Out and About!

Mills is two weeks old today! Yay!
He's been just a teensy bit fussy this morning, but just slept all the way through a late lunch date at Taco Boy and a trip to Babies R Us to exchange our swing (that his poor daddy spent so long putting together only to find out that the swing motor didn't work when he was finished)!!  I can't believe it has already been two weeks! I think the first week was the MOST challenging, waking up every hour and a half to two  hours in the night is rough...especially when I'm the only one who can feed him...it can be a bit overwhelming at times, for sure! Everyone tells you how tough pregnancy can be, and how scary the whole idea of labor and delivery can be, and of course the recovery, but no one really prepares you for how tough it is to take care of a newborn!  For me, fortunately, the pregnancy and delivery weren't that bad, and I think we have a REALLY good baby, but the transition is hard. I pulled all-nighters quite frequently in college, but I always knew that the next night, or at least over the weekend, I could sleep as late as I wanted without any interruptions. Not exactly the same situation here, ha! BUT, every night has gotten a little bit better, and he's such a sweet little lamb! :)
Last night was the first night Nicholas and I have had alone since Mills was born, and it was finally time, and really good for us. We couldn't have done it without all of the help we've had (especially moms to hand Mills off to in the early am when I'm about to fall over exhausted!), but we realized we haven't had a conversation with just two of us, or a chance to just lay on the couch and watch tv, in over two weeks - so it was good to catch up!
I know it's been quite chilly outside, but we decided it was time to get out and about a little bit! Here's where we've been in the past week!
On Tuesday, Mom, MaMa, and I took Mills out for the first time, to his first pediatrician appointment (along with a quick trip to Target, but I fed Mills in the car while mom ran in!). Here we are getting ready to leave.

Me and Mills - 8 days old!

With mom!

And MaMa

Snug as a bug on the way!

On the exam table - when we left the hospital last Wednesday he weighed 7lbs 5oz, and at his appt he weighed in at 8lbs 1oz - growing strong! :) The dr. said he was a "healthy, thriving baby boy!"

Must have been an exhausting day for him because he passed out when we got home!

By the way, thanks Aunt Leah for my handsome outfit!

My mom and MaMa left Wednesday afternoon, and I cried like a little baby myself! :(  Luckily, Nicholas' mom came in town Wednesday night, and the rest of his family followed for the weekend!

Mills' morning routine with Gammy for the week - story and nap time!

And another sweet one mom took!

Mills went for his first walk on Thursday! Of course we had to document it!

And on Saturday night we took Mills for his first night out on the town (yes, at 12 days old!) - dinner at Carolina's - and it was delicious! All nine of us went (Me, Nicholas, Mills, Phil, Linda, Jennifer (and Gray), Jess, Kelley, and Adam!), and Mills was so good - he only let out one little tiny cry just before dessert, and we think it was just to let us know he was still there, then he went right back to sleep!

The three of us getting ready to leave the house

"So maybe my hat is a little big...but it matches my outfit so my mom made me wear it!"

And at Carolina's! The couple at a table next to us bought dessert for us after hearing it was our first night out with the little guy - how nice is that!?!

And here's a pic from today at Taco Boy - the weather was so nice we even ate outside!

(and Richard joined us, but we missed you, Katie!)

And we ran by Cupcakes on the way home and got two cupcakes to celebrate his two week birthday - Nicholas and I are going to enjoy them with coffee, haha, sorry little guy! Right now he's still sleeping and I couldn't resist snapping a pic! Gotta love that car seat that snaps right in and out of the car!

Oh, and I have to leave you with this sweet pic I took of him sleeping on me last night while Nicholas and I watched movies...he was too cute! Have a happy Monday!

BIRTHday Part 2

Dad and his boy (and no, Nicholas didn't have to wear scrubs for the delivery, as you may remember in the previous post's story, he came straight from work)!

Mills' Paparazzi

The first handoff - to Gammy Pammy!

Brand new grandmothers - Lulu and Gammy!

Aunt Kelley!

Aunt Jennifer!

Lulu and Pappy

Gammy and Philly

Peyton and Mills!

And Myra, MaMa, and Nicholas' Grammie were there to see Baby Mills, too!

And Auntie Leah came by during her lunch!

Nicholas' Papa and Jane came to Charleston later that night

And Linda and Jane enjoyed a little celebratory Beringer, ha!

Lots of sweet friends came by to meet Mills, too! And we toasted with mimosas!

On Tuesday morning, the Sowards came down from Columbia just to meet Mills!

Will liked the baby...he kept saying "baby"..haha, it was too cute!

College roommates and our baby boys!

Mills should be extra thankful for this visit considering these two introduced his parents!!!

(my sweet love has a serious problem keeping his eyes open for pictures!)

Dad changing the very first dirty diaper...many more were/are to follow!

sweet cheeks

my precious boys napping

Early morning cuddles

On Wednesday, we were able to go home!

Getting the little guy all ready and dressed in his cute little outfit (thanks to the Schonfelds!)

Ready to see the world!

Not too sure about this car seat

Walking into the house for the first time!

Our firstborn meeting our secondborn :)

Checking him out...

Showing Mills his new room!

He thinks it's pretty cozy!

Cuddling with mom!

One Week and One Day Ago...

Sweet Baby Mills was born!  Here's the whole story!

It all began last Sunday afternoon (1/3)...we stayed up until 3am the night before playing Monopoly with Adam and Kelley, so we slept in on Sunday.  That afternoon I started having some little cramps so we decided to time them and they were right at 5 minutes apart for many hours.  While they were a little uncomfortable, they were nothing major at all, and I remembered Leah telling me that when it's a true contraction you won't be able to talk through it, so I knew this wasn't it.  We talked to family members and Kelley came over for a while, but we didn't mention it to anyone because we didn't want to get their hopes up, and again, it seemed like nothing at all. It was Nicholas' last day of night float at the hospital, so he went into work at 5pm, and I went to see 'It's Complicated' at Cinebarre with three sweet girlfriends!  Nicholas almost decided not to go into work, but I promised I would call if things worsened, and, after all, I already had movie plans! :)  The cramps continued, but I didn't really notice them too much during the movie.  Once I got home I got busy washing baby clothes and the sheets on the beds, sweeping, and vacuuming - I was actually vacuuming the nursery when I looked up and realized it was 1am!  The cramps had gotten a little worse, so I decided to take a hot bath.  While I was in the bathtub, they started coming three minutes apart consistently, and getting slightly worse, so I thought maybe the hot bath could be making things worse and hopped out around 1:45.  Then, HOLY COW, they got A LOT worse!!! I laid on the bed from 2 to 2:45, contractions seven minutes apart, until I couldn't make it through a few without almost tearing my pillow to shreds...then I made that call to Nicholas at the hospital and said, "I really need you...do you think you could come home?" He rushed home and was bouncing off the walls when he got there. The bags were already packed but he was running around trying to get a few last minute things together; it was funny to see him so worked up! He had also called the doctor on call on his way home, so we were all set to go. Up until this point I was still thinking to myself "I hope this is the real thing and they won't just send us home!" Now, I was beginning to think that the day was finally here!
The pain got really, really bad, and my stomach was really, really upset. Conveniently enough, my water ended up breaking in the toilet (sorry for the TMI), although I wasn't sure at the time if that's what it was, but they confirmed it once I got to the hospital. At around 4am we were off to the hospital! I hadn't imagined it this way, but it was very movie-esque...Nicholas ran red lights, I was trying to breathe slowly through the pain that was coming every 2 minutes, it was a crazy rush!!! He had to call both of our families to let them know we were on our way because I could not even speak during contractions. We pulled up to the ER and Nicholas helped me out and filled out some brief paperwork. They came to get me in a wheelchair (my first ride in one, ha!) and up to the labor and delivery floor we went!
Once we got to the room, I changed into a gown and they hooked me up to the monitors. The nurses came in and checked me and confirmed my water had broken, and I was 3.5cm dilated and 90% effaced.  My contractions were every 2 minutes like clockwork...this was the most painful time! I had to wait until I had a full bag of IV fluid before I could get the epidural. Around 5:20am I got the epidural and thank the Lord in Heaven above, it was like a night and day difference!  Here I am AFTER the epidural:

This is me trying to reenact how I felt before the epidural...Nicholas said this doesn't do it justice though, haha...

I had every intention of putting on makeup before I went to the hospital, but at 2:45am when I was having horrible contractions, I opted for no makeup and just taking my makeup bag along instead...unfortunately it wasn't touched.

They came in to check me 30 minutes after the epidural and nothing had changed. I was worried things had possibly slowed down, but at 7:30 they came in and I was at 6 cm, at 9:00 I was between 8 and 9, and then at 10 they said it was time to start pushing!!! I asked if we could wait just a few minutes because my mom, grandmother, aunt, and cousin were almost there, and I wanted to see them first! Luckily, the nurses said that would be fine because they had to set up the room for the baby's arrival anyway. This is before the fun game of "pushing" began!

With Mom and MaMa

With Myra

With Linda (Lulu), Jennifer and Nicholas

Ladies in waiting...ready to hear the good news!

And after 35 minutes of pushing, James Phillip "Mills" Wallace, II arrived into the world!  I was scared about the "pushing" part, but thanks again to the fabulous epidural, I couldn't really feel anything besides a teensy bit of pressure right when he came out!

What a miracle!

just seconds after he was born...

My WONDERFUL doctor!

did i mention that i also love her b/c she wears j.crew cardigans over her scrubs? love that. :)

Our sweet little family!

More pictures of our sweet little one with friends and family from this special day to come!!!

Right now I've gotta catch a little nap while I can!!!