One month!

Semmes is one month old today.  I think this may have been the longest month of my life.  Seriously, I feel like the child should be rolling over already.  It's not that I don't love him; it's just having two kids is WAY harder than just one.  And having an infant and a Cooper has extra challenges.

Yes, that little owl sticker says "one month."

Here are some stats.  He is huge.  He is 10 pounds, 14 ounces and 21.5 inches long.  His head circumference is in the 95th percentile.  So he's a shortish, fat baby with a huge head.  He is in size one diapers, but is about to move up to size 2.  He is in 0-3 month or 3 month clothes; he has very much outgrown all his newborn clothes.  He never smiles. Ever.  He always has the most worried expression on his face.  Cooper smiled.  Yesterday, he took his first bath without screaming!  He is an amazing errand runner.  I took him to Home Depot, lunch with a friend, Target, and to the insurance office yesterday and he did great.  When he's awake, he screams.  To keep him from doing this, you have to hold him and give him a pacifier.  The "and" in that last sentence is crucial; just one of those things doesn't cut it.  For example, right now he is laying beside me screaming...with a pacifier in his mouth.  That is one talented kid.  

Also, Semmes can eat!  He ate 3.2 ounces in 9 and a half minutes on Monday.  From the breast.  We're doing a nutrition study and they weighed him right before and right after a feeding.  Very efficient, which is good in the middle of the night.

He has some baby acne and erythema toxicum on his face, so he's a little splotchy.  But everyone (doctors) keep saying it will go away on it's own.  We're washing his face with Dove soap instead of baby wash.  

Cooper is not a fan.  At first, he just ignored Semmes.  But the other day they were wearing color coordinated outfits (not planned), so we were going to get a picture of them.  Cooper was sitting on the couch next to one of the arms.  We sat Semmes next to him and Cooper turned away and tried to pull himself over the arm of the couch to get away from the baby.  I think someone is jealous.  

Semmes is tracking well.  He likes the red light on my phone and will turn his head from side to side to follow it.  He will tolerate tummy time for about five minutes before screaming.  We're working on it.

Here are the two boys at one month for a comparison (notice that Cooper is smiling):

Similarities and Differences

Semmes is a much different baby than Cooper was.  For one thing, we've had him with us from day one.  He is much more vocal about the things he doesn't like than Cooper ever was.  But, like Cooper, once that dislike is gone, he's good.
Semmes HATES baths.  Cooper liked baths even in the NICU.  The nurses would sit his little butt in warm water and Cooper would immediately relax and become calm.  Semmes, on the other hand, doesn't stop screaming until you get him out of the water.  Not a fan.

Both boys have dimples on their right cheek, in pretty much the exact same spot.  We've only seen Semmes' a couple of times; he's still working on smiling.  They got the dimples from me.  Semmes also has a dimple in his chin, just like daddy.
Semmes is growing at a crazy rate.  WAY faster than Cooper ever grew.  He's already over 9 pounds.  He also LOVES to eat and is really good at it.  Cooper would eat for at least 45 minutes.  He was so slow.  Semmes is 15 minutes max and he's done.  He is also the gasiest baby, but it doesn't seem to bother him at all.

It is actually pretty hard to remember details from when Cooper was this small.  The mind works well in that regard; if people remembered all the gross, exhausting stuff from when their children were infants, they'd never have another one.  But really, it could be so much worse.  Like Cooper, Semmes is a great sleeper.  He's catching on to night and day pretty quickly.  Today, for example, he's actually been awake most of the day, so he should sleep really well tonight.  He goes 3-4 hours at night between feedings.  Pretty good!  That was about the same as Cooper was doing.

Easter 2013

This Easter, I didn't go to church for the first time ever.  But when you have a five day old, I think God understands.  My parents and Semmes came into town to hang with new baby Semmes and we had a fun couple of days.  The Easter bunny came to visit Cooper.  He got a lava lamp (not pictured), and iPhone toy, a pair of shoes, a chick that squeaks...

and a new baby brother.

My family of four:

Podge and Cricket with their two grandsons

The birth story

At 37 weeks, I was already 3-4 cm dilated and 75% effaced.  My doc told me Semmes could come at any time.  But, since I apparently have a cervix of steel and Semmes was very much not interested in the whole being born thing, I just didn't go into labor.  I never really had any contractions, just small tightenings that didn't hurt.  I could have been induced on March 20, but that was the first day of Cooper's spring break and it just wasn't going to work with Brad's work schedule, so I waited and hoped everything would start naturally.

When I went in for my 39 week visit, on Brad's birthday, I had progressed even more to 5 cm.  My doc was on call that night and she said if I wanted to come in then I could have the baby that evening.  Luckily my parents were already coming into town, so we picked up Cooper from school a little early, Brad got off work, and we went to the hospital a little before 4 that afternoon.  We thought we'd have a baby by nine.  Unfortunately, nine other babies thought that evening would also be a good time to be born and L&D was packed!  It wasn't until 8 or so that I got an epidural and 9 before Dr. M broke my water.

**Side note, I will never have an epidural again.  It as miserable.  Last time, I was in the throws of labor pain and someone sticking a needle into my back was nothing compared to that pain.  This time, not so much.  Plus, it made me really sick and lightheaded, so much so that the doctor wasn't sure she wanted to break my water.  I just wanted the drugs to go away, so I convinced her to just do it.  Also, because I wasn't in pain, it didn't work right for the longest time.  And then afterward it just takes FOREVER for feeling and movement to come back to your legs.  So if there is ever a next time, I think I'm just going to deal with the few hours of pain and pushing.

Anyway, after that everything progressed quickly.  Brad was hoping that Semmes would share a birthday with him, but because we got started so late I didn't think that was going to happen.  Sure enough, I remember looking at the clock at 12:01 and telling Brad we had missed it (all this while actively pushing).  Semmes was born after 3 hours of labor and 30 minutes of pushing at 12:06.  So close to Brad's birthday, but I'm kinda glad he has his own day!

Semmes was 3 pounds heavier and 3 inches longer than Cooper was when he was born.  The first thing I remember thinking was how big he was!  Over 8 pounds is huge!  Also, he cried immediately, unlike Cooper, and his APGAR scores were both 9.  I got to hold him almost immediately after birth.  The pediatricians only spent a few minutes checking him over before they declared him just fine and went to check on another baby (like I said, ten born that night).  The only issue he had was that his glucose lever was 30, really low.  So they gave him 20 mL's of formula (the only formula he's had) and his level popped right back up.  So no issues.  He got to stay in the room with us the whole time!  Compared to the last one, it was very drama free!!