1 Month Old!

OK, OK, I know...he was actually a month old on the 17th, but I was a little distracted and didn't have a chance to blog. Everything went well at his 1 month visit with Dr. C! The little man is now weighing in at 8lbs 7oz and is a whopping 21 1/2 inches long! He is doing well with everything, and the only thing Dr. C said to do was to increase his time on his tummy from 15 minutes a day to about 15 times a day. With that said, all of his newborn clothes are now too short yet he has barely filled them out. Some of his 0-3 month outfits fit in length, but again not in girth. It's no fun to play dress-up with a baby who really only has a few onesies that fit. It's also no fun to dress him up, as he hates when we put things over his head and struggle to pull his arms through.

I had my post partum visit with the neurologist, and he said nothing has improved yet nothing appears to be worse. This is good news. He has temporarily given me permission to head back to work in March, but he will re-evaluate that when I go back to see him in February. Honestly, I know it's only been 4 weeks, but I love being home with him and I wish he could write me a note to stay home with him until he goes to school! Not sure if that would happen, but one could only wish!

Here are a few pictures, the quality isn't the best, as they were taken from my phone. We're hoping Best Buy will have our camera fixed shortly...otherwise, I HAVE to get a new one...how could we have a newborn and no camera? It's unheard of!

This was taken on his way home from his first trip down to Jackson Memorial...it was a long day for all of us!

I couldn't resist this one! I was feeding him on my lap and he just grabbed a hold of the bottle!

In Loving Memory....

The past few days were pretty bittersweet. As I enjoy and relish in the sheer excitement of being blessed with Spencer, I have also had to re-mourn the loss of my father, Steven. This past Friday would have been his 56th birthday. Three years ago, I was told that it would get easier as time went on; I assure you that it hasn’t. We have certainly accepted the fact that he is no longer with us, but nothing has become easier. I fear that one day I won’t remember the sound of his voice, and it breaks my heart that my son, nephews, and nieces will never have the chance to know what a great person their Grandfather Steven was. I have plenty of pictures and a copy of an infomercial that he and I both did to share, but it’s not the same. I know that this is still even more difficult for my mother, and will probably never move on, but she still continues through the healing process; he was not only her husband, yet he was her best-friend as well.

I look forward to the day when I can sit Spencer down, and share the many pictures, stories, and recipes that represent my father. I will forever miss and love you…may you forever rest in peace.

Steven A. Wolf
December 12, 1952 – July 16, 2005

My Father and I, June 2004 at a wedding.

My father and I at my graduation party, June 2005

My, how times flies!

Spencer is a whole 2 weeks old today...we can't imagine life without him, yet he's only been with us for 2 weeks. It's amazing how things can change in a blink of an eye!

Yesterday he had his first shot, hepatitis B, and took it like a champ. You can tell that he is definitely his mother's child as it took him a whole 30 seconds to get over it! He weighed in at a whopping 7lb 1 1/2oz, but the doctor thought it was kind of odd, so he weighed him again a few minutes later and he weighed in at 7lb 2oz. The doctor thinks that there was a weight error somewhere along the lines, so Spencer will be going back for a weight check-in on Friday. By then, the doctor wants him to weight at least 7lb 3oz. With that, I must throw in that he is eating like a champ; now taking in 3oz at a feeding which varies from every 3-4 hours. The good news is that I can give him a bottle at midnight and he'll sleep until at least 5AM. We're keeping our fingers crossed that this is not just a trend, yes it is a sign of good things to come!

We started tummy time! This was taken right before he fell asleep...

I just love this outfit that grandma bought him and Spencer LOVES his Boppy!

The Birth Story

Today Spencer is exactly 1 week and 5 days old. We are still marinating in the joy of becoming parents to this amazing little gift from above. Spencer’s Bris was on November 26th; he did great and is healing quite nicely. Honestly, we learned that the whole experience is probably tougher on the parents than it is on the baby. Spencer was named for one of the greatest men I ever knew, my daddy, Steven. He received the Hebrew name Shlomo Chaim; Shlomo was my father’s name and Chaim means ‘Life’ in Hebrew. For Spencer’s first Thanksgiving he was surrounded by family that couldn’t be happier to have him there. We were truly thankful for having him! This past Saturday we had our very first late night visit to the pediatrician; Spencer has/had conjunctivitis in his left eye which the doctor said could have come from anything. We’re treating both eyes right now, and it seems to be clearing up very well. Tomorrow we’re going back to the doctor for our 2 week old appointment; unfortunately he will be receiving his first shot. We’re not looking forward to it, but he’s been such a trooper at all of his other appointments we’re hoping he’ll keep up the same demeanor.

The birth story:

So, Josh and I went to our regular weekly appointment at 9 AM on 11/19, at this time I was 39 weeks. Since I hadn’t yet met with one of the mid-wives, I had my appointment with her…and I’m so glad that I had the chance to meet her. We had thought that we would be talking about a plan of what to do if I didn’t deliver the little guy by the 40th week. Keep in mind that everyone had told me that when I was in active labor, I would know it, so when the mid-wife was examining me, she mentioned that she thought “you should be delivering today”. Apparently, I was in labor and didn’t know it. The baby’s position had changed, but I was still only 3 cm dilated. So, at that point, I met with the doctor and she decided to send me over to labor & delivery to do some blood work, a sonogram, and plan to be induced that night at around 6 pm; the doctor said that I would either be delivering later that night or early the next morning. With that, she told Josh that he had plenty of time to take me to the hospital and then run home to change. Keep in mind that we had all the intentions to go straight to work from the doctor’s appointment, so he needed to get changed out of his shirt & tie whereas I was putting on a hospital gown. By the time I was put into a room, it was now around 1130 AM once I was settled in Josh left to go home and get changed (keep in mind that we live in Delray and I was delivering at CSMC) and he was comfortable doing this since the doctor said we had at least until 6 PM before things get started. At 1230 PM, the doctor who sent me over came in to give me a physical exam; from my physical exam that morning, I was already 4 cm dilated. At 1 PM, she then came in and broke my water, by 115 PM I was 7 cm dilated. At this point, my mother had just arrived and we told Josh to hurry back because this was going to happen WAY before 6 PM. At 300PM, I was feeling the contractions STRONGLY and solely in my back. At about 345PM I asked for the epidural; the anastiologist came at about 350PM and after making sure it was OK to have the epidural (due to the other meds I had taken that morning) she administrated it to me. Because I didn’t feel anything that she had done, she felt that it possibly hadn’t worked, so she gave me a small dose to check it out. When I didn’t feel the ‘coldness’ of the meds going in my back, she decided that it would be best to do it again. Well, in the middle of the 2nd epidural, the first one kicked in. So, by now, I was feeling REALLY good. The nurse came in to check me out at 440PM, and said that it was just about time to start pushing. The midwife, who I had just met that morning, arrived at about 450PM to deliver our son. At that point, we asked Josh’s parents to leave the room, so that it was just my mother, Josh, and I with the nurse & midwife. I did my first push at 500PM, and with the 2nd push out came our beautiful son at 511PM!

At this point, he still hadn’t had a name, so after they cleaned him up we asked my mother, my friend Dana, and Josh’s parents to leave the room so that we could discuss the name issue. The conversation went something like this:

Gena: OK, so now we have to decide on a name.
Josh: Well, what do you like best, Samuel or Spencer?
Gena: I like them both; does he have a curl in his hair, if he does it needs to be Samuel.
Josh: Nope, no curls. So, what do you like better for him?
Gena: I think I like Spencer, it’s less common then Samuel, but both are nice.
Josh: I like both as well.
Gena: OK, but what do you like best?
Josh: I think I like Spencer.
Gena: OK then, Spencer it is.

With that we introduced Spencer Alec born on November 19, 2008 weighing in at 6lb 15oz and 20in.

The wondful midwife who delivered Spencer!

Going home!

And now a preview of the newborn pics, courtesy of the wonderful Virginia Hartman (http://www.virginiahartman.com/):

And who could forgot our first born, Bunker: