12 WEEKS ALREADY?!!!

So, it's 11 p.m. on the night before my first day back to work after having a wonderful 12 weeks off with our little peanut, and I'm pretty nervous and sad to go back.  I can't even explain how I'm feeling, but let's just say that I have knots in my stomach and have already cried a few times today thinking about the fact that my day will be spent in an office instead of spending time with Devin. 

I always thought that 12 weeks was such a long time and that I would be more than ready to go back to work.  But, I don't quite feel that way.  I mean, on one hand, I am looking forward to seeing everyone at work and getting some intellectual stimulation, but, on the other, I am going to miss my little guy more than anything.  Seeing him change and grow over the past three months has been indescribable, and I know that the best is yet to come. 

Knowing that I miss being there for some of his milestones stinks, but I know he's going to be in great hands while I'm away at work.  Between Vikas, his mom, my mom and me, we're going to be able to avoid daycare and the adjustment that comes with it, at least for the next few months.  I definitely want Devin to go to daycare at some point to gain important social skills, just not yet.  So, like I said, I know Devin will be just fine  . . . he probably won't even notice that I'm gone :-( .  I just worry not only that I'm going to miss being with him all the time, but also that I won't be able to juggle being a lawyer and a mom and won't be able to give 150% to both.  

But, it is what it is, and I have to do what I have to do.  I'm sure it'll be a huge adjustment, but we'll get through it (I hope).  People have told me that the anticipation of going back to work is much worse than the reality of it. Hopefully they are right.   I'll let you know.  Wish me luck :-)

OUR LITTLE HARD WORKER!

For the past three weeks, I've been taking Devin to physical therapy at the Children's Hospital Stilson Center two times a week. The first time that we went, I wasn't sure what to expect and was a little nervous about a stranger stretching and manipulating Devin's head and neck.  But, within minutes of being at the Center, I felt so much better.  The atmosphere there was wonderful.  It was bright, cheery and colorful, and all of the employees were so friendly. 


Then, when we met Devin's therapist, Judi, I was completely at ease, which was a surprise to me. Judi is AWESOME!  Devin absolutely loves her!  From day one, he was too busy flirting and smiling at Judi to notice that she was stretching his neck and it probably was uncomfortable.  I'm sure that tactic will be one we use countless times: distract, distract, distract! Since starting physical therapy just 3 short weeks ago, Devin has made leaps and bounds!!!  He is barely tilting his head to the left, is much more centered, is generally stronger, does great with his stretching and rotation exercises, and is doing AMAZING at tummy time!  He used to hate to do any of it, and now he doesn't seem to mind much at all.  He actually will prop himself up on his forearms for a good 7-10 minutes with very little head bobbling at all!  I'm honestly so impressed with how hard he works (even though the poor little guy always falls asleep on the way there and is woken up right in the middle of his nap) . . . what a trooper!  In fact, Devin has rolled from his tummy to his back three times so far!  I don't know that it's deliberate or just the result of not wanting to be on his belly and fussing, but he did it :-)  

Seriously?  Look at those googly eyes he's making!  He loves "Miss Judi"!

Judi has told us that his torticollis is likely from in utero positioning and also because Devin's head, while not necessarily large for his age, is a bit large for his body (he's still a skinny little peanut . . . looks even bigger because of his crazy hair!).  So, he has to work harder to hold up his head.  Also, Devin apparently has higher muscle tone than many kids (interesting since he actually looks like he has some biceps), which is not necessarily a problem, but is part of the reason that he still keeps his arms somewhat tucked in and isn't completely comfortable reaching for things yet.  As Judi explained it, it's more uncomfortable and more work for him to stretch than many kids.  But, as of now, it's not really impacting his development, so she's not worried at all.   But, she does still want to see him for at least 3 or 4 more weeks, but we have to wait for insurance approval.  Hopefully that will come through.  But, even if it doesn't, I know Judi has given me the tools to work with Devin at home.  I'm so glad that our pediatrician was so on top of this and that we're addressing the torticollis so early on. 

Devin has his appointment with Dr. Rozelle, the pediatric plastic surgeon at Children's Hospital, to see if he needs a helmet to fix the flat spot on his head a week from today.  Let's hope she says that he doesn't need it, but if he does, so be it.  We'll hook it up with some great decoration so that it'll just be a little added flavor to his already wonderful style :-)  I'll keep you posted!

TWO MONTH PEDS VISIT

On September 12th, we visited Dr. Sloan at Mali and Mali Pediatrics for Devin's 2 month visit.  Other than at the hospital when he was born, this was the first time that Devin would be getting any shots, and needless to say, I was SUPER worried about him being in pain and not being able to do anything to help him.  I knew it would be tough, so I'm glad that Vikas was able to be there with me just in case I had to leave the room when they gave him his shots.  When we got there, we went through our typical routine.  They took his stats, Dr. Sloan examined him, and then we went through some questions that we had.  Well, I'm happy to report that Devin grew another half of an inch (22.5 inches now) and gained almost 2 pounds (up to 10lbs, 6oz. from 8 lbs, 11 oz.)! 


We did get a little not so good news too. Devin has torticollis, a condition in which the muscles on the left side of his neck are tighter than the right side, which cause him to tilt his head to the left.  Because he tilts his head that way, he's developed a flat spot on the back of his head.  We're not positive what caused the torticollis, but it's likely that it was, in part, his position in my uterus.  Plus his head is a little bit big in comparison to his body, which means he has to work twice as hard to hold it up :-( Poor little guy.  Dr. Sloan wrote us a prescription for physical therapy and gave us the number for Dr. Rozelle, a plastic surgeon at Children's Hospital downtown who specializes in helmets to correct flat spots on infants' heads.  A few of my girlfriends have had children who needed helmets, and they saw Dr. Rozelle as well.  While she doesn't necessarily sound like the warm and fuzzy type, she's fantastic at what she does and I'm glad Devin will get a chance to see her and get her opinion on his head.


So, by the time that we discussed the torticollis and our questions about his fussiness, I had forgotten (just for a second) about the vaccines.  Well, then the nurse came in with the vaccines, and my anxiety about not being able to soothe him came back.  But, he did SO great and barely cried.  What a champ! So, while I shed a few tears, I did better than I thought I would too.  The few days after his shots, however, were really ROUGH!  Talk about unhappy.  Let's just hope that part of that was his general fussiness (which we were told should be gone by 3 months or so) and that he's not that miserable for days after he gets shots since he's scheduled to have them at just about every doctors' visit for the foreseeable future :-(

LET THE FUSSING BEGIN!

Just as we were beginning to really get the hang of this whole parent thing, our little guy decided to switch it up on us.  As he hit the 6 week mark, Devin began seriously fussing (understatement of the year) in the evenings.  Even though he was clean, fed, cuddled, rocked, sung to, bounced on the medicine ball, Devin just was not happy and cried from about 6 to 9 p.m. every single evening.  It wasn't as though he never stopped, but it was a constant game of trying to figure out what would calm him down.  So, while one thing might work for 10 minutes, he would begin screaming a short while later and we'd have to find something new to do to calm him down.  It was almost as though he just found his lungs and decided to use them right as we were trying to eat dinner and catch up on our favorite shows :-(  Definitely kept us on our toes, right?!   Poor guy . . . we felt so bad that he was so unhappy and there was very little that we could do about it.  Eventually around 9, he'd finally fall asleep.


Unfortunately for us, right as this new-found fussiness began, I was going to be on my own with Devin overnight for the very first time.  The weekend before our 3 year anniversary (I know . . . 3 years already!), Vikas went up north to Gaylord for his friend, George's, bachelor party.  Unlike most of the bachelor parties that Vikas has gone on, this one seemed pretty relaxed and outdoorsy.  The guys had planned a weekend full of golfing at Treetops, fishing, boating, and grilling for George, and Vikas was definitely looking forward to some good times with his buddies.  Even though I was nervous to be on my own without any help in the evenings, I was glad that Vikas was able to get a little break.  I actually stayed at my parents' house the first night, so that was a big help.  The next night was rough, but we got through it.


Two weekends later, we attended George's wedding.  This is was our first Serbian wedding, and from the bride and groom to the church and traditions, the wedding was beautiful.  It was definitely nice to get dressed up and out for some adult time, but it was also our first time leaving the little guy in the evening.  I was excited to get out and have some fun, but given Devin's new fussiness in the evening, I was pretty nervous to leave him. I knew my parents had been there before and could handle it, but I felt bad to put them through the stress of possibly hours of crying before Devin fell asleep.  So, of course, I called them a few times throughout the reception just to check in.  Even though I'm sure he screamed (I could hear him the first time that I called), my parents were sweet enough to spare me the details :-)  All in all, it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared.  We're glad we were there to share in George and Kristen's big day! 

And, I'm happy to report that now that it's been a few weeks and Devin is nearing the 3 month mark, the peak of the fussing seems to be behind us.  I hope I didn't just jinx myself :-)

DEVIN'S FIRST TEMPLE VISITS

When Devin was about 5.5 weeks old, he did something very important.  He made his first visit to a Hindu temple.  Around the last week of August, we took him to the Bharatiya Temple in Troy for the very first time so that he could be blessed by the priest there and would be certain to have God's protection throughout his life.  Here are some pictures from that day.  About a week later, Devin made his first visit to the Jain Temple for the week of Paryushan.  We pray daily that Devin will be blessed with a long, happy, healthy, fulfilling, and meaningful life, and that we will be there to witness it every step of the way.

It's so crazy to look back at these pictures . . . our little man has changed SO much these past five weeks!

NEWBORN AND FAMILY PICS . . . FINALLY!

So, once again, it's taken me forever to get back to the blog, but here I am :-)  Being a busy mommy is tough work, and now that our little Devin is staying awake longer and longer, I simply can't justify not playing with him as much as I can.  And once he's sleeping, I'm either trying get things done around the house or trying to catch up with Vikas since quality time with just the two of us is pretty limited.  Well, that all means that I get behind on blogging. 

Let's go back to where we left off.  As you saw in my last entry, when Devin was 3 weeks old, we had his newborn pictures taken by Kelly Rama of MAK Photography (makpics.com).   Here are a few of my faves!  Click HERE to see all of our little peanut's newborn pics.

All he needs is a briefcase, and he's ready for a day at the office . . .lol!

Clearly loving the love!

Fortunately, my sister and her entire family were visiting from Wilmington, NC at the same time that we had Devin's newborn pcitures taken, so we were able to have some great family pictures taken with them and my parents the same weekend.  Lucky for us, she and the kids were able to visit for 2 weeks before, so they got to spend some time with Devin almost immediately after we got home from the hospital.  My brother in law, Royal, wasn't able to make such a long trip, but he did come in for a few days, which was so nice! Devin loved spending time with his Masi, Masa and big cousins!  Even though it took a while to get all of these pictures back (and then took me nearly 3 more weeks to put them up), I think they turned out fantastic (other than not being back in shape quite yet . . . in due time) :-)  HERE's a link to all of the pics.

I adore this pic . . . could there be anything sweeter than this?!



Poor Devin was over it by this point :-(  Still, such an awesome pic of my Dad and his boys!



Our beautiful family . . . love this!



Nana and Nani and all of their grandkids so far :-)

Devin's shoes didn't make it through the whole shoot . . . lol!

SNEAK PEEK TO NEWBORN PICS!

Now that our announcements have gone out, here's a sneak peek at a few of the adorable pictures Kelly from MAK photography took of our little guy!  We can't wait to see the rest.  Enjoy!

And, as promised, HERE is the link to the rest of newborn pictures taken of Devin when he was just a day and a half old!

BUSY SUNDAY!

If you know anything about us, you know that Vikas and I LOVE to eat!  We really enjoy trying new restaurants out, and of course, visiting our tried and true favorites over and over too.  We have found that a great time to try out some new restaurants (and just eat some good food for less) is during the various "restaurant weeks" around metro Detroit.  This past Sunday was the beginning of Troy restaurant week, and we decided to venture out with Devin for a nice meal.  Since most of the restaurants are relatively upscale/not intended for kids, we decided that we better not ruin anyone else's meal by trying to get through dinner since that's when Devin has been fussy for the past week or two.  Instead, we thought we'd head out to the Melting Pot for a yummy fondue lunch.  Lunch was great--Devin slept right through it, and the food was delicious! 

Mmmmmm!

So glad we didn't have to skip restaurant week entirely :-)  Then, after lunch, our friends, Ben and Carlin, and their cute son, Alexander, came over to visit Devin.  Alex is another one of Devin's few boy buddies . . . he's mostly surrounded by adorable little ladies :-)  We're looking forward to watching these guys grow up together!  

Later that afternoon we headed over to Devin's Nana and Nani's house (my parents) for a quick visit.  Devin had a great time showing off his new skill: smiling!  He was so stinkin' cute, and definitely looked like he had something to tell all of us! Lol!

After a quick cup of tea with my parents, we headed over to Meijer for Devin's first visit to the grocery store. 

Such a good boy!

With such a busy Sunday, I fully expected him to be a disaster, but he really was such a trooper.  Even though Devin has had a few very "fussy" hours in the evening for the past couple of weeks, I've read that this is normal and feel very lucky to have a relatively chill baby.

YAY FOR LUNCH/PLAY DATES!

Devin and I have had a blast these past few weeks meeting up with friends for lunch.  We've seen my cousins, Puni and Soni, and Puni's newborn baby girl, Shivani (just two weeks younger than Devin) a few times for lunch. It's been great to have some QT with my cousins and our niece!  I love that Shivani and Devin are so close in age, and lucky for us, Puni and her family have recently moved back to Michigan from Texas.  So, Shivani and Devin, along with many of his other cousins on both sides, will get to spend a lot of time playing and growing together.  Now we just need to convince my sister and her family to come back home :-)  I doubt that'll happen, but at least we get to see them for weeks at a time, which we love! 

Devin and I also had the chance to meet up with my friend and coworker, Pam, and her son, Everett, and our other friend and former coworker, Amanda, and her son, Levi, for lunch at J Alexander's.  You might remember that my friends from work threw me and two other preggo ladies a triple baby shower back in April.  Well, Pam and Amanda were my fellow preggos--due 5 to 6 weeks before me.  It was so nice to be pregnant with them and to be able to talk about everything that was going on with our pregnancies and, now, our baby boys with each other.  It was great to see them and their little guys :-)   Unfortunately, Devin is stil in a bit of sleepy phase, so he slept through all of lunch and missed out on the fun :-(  Next time.

Amanda and Levi

Pam and Everett

Everett and Levi playing . . . Devin is still sleeping :-(

We've also had the chance to meet up with my close girlfirend Crystal and her little girl, Lydia, our friends, Swati and Mohit, and their princess, Saya, and our friends, Rocco and Julie, and their girls, Leena and Sofia!  It's been awesome!  We love that we have so many friends/family members that have kids around Devin's age!

ONE HAPPY BABY!

Guess what?  Right as he reached his one month birthday, Devin started SMILING and LAUGHING!  That's right.  Our peanut is one happy baby (except for his evening fussy time :-))!  He's always been adorable, but he is simply irresistable when he flashes his sweet, toothless smile!  Check it out, I'm sure you'll agree! LOVE this guy!

ONE MONTH OLD!!!

I can't believe that Devin is almost 6 weeks old!  It's crazy how fast time flies!   I know it doesn't seem like a very long period of time, but our LP has changed so much since he was born.  For one thing, he's two pounds heavier and at least two inches taller . . . which is a ton when compared to his original height and weight! Even though he still sleeps quite a bit, he's definitely much more active during the day than he was when he was just a few days old.  He's starting to follow people/objects with his eyes now, and he definitely recognizes our faces and voices.  Whenever he's fussy (which seems to be like clockwork in the evening for the past few weeks), a little song from his Mommy or Daddy helps calm him down.  I'm pretty sure the singing won't work when he realizes that neither of us can sing, and that most of the songs we sing make no sense whatsoever,  . . . lol!   Our baby boy is simply perfect, and we have LOVED every minute of watching him grow so far and can't wait for the years to come! Here are some pictures of Devin's first month.  Click HERE to see them all!

First day home from the hospital, and Daddy is exhausted!

Devin's first sponge bath the day we came home . . . had to get rid all of those yucky hospital germs!

Our precious LP . . . just 5 days old.

5 days old and playing in his rainforest activity gym :-)

Being soothed in his My Little Bunny swing (8 days old)

Making some eye contact with his Kaki!

We took advantage of the rare opportunity for a family pic!

The cutest munchkin!

2 weeks old and looking like a little old man with his comb over (too bad his hair only stays this way when it's wet)

2.5 weeks old . . . starting to get some chubby cheeks :-)

3 weeks old . . . doing what he does best :-)

Our little man!

 He just needs his briefcase, and he's off to work! Lol!

Mommy's little monkey!

Touchdown!  Just one of the many funny things Devin does with his arms when he's sleeping :-)

Happy baby!

Enjoying some tummy time!

Passed out!

One month old today!

 Hope you're enjoying watching Devin grow as much as we are!