Max laughing

As Max becomes more interactive we find ourselves so immersed in the joy of it all that we usually miss documenting it.  He has had some pretty great conversations and laughs. This was the tail end of one that I finally thought to record. Hopefully we will get more evidence of his cuteness in the future.

Life at Home

Well, I decided not to go back to work (no surprise there). I just love being at home with Max too much. Although he was quite sick this past week with a cold--Mitch and I had our work cut out for us. I've been slacking on updating Max's progress though. He is getting so interactive and playful now. We love it. I just wish he would stop growing so fast! Here are several pictures from the past month. We enjoyed our first Christmas with our sweet boy.

The first month

What a whirlwind the past month has been! Growing up I always said that my dream profession was to be a mom, and thank goodness it turns out that I was right. I feel so fulfilled.

My physical recovery for the first couple weeks was rough. When my milk came in 3 days after delivery was probably the hardest day for me. But Max made it all worth it. The older he gets the more interactive he is and it is fun to discover his personality.

Max is a pretty easy baby so far. He really only fusses if he is hungry, needs to pass gas, or tired (or if he gets the "scary hiccups" as Mitch calls them). He now routinely does a 5 hour stretch at night which is awesome. During the day he takes most of his naps on my chest. I don't get as much done that way, but I just love it too much to give it up. He is not a fan of his car seat, and he doesn't care for shopping either (typical boy). He loves to stretch and stare at new lights. At nighttime when he is swaddled, he loves to burrow himself in his blanket. Therefore, we only use our stiff blankets to make sure he will always be able to breathe when he is down in his burrow. Sometimes Max just enjoys chilling by himself in his crib (a McClellan trait of liking his own space) but he also puts on an awesome face at parties (a Hunsaker trait).  We are so anxious to see who he becomes as he grows. He is getting so big!

 Smiling in his sleep

 I love his naps on my chest

 First bedtime stories

Our Little Man

Garth Maxwell McClellan was born Oct. 19th at 10:21 am. He was 7 lbs 2 oz and 20 inches long.

On Monday Oct. 28th I went to the doctor for a 40 1/2 week check up. My doctor said I was still dilated 3 cm (I had been for over 3 weeks at that point) and said we could try to strip my membranes (for the second time) but if that didn't help that he most likely wouldn't come till my induction date on Nov 1st. I could already tell that stripping my membranes that time seemed more effective but I wasn't sure if it was just cause I was so far along at that point. I continued my day by striping wall paper at my sister-in-law's house for 3 hours. I could feel contractions throughout it but was skeptical because I usually got contractions when I would do exercise. But after I went home and showered I noticed that I could time my contractions. So starting around 4 pm I started timing my contractions. They were about 15 minutes apart and pretty subtle. Mitch and I decided to keep busy so I wouldn't go crazy and we went out to dinner, went on a walk, etc. Around 10 that night they were still 15 minutes apart though noticeably more painful. I figured we should try and get some rest so we went to bed. But that lasted a whole 30 minutes because my contractions were speeding up (now about 8-10 min apart) and way painful.
By 11 I was crying with each contraction. They still weren't 3-5 min apart though so we were nervous about going to the hospital and being turned away. Since the pain was so bad we decided just to go. And by the time we got to the hospital at midnight, they were 3 min apart. The nurse checked me and I was dilated to a 4 so the doctor gave the okay for me to go get my epidural. At 1:30 my epidural was placed, and holy cow it made all the difference for me. I was finally able to relax for a little while. My mom and Mitch's mom stayed the whole night with Mitch and I. At about 2:30 the doctor broke my water and gave me some pitocin to speed up the labor. Well, it sped it up really really fast so they took me off it and let me continue dilating on my own. At 8:00 am on the 29th we started pushing. Mitch was my rock through pushing. He did the counting and held one leg while my mom held the other.
After 2 1/2 hours of pushing the doctor came in and saw that while I was really close, I just needed some more room and I was losing strength really fast. He gave me an episiotomy and sure enough, two pushes later our son was out. He just needed a little extra room to get out. I was so relieved because I didn't know how I was going to get him out. I thought for sure they would have to do a c-section.
The first thing he did when he got out was pee, which was really funny, and then they put him onto my chest to get skin to skin contact. He was so wide eyed and calm, it was the most surreal experience.

But then they had to whisk him away because he was really pale and having a hard time breathing. 

Mitch left with him and I had to recover. When we met them in the recovery room baby was doing great, he pinked up and his breathing was just fine. 

Sometimes I think back and can't believe I did that. It is amazing what our bodies can do. Recovery has been the pits but I wouldn't trade baby Max for anything. Mitch and I are so in love and feel so blessed that we have the privilege to raise this precious spirit. 

Insanity

No, I'm not talking about the work out program. I'm talking about that mental state you approach as you keep thinking to yourself "any day now..." I once thought that the 1st trimester must feel the longest with all the sickness--but no, the third trimester is the longest. I guess it is amusing at work now when people ask when I'm due and I get to respond, "oh, in 3 days!" Their eyes usually bulge and then they simply encourage, "hang in there." And that is what I am trying to do. 

39 weeks

Well, we have tried pretty much everything short of castor oil to get this labor started but I guess our boy is making a statement--he will come when he wants to come. We are nervous but very much ready to meet him and love him. In the meantime while we are still waiting, I'll put in a last photo dump of pregnant pictures.

 Love these ladies to the moon and back!

 Pumpkin fest at Grandma's. 

 Conference weekend in Park City (we didn't get ready but we were comfy).

We drove the alpine loop (as one of our labor inducing activities--the elevation changes didn't work) and I look ridiculous because Mitch said I had to bend over to get the picture lighting better, but this is at about 39 weeks--woot woot! 

Send some good vibes our way so we can get this baby here!

August

August came and went by in a blur!  Mitch's physical presence in my life has made me feel complete again. Among other fun things, we celebrated my 24th birthday and our 4 year anniversary. We went to  La Jolla Groves for dinner, and then did a dessert crawl instead of a pub crawl. (Mitch's idea)  We started at The Chocolate,

Proceded to the Sweet Tooth Fairy,

Then concluded at Gloria's Little Italy for some Gelato! It was delicious and a super fun date. Thanks babe!

My Mom also threw me a baby shower for family members.  She did an amazing job putting it together. The theme was nursery books and she made darling banners and the food table was unreal.

I'm so grateful for my family. Thanks to my sisters for helping with the yummy food. And thanks to my nieces for putting together the games--they did a great job. My family made me some amazing things like blankets, a perfect quilt, and the most amazing car seat cover you will ever lay eyes on. And he has a great library of books for us to read him (Mitch is super happy about that). Our baby boy is going to be one lucky dude!

On another note, Mitch has started his last year of law school and I am over 32 weeks along! Let's pray the next 6-8 weeks go by super fast because I am super uncomfortable. :)