All About Axton at 4 Months Old

More St. Patrick's Day

Me and Axton in green!

Jon before the parade

The Utah Pipe Band (Jon is in the very center- third row from the left and 3rd person back)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day is always fun. At least I think so. I wish there were more days in the year where we all wore the same color and did fun things. :) Today Axton went to his first parade (outside my belly that is). Jon was in the parade in downtown SLC at the Gateway Mall with the Utah Pipe Band. It was a little windy and cloudy but it actually wasn't that cold.  I put Axton in the Baby Bjorn front carrier (which he LOVES) and watched the parade. He loves anything action packed so he enjoyed all the colors and costumes and whatever else there was to see.  He did fall asleep for about a half hour or so but woke up just in time to see Jon marching and playing the bagpipes. Growing up we never went to parades but last summer I had the opportunity to go to a lot with the Utah Pipe Band and I had so much fun! I look forward to taking Axton to them this year.

Time

I've been thinking a lot about time lately. Maybe because we just had Daylight Savings, maybe because Axton just turned 4 months old, maybe because it seems to be going by too fast... It seems like the month of March has become a significant month for us the last few years. Three years ago, when I was in my final semester of nursing school, I became really sick. Finally, after a few weeks, I couldn't take it anymore and gave in to the idea of a colonoscopy. That's when I got my diagnosis of ulcerative colitis (March 31, 2009). The next day I was admitted to the hospital for almost 2 weeks to receive treatment.  A year later I started having flare symptoms again in March and April and when outpatient treatment failed, I was admitted to the hospital on May 1st for 3 weeks to receive treatment.
Last March I found out the best news ever: that we were going to be parents! On March 17th, at 5 weeks 6 days pregnant, I had my first glimpse of my growing miracle (my US was earlier than most because I was having pains and they wanted to make sure the pregnancy was in my uterus and not the fallopian tube).

There's not much to see that early in pregnancy but the little white dot in the black oval is my baby's heartbeat. 

I know that in no time at all, we will be celebrating Axton's birthday and even perhaps the birth of future miracles. We look forward to these little things. 

Whoever said 'sleeping like a baby' obviously never had one

Axton has gone on a sleep strike. Yes, I know he's a baby and they don't usually sleep for very long periods of time. When Axton was about a month old he'd sleep for about 4 hours at a time at night. At 2 months I was super lucky and he'd sleep about 6 hours. Right after he turned 3 months, he suddenly went to waking up every 3 hours. And it hasn't improved. I am one tired mama! And of course, it started the week before I went back to work. (more on this later) 
He also is a terrible napper. When I get him to nap, he wakes up exactly 30 minutes later. Some may argue and say that some kids don't require a lot of sleep but he's way cranky when he's lacking good quality sleep. On the other hand, he does nap for longer than 30 minutes when his Aunt Kristin baby-sits him.  I've tried mimicking all the things she does but I don't have the same success. I know it'll pass but I just needed to rant.
Earlier I mentioned about going back to work... My first day back was February 20th and it has gone surprisingly smooth. I am only working 2 days a week and will soon be orienting another nurse at work to take over some of my charge nurse duties. This is wonderful for me because I have less stress at work. And it means I only spend 2 days a week away from my baby.  On days that Jon and I both work, Axton gets to hang out at his Aunt Kristin's house with his 2 cousins, Matt and Olivia.
I miss hanging out with my Axton all day every day but I knew that I would eventually have to go back to work. This is only my 3rd week back but I'm glad everything is going ok.

All About Axton at 3 months old!

We're a little behind. Its been a busy month!

Sometimes you just gotta do whatcha gotta do...

My precious baby Axton is... well, I don't know what he is. I think he has some tummy troubles and he is unhappy a lot of the time. It started just before he turned 2 months old. It breaks my heart when he cries because there's not much I can do to soothe him. He still smiles and coos but just not enough as I'd like him to (it's so cute, I'd have it 24/7 if it was possible!). But trust me, I forget about the crying when he's all smiles and "talking" to me. I love it!

So one night he was unhappy and I was trying to put pressure on his belly but he couldn't get comfortable. This was my solution:

He is laying belly down on the back of the couch, sleeping. I laid him down like this and stood behind him patting his little diapered bum and he fell asleep! I haven't had much luck with this since so I'm glad I decided to take a picture! (With Jon standing by, of course!)

I've learned to just go with the flow and do what we have to do to survive! This was just one of the situations we've encountered already!

All About Axton at 2 Months Old

Since Axton turned 2 months old, we returned to the pediatrician today. He is in the 25th percentile for his height, weight, and head circumference.  So he's growing!

Axton also got his 2 month shots :( Which meant tears all around. He was not very happy. And I was sad because he was sad. We're not looking forward to more shots at 4 months.

Axton has recently discovered his voice.  He's always making noises.  The first time he really started his chattering/cooing was New Year's Day when he was having a "conversation" with his Grandma DeMille.

I swear this baby gets cuter every day!

Bath time! 1/3/12

So cute and so happy 1/10/12

Just hanging out! 1/10/12

Christmas!

Jon and I weren't planning on getting Axton any presents since he's only 6 weeks old but we couldn't resist.

All of these presents are from our families. They obviously didn't hold back! This little boy is so loved! Actually, a couple months ago, when our families drew names for the gift exchange, we had already decided to leave Axton's name out but we were persuaded to bulk up the numbers in the drawing.

This is a necklace that I got for Christmas. This was all I wanted, even though Jon didn't listen and got me more.  I also got a necklace with Axton's birthstone in it.

Since it was just Sacrament meeting on Christmas Day we took Axton to church for the first time. He was very good! He was wide awake when the meeting started so I took him out of his carseat and ended up holding him the whole time. It was a wonderful Christmas program and the music soon lulled him back to sleep.

Hanging out with cousin Olivia and Uncle Skyler on Christmas.

(He was starting to fuss a little and Olivia was soothing him. So cute!)

Oh ya....

My name is Axton and I have a mullet!

All about Axton at 1 month old

1 month old!

Our baby boy is 1 month old! He's been such a good baby. There are some fussy days but nothing that I'm going to complain about (we're all entitled to bad days!).  Now he's starting to be a little more interactive with us and is staying awake for longer periods so we can see his pretty blue eyes.  (I'm hoping they'll stay blue like mine!!) I feel so blessed that he's a part of our eternal family.  This is not something I take lightly.
He received his little Christmas outfit from his Grandma and Grandpa Buchanan. I say little because it's only 0-3 months but they were still big on him (I still have him in newborn clothes). I'm glad though, because he can wear them for awhile. Especially the shoes! Baby clothes are so cute!

I had to throw this in because he's just so cute. (12-2-11)

More about Axton

Proud daddy 11/12/11

Daddy's Rock Star 11/19/11

Axton was given several of these onesies by his Aunt Heather that had "11" ironed on them since he has a super cool birthday!

11/16/11

Happy Thanksgiving! 11/24/11

Today Axton had his 2 week appointment with his pediatrician. Everything looks good!

He is in the 50th percentile for his weight, length, and head circumference. The doctor said that he's perfect. But we already knew that. :)

Since I've had Axton I've heard of 2 families (via Facebook) that have had preemie babies, both of which also said their farewells soon after meeting their little ones.  I was always so afraid that something bad was going to happen while I was pregnant and I had to keep reminding myself that for the most part, everything goes okay!! Each week that I stayed pregnant during the crucial developmental times I thanked the Lord that my body was doing what it was supposed to be doing and helping my baby grow, regardless of my discomfort (which we know there is plenty of during pregnancy!)

Now that he's here, I look at him and marvel at the miracle we created.  That's exactly what babies are: miracles. We gave life to another human being!! I'm so glad that Axton chose us as his parents and that the Lord blessed us with him. I am also grateful for the knowledge that families can be together forever.  This forever binds my husband and I with our families and with the family we have created.

Axton's birth story- long post :)

On the evening of Thursday, November 10th I started having regular painless contractions. I had been experiencing Braxton Hick’s contractions for several weeks at this point so I didn’t think much of it. Starting at about midnight, they started becoming a little uncomfortable. They were further apart however. They eased up slightly so I decided to try to get some sleep. This happened all night- resulting in little to no sleep.

I woke Jon up at about 5:30am because the contractions were becoming more painful. He asked if I wanted him to take me to the hospital but I was afraid that they would just send me back home so I decided to lay down again to try to rest.

Around 7:15am, after calling my mom for further confirmation that I was indeed going into labor, I told Jon that we needed to go to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at about 8am. My contractions were more painful then, radiating around my hips and lower back, and getting closer together. However, when the nurse checked, my cervix was only dilated 2 cm. She told me they’d monitor me for an hour and go from there. But not even 20 minutes later she came back in with IV supplies and said that my doctor said to admit me.

I asked for my epidural quickly because there were many c sections and inductions scheduled that day and didn’t want to have to wait later. Once I received the epidural my contractions slowed down so I was given pitocin to make them stronger and more effective. So we started the waiting game.
My doctor came in just before 1:30pm and broke my water, where it was discovered that there was meconium in the amniotic fluid. Since baby’s heartbeat was stable and showing that he was tolerating the contractions, no immediate action needed to be taken.
When my cervix was almost completely dilated, my nurse had me turn on my left side because there was still one side that was thicker than the other. Then after waiting some more, my doctor came in to check the position of the baby. Ideally they should be face down for delivery and he was face up. So I was turned to my right side, almost on my belly, with my leg tucked under to get him to turn. The nurse also dimmed the lights so I could try to rest because it was almost time to start pushing. And since I hadn’t eaten all day, I was given IV fluid with dextrose.

Finally, at about 7:15pm we started the pushing process. After pushing for what seemed like forever, we could see his head- covered with dark brown hair!! The pushing continued for a little longer but at 8:46pm our baby boy was born! They told me his length first: 21.5 inches! I couldn’t believe how long he was! His weight: 8 pounds. He was absolutely perfect.

Because there was meconium in the amniotic fluid, 2 NICU nurses were present for the delivery. Unfortunately, both of us had a fever after delivery.  He was also a little grunty.  Because of these things, he had to go to the NICU for monitoring. Fortunately, Jon was able to go with him. They also brought him to me after I was taken to maternity so I could breastfeed him.

Axton only had to stay in the NICU for about 2 hours.  At 12:30am he was brought back to me with the news that everything was ok.

37 weeks- Maternity pics

We decided to take a trip to visit friends in Idaho. Probably our last trip without a baby! My good friend Jodi also took some maternity pics for me. They turned out pretty cute, if I might say so myself! Thanks Jodi!

Hmm, I guess this baby's going to have to come out eventually, huh?

Sept 17, 2011- 32 weeks 1 day

October 9, 2011- 35 weeks 2 days

So, we're in our final month now. It's weird because I feel like time is going by fast but that my pregnancy is going by slow.  Doesn't make any sense does it?

I am definitely becoming more uncomfortable but I still have so much to do before the baby's born!! No, his room is not all set up and ready for him. Not because we're procrastinators but because our condo has been on the market for the last year.  We were unsuccessful in selling it due to a crappy market but we are still looking at houses.  So, we have a bassinet the baby can sleep in. We're just going to hold off a little longer before we set up the actual crib. And I bet he'll never know the difference. :)

I am planning on working up until my due date. Right now my last day of work is Wednesday, November 9th. Which, I guess, is technically past my due date since it was moved to Monday, November 7th.  However, I will be surprised if he makes his appearance early.  We're just playing it by ear at this point. Maybe working will help the process along.