3 Weeks Old

Josh commented a few days ago about how it seems like Davey has been with us a lot longer than a few weeks. I couldn't agree more. He is growing and changing each day and I am thankful that I get to be around to watch. Of course, he does get a little fussy in the evening, but it is usually the time Josh gets home from work so he can take a shift while I take a break! I am not really sure how people do it on their own. I am so glad to have a wonderful husband and two families close by to lend a hand whenever it is needed.

Here is Davey in his bouncy seat. He is sitting on a quilt made by his great-grandmother on my mother's side. The mornings are becoming my favorite time of the day. Once he makes about a million funny faces to wake himself up, he is usually good for at least 3 big smiles for me as he eats. We can't get enough of each other.

Enjoying Time Together

Davey has survived two pediatrician check-ups and everything is going well. With brestfed babies, there is always a concern that they are getting enough milk. One way to keep this in check is to monitor the weight gain. He was 7 lbs 5 oz at birth and dropped to 6 lbs 11 oz when we left the hospital (this is normal). Doctors let the baby have 2 weeks to rebound back to their birth weight. Well, at week 2 little pig boy was 8 lbs 9 oz! So we are pretty sure he is getting enough food. Sounds like the Watterson is coming out of him already! We go back in tow monre weeks when he is one month old.

Here is a picture of Davey's first dog walk. We try to spend a little time outside each day, but this was the first time we got the front carrier out to go around town. Davey instantly fell asleep and didn't even stir. The only problem was that Josh got a bit sweaty since none of those things breath very well. Hopefully soon we will be back to doing a little hiking around. The dog is totally ready for it. On that note, the animals have adjusted well to the new addition. Alba (the cat) couldn't care less and Chloe (the dog) thinks the baby smells wonderful and is always very careful around him. It is cute to watch.

Sleep is getting better each night. He usually goes two to three hours at a time between feedings. This is average for this age. We always make time for at least one joint nap during the day and that makes me sane. I am getting used to the daily headaches caused by the combination of sleep deprevation and dehydration. The weekends are great because Josh is around to take some holding shifts from me. And he usually likes to sneak in a nap with us when he can!

A New Way of Life

It is strange how quickly priorities change with a baby. Somehow once important things...work, going out, even showers now don't seem so pressing. How quickly everything gets dropped for the little whimper of the baby to check for the millionth time that everything is okay. I am loving the time I get to have at home with David. The days seem to fly right by. He had his first week check up on Tuesday and he is already above his birth weight by 6 oz. We go again this Tuesday and I hope that he keeps up this progress.

A funny story...Thursday night I craved to go into town by myself! We needed diapers anyway, so once little Davey was asleep I handed the reigns to Josh and went into Wal-Mart. Well, apparently the gods did not want me to leave because once I got to the end of the driveway one of my tires was completely flat! I laughed to myself as I walked back to the house. Of course I still made it to get diapers, I just took the other car. I am hoping that the weather improves soon so that we can go outside for a little while each day. Cabin fever is setting in quickly.

Davey is getting stronger each day and spends more time awake and alert ready to take it all in. Here are a few more pictures for your viewing pleasure!

David Lloyd is Born!

Though there is a bit of delay, I wanted to introduce everyone to the person who we have waited a long 10 months for! David Lloyd Shaw was born at 11:11 am on Tuesday, April 4. He weighed 7 lbs and 5 oz and measured 20 inches in length. He has red hair coming in lik emine and bright blue eyes like his dad. We are having a great time molding our lives to the needs of this little person. Enjoy the pictures!

Some have requested labor details...don't worry, I won't get too graphic! I was supposed to be induced at 6 am Tuesday morning, but I started having contractions about 5 pm the night before. So Josh and I headed to Madison and got there about 7 pm Monday night. Things started to progress at a fine speed, but since I hadn't anticipated being in labor all night, Josh and I were in desperate need for some sleep. The anesthesiologist came in about 2 am for my epidural. Though he swears this has never happened before, he tried three times to get the stint in my spine with no luck! Yeah, it was good times. Actually the first time he missed the spidural space in my spine and instead put the medicine in the spinal space. This gave me what is known as a spinal block and is only good for about 2 hours. So after 2 hours I was in full labr with contractions about 2 minutes apart and no pain medicine. They tried some IV drugs...didn't help. Finally at 6 am, I was getting close, but not all the way there...he returned and was able to successfully give me an epidural in the 3 minutes between big mega huge contractions! We were all happy about that! At that point, I was put on Patocin to make labor go faster and was fully dialated in just 4 more hours.

Once I was ready to push, I only had to for 20 minutes. In fact, my family saw my doctor running from her office to my room to make sure to be there to get the baby! She was still putting on her gown as David came into the world! Josh did a great job through the whole ordeal and I am grateful that he hung in there during the non-medicine stage. The poor little baby had been smashed in me for so long that one of his ears was folded down! Now it has bounced back, but it was adorable. He also likes to be swaddled up and held close. It has been so cold the week that he has been sleeping in my arms at night. You can't beat that feeling!

David is a good baby. He cries only when there is reason...hunger, diaper change, etc. Nursing is also going well currently. Tomorrow we will go to the pediatrician for his one week check up. I can already tell that he is filling out. I will try to update this site with pictures. Any one who is close should stop by for a visit. You can't get much cuter that this!