Max Rolled Over!

Max will be 12 weeks old on Friday! Last Saturday when I had Max in the floor for some tummy time, he surprised me and Mark by rolling over! Now, it wasn't a full 360 roll, but he did roll from his tummy to his back! We were both very excited! Max seems determined to make sure that both his mommy and his daddy witness as many of his milestones as possible. When I was only about four months pregnant, I was relaxing in a bubble bath, when suddenly Max started kicking. It was the first time that I could feel actual kicks. Mark was in the living room, so I yelled for him to come quickly. Of course he came running, and by that time, the kicking had stopped. However, within just a couple of minutes, Max started right back up again. So we both witness the first kicks, the first breaths, and now, the first rolls! Hopefully we will be able to share many, many more special moments with our son! The video below is not the first roll, but the second. Of course we weren't videoing when the big moment actually happened, but as soon as it did, I grabbed the video camera in case we got some more action. Luckily, he decided to show off a little bit more!

Max at Two Months

Our sleeping angel!

Max and Aunt Sue

Max with Aunt Francis and Uncle Nicolas

Max obviously likes his Aunt Francis!

Max and Grandma

I can't believe Max is already two months old! He is already growing up too fast! He went for his two month appointment with the pediatrician on Thursday and the doctor was very pleased with his development so far. Max is hitting all his milestones and growing at a very healthy weight. He weighed 14 lbs. 7 oz. and was 24 inches long. He is in the 95th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height among children his age. Max also had to get his first round of shots on Thursday, but Mark said he did really well. He cried a little (Max that is, not Mark, although Mark said he wanted to also!) but got over it pretty quickly. Since I had to start back to work on Monday, Mark had to take Max to the doctor by himself on Thursday.



Because I had to start back to work, this week has been tough on all of us! Max had to start daycare, which has been okay. Mark and I both have struggled with leaving him with other people, but we console ourselves with the fact that he is not there all day long, like some kids are. I get up with Max in the morning and feed him. Then I get Mark up and I get ready for school. From that point on, Mark takes care of Max until he has to go to work at 11, so Max doesn't go to daycare until about 10:30 or so. Then, I pick him up after I get out of school. The daycare is less than two minutes from where Mark works, so we go by and see him on our way home everyday. It's not a bad routine really; it's just trying to get used to another new routine!

Max is really doing great! He got to go to Summerville for the first time a couple of weeks ago and meet more of the family. He got to see his Mimi and grandpa and Great-Grandmother again and got to meet his Great Grandfather, his great great Aunt Francis and Uncle Nicolas, his Aunt Sue and Uncle Bob and cousin Levi, and his Uncle Gary. Aunt Pat came up to Mom's to see him, but since she had been around sick people, she just stood outside of the storm door and I held up Max so she could see him. Aunt Sue ordered us a bunch of cloth diapers and I have finally gotten then all washed and ready to go, so Max will be a cloth diaper baby now, which we are very excited about! Sorry to those of you we didn't get to see! We will be back before too long and hopefully we will get to see more of you! He handled traveling and meeting new people pretty well, although after two days, I could tell he was ready to go home! I guess we all are ready to go home after a few days away though! And by the way, a big, big THANK YOU to Dee Clark for the travel swing! Max really likes to sleep in his swing at home, and I don't know what we would have done when we stayed at Mom's if we didn't have it!

Overall, Max is such a wonderful baby. He smiles a lot and likes to play (as much as a baby his age can play). He likes to swing his arms around and kick his legs all over the place! He coos and gurgles and makes all kinds of cute sounds now. He likes to be sung to and to listen to music. He also is very strong! He holds his head up really well and turns it from side to side pretty well too. He stands himself up in our laps. You can tell he really thinks he is something when he does that! We look forward to new developments and all the changes that await us in the future! Our house is always a mess, the dishes are dirty in the sink, and no one but Max has clean clothes, but we love it. We are so very blessed. Max has brought such joy and happiness into our lives. The days are so hectic and we are always exhausted, but I pray for these days to last! I know they will be over all too soon!

Sorry!

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. With Max, my time is very limited! However, I have tried twice recently to create a post, and both times my computer decided it was time to install updates and restarted in the middle of everything, causing my post to be lost.

Anyway, Max is doing great! He is growing rapidly and changing everyday. He still has a head full of hair, although a little of it has fallen out. He makes all sorts of noises now. He likes to talk to you. If you talk to him and pause for him to respond, he will coo and make other noises back. He also smiles a lot! He is sleeping better too. He went on a temporary rebellion against sleeping in his crib, but that is over now. Overall, we are so blessed to have such a wonderful, beautiful baby!

I have two weeks left off of work, and after that, Max will be going to day care! Next week we are going to take him for a few hours on Thursday and Friday so he will at least be a little familiar with the people and the place when Mark has to take him on Monday.

If you follow this link, you will see lots of pictures of Max. Some of them have been posted on previous blogs, but most have not. You may have to copy and paste the address into your browser for this to work.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022391&id=1594065026&l=a180df64a3

Max...Our Growing Boy

He looks so grown up! We took this picture yesterday.

Mark was imitating Max's sporadic antics

Max is 3 weeks old! I can't believe we have made it this far! I haven't posted much, but Max is a lot harder to take care of now that he's on the outside! We have all started to get in the swing of things. I am still really tired, but it's been fun. There are no more Grandmas now, and Mark has gone back to work, so this week was tough and tiring - but we made it! Max is eating well and constantly growing. At his one week appointment, he was already 9 lbs. 3 oz. He doesn't have another appointment for another week and a half, so we will have an other update then. He doesn't like sleeping on his own, so he ends up sleeping on either me or Mark at times. However, he is getting better and better at sleeping in the bassinet. We think he has acid reflux, so I have been trying to monitor my diet to make sure I am not making it worse. We also got a wedge for him to sleep on that seems to be helping some. Hopefully this will continue to improve. Max changes everyday, so I just tried to post a lot of pictures to get up to date. I will try to update more regularly from now on, but with Max around, there are not guarantees!

Max loves to sleep on us. He likes it way better than sleeping in his bassinet!

Max with Uncle Todd.

Max was asleep like this and I couldn't help snapping a picure! He looks like he is just so tuckered out!
Sometimes when Max is having trouble going to sleep, Mark rocks him to sleep. Mark is becoming quite the rocking expert!

Welcome Baby Max!

We finally have officially met our new baby! Mark Thomas Lawrence, Jr., called "Max," was born August 7, 2009 at 6:16 p.m. He weighed 8 lbs 5 oz and was 21 inches long. He was strong and healthy from the beginning, kicking and screaming! We spent two days in the hospital. We arrived home Sunday afternoon and have been enjoying it ever since.

The first picture of Max with his mom.

Max's first picture with Daddy!

Our week 39 belly pictures, taken Thursday night before Max was born.

38 Weeks and Counting

The countdown is really on! We were 38 weeks on Thursday. I had another doctor's appointment on Friday, but we had not made any more progress; we are still 1 cm dilated and about 70% effaced. We have another appointment on Tuesday to see if we have made any more progress. Our doctor is going out of town from August 9 - 15, which is prime baby time for us, so we will be discussing the option of induction.

School starts back for me on Monday, so I am really looking forward to going back to work! My feet and ankles are swelling like crazy and my back has developed these lovely shooting pains, which Mark was so kind as to photograph for your viewing pleasure!



The waiting has become extraordinarily difficult, so Mark and I have begun a project: an incredibly difficult puzzle - probably the hardest puzzle that I have ever tried to put together. We wanted to make sure we got one that would take us a while and that would be difficult enough to take our mind off of things. Well, we definitely go that, and a whole lot more!

Antoher interesting development has been the onset of cravings. I haven't really experienced very many cravings, with the exception of a general craving for fruits and vegetables throughout most of my pregnancy. However, starting just a few days ago, I have been having cravings for very specific things. The other day I wanted chicken salad, then it was strawberries and kiwis, and now it is brunswick stew! I thought you were supposed to have cravings early in pregnancy, but I guess it's the opposite for me!


So, the belly continues to grow and the baby keeps getting stronger! Hopefully one day very soon we will all get to meet Baby Lawrence!

Too many things to tell....

We celebrated our first wedding anniversary on Sunday! Here are a couple of pics of our cute little cake we ate (or tried to - despite looking cute, it still tasted like cardboard!).




It's been a little while since our last post, so we have several things to report.

First of all, on the Friday following our ultrasound, we spoke with the doctor about what he saw. Dr. Elder said that everything looked "picture perfect" and that he estimated Baby Lawrence to weigh about 6 1/2 pounds at that point. Right now Dr. Elder is a little concerned that if I go all the way to my due date or beyond that Baby Lawrence will be quite a big boy!

Last Friday we had another appointment, at which time Dr. Elder checked me to see if we had any labor action going on, and we were dilated 1 cm and about 50% effaced. Baby Lawrence was still doing well; his heart beat was still nice and strong, and his movements were good.

On Sunday, we thought our time had finally come. I started having contractions around 6:00 p.m. and I finally timed them around 7:45. At that point, they were five minutes apart and lasting for about 35 seconds. We waited a little while, and when the contractions didn't stop, but only increased in length and strength, we called the doctor on call for my doctor's office, who put me through to the hospital. The nurse there said it definitely sounded like I was having contractions, but to try to stay home for a while and come in once they got longer and closer together. Well, around 11 we timed them again and they were 4 minutes apart and lasting for nearly a minute. They had also increased in strength, reaching a point where they were literally taking my breath away and making it difficult to walk or to stand upright. At that point, we decided to go to the hospital. After checking in, they hooked us up to a fetal monitor and to another monitor to measure my contractions. Sure enough, there they were - right on the screen. However, when the nurse checked, I was still at only 1 cm. So, then it became a waiting game. I sat through 3 hours of contractions, only to find out that nothing was happening! Well, almost nothing. I was still only dilated 1 cm, but I was effaced to nearly 80%. The doctor said to send me home with some Ambien so I could get 8 hours of good, deep sleep and then we would see what happened. When I woke up the next day, the contractions had stopped, leaving me very sore and even more disappointed. So, still no baby, but all signs are pointing to him coming soon. There have been several physical developments that signal labor is on its way, so keep your fingers crossed for us! We are both so very ready to have Baby Lawrence in our arms!

Here is a nice pic of the growing Buddha belly, all shiny with lotion!

Mark took this picture on Sunday when we were packing our things to go to the hospital! So this is my "I thought I was finally going to be a mom" picture.

And this is Mark's "Oh my God, I'm gonna be a dad" pic! Too bad we have more waiting to do!

35 1/2 Week Ultrasound

This is a picture of his left foot.

His "turtle"! Still a boy!

Baby Lawrence in profile

This is a closeup of his face. Right in the middle there is a triangle shape - that is his nose. Below that is a crescent shape - that is his mouth. The white mass that is down and to the left from his nose is his hands.


We had our last ultrasound today. Everything seemed to look good. He is measuring a bit ahead of schedule - 36 weeks and 3 days. His head and body measured close to 37 weeks, but his legs were about 35 weeks. I did not get to see the obstetrician today; I will see him Friday, so at that point he will give me a length and weight estimate and tell me what all of this means.

Clothes for Baby Lawrence

Ok, so we have a ton of baby clothes (thanks to all of our wonderful friends and family, and my awesome cousins in Orlando). But, I saw this and couldn't help myself! This is going to be Baby Lawrence's homecoming outfit. I love it!

34 Weeks

We are 34 weeks today! I had another doctor's appointment this morning. The baby has turned so that his back is to my left now. Up to this point, he seemed to prefer the right side. His head is still down (yay!). When the doctor checked the positioning of his head, he immediately started turning his head to the left and right (ouch!) and flailing his arms and legs. He still does not like for anyone to mess with him - not that I blame him! I can only imagine the fit this guy is going to pitch when he is born and has to be checked out. He seems to get stronger everyday and is still incredibly active. We scheduled another ultrasound for Monday, July 13. At that point, the doctor hopes to give us a more accurate idea of his weight and length so that we can predict what his birth size will be. Right now the doctor says his growth is right on target, so at 34 weeks, a developing baby typically is about 4 1/2 pounds. My next regular appointment in Friday, July 17.

Our First Blog

Welcome to our new blog! We want everyone to be able to share in our excitement and to be able to see the changes and developments we go through as Baby Lawrence's arrival approaches. We hope to post pics and stories for everyone to see and read. Check back regularly, as we hope to update every couple of days.