Happy 1 Month Corbin James!!!

I can't believe that it has already been a month since Corbin was born and we became a family of 4! 

Here are a few things about Corbin from this first month:

- He has really good head and neck control and is able to hold his head up and look around for things
- He has started to track and follow faces and other objects (especially his brother)!
- He loves to be stretched out with his arms above his head!  (We swaddle him a lot and as soon as he can break out of the swaddle he will throw his hands above his head)
- He does great with tummy time and even raising his head and turning it side to side.  He has started kicking his legs like a little frog while on his tummy which makes us all laugh!
- He naps on his tummy during the day and would probably prefer to sleep on his tummy at night but we make him sleep on his back
- He is wearing size 1 diapers and newborn clothes but will probably be in 0-3 month clothes pretty quick
- He is exclusively breastfed and nurses every 3 hours normally; occasionally he will go 4 hours but prefers 2-3 hours and will wake up on his own every 3 hours at night
- He is a tough little guy and has been rammed in the head by an ambulance, had his arm and leg yanked on and nearly been dog piled several times by a well intending (in all cases except for the ambulance) big brother who just wants to love on him all day long!
- He sleeps in his crib in his bedroom but protests initially going to bed no matter what time we put him down.  Once he is asleep and wakes for a feed he goes back down easily but it is a struggle to get him down the first time!

Once again we have been blessed with a really easy baby!  He has adjusted to being part of this family and we have adjusted to being a Family of Four pretty easily also.  Cade loves being a big brother and is so sweet with Corbin most of the time.  He tells Corbin all the time that he is his best friend and is so happy to have him!  It is just the sweetest thing and makes this Momma's heart smile!!!  I love seeing them together and can't wait to watch them both grow in their relationship with each other!

 

BEST Photography Assistant! 

Here are a few of my favorite things used during the first month: (Be warned that I am a HUGE breastfeeding advocate and so there is lots about nipples in the descriptions)

 

1.  Diaper rash cream (Balmex)- Everyone knows that babies poop and frequently (especially breastfed babies)!  We still have the Boudreaux's Butt Paste that we used with Cade but I have found that the Balmex multi purpose cream provides a better barrier and is easier to put on
2.  Pamper's sensitive wipes- Corbin has a little more sensitive skin right now than Cade ever did and so we are using sensitive wipes with him for now. 
3.  Lanolin- Oh how quickly I forgot just how sore your nipples get when breastfeeding!  This stuff is great and I keep a tube by every chair/ bed/ couch in the house where I might sit to feed.  Putting on a little after feeding helps the healing process.
4.  Lanolin & Lansinoh gel cooling pads/ Madela gel cooling pads- I just found out about these little things this time around and love them!  They go on after feeds and are naturally cool to help relieve some of the pain in your nipples.
5.  Medela soft shields- Another discovery of mine this time around and another FAVE!  These are to wear in between feeds because they help keep the material of your bra off your nipple which allows them to get some air and heal.
6.  Lansinoh Thera Pearl 3-in-1 Breast Therapy- These are great to use while pumping in order to help release more milk.  You put them in the microwave for 30 seconds and then put them on around the pump.  (They can also be put in the fridge to get them cooled and worn to help with engorgement)
7.  Travel boppy- This is great if you travel any (even around town) and are breastfeeding.  It is smaller than a normal boppy and folds in half then zips up for easy carrying.
8.  Aden & Anais swaddle blankets- BEST swaddle blankets EVER!
9.  Target nursing bras and tanks- I love the Target nursing tanks and bras.  The tanks in the picture are great to sleep in because they have a little extra support while still providing easy access to nurse.  (They are not so great to try and wear out in public because they show A LOT of cleavage!)  The Gilligan &O'Malley nursing bra that is linked above is called a sports bra but it is much more attractive than that.  It provides a lot of support and has wide/ comfortable straps.
10.Wubanub Paci- I love these pacis because not only are they cute but they are so easy to find and return to the mouth of a crying babe when in the car! 
11.Total Baby tracking app- We found this little app with Cade and loved it then and love it even more now!  It is great to track when your baby eats, sleeps, has a diaper, gets a shower, gets any kind of medicine or goes to the doctor.  It allows you to track multiple kids, add pictures, write notes about milestones and is just all around cool for keeping track of important things!
12. Fetal heart sounds app or sound machine- we never bought a sound machine and instead just use this app to play fetal heart sounds or white noise when helping Corbin fall asleep.

This list is by no means inclusive of everything that is needed but just a few faves of mine to make it through the 1st month!

Corbin's Newborn Pictures

We had our newborn pictures made by Jill Cornelius with JC Original Photography and LOVE them!  We signed up for her baby plan and so we will have 3 more photo sessions with her throughout Corbin's first year.  I am so excited about all these pictures and being able to document his growth over the year. 

Jill came to our house for the newborn shoot.  It was so neat to see her set up all her stuff right in the middle of our living room and turn it into a mini photo studio.  I wish I had of grabbed my camera and taken pictures of her working because it was just so neat to see it done!  Jill was amazing and spent several hours at our house working around Corbin and his need to nurse and schedule. 

First bath and other pics from our first days at home

Corbin liked his 1st bath slightly better than Cade did!  You would think after 2 1/2 years of practice we would be good at the whole bath thing but the first bath is still just awkward and difficult!  We all survived though.

 

 Cade and my Mom watching Corbin get a bath!

dressed up to cheer the Rangers on in a baseball game!

 

LOVE

 

SWOON

 

PERFECT

Sunbathing outside while brother plays on his swingset!

Gregg's sister, her husband and their little boy (Landry) came to visit us pretty quick after we got home!  Landry and Cade LOVE each other and have so much fun together!  We enjoyed the visit and Gregg and I were even able to get away for a couple hours alone to do some shopping!

The boys loved the warm weather and being able to play together outside

and ride on Cade's Fire Truck! 

Gregg had to work on Mother's Day this year and Cody, Misti and Landry were headed home so the boys and I loaded up and went to the Fire Station with them to spend the afternoon there!  Cade and Landry enjoyed running around, seeing the ducks and seeing everyone.  Cade also loved being able to show off his baby brother and Corbin was a sweet boy and slept through his first visit.  It was a perfect afternoon with my boys!

Momma and baby ducks

 



 

 

Mother's Day pic with my boys! 

Corbin James Groves

At my last doctors appointment the decision was made to induce me on May 2 if I had not already delivered by that time.  Gregg and I were in favor of an induction in order to be able to possibly plan and control a few things.  Our family was going to come to town so we would have someone to take care of Cade. 

Cade and Gregg both woke up on May 1 running fever and not feeling well.  We took Cade to our Pedi and he tested positive for strep throat.  Not at all what we wanted as we were heading to Dallas later that afternoon to stay the night in preparation for the next day.  We were able to get his antibiotics picked up and get those started knowing that he would no longer be contagious 24 hours after starting those.  We figured that Gregg probably had the same and knew that we would have to be careful with him and the baby.

Final belly pic before heading to get things started!

My Mom made it to town first and we met her at the hotel to get us all checked in.  We met up with my Uncle Rod (who lives in Dallas) and headed to Mia's for my last meal.  Gregg's parents made it to town right as we were sitting down to eat and were able to join us for dinner.  I had some chips and salsa and then Brisket Tacos which were excellent!  After dinner we went back to our hotel.  Gregg took Cade to my parents room to get him settled in for the night and my Uncle went to pick my Dad up from the airport.  Around 9:15pm I started having contractions while drying my hair.  My Uncle and Dad came over shortly after that and I continued to have contractions the whole time that they were visiting.  After they left, I finished drying my hair and started to time the contractions.  They were coming every 5 minutes at this point but were not painful.  When Gregg got back we laid all our bags out to head to the hospital in the morning (we had to be there at 4am) and then crawled into bed.  I was still contracting every 5 minutes and was starting to get a little more uncomfortable.  I thought that I was really tired and kept trying to convince myself (and Gregg) that if I could just get comfortable and go to sleep that they would go away.  That did not work at all and they actually started to come closer together- every 3 minutes.  Around 11:45 Gregg decided that we were going to the hospital and got up to get in the shower.  I tried to stay in bed and be in denial a few more minutes and then got up also to finish getting ready.  The contractions continued to come every 2-3 minutes and by the time we got in the truck to head to the hospital (about midnight) I was quite uncomfortable.  Gregg was way more nervous throughout all of this than I was because he just knew we weren't going to make it to the hospital (located right across the street from our hotel) and that he would have to deliver the baby, (I think he was secretly hoping for that to happen!)  Since my water hadn't broken yet I knew that we still had plenty of time (I was right) and wasn't worried at all.

We got parked in ED garage about 12:10am and made our way up to L&D Triage to get checked in.  I was very uncomfortable by this time and had to stop every couple of minutes as we walked to lean up against a wall of Gregg and breathe through a contraction.  Once in L&D Triage, I changed into a gown and was checked by one of the Nurse Practitioners.  Her exam was at 12:50am and I was 2/50/-3.  This was the exact same exam as my last doctors appointment earlier that week so I was a little discouraged by all the contractions that I was having with no cervical change.  There was a little confusion at this point as to what they were going to do with me.  The NP told me that they would monitor me in triage for 2 hours and then check me again to see if I had changed any and if not they would send me home.  I started to panic at this point because I was hurting so bad.  I told them again that I was supposed to come in at 4am for an induction and did not understand why they would send me home only for me to have to turn around and come back an hour or so later.  At that point they realized my induction was scheduled for that day and not for May 4 as they had originally thought when I said I was supposed to come in at 4 for an induction.  Once that was all cleared up they happily sent me over to L&D East to be admitted. 


 

Waiting in L&D Triage for a room

East was already expecting me- Amanda had called them early that evening and let them know I was coming in at 4am, told them what room I wanted and who I wanted as my nurse.   (Perks of working at the hospital!)  I was admitted to room 1 (same room that I delivered Cade in) and my nurse, Melinda, got started on all the paperwork.  The Charge Nurse (Shannon Turano) came into the room to tell me that she had called the doctor that was on-call for my regular doctor, Dr. Troung, and that he would not clear me for an epidural since I was not yet 4cm and in "active labor".  (My doctor, Dr. Rosenbaum, had told me that she had to be at the hospital at 7am for a procedure on May 2 and then would be over after that to check on me.)  Again, I panicked at this point as I was now having painful contractions every 1-2 minutes and immediately started crying.  Shannon assured me that she was not going to allow that and that she had already called the 4th year resident to come clear me instead.  Shannon and Melinda were both wonderful the entire time that they were there.  They were both great patient advocates and made sure that I was well taken care of!  I got up and walked around the room while waiting for the doctor to come and check me because that helped ease the contractions a little.  The 4th year came about 1:45am to check me, called me a "3" and wrote for me to get my epidural.  (I still do not think that I was actually 3cm at this time and that the doctor was following Shannon's instructions for the exam!)  The CRNAs that were on that night were both back in the OR doing C-sections and so at 2:30am Dr. Smith (Chief of Obstetrical Anesthesiology) came and put in my epidural.  He was also wonderful and had me comfortable within just a few minutes of walking into my room. 

At 4:30am the 4th year resident came back and checked me again.  This time I was a good 4cm, completely effaced and at a -2 station.  She ruptured my membranes and I had clear fluid.  I was still contracting on my own every 3 minutes or so and so I never had to have Pitocin started.  At 6:30am I was starting to feel a lot of pressure and knew that I was getting close to delivery.  I called for a doctor to come and check me and I was now 9cm and at +1 station.  I called my Mom and my good friend Emilie (who was with me when I delivered Cade) to come to the hospital.  Em was already on her way and got there about 7:15 am and my Mom got there at 7:30am.  My nurses for the day shift (also already picked out) were Jamie George (for me) and Christina Vinzant (baby nurse) came on at 7am and were both pretty surprised that it was almost time for delivery!  (Fun side story about Jamie and Christina- they were both pregnant at the time of my delivery and ended up delivering on the same day a couple months later!) 

Dr. Rosenbaum came in about 8:30am (also surprised at the fact that I was already ready for delivery and that I hadn't had to be induced) and immediately started to prepare for delivery.  She checked me at 8:45 and I was complete and ready to start pushing.  I pushed for 6 contractions (so different from the almost 2 hours that I had pushed with Cade) and at 8:54am Corbin James Groves made his arrival into this world!  Corbin weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 19.39 inches long. 

Jamie and Christina getting ready for the delivery

Love at first site!

 

I was able to spend my first couple of hours following delivery with just Gregg and my Mom in the room doing skin to skin with Corbin.  This was very important to me in order to help with the transition to extra uterine life, initiation of breastfeeding and maternal-infant adaptation.  Following this time, we allowed all of our family in the room to visit and Corbin was weighed and given his first bath in our room.  

He looks so much like his big brother!

Dr. Rosenbaum and I

 

 

 First picture as a family of 4!

 

We were transferred to our post-partum room a little later.  Between family, friends and all my co-workers we had lots of visitors (which I got almost no pictures of)!

  

Brotherly LOVE!

 

Cade made himself at home in our room and loved using the bed remote to control the TV! 

(We had a double post-partum room this time around which was GREAT for Gregg!) 



Showing off our cute matching outfits!  (Complements of PUSH! Delivery Gowns)

Cade was so excited to come back to the hospital the next day and visit and thought that it was extra special that he and Corbin were in matching Big Brother/ Little Brother t-shirts!  I was less excited to still be in the hospital and convinced my doctor to go ahead and discharge me as soon as Corbin had his circumcision!

 

My cousin Mikka's little girl, Campbell and Corbin.  (They are a little over a month apart.)

We were finally discharged around 6pm on May 3.  Gregg's parents had already left to go back to Lubbock and my parents had taken Cade back to our house to start cooking dinner for all of us. 

 

Finally free and headed home!



 

 

Since we didn't get to take any full family pictures leaving the hospital we had to wait till we got home and snap a few there!  My Mom took these and I'm not sure what she did to get this circle around all the pics.

 

 

 

My entire labor and delivery process with this little one was almost perfect!  We are so in love with Corbin and his big brother and are looking forward to all the days ahead as a family of 4!