I Can Read

I am happy to observe that my son Nathan is enjoying my favorite hobby: reading!  Each night, we read at least 1 story together, and he is really listening intently now to most of the stories.  Thanks to my former days as an elementary school teacher and to his grandmother, he has a multitude of books to choose from to read whenever he so desires.

I recently discovered that our church library offers children's books for checkout.  Since I am going to the church about 4 days each week now for worship and to use the fitness room, I am able to offer Nathan a new book to read each day.  This week I brought home a bunch of books, so many that the church librarian gave me a bag with which to carry all of the books. 

Yesterday, Nathan decided to read one of the books on his own.  He wanted to read to his brother, Ben.  I was able to snap some photos during this fun time!

A Visit From The UK

We welcomed Grandma and Grandad to our home for a 2 week visit in August.  They came over from England in order to meet little Benjamin and to spend time with Nathan. 

Nathan really enjoyed their time here.  Other than when he was sleeping, he had a constant playmate, and I had some help with Benjamin which allowed me to get some chores done and get some well-needed sleep in the mornings.

We mostly stayed at home, but did manage to get involved in some outings and activities.  We made a trip out to Brenham to visit Bluebell.  We also drove down to the Galleria and ate at the Rainforest Cafe.  Nathan got to show his grandparents Chuck E Cheese and also Bouncing Bears.  We even took Rob and Judi to a birthday party and also a church social event.

It was a nice 2 weeks.  Chris and I only wish that his parents lived closer or at least on the same continent so that we could drive to see them whenever we wanted!

Bluebell Creamery: Touring the Ice Cream Factory!!!

On Friday, Chris took the day off so that we could go to the Bluebell Creamery in Brenham, Texas.  We had wanted to go there for a while now, but had not yet been because it is only open during the weekdays.  So, now that Chris' parents are here visiting, we felt like it was a good time to go.

We headed to Brenham with the Tahoe fully occupied.  Grandad and Nathan sat way in the back row, while Grandma and Benjamin sat in the middle.  Chris and I sat up front of course!

On our first attempt to take the tour, Benjamin woke up.  So, we exited quickly and took him outside to feed him a bottle of expressed milk.  Then, we had to wait for the next tour to began. 

Once underway, Nathan enjoyed seeing how the Bluebell ice cream is made.  I think that us adults enjoyed seeing it too!  Benjamin sat happily in his stroller using his pacifier and gazing around.

In the end, we each sampled a different flavor of ice cream.  Chris went with the Dutch Chocolate, and I tried something new to me, Birthday Cake.  The birthday cake flavor was a keeper for me and for Nathan too.  Halfway through Nathan's ice cream, he decided that he wanted Mommy's instead, and he finished mine off for me!

Dinner With Chuck E Cheese

Nathan is quickly approaching 3 years!  We would like for him to be fully potty trained.  He was doing so well in June.  Every time he and I went out on a daily outing, he always was wearing underwear instead of pull-ups.  Nathan was excited about using the potty - no matter where we went.  His pee pee accidents were few and far between, and he was only wearing training pants at night. 

Until July 15th came along!  Then mommy became a little busier with baby Ben.  Daddy and the grandparents let Nathan get away with wearing pull-ups quite a bit.  The potty training was going in reverse! 

Then, Daddy went back to work.  I began where we started before, with Nathan waling around the house bare-bottomed or with loose-fitting shorts on.  He has had many more accidents than he ever did before Ben came along, but the important thing is that he is back on track!  Hopefully, the start of Mothers Day Out in September will help to encourage Nathan even more.

Last week, I put into place a sticker chart reward system.  I explained to Nathan how he would earn a sticker each time he made pee pee in the potty and that with ten stickers he would get to go to Chuck E Cheese's.  I am still not convinced though that a 2 1/2 year old can understand this concept, but we did it anyway. 

Nathan needed a night out with his parents without baby brother.  He earned his ten stickers, and we headed to Chuck E Cheese's on Thursday.  We ate pizza, drank wepsi (pepsi), and rode the little rides, and played the games!  Meanwhile, Benjamin spent a lovely evening with Gigi and Papaw.

A Morning of Fun For Nathan

On Tuesday, Chris was able to stay home with us from work.  To take advantage of this, I suggested that we take Nathan somewhere really fun.  Chris was working from home, so we could not be away for too long. 

We decided to go to Bouncin Bears, which was only 5 minutes away from the house.  Bouncin Bears is a big room filled with inflatables.  It costs about $5.00 per child.  So, it was a close, inexpensive, and fun thing to do for an hour or so. 

Nathan absolutely had a blast there!  Unlike the last couple of times we have been to these sort of places in the past 2 years, he was not at all afraid of the noise.  He jumped on the jumpy parts and slid down all of the slides! 

To top it all off, we took Nathan to Chick Fil A afterwards so he could have some fries and chocolate milk.  I'd say this was the perfect time for Nathan!  It felt great to see Nathan have a good time!

The Family Sickhouse

Towards the end of last week, I noticed a tickle in my throat.  "Uh oh!" I said to myself, as I suspected that Nathan had come down with a cold a couple of days before.  I knew at this point that I too had picked up the nasty virus.  Thoughts ran through my head like, "Ben is going to get his first cold!"  and  "How are we going to get through a newborn AND a sick household?" 

I was totally frightened Thursday when I woke up with a scratchy throat and a headache.  I asked Chris to stay home on Friday to help me out, thinking that I would be sicker that day.  Luckily though, I still just had a scratchy throat and a headache.  I thought to myself, "This thing is so mild. . .no problema!" 

Saturday and Sunday were mild days for me too.  Nathan seemed to be coughing more and much to his delight, we began giving him medicine (Nathan loves medicine and thinks it tastes like candy)!  By Sunday, Ben started showing signs of having contracted this bug.  He was sneezing little, tiny baby sneezes and had a runny nose.  Chris began suctioning his nose and taking him into the steam room.

Today, we checked for fever early in the morning to see if Ben needed to go to the pediatrician again.  So far, he has been quite fever-free.  Truth be told, Ben has been very high-maintenance today.  He is wanting to nurse every 2 hours or so.  He seems to be having trouble calming down to go to sleep without nursing.  So, I am doing my best to appease his needs.

I am sicker than ever before today.  I have had to take cough medicine and tylenol to soothe my cough and headache.  Maybe that's why Ben cannot get to sleep well in my arms alone.  I hope and pray that we will all be better sooner than later.  I also pray that Ben will remain fever and infection-free this week and that this will truly be a mild cold for Benjamin's first!

Two Weeks Makes A Family of Four

Today marks 2 weeks following the birth of our second child, Benjamin.  Although we somewhat forget about all that it takes to care for a newborn, we are starting to get back into the swing of things.  Truth be told, there have been more than a few sleepless nights so far and a lot of tears on my behalf. 

We can blame those tears on tiredness, hormones, frustration, and isolation.  I am one who truly loves to sleep, and it becomes hard for me when I go without it for too long.  I am also breastfeeding, which keeps my hormones up high, making me a little weepy at times.  The frustration comes from nursing a baby who did not know how to nurse.  Benjamin has had latch-on difficulties that he and I are almost through correcting. 

Then, there is the isolation.  Chris was home with me for a week before he had to return to work.  Each day we say goodbye to Daddy so he can go to work while we stay nestled in our home.  We cannot really go anywhere because I am not ready to drive, and I cannot lift heavy objects such as a baby car seat or a toddler.  Nathan has truly been a good sport about our current situation.  He has really begun to learn to play with his toys on his own and self-entertain. 

We have experienced the trial of having a newborn with jaundice, along with a grandmother who worries a lot and a mother who worries too.  We took Benjamin to the pediatrician 5 times in 1 week!  Thankfully, he is fine.  His bilirubin levels continue to decline.  He is gaining weight and growing.  Other than a small herniated navel, we may just have a healthy baby on our hands!!!  Yeah!

So if we are not going anywhere these days, what do we do all day long?  We rest, rest, rest!  We watch some TV - mostly Nick Jr.  We play with toys.  We do laundry or light cleaning/straightening up when baby allows.  That's about it right now.

Today we gave Benjamin his first bath in the baby bathtub.  Nathan helped me to gather the bath materials, and he watched me bathe Benjamin also.  Similar to Nathan, Benjamin cried the entire bath!  I am confident that he will learn to love baths as much as Nathan does, but for now we will have to make do with crying during the bath time.

My parents have been very helpful and for this I am very thankful!  My father has driven us to all but 1 pediatrician appointments.  My mother has come over nearly each day, which helped me not to feel so lonely.  I have already asked them to come back next week too.  Anything helps, and I welcome visitors always!!!

Last but not least, we will welcome Chris' parents for a visit in approximately 2.5 weeks.  After Nathan invited them over and over on Skype to come to his house, they decided to move up their travel plans to come in August.  Chris and I look forward to their visit.  Not only will they be able to help us out, but they will be a great source of entertainment and attention for Nathan.  I know he truly enjoyed playing with his grandad back in November!

It's been a crazy 2 weeks. . .crazy in a good way!

Benjamin's First. . . Pediatrician Visit

On Thursday, we took Benjamin in to see his pediatrician.  The hospital recommended a visit for the Wednesday after his birth, as they do for all well babies.  We wanted to be able to talk freely with the doctor without worry, so we left Nathan with his grandparents.

Although we have not been in to see Dr. Placencia since last November, we are very well-known around the office.  The nurses were asking where Nathan was, saying that he is very special to them.  I know that the doctor and the nurses will never forget that day in January of 2009, where it was discovered that Nathan had a congenital heart defect.

All of the staff acted so excited to find that we had another little baby boy.  I feel so fortunate to have found such a wonderful pediatrician and staff that I absolutely love and trust with my babies!

Dr. Placencia examined Benjamn thoroughly and listened to us tell her about his birth events.  She even asked about what Texas Children's Cardiology had told me about the likeliness of Nathan's sibling having a heart defect.  I explained that we had an echo cardiogram at 20 weeks gestation, but that I would like to have another one now that Benjamin is here.  So, she is going to conference with the cardiologists downtown to see what needs to be done for me.  She's so great!

Unfortunately, Benjamin was looking a little yellow at this visit.  So, Dr. Placencia checked his bilirubin level.  The level was slightly elevated.  Therefore, we were asked to return the following day for another check.  We did take him back in on Friday.  Again, his bilirubin level had gone up.  So, we were asked to return on Saturday.

CHris and I took action on Friday.  We took Nathan and Benjamin to a park, where Nathan could play and Benjamin could get some sunshine.  We also became more aware of Benjamin's feeding and sleeping habits so that we could ensure that he was eating every 2-3 hours.  Apparently, babies rid themselves of the bilirubin through waste elimination.  In other words, the more he poops, the better!

On Saturday, we went into the office.  We had to see a doctor that I did not know.  Also, the appointment was early in the morning.  We are not quite ready for early morning appointments yet because we are still working out our nighttime nursing schedule.  Needless to say, I was tired, grumpy, and afraid during this appointment!

Happily, Benjamin's level of bilirubin decreased!  He is still jaundiced, but on the road to recovery.  At this time, we do not have to give him photo therapy.  We continue to monitor his feeding and also to take him outside. I have opened all of the blinds in our home to make it lighter, as I was keeping it dark since it's been so hot.  We return to the doctor on Thursday for Benjamin's 2 week check-up.  I am sure they will want to check his bilirubin again.  We hope and pray that it will be considerably lower and also that Benjamin's weight will have increased (he is 5 ounces lighter than at birth right now).

Bringing Our Baby Home

We are happy to welcome Benjamin Levi Taylor into our family!  We were indeed off to a rocky start with his birth, but once things were righted, we were ok.  I did make it out of my hospital bed eventually to venture down to the level 2 nursery in order to really meet Benjamin, and before we knew it, he was in our hospital room!

We spent the last night of our hospital stay with Benjamin rooming in with us.  It was a night quite similar to Nathan's last night in the hospital.  Meaning, we did not get any sleep!  Benjamin did a fine job of keeping us awake the whole night or at least until about 3:30.  However, Chris and I really did not mind. After all, he was finally with us!

The next day (Monday) we could not wait to get home.  We were tired of the hospital scene and also missing Nathan.  We were quite eager to go, but the hospital again was slow. 

I did get to visit with the lactation consultant before leaving.  She agreed with me that Benjamin had developed a nipple confusion while spending time in the NICU drinking formula out of a bottle.  She gave me a nipple shield, which somewhat feels more like a bottle nipple.  It seemed to help because Benjamin accepted it more quickly than my nipple.

We also had time to take more photographs.  I came up with the idea of sitting the camera on the shelf so that we could do a family shot of the three of us.  The pictures turned out to be nice and also helped to pass the time spent waiting.

When we got home, we waited a bit for Nathan, as he was out to lunch with his grandparents.  I watched for the car to pull up so that I could be at the door waiting for him.  We both were so excited to see each other.  My parents had told me earlier that Nathan really could not take much more of being away from us, and he had been quite upset the night before.

So, now we are home.  Chris has been home with us this week.  It has been a wonderful week together with the four of us.  We have had time to rest and begin recuperating.  Nathan has been able to spend some extra time with his father. 

We are not quite balanced yet, as we are all still adjusting to the new changes in our family, but with time we will become used to this way of life.  In fact, we probably will not really remember being any other way but the four of us!

My C-Section

On Friday, July 15th, I woke up feeling the same as I did the day before.  I still had mild cramping off and on.  So, I asked Chris to not go to work and to try to work from home.  Chris and I were indecisive as to what we wanted to do.  Did we call the doctor to see if she wanted us to come in, or did we just wait?

One thing's for sure, I needed to get my nails done before I did anything!  Since Chris was home, I asked him to look after Nathan for an hour while I went to the nail salon.  On the way there, I decided to go ahead and phone the doctor to get her advice.  I really did not want to go into labor over the weekend and have to have the delivery performed by a doctor that we did not know.

I told the nurse about the type of cramping that I was experiencing and that it had not changed since the day before.  After speaking with the doctor, she advised me to go ahead and go to the labor and delivery area of the hospital and to not eat anything else.  I was already at the nail  salon.  So, I went ahead and got a pedicure.  I also phoned Chris to let him know to get his things in order and ready to go.

When I came home, we got everything together.  My parents stopped by to pick up Nathan, and Chris and I headed to the hospital.  On the way there, I began to feel my uterus contracting.  So, the contractions were getting stronger.

Upon arrival to the hospital, we were ushered into the triage area.  My cervix was checked and found to still be at 1 cm.  I was hooked up to a monitor that showed that my contractions were steady at 2-3 minutes apart.  The nurse phoned the doctor who decided to go ahead with a c-section delivery.

 We had to wait until 6 or more hours after I ate breakfast to begin the c-section.  I had last eaten some cereal at 9:30.  So, we could not be scheduled until after 3:30.  We also had to wait for the doctor to finish seeing her scheduled appointments.  Her last appointment was scheduled for 3:00, but she was running later again.  There was also an emergency c-section that delayed all of the scheduled c-sections.  So, we did not get into the OR until around 5:00 pm.

They began by walking me from triage to the OR.  They separated Chris and me at this point, which really upset me.  I had to walk into the OR and sit on the table all by myself.  I was beginning to panic, while I looked around the room.  They had some scary looking instruments sitting out.  The staff were busy counting things and checking things, but they did converse with me.  They even tried to lighten things about by joking around that the OB had already done another c-section that morning - so she knew how to do them.  This is funny to me now, but I was too nervous to laugh then.

The anesthesiologist gave me the spinal right away and told me how to lay down quickly.  I immediately got really nauseous for about 5 minutes.  They said it was normal and would go away.  Then, I felt a warm numbness spreading over me, beginning at my waist.  At this point, I became very relaxed.  I liked the feeling of the medicine moving through me.  I did not care anymore that a million people were standing around my naked body or that they were about to open me up for surgery while I was awake.

The OB did an ultrasound and made sure that I was numb.  Just when I thought they had forgotten about Chris, they ushered him in.  He did not get very close to me the entire time, as he stood up and watched everything that the medical team did to me.  He was fascinated by it all and never once faltered from seeing them cut me open!

When the OB was lifting the baby out, I remember hearing her say that he did not have hardly any hair.  She wasn't kidding.  He came out looking pretty bald!  Then, he was brought near me for a few seconds.  He was white and slimy-looking.  I didn't see Nathan born before b/c I was sedated.  So, I had never seen anything like this. 

At this point, the baby was making a strange sound that was not quite the cry that I was expecting.  Chris came back over from the baby's side and looked queasy.  I remember that they made Chris sit down on the floor.  Something was not right with the baby, and Chris wasn't taking it too well. 

I  couldn't move off of the table and was now extremely intoxicated by the sedative that they gave me once the baby was born.  They brought Benjamin over and told me to kiss him.  He was all cleaned up.  Then, they took him away to the NICU, along with Chris.  If I had blinked, I would have missed seeing him!  I felt powerless that this was happening all over again, just like with Nathan.

I was left behind with the surgeon, tech, my nurse, and the anesthesiologist.  They had to complete the second part of the surgery (closing up my body).  Then, I went on to the recovery room for what seemed like forever!  After spending the required amount of time there, I had to remain in recovery, waiting for a hospital room assignment.  The hospital was very busy on this day.  The nurses later told me that full moons bring in a lot of moms ready to give birth.  Worked for me!  I never read that full moons can cause labor.  I only read about eating spicy food, taking castor oil, or walking a lot.

Once in my room, I found that the NICU was closed because of a trauma occurring to one of the baby occupants.  So, Chris and I could not get in to see Benjamin.  Also, I was on bed rest until morning, and they would not give me any food. 

Chris did eventually get to go sit with Ben, but I did not get to see him until the next morning (just like Nathan).  By 4:30 am, I was just about ready to sneak down there, but Chris would not let me, despite my anger and tears of frustration.  I never went to sleep that night.  I just watched the clock on the wall.

Things did eventually get better for us. . .

Week 37

Today Nathan and I went for my final OB appointment.  I brought Nathan along instead of leaving him with the grandparents with plans to be in and out and then go shopping.  However, we ended up waiting a little longer than normal because the doctor was very busy. 

Upon examination, the doctor was surprised to find that I am dilated at 1 cm.  I was happy to hear this!  Then she asked if I had been having contractions.  I told her that I had felt some mild cramping.  She said that I would have to sit and be monitored to see if I was contracting regularly. 

So, Nathan and I had to wait about 45 minutes until one of the machines was free.  Then, they hooked me up.  Nathan had been a good sport so far and had not caused any problems.  At this point, I gave him my cell phone to play with (something I never do).  He loves to take pictures and did so the whole time.  Once I reviewed his shots, I found that he actually captured some good, well-focused shots of me!

The fetal monitoring showed that I have been contracting about every 2 minutes.  I could see the doctor trying to decide what to do.  She asked me when I last ate, and I had to admit that I had not eaten at all, but some milk and water.  So, she asked me to go home, eat, and rest.  She said that if the contractions became worse, I should report to the hospital.

So, I followed the doctor's orders and went straight home without shopping.  I ate, packed Nathan's suitcase, and too a nap with Nathan.  At this point I feel the same as this morning.  I have mild cramping and a dull lower backache.  Chris is busy at work, and I do not wish to go to the hospital until I am in pain or my water breaks. 

Hopefully, we will have an easy night.  I would be delighted if we had to go to the hospital tomorrow, but not in the middle of the night.  I have put the grandparents on alert just in case though!

We Went for a Bowl!

On Friday evening, we decided to get out of the house and take Nathan for his first game of bowling.  Although he is only a litle over 2 1/2 years of age, I felt like he could handle this family outing.  Chris, Nathan, and I went to the bowling alley in the Woodlands and met up with another family.

Nathan was eager to get started.  He put on his bowling shoes and picked out his ball.  I thought it was a little strange that the lightest ball that they had was 6 pounds.  It was a bit too heavy for Nathan, but he did give it his all at first.

Chris helped Nathan each time it was his turn.  Nathan would grab his ball, holding it in his arms like a baby, and run towards the lane.  He usually would turn to the right and attempt to throw the ball in a different lane down the alley.  Chris was prepared and re-directed Nathan each time to our lane. 

We had the bumpers up.  So, Nathan actually did fairly well.  His daddy did help to put some force behind the ball somewhat.  It would actually take several minutes for Nathan's ball to get down to the pins.  Eventually, I showed Nathan how to put the ball on the floor and then push it with his hands.  He seemed to go with that for a bit.

Then, Nathan became hungry and disinterested in the game.  While dining on some fine bowling alley cuisine, Nathan spotted the gameroom, and it was all over!  He wanted to go in there and stay in there.  So, I took him in at first. 

After a while, Nathan spent time in the gameroom with the other children who we were with.  They all gorged themselves on candy and fun while the adults bowled more games!  It was perfect, in that the gameroom was right across from us so that Chris and I could constantly watch Nathan the whole time. 

When it was time to go, Nathan did not want to leave, but everyone was tired from bowling and it being so late.  So, we returned our bowling gear and headed for home.  Overall, it was a fun time, but we probably will not be bowling with Nathan again until he is a little bit older!