Monday, March 30, 2009

5 weeks


Got Gas?

I'm definitely getting slower and slower with these weekly updates. We had a great 5th week here at the McCollough household. (Knock on wood) Brody seems to be in a schedule now at night. The past 5 out of 6 nights he has gone to bed at 11:00 and wakes up to eat at 3:00. Then he doesn't wake up again until 5:30 or 6 am and will even go back to sleep after that until about 9:30. We had one really bad night this week...he didn't go to bed until 12:30 and woke up at 3:00 am for the rest of the night. Those nights are really long and really hard but luckily it only happens when Brody has a bad case of gas.

This is my last week off from work and I return next week. I have mixed feelings about this. I feel ready but at the same time I so don't want to return. I think the only thing that is helping is knowing he will be with family and completely loved on all day long and the fact that I only have 8 weeks left in the school year. I also return on a 4 day work week so that helps! It's going to be so hard leaving my baby :(

Here's what Brody's been doing this week:
- You love your play mat and the dog that sings to you.
- You have started to laugh and coo
- You love your Grammy's voice and smile anytime you hear her
- You are starting to get into a schedule at night
- You now fit into all newborn outfits and some 0-3 months
- You are still in newborn diapers but can wear 1's if I make them really tight
- You want to be entertained more when you are awake, you get restless when held and like to be in your swing or bouncy.
- You love the bouncy seat especially when I put the vibration on.
- You are focusing and following with your eyes more.
- You LOVE bath time

Til next time,
L

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

We have sleep!

Brody slept from 11:00 to 3:30 last night...the longest he's ever gone. Then he slept from 4:30 to 7:30!! Thank you Brody, momma needed some sleep

Love,
L

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Late Nights

Don't you just love staying up all night? That is what Brody and I have done for the past 2 nights. It all started Sunday when he was up ALL day long! And he was fussy, which is not like him. So I figured this is great, he will sleep all night tonight...uh wrong, Brody had different plans.

Sunday night he cried from 11:00 to 3:00 am for reasons I have yet to discover.

He wasn't hungry...didn't have a dirty diaper...didn't need to burp...but definitely had GAS! So I finally get him to sleep at 3 am in the rocker in my arms and wouldn't you know he was up at 5 am bright eyed and bushy tailed.

So he sleeps all day Monday...because he was so exhausted from being up pretty much 24 hours. He was happy when he was awake but as soon as I got into bed Monday night wouldn't you know he started screaming bloody murder...urgh! So last night we were up until 2:30 am and then he passed out on my chest. And was wided eyed and bushy tailed at 5 am.

Momma doesn't like gas! Or colic...or whatever this is. And I feel so helpless...he screams like someone has just pinched him. And he looks up into my eyes saying DO SOMETHING WOMAN! I feel so helpless. I've tried the Gripe Water and it doesn't touch him but I did have B go get Mylicon drops and it seems to help a little but doesn't totally cure him.

Do you think he's crying just to cry? He's been such a laid back happy baby the past 4 weeks, I cannot put my finger on what changed in the past 48 hours.

Oh and what's more fun than being up all night? Him throwing up all over our comforter and himself today...he overate and blew his lunch. So off we went to get a bath and clean up. Now he's sleeping...I should probably be doing the same thing!

Have a great week!
LeAnn

Monday, March 23, 2009

Pedi Appointment

Brody did great today at the doctor. He is 8 lbs 11 oz and 21 1/4 inches long. He has gained exactly 3 lbs in 1 month (from discharge). He's in the 55% for length and 25% in weight but the doctor thinks he will catch up on that since he was 3 weeks early. He also got his 2nd Hep shot and only cried for a second.

We also found that he has Alpha Thalassemia Trait (2 affected genes). Patients who have alpha thalassemia trait have smaller (microcytic), paler (hypochromic) red blood cells and a mild chronic anemia but do not generally experience any other symptoms. This is an anemia that does not respond to iron supplements. Diagnosis of alpha thalassemia trait is usually by exclusion of other causes of microcytic anemia.

We found out because of the newborn screening that they do. The doctor said this will not affect Brody at all but that B and I will have to get tested before our next kid to see who has it and to make sure that both of us don't have it. If both parents have it and the child inherits it from both it can be a more serious problem.

We go back in a month where he will get several shots :(
We got no sleep last night because someone was gassy and fussy so I'm off to feed him and try and catch a nap.

Love,
L

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Brody is 1 Month


I'm 2 days late posting this so Brody was offically 1 month on Friday. I cannot believe how fast time if flying. I have loved every second of the last month and have such a happy and healthy baby, I'm truly blessed. I have 2 weeks left before I have to return to work and I'm going to eat up every second I have with my little man. I really need some prayers that I will find peace in returning to work because I just cannot stand the thought of leaving Brody. I really don't know how I'm going to do it.

Brody is still an eating machine and the feeding is going great. He got his first bottle on Friday and he took it like a champ and we didn't have any confusion going back and forth. So I feel confident he will do just fine when I return to work.

We've had some tummy issues the past 2 days and that has left Brody fussy and uncomfortable with very little sleep, poor guy! He's been fighting sleep today and I feel so sorry for him, gas is no fun.

We've been getting out and about a little more. I'm still leary because of the flu but for the most part I keep him covered if we do go to a public place. I'll talk to the doc tomorrow to get reassurance that it's ok if I take him out this young, if not we will be staying at home for a few more weeks.We go tomorrow for his 1 month check up so I should find out his weight and will update then.

Here's what Brody is doing at 4 weeks:
- Took your first bottle
- Had your first blow out!
- Took your first nap in crib(lasted 5 minutes)
- Starting to focus more with your eyes
- Smiling more
- Love to look at your animals on your bouncy seat
- Have a little baby acne going on
- Really enjoying bath time now

This week in pictures: (I got a new camera this week so I'm still learning...thanks poppy and B!)


My first bottle



First time in my crib! When I woke up I loved looking at the polkadots:






Wednesday, March 18, 2009

pictures

My good friend Mandy came over tonight to take a few pictures of Brody. She a blooming photographer and takes great pictures. Here' s a couple...stay tuned for more!




Friday, March 13, 2009

3 Weeks


We've had another great week. I cannot believe how fast the weeks are going by. On bed rest it seemed like time was crawling and now it's flying by so quickly I can hardly keep up. We are loving every second with little man even at 3 am. He's perfect in everyway.

The past couple of nights have been extremely long with little to no sleep but at the same time it seems like 3 am is the most intimate times I have with Brody. I can be so sleep deprived and the nights seem so long but when he looks up into my eyes from nursing and smiles at me it completely melts my heart and makes every second worth it. He must be going through a growth spurt or something because he's been nursing every 2 hours. And when you are nursing every 2 hours for 20 minutes and then another 10-20 minutes of burping and diaper change that only leaves momma with about a hour and 10 minutes in between feedings to get some sleep and that's if he goes right back to bed!

Oh and he got his paci this week! About the 2nd night of no sleep he was grumpy at 7 am and I really needed a few hours of sleep so I thought I would try it, sure enough he took it and went fast asleep for 3 hours! I've only given it to him a few times since then and he only really wants it when he's extremely tired and gassy, other than that he will just spit it out or not want it at all. It's really sad actually because the paci takes up so much of his cute little face.

Next week we will start to introduce a bottle with my milk I've stored to get him ready for when I return to work, this will be harder on me than him I'm sure.

Tonight my parents came over and brought dinner(thanks mom and dad) and they also watched Brody while B and I ran to the grocery store. He did great of course and so did I!! It was the fastest I've grocery shopped in years :)

Here's what Brody is doing at 3 weeks:
- Your head is getting stronger and you can hold it up more
- You love your swing
- Eating even more!
- Fitting into newborn outfits better, 0-3 months still swallow you
- Took to a paci this week
- Umbilical cord fell off

Mommy update:
It amazes me how quickly a body can heal. I feel back to normal again and my stomach has gone down quite a bit and feels very empty. I was so use to him being in there that I didn't realize how different it would feel with him not being in there. Although sleeping on my stomach again is greatness! I've lost 18 of the 31 pounds I gained so now I think I have to start working to get those extra pounds off which is fine because when I return to work it will fly off I'm sure due to activity level and stress. I'm getting back on my feet and I'm having quite a few leg cramps from being on bed rest for so long. I'm trying to stand a lot more around the house to get use to it again but I'm thinking it will take time. I'm also trying to walk everyday. The weather is suppose to be great this week so I will definitely take advantage of it.

I would like to ask for all those moms out there, what in the world is up with the night sweats? I mean seriously??!!!?? At first I thought B was playing a joke on me and threw a bucket of water on me or something while I was asleep....I've never experienced anything like it and sure wish it would go away!

My hormones are getting better. The first two weeks I swear I cried over anything and everything. There were even times I'd just start crying over nothing at all. Sounds crazy but I'd even cry because everything seems so perfect! They were definitely all over the place and at times overwhelming but now I feel like they are more in check and getting back to regulated! I'm sure B is thankful for this :)

Off to feed the little man!
Hope everyone has a great spring break!
Love,
L

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

It takes a village

I'm sure many have heard this and luckily I have a family that believes in the phrase "it takes a village to raise a child"

I'm sure it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that I've been off work for, ummmm let's see, when I go back on the 6th it will be 16 weeks! I never dreamt I would be put on bed rest and out of work for this long so B and I have had some pretty stressful times on top of the stressful pregnancy. But what can you do, I've just tried to roll with the punches, have spent many hours talking and praying with God and have put it in his hands to see us through this time which has given both of us peace with it all.

Going back to work, Brody will only be 6 weeks old. This kills me! To the point when I think or try to talk about it I get big ole' tears in my eyes and pretty much begin to hyperventilate, I will get better by the time I return to work but for now it is just something I'd rather not think about too much.

Returning to work I will have exactly 8 weeks until summer break. We've tossed around the idea of putting Brody in daycare. My school district has a daycare center for employees but considering what we've been through with pregnancy, his 3 week early arrival and the fact that he will only be 6 weeks old we just cannot put him in daycare yet. B has been substitute teaching this year but with my return to work he was going to stay home with Brody.

Luckily we have the best family ever and we are getting a Brody team together to watch him so that we can both work! So far my mom is taking 2 weeks off, B's mom is taking a week off and has a few extra days here and there if needed and our Aunt Judy is taking a week off to watch him, how blessed are we? I mean these women are taking their vacation time to watch our child. I cannot repay or thank y'all enough for this support and love.

So far we have 4 out of the 8 weeks covered which will help us out greatly.

I just wanted to thank everyone so much who have helped or prayed for us! Our prayers have and are being answered and we feel so blessed to be where we are today.

Love,
L

Deneise Rocks!

Deneise and the kiddos came over on Monday to visit with Brody. She brought B's favorite dinner, pizza and even better she brought this for afterwards:

She got the 1st one, sweet cream and it was excellent. In case you don't know it's Cold Stone cupcakes...only the best ice cream around!
Thanks Deneise for the great dinner and dessert. You can come visit Brody :)
Love ya!
L

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Chunky Monkey

We had our 2 week appointment today and little man weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces!!! That's 14 ounces in 8 days and 1 pound since birth. Little guy is a eating machine.

The doctor said he is perfectly healthy and everything is looking good. He had to put some stuff on his umbilical cord to help dry it up and said it should fall off in a week or so....I cannot wait....I don't like that nasty thing.

I got about 30 minutes of sleep last night so I'm on my way to the bedroom for a nap.

Have a great weekend,
L

Friday, March 6, 2009

2 Weeks!


2 weeks old, I can hardly believe it! It's been another amazing week at the McCollough household. We are all doing great and loving our new life together as 3. The first part of the week was great and Brody was sleeping in intervals of 3 1/2 hours during the night but the past 2-3 nights we have been up pretty much the entire night. That's ok though, we will get into a schedule eventually. I return to work April 6th, in 4 weeks and I'm already dreading it...mention it to me and I will completely melt down...my poor students are going to think I've lost it when I return!

Here's what Brody's been doing this week:
  • He loves to dirty his diaper as soon as mommy puts a new one on.
  • He's an eating machine
  • He is smiling all the time
  • He loves to get kisses on his feet
  • His hair is getting lighter
  • We see a lot of Papa Jerry in him especially his eyes if they stay that color.


Here's this week in pictures:

This is my favorite and Brody loves sleeping with his momma:



Daddy did my hair after my bath: (excuse mommy's look she's sleep deprived!)


Perfection

We go to the doc tomorrow morning for his 2 week check-up. We were suppose to go in on Monday but they moved us up because we need to get his umbilical cord looked at...it's smelling kinda fishy and looking kinda yellowish. I'll update tomorrow on his appointment and how much the booger weighs. I'm guessing 7lbs3oz and B says 7lbs5oz...we will see who is right :)

Love,

L

Thursday, March 5, 2009

I so...

Need a new camera!!

Any suggestions? I need a good one to catch beautiful pictures of my son. The one we have just isn't working any longer. There's times where we take pictures and its too shiny on his face or comes out blurry...moments we can't get back!

So if you know of a really good one let me know!

Love,
L

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Birth Story

This is long but it's my journal of the day's events for future reference
Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The day before my doc appointment was a pretty busy one. I had a hair appointment at 1:00 and decided to get my toes done after that. I figured I had been through enough so I should spend the day getting pretty for Brody. I had been in pain all week with contractions and I just didn’t think I was going to make it til Monday. It actually turned out to be a great day. That morning I had a lot of contractions that were getting pretty strong but I decided to go on in for my hair appointment. I can remember saying to myself “please don’t go into labor while in the middle of my hair appointment” and of course as soon as I got there my contractions pretty much went away. So after that I went to get my toes done and this turned out to be so relaxing. The sweet lady had asked when I was due and I told her Monday but hopefully before and she said she would make the baby come tonight. She rubbed on my feet for probably 45 minutes and it felt great! I got home and was craving Luby’s, so Brandon took me to eat and we came home and hung out. We had been putting off installing the car seat but I asked B to do so tonight just in case. I think this was the trigger  I was doing laundry and getting the house picked up when I noticed that I my face felt pretty flushed. It wasn’t hot in our house so I just figured it was from me being up and about. I took my blood pressure and it was 139/99 which is high and I usually run a normal low. So I got into the bed and decided to call it a night before I over did it. I took my blood pressure again and it was still high but not as bad and over the course of an hour had gone back down.

Thursday, February 19, 2009
Thursday was one of the most exciting, longest days ever. It started with my doctor’s appointment at 10:50. Brandon took the day off to come with me to the doctor and I’m so thankful he did. I woke up early and did my usually getting ready routine. I also made sure the house was completely picked up and in place just in case I wasn’t returning. I was still feeling flushed and while in the shower I was seeing stars (something I had started to see for a few days) but I’ve seen these before when I get up too fast so I chalked it up to that. I took my blood pressure before we left and it was still up there, 134/89.

We went to the doctor’s office and they were extremely busy. We had our usually ultrasound and the tech was very pleased with the amount of growth Brody had done over the past 3 days. My fluids were good and I thought for sure that I was going to have to wait until Monday to be induced. We then went over to the Non-stress test and like always he was ticking away in there and I was contracting every 5-6 minutes. So Dr. B comes in to check my cervix and I had not changed since Monday but I had mentioned my blood pressures. When I got the office it was pretty good so she wasn’t too concerned. She said that my blood pressures have been great all along and that there wasn’t anything to worry about. She said let me check you one last time before you go and then we will go set up your induction for Monday. Well she took my blood pressure and it was 128/95 so she said you know what girlfriend I’m tired of messing with you lets go have a baby today! If you could have seen Brandon’s face, it was priceless. His eyes got so big and his jaw dropped to the ground. Dr. B and I started laughing and off we went to the hospital.

When we got there it moved pretty quickly and we were in a room right away. I had a great nurse that started my IV but unfortunately blew the vein in my arm…you talk about pain, ouch! My other arm wasn’t any good so she had to go in the hand which again hurt like a big dog. She said my veins kept rolling on her so she had to root around to catch it…OUCHIE! Our parents showed up shortly after as well as B’s sister. They had to get some blood work going to check my clotting levels as well as keep an eye on my blood pressures which were still high. They were talking about putting me on the Magnesium Sulfate to prevent seizures because my pressures were high but luckily the nurse told me to lay on my side and this caused my blood pressure to go down. About 4:30 pm my blood pressure was stable enough for them to start the pitocin and get the show on the road. I was so excited!
Proud parents waiting on their son!

Last belly shot:

Dr. B came in around 6:30(times got a little fuzzy) to break my water and things went crazy from there. I was 2 cm and 80% effaced still but Brody was moving further down. I started contracting every 1-2 minutes so they had to completely take me off the pitocin. The contractions were a lot stronger after breaking my water and I started to feel the pain. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the contractions weren’t right on top of one another. It seemed like as soon as I would relax and breathe through one contraction the next one would start up again. Brandon is the only reason I got through this part of labor. He would coach my breathing and whatever he was doing would help so much. I don’t know where he learned it or what but man it saved me. So about 2 hours after breaking my water I had had enough and wanted the epidural. During those two hours, I was having contractions every 1-2 minutes so this part really wore me out. I don’t know how to explain the pain. It’s hard to remember at this point, so many women have said this before and it’s really true. All I know is the contraction takes over your whole body. I felt it in my stomach and back but they are so strong that your whole body goes through it. At this point the nurse decided to put an internal monitor on Brody’s head to get better measurements of his heart rate and my contractions since he kept having dips. I just prayed we wouldn’t have to have a c-section!

They were pretty busy when I asked for the epidural so I had to wait about 25 minutes and then the best thing in the world happened….the epidural is amazing. It doesn’t hurt at all. I had several contractions through mine and the only hard part was getting into the position to receive it, you have to scrunch up and with a baby inside that’s not so easy! 15 minutes later I was asking the nurse if I was still having contractions. I couldn’t feel a thing.

Dr. B checked me around 10pm and I was 3 cm and 90% effaced. Dr. B thought that I would deliver around 6 am so she wanted me to get so sleep and relax. My mom and Brandon stayed the night and everyone went on home to catch some sleep. At some point Brody’s heart rate was going down with each contraction so they had me lay on my side again. When I would lay on my left side it would dip really low so they kept me on my right side pretty much the whole night. This is funny because they always say to sleep on your left to get better blood flow but I never did because I couldn’t get comfortable, apparently neither could Brody because he hated it. While on my left side my right side started to feel the contractions and this was extremely painful. She said that an epidural can get “heavy” on one side which means it takes more on one side and not the other. She gave me some more meds and it went away. This caused my left side to be extremely numb and heavy. I couldn’t even move it but my right side wasn’t that numb and I could feel more on that side. The epidural makes you feel like you are a big bag of sand and it’s very weird trying to move.
Before epidural:

After epidural with my parents:


I also had to be put on anti-embolism stockings with PTL(I think that’s what it was called) cuffs to prevent blood clots in my legs. It basically felt like a blood pressure cuff on both legs that would fill up with air and then release every 10 seconds or so. Yes, I delivered with these on.


Friday, February 20th
At 12:45 Dr. B came in and checked me again and said I was 4-5 cm and 95% effaced. She said she would come to check me at 2:45 and expected me to be about 6-7 cm.

During these next two hours I labored with my mom while B tried to sleep. My mom read a book, I tried to rest or we would be talking with our nurse that stayed in our room monitoring the baby’s heart rate. I kept telling the nurse that I felt pressure and she said it was the baby moving down. The whole time I felt like the pressure was building up and I needed to push. Right before Dr. B came in I told my mom I felt like I needed to push and that they needed to check me. Luckily Dr. B walked in right after that and checked my cervix. She said ok so who do you need to get up here because you are ready to start pushing!! So I went from 4 cm to 10 cm ready to push in 2 hours!

I really was feeling the pressure and wanted to push while they were getting everything ready. About 5 minutes later we started to push and right away Brody’s heart rate was going down. The first time, I pushed 3 times during 1 contraction and he didn’t like it at all but she said she could already see hair. They immediately flipped me on my side and put oxygen on. It was very weird not being able to feel your lower body and literally being flipped on your side by your doctor. We had to wait through the next couple of contractions to let his heart rate recover. At this point, I started to get a little nervous as Dr. B was telling me she might have to use forceps to get him out if he didn’t recover quickly enough. I so did not want forceps! So the next couple of contractions we tried only pushing twice and letting him recover. During the contraction I didn’t know what was going on but after I could hear his heart beating very slow on the monitor and as I took deep breaths his heart rate would come back up. Dr. B even had to massage his head and my stomach to get him to recover better. I kept looking at B to try and figure out how low his heart rate was but I don’t think he even knew it was low and couldn’t see the monitor to check for me. I asked Dr. B if he was doing ok and she reassured me all was well as long as we didn’t push too much during each contraction.

So with each contraction I would push one or two times at the most and after 30 minutes and 8 pushes Brody entered this world and I was instantly wrapped around his little finger!

He came out holding his umbilical cord with both hands and screaming his head off. It was the most amazing experience I’ve ever had; watching your child enter this world. Hearing your child cry for the very first time is something that I will never forget. I don’t even know how to put that feeling into words. It’s even more amazing when you speak to your child for the first time and he looks up into your eyes, recognizing your voice. God is truly amazing and has blessed us with the biggest gift I’ve ever received.

Brody was born at 3:26 am on February 20th, 2009 weighing 6 lbs 4 oz. and measured 18 1/2 inches.
Meeting Dad & Mom for the 1st time:


Immediately after birth I started shaking, ran a fever and threw up. I’m not sure why this was. There are several reasons the nurse said but after a few hours I felt a lot better and my fever broke.

I told Brandon several times during this pregnancy that I didn’t think I’d want to get pregnant again. It was so emotionally and physically draining. I think 10 minutes after delivery both B and I said we would do it all over again. He’s so worth everything that we went through. The shots, pills, doctors appointments, ultrasounds, non-stress test, bed rest, late nights at the hospital, it was nothing compared to the joy we have received from this little bundle.



Recovery has been great. I’m still having to wear the stockings and I was on the Lovenox shots for 3 days after I left the hospital as well as Warfin(pill form of blood thinner). Let’s just say my blood is as thin as water right now  Now I’m just on the Warfin. I have to go into the doctor once a week for 6 weeks to get my blood levels checked to make sure I’m not too thin or thick. Other than that I feel like my old self again minus the few extra pounds I have. I must say I find it amazing how quickly your body heals. My stomach has flattened out so much it’s sad. I look down and it feels so empty, I sure miss those kicks and twinges.

Brody, you are the most amazing child and perfect in every way. You have blessed your daddy and me in a way that you will never know. I am forever changed because of you. We love you sweet boy and cannot wait to show you what the world has to offer.
Love,
Mom

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Happy Birthday B!

Today is B's 29th birthday!


You've had an amazing year babe and have given me so much strength over the past 6 months. I've fallen in love with you all over again. Thank you for being such an amazing husband, friend and now daddy.
The 2 loves of my life
Our family of 3

Love,
LeAnn & Brody