Month #3!

I can't believe Max is three months.  He has been an absolute joy this month!  I remember everyone telling me it only gets better in the beginning when he was first born and now I can say it truly does!  His smiles and "talking" always bring laughter and smiles to me all the time! It really is contagious.  This month was another busy one!  As mentioned in an earlier blog post, Max was baptized, we took our first Mommy and Max trip to Indiana (plus Kyla) to visit the Pastrick family in Munster then continued our journey to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Dragan in Fort Wayne, went to his first BBQ at Uncle Matt and Aunt Steph's house, and last but not least one of Mommy's college friends, Shana, came to visit!  While in Fort Wayne, Max had a lot of "firsts," the highlight being that he went swimming for the first time!  He absolutely loved it! but not a fan of the sun shining bright in his eyes!  (we forgot his shades).

Loves the swing at the park!

Fist in mouth!

 Tummy time

 Up, up and away!

 Swimming with Grandma.

 Visit from Shana.

First day of NFL season, Go Lions! He was definitely their good luck charm!

Highlights this month: continues to have an obsession with ceiling fans..., lots of talking, smiling and cooing, and laughing, kicks his legs nonstop!, found his fist and they are constantly in his mouth, recognizes Mom and Dad, loves bath time!  still hates tummy time but will tolerate it especially when he is able to get his fist to his mouth, consistently sleeping 7-8 hours continuously a night (which makes Mommy REALLY happy!), still doesn't like to nap...

Max did not visit the pediatrician this month, but by Mommy's fine calculations he weighs about 17.5 pounds and is 25.5 inches long.  Wow, Max is one big boy!

Max's Baptism

On August 11, 2013, Max was baptized into the Catholic Church.  This sacrament took place at St. Clement Church in Chicago.  Max along with 5 other babies were baptized on this date.  He was the only one that took the full plunge! and he did it with all smiles!  He was definitely the best behaved baby out of this group! (so his Mom and Dad like to think!)
Several family members made the trip to Chicago to help celebrate.  We are very grateful and blessed to have them here with us for Max's special day.

 Preparing for full immersion...

 Max with the Deacon, his parents, and godparents (Matt and Betsy)

 Max with his Grandparents

Aunt Maggie taking good care of Max before the weekend festivities :)

Month number 2!

Wow, where does the time go!  It's hard to believe that Max is 2 months old!

The definite highlight of his second month was his first mini "vacation" to Michigan.  We traveled to Saugatuck to be with his Grandma Dragan's side of the family then continued our journey to Detroit to visit with Daddy's family.  Max did great in the car!  We only had one pit stop on the way to Saugatuck in the Walmart parking lot :) and then one on the way back to Chicago in the Taco Bell parking lot :) :)
Max was able to meet cousins, great Aunts/Uncles, great great Aunt/Uncle, great Grandma/Grandpa.  Max did very well for his first mini vacation.  Highlights included: a two hour nap on great Aunt Margaret's shoulder, endless love from his cousins!, being held by his great grandparents, a ferry ride to Saugatuck, having an accident on Grandpa Cleary, meeting Daddy's friends kids at dinner.

Max with cousin Nathan

Ellory, Tessa, and Haile all pose with Max

Tessa with Max

 Before (or maybe even during...) the accident.  "3 goes 2 on 1." :)

 Max with Dad, Grandpa, and Great Grandma

Max with Aunt Meaghan

 Highlights this month: Loves bath time! splashes around in the tub, continues to love ceiling fans, lots of "coos" and "talking," finally able to get that thumb into his mouth!, sleeping 5+ hours a night consistently (there was a 7 hour stretch in there too!), kicks legs nonstop, hates napping, loves to be held.

Max continues to enjoy playing on his activity mat and in his bouncer.  He also enjoys walks with Mom and Kyla and car rides.  Max is not a big fan of when Mommy takes him shopping.

At the pediatrician this month Max weighed 14 pounds 3 ounces (89%) and was 24.25 inches (95%) long!  Making him size up more like a 4 month old baby than a 2 month old!

Newborn Photos by Liz B Photography

Over 4th of July weekend, my very good friend, Liz Brodahl, came to Chicago to photograph Max! I never realized how involved newborn photo shoots can be... There is definitely a fine art that involves much preparation including increasing the temperature of the room, sound machines in order to keep the baby asleep.  Unfortunately, Max thought this was party time and was awake the majority of the shoot!  And Kyla thought that this was HER photo shoot :)

Here are some of our favorites!

Thank you Liz for taking these wonderful photos!!! You are so talented!

Time is flying by...

It's hard to believe that Max is already one month old!!!

After staying two days in the hospital we were finally able to bring baby Max home.  Ready to greet him was Kyla and Grandma Dragan.  Kyla has been so good to Max!  The first night was a rough one due to the borderline levels of jaundice that Max had.  He had to wear the bili blankets for the first 24 hours until his levels of bilirubin stabilized.  Thankfully it was only 24 hours!!

Max had so many visitors in the first month.  He is one lucky guy!!  Grandma Dragan stayed him us the first week we were home then Grandma Cleary ("DD") came to stay with us.  Grandma DD gave Max his first sponge bath!  He loved it!


Other visitors were Aunt Meaghan, Andy Walters, Aunt Steph, Uncle Matt, Kendra McGill, Tara Gillespie, Molly Graber, Amber Pische, Taylor and Steve Shanfeld, Jenny Short, Stephanie Heger, The Pastrick Family, Jess Lindemann and baby Adam, Liz and Matt Brodahl and of course Grandma Dragan was back to visit!

Aunt Meaghan and Max

This months highlights: loves going on walks, tolerates tummy time, hates getting his diaper changed!, rolled over for the first time, able to recognize Mommy's voice, great head control on stomach and when placed on shoulder, loves looking at the ceiling fans, hates bath time! but tolerates a sponge bath, hates his swing and taking naps for his Mommy!

At his one month visit to the pediatrician Max weighed 10 pounds 15 ounces and was 22.75 inches long!  He is one growing boy!  He also got his first shot which he did not like one bit!

I'm new to this...

This whole blog thing is new to me but I wanted to document the life of our newest addition and share with family and friends!!!  Here is Max's story...

At 37.5 weeks pregnant, I continued to go about my daily life: working out, working as a physical therapist, taking daily walks with Kyla, attending street festivals, etc. not knowing that Max would come into this world early.

It was a Sunday morning, very early morning around 2:30 a.m. when I got up to use the restroom.  At 37.5 weeks pregnant this was a typical nightly routine for me which happened multiple times so I didn't think anything of it.  However, this time something felt different as when I returned to bed, I felt the need to change my pajamas because something did not feel right.  After I changed, I still felt a little off. I then woke up Mark telling him: "I think my water broke?" Of course in this world full of technology, we grab our iphones and start "Googling." Mark suggested I go for a walk.  So I paced up and down our hallway.  Finally, we were both convinced that maybe we should call my doctor.  I then placed a call to the doctor and she suggests that we probably should go to OB-Triage at the hospital.  Upon hanging up the phone with my doctor, I can confidently say that in fact my water did break.  Off to the hospital we go...

On our way to Northwestern Prentice Women's Hospital

Waiting in OB-triage waiting room

The minute they hooked me up to the heart rate machine they could tell that he had a abnormally high heart rate.  The high heart rate was due to me being dehydrated so they had to hook me up to an IV which helped his heart rate return to a more normal level.

Finally it was time to head up to the labor and delivery room.  There I was induced because I was not having contractions.

Labor and Delivery Room! Here we go!

At 11am, we were ready to go, we just had to wait for Dr. Wise to get to the hospital.  At 12pm, it was time.  After two full hours, he still did not want to join our world!  Our doctor then suggested the assistance of forceps to help assist him.  At 3:06pm, Max joined our world weighing 7 pounds 9 ounces, measuring 21.5 inches long.  Due to the stress placed on Max during the delivery I was not able to hold him right away but when I was able to hold him, I felt complete joy.  He is an amazing addition to our family and we are lucky to have him.

 There's our little man!!

 My first time holding him.

We are so lucky and blessed that our families were able to join us right away and were present for the delivery.  Everyone got the chance to hold baby Max.

 Grandma Dragan

Grandma Cleary

I will do my best to post every month.  Signing off until next time!