Thursday, June 30, 2011

The Post About Poop In My Car

Just yesterday I was telling y'all about how it feels like I don't have anything funny to share because, well, I'm not really getting out a lot. Last night, however, Jeremy and I ventured out with Anderson to go get dinner before church. Little did I know that our little venture out would in fact give me something new to share with y'all.

Jeremy and I went to our favorite Japanese steakhouse. We got there early, giving us plenty of time to get to church. In fact, we got there so early that we were seated at the hibachi table all by ourselves. This worked out nicely because about 5 minutes into our dinner, just about the time that the soup and salad came out, Anderson decided that he would start fixing his constipation issues that we had been dealing with for most of the day. After a few minutes it was clear that Anderson was finished with his business and I got up with him to take him to the bathroom to go clean him up. As I was walking towards the bathroom the sweet little Asian waitress told me that there was no changing table in the bathroom.

Can I just interrupt this story for a minute to say how much this drives me crazy! What is the point of having a huge bathroom with 5 stalls if you can't bother to put one of those folding changing tables in the bathroom? Come on folks...get with it!

Now returning to my story...I decided that the easiest thing to do in this situation would be for me to take Anderson back to my car and change his diaper on the front seat. Keep in mind that it is in the high 90's outside, and I'm taking a sqirmy, poopy kid to change his diaper. I get Anderson all settled on the passenger side front seat, and armed with a fresh diaper and wipes I get to work. Y'all, Anderson had done quite a good job filling this diaper up and it took about 8 wipes to clean his hiney. I was just about done and about to remove the dirty diaper when Anderson started wiggling around. He moved just enough for me to lose my concentration as I was pulling out the dirty diaper and I fumbled the diaper and a big plop of yellow poop fell squarely down onto my floorboard. So now I'm dealing with a sqirmy baby, a dirty diaper, trying to put a clean diaper on him, and poop on the floorboard.

It took about 5 more minutes to get the situation under control and I deposited the evidence in the trashcan outside the restaurant where I'm sure it was nice and ripe in no time with the heat outside. The two of us headed back into the restaurant where I promptly passed Anderson off to Jeremy and informed him that he owed me and my floorboards big time!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Here are some random pictures from the last few days that have made it onto my facebook page, but not the blog. Enjoy!

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Macy with Anderson. She loves him!

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We can’t keep Jackson out of Anderson’s portable swing!

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Jackson is such a good big brother!

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Sporting the mohawk!

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My big boy!

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Sleepy sweetness!

I Consider Myself Reprimanded

I got fussed at yesterday by three people in the span of less than an hour about my slacking in the blogging department . I believe it was my sister who said to me at Girls Night Out last night, "Amy, you always blog Monday through Friday, and now you maybe blog twice a week That's just not you."

I guess bringing a human into the world doesn't count as a reason to temporarily ignore my blogging responsibilities.

So here's the deal: I don't have much to blog about, especially with Jackson gone this week. Life is kinda slow right now, and my routine for the last 3 weeks has been pretty off because of a certain little guy that needs/wants/deserves some love and attention. After all, he's the newbie and what he says goes!

If I'm being honest with y'all, I should tell you that I'm not particularly good at this stay-at-home stuff, although I certainly commend those of you that do stay at home. When I do get the chance to sit at the computer for a few minutes, it seems as though there is nothing "fun" to say. We're not getting out much, although we do venture out occasionally, so I don't have any fun adventures or stories to share with y'all from our outings. I highly doubt y'all want to hear about how I've washed yet another load of clothes, because helloooo, that never stops around here now. Or I'm once again washing the million parts of Dr. Browns bottles because I do that about 4 times a day. And I'm fairly certain that y'all don't want to know about how many poopy diapers I'm changing because Anderson has definitely lived up to his "Anderson Pooper" nickname.

So with those topics out, how about I leave you with a something Jackson shared with me the other day. He happened to come into the bathroom as I was changing and I caught him staring at my stomach. I said, "Can you believe that Mama's big round belly is gone?" Jackson said, "You just look squishy like Jello now!"

Thanks kiddo!

So from now on I'll do my very best to post something Monday through Friday. It might be some new pictures, or the occasional funny story, but I can't be held responsible if the post has something to do with laundry or bottles or poopy diapers. Consider yourself warned!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Minus One Kiddo

Jeremy's parents came into town to spend the weekend with us and the boys and Jackson left with them yesterday to go to Camp Papa and Gigi for the week in Hattiesburg. We had a wonderful visit with his parents, and they sure ate up some Jackson and Anderson time! Papa and Gigi are going to bring Jackson back on Friday. It's going to be so weird only having one kiddo around for the week, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with myself, but I'm sure I can find something to occupy my time, like laundry (which never seems to stop around here), or cleaning bottles or cuddling with Anderson. I'm sure going to miss Jackson while he's gone, but I know he's going to have such a great time. He probably won't even miss us at all!

In the mean time, the little guy is calling my name, and when he beckons, I must go! I hope y'all have a great Monday!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Our New Alarm Clock

We got a new alarm clock 2 weeks ago. It goes off like, well, clockwork every 2-3 hours during the day and every 4 hours at night. You can count on it. Everytime. Without fail. The clock's name is Anderson, and we wouldn't return him for all the money in the world!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Charting A New Course To The Milky Way

My Mom and I had to take Anderson to the doctor yesterday. It wasn't with our regular doctor in this practice, but the doctor was amazing! I was concerned with a spot on his recently sharpened little pencil (if you catch my drift), which turned out to be absolutely fine, and while we were there they did another bilirubin check because he was still a little jaundiced, and another weight check. His bilirubin levels were much higher than when we left the hospital. He went from 5.9 to 12, which is the on the lower end of "high" levels, but they aren't concerned with it.

His weight was another issue completely. Anderson was born at 8 lbs 2 oz and left the hospital at 7 lbs 13 oz. When he had his follow up visit the day after we were released he was still 7lbs 13 oz, which was fine. The doctors would like for breastfed babies to gain an ounce a day. Well, my little guy went back to the doctor on Monday and he was up to 8lbs even, which means that he had only gained 3 oz in 10 days. The doctor recommended that we start supplementing with formula right away.

I feel so conflicted right now because I had already been toying with the idea of stopping nursing because it just felt like too much when trying to juggle taking care of Jackson and Anderson. I was so torn on deciding what to do because I felt like nursing was going okay, but it was just about killing me because it was taking so much time away from other things. It feels selfish to want to stop nursing just because it would make my life simpler, but at the same time I know that I have to do what is best for my entire family.

So hearing from the doctor that Anderson is not gaining weight like he should lets me off the nursing hook, but I'm still disappointed because I really did feel like nursing was going okay. I thought that this time I had figured out this nursing stuff, and I'm super disappointed that he wasn't getting from me what he needs, and what I thought I was giving him.

So here I am, glad that I get the "okay" from the doctor to start with formula, so he can start gaining some weight, as if somehow that will relieve some of this guilt that I'm feeling because if the doctor recommends it then somehow it's not my fault that we're going the formula route just to make my life easier. I'm upset at the same time that I'm not providing him with something that I know will benefit him in the long run because it will make my life easier. Gotta love postpartum hormones!

So for now I've stopped nursing, although I am pumping a few times a day. I have some milk stored up, and we're spacing those bottles out, and trying to figure out which formula works best for him. It's been a very spitup-ish day! I guess at the end of the day I'm just glad that we figured out that he wasn't gaining weight now, as opposed to 2 weeks from now at our next well baby visit, when he really could have lost a lot of weight.

This new baby stuff is hard, but it's so worth it!

Monday, June 20, 2011

On My Own

Today was the day that Jeremy had to go back to work since he's been off with me on vacation leave for these first couple of weeks with Anderson. I have loved having him home, especially when I had my hands full with the little man. But alas, all good things must come to an end. Apparently you have to work to get a paycheck. Go figure!

So Jeremy got ready for work, let me get ready for the day, we both got Jackson ready, and then he headed off into the murky fog of the real world. I'm still sitting here in the house in the murky fog of maternity leave.

So far they have been gone for over 30 minutes and I'm holding down the fort just fine. Of course this may have something to do with the fact that Anderson has been sleeping the entire morning. I've been fairly productive so far; I have clothes washing, dishes going in the dishwasher, and I've even vacuumed. I'm so domestic these days that I shock even myself! (LOL!) I will have to emerge from my fog to make a trip to the doctor with Anderson this morning. He is having an issue in the diaper department, and the doctor needs to take a peek. I'm sure he's going to love it.

I guess that's it for today. Enjoy a couple pictures from a photo shoot we had done with Anderson and Jackson on Saturday. I'll have more pics soon. Take care!



Saturday, June 18, 2011

Every 5 Days

Because most second borns end up not having as many pictures taken of them as the first born child, I've challenged myself to post a picture of Anderson every 5 days so I can see how much the little guy is changing. I've started a new blog to post the pictures and I would love for you to "follow" the journey with us.

So head on over to "Every 5 Days" to see how the little guy grows. It's gonna be fun!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Dividing and Conquering With Two Kids

Last night after Vacation Bible School Jackson said that he had a tummy ache and wasn't feeling good. We tried to get him to use the bathroom, but nothing was happening. He then said that he felt like he was going to throw up, so I sat in the bathroom with him, rubbing his back and trying to make him feel better. After a few minutes he said that he was ready to go to bed.

Fast forward to 1:00 in the morning, and I'm awakened by the sound of Jackson coming into our room, sobbing. I glance over at him and he is covered in throw up. I get him into the bathroom and sent Jeremy into his room to assess the damage. He had been sleeping on top of his covers, and from the looks of it, he threw up in his sleep and pretty much covered most of the top part of his bed.

I quickly got a throw up bucket ready, put Jackson in the tub and gave him a bath in the middle of the night. It was around this time that I realized how different my life has become in a week and a half. Now I have two kids to worry about, and I didn't have any idea how torn I would feel when trying to decide which child to take care of. On one hand I have my 4 year old that is literally covered in throw up, crying in the bathtub about not feeling good, but on the other hand I'm also thinking about my 10 day old that is due to nurse in less than an hour. I can take care of one child, Jackson, at the time, but am I unwillingly going to expose Anderson to a vicious tummy bug if I do that? What's a mom to do?

We ended up getting Jackson set up in the living room on the couch, covered with sheets and towels in case of an accident. I made a pallet to sleep on in the floor for me, and I had a throw up bucket nestled right next to Jackson. Whenever he gets sick like this I sleep so lightly, and any sound he makes I'm right there, wide awake, with the bucket under his mouth. He did end up getting sick several more times, all of which were contained.

Jeremy meanwhile was on Anderson duty. We got a bottle ready from what I had pumped earlier so he was good to go. Anderson got up around the time Jackson fell back asleep, and then we all called it a night except for when Jackson got sick again. We slept late in the morning and we were all ready for a nap by 9:00 in the morning.

I think, all in all, we did pretty good on our first "parents of two kids" disaster. It was really hard being torn between the needs of both boys, but I'm glad that we managed as well as we did. This parenting stuff is hard, but it's so worth it!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

The Difference In Baby #1 and Baby #2

I had one of those "aha" moments the other day with Anderson. I had just taken a shower and actually took the time to dry my hair and straighten it. We weren't expecting anyone, I just needed to feel a little more human. I finished up with my hair and then it was time to nurse (again!). It seems like that's all I'm doing these days. Anyways, we nursed on one side and I was burping him before we started on the other side. He was propped up all content on my shoulder when it happened; he burped and spit up all in my freshly cleaned hair which was now dripping in spit up.

Now with baby #1, I probably would have gagged and as soon as was humanly possible I would have jumped back into the shower to get cleaned up again.

With baby #2, I performed a quick sniff test of my hair (diagnosis: smell was not too bad because it wasn't formula), waited a few minutes for my hair to dry on its own, ran a brush through the newly enhanced section of hair to detangle the mess, and then proceeded to put my hair up in a pony tail for the day.


It's a good thing he's so cute!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Anderson's Birth Story

*I wanted to go ahead and write this before most of the details get fuzzy with time. I know some of the details were shared on facebook and on the blog, but this is the whole story. Feel free to pass if this isn't your thing!

Monday, June 6th I had my last regularly scheduled OB appointment. Everything felt fine so I was super surprised when my blood pressure was elevated again. After Dr. Lawhon saw my numbers (140/90ish), he asked me how I felt about being induced a day early. Honestly, I wasn't thrilled by this. There was still lots to do around the house with last minute stuff, and I was really looking forward to our last family of three outing to the Montgomery Biscuits game scheduled for that night. We had been given tickets to one of the suites at the stadium, so I knew that we would be able to enjoy the game in the comfort of air conditioning, and I also was really looking forward to spending some more time with Jackson. The new plan was for me to check into the hospital around 9 or 10 that night, start the pitocin at 2:00 in the morning and to have Dr. Lawhon break my water at 5:00 in the morning.

After we left the appt we started making phone calls to let our families know the change of plans. It was then that I decided to go ahead and plan on going to the baseball game since we would already be that much closer to the hospital from the stadium. We rushed home, finished packing, Jeremy did some yard work, got cleaned up and we headed to the game. We had such a good time at the game, and it was so nice getting to spend time with Jackson before everything changed. We met so many people at the game that were amazed that we were leaving the game to go to the hospital.

We ended up leaving the game around 8:30 that night and headed to the hospital. One of Jeremy's coworkers has a wife that is a nurse at the hospital and she reserved the biggest birthing suite for us. We got right into our room and made ourselves comfortable. The room was huge! Because things weren't going to be started until after midnight I had a few hours to kill. Jackson loved checking the room out, and around 9:00 my parents came up to the hospital to pick Jackson up. It was at that point that Jackson lost it. He started crying and that got me all choked up. It was so hard saying goodbye to him because he was so upset. Of course by the time they got to the car he was fine.

After they left I played on the computer for awhile and read a magazine until 11:00 when I got up to go take a shower and fix my hair. I was settled back into the bed at midnight and was given a dose of a mild sedative to help me rest. At 2:00 on the dot the nurse hooked the pitocin up and checked me. I was still 4 cm. I fell back asleep and woke up at 3:30 in the morning to go potty. It was at that time that I learned from Jeremy that my pitocin had been cranked up twice while I was sleeping. The nurse told Jeremy that I would know when it was time to get my epidural. Well, by the time that I got back to the bed after pottying I was feeling some pretty strong contractions. I guess me moving around had gotten the medicine moving, and I went from feeling nothing to being in a great deal of pain. About 15 minutes after my potty break I told Jeremy that it was time to let the nurse know that I was ready for an epidural. By the time Jeremy made it from my hospital bed to the door I felt my water breaking. I said to Jeremy, "My water just broke!" He said, "Are you sure?" I laughed and said, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure!" I had 5 strong gushes of water and the nurse confirmed that my water had broken. She checked me again around 4:00 and I was at 5 cm, and she told me that I had sprung a leak, but that my water hadn't broken completely.

We started making phone calls to our families to let them know that things were moving pretty quickly. The nurse wasn't sure if I would make it to 5:00 for the doctor to finish breaking my water. The anesthesiologist arrived and got my epidural started. It wasn't fun having it put in because I was having some pretty strong contractions by that time. The epidural was amazing! Dr. Lawhon described it as, "the perfect epidural" because I had complete control of my legs, without feeling any pain. I was able to push up and move around the entire time, which was really nice. After I got the epidural I was able to relax without feeling any pain, and everything stayed pretty calm for awhile. Our families got to the hospital around 5:00, and at 5:30 Dr. Lawhon arrived and checked me. I was at 9 cm. He broke my water and decided to hang out since it wouldn't be long. He stayed in the room chatting with our families which we thought was really cool. He's an amazing guy, and it was such a normal thing to have him chatting with us while we waited. The plan was for our families to stay in the room with us as we delivered, but behind the curtain, away from the action.

A few minutes before 6:00 Dr. Lawhon cleared the room out to check me again. I was 10 cm and ready to go. My sister Kellyn was standing outside the door and she heard Dr. Lawhon saying, "Push!" They all snuck back into the room behind the curtain and waited for Anderson to make his appearance. At 6:01 am on June 7, 2011, after only 4 hours and 5 easy pushes, Anderson Moore Wade was born sunny side up and screaming loudly! He weighed 8lbs 2oz, and was 20 inches long, coming in just shy of Jackson's birth measurements of 8lbs 4 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. They placed him on my chest and I got to meet my new little boy. It was such an amazing moment, and from the moment I laid eyes on him it was love at first sight. He is the spitting image of Jackson, and he has been such an easy going and laid back baby. Jeremy and I have been truly blessed with two amazing little boys, and I can't wait to see how God is going to use them!

Monday, June 13, 2011

He's Pretty Amazing!

We've been settling into our new "normal" around here, and for the most part it's going okay. I firmly believe that its much easier to bring baby number two home becasue at least this time around we knew what to expect. Anderson has been doing great, and he continues to be a very laid back and easy baby. We're nursing around 10-11 at night, again around 2-3, and then maybe 6-7 in the morning so it hasn't been too hard so far. Anderson loves to be swaddled and he will stay in froggy mode for as long as you will cuddle him, which of course I don't mind at all!

Jackson is doing great. He loves Anderson so much, and is always wanting to give him hugs and kisses. The only problems we've had is when both boys want/need something at the same time and neither of them is willing to be patient for even a second. We did send Jackson back to school today just so he can get back to a normal routine. We have Vacation Bible School tonight and I'm hoping to venture out to see the opening ceremony part if I'm feeling up to it.

Recovery wise I'm doing okay. I've had a killer headache for 3 days now which hasn't been fun. I have another call into the doctor to see what they recommend I do. Most of the milk cow issues I was dealing with on Friday have eased up greatly which was a huge relief. So far nursing has been going great, and I'm super pleased with how well we are doing. I'm not going to stress myself out about it this time, but we'll just take things a day at a time.

I guess that's it for today. Enjoy a couple of new pics!

Friday, June 10, 2011

Thursday, June 09, 2011

Wade, Party of Four

We walked in our front door today for the first time as a family of four, and y'all, it felt great! We are doing wonderful! Anderson is weighing in at 7 lbs, 13 oz. and his bilirubin levels are really good. We take him back to the doctor tomorrow for another bilirubin level check, but I'm pretty sure that his levels will stay fine. Anderson is nursing like a champ, latching on with complete ease which is something that never really happened with Jackson. I worked lots with the lactation nurse at the hospital and hopefully we'll get started on the right path with breastfeeding.

I'm feeling really good, and I think part of that is that I am so much more relaxed about bringing a baby home. I have no doubt that we will have our moments, but I'm not nearly as terrified as I was the day we brought Jackson home from the hospital.

Jackson has done really good today, although this morning he was completely fascinated that Anderson drank milk "like a cow does". At least now everything is out in the open, no pun intended.

I'll keep everyone updated on how things are going and we truly appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Love y'all!

Hospital Memories I'd Rather Leave Here

  1. Mesh granny panties.

  2. Industrial sized feminine products.

  3. Sleeping on puppy training pads.

  4. Backless hospital gowns.

  5. Bath towels the size of postage stamps.

  6. Toilet paper that could rival sandpaper.

  7. A VCR instead of a DVD player in our room.

  8. Vital checks at 2:00 in the morning.

  9. All modesty going out the window.

  10. Wooden rocking chair after vaginal birth.

The best part of this hospital stay? Need you even ask...

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