One week old!!!

Michael is one week old today and still so cute! This picture was taken on Sunday by Aunt Ashley. He likes to sleep with his hand on his face which I call his pensive face. His great-grandmother (on my side) said that he is already a thinker like his daddy. Wow are we in for a heap of trouble if that's true :-). He also pulls at anything that gets close to his neck (i.e. - a onesie or his swaddle me blanket). When he was born he came out with his cord around his neck and his hand was in between his neck and the cord (which is why we think he pulls at things on his neck). It was as if he was trying to save his own life. His heart rate dropped several times during labor because of this (we didn't know why at the time) and they had to give me oxygen. They also talked seriously about doing a c-section due to his heart rate and my blood pressure (which got really high many times). Thank you all for your prayers though because the labor was pretty quick for being my first and I only pushed 43 minutes AND I didn't have a c-section.

We have already had several appointments since being discharged on Friday afternoon. My blood pressure was still elevated at discharge so they had a visiting nurse come to the house Saturday in addition to an appt. with my OB on Monday and an appt. with my general practicioner yesterday. Craziness! They put me on medication for the blood pressure hoping that it will go down and within weeks I may be taken off of the medication. I also had an EKG and bloodwork, then an appt. next Wednesday for an echocardiogram. They are just checking things out to make sure everything is in good condition. So far, everything is fine it's just my blood pressure that is acting goofy.

Michael had his first pediatrician appt. on Monday right after my appt. He is a very healthy little boy. He is 95 percentile for his length, 90 percentile for his head, and 75 percentile for his weight. He had actually lost a little more weight than he should have. So we have to go back on Friday for a weight check to make sure he is gaining weight. I have strict instructions to wake him up every two hours during the day to eat. Who ever said "Don't wake a sleeping baby"?

As far as sleep goes he slept for a 5 hour chunk our first night home which was nice but didn't last. Then we had a rough night on Sunday, waking up in 30 minute increments at times. We think it was due to me eating broccoli and causing him gas (oops!). Then last night he gave us a 4.5 hour block of sleep...woo hoo! I won't expect it, but it sure was nice! It felt almost as if I slept 9 hours after the previous few nights :)!

Thank you all for your cards, emails, phone calls, and especially your prayers! We are very thankful for all your encouragement!! I will try to return emails soon....I think :).