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~ Stories ~
4/24/06 Well, Brighton now has three teeth and another on the way!! I discovered his third tooth last Thursday. He opened real wide for a bite of prunes (his favorite food) and I saw another pearly white on the bottom. Brighton now has three teeth on the bottom and a tooth on the top that is almost through the gums! This explains all the drooling that he does and why he shoves his entire bib in his mouth or chews on all his fingers. Bless his heart though, he is not cranky one bit!! Brighton is almost crawling too! He gets on all fours and then he likes to get up on his tippy-toes with his butt in the air. Eventually he falls over. He has been making progress though. This week he finally started moving his hands and is now crawling a few steps until he falls on his face. On the other hand, he is very proficient at going from being on his hands and knees to twisting himself into an upright position where he is sitting tall and all on his own! He loves being on the floor, rolling around and learning to crawl. He also started making new sounds this week. He is finally saying da-da along with mom-mom, which he conquered a week or two ago. He says "ka" and "ga" too. Brighton is having so much fun spending his days in his Nan's store with Nan and Nana (boy he's going to be confused soon :) ). The three of us are looking forward to taking our first vacation together to Ocean City, MD in June. We decided to play it safe and not go too far away. Besides, Mike and I have never taken a vacation there together so it will be our first trip to the Ocean, together and as a family. Mike is finishing up his last exams and finals these next two weeks. And, I'm still working...busy as usual. Keep checking our website for the latest on Brighton and for new pictures.
3/12/06 As you know, Brighton has two teeth (check out the picture I tried to take of his teeth). He started teething around 5 months. I could feel the rough little teeth under the gums when I would run my finger across them. A week or so before his 6 month birthday, his two little teeth really popped up. He's got these two pearly whites on the bottom. They are so cute and funny to look at especially when he is screaming or crying. And, they HURT when he bites you. I'm careful when I stick my finger in his mouth now. He chews on and through everything. We have to be so careful. Now Brighton has all these funny stories about him and his teeth. Not thinking, I gave Brighton a box of toothpaste to shake around for a second (thought it would be a cute rattle, with the tube of toothpaste bouncing around inside the card board box) while I turned away to wash a dish. Not more than a minute passed and I turned back around and he gnawed a hole right through the box!! Ugh, I was so worried he swallowed cardboard but I don't think so. I learned my lesson...sort of...then he was walking around the house in his walker unsupervised (I sometimes walk out of the room that he is in but I never leave him alone for very long), and there was a magazine in the middle of the coffee table (placed there strategically so he couldn't reach it...normally the magazines are near the edge), which he had gotten by getting on his tippy toes and reaching far over the walker and wrapping his fingers on the coffee table until he could touch the edge of the magazine and then scarf it up. As soon as he got it, he ate the corner away and that's when I caught him again. Ugh, too late...a good bit of the corner of JAMA was gone! OH well, second lesson learned. I think everything is safely baby proofed now :) Brighton's poor toys are taking a beating too. I was cleaning his Exersaucer the other night and noticed that some of the poor animals are all scraped up from Brighton's teeth, some of the paint is missing from the Rhino's nose and the spots on the Giraffe. Those darn teeth are tearing up everything!!
The doctor did say his top gums looked swollen so I guess he is teething again for those teeth. He had been acting really strange the past couple weeks. He wasn't sleeping or eating normally. I say normally because we had a rather consistent routine down for eating and sleeping. He was refusing to eat any vegetables. For lunch last Saturday he had Gerber Stage 2 Bananas w/ Strawberries. That's ALL he wanted to eat for days after!! He didn't want carrots for dinner that night, he gagged and almost threw up....he wouldn't eat green beans or squash. He had finally eaten prunes and his oatmeal cereal but that's it besides Bananas w/ strawberries. For the past two nights after that he wouldn't drink his bottle before bed. He actually wanted a bottle of applejuice for his bedtime bottle one night and some nights all he wants is oatmeal. I don't know, I give up sometimes. I chalk it up to teething. Howerver, the past couple days he is getting a little better. Again, he had bananas for lunch. He wouldn't eat carrots at dinner. I finally got him to eat sweet potatoes w/ apples. He also had some vanilla custard. I recently found that Gerber makes some pretty yummy stage 2 food, which Brighton is enjoying a little more than plain carrots, green beans etc. Oh, and he's refusing rice cereal and only eating oatmeal now. It takes me forever to feed him :) He has also learned this high pitch squeal. It's loud!! He does it about anything. I've had to resort to raising my voice and sternly saying NO (and sometimes STOP). I think he gets the picture when I tell him no but again, not sure why he is doing this. Maybe he just found his voice. I bet the neighbors hold their ears at night :) Well, we've seen a whole new side of Brighton these past couple weeks. Gone are the quiet days of our newborn baby. We're now encountering the more dynamic, livelier Brighton!
3/3/06 Brighton will be 6 months old on March 6. Today he had his 6 month doctors appointment. He weighs 18 lbs. 9 oz (>50th percentile) and is 27 3/4 inches long (90th percentile). Poor baby had to get four shots today. He did rather well; only crying for several seconds but with lots of tears. Brighton has two bottom teeth and we think he's working on the two top ones soon. He's still rolling over but not crawling and he can sit up on his own but not for very long before he falls over. He loves to eat rice cereal or oatmeal for breakfast. He also loves all of his fruits and vegetables, which he eats for lunch and dinner. Well, he loves all of them except peaches and he tried chicken and rice tonight and pulled the gagging motion on us, so I guess he doesn't like that just yet. This is all of an update for now. I'll spend more time in the near future sharing more details.
2/4/06 Just a quick update on Brighton. Mike took him to the doctor's yesterday and he weighs 17lbs. 4oz. and is 26 1/2 inches long. Can you believe how big he is getting!?!?!?! He will be 5 months old on Monday. He is rolling over and across the room. He is eating rice cereal, sweet potatoes, and squash. He had his first taste of apples this evening. We are working on getting him to sit up by himself and crawl. That's all for now.
1/25/06 Many milestones have occurred since our last story. Brighton now rolls from his tummy to his back and from his back to his tummy. Only once has he made it the whole way around, meaning from his back to his tummy to his back. Although, he makes it the whole way around, in a 360 degree circle often, while laying on his floormat or in his crib or in his playpen. He scoots all over the place. He does a superb job pushing up on his arms, lifting his chest and kicking his legs but unfortunatley (or maybe fortunately) he doesn't go anywhere just yet. Brighton is very much enjoying his first tastes of rice cereal. The doctor gave us the go-ahead to feed him cereal at 5 months. Okay, we jumped the gun but he was totally ready. He stares and stares and stares some more whenever we are eating. He licks his lips and wants to eat so bad. So, we made a deal that as soon as his high chair arrived we would begin rice cereal. He eats his cereal in the morning. I'm not sure if we're suppose to give him more in the evening too or not. We're playing it by ear. We hope to introduce some veggies and fruit around 6 months. Brighton is almost 5 months old! We cannot believe how fast time goes by and how big Brighton is getting. Everyday is an exciting, exhausting day with Brighton, but knock on wood, he is such an easy baby!
1/4/06 Happy 1st Christmas and New Year's to Brighton! Brighton enjoyed his 1st Christmas at Mam-maw and Pop-pop's house as well as with his Nan, Grandpa Doug and his Nana. We were all over the place. He got to see lots of family and friends. He got lots of wonderful gifts and he returned home to a house with gifts from Santa as well. Brighton enjoyed ripping the wrapping paper and trying to shove it into his mouth. It was really cute. I'm sure next year will be really comical. Look for some new Christmas pictures soon.
Brighton had his 4 month peds appointment yesterday (he will be 4 months old on Friday). He is growing like a CHAMP!! Brighton weighs 15lbs 14oz (72nd percentile) and is 26 inches long (86th percentile). He is very healthy. He had 4 shots again and did rather well. Of course, he cried, held his breath a little and his faced turned really red but as soon as we picked him up and gave him a bottle he was fine.
Well, as soon as more time permits, I'll add to the website. Hope everyone had a fabulous New Year's celebration!
12/23/05 Two days until Christmas. We are so excited for Brighton's first Christmas. We are at my parent's house in Hagerstown, MD and Santa has already left lots of gifts under the tree. Brighton loves to look at them and reaches out to touch them all the time. I don't think he'll be ripping into gifts this year but he sure does like to crumple up the wrapping paper. He trys to put it in his mouth along with everything else. Brighton is doing really well. We can't believe how aware of his surroundings he is. He is so inquisitive and alert. He actively babbles at us and trys to interact with us every second he gets. We love to watch him develop both physically and mentally right before our very eyes. We teach him so much during the day and can see him learning all the time. We have a smart one on our hands. Since we've been at my parent's house, everyone calls him "little Mikey". They think Brighton looks just like his dad. It seems to me that he has his dad's brains too.....this is good! We hope everyone has a healthy, happy Christmas with their family and friends. I know we will enjoy our first Christmas together with Brighton and plan to document every minute with the camera and video camara. Please check back for Christmas pictures soon. and an update from Brighton's 4 month doctors appointment. Merry Christmas!
11/22/05 Our baby is almost 3 months old! Can you believe it? Brighton had his 3 month check-up yesterday. He was such a good boy, especially after getting his 2nd Hep B shot. Guess how much Brighton weighs now? He weighs 13lbs 5oz (>50th percentile) and is 24 1/2 inches long (>75th percentile). The doctor is very happy with his growth. Today we took Brighton to the King of Prussia Mall to get his picture taken with Santa Claus. He had a lot of fun compared to the other children, which were crying as soon as they saw Santa. Look for a picture of Brighton and Santa on the website soon along with pictures from the Thanksgiving Holiday! Happy Turkey Day !!
11/16/05 Brighton turned 10 weeks old yesterday! He is learning a lot since we brought him home on Sept. 8. He is smiling all the time and especially when you talk to him. He recently grabbed a rattle and will now hold on to it. He is drooling a ton too. We don't know where that is coming from but he likes to blow bubbles and drool lots. We've almost nailed down a schedule where he'll sleep from 9pm until 7am and then eat every two hours during the day with at least 3 short naps. All three of us are looking forward to going back home to spend time with friends and family. Check out the latest pictures. We have cute pictures from this past weekend when Anni and Calvin came to visit.
10/27/05 Brighton is 7 weeks and 2 days old. He is wide-eyed and alert. He loves to look around and hold his head up. He is perfectly content on his own or in our arms. His favorite thing to do is mock your facial expressions. Most recently, I proudly taught him how to stick out his tongue. It took us a couple days but after seriously studying my silly faces with my tongue in and with my tongue out, he finally successfully stuck out his tongue on command. Now, this may be a bad habit and a hard one to break but I'm certain this is a good start to him learning about his body parts. We practice this everyday and whenever we ask him where is his tongue and we stick out our tongue, he does the same. We love it! My second trick is teaching him to put his fist in his mouth. It is so funny. He is just now discovering his arms and legs. He gets his right arm waving around with a fist and tries to direct it into his mouth but can't quite get it in there. So, I help him find it then let him practice. He'll lay in his playpen for a long time trying to get his fist in his mouth. After awhile you'll hear him grunting and getting frustrated. I can't help but laugh. He loves patty-cakes and this little piggy went to the market. The funniest thing happened the other night. I put him down in his craddle for bed and I had a little cotton cap on his head because it's chilly and drafty in this old house. Brighton loves to squirm around in the craddle. He squirms out of his sleep positioner, which keeps him on his back and he nestles his head into the top corner of the craddle. It's so cute! He does it every night. Well, the other night when he had the hat on he woke of screaming. He had squirmed into his nightly position and he pushed the hat clear down over his eyes so all you could see was his nose and mouth. He was whaling away. Of course, I got to him right away because his craddle is right beside me and I'm a light sleeper but I couldn't help but laugh hysterically. I should have taken a picture. He was hilarious and so cute! Anyway, Brighton got his four shots and was checked out by the pediatrician. He is perfectly healthy! He weighed 11 lbs. 3 oz (60th percentile) and grew to 22 1/4 inches long (50th percentile). All is well here!!
10/15/05 Sorry it's been so long since I've given an update. As you can imagine, we are very busy. At least I find time to add new pictures. That's about all I can accomplish before Brighton is looking for attention. He will be 6 weeks old on Tuesday, Oct. 18. Can you believe how much he has changed!?! I can't believe how time flys. He is getting to be a big boy. I'm positive he weighs over 10 lbs. but will definitely know how much this little chow hound weighs next week. He has a doctor's appointment on Friday. He gets his first shots...not looking forward to that but at least daddy will be there too :) Brighton is holding his head up a lot. He wiggles around in his craddle and play pen when he is sleeping. He likes his swing but only for about 15 minutes, unless it's in the morning and after his first daylight bottle, then he will swing and sleep for a couple hours. He likes his floor mats, bouncey chair, and watching Baby Einstein videos, but again, for only about 15 minutes. We dance around and talk and play on the keyboard and he likes all that too. Other than that, he sleeps. He sleeps in his play pen in the dining room during the day or his crib if I'm upstairs. At night, he sleeps in the cradle in our room. He is getting a some what consistent schedule. It's a good night when he eats his last bottle at 10:30pm because he will sleep until 4:30am. After that, he'll sleep for a couple hours then eat and the cycle continues. We've managed to take him out in the stroller for walks and occassionally to a store or two. We ventured out to a restaurant for the first time on our own (no parents with us) and survived. I swear Brighton smiled at me for the first time the other morning and he is starting to try and coo. That's about all the big news so far. Mike has exams this coming week and then we will try and travel home to Hagerstown and Goldsboro to visit family. This should be a true adventure!
9/27/05 Today Brighton is 3 weeks old. We can't believe how quickly time goes by and just how big Brighton is getting. He is changing everyday. He is definitely thriving. He eats all the time!! At the last doctor's appointment he weighed 8lbs. 2oz. His cheeks are getting fuller and he is more active everyday. He will even hold his head up for some time. He has a lot of control, more than we think is normal :) Brighton is slowly getting on a schedule...one that seems to work well for mommy and daddy too! Last night he slept from 10pm until 5:30am. He slept again from 6am until 8:30am and then is up during most of the day until about 3pm when he naps again. This is good because it means he will sleep at night. Sometimes he likes to get up in the middle of the night, like 12:30am and 3:30am. When this happens, Mike takes the 6:30am feeding. Everything seems to be working out really well. We are all having a lot of fun together and can't wait to venture out soon to see friends and family and introduce our little man.
9/15/05 Brighton's Story
I'm sure by now everyone is aware of our precious bundle of joy, Brighton Evan Pearson. I thought I'd share with you the events leading up to his arrival. We went into the Bryn Mawr Hospital on Monday, September 5 to be induced with cervidil. Mike, my Mom and I arrived at the hospital at 7pm. I got settled into my room and was given the medication at 8pm. We pretty much hung out watching tv, Mike and Mom studied, and they also went and got dinner for themselves. Around 10pm I started feeling some very, very mild contractions that were not too disturbing. Around 12:30am, we decided to try and sleep, Mike on a cot and my Mom in a reclining chair. At this time, I was having contractions that I breathed through on my own and they were manageable. At 2am, I rolled to my left side and all hell broke lose. My water broke and Mom went to get the nurse. At that point, the contractions were pretty sporadic and irregular. I was only 2.5cm dilated. I informed the nurse(s) several times that I wanted an epidural as soon as possible, which I was told was 4 cm. As the early morning progressed the contractions got stronger and stronger and closer together. Sometimes I would get three on top of each other and then maybe 1 minute to rest. I was checked at 3:30am and 4:30am and I was still about 2.5cm. I did not want any medication other than an epidural. Everyone offered Stadol or some other form of pain killer to help me get to 4cm but I didn't want it. Finally at 5:30am I broke down. I needed something. From 12:30am until 5:30am I was using my breathing technique to cope with every contraction and I was squeezing Mike's hand too. That was the only way to get through it. Mike was such a trooper, sitting there letting me squeeze his hand and encouraging me to breath. My Mom ran back and forth between the room and the nurses station whenever I needed anything. She also feed me ice chips....the best thing ever!! I kept my composure the whole time. When I finally agreed to get a little something to cut the edge, the doctor checked me and I was almost 7cm! I couldn't believe it. No wonder it hurt so bad. All I was concerned with was getting that epidural, PRONTO, I think that was my exact expression. Sitting still for an epidural at 7cm is almost impossible but by 6:30am, I was sort of good to go. It definitely cut the edge but as I progressed, I still had to breath through the contractions. I needed to get two more dose of extra epidural until I was relatively comfortable. At 10am, I was ready and pushing. I pushed until 12:36pm, when Brighton was born, with the help of the vacuum. It was a very special moment to have Mike and my Mom there. It is a moment that Mike and I will never forget and treasure forever. Brighton was born a healthy, happy baby. We recovered from our experience in the maternity ward and brought our little son home for the first time on Thursday, September 8. Mike's mom stayed with us the first night. It was nice to have someone with experience in the house. My Mom and Grandmother came to visit on Sunday. Everything has been wonderful since we've been home. Brighton sleeps at least 5 or 6 hours every night! We are very lucky. And, I must mention, Mike's back at school and took two exams today that he missed while we were in the hospital and he aced them!! He's going to be such a compassionate doctor and maybe our son will follow in his footsteps.
9/2/05 Quick update for everyone wondering what's going on. I had another doctor's appointment today and my blood pressure was high. We spent about 2 hours at the hospital while me and the baby were monitored and I had blood work drawn. Our health was totally perfect at the hospital, so we're back home again. This is our plan, if I don't go into labor on my own this weekend, we are going into the hospital to be induced Monday night and hopefully we'll have the baby sometime Tuesday. Look for another update towards the end of the week. I'm sure by then we'll get to introduce our son!
8/24/05 Just a slight scare at the doctor's office today but no big deal. Nothing that spending 1 1/2 hours in the hospital can't fix. Apparently, my blood pressure was high at my doctor's appointment so they sent me over to Labor and Delivery at the hospital to monitor me and the baby and take blood work. During the hour and a half, my blood pressure was totally normal and the baby was just fine. The blood work revealed great liver and kidney functions and I was able to go home. I guess it's better to be save than sorry. I'm still 1 cm dilated. I'll have an appointment sometime next week. At this point, we are playing the waiting game. Everything is good. Don't know why the bp creeps up at the doctor's office but all other times it's good. I guess Mike had his practice run to the hospital, although I wasn't in the car. I went to the doctor's by myself this time because he had a Pharmacology lab from 2 to 4pm. He wasn't expecting me to call at 4pm to tell him to come to the hospital. I guess today was good practice for both of us! Check back for more updates.
8/20/05 I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. We are finally considered full-term. What a milestone!! We had a non-stress test and the baby is doing just fine, as expected. We were also excited to find out that I'm 1 cm dilated. The process has started :) I'm sure it will still be awhile but I'm beginning to wonder if we'll make it to September 6. I received a note from the doctor to stop working next Friday. I will talk to HR and my manager on Monday about this. It will be weird to stop working early but apparently with my blood pressure, the doctor thinks this is the best option for me and the baby. Everything is pretty much in order but I'm still frantically trying to wrap up all the lose ends. In the meantime, the baby is still very active. He mostly pushes his foot against my right upper side. He does this often....it's nice to still feel him moving, just knowing that it won't be long. Well, that's about it for now. Look for another update next week.
8/15/05 This week will be 37 weeks. We are all ready. Now, we're just waiting :-) Last weeks appointment was fine. We had a non-stress test and the baby's heart rate was perfect and he was moving all around. We've finished all our baby classes. Not much to report. We'll keep you posted.
8/4/05 Quick update, all is well with the baby! We had another ultrasound today and everything looks terrific. The baby weighs a little more than 5 lbs and is in the 50th percentile. All his measurements are perfect. At this rate, the doctor says he could gain up to 1/2 lb a week, so maybe we'll have a 7 to 7.5 lbs baby. As long as he is healthy, we are happy! Everything was perfect with me too. We will visit the doctor every week now and also have non-stress tests done to make sure the baby is still happy inside, especially because of my blood pressure. Though, everything has been normal with my blood pressure as well. We've been so lucky to have an easy, uncomplicated pregnancy and pray that it continues this way.
8/2/05 35 weeks down and hopefully 5 weeks to go! Everything has been really good. The last doctor's appointment and 3rd ultrasound revealed that the baby weighed approximately 3.2lbs, so he was in the 40th percentile. That's good! Everything else with the baby looked great also. I'm doing just fine as well. This pregnancy has really been an enjoyable experience. I have few complaints now that I'm in the home stretch, but I assume that's normal. I get short of breath easily, can't eat a lot of food, and pee often!! I have heartburn everyday and get up often at night, because sleeping isn't comfortable. But, that's ok because it will be worth it. Our next doctor's appointment is on Thursday, August 4. Again, we will have another ultrasound just to make sure the baby is still growing appropriately. Mike and I attended a breastfeeding class last Wednesday, which was very informative and encouraging. We definitely want breastfeeding to be a good experience for all three of us. It's the best for the baby! We also attended a childbirth class all day on Saturday. This too was a very worthwhile class. We learned everything from signs of labor, when to call the doctor, what will happen before, during and after birth, pain medication, Lamaze techniques, coaching techniques etc. and had a chance to tour the labor and delivery floor and maternity floor at Bryn Mawr Hospital. We are all set to go with the exception of packing a suitcase. That's my goal this weekend. This is Mike's last week before he starts school again so he's excited about that and the anticipation of the baby. I will continue working until I'm in the hospital. Thanks for checking the website and continue to do so, I'll put more info on.
7/4/05 Mike finished painting the nursery and assembled the crib this weekend. We are very pleased with the paint, crib, and bedding so far. And, we just love the tiger rug that Mike picked out for the room today! We still have a lot to do. Hopefully we'll get a chance to put together the dresser and changing table before the weekend as well as hang the curtains. Keep checking the website for more pictures!!
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Last Updated:
Aug 28, 2008
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