The First Few Days...

We made it home from the hospital on the cool and rainy afternoon of Wednesday, January 25th. Dinner was already in the oven when we arrived, thanks to my wonderful mother in law. Big Sister had fun with Grandma & Gigi while we were gone, but I think she was happy to have us home. We sure were glad to get home to her. :)


The first few days at home were challenging. While Max slept much better than Madelyn did those first few nights, I was in a lot more pain than I was the first go round. It took me the better part of a week to be able to comfortably move around the house and relax on the couch. I am a very Type A person, so it was very hard for me not to be able to do what I wanted and control what was going on around me. I finally broke down on Saturday and asked my Mom to come and help us the first weekend we were home. I had originally wanted us to spend that weekend alone getting used to the whole "family of four" thing, but we just needed help!

The first few days were supposed to wake Max every 2-3 hours to eat, but I'll admit, we didn't follow that as strictly as we did the first go round, either. He would wake up on his own every 3-5, so there were several times I just let him sleep. He still gained weight like a champ and was back up to his birth weight within a week of his birth. I remember just sitting with him, gazing at his perfect little face - his skinny little top lip (just like Daddy & Sister), his chubby nose and cheeks, the cowlick in his hair that was just opposite of Madelyn's, the little swirl in the hair on the back of his head, his tiny, little body... Oh, sweet baby boy.








Big Sister just couldn't get enough of him. She was SO good to him and wanted to help us with everything. We are so blessed. I hope Max knows one day just how much she loves him, too.



I specifically remember this picture. I was exhausted and hurting, but I was in love. I asked Anthony to take my picture, because, even with bags under my eyes, greasy hair, no makeup and the same clothes I had probably been in for a few days, I wanted to remember how it felt holding that tiny little baby close to my heart.



This pretty much sums up how we all felt at the end of those first few days (thank you Lolly, for wearing her out at the park!). So happy, so thankful, but so, so sleepy. :)

Introducing...

Anthony & I were to report to the hospital at 5:30 am on Monday, January 23. We left the house a few minutes late, of course, and then we had to take a detour because of the overnight road construction that we didn't realize would be up. We finally made it to L&D by 5:45 and got checked in and put in our room. My doctor had ordered stat blood work to make sure my steroids had worked (and so I could get an epidural!), so the first immediate order of business was to draw blood and put in my iv.

After the labs were sent off, we waited around for a while, and when we finally got word that my platelets were at 97. The usual "magic number" is 100, but thankfully, the anesthesiologist was really nice and gave them the go ahead, so my doctor ordered the pitocin started at 6:45 am.

I started having mild contractions but nothing unbearable. My doctor finally came in and broke my water at 7:45 am, and that's when the fun started. ;) I was already at 3 centimeters, and my contractions got really intense, really fast. Madelyn was born 7 hours after my water broke, so I was thinking it would take about 5-6 hours this time. Not even close. I asked for the epidural at 8:30 and got it by 9 (and that was with trying to be tough!). As with my luck, the epidural only took effect on my left side. The anesthisiologist had to come in several more times to readjust the catheter and give me several boluses of drugs. I had to lie on my right side for a long while, and it finally started working on my right side at about 10 am. Because I had so much medication to get my right side to sleep, my entire left half from my waist down was like a dead rock. Felt so weird, but I was thankful to have the pain relief!

My mom and sister arrived shortly thereafter and we all just sat around talking and catching up. By about 11:30 I started feeling pressure again in my right side, so I thought there was another problem with the epidural. My nurse decided to check me at that point just to make sure the pressure wasn't coming from the baby, and sure enough, I was completely dilated! My nurse was just as surprised as we were, so she started making calls to get my doctor there asap. I kind of freaked out a little - I mean, I had plenty of time to prepare for this moment, but when it is right in your face it kind of just hits you. We rushed through a couple of pictures -- I had planned to give my sister a quick debrief on what photos I wanted her to take after the birth and such -- but we didn't really even have time for any of that! Mom & Andrea went out to the waiting room and we called Anthony's mom & grandma to go ahead and bring Big Sister up to the hospital.

Last photo pre-Max!


It seemed like it took my doctor a little while to get there, but when she did, it was game on! We were SO excited to meet our baby and find out if we had another sweet girl or a sweet little boy --- I asked my doctor and the nurse to let Anthony tell me the sex of the baby, but that didn't exactly go as planned. I think I pushed for about 20-30 minutes before our sweet baby was born. My doctor picked him up high to put him on my chest and all I saw were boy parts right in front of me! I screamed "Ahhh! I knew it!" before anyone else could even say anything! It was such a surreal moment and I will never forget it!



We welcomed our Max Anthony and I held him on my chest for a while, and during that time, we were able to bring Madelyn in the room to meet her baby brother. I remember our conversation with her so clearly. Anthony carried her in while I was nursing Max.

Anthony: Do you know who that is?! (while walking into the room)
M: Mommy!
A: And who else?
M: Baby Sister!
A: No, that's your baby brother!
M: He's drinking Mommy's milk. I want to drink some milk from your boobies!

I'd had several conversations about breastfeeding with her, but I figured it was going in one ear and out the other. Needless to say, she remembered! Thankfully she didn't get too upset when I reminded her that big girls drink milk from big girl cups. :)

Here she is, meeting "Baby Brover" up close for the very first time. :)


Max was then placed in the warmer and cleaned up, and during that time, Lolly, Dede, Grandma and Grandma Shaw all came in to meet him.



Later that afternoon, we were also visited by Dad & Justin and our dear friends Dave & Emily. Big sister came back up to the hospital with Grandma & Gigi after a nap, and we enjoyed time with our new family of four. The entire hospital stay, Anthony and I kept saying, "We have a SON!" It still feels so surreal to say that. :)






His first bath (which he obviously loved!)



Meeting his new family!

Day Two!

We had more visitors, and we enjoyed a laid back day getting to know our sweet boy, who turned out to look almost identical to Big Sister did when she was born.


See what I mean?






Be still my heart!


She was pretty surprised that Baby Brother came with presents!





Day three!
Anthony had to go into work for a few hours, so I got to spend some quality time with my Max before heading home. I can't say enough good things about the staff at Baylor Grapevine. While I was anxious to get home to my girl, I didn't want to leave all the awesome nurses behind!


I made his little propeller hat to match his outfit!




It felt like we had waited on these days forever, but this amazing little boy was so worth the wait. We are so honored and blessed to welcome him into our family!

Pregnancy in a Nutshell

Since I never posted all of my belly pictures, I'll just do it now. :) I didn't do anything creative or catchy for these photos -- but I did include big sister. Well, she decided she wanted to be included toward the beginning when taking these pictures was something new and exciting. As we neared the end though, we had to do a lot of bribing with Smarties candies. You can see her progression from sweet, cooperative sister to crazy, silly sister in the photo below. We missed week 15, so I included a better picture at the end!

This pregnancy was a lot different than the first. First of all, I never really got over that first trimester exhaustion. I'm sure just being busy at work and chasing around a toddler every morning and evening played big parts in that. I carried a lot lower and could tell a difference in my body shape and how I was gaining weight. This was the biggest reason I thought Baby R2 would be a boy! Of course, big sister was adamant the entire pregnancy that Baby R2 was "Baby Stister," and Daddy thought the same. I gained about the same amount of weight with both kiddos (around 40 pounds!), but this time, I felt like it all went straight to my backside and thighs. And, I guess it really did since I'm still working on losing half of that "baby" weight. :\  With Madelyn, I craved fruit and healthy foods. Not this time. I tried to eat well, but I craved sushi and sweets. I normally have a pretty bad sweet tooth, but it was even worse those last few months. We definitely kept Blue Bell in business late last year! 

Another difference in this pregnancy was that, since we knew about my low platelet disorder (ITP), I began seeing a hematologist very early on for regular monitoring and got very acustomed to having my blood drawn on a weekly basis. My new hematologist and new OB were amazing and, although I really wish I hadn't had to have gone through my kidney stone ordeal, I'm glad that having that bad experience with my old OB practice led me to a new set of doctors that were so good to me. I ended up having to have steroids again toward those last few days of my pregnancy in order to get my platelet levels high enough for an induction.

This pregnancy really flew by, and while it was exhausting and not as easy on my body (you know, since I'm an old 30-something now), I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat!

Getting Ready...

The first half of January was spent enjoying time with our sweet "baby" girl before the big day. We spent those last few weeks as a family of three just soaking her up and enjoying life with her.

She sat atop her perch many morning and evenings while Mama got the dinner plates ready or cleaned up the kitchen. I couldn't help but stop dead in my tracks one evening in awe of just how much my heart melts when I look at her. Particularly when she is just being herself and doesn't notice my watchful gaze. This evening she was sitting quietly, cross legged, just reading her book while I tended to the hustle, bustle, hurry up and get everything done... She didn't even realize I had grabbed my camera to capture the perfect moment until she heard the shutter click.



And another moment where I caught her -- enjoying her oatmeal and chocolate milk one busy morning. I will always remember this as her "spot."



We also enjoyed many evenings after dinner and bathtime curled up in Mommy & Daddy's bed or her bed reading books. Her favorite? "Love You Forever," which of course, I could never finish reading to her without crying at the end. This girl has grown way too fast, and while I cherish these moments with her now, I know she won't be my "baby" girl much longer.



I know in just a few short weeks, our lives will change dramatically (for the better, of course), and I am so excited to watch our sweet girl become a big sister. I know my life would be incomplete without my siblings, and I am so excited that she will get to experience a sibling bond, as well.

Christmas Pictures

We braved the crowds at the Gaylord Texan in December to get a few photos for the Christmas cards. I am very happy with how they turned out. Big thanks to my friend Emily for snapping our family picture!




And my favorite. Oh, that sweet smile...


We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas filled with love, laughter and happiness!