Thankful

So I was watching a video a girl posted about her baby.  Her baby was born with cleft lip/palate issues and had no eyes.  They found out halfway thru her pregnancy, which would be soo hard to handle.  When she would take her baby out, people would make comments about him and ask what was wrong with him.  I guess some person even told her how terrible she was for not aborting him.  I guess the baby is a super happy baby.  When people stare at him, he just laughs and smiles.  I, of course, started crying while watching this video...(I'm not a crier, but these damn hormones!!)  I can't express how thankful I am that Jackson is healthy.  I'm not sure I could handle seeing my baby like that.  It would be awful for me knowing that he couldn't experience life like I want him to.  I'm sure I would adjust, but I would have such a hard time.  So I'm SUPER thankful that everything is okay with him...  Anyway....

Jackson is 3 weeks old (yesterday)...that is crazy!  I was just sitting here looking at him and I realized how much he has grown...and I'm a little sad about it.  Thankful, but sad.  I can already tell how fast this whole thing is gonna go for me.  He got weighed on Monday and he was 9.6 lbs with a wet diaper on.  So he's at least over 9 lbs.  This little man is gaining so fast!!  I wonder how much taller he has gotten.  I guess we'll wait until his next appointment to see!!

Finally added some pictures of Mr. Man :)

This kid already has sooo many nicknames!!  I seem to call him Mister more than I do his name, haha.  He's called Jackson, Jax, Jacksie, Jackie, Jackie Boy, Jack (only by Grandpa, haha), Mister, Mister Man, Little Man...the list goes on.  It's been pretty crazy this past week.  Jackson had a trip to the ER...terrifying. He was projectile vomiting all over himself and me for like an hour, so I called his pediatrician.  She told me to take him to the ER for imaging, which never ended up being done.  He's been okay since then, though...thank god!  His clogged tear duct seemed to jump to the other eye, haha.  Both are looking good today, though.  His baby acne is just moving around his face, but he still looks adorable!  He went to Kohls...and HATED it!  He went to Kelsey and Brian's shower/reception and did pretty good.  He's been eating like CRAZY!!!  I feel like I am constantly feeding him.  I think he's just going through a growth spurt, or at least I hope that's what it is.  This kid eats more than anyone I know!!  

I had to make a trip to the doctor today, too.  We might as well move right in...I feel like we're there allll the time.  I've been getting really light-headed and outta breath when I'm up and movin' around.  I'm just afraid that I'll faint or fall while I'm walking around with him.  I called the doctor to see if I needed to get it checked out and they tell me to come then to have testing done.  I haven't gotten the test results back...so we'll see what they say when those come back.  

Anyway, here is his cute little face :)  I'm sure I've already posted some of these already, I just can't remember what ones...

Look at those lips!!

After his first bath...his second bath was much better :)  He looks so much like Darrin in that picture!!

hahahha long, skinny man...just chillin'

Poke during the storm...haha

Uncle Tony lovin' :)

My big 2-week old!

I haven't uploaded any new pictures, so unfortunately Jackson's cute little face won't be gracing this post.  He is officially 2 weeks old today!  And let me tell you...he is growing...  I'm a little sad about it, haha.  He had an appointment Monday and he already weighs 8 lbs 6 oz.  That is crazy!  He was born 7.15, left hospital 7.10, and is now 8.6.  That's almost a pound in one week!  He sure likes to eat...  He's in the 50th percentile for weight, though.  He's in the 75th percentile for height..my tall boy!  For weight-height, he's only in the 10-25th percentile.  So he's just tall and skinny.  I'm sure he'll just pack on the pounds the way he eats, though!  Darrin says he loves his momma, but I think he just loves to eat, haha

He's starting to get baby acne and has a clogged tear duct :(  Both are much more painful for me than they are for him...  His eye is already looking a little bit better, though.  The doctor prescribed some cream to put on it and for us to massage his little tear duct.  He had his first bath this week and hated every minute of it, haha!  I'll post some pictures when I get them added.

I'm starting to think he looks more and more like Darrin, but a few people are still saying he looks more like me.  When I look at him I don't see either one of us.  When I look back at pictures, sometimes he looks IDENTICAL to Darrin.  Either way, he's one pretty man :)

First Mommy's Day :)

I experienced my very first Mother's Day yesterday :)  I can definitely say being a mom is the absolute best!  I just love my little man!  We went out to eat at Monical's in town, because we didn't want to hit the crazy church traffic with Jackson being so young.  Uncle Tony and Sara finally made it down, so Jackson finally got to meet them.  Uncle Tony, Sara, Grayson, Mom, Darrin, Grandpa, and Jackson all came along.  Jackson did soo good for his first time going out to eat.  He basically slept the entire time!  Darrin and I came home so I could feed him and then took off to Decatur to go to Target.  We had to get a few things for him.  He did soo good there too!  It was definitely nice getting out of the house for awhile, but I was ready to come home.  It was a pretty good Mother's Day :)

Jackson is such a good baby.  I'm afraid I'm going to jinx myself by saying that...  We are so lucky to have him.  The only thing is that he hates sleeping in his crib...he likes to be snuggled.  We're definitely okay with snuggling him, but it makes for very little sleep for both of us.  At Target, we got a sleeper that goes in bed with us.  We used it last night and he did so good in there.  I had to have my hand on him for him to go to sleep, but that's okay.  It makes me feel better anyway.  He only woke up to nurse.  Hopefully it continues to work for us.

Things I love:  

 his wrinkle on one ear (I hope it never goes away!)

how he grunts when he gets mad

his sleepy smiles

his big kissable lips

how he sticks his tongue out

his kungfu kicks

his large hands

all the weird positions he puts his hands in, especially when he's sleeping

all the little noises he makes throughout the day

Sweet baby :)

My little sheriff, haha

He looks huge!

Mean muggin....

One week down :)

My baby boy is a whole week old today!!  Time really does fly.  It's feel like just yesterday I was on my way to my OB appointment...  I can't even explain how much I love this little man!  He is absolutely perfect.  Jackson had a pretty big day today.  He got his newborn pictures taken, which I'm sure will be ADORABLE!  We even went on our first family walk :)  We haven't really gotten out much, so it was nice to be able to walk with him.  I think we're actually going to go out to eat on Mother's Day so that will be his first BIG outing :)

He had his first appointment with his pediatrician on Monday (5/7) and has his next appointment next Tuesday (5/15).  He had put on 2 ounces from his discharge weight.  She said his jaundice was looking fine, which is looking even better now.  I don't even see a little bit of yellow anymore.  His circumcision and cord were also looking really good.  He had a little bit of newborn rash on his back, but it wasn't too bad.  He's going to have really sensitive skin, like his mommy...

We're starting to get into a little bit of a routine around here.  Darrin has been super helpful with taking care of him, which makes my life sooo much easier.  Together we're doing a pretty good job :)  Jackson basically gets held all day every day, but I'm okay with that.  He's just too cute and cuddly to put down!  We're finally starting to put him down more throughout the day.  He will sleep for about 2 hours in his crib at night, then he wants snuggled again.  Usually I go to bed around midnight and Darrin wakes me up about 2 to feed him.  Then Darrin goes to bed and I stay up with him until about 3:30 when he'll finally let me put him in his crib.  We get to sleep for about 2 hours, then I get up to feed him.  I'm up with  him until about 7:30 when Darrin gets up and lets me take a nap.  It seems to be working out for us so far, but hopefully he'll start sleeping in his crib more.  I can't really complain...he's an awesome baby!

On his way to his first doctor's appointment.  He had to hold my finger the whole way :)

Seriously, could he get any cuter?!

Lookin' cute for mommy's birthday :)

Sleepy smiles!!

He has some seriously large hands!

Jackson's Birth Story (ton of pictures)

Darrin and I headed out on Wednesday not knowing what the day would hold.  I took him to EIU for his last final of the semester.  I then went to my regular OB appointment to see how Jax was cookin.  When I got there, they took my blood pressure like they normally do.  She first tried the left side....made a funny face...and then tried the right side.  She told me my blood pressure was 160/100.  Wayyy too high.  I waited for the doctor to come in to see what was gonna happen.  He decided that I needed to go up to labor and delivery to get monitored.  He was hoping my blood pressure would go down and that I could go home.

I just KNEW something was going to happen during one of Darrin's finals.  Since I wasn't in labor or anything, I just texted him and told him to call me as soon as he got done.  He met me at the hospital as soon as he finished.  They monitored my blood pressure and Jackson's heart rate for probably two hours.  Then a nurse came in the room and said that I needed to go into a labor and delivery room....I was getting induced that night.  Definitely didn't expect all that when I woke up that morning.

I got to my room and got all set up.  I had to wait for the doctor to finish visiting hours and then he was going to break my water.  He was hoping I would progress without having to have pitocin, but nothing was easy about that day.  He broke my water and I didn't progress like they wanted me to, so they started pitocin.  It seemed like forever to get to a 4, but went from 4 to 10 pretty quick.  The contractions before pitocin were cake compared to the contractions after pitocin.  Let me tell ya..pitocin is the devil!  I got the epidural when I was at a 4.

We got to a 10 and it was time for Jackson to make his arrival.  It was by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, but so worth every minute of it.  I pushed for an hour and a half.  The nurse kept saying he's so close....which seemed like a lie!  Come to find out, I don't have a normally shaped cervix.  He was stuck and his head was sideways.  Eventually, he came out, which I never thought was going to happen.  I ended up with a 4th degree tear.  They were stitching me up for an hour after he was born....  I didn't think Darrin had the stomach to watch or cut the cord, but he did!  Crazy what babies do to ya :)  It was by far the hardest thing I've ever done but every minute of pain was totally worth it.  Jackson is healthy and that is alll that matters!!!

Jackson Reid Gordon

5/3/12     6:32 am

7 lbs 15 oz     21 3/4 in long