Hayden's Nicknames

After all the energy we put into deciding on Hayden's name, it's funny how rarely we actually call him "Hayden". Here are some of his nicknames:

Mr. Dimpleman
Bobblehead Hayden
Little Man
Funny Kid
Sweet Boy
Buddy Bud
Poopsy
Mr. Tomato Head
Hay Hay
Haydy Hay
Hungry Hippo
Cutie P'Tootie
Baby Beluga
Smiley
Bubs
Giggle-Saurus
Munchkin

Week 5

Phil's paternity leave is now over. He returns to work tomorrow. :( I'm sure it will be quite an adjustment for me and I'm hoping I can at least get dressed and a shower in there sometime! Phil has been an incredible help, but to be honest, I think he's ready to get back to work.

Hayden and I started a "You and Your New Baby" class offered through Overlake Hospital. It is every Tuesday for 5 weeks. There are 6 other moms, all with baby girls, and a moderator/instructor. Last week we shared our labor experiences, talked about feeding and sleeping issues, and anything else on our minds. It's kind of a support group, if you will. Two of the women in the class were also in our birthing class so it was fun to see them with their new babies and catch up. We all had very different labor experiences. It was really interesting to hear everyone's story.

Hayden continues to grow before our eyes! His skin is clearing up too, and he smiles a lot! He absolutely melts my heart everytime I look at him, even if it's 2am.

Aunt Ali came for a visit for a couple days and got to meet her new nephew. She's a couple years older than I was when she was born, but it's interesting to think about how I remember when she was Hayden's size, and now look at this 5'9" young lady! How time flies!My fevers are still popping up every-other day or so. It's really frustrating to not know what is going on with that. My OB ruled out anything breast-related, so I went to a regular doctor who prescribed some basic antibiotics and is running some blood tests. I'm not really fond of taking antibiotics flippantly, but I just want to take care of this as soon as possible.

Hayden's bedroom decor finally arrived! It is SO beautiful! Unfortunately the changing table/dresser is delayed until August 2nd now, so that corner of his room is still incomplete.

1 Month Old

Hayden turned one month old today! He is getting to be such a big boy! As of today, he weighs 11 lbs, 7 oz. That's right, he's gained 3 lbs in one month! He has the cutest chunky thighs I've ever seen. He smiles quite a bit, though we have yet to be able to capture it on camera. His eyes follow ours and he seems to recongnize our voices.

I tried to make it work with my long hair, but Hayden started pulling it, spitting up in it, and getting it in his mouth. So CHOP! CHOP! My hair is gone. Nicer for summer anyway too. So for those of you who said all moms get their hair cut short, you were right!

We love our Moby. It's a 20 ft. long piece of fabric you can wrap and tuck the baby in a few different ways. Hayden loves it too.

Week 4

Happy 1st Father's Day to Phil! Wow, he really deserves the Superdad award. Let me brag about Phil for just a minute: Almost every time Hayden needs a diaper change, Phil does it, including all the ones throughout the night. When Hayden needs to bounce for an hour on the exercise ball, Phil does it. When Hayden has a poopy blow-out and then decides to spit up AND pee simultaneously as Daddy tries to change him and clean it up, Phil gets in the bath-tub with him. When I was sick this week (twice with temps over 101°!), Phil took care of me and Hayden, folded the laundry at midnight, and fetched me countless glasses of ice water. Phil is amazing. Hayden is so lucky to have such a caring Daddy and I am SO lucky (blessed!) to have such a supportive hubby.

Hayden is doing great. Still spitting up a bit, but only once in a while does it seem excessive. And we discovered bibs. Bibs rock! And despite that he's losing his hair, has flaky dry skin from living in a liquid environment for 9 months, and has baby acne from my hormones leaving his system and his testosterone starting to take over, he's still the cutest baby in the world! He's smiling quite a bit now, is awake and alert pretty often, makes eye contact with people, and adorable dolphin chirpy noises. He likes to play with this toy called a Music and Lights Gymini. He especially likes looking at himself in the mirror. Just like Daddy ;) Hey, a guy's gotta make sure his hair looks good!I, on the other hand, have not been doing so great. This has been kind of a tougher week for me. On Monday evening I was feeling very feverish so I took my temp and it was 102.2°. Since it was after hours, I called the on-call Dr. line at my OB office and he said 9 times out of 10, a post-partum fever is related to an infection in the breast. He told me to pump to drain the ducts and drink lots and lots of water. That seemed to help and in the morning I felt better, but still couldn't shake a headache. Last night the fever came back so I pumped again but still feel achey and feverish. I plan on trying to get an appt with my OB asap. I am really perplexed why after having a baby, you don't get any kind of check-up until 6 weeks post-partum. I don't think I have been healing very well and every time I've called my Dr. office to see if something is "normal" they kind of brush me off. I don't think after 4 weeks I should still be in this much pain - have such a hard time using the bathroom and sitting. OK, sorry, TMI for some of you. I'll stop.

On to something wonderful to talk about: Baby Dedication.

This morning at our church, Hayden, along with 5 other young children in our church, were dedicated. Unlike the Catholic faith and some Protestant denominations, we don't practice confirmation, christenings, or infant baptism. We believe the Bible teaches that Baptism occurs once you have made the personal decision to follow Christ as a symbol of that commitment. Baby Dedication is an opportunity for parents to stand before friends, family and other witnesses to proclaim that they will live a life that points to God, acknowledge that responsibility of God entrusting us with children, and invite God's help in that process. It was a special, beautiful time.

Also, we have more photos posted on Flickr. Click Here.

Week 3

Hayden just keeps getting cuter by the minute! He's awake and alert much more now. He is a very easy-going baby and rarely fusses. We've had a pretty busy week with lots of outings and family gatherings. I'm still trying to get the hang of feeding in public, but other than that, we are fine to be out and about.

It sometimes seems like he spits up everything he just ate, but considering he's 10lbs now and has a dirty diaper almost every 2 hours, we know SOMETHING is staying down! :) I've been trying to minimize his spitting up by feeding him sitting in a more upright position and not laying him down too quickly after feeding. That seems to be helping, but I may also try eliminating dairy from my diet since I've been reading a lot about how cow's milk protein is not very easy for an infant's immature digestive system to process. We'll see. Eliminating dairy from my diet would take a lot of effort and I'd need to be sure I was getting enough calcium and protein from other sources.

We went to church this morning and tears started streaming down my face as we sang a worship song that reminded me how amazing God is to have blessed us with Hayden:

Here I am humbled by your Majesty
Covered by your grace so free
Here I am, knowing I'm a sinful man
Covered by the blood of the Lamb

Now I've found the greatest love of all is mine
Since you laid down your life
The greatest sacrifice

Majesty, Majesty
Your grace has found me just as I am
Empty handed, but alive in your hands
Majesty, Majesty
Forever I am changed by your love
In the presence of your Majesty

Here I am humbled by the love that you give
Forgiven so that I can forgive
Here I stand, knowing that I'm your desire
Sanctified by glory and fire

Now I've found the greatest love of all is mine
Since you laid down your life
The greatest sacrifice


Baby Dedication is next Sunday, Father's Day. Although we do not practice infant baptism, Baby Dedication is a time when we commit as parents to raise Hayden in the ways of the Lord, and ask for God's blessing on his life. Everyone is welcome to join us:

Mosaic Church
Grand Ridge Elementary - Issaquah Highlands
Sunday, June 17 - 10am

Photos on Flickr

If you want to see more photos of Hayden, click here.

Week 2

Hayden is 2 weeks old now. We are getting the hang of things and adjusting to this completely new life. Sleeping and feeding are still going well (knock on wood!). He usually sleeps from 10pm-12am, then I feed him, then from 12:30am-4am he sleeps, then I feed him, then from 4:30-7am he sleeps. So we are pretty good by 7am and I usually just like an afternoon nap. (Hayden naps all day!) Unfortunately it's been 80 degrees or so in our house, and the construction noise across the street with the windows open makes it hard to nap. Hayden has no problem, but we do!

Every few days we take him to the Issaquah Overlake Women's center and weigh him to be sure he's eating enough. He's 9 lbs now! He has been eating great and we no longer supplement with a bottle, which means I don't have to pump anymore, so feeding time is much easier.

Hayden is so entertaining to watch and think about what is going on in his head. He is just getting used to his hands and is sometimes surprised by their sudden impact on his face! As much as I try to keep his nails filed down, he still managed to give himself a couple scratches on his face.

His other favorite trick is to pee or poop the minute we get his diaper off, so we usually go through 2 diapers every changing. He also goes through about 3-5 outfits a day!

We try to get out of the house a little every day. Hayden thankfully likes his car seat and instantly falls asleep in the car. On Memorial Day we went to a church BBQ at Lake Sammamish. We've enjoyed little walks, short shopping trips, and yesterday we went to Snoqualmie Falls.