3 Months

It's three days before Christmas and our little bit is already three months old! Everyone tells you how fast they grow, but I really can't believe that we've already had him for 12 weeks. Time really does fly when you're having fun! I am really enjoying the 3 month stage, and just love to see his big grins when I walk into the room and hear him babbling to himself when he's playing with his toys. Although being a mother is a lot of hard work, he is worth ever minute of lost sleep and every moment of worry that my days are now filled with. I never knew I could love someone so much, so truly the worry for his well being never ends.

Grayer, here is what you are up to at three months:

You say it all with your eyes! You have the most beautiful, big, gray eyes and the longest eye lashes! When you are awake, you stare wide eyed in amazment at the world and try to take in everything around you. You truly have a twinkle in your eye, and I can't wait until you can verbalize your feelings. I know you will have something wonderful to say!

You smile all the time and it melts my heart. You now get a big grin on your face when I come into your room after a nap, and you smile often when your daddy gets home from work and comes to give you kisses.

You are the absolute c-u-t-e-s-t t-h-i-n-g EVER when I unwrap you from your swaddle first thing in the morning. You stretch and stretch and stretch and are so happy to be "free", ha! You are always so happy first thing in the morning and love to smile and talk to mommy. This is truly my most favorite part of the day when you and I are alone in the quiet of the house before the day begins. I will forever and always treasure these times.

You are very strong, and hold your head up completely on your own. Your legs are chunky, but they must have a lot of muscle too, because you love nothing more than to stand up, with some help from mommy and daddy.

You still like tummy time, but I have learned not to put you on your stomach within 30 minutes of a meal, because the added pressure often makes you spit up. We have turned the study into a little play room for you, and you love to lay on your back and play with your toys. You also have a bear mobile over your bed and get a wide grin every time someone whinds it up to play. They are your favorite "friends".

You are an excellent listener these days, and love to have mommy read you book after book. We lay on our backs and I hold them up so you can see all the pretty pictures. You are always very content and will let me read to you as long as my arms will allow (they often go to sleep after holding up 4 or 5 books in the air, ha!). You babble on and on while I read, and I know you are trying to tell me your version of the story, so sweet!

You are still not an excellent sleeper, and are only putting in a couple of 45 minute naps and usually one 2 hour nap during the day, and sleep in 3 hour stretches at night, but we are finally starting to get into a routine. After weeks of doing almost everything "on demand" I am able to read your signs much better, which has really helped. You go down for bed between 6-7 and awake almost to the minute, after sleeping for three hours all through the night. You are up at 10, 1, 4 and 7 and I hope that soon we can drop at least one of those feedings. I just hate to hear you cry, so we have not tried the "cry it out" approach that a lot of our playgroup did... for now we will just sleep in three hour stretches :)

You found your hands at 9 weeks and love to suck on your fingers. You have attempted to suck your thumb time after time, and mommy could not be more thrilled! I think there is nothing cuter than a baby that sucks his thumb. You also still have trouble keeping a pacifer in, so if you could soothe yourself with a thumb, that would be and added bonus!

You are obsessed with your green fuzzy blanket and we tote it around with us everywhere we go. If you are cranky or sad, you always want your blankie up by your face and a paci to suck on. You hold the blankie in your hands up to your chest and cheek and it is so sweet.

You have a love-hate relationship with your swaddle. You have to be swaddled for all your naps and at night in order to sleep more than 15 minutes, but you don't really care to be so restricted. Hopefully one of these days you will get more control over your crazy arms and won't require it to sleep. We shall see!

We are so thankful that you are a strong, healthy and chubby little boy! Mommy kisses your round cheeks a million times a day and you love it. You are the light in our lives and we love you to the moon and back!

Happy three months baby Gray!

Bath-a-palooza

Grayer just loves baths! For awhile there, I never thought I would be able to say that, but he really does enjoy them now. Since it took his umbilical cord an insane amount of time to finally fall off, we spent the first several weeks of his life giving him sponge baths by the sink, which he didn't take to. And even when we were able to finally move to his baby bath in the sink, he still didn't like them and would usually start screaming about 1-2 minutes in. But now that he is a little older, he just loves to sit in the warm water and splash around. He just coo's and coo's while in the tub now, and doesn't even mind getting his face and hair washed! I know, I am a bit biased, but I just think he little naked, chubby body is the cutest thing in the entire world! Love you so much neked boy :)

Grayer- 5 days old

Grayer- 5 weeks old

Grayer- 9 weeks old

Grayer- 11 weeks old

Grayer- 12 weeks old

From this moment...

Birth-day :)

1 week old

1 week old

2 weeks old

3 weeks old

3 weeks old

4 weeks old- first Halloween

4 weeks old- my first bath!

5 weeks old

6 weeks old :)

6 weeks old- at the Arboretum

7 weeks old- bath time!

8 weeks old

2 month birthday!

I love you sweet Grayer!

2 Months

So I haven't been the best at blogging, and I thought that surely once he arrived and I no longer had the daily challenges of work (actual get a pay check kind of work, ha!) that I would have much more free time to blog. Now I can see how truly naive I was :)
With that said, 8 weeks in, I will give it a go!

Grayer, here is what you've been up to in the last 2 months:

Daddy was at home with us for the first two and half weeks, and he was truly a blessing. Since you were what they call a "lazy eater" after having so many bottles in the holspital, daddy would wake up every two-three hours and feed you your bottle while I pumped to make your next one. Thankfully, after some good advice from a friend, you latched on using the nipple shields and the pumping didn't have to take place as often.
At two weeks you had your two week appointment with Dr. McClard and weighed in at 8 pounds 3 ounces. We were so thankful that you were growing so well.
At three weeks your little circumsion ring still had not fallen off, so I had to take you to a urologist to have them remove it. Thankfully, it was hanging on by a thread and came right off with no tears. I know sweet boy, probably not something you want to remember, but it was a milestone just the same! Just be thankful mommy didn't keep it, like I was told by the doctor a lot of mommy's do, ha!
At four weeks, your umbilical cord was STILL on and had started oozing, so mommy took you to the doctor and they put some medicine on it and a couple days later it fell off. We are still not sure why you were wanting to hang on to everything, but were so excited when you could finally take a real bath! You though were not quite as excited and still cry loudly when it's time to wash your face and hair. It was also at this appointment that we met with a lactation consultant again and moved off the nipple shields to regualr 'ol breastfeeding... thank goodness!
At five weeks you had your 1 month appointment and weighed in at a whopping 10 pounds 3 ounces, yippee! It was very reassuring to me that you were obviously getting what you needed from me. At five weeks you were still sleeping in the basinet portion of the pack n play, but were only sleeping in two hour increments and mommy wasn't getting much sleep at all. So, you were moved into your big boy bed and started sleeping quite a bit better, with several four hour stretches. I am still hoping to get you to take your naps in there, but for now you just won't have it and usually will only sleep for about 20 mins before wanting me to come get you so you can sleep in my arms on the couch. I don't really mind though, and love to cuddle with you while you dream happy baby dreams.
At six weeks you started smiling! What a wonderful thing for a mommy to experience for the first time. You also started coo'ing a little bit, but now do it much more often. I took you up to work in your cute little monkey outfit for the Halloween Chili Cookoff and everyone loved you. You did great!
At seven weeks you went on your first road trip down to Tyler to see your Nana and Papaw. You did great on the ride down, but were a bit fussy once we got there. You slept in your pack n play at the foot of the bed and slept great! You loved going on walks around the neighborhood and stayed pretty wide eyed during them. It sure made me which we had better places to walk at home. At seven weeks you also caught your first cold somewhere, poor baby! You were congested and had a poor little cough. This really put a damper on your sleeping habits and we are still trying to work through them. You had done a couple of nights of 5-6 hours, but we are now experiencing around a 3 hour stretch and then up every hour throughout the night. I sure am hoping this doesn't last long and you go back to sleeping more consistently. When I took you into the doctor to get your cold checked out you weighed 12 pounds, 5 ounces, but were fully clothed, so I am sure it wasn't quite that much. We can't believe how much you are filling out and how big you are getting so quickly!
At two months you are really starting to get a little personality. You smile a lot more now and hum and coo often. You are all boy with the loud burping, tooting and pooping! We still laugh every time you use the restroom because of the magnitude of the sound :) You love your paci and are usually contented with it. We just wish you could hang on to it a little better!
You are a sweet, sweet baby and are such a joy to be around. Your daddy and I love you so much and are so thankful to have been blessed with such a perfect baby. We could never have imagined how truly wonderful you would be. What a blessing you have been to us the last two month. We love you so, so much sweet boy!

Grayers book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Grayer Knox

It's been quite some time since my last post, but good and not so good, I want to remember all the details of the arrival of our precious little boy, and I figure this is the perfect place to put them.

Justin and I had been anxiously waiting to meet our little boy and were considering inducing if both Grayer and myself were good candidates. We had a sonogram scheduled on Monday, September 20th to see how big he was measuring and to see if I had dilated anymore since my last appointment. We didn't see much in the sonogram, but found out that we was measuring approximately 7lbs 6ozs., which we thought was great since they originally said that he would be pretty small. Unfortunately, when the doctor looked at me, I was still only 1.5 cm dilated and 50% effaced so she did not think that I would be a good candidate for an induction, at least at this point. I was a little disappointed, but Justin and I had already said that if he or I were not ready, we would not risk inducing. I was really hoping that I would not need a C-Section and we didn't want to do anything that would up the chances of needine one. So, we left the appointment and went home to wait some more. Looking back now, knowing how everything turned out, I see it was the Lord who did not allow us to induce. I think I would have forever felt guilty that we induced and he was not ready. Fortunately, that is not how it turned out.

At 1:23am on Wednesday morning, September 22nd, I woke up to some pressure and water leaking. I got up to go to the bathroom and realized that for sure my water had broken. I had been having braxton hicks contractions for several weeks at that point, which had never been painful, but as soon as my water broke, the real contractions started. I woke Justin up and told him that my water had broken and we immediately started getting ready to head to the hospital. We both took quick showers, finished packing our bags and jumped in the car. On the way to the hospital I was having contractions every 8 minutes. I was surprised how quickly they had started. We got to the hospital around 2:30 and they took us to triage to see how far along I was. When they checked me I was only at 1.5 cm dilated and when they checked to see if I was leaking amniotic fluid, they didn't see any. The nurse told me that they would check me again in a couple of hours to see if I had progressed, but if I hadn't they might send us home until I was further along. At that point I was already in quite a bit of pain during contractions, and the last thing we wanted was to get sent home, so Justin and I walked up and down the halls to try to help me to dilate furter. When they came back in to check me again, I was still only at 2cm, but the kindhearted nurse stretched me to 3cm (very painful, but worth it!) so that we could be admitted! At around 5:30 we were moved into a labor and delivery room... finally! We were both so relieved that we weren't going to be sent home. At this time, I was in a lot of pain and having contractions every three minutes. Luckily, very shortly after we got moved, the anesthesiologist came in to give me an epidural. It was immediate relief and I was a happy girl! We were finally ready to call our parents and let them know that it looked like we were going to be having our baby!

Once I got the epidural the nurse checked me again and I was at 5cm. I was very lucky that my doctor, Kavitha Blewett was the one on call the morning and was relieved to know that she would be the one delivering. She came in to check me a couple hours later and I was at 6cm. They ended up giving me pitocin to help me continue to progress, which I didn't mind since I was not in any pain. I was able to get some rest and around noon all our family went to get some lunch. Around this time I started getting some feeling back in my right leg and was afraid that I would start to feel pain once we started pushing. The nurse turned up my drip and soon both legs were completely numb and felt like big, fat sausages, ha! Chrissa and my mom had come back to see me after lunch, and were in the room when Dr. Blewett annouced that I was at 10cm and could start pushing! They ran to get Justin and at 1:45pm the pushing began. Since the epidural had numbed everything from my waist down, I was not able to feel anything, not even the pressure of the contractions, so I made very little progress with the first hour of pushing. The nurse turned down my drip and after an hour I was able to feel the pressure of the contractions again. I was able to watch everything from a mirror that the nurse set up for me, and it was amazing to be able to see his tiny little head with every push. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way! At 3:55 Grayer Knox Davis made his apperance into the world with a loud cry! He was 7lbs, 4oz and 19.5 inches long. He was absolutely beautiful! After almost 10 months of thinking and praying for him, he was finally here for us to hold. Justin was able to cut the ambilical cord and within seconds they had placed him in my arms for me to hold. He was the most precious thing I had ever seen and I will never forget seeing his tiny face for the first time. Justin and I were both overcome with emotion and in total awe of him.

Unfortunately, shortly after he was born his cries turned into grunts, which they don't like to see. They realized that he had swallowed amneotic fluid and because of this had a fever and they were concerned about infection. They continued to monitor him, but were not happy with his signs, so later that evening we were told that they would be moving him to the NICU. Because I had been moved to a room and he had been down in the nursery for so long, I felt so out of the loop with what was going on with him, so hearing that they were moving him to the NICU felt like a complete shock. It was very hard on both Justin and I, but we are so thankful that we had the prayers and support of our family. Grayer spent two nights in the NICU and two nights in Special Care. It was hard that we were not able to have him in our room, but Justin tirelessly wheeled me down to the NICU every couple of hours so that we could be with him. Luckily I was producing milk, so I was able to pump and breastfeed while he was in the hospital. After the second night in the NICU we were told that it looked like he did not have an infection, but they wanted to continue monitoring him, so I was discharged and he was moved to Special Care, where we were all able to stay in a room together. After moving to SC, they checked him for jaundice and his levels were really high, so he was put under phototherapy lights for a night. It was really hard to see him like that, as he had to be down to his diaper and wear small velcro goggles to protect his eyes. Luckily he did well under the lights and his jaundice levels went down. Finally, after two nights in SC, he was ready to go home! We were so excited to bring him home with us and to start our little family of three.

Grayer, you are the most precious baby and we love you more than words can say!

Waiting to see

I am now at the very end of my 38th week and since my last post I have had several doctor's appointments. I've been having the false braxton hicks contractions since 36 weeks, and at my 36 week appointment I was 1/2 cm dilated and my cervix had started to soften. At my 37 week appointment I was 1 cm dilated and at my 38th week appointment I was still 1 cm dilated and 25% effaced. I talked to my doctor about inducing and it is possible that will happen on Tuesday, September 21st (in my 39th week). We go in for a sonogram tomorrow and to see if I have progessed any further. We want to make sure that both me and Grayer are good candidates for an induction before we make any final decisions, but we are really ready to meet him! In the hopes that Tuesday will be the big day, I had my last day of work on Friday, Sept 18th. If Grayer doesn't make his appearance this week, I will have to find lots of things to keep me occupied so I don't drive myself crazy while we're waiting, ha! :)

I have been doing lots of walking in hopes that will kick start something, but nothing yet. I am not getting too much sleep these days since I am up every couple of hours going to the bathroom, so glad this didn't start until 35 weeks! Justin and I have both started our "nesting" phase, mine being inside the house and his being cleaning up the garage and yard. Hopefully everything will be in it's place when he makes his appearance.

Since I have had several friends who have recently had babies I have been trying to get all the nitty-gritty details of what to expect during labor and delivery. My thinking was always that the more you know, the more you feel prepared, but now that it is almost my turn, I hope I don't know too much! I am so excited to meet him, but am feeling a little anxious about all the possibilities of what will transpire. Everyone's stories are so different, so it makes me wonder how mine will turn out. I know it will all be worth it though!

Grayer- your dad and I can't wait to meet you and hear your beautiful cry for the first time. We love you!

Grayer's Nursery

Here are some pictures of the nursery. I loved every minute of putting it together and now all we need is baby! Enjoy!

Showered with Love!