Week 9

Noah had his 2 month appointment. He's almost 13 lbs! He's getting so big! He was supposed to get his shots, but we found out he had an ear infection, so we waited on the shots. I'm still in the process of deciding on which vaccines he is going to get...and he is definitely not getting them all in one visit. They scare me....we'll see. For those of you who think I'm crazy about my decisions- I have been researching it and really looking into what to do. Here is an article published on CNN- check it out, and then see if I'm still "crazy" to doubt vaccines. I think we're
going to do the Dr. Sears approach to vaccines. Two a month for the first year...and skipping a few of the vaccines- such as HEP B...Noah's not getting any baby tats for a while :). On Saturday Noah and I walked in the Race for the Cure. It was so hot, but he was a perfect boy and slept the whole time. He's such a great baby!!

My lil future wolfpacker!



What Noah thought of the Walk...

Week 8

Jamie kept Noah on Monday and Tuesday while I went to school. It was so nice! Wednesday morning Jamie went home and left Charlie with us :). He worked outside! He did a lot of work outside!! Thursday was Justin's 28th b-day! We didn't do too much b/c he had a big event going on at school and was really stressed about it. I did let him get two FULL nights sleep while I tended to Noah alone. It was hard on me, but I was glad Justin got some rest! Friday after Justin got home we packed up the car and headed to the mountains to take Charlie home. Noah did great- of course :)! It was a fun weekend. Sunday Noah has his first picnic and first hike, we hiked Linville Falls. It was so pretty...hot- but pretty!


Grandpa wanted to let everyone know that Noah had his first picnic- hence the spinach leaves on his face...I promise, grandpa does love him ;)!

Our first hike at Linville Falls (of course we only did the lower falls...)

Week 7

Friday Noah had his 8 week pics. He even smiled in one of them! It's hard to believe he's 8 weeks already!








Saturday was Landon's big 1 year old b-day party. We had a blast! Afterwards we went to dinner with Charlie and Jamie- who came to our house after. They stayed through Wednesday. They are so much help! We just love them!!

The following are pics from Landon's big 1 year old b-day :)! He's so cute!!

Week 6

Not too much this week...other than Noah stated to smile!! Wednesday I met my girlfriend, Lorin and her two cute boys Luc and Ben at the mall for lunch. It was good to talk "mommy talk" and get lots of advice! After the mall Justin and I went to our last Infant Message class. It was Noah's best class. He did so well!! Thursday my mom's kept Noah while I went to school in the morning. That afternoon I met Tera and baby Hayden for lunch. It was great to see her and talk about newborns! It's really nice to have other "new" mommys to talk to!! Friday was a fun day. Allaina and Matt's wedding weekend! Friday I met the bridesmaids at the Nail Spa where I got pampered- it was so nice! That night Willie and Jess met us at our house and we all went to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Friday all together was great b/c so many people wanted to hold Noah! He loved it! And so did Mommy and Daddy :)! Saturday Leah and Aaron came over to get Noah. He stayed at their house while we did the wedding...he even spent the night. It was his first night away...I did miss my baby, but I knew he was in good hands! The next morning we had brunch with all of our friends and were able to get home and take a mini nap before Noah came back. I held him the rest of the night to make up for the night before :).

Week 5

My cousin came to stay with us for the week. It was great- she even took midnight feedings and let us rest. It was nice to have someone to talk to...that actually talked back :). That week Noah came down with Thrush. We went to the doc. and got some meds for it- and it cleared up nicely...but I felt so bad for the lil guy while he had it. Friday I had my 6 week post partum ck up. Everything looked good- or so they say :). My mom met Amanda and me in Burlington and we all had lunch. Afterwards Amanda left and I went home with my mom. Justin headed out of town for Matthew's bachelor party. So I headed to my mom's for the weekend.
We rescued a great big snapping turtle. He was about the get run over. He was not one bit greatful! He was a mean booger!!

Week 4

Noah turned one month!! We went to school Tuesday for a PSGSA meeting. He did really good! Wednesday we had his 1 month ck up. He was almost 9lbs! Wednesday night we had our first Infant Message class. He was really good- slept most of the time and protested when we tired to get him naked for a message. Thursday night we went to Greensboro to celebrate Aaron's b-day. It was a lot of fun! On Friday we met Aaron, Leah, Landon, and Jamie at the zoo. Noah slept the whole time :)- it was Noah's first trip to the zoo- and of course, he slept the whole time! That night we went to Jacob's mom's house for dinner. It was great to see everyone! On Saturday we went to a Durham Bulls game for my work. It was nice- and Noah again, slept the whole time :)! The next day was my first mother's day. Justin let me sleep in while he took care of Noah. It was nice!! Then we headed to my mom's Church. Afterwards we had lunch and drove to Clayton to see Shane and Tera who had their baby on 5/6 (Hayden). He was so small compared to Noah :)- they grow so fast!

Noah's first zoo experience.


He slept the whole time...he was so sleepy!


The family shot :)!


Noah's first ball game- the Durham bulls, and the Bulls won :)!
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Ann sleeping with Noah. She loves him!


Noah meets baby Hayden. Hayden is so tiny!

Week 3

This week I started to go back to school more. I have to get my thesis finished so I can graduate!! On Monday, Leah, Landon and Leah's sister stayed with Noah. It was very nice!! Wednesday I took Noah over to my dad's house and my step mom watched him. On Thursday we headed to Colleens and took a walk. It was so nice to finally get out of the house! Friday my mom kept Noah and Friday night we got Noah's 4 week pictures taken. He was not a happy camper and ended up having his pasci for some of the shots. Friday night our friends Matthew and Allaina came to town. It was so great to see them. But Friday night was also a sad night because my big brother was moving to VA where he got a job and to be closer to his girlfriend. I was happy for him, but sad that he was leaving us. On Saturday my girlfriends Jess and Allaina threw Noah a b-day party. It was so nice! We went to Lake Wheeler and had yummy food and then went out on the boat. Noah did great on his first boat ride- he slept most of the time, until he was ready to get out of his life jacket :).

Noah on the boat for the first time...




Noah's first professional picture session... He was not a happy lil boy!!







Noah and Uncle Josh! We'll miss Josh!!

Week 2

Week three things started to slow down. Still having to supplement with the SNS because my milk was not coming in. I was still taking the meds. and they were not helping. It was not a lot of fun...I was nursing Noah every two-three hours and having to pump right after. It was getting tiresome and the SNS was hard to use in the middle of the night. On Monday, I had to run into school for a few hours. At the end of the week Justin and I decided it was time for a date. We met two of our friends, Shane and Tera (who were also expecting) for dinner at the mall. It was nice to get out. We had planned on going to a movie after, but decided to get back to Noah instead. The next morning Noah woke up at 4AM, we fed him and headed to the mountains (to Justin's family's). The trip went well. Noah did really good! We had to stop once to feed him but he slept the whole way. When we arrived, we handed Noah over and went right to bed. We were so tired! We slept for 6 hours while Justin's family came and went visiting Noah :). That night, Jamie stayed up with Noah and let us sleep. It was amazing! We got 11 hours of sleep that night, and it felt great! The next day we went to Church and afterward we met Jacob, Jennifer and their 6 month old for lunch. Justin went to high school with Jacob. It was great to see them. After lunch we began the descent down the mountain. Noah did great again, we did have to stop once- but we managed to make it to Greensboro where Justin's brother, Aaron lives. We visited with Aaron, his girlfriend Leah and little cousin Landon.
Noah in his car seat- heading to the mountains.

Noah and Daddy snuggling.

Week 1

The first week flew by and before we knew it Noah was 8 days old. Jamie left us :( on Tuesday. It was the first time it was just the three of us- Justin, Me and Noah. It was a little scary but we made it :). Noah had a re-check weight and he was 7.8- much better. We still were using the SNS. On Thursday night my mom came over and watched Noah while Justin and I went to the hospital for a Infant CPR class. It was strange leaving the baby- but I trusted my mom which made it easier. My mom spent the night and took me to the lactation consultant the next day for a re-ck. Still not a lot of milk so I got started on Reglan which is supposed to boost prolactin and get the milk flowing. That weekend my aunt and cousin came and stayed with us. It is so nice to have family that want to help! It really makes a difference!!

The Snyder Family!

Ann protecting Noah

Introducing Noah to Annie our Macaw...not sure what she thought.

The first week...

Here are some pics from the hospital...family waiting and finally the birth of our beautiful baby boy...









Week 0:
The first week was spent sleeping, sometimes eating, and hanging out with Noah. Justin's mom was awesome and stayed with us. Jamie really help a ton! On Monday we had to go to the pediatrician to get Noah's first post partum ck. over. He was down to 7 lbs 2 oz. My milk was not coming in so we set up an appointment with the lactation consultant at the hospital. Tues. we met with her. She was amazing! She gave us so much advice and we started Noah on a supplement...that is another story in itself...we used what is called an SNS (supplemented nuring system)- a lot of fun that was. I also started taking a herb to help with the milk supply. I smelled like a waffel and Justin thought it was a good nickname for me...I on the other hand didn't find it funny :). Throughout the week we had many visitors- and lots of food! My girlfriend, Katie, came by with some yummy food one night! It was sooo good to see everyone!

The past two months :)!

I've been so busy these past two months! I have been horrible about writing in this blog. So, I'll attempt to catch you up on what's been going on in our lives for the past two months! The next few posts I will tell you week-by-week updates. It'll be a little strange b/c the weeks will be 0-10 (0 being day 0-8 week one being days 9-15 etc.). Hope you don't get too bored :)!! I hope to do this for the first 12 weeks (3 months)...we'll see... well, here we go...

Time to play catch-up!

It's been way to long since I've written! We have had our beautiful baby boy! He arrived on April 5th at 3:34PM. I cannot believe he is already 9 weeks old. He came early and surprised us all. Here is how it all went down:

I had my 37 week check up on Thursday (4/3/08) and I was a "firm 3 cm." dilated. The midwife said I could go at anytime; that we were just waiting on Noah to decide on when he was ready. But everyone I talked to said the first baby was always late and that I shouldn't get my hopes up.

Well... on Friday I went to school like normal, I had a ton of lab work that I needed to get done. I had lunch with some friends- Mexican- ummm! My friend commented that I was crazy to be at school so far along, but I needed to get my stuff done!! That night we had company over for dinner. I was so tired and Justin made the comment that if I didn't want the company that I could have the baby instead- I thought he was funny! It was about 7PM and I was sitting on the couch talking to Colleen and felt something odd... I went to the bathroom...and sure enough, my water had broke. Justin came in to check on me, and I told him the news. We then went out and informed our guests :)! I called my doc. and she told me my options. So, we decided to stay and have dinner then packed our bags and head to the hospital. On the way in, I called my mom to tell her. She could not believe it- she was just leaving Babies'r'us where she had bought some items for my shower- which was supposed to be the next day-oops! I also called my dad and told him and Justin called his parents (who were supposed to be leaving for the beach the next day with his grandparents) everyone was so excited!! We arrived at the hospital around 10PM and they quickly admitted us. It all happened so fast. I was not having many contractions at this time and when I did have them they were not painful. My mom arrived around midnight. My step dad and little brother and sister were also there. They were ready to make the waiting room their hotel room. The nurse had checked me and I was still only 3 cm. So we told my family to go to our house (my mom stayed with us though). Nothing happened all night. Still not many contractions, and when they came, they were not bad. Sometime early morning, they decided that I needed pitocin. That's when the contractions came- and they came hard! Ouch! I was trying to be brave and not have drugs. But after being up for so long (and already tired) I asked for some. I went with IV narcotics. Hoping to skip the epidural. BUT- I was way drugged. Justin and my mom laughed at me...I was hallucinating and really out of it. But, I was able to sleep for about 2 hours. Then the contractions woke me up. I took it like a pro for about an hour and needed more drugs. I got another dose of the drugs and after hallucinating for a few minutes passed out for about 2 more hours. When I came to- seriously...it was that bad- I said no more of those drugs. The nurse checked me and I was still not very dilated. My doc. had come to check on me by this point and turned up the pitocin. I was really hurting and nothing I, Justin, or my mom did was helping. So I asked for the epidural. It was about 11AM on 4/5. The doc came in and hooked me up- it was good stuff. I was able to sleep some more and was not in any pain! Thank God for modern medicine!! Being brave went right out the window! The family begin to pour in. Justin's family arrived from the mountains and my family came back. Justin's fam. brought him and my mom some lunch, it was around this time that Justin got sick. We had not eaten anything since the night before (and even then, we were too excited to really eat anything) and we hadn't slept much either. Justin got nauseous- I felt so bad for him. He had been such a trooper and helped me so much! Well, my doc came in around 3Pm and decided I was about ready. When I sat up to push I also got nauseous. The nurse brought me some IV antimetics but poor Justin only got crackers and Sprite. Neatless to say, he stayed by my head and recorded everything- avoiding the site of blood. I began to push at 3:25 and Noah was here at 3:34. It didn't take long at all! I did tear a lot, but it was worth it! Overall, the labor and delivery was nothing that I expected- it was so much better!!

Noah did great too! He was a healthy 7lbs 7oz and 21.75 inches (just like his momma!) and lots and lots of hair!! We were moved to the postpartum room shortly after. We stayed the night and had the go ahead to leave the next day. We ended up leaving Sunday night around 11:30PM. It was late, but we had to wait until Noah peed- and his little pee-pee was sore so it took him a while.

All in all, I loved my hospital experience! The nurses and staff were excellent! Noah stayed in the room with me the whole time (except when they needed to circumsize him and check his bilirubin and blood). It was amazing. And my husband was also amazing! He stayed by my side the whole time (except once to get something to eat and pick up my pain meds). I have to say, I have the most amazing husband and family! Everyone was wonderful!

Well, that's how it happened. I hope to keep everyone updated on little Noah! He's growing so big already! And he's such a great baby! We're so blessed!