Welcome to my page for my son, Alex!
After having a special needs child, we originally decided that we couldn't handle anymore children. However, about four years after Chloe was born, when things were becoming a tad easier for us, I decided that I wanted to have another baby. It took Ross a few months to feel the same way, but eventually he did, and we started trying. Alex was the result and he was born on January 23, 2007. The only one of our children to be born in the United States :) Alex has recently turned one year old!
Alex hasn't had much of a life yet, but the things that I remember from the last year or so are:
~ Alex being born. Oh, it was dreadful! I mean, I was excited because I actually got my own room after the birth whereas in England you share with five other people. Also, the nurses would take care of your baby overnight so that you could sleep, and there was no stigma attached to it. In the UK, the nurses helped me out once or twice and even that was very much frowned upon. You were to take care of your own baby as soon as it was born. So it was just nice... unfortunately the labor did NOT go well. I was induced - for the third time - at 39 weeks. Everything went well, I got my epidural and things were okay for awhile. Then they realized - as my epidural was wearing off - that Alex was 'stuck' on my bone. I don't remember much of the next half an hour or so as it was pretty traumatic, but I do remember that they called all the doctors and nurses to rush in - they thought they might have to do an emergency caesarean. One of the nurses was holding one leg, Ross was holding a leg, a nurses was pounding on my stomach trying to push Alex out that way, the doctor was inserting both of his hands into me down there to try and grab Alex and free him from my bone. Oh, it was horrible :( All I remember doing was screaming because it hurt so much. The doctor finally freed Alex, though he said that if it had been another 5-10 seconds, he would have had to push Alex back into me (which apparently is even more painful) and do a caesearan. Fun! So, I had 30 some stitches 'down there' after this, and the leg that the nurse was holding back wouldn't move properly for about two weeks because of how they had been holding it. It was simply not a fun experience.
~ In addition, because Alex had been stuck, he was born with bruises all over his face. His whole head was puffed up, and it took a week or two for it to puff back down again. Poor Alex :( Alex was a big baby, nine pounds and one ounce, but he certainly didn't look like he weighed that much!
~ After Alex and I recovered, everything went along smoothly. I had no post-natal depression, and I got to stay at home with Alex for as long as I wished too. I was a happy bunny :)
~ To be quite honest, the last year has gone by in a blur. Since he was about six weeks old, Alex liked to lay on the floor. He was not happy being in the bouncer, or even being held sometimes. He liked to be able to get down on the floor and play! He started rolling back and forth before it was really time too, and he started crawling at around six - seven months of age. It took him awhile to learn how to sit though - he started off with laying on his side and gradually went further up. He started walking in mid-January right before his first birthday and he's pretty good at it now except when he gets tired!
~ So far, he hasn't really said any words. He did say one word awhile back, but I wasn't sure if he meant to say it. He does babble a lot 'dadada', 'mamama' etc. though. He waves hello and goodbye, and he has recently started to sing along with whatever we are singing, and dancing as well! He's so cute... he bends his legs a little and sways back and forth. hehehe :) I told Ross that we must get a video of him doing this! Once we do, I'll post it up here... its so cute, nobody would want to miss it! :)
~ Well, Alex has said some words! He now says 'uh-oh', 'bye', 'mum' and 'dada' not always appropriately ;-) Well, the bye and uhoh always are, but sometimes he just babbles still with mamama and dadada so yeah :) He is seventeen months old right now! Oh, the funniest thing the other day was when Alex - who is obsessed with any and all balls that he can find (soccer balls, baseballs, footballs...he is obsessed!) - found a soccer ball and was trying to copy me by kicking it back to me! He is soooo small though so he just kept falling over. It was sooo funny! I probably shouldn't laugh, but I just couldn't help it... so cute!
~ One thing that I definitely don't want to forget about this age is how funny he is when he gets yelled at. He sticks out his lower lip so far you can't help but laugh! We all do it, and then we have to hide our faces from him so that he knows that we're not laughing... oh gosh its funny! He's such a funny baby :)
~ Alex is a happy, laid-back, relaxed little boy and I absolutely love being with him!
and so it goes... this page will be updated as new things arise in Alex's life :)
