Porter is 4 Months Old!

It is truly amazing how much babies develop in one month! Porter is becoming such a little ham! He loves to laugh and giggle and move around as much as possible. He is turning over onto his tummy very easily, but has trouble rolling over onto his back from his tummy. Probably because he hasn't had a whole lot of tummy time... he hates being on his tummy! He has started teething already, so he has had a few bad days lately, but the majority of the time he is a very happy baby. Here is a video of him having a good time in his "big boy bouncy chair." He's not quite big enough for it yet, but he already loves it.

Sleeping Through the Night!

Porter is now 11 weeks old and he has come a long way since my last post. He seems to be over his tummy troubles and he has slept through the night 5 nights in a row! This mommy thing is getting so much easier all of a sudden! He has really started showing his personality, also. His bouncy seat is no longer just a place where I sit him while I take a 5 minute shower. It is now a center of entertainment that keeps him amused for a whole 20 minutes! He is mesmerized by the dangling toys and kicks with excitement when they wiggle, which sends them wiggling even more. Quite a genius invention, actually.

Today we went and had more pictures taken. My mom gave me a t-shirt that was mine when I was a baby. It says, "My daddy is a Texas Aggie." Check out this precious boy!

6 Week Update

Porter is now 6 weeks old! He has started smiling, however, he has not had much to smile about starting about 4 days ago. He started crying when nursing and getting very upset. It seemed like he was having problems with all parts of his poor little digestive system. I suspect he either has developed a milk allergy or lactose intolerance. Long story short, I'm not completely sure what the problem is, but both milk based formula and breast milk makes him very sick and unhappy. I have started feeding him soy formula and have had good results so far. I'm still trying to keep my milk supply up just in case we can get to the bottom of this with the doctor next week and can resume nursing. Otherwise, he seems to be a healthy happy baby, and his little smile can melt his mommy and daddy's hearts! Here's a picture of that precious smile!

Newborn Photos

Porter got his pictures taken yesterday. After he was fed, he was a very good boy for the camera.

Not much has changed since my last post except that he is starting to hold gazes and look at faces more. I'm sure there are other subtle changes that we don't recognize because we see him everyday. All in all, things are still going very well!

Bath Time!

God has truly blessed our family. Porter is such a good baby and in good health. We had our two week check-up yesterday. He now weighs 7 lbs, 8 oz, so he's gaining weight at a very good rate. So good that the pediatrician blessed our decision to start feeding one formula bottle per day and let him sleep up to 5 hours without waking him up at night. This should give me more flexibility and hopefully a little more sleep at night! He slept almost 5 hours last night, so I'm very encouraged (and rested)!

I took some precious pictures today of bath time. He looked so sweet!

Porter Is One Week Old!!

It has certainly been an eventful week! I was crazy to think that I could post on the same day that I delivered... ha ha! I could have posted sooner, but I came down with a nasty stomach virus after returning home from the hospital. It was awful being sick with a newborn, but I had wonderful help from my mom and Laramie.

The delivery went very smoothly. The induction really got me going and I was in active labor only for about 7 hours (I think... it's all a little fuzzy)! He was born at 2:44 pm on Wednesday, 7/8/09, and weighed 6 lbs, 14 oz, and measured 20.5 inches long.

Our first night home from the hospital was very hard, but he's been a perfect angel since. He really is a good baby! He fusses very little and sleeps and feeds very well.

Here is a link to some pictures of the delivery:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=13e7a6ue.4kcbhg96&x=0&y=-liwt7i&localeid=en_US

Here are some pictures taken this morning:

7-8-9

Tomorrow is the day... Baby Porter will be born on 7/8/09! We are going into the hospital this evening at 8:00 for an induction, so unless something very unexpected happens, Porter will be born sometime tomorrow. Laramie will have his computer with him at the hospital, so hopefully I'll have a minute to post a picture sometime late tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Porter Will Be Here Soon!!!

Just one week until my due date! I went to the doctor yesterday and he doesn't think that I will go early, but he also doesn't want me to go past my due date because of the narrowness of my frame. In his technical words, he doesn't want me to have a "big ole' honkin baby." We are scheduled to be induced next Thursday, July 9th. I'm very anxious, so I would be very happy if I go into labor before then, but it is kind of nice to have a few last moments of quiet!

Here's one last belly picture, taken today at 39 weeks. It's funny, I don't think my belly has grown a lot in the past few weeks, but it has gotten a lot tighter.

Great News!

I can't believe I've let so much time pass since my last update! I've had lots of good news since my last post and failed to share it with everyone. First of all, we found out that the cysts on the baby's brain were never there to begin with. A normal part of the brain was misdiagnosed by the sonographer as being choroid plexus cysts. We were so relieved! Also, we just found out today that the baby finally flipped and is positioned perfectly for birth! We were starting to worry that the doctor would have to manually flip him.

Today I am 37 weeks and 4 days, meaning that I just have a little over 2 weeks until my due date! A combination of excitement to meet out baby and becoming more and more uncomfortable is making me ready to give birth beyond belief! I suppose it could happen any day now at this point, but I have a feeling that I will make it all the way to my due date of July 9th. My doctor will allow elective induction, so I'm thinking that I will decide to induce labor on or around my due date if I haven't gone into labor by then.

We had an ultrasound today to see the position of the baby, so we got a new picture. Also, the sonographer estimated that baby Porter weighs around 6 lbs, 6 oz. That means that he will be a little over 7 lbs when born. I'm very excited that he will be well within the range of normal, but on the small side! Here's today's picture... doesn't he look a little angry? I think he's ready to get out of there!

The Countdown Begins

I have officially started counting down the number of weeks left until my due date as opposed to counting the number of weeks that have passed. I only have 7 weeks and 2 days left! I can't wait to meet little Porter West!

We had another Doctor's appointment this week. We got good news and not so good news. We learned that the echogenic bowel has disappeared (yea!!), but that a cyst has now appeared on his brain (boo!!). I am extremely relaxed about the latest abnormality as the last two disappeared within a few weeks. I hadn't created the blog yet when the first abnormality occurred so many of you may not know about it. At 8 weeks the Dr. discovered a cyst on the umbilical cord. It was gone by 10 weeks. I have another sonogram next Thursday to check it out again.

We were very busy this past weekend. My very good friend from high school, Brooke, was in town wedding dress shopping, so I went along to look at some of the dresses with her. She found a gorgeous dress and bridesmaid dresses (lucky for me!) My church friends threw us a baby shower on Sunday. They decorated so cute with monkeys! I was so blessed to have so many friends come bearing gifts and new mommy advice. Here's a few pictures from the shower. Also, we went to the pool this weekend, so my latest belly picture features swimwear!

Pictures!

We had our 28 week check-up today. Other than the "echogenic bowel," everything is looking great! The little problem is still there, but I'm still staying quite positive that it is not an indication of anything serious. The good thing is that I get to keep having sonograms. We got some incredible pictures today!

In addition to increased doctors visits, we are starting to get very busy with other things. We are planning on taking parenting classes at our church on Sundays and birthing classes at the hospital on Mondays. Add to that the family reunion, three showers, friend's wedding and garage sale we have planned. I'm so anxious to hurry up and have this baby, but I don't think I need to be worried about time passing slowly or being bored in the meantime!

Here are the pictures we got today. Also, I posted a new belly picture. Notice, the first picture of the baby... those aren't his hands in front of his forehead, it's his feet! So precious...

Yesterday's Check-up

I went to the doctor again yesterday for another check-up. I had to have another sonogram to measure the baby because I'm measuring small. We got good news that the baby is in the 43rd percentile, so a tiny bit smaller than average, but well within the range of normal! He weighs 1 lb, 12 oz. Also found out today that I do not have gestational diabetes. The Dr. was a little concerned that I might because I had a high amount of glucose in my blood last visit.

We got another profile picture of the baby, but were disappointed that we weren't able to get a 3D image. The baby had his hands in front of his face the whole time! They did find something that could possibly indicate an abnormality, so I'm scheduled to have another sonogram in 3 weeks. Maybe we'll get our picture then! I'm not freaked out at all about the possible abnormality. The doctor seemed to be very confident that it was probably nothing, so I'm not going to worry myself to death over the next three weeks.

Here's our latest picture:

Just 16 Weeks To Go!

It has been a while since I last posted, mostly because very little has changed in the past few weeks... except for my belly, that is! I've posted an updated picture below. Otherwise, I'm at the best stage of pregnancy. I'm feeling great other than a few lower back aches and pains. I'll take that over nauseous and sleepy any day! My last doctor's check-up was a couple of weeks ago. He was concerned that I'm measuring small and not gaining enough weight, so I have to go in for another sonogram on March 31. At first I was concerned, but I started really packing it on right after that doctor's visit. The good news is that I will get to see another picture of the baby!

We have been "hard at work" picking things for the nursery and starting registries. I use quotes, because it's actually been a lot of fun. Seeing all of the adorable baby things make me really anxious for the big day, though. We have picked bedding that is a jungle animal theme. The colors are mostly green and brown. I fell in love with it because of the cute monkeys!

Grow Belly, Grow!

I've had several requests for belly shots. Unfortunately, even though I am 19 weeks today, I'm not showing very much. I guess it's not such a bad thing, but it's hard to find clothes that fit. I'm busting out of my normal clothes, but too small for maternity. When I first got pregnant and Googled, "when will I start showing," I read that in some rare instances, a woman will not start showing until 20 weeks. This is normally because the woman is either obese or has six pack abs. Well, I'm certainly neither, so I never imagined I'd be one of those women. The good news is that I started feeling the baby move this week! I was starting to wonder if he was still in there!

Baby Boy West!!!

By now most of our family and friends know that we are expecting in July. We went to the doctor today and found out that we are going to have a boy! We are very excited, but not at all shocked. Our doctor made a guess at our 12 week ultrasound that it is a boy. Laramie says that they were able to see so soon because our son is very "gifted."

I love modern technology! Our doctor has the latest and greatest equipment, so we were able to have the ultrasound recorded on DVD. They aren't able to record in real time, so we didn't get to leave the doctor today with the DVD in our hands. However, we did get some good still photos, one of them in 3D. I realize that even the 3D pictures can be hard to make out, so I'll try to explain them

Baby has his right arm lifted so that his elbow is beside his right eye.

Profile of Face: baby is almost upside down. His forehead is the white arc middle, left.

Hand: middle, left

Boy: Arrow points right at it! (Looking at baby from underneath).