One Month

Dear Owen,

It blows my mind that only a month ago, in the middle of the night, you took your first breaths and were placed (ahem, thrown) on my chest.  Just like they tell you in childbirth class, you came out screaming but as soon as you landed on me, you calmed immediately.  It was the end of a really long journey for your dad and I, but also the beginning of the rest of our lives.  We were so happy and excited to meet you.  Now that we have you here, each day that passes is one where we get to know you better as your personality starts to develop.  You take after both of us in that some days you are calm just like your dad but on other days, you are my son to the core and assert your will and use your little voice.  Luckily, unlike me, you have shown no signs of being picky when it comes to eating.  You don't discriminate between nursing and being fed a bottle and I've tried several kinds of formula and you've taken all of them with no complaint.  You are a hilariously gassy little nugget but you don't ever seem to mind or fuss due to gas related issues.

It's been a roller coaster of a month for me, my post-partum emotions were everything I was warned about and more.  We struggled with feeding and your weight was like a yo-yo up and down in your first two weeks of your life.  After two weeks, we found our balance between my milk and your little protein shakes, as I like to think your formula is for you.  Now you're making up for lost time and growing like a little weed.  With each day, you are growing and developing at such a rapid pace!  It's as if you change a little bit overnight and we're moving forward at lightning speed!

Speaking of lightning, you've lived through some crazy severe weather so far in your short life.  We've already been under more tornado watches and warnings than I can count!  You usually sleep right through everything, even the tornado sirens going off outside.  The weather has been utterly insane during your first month of life.  On May 2nd, when we brought you home from the hospital, the high was in the 40s and we were setting records.  Now that it's May 30th, we're settling right into summer and it's too hot for you to be outside for very long.

You met most of your family this month!  Your Grandpa River, Mimzy and Gram were in the waiting room for the entire 19 hours I was in labor with you just waiting to meet you.  You got to meet Miss Kate, Miss Charlotte and Mr. Ryan in the hospital.  Rev. Barry from church also came to see you and pray over you. When we got home, Miss Randi and Miss Meredith came over to see you right away.  Lots of sweet ladies from the church came by for the next two weeks to bring us food.  Auntie Mac, Grandma Bean, Great-Grandpa, Gappi and Jerry came to see you during your first weekend.  We even had a big party for you in the backyard on your due date and you got to meet Mr. Zach and Caroline and the Edwards Family!  The next weekend your Uncle Mikey came to see you and spend Mother's Day with us.  That was the first time that you were ever without Mommy and Daddy when we got to get a special pedicure while your uncle and Mimzy watched you.  You've met almost all of Mommy's old co-workers and we go to see them almost once a week.  Gram came back to visit with the Great-Whoops and Grandpa Bernardi.  So many people have given you fabulous gifts and sent their well-wishes.  You are a very loved and cherished little boy.

You don't cry very much, you kind of whimper and you have a distinctive angry squawk.  The most angry that you've ever been was at your two week appointment when they did your metabolic screening for PKU and had to prick your foot to draw blood.  Otherwise, you have a pretty great temperament.  You do fuss a little during the evenings, but I think most babies just do that.  You are a VERY grunty baby, you usually have something that you must be trying to tell us by grunting.

So many other babies were born in May, just days after you!  So far you've met Cadence, Miss Charlotte and Mr. Ryan's daughter who was born on May 16th.  Mommy's first excursion alone without you or Daddy was to see her in the hospital and we went to see her at home when she was one week old.  Sadly, the two of you were either eating or sleeping for 99% of that first meeting.

We celebrated our first Mother's Day together!  Since we were still working out our feeding situation and you were less than two weeks old, we just went down the street to NorthPark for lunch at Maggiano's and had a pretty low key day.  It was so strange to me to be celebrating the holiday for the first time!

I was just saying to a friend today that if I could, I'd go back and relive my last week of pregnancy and the first week of your life.  So many of the details become more fuzzy to me as the days go by and I don't want to forget any of those moments.  Luckily between this blog and your baby books, I'll hopefully be able to tell you about this time when you're older.  You've changed me in ways that I'm not even fully sure I understand yet.  You make me want to be a better person and better Mom every morning when I wake up.  Even when I struggle to make you happy (tiny babies are tough little cookies sometimes) I'm still thankful for every moment we get to spend together.  You are the best thing that ever happened to us and we love you beyond your wildest dreams.

Love always,
your Mommy

Stats and Milestones:

Height and Weight:  21 3/4 inches at your 2 week appt, 9 lbs 8.5 oz- weighed you tonight
Diaper Size:  moved up to size 1 from newborns last week! 
Clothing Size:  mostly 3 months, I packed away almost all of your NB size yesterday

Checked out of the Hospital:  May 2nd
First time at the pediatrician:  May 3rd for a jaundice check
First time without Mommy or Daddy:  May 11th
First Mother's Day:  May 12th
First time at church:  May 26th
First smile:  May 23rd

You sleep in 3-4 hour stretches at night, down to just two wakeups in 11 hours from 10p-9a.
You are eating all of the milk I can make and about 18-22 oz of formula per day.
You have almost mastered holding your head up, you can do it for a couple of seconds at a time.

Nicknames:  Owen Bear, Mr. Bear, Monkey, Mr. Baby, Mr. Tiny Man, Baby O, Mr. O
Things you love:  your Soothie paci and Wubba Nub, nursing when you are especially cranky, your doggie brothers, pictures on the wall, riding in the car, your Rock N Play sleeper, Tommee Tippee bottles, being massively gassy, blowing out diapers because you only like to go once every two days or so, watching Blackhawks playoff games with Daddy
Things you don't love:  when you drop or knock your paci out of your mouth, when the doggies jump on you (oops), your mittens, when you accidentally give your mouth a fishhook, being hungry