2 Week Photos

This is out of order of order but I had to share some of Brendan's 2 week photos. These photos were done by Tami (artisticphotographybytami.blogspot.com). She did a great job!

Brendan is 2 months old!

It's really hard to believe that Brendan is already 2 months old. It doesn't seem like it's been that long! He has already changed so much. It seems he's a little different each day. He smiles a lot more, he coos and he is getting so much stronger. People warn you how fast it goes but I had no idea how true it was. Part of me wishes it would slow down just a bit but the other part is so amazed by his development. It's like a constant battle of wanting him to stay a tiny baby for as long as possible and being excited for him to hit the next milestone.

Mike and I have adjusted pretty well. We share the night shifts and on Mike's days off, he lets me sleep in a bit. Even though we are lucky to have an easy-going baby it is still pretty exhausting to be the only one home with him each day. When Mike gets home from work he takes over for a bit to have some daddy time. He gives Brendan his nightly bath and it's the cutest thing! They both love it. I could be imagining it but Brendan seems excited to see Mike when he gets home. I love watching them together!

Every day with him gets better and better!

More trouble for me

Mike, Brendan and I came home on May 10th. I was still feeling pretty bad from all the blood loss. Mike was home for a day or two and my dad was still here. They both took care of me because I was too weak to be up for very long. It was so frustrating to feel like I wasn't able to care for my tiny baby.
About a week after we'd been home I was still feeling pretty miserable. Mike made me call the doctor and they had me come in to be checked out. They checked me and saw that I had retained placenta. The doctor was unable to remove it so they scheduled a D&C. I was so upset because I didn't want to be away from Brendan and I didn't want our breastfeeding to be ruined.
I went in for the D&C and was supposed to go home that day. I didn't get to go home because I hemorrhaged again during the D&C. When I tried to sit up after the procedure, my blood pressure dipped to 77/39!
I sent Mike home with the baby because I didn't want him staying at the hospital. My dad and Carla came down to help Mike with the baby.
I was released the next morning and it took a few weeks and lots of iron to feel better again. I feel much better but I still tire pretty easily.
Thankfully Brendan did great through everything. He gained weight like crazy and didn't have problem switching between bottle feeding and breastfeeding. I was able to provide enough so he didn't have to have formula either!

He's Here!!

Brendan Michael

May 8, 2010 at 12:08am

8lbs, 20.5" long

On May 7th (my due date!) at 1:30am, I woke up with mild contractions. Too bad I'd gone to bed at 1am! I tried to go back to sleep but the contractions were annoying and I was excited! I woke Mike up around 2:30am and we stayed in bed for a little bit. At 3:30am we decided to go for a walk. My contractions were coming pretty close together but they weren't very intense. We called the midwife and she said to try to get some sleep and come in around 8-9am to be checked. I tried to get to sleep but the contractions were getting stronger and I couldn't fall to sleep. Finally around 8am we woke my dad and up and headed to the hospital. They checked me and determined I was 3cm dilated. The midwife gave me some medicine to try to help me sleep and told me to get some rest.

Unfortunately, the medicine didn't get me to sleep either. The contractions kept getting stronger and I couldn't keep my eyes open but I couldn't sleep. Bummer! Mike started timing my contractions around 2pm and they were 2-4 minutes apart and lasting at least a minute. He said it was time to go. I kept stalling because I didn't want to go too early. He finally got me in the car and we headed back to the hospital.

When they checked me around 4pm I was 7cm dilated! Yay! We would have our baby soon! They moved me to a room with a birthing tub since I'd planned on having an unmedicated water birth. I labored in the tub, on the bed and on the exercise ball. I tried to walk around but it wasn't easy. I tried to eat a little here and there and drink lots but that wasn't easy either. I was so tired! When the midwife checked me again at 7pm, I was only 8cm!

The midwife decided I was tooexhausted and it was causing my body to stall. She said she needed to do something to get me back on track. I would either get pitocin, she could break my water or I could use the breast pump to help my contractions. I was so tired and I just wanted to meet my baby! I told her I didn't want to do any of those options. I started to cave and asked if I could have some drugs. Mike and my awesome nurse, Jill, knew I really wanted to go natural and they got me to agree to let the midwife break my water and see how things went. Brendan wasn't fully sunny side up but his head was turned just enough to give me terrible back labor. Jill suggested that I try the sterile water papules (they inject water into the skin over 4 pressure points on your lower back). They hurt like heck but once they were done, the back labor was gone! A miracle!

I forgot all about my request for pain meds and continued to labor for another hour. Finally I felt the urge to push. The midwife, Tamara, came back to check me. I was ready to go! I tried a practice push on the bed and got back into the tub. Pushing in the water was awesome! I could move easily into any position that I wanted. I was pushing with all my might and getting discouraged because I felt like I wasn't making any progress. I wanted to sleep so badly! After pushing for about an hour and half, I was finally close! Mike, Tamara, Jill and I were all watching the clock. Brendan missed his due date by 8 minutes! He was born in the water beautiful and strong. I did it! I had him without drugs!

The whole process was exhausting and I wish I had been able to get some more sleep but I am so proud of myself! Mike was such a big help. The whole time he kept reminding that I could do it and that we would be meeting our son soon. He never left my side.

Brendan was doing great after delivery but I was not doing so well. I started to hemorrhage and it took about 2 hours to get the bleeding under control. Tamara had to call the doctor for help. That was very rough on me but they took great care of me. By the time we moved to our room, we were all exhausted and slept the rest of the night!

Beginning of the bath remodel!

Here are some pics of our bathroom remodel. It's still not complete so there's more to come...

This is the old counter. I HATED that white tile and the white grout!

This was the itty, bitty shower stall.

















This was our bathtub.




















This is the beautiful, new tile in the now shower/tub combo!

















This is our gorgeous new counter!



I am so excited to see the ultimate finished product! Thanks again to everyone who helped out with this project! You're the greatest!

A lot completed, lots to do!

I can't figure this blog out!! I tried to post the photos below the blog and it didn't work. :o( Here are the name letters we made for the baby. I am so proud of them!

Here is his crib and Snoopy poster.

Here is his room - all painted!

And here I am, 28 weeks pregnant!

Mike and I have been working like busy bees around the house. I am happy to say we've actually made some real progress! The baby's room is painted and his crib is up. It's so strange to walk past the room and see all of the baby things. It's hard to believe there will be a little baby to enjoy them before we know it. We are now working on decorating his room and we've made some real progress there too. I painted the name letters and Mike and I made some little Snoopy figures out of clay. We are both very proud of the outcome! Tonight some more of the decor came in the mail and I can't wait to put it up!

After lots and lots of research and debate we finally settled on carseat and stroller. That is a big relief!! Of course we've already tested it out. The good news is that the carseat actually fits in the Civic (I was shocked!).

Thanks to a lot of help from our good friend, Becky, we are completing a bathroom remodel this weekend. I am very excited for the finished project. We will have a whole new linen closet/pantry when it's done! The closer we get to having the baby the more I realize these little people take up a lot of space! I will post some pictures once we have it done.

I think most of you know but we settled on a name. We actually picked it out before the anatomy ultrasound. His name will be Brendan Michael! We both love it!

I am officially in my 3rd trimester. I can't believe this is the last stretch. I have felt this way all along but the pregnancy continues to feel as if it's flying by and dragging on. I am so excited to meet our little guy but we have so much to do before he's here. I suppose that contributes to the mixed feelings in that aspect. I find it really hard to imagine how it will be to have a baby in the house. I am both excited and anxious for what's to come. I also worry about our "fur babies" and how they'll take it. I hope that everyone can peacefully coexist. I also hope the baby is used to all the noise they make! Overall, I feel good! I am very tired but I am growing a baby. I guess it's to be expected. I had a little scare about a week ago. I failed my glucose screening. I had to take a 3 hour test (which was horrible!) to see if I have gestational diabetes. Mike went with me to the long test which made it much better (he's been so amazing). Thankfully, I do not have gestational diabetes. That was a big relief! While it's a manageable condition it was overwhelming and scary to think about. I am very, very thankful that I don't have to deal with that! The baby is quite active throughout the day. I love feeling him move. It really is one of the best parts of being pregnant. He's getting big enough now that I can feel him roll and push against me. While I couldn't tell you what body part it is, it is really cool to feel his little body! He likes to kick at the doppler when we listen to his heartbeat at prenatal checkups. He also likes to kick at Mike's arm when we're in bed. I feel he is going to have a strong personality!! I can't wait to meet him!

Started making room for baby...

I am pleased to say we finally cleaned out the baby's room! We had to move the office into the guest bedroom so it's been a bit of a shuffle. But, it feels really good to have finally started. I am over half way through the pregnancy and it seemed weird that we hadn't really done anything around the house yet. It's sort of like you know you're having a baby but in the beginning it seems so far off that it doesn't register. Now that it's getting closer and closer it's starting to sink in. We emptied his room and I put all of his little things in his closet. It's so strange and exciting to see baby clothes hanging in the closet! They're so tiny!

We have been having a tough time picking our nursery furniture. Well, I've been having a tough time so in turn, Mike has a tough time. :o) I keep changing my mind about what furniture I want and what style I want. Thankfully Mike is used to me changing my mind and being indecisive so he goes along with it. We finally bought a dresser this weekend so I am excited to check that off our list. Now if only we could settle on a crib... There are so many choices and so many decisions to make!

I will try to keep the blog updated with progress on the baby's room. Hopefully I'll even post some pictures.