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12/22/05- Everything is still going well! Caleb just loves his little brother. He asks all the time if he can hold him, and when he holds him, he's so careful and sweet! We've taken some cute pictures of the two of them together.
Daniel loves to eat. He just takes in milk so fast!! I'm curious how much he weighs now. I can tell some of the newborn outfits he's been wearing since we got home from the hospital, are getting too small already!! Even his length- he's really growing!
We are going to have Christmas with my parents and brother on Saturday, since Sunday is always so busy with church and naps. I guess we'll spend tomorrow baking cookies and finish wrapping last minute gifts! I actually got most of my wrapping right before we went to the hospital to have Daniel. I just have a few more things to wrap that I had ordered.
12/20/05- This morning we got the boys dressed in Christmas outfits and took pictures, because I've been wanting to get picture cards done at Wal-Mart and sent out before Christmas. Caleb did GREAT!! Both boys did great, but Caleb is more stubborn and sometimes it's impossible to get a smile out of him when we're taking pictures. We got several great ones, and picked one (it's the one on the front page that says "Christmas picture), put it on my Dad's digital camera card and took it to Wal-mart. One hour later, we had all of our beautiful cards, and by 4:00pm, they were in the mailbox! I'm so glad I got that done this year. I knew Daniel would be too young to take out and get a picture done at the mall, so this worked just fine for this year.
12/18/05- We all made it to church this morning...and on time!! It was nice for all of us to go. Aaron and I talked about what to do and we decided to bring Daniel to morning services, but keep him home in the evenings for a few more weeks, since the temperature and air are so cold at night. He did great! He slept most of tthe time, but he was great. He's such a good baby.
Last night, my dad fed him a bottle around 9pm, and it was the most he had had- almost 3.5 oz. Well, by 10:45pm, he was crying and gnawing on his fists, and I couldn't believe he was hungry again. I thought maybe my milk wasn't sticking with him or something, but I went ahead and fed him at 11:00pm. He fell asleep, and I went to bed, and the next thing I knew, it was 4:00am the next time he woke up to eat. He did a five hour stretch! It was great! Maybe he'll be sleeping through the night sooner than Caleb did at 7 weeks!!
12/16/05- We had a nice Christmas with Sandi and Bob last night. Sandi made a WONDERFUL meal- ham, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, rolls, and fruit salad(yummy, yummy!). Caleb ate 3 helpings of ham and had some mashed potatoes, which was good for him. We opened gifts after dinner and they got Caleb this baseball ceiling fan for his room, that he pointed out to them at Lowe's. With all the remodeling we did on our kitchen and new room, we spent a lot of time in Lowe's, and Caleb always noticed this baseball ceiling fan when we looked in the lighting department. The fan blades are bats and the mounting to the ceiling is a baseball diamond, and then there's a glove holding a ball, and the ball is the light! It's cute and it will look great in his sports room that we did. They also got him a big Thomas the train thing: Thomas the Big Big Loader. He loves it, and wants to play with it all the time!
Sandi and Bob left today, and I hated to see them go. They have been such a HUGE help the last 3 weeks. They have finished things on our new room, watched and taken care of Caleb the days before Daniel was born, and while I was in the hospital. Sandi cooked and cleaned, and poor thing got sick while she was here- probably from working so hard! I always tell people I have the best mother-in-law in the WORLD- we have such a great relationship. She treats me great and always has, since the day that I met her. She's just fabulous! And she married a great guy who treats us great and really loves us and loves Sandi, and wants her to be happy. Thanks you two!!!
My parents arrived safely this evening. It's been awhile since we've seen them, so we're glad they are here. Caleb is already pulling them around the house saying, "You want to play blocks?" They'll be here for about 2 weeks. Yeah! More help!
12/15/05- Yeah! I made it out of the house for awhile!! I know all of you moms out there have had this feeling of being "trapped" in your house. Today was Caleb's Christmas party at school/daycare, so I took him over for that, and left Daniel with Sandi (Aaron's mom). I have really felt good, for several days, so I felt comfortable enought to drive. I asked my friend, who had a c-section, how long she was supposed to wait before driving, and she said 2 weeks, so since I felt good enough in a week and a half after delivering naturally, I thought it would be okay just to drive to South Pittsburg.
There was also an event that I had planned at my school before I left, to be on this day. I had scheduled the Chattanooga Symphony Woodwind Quintet to come to our school and perform, and I really wanted to be there for the concert. So, after I took Caleb to his party, I went over to the school and was able to hear the concert and see everybody, which was nice. Plus, it was SNACK day for all the teachers, so I got to enjoy all of the treats that all of the faculty and staff bring in!!
With Daniel taking a bottle while I'm gone, it gives me a little more freedom to get out and leave him with someone, since he's still so young and the weather is cold and rainy. Caleb didn't take a bottle, so he had to go everywhere with me. Things are still going great!
We're having Christmas tonight with Sandi and Bob and they are leaving tomorrow morning to go back to Oklahoma. They have been here since Thanksgiving and it has been so wonderful to have them. They have done SO much work on our house and have helped out greatly with Caleb, especially while we were in the hospital. We love them and appreciate them so much!
My parents will be coming in tomorrow afternoon, and I'm looking forward to seeing them, just as they are looking forward to seeing all of us and meeting Daniel!!
12/11/05- I felt good enough to go to church in the morning, so Aaron's mom stayed home with the baby. I fed him before we left, and then he had a bottle before we made it home. With this being the second Sunday of the month, we went to Sweeden's Cove for church and Aaron preached. When we go there, I usually teach Caleb's bible class, since there aren't any other kids there. So this gave me a chance to get out, go to church, and still keep things familiar for Caleb.
12/9/05- Doctor's appointments! Daniel went for his first meeting with our pediatrician and we took Caleb, because he's had a cough and been complaining about one of his ears. Before we saw the doctor, the nurse weiged Daniel and he has already gained back his birthweight, plus a little more! He was born 7lbs. 10oz., when we left on Wednesday, 12/7/05, he was 7lbs. 3 oz., and today at Dr. Fox's he weighs 7lbs. 12oz.!!! Yeah!! Dr. Fox says he looks great- everything is normal!!
Caleb did great letting Dr. Fox check him. He usually does, but he always has a hard time opening his mouth and saying "ahhh" for him. So, we practiced it on the way over. Well, when Dr. Fox walked in the room, Caleb right away started opening his mouth and saying, "ahhh!!!" Then, he calmed down while he looked over Daniel and waited for his turn patiently. When he looked over Caleb, he said there's some fluid in one of his ears, but it's funny, because it's not in the ear he was complaining about. He said since he has the tubes, sometimes there can be a little pressure that they feel, and that may be what he was complaining about. As far as the fluid, he just gave him some drops to prevent the infection.
12/8/05- We had a pretty good first night home last night. Daniel is eating great and on a 3 hour schedule (eating every 3 hours).
Caleb stayed home from school, so I got to see what it's like having 2 kids at home. First day wasn't too bad! I know it's kind of easy now, because Daniel sleeps a lot, but it actually wasn't too bad. Things went well. Now, we still have Aaron's mom and her husband here, and they have been a HUGE help. Then, my parent's come next week.
12/7/05- Aaron had to go back to work today. I felt much more comfortable since I had been through this before. Daniel got his picture taken today in the hospital nursery, and it turned out so cute. You can see it on the front page.
Aaron and Caleb came to get me and Daniel around 5:30pm and once we packed up the van, the 4 of us were on our way! We never heard a peep from Daniel in the van, and halfway home, Aaron asked, "Did we remember to get Daniel?" He just slept the whole way home.
Caleb is just so excited about his little brother. He always wants to kiss him and hug him, and say "I love you, baby brother!" If he gets a little to close by his face, we'll tell him to "be careful," and he look at us like a sad little puppy dog, and say, "but I love him!" It's very cute.
12/6/05- Today, Aaron and Daniel and I spent the day together, just relaxing and enjoying each other in the hospital. I feel GREAT, and I almost can't believe how good I feel!
We had some visitors throughout the day and it was nice to have them come. Doctors say Daniel is doing great! We'll get to go home tomorrow!
12/5/05- The wonderful story of Daniel's birth. I was so blessed this time with a great labor and delivery. We went in to be induced Monday morning, and I progressed throughout the day with mild and unpainful contractions. It was a very busy day for my doctor, so he was not able to come and break my water during his lunch break, so it was 5:30pm when he was finally able to come over and do that. I had already scheduled to get the epidural right after he broke my water, because I knew the contractions would be very painful and come one on top of another once he did that. That's what happened when I was in labor with Caleb. I was 5 centimeters when he broke my water. I got the epidural at 5:45pm. The shift change for the nurses was at 7:00pm, so the new nurse checked me at 7:00pm and I was 6 centimeters.
At 8:00pm, I was feeling some pressure and wasn't sure if the epidural was starting to wear off on one side, or if it was possible the urge to push that I was feeling. I told some Aaron and some others who were in the room. They said it wouldn't hurt to call a nurse in and check on me, so I did. She came in and said I was between 7 and 8 centimeters and that I was going to go quick. I couldn't believe it!!! By 8:30pm, I was really feeling like it was time to push, and they had already called my doctor, and he was on his way. He arrived by 8:50pm, and I started pushing by 9:00pm. Only 20 minutes of pushing later, Daniel was out screaming and crying and Dr. Brody put him on my chest. It was the best sound and sight in the world!! He had a head full of dark hair and good set of lungs. Then they weighed him...7lbs. 10oz!! Caleb was only 6lbs. 13oz., and a week late, and a vacuum and forceps had to be used to deliver him!!
Aaron's mom was able to make it for the birth, and her husband, Bob watched Caleb in the waiting room. Once I was cleaned up, he and Caleb came in, and it was so great to see Caleb. He was so excited to see his new little brother. He just stared at him in amazement.
It was a wonderful night and when I got back to my room, I just kept replaying the last 4 hours in my head. Daniel latched on right away and has been doing great with the nursing. It's so wonderful to be going through this again!
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