July 21, 2013:

I'm bummed that all my family has left now. It was a great help having my lil sis Emily here this week to help take care of RJ. She did may feedings, changed her first diaper, burped him, played w/ him, and had her first real spit-up happen. It was also helpful to have someone feed RJ at the midnight/1am feeding while I pumped. Really helped to speed up the process. Now I have to get used to doing it all on my own again. Boo boo...

This morning my mom took RJ after his morning feeding around 7am and let me sleep a lil longer. Good thing I set an alarm b/c I was deep in sleep and could have kept sleeping for hours. I might just have to take a nap this afternoon. :)

This week RJ's sleeping pattern was a lil off. He had a few nights that were more like 2.5-3hr segments between feedings. My body has gotten used to 4-5hr segments, so switching back makes it really hard. The past couple nights we've gotten back to our regular schedule. I switched back to giving him 2 bottles at night versus trying to breastfeed at the 4-5am feeding. It's helped him sleep much better.

Monday was Robert's birthday and RJ had his first baby-sitter experience. Emily was here of course, but I also had a couple friends come over who just happened to be doctors. :) I took Robert out to eat at his favorite restaurant, Bone Fish Grill. We had a nice date night for the first time since our lil man was born. RJ did pretty good and didn't cry too much while we were gone.

Tuesday Emily helped me complete a 24hr power pumping session. I began it at 12am Tuesday morning to pump q3hrs during the night. When I woke around 7am I started the q30 min pumping at 7:30am. I pumped for 3 min simultaneously on both boobs q30 min. I would just put my pumping gear in the fridge until I got a full bottle and then would attach a new set, versus cleaning everything after each pumping. It was quite the experience. It didn't hurt at all. It was just very time consuming. We watching movies all day long and Emily helped w/ RJ a lot. Emily actually had to keep waking me up for the last few pumpings before midnight b/c I was so tired. It was a success b/c I'm not ahead on bottles for the next day since Tuesday!! Thanks Stacie G. for informing me of this process!!

It's exciting to announce that RJ is almost 10 lbs!!! He was 9.6 lbs Friday night before his bath. I think he's going to be a tall lean lil guy. I think my arms have been getting more toned too carrying him around w/ his increased weight. :) His pooping has gotten better as well. Although I say that to brag and it's been about 4 days since his last poop. He was doing better. Silly lil boy.

Another first for the wk was taking RJ to the grocery store. I kept him in his carseat and just hooked him to the sitting part of the cart. He was awake looking around while we were in Krogers and started to get fussy while we were checking out for his next meal. Then we went to Sams after he was fed and sleepy. He ended up sleeping through that whole shopping experience. It was quite tricky trying to navigate the cart while trying to look over and around the carseat. :) It's definitely more complicated than shopping alone. :) Of course we didn't spend any extra like we could have if Robert was with us. My silly husband finds all sorts of extras to add to the shopping cart. :)

I just realized that today marks 3 months since we brought RJ home from the hospital. Wow... so much has happened between now and then. He has come soooooo far. He's made such amazing progress and has totally lost the preemie look. He's grown out of diapers and clothes, and gotten rid of all tubes and cords. He's started smiling, cooing, rolling over, tracking our faces, and just becoming more interactive. He's been gaining just over a pound per month too. I can only imagine what will happen in the next 3 months...

We are so incredibly blessed. He is such a special lil boy. I love my new job of being a stay at home mom. It's definitely more exhausting, but also way more rewarding. I've had a part in helping our lil guy grow stronger. All my around the clock pumping sessions is paying off. We have a beautiful lil boy. I can't wait for each of you to meet him.

Thanks again for all the prayers, love, and support. We couldn't be happier with RJ's progress. God is so incredibly amazing. RJ is complete proof that there is a God up in heaven who answers prayers.