Thursday, October 29, 2009

Must type quick! These times don't come easily!

There are very few times that I can sit down at the computer and have extra time after all the emails have been answered or I have updated my Facebook. (by the way, if you don't have Facebook, you should get one--there are a lot more pictures on there!) So this might not be a long post, but I wanted to put up a video of the first time Hudson tries his Johnny Jump-up. He loved it! He actually fell asleep in it, but that could've been because he was watching the rain outside our bathroom window.

He's getting pretty big, around 10lbs now! He is starting to recognize who we are now. He knows well enough to stop crying if he sees Blake or me. He's laughing and smiling and is VERY ticklish! He's cooing and making all kinds of noises. It's funny because he will start to whine and half way through, he will realize that he has control of what noises he makes and will trail off into some goo's and gah's and will end up forgetting the whining.

He is holding his head up pretty well which makes things a lot easier. He has discovered his hands! They are constantly in his mouth. He is still teething and his whole bottom row looks like they are about to cut through. I will try and get a picture soon and post it up here.

I will try and post again later this week and show some Halloween pictures :)





Friday, October 2, 2009

Shots... check!

Well, Hudson can now officially see the world! He went for his 2 month check up and is right on schedule! His weight and head size are in the 50th percentile and his height is in the 90th. He has also graduated to his bed in his room, which he loves!

He has learned to grab things, like hair, noses.... anything you stick in front of him. He will be going to his first football game tonight at ECS, if weather permits!

This last week has been pretty rough, Blake and I had the flu at the same time so my mom had Hudson for a few days. We are so thankful that he didn't get sick!

Here is a video of Huddy taking a bath and also a picture of his sleeping that I just took. He's so funny.

This is how I found him sleeping




Video of Lili giving him a bath!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Our growin' little boy...

Hudson is growing so quickly! It seems like he is this mature young man just waiting to bust out of this little infant body! He is approaching his 2 month mark (on the 27th) and is doing great with achieving his growth milestones. Because he was 7 weeks premature, his physical therapist said he might be behind on the time line for his development. Like it might take him longer to hold his head up or crawl than the average full term baby. Most of what he's done so far is pretty close to being where he should've been originally, so we've been told.We are still learning how babies are supposed to develop. He is 7 and 1/2 lbs--which is in the 50th percentile for a full term baby, and since his due date just passed, he is right on track! He is showing more of his personality, like he makes these "kissy lips" and puckers up when you first pick him up from a nap. He stretches A LOT! For the most part, he is a really good baby. We battled with gas a lot until we switched bottles. (Haha, he is his father's child!--Blake's going to kill me for saying that!)

He loves to keep moving and loves to be held. I think from being in the NICU he got used to being around lots of noise, so he does better sleeping in a loud room full of people rather that in his quiet room. Funny huh. We thought since he loves to keep moving, we figured he's love a swing, and boy, were we right. He loves it.


This was his first time in his beloved swing! I think he is MOST content when he is in his swing!

So the most interesting thing that is going on is (if you've seen my Facebook already then you know this) Hudson started teething this past week. Yes, I know what you're thinking. At 7 weeks.... really?! It's funny because I know when I say this people are thinking "Aww, poor Allison, the new mommy thinks her son is teething, she must be mistaken." So I took a picture for proof! Not only can we feel them, you can see them too! The front middle two are already cutting through and the ones to the sides of those are not far behind. I noticed that last week he started coughing lightly, we thought maybe he just had a stuffy nose, and after the doc looked him over, she said he was fine. He also started biting down in his pacifier and bottle and discovered his hands--all these things, we just assumed he was becoming more alert. He's also been a little more fussy than normal the past 3 days and I was searching for his pacifier and I was trying to calm him down while I looked, so I stuck my pinky in his mouth for him to suck on and felt something on the his bottom gums, so I looked in his mouth and saw his front two bottom teeth right under his gums. I was shocked! I was thinking, no, surely not. I felt in his mouth again and felt them again! Then I started putting all his new tricks together and it made sense. His coughing was the extra saliva he was swallowing, he was chewing on his hand for comfort and fussing because he was uncomfortable.

Here is a pic of his first 2 teeth coming in... (this was taken a few days ago, today when we were looking you could barely see the two on each side of that as well.)



The doctor said even though it's rare, it does happen. We really hate it for him right now because the doctor said he's still too small to take anything for it, like Baby Orajel or other numbing gels- and most of the teething toys are still too large for his mouth. So he's just toughing it out with baby Tylenol for now. He's doing a great job though!

His nursery is pretty much complete! Here are some pictures of his room!









This room is courtesy of my amazing friends Elizabeth (who designed it completely) and Grace (who helped :)) We are still trying to find a more practical comforter. So if anyone has an idea of what we can use that will cover the sides, let us know!

Huddy has his 2 month check-up this coming Monday and will finally get his shots :( and we also make the appointment with the urologist for his circumcision. He was too small to have that done while in the hospital. The 16th of this month was his due date and he is making great progress considering he wasn't even supposed to be here until this past week! He continues to amaze and impress us with his toughness and strength.


He can hold his head up (inconsistently) and has learned how to hold his pacifier in his mouth to keep it from falling out!

This is when he fell asleep holding his pacifier in his mouth. (His hand is under the blanket)


He is beginning to rest his weight on his legs while holding him in a standing position and has learned how to lock his knees! He is beginning to recognize our voices, and will turn his head in the direction we are talking from. He is also eating very well! He eats every 3 hours pretty consistently! He is sleeping very well at night with the exception of the last 2 nights because of his teething. I usually just need to feed him once at night, so we both stay pretty well rested... thankfully! He has discovered how to grab things (including hair!). He loves lights. When he finds a light, it'll occupy him for a while. He's been smiling ever since he was born, I think his first smile was when he was a couple days old. He's now started laughing, which could be one of the funniest things we've ever seen. His laugh is IDENTICAL to Blake's! They both have a really unique laugh. You would think a baby would "giggle", but no. He laughs so hard he sucks in air. I keep trying to get it on video but haven't had any luck yet.

He had his first haircut this past week (kinda). His hair around his ears and neck were longer than on top and it just needed evening out! It wasn't a lot... we just needed to shape it up!

It's funny, so many people have been saying the Hudson looks like Beau (my brother) and I think the older he's gotten, the more that's true! We also joke that he is like a little old man. He's go the receding hair line, the wrinkles, the gas :) and he seems so serious all the time. We wonder if he will grow up to rebel against our goofy style. I think it was Beau that came up with the nick name "Beau Button" like "Benjamen Button" but since he looks like Beau...

A lot of people ask us how Lexi does with Hudson and we really thought before he was born that Lexi would be VERY jealous (since normally she is very anal and wound pretty tight) and not adjust well to him being home, but we were very wrong. She has been more than great! Not only has she been chill, but she has been very protective of him. If Hudson wakes up in our room sleeping and I'm not in there, Lexi will come get me. She will run to wherever I am and turn in circles repeatedly. Then when I walk towards the room, she will run ahead of me then stop and turn around and wait for me to catch up, then run a little further and turn around again, kinda like a kid wanting to run into the living room on Christmas morning and trying to wait for the slow parents to catch up! It's really sweet. Sometimes it seems like she treats him like her puppy. She will sit next to him and just want to lick him all over. In the past couple of days we've noticed that she will sometimes cry/whine when he does. I don't know if she's doing it because she is protective or just doesn't like the noise, but I'm going to tell myself it's because she loves him :) Here is a video, it's also on Facebook, so sorry if you've already seen it!



I think that's about all for now! I know that was a lot of catching up to do! I will try and post more often, I have gotten a little behind!

Here are some recent pictures of the family!




His first photo shoot!


We tested out the Bumbo to see if he was ready................. he wasn't :)



Pictures from his first football weekend!


One of his first baths at home. He loves them, it looks like he's enjoying a day at the spa, but in a manly way ;)

Here is the website link to view his pictures from his first photo shoot.
https://www.thesmilestation.com/home.asp?AC=LTTT0617105880TAR

***The Guest Name is: Allison Butler


More updates coming soon!
-A

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

6 week update!

As you can probably guess, my posts on here will be less frequent since we are home now. :) Hudson is doing great!! He is generally a very happy baby. He isn't really fussy and just seems so mature. Sometime Blake and I feel like we're the kids and he's the serious one.

He is now 6lbs and growing fast! He's outgrowing most of his preemie clothes mainly because of his length. We are starting to see a little more of his personality. He doesn't like sleeping when it's quiet and likes being around people or being held. He smiles a lot, and is very content.

The grandparents (Blake's mom and dad) and flying in from Pittsburgh next weekend to see him. So we are excited about them coming! Blake's school is still going good. ECS beat Cordova in their kickoff game, which was a big win. And me and Hudson just chill at home until he gets his shots, then we will start making rounds for everyone to see him :)

Pictures to come soon :)

Monday, August 24, 2009

1st doctor visit today!

We just got home from our first doctor visit today and everything went great! Hudson is on track and in the 90th percentile for his size (compared to other preemies at this stage). He weighs 5lbs 7oz and is 19in long! The doctor said he is developing (perfectly) and gave us a good report! Today is his 4 week birthday and Thursday he will be 1 month old! I can't believe it's already been a month.

We still can't believe that he's technically still supposed to be in my stomach for 3 more weeks! I think the hardest part about being home, isn't the constant feedings or diaper changes or trying to figure out why he's crying, or finding time to do things... it's actually been trying to relax and not obsess over every little hiccup or cough. I didn't realize how paranoid we were since leaving the NICU. We learned so much, but at the same time, maybe relied on it a little too much. Hudson's doctor was great and reassured me that everything you need to know to raise a baby, you already know. He said there are so many people out there that didn't go through training or read all the "What to expect..." books, and they raise kids and do just fine with it. He encouraged us to pay more attention to Hudson instead of all the research and advice people give. I was happy to hear someone finally tell us that we can relax and just enjoy raising him.

Everything else is going great too! I'm still waiting for it to get really crazy like everyone says it will be. Today was my first time to take him somewhere by myself so I was a little nervous, but we didn't have one problem!

I can't wait until a few more weeks when we can bring him out to meet everyone!

Friday, August 21, 2009

Glad to be home

Well we've been home 2 days and things are going great! Even though it was hard having him away from us for the first 3 weeks of his life, there were some advantages to it. He is already on a schedule and his cord fell off at the hospital-so we didn't have to mess with that. One thing I'm really thankful for is that we got to learn how to take care of him and what to look for while he was still at the hospital and how to handle certain situations, like changing a diaper while avoiding being squirted ;) and how to read him and know his different cries. I feel like we came home so much more prepared than most first time parents.

His first night home he did great. His best sleeping times are about 5-6am to 9-10am. Last night we went to bed at 1 and slept until 10am with only getting up once to feed.

Right now it's really hard because I want everyone to get to meet him, however since he's gone through so much with the infection and everything else, he's that much more prone to infections. The nurses told me when we left with him that if he gets sick, don't worry about calling the pediatrician, just take him straight to Le Bonheur. So needless to say, I've been a little anal about germs... which is a first in my life.

We're glad things are starting to get back to normal... well, normal + a baby. Blake has started school and football. He's teaching 2 new subjects-Personal Finance and Economics... which is right down his alley. And as for now, Hudson and I are just chillin' at the house, eating and sleeping... trying to avoid getting sick.

Thanks again for all the support and prayers, he is doing better than we could have hoped. I know things will get harder as he gets older, but right now we feel really blessed to have him home and healthy.




Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Hudson is finally home!

We said out long-awaited goodbyes to Baptist Women's Hospital and got to bring the little man home today :)

He is doing great and sleeping a lot!

Here are some pictures from his first day home:


Sleepin' like a baby


Lexi figuring things out. (For those of you curious to how Lexi is doing with him, she took one curious look to him and then just went back to normal. She really acts like he's not even here.)


This shows how little he really is.


Blake getting him ready to leave!


Ready to go!
 

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