Graduation

Last night JJ graduated from Pre-K. It doesn't seem possible that his first year of school is almost over. I remember walking him into school down that long hallway to his classroom feeling so proud yet so sad at the same time. I was excited to see my baby growing up and becoming independent but I wasn't quite ready to let him go. But I did let him go and my sweet boy made it without me. He marched right in and embraced this new part of his life.
Next week is his last week as a preschooler and before we know it he'll be in kindergarten. We started the year with a 4 year old and a few months away from meeting his baby brother and we're ending the year with a 5 year old and an almost 6 month old. My how quickly life flies.

 

5 Months

Today my baby love is 5 months old. He weighs 16 pounds is 25 inches long and wears size 6 months  clothes. He is currently wearing size 2 diapers but will soon be moving to size 3.

He's still nursing every 2 hours. I gave him peas (which he loved!) for a couple days hoping that he would nurse every 3 hours instead of every 2 hours. It made no difference so I quit giving it to him. Yesterday at moms house he ate a little bit of mashed banana and loved it!

He hates being on his tummy and will quickly roll over to his back. To say that he doesn't like being on his tummy is an understatement.

He's definitely a momma's boy and wants me to hold him all day. I finally purchased a carrier this month in hopes that would give me a bit more freedom to get things done all while keeping him happy. He tolerates the carrier for a bit (just like he tolerates the jumperoo for a bit) before getting upset. His choice would be to sit in the glider all day while I hold him.

He's recently begun "talking" and will squeal and squeak all day. They are some of the sweetest sounds. Ever! He has also discovered his tongue and will stick it out multiple times during the day. So funny! He doesn't play with toys yet but he will bang them around and put them in his mouth, of course. Everything goes in the mouth.

During his naps I still hold him because no matter how many times I try to lay him down he always pops his eyes right open. I can't stand to let him lay and cry in his crib so I hold him. I've been reminding myself that one of these days, all too soon, my arms will be empty and I'll long for just another day to hold him while he sleeps. He has always done well at night and still is, thankfully! He sleeps next to me in bed and wakes up about 3 times a night to eat.

My sweet baby is growing too fast! JJ adores his baby brother and loves to hold him and play with him. I pray that they will grow to be the best of friends!


 

RSV

I know it's been 2 months since I've posted anything but all my time has been spent caring for our 2 sweet boys. I really would like to start blogging more so I can keep track of what's going on in our lives. No promises though.

The biggest thing that has happened to us lately is that Jack was diagnosed with RSV. I decided last Saturday that we needed to take him to an after hours clinic because his breathing was scaring me and he was crying inconsolably. Which is so unlike him. I just knew something was wrong. At the clinic one of the first things they did was check for RSV and within seconds (usually takes 3 minutes)  the results were positive. Thankfully we caught it in time and he didn't have to go to the hospital like most babies his age do.  Today my sweet baby is breathing easy and back to his happy, smiley self. And oh, how grateful I am!


 

Jack's Birth Story - Part 2

**All the pictures in this post were taken by my friend, Kelly. She was there from beginning to end. I am so thankful she captured these special moments for us!  WARNING:  Picture overload!

Soon after getting to triage a nurse took me to a little room and had me get changed into my lovely hospital gown. She quickly got me hooked up to the contraction and baby monitors and got the IV started.

The worst part about being in the hospital while in labor is being stuck to a bed while having contractions. It's just plain miserable. There's nothing you can do to get any relief and the only thing I could think about at that point was getting an epidural.

The nurse checked me to see how dilated I was and I was at a 5. I was actually quite surprised that I had made that much progress. I was expecting to still be at a 3 or possibly a 4. I was very encouraged by that news and knew that I was halfway there to meeting my baby!  Jorge called Mom to let her know I was in labor and to let her know how much progress I had made so she could get to the hospital in time before the birth.  Now that it had been confirmed that I was without a doubt in labor the nurse wheeled me up to labor and delivery and got me checked in. 
The contractions were coming stronger and harder and lasting longer.  I couldn't believe how painful they were.  Saying that they were like bad menstrual cramps is far from the accurate.  Cramps have nothing on contractions!

Mom got to the hospital soon after I got to my room.  With JJ I had to wait for quite awhile before getting mine due to the fact that the anesthesiologist was in an emergency c-section.  Thankfully it was a quiet morning in labor and delivery and I was able to get my epidural quickly.  Since only 1 person could be in the room while I got the epidural Jorge, JJ, and Mom went outside to wait while Kelly stayed to get pics.  It seemed to take forever to get the epidural in place but once it was, I quickly and thankfully felt relief.  Epidurals are my friend!
The nurse checked me soon after I received the epidural and I was at an 8 1/2! I could not believe how quickly things were going.  Now we just had to wait for me to get to a 10.  Jorge had not brought our bags in when we first got there so he got that done and got some breakfast while we waited.  I was too anxious at that point so seeing him eat didn't even bother me.
Before we knew it I was at a 10 and ready to push.  It was 7:55 am.  The nurse had me do a couple practice pushes then told me to stop because the baby was right there and they needed to get the doctor.  This time I could feel the pressure of the baby's head.  It wasn't painful but it was obviously there.  With JJ the epidural was so strong that I couldn't feel a thing.  I much prefer being able to feel a little bit of what's going on.

The Doctor arrived and within a few minutes it was time to push.  We wanted JJ to be in the room and be part of what was going on but we didn't want to traumatize him so we made sure that he couldn't see anything that could upset him. 

At 8:10 am, after only 9 pushes (3 sets of 3), my beautiful Jack was in my arms!  It was such a quick delivery that I was in a bit of shock at first and couldn't believe that he was actually here.
I don't think JJ knew what to think at first. He was very quiet and calm and just watched his brother for awhile. The nurse took Jack after a few minutes to weigh him and get his foot prints. Our perfect little boy weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz. and was 19 in. long.
It didn't take long for JJ to warm up to his brother. Pretty soon he wanted to hold him and hug him. Now, he can't keep his hands off of him. I'm pretty sure Jack gets dozens of hugs and kisses from his big brother every day.

When JJ was born I took a picture of my parents holding JJ under a clock showing just a few minutes after he was born. We were sure to get a picture like that this time as well.
Mom and me with my Dad's precious namesake. It was so special to me to have my Mom in the room while Jack Lee was born.

Our first picture as a family of 4. I love that there are now 4 in our little family.

I am so incredibly blessed and thankful for this new little boy that God has given us.  He is such a joy and a light in our lives and we are so deeply in love!

First Bath At Home

As with all newborns Jack wasn't too thrilled with getting a bath. He immediately got upset and turned red from head to toe, squawking through the entire thing. Washing his head was a completely different story. He immediately calmed down, got quiet, and just enjoyed what was happening.   If he's anything like his big brother he'll soon start to love his baths and it won't be such a terrible event.  Of course we documented the occasion with pictures.  Hubby was the photographer this time.

 

It's Snowing Inside

Yesterday a box came with lots of packing peanuts in it. JJ had been eying the box, dying to get inside, since I opened it. I held off for as long as I could (because I knew the mess that would result) but gave in last night and took the opportunity for some fun pics!

Notice how calm he is and how clean my floors are.  This doesn't last long.

It starts out innocently enough. Just a little bit of a mess. 

Yup. We've got a mess.

He couldn't have been happier!

Oh, but he's not done yet!

One of my favorites. You can see the pure joy in his face.

The final result. The packing peanuts actually made their way throughout the entire living room and on the couch but it was worth it to see my boy so happy!

Jack's Birth Story - Part 1

I can't believe I'm writing this right now. I always thought I'd have to be induced, or would at least reach my due date. But sweet Jack had other plans.

We had Thanksgiving at my Mom's house on Friday. Several times that day I had sharp cramping pains and pains that would even go down from my abdomen to the top of my legs. I thought it was just because I had been on my feet a lot that day. I mentioned how perfect it would be if the baby came the next day since my brother was getting ready to leave for training for a week. Not once did I think it would actually happen.

That night, I got to bed pretty late. Right before I went to bed I had some sharp cramps. I didn't think twice about them since I had them several times before in the last week and a half and figured I'd just go to bed and they'd go away. No sooner had I dozed off when one sharp cramp woke me right up. I couldn't believe how much it hurt. Several cramps later I decided to get up to see if I could get them to go away. After a few days of very little sleep all I wanted to do was sleep so my goal was to get the cramps to go away so I could go back to bed. I got up, drank water, walked around a bit, tried to sit and relax and nothing worked. About 2:00 I decided that maybe I should start timing the cramps to see if they could be anything. From the start they were timing 3-4 minutes apart and lasting anywhere from 45 seconds to a minute and a half each. And instead of going away, they were getting worse. Nothing seemed to help and breathing through them was the only thing that worked. I got my husband up at about 3:00 and told him I needed him to get on the computer to google the difference between a contraction and cramping. I still didn't believe I was actually in labor. According to what we found online a contraction could be pains that start from the top of your belly and work down or could be like really bad menstrual cramps. The cramps I was having was far worse than any menstrual cramps I've ever had so I thought that maybe it would be a good idea to get ready to go to the hospital. Just in case. I jumped in the shower, finished packing our bags, and grabbed a muffin to eat. All while breathing through the worst pains imaginable. Right before leaving the house I went to the bathroom and noticed a bit of blood when I wiped. That was when it hit me that this was really happening and I was in labor.

We left the house about 4:30 so we decided just to take JJ with us instead of finding someone to come stay with him. He woke up when Jorge put him in the car seat and asked where we were going. When we told him that we were going to the hospital because Mommy was going to have the baby he immediately perked up and was so excited. He was wired for the rest of the day.

That car ride to the hospital was the longest I'd ever been on. I never realized how difficult it was to deal with contractions all while being strapped to a seat, unable to move or change positions. Yeah, that sucks. We finally made it to the hospital a few minutes before 5:00 and were then taken to triage to be checked out.

To be continued...