6 Months

 

Weight: 15 lbs 9 oz

Height: 27"

At 6 months: 

Sitting Up really well now 

Sooo close to crawling- he loves to work on his crawling!  He gets up on all four and starts rocking back and forth.  Eventually he goes back to his belly and army crawls.  He's able to get to things pretty quickly now when he wants to

 Much more interactive, reaches for Mommy & Daddy

 

The past month we've really seen some big changes as Hudson starts to develop into his own personality.  He is (intentionally) much more loving.  He reaches for me when he wants me to hold him and expresses true happiness when I enter a room, and unhappiness when I leave the room (which is hard).  He is soo funny and loves to laugh and make people laugh.  He's really starting to enjoy playing and interacting with us and is able to anticipate behavior now, like our hands in the shape of claws means tickle time, or certain noises we make mean certain things.  Its really fun!

 We are still battling the constant sickness issue.  He continues to be congested, boogery, and cough through the night.  Nighttime has become so tough as he wakes up ever hour or two and wants only Mommy.  I'm just SO tired all of the time and its killing me that I can't make it all better for him.

We went to the Dr and they drew some blood to run some tests and are referring him to an Ear Nose & Throat specialist.  He also has to go to an Occupational Therapist because he still refuses to eat food.  

I wish we could just get past all these issues! He is otherwise SO perfect and we just want him to be healthy and thrive the way he was before.

I just LOVE this little guy!

Bath Time

Loves Mirrors!

On the move!

5 Months

Hudson continues to be the sweetest baby and we are still just loving every moment with him, but this past month was tough with being back at work, Hudson getting sick and having to find a new daycare. Sometimes being a parent is hard.

Weight: 14 lbs 6 oz (10th percentile)

Height: 26"

At 5 months: 

Started eating solids! (And then stopped when he got sick)

Started Sleeping through the ENTIRE night! (And then stopped when he got sick)

Sitting Up, but topples over after a little while

Daycare #2

Leaving Hudson at daycare was incredibly hard, but to make it worse I didn't have the best feeling about the place. To be honest, I didn't have a good feeling about it from the first time we visited.  But I figured it was just because it was daycare and I wasn't going to love anywhere that wasn't home with me. Turns out it was more like Mother's intuition... On day #2 Hudson came home with a giant scratch on his face starting at his eye. The daycare didn't address it at all. On day #3 he came home with a full bite mark inches from his eye! This warranted a call to the school's principal who seemed less than concerned and told me biting is normal child behavior. Although I agree to some extent, it was not OK that children with teeth were being allowed unsupervised access to my baby! That along with a few other things and my gut feeling that the place wasn't right was enough to find a new daycare.
So, Hudson is now at daycare #2 and it's MUCH different and has made a huge difference in my ability to cope with going back to work. I have so much more confidence in leaving him where he's at and it's made it easier for me to focus on work during the day. When I drop him off in the morning he's instantly intrigued by all the kids. When I pick him up he seems perfectly content and not overwhelming happy I'm there to rescue him. Overall I'd say it going much better! 

Being a Working Mom

Even though I'm pretty happy about his new daycare I can't say I love being a working Mom.  I'm back in the swing of things at work now, but I can honestly say I am a different person than I was before.  Work doesn't matter as much as it used to and everything about being away from my child all day feels wrong and I am incredibly exhausted!  Being a working Mom is having 2 full time jobs.  I have to get up at 5am to be at work by 8.  Then during the day I am constantly juggling trying to get things done, attend meetings and manage to pump every 3 hours.  I get to spend an hour or two with Hudson once we get home before we have to start the bedtime routine and once he's asleep it takes another hour to wash all the bottles and pump parts, then pump again, then rewash and get everything ready for the next day.  

Hudson's First Cold

What comes with daycare? Germs & sick kids!  Of course only a week after starting the new daycare Hudson got a cold, which then turned into a sinus infection.  For the past 2 1/2 weeks Hudson has been sick, congested and of course NOT sleeping.  Poor baby.  Seeing him uncomfortable is heartbreaking!   He had just started to eat solids and was loving it, and then he got sick and lost his appetite.  Notice his 5 month stats are the same as last month.  In the past few weeks he lost the weight he'd gained at the beginning of the month :-(

This is what happens when you lay him down on a blanket and then look away for 5 seconds

A little DIY decoration I made for Hudson's room

Yum, cereal!

4 Months, Back to work & Off to Daycare

At Four Months: 

Our little guy just gets bigger every day.  It’s amazing how much he changes each month.  He is currently still very excited by his feet and has discovered he can get them into his mouth (yuck).  He’s becoming more coordinated with his (assisted) sitting, standing, and ability to move around/ roll around.  He loves to splash around in the bath and plays with/ mostly chews on his toys.  He’s interested in grabbing everything and once he’s gotten a hold of something he promptly sticks it in his mouth.  And he is still just too cute and soo sweet!

 

Weight: 14 lbs 6 oz (23rd percentile)

Height: 26" (80th percentile)

Still Loves: 

Ceiling fans, lights, tummy time & being held/ cuddled, Blankets, bouncy chair, rolling over (and over, and over...), grabbing his feet, TV

 

New Loves: 

Bath time splashing, putting EVERYTHING in his mouth :-)

 

Hates: 

the car :-(

 

Now he is: 

Rolling over every which way, putting his feet in his mouth, making new noises

 

Sleeping: 

He took great to sleeping in his crib at night.  He hasn't been back in our room since we moved him over, although these days I wish he would just sleep in my bed again.  I never know what kind of night I'm in for.  Some nights he only gets up once, other nights I spend more time in his room than in my bed.  Those nights are especially painful now that I'm back at work :-(

 

 

Back to Work and Off to Daycare: 

Alas, our precious time together has come to an end. The day he turned 4 months old I returned to work and this week Hudson started daycare.  Currently he is attending daycare Mon-Thurs and Jason and I are alternating staying home on Friday’s so he always gets a “three day weekend.”  This makes the situation slightly more tolerable.  I will say that it has been a difficult transition, I think both for he and I.  It will take some time to adjust.  There is lots I could say on the subject and the struggles that I have been battling but I think it is perhaps too soon to talk on the subject.  It has been emotional and exhausting to say the least.  I’ll follow up on this subject next month...

3 Months

At Three Months:

Weight: 13.5 lbs

 

Still Loves: 

Ceiling fans, lights, laying on his activity mat, tummy time & being held/ cuddled

 

New Loves: 

Blankets, bouncy chair, rolling over (and over, and over...), grabbing his feet, TV

 

Hates: 

the car :-(

Now he is: 

Rolling over back to front (started @ 10 weeks), standing & balancing while holding my fingers, grabbing for things, playing with basic toys! 

Sleeping: 

This has gotten worse :-( The past few weeks he's been waking ever 2 hours most nights and has been difficult to get to sleep at night.  Even napping has been a little tough lately. Hopefully its just a phase.

As of last last night he is now sleeping in his crib in his own room! Actually, this is a much bigger milestone for Mommy & Daddy :-)  I don't think Hudson cared much, but Jason and I both went to bed with sad faces last night.  He's just getting to big for his bassinet. 

This past month:

 This past month was a month of big changes, and a peek at just how fast he's going to develop from now on.  Just in the past month he's discovered his hands and feet and holds onto his feet every chance he gets!  He now grabs things, holds onto me, holds toys and attempts to put everything in his mouth.  He rolls over every time he's put on his back and is shockingly good at moving around considering he can't crawl yet.  He's gotten scootching around on his tummy down pat.  He had his first pool day at Grandma & Grandpa's and spent 2 weeks at their house last month (with Mommy). He is still so much fun and such a good boy. He's so sweet and for the most part so easy.  We still go far walks almost every morning.  I'm trying to enjoy these last few weeks with him as much as possible before going back to work (something I am dreading and really struggling with).  Nothing could have prepared me for how much I would love this little guy!

My little love bug!

Hudson's First Pool Day

2 Months

Time continues to fly and 2 months has already gone by! He is just so precious and so much fun! He is growing like a weed and changes so much each week.

At Two Months:

Height: 24.5 in (96 percentile)

Weight: 12lbs 6oz (49 percentile)

 

Loves: Ceiling fans, lights, laying on his activity mat, tummy time & being held/ cuddled

 

Now he is: Lifting his head and gaining head control while, watches Mommy from across the room, talking more and more (coos and baby babble), and smiling & laughing! Grabbing Mommy's hair & necklace.

 

Sleeping: Still 3-6 hours at a time, but getting better at making it to 5 or 6 hours

 

Hudson smiles and giggles now pretty often which is so much fun!  He is always so excited and energetic first thing in the morning (he does not get this from his Mommy!) and its so much fun to wake up to.  He always smiles at me when I change his diaper and gets really excited when I talk to him in funny high pitched voices.  We are still going for walks almost everyday and have a pretty good routine/ schedule down during the weeks now for the most part.  He's gotten better at napping, which had made his Mommy saner, the house cleaner, and night time with Daddy so much more pleasant!

Here are some pictures from this last month:

1 Month Old

Hudson is 1 Month Old!  It's hard to believe it's already been 5 weeks today since this little blessing was born.  It has been the fastest month of my life!  He is so incredibly sweet and such a good baby.  We are so so blessed with this little guy.  We love him SO much! 

At One Month:

Height: 23 in (95 percentile)

Weight: 10lbs 8oz (65 percentile)

 

Loves: Watching ceiling fans, laying on his activity mat, tummy time & rolling over (down a sloped surface) 

 

Now he is: Tracking with his eyes, lifting his head, making all sorts of funny faces, starting to baby talk

 

Sleeping: 3-6 hours at a time, but usually closer to 3 :-(

1 week

2 weeks

3 weeks

3 weeks

4 weeks

Mom is still recovering, but doing well.  Hudson and I have started walks on the trails nearby our house.  We're nearly up to 4 miles and love being able to get some fresh air and take in the scenery.  Well at least I do, Hudson mostly sleeps the whole time :-)  About a week ago I did my first handstands since I was 22 weeks pregnant!  It felt so great to be upside down again. Still a long ways to go to get back to feeling like myself.  I mostly miss my old clothes.  It'll be a while before I can get into those again, but I'm trying not to stress about it too much and just enjoy this precious time. 

Lots of love!

Hudson's Birth Story

The wait is finally over!  Welcome to the world Hudson!

 

Hudson Bryan Villoria

Born April 29th, 8:22am

8lbs 8oz

22 1/2" 

 Last Monday we packed our bags and made our way to the hospital, a mix of emotions and no idea what was about to happen. We checked into the hospital at 8:20pm.  They brought us to our room and within minutes I was in bed and hooked up to monitoring equipment.  I'd planned for an all natural birth, laboring how I wanted with intermittent monitoring.  I quickly found out that was not going to be the case.  When you have pregnancy complications you have to be monitored constantly.  So from the minute I got there I was stuck in bed, unable to move around with monitors strapped to me.  They gave me the Cervidil and told me to sleep.  As if that was possible with all that stuff strapped to me!  Throughout the night the nurse came in a number of times looking at my readings and telling me I needed to change positions or adjust the monitors.  At about 6:30 am the nurse told me they had to take the Cervidil out and I would have to be put on Pitocin.  There were some issues and the Cervidil wasn't working anyway.  I was so disappointed, I really didn't want to have to use Pitocin.  Shortly after that nurses were coming in pretty often and they told me my Doctor was on her way even though she wasn't supposed to be in until that evening when I delivered.  Something was clearly wrong. Around 7:30 four nurses came rushing into the room, they turned me on my side, put oxygen on me, hooked up an IV and were clearly distressed.  I was told my doctor just arrived, and an anesthesiologist was on his way and I would be taken to the OR in a few minutes.  I was about to have a C-section, NOW!

Throughout the night every time I would have a contraction, once the contraction was over the baby's heart rate would drop significantly for a period of time.  This meant my placenta was not sending oxygen to the baby during that time.  Around 7am, his heart rate started to drop from 140 bpm to below 60bpm and they were having a hard time getting it back up.  This only happened about 3 times before I was sent in for an emergency c-section.

It was hard to process, everything happened so quick.  I was so disappointed, but also very scared.  My baby was at risk.  My disappointment was quickly replaced with new emotions though, because within minutes I was listening to my baby cry and it was all over.  Hudson was born at 8:22am on Tuesday morning.  Just 12 hours after we checked into the hospital the night before!

Holding him in my arms, staring into his beautiful little face.... I just have no words to describe it.  He is by far my greatest accomplishment in life.  A tiny miracle that is so incredible, I just didn't know my heart could ever be so overwhelmed with love and happiness! He is such an amazing blessing.  The following days in the hospital were the best days of my life.  I healed so quickly from the surgery.  It seemed like just holding him and looking at him took away my pain and healed me.  We left the hospital Friday morning, three days after he was born.  Life has been amazing ever since.  I don't mind not sleeping because I'd rather be holding him, feeding him or changing him than sleeping.  Every second is just so precious! I am so in love!