Hudson's first trip to the beach!

He was sacked out before we even took him out of the car!

He was pretty content sleeping to the sounds of the ocean waves

We brought Madison. She was pretty happy!

I was able to get him up for a second right before we left

Nighttime

Hudson has slept through the night the last two nights! We had a nighttime routine down with feedings and bath time that he really enjoyed for several weeks but now he has decided to switch it up a bit. He is awake longer in the evenings but sleeps longer at night. Maybe he just wants to spend more time with daddy since he doesn't get to see him during the day. Babies will forever remain a mystery to me. Each day brings something new but we are becoming pros at deciphering his cries. Hudson eats a lot and often so 95% of the time, his cries are due to the fact that he is just overtired. He isn't the biggest fan of nap time and I know he didn't get that from my side of the family because we are known to take marathon naps! My favorite time of day is now the early evenings. Adam gets home from work and we go on nice long walks with Hudson and dream about buying a house with a yard. Tonight we are going to take Hudson and our dog, Madison, to the beach. I am so excited for Hudson's first beach trip! I know he is going to love it because he loves the sound of waves. After all, it's what he falls asleep to every night! We are purposely creating a beach bum/water lover. There is nothing cuter than a little baby in a bathing suit at the beach! Aside from that, he has big enough feet and hands to take on Michael Phelps at the next Olympic games. :)

6 weeks old and counting!

Hudson turned 6 weeks old last night at 11:03. Where has the time gone? He is getting sweeter by the day and cuter if that's possible! As of Wednesday he finally started taking naps during the day!! He can go 4-5 hours at night too, which is wonderful. Hudson has had stomach issues for weeks and always seemed like he was in pain. He also spit up a ton after he ate. We were taking Hudson to one pediatrician who was opened 24 hours a day/7 days a week but I just wasn't happy there so we finally switched. The old pediatrician told me that there was nothing wrong with him (even when he was crying for 5 hours straight!!) and that it was all just trial and error with babies. She was right to an extent but I just knew something was not right.

We finally took him to our new pediatrician yesterday and as it turns out, poor Hudson has acid reflux. It is very common in babies but he has been suffering for weeks without treatment! The pediatrician put him on Zantac and said we should notice a change within days so we will see! The amazing news was that Hudson is growing like a weed! He weighed 10 pounds 13 ounces and was 23 1/4" long!! He loves to eat, even if it does hurt a tad. :) An old high school friend came over on Thursday and took pictures of him for the birth announcement. (I'm a little behind on this!) I cannot wait to see them. We took him outside and put him in baskets. She took some adorable shots of him. Adam was at work but came home just in time to take some family pictures. I'm so excited to see them. Once we get those back, I promise I will send out an announcement! I went for my 6 week check up with my doctor and I am good to go back to all of my regular activities so that was good news. I also started back at work this week so it's another new adjustment but I think I'm handling it okay. Hudson goes for his 2 month check up on May 15th and he will get his first round of shots. I'm making Adam go with me because I cannot bear to see poor Hud get stuck with needles! After he gets those shots, we will finally be able to take him out in public and show him off. These past 6 weeks have really flown by and with each day, I fall more and more in love with Hudson and it makes each late night feeding that much more worth it.

One Month Old

Today Hudson is officially one month old! I cannot believe how fast these last 4 weeks have flown by. He is getting chubbier by the day (9 lbs 4 oz as of last Wednesday) and he is getting a little personality on him! We are learning what cry means hungry, what cry means overtired and when he is just crying to cry. My favorite time of day is right after his morning nap. He just sits there and "talks" and makes all kinds of cute noises while flailing his arms in every direction. Some days he sleeps like a champ, other days, not so much! Our night routine is getting better and better! He has been waking up twice a night to feed and has been great about going right back down. We have discovered he likes "white noises". Aunt Marissa uncovered his love for the sounds of the air conditioning unit and I took it a step further and brought him into the bathroom one night and turned on the exhaust fan and he pretty much fell right asleep. My friend Kristy raved about a toy called the "Sleep Sheep" that her daughter still loves to this day so we bought one of those. So far we have tried out "Mother's Heartbeat" and "Ocean Noises". He really likes "Ocean Noises" and to be quite honest, so do I! It puts me right to sleep. Hudson has been a very alert baby since the moment he came out of the womb and now he picks his head up, looks around and observes everything. We are making pretty good eye contact these days too. If I could hold him all day, every day, I would! He is currently sound asleep in his swing while it is pouring down rain outside. Oh the little things in life!

Life after jaundice

We are slowly getting adjusted to life off the tanning bed. Hudson is super hungry all the time and we are starting to figure out which cry means what. We had our first doctor appointment today and since he was born, he has gone up to 8 lbs 4 oz! He is eating well.

The doctor still wants him to eat every 2 hours during the day in hopes that he sleeps for longer stretches at night. We are definitely trying that and I hope that after a few days it works because Adam is back at work and needs his sleep at night!

We have had a few visitors and friends that have brought us dinners and that has been so nice. We just can't wait until the day that we can take him out in public and show him off!

The baby tanning bed

The Monday that we brought Hudson home, we realized that he looked pretty yellow so we took him to the doctor and he suggested we take him to get his blood tested for jaundice but advised waiting a day just to see if it would go away. By Wednesday it had gotten worse, so we took him to get tested and that night, we were told that he would have to lay on a photo therapy light bed to get rid of the jaundice. A nurse named Harriett came over and we named her the Baby Whisperer. She gave us so many tips and pieces of advise! She blew all the baby books out of the water! Typically kids are on this light, or "baby tanning bed" as we called it for 2-4 days. Hudson was on it for 6 and it was a very hard 6 days. He had to lay on the bed 24 hours a day unless he was being fed. We couldn't hold him or cuddle with him and that was really hard for us. When Nurse Harriett called us at 1:15 am to tell us to take him off the bed, it was the best news I had ever heard! I woke Adam up out of a dead sleep and made him take away the light immediately! Hudson's eyes are still a little yellow but his skin looks much better!

Hudson's First Days

Hudson was born 2 1/2 weeks early, on Friday March 13th, 2009 at 11:03 pm. He weighed 7 lbs 7 oz. and was 21 inches long. I had no idea I was even in labor until I went for my 37 week check up! I made the doctor check me and it turns out I was 5 centimeters dialated so they sent me downstairs to be admitted right away. Luckily Adam was with me for that doctor appointment but we didn't have anything with us for a hospital stay! We called on our friend Ashley to run to the house and pack our bags for us. In the meantime, my sister rushed in from Orlando and my mom and Pat flew down from Hilton Head, South Carolina to be there. My friend Lindsey just happened to be flying into Tampa for the weekend from New York City to visit some friends and we caught her just in time! She rented a car from the Tampa airport and drove up to Jacksonville for the night. Luckily, Adam's mom was working in North Carolina so she rented a car and drove 8 hours to see her grandson! I was admitted to the hospital around 4:30 and by 8:45 I was pushing. Hudson did not want to come out so I pushed for 2 hours until he finally made his first appearance! The first sight of him took my breath away and all I could think was: He has the biggest hands! Hearing him cry was the most amazing thing. We had so many visitors! Hudson has a lot of people that were so excited to meet him and love on him!