Family Photos--All of Them

After a baby is born, sleeping when the baby sleeps is very smart...but after a couple of months, it becomes lazy (in my own humble opinion)...not that a nap here and there is not warranted (and just so happens to be my favorite pastime), it is time for me to get some stuff done other than just sleeping/feeding/changing/etc. So today I am doing stuff while the baby sleeps...I got dinner in the crock pot (yes this counts as cooking dinner), took a shower, pumped milk, did some dishes, folded laundry, downloaded our pictures, checked email, blogged...oh crap, he's waking up...lesson #1, they don't sleep as long when your warm body is not right next to them...oh well, maybe tomorrow we will be back to "sleeping when the baby sleeps", I'll keep you posted ;o)

Another Weight Post

I went to a medical supply store in town last Thursday, which was Gavin's 7 week 'birthday', that will let you weigh your baby and then feed them and weigh them again so that you can see how much they are getting at a feeding (or at that feeding at least). I know that different scales can be very different, but Monday Gavin was 10lbs 6oz at the hospital and Thursday, at the medical supply store, he weighed 11lbs 3oz (after eating). He ate 2.6oz at that feeding and it had only been an hour and 45 minutes since he ate...which explains why he is gaining so well...he's eating A LOT.

The nurse there said that an ounce per hour it has been since the last feeding is a pretty good rule of thumb for this age, so he is eating quite a bit more than that, but it is nice to have that as a guide for when I go back to work. I have been stressing quite a lot about going back, even for one day because I feel like I am feeding all day and that Garth isn't going to have a way to pacify Gavin since he doesn't take a pacifier and whenever he cries, I just feed him...Garth won't really have that option without wasting a lot of milk and as anyone who has ever nursed a baby (or knew anyone who has ever nursed a baby) knows, that stuff is liquid GOLD and it is truly a tragedy if ANY is wasted...anyways, I know that was a lot more info than anyone wanted to know, but that's kind of how I roll...;)

And since we are on the subject of weight...it is time for it to start coming off me! Garth and I both have some baby weight to get rid of (I really need to lose about 30 pounds...15 more pregnancy pounds and 15 that I still needed to lose before we got pregnant) so we are going to start going to the gym together that is right across the street from where we live. I'm not going to post how much we weigh here, but I will hopefully be posting how many pounds we are losing. I have a goal of losing that 30 pounds in the next 4 months which is a realistic 2 pounds a week...here's hoping typing it out will make me feel accountable and help me to get my rear in gear.

Genealogy

Here's proof that it is fun to do genealogy:

So above is a family picture from this weekend of our family...

And here is a picture of my great grandfather and his children, of which the top left boy is my mom's dad, my "Grandaddy" Jesse Mickey...

So, when looking at the two pictures, there is something...let's say striking...about my grandad and his brother...something that my son seems to share with them. You'll have to guess what it is that they have in common, but I've heard it is quite eerie the resemblance ;)

Pictures From Cousin Sara

My cousin Sara (not to be confused with my sister-in-law Sarah) took some great pictures at our house on Sunday with her new camera...

This is a great candid shot of Garth Lee playing with Eliza's phone...just silly!

So cozy...this was after I broke down and let my mom give Gavin a bottle of breast milk...he was nursing ALL afternoon and it is really hard to play hostess when you have a baby hanging off your boob...so I gave in and he sucked it down and is showing yet another glimpse of the 'milk coma', showing it works just as well if the milk is coming from a bottle.

Gavin looks a lot like my OB here...kind of funny, in a creepy sort of way ;) I tried to post a picture of him here, but the only one I could find wouldn't let me copy the picture, so here's the link:
http://www.covenanthealth.org/view/apps/FindAPhysician/Detail.aspx?ID=254

He is VERY concerned about something here (most likely why he looks so much like my gyno)...Gavin has very expressive eyebrows ;)

There are those brows again

This is Sara showing off her camera's zoom...I'm jealous.

Sooooooo cozy! Love it.

Here are Garth Lee and Autumn...so serious...looks like they are talking about health care and the economy again ;)

Well excuse me now while I go shopping for a new camera.

Blessing Day

Look familiar? If you've ever looked on my mantle it does...only it's a different kiddo ;)

Here's the "original":

Today was Gavin's blessing and Garth and Gavin both did did wonderfully. Garth blessed Gavin with health and strength, that he would go on a mission and that he would find a companion that he would be with for eternity ;) He also called him Randall instead of Gavin...which is his middle name, so it's not really like he changed it up there...it was a close one, but I think we'll stick with Gavin :)

Here are 'the boys' getting ready for church (notice the matching ties)...try to ignore my husband's "smile", he is smiling-for-pictures challenged...oh well, at least he is cute in real life ;)

I did actually catch a smile from Gavin, he was looking at his big brother. It's still a little hard to actually catch a smile on camera, but they are getting more and more frequent, so it won't be too long now I don't think before we will be getting lots more on record.

I nursed Gavin right before the blessing so that he would hopefully sleep and not cry during the blessing...it worked and here was a picture of him in my lap...I like to call it the 'milk coma'

A little out of order, but here are my boys just hanging out. Big brother Garth Lee loves to hold Gavin and here he is giving kisses.

Here's my big man with his most GQ pose before the blessing in our yard...please excuse the weeds (you probably wouldn't have noticed though if I didn't say anything, huh?...nah they are pretty hard to miss)

Here we are just one (medium) happy family ;)

Just like this picture of his little outfit and tie. It came with a little sewn-on bow tie and I cut it off so that he could wear his matching tie.

This was after the get-together we had at the house after church. It was also Garth's birthday this week so we did a little celebration for Gavin's and Caroline's blessings and the birthday. We had probably 70 or so people here, probably more and we had a blast, but we (and the dogs) were pretty tuckered out afterwards...this was the scene in the basement after the last people left and Mimi came to pick up Garth Lee.

Spike found Gavin's padded bum a cozy resting place for his weary head.

We had a great day. You can't get much better than fun, food and fellowship. Here's hoping we all have a restful night...especially Gavin (so I can too). We have had a good 6 weeks, some hard days/nights, but WAY more better ones...I'm pretty sure we're going to keep him ;)

Rambo

So my husband and son(s) are watching the cinematic classic Rambo XXVII and I just had to record Garth Lee's comments. He's one of those really fun people to watch a movie with that asks LOTS of questions and gives his commentary throughout the movie and I am sitting here listening, laughing out loud...here are a few:

"Daddy, what's a Russian?"
"Are all Russians Bad?"
"Why is that good guy soooo wet?"--this is the one that made me laugh out loud

I know it's not the greatest movie choice for a 5 year old...but maybe it is soooo cheesy, it takes the scary out?

Weight

For posterity's sake (and mostly because I wish I had this stuff written down from Garth Lee)...Gavin weighed 9lbs 8.6oz on Monday. He started *really* smiling today too but I didn't get any really good pictures of it yet, I'll keep trying ;)

Monday Again

8lbs 12.2oz!!!! We had our first bad couple of nights. Friday night was a little bad, Gavin was really fussy until about 1, acting really hungry so I let Garth give him a bottle of breast milk and he gave up and went to sleep around 1 or 2 (can't remember). Then Saturday night was BAD! He was up from 3 to 9am just going from side to side nursing...he was sooooo hungry and I was soooo tired. He has started taking the paci, which is helping to satisfy his urge to suck when he really just wants to suck but isn't really hungry and I have started taking fenugreek again for my milk supply and we had a MUCH better night last night! When I was up with him all night Saturday I remember thinking that was what it seemed to be like every night with Garth Lee and it reminded me of how lucky I am that I have only had one of those nights so far and Gavin is already 4.5 weeks old. So here's hoping we keep the good night trend up and only have those bad ones occasionally...if at all.

Flashback

I was so worried about being able to love/care for another child like I love/care for Garth Lee and I have been surprised by the guilt that I feel that I am giving more to Gavin then to Garth Lee...I never dreamed I would be slighting Garth Lee in any way. I know it is temporary, but I still feel bad to be giving so much to Gavin and to feel like I am giving so little to Garth Lee. So, in case you (I) missed it, I actually have 2 children, even if one has been a little less mentioned lately. (Sorry Garth Lee) I know things will even out here soon once we are all a little more accustomed to having a new one at home and once he is a little less needy.

Thank you Garth Lee for being such a great big brother and for trying your best to listen and make things easier for Mommy and Daddy. Nobody is perfect, but I am so grateful for such a wonderful son for my newest son to look up to, the best big brother he could have, he has...here's proof that we were here in this same place with you a few short years ago:

Oh yeah...the belly...WOW...just wow.

I love you, bud, more than you know ;)

Mr. Chubbs and A Fond Farewell To A Dear Friend

Well, you know what today is...well probably not, but it is Monday and Monday means "weigh-in" for baby Gavin at the hospital. Today was a big one, he weighed in at a whopping 8lbs, up 10 ounces from last week!!! We have certainly had a time with this guy and his weight, but today, one day after his actual due date, he is over 8 pounds and I couldn't be happier...Garth Lee on the other hand, is having a rough one...

Nemo died. Nemo is his fish that lives at my parents' house. Nemo was bought to replace Roger and that is a whole other story, but it ends about the same. My dad made a little headstone for Nemo and placed it in the back yard. I will get a picture and post it soon, it was really sweet of him and it made Garth Lee feel better that Nemo will not be forgotten. Garth Lee was able to draw a memorial for Nemo's grave, albeit through a river of tears. He was audibly crying for at least an hour, then for a few more hours would burst into random sobs here and there and would just say he was trying to stop crying but he couldn't stop thinking about Nemo. I am so blessed to have a son with such a sensitive spirit, he is so sweet...a lot like his daddy, but I'll never tell ;)

Bringing Home Baby

Well, this last week has been a little bit of a major bummer. We went to the doctor on Monday when Gavin was 12 days old and we did his newborn screen and a bilirubin test because he was still pretty yellow. His level came back very high which gave us the opportunity to have a home health nurse come to our house and set up a bili light and come everyday and prick his heel to get a bili level until it was <10. The above picture was my attempt to get rid of the jaundice the best we could with a little sunbathing every morning...obviously that didn't work :(

Here is his little bili light. They used to be big boxes and the babies had to wear little covers over their eyes, but now it is a light that they lay on and you have to wrap them in the blanket to get full exposure. The worst part about this was that he had to be in there 24/7, the only time I could take him out was to feed him and to change his diaper...also on Monday I went to the weight clinic at Covenant for nursing moms (in conjunction with the breastfeeding support group) and he was 6lbs 13.5oz and the lactation consultant wanted me to supplement him with an ounce of pumped breastmilk after every feeding to help with the jaundice and to get his weight up. The home health nurse wanted us to supplement with formula because it is better for getting the bilirubin down...anyways, we did supplement a little, he got 3 total ounces of formula and probably 5 or 6 of breastmilk, but then we started having some nursing problems and we decided to cut out the bottles as long as he was still gaining and his numbers were getting better. He is now nursing like a champ again and luckily I was pumping a lot so my supply is fine and on Friday morning he was 7lbs, 1.5oz, just 1.5oz off his birth weight! I am keeping my fingers crossed that we get a good weight report at the weight clinic on Monday. Friday was the big day that his bili level was 9.6, so after 5 days in the light with me not being able to hold him, he was released from his light prison and we are much happier...and then we got a bath...

Gavin's umbilical stump fell off at 8 days old, which is pretty early compared to a lot of babies, but still within normal limits. We had to wait for the bath because of the lights, so his first actual in the tub bath was last night and he *loved* it...and by loved it, I mean he hated it. It was funny, I think he will like it more later, but for now...not so much.

This was his "oh gosh, I can't believe you are seriously making me do this" pose.

We are doing well, just so happy to be free of the lights and doing ok. He is still a very good baby even though everyone said he was just lethargic from the jaundice. He is alert more and more everyday and as Daddy puts it, as long as he is moving or eating he is fine. He is still quite the night owl, but I think most 2 week olds are.

Gavin's First Photo Session

Gavin Randall Thomas

Gavin Randall Thomas blessed us with his presence at 12:25 pm on February 25th. He weighed 7 pounds 3 ounces and was 20 inches long.

I went to the doctor for a regular visit on Monday and my blood pressure was up for the first time. This pregnancy has been so great and totally opposite from Garth Lee's where I had problems with my pressures from about 28 weeks. We have both just been doing so well until this week, I also had protein in my urine and hyperreflexia (all signs of preeclampsia). I was just starting my 37th week, so I still had a week to go to be out of the woods more or less as far as maturity of the baby, so we decided to try and get a few more days of him inside and hopefully with me healthy so I started bedrest and I had an appointment set for Wednesday afternoon. Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, my pressures were a little elevated and at the appointment it was also high, still had proteinuria and hyperreflexia. Dr. Lampkin went ahead and checked me and I was 4cm and 80% effaced and with all of this, he decided that we were going to have a baby on Thursday the 25th and I agreed that we want both a healthy mommy and a healthy baby and that would probably be best.

We went in Thursday morning at around 7:30 and Dr. Lampkin broke my water at 8am. We waited to start the pitocin at a good rate until AFTER the epidural, so we waited until the anesthesiologist came before we really augmented labor. I had a few contractions in the hour, but nothing really all that noticeable. I got the epidural at 9am and the nurse checked me and I was a 5 and 100% effaced. Between 10 and 11, I was starting to feel pretty intense pain in one little spot on my hip and remembering what it was like with Garth Lee, I was just worried that it was just going to get worse, so we had the anesthesiologist come and reposition my catheter and she gave me a bolus of pain meds into my epidural...that made me forget how to breathe...my BP dropped to 89/46 and the nurse came and gave me some ephedrine and in 30 seconds I was fine AND the pain in my hip was gone, so I was happy. Everyone was in and out and we were all visiting. Garth decided maybe Grandma should go ahead and pick up Garth Lee at school at noon so that he for sure wouldn't miss anything and even though I was pretty sure it would take longer, I agreed that he should probably come up since he was most likely being crazy at school anyways knowing his baby brother was coming that day. They got there and came into the room about 12:00 and we visited for a little bit as I was starting to feel that hip pain again. I told the nurse that the pain was back and pretty bad and I knew that we could increase the epidural rate, but she said for me to visit with Garth Lee a bit and she would check me first to see where we were, so while I was talking to Garth Lee and everyone else in the room, this pain was getting almost unbearable and I had to ask Garth to get everyone out. The nurse came in right behind and checked me and said, let's just have this baby...and to be honest, I was really leaning more towards the increase the epidural for a minute option, but she didn't really ask ;)...She said I had an anterior lip and with a contraction it would probably go away, so she placed my legs in the stirrups (my epidural REALLY worked...mostly) and started to raise the top of the bed and breakdown the bottom...then everything gets a little fuzzy, I was hurting BAD, she asked Garth (very calmly) to press the call button for her and when they came on she requested the immediate presence of the doctor, (who fortunately was having a sandwich at the nurses station) and nurses...oh and she told me my baby had lots of dark hair. I had 3 contractions right on top of each other...and the more I think about it, maybe it was just one, but I felt some relief with pushing and I pushed 3 times...anyways, Dr. Lampkin was half-dressed and barely got gloves on when Gavin came out. I remember one of the nurses running in saying "someone get the camera" and I looked up and said, um no one is taking "those" pictures (but I am so glad she did, I got some of the best pictures from a nurse taking pictures...and only one we had to delete). The first thing I thought when I saw him was how tiny he was, and when they put him on my belly I just remember I wanted to hold him forever.

We were worried about his lungs being ready, but they were fine. He had a little trouble keeping his temperature at first, but he caught on really fast to that also. When I was able to use one of my legs, we went to a post partum room and anxiously awaited our little man.

This was so opposite of my experience with Garth Lee, while I was being *repaired* (a common side effect of a baby shooting out at lightning fast speeds), I commented that I could totally do that again, that it was so easy. Dr. Lampkin just laughed at me and said I would have to at least wait until I was out of the stirrups. I am so grateful for this experience, but it is so surreal...that it's over, that he is here and we are all healthy and fine. I am so blessed in so many ways and I am so grateful for this birth experience.

I posted pictures in a post below...enjoy ;)

Welcome To The World, Little Man

The biggest "the belly" got...pretty amazing, and I wasn't even due ;)

Here is the last picture of us as a family of 3...interesting thing about this one is that it was taken very literally 2 minutes before Gavin was born...I'll post the "birth story" in a separate post...

Usually I HATE pictures of myself, especially ones I am not prepared for, but I feel like this one caught a very precious moment of the first time I laid eyes on Gavin, in an instant my tears of pain turned to tears of joy as they placed his gooey body on my belly...

With Gavin being a little over 3 weeks early, there were a lot of things we were worried about, his lungs being the biggest, but as you can see here, he has quite the set and never needed any assistance to breathe...

This is Garth Lee's first time to "'check out" the baby, if you look really close you can see that his eyes are open as wide as can be, he was so amazed to meet his baby brother...

And here we all are just giving him a good inspection...

Here is the proud papa taking Gavin to the nursery...

A very proud big brother holding his very tired little brother for the first time...

I haven't taken as many pictures since we have been home, but this is the one and only time Gavin has been in the swing...looks like he likes it ;)

Insurance

Garth Lee: "Can I go wake up Daddy?" (Daddy usually works nights and Garth Lee's favorite thing is to go wake him up in the afternoon...after I pick him up for school everyday he is asking about every 5 minutes if it's time yet)

Me: "He's not here honey, he is at work."

Garth Lee: "Again?"

Me: "Yep."

Garth Lee: "Why is Daddy working soooo much?"

Me: "It's so we can all have insurance."

Garth Lee: "We must have LOTS of insurance."

Me: "Yes, honey we do, but we are about to have a baby so we need it because he could come at any time."

Garth Lee: "So we need lots of coverage..."

Me: "Yes, lots of coverage is good for us right now."

Garth Lee: "You know you can have too much coverage."


Thank you Nationwide Insurance for spending all of your advertising dollars to show commercials on Nickelodeon...