Life at home with Baby Connor

Connor had his 2 week WCE today and is doing great. He weighed 8 lb 12 oz, so he's gained 1 lb 1 oz since birth (1 lb 6 oz since his last dr apt) YEAH!! He also measured 21 in long, which is an inch of growth in 2 weeks. He is in the 51% on weight and 66% on height.. he is going to be a big boy I have a feeling :-) Not that that surprises us, when his dad and uncles are all 6'2" or taller!

Here are a few photos of what we've been up to since we got home from the hospital.

Daisy is so into Connor.. we have decided we might need to change her name to Nanny! 

Nap with dad (and Daisy) 

Nap with mom in the sunshine 

One of Connors favorite things....Bathtime! 

Ahh.. So content! 

He is always so relaxed and alert after a bath...  

He loves this bouncy seat, especially the music.. he is a music loving kid! 

Just chillin on the couch!

The Grandmas checking out their handsome first grandchild! 

Another one of Connors favorite things... soft blankets, being swaddled and having his hands by his face 

Tummy Time with Mom!!! He loves to watch and listen to his rattle. He is also extremely strong. Already lifting and turning his head from side to side. He is also already able to use his legs to move himself forward a few inches (when he is bare foot on the foam mat)..Maybe he's going to be an athlete!.. hmm who knows? 

Tiny toes and fingers! SOO precious 

To remember his hair.. right now it is the same color as his Momma's and is straight as sticks.. 

SO far my favorite colors on him are orange and green... I love this one of him sleeping in his orange jacket from Uncle Brian (it's still a little big :-)

 

Before going into town.. This was the day he had his first official blow out.. it was while I was wearing him in my Baby K'Tan at JC Penney's..we had just gotten him out of the dirty clothes when he peed all over everything else.. talk about an initiation! We didn't stay at Penneys very long...:-) 

Another one of Connors favorite things.. SUNSHINE! It will calm him instantly.. I have a feeling we are going to have a beach bum on our hands.. he loves water and sun.. I guess our family vacations wil have to be in Hawaii... Oh Shucks! :-)

Getting adjusted to life at home with a baby has been easier than we expected. We love every aspect of it. Connor is a very easy going, calm baby and has already got his days and nights figured out (which mom and dad are loving!) Amazing how much can happen in 2 weeks and how much Connor changes every day.. he is really starting to get his baby fat :-)

One week old already!!

Hard to believe that Connor turned 1 week old on Friday!! It's already going by so fast.. He is doing sooo well.. He sleeps in his crib at night, is sleeping for about 3 hrs at a time, mom is getting SOME sleep.. He is awake and alert a large portion of the day, which is so much fun! He loves it when we sing to him...Grandma Shelly has been singing the one she sang to me and Brian when we were babies and kids.. the Mickey Mouse song with Connors name and a few changes.. (I knew how to spell my name really early because of it).. CON NOR DRA double G double O, Connor Draggoo.. Connor Draggoo.. Forever let us hold our baby high.. hooo rah, clap clap !

Connor loves this song the best. He has decided that his favorite blankets are the reallllllyyy soft ones :-) and he discovered his thumb on day 5! He also is starting to plump up a little.. he is getting chubby cheeks, a double chin :-) and some baby fat on his hands..  These are my favorite pictures taken on Friday for his one week photo:

What a pose :-)

"i'm thinking... i'm thinking"

This looks like a smile to me.... He smiles alot when he's sleeping! I LOVE it :-)

Cuddled in tight!

He looks so peaceful!

I love his little nose and lips!!

His kissable lips just waiting for mom to kiss!!

We are loving every minute of parenthood, even though we are exhausted~ Connor has filled a place in our hearts and lives that we didn't even know was empty!



Introducing Connor Richard Draggoo

Bringing a baby into the world.......

Last Friday morning at 5:30 am I had a very strong contraction, I got up to use the restroom and it was like I couldn't stop going...... I won't go into the details, but basically my water had broken and I was slowly and steadily leaking fluids. I went into crazy Nicole mode and started doing dishes, making guest beds, packing my bags (that weren't packed already.. I had most of my stuff ready months ago) and of course this whole time with a towel between my legs.. I called the clinic, and the doctor on call said as long as I was comfortable I could stay home for a while, but to go into the hospical by noon. I let Jeremy sleep until about 8, then he too got up and helped get the animals fed and get things around the house done. We headed to the hospital just before noon.

Jeremy and I in front of the hospital about to begin one of the biggest days of our lives.

One last belly photo in my hospital room

waiting for things to progress...

trying to help things progress :-)  like an excersize ball on wheels.. it was awesome :-)

getting settled in as the contractions started to hurt a little more.. they were also monitoring me and baby..

I had called my mom at 6am and suggested she get on the road, she did, very quickly :-) and got to Omak at about 3:00, perfect timing because thats when I had progressed to 3cm and my contractions were starting to hurt. She helped me breath through them rather than squeeze the life out of the railing on the hospital bed! Jeremy and my mom Shelly were with me from this point until baby's birth.

I progressed from 3cm at 3:00 to 10 cm by 7:00pm. When I got to a 4, they placed my epidural and it was smooth sailing from then on... well until the epidural line/catheter broke right before I started pushing.... I thought Jeremy was going to leave when he heard this! Here's how it happened: When I got to 10 cm and was getting prepped to push, my nurse suggested that I remove the nursing tank top I was wearing so that the baby could be placed on my chest immediately after he was born, I was all about that, so mom helped me get my tank top off, well we forgot to check where the epidural line was taped to my back, and somehow when we pulled the tank top over my head, we literally snapped it in half. We didn't notice it was broken until the nurse said "wow you are really moving your legs well" I replied "yeah i'm getting alot of the feeling back" she checked the epidural and realized uh oh! So I was given 2 options: 1- wait for the anesthesiologist to get to the hospital and place a whole new epidural and hope it kicks in by the time I start pushing or 2: Go without and hope I am a good pusher and get him out before it wears off (I had 1 hr from the time it broke). I chose option 2, pushed for exactly 50 min and at 8:36 pm on March 4, 2011, Jeremy and I met our son Connor Richard Draggoo.

Me holding Connor right after he was born, Jeremy was likely cutting the cord at this point

The happy new parents.. exhausted, but it was all worth it!!!

Connor being cleaned up and checked. Scored 9 on both of his apgars!! Yeah :-)

My fabulous doctor checking Connor out..

Ahhhh time to eat :-) He was SOOO soft and warm!

Sleeping sound already.. he is a very calm baby, cried very little the whole time we were in the hospital

Jeremy changing Connors first diaper... Dad has changed the majority of the diapers so far.. he is great at it~!

You can see the love in Jeremy's eyes... Love at first sight is real!!

Tired but happier than ever holding my new love

"All because 2 people fell in love"

Enjoying every second!

He has been a thumb/finger sucker all along.. all of the ultrasounds looked like this! loves to have his hands by his face :-)

Resting after his bath..

Admirine him after his bath :-)

Look at those tiny wrinkled fingers!!!

We stayed in the hospital Friday night (didn't get any sleep: between the baby eating, uncomfortable beds and nurses coming and going all night..) We would have gone home on Saturday but I was having problems when I would stand up with being lightheaded, dizzy and short of breath, so they kept me one extra night on "bedrest" (yeah I thought I was done with that!) to monitor me. They decided that it was just pure exhaustion, hypoglycemia and indigestion causing my problems.. So SUnday afternoon, we were cleared to go home!

His "going home" outfit... the Outfit is from Connors Great Grandma Yagues, Shoes from his Grandma Shelly

Sleeping.. again :-)

Just before we loaded him in the carseat.. So ready to go home and start this new chapter of our life

He looks so small in his carseat

Leaving the hospital

Arriving home!

He didn't mind the carseat at all! Slept the whole time he was in it...

We are now home and adjusting to life with a baby.. We will add pictures later of all of the visitors Connor has had, life at home and the newborn photo shoot pictures of Connor.

Recent Photography

While I haven't been doing photography near as much as I would like to, here are a few of my favorites of the ones I've taken recently.

These are of a little girl in our field, i've done her pictures every month (except months 4 and 5 because of being on bedrest) since she was born.

These are my favorites from her 6 month photo shoot:



These are my favorites from our most recent shoot, Lizzy's 7 mo pictures:

She makes taking pictures very easy.. she loves to smile and talk to the camera! :-) Hoping our little guy is the same way....He'll prolly learn to with a mom who plans on taking lots of photos!

37 week watermelon belly

It's hard to believe that I've made it to 37 weeks! It has flown by.. while a few weeks ago I wasn't ready.. I would be perfectly fine with this little boy introducing himself any day now :-) But with our luck, he'll wait until im 41 or 42 weeks.... we'll see

 I hadn't updated my belly photos in a while, so I though I better. I didn't feel like I was getting all that much bigger, until I saw the pictures and compared them to the ones at 27 weeks... WOW I officially look like I have a watermelon growing inside my stomach! Wonder what it will look like by the time he's born!

So this was me at 27 weeks.... a nice basketball belly

 This is me now... It is more like a watermelon! You know the saying "she's about to pop"~! yeah that's me~~ and i'm still 3 weeks from my due date!!



I don't think i'll be putting any more belly photos up, they are beginning to scare me ..... So this may be the last of my pregnancy progression photos... We'll see!