Trick or Treat

We took the boys trick-or-treating for the first time last night. Our neighborhood did not designate a day/time for trick-or-treating so after visiting with Matt's parents for awhile we headed over to my parents' neighborhood. We went to a total of five houses, not including both grandparents' houses. Jacob dressed up as a monkey and Jordan was dressed as a banana.

Jacob was scared for the first time ever at my parents' next door neighbor's house. They had strobe lights, a fog machine and scary music playing. None of this bothered Jacob, in fact he pointed to the fog and said "hot" (anything that resembles steam is hot to him) But when the man came out the door in a scary clown mask, Jacob turned away to leave. My dad told him it was okay and turned him back around but he wanted out of there. My dad picked him up and the neighbor took off his mask and then Jake was fine.

Jacob got to have his first ever sucker which he loved. He was not very happy when I wouldn't let him have another one. He also ate a Reese's peanut butter cup, a couple M&M's, and had a bite of my dad's butterfinger. He was a happy, messy little boy.

Jordan, on the other hand, slept the entire time. He was way too cozy in his banana suit.

Since there may be trick-or-treating in our neighborhood tonight, we might be taking the boys out for round 2 tonight. Another chance to dress up in their cute costumes. We'll probably only go to a few houses again and then pass out candy when we get home.

Happy Halloween!!

one month

Today Jordan turned one month old. This past month has had many ups and downs as we have adjusted to our newest family member. He now weighs 9lbs 7oz (as of Tuesday) and is 22 inches long with a head circumference of 37 cm. He has blue eyes and a reddish tint to the very little amount of hair he has. He's starting to fill out a bit more and looks more like a baby than a newborn.

He's starting to wake up a little more now. He has a few hour periods throughout the day where he is alert. He can also usually finish a nursing session without falling asleep these days. He seems to be more aware of day and night now, sleeping longer periods (usually 3-4 hours) in the night. During the day he still nurses as often as every 2 hours at times. His favorite way to sleep is on his stomach on my chest. We only do this if I am going to be awake or if I am crazy desperate for a nap. Never at night. During the night he sleeps swaddled in his bassinet in our bedroom. We elevated the head of his bed to help with his screaming when laying flat (possible reflux even though he doesn't spit up.... ever.) Although he slides down to the bottom of his bassinet every night, the elevation does seem to be helping. We also hold him upright for fifteen minutes after each feeding before putting him down. He is still 100%breastfed. He favors the right side for some reason but usually tolerates the left (except at night, he won't take it then) He has a lot of gas issues which we have been giving him Gripe Water for. He likes his pacifier, we've been using only the soothies kind for him. (He didn't like the Nuk the first time we tried it and we never tried it again)

Jordan makes all kinds of noises, which quickly earned him the nickname ofKitCat at birth. His noises sound less like a cat these days and more like moaning/groaning which has earned him the new nickname of MoanerGroaner. He has also sounded like a horse/someone laughing and a goat.

He is getting better at holding up his head but only for a few seconds at a time. He still has "seizures" where he rapidly moves an arm or leg (they aren'treally seizures, fyi) His eyes no longer have nystagmus and he seems better able to focus on things. He can track movement.

He has gone on many field trips to various stores. We have also visited both my and Matt's work. Jordan has met lots of family members already. He has met all three of his great grandmothers, Aunt Sue A, Auntie Sarah, and of course his Aunt Melissa and Uncles Sean and Brandon.


I still can't believe it's been a month already since he joined our family. We are all so in love with him. ♥♥

Weight Gain

For a baby who couldn't be bothered to wake up to eat for the first week of life, Jordan has sure put on the weight! My little chunk is now 8lbs 10oz!! This is a 2lb gain since birth and he is just two days shy of 3 weeks old. Obviously, he's been nursing better now.

Not much else to update on at this point. I'll leave with a picture of Jordan from yesterday.

Jordan's Dr Appt & Jacob's 22 Month Update

I keep meaning to update this and run out of energy or time. Or both. So here goes.

Jordan's doctors appointment went well. We brought him in on Monday, October 4 for his well baby check up. He had well surpassed his birth weight which was wonderful! His weight was 6 lbs 14 oz which put him at 20% for weight. He was still 18.5 inches (10%) and had a head circumference of 34cm (20%). He is doing well. We saw Dr. Lawrence. He is the doctor who was on call and saw Jacob in the hospital :-) He said Jordan looks wonderful and healthy. He is so healthy, in fact, that he does not need to go to the next appointment where they mostly check for jaundice because he was at almost zero risk for it. Woohoo! And I do know what to look for and will take him in if he shows signs of it. He does not need to go back until he is 2 months old, however, we will be bringing him in for periodic weight checks I think.

Nursing is going well after going to a breastfeeding support group last Tuesday and getting some minor tweaks to try. I also was given a recommendation for a cream for the pain which my doctor prescribed for me with no problems. It has been helping a lot. Jordan continues to be super sleepy but I am trying not to stress about it. He is gaining and that is all we can hope for. He does not meet the recommended 8 feedings a day most days and he has a hard time staying awake for a full feeding but I know it's only temporary. As long as I can keep up my supply, which I have been able to thus far, we should be okay once he gets over this hump. (Hence the weight checks we are planning on)

Jacob is loving being a big brother. He is constantly checking on, petting, and kissing his baby brother. I think he's pretty bored with him though since he can't play with him yet. I keep telling him that some day it will get more interesting. Some day I will say something other than "Baby is sleeping" or "Baby is eating" :-)

Jacob turned 22 months old on Tuesday, October 5th. He is now 31.4 lbs and just shy of 34 inches tall. (Which is a big growth spurt for him because mid-September he was 32 inches!! That and some of his clothes are suddenly too small!) It isn't our imagination that he is bigger. He has been such a trouble-maker lately! We are quickly approaching 2! Yikes!!!! Jacob's biggest things lately have been puzzles (which he does awesome with), buckles (if there's a buckle in the house he WILL buckle it!), and animals. He has quite a collection now of animal toys and he is constantly playing with them. He loves to imitate the sounds that they make. He loves to imitate anything that we do or say. It's very funny. His vocabulary is quickly growing, though a lot of his words sound exactly the same. He repeats, or tries to, anything we ask him to say. We are still working on him putting together two words. He really struggles with that and usually just picks out one of the words we tell him to say. He can say a few two word things but they are all things that go together in one thought (like "thank you" or "bless you") and not actually two words (like "more please") We'll keep working.

That's about all the update for now.

The Arrival of Jordan Matthew

We have welcomed a new precious little boy into our lives, our family, and our hearts. Jordan Matthew was born at approximately 2:10am on Thursday, September 30, 2010. He weighed 6 lbs 9.5 oz, was 18.5 inches long, and had a head circumference of 32 cm. He is a perfect, healthy little boy. His arrival, however, was very unexpected.

I went to bed, as usual, on Wednesday night. I ended up going to sleep on the couch, knowing I'd probably wake up in my usual 2 hours and head back to bed. Right on schedule, I woke up at 12.15am. I had some cramping but that was nothing out of the ordinary -- I'd been having cramping my entire pregnancy. By 1:30am, when I still wasn't able to go back to sleep, I started wondering if labor was starting. By 1:40am, I had a massive "cramp" and knew it was time. I woke up my husband. He tried to coach me but nothing was working. I went into the bathroom thinking I had to go only to feel the notorious "ring of fire" Uh oh!

And off we went to the hospital. We weren't two minutes away from our home when I felt the strong urge to push, reached down, and realized that Baby was crowning. I spent the 15-20 minute drive yelling at myself to not push -- something that is not possible to stop. By the time we were off the highway and almost to the hospital, Baby's head was out. It's an image I cannot get out of my mind. He was face up, lifeless, with the cord wrapped twice around his neck. I didn't know what to do. His shoulders delivered next and I held him in place until we pulled into the ER, where a mass of doctors, nurses, aids, and security rushed to our car and pulled him the rest of the way out. They quickly cut his cord, yelled for an infant resuscitation cart, and whisked him out of my view. I lost it. I was helped out of the car and onto a stretcher as about 5 onlookers in the ER got a good shot of my naked from the waist down body. Awesome. We were wheeled up to labor and delivery where I was reunited with my son. It felt like an eternity since they took him away. I was able to hold him and nurse him while the placenta delivered.

Due to the stress of the quick delivery, Jordan's WBC (white blood cell) count was elevated at a critical high of 34. He needed extra labs and blood cultures done. By Saturday morning his WBCs had come down to 24, which is still high but no longer critical. He had no other signs of infection so he did not need to be started on antibiotics, which was a relief. Also because of the untrained ER staff cutting his umbilical cord (and cutting it at an improper place) his hemoglobin was critically high as well. This resolved after eight hours. Overall Jordan is doing well at home. He remains very sleepy and because of this struggles to nurse well but he seems to be getting enough to satisfy himself. He will have his first doctor's visit early - on Tuesday - to make sure he is gaining and that he continues to be in good health. I will update more on his progress as things happen. Below are some pictures of our new miracle.