I can not believe how fast Micah is growing.  He is already starting to outgrow a lot of his 3 month size clothes.  (Remember, he is just over a month and a half old!)  I have started putting him in some of the 6 month clothes and some of them don’t even look too big!  We have Micah’s 2 month appointment in a week and a half, and I am very interested to see how he “measures up.”  Our unofficial measurements here at home have him at around 15lbs and 23-24 inches long (It’s hard to measure).  We love our big boy. 🙂

There are a few new things that have all started happening in the past week:

1. Micah has started pre-smiling.  It’s more like a smirk, and it’s only there for a second, but I think that any day now we will get that all-out grin.  I have yet to catch it on a camera because almost as soon as its there, it’s gone.  This is the closest I have… but try to look past the fact that it’s super blurry because I took it in low light on my phone…

2. He has started sleeping longer… well… a bit.  We have had a few 5-6 hour stretches.  (Much better than 2-3 which it had been.)  This means only getting up once at night!  It has only happened a few times, but I’m hoping this is a trend.  I think it’s partially due to the magical swaddle sleep sacks.  They make him feel cozy, warm and safe.   He had grown out of his other swaddle, so we had him in a different (swaddle-less) sleep sack.  Bad news.  Finally, we ordered a bigger size with swaddle online and it’s been great.  Although, I’m sort of scared of what we will do after he grows out of this one, because they don’t make bigger ones than this with swaddles.  Swaddling him with a blanket was just not cutting it… and most babies don’t grow out of these until they’re a bit older, but I think he still really needs to be swaddled to sleep for longer periods of time.  We shall see…

3. He is holding his head up much more consistently, but still for short periods of time.  Tummy time is still a challenge, but we’re getting better at it.  This morning, Micah came up with a new way to hang out so that he didn’t have his face on the floor, but he also didn’t have to hold up his head.  It looks suspiciously like he is ready to roll over… but he just sat there like this:

Ahh... this is more like it.

So we tried a new method.  I propped him up on the Boppy and waited to see what happened.  He did great!… for a little while…

Check out how strong I am!

Uh oh... I lost my concentration...

I'm remembering now why I don't like this...

I'm tired!!

SAVE ME, MOMMY!! PLEEEEASE??

And that’s how it usually goes…  But, he’s definitely improving!  We’ll keep working on it.

It’s so fun to see Micah’s progress as he learns and grows more each day.

Hope everyone had a great, sugary night…  We hit up the parties at Elim and Calvary, and enjoyed seeing lots of great friends at both churches!

Micah started preparing a couple weeks ago by ordering a costume from Target.com. Janelle and I only spent about 20 minutes figuring out our costumes, which is my excuse as to why Micah looks way cuter than us.

Here are a few more shots of Micah so you can get the full effect.

As long as we’re on the fall theme, here’s one more great picture of our little pumpkin.  He’s sure excited about something!

It’s so hard to believe that Micah is already a month and a half old!  It seems like he has been here for so much longer than that, and at the same time it feels like time is flying by.  He is growing so fast!  Check out our little man:

I’m not really sure how to summarize everything that has happened in the past month and a half.  The best way I can come up with right now is to go through the camera pics and highlight some important events and milestones.  (Also, he’s just so darn cute that I can’t help but post a bunch of pics.)

Let’s rewind back to where we left off after the last post and I’ll start from there…

We got ready to leave the hospital and put Micah in his going home outfit.  It actually fit him pretty well.  (Before he was born, I thought it looked HUGE!)  It was the first time we had seen him in “real” clothes and not just the t-shirts and sleep sacks they had him in at the hospital.

We packed him up and loaded everything in the car.  When we got home, we introduced Micah to his new home.

There was even a sign waiting for us when we went inside. (Thanks, M&M!)

He looked so cozy in his brand new car seat.

We brought him up to his room, set him down and stepped back.  “Now what?” we thought.  On to a new chapter in the Knutson Family Story!

Matt took 2 weeks off work, and it was SO nice having him home.  The nights were long, and I can’t say that the days were super easy either, but it was so much fun at the same time.  We loved doing all sorts of things together.  Here’s a few pictures of things we did those first couple weeks:

Micah’s first bath

First trip to the Subway by our house. We’re sort of regulars there, so the guy working there recognized us.  He asked Micah’s name, and we told him.  English isn’t his first language, so I think he misheard us.  He said, “Oh, Mike-o.  Nice.”  And gave “Mike-o” an extra cookie.

Micah’s first manicure.  Those little nails are SHARP!

Lots of naps.  This is Micah’s favorite position for sleeping.  (I like to notice that his head is so big that his arms don’t even come close to touching over his head…

Naps with Dad.  One evening I walked into the living room and saw this.  I had to try SO hard not to laugh out loud as I went to get the camera.

Lots of cuddles.

LOTS of visits from friends and family.  I just don’t have pictures of most of them…

Tio Moy

Tia Minda

Auntie Sandi

A few weeks later, Micah was able to see all 4 of his grandparents AND all 4 of his great-grandparents in the same weekend. (We didn’t get a picture with Great-grandma Caryl, but we will soon.)

Far-Mor and Daddy with Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa Schue

Far-Mor and Far-Far Knutson

Mommy, Grandma and Great-Grandpa Olsen (Oops, missing Grandpa!)

We have been SO blessed in the past month and a half.  We had two more showers when Micah was about a month old.  At both of them, he was passed around to everyone and slept soundly for most of the time.  (So far) he sleeps through the services at church.  People sometimes ask us if he ever cries, or if he is always that content and quiet.  The answer is:  Yes, he is a good baby, but oh, he cries alright!

Just in the past couple of days, Micah has started to hold up his head.  It still flops around every once in a while and he gets tired quickly, but he’s definitely improving.  This is what tummy time used to look like:

"This isn't so bad... I'll just lay here"

Now he actually hates tummy time and usually cries until it is over.  This kid has a big noggin, and I’m sure lifting it is no easy task… but he’s getting better!

"This is so hard, Mommy. I want to be done!"

This morning I just had him in the baby carrier for a while, and he was holding his head up straight for several minutes.  He’ll get there!

Well, there are so many more things I could say about Micah, but I’ll leave it at this:  He is a gift from God.  It has been difficult at times, but there have also been times where Matt and I look at each other and say, “Isn’t he just the most precious thing you’ve ever seen in your life?”  We look forward to watching him continue to grow and learn.

And, one more, just for good measure. Here is a picture that makes me laugh.  I think this one needs a caption.  What do you think Micah is saying here?

Micah James Knutson was born September 16, 2011 at 2:38pm weighing 10 lb 7 oz and measuring 22 in long and 15.25 in head circumference.  He’s a big boy, and we love him dearly!!

Here’s a bit of the story…

On September 15 (the due date) we went in for an appointment at the clinic.  I was still not really progressing at all, and measuring big, so they did another ultrasound to estimate Baby’s size.  The estimate was around 11 pounds plus or minus a pound.  At that point, the doctor decided that it was better not to let Baby hang out for much longer and keep on getting bigger.  Induction wasn’t really an option because it probably would have ended in an emergency c-section, so they scheduled us for a c-section the following day (Friday).  We left the clinic totally surprised that we would be meeting Baby so soon.  We went home that night, cleaned the house a bit, went out to dinner, and packed up some things.

I was so ready to get this baby out of my tummy.

40 weeks

We got to the hospital the next morning and had to go through all of the pre-op stuff.  Matt got to wear some nifty scrubs and they gave me a super stylish hospital gown. 🙂

I’ll spare you all the details, but Micah was born at 2:38 into a room of bright lights and lots of people wearing masks.

Matt was able to announce the gender before I could see anything.  “It’s a boy!” he said.  We were overjoyed.

Micah wasn’t too happy at first, but the sound of his cries was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard.  Matt was able to go right over to the warming table to be with him while they were finishing up with me.

He wasn’t breathing super well (so he was a bit blue), but Matt was able to bring him over by me to say hi before they whisked him off to the nursery for observation.

All of the doctors and nurses were so great.  Upstairs in the special care nursery, one of the nice nurses helped suction some fluid out of Micah’s lungs, which helped his oxygen levels a lot!!  He still wasn’t super happy, but his skin turned a much nicer shade of pink.

Once he calmed down a bit, he opened up his eyes to take in the sights and sounds of this strange new world.

The special care nurse and Matt gave Micah his first bath.

I don’t think he liked that much, either…

Luckily, Daddy was there to tell him that everything’s going to be all right.

Finally, after some more observation, they brought him downstairs to our room and Mama was able hold him for the first time.

We were so happy to finally be together as a family.

We think he is pretty cute.  Don’t you agree?

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and kind words.  We’ve felt wonderfully supported, and can’t wait to introduce you to Micah in person!

39 Weeks

Today is 9-10-11.  During the whole pregnancy, I’ve been thinking that this day would be a great one for a birthday.  Well, there are still more hours in the day… but I’m not holding my breath, either.  This baby seems comfy and cozy to just hang out for a bit longer.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

The Dr this week said that everything is still looking great.  Still growing.  BP still great.  Baby heart rate great.  My left foot is somewhat swollen (strange… mostly just the left one) but she didn’t seem too concerned about that.  She also said that there is still no progress with the baby getting ready to come out.  That doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen soon, just that it hasn’t happened yet.  Ha.  She said to keep up the great attitude, put my feet up when I can, and be patient.

We have one more appointment scheduled for next Thursday (Sept 15, the due date) and if there has still been no progress we will assess things from there.

Check out that adorable wall hanging from India that we hung up in the baby’s room.  This was a gift from Matt’s aunt and uncle.  We love it, and it looks great in there.

Now that we’re down to the last week before the due date, I feel like we are mostly just waiting and trying to enjoy this time.  Every day seems like a game of wondering when it’s going to happen.  So, let’s play a little game:

What day do YOU think Baby will be born?  Do you think that Baby will be a girl or a boy?  Any other predictions?