A Word from Brantley...

I'm a late night party animal. I wake up right when Mommy and Daddy are getting ready to go to bed and then want to stay up partying until the wee hours only to sleep a good portion of the morning.

These last 18 days have definitely been an adjustment. It was a traumatic start to say the least. One minute I was stretching inside of Mommy and the next minute my comfy cushion was gone and Mommy's body was trying evict me. 18 hours later and the doctor was pulling me out and the nice ladies of the hospital were staring at me in amazement and cleaning me off. Then I finally got to see my Mommy & Daddy.

I already have a lot of muscle control with my head and am trying so hard to hold my head up. I think it scares Mommy and Daddy a bit as I love to wiggle and swing my head around like a bobblehead. So far, I love my life and surroundings. I have so many cool toys and things to see. There is my swing, my bouncer, my turtle light and my seahorse and of course my 3 puppies (although only 2 really pay attention to me).

Mommy and Daddy keep taking me to doctor's office. They say I am tongue-tied, but I don't understand. I can cry and scream just fine and I am way too young to be talking just yet, so how can I be tongue-tied? I overheard them talking tonight at dinner and it sounds like Monday I have another Dr. appt. with someone called an ENT and I have to get my tongue cut. I hope it doesn't hurt!

I also am already like Mommy and Daddy. I love going places. I hate my car seat and being strapped in, but I love riding in the car and then my stroller. I love being the center of attention wherever we go. Everyone always comments on me and tells Mommy & Daddy I am cute (I knew I was, but I love hearing it anyway). o far, I have been grocery shopping (man does that take forever), and to places such as Target, Walmart, Lowe's, Home Depot, Mommy's school, the outlets, and of course, the bowling alley. I love going to bowling alley...it reminds me of when I was in Mommy's belly and I tend to snooze while we are there.

On Thursday, I finally get to start hanging out with my new best friend, Mike F. He is going to be watching me part of the week when Mommy goes back to teaching and Daddy is at work. He has puppies similar to mine and there's a girl over there who already calls me Baby Brantley. I'm excited to get to hang with someone else during the day part of the week, and I hear I get Daddy time on Wednesday & Thursday evenings while Mommy is still teaching. I wonder what things Daddy and I will do while Mommy is gone...I think we can be a good duo.

Well I think Mommy is starting to get tired, so time for me to go hangout in my Pack n Play...

Birth Survey...

1. Were you married at the time? Yes...
2. What was your reaction when you found out you were pregnant? I was in complete shock, especially since the doctors warned us not to expect a positive on the first round of Clomid. I took another test later that day to make sure I wasn't hallucinating...
3. How old were you? 26...
4. How did you find out you were pregnant? I had been charting my temperature like I supposed to and noticed a spike...so then I took a POS test and it came up positive...
5. Who did you tell first? Husby first and then the Moms...
6. Did you want to find out the sex? Yep. W had it done in May right before Mother's Day and our visit to my mom...
7. Due date? September 29, 2010...
8. Did you deliver early or late? 11 days early. He arrived September 18th at 12:37 am...
9. Did you have morning sickness? Not really...I had an occasional bout of upset tummy issues, but nothing serious...
10. What did you crave? Red meat, sweets, spicy, Mexican food, ice cream and towards the end salty snacks...
11. What irritated you the most? Certain people giving me their 2 cents about things of my pregnancy and telling me how I should raise my baby, since they had 1 child and think they know everything...

12. What was your child’s sex? Boy...
13. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy? 55 pounds. And two weeks pp, I have already lost 20 of them...

14. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? A blockage at 12-13 weeks that prevented me from urinating...but it lasted 72 hours...
15. Where did you give birth? HRMC...
16. How many hours were you in labor? 18 hours and 17 minutes... Water broke at 6:20am on September 17th & I gave birth at12:37am on the 18th...
17. Who drove you to the hospital? Husby at 7am...
18 . Did you take medicine to ease the pain?Heck yes! 

19 . How much did your child weigh? 7lbs 2oz...
20 . What did you name him/her? Brantley Calvin...
21 . How old is your first born today? a little over 2 weeks...14 days old!
22. Who does your child look like? A definite mix of us both...
23. Did you get mad at your husband during labor? Nope...

2 week Check-up

B's Pedi appointment was this morning.

He now weighs 7 lbs. 4 oz. and measures 20.5".

He has a little cradle cap and a slight cold or allergies, but those are minor ailments we can treat at home.

We discussed his tongue issue and were told he is slightly tongue-tied. It can be easily fixed by clipping the frenulum, so we took the referral to see an ENT for the procedure. Our appointment is next Monday and they will clip the frenulum membrane and hopefully free up his tongue movement and help him be able to latch and breastfeed better. Another week to wait, but hopefully all worth it.

Everything else is good. He goes back to the Pedi on his 1 month milestone (10/18)...so again another Monday morning appt....

Two weeks with B...

So it's been a little over two weeks since I gave birth to our son, B. (as we nicknamed him already). It has been a mixed two weeks full of highs and lows...physically, mentally and emotionally. We spent a good deal of the first week in the hospital with B under the Billrubin lights for jaundice and his hematoma healing, but then came home to a clean, organized home thanks to our wonderful moms. Our second week was really our first week alone (just the 3 of us)and it definitely was our "learning" week, since both grandmoms headed home on Brantley's first week milestone. In general, the second week was not too terrible, but it definitely will take some time to learn B's cues and also to adjust to the sleep/wake/feed/change schedule.

We are still having difficulty with latching, but tomorrow (or later today if you look at that way) he has another Pedi. appt. where we will discuss his short tongue and possible intervention. I am continuing to pump and look for natural ways to up my milk supply, but we are still supplementing breastmilk with formula. He feeds well and his diapers are good, so there is no indication he is not adjusting to the mixed bottle, but I really hope we can go back to breastfeeding soon.

I am also doing much better at 2 weeks postpartum. I feel much better and everything seems to be healing well. Most of my swelling is gone...still a little swelling along my stitches, but they seem to be healing well and not hurting as bad. I decided (after much consideration for both my well-being and my students' well-being/learning) to return to work this coming week...but will start back on Thursday to ease myself back into my schedule. With pumping, I am not too worried about his feeding schedule...just praying I can build up a bit more of a stash before Thursday rolls around. We are also not worried at all about his care since he will be with a close friend who is very experienced with caring for newborns and babies in general. I am also happy to say I have dropped over 20lbs so far....was 202 going into labor and delivery and now 181. I cannot wait to get back to the gym and get my tummy flat again, even though it is already looking better with just wearing the post-partum band. My goal in terms of weight loss is to be back down to 140-150lb range by the holidays, as well as, a bit more "in shape" or toned. This is a huge weight loss goal that I am not sure if possible given muscle mass weighing more than fat, but between continuing to eat healthy and drink lots of water and gym workouts (when I am released back to the gym), I think it is manageable. I am definitely not looking for my pre-college body, but a flatter mid-section and stronger leg and arm muscles would be nice.

In two weeks, I have also learned a lot about myself.

• I obviously have a low pain tolerance, but I can definitely perservere through a lot more than I thought...especially with the love and support of Husby and our families. 
• I am also a great multi-tasker and can think way out of the box to accomplish stuff...such as pumping while responding to student emails and doing my homework discussion posts or writing a paper. I even went as far as have Husby help me configure a hands-free support band for my pump parts. It works decently, so I am proud.
• B has taught us to throw the schedule out the window and follow our intuition. People were telling us to wake him every so many hours to feed, yet he would be cranky and refuse to eat and then we would be cranky and frustrated since we got up for no reason. B has his own schedule and we have learned to adapt ourselves (and our activities) to it.
• Although we hoped to breastfeed solely, it is not an option for us at the time...and that is ok. This was a hard lesson for us to swallow...especially with all the criticism everyone was giving us. We are currently doing what is best for our child and although others may not agree with it...it works for our child. B has a shortened tongue and therefore has a huge difficulty "latching on". In addition, when he does latch it is not a true latch and therefore puts a lot of stress on my body (specifically my nipples) which causes me a great deal of pain. I could care less about the pain if he would actually latch long enough, but since it is a challenge for him to get nourishment in this manner, he typically "gives up" after ten minutes of nursing and is very fussy while nursing...therefore not worth the frustration.
• Another lard lesson we learned....it's fine to supplement. We were both so scared into Camp Breastmilk Only that when the Neonatal staff told us we had to supplement because he was not eating enough in the hospital and when we realized I was having issues getting my milk in, we both freaked a bit. Thankfully he does well with the formula addition to his BM, but we try to keep the ratio even or lower in terms of the amount of formula used. Once again, we are doing what is best for our baby and have found common ground that we are comfortable with. Again, people think we are wrong for what we are doing and try to school us on the "proper way", but we are a united front and either tell them what we are doing or tell him to mind their own since it truly is none of their business.
• In these last 2 weeks, our marriage has also been strengthened. We communicate our needs and issues and we also work as a stronger unit together. We have always had a good relationship, but it is even more strengthened with our new addition. I am so proud of my Husby and the way he has taken to our son and I feel he feels the same way in terms of me. late nights and irritability sometimes make communication tough, but we work through and are better at realizing our "tired" points.
• Lastly, these last 2 weeks (and especially B's birth) have taught us, a well thought out plan is wonderful, but life has a way of making its own plan and path to follow. I know I have embraced the free-spirited go with the flow mentality now and have learned to take things the way they are or fall. We made plans upon plans, but when it came to using them...the circumstances that presented themselves just were not plan-worthy. We put a lot of faith in our doctors and hospital staff and looking back we are satisfied with how things turned out.
• Oh, and we make cute babies! (that is what everyone keeps remarking about B) :)

Quilt Completed!

~The Ocean Quilt Husby designed~