Snow Day

Last Friday (2.4.11) we had a snow day! This was actually Bs 2nd snowfall - the 1st was when we got caught in the blizzard in NJ over Christmas vacay - but this was the 1st one in his home state of Texas.
Snow doesn't come this way often, but when it does it is time for celebration. I will always remember a snow day on my birthday when I was in 5th grade (we were in Dallas at the time).

Here is B standing in the snow

Naps

Now that B is 3+ months I want to get him on a routine. I have been doing the E.A.S.Y routine with him since he was about 2 months old, but hadn't really been that strict or paying too much attention to it. E.A.S.Y stands for eat, activity,sleep, you time (in that order). He is great at the order but his naps have only been 30 minutes and then he eats again 2 hours after he started his last feeding. This schedule doesn't give me much "you time." I've read somewhere that at 30 minutes they transition into another phase of sleep and some babies wake at this point instead of continuing to sleep. Today I decided that when he wakes at the 30 minute mark I will try and put him back to sleep. Well...it worked! He has been sleeping for 1 hour and 20 minutes so far in this nap! That is big progress : ) This routine is in the book "B.aby Whisper" which I read early on but haven't picked it up in a while. I liked the thinking of the book, but don't want to feel like a bad mom if he doesn't conform just the way they say. I know this is a personal deal of mine that I need to get over, but for now that's the way it is.

I'll leave you with some cute pics...





Oh and he's still sleeping...1 hour 47 minutes so far and I got to eat lunch!

3 months!

Bugaboo (current nickname),

You are 3 months old and I swear that each month I say I want to freeze time and keep you that way, but each month seems to get better and better! You are full of smiles now, but you are also quite a serious baby at times. You definitely know your mama and have begun to show favor towards me. It would be crazy to say I don’t feel special when you cry for me, but I really want you to feel comfortable with your dad and grandparents as you do with me. I guess that’s what happens when we spend all day together! I love this age because you are becoming such a little boy. It is so much easier to tell what you need when you start to fuss and you are so easy to take out and about. You love looking at the surroundings. We still take walks to the mailbox and you love seeing the trees and the sunshine. You are a great Texas baby! You take 3-4 naps a day that range in length from 30 min – 2 hours. I never know when the long one will be so it is a bit hard to plan around. You are 15 pounds according to our scale at home. It is amazing to me that you have doubled your birth weight! You sure do love to eat and still eat about every 2.5 hours during the day. At night you still have one long stretch of sleep for 6-8 hours or so then you wake up more frequently towards the morning. You really get up for the day around 6:30-7:00. I love being home with you during the day and I can’t wait until we start some playdates. Soon the weather will be warm again and we will be outside much more. You love swinging with me in the hammock and I’m excited to get you your own swing for the tree. You enjoy chewing on just about anything you can find, and the drool is coming in full force! I’m wondering when we will start seeing little teeth pop through. You still don’t like tummy time, but you are able to hold your head up for longer periods of time now and you love sitting in your Bum.bo chair. It is so cute to see you squished in there! You have some favorite toys now (the loop-de-loop and Sophie) and it is fun to watch you interact with the hanging toys on your play gym. We really have to be careful because you love looking at the TV if it is on in the living room. It seems no matter where you are positioned your head always finds its way to the screen. That is a habit we have to break asap! You go to the doctor at the end of the month for your 4 month check up. You will have more shots and she will take a look at your head. We aren’t noticing much progress unfortunately, but your hair is rubbing off in places so you have spots of dark hair that look so cute. You still sleep in the bassinet in our room, but are getting close to growing out of it. We plan to move you to your nursery soon. I will miss you, but know you will do great!
You are such a joy to us and we love you so much! We can’t wait to see what month 4 brings!

2 months!

My B-boy (current favorite name I call you),

You are 2 months old and I fall more in love with you each day! Your daddy and I are so amazed at how much you change each day. You are really growing and making progress! You went to the doctor today for your 2 month check up and your vaccinations. I must say - you are a pro now after that no fun hospital stay. You took the shots like a champ! You are 12 pounds 6 oz (75-80%) and 23.5 inches long (75-80%). Such a big, growing boy! You still eat every 2-3 hours during the day and have some longer (6-7 hours) stretches at night. The other night you went for 8.5 hours! You usually eat around 7 and are in your bassinet and asleep for your long stretch at 8 or 8:30. You "normally" wake up between 1-2am, 4-5am, and then up for the day around 7:30. I'll be excited if we make it to one feeding during the night sometime soon, but I do love your sweet little face as you smile up at me in the middle of the night. You are quite adorable when you smile. I can't wait to see it more! You are looking at your dad and my faces more and more and tracking us as we move around you. It is sweet! You can hold on to objects and are beginning to shake them. You love music and when we sing to you. You are on an eat, play, sleep, repeat schedule during the day and you love sleeping in the M*by wrap on me or in the Baby Bj*rn on daddy.

We have been noticing that you favor looking to the right, and the doctor noticed right away that your head shape is a little lopsided because of this. She recommended that we start making you look to the left and sleeping with your head facing the left to even things out. I hope this can correct on it's own or we might have to think about a cranial band. I think you would look really cute in one, but would prefer not to have to go that route!

We are about to embark on an 11 day, 3 state, 3 plane flight, and one 7 hour car ride trip for Christmas...yikes! In the words of the pediatrician "you're brave!" We are excited for you to meet all of your family & I know they are excited to meet you.

Love you B-boy!

1 month old

Bennett was one month old on Thanksgiving and BOY we sure had a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Let me start with Sunday of last week...
As Dave was changing B's diaper on Sunday night he noticed a bump in the crack of his bottom. Sorry if this is TMI, but he's just a baby. We didn't think much of it, put some cream on it and decided we would call the doctor in the morning.

Monday morning the bump still looked the same so I called the doctors office at 8am and was asked if it was hot to the touch or if he had a fever. Both of these answers were no so they scheduled us to come in for an appointment on Tuesday. Around 11:30 I was changing his diaper and pus was coming from the bump. I took his temperature again and it was 99.7 I called the doctor back and they told us to go to the ER at Dell Children's. Needless to say, I was scared! Dave hurried home and we made our way over to the hospital. As luck would have it, my good friend Stacey was coming down from Dallas to visit us for the day. She met us at the hospital as well as my brother and mom. We were seen rather quickly and put in an ER room. They came to see B and told us he had a perirectal abscess. They would have to take blood, urine, and do a spinal tap to rule out a blood infection or any other serious infections. They inserted and IV in his tiny little hands, and as he cried I did too. I'm so glad Dave was strong and Stacey was there to talk with me through the procedures.

His surgery to drain and repair the abscess was scheduled for 6pm. It was a long few hours waiting because I couldn't feed him due to the upcoming procedure. By the time he would eat again it would be 7 hours from his last feeding. He sure was hungry! We did a lot of bouncing and rocking trying to keep him as calm as possible. He has never been a pacifier baby, but he sure was enjoying it in the ER.

At 5:30 they wheeled us up to the OR floor and we talked with the surgeon and anesthesiologist about the procedure. The most difficult part of this for me was knowing that he would be put to sleep under general anesthesia. Saying "goodbye" as he was taken down to surgery was the hardest thing I've had to do so far as a mom. I'm so glad we had such a supportive group there with us to help take our mind off of the events of the day.

Around 7:30 they came to get me to come feed him in recovery. I cried as I held my baby who was still groggy from the anesthesia. These were tears of relief that he was OK and back with me. He didn't eat very well and was slow to wake up, but they assured me that this was normal and that they would monitor his heart rate and oxygen for 4 hours post-op.

It turns out that he had what they call and anal fistula. A fistula is a channel from one part of the body to another that shouldn't be there. In his case it was a small channel from his rectum which got infected. They say it is somewhat common and primarily only happens with boys. He was most likely born with it. This also explained his fussiness when he would go to the bathroom. For the few days leading up to Monday we just thought it was gas, but it was probably the infection beginning under the skin and it was causing him discomfort. We've noticed such a change now when he goes to the bathroom. I'm so glad he's not in pain anymore!

We were admitted to the hospital for 2 nights. During the stay they administered 2 IV antibiotics (one to kill staph and one to kill e-coli) every 8 hours and checked his vitals every 4. His incision gradually began to heal and we gave him tub soaks 3 times a day for 15 minutes to keep the area clean. The doctors were also keeping a close eye on his blood, urine, and spinal fluid cultures to make sure nothing was growing which would indicate a more serious infection. Luckily, everything was clear!

We were discharged on Wednesday - just in time for Thanksgiving!

This whole experience has made me so thankful for having a baby with only a small health issue. I can't imagine the stress parents of preemies or babies with severe health needs must go through. I am also blessed to have family and friends who supported us throughout the process.

B is now on oral antibiotics and the baths, but we went for a checkup on Friday and all is going great. We go back for a post-op follow up with the surgeon on Wednesday and I am expecting a clean bill of health!

2 weeks old

We went to the Dr. today for B's 2 week check-up. He is doing great! He now weighs 8 lbs. 8 oz and is 22 inches. This puts him in the 85% for height and between the 25-50% for weight. Looks like he might be long and lanky like his dad. Of course only time will tell. The doctor was really impressed because by their 2 week check up they want babies back at their birth weight and he is almost a pound over. I could have guessed that he had gained a lot because he eats a lot and we change a lot of diapers : )

We are doing really well. We are getting used to sleeping in smaller chunks of time. B does pretty well at night. He will get up every few hours to eat, and is usually put back to sleep somewhat soon after by being rocked. Of course I hope I didn't just jinx us! I have learned not to expect any patterns with newborns and take every hour as it comes.

Bennett's Birthday

Here is a quick rundown of October 25, 2010...a wonderful day that forever changed my life...the birth of our son Bennett!

Here I am at 5:00 am waiting to start the induction process


IV and Pitocin at work


My water was broken by the doctor around 8:30 am and labor started in full force. Here I am shortly before I got my epidural.


Me with Dave after I got the epidural. Notice the pink tray on the table? Yes, I was extremely nauseous. Luckily that soon passed!


I started to push at 3:50 pm...
and...
Bennett was born at 5:00 pm on the dot!

Yes - I was exhausted and in quite a bit of pain, but so overwhelmed with it all. It was an amazing experience of what the human body is capable of.

7 lbs. 11 oz and 21.25 in.


We were instantly in love!