Seven Months

Calvin is seven months old!  I can't believe how crazy and wonderful the last few months have been with my baby boy.  He is growing up so fast.  He is sitting up on his own, eating solid foods, babbling like crazy, and had his first tooth come through.  He started sitting up on his own around five months.  He loves to sit at the piano and bang on the keys, especially if he is right next to his daddy.  He LOVES to eat.  Calvin gets super excited when he sees mom or dad with any kind of food and when we feed him we can't give him the food fast enough.  For a while now Calvin has been doing crazy arm/hand/feet movements.  Everybody who sees it laughs and says that they have never seen a baby do that before.  He gets really into it, almost like he directing an orchestra... or having a seizure (we actually even asked the doctor about it because we were a little worried).  Calvin started clapping around five and a half months.  His doctor was very impressed at his six month appointment and said that clapping was normally a ten month skill.
Calvin took his first big trip last week.  Calvin and I flew to Arizona with Aunt Cassidee.  We flew down to visit Joseph and Lauren, it was a lot of fun!  We spent eight days there and got to relax and spend some time at the pool and in the sun.  Calvin loves to swim and be in the water so he had a lot of fun at the pool.  Calvin did great on both of our flights and we got some cute pictures of his first plane ride.
Now that we're home and I don't have school anymore we are trying to get Calvin on a more regular schedule.  Right now Calvin goes to bed around eleven or midnight every night, and we are going to try and set a regular bedtime at eight.  So far it has proven very difficult to get him asleep that early.  We have had several nights of letting him scream in his crib for half an hour before giving up. Calvin is not a boy that likes to sleep, he fights it SO hard before he will finally go down.  Normally he sleeps in our bed (and when I say normally, I mean EVERY night), which is another habit we are trying to break.  So far we have made it to the point where he sleeps in his own bed about two hours every night and the rest with us (we'll take what we can get though).
Calvin is now over 20 pounds and wearing 12 month clothes... he is a big boy!  He is the perfect amount of chubby, he has the cutest little chubby belly and fat rolls you will ever see.
This last week Calvin had his first teeth come through.  Normally Calvin is a very happy baby, but this week he has been really fussy and has drooled enough to fill a kiddy pool.  We have been giving him tylenol and orajel when it gets really bad.
I love my baby Calvin so much.  I love watching his face light up and his huge, perfect smiles when he sees Nathan or I.  I love his adorable laughs and his funny little quirks.  I love when he wakes up and talks to himself in the morning.  I love holding him and kissing his chubby cheeks.  He is my beautiful, wonderful little baby and I am so blessed to be his mommy!  

4 1/2 Months

Calvin is getting so big!!!  We had his four month appointment last week and he was 15lbs. 15 1/2 oz. and 27 inches long.  He is in the 95th percentile for height; a tall, skinny boy!  He is getting the cutest chubby legs you will ever see and such a fun little personality.  He still has his beautiful blue eyes and long brown hair (starting to turn blonde).  Everybody says that he looks like his mom, but once in awhile his dad comes out in him.  He has started babbling a lot more, and is getting much more articulate... he especially lets us know when he is unhappy.  He is getting really good at rolling from his back to front, but hasn't rolled over the other way yet, probably because he still hates being on his tummy.  When he is on his tummy he can push himself up a little bit with his arms, it won't be long before he is crawling.  Calvin is getting really coordinated and is starting to love playing with toys.  Some of his favorite toys are a toothbrush that Grandpa Muller gave him to play with, a giraffe toy that Grandma Susan gave him, and a monster puppet from Grandma Muller.  He is also starting to laugh all the time!  He has the cutest laugh ever!  I think he laughs at his daddy more than anyone.
Calvin loves to be moving, he is so active with his little arms and legs.  He is still pretty cuddly and loves to be held, he also still shares a bed with Mom and Dad... I think he's slept in his own bed maybe three times since he was born.  Calvin is able to stand up while holding on to things, he can stand without help for probably around 30 seconds, maybe more.
One of Calvin's favorite things is to share Dad's popsicles, Nathan will give him little licks of popsicles (even though it makes Mom mad), but Calvin LOVES it.  Anytime Nathan has a popsicle you can just see his little eyes light up.  Calvin had his first walk outside in the stroller today, we took a family walk since the weather was so nice... he fell asleep in about ten minutes.


I feel like I never remember enough, he changes so much every day!

Had to add this dorky one

Watching the Super Bowl

Fat Booth Calvin

3 Months

My baby boy officially upgraded from a newborn to an infant yesterday, he is now three months old!  Our little boy is growing like crazy and starting to develop his adorable personality.

Here are some more of the fun things he does that we want to remember:

• He still loves showers with daddy, and does a HUGE yawn every time he gets out after mommy wraps him in his towel.
• He starting to babble more. He sometimes pouts and complains to dad when he is hungry and mom is not able to feed him right away.
• His motor skills are improving so much! He is grabbing and pulling down his toys and grabs people's hair when they are holding him.
• He sleeps with mommy and daddy every night. We try and try to get him to sleep in his own bed but it must be really uncomfortable because he wakes up every time we lay him in it.
• His hair is starting to lighten up. He still has a TON of it and it can get pretty crazy.
• He is notorious for pooping through his outfits right before we are supposed to leave for church.
• He is still SO snuggly. He loves to be held and loves when daddy walks around with him. When grandma Susan holds him she'll hold his cheek against hers and every time she pulls away, he leans in as if to say "hey, I was enjoying that!"
• He is starting to focus on things a lot better. He will sit with mommy and daddy while they are watching a show and watch it with them.
• His smile lights up the room. He gets really wide eyed and does a huge grin.
• He has giggled a couple more times. There are times when you can tell he wants to laugh but can't seem to figure it out, and ends up giving himself hiccups :).
• He loves taking his Vitamin D, Nathan tried it and says it tastes awful, but I guess when all you have ever tasted is breast milk, a little variety is always welcome.
• He rolled over for the first time on Friday the 13th of January. 
• He had his first "accident" in the tub on January 22nd.
• He is doing great without mommy and daddy being there during the day. Grandma and Grandpa Shumway and Aunt Cassidee are taking great care of him, but it is so so hard to not see him during the day.

Sucking on his lips :)

Gansta Cal

 Not sure what he sees but it must be pretty interesting!

 Sweet smiles :)

Hello, Handsome.

2 Month Appointment

Calvin had his 2 month appointment yesterday and got his first set of shots.  It was awful!  He was just sitting there grinning, completely happy and oblivious, and then they stuck him in the legs.  His cry of pain was just so heartbreaking!  The rest of the day he was just groggy, tired, and fussy.  Poor little guy.  The rest of the appointment was good.  He is a little bit over 12 pounds and 24 inches long.  He is in the 70th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height, big boy!  The doctor said that his eyes are officially blue!  She said they would have changed by now if they were going to.  I'm not quite sure how Nathan and I got a dark-haired, olive-skinned, blue-eyed baby; but hey, we'll take it.  Calvin is such a happy little baby.  He is very calm and sweet unless he is hungry or poopy.  He kicks nonstop and is always grinning.  The doctor said that he is right on developmentally, he is making good eye contact and following objects and noises with his eyes.  His hands are becoming more coordinated and he is starting to suck on his little fingers a lot more.  He is also starting to randomly grab things, which isn't so good for me when my hair gets in range.

I just started student teaching, so Calvin is having to adjust to days without Mommy.  It has only been a couple days but he has been doing good with taking a bottle and hanging out with Daddy while I'm gone.  Hopefully he does well all semester.  He loves to cuddle with his Grandma and Aunts, so he probably won't even notice that I am gone!

Just a couple things I missed:  Calvin has had his first Halloween, Thanksgiving, baby blessing, and Christmas over the last two months.  On Halloween we took him to the law school for trick-or-treating (mainly to show him off to Nathan's professors) dressed as a mummy.  Thanksgiving we spent at the Shumway's and all of my family came too.  Thanksgiving weekend we blessed Calvin while almost the whole family was there.  For Christmas we went on Calvin's first long road trip to Evanston to spend ten days with my family.  Calvin got more attention and love than a baby could hope for.  He got bundled up to see the Christmas lights on temple square and spent some really long days in the car seat during Christmas shopping, but he was always really good.

It has been a great two months so far with our little baby boy!

Baby blessing

Temple square

Temple square

Christmas morning

Our happy boy

2 Months

Calvin is already two months old... how the time has flown!
Some of the things we have wanted to remember:

• He always has his fists up (fighter stance)
• He falls asleep spontaneously
• He smiles ALL the time now 
• He has giggled twice while awake, several times while asleep
• He can't quite control his arms yet, he loves his play mat and is getting pretty good at hitting his toys
• He loves fast beat music, it puts him to sleep better than lullabies.  He especially loves when mom or dad hold him and dance to the music.
• He is really cuddly, his favorite place in the world is snuggled up with his dad. 
• He is starting to stick out his lower lip when he is sad, really heartbreaking
• Loves to sleep with mom and dad in their bed, we moved his bed into our room because he seems to sleep better in there... we think it is because he can hear us.
• He likes to stick his arm in Dad's shirt collar when Dad is carrying him around.
• He likes to sit on Dad's lap when Dad is playing video games and kicks the controller out of his hands... so helpful.
• He loves to eat!  He just got weighed yesterday and was a little bit over 12 pounds and 24 inches long.
• He has had too many accidents to count... he always waits until the diaper is off to start pooping or peeing everywhere, he has ruined several outfits.
• He peed from the sink in the kitchen, over the counter, all over the couch while he was in the tub.
• He loves taking showers with his Dad, he is always so relaxed after.  
• As soon as he wakes up in the morning he fills his diaper and pukes everywhere for probably half and hour.  
• He hates tummy-time

There is so much more, I can't think of it all!  It is sad how fast he is growing up, I wish we could remember and document every cute thing that he does.  We feel so blessed to have our baby boy.

Labor and Delivery

Calvin Sanford Shumway was born October 24, 2011 at 8:41 am!  He was 7 pounds, 2 ounces, 20 1/2 inches long, and completely perfect!
Sunday was pretty uneventful, we went to church, had a nap at home, and ate dinner at the Shumway's.  I'll never forget we had roast, potatoes, vegetables, etc, because I was puking it up throughout my entire labor. After dinner we went home, hung out for awhile, and went to bed.  I was feeling some light cramping, but nothing serious... and then my water broke.  I knew immediately what it was when I felt my water break, I stayed pretty calm and just told Nathan, "I think my water just broke".  I told him to stay in bed while I went to the hospital and I would call him when something happened... luckily he told me no and he went with me!  As soon as my water broke the cramping went from fairly mild to extremely painful.  I was frantically putting on makeup and getting stuff together between the contractions, which started about three minutes apart.  Nathan was really good about getting my stuff together and helping me when I had a contraction.  My water broke almost right at midnight and we got to the hospital at about 12:30 am.  We got admitted and sent up to room 3305.  I got put into a bed and the nurse told me she would check to see if I was dilating and then we would see about an epidural.  (On a side note... everything took FOREVER that night.  When the nurse said, "we'll be right back to check you" it usually meant 20-30 minutes...which feels like eternity during labor).  Turns out I was dilating (duh, my water broke) and I could get the epidural, but... I had to get an IV first.  That was honestly the worst part of the entire labor.  It took over six tries and three nurses to finally get my IV hooked up.  It was so unbelievably painful.  That was the only time that I almost lost it... I started crying and hyperventilating and started thinking that there was no way I could survive this.  The pain was so bad that I threw up everything I had eaten earlier that night (which, unfortunately, was a lot because we had Sunday dinner at the Shumway's).  I don't know what I would have done without my mother-in-law Susan there.  She was able to calm me down and help me focus and get through the pain.  Finally I was able to get the epidural!!!  Nathan and Susan had to leave the room when the anesthesiologist came in to give the epidural.  I had to sit on the edge of the bed and sit still (which was extremely hard because I was shivering so bad and in so much pain).  The epidural was not bad at all.  I felt absolutely no pain when she was giving it, and at that point I didn't even care that a giant needle was going into my spine.  About five minutes after the epidural the contractions were infinitely better.  About ten minutes after the epidural the pain was completely gone... sure, I couldn't feel my legs or anything below my stomach, but it was worth not feeling the pain.  I was able to sleep for about four hours, I only woke up for them to come in and turn me over (which made me puke again each time).  Poor Nathan and Susan stayed the whole time and slept on the uncomfortable chair and the hard floor.  At about 8:20 Dr. Bragg came in and said we were ready to start pushing, YAY!  I had to sit up and get ready, which of course made me start puking again (Dr. Bragg said I almost pushed him out just from puking so hard... nice).  I pushed through three contractions and we had our beautiful little boy!!!  It was the strangest feeling when he finally came out.  I could feel an instant emptiness in my stomach... it was strange, but wonderful!  I'll never forget the first time I saw him... he was beautiful and I couldn't stop crying.  He was slightly blue and the cord was around his neck, but he was fine.  I kept asking, "Is he Ok"?  They wiped him down and took him to the other side of the room.  Finally I got to hold my beautiful little boy.  He only cried for about a minute after he came out and then was wide awake and alert for a long time.  When I held him for the first time he just stared up at me and looked around.  Nathan and I couldn't get enough of him.  Nathan went and watched him get his first little pokes and shots on the heel.  I think Nathan was more traumatized than Calvin was... it is heartbreaking to watch that little guy in pain.  By the time we left the hospital his little feet were like swiss cheese from being poked so many times.

We spent three days in the hospital.  We were admitted on Sunday night a little bit before midnight and were discharged on Wednesday around 7:00 pm.  The reason we had to stay so long is because Calvin was having trouble with eating.  The doctor said he was exhibiting the same signs as a premature baby in that his sucking reflex seemed immature.  For the first two days and most of the third we had to feed him with a syringe and a tube.  When they discharged us he was still struggling, but as soon as we got home he did much better.  I think just being home and being more relaxed really helped both of us get the hang of it.

I feel like I recovered fairly quickly after we were home.  Obviously there was pain and discomfort, but I was back to school on Monday.  Having to get up and get going really helped me get over the pain and recover more quickly.  When we got home Calvin was still fairly jaundiced and had to spend two days under bilirubin lights... his own personal tanning bed.  But he recovered quickly too, and we are doing great!

Things I did not expect about labor/hospital stay:

• The shivers... I felt like my teeth were going to break they were chattering so hard
• The pain... I don't think anything could prepare you for that
• How sick I would be during labor and delivery.
• How unbelievably cute my baby boy is... I never could have imagined how cute he would be!
• How frustrating breastfeeding would be for the first few days
• How scary it would be to be alone with my baby for the first time, knowing that he is mine and I am completely responsible for him.
• Losing all modesty... I almost didn't care who saw me topless by the end of the week
• How disgusting I would look/feel.  I didn't feel human the whole time I was in the hospital.

One more month!

Well, just about one more month until our baby is born!   I am not sure it has hit me quite yet... I don't think it will until I am actually admitted to the hospital.  The baby seems to be doing great.  He kicks A LOT, usually when I'm sitting in class or laying down to go to sleep.  I can't believe that I am over eight months pregnant.  I used to think about what it would be like to be this pregnant and I always thought I would be massively huge, but I honestly don't feel that different.  Although, I have been super uncomfortable this last month, so that is different I guess.  His little feet (or knees, or butt) are jammed up into my ribs and I am sore all the time!  I have to go to the bathroom every half hour, which is difficult with two hour classes all day.  I can't walk up a staircase without gasping for breath, I can barely tie my shoes without sitting down first, and I finally have that weird pregnant walk where I waddle around because my hips and back hurt so bad.  I'm not sure if I am getting that swollen fat look yet... I hope so, because then I can blame my fat face on being pregnant and it actually might go away in a month haha.  It is so strange to think of not being pregnant... it seems like constant discomfort should just be a permanent part of my life now.

The closer the due date gets the more scared I am... scared for the pain (although that is the least of my worries), scared for how I'm going to manage a baby and school, scared to be tired all the time (more than I already am), scared to quit my job and have no income with a new baby, scared to nurse, scared for how I'm going to nurse with classes that are six straight hours for three days a week, scared to leave my baby every day, scared that the baby will be ugly (Ok, I'm half kidding about that one)....  I'm just terrified for everything and it is only a month away.  Maybe he could wait another nine months until I feel more prepared?
I've never been more afraid... but I've never been more excited either.  I can't wait to hear that little cry and hold him and look at him for the first time.  A month is way too short but it also feels like forever until I get to see my baby!

(Just a side note... he is currently the size of a large cantaloupe according to my iPod app.)