1 Month

I actually started this post last week, but it's been crazy!!  I feel like every day is sleep (haha...I wish!), change, feed, pump, eat, play with my other kid, try to squeeze in some hubby time in our (only) hour and a half together in the evening, shower, repeat.  I'm literally having trouble keeping up with my days.  Remember the movie Groundhog Day?  ;)  Kind of reminds me of that.  Luckily, I know the feeds will eventually space out some, he will sleep through the night someday, etc.  Wouldn't change any of it for the world, but wow--I think you kind of block this part out after you have your first kid.

Well, I can't believe it, but in the chaos after we got home from the hospital, I totally didn't think to take a newborn picture in Carter's chair.  Too late now...but it would have been nice to compare and see how he's grown.  So far he's gained exactly a pound from his original birth weight and grew three inches (something tells me they didn't measure so accurately at the hospital, lol).  Here's our little guy:

But a more accurate picture of how the last week has been would be:

Carter has had feeding issues and latching issues since day one, but it's just gotten increasingly worse.  I am determined to give him the best start I can with breast milk, but wow.  I was hoping that since Reid was seriously hard to feed, this one would be easy.  Wrong!  I won't bore you with the details, but this poor little guy has gotten fussier and fussier...pulling up his legs, screaming after feeds, horrible gas (even with copious amounts of simethicone), and starting last week he began spitting up.  Don't get me wrong--all babies spit up, but this is not normal.  He seems to be in pain and screams/cries, especially at feeding times, yet he's seriously hungry.  But he's gone from eating about 3oz on most feeds to barely finishing 1oz at a time (which takes an hour to wrestle down)...which is scary.  He also no longer sleeps much.  So I couldn't wait for our one month check up to see what was going on.  Turns out he most likely has GERD, so we began baby Zantac on Wednesday afternoon.  It has been heart-wrenching to watch my little baby writhe around in pain and wake up screaming repeatedly (if he even gets to sleep at all).  But it also makes me realize there are sooooo many other babies out there who have way more problems than acid reflux, so we are sure hoping that's all it is and praying that the Zantac works for him!  He's only been on it since last Wednesday afternoon, so it hasn't quite been a week.  I think he generally sleeps a bit better (he was waking up screaming multiple times a night and virtually didn't nap longer than 10 minutes during the day), at the very least, so that's something.  I thought giving him the medicine wouldn't be so bad after the first few days were pretty much a breeze, but he's since figured out how to spit it out.  ALL of it.  So I'm getting little tips here and there in hopes that I'll be able to get a full dose in his tummy once again!  We covet your prayers for this little guy, and for us so that we'll learn what helps him (and what does not!). 

As March comes to an end, we had some fun pictures I wanted to be sure to share.  Carter's first St. Patty's Day was pretty sublime.  I realized he's exactly a size or two off from all of Reid's cute holiday outfits.  At least I found a bib and this cute hat!  I offered Reid green eggs and/or ham...no takers.  Maybe next year.

  

Papa and Mamare (sorry about the different spellings, Mamare--I've got it, now :)  came up to watch H3 while Uncle Steve and Taunt went to New Orleans for a wedding.  On Friday after a marathon of dropping off the H's in their respective schools, they came to say hi and see how Carter was doing.  I felt bad because he screamed most of the time, but I sure enjoyed the adult company during the day!  How cute is this picture??

We went to see Papa and Mamare one more time before they left town.  On Sunday after church, we swung by to visit.  Reid was in heaven with three cousins to play with and their "awesome" toys (his words!).  I'm thankful Mamare thought to get a picture of all the boys...so cute!  It did occur to me how funny it was, too...four adults, all with their phone cameras, making cheesy faces and insisting the five little people smile.  They were such good sports.

And this one really cracked me up because no one was looking in the same direction...and Hayden was the only one actually listening and saying cheese ;)

 

We really do get this guy to sleep sometimes.  He would prefer to sleep ON me all the time if it were up to him.  He passes out when he does that.  But Mommy has a few things that require both hands (as in, everything!!) and I'm slowly figuring out what he needs to sleep for an extended period of time.  He seems to hate when I swaddle him, but he sleeps so much better. 

He also grunts and moves around way more than I remember Reid doing.  I read a ton of literature online (only from reputable sites, of course) and apparently that's pretty common with reflux babies.  In retrospect, I kind of wonder if Reid had a mild case of silent reflux when he was really little.  He fit the description of a lot of that, but rarely spit up so we wouldn't have known.  Here's how Carter will start off at night in his bassinet (pic below): pj's, Snuggle Me swaddle blanket with velcro (think baby straight jacket, lol!), then a big, light swaddle blanket on top.  But by the next feeding, he's worked himself down the slope in the bassinet (it's angled up now to help the reflux), unswaddled the exterior blanket, and worked his arms out of the bottom of the Snuggle Me, and isn't happy that he's not warm for some reason.

And in some of the most exciting firsts, we are officially getting smiles!!  This is the best picture I've gotten so far, but we've gotten some great gummers.  There's nothing more gratifying than your baby sending the "I love you, too!" message in between the fussy moments.  Melts my heart.  It's like baby crack...you just can't get enough!  Can't wait to see more!

Three Weeks, Already?

I know I keep using the word "blur," but seriously...where has the time gone??  The past three weeks have definitely been that...a blur.  I guess part of it is the severe sleep deprivation, part is having a baby attached to you for over half the day for feedings, and the rest ???  It's taken some adjustment, mainly in attempting to get the timing right when getting everyone fed/bathed/asleep in the evenings.   I know we'll settle into some kind of routine eventually, but for now I'm just enjoying being a stay at home mommy with this little guy!!  It is a little bit sad...he's already growing up so fast and it's only been three weeks.  Reid suddenly seems like a giant, too.  Not sure how that happened!

My first solo outing was to my doctor appointment, then Carter's.  I won't lie...  I was really nervous about the timing, my first driving in two weeks, and getting Reid dropped off.  I am soooo thankful Holli could watch Reid that day (and bless her--it was the first day of Spring Break).  I was already dragging because I ended up with an awful stomach bug (food poisoning?) all Saturday night.  I was scared to eat much on Sunday, but kept soup and crackers down and began feeling better that evening. On Monday, I started off two hours before I knew we'd have to leave...and that wasn't nearly enough time!  I got up and fed Carter, then got Reid up to eat breakfast, dress, brush teeth, etc.  I ate somewhere in there and began putting on makeup and getting myself and Carter dressed, but then I had to run over to Holli's and drop Reid off.  Ran back home to finish makeup and grab a few things, then raced to Baylor Frisco for my own post-partem appt.  I almost got there on time...but I forgot how long it takes to get the carseat out of the car, set up the stroller, find the elevator instead of the stairs...so we were three minutes late.  Lesson learned and we'll start even earlier next time!  Dr. Gaitonde is my wonderful doctor and I realized I didn't really get an official pic of him holding Carter after the O.R. 

Dr. Gaitonde is also an Aggie, so Carter wore a special outfit just for him.  Then, we were off to nurse in the car, drive through to grab some food, and wolf it down on the way to Carter's pediatrician appt.

Back at home, Reid has wanted to hold baby Carter and help feed him.  I am really, really hoping this love continues.  I honestly expected the, "Can we take him back to the hospital??" question to come up by now!

Since I am often indisposed, Daddy has had to be in charge of Reid quite often.  He's been so good about playing cars/plans with Reid, taking him to the park, taking him to church, etc.  And goodness knows, I've needed help picking up, cooking, etc.  But no complaints from this wonderful man!! :)  I know he's tired and sleep deprived, too!  Reid insisted Daddy be his couch when they watched Planes one day.

The weather has been nice some days.  I let Reid play in the sandbox and ba
 ckyard a couple of days last week because it was gorgeous.  I soaked up some rays, too, while Carter tried out the swing indoors.  Other days have been super cold and dreary again, so this wild one has been getting away with a little more craziness indoors, like running laps around the kitchen (normally we have a "no running in the house" rule, but when you've been cooped up inside for days, who can blame him for wanting to get some energy out?).

Baby brother is having more alert moments (most of which involve crying, but we love the quiet alert moments!).  Reid thinks Carter watches EVERYthing he does, which is pretty cute.

More snuggle time with Carter!  He insisted that all of them fit onto the brown recliner...and wanted me to join them, too.  Pretty sure I wouldn't fit!

Dixie has adjusted well, too.  She didn't really seem to notice Carter much the first few days because Grammy and Grumpy brought her a treat...  The Cat's Meow toy has been quite a hit.  I literally haven't seen her move so fast in years!  She has now figured out how to "kill" it and pull the little red thing, along with the stick it's attached to, off of the entire thing and drag it around the house.  And thankfully, Reid enjoys turning it on for her, thanks to the fun foot switch.  Maybe this will work off some pounds, but I doubt it.  She's twice the weight of Carter, lol!!

I can already tell he's not going to be in newborn outfits much longer, and I find myself putting him in the same adorable ones over and over.  Reid only got to wear these adorable monkey pj's once or twice.

Carter has lots of new ones, too, including a bunch of short sleeved adorable onesies.  It hasn't been warm enough to wear those yet, but I'm hoping he can soon!  In the meantime, I put him in this cute one just about every other day.  Who can resist "Mommy's Little Man" on the front, with an elephant on the bootie?

Someone has also become a little Houdini at working himself out of the swaddle at nighttime.  I pulled out a Swaddle Me blanket (the ones with velcro, so you can really swaddle them!) for night, then put one more on top to make sure he's warm enough.  

 We've already had lots of "firsts" for Carter, too.  My team leader from school, Jill, brought baby Jack over last week so we could catch up.  With all the sickness at our house the month before Carter was born, I never got to meet Jack...and he's now eight weeks old!  It was fun to compare notes about our kiddos and finally get to hear her birth story.  Motherhood is a pretty amazing thing, and everyone's birth stories are fascinating to me.  Jack and Carter (who, in true form, is attempting to eat...again...Can't keep this kid filled up!):

Another first was taking his immersion bath.  I'd been giving him sponge baths until his circumcision site had healed completely, and it felt so good to get ALL of him nice and clean.  Seems a lot warmer than a sponge bath, too.  Carter didn't seem to like or dislike it, which was interesting because Reid had screamed and screamed when he got his first real bath.

 

It's just hard to believe that he's already three weeks old today.  More than anything, I'm so happy that he's healthy and growing.  But it is slightly bittersweet, knowing he'll be our last baby and seeing how fast it's already going.  As much as I am determined to try and document everything, take pictures and video, and make sure he has stuff to look back on one day (maybe when he has his own kids), I see how much harder it is with two.  We love being a family of four and are so thankful for this little guy!!

Hospital Stay

The hospital stay was a blur of nurses, doctors, pain, and very little rest/sleep.  I honestly thought this go 'round would kind of be a "breeze" since we knew what to expect...and since I was on my feet, showering, putting on makeup, etc. by day two with Reid.  Not so... It was extremely painful and frustrating this time.  There seemed to be zero "down time."   But as each day goes by, I block out more of the negative and am even that much more thankful for the positive.  No wonder we never take pictures of the bad stuff--we don't want to remember that part!

 

 

We loved our visitors in the hospital (and thankfully, they came on day one, when I felt great since the epidural was still in!) and couldn't wait for everyone to meet Carter.

Aunt Lala (I know one of these days, I'll have to actually say Aunt Laura, but I love how Reid calls her Lala!) and the Frenches were waiting in the lobby and were our first visitors once we were finally wheeled into our permanent room.  Meeting Aunt Lala for the first time:

Then Mamere...

Aunt Kristen...

And Papa!

This little guy slept through it all.  No one was quite sure what color his eyes were (and even now...not positive!  They seem to be a dark steel grey with a little bit of green in them...but I guess we'll see!)

Three generations of fine French men!

The French side of the family...  They were so sweet to come up on Sunday so they could be ready for "D day" and drove back soon after meeting the newest French.  So glad they could come!!

I had really great nurses the entire stay, but I think my favorites were on the first day.  Here's my nurse (who had taught a class we took when I was pregnant with Reid, then the Big Siblings class we took Reid to in February) and Carter's nurse (who we had twice!).

When Laura dropped Reid off at Holli's that morning, she told him that he'd get to meet baby brother after nap time.  As she was leaving, he was telling Holli, "I can't wait to take a nap!"  (words we'd never normally hear, lol!)  That afternoon, it was Reid's first time to meet baby brother.  I was really, really nervous about how he would react when he saw me holding Carter because for years, anytime another kid hugs me (or if I hold a baby), he gets very jealous and says, "No!!!  That's MY Mommy!"  Not that you'd be able to tell he loved me normally, lol, because for the first 3 years of his life, I kind of wondered if he even liked me ;)  But he handled it beautifully and surprisingly, he was most concerned about when I was coming home from the hospital, not that we had a new member of the family.  Oddly enough, I think his attachment to me grew a lot last month when Jason had the flu and we couldn't be around him.  Each of the nurses had their own advice as to what was the best way to introduce baby brother:  have the baby in the bassinet so it's not threatening, have Daddy holding the baby, etc.  But when it came time for him to arrive, I was already holding Carter (Oops! The one thing they didn't recommend...)  Surprisingly, Reid did great!!

And one of my very favorite pictures of the entire week...

 

On Wednesday, my folks came up from Houston.  They coordinated plans with Laura so that Grumpy could ride home with her on Thursday, keeping them from having two cars here unnecessarily.  Grammy meeting Carter for the first time:

Grammy also got Laura to show her the ropes around our house.  Laura had come up on Sunday and was a tremendous help in getting Reid to Holli's, to school, and staying with me at the hospital for a little sister time while Jason took Reid to "Desserts with Dad" at his preschool on Tuesday night.  This, of course, is Jason's busiest time of the year, so having help here enabled him to work two days that week so that he wasn't swamped the following Monday.  Even on his days "off," he's never really off and continues to get phone calls, meeting appointments, etc. so this really was ideal.  Plus, it gave Laura and me the chance for some good sister time!  It meant the world to me that she took over half a week away from her own kids to come hang out and be there when Carter was born.  :) 

Here's a cute photo of the Shepherd side of the family...

Meeting Grumpy for the first time...

And having a little fun on Mommy's bed "that goes up and down!"  He was (once again) enthralled by the balloons they'd brought on day one.  He tangled his Dusty Crophopper plane in all the curly ribbon "so that Dusty can fly!" (with the mylar balloon)

Carter also got his first test while in the hospital...the newborn hearing screener.  He passed-whew!

And I love this picture because you can see the crib decoration Reid got to make for Carter at the Big Siblings class...  A picture of himself (decorated in crayon) with "I'm a Big Brother!" wording.

I know Jason was exhausted, working two full days and spending the others at the hospital/coming home.  You can see the fatigue in this one.  And of all days to be stuck in traffic, it happened to be the last night I was in the hospital--when we got our steak and lobster celebration dinner.  But it was still delicious, even lukewarm and eating one handed (Carter has a sixth sense about knowing when mealtimes are--not sure I've eaten any meals with two hands since he arrived!).

Our little cutie

Thursday arrived and checkout was a whirlwind.  My staples were removed, all the discharge paperwork was thrown at us, we packed everything, and it was time to bring our little man home.  Welcome to the world, Carter Graham French!!  We love you and can't wait to see what God has planned for your life!

"I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart ..." Jeremiah 1:5  (NLT)

 

Happy Birthday to Carter!!!

Carter's birth day arrived bright and early.  Jason and I got up around 4:45 and I was set to check in at the hospital at 5:30am.  They checked my vitals and attempted to put in my IV (on my left arm, they rolled and burst two veins...still have the ugly bruise to prove it) and finally put one in my right arm.  Fortunately, that was not indicative of how the day would go.  My doctor arrived at about 6:30 and checked in with us.  The waiting was probably the hardest part because I really started getting nervous when they wheeled me back!  I just kept praying...

Then, it was go time!  Eek!!  It was a different experience, going in knowing you'd have a c-section this time.  I actually walked to the O.R., hopped up onto the table, and then they gave me my epidural.  That probably freaked me out more than anything because I was worried it wouldn't kick in quickly enough.  Of course, the doctors and nurses all do this every day...so of course they know what they're doing!  Everyone was very nice and knowledgeable.  I loved the anesthesiologist practitioner (I think that was his title?) because he kept making sure I was indeed warm enough.  Last time, I shook violently the entire time (which worried me...would it affect the cutting, stitching, etc?) and they kept laying hot towels on me.  This time, they had a great little heater they put under the blanket that covered my upper body, so I was nice and toasty warm the whole time.  I think he was a little surprised that I never got too hot :) 

7:56am.  The first glimpse of Baby Carter! 

 I couldn't see anything but a curtain, but I could sure hear when he came out!  Boy...does this baby boy have a great set of lungs!  He had an initial gurgly cry, then "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"

His vitals all checked out nicely.

Big boy!  8 lbs., 3.7oz. and 19" long.  No wonder my ribs hurt that last month!!

First diaper.  Daddy lucked out and didn't have to put it on this time :)  

They did a few more things, put Carter's footprints on Daddy's scrub shirt, and Carter cried, cried, and cried some more.  Look at that pouty lip!

I swear he came out hungry.  Check out that tongue!  This kid has been an absolute chow hound from day one.  

Mommy's first glimpse!  Jason had been snapping pictures and keeping me posted up until this point, so I breathed a sigh of relief to find that he had all ten fingers and toes.  I got to kiss my newest little guy and was one happy Mommy.

3/4 of our family of four

I began the uncontrollable shaking the moment they turned off my heater, which made me giggle a bit.  I was scared I'd drop Carter because I was shaking so hard, so was quite relieved when they had Jason wheel Carter in the bassinet behind me.  Once in recovery, they attempted to bring my body temp back up with hot towels, but as soon as they handed me Carter, I quit.  The nurse said that usually calms down baby and Mommy. 

 After a couple of hours in recovery, we were wheeled down the hall to my room.  Happy Mommy, happy Daddy, happy baby! 

We are so excited for our 2/24/14 baby.  (Pretty cool date, huh?)  We thank the Lord that everything went smoothly and Carter is a healthy baby boy!!