HO..HO..HO..Merry Christmas!!!!

3 months old

Of course I have to start by saying that Leyton's reflux is finally under control-he's still not sleeping through the night yet-but at least the reflux is not a problem. Yay!!!

Since I started back to work on November 15, Leyton stays with Granna 3 days a week and Nana & Papa 2 days a week-we are soo blessed- and it's a relief to know that Leyton is in good hands. He has gained so much personality over the past month-it's crazy. He is smiling ALOT (especially when he sees his mama :)), actually laughing-it's not just a cough anymore, he's constantly "talking", cooing, babbling and slobbering/blowing bubbles. He seems to be enjoying books and music more and really likes football, Oswald and Wonder Pets. He is grabbing, pulling, batting at toys and putting them in his mouth. He's also sucking on multiple fingers at once (3-4 at a time) and doing so on his left hand. He still loves his baths, infact we've added toys to the tub which he constantly tries to kick. As I said earlier-he's not sleeping through the night yet but seems to be waking up once a night on the average. We'll get there-it's the least of my worries. He is holding his head up really well and we are now working on rolling over and sitting up.

Leyton had two "first" events in November-his first wedding and Thanksgiving. We went to Austin for my cousins wedding and he did really well for all the driving around and events that we attended (rehearsal dinner, brunch, wedding & reception and post wedding lunch). This family picture, taken at the wedding, is our first since the day he was born.


















Thanksgiving was low-key this year and we enjoyed my Mom's delicious, homemade, enough-for-an-army cooking. This picture was taken that day and no I didn't buy him the shirt-it was a gift from his Aunt JuJu.
























December has also brought and will bring more firsts as well. Leyton got to experience his first snow last Wednesday-so his Granna dressed him accordingly as you can tell below.

Now that I have started back to work I miss my baby immensely-but he is being taken very good care of. My favorite part of the day is when I come home and I see Leyton and he gets a huge smile across his face-it makes me melt!!!! Thank you God for such a wonderful blessing!!!!!!!!!!

and the reflux saga continues....

He's all smiles lately even though the reflux continues to be an issue. As of Friday, we have stopped taking Zantac and are now trying Prevacid. The medicine comes in a tablet that is suppose to dissolve w/in a minute once it hits the tongue (yeah right-for a 2 month old really?). The first time we tried this he spit it out immediately and the second time he gagged and violently threw up (through his mouth and nose). My mom talked to her friend (her 2 month old grandchild was on prevacid as well) and they had their medicine compounded into a liquid. So we had the same done and when we gave it to him through a syringe, he threw up violently again. We then decided to try giving it to him through a nipple-and tada!!! it worked!!!! So far so good (as for it going in and staying down). We are very lucky that he likes it-b/c it takes him a bit to get it down-but it works and we are not complaining. Now we just need for it to begin working. Thankfully he is a good natured baby and only seems to be bothered by it when he is eating. Aside from that he is all smiles.....

Update...

The past three weekends have been quite busy and Leyton is quickly acquiring long distance travel miles on his car seat. The first weekend we spent Sunday in Waco visiting and playing with family (my cousin and her husband, my "niece" and my aunt), the next weekend was spent in Georgetown for my other cousins' birthday celebration and wedding shower and last weekend we had family in town for the annual Justin fish fry that my Grandpa is a big part of. Leyton did really well with the traveling-I had the infant tylenol ready-"just in case"-but never had to use it.

On the road again....

Leyton, Granna and I at the wedding shower.

Leyton also had his 2 month appointment last week and got 2 shots (breaks my heart when they give them to him). His stats are: Weight: 10lbs 8oz. (25 %); Height: 23 1/4" (45%). At his appointment we discussed the progress of his reflux (which had gotten alot better) and decided to slowly decrease the Zantac and add cereal to his bottle and see if we could get him off the medication. So far...no such luck! He doesn't like the cereal and won't take the full bottle when we give it to him and at times he will also have the painful spurts when eating and can't even finish the bottle even though he wants to. This past week he has been fighting going to sleep as well (at night and in the day). We had a good bedtime routine going (bottle, bath, bed by 8:00) until this week and now he will not go to sleep until after 10:00 and in the day he will only take a 10-15 min catnap. So now I have decided to go back to giving him Zantac 3 times a day to see if that will put him back to "normal". I will give it until Monday and go from there. Poor baby....

The lack of sleep and pain doesn't seem to be bothering him too much because he continues to smile and laugh and "talk" all the time and not just at us...at the ceiling fan, his crib bumper, the cats, the lights, etc. He is extremely alert and holding his head up on his own and can't seem to take it all in-there is too much to look at. Now he is starting to get a personality and it is getting more fun.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

2 Months Old Today

Today my baby is 2 months old and it is soo hard to believe how much he has changed in such a short time. Once again, we had our friend and photographer, Arlene, take Leyton's pictures. Below is just 1 of the many great photos-she is the best!!! She also took pictures of him in his Halloween costume-a sock monkey. Enjoy!
















http://www.arlenecloudimages.exposuremanager.com/g/leyton2months

Smiley

Leyton has been smiling, "talking" and laughing (in the form of a fake cough) lately and every time we tried to get him on video he wouldn't do anything. Finally, we were able to catch him and he put on a good show.

Back to the Drawing Board...

So Leyton's heartburn has yet to get better so we took him back to the Dr. yesterday. We are now going to give the Zantac more time to work, are adding 1/2 tsp of mylanta to our feedings and are switching over to the "Gold" formula (gold b/c it's pricey). The formula stinks really bad and he makes a face every time he starts to eat-but we have no other options right now. If he doesn't get better by Monday we are suppose to go back to the Dr-we are keeping our fingers crossed. On a better note (for him not me) Leyton is officially sleeping in his crib as of Monday night. He wasn't sleeping very well in the bassinet we have in our room and when we spend the night at Granna's he sleeps in the crib and sleeps well at that. He also takes naps in his crib-so reluctantly we put him in it for the night (I made multiple trips to his room for my comfort) and turned up the monitor up loud and he did well.

Chunky Monkey

Last Sunday and Monday, Leyton started getting really fussy and would draw up his legs, arch his back and cry when taking his bottle. He also started fighting going to sleep-which became a 1-2 hour process. This is not typical of him, so I called the doctor thinking he was having tummy aches/gas. Our next appt. (2 months) wasn't until Oct 22, so they scheduled us to go in on Wed. Out of that appointment we discovered that he now weighs 10lbs, is 22 1/4" long and has heartburn/reflux. The doctor told us to start adding rice cereal to his bottles and prescribed him Zantac in liquid form. If these don't work, then we will have to switch to a different formula (which is quite expensive-last resort). Adding cereal to the formula will typically keep the baby fuller for longer which can also mean sleeping longer at night. That doesn't exactly seem to be the case with Leyton. He is still taking his bottle every 3-3 1/2 hours, will sleep about 4 hours the first part of the night and then returns to his waking every 3 and is quickly putting on the weight. He is getting to be a chunky monkey and should soon be able to fit into his 0-3 month clothes :) Today I have seemed to notice his feedings are getting better and his fussiness decreasing; if he doesn't seem to get better by tomorrow we are calling the Dr-but so far it looks good.

Aside from that little issue he is growing like a weed and gaining more personality daily. He lost most of his hair on the top of his head and now it is starting to come back in while the sides are starting to fall out. His hair has also lightened up quite a bit but is getting longer in the back. He has started "talking" more instead of grunting and is very alert. He likes to listen to music while laying in the floor with us and playing with toys or being read or talked to and kicking his legs constantly. He is also making alot more facial expressions and smiling-which is not due to gas (thank you very much Dr. Robert :)). He still likes to snuggle when sleeping and we have been letting him nap on his tummy. He is so much fun and such a blessing and we are enjoying every minute of parenthood!!!

1 Month Old...already

Obviously, I can't get over how quickly Leyton is growing and the fact that he is already 1 Month old (as of Sunday)-time has flown by. He has lost most of the hair on the top of his head and the rest has started to lighten up. He is alot more alert and has learned to grunt and takes full advantage of it :) He is still waking up 3 times a night to feed and is starting to get too long for the newborn clothing (however the 0-3 month clothes are still too big). Yesterday, my Mom's friend and awesome photographer came over to take Leytons pics-he did really well and only tee-teed on us twice :) The pics are ADORABLE and she did an AWESOME job. Below is a "taste" of the pics and if you go to the link below you can see the rest as well as some of her other work. Thanks again "Mina"!!!!

http://www.arlenecloudimages.exposuremanager.com/

Happy 3 Weeks Old!

2 Week Check-Up

Can you believe that my Baby Boy is already 19 days old? Last Thursday we went for his 2 week check up and found out that he has grown .5" (now 20.5" long) and weighs 7lbs 9 oz. He is quite the growing boy but is still wearing newborn clothing-I had to go out and purchase a few more outfits this past week-b/c everything he has pretty much starts at 0-3 months and they swallow him. While at the Dr. office he had to get a Hepatitus B shot and it broke my heart when he was crying from it-it is so hard to watch when they get poked and prodded.

Leyton is lifting his head quite a bit and has pretty much settled into a nightime schedule-we get up 3 different times to change his diaper, feed him and put him back to bed. He has had a couple of tummy aches-but we think we have it figured out and are using a Sensitive formula to help with that. We are learning to either nap when Leyton sleeps/naps or let Granna or Nana & Papa watch him while we nap :)

We have taken a few outings-visits to Granna's and Nana & Papa's and this past weekend he got to attend his first "party"-we went to one of my friends baby showers. We also went to Christina's for my Mom's birthday dinner and he slept the entire time!!

We are loving parenthood and can't get over how blessed we are to have such a perfect little boy!!!

8 days old.....

I can't believe how quickly the past week has gone by and how much Leyton has grown & changed in that short time. When we left the hospital on Saturday, Leyton weighed 6lbs and 6oz, (it's typical for newborns to loose up to 11oz. the first week) and on Monday when we went to a follow-up doctors visit (due to his high temp. he got after he was born) they said that he was back to his birth-weight of 6lbs 11 oz. Needless to say, he loves his Similac formula! The doctor said that everything looked well and that the blood test and cultures looked fine and told us to come back in 2 weeks for his first real check-up. Today we went to the hospital to get some blood work done-standard practice-and when they pricked his heel he cried but as soon as they were done he went right back to sleep. He is great in the car -(we are so lucky) and sleeps through all his car rides. We are working on trying to sleep a little less in the day so that we sleep longer at night-but aside from that he is a happy baby and we are extrermely lucky, grateful and blessed for such a precious gift!!!!!! Enjoy the pics of his first week at home.

He's here!!!!!

Leyton Michael Perrin was born at 6:40pm Aug. 20. He weighs 6lbs, 11oz and is 20" long. He is beautiful with long eyelashes and a head of brown hair.

D Day

Today we got some good news:

Dilated: 3cm
Effaced: 95%
Measuring 40 weeks

Still making progress-slowly. However, the best part is that unless he comes before, we are scheduled to induce next Wednesday at 5AM (his actual due date)!!!!! My last day of work will be this Friday and I will have 1 more doctors appointment next Tuesday. I am feeling mental relief-but not physical relief-but at least we have a day. Until next week........

And...we're still counting.....

I know this is late-but I hoped to be posting pics by now (sigh). Progress report from Dr. Appt on Tuesday:

Dilated: a little over a 2
Effaced: 95%
Station: 0

Dr. Robert was glad that I was progressing and didn't feel the need to do anything-she really didn't know if I would make it to my next Dr. Appt this Tuesday-ahem. I had a few small contractions-inconsistent-this past week and then nothing. I continue to have lots of braxton-hicks contractions-but that's not what "gets the baby moving". We'll keep you posted.....

The Final Countdown...

Today marks the 3 week count down to my due date and according my Dr., she doesn't think I will make it to Aug. 26- I really hope she is right. The following are my "stats" as of yesterday's appointment:

-Dilated 1.5cm

-80% effaced

-Stationed at a -1

For those of you who aren't preggers and have never been-let me make this simple-I've progressed quite a bit since last weeks appointment (40% effaced and no dilation), baby has dropped and she can feel his head. She wouldn't give any estimates-but she did say that she didn't think I would make it to my due date but she didn't think it would happen in the next day or two (but to have my bags packed). We'll keep you posted on my "progress".

With that news I decided to go ahead and post nursery pics-we still need a lamp and are waiting for the rocking chair cushions to come in-aside from that (and the fact that I need to move the diapers) the nursery is complete.

Here is a close up of the bedding that my Aunt made-I love it!!!!

Picture This!

Yesterday we went for our BIG 35 week appointment. The signifigance of it was that we got to see Leyton on the sonogram-a 3D/4D one at that-the last time before birth.

We found out that he is head down (check) and that he is holding his right foot in his right hand by his face (you can see it to the left of his head). Do ya think he's a little cramped?

He weighs approx. 5lbs 12oz. and his head is very low (you don't want the details of how we know this). They say that after 36 weeks he will gain about 1/2lb every week. I now start going to the Dr. every week and they will let us know how he's progressing. So far I'm not effaced/dialated-I just have a big belly :)

More Showers!!!

Last Saturday, 4 of my girlfriends hosted an awesome "Sweet" themed shower for Leyton. There were all kinds of sweets to eat from fruit, various kinds of brownies, 2 flavors of cake balls, cake, cookies and a vatiety of my favorite candies. Below are my wonderful hostesses: Jessie, KK, April and Ariel.





































































Clara and Gram/Ju Ju

Once again, we were shown how many wonderful and generous friends and family members we are blessed with. I had a great time seeing everyone and I am so thankful for them all!!! I look forward to Leyton meeting all these special people.

Beach Baby

This year we took a family vacation to Port Aransas and celebrated my Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary-Leytons first trip to the beach so to speak. We decided to have family portraits made on the beach and hired a photographer to meet up with us. The wind wasn't very cooperative as you can see from our hair-but it kept us from sweating to death.














The photographer also wanted to take some "belly" pics- I was a little apprehensive but they turned out pretty cute (she also took my profile pic):

Pictures were taken by Amber of A. Leigh Photography.

Baby Shower #1

Last Saturday, 12 of my Mom's friends hosted my first baby shower. " Oh Boy!" - Leyton was completely showered. There were alot of people there and alot of presents. We are very grateful to have so many kind and giving friends.

My 12 wonderful hosts!

Nana and Granna

The Four Great-Grandmothers!

Leyton 's bedding-this is the quilt that my wonderfully talented Aunt made for him along with the bumper pads, 2 sheets, a dust ruffle and a valance (final pic of the room with the bedding to come).

Did I mention Leyton got a ton of presents???

7.5 more weeks until Leyton's arrival!!!!!

My Lovely Baby Bump

So here it is-probably the one and ONLY pic you will see of my "baby bump". I am a day shy of 30 weeks and carrying Leyton really low.

From Blue to New

We wanted to show some pics of of how the nursery is coming along. Before this, we used the room as a workout room and it was painted BLUE!!!! After two coats of primer and 2 coats of paint-the nursery is now a tan-cream color (and of course Michael doesn't like it) :) We bought the crib and the dresser/changing table and then found the bookcase at a place in Austin. Originally it was an oak color, but Michael painted it black to match the furniture and I think it looks great!!!! We have lots of room for books!!!!!!

(Notice the stroller in the corner-this is not a permanent fixture :) ) The mirror below will eventually be hung up.

This last picture is one of my favorite purchases for the nursery-it's a LARGE painting by Oopsie Daisy-called Animal Alphabet and we want to hang this above his bed. Michael isn't too crazy about it-don't think it's masculine enough for him-but I think it's adorable.

My wonderfully talented and generous Aunt is making the crib bedding and is a mixture of blue, brown, khaki/ivory stripes, dots and checks (it will be adorable-pics to follow). I still need to get a glider & ottoman to go by the window, a lamp, a rug (a debatable topic between the husband and I) and a few more wall decor items-but haven't found what I am looking for just yet. We also have the vintage planes to hang up. We're not finished by far-but I just wanted to give a sneek peak...

In the beginning....

As most of you know-especially right now as my brain cells seem to be few and far between-I am not that great at writting and expressing myself. HOWEVER-thanks to a wonderful Miracle and Blessing from God, I am ready to take a stab at this and look forward to keeping you updated as Michael and I (and family) prepare for, and begin a new chapter of our life with the birth of Leyton Michael Perrin. This is our Baby Perrin Blog.