2 week Dr. Appointment

We took James to the doctor this morning for his 2 week check up! We had lots of questions prepared after having a little bit more time under our belt since the last visit. :) James checked out GREAT though. He went from birth weight of 7lbs 2oz to now weighing in at 8lbs 2oz. So he gained an entire pound! He grew in length too. At birth he was 19 3/4in and now is 20 1/4in! The doctor was so pleased with him and his growth, skin coloring and attentiveness that she told us we don't need to come back till he is 2 months old! She said that James was doing things that normally he wouldn't begin doing till he was 4-6 weeks.

We are so proud of our little guy! He is much more alert these days and is increasing his appetite! We even got the ok to start allowing him to sleep as long as he will go during the night. Last night was a gift....he slept for 6 hours straight. It was amazing and I felt much more refreshed waking up this morning than I have in quite some time! So thankful for the rest that God gave all three of us last night.

I'll be sure to take recent pictures and post them soon! He is already changing so much. I'll see if we can get ones with his eyes open. He is much more alert these days. It's been so fun to see him change each day!

Blessed Beyond Measure

About 2 months ago, Manny and I were accepted into a group here in Charlotte called CLF (Charlotte Leadership Forum). The mission of CLF is:

To develop Christlike men and their wives who will be leaders in their families, their occupations, their community, and their churches. These men and women will have a clear vision for their life priorities, and will be

Upright in character
Servant leaders
Godly husbands, wives and parents
Effective builders of God’s kingdom

Anyways, the first weekend away that they had planned for us happened to be this past weekend. From before James was actually here I stressed about this weekend. First off thinking that we wouldn't be able to go if we had him too late and then once he was here and we knew we could attend I stressed about how he would do all weekend and whether or not it was a good idea. But now being on the flip side I am soooo thankful for this past weekend. Although it was hard and tiring it was well worth it. And James did great! We got to spend the weekend hearing amazing speakers (well I only heard snippets:)), listened to a talented musician and got to meet some pretty amazing couples to walk through life with. Manny and I have been praying for years that we would have intentional and meaningful relationships with other couples and I finally feel like that is happening. I love how God's plan for our lives is so much greater than we could ever plan. How he had already begun to thread this into our story before we even knew about it. I can't wait to see what he has in store for both Manny and I with our marriage and each of us as individuals. We are both looking forward to the next two years with CLF and the memories that we are sure to make. I woke up this morning feeling very thankful and blessed for all that the Lord is doing in our family!

10 Things I Never thought would happen...

1. That the formula that I am giving my child would be recalled because of beetles in it.
2. That getting 3-4 hours of sleep would feel like 8 hours. Any sleep is treasured sleep!
3. That I would be washing clothes, burp clothes and blankets 1-2 times a day.
4. That my son would be able to totally miss his diaper and pee up his back (hence the washing of the clothes and blankets! )
5. That I would get pooped on. Literally. Came out of his diaper and all over me. I have a picture but I figure I will spare you all from gagging.
6. That I would laugh at the fact that I got pooped on!
7. That I would forget to brush my teeth some days ( I know you are thinking...how gross, but people when you are running on only a few hours of sleep you're lucky that I'm standing. At least I haven't gone the full day without brushing them :) )
8. That getting out of the house would feel so freeing
9. That I would miss the hospital! Ha! They really are great there!
10. That I would forget to eat some days. The other day it was 2pm and I realized that I had yet to eat breakfast or lunch. At least that day I did brush my teeth!

Happy 2 Week Birthday Buggy!

I can't believe it's already been two weeks today that our little buggy came into this world! This time last week we were in our room resting as a family of 3! James has already changed so much just in two weeks. He is much more alert these days which has been fun. For the most part though he just sleeps.

It's been an interesting couple of days for us. He has had a difficult time getting settled and has just wanted Mommy to hold him. I love holding him, but after a while you start to realize that you can barely go to the bathroom alone! Ha! I have a feeling this is just the beginning of not having my "own time" anymore. Welcome to Motherhood!

We did have something crazy happen last night though. We found out that the formula that we have been giving to James was recalled. What a horrible feeling when you have a two week old and you find out that your formula has been recalled because of them finding beetles in the formula! EWW! Talk about feeling like a bad mom. :( So we have now switched to a different formula, which so far has gone ok. But his poor tummy is trying to adjust. Poor baby! We did call the pediatrician and she seemed to think he was just fine and reassured me to not be worried. We are just praying that this new formula does the trick and that his tummy adjusts soon! In case you are wondering, it is the Similac brand of formula. We were using the Sensative one, but I think they are pulling all of them. And it's only the powder ones. If you are using it too, go to their website and check it out. Stop using it ASAP!

Here are some recent pictures of our sweetie!

What a Difference a Week Makes

So much has happened in the last week. Things started off a little rocky, just adjusting to having Sweet Baby James here. Our first night was pretty good but the second night threw us for a loop. He had his days and nights very mixed up as you would expect. But since then, he has been a dream baby! He eats like a champ and sleeps 3-4 hours stretches at night. Which if you ask me feels like 8 hour stretches! ha! He sleeps great during the day too! Manny and I can't believe how much he has already changed. Could be because of all the food he is eating! :) This week he had his first walk, first bath and his umbilical cord fell off this morning! Lots of firsts!
We are loving every minute of our new life. Being a mom might just be one of my greatest joys. You don't know what to expect or what it will be like while you are pregnant. Nothing can truly prepare you for motherhood. But it is amazing and the biggest gift I could ever receive.
Here are a few pics from his first walk and first bath.





I had to include this last picture of Oliver and James. Oli has done so good adjusting to having James here. He is actually quite protective over him. If he hears James cry then he automatically goes to him to make sure he is ok. The other day I had James in his Moses basket out in the Den with me and Oli just wanted to let on the edge of the couch and watch him. He did this his entire nap. Pretty cute!

God is good....all the time

Here are some pictures that a woman from the hospital took of our little one. These are so precious to me cause they were taken the day after he was born. The one of him and Manny actually made me cry as she was taking it. I'm not emotional at all. Ha! Enjoy them...

Photo Debut

Here are a few photos of our journey up until this point...

Right after getting the epidural. Drugs are a good things! :)


Laying eyes on James for the first time upclose


Father and Son


Most amazing Doctor


First Family Photo


My sweet family who had all just pulled an all nighter waiting on James' arrival!


Me and Stella


My boys


I am now too tired to label the rest. So here they are! :)

First Dr. Appointment

Today we took James to his first doctors appointment. Everything check out great. His weight has maintained almost the same. The day we left the hospital he weighed 7lbs even and today he was 7lb 0.4oz. So he gained a little! :) He did so good though the whole time. Here's a pic from his appointment.

Last night was a rough night for Daddy and Mommy though. James just couldn't get settled so we were up from 11:45 till 3:15. Needless to say James wasn't the only one crying last night. Manny is so amazing though. Even at 2 in the morning he was there by my side encouraging me that we could do it! I sat today and thought about the fact that I COULD NOT do this without him. He has been my strength and support unlike I ever imagined. I feel beyond blessed to have him as my husband.
We having been trying to upload pictures, but are having a tough time. Soon we will get some up though.

Manuel James Rodrigues

We very proudly announce the arrival of our son James! He joined us early Thursday morning at 5:14am and weighed in at 7lbs 2oz 19 3/4in. He is just perfect. We are so in love with this little guy. We thank our sweet Heavenly Father for entrusting this sweet baby to us. It is an honor. Here are 2 pics for now, but don't worry, more will be coming!

And this is why I love this girl...

My good friend Haley posted this on her blog yesterday for me. I love this girl for so many reasons. But one of those reasons being that she just gets it and gets me! Thanks Hales!

Here is her post:

when the day comes that you have a dear friend/family member due, please resist the urge to check in every/every other day via text/email/facebook/phone calls.

Initially I was enjoying the baby countdown, but after you pass a few days of that still with no baby, it’s really irritating (even when…

This is being reblogged for my friend, my good friend, Graylynn. Graylynn and her cute, multi-lingual husband are due to meet their baby James in….a few days. Graylynn and I speak about once a week and we talk a lot about the annoyances of well meaning people “checking in” on mom, baby, and the progress - or, often times, the lack thereof.

Resist folks, try to resist.

hlt.

Updates

Back to the doctor we went today. The doctor was quite surprised to see me there. She had hoped I guess as much as I had that James would have come already. She told me that she had 4 of us girls that she needed to have their babies before she left town and as of today I am the only one that hasn't had mine. Go figure right? UGH! So after checking me and seeing that I was still at 1cm, she decided to strip my membranes. Not sure if any of you have ever had that done, but it was horrible. I don't think I would wish that on my worst enemy. It was extrememly painful and uncomfortable. But if it works and does its job then I should have this little one in about 24 hours or so. If it doesn't work then we just continue to wait. Since my appointment I have been getting lots of contractions, so the prayer now is that they continue and get stronger. So we'll just wait and see. Worst case scenario she said that she will induce me when she gets back which would be the 20th! AHHH. Please pray that we don't make it till then. The thought makes me want to cry.

We'll be sure to keep everyone posted on what is going on though!

Let the countdown begin

And so it begins. We went to the Doctor today and I am officially at 1cm. So though it's not much, I'll take it! They are very happy with his progression and he seems to be doing well. My Doctor did tell me that she needs me to have James before next Friday. Next Friday she will be leaving on a week long vacation and not returning till the 20th! I of course would have no problem having him by then. I told her to just tell me what I need to do and consider it done! She of course listed off the items that most people tell you. So without naming each one of those items, know that I will be doing all of them. I will do whatever it takes! Do not be alarmed if you are driving down the road and happen to see me doing squats or lungs...haha! :) Now we play the waiting game. At least I have my sweet husband who has been a saint through this whole process. He so kindly asked me the other night if his sweet wife was ever going to return to him. Bless him. I think this may or may not have been more tough on him than me! Soon my love you will have your wife back! I promise! So we'll see if this little one wants to come this weekend or not. It would be quite humorous to have a baby on Labor Day weekend. We'll see...