1...2...3

Seth can count to ten!

New Life, New Year, New Post

I told myself I was going to do better about blogging now that I have two sons to keep track of. However...that just hasn't happened this month. Between Caleb being born, Thanksgiving, Christmas, family visiting, the new year, and especially getting used to having two boys (one of which is still not on a sleep schedule, the other having coughing fits through the night), well, I just haven't had the energy to fit in blogging. From now on I'm going to try to write short notes just so I don't go a full 6 weeks between posts again.

Caleb is doing great. At his one month appointment he weighed 11 lbs and measured 21.5". He's at 90% for his weight and 75% for his height (sound familiar?). The first few weeks were a little stressful with him. He didn't have jaundice, eating, or real bowel problems like Seth did; he either developed an eye infection in both eyes or his tear ducts were not opened all the way and his eyes became infected. His poor eyes were so nasty they would crust over while he slept and I was constantly cleaning goop out of them. I was afraid I had passed pink eye to him, but the doctor said it wasn't and she prescribed an ointment we had to use for a week. Thankfully it cleared them all up.

Other than that, Caleb is the typical baby. He's had a good appetite and he's right on track for his development. At five weeks he really started to become much more alert and noticing his surroundings more. He's incredibly strong and can support his head for a while, is good at tummy time, and stands (with assistance) for several seconds. Of course, it's not really standing as much as it is stretching, I'm sure, but it's still pretty cool.

He is definitely a cuddle bug like Seth, although he does sleep much, much better! He needs to be swaddled or have his hands held or else he wakes himself up. He also takes a pacifier or sucks on his hands. But he'll sleep in his crib or his rocker for a few hours. Last night he actually slept from 12:30 until 5:30, which was great!

Seth has been doing much better than anticipated with all the changes having a baby brother brings. He was a little jealous the first few days, but really I couldn't have expected any better. He still doesn't pay a lot of attention to Caleb, but occasionally he will look at him, give him a kiss, or try to give him his pacifier.

In the last few weeks Seth has made some amazing progress with his speech. He will try to repeat whatever you ask him and it usually sounds pretty close. Two weeks ago he started using a few two-word phrases: "Hi, Mommy", "Hi, Daddy", and "More please." Two days ago he actually said "More cake please" and "More cookie please." He doesn't do it often, but I'm sure that by the time he is three, Seth will be right on track with talking.

As always, Seth is my little ham. Christmas day and new year's day was spent getting LOTS of attention from the family and he soaked it up! And whenever the camera comes out, he wants to be center stage.

Other than that, everything has been pretty normal. Christmas day was spent with family and was a great time, as always. New year's day was Mom's party and was a lot of fun. And now we're on to a new year that will surely bring many blessings (and hopefully many posts)....

Not A Minute Too Soon...

Caleb finally decided to join us! Apparently he is going to be just like the rest of his family and do things in his own way and when he wants to.

November 22 was Caleb's official due date; however, since he'd been measuring big for his age, we were going to discuss induction at that day's appointment. It isn't something Michael and I wanted to do, but seeing as the doctor's office was becoming increasingly hostile at each visit and Caleb seemed to just keep getting bigger, we decided it was for the best. To our surprise, Caleb decided that was not the route to take.

The night before Caleb was born, I was not able to sleep well. I was anxious, uncomfortable, and taking hourly bathroom breaks. I woke up just before 3:00, for what must have been the umpteenth time, peed, and went back to bed. At about 3:10 my stomach really started hurting. It didn't feel quite like the contractions everyone described, so I chalked it up to gas. However, after a few minutes of some semi-serious pain, I decided to see if any of my female friends were online so I could ask their opinion. My aunt Sandra was on and I described it to her. She agreed it must be gas, too, because it wasn't my whole stomach in pain. By the time we discussed this, though, the pain had increased quite a bit. I told her I had now changed my mind on the matter and was going to wake up Michael. I closed the laptop, stood up, and felt a trickle. It was barely anything, and even though I hadn't had an accident like this, I thought it still might be. So, I bent this way and that, squatted, and tried every way to see if any more would come out. It didn't, so I was still considering the possibility that it was an accident. I have to mention that at this point in my pregnancy I was feeling very disheartened and felt like Caleb would never come, so my thinking was quite negative.

I woke Michael up and told him I needed his help. By the time he woke up enough to realize what I was talking about, the pain really started setting in. Our bag was mostly packed except for a few last minute items, so we took turns timing the contractions and packing up the bag. The largest gap in time was three minutes, so I knew we were running short on time.

My mom thankfully lives next door and came over to stay with Seth. As soon as her foot hit our porch we were out of there! I called the doctor's office on the way to the hospital and found it increasingly difficult to speak with patience. By this point the contractions were a minute and a half to two minutes apart. When we got to the hospital, Michael dropped me off at the entrance and went to park the car. There was not a single employee in sight and I couldn't remember which set of elevators to take! By the time Michael parked and came in, I had already searched four hallways and we finally found a janitor who kindly took us to the right set of elevators.

At this point I'm just about ready to cry from embarrassment because I can't even continue walking upright. We made it to the check-in counter, with me hunched over, and she wanted to start going over paperwork. We told her that we pre-registered only to hear that we still had to go over all the paperwork. Obviously she did not believe us that we were that close to having a baby!

She took us to the triage room and started asking me questions as I quickly discarded my clothes for the paper gown. It wasn't until she hooked me up to the monitor that she realized how close we really were. She called several nurses and the doctor, who was apparently not there or in the middle of something, because I heard one of the nurses say it's going to be a few. A few?! We don't have a few!

After all of the questions, they wheeled me to the Labor and Delivery room where they told me that they have to wait for my labs to return before administering the epidural - and I'm already at a solid 8 cm. I just shook my head and said we weren't going to make it. The nurse stated, in what I'm sure was supposed to be a reassuring voice, that we still had plenty of time. Little did she know we were running on Caleb's schedule and not hers.

The contractions were only seconds apart and Michael's hand was probably slightly deformed at this point from all of my squeezing. All of my focus was on praying to God that He help me get through this pain. I stopped talking and responding to anyone and just resorted to shaking my head no every time they told me we were going to have the epidural soon. After about 15 minutes the anesthesiologist made it into the room and started setting up his gear. I heard him open up his supplies as he told me to sit on the edge of the bed. Again I told them we were not going to make it and they assured me we would. As soon as I sat up, Caleb's heartrate dropped and the nurse made me lay back down. She checked me again and (shock) said that I was at 10 cm and that there wasn't enough time to have the epidural.

No sooner had the words escaped her mouth that my body started pushing. I heard voices telling me I can't push yet and I have to stop. I told them I couldn't stop and that Caleb was coming. Four pushes later and I heard Michael tell me Caleb's head is out and with one more push the rest of him joined us. He didn't cry right away like Seth did and I almost didn't believe it was over until I opened my eyes and saw them cleaning him up. The placenta came out right afterwards and the doctor quickly sewed me up. I actually never even laid eyes on the doctor, it was so quick!

And then they handed me this little bundle of joy - my Caleb. He measured 20" and weighed a whopping 9 lbs 8 oz! His face was slightly bruised and the nurses said that it was because of his quick descent. I would say quick - from my first contraction at 3:10 until his birth at 5:14, the entire labor and delivery took two hours and four minutes. I guess I really do take after my mamaw. I'm sure she'd get a chuckle out of that, too.

Everything else during the hospital stay went relatively smoothly. The downfall to it all was that I had a nasty cold and/or sinus infection and double conjunctivitis when I was admitted. The nurses didn't believe it was pink eye until that evening when my doctor finally showed up and prescribed some eye drops. So, despite how painful natural childbirth is, my real complaints had to do with my eyes, congestion, and the loss of my hearing in one ear. That, and with Michael staying home with Seth, it did feel quite lonely.

Since our arrival home we have been learning to deal with our new arrangement. Sleep is fleeting and Seth is very jealous and has taken to having several meltdowns a day. We expected that, though. I have Michael home with me for two more days and then it's just me and the boys. I have to admit I'm afraid of what's to come, but I'm sure it will all work out, because....well, we

have no choice!

Loving this Fall Weather!

Fall is my favorite season: it's finally cooling off, the leaves are changing color, I get to unpack my sweaters, and comfort foods start being made! Then two years ago I got to add another reason for loving fall - Seth's birth! And now, this year, I'll be adding yet another birth. Caleb is due November 20th, but we're really expecting him to come any day. I'm just too big to go the full term.

I have my 36/37 week appointment tomorrow to see if Caleb is in the head-down position. I'm expecting my weight gain to be about 15 lbs at that point. Seth was born at 37 weeks exactly and weighed 8 lbs 5 oz and was on target for growth. Caleb has been measuring a week ahead of target for the last six weeks, so my guess/fear is that he's already at that 8 lb mark. Let's hope he doesn't get too big!

Seth has been growing a lot lately in terms of development. He tries to be a lot more vocal and will now say "Mama" and "Daddy" to refer to us appropriately. He also says goodbye and go. He tries just about everything they ask him to do in therapy. Of course, OT is mostly playing, so that's easy enough. But he was struggling with using certain facial muscles for speech and would refuse to make certain sounds or oral shapes, like pushing his lips out. HOWEVER, all on his own, he started giving kisses a few days ago. I don't mean pushing his face against ours like he has been doing forever. I mean, pushing his lips out and making the smacking sound to go with it! And when he kisses, he gives lots of them! Oh, he's just been so sweet lately!

I guess the only other thing to mention at this point is that we took Seth to "Boo at the Zoo" and he dressed up as an astronaut and had fun. He also helped clean a pumpkin, which he didn't enjoy quite as much. He still doesn't like to get sticky, but he was ok pulling out one seed at a time. He was very happy with the finished result, though, and points to the jack-o-lantern several times a day. We have also had several family outings to Chuck E Cheese and he LOVES it there. It's hard to reign him in, but it's totally worth it.

I guess that's it for now...just waiting (impatiently) on Caleb...

And the Time Just Flies By...

My baby boy turned two years old this past Monday and it still boggles my mind. It seems like just a few weeks ago we were bringing him home from the hospital, fighting the sleep battle, watching him make his milestones. It really does just fly by.

Seth had his check up yesterday and is 35 1/2" tall and 35 lbs 4 oz. He is definitely my big boy! lol He wears a 3T - 4T shirt for the length and 2T bottoms and a size 9 shoe! It's funny to see him around his peers because he appears so much bigger.

He's making great progress in therapy and really enjoys going. It warms my heart to see how willing he is to work on his goals (of course, it is done through play, so it's not too difficult to imagine why he enjoys it). Everyday he does something to surprise me and make me smile. Yesterday morning he showed me that although he looks like me, he acts just like Michael. I heard him wake up, so I got everything ready for him and went into his room. He stumbled from his room to the frontroom, grabbed his milk, stumbled back into his room, and laid back down in bed. He really does crack me up how much he's defining his personality.

We celebrated his birthday today since he was sick last weekend. Not everyone was able to make it, but his Grandad and Nada and Uncle Marty and Memaw came - and it was a special time. I'm so glad Seth is surrounded by those that love him. It's such a blessing.

In other news, I'm now 32 weeks and feel ready to pop anyday. My maternity jeans are stretched to their limit, the heartburn and cramps have become much more common, and I actually had a ripple effect of charlie horses this morning - 7 in a row! Ouch! And, I can't be certain since my labor with Seth was so quick, but I think I may have had some Braxton Hicks contractions today. People think I'm odd because I'm so unobservant of my body, but I really do believe I'm just not as sensitive or aware of feelings. Michael will often tell me how tight my muscles feel and I can never tell. Other people tell me when my hands or feet are swollen and it comes as a surprise to me. I guess I should be thankful for that, but I'm hoping that I'll be aware of when labor begins this time. Seth's labor and delivery came so quickly, I'd like to be able to enjoy the (although painful) special miracle that it is.

Summer Fun

Leaps and Bounds

A lot of things have been happening since the last post. We've been keeping pretty busy between working on the house, doctor appointments, beginning the new MOPs year, and regular daily life. However, Seth has been doing some pretty amazing things.

First of all, if you don't know Seth, I guess you'd almost have to imagine a child who is deaf most of the time. He hears, of course; he's just very, very quiet. Even while playing, he makes nearly no noise. His hearing is great, he just doesn't find the need to communicate yet. Over the last few months he would become more vocal in the evenings or sometimes when he got really excited. He would shriek and do a little bit of babbling. But it was still minimal. We've been working on getting speech therapy in place for the last four months - that's right, Folks - four months! It seems like everything that could go wrong with the process did. In the meantime, we did get a play therapy set up for him, which includes a little bit of speech in it. He's had three sessions and seems to enjoy it. He had his third speech and occupational assessments just over a week ago, which came to the same results. Seth is above average on his understanding of language, but very much behind on his using language. So now the therapies have been ordered and we're on a waiting list at Children's Rehab. They said it would take one to two weeks to hear back from them. It's been a week and a half and I'm hoping the call will come this week. We're quickly approaching Seth's second birthday and I would love to have him started before then.

However...

Seth has become much more vocal (by his standards) as of late. As I said before, he will mirror the words "mama," "dada," and "baby." He doesn't use them to identify us yet, but I think the time may come soon. If I had to say what Seth's first real word was, it would be "more." He's been using the sign for months, but now he'll actually say, without any provocation, "mo," which makes me so happy! If we prompt him, he will also say "ca" for car, "pa" for popcorn, and "wa" for watch. This is pretty amazing stuff for us, because he would never even try syllables before and now he's very willing to. I figured the beginning parts of words are better than no words at all, so we'll see how this progresses. If we ask Seth a question, he will also say "uh-huh" for yes. This isn't all the time, so we're not sure if he's actually using it as a word or just an affirmative noise, but I love it just the same. I've been waiting for so long to hear his voice, it's just such a miracle to me.

Physically, Seth has been developing, too. He has a few sensory issues he deals with, which I think made him progress a tad behind schedule. Now he's a little monkey and climbs on everything, though! Most impressive to me is how he behaves at the play area we go to. I can honestly say, without any prejudice, that Seth is one of the best behaved children there. He's patient, waits his turn, doesn't get mad when others cut in front of him or hog a piece of equipment, and he listens well. Anyway, there was a bridge you can climb on and Seth decided to climb over the side and lower himself with his arms. I didn't even know he was that strong! He also climbed over the "tent", that's a good six inches taller than him. He just pulled himself up, straddled it, and lowered himself down the other side. I was so proud! Oh, and he's decided he can take his bottoms off whenever he pleases; we've had two diaper-less issues in the crib already!

We're adding a few more signs into his vocabulary, and Seth will now use "please" semi-regularly. He is a whiz at puzzles and is pretty good at identifying colors and some shapes and knows all of his body parts. He's becoming a little more social with kids and will even play/interact with them a little. He's enrolled in Mothers Day Out this year and I'm hoping that will really help him on that field.

One really funny thing that Seth does is smell everything! He really surprised me with one thing, though. He's finally become used to the idea that Baby Caleb is in Mama's belly. (We're still struggling to get him to stop being so rough, though.) When I ask him where Baby Caleb is he will pick up my shirt and sniff my belly! lol I joke that the bun must still be baking in the oven.

One unfortunate event lately is that Michael, Seth and I all caught some kind of virus last week. Seth really didn't start showing symptoms until Saturday evening, but they hit him fast. Any time he gets sick it goes straight to his chest. So, I took him to the doctor first thing this morning and they did what I expected. They prescribed him a nebulizer. He's had three treatments and cries through the whole thing. It breaks my heart that he hates it so much, but I can already see a little bit of a difference in his breathing. I'm hoping that he may even be able to sleep in his crib tonight instead of in my arms. I know eventually he'll get used to this and I hope it's sooner rather than later. That being said, Seth will be missing his first day of "school" tomorrow, but I think it's for the best.

I know this post is mainly about Seth, but I don't want to leave Caleb out either. Boy is he different than Seth was! Of course, everything happens sooner with him than it did with Seth - the back pain, pelvic pain, heartburn, the huge belly - but also the good things. Caleb is a mover and a shaker. At first I only felt him in the evenings, but now I feel him at nearly any time. And he really pushes, because Michael has no problem seeing his movements. It's going to be crazy having two boys and I'm really anxious to see how similar, and dissimilar, they really are.