Jonah: 3 Months

I’ve been wearing Jonah a lot in the Sleepy Wrap.  He loves it!  I love keeping him close, because I know that soon he will want to be moving everywhere!  Whenever he eats, he grabs onto my shirt so tight or would run his arm back and forth against my chest.  It is so sweet, it melts my heart!

We had a “Life After Camp Sleepover” for the Young Women and Jonah joined them!  :)  I was worried he would wake everyone up, but he did really good!

This little boy is really starting to get chubby.  I LOVE it!  He has the cutest rolls ever.  

We were able to go to Utah for a week in the beginning of July!  It was awesome.  That morning we went to breakfast to see Grandy and Grandpa Rick so they could love on Jonah!  Then we went to see the Evers boys in their neighborhood parade.  They were so cute!  Jonah even joined in on the fun and rode with cousin Wilson in the bike trailer!  Afterwards, we saw Monsters University with the Petersons!  It was so fun.  We spent the 4th of July helping the Hendersons prepare for their annual party.  We had a great time!  It was Jonah’s first time in a pool!  He loved the warm water!  After the party we went to the country club in Sugarhouse to see the fireworks.  As always, it was a great show.  Jonah surprised everyone by sleeping through them!  I guess he was sleepy!

July 5th was spent hanging out with cousins and getting ready for Jonah’s blessing the next day.  Jordan and I were able to go get a couples massage (I am ALWAYS going to get a hot stone massage from now on!) while Wendy watched Jonah.  They sent us the cutest pictures of him with Willie!  We all went to Cafe Rio that evening and then to see Despicable Me 2, which was so funny.  We got him the cutest blessing outfit ever!

Jonah was given a name and blessing by Jordan on July 6 at Omi and Buppi’s house.  Before this experience, I had no idea that babies could be blessed outside of a church, so it was a really neat day.  Jordan gave a wonderful blessing and many of our family members were able to participate!  After the blessing, we had dinner and hung out with most of our family members.  Thank you so much for everyone that was able to come and participate!  

Jordan had to leave that evening on a red-eye, so my mom came and picked me and Jonah up for the rest of our trip.  On the 7th of July, my mom, Jared, me, and Jonah all went to church together.  We had a great time!  That evening, we went to see Grandma and Grandpa Cuthbert so they could love on Jonah some more.  Danen, Debra, Mallory, and Mitch were there as well!  

Uncle Jared is SO cute with Jonah.  He totally doted on him, played with him constantly, and made him smile!  It is seriously so sweet!

On the 8th we ran a bunch of errands and my mom, Jonah, and I made a trip to IKEA to search for some cupboard organization.  Unfortunately, they didn’t have what we were looking for, but I am always happy to go to IKEA! :)

The 9th was spent hanging up pictures at my mom’s and then dinner with Omi and Buppi so they could love on Jonah!  I was happy that I could catch Buppi singing “Hoppe Hoppe Reiter” to Jonah on video.  He has sung that to every single grandchild countless times and it’s one of my favorite memories of growing up!  

Throughout the entire trip, Jonah was napping so great - taking all these 3 hour naps!  I think it’s because he was so stimulated and seeing all these new faces!  I’m glad he was able to sleep well though.  He started really sleeping amazingly well at night - about 7 hour stretches, eating, and then sleeping for another 3 hours!  One strange thing that would happen a few times during naps however, are night terrors where he wakes up from naps screaming and flailing.  It is SO sad and breaks my heart!  I started reading the No-Cry Sleep Solution toward the end of July and I absolutely love it.  It has given me such great ideas and routines to follow to help Jonah have healthy sleep habits - and not cry it out!  

Jonah and I had a horrible experience coming home from Utah on July 10th.  Our flight was originally scheduled for 8:30 AM.  When I woke up to feed Jonah at 4, I saw that our flight had been delayed 3 hours.  Delta made me reschedule both our flights.  I picked one leaving at 9:30 AM and going to Minneapolis.  When we got to the plane, our captain said there was a dent in the aircraft and that we were delayed.  We ended up being delayed for almost 3 more hours.  When we finally got to Minneapolis, I had missed my second flight.  Delta rescheduled me for another flight leaving at 7:30 PM.  I walked around the entire airport twice, got dinner, and fed and changed Jonah a few times.  I was running out of diapers!  My flight was then delayed until midnight (UGH), but thankfully they then pushed it up to 9:30 PM.  I tried to find diapers in the airport, but could not find any smaller than size 3 (Jonah was in between size 1 and 2).  When we got on our flight, Jonah began screaming and screaming and couldn’t be consoled.  I couldn’t change him because the flight attendant was taking a million years to hand out drinks in the aisle.  I finally changed him, fed him, and he fell asleep only 45 minutes before we landed.  It was horrendous!!  One thing I learned that would have made it a bit easier would have been taking the stroller so I could put Jonah, my pillow, and the diaper bag all on it.  We were delayed a total of 8 hours!!

This little boy started to go through a growth spurt soon after we came home...right on schedule!  He hits all his growth spurts a week early, and it was almost exactly a week before he turned 3 months!  He would eat everything in sight, including gnawing on his fists with such a ferocity!  He ate every 2 hours both day and night for over 24 hours...it was exhausting!

The next few days after this, he was super unhappy.  I thought he was teething because of all his drool and blowing bubbles!  In hindsight though, I see he was just fussy.

I noticed in the middle of July that Jonah is losing his hair :(  It covered his mattress! It made me so sad!!  

We went down to the Bethers in North Carolina the 16th and 17th of July.  It was so fun!  We went boating and Jordan and Brady were even able to come before they went to work!  It was Jonah’s first time on a boat.  He didn’t like the wind blowing in his face, but tolerated it when we held him tight and close!  Jenae watched Jonah while Jordan and I went to the temple, which was so nice.  :)

For the record, this picture was taken after boating, while on dry land! :)  

We always put Jonah in a life jacket and hold on tight!

We got Jonah a “Finding Nemo” play mat that he absolutely loves.  When you kick Squirt, music and lights play and he gets so excited!

On July 20, Jonah rolled from his back to his belly for the first few times!  He just kept doing it over and over.  I was so excited!  I had set him down in his crib for a minute to get something, and he immediately rolled over!  

At church on July 21, Jonah had 2 blowouts, and so was therefore a diaper-only baby by the end of church!  He also had pooped on his blanket, so I had to roll that part up and cover him up with the rest!  I was so embarrassed, but I’m laughing about it now!

We started interviewing nannies around this time and hired one girl.  She seemed super promising - lots of experience with infants and was my age!  I was so happy.  

Right around the time Jonah turned 3 months, he started really holding on to toys well and sitting up!  It is so cute to watch :)

Jonah: 2 Months

Jonah’s second month started off with Nana leaving to go back to Utah.  :(  It was so great to have her here!  

Jonah and I also went to church for the first time on May 26.  Everyone adored him and could not stop staring at him and talking to him!  One lady said, “He looks so wise!”  I agree - especially being so new from Heaven, it makes you wonder if the veil is still thin for them.

We drove down to North Carolina to spend Memorial Day with the Bethers.  I’ll admit, I was worried.  Jonah had never stayed the night at someone else’s house, and I was worried the change in environment would be difficult for him.  I’m happy to say it went really well!  Since I had to feed him every 2 hours, I wasn’t able to do as much with the kids as I would have liked, but that’s ok.  We went to their neighbor’s pool party and brought a ginormous pasta salad that Wendy made before she left.  Jonah slept the entire party and we stayed in the shade the whole time.  Jordan and I discovered that making road trips with a baby takes twice as long - if they’re hungry, you have to stop and feed them; if they have a poopy diaper, you have to stop and change them.  Good to know for planning for the future!  

I ended up having to take another round of fluconazole for that dang yeast infection.  Very happily though, it didn’t give either me or Jonah tummy troubles!  Yay!  It also cleared up the infection, which made for a very happy momma!

May 29 was the first time Jonah went 7 hours between feedings at night!  I was so full of milk that I had to pump and got SIX ounces out of one side!  I was shocked.  He slept so much because the little stinker decided not to nap at all the day before!

May 30 was mine and Jordan’s fourth anniversary!  We went to see Iron Man 3 during the afternoon with Jonah.  He did great, only had to eat once and didn’t cry.  The loud noises made him jump though!  That evening, he got his first non-family babysitter, our good friend from the branch Haley Donaldson.  She watched him while we went to dinner!  It was so nice.  

Jonah hit his 1 month growth spurt at the end of May, and was eating every hour and a half!  He would sleep really well at night though.  His nighttime feedings were very consistent - 1, 4, and 7!  He also started being consistently fussy around 6 PM, and cluster feeding until bedtime.

Jonah has pulled off some amazing feats when it comes to his diaper.  I’m not even joking - somehow he has managed to pee on both me and Jordan with the diaper on.  But when I go to take the diaper off, it is dry and his clothes are dry!!  How in the world...I’ll never know.  Another time he peed on me FIVE times in a row!!  Every time I would go to put a new diaper on, he would pee on me!  He just kept laughing, and I kept laughing too - it was SO funny!

We noticed the beginning of an umbilical hernia in the start of June.  I told the doctor about it and they said it could wait until his next appointment.  Usually hernias disappear by themselves and aren’t an issue until 3-4 years old.  

In the middle of the month, Jonah began projectile vomiting a few times a day, as well as spitting up ALL DAY long!  I was so worried.  In addition to this, he was super fussy, eating every hour, and had a temperature of 99.2.  I took him to the doctor and she said I was feeding him too much!  They weighed him at the doctor and he weighed 11 pounds!!!  I was so shocked.  He had gone from 25th percentile to 75th percentile in a few weeks!  Wow.  So they said to feed him no more than every 2 hours and use the binkie more.  This REALLY concerned me though.  Everything that I had learned, read, and was told by nurses and lactation consultants was to feed on demand!  So I called the lactation consultant and told her the situation as well.  She suggested feeding from only one side each time and if he gets hungry again in the space of an hour, feed from that same side.  Then switch to the other side at the next feeding.  It’s called “block feeding.”  

At his doctor’s appointment on June 14, Jonah’s stats were: 11 pounds 3 ounces, head circumference 37 cm, and 23 inches long!  He also got his immunizations that day and was not happy about it at all.  I felt so horrible for him.  His little legs where he got shot were red and swollen.  Every time he would kick his legs he would scream and cry.  :’(  It was so heartbreaking!  He also had a low grade temperature of 99.8.  I called the doctor and they said I could give him baby Motrin, which really helped him.  

We celebrated Jordan’s first Fathers Day on June 16!  We gave him a nice card and a photo book with lots of pictures from Jonah’s birth onward.  

Every time Jonah eats now he grabs onto my shirt so tightly.  I love it!

We went to my co-workers baby shower on June 19 and everyone LOVED Jonah!  He was such a little stud, smiling at my co-workers!  It was so fun.  

We also went up to Girls Camp on June 21.  It was great!  Jonah was so good, he hardly cried at all.  It was super hot though, so I fed him frequently so he wouldn’t get dehydrated.  The Young Women are obsessed with him.  It’s so cute! :)

On Jonah’s 2 month birthday, he and I went to Virginia Beach and just played in the water, read, and took naps.  He had a good time looking at the underside of the umbrella, but did not like the water one bit!  It was really cold for him.  When I put his little toes in, he jerked his feet back and screamed.  Other than that though, it was great!

The Second Trimester and Beyond

On December 20, I had an OB appointment.  The doctor asked if I wanted to know what the sex was and of course I said yes (even though Jordan wasn't able to make it to that appointment)!  So he began the ultrasound and then went over the genital area...and it was pretty obvious!  I just sat there looking at it, and Dr. Mead said, "So...what do you think that is?"  I began laughing because it was a boy!!  Here we had been, expecting a girl, because of the previous appointment, and we were having a boy!  I am SO excited.  I tried calling Jordan but ended up having to tell him when he got home from school that day.  He couldn't believe it either.  We were SO excited to tell our families on Christmas!  

We attended a breastfeeding basics class that evening.  I learned so much!  Needless to say, although it was informational, Jordan decidedly told me he doesn't like classes.  So we have found other methods to educate ourselves, like reading, watching movies, and discussing what we've learned together.  I'm also really excited because there is a lactation center that is owned by the company I work for, and I get big discounts there for renting a pump :)  

We were able to fly out to Utah on Christmas Eve.  I stayed for four days and Jordan stayed for a little over a week (lucky ducky!).  I made sure to wear compression stockings, drink tons of water, and get up and walk frequently on our flights.  We had such a great time with our families!  Christmas morning was spent with Jordan's family and eating delicious waffles.  Below are the superhero shirts we made for the boys.  

We then drove to the Cuthbert grandparents and spent the afternoon and evening there.  My favorite part of the trip was announcing to our families the sex of the baby.  I had bought some adorable onesies and wrapped them along with dinner mints that said "It's a Boy!"  I can't put the videos on here, but you can see them on my Facebook.  Jordan (brother) was able to skype us from Argentina for his last Christmas on the mission!  It was amazing seeing him, even though his face was green from the camera, haha.  The next day I was able to see my friends from Westminster!  It was so great.  The last day I was there we saw Les Mis with my family and had a Christmas party with the Lassigs.  It was so fun!  Apparently Buppi has a "gift" of being able to guess the sex of a baby by looking into the pregnant woman's eyes.  I made him guess and he was wrong, but that's ok :)  

On the last day of our vacation, Jordan was finally able to feel our sweet boy kick from the outside!  I'd been able to feel him for over a month, so I was glad Jordan finally got to feel it.  Other things that got better around 20-21 weeks were my acne (my skin was actually clear!) and my energy, which finally came back.  It was great to feel energized!  

On January 31, I had the anatomy scan which is basically a 20-25 minute long ultrasound going over every tiny part of the baby's body.  He looked so healthy!  All extremities, fingers, toes, and organs were in place!  

When Jordan came home from Utah it was apparent he got really sick while he was there...and it ended up being the flu.  :(  On the bright side, however, he got the flu during Christmas break so he could rest and recover without worrying about school.  His cough lasted about 2 weeks though.  So, lesson learned - make getting the flu shot a priority!  I got it and didn't get sick, thankfully.  

Jordan and I registered at what seemed like a ton of places - Franklin Goose, Pottery Barn Kids, Amazon, and Babies R Us.  I found a great website that compiles everything you've registered for in one place though, which is awesome!  It's called babyli.st.

We had the chance to tour the birth center at my hospital, St. Mary's in Richmond.  I already had high expectations because of the status of my hospital (Favorite Place to Have a Baby - 10 years in a row!) but was so so happy with the tour!  The labor suites are huge, and 2 of the rooms had jacuzzis.  I really hope one is available when I go into labor!  After delivery they have what is called "Magic Hour" where they basically leave you alone for an entire hour to get to know your baby.  They highly encourage breastfeeding and have tons of lactation consultants.  Lots of the staff is certified, which is great!  On the mother-infant unit, the nurse is your nurse and your baby's nurse as well!  This is HUGE and so different from any other hospital I've seen/worked at.  Usually your baby has a separate nurse in the nursery, so this is great for continuity of care and letting your baby stay in your room as much as you want.  I am SO excited to give birth at my hospital!  Plus it has a level 3 NICU, which is good if anything goes awry.  

I toured the day-care center at my work as well.  I was very impressed with that as well - clean, bright, happy kids, plenty of care-givers, and on the campus of my work.  I got on the waiting list in November and was told the list was 11-12 months long...so we will see when I get in.  My other day care plans just fell through, so I hope it turns out!  I called them recently and they said that they just increased the amount of infants they accept, so hopefully the list moves a little quicker.  There are currently 6 moms ahead of me.  

Around 24 weeks, my appetite picked up immensely for a few days!  I could not stop eating, and even had to eat in the middle of the night sometimes!  It was crazy! About the same time, I started actually seeing baby Jonah kick from the outside.  Talk about a bizarre feeling - like there's an alien inside you!  It makes me laugh so hard though to see him kick.  Sometimes he will just go crazy in there and be flipping around and my belly quivers.  So funny!

I was able to get another prenatal massage around 24 weeks as well and it was so relaxing.  I seriously fall asleep getting massages.  I remember that I asked her to focus on my hips and thighs, because they were SO sore.  All the extra weight was starting to take its toll!  

We already have the majority of the furniture for Jonah's room.  We got the dresser off Craigslist, the crib from Target, and the bookshelf from IKEA.  Jordan's mom was sweet to send us a rug that matches the colors we've picked out for the room (dark blue and bright green).  The walls are light gray and the furniture is black.  It's slowly coming together!  The last real piece of furniture I need is a glider.  I was walking around Target one day and a random lady asked me if I had gotten my stroller yet.  I hadn't and she told me to go look at the City Micro's they had on major sale.  These are a way nice brand of stroller and they were 75% off!  I had a 5% off coupon as well, so I got this brand new stroller for 80% off.  I was SO pleased with myself.  Haha!

Starting around 27 weeks (third trimester) my OB increased my appointments to every 2 weeks!  Time is ticking!  Every appointment we have just makes us more excited.  It's been great too because Jordan was on his Psych rotation so he had more time and has been able to come to every appointment.  Our baby boy is so healthy.  On February 7 the doctor did a 4D ultrasound (basically a 3D movie).  It was INCREDIBLE!!!  It was so clear and we could see our son's face!  He was rubbing his eyes and opening and closing his mouth.  It made both of us so excited to meet him!  I also had my glucose tolerance test that day and drank the orange drink...which I can honestly say wasn't that bad!  Is that gross or what?  Haha.  I passed, thankfully, so I can eat all the sugar I want.  Just kidding!

Valentine's Day was so fun!  I got Jordan a box of chocolates from Godiva.  Jordan had worked the entire day and night before, so he had been at the hospital for a whopping total of 30 HOURS!  He was  so sweet at made me chocolate covered strawberries and got me a dozen roses!  He is the best hubby ever.  We watched LOTR and ate Chipotle.  :)  

February 15-18 we went to NYC for a babymoon!  It was amazing!  It was Jordan's first time to NYC and we had such a great time.  The drive up was momentous for being insanely expensive ($60 in tolls!!?!?) and frustrations from how crazy drivers are in New York.  We finally got to our hotel around 1 AM.  We stayed at a Best Western in Brooklyn that was across the street from the subway (great hotel by the way!).  The first day we went on a river cruise of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, went to the World Trade Center memorial, ate at Katz's Delicatessen, went to the Empire State Building, and then got some authentic NY pizza down the street from our hotel while watching a movie on my computer.  The second day we slept in and then went to the Museum of Modern Art, ate at the Original Soup Man, walked through Central Park and by the NYC temple, went to the Metropolitan Art Museum, ate at a mexican food place similar to Chipotle, and then went to the Nintendo store and Times Square.  We braved the weather for sure - it was freezing the second day!  Thankfully we brought heavy coats and long socks so we didn't die of frostbite.  One of our favorite things was using the subway system - so efficient!  My legs got extra strong after walking about 3 miles per day and taking about 10 flights of stairs every time you wanted to use the subway too.  

Jordan's birthday this year was so great!  It was a relaxing Sunday.  I made lots of good food: waffles for breakfast, roast for dinner, and Chocolate Wasted cake via Pinterest and it did not disappoint!  We had friends over to share cake and had a great time.  I love you Jordan and can't believe you're 27...getting old!  ;)

March 7 (about 31 weeks) we had another appointment.  Jonah is measuring approximately 4 pounds!  He was practicing breathing like crazy and wiggling around a ton.  We also saw his sweet face and it looked like he has the chubbiest cheeks ever!!  As Jordan says, "A fat baby is a happy baby."  We just don't want him too fat.  He does have to get out at some point, haha!  At this point, the main pains I've been experiencing are left rib pain and some sciatica.  I can deal with the sciatica but the rib pain is killer.  His little body is just pressed up against my rib and it feels like it's going to pop!  My doctor didn't reassure me when I told him this - he said some women have broken ribs during pregnancy because of the pressure.  Great.  I pulled a groin muscle a few days ago as well (from walking?!) and it's gotten a little better.  I waddle like no other and it is so awkward looking and feeling!  I also get very minor contractions when I walk too fast, so I need to remind myself to take it easy and slow it down.  We did get some great news though from my OB.  Since Jordan is in his OB rotation right now, he will get experience delivering babies.  Well, we asked...and Jordan is going to deliver our baby with the doctor!!!  Ahh, so so exciting!  (Below 30 and 31 weeks)

Overall, despite my complaints, I LOVE being pregnant.  The thought that there is this life inside me that I helped create is incredible and humbling.  I already love this sweet boy so much and can't imagine him not being here.  He is so much a part of our life already.