LONG catch up post...and resolutions

Well...after reading a friend from swim's class blog I decided I needed to be a better blogger if I want to use this for its original intentions of printing it out for keepsakes. So...that is resolution #1 for 2011. Now I need to get this blog up to date from the past 6 weeks of our lives and follow by keeping it up. Forgive me if some of this is a repeat:)

As I'm writing this there's an adorable baby boy sleeping in his crib in the room next to me (really i'm doing this at 11:50p.m. to see how long he'll sleep in his crib). Next week we are going to try to move him into his room since I go back to work the following week:(

Eating--As the Dr. told us he would do...he is eating us out of our house! After being apprehensive about breastfeeding, I gave it a shot, low and behold it didn't go so well. Being a preemie I was having to breastfeed, give him a bottle, then pump. Wow was that time consuming. Not that I wasn't all for it for my son, but I couldn't keep up. And he was not latching well. We would try for 10 minutes and then at that point he was too tired for the bottle so he wasn't eating anything. I felt like I was drowning between that and diaper changes. Needless to say I decided to just try pumping. Iliked the idea of knowing how much he was eating as well since he was so small. Because he is now eating 4-41/2 oz every 3 hours I can't keep up and we are transitioning to all formula. Guilt hovers over me daily as I know breastmilk is best but he essentially got 6 weeks worth (partial breastmilk anyways) and it will be less stressful on all of us if we switch to formula.

We started on 15ml and we are now, as I said, at 4 to 41/2oz. We've definitely learned when he's going through a growth spurt. Last week (@5weeks) he was eating 3.5 and that held him over for 3 hours and then it became 2.5 hours which is when we decided to up the amount. It is challening to know if you are feeding them the proper amount because there aren't specific instructions...the Dr. just said "you'll know when he's hungry". The past 6 weeks we have learned the difference in his hungry and gassy cries.

Speaking of gassy--this kid is potent!! He can clear a room! Around 3 weeks he started having a bowel movement only every 3-4 days. I spoke with the dr. office and they said it is no concern unless it's past 4 days. Of course then he would go every 3 days on the dot. Let me tell you...he made up for it too. WOW!!! The first few times when he was having trouble he would only go for my mom...we told her she must be "the Sh*t"! We would do everything from tummy massage, bicycling legs, bending him in half. We switched formulas as well to see if that would help. We have now been doing Mycolin gas drops (well the generic version anyways since the brand name is outrageously expensive) and we think it's helping. He still draws his legs up once in awhile when he's gassy but he's now going about every day or two. I feel so bad for him when he's grunting and straining because I know it doesn't feel good:(

Sleeping--We are finally getting more than two hours of sleep! Those first few weeks are rough...especially when you have to wake him up to eat. However, we learned to just let him sleep until he's hungry at night. They said to feed him every 2-3 hours but we would fight for an hour waking him up so why not just let him wake himseful and us up hungry at 3 or 4 hours instead of spending that hour trying to wake him? So that's just what we did and he's been doing great. He normally sleeps about 4 hours (unless going through a growth spurt) at night. Some nights he even gets 5 straight hours in. This has done wonders on us. Aaron has been amazing at helping even though he is back at work. I figured I'm doing just as much work at him as him at work too:) We've been trying to give him more at his last feeding of the night (usually around 8 or 9) in hopes he'll sleep longer. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt.

We've been attempting to get into somewhat of a routine (since i'm such a "schedule" person). I'm not sure how well it's really working but I've kind of tracked a schedule he's gotten us into:

7 or 8 eat
9-11 nap
11am eat
12-2 nap
2pm eat
3-5 nap
5:30 eat (just in time for daddy to get home!)
6:30-8 nap
8:30 eat
9-12:30 sleep
12:30 eat
1-4 sleep
4 eat
4:30-7 or 8 sleep

Spit up--We've been having an issue of spitting up lately:( It's not fun for any of us. It's become my new perfume. At first we thought we were feeding him too much, but he's HUNGRY! So..we're not sure what it is and were told some babies just spit up so we may have on of those. It's getting more projectile the bigger he gets too. One night it was a 12:30 feeding and I think I was probably dozing off (bad mom, i know) and he leaned back to much and when I went to sit him up to burp him it came out the mouth and nose! That was NOT fun! Now when we feed him we sit him up and straight as he'll sit and make him rest once in awhile. He tries to drink it super fast and will sometimes even put his hands on the bottle and force it into his mouth harder. We are hoping thats a sign we'll have an early bottle holder:)

Play time--We got a play mat to start doing tummy time on. He hasn't smiled yet. I work on that everyday and just when I think he's going to smile at me he spits up on me! He's getting so strong and tries to hold his head up. Sometimes when you lay him on your chest he'll hold his head up and look around the room and stare at you. Then he face plants hard core back onto your chest. A few nights ago he was laying on his mat and Aaron and I were watching him and he kind of swatted at his toy. Aaron and I were amazed as he did it twice and said "oh my gosh he's playing with it". Now of course we know it was just coincidence but we sure were excited!

Things to come--
Next week we're going to start getting into my going back to work routine. This is how I plan for our days to go:
5am:Daddy feeds Cale while Mommy works out
6am: Mommy gets a shower (lately its been when Aaron gets him..if at all:))
9-11: nap time and I can start organizing things
Rest of the afternoon will consist of normal eating, napping schedule along with LOTS of cuddle and play time
8pm: Last bottle, bath time, story time
9pm: Asleep by 9 :)

Hmm...what else have I missed? Oh...our resolutions...
#1 BLOG more!
#2 Mommy is losing weight. I joined weight watchers last tuesday and so far, so good. This year I will be losing baby weight plus a lot more. I am doing the couch to 5k running program and strength training dvds as well. I plan to get my workouts done in the morning while Aaron is home and baby is sleeping so I can have my evenings with him
#3 MOVE...yes, we want to move. We love our house but we have totally outgrown it and would love something bigger. Our goal is to put it on the market in the spring (that's when people are looking) and be moved by the fall. Luckily we are in no rush so if it doesn't pan out that way, that is fine. This will also consist of resolution #4
#4 Gazelle Intense...for those of you that know I'm a huge Dave Ramsey fan. My brother makes fun of my spreadsheet but we'd be poor without it! Dave Ramsey changed our financial outlook and life and I want to continue down that path. We veered off for awhile during the pregnancy but we're getting back on board so we can for sure accomplish resolution #3 with ease and peace of mind:)
#5 Be the best parents we can be....I don't think either of us realized how challenging it is (especially when you don't know what they want) but it is the BEST feeling ever when they are crying and you pick them up and they look into your eyes and they calm down and know everything is okay:)

Okay...I think I'm somewhat caught up.....for now! If I think of more I've missed I'll include it in my next blogs (since I WILL be doing this often!)

Tata for now, Kalee

My First Christmas

Baby's 1st Christmas

My personalized stocking on Christmas morning

Christmas Eve at Great-Grandma Ackerman's

Cale and Gabby having tummy time:)


As you can imagine we had one spoiled little boy over Christmas! We are so glad we were able to enjoy it instead of him being born the week of as planned. His beingearly arrival definitely worked out well:) We spend Christmas Eve at Aaron's grandma Ackerman's house and then spent the night at Kalee's parents. The weather was nasty so we didn't want to take Cale too far. And we knew Santa would find his way there for our little guy:) We spent Christmas morning with Kalee's family and she made her once yearly Christmas cinnamon rolls. They are so good i'm not sure why we don't make them more often! After we opened gifts we went to the Treat's Christmas were he once again was spoiled galore! The usual tradition is to go to a movie that night and Great-grandma Sharon was more than willing to babysit but we were exhausted and were ready to go home! The Rotzoll's were in town so wen spent Sunday afternoon visiting with them..well basically Aunt Tammy just cuddled with Cale but we know we are still slightly important:) He had a great first Christmas and also welcomed two new friends into the world!
Avery Walter Suits (Dave and Melissa Suits) was born Thursday 12/23 and Jasper William Snyder (Jason and Stephanie Snyder) was born on 12/26. We are so excited he will have two buddies he can grow up with!

Time is Flying

Wow...time sure has flown. I was originally due yesterday instead I got to hold my one month old baby:)...and spend it shopping with our "Virginia family"!

Cale's one month appointment was on Tuesday the 21st and he is growing like a week. The doctor said he'd soon be "eating us out of our house!" He's weighing in at 7lbs 11oz and is 20inches long. For the past 2 weeks he's been really trying to lift his head (of course it doesn't stay up) but this week he's started to keep it up for a few seconds before he face plants back down. He is also starting to look when he hears voices or noise.

This past month has been quite the learning lesson for mommy and daddy! We are loving every minute of it but we have learned 1) you won't always be on time-when he's hungry, crying, or wet you stop and do what you need to do and being on time doesnt matter 2) everything is trial and error 3) it doesn't matter if the dishes are done or the house is clean...cuddle with them while you can cause they are only this small once! Luckily Grammy (Barb) had some vacation time to burn so she spent a few days watching him so Mommy could get some this done and get out of the house a little bit. She was starting to lose her sanity being cooped up inside all day!

My work threw us a baby shower on the 21st also so we had a busy day. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends, family, and co-workers who are so giving and thoughtful. Cale is one spoiled little boy!

This weekend will be his 1st Christmas! We are SOOO glad that he is here with us and we are settled and can enjoy the holiday!

He is also excited his new buddy Avery Suits (Dave and Melissa Suits) arrived today (one month early as well)! We are so happy everyone is healthy and doing great!

First Appointment/ Jaundice

We took Cale in for his first appointment on Wednesday, Nov 24th. He weight 5lbs 4oz so he had lost a bit from birth weight which is common. He also grew 1/2" and was 18inches. His bilirubin levels were slighlty high at a 14.6 so they requested we come back the next day (Thanksgiving Day) to be checked again. Otherwise he looked great.

Thanksgiving Day we went in and his levels had gone up to a 15.3 which is cause for concern. We were sent immediately to the hospital for him to begin phototherapy. Talk about scary for us new parents....However we knew he was in good hands and it was best for him. We spent our first Thanksgiving as a family in the hospital. Our families both came and brought us a real Thanksgiving meal which helped pass the time. The next day he was checked again and he was back down to a 10 which he needed to be under 13 to go home. We finally got to come back home on Friday around 10:30 and get back into our "routine".

He was very lethargic before so and since he got the treatment he has been much easier to wake up to feed and spends a little more time with his eyes open now:) He still sleeps like a newborn does which we should be taking advantage of (we're trying to!) but we just love to hold him.

We've been so blessed with such great friends and all the visitors, phone calls, and texts we've received. Everyone has been so caring and wonderful we couldn't ask for better friends and family!!

Thanksgiving Arrival

Well...our little man decided he did not want to be a Christmas baby but a Thanksgiving baby. Cale Lee Ackerman arrived on Saturday, November 20th at 8:47p.m. He was 5lbs 10oz and 17.5inches.

On Friday, November 19th my water broke while at work. I had ordered lunch and went to the restroom while waiting on it....it was then I knew something wasn't right! By the time I had gotten back it was apparent what had happened. I called the Dr. and they sent me to the office. Luckily I have great co-workers who took care of me and one drove me to the hospital. On the way there a nurse called to tell me to go straight to Labor and Delivery. When I got there they hooked me up to an IV and anitbiotics and told me I wouldn't be leaving that hospital without a baby! It was quite the whirlwind. Aaron was an hour and a half away and my mom was four hours away on a shopping trip. My dad immediately left work and met me at the hospital. He was in the waiting room and saw a flash go by the door...sure enough it was Aaron who made it (luckily safely) to the hospital in 38 minutes! I was then moved to a delivery room. Contractions were few and far between and I was mostly in pain due to sitting in that hospital bed. By 8:00 I had still made no progress so they unhooked me and let me have dinner. Along with Aaron, my mom, dad, brother, and Aaron's mom were there to entertain us (as you can see from the picture of Chris below) which definitely helped keep my mind off things.

On Saturday I woke up, took a shower and put my make-up on and they hooked me up to the monitors and began pitocin. By 10:20 my contractions were beginning but were not quite "painful" just a lot of pressure. The nurse described it as "He's not understanding the pool has been drained and the eviction noticed has been served."! At 2:40 I was dialeted to a 4 and the rest of my water was broken. He was not cooperating staying on the external monitor so they had to do an internal which was not convenient as there were only so many ways you could move but whatever I needed to do we did. At 6:45 I couldn't take the pain anymore and I requested an epidural. I was dialated to a 9 by that point so I'm glad I requested it when I did. By 7:05 the epidural was complete and I had a new friend, Neil. I expressed to him how amazing he was:) That took all the pain away and just made for pressure so I would know when to push. By 8:00 I was pushing and the nurse acted as if the Dr. wasn't going to make it I was progressing so quickly. Finally the dr arrived, and 5 pushes later he was here!!!

Due to him being 5 weeks early NICU had to be present for the delivery and they checked him over as soon as he arrived. Everything looked great they said! My family was then able to come in and meet our precious little boy! It was then we could tell him the name as well. Cale was a name on our list of a few we had liked and when we went through the baby book it said it meant Charles (which is my dad's name) and we were sold! Aaron's dad's name is Dale also so it rhymes. Lee is a very common middle name in both of our families as well (including Aaron).

We were then moved to postpartum and were able to watch him get his first bath. Then began our first night as parents:)

35 Weeks

Wow...only 36 days left! We had our 35 week appointment today...baby is still head down which is great news and everything looks good. Weekly appointments begin next week!

Here is a 34 week picture (a little behind i know...)

My dad built his grandson a beautiful dresser and gave it to us this weekend for the nursery. Thanks to my mom's help we now have an organized nursery (for now anyways!). We spent this Saturday washing clothes, etc. and getting things put away. I am starting to feel semi-prepared now. I know I'll never be fully prepared but at least I feel like I've made some progress:) Enjoy the pictures below....

His name will be going over the crib after his arrival:)

Last Friday night we had a couple's shower and had a great time! Best part was the diaper changing contest between Aaron and I. He was lucky to find a surprise in his diaper and he still won! Guess he's so good at it he gets the privilege of doing most of the diaper changing! I'll post pictures next post once I get them:) Thanks to everyone who was able to make it!!

Baby Shower Barcrawl

Well..we're approaching 34 weeks. As I write this blog we have 44 official days left. We really can't believe how fast time is flying! Everyone has been on me to get my bags packed so we're slowly getting there. A few things left to purchase, clothes to wash, and we should be ready! I've been feeling great...getting more and more tired daily but I can't complain. It's only caused one mini-meltdown. Poor Aaron just let's me cry it out then makes sure I'm in bed early:) The nursery is getting there...still a lot of organizing to do. I keep thinking i'll hit that "nesting" phase and get a burst of energy to get it all done!

Grandma Barb went to the 32 week ultrasound. We have a bashful, stubborn little boy. He kept his hands in front of his face the entire time so we couldn't get any good pictures:( We know he gets the bashfulness from his dad but we still can't figure out where that stubborn side comes from:) Everything looks good and on track though. He was estimated to be weighing in at 5.5lbs which is in the 55th percentile. Therefore I'm estimating an earlier rather than later arrival (or hoping for at least) but I'm not going to psych myself up for it to be let down by being overdue. Our bi-weekly appointments begin this month so we'll go in 3 times this month and begin weekly appointments in December. I've been taking a prenatal swimming class which is amazing on these aching, growing joints. It is kind of mental therapy as well being in a class of 7 pregnant women and discussing the ups and downs we go through together! It's always fun to see them come back and hear their birthing experiences as well!

This last weekend my Blackburn friends held a Baby Shower in Carlinville for me. What a blast we had! We ended up titling it the Baby Shower Bar Crawl. "Best baby shower we've ever been too" seemed to be the comment of the night! Needless to say I thought I could stay up and party as late as I used to and boy was a wrong! Sunday was painful (I almost felt hungover! haha). But...needless to say we had a great time and it's always fun to see them. And....we got our stroller/carseat combo and a bunch of other baby goodies:) They are all anxiously awaiting his arrival and have a phone tree so everyone is notified when he makes his entrance! Oh and we can't forget Carlos...our mascot for the night! He was on the cake and we all thought he was just adorable so we made sure he was in most of the pictures!