couple of minutes. He doesn't seem to mind much and he'll just lay there with his head to one side. If I would let him I'm sure he could fall asleep in that position (not that I ever would). I want to get him used to being on his tummy for a couple minutes every day, so when he starts tummy time in earnest around 3 months, he won't mind being on his tummy.

June 30, 2009 (16 days)

Hello once again. I can't believe that Greg is more than two weeks old. The time has flown by, but it has also crept along so slowly.My mother is gone now, I can't believe it. I miss her so much and even though I know what to do (most of the time) I just miss having her close to me. She was really helpful with the laundry and dishes and such, but it's her company I miss most. :(

Greg was blessed in church at two weeks, it went really well and I had a little get together with my family afterwards (My mom/dad, brother/SIL, Jons mum, his grandparents, a couple of his aunts and cousins). The weather was beautiful and everyone loved Greg. As much as I loved their company I'm glad they're gone because I wore me out so much to have everyone over and to keep them and my little boy sane.

Greg had his two week checkup with his PNP yesterday (monday). It went really well this time. His jaundice is miniscule and he didn't pee/poo on anyone. He weighed in at 10 lb 6 oz and measured 22 in, which is amazing considering he was born a pound lighter. He is in the 90th percentile for weight and height. He grew an inch in two weeks...no wonder his hands/feet have been peeling so much! My DH jokes that he's molting lol. Greg has also formed the unfortunate habit of only pooing when his diaper is off... meaning when we change him. I have been pooped on more in the last week than I ever thought possible. It's super gross too, but at least I know he's getting enough to eat. *sigh* The laundry one little baby can make is amazing, who knew that a small ten pound mammal could soil so many things. ;] Greg is starting to focus on faces now, not just blurrily look at you. He occasionally smiles too, but that's probably just gas. I'm so excited for him to start smiling in earnest. Hopefully in a month.

July 22, 2009

Today was a rather interesting day. After I finished feeding Greg, I laid him down on the couch. Suffice to say he was on a pillow (his nursing pillow) and ended up falling off. I was out of the room (within view though) and when I heard that thump my heart jumped out of my throat and hit me in the face. I wanted to die. Greg started screaming and screaming and I was so worried. I ended up taking him to the ER where everything turned out alright but they gave me a list of things to watch out for. Later that evening he wouldn't wake up. I was terrified and I kept on thinking that I was going to loose my boy due to my own negligence. We were in the ER for another two hours where he had a CT scan as a precaution. Everything was fine, the scans looked great and there was no swelling. He was actually just beginning a growth spurt. I have never been so worried in my life. I thought I would die if anything happened to him. I am now super duper strict about NEVER leaving him on the couch or bed alone. He hasn't even started rolling, but I don't care. This is never ever happening again. My husband gets a big annoyed/puzzled by my naziness, but I don't care. I love him too much to care.

I also had a WIC appointment today and Greg weighed in at 12 lb 8 oz and 22.75 inches long. All is well and he is growing just fine. :) I got re-certified until October and they also signed me up for a class to teach me how to start introducing solids. I don't really want to introduce solids until about 7 months, but we'll see. I might cave in. There is just no nutritional reason to introduce solids until a baby is over a year old. *sigh* I am so in love with my little boy. He is my darling and I can't imagine life without him...I'm so glad that I don't have to imagine life without him.

July 31, 2009

I had my six (almost seven) week checkup today and everything went well. I'm all healed. I also had a pap smear at the appointment because my last one was a year ago. I have to have a breast ultrasound on the fourth of august because I've had this little bump on my breast since I was about 34 weeks pregnant with Greg. It's probably just a cyst, but we want to be sure. My husbands really happy that I'm cleared for sex, but it was so painful when we tried a week ago that I'm not too excited to start again. It feels like I'm a virgin all over again, but with higher expectation. :(

August 4, 2009 (51 days)

Greg is doing really well! Last night he slept from 10:30-5:00 and 5:00-8:30. I got just the right amount of sleep and we both feel great. He didn't sleep much yesterday, so maybe that's why he slept so long, but as I try to take everything one day at a time I am very grateful. Greg has turned into such a smiler. A month ago I was always so sad because I didn't really 'get' anything back from Greg, like smiles or eye contact. But now he is such a social little boy! If you set him at eye level with you he will coo at you (it's a game, I coo then he coo's. So cute!) and smile. He had the best smirks and grins and full out smiles that I can't express how much everything is worth it, just to see him smiling at me. He even smiles at me when he's getting changed sometimes. I love being a mommy!

I think that Greg may have reflux. He doesn't spit up ever, but he doesn't really like being on his side and he chokes a lot after he's done eating ( and while eating, but that's just excitement I think). It's not horrible, but I have to pump breastmilk to feed him now because it's easier being on his back. I have an appointment in two weeks, so I'll just wait to talk to the ped then because its really not too bad I don't think.

I also had my ultrasound today and it was a big bust. That bump was just a lymph node which had been pushed to the surface. Thank goodness that's it. I wasn't really worried about breast cancer, but it could have been a nasty cyst. ugh. It was really awkward getting my breast u/s. The goo is fine on a tummy, but on a boob it's a whole different story. lol.

August 17, 2009 (3 months 3 days)

Greg had his two month check up on the 17th. He weighed in at 14 lb 2 oz (92 percentile) and was 25.25 inches in length (98 percentile). His head has gotten bigger, when he was born he was in the 25 percentile and now he's sitting around the 70 percentile (yay for proportion!). He also got his shots. All of them. Boo. I am all for vaccinations, I really believe that vaccinations are good for children and the community. Especially with diseases like polio and pertusis. That is my personal position and I have nothing against others who are wary of vaccinations. It's a scary thing, intentionally introducing potentially harmful ingredients into a child...but in my opinion a necessary one. I love my boy too much not to vaccinate. On the other hand, I felt so guilty after his shots because of his cries. That night he was so sad and wouldn't be put down for anything (or sleep for that matter). It didn't help that his daddy was four hours away at a funeral so I had Greg all to myself. It's been a couple of days now and he's much better, but the five days after his shots he was pretty mopey. :( Poor Greg.

September 22, 2009

Greg went into the ped's office today. He's been sick and cranky with a cold while I had the flu, and we just wanted to get him checked out. He's 15lb 12 oz, 26.25 inches. They checked his blood O2 levels, which were good, and examined his flat spot, which is slowly getting better. Pretty much my ped told me that he had a bad cold and that explains the fussiness and lack of eating, and sluggishness. I feel better knowing that he's doing just fine. He's had a really good evening with no fussing or major cry sessions... let's hope he's on the up and up.

October 14, 2009 (4 months)

Greg had his four month well visit today and it went well all in all. His eyes are still a little off kilter so we're going to have to see an opthamologist (here's hoping that he won't need surgery). Some skin had pulled over the ridge of his penis, so the pedi had to pull it back and Greg screamed, not that I was shocked about him screaming. It was bright red and a little bloody. :( I just have to be careful to keep the skin pulled back and moisturized with vasoline. He still has a bit of a flat spot, but it has gotten sooo much better since his two month checkup that we probably won't need to get him a helmut. Yay! Greg also got all of his vaccinations because after talking through my pedi and researching I think it's almost worse to take the delayed route. I hate it when Greg gets shots though (well, the one time that he's gotten shots before this) and I still feel guilty for causing him pain and discomfort. He cried while he was getting his shots and he cried until after I got him dressed and picked him up. He calmed right down afterwards. I'm hoping it won't be a repeat of his two month shots because that day he would not let me put him down. I had to stand and hold him for hours. If I sat while holding him, he would cry. If I tried to lay him down he would cry. Poor boy just wanted love and cuddles. Right now he's sleeping (1.5 hrs after his shots). We'll see how today goes. He was 16 lbs even today (74th percentile), 26.5 inches long (94th percentile), and has a head circumference 17.1 inches (82nd percentile). He is a happy and healthy boy and we mean to keep him that way. :)

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