Jack is 1 month old

We've kept him alive and well for a whole month! Actually, one month and one day! One month of a baby's life goes much faster than one month of pregnancy. It's a lot more fun too.

So yesterday, we took a few pictures to mark the occasion. We took pictures with the bear from Dad. When you look at these pictures and compare them to the first photos with the bear when he was four days old, you can see how he has grown. It's most obvious in his face.









It's fun to look back over the last month and see how far we have come. Jack is now consistently eating on a three-hour schedule, occasionally he goes even a little longer. His eyes are working together now too instead of rolling around separately. He stares at both Steve and me pretty intently. He is starting to smile with his eyes open now. We've caught him smiling at us a few times; although I'm still not positive it's not gas.

Today was pretty fun. I think I caught him starting to roll over. We often lay him on his back on the couch with us, and I did that today while I was on the phone with my mom. Jack started to kick his legs and rolled onto his left side. I put him back on his back and he did it again. He didn't get all the way over to his tummy though. So now I'm watching him like a hawk!




This picture cracks me up. It looks like he knows he's doing something sneaky.

Well, that's the update. Hope you enjoy the photos!

Big News!

So this is getting it's own entry.

Steve has been accepted into Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management! He will start the part-time program this summer. He was a little shocked when he got the phone call and wanted to wait until he got the packet in the mail to make sure (of course, it was true!). The packet came within a few days of the phone call.

He is so excited, and so am I. It will take him about 4 years to complete his MBA. It will be a fun ride for the next four years!

Cousins!

Jack and I took our first trip out of the house just the two of us today. We went up to visit Aunt Susie and Cousin Nick in Gurnee. The roads weren't too bad, which helped keep my blood pressure in a normal range!

Anyway, while we were there, we took some pictures. Enjoy my new nephew!

Visitors

Here are some pics of the people who have come to meet Jack!


Beth


Aunt Cathy


Aunt Shayna and Shane


Nana


Pete


Papa


Grandma Anne


Grandma Sue and Pepere


Uncle Peter


Aunt Susie


Aunt Kim


Aunt Connie


Aunt Cathy


Uncle T and Michelle


Uncle Lup and his Family

Jack is sleeping!

I talked to my friend Sandra today, and she confirmed what Steve has been telling me for the last week: I cannot expect Jack to be on a schedule yet. As hard as I try to get him on a 3 to 4 hour eating schedule, sometimes he does and sometimes he doesn't. So I'm now trying to go with the flow more but keep myself on some sort of schedule.

After a long night last night (there was some crying, by me and Jack), we got up today around 10. I made it a point to shower right after Jack ate. I also made it a point to put on normal clothes. I think wearing sweats and pajamas all the time is taking a toll on my psyche. Anyway, that started a very productive day. I got the laundry done; I paid bills; and I got off the email to organize meals for Susie and Peter.

Time out! I need to give this the attention it deserves.

I am an aunt again! Susie gave birth to Nicholas Paul on Super Bowl Sunday (Feb 3) at 1:47 p.m. I tried to go see him, but by the time I got to the hospital they had taken him to the nursery already. I couldn't stay long enough for him to get out. Tomorrow, Jack and I are going to try to go visit the new little guy. Hopefully, the weather and the roads will clear.

Okay, back to the Barrett family. So in my new found productiveness, I'm getting to update the blog. I think I'm going to do little posts so it's easier to figure out what's going on. Enjoy the photos!

Feeding, sleeping, and pacifiers... Oh My!

I never thought I could function on so little sleep. Yet here we are, enjoying each day on about 6 hours of sleep (not continuous though, at most we get 3 hours at a time). To think, only a month ago I was sleeping for 11-hour stretches!

So we have figured out pumping and bottle feeding. Steve is definitely up for father/husband of the year. He gave the first bottle last Thursday night, and it was a success. I definitely think Jack takes after his dad. He's very laid back about everything from how he eats to where he sleeps. He'll take a bottle or breastfeed without a problem. He'll sleep anywhere in the house. It's nice for us!



Sorry, I can't figure out how to get this right-side up. Just tilt your head, you'll get the idea!

So I knew being a mom was going to be different from anything else I have ever experienced, but I had no idea how much work it would be just to take a shower and eat my own lunch! We're slowly developing a routine though. Hopefully by the time I have to go back to work in April, we'll have something worked out.

So not everything is perfect here at the Barrett household. I don't want to fool anyone into thinking my son is perfect (just very close!). We are having some trouble with fussiness every once in a while. He's started taking a pacifier, which helps soothe him. I think he might get too tired some times and can't fall asleep. The pacifier seems to help in times like those.

Okay, this is way too much for the blog. I'm sure the last thing people want to read about is the minute details of our daily life. Hopefully, I'll be able to find time to take more photos of the little guy and get them posted here.

Mom's Favorite Photos

Okay, I'm getting a little tired trying to update each day. So I'll come back and do that later. Until then, here are a few of my favorite photos of our Buddy Bear (aren't we just too sickeningly sweet about our baby boy? Just humor me for now!)



















And yes, this is only a few! I do have lots more!

Jan. 11 - Jack's Birthday!

Friday is when the excitement started. However, it didn't really start until Friday afternoon.

We had another doctor's appointment Friday at 11:15 or somewhere around there. We went. I had progressed a bit, but not that much. It turns out I am unique in my laboring process. The doctors didn't quite understand me. Even though my doctor didn't think I'd make it through the weekend (which he was right about!), we scheduled an induction for Thursday, Jan. 17. We left the office to wait for water, pain or blood since any one of those things meant going back to the hospital to have the baby!

We headed to Panera for lunch. I ate light considering I didn't know when I would go into active labor, and you really don't want a full stomach for active labor.

From there, we decided to go to Huntley Outlets to do a little shopping. We hit up the Maternity store one last time. We bought a little sleeper from Osh Kosh, and we found a bunch of cute little things for our son at Carter's. The last place I really wanted to go to before we went home was The Children's Place. So we walked over there, and about 5 steps from the doors I felt a gush. My water had broken. This was not as clear as it sounded, but I'm still not going to go into the details. We called the doctor to see if what I had experienced was indeed my water breaking, and she said go to the hospital. (by the way, I have several doctors, both male and female).

We stopped at the house to pick up the camera (we had everything else in the car). My smart husband had thought ahead and had taken Breyer to Ruffners, the doggie day care/kennel that morning, so all we had to do was make a phone call to keep her there overnight. We got to the hospital at about 4 p.m.

Labor and delivery stories are a little boring and often exaggerated. I'm going to spare the details here and just summarize. It was a wonderful experience. I would not describe it as extremely painful or horrible. In fact, most of my experience was very calm. If you want to know more, just ask.

Jack Reilley Barrett was born at 9:52 p.m. He weighed 7lbs 4 oz and was 21 inches long. Steve and my mom were with us in the delivery room. I'd highly recommend these two as birthing coaches if you ever are in need. We had lots of people in the waiting room too. Almost all of our immediate families were able to be there.

Of course, we have a ton of photos, but I don't want to clog the blog, so I'm only going to post a few here.

Arriving at the hospital (yes, I am in labor!)

Proud Dad and his son

Our first family photo

For more photos, check out my Flickr site. If you aren't a part of the Barrett group yet, just email me.

Jan. 8, 9, 10 Catch Up

This was the day we first found out I was "in labor." I put that in quotes because it wasn't active labor. I was in the early stage of labor, and to my doctor's amazement I was not in any pain or discomfort. Most other first time moms with my measurements on this Tuesday are in the hospital asking for an epidural. I had been at work all day and didn't think anything unusual was going on!

I went home to relax and start timing contractions. Breyer knew something was up. She would come check on me if Steve or I called her. Otherwise, she ran to the basement and hung out on her couch. This picture is of Breyer and my belly resting on the couch in the basement.



My contractions did get to be about 5 minutes apart on this Tuesday night, so Steve and I went to the hospital. I was in denial that I was in actual labor. They kept us over night, but I didn't progress any. In the morning, we had to make the decision of whether to start inducing methods or to go home and wait it out. Since I was still only about 37 weeks, we decided to go home and wait it out. My doctor thought for sure we'd be back Wednesday afternoon. We were not. So started the labor waiting game!

Since early labor had started, my doctor ordered me not to work anymore. No problem! So we went home on Wednesday and took naps. It turns out as uncomfortable as I was trying to sleep with baby and contraction monitors on, Steve had it even worse in the reclining "Dad" chair. Neither of us had too much trouble napping on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Steve went in to work in the morning. I just hung around the house and rested. I really don't remember too much else from Thursday to be honest. I know I was getting a little cabin fever trying to figure out if my contractions were changing at all or if I was just looney. Not much really happened on Thursday.

So tired and a bathroom remodel

I was not very enthusiastic about going back to work today. Most of this lack of enthusiasm was caused by the realization that I could not just take a nap anytime I felt tired. That kind of freedom is such a blessing. I did take a nap after school today though, and it was lovely.

In my first big picture-a-day venture, I am actually over-achieving. The three things for today are:

The Bathroom Remodel
Steve has already done most of the demolition work for the remodeling of the hall bathroom. We had a guy come over tonight to take a look and give us an estimate on the putting-it-back-together part. Here are some photos of the bathroom in its current state.





Doggie Love
Breyer has been my shadow lately everywhere I go; but that does not mean she has lost any love for Steve. Here, Steve is watching the BCS Championship game and Breyer is letting him know she cares.



Giving Thanks
I'm in the process of writing Thank You cards for all of the wonderful baby presents we have received so far. People are so generous it is almost overwhelming. I was trying to be artsy here with a pic of one style of thank-you that I am using.



Okay, that's it for today. Check back tomorrow night for another exciting update from West Dundee (especially since the Writer's Guild strike is still on, there's really nothing better to do!)

New Year's Eve and Pics

I promised pictures, so I am delivering.

We celebrated New Year's Eve at our house with Cathy, Rob, Vita and Phil. It was low-key, but that's what I loved about it. Phil and Steve cooked dinner while the rest of us ate Vita's bruchette and chocolates I had from Christmas. We played some Foosball on the new table in the basement (there's nothing like the joy of scoring on Steve) and also played Dirty Minds.

Some other pictures I am including are from our family celebration of my mom's birthday. We gathered at Susie's house for brunch and cupcakes (seriously, what is better than brunch and cupcakes!). There are also some updated photos of the baby's room (new curtains and wall hangings).

Finally, I saw a good idea on another blog about trying to take pictures every day to capture moments in life. I'm going to give it a try. I'm going to try to post one good picture from the day each day. So, for today's picture, you get my lovely dog Breyer. She's so darn cute! (The baby room pics are from today too, but I love my dog).