drifting away...

Only one more week left before I have to return to the work world and send my sweet baby off to a baby-sitter every day.  Do you think if I stomp my feet and cry they will let me stay home a little bit longer?

I know I keep saying it, but I really cannot believe how fast the time seems to be flying by. Zach will be 4 weeks old on Sunday. He has grown so much already it is amazing. He'll go back to the doctor next week for his 1-month check up. I can't wait to see how much he weighs. I'm guessing at least 11 pounds by now.

Last week, Zach and I went to spend a day with his
Aunt and cousins at their house. Zack and Ryan have matching Spiderman outfits so we put them in them and took some pictures. We actually went to Wal-Mart and had pictures done, but Zach didn't want to cooperate so we decided to just take some of our own at home.



On Sunday, hubby's brother and his family came up from Louisiana to visit. We had not seen them since last October, so it was very nice to get to visit with them for a few days. They were all thrilled to meet Zachary. Grant was especially excited because Zach is his first and only cousin. He wanted to hold him and play with him all the time. He just didn't quite understand that Zach can't really play quite yet. It didn't keep him from trying though.



While they were here, we went over to my mom's apartment to have a swim. Zach had his first experience in the swimming pool. I wasn't quite ready to get in the pool yet, so he got to go swimming with his Grandma and Aunt. I'm not sure he really enjoyed it much. He cried a little at first and then calmed down. He didn't stay in very long because he decided it was time to eat. He was in long enough for me to snap a few pictures though.



Otherwise, there isn't much going on with us. I finally managed to find a baby-sitter that I love. I think she will be great with him and she is really looking forward to having a baby to watch. I'm hoping she will be someone that he can stay with for quite a while. I only have 2 more weeks before I have to go back to work so I'm really glad that I finally found the right person. I am definitely not looking forward to going back to work. I don't even want to think about having to leave him all day.

I'm really hoping to spend the next 2 weeks relaxing and just hanging out with Zach. He is changing so quickly I don't want to miss a minute with him. It is so hard even to put him down right now. I just want to snuggle with him all day.

The last two week since Zachary was born have really flown by fast. Part of the reason could be that I’ve slept through most of it, but time certainly does go by quickly when you are taking care of a new baby. Most days by the time I can get up, feed him, change him, shower and get dressed myself it is already after noon. I’ve learned already that nothing with a baby is predictable. I’m not sure that we’ll ever be on time for anything again.

We really enjoyed having Granny and Papa here last week to help us out. It was definitely helpful to have someone here to fix dinner for us and keep up with the loads and loads of laundry that Zach seems to be creating. Plus, just having a couple of extra hands to help out when needed was very much appreciated. They had to leave a bit early due to the hurricanes that were threatening to hit their home, but we are really glad they were able to stay as long as they did. We are also glad that the hurricane ended up not hitting close to their house!

Zachary had his first out-of-town trip last weekend when we went to Springfield. He got to meet his Great Granny, as well as his Great Aunt and Uncle, and lots of cousins. We got to visit with family and watch a great fireworks show that the cousins put on. Zach fell asleep before the fireworks started and only got startled a couple of times when there were loud booms but I think he still enjoyed himself. He didn’t even seem to mind the 3 hour car ride too much.

This week Zach and I are relaxing at home and trying to catch up on a few things that have been slipping by the last couple of weeks. Tomorrow we are going to go visit with a lady that will hopefully become Zach’s baby-sitter. I spoke to her on the phone for quite a while today and she seems to be exactly what I’ve been looking for. We’re also hoping to go spend a day with his Aunt and her family this week. So, I say we’re relaxing, but we’re actually keeping very busy!

We’ve been taking lots and lots of pictures of Zachary because I don’t ever want to forget how little and cute he is right now. I tried to pick out some of the better ones and added to his photo set on Flickr. You can se them here.

Things have been rather busy around here as I'm sure you can all imagine.  It seems like about all I do is change diapers and feed Zachary.  In between, when he's sleeping, I try to get a bit to eat, clean up, or catch a little sleep myself. 

My in-laws have been in town since Friday.  Fortunately with them here I don't have to worry about cooking or laundry because they keep up with all of that.  It is nice having them here, but I think I'll be happy to have my house back to myself when they leave. 

Zach had his first doctor's appointment on Tuesday.  He's already grown almost 2 inches since he was born and he's back up to his birth weight.  The doctor says he looks perfectly healthy so far.

Zach will be going on his first out-of-town outing this weekend.  My Aunt and Uncle in Springfield are having their annual 4th of July picnic (a week late) on Saturday, so we'll be going down for that.  My family is very anxious to meet Zach and I'm looking forward to getting to visit with them as well.

I still haven't had a chance to catch up with everyone, so if you stop by let me know how you are doing!

At 12:45 a.m. on Sunday, June 26th I woke up for yet another trip to the restroom. Moments later I realized that my water had broken and Zachary was on his way. I waited about 10 minutes, then got up to call the doctor. Hubby woke up and asked what was going on and sat straight up in bed. After talking to the doctor on the phone, we headed to the hospital.

It took a little while to get all checked in and get through the paperwork. I got changed and got my monitors all put on. Eventually, the nurse came in to check and see how far I was dilated and I was still at only 2 cm. They gave me another 2 hours and checked again but I hadn’t made much progress. So, the doctor decided to give me Pitocin to speed things up a bit. Shortly after it started, my contractions started coming hard and fast. They were getting so close together that I barely had a chance to relax and breathe in between. Finally I gave in and had them give me an Epidural. As soon as it kicked in I couldn’t even feel the contractions anymore.

Things went pretty well for a while, but then I started feeling more contractions. The nurse came to check again and I was at 9 1/2 cm dilated. Within a few minutes I decided I either needed to push or needed the epidural increased. When the nurse came in, I was completely dilated and she said I could start pushing. The contractions were still coming very close together. The nurse tried to get me to breathe through some of them to take a break, but I wasn’t able to. Zachary was ready to get out and he wouldn’t let me stop. With less than an hour of pushing, at 4:40 p.m. Zachary finally made his way into the world.

Hubby got very emotional when he got the first glimpse of his son. Personally, I was just happy that the contractions were going to stop! Everyone always says that the first time you see your child is amazing, but I don’t think that even describes it. There are no words that can explain what I felt when I saw his little face.

Zachary’s birth has changed our lives in ways that I’m sure we can’t even imagine yet. I’m still amazed that something so cute and so amazing came out of my body. There is nothing like the feeling I get when I’m holding him in my arms. He is truly a gift from God and I will be forever thankful.

Now for the fun part…I promised more pictures, so go check them out!