Connor is 2 Weeks Old!

 It has been a crazy 2 weeks around the Cornett household! Between breastfeeding for what feels like 24 hours a day, getting very little sporadic sleep, and changing a million diapers a day, I can honestly say that Connor has been life changing for both Brad and me. Although we are exhausted, we wouldn't change it for the world. Connor is amazing! He is so perfect in every way, even when he is crying at 3 am uncontrollably :)

We have seen Connor's pediatrician twice now. Once at 5 days old and today for his 2 week check up. At 5 days old, Connor had lost down to 6 pounds 14 ounces. At that point, he was not eating well primarily because I had very little milk. After pumping in between nursing and talking to friends and several lactation specialists, I finally began to produce a decent amount of milk. I still do not have just a lot, but am able to feed him regularly and pump still to try to begin my supply for when I return to work. The doctor suggested supplemented 1-3 ounces of formula at each feeding in the beginning, which I did for 2 days, but after my milk came in, I backed off to just giving him 2 ounces at night. Today at his 2 week check up, he was back up to his birth weight of 7 pounds 6 ounces! The pediatrician told me to continue feeding him as I was but to limit his feedings to 45 min since I sometimes would let him eat for an hour or even longer at times. The pediatrician was very pleased at his weight as well as with how strong our little man is. He instructed us to definitely not leave him alone on the couch or elevated surface because he can about turn himself over! Crazy at 2 weeks old can almost roll from back to side on his own.

This second week, we have noticed that Connor is so much more aware! He stays awake a little more throughout the day and when he does he is constantly looking around with his big dark blue eyes. He reacts really well to light and sound, too. He loves his hands. They are constantly moving, even when he is asleep. And boy does he make some funny faces when he is sleeping! My favorite is his little smile :)

We had Connor's newborn pictures taken at 11 days old by Suzanne Carey. She came to our house and stayed for 3 hours. She was so patient with him since he decided to be wide awake when she arrived. With the newborn sessions, it is best for him to be asleep so she can put him in various positions. But after taking our lifestyle pictures with him and nursing him, he finally passed out and was able to get a ton of pictures. I cannot wait to see them!

We have had lots of visitors over the past 2 weeks. Everyone has been so anxious to meet Connor! Our first night home, Leah and the girls came over. Rocki just loved Connor. The following weekend, Stacey, Cassandra, Jeff, and C.Jay came over on Saturday and on Sunday Laura, Trent, Meredith, and Chord came to visit. My mom stayed with us for 5 days after Connor was born. She was a huge help! My sister stayed through the weekend after he was born. And Brad's parents have been popping in and out pretty regularly bringing us dinner and helping out as we need them. Michael and Whitney have also visited pretty regularly. We brought Connor to visit his great grandma this week. She was overjoyed with our visit and thought he was the cutest little thing! Everyone thinks he is looking a little more like me than Brad at this point :) He definitely is handsome no matter who he looks like!

Our second weekend home with Connor (about 1 and half weeks old), we decided to go to our church Saturday night service. I was getting ready to get out of the house so we decided church would be the perfect place to go. Brad's parents (Nana D and Big Daddy) came over to babysit. They loved it! I think Connor slept the entire time we were gone, which was only about an hour and half. That's about as long as I could stand to be away from him :) We are so blessed to have this healthy baby boy in our life!

First night out :)

39-40 Weeks

So, today (Jan 8) I had my 39-40 week doctor appointment. Jan 9 is my due date. I'm getting a little anxious! I'm having some signs of labor but not much at all. Beginning to get crampy in my back and pelvic region. Having a few more contractions but still very inconsistent. I'm hoping that I will not have to go another week! So ready to meet Connor!

We got good news at my doctors appointment though! I was completely 1 cm dilated (before I thought I was, but she said I was really only a fingers tip) and my cervix was at 80% effaced! Those cramps must have been doing some work down there because the next thing my doctor asked me was when do I want to have Connor, the 10th or 11th?! Of course, I wanted the 10th but also had some questions about being induced. Throughout the entire pregnancy, I wanted to go into labor on my own without being induced because of the increased risk for c-section. She was very positive about me being induced at this point because I have made it to full term and my body was in the process of getting ready. So, we decided to induce on Thursday, Jan 10th!

Brad and I had to be at the hospital at 5 am Thursday morning. I cannot even express all of our feelings that morning. So happy and excited, but so nervous because I had no idea what to expect. I knew there was a possibility that I could be in labor for hours and hours and that scared me the most. I knew I could handle the pain, but fatigue was another thing. But, I said a prayer for a healthy and fast delivery of our baby boy and quickly became calm and ready. The time had finally come to meet our son!  When we got to the hospital, the nurse talked me through everything that would be occurring throughout the day. She registered me, did blood work, hooked me up to the IV's then checked me. Surprisingly, I was 3 cm dilated!! Brad and I just looked at each other. Didn't know what to say. From Tuesday to Thursday I had dilated on my own from 1 cm to 3 cm. This was great news! My doctor came in a little while later to check on me and she was also surprised. And even said this may be a quick delivery! I really was not feeling my contractions at this point still although they were showing up on the monitor that I was having them. Connor's heart rate was doing great and fluctuating from 120 to 180 BPM all morning. It was so neat being hooked up to the monitor so that I could hear his little heart beat. It seemed to calm me. At 10 am my doctor came in to break my water and give me my epidural. I did not even feel a thing from either, just a little pressure. Very soon after, though, the contractions became intense. And I mean intense. The epidural had not completely set in before they began so I felt them for a good 30-45 min before it did. My blood pressure dropped several times and became nauseated because the pain was so intense. Thank goodness the epidural was on a pump that I could manually pump every 15 min if needed. And it was needed! A little while later, I was checked again and I had dilated even more to 5 cm! By 12:30-1:00, I was at 9 cm. And at 2:00 I was finally 10 cm. When she said 10 cm, my heart skipped a beat. it was time! I didn't know what to think. The nurses began coming in and getting everything ready. My family had been asked to leave the room. And I started pushing. After 45 min of pushing, with the help of Brad, Connor was finally here! He was perfect! I was overjoyed with all kinds of emotions when she put him in my arms. He was finally here. After 9 long months, I was finally holding our baby boy. And it was the most amazing feeling I have ever had. Words cannot express what it felt like. Simply a miracle.

CONNOR BRADLEY CORNETT

Born January 10, 2013 at 2:59 P.M.

7 pounds 6 ounces, 22 inches 

Perfect little bundle of joy :)

39 Weeks

Well, I'm still hanging in there! Doctor's appointment didn't go exactly as I had planned this week. I  had my hopes set high that I would be more dilated and progressing more, but I'm still at 1 cm. My doctor wants to do an ultrasound next week (day before my due date) to check Connor's size, fluid, etc to make sure everything is okay. She said that by me not progressing anymore may be mother natures way of telling us something. So now we just wait. And I'm getting inpatient :( We are so ready to meet Connor and pray every day for a safe and healthy delivery and baby. Hopefully, the ultrasound does not show a 9 pound baby or any other problems that may cause me to have to have a c-section. I have not even prepared for that. Since my entire pregnancy has gone so smooth, I just assumed that my water would break and I would go into labor on my own. I know I still have a week before I hit 40 weeks so there is still time for Connor to get ready. But, now I'm getting a little anxious! His heart rate was around 160 BPM and he surprisingly is still moving a good bit. I have read that many babies quit moving as much in the last few weeks because they just run out of room, but Connor is still very active. I feel like I am still having a few contractions here and there, but still not a lot. Swelling is still very minimal. Primarily still in my hands at night, which is very painful when I try to make a fist. I'm still feeling pretty good. Back aches come and go. Still working and plan to work up until Connor makes his arrival, whether planned or unplanned.

So, at this point, we are waiting for Tuesday to see the results of ultrasound and internal check. Then we will set up a plan. Praying I will have progressed by then.

Brad took some pictures of me this week since we were both off of work for New Years. Here are a few of my fav's. Of course, Nola wanted to be in a few as well :)

We celebrated NYE with the Lee's and their newest addition, Layla. Grilled out steaks and relaxed!

And we rang in the New Year falling asleep on the couch :)