1 Month Old

Age: Four weeks

Approximate height and weight: 20 inches, 8 lbs., 1 oz.

Milestones: Ehren has hit the ground running in terms of achieving milestones. Right after he was born, he could already lift his head for up to 30 seconds and was great at making eye contact. One of the nurses even commented that they'd never seen a stronger newborn lol. He is showing strong reflexes and is a definite wiggle worm. At this point, he still can't see very far and his vision is black and white, but it's improving every day. During tummy time, he manages to flip himself over and hits/kicks objects that you dangle in front of him. He makes a lot of noises from grunting to puppy-like barks, and grabs my hair and shirt when I hold him. One of the best things has been seeing all of the little faces he's learning to make. Whenever something interests him, he purses his lips and looks genuinely astonished. He's managed a few smiles and has the most heartbreakingly-cute pouty face.

Likes: When he's in the mood for it, Ehren LOVES tummy time. Many times, he works on his army crawl and inches around, does the cobra pose, and even planks once in a while. He also enjoys going to the "art gallery" a.k.a. looking at all of the photos and magnets on our fridge. Leif and I read to him a lot and it's hit or miss if he's engaged in the illustrations or not. Lights, shadows, curtains flowing, dangling objects, and fans fascinate him, and his favorite place to be is asleep on mommy or daddy's chest.

Dislikes: Ehren is a pretty relaxed baby if all of his basic needs are met, however, once he gets hungry, he is very impatient and full of rage. We've taken him out for a few walks, but he's not a big fan of being strapped into his car seat. Now that he's over 8 pounds, we can begin using our baby carrier, so hopefully, he'll like going outside more after that. He's warming up to his playmat and swing, but he still doesn't last very long in them. He's come a long way sleeping in his bassinet, but still prefers sleeping next to one of us on the couch or being held.

Memory: There haven't been many episodes of being peed or pooped on so far, but the few incidents we have had were extreme. Leif and I have both experienced the projectile "missile launch" poops that sprayed at least a foot. I managed to dodge the blast when it happened to me, but poor Leif was blasted all over his shirt.

Mom and Dad: Leif and I are absolutely in love with our little guy. The last few weeks have been a major adjustment period, but despite the sleep deprivation, stress, and complete lifestyle change, we're very happy and seeing Ehren happy and content makes it all worth it.

Ehren's Birth Story

Ehren Gabriel, born Tuesday, June 12th at 5:20 a.m. 20 inches long, 7 lbs. and 4 oz.

Despite all of the prenatal classes I took and all of the advice I gathered from countless other parents, nothing could have prepared me for the fears, joys, surprises, stresses, and overpowering love that comes with having a child.

Ehren's birth story: As I mentioned in my previous posts, I'd been having contractions for a week or two, and by Saturday, June 9th, they'd become very intense and regular.

On Thursday the 7th, I had my cervix checked which seems to have set off my labor. That night, I was leaking blood and fluid, so I went into Labor and Delivery Friday morning. I had dilated to about 1 cm within about 18 hours but was sent home since my water hadn't broken. Friday night, the contractions began picking up and were 5-7 minutes apart by Saturday morning... so we went into Labor and Delivery again. This time, I was a little further dilated but still not enough to be admitted.

The contractions died down a little Saturday afternoon, but as soon as nighttime hit, I can pretty safely say that's when early labor went into full swing. Labor and Delivery said not to come in again unless the contractions were consistently 2-5 minutes apart for at least 2 hours, so I experienced about 36 hours of increasingly painful contractions that only allowed me to sleep in 5 minute intervals.

I had been too exhausted to walk around but Monday morning, I pushed myself to get in some activity and noticed that my contractions were then about 3 minutes apart.

I called my OBGYN office instead of Labor and Delivery and they said I should definitely go in and that I had labored at home long enough. Having been turned away multiple times already, I wasn't convinced that it wasn't another false alarm, however, Labor and Delivery immediately determined that I was 6 cm dialated and 80% effaced, so I was checked into a room right away. Leif had dropped me off at Labor and Delivery since I didn't want him to miss any work in the event that I was sent home again, so I surprised him with a call that I was in labor. I told the rest of my family and was on the verge of tears being overwhelmed with what was to come.

I hadn't made any final decisions about my birth plan since so many people told me that you need to be flexible and it was hard to make the call regarding pain medications. After consulting some family and doctors, I opted for the epidural, and Leif held my hand as I prayed I wouldn't have any negative side effects while it was being placed. Thankfully, it went smoothly and once the epidural kicked in, I felt so good that I was flooded with optimism about the experience. I even got a couple hours of sleep as I waited to dilate to 10 cm.

Dilating the rest of the way ended up taking much longer than expected but after my nap, I was refueled and ready to push. Pushing began a little after midnight and I was very slowly working Ehren down the birth canal. Unfortunately, after the first hour or two, he simply stopped advancing. My doctor wasn't on call so I had someone I hadn't met before. She said Ehren was in a slightly awkward position but there was still a chance I could deliver him naturally since he wasn't very large.

Since I had already invested so much time and wanted to avoid the risks and recovery related to my other birthing options, I decided to continue pushing. The nurses kept telling me I was pushing well, so I was crushed when another hour passed and I was told he still hadn't budged.

I was given the options of forceps, vacuum assistance, or a c section. I was told that forceps posed no risk to the baby (which I later found out isn't exactly accurate since they can damage the baby's brain, but fortunately there are no signs of that), so they tried using them twice with no success.

By this time, the epidural had worn off for the most part and the contractions were excruciating. Not wanting to use vacuum assistance, a c section was the only choice left, and by that time, I was so tired and frustrated with how everything went that I broke down. They pushed Ehren back up my birth canal and wheeled me to the operating room. We waited for my epidural to take effect again but it was taking too long. Even though I could still feel the anesthesiologist's test pokes, they decided to make the incision... and I could feel it. Within minutes, they put me to sleep and about 20 minutes later, I woke up shivering and coughing from the worst sore throat caused by the breathing tube. I was really out of it, but saw Leif holding Ehren out of the corner of my eye. After seeing Ehren, I immediately started crying again... this time, out of happiness and relief. Leif brought him over and I reached out to touch his hand, saying something along the lines of "Baby... baby, I love you, baby..."

I honestly don't remember much of the following 12 hours besides Ehren being briefly placed on my chest and him feeling so warm and looking very aware of his surroundings. Next thing I remember was the nurse telling me I spiked a fever from an infection and needed antibiotics. I think I passed out again and Leif took care of updating all of the family.

Once I came to, I was in an incredible amount of pain and was extremely sick. It was heartbreaking not being able to pick Ehren up out of the bassinet or help with his first bath, changing, etc. but I knew I needed to rest and get my strength back.

The following day, I focused on recovery and taking tiny steps toward walking and regaining some independence. I got to hold Ehren a lot but since he experienced some trauma during birth, he was somewhat fussy and was struggling with breastfeeding, however, that night, he came around and was like a completely different baby - very engaged, active, and curious about the world. With us both feeling a bit better, I could relax and better enjoy everything.

I wasn't sure how my anxiety would be with the sleep deprivation and trauma, but surprisingly, I only cried a few more times and either it was health-related or I was just so happy. Ehren did well on all his tests, got an 8/9 on his APGAR, and fell right in the middle for size percentiles. He had a bruise in his head from all of the pushing making him more susceptible to jaundice, but he didn't even develop that.

Even though so many things went wrong during labor, I can say that I am so grateful that Ehren is okay and I have almost made a full recovery. You never know how these things are going to go, but I have to tell myself that made the best decisions I could with the information I had. I feel like labor is an introduction to how much you're willing to endure and sacrifice for your child, and Ehren will always be worth it. 