Ryan's 1st Christmas

OMG - I am loving all of these firsts. We didn't do much this year. We went to Kevin and Kellys on Christmas Eve to take the gifts over for Madolyn and Ian. Came home, had biscuits and gravy for dinner. Went to bed. Exciting, huh!!!
Christmas Day, we got up and Ryan and Peanut got their stockings. Although, Santa called and said he may need a refund on Peanuts...LOL. Justin cooked us brunch and we decided to take a nap. Well, Daddy and Ryan got a nap. As soon as mommy laid down, Peanut needed to go outside. Then, as soon as mommy laid down again, Ryan woke up. After we got up, Justin made a pot of Gumbo for dinner. MMMMM, it was good.

I can't wait until we can increase the number of hours between Ryan's feedings. Three hours is just not enough for mommy. I wake him up, spend 45-60 minutes feeding him and was getting about 2 hours of sleep in between. Not any more. Ryan has decided that it is fun to stay up for another 30-60 minutes after eating, making faces at mommy. I love the snuggle time, but man I need sleep.

Anywho, here's some new pics of the little guy!!

Daddy making funny faces at Ryan!!

Peanut - Giving Ryan kisses!!

Ryan does not like his binky. Usually he uses me as a pacifier. The other night he decided daddy worked just as well. He sucked on Justins finger for 20-30 minutes...LOL.

Kisses from daddy!!

I did get some pics last night of mommy and Ryan, I just haven't gotten them uploaded yet. Maybe this weekend. Hope everyone had a Very Merry Christmas!!!!

Ryan's 1st Bath

Ryan got his 1st bath today. I wiped him down Wed night before his ped appointment on Thur, but it was just with a damp wash clothe. Today - he got the full deal. Man does he smell so good. I looovvveee baby smell. Surprisingly, he liked his bath. He didn't really fuss at all. Shocking since the only time he really cries is when we take his diaper or clothes off to change him....LOL.

Getting his chest damp!!
Ready for the soap!!!

All clean and cute!!

He was so relaxed when we got done and got him dressed!!!
Very content!!

Justin had laid him on the ottoman in front of him so he could shift in the chair. He said his butt was falling asleep....LOL.

Ryan & his Cousins

Our landlord got us a Honey Baked Ham for Christmas and it was so big that we invited Justin's Brother and Sister-In-Law over for dinner Saturday night. It was so cool to be able to get all 3 kids in a picture together.

Ian (In Swing)

Madolyn

Ryan

Maddy wanted to cup Ryan's head. She was afraid it would bounce.

Ian and Ryan

Ian was born on Oct 15th.

Ian and Madolyn

Pics of Ryan

Ryan had just gotten done nursing. He just kinda sacks out however / where ever he wants. (Just like his daddy)!!!

Sleepy, Sleepy Baby

Snuggling with daddy before bedtime!

Justin has started holding him like this for a little while every night before we put him down for the night.

I don't know what we are going to do when Justin has to go back to work on Monday.

Just hangin' out - Being cute!!!!

Mmmm - Yummy fingers

Ever since he was born, Ryan decided that he liked his fingers.

This is our neighbor Portia with Ryan. She was so excited to hold him. She didn't think I would let her. Her and her husband Gary brought us over a large pizza on Sunday night.

Peanut was supervising to make sure daddy was doing it right. He actually adores Ryan. He stays as close to him as he can and starts barking at us to let us know when he gets fussy (which is not very often).

Ryan's 1st Dr's Appointment

On Thursday the 18th I went to the Dr. to get my staples out and Ryan had his 1st appointment with the pediatrician. He is perfect!! The Dr. said so (not just my opinion). He had gained some weight and was up to 5 lbs 12 1/2 oz. I was kinda worried about that. It is obvious when you bottle feed a baby how much they are eating. Not the same when you breastfeed. I had no clue how much he was getting, but obviously it is enough. It was such a relief that he is healthy. He goes back for his next appointment on the 29th.

Here's a few pics from Tuesday thru Thursday!!!!

Introducing: Ryan Andrew Southworth

Ok, so I am bad. I know it has been a week now, but I didn't realize how hard it was to get anything done with a new baby and incision in your belly.


Ryan decided not to wait for the 16th. Saturday night (the 13th) Justin and I hung out with Kevin and Kelly. They bowled, I watched, and then we went back to their place to hang out. Before we knew it, it was 3 in the morning. We got home around 4 and I was finally able to fall asleep around 5 am. About 6 I started having contractions that were every 5 min, then 10 min, then 5 min, and then 20 min (get the drift). No biggie!! I got up around 10:00 and laid on the couch with Peanut when I noticed that they were all now 4-5 minutes apart (2-3 when I was up and moving), so I called the on-call Dr. and he said to come in and get checked out. We got to the hospital about 12:45 and I was not dilated at all and about 70% effaced. I was so afraid they were going to just send me home. Since my contractions were so close together and I was having horrid back labor due to his position they decided to just go ahead and deliver him. They got me all prepped up and got Justin into his scrubs and moved us to the delivery room. I got my spinal block and they brought Justin in. I think they had already started my incision by the time he came in. Ryan was born at 2:45 in the afternoon. It took just a minute and he started squeaking. He had the softest cry and as soon as Justin and I heard it we both were crying. Justin went over to the area where they were checking Ryan out and cleaning him up and took a couple of pictures real quick. He was running back and forth showing me the pictures that he had taken. I hadn't seen my son yet because they were out of my view. I saw him for the first time when they wheeled the scale in and put him on it to measure him. He was so tiny. He was 6 lbs 1 oz and 17 inches long.

The doctors finished stitching and stapling me up and getting me ready to go to recovery. Then the nurse brought our beautiful baby boy over and laid him in my arms. I held him while they rolled me into my recovery room. When we got there, the nurse took him and gave him a bit of a bath and brought him back to me to nurse. We were only in the recovery room for about 2 hours when they took us upstairs to the mom and baby floor.

Ryan was so awake and alert the whole time. Even Sunday night - he didn't want to sleep. I think I got about an hour of sleep. Justin and I just held him and talked to him all night.

Monday morning they came in and took my catheter out. YAY!!! I got out of bed around 10:00 and moved to one of the chairs. As soon as they took my IV out at noon, I made myself get up and start walking around the room. It actually didn't feel too bad. By Monday evening I was out pacing the halls while Justin sat with Ryan. They came and got Ryan around 5 and took him for his circumcision. My Dr. came to check on me when they brought him back and told me I could probably go home the next day if I felt up to it. It didn't hurt that I was standing in the doorway eating a piece of pizza when he showed up. The nurse came in later that night and showed me what to do with Ryan’s circumcision and weighed him. He had dropped down to 5 lbs 9 oz

I think we got about 2 hours of sleep Monday night. I was so happy when the Dr. came in for morning rounds and said we could go home. We got home about noon on Tuesday.