2 week check up

 

We barely made it on time due to the little stinker. Jarrod had just given him a quick bath and was trying to get him in a clean diaper and get him dressed. Well, before it was all said and done we had gone through 4 diapers, he soaked the changing pad, a blanket and peed on the wall again. The pee machine was in full force this morning. We finally got him dressed and ready to go, I had to put on my makeup in the car on the way since the fiasco this morning took up so much time. We get to the doctor's office and of course they want to take all his clothes off (which really upsets him, he doesn't like to be changed) so they can get his weight. When I took off his clothes the nurse wanted to see where he had been circumcised and also his diaper rash. Well, guess what?? Yep, he started to pee just as soon as we pulled his diaper off. He soaked the blanket he was laying on and also the wall. Again we went though about 4 diapers before we left the doctor's office. The nurse said she had never seen a baby pee so much! ha! We got a good report, he weighs 7 pounds and 9 ounces now!! Man, has he put on some weight in the last week!! He is still the same length, which is normal. He won't have to go back until the first of October when he will get his 2 month shots.

Great new toy

 

My grandparent's (Leonard and Joy Kay) got Stratton this Rocker & Seat by Fisher Price. He really seems to like it! It's the neatest thing, it can be a rocker or a stationary seat that vibrates and plays music and nature sounds. I have been putting him in it a lot it works out great for times when I don't really want to lay him down, like now when I am in the office on the computer. There is one slight problem. . . it almost always puts him to sleep!

Last night went much smoother than previous nights. I was actually able to feed him and put him right back down with little or no fussiness and crying. I hope he is getting the hang of things! We let him sleep in the crib in his room last night instead of the pack and play in our room and we used the video monitor. That monitor is fabulous!! It's such a convenient thing to be able to see him without having to get up out of bed and walk across the house to check on him! I think Jarrod and I both slept better with him in his own room, too. Even though we can still hear Stratton's noises on the monitor it wasn't as loud and noticeable. He is still waking up about every three hours ready to eat, but he is taking the bottle faster and burping so much better! We have started feeding him 3 ounces and he has been eating almost all of it every time. I hope he gets some meat on his bones soon!

I am also feeling much better today. I guess it's got a lot to do with getting more sleep and I haven't had any fever in several days. I have felt so bad for so long and I can't tell you how ready I am to feel like my normal self again! I am still really sore and sometimes it takes a little while to get up and down , but I am taking very few pain pills, so that is also a good sign! 

We are taking Stratton back to the doctor in the morning . I think if it goes well he won't have to go back until 2 months. Yay!

He's a pee machine. . .

Stratton has managed to "get" my mom and Jarrod separate times while they were changing his diaper. Then last week while Terry, Jarrod's Dad, was holding him he peed through his diaper, clothes a blanket and got Terry wet. He has also done this to Jarrod on a few occasions while he is rocking him at night.  Stratton pees though his clothes almost nightly in his bed, we go through at least 2 gowns during the night, sometimes 3. (Thanks for the boppy pads, Amanda, they have been lifesavers!!) Well, somehow I have managed to avoid being peed on. .  .until yesterday. While changing his diaper, in the millisecond it takes to pull the old diaper off and fold the new one up, he got me! Actually he didn't get any on me, since it arced over his head and hit the wall and the window blinds and the table that is bedside the twin bed, in just seconds the boy had sprayed almost every surface with in three feet. I have been wondering how in the world he could pee through so many layers and get himself so wet at night. . .well now I know, the force alone cannot be contained by a measly diaper! It was like a pressure washer hose!! It took me half an hour to clean up the mess he made it a few seconds! I know you mothers of boys can relate and are laughing at me, I guess it happens to us all at some point!

 

 

 

 

Stratton~ 2 weeks old

So, Stratton was 2 weeks old yesterday! It doesn't really feel like it's been two weeks already!

My mom stayed with us last week (what a life saver!) since Jarrod decided he needed to go back to work on Tuesday and I was still not feeling well and getting around really slow. She kindly took the night shift with him so that Jarrod and I could get some sleep! That twin bed we put in his room has worked out great!! We took Stratton to the Dr on Wednesday for his one week check up. We decided to use Dr. Lowery Beck at the Apache Drive Children's clinic. We really liked him. Stratton's weight (6 lbs 12 oz) is in the 25% and his length put him in the 75%, so he has some growing to do! Dr. Beck said he was impressed with his size and how much he was eating and gave us an overall good report! While we were there they went ahead and circumcised him. I was really worried that I would freak out, so far so good. I am actually pretty proud of myself! The doctor also told us that we should use common sense when it comes to taking him out and having guests. He recommended that trips to places with large crowds, like the mall or church, should be postponed for at least 6 more weeks or until he is 2 months old. We don't want him to check something and end up back in the hospital!

I also went to the Dr. on Wednesday. I hadn't been feeling good and Tuesday night I started running a pretty high temp. It turns out I have an infection in my uterus (there is a technical term for it put I don't remember what it was) and they put me back on antibiotics for a week. If I am still running a fever after a week then she said that would probably have to put me in the hospital to administer antibiotics by IV. UGH!. . .as of today I haven't had any fever so far! I am praying that it doesn't pop back up, the LAST thing in the world I want to do is go back to the hospital!! I am still really sore and the meds I am on make me nauseous and totally kill my appetite. But I am getting better everyday. I am trying to take lots of naps, mainly when Stratton sleeps I try to, too!

Speaking of sleep. . .the boy sleeps ALL THE TIME! Well with the exception of a time period from about 3am-6m?? We have to intentionally make him uncomfortable when we feed him just so he will stay awake and eat. We are trying to keep him on a schedule and feed him every 3 hours, except at night and if it has been 3 hours and he hasn't woke up on his own to eat then we just let him sleep. Laura gave me a book called Baby Wise, about getting your baby to sleep through the night and we are going to try to follow it and see if it works! I hope so, if we could just eliminate the 3am feeding I would be a happy mommy! He is eating 2 ounces every three hours so we are going through the formula and diapers! We will probably start feeding him more next week.

I am finding it difficult to find clothes to fit our little guy! Preemie stuff is too small and newborn sizes are too large. This outfit is Carter's newborn and the length is perfect. . .it's just way too large in the waist! If he could stand up they would fall right off.  He is so long and skinny!

Funny Faces

This past weekend was pretty busy. Friday afternoon Jarrod and I both went to get our hair cut. I had not had my hair done in 2 months!! Jarrod's fam came so we could have a birthday dinner for Jarrod's dad that night so they kept Stratton while we were gone. Then Saturday my mom and dad came and babysat for us so we could go out to eat and to the mall. . .ah, the mall! Wow, have I missed shopping!! We ate at Lazzari's for the first time in almost 2 months, I am sure that is the longest we have ever gone without eating there in the almost 9 years we've been together.  It was so nice to get out of the house. Sunday afternoon I had a shower at church at HR so we ate lunch at Grandma's and Stratton got to to take his first trip to HR and grandma and grandpa's house. I had a great shower, I got tons of stuff! I was most excited about the video monitor my mom and dad got us and the play yard (pack and play) that the hostess went together and got us! {I will try to post some pics from the shower as soon as I get them from my mom.}

William "Stratton" Staggs

Our little guy was born on July 12th at 7:01 A.M. He weighed 6 pounds and 10 ounces and was 21 inches long!! I need to really give ya'll the scoop on what all has been happening with us, but who has the time!! Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks. . .

Stratton in the NICU

  

July 12th~ the first time I got to visit the NICU (this was about 10 hours after the c-section)

 

July 14th~the first time I got to feed him

  

Proud Dadddy!

 

Seriously, he's the cutest baby ever, right?

July 20th ~ before we got discharged, sporting his favorite outfit!

 

July 21st~ Good Morning! After our first night at home

 

July 22nd~ supper time!

He Finally Made His Arrival

Well after 4 hours of pushing and and a trip to the O.R. later we finally had our little bundle of joy come into this world Sunday at 7:01 A.M.. It all started about 6:30 Friday night as we sat down to eat supper, not one bite into it Christina stands up and says uh I think we need to go to the hospital I think my water just broke  and sure enough it had. We headed to the hospital where we were sent to triage on the Labor and Delivery floor AKA "The Closet". That's how small it was. After a two hour stint in there we were finally admitted. They started to induce about 6:30 Saturday morning because with her membranes ruptured things were not progressing as quickly as they liked. Well two epidurals later and a whole lot of pain and pushing from 1AM to 6AM the doctor decided that was enough and with the way his head was turned they needed to get him out of there. She was then wheeled to the O.R. to be prepped for surgery. Just over an hour later a 6lb 10oz baby boy made the trip across the O.R.. They were both then moved to recovery for about 2 hours. Christina was then moved to a regular postpartum room and we thought Stratton was going to get to come with us but when his first blood tests came back his sugar was 25 and they wanted it to be higher than 50 so he was moved down to the NICU. Considering we never really thought he was going to be that big and this was his only problem we were still happy even though he couldn't stay with us. Christina is progressing along fairly well she is extremely sore and tired since she basically had him both ways. I have never seen someone exert so much energy in that amount of time i am extremely proud of her. Stratton seems to be coming along well to his billirubin levels have came up and he has been put under the billilight for jaundice which is basically just a blue light. Hopefully if things go well and progress we might be able to get to come home by the weekend. Thanks for all the prayers,cards,calls and visits through this whole ordeal we couldn't have done it without y'all. I'm sure I have left out something, which I'm sure the new greatest mommy in the world will fill you in on later, but just wanted to update everyone. Jarrod

Doctor appointment at the UAMS clinic

We saw a really great nurse practitioner at the UAMS women's clinic this afternoon. I actually liked her better than any of the doctors I have seen so far! When we got to the clinic we had to fill out some paperwork and it wasn't too bad. I was nervous since they said to be ready for it to last several hours, but we were in and out within about an hour. I have lost about 5 lbs in the past few weeks, I think it's due to the diet I am on for my gestational diabetes. They did put me on the monitors for about 20 mins and it just so happens Stratton got the hiccups during that time. . .pretty funny. . .anyway they did see some small contractions, nothing to be too worried about though. Stratton looks great. His heartbeat is strong and from what they can tell he looks just perfect. When the NP came in she wasn't going to examine me at first (seeing as how that itself can bring on labor) but when I told her how much pain and discomfort I have been in the last couple of days, she decided to go ahead. It's scary since I can't feel any "contractions" I hate to think that I might be in labor and not know until it's too late! She checked me and luckily I haven't changed in the past week. She was shocked how thin my cervix is and how low the baby is. She said it was remarkable and just couldn't believe that I have gone this long (not me, that's just answered prayers!). She also wasn't very optimistic that I would last much longer. In her opinion we will be very lucky to make it to 35 weeks, but we will see. She was the first one to actually give me some props for hanging in there so long, which was nice. It seems like all the doctors I have seen think it's no big deal to be in constant pain and discomfort while staying in bed all day!! She also gave me a better idea of what to look for as far as "labor symptoms" since my situation is really different than most pregnancies. She was going to let us get away with not having another appointment till next Friday the 17th (hopefully, the day we get to go home!) but after checking me, she said it made her nervous to let me go that long without seeing a doctor. So I have another regular appointment scheduled for next Monday and then next Friday they will see me and if they think I am the same they will release me. However, at that point they have to make contact with my Dr.and the hospital in Jonesboro and make sure they will take me back at that point. If they say yes, we get to go home! If they say not yet, well we will have to stay here a little longer. It's nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel. . .whether it be going home next week or going into labor! At this point I don't want to deliver a preemie baby, but boy am I getting tired of being in pain and having to be on bedrest with a babysitter all the time! After the appointment we grabbed a bite to eat at El Porton. . .the restaurant, I got to eat in a restaurant!!! The food was alright, but I was so happy to get out for awhile!!