Growing Like A Weed

This adorable little (now not so little) boy is growing...fast!

We had Bennett's 2 week check up and he was up to 7 pounds 1 ounce. The doctor wanted us to give him more concentrated formula to make sure he was still gaining and to come back in a week for a recheck. We came back and Bennett now weighs 7 pounds 15 ounces. That is a lot of weight gain in one week people! The doctor said they usually like babies to gain 15-30 milligrams a day and he is gaining 60. She said we could stop with the concentrated formula and that he has some great big cheeks! So far I think Bennett is most like his Dad...and that does not exclude his eating! :)

(Another side note)-While at the doctor, Bennett had to be weighed, naked, and as soon as we laid him on the scale...he waterfalled everyone. We went back to the doctors room and he messed his pants, which we luckily changed before the doctor came in. She then checked to make sure everything looked good and guess what...he sprayed himself and the table again. Oh boy! He sure makes life exciting!

Growing Boy

I have seen many people do this and so I decided to join on the bandwagon. I am going to take pictures of Bennett when he turns one month older with Cosmo (it was the only stuffed animal we have) until he is a year old to document his growth :)

1 Week Old:

Aunt Carlie

Carlie loves Bennett and she comes over any chance she can. Which we love. Carlie and Bennett actually have matching PJ's that Carlie got him for Christmas and so of course we had to take some photos of them together. There were some great ones that we got of them together!

There were also some funny ones of them :)

Love these two! I am going to guess Bennett is Carlie's favorite nephew :)

First Bath

Bennett doesn't like baths. I think our whole apartment complex could testify for that one. He screamed...a lot! Our little boy doesn't like two things: being cold or being undressed and so it wasn't the most pleasant of experiences for him.

 Once he was done, clean and wrapped up, he was one happy baby!

(The calm before the storm...while we were getting some things ready we laid Bennett in his bath tub. He was so happy and content that of course we had to take pictures.)

Now...I know you all are thinking...oh my goodness, so many Bennett pictures! Two words for you: Grandma Hansen. My mom stayed with us for 2 weeks, she had her nice camera and Bennett is her first grandchild. Yes, lots of pictures were taken :)

Bilirubin

No...that is not our new nickname for Bennett.

Our last day at the hospital, the Pediatrician informed us that Bennett was barely in the high to intermediate risk range for Jaundice. So we had to take him to the doctor the next day to have his levels tested. It is sad to watch because they prick his foot and have to take quite a bit of blood out to put in a vial to test. We heard back later that day that his levels were still bad and so they were going to send us a Billirubin bed (a blue light bed) to have in our house and that he needed to stay in it all the time to help. They delivered the bed and it fit perfect in the bassinet next to our bed. It had a material with velcro down the middle to keep him in and then there was another device, about a foot long square light covered in fabric, that was to be put on his stomach while he was sleeping. He could only have his diaper on because they didn't want anything coming between him and the lights. He did really well staying in the bed all day and night. 

The next day we were to take Bennett in to have him retested. We took him in only to find his score had improved by only 4/10 of a point. We were told we needed to keep him in the bed all weekend and then have him retested on Monday. I am very proud of our sweet boy who did a great job with this and stayed in the bed all day and night. 

From this Bilirubin bed Bennett got a nickname...that is Houdini. This little kid can get out of anything! We would go to check on him and he had somehow always managed to get his arms out of the velcro suit and have them right by his face.

He even was able one time to get his foot out! Crazy boy!

Thankfully when we took him back on Monday to be tested his results came back positive and no more bilirubin bed for Bennett!

A Baby Story

This post is going to be long but we want to put up every little detail of how it all happened, the events leading up to the wonderful event and how it all unfolded. So pull up a chair, relax and get ready to read.

Friday night, Jan 4.

I started to feel some serious back pains. We ran a couple errands in order to get the baby’s room a little more prepared. We still had a month, but we knew that with work and school errand time would be limited. We headed to Wal-Mart to get a few things we needed. I thought the back pain could be related to constipation and we decided I needed some kind of laxative. So we got that, a screen protector for my new iPhone, an ingredient for dinner and some juice. We also picked up some diapers, just for good measure. We would pick up some every time we went to the store, just to stay ahead of the curve. Also that night, we went to the D.I. to look for a dresser for the nursery. Straight to the back, we found the perfect one! 5 drawers and great condition. We paid the 45 dollars, loaded up the dresser in "Pedro" and headed back home. I didn't sleep that night due to the pain. I tried the bed, the floor, the couch, the rocking chair but nothing worked and no rest.

Saturday, Jan 5.

I had lots and lots of back pain. Every position hurt, sitting, laying, standing, everything. I had to walk to get some relief.Most of the day is a blur, but we worked on the baby room and Aaron got a couple things ready for school. That night we wanted to do something fun! We had been working in the house all day and decided we were going to go to Sonic and get a milkshake. We then walked outside and remembered that it was 0 degrees. Instead we went to Reams Grocery store and got a half-gallon of ice cream and a movie. We watched that night and had our homemade milkshakes as I tried to get comfortable all night. We went to bed, or at least Aaron did. It turned into another very restless night.

Sunday, Jan 6.

I caught an hour or two of sleep just before morning came. We woke leisurely, just like we always do before our 1:00 church. I was still very, very much in pain. Those two hours of sleep only came out of pure exhaustion. We heard our upstairs neighbors up and moving around very early for a Sunday morning. Then, it hit us at about 8:00 that our new church time for 2013 was at 9:00! Grateful that we remembered as early as we did, we scrambled to get ready. I was still in pain and so Aaron ran to the church to drop off a loaf of bread for the sacrament and came back to get me. When he got back I was kneeling on the bed, in lots of pain, in no shape to go anywhere. Aaron went to Wal-Mart to get some Tylenol per the recommendation that the hospital had given. Everyone we talked to kept telling us that what I was feeling was not contractions. They all told us it was just back pain. But it was too painful. At this point I had basically been awake 72 hours and was in too much pain to function. At this point, we probably both started to come to terms that these had to be labor pains, despite what everyone was saying. Aaron headed to church as I tried to sleep. The rest of the day was just filled with trying to find different positions to be in to make the pain tolerable. Aaron tried to convince me all day that I needed to get a sub for the next day but I kept trying to resist saying that I could do it, I just couldn't sit down. That night we invited Carlie and Aaron Bush over for some ice cream and asked if Aaron would join Aaron in giving me a blessing. I couldn't even sit down for the blessing and so I just stood. In the blessing Aaron asked that we would know what this pain was from and for and then when Bennett came all would be well. I tried to get some sleep that night while Aaron stayed up for a little bit getting a hospital bag together just in case (those I still was in denial that the pain was anything serious). Around midnight I got up and decided to put in a request for a substitute for the next day and stayed up most of the night getting sub plans ready to go. When I tried to lay down in bed, when the pain got so bad, I would start hugging the pillow and moving my legs back and forth which led to me having rug burns on my arms and legs from all of the rubbing against the sheets.

Monday, Jan. 7
Aaron and I headed into the school around 7:45 to drop off my sub plans and get a couple things ready to go. I really was not ready for the day and people asked what was up. I told them about my back pain and how I thought I might possibly be in labor. They were all so excited for me and asked me to keep in touch with any news. Aaron and I then headed to Dr. Nance's office. Though we didn't have an appointment and so we called the office (while we were outside waiting) to see when they were open and if they could get me in. When I told them of the intense back pain they said, come in right away. I was the first patient there. I told Dr. Nance about my pain and he said they didn't sound rhythmic like contractions and so it was probably just back pain which happens your last month. He decided to check me though and found out I was already dilated to a 5! He said, "Wow! You must be in labor! It is a good thing this is your first or I would be afraid you wouldn't make it to the hospital! Go home and get your bags packed and head to the Hospital". I called my mom as soon as I got out because she knew we had an appointment and was waiting to hear what the doctor said, but she had no idea what we were about to tell her. I called her around 9:15 and told her that I was dilated to a 5 and that we were heading to the hospital. She began to panic and quickly drove to the airport and was there by 10:00 and got on an 11:15 flight. Aaron and I went home and got together as much as we could in a short amount of time to head to the hospital. We got to the hospital around 10:30 and they were really full and so they put us in a "triage" room to wait in and get all my information taken down. The nurse hooked me up to a machine that would measure my contractions and the baby's heartbeat. At the beginning the contractions weren't really "contractions" or rhythmic but I was sure in lots of pain (especially because they made me lay down on a hospital bed, which was the worst position for my back). The nurse checked me and I was still at a 5 and so she was going to try to call my Doctor to see if they would put me on some medicine to stop the contractions since I was a month early. She then left the room and the contractions really started to pick up. We watched them on the monitor peak at certain times and I was in lots of pain. I soaked my hospital gown and waited and waited for the nurse to finally come back. After an hour or so my new nurse came in and I was dilated to a 6. She gave me some medicine to help with the pain until they could get me up to a real room. After another hour or so they got ready to move me to a real room, around 1:00. When we got up to the real room Carlie arrived shortly after and then my mom, which was a huge miracle arrived around 2:00. It was such a huge blessing to have both of them there.

I was informed that I couldn't eat or drink anything which was really hard for me since I really hadn't eaten or drank much the past day due to all my pain but they did say I could have flavored ice chips. I chose "tigers blood" and it was a delicious coconut flavor. Carlie and Aaron went to the room to check out all of the flavors and snacks and came back with some fun crackers and cookies...for them.

 My mom and Carlie were then sweet enough to curl my hair since I wasn't "ready" when I came to the hospital and we had time to kill.

 Carlie's roommate Madi (who was entering the MTC in 2 days) came to say hello which was fun.

 The doctor decided to give me some pitocin to help move my contractions along and then when I progressed to a 7 they brought me my epidural. It was so much easier than I thought it would be and not painful at all to put in. The doctor said I had the perfect spine for the epidural which made it easy to put in. It was so nice to have one and my doctor couldn't have done it more wonderfully. I couldn't feel my contractions any more but I could feel my legs and feet and move my body on the bed without help from people. It was beautiful. We then just waited for me to progress. They nurse continued to check on me and call in to my doctor to let him know how I was doing.

They brought in a nural scanner to check the baby's heartbeat but had a hard time getting it to attach, which they said sometimes means they have lots of hair. My least favorite part was probably the catheter, enough said. Finally the nurse came in and said I was dilated to a 10 plus 2 (not sure what that means but it meant it was almost baby time). I then just tried to sleep and ignore the discomfort I was having. Aaron was such a great support to me.

I was having the urge to push but my doctor was not there yet and so that was a little uncomfortable but then just in time he walked in. He got all set up and then we got ready to push. He walked me though how to breathe, push and for how long. I was ready to go! I was very lucky and only had to push about 6 times, for maybe 10 minutes, and then our sweet baby boy was here at 5:44pm! It was a super fast delivery for which I was grateful for!

They then took him immediately over to the table to check his lungs and to make sure all was well. It was so wonderful to hear his yelling and I began to tear up. Aaron went over with the baby, which I had to be stitched up due to a tear and necessary episiotomy.

They then took Bennett to the NICU to check his lungs and make sure he could breathe well on his own. Aaron went with Bennett while I rested in the hospital room and the nurses got me some snacks and a drink. Carlie ordered in room service for "me" which included fries, sweet potato fries, a chocolate milkshake, a sandwich, sun chips and mint brownies.

They then moved me down to my new room and Aaron came back saying he was doing well and that we could go visit him. I was put in a wheelchair and they took and Aaron and I to the NICU. As we were wheeled in there past all the little babies I was so grateful Bennett was as healthy and as big as he was for being a month early. Bennett was doing better with his breathing and lungs. His blood sugar was low and so they were giving him some sugar water to help get his levels back up. It was great to finally see him and to touch him.

 He had to stay at the NICU for a little longer to make sure everything is ok and then they brought him down to the nursery to get him bathed and take some more tests. Aaron and I were able to go in and watch and help while mom and Carlie watched from the window. They lost some of his test results and so they had to retest his levels by drawing blood from his foot and some other tests. He then got his first bath and then we wrapped him up and were able to take him back to our room for a little bit.

There we hung out, took lots of pictures and tried to feed him.

 The nurses took him back to the nursery for the night and brought him in every 3 hours to feed and woke me up all the other hours of the night to take my blood pressure and check my vitals.

Tuesday, Jan. 8
My Dad and Ethan left around 5am to drive up to Utah to come see Bennett and so we kept in touch with them throughout the day. Aaron and I didn't get much sleep that night but we ordered room service for breakfast. Later that afternoon Dad and Ethan arrived. It was so great to have them there. Ethan was sick and so he wore gloves and a mask the whole time.

My family went down to get dinner while Matt and Lauren came to visit. It was so sweet of them to come and we loved having their company. My family then came back up with Carlie and Aaron Bush (who brought a sweet balloon and chocolate cinnamon bears) and we hung out the rest of that night.

Bennett was being great so we got lots of cute pictures of him.

Bennett earlier that day had failed his hearing test, which they had to recheck and then that night they were going to do a car seat test on him since he was "late pre-term" (which he also ended up failing. We were a little worried with all of these failed tests but they said it was nothing to worry about, just don't go on long trips and sit in the back for a while).

Wednesday, Jan. 9
We were allowed to stay at the hospital 48 hours after Bennett's birth, so we took full advantage of this and spent the day at the hospital with family, enjoying Bennett.

 Aaron went to class during the day and then met us outside ready to go when we brought Bennett out ready to take him home. It was wonderful to finally bring him home! (Thanks to mom and dad for getting things washed and the house in order to bring our little guy home to). Though we didn't sleep well that night...and haven't slept well since, we are sure grateful to have our healthy, adorable baby boy here!