Introducing Gavin William

How has it been over two months since I wrote on the blog?  It could have something to do with the fact that this little man took over my world.

I'd like to introduce you to Gavin William.  He was born on March 12, 2014 at 4:17am weighing 8 lbs, 3 oz and 22 inches long.  My labor was a longgggg 34 hours but I'm happy to say I was able to deliver naturally without any medications or complications (birth story to come in another post)!

Gavin entered our world and cliche as it may be, we truly cannot imagine life without him.  Well I guess I take that back... I can definitely imagine sleeping more than 5 hours each night, not having spit up stains on every shirt, having more than 5 minutes alone and taking less than 15 minutes to get out of the house... but I would never trade any of that for this little guy. 

It's true when they say that the first month of parenthood is a complete blur.  Days fade into nights and every minute of every day is wrapped up in taking care of your little one.  Every moment that passes you learn about your baby's personality, preferences, and you are mesmerized by their adorable face, and teeny tiny toes and fingers.

Jake and I would just sit and stare at his face for hours on end.  Being a parent is truly the most magical gift in the world!  

With that being said, Gavin was definitely a crier for the first 8 weeks.  I've been a nanny, babysitter, worked in a daycare, and spent countless hours caring for newborns.  But somehow I managed to forget the fact that babies cry.  A lot.   The average newborn spends over 3 hours/day crying.  And that's if you don't have a colicky baby.  Then it goes up to 6+ hours of crying.  I can't even begin to tell you how many hours I spent bouncing on the exercise ball and doing squats (his two favorite movements) to calm him down.  There were nights we both cried because I didn't know how to soothe his tears.  If hearing your baby's cries doesn't break your heart, I don't know what does.  There is definitely a hormonal shift that moms experience when hearing their infant cry because it would literally tear out a piece of my soul!

Gavin hit the height of his screaming/crying around 7.5 weeks and I was willing to try anything to make things better.  I don't consider myself a huge "natural/alternative medicine" person... not because I don't agree with it but mainly because I don't have a lot of experience with it.  However, one of my friends sells DoTerra essential oils and I decided to give it a try.  AMAZING.  We combined Serenity and Citrus Bliss into a carrier oil and massaged it on Gavin's back and soles of his feet and I kid you not, it was instant relief.  He changed from a grumpy, sad baby into a happy, more laid back baby practically overnight.  I also began wearing Gavin in a sling for a lot of the day and I think that was a huge contributing factor as well.  He still has his moments, but he's a baby and that's to be expected!

He is just changing every day and it has been so much fun to see!  He's cooing like crazy, grabbing at objects, smiling at everyone (and loves his reflection in the mirror!), holding up his head, and has rolled over twice.  Last night he sat and looked at his books as I read to him for almost 30 minutes straight!  I just love watching him grow :)

Discovered he has hands!

Big changes in just one month!

As for me, obviously this Mommy thing is going great.

I had a bit of a rough recovery including infection and later to find out retained placenta (sorry if TMI), but luckily once that was taken care of at 6 weeks postpartum (pp), I felt amazing!  I started working out lightly (walks and elliptical) around 2 weeks pp and started running again at 8 weeks pp. Life is good again.  I am starting out slow with running so I don't injure myself, but I hope to get back up to speed in no time!

Well, that's the quick version of how my life has changed!  I have so much more to tell you about Jake & Daddyhood, Diego being a big brother, and my plans for work... but sleep is calling my name. I plan to update more frequently and share tons and tons of pictures because I've become a bit obsessed with taking pictures of Gavin :)