Levi- one month

Levi at one month:

He's nursing like a champ!! We had a slight dip at 48 hours after birth, but I'm coming to see all three of my boys have done that. He does great with a shield, otherwise he projectile spits up, gags and otherwise if fussy through out the feeding.
He feeds every 3-4 hours for at least 30 minutes on each side. From week 2 to 3 he was feeding every two hours in the evening.
He has a bit of baby acne and it's so sweet

He has been sleeping in his pack and play downstairs near me so I can hear him and get up mutliple times at night.
He bobs his head when ever he feels like it
He is a sweet snuggly baby while he's feeding and holds on to me
He burps best when his knees are tucked under his tummy up on our shoulder
He doesn't like to be bounced or jostled. It agitates him.
He likes being warm, cozy with a hat on and swaddled.
He looked surprised when he got his one shot. The second I picked him up, he was calm.
His 1 month appt is optional and he's fine so I didn't see the need.
Next time to get weighed and measured is his 2 month check up.
He was at 10 pounds 6 ounces from our unofficial home weighing and had grown 1/2 of an inch

He worse newborn for maybe a week in diapers and clothes.

Now he's in size 0-3 clothes and 1 in diapers.

He's a sweet cuddler who sleeps through anything including both the fun and unhappy noises of his big brothers :-)

Gift from daddy for my birthday

Gift from Katy, LOVE!

Mother's Day shirt... *happy sigh* It's a scanned image of my husband and all three boys hands

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Big people news: Daddy suprised mommy with a birthday dinner with precious friends!

Welcome Levi!

April 7th started as a normal Monday morning. I woke up achy- had back aches, sciatic pain and charlie horses through out most of the pregnancy.  Sugar cravings were a noticeable difference with this little guy. Also, the protein headaches that took quite some time and extra protein supplements to shake. I was very grateful to have essential oils during this pregnancy, that is new also since having my last baby. I actually got a shower that morning and was moving around , okay waddling, getting morning breakfast ready for the boys when my water broke about 8 am. I called our baby plan who was getting ready for her work day and didn't hear the phone. My adrenalin was pumping, so I called a couple other back ups. Plan C showed up, waiting for plan K ;-) who showed up. It was SUCH a comfort having K there, as she is framily. She spent the day with the older boys while I was doing my job and getting this sweet new one here.  I was really convinced this guy was going to come early too, but he came one day before his due date.
We drove the 3 miles to a different hospital than I had my two older boys at, since we had moved since then and this one was brand new as well as uber close. I had been walking around at a 3 dilated for a few weeks, plus this being my third birth I was really thinking this would be a quick delivery.
They took me in to the consulting room (I'm guessing that's the name), heard that the water broke, which baby this was for us and how far I was already dilated, so they immediately moved me to a LDR.  My bonus mom showed up to pace the halls and get things moving. Since I had my oils and knew my body better than the previous births, I wanted to give natural a go. My sister, niece and great niece came to the hospital by then. I bypassed the pitocin all together. I did accept an epidural at 7 hours in to the process. The pain was at a 10, I still wasn't dilated past a 6 and the contractions were a minute apart.
 Dr S. said at 4 pm, I'd been making him out to be a liar all day long, so I wasn't alone in my assumptions about 3rd births. ( My mom barely got the hospital in time to have me, her 3rd and a nurse caught me as the dr didn't have time to make it there). It took 10 hours for my precious boy to join us after my water broke. Levi was born at 6:06 pm, weighing 8 pounds 8 ounces, 20.5 inches long. He weighed the most and has the darkest hair of anyone in the family. He's undeniably ours and precious and smells like heaven.
Here are Levi's first few weeks, meeting brothers, extended family and friends along with the cord falling off, first bath, first dr's appt

Two days before Levi's arrival. Daniel is leaning on him, too cute!

First time at church as a family of five

Easter 2014

Bluebonnet Pics 2014

2014, Part 1

First few months of 2014 went by pretty fast. Between being pregnant, having family in from out of town, Billy's birthday, our 9th Anniversary, Valentines, Easter and the arrival of Levi. Sleepless nights, celebrations, aches & pains and enjoying my family while ( still) slowly finishing out our homeschool year.

Blogging seems to take more time, effort and longer focus than a quick share on instagram with a caption and hashtag. Sharing on Facebook with anything more than a quick funny preschooler chat is a time sucker. The more articles I read about putting down the phone, camera, tablets and stepping away from the computer, the more I know it's a balance and something I need to model for 3 boys that there is a better use of our time then electronics and entertainment. Feeding a newborn 7-9 times a day keeps me slightly stationary for chunks at a time. Levi, at 7 weeks, is just now starting to feed for less than half an hour.  I'll do a separate post for his birth and another for his first month, hopefully before next week when he turns two months old. This is still a scrapbook of sorts. As a third child of the same gender myself, I feel it's an honor to keep up with his growth and remember the little things about all of my boys. It's still new with him and different since he's his own person and not 'just another boy'.

Here's January through March in pictures: