Tummy Time

Nolan has been doing tummy time from day one. Usually it's on mom, dad or sometimes YaYa but no matter what he gets plenty of tummy time. From day one he has had incredible head control but last week when he rolled over I decided that he needs to have an official tummy time area. Who knows maybe he will be crawling by 3 months!

He had a great time hanging out with his new friends...

and checking himself out in the mirror.
So much fun that he was conked out for the next 4 hours!
Cortez saw how much fun Nolan had and decided to try it out too...he was not impressed.

What a day!

I was officially welcomed to motherhood the other day when Nolan not only threw up on me...twice but also pooped all over the place in what they call a "diaper blow out". This day required 4 outfit changes, 1 long bath for Nolan and 2 showers for me.

I just had to document this momentous occasion ...good times!

The Next Generation

I completely blanked on posting this a few weeks ago....sorry!

When Nolan was a week old, Nolan's Aunt Carolyn, YaYa, G.G. (great Granny), Auntie Em and Cousin Clem came to meet Nolan. We were especially excited for the cousins to meet as up until now, Clementine has been the only baby. At first she didn't seem to mind, as long as I was holding him but as soon as Emily got him, the claws came out. Not really but there was definitely some concern from Clementine who suddenly wanted mom to hold her. Needless to say Emily had her hands full.

We had lunch, chatted about babies and Emily snuck cuddles with Nolan when Clementine was distracted. When it was time to go we decided to do a next generation photo with the babies. So we posed ourselves and hoped for the best. Before we knew it Clementine was rubbing Nolan's head like it was a crystal ball...gently but with great velocity. Emily said that this is the way they taught her to pet Jack, their Boston Terrier. Everyone was cracking up but the cameras kept shooting. Here is the end result...
Oh memories!

Play Dates & Outings

Now that we are starting to get into a routine and I'm able to shower and eat on most days. We have started to go out on little field trips. Last week we had our very first play date, with Nolan's friend Sebastian who was born 6 days before Nolan. Sebastian shared his elder wisdom with Nolan, and Nolan shared his Mylicon drops. On Friday we went on a 4 hours shopping spree so that i could get a few pieces of clothes that actually fit me instead of falling off (maternity clothes) or cutting off my circulation (pre pregnancy clothes). Nolan slept the entire time, allowing me to find a new pair of jeans which are now too big (yeah breastfeeding!) and a few tops.

On Monday we drove down to Tacoma to visit YaYa so that she could show off her grandson at work. Nolan mostly cooperated but since i left his new best friend binky in the car he lost his cool 45 minutes in so we headed back home.

Then on Wednesday we went back to the mall to hang out with Erin, Sebastian and her 5 year old son Sam. I needed to take back the previously purchased jeans and get a few birthday items. My new mother mentor, Erin showed me her favorite kid/baby stores and didn't judge me for getting that pretzel...thanks Erin!

Next week is not so exciting. Since Nolan is a month old on Monday we both have our one month check ups. But I'm sure we can squeeze some trouble in there somewhere!

Nolan Gets Political

Seriously, we did not pose this one, he did it on his own. We're so proud!

Where has the time gone?

When I was pregnant, everyone told me how slowly the time goes by when your first at home with the baby. This must be wrong as I am in complete shock that Nolan will be 3 weeks old on Monday. So much has changed in the last few weeks. He is a PRO at the breastfeeding thing where 2 weeks ago we were feeding him with a syringe. He is awake and "talking" for long periods of time (video coming soon) instead of sleeping ALL the time. He has gained 2 pounds since he was born...did i mention he was a great eater? PLUS he is such a good natured baby, I feel so incredibly fortunate that the only time we hear him cry is when he is hungry or wants to be cuddled. I can spend an entire day just hanging out with him, cuddling, cooing and singing, thus making our days just fly by before i notice that i haven't showered, eaten, drank anything or even used the restroom. I'm working on all of that! So here is Nolan as of yesterday, talking with YaYa who was up for a visit.

More Nolan

A few more pictures.First Bath EVER

My very patient delivery nurse and Nolan
Going home!

Nolan the Bear

First bath at home

Introducing...

After months of anticipation, 3 weeks of contractions and a 2.5 hour delivery Nolan Zachary Clingman arrived on Monday, January 12 at 3:21 am. He weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces, 20.5 inches long and perfect in everyway.

His arrival came as a huge surprise to us (and the medical staff) as we had planned to start the induction process around 7:00 am on Monday morning. Sunday night we were admitted and I was given some medicine to prepare for the induction and an ambien to help me sleep. At 1:00am i woke up to my water breaking and we got started. I got in the jacuzzi tub and relaxed through the contractions, did my breathing exercises just as i was taught and thought "hey i can do this!" After a little while in the tub they decided to pull me out so they could get the monitor on. As i stepped out of the tub i began to shake uncontrollably. I remembered from Emily's labor that this meant i was in transition. I thought, "WOW I'm making great time!" and the nurse assured me that we would have a dinner time baby. I walked from the bathroom to the bed and this is when things got serious. Suddenly i was in pain, and i mean real pain. I turned to the nurse, demanding that she do something about this, my coping mechanisms were out the door. I collapsed on the bed begging for them to give me something. They decided to check me and to everyone's surprise, i was completely dilated.

Since i was the only person on the floor delivering that day, and we weren't expected to get started until later, the doctor had gone home. The entire nursing staff rushed in to deliver. Luckily, the doctor only lived 2 minutes from the hospital and sure enough made it in time to catch me pushing. 6 pushed later, Nolan was here.

Pat was amazingly calm through all of this, and was amazed at how quickly he arrived. For a man that said he was going to stay up by my head the whole time, he really got into it, holding my legs and cutting the umbilical cord.

I am still in shock that it happened this way, but in the end we got exactly what we asked for. I was able to go all natural, use my relaxation techniques and he even has curly hair. I wouldn't change a thing.

So here is our new family. We couldn't be happier.

The End is Near!

I had my weekly doctors appointment on Friday and they informed me that my body was starting to show signs of stress from the pregnancy and that the baby would need to come out sooner then later. So they let me come home and try a bunch of natural induction methods with the plan that is none of them work i will head into Labor and Delivery on Sunday night with a Monday morning induction. I was so relieved to hear that this was almost over as i could tell my body was just not tolerating the pregnancy as well as it once had. Eating, sleeping and moving around had become very difficult so my patience was running out! When i got home though i realized that have a pitocin induced birth meant throwing away most of my birth plan (no medicine, lots of movement to control pain, etc). So I'm trying everything to get this going before our appointment tomorrow. I have tried a bunch of things today with no luck with the plan to start taking Castor oil tomorrow morning as a last resort. Keep your fingers crossed that all these attempts combined with the full moon tonight that something will work. The great news is regardless of how labor starts, there will be a baby by Monday. It's crazy to think he is almost here! I will post pictures as soon as i can so keep checking the blog next week. We'll finally get to see who he looks like...and hopefully he will come home with a name!

As requested, one last belly shot. This picture as taken on our way to the hospital.

STILL waiting!

Here we are in 2009 and still no baby! i really didn't think i would go this long and had it in my head that he would be here in 2008 but nope, he has other plans. My doctor is always the optimist and assures me that it will be any day now but i'm convinced that we are going to have to force him out. It is definitely getting tough waiting around for something to happen especially when you throw in contractions but i'm trying to enjoy these last few days (or weeks) of the pregnancy and am very grateful that he is healthy and happy in his little world. Fortunately there is a light at the end of the tunnel. He will be here by January 21 as they will not let me go a week past my due date. Keep your fingers crossed that he decides it is time before the doctor does so we don't have to do much intervention. Who knows, maybe this time next week he will be here and we will be home...we'll see!