September Wrap-up

It was definitely a busy month adjusting to life with Baylor, Katie back in school, my birthday and lots of visits from family. Here's a few snapshots of our everyday life from September 2012.

1) baylor at two weeks old 2) baylor's first bottle 3) katie riding high with uncle gabe 4) my southern belle eating boiled peanuts 5) celebrating grandma jones' birthday 6) katie's first night at cubbies at church 7) sibling play time 8) katie checking on sam the puppy 9) my birthing bling! baylor's birthstone 10) baylor's sunday style 11) daddy's biggest fan at his softball game 12) sweet cousin love with chase and baylor

 

Baylor - 1 month

I've seen lots of ways people try different ways to document baby's first year (or even first several years). For Katie, I feel like I wrote in depth letters and documented every aspect of everything! I can already see that this may be somewhat unrealistic for Baylor. But I do want to try to take his picture each month and I want the pictures to be similar in order to chart his growth! My sister in law, Melissa, gave me the best baby blanket ever! I've decided to use that in each of the monthly pictures just to give all the pictures a similar look!

Baylor grew out of newborn diapers within a few days of coming home from the hospital. We are definitely out of newborn size clothes too. Most things that are 0-3 months fit him really well. He's a good eater, a good sleeper, and generally pretty chill during his awake times. His toughest time is between 2 and 4am. He usually eats around 2 am but doesn't want to go back to sleep. Some nights it really gets to me, but other nights I am able to enjoy his company as I watch Sports Center or Friends in syndication!

Here's my baby at 1 month old. The first year was so hard for us with Katie and I can't believe we are 1/12 of the way through Baylor's first year! He's been a great baby so far. I'm enjoying getting to know him! It's also fun to watch Katie grow into her Big Sister shoes and watch as Doug and I learn to be "boy" parents! My heart has more than doubled in size. I love Baylor more than I could've imagined but it's amazing how my love has changed (grown) for Katie and Doug too. It's such a special time for our family as we begin our journey as a family of 4!

Newborn Pictures

Melissa did some newborn pictures for us just before Baylor was 3 weeks old. I love them all. Here are some of my favorites that haven't already been plastered on facebook or birth announcements! Thank you Melissa for capturing our sweet little boy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Zoo!

I know I've written about the zoo about a zillion times, but that's because every time we go - it feels like a special visit that warrants its own post. We headed to the zoo with MY whole family while Gabriel and Nancy and Griffin were in town to meet Baylor and Gabriel's high school reunion. Griffin had never been so it was fun to see it through his eyes!

Katie's FAVORITE part of the zoo - the coin spiral in the  penguin house. No kidding.

Nancy feeding the Lorikeets. Griffin wasn't too sure about the birds landing on him or his mommy!

Baylor's not interested in animals.

At the farm at the zoo. Milking a fake cow.

Griffin and Dandaddy feeding the giraffes.

Griffin exploring the rocks - so close to walking!

Riding the train!

I love our zoo. It seems to change and grow with us through every stage of our life! We always have a good time until it's time to leave!

Lots of Appointments!

Baylor came home from the hospital jaundiced and with Erbs Palsy. We had three bilirubin checks after coming home from the hospital and got put on phototherapy to help him get back to normal levels. The jaundice was likely caused by his bruising but we'll never really know for sure. He ended up being on the LIGHT for six days.

 

The Erbs Palsy is a whole other ball game. We've had an appointment with the orthopedist who saw us in the hospital. He did another chest x-ray to see if his collar bone was broken. If the collar bone was indeed broken, it would explain away some of his lack of use of his arm. If it wasn't broken, then the lack of use of his arm would be entirely from the nerve damage/Erbs Palsy. The xray was normal and showed no signs of a break so Dr. Horan referred us for Occupational Therapy every other week for about six weeks. At our first OT visit, the therapist felt his injuries weren't as mild as we thought, so she changed us to every week for therapy.

 

We've been twice now and it's definitely helpful. It's giving me lots of things to do with him/for him during his awake times of the day. It's also nice to go weekly so that we can track progress or lack thereof a little better.  We will follow up with Dr. Horan at the end of the six weeks and see what he recommends from there.

 

It's Time For...

BATH TIME! He's got a scowl on his face because he hated his first bath but has loved them ever since!

NAP TIME! Just like Katie, Baylor doesn't nap well on his own. He loves to be held while he sleeps so he's struck up a close to permanent residence on my chest nuzzled in the Moby wrap. 

TUMMY TIME! He's not a huge fan of it but doesn't absolutely hate it either. It's nice to be able to put him down for a little while and Katie enjoys trying to get him to look at her while she dances or makes funny faces.

PLAY TIME! No pressure, no expectations, no agenda. Just hanging out. He likes to sit in Katie's big chair in her room and watch the two of us while we play with her big girl toys!

 

First Day of School 2012

One of my biggest concerns about my due date with Baylor was that I would miss being home or around and awake for Katie's first day of school. I know it's just preschool and nothing I could control anyway - but my heart broke every time I thought about not being able to take her to school and take pictures of her all dressed up. God's way is certainly perfect and he allowed me to have Baylor early enough to be home from the hospital and somewhat settled by the time the first day rolled around. We even did some clothes shopping together the day before her first day to pick out an outfit to wear!

We got up early enough to be able to take some pictures before it was time to leave. My mom came to the house and picked us up since I wasn't really supposed to drive yet. It was also really helpful because she could stay in the car with Baylor while I took Katie inside.

She is at the same school where she was last year and knows most of the kids too. She even already knew her teachers because she moved into their class at the end of the last school year. She walked right in and didn't miss a beat. She sat down and started playing with friends and toys like she owned the place.

I love watching her acclimate in situations like this and seeing her do so well. It makes me happy to know she enjoys school and the people there. But it's also so hard to see her growing up into such a little lady and not needing me as her protective barrier all the time. I walked out of the room and of course cried...I blame it on the post partum hormones and the fact that I love this little girl to pieces!

Welcome Baylor!

Baylor's Birth Story

My brother put Baylor's birth on the birthday board at the Rough Riders game the night he was born!

On Tuesday, August 28, we went to family night at Moe's with the Boozers. After dinner, the guys took the kids home and Shelley and I were headed to Books A Million to look for a bible study book. On my way out of Moe's, I felt a quick pain that I'd felt many times in the last few weeks. I completely disregarded it. As we  got in the car, I told myself I should've gone to the bathroom while at Moe's but that I would just hold it and go at the bookstore. When we got the bookstore and I got out of the car, I realized I shouldn't have tried to hold it because I really had to go! I got the bathroom and went but kept feeling like I still had to go (or was going) while we were in the bookstore. I even told Shelley I felt like I was losing all bladder control during this pregnancy! We left and Shelley took me home. I still felt the urge to go to the bathroom and by the time we got to my house, it hit me that my water had broken!

Shelley came in with me and I ran upstairs to tell Doug what I thought was happening. He was hanging window valances in the nursery and almost didn't believe me. I called the doctor's office and my mom and he called his mom. We headed to the hospital by about 8pm after my mom got to our house to stay with Katie. We checked in at the hospital and I was placed in a labor and delivery room. The first check revealed I was about 2-3 cm dilated. I started my fluids to prepare me for the epidural. Contractions weren't too bad but my back was hurting.

Around 11pm, Doug went to the cafeteria for a late night snack and when he came back, they were ready to start my epidural. It was not pleasant! It did not go as well as Katie's at all. It took several times for the doctor to hit the right spot and I was in agony. It took about 10-15 minutes to finally go in and take effect. Not too bad in the grand scheme of things, but man - it felt horrendous at the time!

Both grandmas were in the waiting room (Marshall had come to stay with Katie so my mom could be with us). They came back to visit with us for a while and then went back into the waiting room around midnight so we could all rest. Around 2:30 am, I was about 5 cm dilated according to the nurse. I was glad things seemed to be progressing somewhat quickly.

Then around 5:30 am, the nurse checked me again. Her exact words were, "Now, you're a good 5 cm." WHAT? Three hours and I went from 5 to a "good" 5?! I was so frustrated. We sent our moms home to shower and the plan was for them to relieve Marshall and bring Katie up to the hospital so she could be there with us too.

I tried to drift back to sleep but was pretty uncomfortable and my mind was racing with anticipation for the pushing. I did doze off a little and around 6:40, I woke up feeling lots of pressure and discomfort. I called the nurse because I felt like something was potentially wrong with my pain meds for me to be feeling so much. She checked me again and now I was at 10 cm and ready to push! Again...WHAT? Now it had only been one hour and I progressed more in one hour than since we arrived at 9pm! I told Doug he should probably get himself dressed for the day and freshen up before the doctor got there. He also texted our moms to come on back to the hospital.

The doctor came in around 7:10 and it was showtime! I started pushing. I pushed a few times through one set of contractions. The pushing wasn't awful but not a walk in the park either. The contraction finished and the doctor told me to rest until the next contraction. I told Doug it felt like he was already halfway out and much to my amazement, Doug told me that he was! Whoa...that weirded me out. But there wasn't much time to be freaked out by it because another contraction was coming. I pushed once and then once more and he was out! Sweet Baylor was here. It was 7:20 am, August 29, 2012 (38 weeks, 1 day pregnant).

And then I began to freak out. Baylor's head was completely purple and his right arm was hanging limp. He wasn't crying at all. Time seemed to stand still. I was really confused and worried. I kept trying to read Doug's face for signs about what was happening. I asked several times why he was so purple - I was fearful he wasn't breathing at all. The doctor assured me it was just bruising. I didn't feel totally convinced and was still worried because his arm was limp and he wasn't making much noise. The doctor and the nurse proceeded to make guesstimates about his weight and wrapped him up and handed him to me. 

It felt so good to have my arms on him and feel him breathing. I still couldn't get over the bruising and somehow forgot about the arm. Doug and I got to spend about an hour with him together in our room. Our moms came in a for a little while and so did Katie. She seemed sort of oblivious to what was going on and was more excited to tell me that she was chewing gum (something I don't allow her to do yet). I got to try to nurse him and just soak up the first few moments of his life! I was immediately in love with him and threw my protective mama bear arms around him to try to comfort him and make his bruising go away.

The nurses eventually came and took him to get weighed, measured, and bathed. Doug went with them and after they weighed him, I got a text saying he weighed 9 pounds 4.4 ounces! WOW - no wonder I was so uncomfortable over the last few weeks! 

We got settled in our room and had some family and friends come and visit us. To say I felt much more relaxed and normal with this birth is a total understatement. I was able to enjoy the little moments as they came and went. All the stress and anxiety I had experienced the last few months of pregnancy were gone the instant I held him. I was actually excited that he was finally here and our family felt complete!

 

After the pediatrician saw Baylor for his first "check-up," she came to tell us that he had suffered an injury during delivery and had Erbs Palsy. This meant he had some nerve damage in his right shoulder that left his right arm without much function. During our hospital stay, we had a consult from a pediatric orthopedist who told us a little more about the condition and what were our next steps. He had done an xray to make sure there wasn't a clavicle fracture and there wasn't one. He wanted to see us in about three weeks in his office to do another xray and set us up for therapy depending on if he'd regained any function in the arm. Most cases of Erbs Palsy resolve themselves in 6 months to a year while some could require surgery and some children don't ever regain total function. Our prayers are certainly to be in the group that regain all movement with therapy.

Baylor dropped down to 8 pounds 10 ounces before we left the hospital and also started to become jaundiced. We got set up with a return trip the pediatrician's office the day after discharge to recheck his levels and possibly get set up for phototherapy for jaundice. We were told the jaundice was likely due to his bruising.

We left the hospital on Friday, August 31 and headed home to begin our new life as a family of four!

A little side note I want to remember...We had not packed any bags for the hospital and weren't prepared at all when my water broke. The only thing I had prepared was Katie's big sister outfit (which we really didn't get any pictures of). We rushed to pack bags for each of us and completely forgot anything for Baylor. I guess since he wasn't technically here, he wasn't on my mind to pack clothes for. We didn't even realize this until a few hours after he was born! Doug went home and got some clothes for him. One of the outfits was a little jungle animal onesie I had received at my work shower. It was absolutely nothing fancy and probably not your typical "coming home" outfit. But the neat thing about it was the person who gave it me was now Baylor's birthday buddy! He was born on her birthday. I thought that was fun and made the outfit special!

One other thing I definitely don't want to forget. When we got home from the hospital, I got teary eyed just watching Katie and thinking she must've grown a foot in the two days we'd been away. She looked so grown up. She asked me what was wrong and I said I was sad because she wasn't my little girl anymore - that she'd gotten so big. Her reply melted my heart. She said, "I'm still your guys's little girl. I'm just a big sister now."