Visitors

Those cheeks!

He does not have these after losing weight 

in the first couple days, but he is definitely chunking back up.

Aunt Jan

Alexander was born late on Tuesday night.  My Aunt Jan had been camping on base for a week so she could be here when our friend Nick was here from Japan.  She was Alexander's first visitor.  She's like me and admittedly not a baby person, but of course our son won her over. Teehee


Grandpops visits in the hospital

My dad got on his way to meet Xander first thing Wednesday morning.  Poor Daniel had hunted through his phone under 'Michael' to let him know of Xander's arrival the night before, but couldn't find his name (it was under 'Zanna's dad'). Luckily my mom got word to him ASAP.

Alexander took to his Grandpops immediately!
My dad stayed through for a couple days at a hotel down the road,
 allowing us to have time alone as our little family
before people started staying with us. 

Gammie

My mom was planning to come Saturday when her school let out for Christmas break, but she had had a head cold that week so she waited until she had been totally healthy for 24 hrs and headed down Sunday.


Grandmama wasn't sure she would be able to come.  We're so glad you're here!


Grandmama playing with Mr. Fox (Fuks)

The fox was Daniel's German puppet.  Xander loved playtime with Grandmama!

Nick got to meet him while here from Japan!
This also allowed us to FaceTime with his wife, Julie, one of my very best friends.


Aunt Leaha (probably the voice he heard most besides mine
 before coming into this world- daddy was overseas for just over 3 months)

Heather stopped by after work!

Aabett came to meet little bear,

and brought me a much needed nursing aid to calm the beast.

Thank you!!

Karlee wooed our little man

Jonathan getting snuggles

Baby swap with Abby and Karamia

I cannot believe how big Kara is at six months.  So much personality! 

I first met her at two weeks, Alexander's current age.  

It will be so fun to watch Alexander grow to this point.

Milestones

We had Alexander's two week appointment today.

The doctor used the word "perfect" multiple times!

All dressed up for our appointment

He is measuring in the 61st percentile for height and the 75th percentile for weight.

His jaundice is gone and his circumcision has healed perfectly.

The goal for weight is to be back to birth weight by the two week appointment.  Our big boy is a full half pound over his birth weight!  He is a great eater.

We still have our nights and days a bit mixed up, sleeping for 3-4 hour stretches in the day but wanting to be up nearly every hour at night.  The doctor advised us not to rock him completely to sleep but have him practice falling asleep on his own and keeping noise and light around during day naps and dark and quiet at night.

Asleep in Gammie's arms

Mayhem

I am starting to feel the effects of sleep deprivation.  At first, I think I was running on adrenaline.  The past few days I have felt extremely sensitive and more emotional than normal.  No mayhem from my little man to speak of, though, so I will work through this!

Our first restaurant outing

Merry Christmas!

Oh what a wonderful Christmas!

Just before falling asleep, we heard sleigh bells for the first time in our home (a tradition that began at least as far back as Alexander's paternal great grandfather, Dave).  We snuggled in and waited for Christmas morning.  It was another night with very little sleep for me, but it seems to be getting better day by day.

Our Christmas duds

Thank you, Aunt Heidi!

Little bear did such a great job enjoying his first Christmas!  He was alert for some of it, happily sleeping for most of it, and took a quick breakfast break with no tears!  It was such an enjoyable first Christmas for our family of four.


A gift from Granpops & Grandma Jay

We are so excited to share the story of Christmas with Xander.  To help us with this, Grandpops and Grandma Jay gave us a Little People nativity scene!  It is going to be so nice to be able to act out the story of Christmas so that Xander will know the reason for the season right from the beginning.

Softies just like mom & dad's

The greatest example of regifting in history

This gift really threw me for a loop.  The tag on the gift simply said, "To Alexander."  We had placed it under the tree near the gift from Daniel's dad, and the handwriting looked like his, so we opened the gift assuming it had come from Grandpa.  We opened the hedgehog first.  Daniel immediately recognized it as being just like a stuffed animal he had as a baby.  How sweet to have a reminder of daddy's toys.  

Next, we opened the cow.  Tears welled up in my eyes.  This is the same cow my brother gave me on my first Christmas!  Turns out, the gift was indeed from Uncle Ryan and Aunt Mary.  This isn't a matching cow; this is THE cow that my brother gave me 32 years ago on my first Christmas!  Oh the love in my heart!  And Aunt Mary happened to pick the absolute perfect matching softie, the little guy that is just like the one Daniel used to have.  These two little guys hold so much meaning, so much love.

How to make Daniel smile?  Show him his beautiful puppy!

Ryan & Mary also gave us this gorgeous rendition of our sweet princess.  Their friend, Alex, who I had the pleasure of hanging out with on my trip to Austin, does these beautiful animal portraits.  I was crazy for the one they had of their pup, Jackson, and was so thrilled to get one of our sweet girl.

Our first born

 
A Craftsman Present: so exciting!

His first Radio Flyer

From Grandpa, Xander got his first Radio Flyer!  It is a child sized version of the classic.  Perfect for the little man to play with.  I am dying to see if he can fit in it for some adorable pictures,

After a fabulous morning as a family of four, my mom and Aunt Jan came over for Christmas dinner and holiday cheer.  We feel truly blessed this Christmas and are so grateful for the opportunity to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

 Julie, Nick, & Kayla sent us gifts all the way from Japan!

Watkins women with our little bear

Glad you're here, Gammie!

 Our bottle of celebratory sparkling sake


On our trip to Japan this summer, we had a truly amazing meal overlooking Tokyo from the top of the Ritz Carlton.  Our unbelievable waiter presented me with a bottle of rare sparkling sake to open on Chritsmas day to celebrate the birth of my son, as I could not indulge in the complimentary beverages during our dinner.  I just had a sip to celebrate.  Not a huge fan of sake, but very appreciative of the gesture!

Aunt Jan working hard at active play with Alexander

A Christmas gift

Here, Alexander is sporting my first Christmas pjs.  They fit him perfectly!  Another 32 year old addition to Alexander's first Christmas.

We can't wait for Grandmama to get here later today.  We're going to have a full house with our family of four, Gammie and Grandmama!

Milestones

Alexander's belly button is cute and clean now. Yay!

He eats about every 2 hours,  until I'm ready for bed. The past two nights he has wanted to eat every hour starting at about eleven.

Winter pjs

He is very handsy. He doesn't like to be swaddled because it constricts his little hands. They are always moving!   I imagine all the movement I felt during pregnancy was hands and not feet like I thought.  He's getting ready to be a wide receiver! 

As the newborn look gives way to his
 own features, it is becoming clear that he looks like his mama. Same chin and lips as when I was a baby (my mom forgot to bring the pictures, but a side by side comparison will be made). He has long feet so maybe Daniel's prediction of 6'4 will be accurate.

He loves tummy time!

Personality wise he is pretty easy going- usually (see mayhem). He appears to have no rigidities, being happy in various swings, rockers, baby wearing carriers, being held by different people, even taking his first bottle from my mom (again- see mayhem). As a baby I had to have a set schedule or I was thrown way off. Seems he is like his daddy in his laid back (stoic) personality.

Mayhem
Our sweet little bear has a temper! He is figuring out
that I am here to provide and thus is calming down more easily, but in the first week we had some crazy tough times. There have been three nights where he screamed for at least five hours straight.  He flails his arms and legs and squeals as loud as you can imagine, and turns purple from tensing up so strongly.  These tantrums warranted the nickname psycho pig.  He really does sound like a pig. It broke my heart for him to be so distraught.  Luckily, I was able to talk to the lactation consultant for ideas as well as to try a few things friends suggested.    One thing I did have to resort to, and had to let go of any guilt, is providing him a bottle when he begins turning purple from an oncoming psycho pig episode.  It began the third night of these fits, when he had been screaming for five hours and hadn't eaten in nearly six.  He refused every effort I made from the lactation consultant's suggestions, so I decided to try a bottle.  He ate well, and promptly fell fast asleep.  He has no difficulties with traditional feeding despite the occasional bottle.  Now that he eats better, we don't seem to get so escalated.  Thank God.

You'd never guess how long and loud this little guy can scream

Zoey & Xander

I have been preparing Zoey for her coming brother for months by hanging out with my dear friend, Elena, her border collie, Paisley, and newborn son, Magnus (growing into his name more and more every time I see him!).  Zoey has always been taken by Magnus, but I still had worries that our little princess might feel displaced when she had a baby in her own home.  My heart swells as I proudly say I had nothing to worry about!

.

Family couch time

Zoey did not sleep either night while I was in the hospital.   My amazing aunt Jan stayed with her the first night and wonderful Leaha stayed with her the second night.  Zoey had become nervous to leave me the last few weeks of pregnancy, and I think my absence made her extremely concerned.  

My beautiful puppy hugging a ball by the tree

On the first full day in the hospital, Daniel came home to give Zoey attention and to bring Alexander's first blanket and hat home for her to smell.

When we came home together the next day, I walked in first and Daniel walked in holding the car seat.  My thought was, being Zoey's favorite thing in the world, if Daniel brought in the baby she would be more likely to accept him.

Zoey was more worried about me than I would have ever imagined!  It took her nearly five minutes to even acknowledge Daniel.  She wanted me and only me and could not get enough of my attention.  Sweet, sweet puppy girl!

Our sweet princess with her beloved daddy

Zoey immediately accepted Brother as a part of our family.  Here are the ways that stick out the most showing Zoey already loves her little brother:

• She sleeps primarily in his room
• Our first night home from the hospital, I attempted to burp Alexander after a late night feeding.  Zoey sat straight up and GROWLED AT ME- HER MAMA!  I told her it was ok, but when I did it again, she growled again and barked!!!  She did not like me hitting the baby!  She quickly figured out that mommy loves brother and won't hurt him, so all is good there.
• My dad picked Xander up and started walking with him.  Zoey jumped up to get an eye on him, careful to keep her paws away from baby.  She then followed my dad around until he sat down on the sofa,  Once he was sitting, she smelled Brother from head to toe, finally relaxing enough to let my dad once again walk with baby,
• She sniffs anyone new who goes to hold him to make sure they are ok (everyone except Leaha, of course!  Zoey knows Leaha is safe with Brother).
• My mom and I went to run an errand, and when we came back, we left Xander on the living room floor in the car seat as he was asleep.  Zoey gave the car seat a thorough investigation, smelling for the way under the cover until we removed it so she could see Brother.

She is such a good sister!

Zoey asleep in the Bear Cave

Daniel had daddy time, allowing me to get dressed for a cute Christmas picture

Once again asleep in Brother's room

Favorite picture thus far!

Picture in his fox outfit

 Milestones

Our first car trip; heading home!

Xander loves car rides.  On my first driving car ride, my mom got a little worried because he had been quiet the whole time we had been driving and the whole time she sat with him while I went into the commissary.  We went so far as to pull over to make sure he was doing alright.  He was sleeping soundly!

Alexander on his two day  check in (four days old)

He passed his weigh in, having lost 10 oz, only 7% since birth

He still has jaundice, and with all the rain we are getting, I have not been able to get him into any sunshine since the appointment.  Hopefully we can battle this through the rain!

Back rash- Terrifying! 

This popped up the evening before our check up so I took a ton of pictures.  It did not bother Alexander at all, and calmed down when we did diaper only tummy time, but definitely still had mama worried.

When I showed pictures of this terrifying rash to the pediatrician, she immediately named the rash with some six syllable scientific term, and said that is totally harmless and that 50% of newborns get it.  "Maybe I should start warning new parents about this."  Yes, please!!!  

The rash has cleared up now.  

His first bath

At six days old, Alexander seemed totally content with getting his first bath!  I absolutely loved the Norwex baby set (thank you, Heather!). It made bath time quick and super soft and cozy.

Even in the hospital, Alexander was tracking sounds with his eyes. He knows mine and Daniel's voices but also explores new sounds and sights, like a rattle and the wrist puppets Grandma Jay gave us (I have to be the one wearing them for now).

We were playing with the puppets until he feel asleep

At exactly one week old (10:07pm, 12/22/15) Xander smiled for the first time. He has been practicing half smiles with the left cheek for a few days, and within moments of having a right sided half smile he gave me a full smile. 

Totes adorbs! Except he was in between screaming sessions when it happened. 

Can't wait to see my boy smile when he's truly happy! 

Mayhem

Xander has a strong set of lungs!  

Tales of Psycho Pig to come

;)

Happy Birth Day, Alexander!

 We are a family of four!

On Tuesday, I had my 39 week appointment to check the status of our little bear.  The midwife was concerned that he was measuring so big (estimated to be 9lbs 5oz), and felt that, being he had dropped three weeks ago and I had dilated and effaced, it would be best to induce.  Daniel and I were hoping to avoid induction, so the midwife set up a meeting with the doctor who was working the labor and delivery ward for the evening to discuss risks and benefits of inducing and waiting.

After talking with the doctor, Daniel and I agreed that it would be safest for little bear and myself if we had help in getting labor started.  First, my membranes were stripped at the appointment, then we agreed to the lowest dose of pitocin possible.  We went home to get clean, grab a few more things, love on our first born four-legged and then grab food on our way to the hospital.

Our last meal before becoming parents!  Grabbing some Taco Bell.

Warning: This is long and has details of delivery (nothing crazy, but just a heads up).

When we arrived at the hospital, at around 4:30pm, I had already dilated another centimeter since the appointment!  The nurse, Mary Jane (she was truly amazing), said that based on the current standings, it was unlikely they would give me any pitocin and would instead just watch to see how things progressed on their own.  I then went over my birth plan with at least three people, making it known both on my written plan and through verbal communication that, though I did not want pitocin or any IV pain relief, I did want an epidural as soon as possible.  Mary Jane let me know that the doctor expected things to move along on their own, but to assume it would be a long night, and therefore we were waiting on the epidural.  I met with the anesthesiologist and was briefed on exactly how the epidural would be administered.  Everyone was extremely informative and friendly.

I was having extremely uncomfortable contractions, but they were not overly regular or of heightened intensity, so for a while, Daniel and I were just trying to make ourselves comfortable.  Daniel brought our Bose speaker and played DJ, getting positive comments on his music selection and sound system from everyone that came in the room.  I am sure it was a nice change from television and stressed out mommies-to-be!

I don't know exactly what time things started getting real, but once they started, they did not stop.  I moved from 5cm to 6cm and the contractions got far more intense, about two minutes apart. They were so uncomfortable that I finally asked for the nonnarcotic IV because the epidural was still not approved.  Mary Jane let me know that the doctor expected to get things started around 2am.  Ha!

Between me asking for the IV and the IV being set up, my water broke.  We called Mary Jane, and when she came in, she found that our baby's heart rate had dropped dramatically.  She called in the team, and all of a sudden, my room was packed and everyone was working furiously to get little bear back to a healthy level.  It turns out that as my water broke, he moved uncommonly quickly towards the birth canal and went into distress.

Because of baby's status, I was not able to get the IV.  They needed his heart to be up and stable for 10-15 minutes before I could receive any pain relief.  They put me on my left side and gave me an oxygen mask to assist in this.  The next ten minutes were TERRIBLE.  It was straight out of Hollywood.  The contractions were insane and I was shaking and wanting to punch and kick and crawl out of my skin.  The easier ones were the contractions where my body would just shake uncontrollably all over (Mary Jane said this was due to the intense level of hormones).   Daniel was amazing!  He brought my focus on him and helped me to focus on what I needed to do for the safety of our child.  It helped, but I can't say I did as well as I would have liked.  The pain was unimaginable.  And then, my body wanted to push.  I hit the nurse's call button twice in about 30 seconds (realized the next day it was NOT the call button...whoops!) and no one came.  Daniel said, "I'm going to get someone."

As Daniel opened the door, Mary Jane was walking in with the IV meds (note: still no epidural...).  When she assessed the situation, she again called the team and let me know that it was time to push, and thus there would be no meds.  Wait a second, what?!

She kicked me into gear, and assertively directed the entire thing so that I did not just give up (if I'm honest, I came close!).  Daniel continued to be such a force of support, drawing my focus and holding my oxygen mask above my face when I ripped it off and refused to keep it on (it felt constricting and smelled like plastic, neither of which were ok while I dealt with the worst pain I could ever have imagined).  Mary Jane had to tell me continuously, "Don't lose it on me now!  Focus!"

Daniel thought she was lying to keep me focused when Mary Jane told me it looked like we would have a baby in two more rounds of contractions.  How could we already be at that point?

After just twelve minutes of pushing, our little man was born!

Went almost straight to get vitals taken

I had requested immediate skin to skin until an independent latch, with all meds delayed until after, as well as delayed cord cutting.   He did not cry at birth nor when they put him directly on my chest.  Members of the team began rubbing him furiously while he was with me, and I just kept asking him to cry.  The joy of hearing the first wail is unparalleled.  

The doctor (who was now in the room along with a large team of people) informed me that, due to the low heart rate, it would be best to focus on his vitals.   He was taken away from me for only a few minutes to make sure he was ok.  After seeing to my status and a quick kiss on the forehead, Daniel went over to meet his new son.  All checked out and he was quickly returned to his mama.

We are parents!!

Though the labor and delivery were traumatizing and extremely difficult, our little man could not be more perfect.  The hospital staff, with the exception of the delay and thus denial of an epidural, were truly marvelous.  I can only believe that God planned a quick and intense delivery, and knew I was strong enough to do so without subjecting our baby to any anesthesia.

Daniel, Zoey, and I are proud to introduce 

Alexander Octavius Martin

Born on December 15, 2015

10:37pm

8lbs 14oz

20.5 in

I will share how our first few days (and nights) have been going soon.  I want to make sure I have these memories down before they slip away.  I cannot believe we have already known our son for 31/2 days!!!

Zoey enjoying the sun earlier that day

(Can't have our first post as a family of four without a picture of our princess!)