Cari is Home!!!

Today Tyler met Cari!!!!! Cari flew in from China tonight and came over here to meet the newest member of our family. Jackie, Brianna, Hannah, Tyler and I were here to greet her. It was so great to see her again after six months and to get to see her hold my little man. She looked great!
In all of the excitement waiting on Cari, Brianna managed to lock herself in my bedroom. Hannah took the door knob off but still couldn't get her out until her Daddy and Bill got here. She was a good sport about it and made us laugh while she was locked in there.

Growing Boy

We had a great weigh in today! He weighed 7 lbs 13.5 oz! I was over the moon. After we got back from the weigh in we went with Hannah to deliver some resumes and then meet Bill to look at some new cars. I have put off getting a new car for way too long and now that I am willing Bill is seizing the moment and making us buy now. I think we found the one we want and we plan on going to get it Friday! Hope everyone had a great Monday!

This Weekend

This weekend has been a pretty good one. Friday afternoon, my parents and Ben stopped by to see Tyler for a while. When my parents left, Ben stayed and hung out with Bill for a while. Then, John and Brianna came by. When John left, Brianna stayed. Our number just kept growing :) I had a good time getting to play with Brianna when Tyler would let me. He nursed for 30 minutes of every hour Friday and Saturday so I didn't really have a lot of free time.
Saturday morning, Bill cut grass and then got ready to go the the Braves / Red Sox game in Atlanta with Ben, John and Grant. They had a great time, especially Bill because his team (Boston) won. I stayed behind at home for a while and then went to my parents house. While I was at my parent's house Tyler was still so fussy and no amount of nursing would satisfy him. I decided that we would try to bottle feed him one more time. My dad had him when he started fussing and I grabbed a bottle I had just pumped and said try this. Dad must have had the magic touch because Tyler just started eating from it. Since that moment, I have been pumping and we have been bottle feeding only. He is SO much happier. No, it isn't what I wanted, but it is what is best for Tyler. If I have learned anything in my brief time of being a parent, it is that plans and expectations are only a setup for disappointment. Planning just puts unfair pressure on mom and baby and life is stressful enough already. From now on, I am going to try to be flexible and go with the flow. If pumping and bottle feeding is what is best for my kid, then that is what makes me happy even if it isn't a part of the plan. So, I believe we are going to have a happier kid and hopefully a bigger one. With the bottle feeding I can keep a good record of how much he is eating and he has eaten plenty in the past day. I hope to see a reflection of that in tomorrow's weight check!
Sunday was another low key day. Per Dr. Israel's orders, we didn't go to church in order to keep Tyler away from all of the kids. We did go to a wedding tea for Lydia's friend Anna but there weren't any kids there really besides Tyler and Kason. After the tea, we went back to Mom's and enjoyed some homemade chocolate poundcake and vanilla ice cream. Since then, we have just been relaxing at home.
Here are some pictures from this weekend, including Tyler getting his first few bottles! I love the one in the top left corner of his big yawn :)

Lactation Appointment

We went to the appointment with the Lactation Consultant this morning. They weighed Tyler before he ate and he weighed 7 lb 7.8 oz so he hadn't gained anything since yesterday. After he ate, He weighed 7 lb 11.6 oz so we know that I have plenty of milk for him. He spit up a lot after he ate all that but the LC said to continue to feed him as much as he will eat because it will help stretch his stomach out and help him to gain better. We tried a new shield for him to eat with and that seemed to help him a good bit. Maybe that is the answer we are looking for. So, we are going to use the new shield this weekend and go to the support group Monday to get his weight checked again. We are looking for a weight of at least 7 lb 11 oz so please pray for that. Who would have ever thought Bill and I would have a kid who couldn't gain weight????
While I sit here and worry, Tyler is catching a nice afternoon nap. I get the feeling he hasn't a care in the world.

Happy Father's Day!

This was Bill's first Father's Day. We were able to go see everyone except for Bill's Paw Paw. Here are some pictures from Sunday.

Two Week Dr. Appointment

Well, me and Mom took Tyler to see Dr. Israel for his two week check up today. Everything looked great except for his weight. He has only gained 2 ounces since last Tuesday, which puts him back at his birth weight. She was wanting to see him gain about an ounce a day so 2 ounces in 9 days isn't quite what I was hoping for. We made an appointment with the Lactation department at Brookwood for tomorrow morning at 10 and then we go back to Dr. Israel next Thursday to have his weight checked again. So, pray for a healthy weight gain for our little man!
Dr. Israel also told us that we needed to refrain from taking Tyler into any crowds until at least 6 - 8 weeks. When I told her that I took him to church last night she frowned. So, I guess we will be spending most of our time here or with family for the next few weeks. I am thankful that we are able to go see a doctor that can help us take care of him the best way we can. I honestly didn't see a problem taking him to town and shopping but she was pretty firm, and I trust that she knows best.
Here is a picture I took of Tyler with Dr. Israel last week when we went for his weight check.

This evening, Hannah, Lydia, Hailey and Kason stopped by for a little bit. It was funny to see how much bigger Kason looked than Tyler. Just a week or so ago they were about the same size but Kason has continued to grow and Tyler is just kind of hanging out.
Here is the picture we took of them at the hospital.

He is Here!

This should be old news for everyone. Today Tyler is 2 weeks old!
To start at the beginning, I went into the hospital for them to start my induction on Wednesday, June 10th. Dr. Robinett got things moving that evening and Bill and I stayed overnight in the Labor and Delivery room. Thursday morning, the nurses started me on Pitocin and Dr. Robinett came in and told us I was at 3 cm. Then, he broke my heart, I mean my water. I was so wanting to have a completely natural childbirth and I knew that once he broke my water my chances of that happening were reduced. So, he lovingly tried to console me and broke my water to help things get going. Soon after, I started having more intense contractions. At first, everything was great. The contractions weren't bad, just uncomfortable. They were coming about every two minutes. Then, the nurses told us that Tyler "wasn't happy" with me sitting up and moving around so they made me put on an oxygen mask and kept flipping me from side to side. The next time the doc came in, I was around 4 cm. Progress! Things continued to move along but the contractions were getting more intense and it was hard to lay still on my side during them without fighting the contractions instead of working with them. I had it in my mind that if I made it to 6 cm before getting an epidural that it would ensure I wouldn't need a C Section. This opinion was based on absolutely nothing. Just something I decided. So, the next time the doc came in I was at 5 cm. I was thrilled things were moving along so well. I began to be less able to stay still during the contractions. Your body just wants to MOVE! The next time the doctor came in he said I was at 6 cm. I believe this was around noon or one. I told the nurses that I would take the epidural. I had become evil and was snapping on my Mom and Bill every time they breathed. In the short time between the request and actually receiving the epidural, the nurses let me move and rock through my contractions. It was amazing what a difference it made. But, Tyler still wasn't doing well during my contractions so I had to lay still. Dr. Nag came in and delivered the most amazing pain relief ever. When my Mom and Bill came back in the room they were amazed at the transformation that had taken place. I was soooo happy! Bill requested a take home dose of the stuff but as far as I know, he wasn't able to get it. Maybe he did and is just planning to use it at a later, more evil date :) In the mean time, I continued to contract and progress to 7 then 8. The nurses continued to flip me from side to side trying to make Tyler more happy. At some point it became apparent to them that he wasn't going to get happy. The head nurse and couple more came in my room and then one of them asked, "Do you want me to call him?" My nurse said yes. This was the first time I realized Tyler might be a little more than unhappy. They had been watching Tyler's heartrate at the central monitoring at the nurse's station. Dr. Robinett came in within minutes and inserted an internal monitor into Tyler's head. I didn't like that at all. It didn't bother me but I can't believe that it didn't cause him any pain and he had a lot of little scratches on the top of his head when he was born. After a few minutes of watching him and examining me, Dr. Robinett said we were going to need a C Section to get Tyler out safely. All of my plans I had made for my birth experience suddenly became so unimportant. I replied that I wanted him to do whatever he had to do to make Tyler ok. It was amazing how quickly they were able to execute the surgery. The nurses gave Bill some surgical outfit to put on over his clothes and wheeled me into the operating room. Within minutes, Tyler was here. He was turned sideways and had his cord around his neck. We were so blessed God put capable doctors and nurses in our path. Dr. Robinett and Dr. Huggins were in there for my surgery so I had no doubt that I was receiving the best care available. The moment we were able to hear his cry, Bill and I looked at each other and breathed for the first time in several minutes. When they brought him to me he was screaming. They laid him at my chest, his face to mine, and he just stopped crying and looked at me. I was in love.
I had no idea I could love anything so much, or that I could love Bill any more than I had the day I married him. But, what everyone says is true. Your heart just grows. I have been blessed beyond measure and way beyond my deserving. While Bill was showing him off to everyone in the waiting room through the nursery window and crying the sweetest crocodile tears, they moved me into recovery. When Tyler and Bill made it back in there with me, we got to watch him have his first bath. Then, I finally got to hold my baby. It was so hard to believe that this perfect little creature was what had been growing inside of me. After my hour in recovery, they moved us to a room and our families and friends were able to come in and meet our little guy. I don't remember all of that part so well because I was on morphine. Next time, I will know to tell them that morphine is not an option for me. It made me completely stupid! Ask my Mom about that.
My recovery from the section has gone amazingly well. I haven't had much pain at all, and I was up moving around as soon as I could feel my legs well enough. Because of the absolute stupidity the morphine caused, I was off my pain pump less than 12 hours after getting it and Motrin was enough to control my pain in the hospital and the day after we got out. I feel completely like myself.
When we left the hospital Sunday, we went to stay with my parents for a couple of days. It was nice to have my Mom there to make me feel more at ease about taking care of a baby. I can't mess things up too badly with my Mom there watching out for us.
Adjusting to life with a newborn has been better than I thought too. Tyler likes to eat all day and sleep all night. You can't ask for much more than that. He lost down to 6 lb 14 oz from his 7 lb 8 oz birth weight in the hospital so I was nervous about whether or not he was getting what he needed from me, but when we took him to the doctor two days later, he had gained back up to 7 lb 6 oz so Dr. Israel told me to quit waking him up at night to eat and let him sleep and I have been happily following doctor's orders ever since then.
We go back to the doctor today for his 2 week check up and I am excited to see what he weighs now. I will try to get in more of a habit of posting updates so hopefully I will post this evening about what we hear from the doctor.