It's been another week...

Wrote this a few days ago...

Yep, our little man is 3 weeks today...I still can't believe it...and I can't believe (or remember) how EXHAUSTED I am. The first 2 kids were much better sleepers, so this has been quite an adjustment, but we love and enjoy him none-the-less.

Last week the kids went to the dentist. You'll remember Livi's first time was a year ago..and she enjoyed it. Well, this time was Spencer's first time...and he LOVED IT! The dental hygienist said in the 30 years that she has done this, this was the first time she had kids that behaved as well as ours did. (Thank you. It's all about the parenting skills, right? ;-)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

After playing in the rain with Luke. They came home SOAKED, but VERY happy!

2 weeks

More pictures

My dad gave me a disk of pictures he had taken over Memorial day weekend AND after Mac was born. Here's a few:

Memorial Day weekend...you can tell I wasn't feeling my best: Livi's hair wasn't done.

The Mac is home with bunches of family: Mom, Dad, Livi, Spencer, Grandma Uschi, Grandpa Noel, Aunt Kiera and cousin Benson

We see a lot of this when he is hungry:

His poor bruised face is all gone now:

Grandma Uschi and Benson

Auntie Kiera and cousin Benson

Tackle it Tuesday

I did loads and loads of laundry yesterday AND today. It was ridiculous. Mac decided to pee all over the bed yesterday...so add another load. then this morning? same thing. add another load to the pile! Oh well, such is life with a newborn.

We are adjusting to the new little man. He has QUITE the temper when he is hungry, tired or getting his diaper changed. Basically all the time. His worst time is at night around 9 or 10. we have learned to just settle him down, make sure he is fed, changed, burped, etc. Then get him into a deep sleep, put him in his car seat and he'll sleep for about 3-4 hours. It's nice. Then I pick him up to nurse and end up falling asleep with him on my chest. BAD. I am going to have to break this ASAP!

Other than that? I started a little "school" for the kids. Nothing big, but they get excited for an hour a day to learn, write, color, read, etc. Today was the letter "s" and we learned about snakes. Livi did addition and Spencer worked on his shapes.

Gotta jet, the mini man needs to be held!

1 week

I wrote this 3 days ago..haha, I guess that's what happens when you have 3 kids and 1 of them won't let you put them down to sleep...

Well, it's been 1 full week. At this time last week we were relaxing after the birth and getting ready to be moved upstairs to the postpartum area. I still can not believe how much time has passed!

Behind the name:

My friend Kristin and I were talking (2+years ago) about boy names and we were throwing names back and forth. There is a name her husband really liked and I really liked it, but obviously wasn't going to steal it (that's mean). It was the last name of a professional athlete. I started thinking about it and came up with McGuire (like Mark McGwire ). Luke actually liked it, but wasn't set on it, since I have a tendency NOT to name my kids names that we liked before or during the pregnancy.

Anyway, a few times during this pregnancy (even before I knew it was a boy) I dreamed that we had a boy name Maguire (McGwire, McGuire, etc) Riggs. Riggs is my mother-in-laws maiden name. I didn't really like the "Mc" spelling because of our last name and too many "k" sounds..so I went with this spelling instead. It works. And we really like it.

Nicknames:

Big Rigg

Riggs
Mac

Tank

(several more, but these about cover it!)

Weight:

currently 9lbs 6oz.

(basically it took 3 days to get within ounces of his birth weight)

Jaundice levels:

A little above normal, but still within a safe range. So unlike Spencer, we won't have to get the blanket.

Sleep habits:

Non-existant. of course this is to be expected. Although he LOVES to snuggle on our chests. the minute we pull him away to put him in his bassinet. He's up and awake. Not wonderful at 3 in the morning, but we are working through it. Last night he woke up and wouldn't go back down in the bassinet. I put him on the bed to get ready to nurse and he was out like a light..out. So, I used it to my advantage and he didn't wake up to nurse until 6 A.M.!! This is unheard of, but greatly appreciated.

Update as of 6/12: last night was not a good night. He was up for SEVERAL hours..not happy about it.

Eating Habits:

He eats all the time. All. the. time. I have actually been supplementing a bit with formula. It was heartbreaking to be honest. I have never fed my children formula out of necessity. It was EXTREMELY hard for me to do...but when he eats as much as he does, I have to do something!

Features:

He has my chin. He has Livi's lips. He has Luke's eyes. He has Spencer's baby cheeks. He is pretty bald, just a little bit of hair. He has my nails and we are pretty sure my fingers. He has Luke's long monkey toes, but again, my nail beds.

He is such a joy to have in the home and we love, LOVE him! Even with the lack of sleep at night! :)

What's for lunch?

After getting home from the hospital on Friday, we didn't do much. Actually, I only really remember the ride home..not much after that. (Oh, thank you Yvonne for dinner!)

On Saturday, Kiera went with her friend for breakfast and Luke took the kids to Livi's last soccer game of the season. I was all alone with Mac, but it was crazy...I couldn't get anything done. I went to go to the bathroom and he started SCREAMING. (Note: He has a bit of a temper. If he is hungry, I had better feed him right there and then..or at least anticipate and start nursing him b4 he starts getting frantic. And his diaper changes? Yeah, he doesn't like those one bit. Other than that? He is pretty cute! :) Oh, and he was up EVERY single hour eating on Friday to Saturday...it was ridiculous!

Anyway, I was sitting there thinking, "wouldn't it be nice if my mom were here? I just can't imagine them waiting until the blessing to see him." Then the phone rings. really. It was my mom. What are the odds?

She wanted to know how things were going and what I wanted for lunch? For lunch? Umm..since having this baby, I don't really have an appetite...and I don't have to worry about getting nauseous from not eating, but I'm sure that's not what she meant. It wasn't. My parents had driven out and were just checking into a hotel!!! YAY! It seriously made my day!

What else made my day? My mom held Mac from 10:30 p.m. (sat.) until 2:25 a.m. when she brought him back into me because he was hungry. The night went a bit better...but he had us up until 5 when he went back to bed for two hours. He's great during the day! ;)

Day 2 with Mac

Kids came back to the hospital. Livi is SUCH a great helper and loves to hold Mac. Spencer loves him, but could honestly care less. He is very nice and kind, but would rather be playing with his cars or looking out the window!

It's amazing what 24 hours and natural light does for his complexion! :) Unfortunately he has jaundice. They haven't told us how bad it is, but with his size AND how fast he came...they are thinking it could be fairly high. (same thing with spencer)

Big yawn!

Yes, we introduce the binky really early. I guess that's what happens when they nurse well...don't have to worry much about confusion. (knock on wood!!)

Has a bit of a goopy eye, but so did the rest of our kids.

He's here!

Presenting
Maguire Riggs

weight: 9lbs 7 oz. length: 20 inches

Here's the timeline. No need to read it, but I want it for journaling purposes. SKIP to the BOLDED at the end of the timeline..you'll want to read it to understand the pictures.

3:55 a.m. hospital (contractions)

4 a.m. up to room...info taken. Dilated to a 3

5- IV and pitocin

5:20 contractions 4 minutes apart.

5:25 Blessing from Luke

7ish-checked and still at a 3

(Contraction start getting a little more intense..so I asked for the epidural (I remembered how it was with spencer... :)

8a.m. wouldn't give me the epidural until I was at a 4 (Dr's orders-bah! humbug!) But they gave me a shot of Nubain and I got LOOPY. Holy cow! My toes, arms and head were numb and tingling..weirdest experience, but it DEFINITELY took the edge off!

8:15 Cord blood donation forms

9 asked them to break my water. (I know I have a lot of water...and thought it would help me dilate faster, but they still wouldn't do it!)

10:10-10:40 got epidural

10:30-11 measure at a 4--asked again about breaking water --nurse finally called dr. and he said that the in-house dr would be by

11:45 Dr. broke water and measuring at a 5

12:10 measuring at a 6 (Dr. called to say that he was on his way)

12:30 10 cm and I needed to PUSH!!! (Dr. not even close-told the nurses that they may need to catch him ... it was that intense.)

12:45-12:50 Dr shows up and I push about 3-4 times.

12:59 Maguire is born

Luke's thoughts: Saw baby's head emerge and thought, "I don't remember any of our other kids being that blue." Cord was wrapped around his neck twice. Dr. started suctioning like mad to get all of the mucous and gunk out of his mouth.

Here are some scary pictures. you'll understand why we were nervous. luckily everything is ok. the bruises AND swelling have gone down pretty quickly...but he is a chunky baby!

not breathing

he is not breathing in this one either (or crying)

Katie: When they placed him on my chest, I thought he was stillborn. He was blue. Even with all of that..I felt calm. Like everything was going to be ok.

starting to pink up a bit

After rubbing him, giving him oxygen and trying to get him to breath and/or cry, you could tell the nurses were getting a little anxious. It took about a minute before we heard a little whimper and then another one. His toes and body started pinking up, but his face didn't. His whole face is a bruise. After letting out the whimpers, he let it wail! He has a great set of lungs! thank goodness.

poor bruised face!

Notes: Next time I will insist I have my water broken AND given the epidural. I know my body and this delivery was similar to Spencer's...although 5 hours longer. No need for that next time.

Being wheeled upstairs

Meeting the kids:


Aunt Kiera:

The Happy, but very tired parents: