Half Birthday and Solids

Khaim celebrated his six month birthday this month!! Bradley made him this shirt in honor of the occasion.



Instead of cake, Khaim had his first real solids - avocado! Introducing solids has been one of the most difficult things so far. Our pediatrician suggested introducing solids as early as 2 months. It didn't feel right so we waited. Bradley and I did hours of reading to decide when to introduce, how much and what - but there was no consistent research about anything. We finally introduced rice cereal at 5 and half months and "real food" at 6 months. So far, he hasn't been too excited about any of it. He has had avocado, banana and carrots - he seems to like carrots the best.

Playdate

Being part of Snuggles and Struggles, which is a mom and baby group, has been wonderful for Khaim and I. Khaim loves being around other babies! He is always in such a good mood when we are there and is exhausted from all the fun when we leave. I have also enjoyed our snuggles time. It has been nice to meet other moms and talk about baby stuff, ask questions and share successes. I know, this is so typical mom of me, but we love it! So, since we are graduating snuggles soon, I decided to start a playgroup at our house. Some pics of Khaim and his friends:

Best Friends!

It is so fun to see Paw (our first born!) and Khaim become friends. If Paw is in the room, Khaim will scoot right over to him to give him some love. Paw is very patient with Khaim pulling on his ears and fur! Paw has also already learned than Khaim will do everything he can to share his food with him! Below are some pictures of them playing.

The Aquarium

We recently bought the Audubon membership, so we get to go to zoo and aquarium for free. Khaim is not super excited about the zoo yet, and it is way to hot - but he loves the aquarium! We have gone several times this summer! Here are some pics of him enjoying the fish!

One Last Try...

So I created this blog so we could keep friends and family in the loop. It has been a lot harder to blog with an infant than I had anticipated. In fact, it is a lot harder to get most things done than I had anticipated! In my spare time between playing, feeding and sleeping with Khaim (yes, that's right - he still does not sleep on his own - we are working on it!), keeping up with homework, and trying to keep the house out of a disastrous state, I think about blogging. Sometimes I do more than think, I even start writing a post, but then I realize that I have forgotten to update our readers about Khaim's playdate, or his trip to the zoo, or his cute new noises. I then feel like I can not post anything new until I have fully recounted all of the important details of the past few weeks. Weeks turn into months, and here I am with six months of posts to write, I get overwhelmed, and then I just don't do it! Clearly, I am over thinking this! So we are starting over! I will try to post as often as possible, keeping things short and sweet. All that to say - hope your still reading, and I promise to try and be a better blogger! So instead of recounting the last six months, here are a few pics of Khaim's life so far.

We Get to Keep Him?

Labor and Delivery was an amazing experience - but actually having Khaim here, cries and all, is the best. The first couple of days in the hospital went well - but we were ready to head home - here are some pictures of our time in the hospital and Khaim headed home...



Nana and Khaim


Leigh and Khaim meet


Opa and Khaim


It's official - he is all ours!


The ride home


We're home!! Daddy bringing Khaim in for the first time...


Welcome Home from Nana and Papa


Meeting Paw for the first time - Paw did so well!

He's Here!

Almost as soon as I entered my third trimester, my doctor said that I could have the baby at any time. Four weeks before my due date I was 1 cm dilated, 2 weeks before I was 3 cm dilated - we were all waiting on pins and needles for the time to come. The week of my due date I decided to do as much as possible to stimulate labor - we tried all the old wives tales, I ate spicy food, walked several miles, and I ate almost a whole pineapple. Something must have worked because on Tuesday morning (Feb. 2), three days before my due date, my labor began. The night before we stayed up until about 2:30am watching movies and hanging out with my parents, so I was feeling really tired that morning. I was having cramps, but they seemed to be consistent and not in any sort of pattern, so I decided to ignore them. Bradley went to work (he is doing a temp job with the census), and I hung out with my parents. When Bradley came home at lunch we went for a walk with paw and I mentioned that my Braxton Hicks contractions were stronger than normal. Later that afternoon, my parents went to Borders and I decided to try to take a nap. It didn't work so well - this is when I decided I might be in labor. I texted Bradley and he came home. Almost immediately the contractions got stronger - the weird thing was that they were already 2 minutes apart. We wanted to do as much of the labor at home as we could so we decided to stick it out for a while until they got stronger - which they did. After six hours of strong contractions 2 minutes apart, we decided it was time to head to the hospital.

Headed to the hospital:


When we got to the hospital, we thought for sure I would be around 6-8cm dilated - but unfortunately, I was only 3.5. This was very discouraging since I had only progressed .5cm during the 6hrs of active labor. So we labored some more. My contractions continued to be 2 to 1.5 minutes apart and strong (very strong). But little baby beast was not budging - after another 6hrs I only progressed 1 more cm. I was exhausted. Bradley and I wanted a natural delivery with no interventions, including pain medicine, but after the 12 hrs of labor we were worried my body was not going to be able to handle the duration of labor and most importantly, we did not want a c-section! So I got an epidural and pitocin - it was such a relief - but I was disappointed that I did not make it natural.

Some pictures of labor:


Post epidural (hence the smile!):

Once I got the epidural and pitocin, I was able to take a nap and rest. 10 hrs later, the epidural wore off. I was close to the end so we decided that I would do the rest without medicine. Waiting for my Dr. to arrive was the worst - it is hard to "hold the pushes in." Once she arrived, I began pushing - we pushed for about an hour. Khaim arrived at 11:08am on Wednesday, February 3. Bradley had previously asked my Dr. if he could deliver Khaim - he did and it was wonderful!

Khaim Christianson-Barker
02/03/2010 - 11:08am
6lbs 14 oz, 20 in