Holy cow... Noah is ALREADY A MONTH OLD!!!!

There is no way that my baby is already 4 weeks old. And Oh what an adventurous month he has had. The poor guy should expect no less with Shawn and I as his parents....

I promise I will try and keep the blog updated more often but I am surviving on a major lack of sleep. Every morning I wake up thinking that I will do the blog today.... but the next thing I know it's 9pm and I am falling asleep.....

So here is a month in the Life of Noah Helwig.....

Noah was born Friday July 3rd. We came home from the hospital Sunday July 5th at about 2:30... My mom and grandma flew in that day and they got here about 3:30.



It was a crazy rushed day. Big Greg was still here and then my mom was here and Shawn was out buying a new kitchen table.... LOL... It was a little hectic

That first week was pretty mellow. I did leave Noah with his daddy while mom, grandma and I went to Target. I had been feeling pretty good and thought I would be fine. Well I soon realized that walking from my bedroom to the living room was WAY easier than walking around Target. LOL. By the end of our 20 min trip, I was walking slow with Grandma, hanging on to the cart with her. I learned that there is a reason the Dr says "take it easy the first 2 weeks". LOL. I felt like my insides were about to fall out of me. LOL

Daddy gave Noah his first bath. He LOVED it and still loves his bath. He is such a good baby.



Then of course daddy had to put his hair in a Mohawk...


He was still learning to suckle the first few weeks so I had to pump and then we had to put our finger in his mouth to get him to suck and then we would insert a small tube in his mouth beside our finger and slowly squirt the milk in his mouth. The dr said it was the best way for him to learn to suckle without getting attached to a bottle. This is Shawn feeding him...


He is doing much better now and right about the 3 week mark, he started nursing really good. Thank GOD!!! Spending and hour every time he woke up at night to change him, warm up pre-pumped breast milk, feed him, pump, clean the pump parts, change him again.... it was getting exhausting.... so him figuring out the nursing thing was HUGE... YEA for boobies.... LOL..
But thank goodness I am getting a TON of milk. I have been able to stock up and freeze enough milk to feed this baby for months. LOL.... I am like a freakin dairy cow....



But at our one week mark, I was feeling good so we all went out together to go look at one of Shawn's new houses. Then we went wine tasting. LOL. Yes, you read that correctly, we took our 1 week old baby and my mother and grandmother WINE TASTING. And let me tell you, that wine was the best bit of wine that has ever touched my lips. LOL. I had not had any wine in NINE MONTHS!!!! So we bought a couple bottles and then we went out to dinner. (We forgot our camera otherwise, those would be some great pictures) You would never know I just had a baby a week before. LOL

The second week, Grandpa finally got to fly out and see his Grandson! It was so fun. Too short of a trip but I am so glad he got to come out.




Plus he mowed my lawn and it looked amazing! LOL. My parents and my grandma, spoiled us so rotten! They kept this house immaculate and had a full on meal on the table every night. Our laundry was done.... the dogs were taken care of.... It was awesome. I got to just enjoy my baby and sleep... and they kept the house perfect. I am sooo appreciative of the help and it was a blessing that they got to enjoy and know their grandson. It was such a blessing!

Also the second week.... His umbilical cord fell off and he became all grown up! Everything healed up perfect.



Once my cord fell off, I got to take my first real bath in my bath tub!


And I LOVE all my fun towels like my Shark towel.... Aren't I scary....



The third week, Great Grandma Murphy and Grandpa Sordahl went home

but Grandma Sordahl got to stay for one more week by herself. We had such a fun week. We went shopping at the mall, we went to all you can eat Japanese food. We rented movies at the "Redbox". We went to Starbucks and showed Noah off to all of the customers. LOL.

We also went wine tasting AGAIN ;)


Mommy and Daddy learned to change my diaper on the trunk of the car... LOL


Then at the end of week 3, grandma had to go home. She was soooo sad but she did good and didn't cry (too much). She is excited to know that we are coming home to CA for Thanksgiving and although it's still 3 months away... she is sad that Noah will be so different when he is 4 months old. I say, "Hey, at least he won't be 4 YEARS old..." LOL...

The day my mom left, Auntie Nickie got here for a short 3 day visit. I suck and I did not get one single picture of Nickie while she was here. But she was a plethora of information on being a mommy. She taught us SO much in 3 days. She showed us a better way to burp Noah (which works every time). She taught us how to read and understand his cries. She showed us ways to teach him different things like focusing and listening to our voice. It was a wonderful visit and it meant the world to me that she came out to see us. She HATES to fly and still got on a plane to come see the new baby. Love you peanut.

BUT... while she was here..... Oh did we have an adventure. Noah went on his first animal rescue with Mommy!!! For those of you who know me.... that is a HUGE deal as we rescue animals ALL THE TIME... Noah WILL be an animal lover and he will help out every animal that he can.... Just like his mommy.... LOL....

We were driving down a really busy 5 lane road and we see a little tiny kitten in the MIDDLE of the road, lying down and cars are DRIVING OVER THE TOP OF IT.... So we stop (in the middle of the road) and put on our hazards and the kitty goes under my car. So I completely block up traffic on the road while I pull this poor little baby kitty out from under my car. His paws were all blistered up from the hot concrete but at least he had not been hit. So we named him Brody (cause we found him in the ROAD) and he is Noah's new baby. Now we are an even family.... 3 People, 3 dogs and now 3 cats. LOL. We are out of control. But he is soooo stinking cute. LOL




Daddy loves him almost as much as he loves me


Even the dogs loves him, Especially Talon...



Speaking of the dogs, they LOOOOVE Noah.... Especially Emma Jean.... She is so sweet and gentle with him.... it's adorable. But don't worry... we never leave them alone with the baby. They still spend a lot of time outside. We know they are dogs and anything can happen so they are never left alone with him. But I have to say, they have adapted very well to him.



Noah is getting big so fast. I can't believe how much he has changed in a month. He is ALMOST as big as his daddy's feet... LOL


I LOVE his feet.... Noah's that is. I kiss them all the time. He is adorable and wraps his little toes around everything.... Sooo cute.



We are enjoying a week to ourselves now. Not that we don't love the company but it's also nice just bonding as a family. Uncle Erik and Aunt Shannon get here this coming Thursday and are here for the weekend. We are sooooo excited and can't wait to show them around good old Nashville.

Then the big finale of visitors when Grandma and Grandpa Helwig get here a week later! We can't wait for them to meet Noah. We are beside ourselves with excitement!!!!

In the meantime, daddy has a huge week at work as he just bought 2 new houses to flip. Noah and I are just hanging out and getting good at our nursing routine (and catching up on sleep). Friends are stopping by to visit and bring us food (soooo nice).... It's been very relaxing and I am having so much fun just enjoying our baby.

He is such a GREAT baby! Oh he is so sweet and happy. We truly are just blessed blessed blessed. We are so in love and we can't stop staring at him and kissing him....

He is our world, our life, our REASON for everything. Being a family is what life is all about. Shawn and I have never been happier or more in love. We want to start trying for #2 sooner than later. Fun Fun.

I am cracking up as I type this. He has been sitting in his bouncy seat and just farting and farting. He makes me laugh out loud at least a million times a day. He grunts and farts all the time. It's so funny.

But it's time to eat now.. and I think the farts have turned to squirts. LOL.... He is telling me to get off the computer and feed him....

Love you all.... thanks for following along on our journey.... Can't wait for you to come and visit.

Noah, Rebecca & Shawn.....

Noah Tomek Helwig's Birth Day!

Well we have figured out Noah's first trait like one of his parents. He is impatient like his momma! He was due July 24th but decided that he wanted to be here for the Fireworks on the 4th of July! I REALLY did not want him to be born on the 4th and have to share his birthday with a holiday, so he came ONE day early for me and was born on July 3rd....

This is Noah's Birth Story.... :)

It was Thursday July 2nd and we had been to our weekly Dr apt that day. We were 37 weeks and I was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. She said that I could go early or go all the way to our due date. But we had 3 weeks to go at that point. So my mom bought her plane tickets out here for one week later! She would be here Thursday July 9th.

Shawn's friend Big Greg was in town visiting us for the 4th of July. That Thursday July 2nd, we were all out at a really nice bar in town that Shawn's friend owns, called the Patterson House. Now I had been having mild contractions every night for about 2 weeks so when I started having mild contractions while we were out, I didn't think anything of it. From 9-midnight I could tell they were getting mildly worse so I started timing them and they were about 4 min apart.

This was typical so again, I was not too worried. I was just starting to get tired and I didn't want to ruin their good time so I decided to head home. Shawn was really worried and didn't want to let me go home alone but I really down played my contractions and convinced him that I was ok. So I headed home alone and Shawn and Greg stayed out with a few of his friends.

On the way home I could tell the contractions were getting a little stronger but again, nothing that I was too concerned about. Now by the time I got home, they were starting to actually hurt. Like major period cramps. I started walking the hallway and breathing through them.

I called my really good friend Candice who is a labor and delivery nurse at the hospital that we were delivering at. And low and behold, she had just headed out of town with her husband for the weekend. They literally had left abut 2 hours before. The whole reason that we were delivering at her hospital was so that she could deliver the baby. LOL...

So she starts walking me through the contractions. She tells me to take a nice warm bath and drink a large glass of water. This really seemed to work and my contractions slowed down to 20 min apart. I took some Tylenol PM and got into bed. The contractions were still really strong when they came and I had to breathe through them but they were at least slowing down.

So about 3am Shawn and Greg get home but they don't have a house key so I have to get up to let them in. Well that was all it took to jump start those contractions back to every 4 minutes apart and they were getting stronger.

Well poor Shawn has no idea that I am even having contractions he thinks I went home and went to bed and that I am in our room sleeping. So him and Greg are up having fun and laughing and having a great old time. After about and hour he comes in our room to check on me and I start screaming at him to Keep it down out there and that I am trying to relax in here!!!! LOL. He immediately realizes that something is wrong and is in shock when he realizes that I could actually be in labor.

We tried the warm bath again but it was not slowing anything down so after about 15 min he says.... I will put the bags in the car (he had had them packed for about a month at this point.... lol).... so I stayed in the bathtub while he got everything together. He threw his car keys at Greg and said "we are going to the hospital, here are my keys if you need to go anywhere". Greg thought I was in false labor and that we would be back home in a few hours.

So we get in the car and head to the hospital. I always wondered what that ride would be like. When it was actually happening and we were really headed there in LABOR. But you know I was not scared or freaking out or anything. I had a few good contractions in the car and I would just press my head against the passenger window and breathe through them. Shawn was a super star and really helped me stay focused and just encouraged me through each contraction. He truly was amazing and we really were working through it together as a team.

We got to the hospital and they take you to the "check in" floor first to make sure that you are really in labor. The 2 nurses were super nice and I was only there for about 15 min. By this time I was 100% effaced but only 1.5 cm dilated. 1.5 .... ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!! I was on my hands and knees on the bed breathing through each contraction. After 15 minutes they determined that I really was in labor and they were going to admit me.

Shawn told them that I wanted an epidural and we wanted it as soon as possible. Since we knew we were getting one..... why wait right? LOL. So we had to call my mom at this point and let her know that I was really in labor. It was about 2:30 AM her time. She was bummed that she was not here but she was so excited for us.

We got to the hospital around 4:30 am and they had us admitted and in my room by about 5:15. The epidural guy was already in my room waiting for us when we got there (NICE). It only took him about 5 minutes to put it in and it was not bad at all. I was very pleasantly surprised at how easy and painless that part was.

I was numb in about 5-10 min. And it was smooth sailing from there on out! I got on my cell phone and started texting everyone telling them I was in labor and had my epidural. The epidural slowed my labor just a bit so after an hour the Dr. came in and broke my water. With in one hour of that I had dilated from 2cm - 6cm. So Shawn decided to go get himself something to eat at the Subway inside the hospital. I went to sleep (I was sooooo tired from not only being up all night, but I still had not slept on the Tylenol PM that I had taken).







The epidural made me itchy so then they gave me a shot of Benedryl which REALLY knocked me out. LOL. So I was sleeping away when the nurse came in and woke me up. She said I was dilated to 10 and it was time to start pushing. I looked at her half asleep and said "Can I please sleep for another hour?". LOL. So i had to call Shawn and tell him to get his butt back cause it was time to push. I could hear him start RUNNING. LOL.

So about that time my neighbor Julie showed up. Shawn and I asked her to be in the room with us when Noah was born. She was so excited and it was a huge blessing to have her there. She took lots of precious pictures and captured every wonderful moment while we got to enjoy the arrival of our baby.

Shawn got back just in time and we got in position to push with the nurse. She wanted to see how well I could push before she called the Dr. I pushed about 5 times and she started yelling "Ok, stop stop stop" Apparently she almost delivered Noah. LOL. So while she called the Dr.,we called our parents. I had one cell phone on one shoulder and the other cell phone on the other shoulder. Even though they were no there in person, at least they could hear what was going on.

The Dr showed up and Shawn put his head against mine and we pushed together. He was truly amazing. We pushed maybe 3 times and Noah's head was out! I was still numb from the epidural so I was having a great time. I was feeling no pain. The cord was wrapped around his head really tight and the Dr. could not slip it over his head so she had to cut me a little bit in order to cut the cord from around his neck so I have a few stitches. Then one more push and he was out. And perfect. And on my chest. And from this moment, life has not been the same....








There he was! A little blue but soooo perfect and warm and all ours! Shawn and I just cried and kissed him and could not believe this was all happening. It was perfect and amazing and better than I could have ever expected. A perfect pregnancy, a perfect labor, and a perfect delivery!

He was perfect:


Noah Tomek Helwig was born on July 3rd at 12:42 pm. He was 6.1 Lbs and 19 inches long:


Shawn cutting the cord (the Dr had already cut it but she let Shawn cut it closer)


He got his footprints done...


We are a family.... Our dreams all coming true.... And it was more perfect than we ever dreamed:


Noah loves skin to skin with mommy....


Daddy was so excited to show him off to his Uncle "Big Greg"


and Aunt Shelley
:

Auntie Julie finally got to hold him and get in on some of the action!!


Daddy and Noah making cross eyes at each other.... LOL



His perfect feet. Looks like he may take after his daddy's size 15.... :)


He is our dream baby.... So sweet, happy and wonderful. We could not be more in love!


As of July 3rd 2009, We would like to introduce you to the Helwig Family:
Shawn, Rebecca and Noah Helwig