Baby's first Christmas

Wow it is really hard to blog when you have a newborn baby at home! I only ever get on Facebook anymore because I can do that from my ipod touch while I'm feeding Connor. Still not skilled enough to do very much else yet! I'm getting there though..it's starting to get a tad easier to breastfeed...although the pain is still quite intense at times. Christmas day I completely lost it and bawled off and on for half an hour while I fed the baby..I was in so much pain! He was latched on ok, I just had a really bad crack in my nipple...anyway it was awful. So I was crying to Ben saying I just didn't know if I could take it anymore...but after he finished eating and I was burping him I looked at his content little face and knew I could suffer a lot more if it were for his benefit. Good thing the Lord gave us the ability to love so strongly!!! I understand more and more every day the love of a parent...it's amazing!!! When Connor has to get his heel pricked or nose suctioned at the doctor and he cries in pain I can't stop myself from bawling!

Anyway...I've got lots of pictures...of course....it's been a long time and with the holiday there's been many occasions picture worthy!

These are pictures of more visitors Connor has had...
He met his great-great grandma Woolsey and grandpa Woolsey so we got a five generation picture.
My mom's mom grandma Irene was on a cruise when Connor was born so she was excited to finally see him, we got a 4 generation picture...
Aunt Ashlee was finishing finals at BYU so she got to see him after 2 weeks.
And now Ben's family is here for the holiday break so they are getting to see him too! So fun!

I have a lot of great friends who have come to see little baby boy as well! My friend Mary came to see him when he was just a few days old, it's fun that she lives here!
Lauren and Jake came up on the 13th and spent the day with us, it was so relaxing and enjoyable! I never see Lauren, so it was a real treat!
Wes was able to stop by since he drives to Cedar a few times a week to go to school at SUU, and he gave Connor a cute blanket he MADE!! Thanks Wes!
My uncle Steven came over to see Connor one night and stayed with us for a delicious dinner my momma had made.
We were so blessed to have my mom here for a few days...she helped out so much and made me feel less alone in the whole mommy thing! Sometimes I felt like she was Connor's mommy and I was the helper because she already knows what she's doing and I'm still learning! Could also be from all the years with me helping her out with my baby sisters...but she was
SO great to have around! Love you mom!
Then there's all the random cute pictures I HAD to post, including Connor's first bath! I didn't get any in the tub with his boyhood covered, so there's more below of his latest bath...
Connor loves sucking Ben's thumb, being swaddled, and his sling. Those are daddy's specialties.
With mommy he loves to snuggle, eat, and poop! :-)
Connor also loves his swing in moderation. Depends on the day and the amount of time he is in there, but sometimes it really saves my sanity!!! He also had lots of cute Christmas jammies...love it!

Next is the highlight of every December and I'm so glad Connor was born early enough to go to this party...only Santa got to hold him since he is still a little young to be passed around...but it melted our hearts and made mommy so proud to show off her little baby Santa! We have the Goodwin Christmas party every year and Santa comes to give us all one present! He is the REAL
Santa...we all love him!!! And this year Connor got a bottle from him..haha


Next is just the most recent pictures I took...his bath last night rocked his little world! We let him soak for about 10 minutes...it was so relaxing! He just LOVES bath time!

More to come believe it or not....

I also need to add that on December 13th and 14th Ben sang with the Southern Utah Symphony for their Christmas Messiah concert! He had two solos and did a FANTASTIC job. Connor and I went to hear him rehearse once but didn't get to the show...too many people! So I'll post pictures of that later as well. For now my back hurts because I've done this entire post hunched over the baby who is sleeping peacefully in my lap! :-)

Hope everyone had a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Warning: Proud mommy post!

I have to say we are so lucky and blessed for how well this week has gone! My final night in the hospital was so miserable, nurses and staff coming in so much I got less sleep than I've gotten at home! Our first night home, however... Connor got a bad tummy ache. I think it was the onion rings they fed me my last meal there. Yikes...so after a few hours Ben went to WalMart at 3 a.m. to get some Milacon. I wish we had gotten it sooner..it was instant relief and Connor fell right to sleep! He was still fussy through the night and the next day...but by the next night he was so tired he slept a lot better. He didn't like his cradle so after sleeping on the couch with him on my chest for a couple hours, my back started to hurt and I gave up. Ben had me lay him in the crook of his arm where he slept for 3 hours straight! We had the BEST day the next day...he was such a good baby, slept a lot and was so alert later in the evening. Last night we got a total of 7 hours of sleep...and then another hour nap for me. He slept on his sleep positioner between us, and while it wasn't always restful sleep cuz I worried I'd smother him, it was so nice to rest. Today he has slept for most of the day and I'm hoping he'll sleep as good tonight as he did last night!

Things I'm loving about motherhood:

~Nursing- It has been really scary for me leading up to it, but now that I'm doing it it's so SO awesome. It hurts a little still, but I love knowing I can provide for this baby and the bonding is so incredible!
~Seeing Ben as a Father. He's AWESOME. I don't even have to ask for his help and half the time he anticipates my needs. He has helped me learn how to nurse..coached me on why things might not be working...and he LOVES this baby. I have never been more in love with him. He has far exceeded my expectations!
~Knowing I am this baby's mother and will be FOREVER! No matter what happens we'll always be together. What an awesome blessing!

Things I love and adore about Connor:

~The back of his head and his little hairline. It's SO cute to watch his little head bob when he's getting burped!
~The little grunting noises he makes. He made them more his first couple of days, but still I can hear them at times. So cute!
~Watching him sleep. He is just perfect and straight from Heaven. He's peaceful and wonderful.
~The way he uses his little hands, whether he's sucking on them or patting me with them when he's eating.
~His SMELL. It's the BEST SMELL EVER!!!!
~His little mouth..it's his defining feature and I feel like he looks like a different baby when he has a pacifier or is nursing and you can't see it as well.
I could go on and on for years...but those are the highlights

I wanted to add the funny thing Ben told me yesterday. We took Connor to the hospital to have a jaundice check, and he was ok so far. On our way home Ben said "I didn't want to tell you this the moment I felt it, but when he came out my first thought was- 'Let's do that again!!!!' " Ha ha! I'm glad one of us felt that way at the time! So cute that he fell so hard in love with Connor that he already wanted more! :-)

Anyway, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure...I am obsessed...

Baby Connor's Birth Story

I'm going to type it all out while it's nice and fresh in my mind and while Grandma Betsy is holding little baby Connor.

As I posted before, I was on bed rest for Pre-Eclampsia for about a week. It was hard, I was really having a rough time staying down with so much to do to prepare! So Monday we came in for my appointment with the midwife and she sent me down to labor and delivery again; after our 8th ultrasound in which we got a cute picture of Connor giving us a thumbs up :-). I was monitored for a couple of hours to see my blood pressure and the baby's stress levels. Baby was fine all along, he was a real champ in spite of my high levels. When they weren't dropping I was hoping they'd tell me I just needed to have him...but I didn't think I'd get so lucky. But the nurse came in and said "Guess what?" I said, "What, I'm going home AGAIN?" and she said "yeah...but you get to come back at midnight for an induction!!!". I felt like I had the goofiest perma-smile...I felt like someone had just told me Christmas was early this year! This was about 4:00, after being at the hospital already for 3 1/2 hours. So I had orders to go home, eat dinner, take a sleeping pill and sleep from 5:30 til 11:30 and then shower and come back in to be induced. I TRIED to sleep, but again it was like Christmas eve! I only slept 2 1/2 hours then just laid there on and off. We left the house a little after midnight and checked in around 12:15 a.m. They had everything all ready to go but it took til about 2 a.m. to get me all hooked up, poked, blood drawn and get my first "pill". It was a little crumb of medicine that I had to put between my lip and gums to dissolve. It caused contractions to start heavier...and I'd already been sorta having my first real contractions after Laurie checked me that afternoon. I slept from 2-2:55 and woke up because the monitors on the baby were SO lolud that when baby moved it startled me. Not smart of the nurse!!! So I laid there with contractions every 3-4 minutes, and I thought THAT was painful. I had no idea....

When I was checked earlier by Laurie I was at a 1..so not far at all. After the first round of pill I was still a 1+. But I was starting to efface a bit. Second round of pill brought more contractions and still not much progress. I was 50 % effaced after that but still a 1+. I HATED being checked. The worst thing at that point I'd experienced. SO..after my third round (these pills were all 3 hours apart so around 7 I got the last one) and the contractions were starting to make me uncomfortable. I got in the tub and was enjoying the soaking when my midwife came in with the nurse, my friend Annie who has been best friends with my cousin since before I was born. She's hilarious and so wonderful as a nurse. I was already shameless at being seen naked by people..ha ha. Laurie decided she wanted to break my water and strip my membranes. THAT WAS THE WORST PART OF THE WHOLE DAY!!!! I cried and was begging for it to end. The breaking of the water wasn't the bad part, that was really quite cool...felt really crazy. After that my contractions starting hitting me HARD. The stripping membranes did it's job and put me at a 2+, and my contractions started coming SO fast. I was gripping the side of the bed so hard and doing my best not to scream. Ben was being so good and rubbing my back and not touching me when I needed him not to ha ha. Laurie told me to walk the halls for a little while which I couldn't bear the thought of. Annie said it would actually help the pain a bit so I did it. We didn't make it far between each contraction but managed to walk for 35 minutes. It helped but by the time I was done I was begging for an epidural. I didn't think I had a shot in heck at getting one. I was checked again and dilated at a 3, and somehow Laurie got talked into letting me have my epidural. I almost cried I was so happy. I never knew pain like that existed and I had been having pain for 7 hours by the time I got it. I was given the epidural right after my mom showed up, around 10: 30 a.m. I was having the hardest time with my very last contraction and was SO glad it was the last I'd feel. It took effect really fast and I was in heaven. I don't know how people have babies naturally. YIKES. I relaxed and just waited after that. My dad showed up a little bit after that and he and my mom left and came back and he brought Connor a present..baseball bat and ball mit, and Sponge Bob fishing pole, and a Hot Wheels car. Ha ha!!! Grandpa Scott was SO excited!!! He had a nice birthday card for Connor in there as well. So cute.. they also brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers!

I was checked regularly, and finally around 3:00 I jumped from a 3 to a 6. I felt like it'd be happening soon. I went from 6 to a nine 1/2 in the next hour and then was fully ready around 4:30 and I started feeling the urge to push. I had been SO nervous leading up to the pushing because when my mom had me I got stuck and I did NOT want that to happen to me! I was shaking and scared. But when the time came to push I just went for it. They told me I was a really good pusher and was doing it perfectly. My mom had told me ahead of time how to do it right, since nobody really told her how, hence the long labor and pushing with me. I felt really proud and capable, and I just KNEW I had the power to do this. I was ready to bring the baby into the world! I pushed for about an hour and a half, and for me it felt like 20 minutes. Laurie came in at the end and really stretched me out and coached me well. I had such great nurses but it was nice to have my actual caregiver there finally! She had to turn the baby because he was posterior. His heart rate was jumping all over the place so I had oxygen on between pushes and had to lay on my side to keep him steady. He was getting so tired in the end Laurie was preparing me for the idea of C section. By some miracle it seemed 5 minutes later she was telling me I had one more push! I'll never forget that feeling...so surreal. I was really about to meet my baby?! Oh I forgot to say I'd been clicking my epidural button like crazy cuz I'd started to feel my contractions again...and I didn't want ANY of that going on! Luckily right at the end it kicked back in and I was ready to get him out. I felt all the pressure of baby's head and asked if that's what I was feeling. Ben said yeah, and I was really close. I was so ready!!! Ben said watching his head pop out was the weirdest thing. He thought his head would be really small but all of a sudden the WHOLE head just popped out! It felt SO good to me to have that pressure gone..and then I pushed the rest of him out and tore just a little bit because his arm came out weird. We went skin to skin and when they laid him on my stomach I just bawled. I couldn't believe this was my baby!! I could really only see the top of his head and was just AMAZED. I really made this baby? He came out of ME? He was so small and perfect!!! Ben was crying and that made me cry more...He was SUCH an awesome support. He held my leg the whole hour and a half and was starting to shake from the effort. He was very invested in the whole process, and I loved him so much for that. He was awesome. The baby was perfectly pink and healthy, but not screaming real loud, he was tired. But when they took him off of me to weigh him and such he let them know he had a good set of lungs! He weighed in at 7 lbs 4 oz and was 19 inches long. He was born at 6:15 p.m. I had a nice perfectly sized baby!!! No 10 pounders for me!! Although Laurie did say I would have been fine delivering a bigger baby, I guess I have a good birth canal ha ha.

Recovery has been a little crazy...I have still only slept a total of maybe 5 hours in the past 2 days. I'm staying another night at the hospital to help bring my pain level down and they are monitoring my blood pressure to make sure I'm ok to go home. I also need some more sleep tonight so hopefully Connor behaves in the nursery. He is SUCH a good baby and has already nursed a few times. He latched on right away after he was born and we got him to nurse from both sides! Today he has eaten a couple of times and is doing so well. I love bonding with him and being able to snuggle him and smell him. Ben is holding him now and I sorta miss him. I love Connor more than ANYTHING! I still can't believe he's mine and I get to keep him forever! What a blessing and a beautiful thing. All the pain was worth it in the end...and I'm so excited to start my life as a new mommy! I feel like I have overcome a lot of fears and tears the past 2 days, and now that I've had a baby..I can do anything! :-) Here are some pictures for now, we'll get more up later!