Its been a rough few days for our little man.  First he started to sneeze and cough a bit more than usual.  We thought initially that this was just typical newborn allergies as their little nasal passages are very new and react to everything.  However his snuffles soon became worse until Mummy eventually took his temperature only to find he had developed a low grade fever.  So off to the doctors we went where they informed us he indeed had a cold and would be snuffly and unhappy for a few more days.

This went on for about a week until yesterday morning when we woke up to a baby covered head to toe in red blotches.  Back to the doctors we went only to be told once again it was a cold and the rash was just part of it.  We have so much to learn about babies!  So our poor little Reed is not feeling too well right now and his treatment is to receive extra cuddles and kisses.  Like thats hard to do! :)

Just like his Daddy, Reed has a problem with sitting still.  His little legs and arms are constantly moving and kicking, to the point where he will startle himself with his arms waving infront of his face.

So thank goodness for all the wonderful new swaddling products that are around these days.  When hes having a particularly wriggly day we just wrap him up tightly in one of them and he falls right to sleep.

However as he is getting older he is less and less happy about being swaddled.  He has taken to breaking lose from the wrap with his wriggly arms and we find him in a chaotic heap with the swaddle pushed down around his waist!  So we realize that in the future we will have to come up with some other trick to help him stay asleep.  Maybe more Elvis? 

In the meantime, Matt is pretty convinced this just means hes destined to be a football star after all!

So we realized with surprise today that its been 4 weeks since little Reed made his entrance into the world.  The last month has been a wonderful whirlwind of doody, diapers, feeding and cuddles.  Both of us agree its been the best month of our lives.

However we are already feeling the sadness that comes with seeing our little man get bigger everyday.  We are extremely happy he is gaining weight fast and he is starting to fill our nicely in his face and body...but we also love our little newborn and will miss him as he grows larger and stronger and enters the infant stage of life.

But we are enjoying each day as it happens, watching with excitement as he focuses more on his surroundings and even glances at us on occasion.  Even the sleepless nights are a joy!  He truly is the most loving, sweet little boy any parent could ask for and we truly feel like the luckiest people alive. 

We headed off to the hospital on September 7th 2008 to start the induction process.  Once we arrived at the Labour & Delivery triage we were told they would start with cervidrel to soften the cervix and then, after what they assumed would be at least 12 hours, they would add oxytocin into the mix to start the contractions.

Anyway, things didn't go quite as planned.  It turns out little Reed was very eager to enter the world and was almost on his way out and most likely would have arrived a day or two later anyway.  So Alana's water was broken, oxytocin was given an hour later and 6 hours after that Reed Alexander Lynch entered the world weighing 6 pounds 3 ounces.  It was a very fast labour for which we are both extremely grateful.

Welcome to the world our wonderful little man.

So we went in last week for what we thought would be a regular 32 week check-up with the doctor and to have another ultrasound to see if Baby Lynch's heart is still okay, only to come away a bit surprised.

It turns out Baby Lynch is trying to come alot earlier than he should and has now rendered his mummy helpless on the sofa trying to hold him in!  Thanks to a surgical procedure that was done a year and a half ago, the equipment (namely the cervix) that is meant to keep him in for 40 weeks is already starting to weaken so the doctors told us he could arrive any day now!

Of course this left us both feeling a little worried as theres still 5 weeks before hes  considered full-term.  However the doctor reassured us if labour did start now Baby Lynch would be fine and just to be on the safe side he prescribed two steroid injections to ensure his little lungs would be fully developed.

So the saga continues for our wee guy.  Hopefully with lots of rest and not much walking or standing early labour can be avoided.  However, should things start happening as the doctor predicts it looks like there could be yet another Leo to add to the Lynch Mob!

Just a little update on our wee tyke, he has taken up kicking his mummy right in the ribs while she is enjoying the little bit of sleep shes been getting at night.  (back pain and leg cramps are making sleep a thing of the past)  In fact, hes getting very good at it.  He has both his large tootsies permanently nestled under the ribcage and while we are sleeping he gets those legs moving and pops them right between the lower ribs.  It makes for some very interesting nights!

He has also been getting the hiccups lately, which we both find hysterical as these tiny little rythmic pops can be felt from the outside by our hands.   After having the 3D ultrasound we have figured out why this must be happening...it looks like he is guzzling back the amniotic fluid like a wee little piggy!

So baby Lynch finally co-operated at his 3D ultrasound and we managed to get some great shots of his very cute chubby little face. 

We didn't think at first that he would, when we arrived he was in his usual position of legs lying up and over his face.  But with a bit of belly jiggling and some patience he moved those lanky legs down and the technician took some pictures. 

To view these pictures they are under the 30 Weeks section in 'Photos' and there are some fun ones there of our little tyke yawning, blinking and pouting away.  Just like his Daddy!!

So we went in yesterday morning for our second 3D ultrasound hoping to catch another peak of our wonder baby...and would he co-operate??  Nope!!  He lay with his feet up over his head, his hands holding ONTO his feet with his face safely tucked underneath all these limbs...snoozing like a, well, baby.  There was no way for the technician to capture anything but his little boy bits as his bum was the only thing exposed to the screen.

Anyway,  upon realizing how hopeless the situation was the very understanding technician said we should come back next week and hope the little tyke has moved positions.  We have our doubts he will move as hes been lying like this for over 2 months now.  But its worth a shot....so stay tuned!