3 Months Old

Dallin is 3 months old now! I cant believe it. He is becoming more and more fun every day. He weighs 13 pounds and is 23.5 inches long. He loves to smile and he loves to talk! We have quite the conversations with each other now. He loves it when I sing and will smile and squeal. He loves to be held and loves to stand up with our help. 

He now sleeps 6-7 hours most nights for the first stretch and then another 3-4 the next stretch. He is eating every 2 hours as well. His fingers are in his mouth a lot more now and he is a slobber king. He is a champ at tummy time and will hold his head up the majority of the time, even if he doesnt like to. He does really well in church and still does really well on our outings. 

My man doesnt like to be apart from me for long, and will cry pretty fast. He watches me wherever I go. He is more interested in toys and will gently reach out and touch things. He still needs to be encouraged to grab toys but I think we are making progress in that area. 

Naps are the hardest part of our day. He is a cat napper. I have been trying to get him to learn to nap on his own so that I can accomplish some things around the house. We are making slow but steady progress. But at least he sleeps well at night! 

2 Months Old

At 2 months old, Dallin was 10 pounds 5 ounces and was 22.5 inches long. During this month he transitioned out of his newborn clothes and into 3-6 month clothes. He got his first vaccines which was hard :( poor baby doesn't do well with pain. He began to sleep a lot better and every night I got about 5-6 hours in the first stretch then another 3 hours after that. He was a big eater and ate every 2-3 hours. While toys still weren't been his favorite, he did start to look at them and observe the more. He still loved lights and was drawn to them. He became more of a smiler. However, he made it hard for me to capture those smiles. He liked to stare at the camera and not smile. We were able to get him to smile for some pictures though!

Dallin also found his hands and put them in his mouth every so often. During tummy time he showed how strong he was. He lifted his head a lot more and again rolled over. He had excellent head control when we held him on our shoulder. He did really well during car rides as he has since birth.  He knows who his mommy is and he cried more. Whenever I would leave the room it didn't take long for him to cry and tell me to come back. He didn't nap well and in order for him to nap he had to be held.
He learned to like baths more and more but he hated drying off and putting lotion on. Overall, he has been such a good baby!

1 Month Old

During Dallin's first month of life, we started to understand a little more of his personality. He was so calm. He really only cried when he was hungry. He ate every 2-3 hours and learned to sleep really well at night for a newborn. He gave me the occasional 5 hour stretch! however he was typically up every 3-4 hours. Tyler was super helpful and helped me with the night feedings. However, in the day time, he was quite awake. When we tried to take his newborn pictures, it was a struggle to get him to sleep! 

Dallin loved lights. Wherever there was a light, he was sure to find it and stare. He followed Tyler and I and knew our voices. He also had a strong neck since birth. He was holding his head fairly well and was always trying to lift it and look around when on our shoulder. He also rolled over! We also got some sweet smiles from him. 

At one month he was about 21 inches long and weighed about 8 lbs. 

Dallin's Birth Story

June 4, 2014

My mom was gone with my Aunt Judy to go on a hike. She texted me early that morning and asked if she was okay to go because she didnt want to go and miss out on the birth. I told her yes she could go. I had had an ok night. Sure I had some burning in my lower abdomen and frequent braxton hicks, but that had happened before. However, I woke up like a half hour later and sat up. The moment I did so, I felt a little pop. I wasnt sure what happened but i knew i was leaking fluid. Turns out my water had broke and my burning, crampy feelings turned into pain that was happening frequently. So i texted my mom to hurry and come back to our apartment. I was feeling contractions every 4 minutes for quite a while. They made me stop and bed over to ease the pain.

I hadnt packed anything because I was in denial that I would have my baby early, despite what everyone else thought. So Tyler helped me pack and get everything ready. Around 9 AM we went to the hospital and went to triage to be monitored. My contractions had slowed at this point but they were still happening. The checked to see if my water had broken, and indeed it had. So they checked me in around 10 AM. I was still only 2.5 cm dilated and 80% effaced. 

 The started giving me pitocin to keep my contractions going.  A little went a long way because my contractions rammed up and were super painful. I was getting terrible back labor. The nurses said that they could give me the epidural whenever I wanted it so they ordered one and I got it around 11:30. Such an amazing drug! I couldn't feel any pain but I could still move my legs. It made my short wait much better. They came and checked me around 12:30. The nurse was surprised how quickly I progressed. I was already an 8 and 100% effaced! So the nurse went and got a doctor. I wasnt able to deliver with the doctor I chose. Instead i got someone else. But I didnt mind. I had changed OBGYN's 3 times since I found out I was pregnant.

The nurse came back and we did some practice pushes. She said I was a great pusher and would have Dallin out in no time. Once the doctor was in, the ball got rolling. Three pushes per contraction feels like a lot, but it didnt take long and Dallin was born!At 1:13 PM he entered the world. He came out and cried and peed. I didnt even know he was out till they told me...I was still pushing haha. The epidural sure did its job!

The nurse wiped him off a little then placed him on my chest. It was such a special moment. I finally got to see my baby after 9 months! Finally the wait was over and I got to see what a little Tyler/Jackie looks like. And I gotta say, we make a cute baby ;). Tyler and I loved him instantly. It really is an amazing experience and feeling to see your baby for the first time.

6 pounds 8 ounces and 18 inches long. 

My dad was able to fly out and see Dallin on that day. And I am so glad he did! 

Shout out to my mom for being there and taking pictures! I am so glad you came early and could be there for the birth! It was a comfort to know you were there. And I am so glad you were there to take pictures or we wouldnt have these precious memories captured.

I grew a baby!

When we decided we wanted to start a family, we never thought it would happen so quick! I had been cramping for a week before my scheduled period and decided that since that was not normal I would take a test. So on October 12th Tyler went to the store and picked up some super cheap pregnancy tests. They came back positive. But I wanted to be sure and despite Tyler telling me it didn't matter what kind of test I used...he went anyway and picked up another, more expensive test. He is so patient with me :) This test also came back positive and said I was probably about 2-3 weeks along. I was super excited. I wanted to try and surprise my parents when they came to Rexburg in December, but I can't hold a secret in. I told Hope first and she was so excited for us! Despite wanting to keep the secret from my parents, I just couldn't. So at about 5 weeks pregnant I told them. So exciting :)

8 weeks 6 days

We set up our first appointment to see our baby. I was nervous but excited to see. The tech found him quickly and said everything was looking good and that i was further along than I thought I was.

10-11 weeks

The first trimester was rough, but not as rough as some people's first trimester. I felt sick, but never really threw up. I had meat aversions and got sick even thinking about meat. I craved orange juice. I ate what I could stomach. I eventually craved KFC. Not the healthiest option, but it was so good!

16 weeks

 Around 17 weeks I felt and saw movement. It was a little but enough that Tyler could feel. I probably could feel movement before but mistook it for other things.

19 weeks

                                        

                                                 19 weeks 5 days 

During this ultra sound  we found out we were having a boy! I wasnt sure what we were having and my mind changed every day. I was wrong however, I thought we were having a girl. Tyler was confident we were having a boy. He was right!

During the second trimester, I could eat whatever I wanted without feeling sick. It was wonderful! The only problem was that I had to eat alllll the time or I would feel sick. 

22 weeks 4 days

25 weeks 4 days

29 weeks

 The third trimester was not to bad as well. While he definitely was a mover and kept me up at night, I loved it. I still had to eat a lot to keep my blood sugar up, but overall it was pretty smooth sailing. Dallin loved to kick me at night when I first laid down to sleep. Every day I loved watching him move. It was definitely my favorite part.

31 weeks 4 days

32 weeks

34 weeks 5 days

 I started getting braxton hicks that were stronger around this period. I had them since 20 weeks, but water always helped. I would guzzle water. Its amazing what being hydrated can do for a pregnant woman. But water didnt help too much around this period. They werent really frequent, but i definitely could tell I was getting them.

36 weeks

37 weeks 2 days

 My mom came and helped me get ready since I was dilated to a 1.5 and 80% effaced at my 36 week appointment. It didnt slow down either. My 37 week appointment I dilated to a 2.5 and was still 80% effaced. I didnt make it to my 38 week appointment though, because the baby decided he was ready!

38 weeks 3 days

Here is the last picture I took. It was right before heading out the door to the hospital.