Cole's first bath

We gave our baby his first bath today! We were both pretty nervous about it, but he needed it. Wipe downs really only work for so long. It was definitely a two "man" job though... he is so slippery! The child never cried once... he actually only got upset when we put him in his towel.

He has been sleeping for 5-6 hour sessions at night. He is finally enjoying his cradle, but still tends to sleep in his swing for an hour towards morning.

We tried bottle feeding him tonight, and he took to it like a champ. My little man takes about 7-8 ounces at a time, and that was only within 15-20 minutes. Considering I typically feed him for about 45 minutes, no wonder he is so strong!

My babies (both fur and biological) are getting along so well. Hercules sniffs Cole all the time, and will go into a bit of a panic when I am feeding him with my cover on. (I use a cover while breastfeeding when anyone is here.) When he is in his pack 'n' play, Herc tends to stay close by. I am so excited that it is working to date, but I have found it is extremely hard to give Hercules the attention he needs. We are working on getting a balance. It's a big adjustment for us all.

We took Cole on his first public outing today. Sharon, Steve, Troy and I went to lunch at a local BBQ joint, and brought little man along. He slept the whole time.

Troy enjoys photographing Cole's feet, and has begun baby calisthenics...

Our amazing son

I swear this kid must be a month overdue! He is so advanced. We went to the doctor yesterday, who was my childhood pediatrician. I made him feel old. Anyway, they were impressed that Cole is already raising his head and sleeping through the night. In fact, we are participating in a program called Healthy Development, and the lady used the two week infant checklist while speaking with us. Every single item on the two week checklist was checked. We were told that we are doing a really good job in picking up on his signals, and are shaping up to be great parents. Since we have no idea what we are doing, this was great to hear!

The pediatrician told me I was looking really well and couldn't believe I had had a c-section just a week ago. It really made me feel great to hear that!

Sharon and Steve are here, they arrived last Saturday and will be here till Sunday. We are having a very nice visit, and they are loving the time with Cole. Mom and Dad will be stopping by this evening on the way down to Myrtle Beach. I am looking forward to seeing them again. They came and spent Tuesday-Saturday here while I was in the hospital, and just generally took a load off my mind with the dog, and helping us by doing all sorts of things. Mainly just having them here made us feel so much better about the situation. Sometimes a girl just needs her parents!

Mom intends to come stay with me from Sunday until Tuesday, and Lindy will be staying with me on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon.

Oh, and I didn't share the blanket Mom made for Cole! It is the most beautiful quilt I have ever seen. The flowers at the bottom are blue hydrangea and tangerine calla lilies (our wedding flowers). The dragon fly is made of ribbon from our wedding. The border is the cream eyelit lace from Cole's curtains. The whole thing is just beautiful and fits perfectly in the nursery. I will add pictures of the nursery in general as soon as I get some good shots. Troy won't let me climb steps more than twice a day until I am healed, so I am stuck in the living room unless absolutely necessary.

The quilt:

Cole Emmett Parker

Our baby was due on October 7th, but he decided that he wanted to take his time. I went to my doctor on the 13th, and she scheduled me for induction. We went to the hospital the following day, and they started the Cervadil. The next morning, nothing had happened from that, so they administered the Pitocin. The on call doctor broke my water, which was a really cool experience. I got up because I needed to use the restroom, and all of the sudden I had a bit of a gush all over the bathroom floor. I was so happy I got to experience that as the induction did not work for me. By evening, not only was I starving (no one told me I couldn't eat till after labor. I was so pissed... it is just so messed up to deny the preggo food!!), but I still was only dilated to a 4 when I should have been at a 6 or 7. The on call doc came in and informed me that we would need to do a c-section if things hadn't improved within an hour and a half.

An hour and a half later they prepared me for surgery. I was extremely scared and was uncontrollably shaking. In fact, a c-section was my greatest fear about childbirth in general. In the end though, we were given a healthy baby boy, I am fine, and that is all that really matters.

At birth, he was 21 inches long and weighed 8 pounds, 15 ounces... a big boy!!

We brought Cole home from the hospital last Saturday. I am amazed with every tiny thing he does. I feel that he must be extremely advanced for his age as he is able to easily focus on faces and can lift his head. He did a baby ab crunch earlier as well while Nana was holding him. He adores his swing.... so do Troy and I! Otherwise we would spend hours at night walking up and down the halls. We are considering buying a second swing just to keep in our bedroom... yes, that is how good it is!

Troy and I both feel so blessed to have this incredible little addition to our lives. It is absolutely bizarre how much this child resembles me as an infant. THANK GOD kiddo got his daddy's build! He will be tall and thin! If we have a daughter, I hope she will inherit Troy's build as well. I am sad the baby didn't inherit Troy's eyes, but we hold out hope for those long black eyelashes. Here is a comparative picture: