Week 4

Well Marshall had a busy week - he had his first non-relative visitors this week. The first were the Strange Family. Marshall had his first true test of how good he would be with other people and he was awesome. He especially liked being held by Curtis, who put him right to sleep! :-)

We also visited Aunt Heather's family since Marshall's cousin Katherine threw her Mommy a Baby Shower. Marshall's Baby girl cousin should be born sometime in the last weeks of December.

On Friday, Marshall's future Aggie classmate, Abby, came over for a visit. Abby is 3 months old and is so very alert. You can just see her happy disposition in her eyes and how she just soaks up her surroundings like a sponge.

Mr. Marshall has finally moved up and out of the preemie clothes into newborn and has graduated to Pamper's Size 1 (instead of the newborn diapers!). By the end of the week he weighed in at 7 lbs 13 oz. He also had his first walk outside the house and really enjoyed cruising the neighborhood in his baby carriage! He is starting to become more and more alert throughout the day. He still has a very firm schedule - he is so alert and happy from 10:00am to 2:00pm, then he takes his afternoon nap, and wakes up and is cranky in time for Daddy to get home in the evening. One night he actually slept in his crib for 3 hours and on Friday night he slept for 5 hours straight!

He has such a laid back personality. It is so exciting because he has even begun to smile and "talk to Mommy." Mostly he likes to make the "Ahhh" sound and gurgle "gggghhh." He is so cute. When he is mad, he gets really mad (generally because Mommy is Changing his diaper or clothes), but he calms down when he is rocked, sung to, or just put in his vibrating chair.

As each week goes by, Boris becomes more and more protective of "his human." Boris will randomly come over to Marshall throughout the day and plant a big wet kiss on him and then sit by Marshall like he is protecting him. Who knew that our shy doggie would open up to the newest member of the "pack" so readily?!

Here are some photos highlights from this week. Each photo is a clickable link to a larger image:

Week 4 Video's:

Talking With MommyUrp Up on Daddy

Week 3

Where has the time gone?! Today Marshall is three weeks old! He has been a great baby. He has already started to have a schedule emerge over this week and at night I can almost set an alarm to his 2:30am and 5:30am feedings. What is really great about his nighttime feedings is he is all business - he eats then goes promptly back to sleep - meaning no playtime at night. Playtime is generally from 10:00 am -1:30 pm and at night when Daddy gets home.

He is also starting to not fuss as much during bath time, where he likes to stare at his toes in the bathtub. When it is time to run errands, Marshall goes right to sleep. He likes car rides and sitting in his travel carrier. Speaking of sleep, he still is a very heavy sleeper (just like his Mommy! We won't tell Dr. Baker, but one night both Mommy and Baby forgot to wake up to feed and he slept 7 hours straight) and doesn't like to be woken up. It's also funny when he yawns heavily he doesn't like the way it feels and will start to fuss.

He is so amazing - Chris and I just love watching him (hence all the pictures!). He is so precious and beautiful. We are both amazed to think that just three weeks ago this little guy was still in my belly sucking on his fingers, kicking and hiccuping (which he still does frequently outside the womb).

Somebody is smiling for the camera...

Sleepytime with Daddy.

Look Mom, I can Hold my Binky in my mouth all by myself.

My Doggies Love Me.

Storytime is my Favorite Time of Day.

Yep, I'm Cute and Cuddly.

Week 2

This was an exciting week, as Chris and I celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary on November 2nd (exactly two weeks after Marshall's Birthday). What better present to each other than a sweet little baby. Marshall also is settling in nicely in his new home. Here is a brief update on his activities.

Week 2 Milestones
- He is a VERY heavy sleeper. He even sleeps through the dogs barking, vacuuming, etc.

- Once he is awake (and he hates being woken up) he is a voracious eater for such a small guy.

- He is beginning to be alert and lift his head a lot in the late morning to early afternoon when he especially likes to look at his doggies and his surroundings. Boris thinks that Marshall is his human and likes to lay next to him and kiss his face (oh and steal his pacifier which I am constantly looking for since Mr. Boris has hid two of them already).

- He loves his vibrating Chair. And despite not liking his swing in Week 1, he now enjoys being in his swing.

- When he is upset, Marshall is instantly calmed when we put on Music.

- He loves to suck on his two fists (and his Pacifier).

- Marshall enjoys storytime with his Mom and Dad.

- You would think that we were torturing the little guy with the way he SCREAMS when he gets his diaper change and a bath. But once he's naked he calms down.

- Marshall loves being held by his Daddy. He especially likes to pass gas and make poopy diapers for his Daddy when he gets home from work!

Baby's First Halloween

Well as you can see from some of the photos, Marshall did not have fun dressing up for Halloween. I can't blame him though, none of the outfits/costumes we previously purchased for him fit very well. In the end we just had to go with half naked baby.

He's Arrived!! October 19, 2007 Birth Day!

Baby Marshall has arrived! It has been an amazing week, so now it is time to let everyone know how Marshall's first week went.

 

My last day of work was on Oct. 17th and I had a week of lounging planned before our scheduled induction on Oct. 24th. However, Marshall had other plans for us. On Oct. 18th, I woke up to run some errands and was surprised by the sudden gush of water at 8:45 that morning. I called Chris at work and he came home to pick me up and take me to the hospital.

 

Once we got checked in, the nurse did some tests and she couldn't be certain that my water had broke. It appeared intact but there was trace of amniotic fluid but not enough to turn the test fully positive, so they sent Chris and I home after a few hours. That was very frustrating because my doctor seemed to have short-timers (he was going on vacation and wouldn't be available for about 5 days) and didn't walk over from his office to check us out.

 

We left the hospital with our contractions coming every 15 minutes and they continued to come regularly in shorter and shorter periods but we were too afraid to go back to the hospital because we were afraid of being sent home again. Finally at about midnight we went back to the hospital because the contractions were coming about 4 minutes apart and there was no doubt that baby was on his way. We were finally admitted and after another 6 hours my body still wasn't progressing very rapidly and the on-call doctor seemed to think that my water had broke up high earlier in the day, making it hard to detect, so I was started on antibiotics and pitocin to get the labor to progress faster.

 

Unfortunately, there was a shift change with my doctors around the time they were starting the pitocin and the epidural which was scheduled right after go pushed back a few hours until the new doctor had a chance to review my chart. I must say up to that point it was the longest 24 hours of my life!

 

Once the epidural was started Chris and I got some much needed rest and my body was fully ready to deliver at about 3pm. Marshall, however, was not ready as his head was too big. The doctor increased the pitocin and we waited for another two hours for his head bones to shift to allow him to pass. Once he was ready to go, we had him out after 15 minutes. He was so amazing. He had a little cone head and was all sticky white. He weighed 6 lbs and 13 ounces and was 20 1/4 inches long. He was delivered at 5:11pm on Friday October 19, 2007.

His first week has been so wonderful. He is a very good baby and is very laid back. He is a heavy sleeper, so Miss Molly, Mr. Kohl and Mr. Boris can bark to their hearts' content and the little guy will not even stir a little. He had a little jaundice and he dropped about 12 ounces those first 4 days, but his color has been returning to normal and he has been steadily gaining weight. I think the first week with Marshall was so wonderful because he has such an amazing Daddy. He is so good with Marshall. And he took such good care of me as well. Marshall and I are so lucky!

For week two, my mom has been staying with us, but since the little guy is no trouble my mom has been busying herself in the kitchen. She has made us some wonderful meals. Next week, we look forward to diving into the meals our friends prepared for us at our baby shower (THANK YOU SHARLA!).

 

Here are some photos of Marshall's first week:

Last Pregnancy Photo before heading to the Hospital

At the Hospital

Marshall Meets the Family

Marshall Meets his Crazy Puppies

Photos of the Little Man