1 Month Update and Favorites

Baby Brady is a big 1 month old!

I seriously cannot believe a month has passed. Brady, we are absolutely amazed at how much you learn in such short periods of time. You are trying to roll over and even hold your bottle. Both of which make me want to cry because I just want you to stay little forever. However, no one likes a mama's boy (well, except for mamas), so I stop myself from stopping you. Keep learning baby! 

Likes:

Making lots of facial expressions (even smiling)

Bath time and head massages

Sleeping

Watching Mama and Daddy feed him

Getting kisses from Guinness and Molly

Going for walks in his stroller

Burping and Hiccuping are new

The pool: He loves to listen to the waterfall

Dislikes:

Diaper changes

Being Hungry

The end of bath time

Being on his back

These faces.... I die Every. Single. Time.

Many of my favorite family bloggers have been seen using collages to talk about items that they or their kids love. I am using a new program on the Mac and thought this would give me some good practice. I will eventually make a page for all of these, but for now I will keep them on each monthly post. 

The following are items that we have used a ton with Brady or myself within the first month of him being home. 

1. Wubbanub: We didn't really have a preference on paci or no paci. We did, however, receive two of these as shower gifts and kept them on hand just in case. I brought this one to the hospital and Brady has used it ever since. The animal makes it easy for him to hold onto and we love to use it as a little head prop in the car seat since he can't support his neck yet. 

2. Lansinoh Therapy Packs: I bought these on a whim at Target and there was no turning back.  If someone tries to tell you breastfeeding shouldn't or doesn't hurt in the first few days/weeks they are liars! Espeically for first time moms it takes  a few  multiple sessions to toughin' up.  With these breast therapy packs you can freeze or heat them and throw them in your bra. AH-Mazing. 

3. Organic Mittens: I never quite understood why parents used these until the first time Brady scratched his face.  These definitely help keep their face protected from those sharp baby nails. 

4. Boppy Lounger: We love this type of lounger.  It is perfect for Brady to sit up and watch his surroundings during those alert periods. We received this one off of our Pottery Barn registry, but you can find it on amazon as well. 

5. Johnson's Bedtime Lotion: I love the smell of this stuff.  We use it every night as part of our bedtime routine. 

6. Gap Onesies: These are so soft and comfy.  Especially with the hot summer months its nice to throw these on to beat the heat.  Right now you can get these on sale with an extra 40% off. 

7. Kirkland Wipes: We received every brand of diaper and wipes at our showers. Despite me thinking wipe quality didn't matter, I quickly discovered it does.  These wipes don't tear when you pull them out and I don't feel like they are soaking wet either.  They are so soft and have a great scent to them. 

8. Nature Valley Oatmeal Bar: Breastfeeding mamas know oatmeal is a great way to get your supply up.  I love these because they are quick and easy with us on the go so much. Plus they have tons of flavors to choose from. 

3 Weeks

 

Brady is a big 3 weeks as of this past Saturday.  I am pretty sure he has partied more in the last three weeks than I did my whole college career! He has already been to a minor league game, tons of luncheons, and two outdoor concerts! Such a big boy.

What we learned about Little B this week:

Likes:

His wuba-nub

Trying to hold his head up

Sleeping on his tummy

Hearing Mama's voice (This is my fav, of course.)

Bath time 

Car rides

Dislikes:

Being naked (i.e. diaper changes and getting out of the bath)

When Daddy goes to work (This may be more me than him.)

Being swaddled 

Yep, you read that milestone card right! Brady his sleeping through the night.   I have received a few messages/questions about my previous post on cluster feeding and his night time routine.  I will go ahead and say up front that I did not come up with this.  My best friend, Martha, set this routine for her little boy and he was sleeping through the night in no time; so we thought why not give it a try. 

During week 1 any and everything was game as far as sleep, diapers, and feedings went.  I wrote everything down including when he ate and how much, along with diaper changes. By the end of week 1 it was clear that Brady needed roughly 18 to 20 ounces in a 24 hour period.  So the thought was to feed him that amount from the time he woke up until his set bedtime, which at the time was roughly 10/11 pm. 

I am, for the most part, exclusively pumping so I am able to measure the amounts of his intake.  We found that for Brady breastmilk went straight through him.  Also, since it was recommended to give him vitamin D drops (as supplementation to the breastmilk) we opted to give him one big, warm formula bottle right before bed. The formula fills him up and keeps him full. Also, we don't have to add the drops to his breastmilk bottles now.  It has been great for us! On an average night we will do our bedtime routine which includes a bath, two books and a formula bottle.  We lay him in his crib around 10/10:30 pm and he stays asleep until about 5 am, sometimes later. As he grows we are hoping to make bedtime earlier and wake time later. 

Just for the record I am no professional, but this has worked really well for us! I have dubbed it the Martha Rhinehart Method in honor of the genius mama who came up with it. Hope this has answered some questions, but feel free to message me if you have more. 

Happy Tuesday! 

Brady, we still can't believe you are here sometimes. How fast you are growing! We love you so very much and hope that you continue to grow and thrive as you have done thus far. We are already so proud of you and can't wait to see how God uses you as you grow. 

2 Weeks

2 Weeks

Brady is becoming more alert each day.  We are cluster feeding him throughout the day with much success. He is eating roughly 20 oz of milk and sleeping 5 to 6 hours straight at night! It has been a great transition for us. 

Likes:

Getting a bath

Having his head massaged/washed

Laying on his side or tummy

MILK

pooping ALL the time

Dislikes

Being on his back

diaper changes

getting his picture taken 

(We are still working on this. I can't get good pics if he isn't on his back!)

Mama's finest moment: After pumping I had the milk bottle in between my second and third fingers.  In between my thumb and pointer finger was my water bottle.  Without thinking I tilted my water bottle for a drink, forgetting all about the uncapped breastmilk bottle. I splashed a full oz of the breast milk in my face. IT. WAS. AWFUL. (How I know that I am mom: I was more pissed about losing an oz of pumped breast milk, than getting it in my face.)

Daddy's finest moment: uncovered bottom + a not so quick diaper change = a soaked couch... this has happened twice.

In honor of Brady's 2 week birthday my mom (aka Gammy) came into town.  We were given awesome box seat tickets to the Charlotte Knights game this past weekend.  We had an absolute blast. Brady slept through most of it. But I am sure he is going to love baseball as he gets older.  

Sunday was a lazy pool day.  We packed little man up in his stroller and hit the neighborhood pool.  Again, even though Brady sleeps through most of our fun I am sure this is one family event he will love as he gets older. 

Brady's Birth Story

Brady Walker Anderson

Born on June 28, 2014

7 lb, 13 oz and 20.5 inches long

This photo was taken shortly after Brady entered the world.

I have been struggling to write this post for the last two weeks. (Maybe it's because I have a newborn that needs most of my attention, who knows.) But, in true mama form I have rallied and made time to capture all of the significant details of the best night of our lives. 

Friday, June 27 was actually a great day.  I hadn't had a single contraction.  For those of you that have followed my pregnancy you know that I had been having Braxton Hicks on and off for almost two weeks. I wasn't at a breaking point yet, but one thing I did know was that I REFUSED to go to the hospital with false labor again.  

Brian left for work around 5 pm.  I was kind lonely and mostly bored so what better way to spend my time but to go shopping.  I hit up the local Old Navy. I decided that nothing in the women's section was going to fit and buying anything maternity this far along was pointless. Sooooo, I left in a worse mood than when I had gotten there. I grabbed a bite to eat (McDonald's cheeseburger and coke: my go-to pregnancy meal) and headed home. (YES! Things are super bumpin' on a Friday night when you are alone and 41 weeks pregnant.)  Around 8 pm Brian's mom and dad insisted on coming over to take the dogs for a walk and check in.  His mom said she had a feeling that I needed someone to stay with me. I told them that I felt great and that they were welcome to stop in, but that I didn't need anyone to stay.  Well this ended up being partially true...

Around 9 pm Brian's parents walked in the door.  At the same exact time I had my first contraction of the day. WHOA! The difference was this contraction was way harder than any other contraction I had had in the past few weeks. In the back of my head I was somewhat excited because this could be it. However, the thought of being sent home again still lingered. I decided to shake it off.  I did ask Brian's mom to stay for a little bit to see if anything else happened.  She camped out on the couch and I headed to our room to time the contractions. Sure enough they began shortly after, but were totally bearable and were at crazy intervals. Nothing regular. 

I came upstairs and showed the timer to Brian's mom. She thought it couldn't hurt to just call the triage nurse and see what her thoughts were.  Because I was already at 4cm at the last doctor's visit we thought maybe, just maybe, they would keep me. I called triage and the nurse said that I didn't sound like I was in active labor, but she would stay on the phone with me for 15 to 20 minutes and we would see if anything progressed.  We chit-chatted about random stuff related to my pregnancy.  About ten minutes in another hard core contraction hit.  I could barely talk to the nurse.  She was great despite my apparent agony! She was so calming and let me just breathe through it without saying a word. Not even a minute later I had another one and then another one.  I could tell the nurse was a bit panicky.  She told me to find my ride and get to Presbyterian Hospital ASAP.  

Instantly I knew there wasn't going to be any laboring at the house. We had to go NOW. I drug my duffle bag upstairs, fell on the floor and told Anne to call Brian because I didn't think I was going to be able to.  Contractions were coming strong and hard every 30 seconds to 1 minute.  She called and it was such a God thing that Brian just so happened to be right near the phone.  I had previously worried about him being somewhere hard to reach in the plant. However, he was taking his dinner break and was easily reached.  He said he would be home in 10 minutes. They were the longest 10 minutes of my life! I literally layed in our foyer with my duffle bag the whole time screaming "When the hell is he going to be home!"     

I am pretty sure I freaked Brian out looking like a possessed woman as he entered the doorway. He grabbed our stuff and we were off.  I don't really remember the 25 minute drive to uptown, Charlotte. The next thing I really do remember is being in triage and the nurse checking me saying that my contractions were super close together, but that I was still only at a 4.  This was around 11:30 pm.  She wanted us to go walk for an hour and come back to see if I had dilated any further.  I was pretty discouraged.  I knew that if I didn't dilate that I would most likely be sent home. I couldn't fathom the idea of being in this much pain for much longer.

The longest walk ever began.  We made the same loop over and over, all the while every 5 minutes I would ask how much longer we had.  Brian was amazing! He was so encouraging and knew exactly how to push me without pissing me off.  It was the perfect balance of coaching and love that I needed. Around  1 am we made our way back to triage.  I was checked and in my opinion I don't think I really dilated at all, but the nurse said I was "just over 4". She called the doctor and was told to admit me. THANK GOD! 

Things moved so quickly after that.  My orders for an epidural were put in and my IV fluid bag was started. By 1:30 am I was officially transferred into the nicest L & D room.  The lights were dimmed and the hallway was super private. We also were alone with just one nurse, Ashley, who was simply amazing.  She was around our age and so personable.  I felt like I was hanging out with a friend. It made the pain a bit more bearable. 

The anesthesiologist had a few other patients before me, but our nurse told us it shouldn't be much longer. This was around 2 am. At this point I asked her when she thought our baby was going to be born.  She said due to us getting the epidural it would probably be around noon later that day. I began to wrap my head around laboring for another 10 hours! 

Finally, around 2:30 am the anesthesiologist showed up.  As he was starting the process my water broke. (Seriously the most disgusting feeling ever!) He asked the nurse if she wanted to check my progress and she said it had only an been hour since I was at 4 cm.  Plus she wanted to wait until I wasn't in pain to check me again. By 3:15 am my epidural had kicked in and I was LOVING it! It was seriously a great epidural.  I could still move my legs and feel the pressure of contractions, but no pain! I was even allowed to have all of the popsicles I wanted! Say WHAAAATTT?!?!        

Around 3:30 am Ashley said she was going to check me.  She was hoping I was at a 6.  I watched her face as she checked and I could instantly see the shock.  She said I was a full 9 cm dilated and the baby's head was right there! Sure enough you could see a head FULL of hair that was perfectly shaped into a mohawk.  She ran off to page the on-call doctor.  Literally minutes later Dr. Belle, another doctor from the practice, came in.  She was so excited and energetic (not to mention she had the coolest Jamaican accent) that it made us that much more excited and energetic.  I felt so empowered in that moment.  She said that she wanted us to do some practice pushes with Ashley and that she would be back in about an hour to deliver our baby! I couldn't believe it. We had been at the hospital for less than 5 hours!

From 4:00 am to 4:30 am we did a couple sets of practice pushes.  Ashley said I was doing great and that she wanted me to rest for about half an hour while we waited on Dr. Belle to return.  The three of us just hung out and talked. She had Brian and I tell her the story of how we met and what brought us to Charlotte during our engagement.  It was the most perfect conversation before bringing our son into the world.  

At 5:00 am Dr. Belle returned and said I was fully dilated, fully effaced and baby boy was a station 1 ready to go.  I pushed for exactly one hour and at 6:07 am Brady Walker entered the world with a little fuss and full head of hair. He was laid directly on my chest for an hour of skin to skin while Ashley cleaned him up and the pediatric nurse did all of the possible assessments.

We were so in love from the moment we laid eyes on him. Not only do I understand more fully the love my parents have for me, but I have somewhat of a better understanding of how much Christ loves us.

We were given alone time with Brady for about 2 hours after delivery.  Both sets of grandparents stopped in to say hi.  Then we were transported to recovery where we spent the next two days welcoming visitors and showing off our little guy. 

                  

     

I know that we have said this quite a few times, but Brian, Brady and I are so extremely grateful for everyone that has loved on us.  We had so many wonderful visitors at the hospital and home.  A HUGE thank you to our best friends Austyn and Paul for the meals they provided.  (I am eating the spaghetti with Austyn's homemade sauce as I type this and it is fantastic.) Also, we can't thank our e-group from church enough.  All of the couples brought over meals and gift cards.  It was so nice to be loved on and taken care of.  This is one of the many reasons we love that group of people! 

Brian and I also want to say thank you to both of our parents.  All four of them were ready and willing to help with whatever we needed and we can't express enough the gratitude we have for them during such a wonderful transition. 

Lastly, to our precious baby boy, Brady.  You have changed our world and we can't thank you enough.  You have been such a sweet tempered boy and have really taken it easy on us.  (Much easier than we anticipated.) We love you to the moon and back. Daddy and Mama can't way to see what amazing things you do with your life! 

1 Week and 4th of July Fun

Brady: 1 Week

Where has the time gone!? This time last week we were experiencing a full on adrenaline rush like no other.  These were the first few hours with our baby boy. I am still working on Brady's birth story and will post soon.  I want to remember and perfectly describe every detail. (... well maybe not EVERY detail, but you mamas know what I mean.) 

Brady has done so well at home and has really made this huge life change pretty easy on Brian and me.  We are in what I call "survival mode" right now.  There is no set schedule/routine right now.  We are taking the first few weeks to get to know Brady's needs, as well as letting him get to know us.  The pattern seems to be eat/change diapers, read a book or swing, and then back to bed for a few hours until I wake him to make him do it all over again. 

Weight: 7 lb. 7oz.

Height: 20.5

Likes: 

Laying on daddy's chest

Getting his hair washed/massaged 

SLEEPING A LOT (on his tummy seems to be his favorite)

Watching mama read to him

His Wubbanub

The swing, but only if the mobile is moving

Dislikes:

Being moved 

Having his photo taken (that comes from his daddy)

Diaper changes

4th of July

Brady's first holiday was full of fun. We spent the first part of the day making one of our new favorite festive desserts, white chocolate dipped strawberries with blue sprinkles. Early afternoon led us to Brian's parents' house for a cook-out. We were able to spend some quality time with Brian's sisters, Lisa and Kristen, as well as our brother in-law, Bob. 

Brady spent most of the day sleeping.  Later that evening we hit Lake Wylie, which was absolute madness. Despite the insane parking we were able to find  a spot and then watch fireworks.  Brady was not amused by all of the sparkly noises. He slept through the entire thing. I am interested to see how he does next year. After the show Brian and I took Brady for his very first trip to our favorite coffee shop, Bagel Boat, for ice cream. I would definitely call his very first holiday a huge success! 

 Happy Independence Day and a huge thank to all the service men and women who serve us and our country.