growing already?

As a first-time mom, I can't help but notice how much my baby is changing every single day. No wonder he's asleep 95% of the day--growing this fast must be hard work! It's been just shy of two weeks since Max was born I feel it my duty to document some of what's been happening before my very eyes...


This was my sqiuishy, chubby little boy just days after he was born....


As the days go by he is more alert when he is awake. He notices lights and sounds. He has become very grabby with his hands and has a tendency to yank on his ears and lips, making himself cry. {hmm...red hair or the lighting in the room?}


On his first trip to the pediatrician he has already grown a half inch and was given license to eat as much as he wants.


In the beginning, so many people kept saying that he looks just like his Dad--I'm now starting to see where they got that from...



He'll only be my baby for a little while and I don't want to miss one second...

Boy Oh Boy!

I'm so overwhelmed right now I don't really know what to say about the past week...so I will just start with a play by play minus the gory details.

Sunday, August 16 I went into the hospital @ 10am for a scheduled induction. The doctor was concerned with some recent spiking in my blood pressure and adding that to edema and my epilepsy she didn't want to wait any longer. It took all day and night Sunday to thin my cervix enough to start the pitocin drip. I started contracting Monday morning around 10am. By the afternoon the contractions were getting pretty intense and I opted for an epidural(ah-- the miracles of modern medicine). Well after midnight I still had not dilated past 3cm and the on-call doctor said "c-section, let's go!" in a very thick Asian accent--think Mr. Miagi in scrubs. This is just seconds after the procedure, August 18 1:24am, when I met Maximus Riley Madison for the first time...

He weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds 8 ounces(Adam likes to say "of pure muscle"); 21 inches long

Adam's nickname for him is "The World's Biggest Baby" or "World's Biggest" for short.

This is proud Grandma Sheffer who has come to rescue us from the evils of housework and cooking...hooray for Grandmas! Plus, who could resist that face(no Adam, not yours...)

It's nice to put a face to the one who has been kicking me and tickling me with his nightly hiccups. He has a very good temperament and because he's the worlds biggest he already sleeps a good 5-6 hours a night.

Am I prepared for my blog to be taken over? How does something so tiny seem to take over every facet of my existence? This should be an interesting adventure and I can only hope that my communication skills aren't reduced to the level of him who has become my world.....for your sakes, of course.

Ramblings of a Pregnant Woman

So here I am looking at my baby counter that says I have 1 day left...HA! This little guy shows no signs of arriving tomorrow. I suppose there is always a chance and so what do you think would be going through my mind on the day before this child enters the world? I wish that I had something profoundly spiritual to say about this whole experience, but those thoughts haven't come to me...yet. This is what I am thinking about and wondering:

• Why am I sweating when it is only 65 degrees outside?
• It's gonna hurt.
• I have to remember to pay 4 bills next week.
• Should I regret not taking more photos of my pregnant belly?
• I'm so glad my mom and sister are coming soon.
• Breastfeeding?
• How did I grow a human being?
• Pain is painful.
• I wish people would stop telling me not to worry...I can't.

It's overwhelming and I know the next couple of weeks will just be a blur. Looking back on the past nine months, it hasn't been that bad. I never got sick. I have only had typical discomfort and now I am being told to sit around all day. What more could I want in these last few days of selfish freedom?

I expect that my life and my perspective on life will change. Right now, I cannot know how or in what way. The only evidence or experience I can pull from are the changes I have previously made in my life. High school >> College......College>>Mission....Misson>>New College....Single>>Married....etc. Each phase has brought change, because of choices that I have made. Every time I have moved into a new phase there are things that I miss about the phase before, but I cannot compare phases.

There is no such thing as "balance" in life. I simply make choices about what is important and imperative. Even though sometimes I don't want to own those choices. I can't have it all(i.e. if I want short hair, then I can't have a ponytail). Each new phase brings with it so many great new things and that is what I choose to look forward to, not what I am giving up.

Marriage>>Kids...bring it on.