New Mexico and Beyond

Well, the Boggs family has had a very eventful time. We all traveled to New Mexico for Brad's (Jon's brother) wedding. It consisted of a lot of firsts for Jared. He flew on a plane and did fantastically! The first flight he barely made a peep. The flight attendant even gave him a pair of wings. We spent a whole week in New Mexico helping with wedding prep, attending the wedding, and hanging out with everyone. Jared also got to go swimming, but he didn't like it very much. I have a video that I'll post sometime soon. He also stayed in a hotel for the first time. He was good boy for the majority of the trip and it was great to have so much family around to help out while we were running around like crazy.
It was definitely a really good time, but boy did it throw Jared off. The poor boy couldn't sleep like he usually does because we were moving around so often. The time back has been really rough because of this, but today he has started sleeping again. Because he didn't get enough sleep he couldn't sleep well which is so weird. I was getting really frustrated because before we left he was sleeping for 7 hour stretches at night and by the time we got back he was only sleeping for 2 hours at a time. Last night he slept for 6 hours straight and has been napping the day away. He might be growing too, which will help him catch up on sleep. =)
Speaking of growing spurts, Jared has his 2 month appointment on Friday. He was really fussy for the whole thing (because of the sleep issues), but he recovered from his 3 shots pretty quickly. As of Friday he weighed 10lbs 12.8oz and was 24.25 inches long. The Dr. was telling me that he's in the 25th percentile for weight (where he was when he was born) and in the 90th percentile for length. The Dr. actually said, "He's just a long, lanky kid." Sounds like he'll be like daddy. It's actually kind of funny because we have all of these adorable shorts for him that we took to New Mexico and they were all falling off of him because he's so skinny. Luckily at home the cloth diapers are bulky enough to keep them up. =)
Jared has started some new tricks. He now "talks" using several different sounds and even participates in back and forth conversation. I'm amazed at how quickly he is developing and what he is capable of. He has also started putting his hands in his mouth constantly! The family has been wondering if he has started teething (I sure hope not!). He's also started drooling and chewing on things. Wow! They really do grow up fast.
Here's the link for pictures from New Mexico for those of you who are not on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2056355&id=40802369&l=ca07f5a01d

He's More Fun Now =)

Well up until now, Jared has been pretty boring in general. I love him, don't get me wrong, but he didn't do much. This past week he started playing with his toys. No, he's not suddenly grabbing toys and playing make believe, but he has started batting at toys which he hadn't done before. Now he recognizes that there are other things in the world. It's so fun! Every morning after he wakes up and eats we spend a little time playing with his toys. He's also started smiling a lot more. This morning when he woke up he gave me a big smile. It just melts your heart.
He is still fighting sleep during the day. Who wouldn't though if you just discovered toys and all the other fun things of the world? At night, he's sleeping for a decent amount of time, about 4 hour stretches. Also, some nights he will actually put himself to sleep. He has to be well rested from the day, but it's great when I can just lay him in the pack-n-play and he puts himself to sleep. Overall, he's a pretty great kid! =)

He Just Keeps on Growing

Jared is 6 weeks now! It's crazy how fast time flies. He is becoming such a boy now.
We've gone on lots of adventures this last week. Jared and I went to stay at my parents' house on our own last weekend. We visited with my mom, Rachel, Mimi, Pop, Aunt Linda, and Uncle Phil. He also got to meet Leslie and quite a few other people at an open house. He did so well during all this.

Jared was pretty crabby/fussy for awhile there and it was really wearing on me. I figured out that he was probably overtired, so I worked really hard to get him to nap better. He was fighting sleep during the day because he was so tired. It was really rewarding to be able to get him to sleep and see him become less fussy as he slept more. Jon and I haven't had to bounce him on the yoga ball for long periods of time anymore. Whoo hoo! Jon and I are also working on a bedtime routine which seems to be working (for the 2 days we've done it). I'm definitely ready to have some kind of a schedule. I'm currently working to move up his bedtime though and hoping that he continues to have long stretches of sleep even if it's moved up. It'd be great if the long stretch was after I go to bed, but I guess I can't be too picky.
Jared and I also took a trip to Target this week and he cried, but I had him in my wrap so I felt like I was better able to soothe him. Hopefully soon we'll be able to go out for longer periods of time without the thought of it stressing me out. It also helps that he's been calming down and being less fussy. He does seem to enjoy being out and about though so I need to make sure and have some kind of outing.
Jared is also getting super strong. He can definitely hold his head up for long periods of time. He's still a little bobby, but he is able to control it. I'm still working on getting him to like/tolerate tummy time. He won't stay there for very long and most of the time he doesn't even lift his head. I think he's working on his strength while I hold him up on my shoulder though. Hopefully soon he'll start to like tummy time. Speaking of liking stuff, I also hope he starts to like his baths. Lately he's stopped screaming through the whole thing, but he still freaks out afterwards. Maybe he'll be more comfortable once he can regulate his temperature better.
Jared has also started smiling. It's definitely not an all the time occurrence, but it's fun when it happens. Jon has also noticed that sometimes when he's holding Jared, especially when he's ready to eat, Jared will watch me leave the room. It's nice to know that he knows me, even if it's only for food. =)
I almost forgot to mention that I started using cloth diapers this week since our washing machine is draining correctly now. So far it's going well.
Now that I'm feeling more comfortable with Jared and being a mom. I really need to reclaim myself. Yesterday I went to get a pedicure which was nice and I'm looking into maybe joining a volleyball league. Jon and I are also hoping to spend some more time together reconnecting.

Life with Baby Jared

The last few weeks have been interesting around here. This last week Jared had some trouble staying asleep during his naps. I tried some different methods and after much trial and error feel that I made some progress. =) Today he's been sleeping tons, but that is probably because of a growth spurt. Yesterday I used the Happiest Baby on the Block techniques and he went to sleep so easily. Although it's tough figuring him out it's so rewarding when I do.
We've also had our first smiles. Jon and I both got one on the same day and my mom got one a few days before. He's also learned to use a pacifier. Whoo hoo! I'm still trying to figure out how much stimulation Jared can take right now. He doesn't mind lots of noise. Well, I don't think he does because he sleeps though it, but I guess he could just be way over stimulated. He doesn't seem to be able to handle much playing though. He doesn't like to spend much time in his activity gym and he has trouble playing on his tummy for more than a few minutes. All of this is probably normal, but I am trying to make sure that I don't put him through more stress than I need to.
Funny moment of the day:
Jared had just fallen asleep eating so I put him with his face near my shoulder so I could burp him. He stayed asleep so I just let him lay there. After some time his eyes shot open and I heard/felt a huge poop (it stayed in the diaper). He immediately went back to sleep and gave a huge smile. =) What a boy!

Time Goes On

It's so crazy that the little guy is almost 4 weeks old. Where did the time go? Everything continues to move along. Little Jared has had a tough time this last week. The whole family met at my parents' house last weekend and then I caught a cold, which I promptly passed on to Jared. The poor little guy was congested, but is sounding better now. He was also getting progressively more fussy throughout the week including not sleeping unless he was in someone's arms (probably got spoiled from visiting the family...someone was holding him the whole time). That made for some rough days because I couldn't really get anything done. Jon has been great though taking over when he gets home so I can have a little break from the fussiness/crying. We both had enough this weekend. It seems like I have a little more patience. I just feel bad for Jared because he is obviously crying for some reason. We did buy some gas relief drops. Jared might also just be overstimulated by the end of the day.
He is doing much better today though. =) I'm wondering if he's going through a growth spurt because he slept 5-5.5 hours straight last night. Whoo hoo! He's also been napping quite a bit today, which is also nice. Maybe he's gotten used to not being held all the time. He's currently taking his second nap in a row where I'm not holding him.
This whole time I've felt like his mom, but I think I might be feeling more like I've got a handle on things. Although Jared doesn't have a good schedule yet, he seems to be settling into one. He normally wakes up between 6:30 and 8am and then is awake for a little bit. After that our day consists of naps, eating, and some playtime. Jon and I also did Jared's first real bath this week and he did not enjoy it at all. Anyone have some tips on ways to make bath time more fun? He doesn't really like diaper changes either, which means lots of crying at our house.
Here's some recent pics:

Sleeping sprawled out on the couch

Jon was reading Jared some Dr. Seuss

A close up. What a wide eyed boy!


Sitting up like a big boy


Jon reads Jared whatever he happens to be reading


Whenever Jared gets fussy bouncing on the yoga ball will settle him down

Reflections on the Week

Well, my little guy is now 1 week old. It's crazy to think that a week has passed already. Some of you may have heard that you had a bit of a rough start here. Jared was admitted to the hospital for 2 days this week. He is fine now and all the tests came back negative, but it was definitely a scary experience. My poor heart felt so heavy during that time, especially as they tried to get an IV started (they poked him about 20 times before they got one in). Because of all that I think that I'm even more appreciative of our time at home. He is such a great baby. At night he's been sleeping for at least 3 hours, but sometimes 4! He's also feeding great and spending more time active and awake. He is quite the sleeper though. I guess he takes after me. We've also noticed that he's quite the strong man. In the hospital he was fighting off the nurses. It took 3 of them to hold him down to give him the IV. He also likes to hold his head up when he resting on my chest or shoulder.
Jon's mom has been staying with us and she's been such a great help. I've been able to rest and spend time with Jared without worrying about stuff around the house. I don't know what I'd do without the help. My mom was here too, but she spent most of her time here with us in the hospital, so I'm sure she'll be back to spend some good quality grandma time with the little guy.
We gave Jared his first sponge bath on Wednesday. He didn't like it one bit. He did enjoy his time with Daddy beforehand though. Isn't he such a cute little man?
All in all, life is good.

Jared Has Arrived!

Our little man has arrived and it was quite the ordeal to get him here. For those of you are not interested in hearing about the birth (Mark) skip ahead below under the bold headline and you'll miss all the details. =) For those of you that are here it goes:
I woke up on Tuesday (4/21/09) at about 2am with contractions that were pretty strong and about 6-7 minutes apart. Since I couldn't go back to bed I headed to the living room and watched some tv while Jon slept and I waited for the contractions to get closer together and stronger. I called in to work telling them that I wouldn't be in sometime around 8 or so and then after 9 I gave my midwife a call. She encouraged me to continue laboring at home and call her later to check in. Jon and I sat around for most of the day waiting for something to happen. Late in the afternoon I spoke to the midwife again and she asked me to come to the office to be checked. Bad news...only slightly more dilated than the day before. Oh well, back home again we went. As the night progressed the contractions got stronger and some were pretty close together, but they were definitely irregular. The midwife told me to go the hospital and get checked. By this time I was feeling pretty miserable. We headed to the hospital about 10pm (I think) and they hooked me up to a monitor and started watching my contractions. They also had me walk around for about a half hour to see if that would help anything. By the time I laid down again my contractions were strong, but weren't doing much of anything. I spoke to my midwife and she gave me 3 options. The first was that I could go home and take some Tylenol PM, soak in a hot bath, and sleep until things started progressing more. The second was that I could stay in the hospital and they would hook me up to an IV and give me meds to help me sleep. The final step was that we could try to augment labor (breaking my water, pitocin, etc.) Well, Jon and I talked about it and I really wanted to go home and try to sleep. Back to the house we headed. Jon dropped me off while he went to pick up the Tylenol PM. I laid in the bath for a bit, but it was doing nothing for me. I took the Tylenol PM, but my contractions just got worse. They would often come one right after the other with maybe 15 seconds break in between. They were also lasting for like 2 minutes. I tried to lay down, but the contractions hurt so much that I couldn't. So, I walked around the house for awhile. Jon put in a movie to try to distract me and continued to try to make me eat (poor guy was trying all day, but I just couldn't eat much of anything). Sometime around 2 or 3am I decided that I couldn't take it anymore and I needed to go back to the hospital. We arrived and they hooked me up to the monitors again and told me that my little guy was sleeping and they needed him more active before they could give me the medicine. So I worked real hard to drink cranberry juice and sprite to perk up the little guy. After at least an hour, but maybe closer to 2 they have me some kind of medicine that starts with a "s" or a "c" to help me sleep. My midwife explained that I would probably still feel the strong contractions, but that the medication should help me get some rest. It worked wonders. I only slept about 3 or 4 hours, but it felt like much more. My midwife came to check on me in the morning and there had been some progress, but definitely not much. We once again discussed options and my midwife explained that my labor so far had been very unusual. She explained that the contractions I was having were not effectively moving me along and that they were stronger than they should be at this point and closer together. After Jon and I discussed the options with the midwife we decided to have them break my bag of waters. At this point, we finally called the family members and let them know what was going on. I was checked a few hours later and I was at 5 cm so I was half way there (yep, 31 hours and only at 5 cm). After awhile the contractions started getting much stronger again and closer together. I was worried that my labor was going back to how it was previously. A few hours later I called my midwife to talk to her and explain that I was trying to relax through the contractions, but I felt the urge to push on some of them. She had a nurse check me and the nurse explained that I was about ready to push. The midwife made her way over and everyone got the room ready for delivery. I ended up pushing for 1 and a half to 2 hours and we decided about half way through to use a small bit of pitocin to regulate my contractions because they were becoming irregular again. Our little man was finally born 36 hours after labor started, but he was face up! The little stinker didn't turn the right way to come out, but he sure came out screaming his little head off. So, I didn't end up with an epidural, but I did need a little help along the way.
After the Birth Info (Otherwise Known as the Non-Gross Stuff):
Jon was super cute when Jared was born. Some dads cry, not this guy he laughed. He was such a trooper through the whole thing. He was getting very frustrated by my unusual labor and seeing me in pain so I know he was glad that it was all over. So, little Jared was born on 4/22/09 (Earth Day) at 2:19pm weighing 8 lbs 1 oz and measuring 20.5 inches. Good thing he didn't wait any longer to join us, he might have gotten too big. =)
He was and is absolutely perfect. I got to hold him as much as I wanted before the nurse got him all cleaned up and Jon got to hold him too. It was a great moment.
We had lots of visitors after that and came home the next day. My labor was not quite what I had anticipated, but what is? =)