Day 17, almost 3 weeks postpartum and more in love every day with our little guy. There are so many tiny precious and fleeting moments, I wish I could capture them all but it’s pretty much impossible unless I had my DSLR on me 24/7. And while it’s nice to use our phone cameras for convenience, it kills me a little every time we mindlessly capture truly great moments with these devices. It’s just not the same! But better captured somewhere than not at all. And better to have lived that moment than not at all. :)

Here’s one from several days ago at 10 days old, laying in his pretty changing basket. Look at those sweet cheeks!

And here’s another one, also from several days ago, where we caught his little sweet smile while sleeping. My heart is melting all the time. It has never been a favourite pastime of mine to watch someone sleep until this guy came along.

And here’s another one with baby Colton sleeping on dad. He loves sleeping on dad because a) dad offers a much larger surface area and b) dad’s a furnace and nothing beats the warmth.

This post would not be complete without a quick recollection of our passport photo experience. We went and got Colton’s passport photo taken a few days ago so we can get his passport going in time for Hawaii. Little did I know it would be such a stressful event for the babe. It took an hour to get a single photo taken and the poor guy was not impressed. The requirements for an infant passport photo is just off the charts and whoever wrote them must have never been around babies and certainly got a little carried away in the boardroom. I’m so glad that’s done :P.

Overall, the boy is sleeping very well, generally 3-4 hour stretches depending on the time of day. Counting our blessings yet again. He still has those witching hours, back to the 5pm-2am window, but I’m getting used to it and always finding new ways to soothe so all is dandy. Chris will be slowly easing back to work next week and then all hands back on deck the following week. The next challenge for me is going to be caring for our boy solo during the day and the late nights so that Chris gets his sleep and feels good for work the next day. We are considering a night nurse but the plan is to test out my capacity first before doing so. At most, we’ll bring in a night nurse twice a week so I can catch up on snooze time. :) Either way, we will figure it all out. Embracing every stage of this magical journey.

8 days postpartum with my little peaches and cream! My body is bouncing back and I’m starting to feel really good again!

I’ve been treated like royalty by my family since giving birth. In Chinese culture, there’s something called the postnatal confinement, which is a custom practised to help mothers recover from birth, typically for about 30-45 days. The confinement (or mine anyway – they’re all a little bit different) consists mostly of a very special diet that is intended to restore strength to the body. There are a few other (questionable) components like refraining from going outside, washing your hair – things that are harder for me to buy into and are pretty much impossible to explain without sounding crazy.

I have no idea if any of it works but all the women on my side of the family swear by this ancient tradition. I figured it wouldn’t hurt, so I complied. But let me tell you, I do feel strong and energized. Sooner than I expected. In fact, I expected to be a total disaster for a few weeks and it has been a pleasant surprise to feel quite the opposite. Recovery was toughest for the first 4 days with days 2-4 being the worst. My body literally felt broken – everything ached like hell. But by day 8, I was feeling a solid 8/10. Delicious and nutritious breakfasts, lunches and dinners are made for me every single day, which takes a massive load off while tending to a newborn. Why wouldn’t I do this? :)

In terms of the little guy, he is wonderful and such a treat for most of the day and then he has his witching hours like most newborns sometime between 5pm and 2am, where he would cry and be fussy for 2-4 hours at a time. But I know this phase will come and go with the blink of an eye so I am embracing all of it completely. He is just so cute and little and helpless, it’s so hard to get frustrated even if you’re exhausted and just want to catch some shuteye. What’s great is that after he gets over the witching hours, he does sleep for a long stretch because he tires himself out :P. So that ends up being a reward for us.

It has also been so nice to have Chris at home with me. It has been a game changer to share all the responsibilities and to strengthen our partnership in this new chapter. It has also allowed us to have time to ourselves. It’s going to be another adjustment when he goes back to work :( and I will certainly miss him at home!!

Breastfeeding has taken off without a hitch. I was expecting it to be hard and painful and frustrating, much like what I’ve read all over the internet when I was gearing up for postpartum. Turns out I got lucky and it was relatively effortless for me to get into it. I am so, so, so grateful. I’ve also opted to pump so that hubby can not only help with feeding but bond with the little guy.

Here’s hubs and his baby boy. Looks more like his child than mine (lol). Truly peaches and cream, these two. Love you both to pieces.

Our gift from God, Colton Charles Stefanazzi was born on Feb. 23, 2018, at 4:37am. He is 8 lbs 2 oz, 21 inches long, and slightly overcooked at 41 weeks! He is already too long for my arms and will be taller than me in no time. He is perfect in every single way.

Our hearts are exploding uncontrollably with happiness. We are laughing, we are crying, we are dreaming up the future, we are worrying, we are excited, we are scared, and most of all, we love him so much, it hurts. It has been the most incredible journey and we are so grateful to be entering this beautiful next chapter of life.

Oh and did I mention that there is nothing more beautiful than seeing your already remarkable husband transitioning to an amazing father?????? Oh my.

Colton at 3 days old:

Now for the very special story and miracle behind Colton’s birth. The little guy actually entered the world with a bit of a bang. When he was born, his lungs weren’t firing at a hundred precent because he had mucus in his throat. My water had spontaneously broken on Thursday, Feb. 22nd at 3:00AM and I delivered on Friday, Feb. 23rd at 4:37AM. Somewhere in that time, mucus collected. And while this had no effect on him in the utero, it was a problem when entering the real world where he needed to breathe through his lungs. The mucus was blocking his airways and his lungs could not fully fire.

I don’t recall a more terrifying moment in my life. “Code Pink” was announced, which in this hospital meant Infant Cardiac Arrest. Within a matter of seconds, there were about 25 nurses, doctors, specialists in our delivery room all simultaneously working on him. I was exhausted from the delivery as I had been pushing for 1.5 hours and was pretty much in delirium at that point. Chris and I held each other’s hands tight, waiting… waiting… and waiting, not knowing what was going on or what was going to happen. It was truly terrifying and I prayed and prayed and prayed, knowing deep in my heart that my God has never and would never fail me.

After a few minutes, which really felt like an eternity at the time, we heard Colton’s first beautiful cry – the sound that instantly lightened my very heavy heart. This meant that his airways had started to clear and he was now starting to breathe properly.

The next 72 hours were spent in the Special Care Nursery for lots of tests and monitoring to make sure he wasn’t hurt in any way by this event. The little fighter passed every test with flying colours, rebounded like nothing happened, and was thriving. Not only that, the Special Care Nursery was the biggest blessing in disguise. It was like we were in a free baby care training class for 3 full days. We had INCREDIBLE nurses and resources at our fingertips for questions, tips, tricks and live everyday support on how to care for a newborn. By the time we came home from the hospital, which was Monday, Feb. 26th, we had ALL of our ducks in a row. It was the most seamless, effortless transition that would not have been the case had we been sent home the next day with a standard delivery. We had a solid routine locked and loaded and knew about everything we previously did not know. It was a very special 72 hours and we are counting our blessings.

What a ride is has been and it has only been 5 little days. I cannot wait for our journey with this very precious gift. He has my whole heart and then some. I know it’s not all going to be rosey. I know there will be really hard days. I know I’m going to spend the rest of my life worrying about every little thing. But this is motherhood and there is no greater privilege.

May the Lord be with you always, my little one.

Ahhh, I could’ve sworn this little peanut was going to come early. It really felt like it with the way my body was going. Not to mention every Tom, Dick, and Harry thought I was ready to pop since 37 weeks. But here I am, 40 weeks pregnant and still no baby. What a true test of patience, which I don’t normally have a lot of to begin with (lol)! Tough guy decided he didn’t want to be a Valentine’s baby and share his birthday with every woman in the world… I get it. But where are ya, little buddy? We’re waiting for you and can’t wait for you to arrive!

In all seriousness, for most of the third trimester, I was probably more nervous than I was excited about reaching the end. And this waiting game was almost an essential part of the process, for me anyways, to get me to cross over from nervous to excited / gung ho about go time because that’s ALL that I feel now. I’ve never been more excited to feel pain (I’m going to regret saying that, aren’t I?)

I really didn’t think I’d have a chance to get another bump picture in but I guess I do! You can never have too many pictures to look back to down the road :). Anyways, happy Valentine’s day from both of us! Hoping the next time I blog, it’s with a baby in my arms. :) xo