Owen is 4 Weeks Old!!

It's so crazy how fast time is flying by!  The days all seem to be a blur (guess that's from a lack of sleep), but I am so grateful to have Owen in our family.  He is just as cute as can be and I just love him so much!  It's weird to think of what life was like before he was born...  I know that he was meant to be in our family!  Here is a quick recap on what Owen is up to:

• The longest he has gone between feedings in the middle of the night is 4.5 hours, from the beginning of one feeding to the beginning of the next...  (each feeding takes at least 45 minutes, though)
• LOVES to be held!
• If he's crying, bouncing will almost always make him stop (or at least calm down)
• He snorts:)    (gets this from his Aunt Meg!)
• Still fits into Newborn clothes
• likes to look around at everything
• still curls his little legs up into fetal position... especially if you put him up on your shoulder and he's tired
• Hardly ever takes a pacifier
• Likes to be swaddled

Monday was Sean's last day of paternity leave and he left for North Carolina on Tuesday.  It was my first couple of days taking care of the two boys all by myself.  So far so good!  Ethan has been so great throughout the last couple of weeks.  I know these last couple of days have been hard for him, since he didn't have Sean to take him to do different things, but he has been so good for me.  We have our own little routine and he loves being a big brother!  When we take Josie for a walk, he pushes Owen in his stroller (and talks to him!) and I hold Josie's leash... I hope to get Ethan pushing Owen (and him talking and singing to him) on tape, but I doubt Ethan will let me.  Wednesday we attended the End-of-the-Season Swim Team Party; yesterday we battled the incredible heat and humidity for a little bit and went to the pool; and today it was simply too hot outside so we went to the local rec center and Ethan swam in their indoor pool.  Overall, a good week, albiet not getting very much sleep!

Here is a collage of some of my favorite pictures of Owen during his first 4 weeks:

I edited this picture and thought I would add it:)

16 Days Old

Owen's Birth Announcement

When Owen was just eight days old, I took him to a local professional photographer's home to get his newborn pictures taken.  They turned out so cute!  It was hard to choose only three to buy...  You can't even tell that it took about three and a half hours for the pictures to be taken because he kept waking up!  Above is the birth announcement I made for him and below are the three pictures that we bought from the photographer.  :)    (I made the white hat that he is wearing in the last picture)

Life Update

Ethan:  Ethan's swim team for the summer is over...  Overall, he really liked it but the last week or so he didn't put much effort into it.  Maybe swimming six days a week wore him out, but it was nice to add some routine to our summer days as well as getting to know some friends and neighbors better.  (Those meets are really long, so you have a lot of time to talk to people!) 

 

Here is an overview of all of his times:
FREESTYLE

• 6/25: 37.41 seconds (1st place out of 2 in his heat; 18th place out of 22)
• 6/29: 32.06 seconds (1st place out of 6 in his heat; 20th place out of 35)
• 7/6: 30.59 seconds (13th out of 24)
• 7/9: 29.76 seconds (1st place in heat; 17th place out of 30)
• 7/13:  32.03 seconds (20th place out of 32)
• 7/16:  30.25 seconds (19th place out of 32)

BACKSTROKE

•  6/25: 48.45 seconds ([I forget how many other kids were in this heat] 20th place out of 23)
• 6/29: 44.57 seconds (2nd place out of 5 in his heat; 21st place out of 27)
• 7/6: 39.72 seconds (15th out of 21)
• 7/9: 42.24 seconds (23rd place out of 28)
• 7/13:  31.50 seconds (25th place out of 30)
• 7/16:  41.0 seconds (20th place out of 24)

RELAYS

• 7/6: Ethan's relay team time: 2:16 seconds (placed 3rd place out of 5)
• 7/9: Ethan's relay team time: 2:16 seconds
• 7/13: Ethan's relay team time:  2:05 seconds
• 7/16:  Ethan's relay team time:  2:00 secounds

Ethan is adjusting to being a big brother really well.  He loves to give Owen kisses and talk to him. 

 

Sean:  Monday is Sean's last day of paternity leave - wow those three weeks went by fast!  He is such a good dad... he is really good at calming Owen down and is so patient with Ethan   We just found out that he will be traveling back to North Carolina, starting on Tuesday.  Hopefully this traveling a lot won't last for much longer (or at least not to North Carolina).  I also forgot to mention that about a month ago we found out that he passed all of his CPA exams!  We are so proud of him! 

Owen:  Owen is such a sweet baby!  At his two week appointment he wasn't up to his birth weight, so he has been on a "Get Fat Diet" :)  Today we had the follow-up appointment to check his weight and he has successfully gained weight - yay!  He LOVES to be held and if you put him down when you think he is asleep, he will crack his eye open just to see if you are still holding him and when he finds out you aren't, he will most likely start to cry (unless he is just too sleepy).  His eyes are starting to turn to a lighter shade of blue (still dark, but not as dark as they were when he was born). 

Me:  I'm doing well - still amazed that I am a mom to two fantastic (and quite handsome!) boys!!!  As with Sean, I'm adjusting to functioning with getting little sleep but love having a new baby again. 

Life is good! :)

Swim Team Update

Overall, Ethan's times are continually improving!  He is still having so much fun and it is awesome to watch him enjoy it!  He even started participating in relay races.

Freesyle:

6/25: 37.41 seconds (1st place out of 2 in his heat; 18th place out of 22)
6/29: 32.06 seconds (1st place out of 6 in his heat; 20th place out of 35)
7/6:  30.59 seconds (13th out of 24)
7/9: 29.76 seconds (1st place in heat; 17th place out of 30)

Backstroke:

6/25: 48.45 seconds ([I forget how many other kids were in this heat] 20th place out of 23)
6/29: 44.57 seconds (2nd place out of 5 in his heat; 21st place out of 27)
7/6:  39.72 seconds (15th out of 21)
7/9:  42.24 seconds (23rd place out of 28)

Relays
7/6:  Ethan's relay team time:  2:16 seconds (placed 3rd place out of 5)
7/9: Ethan's relay team time:  2:16 seconds

OWEN IS HERE!!!

OWEN DANIEL PRINCE

July 1, 2011
7:48 PM

6 Pounds 12 Ounces

19.25 Inches

That's right - Owen was born exactly two weeks early! Friday morning (July 1st), I woke up at 1:30AM with contractions but they stopped around 4:30AM, so I fell back asleep until Ethan came in waking me up around 6:30. We then started our day just like any other... Went to swim team practice (where the other moms and I joked that I might not be there on Monday), went and got my hair cut (6 inches off!), and then Ethan and I went to my friend Kim's house. Kim helped me finish Owen's blessing blanket while Ethan played with her kids. Mom and Dave came and picked Ethan up from Kim's since they had been planning on having him Friday night for a sleep over. While at Kim's, I was having contractions, but wasn't really paying attention to them since I had been having braxton hicks contractions for the past week.

I came home and laid down and a couple of minutes later, (at 3:53) I started timing the contractions. They seemed to be coming more regular and getting a little stronger... Sean came home from the grocery store and I asked him if we could walk around the neighborhood since I have heard that walking sometimes stopped braxon hicks contractions. We walked around the neighborhood, but the contractions didn't stop. When we came inside, I decided to just finish packing my hospital bag 'just in case.' Since we had been planning on having one last Date Night before Baby was born, Sean was asking where I wanted to go to dinner... I told him I didn't think I could sit through a meal, and that maybe we should call my doctor. I left a message for my doctor and was cleaning the kitchen counter when the contractions were getting even stronger and I told Sean we should start heading to the hospital while we wait for the doctor to call back.

In the car the contractions got even worse... that was when we both realized that this was probably the real thing. Boy, during contractions I could feel every single bump in the road and I remember asking Sean to please hurry! We got to the hospital around 6:15PM. Once we got to there they took me to a room, told me the hospital gown was in the bathroom, and they took Sean to register me in. I was standing there, having contractions and couldn't figure the silly gown out! It was all unsnapped and for the life of me I couldn't figure out where each snap 'mate' was. The nurse thankfully came in and helped. She then checked me - I was already 7 CM dialated and 90% effaced! She told me I needed to call Sean and tell him to come up NOW and that he can finish registering me in my room. Thankfully when I called Sean, he was on his way to my room. I called my parents to tell them that we were at the hospital... Dave answered and when I told him where we were, he got all flustered and gave Mom the phone. Mom came shortly after with a book, ready for a long labor like Ethan's. She quickly realized that this was going to be much faster!

When I first got there, the nurse asked if I wanted to have an epidural or not, I told her I would like to try natural (I read a book "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth" and was really inspired by it). I lasted a little bit longer and then begged for an epidural - the contractions were getting really, really strong and much closer together. They hurt so bad I was shaking and almost to the point of tears. The Anethesiologist came quickly and gave me much needed relief. Unlike with Ethan, I could still feel the pressure, but the intense pain of the contractions was gone.

Since my doctor was on vacation, and her back-up doctor had a family emergency, I had Doctor Gonzalez. He drove from Lorton to Reston once he heard that I was about to deliver. Considering that he was coming from Lorton during rush hour traffic, he made goodtime but to me it felt like forever.  I had the urge to push before he came but the nurses wouldn't let me (they wouldn't even check me because they said that if they did, everything would happen really fast).  Finally the doctor came and Owen was born after a couple of rounds of pushing, Owen Daniel Prince was born at 7:48PM - just about an hour and a half after we got to the hospital (much better than the 19 hour labor I had with Ethan!) He was immediately put on my chest and was so alert!  Owen is absolutely perfect!

Name Game.  While pregnant, I went through two baby name books and made a list of the names I liked.  Sean would occasionally look at the list and knock out the names he absolutely did not like.  We narrowed it down to a couple of names, with Aidan and Owen being the top two names we were deciding between.  I really liked the idea of having the name be somewhat similar to Ethan's... in that they both start with vowels and end in "n."  Sean wanted to wait until Baby was born to decide on which name, and in hindsight, I'm glad we did. 

For Owen's middle name, we were originally thinking about using a family name.  Then, one time I went to the temple I was thinking about Baby and praying that he was going to be healthy and went to put his name on the Prayer Roll... but I didn't know what to put since we didn't have a name picked out for him.  I picked up the Bible to continue to wait for my friend to join me and I saw Daniel and thought that it was a nice name.  A couple of minutes later, I was walking through the temple halls and the name Daniel came into my mind again.  When I came home, I told Sean about my experience and we learned that in the Bible, Daniel remained righteous his entire life.  We both liked the name and added it to our list.

Pictures coming soon - I need to find the cord to connect the camera to the computer!!!