6 Weeks Old!

Weston turned 6 weeks old last Tuesday and he is still growing like crazy!  I brought him to Riverside to weigh him and he weighed 9lbs and 4ounces.  I can't believe he has gained over 3 pounds since we brought him home.  His cheeks are starting to look big and he's getting those cute little baby rolls.  Here are a few 6 weeks pictures-

We took Weston for his first weekend away from home to go to Strasburg to see Jake's family.  Jake's grandpa fell and broke his neck in two places and we wanted to go visit them.  I was nervous about how it would go since Weston's never been in the car that long, or slept somewhere other then home.  He did GREAT in the car and he and Gogi slept soundly the whole way in the backseat. He did pretty good at night too.  It took him a lot longer then normal to go to sleep for the night (1AM instead of his normal 11PM), but once he finally did he fell into his normal routine and only woke up at 3AM and 7AM.  We think it was a success!!

Saturday night Mandy, Trevor and the kids came over to Jake's parents house and Andrew and Weston met for the first time!  It was so funny to see the size difference, and I can't believe Weston will be that big in a few short months!  Andrew is almost 7 months and Weston is almost 7 weeks.  Here are a few pics of my little peanut with his cousin -

Weston just kept staring at Andrew like he was amazed by his cousin, and Andrew wanted to grab Weston and pull him right over!  It was too cute and I can't wait for them to be best buddies when they get older :) 

Weston also got to meet his great grandpa and great grandma this weekend.  Here is a cute pic of him and his great grandma Garber.

It was a nice weekend and was great to visit everyone!

Catching up on the past few weeks!

Since starting this blog I haven't had a lot of time to update it, but it is my goal to update it at least weekly going forward!  So here is an update of where we are now-

Here is a picture of baby Weston at two weeks.  We went back to his doctor for his two weeks well visit and learned that Weston was back to above his birth weight at 6 lbs, 1 ounce.  He was eating about 2-3 ounces of milk every 2-3 hours. He was waking every 2-3 hours at night and started fighting going back to sleep.  We changed his routine up and kept it really dark at night, even during his eating and diaper changing, and that helped.

Here is a picture of Weston at 3 weeks.  I weighed him the day before he turned 3 weeks and he weighed 6 lbs, 12 ounces meaning he gained 11 ounces in less then a week!!  The doctors said they want them to gain about 1/2-1 ounce a day and he was gaining nearly twice that, such a big boy!  He was eating really well and starting to be awake more often.  His bruising from labor and delivery was finally almost gone.  We can't believe how cute he is!  At 3 weeks old his umbilical cord had finally fallen off so we started doing tummy time with him. He doesn't hate it and his neck is really strong!  He can lift it off the ground and turn it to the other side (even though it takes some time.)

Here is Weston at one month old.  At one month he weighed 7 lbs, and 11 ounces and had been growing like a weed!  He was eating 3-4 ounces every 3 hours.  He was also starting to develop a bit of a routine and was sleeping much better at night.  He was still waking up every 3 hours to eat, but then went back to sleep with little problems.

Here is Weston at 5 weeks and at 5 weeks 2 days he weighed 8 lbs, 12 ounces and was 20.5 inches long!  We went in for his one month doctor visit and she said he is doing great!  He has been starting to do one 4-5 hour stretch between feedings at night and I hope that continues!  During the day he eats 3.5-4 ounces every 2-3 hours.  I think he is eating more during the day to make up for his longer stretch at night.  He is getting so big and I can't believe how much he has changed in such a few short weeks!!  He is also starting to smile in his sleep a lot more, and I am anxiously awaiting his first social smile.  The doctor cleared me to start exercising again, so I have been taking him on a lot of walks.  When I go by myself I use a moby wrap so he is strapped to me nice and snug and he loves it and sleeps the whole time! 

He makes a lot of noises at night and grunts and squeaks all the time, but the doctor said that is normal and he should outgrow it.  He is a very good baby and we love him so much!

Valentines Day - 1 Week Old

Weston turned one week old on Valentine's Day!  Here is a picture of him wearing an adorable valentines outfit that he got from our neighbors.  Quite the little lover :)

At one week old Weston is still below his birth weight, which is normal.  He is 5 lbs, 11 ozs.  We are adjusting to life with a little baby in it.  He is a blessing and we are so happy that he is a very healthy little boy even though he came 4.5 weeks early!
We have been doing a lot of "skin-to-skin" since with him.  Since he was born premature they say it is really good for them.  It's where you have them lay on your chest so that, as the name implies, your skin is touching, and they can hear your heartbeat.  It's great for bonding and for keeping the little baby comfortable since it reminds them of being in the womb.  After over an hour of him laying on me I stood up and looked in the mirror and saw the imprint of his little feet still on my tummy - we thought it was super cute.

An Unexpected Surprise!

My water broke at 6:30pm on Monday 2/6/2012, which was 34 days before my due date.  When it broke I started freaking out, and as if on cue Jake called me.  I told him what happened and he could hardly believe me (he later said he thought I was testing him!)  I called the doctor and they told me to go into Riverside to Labor and Delivery. Jake rushed home and our neighbors came over to get Gogi so we could go to the hospital.  And then the fun began!  I was admitted to the hospital at 1cm dilated, they decided to watch me overnight to see if I would progress on my own.  In the morning I was only 3cm dilated so they decided to induce me.  I was started on pitosin (SP?) and given an epidural.  I dilated quickly from 4-7cm around 10am, and we had a scary moment where (yet to be named) baby's heart rate fell off the monitors.  The doctors responded quickly and the heart rate came back.  I then was able to dilated to 9cm, but stayed that way for several hours.  After 25 hours of total labor the doctor informed us that I needed to have a c-section.  They said he wasn't coming the normal way, and if we prolonged it any further we risked infection.  I was wheeled back to the operating room and Jake scrubbed in and was able to join me about 15 minutes later.  The surgery was quick and within 15 minutes baby yet to be named Garber was born!  He came out crying at 7:13pm on 2/7/2012, and it was music to mommy and daddy's ears!  All of the fear and unhappiness I was feeling from having to have a c-section melted away when that little guy made his first appearance in the world.  

The doctors said they thought he would be between 4.5-5 lbs, but he shocked us all and tipped the scales at 6lbs, 19inches.  Since he was born 4.5 weeks early he got a 5/9 and 8/9 on his apgar scores so he was taken to the NICU.  In NICU he was put on a c-pap machine, feeding tube, and IV for antibiotics.  They said he was doing really great, but he just needed a bit of help.

We spent a lot of time in the NICU with him those first few days, and we loved every moment of being with him.  After two days he was taken off of the c-pap machine and breathing room air so his feeding tube could also be removed.  He had to keep the IV in for a few days, but he was doing great!  We were so happy to hear that he was released back to the well-born nursery the day before I was discharged and that we could all come home together on Saturday!

Since we weren't expecting him it took us about 24 hours after his birth to finally decide on a name. We had been trying to decide between Weston and Owen, and just couldn't commit to one name in particular. Finally after much deliberation we decided that his name just WAS Weston. It was the name we kept coming back to and it just fit him. We gave him the middle name of Jacob after his daddy and my mother's maiden name of Jacobs. Once we decided on Weston Jacob Garber, we couldn't have been happier. We love him so much and we love his name!!

This face needs a blog :)

I've been trying to figure out a way to document and remember all the big, little, and amazing changes and firsts that baby Weston has been having.  I thought about going the scrapbook route, but that's not really my forte.  Besides it is 2012 and I want to be able to utilize the technology that is available to me!  I want to eventually create a picture book on shutterfly to document all of his adorable pictures and firsts, however that doesn't solve my problem on how to document everything on a daily basis.  Finally I decided, what better way to document everything then an online blog that I can share with friends and family.  This will do two things: one is it will keep a record of everything for me for when I put together his "year in review book."  But also I thought this would be a great way to share everything with those that we love.  It is hard when our family and friends are far enough away that they don't get to witness the amazing growth and changes of this little guy like we do.  I'm sure this blog will change and evolve, but you have to start somewhere and so I'm starting here.  Enjoy!