What Smells?

I am grateful that quite a few of my closest (in heart, not necessarily distance) girlfriends had babies this fall/winter.  I call Jackie when I want advice on how to handle two kids close in age and call Erica to vent about how difficult these first weeks can be.  All of us had boys, so we exchange boy stories.  It's like college all over again.  Haha.

On one call to Erica she mentioned how horrible RJ's umbilical cord smelled.  I commented back that I didn't notice Braylen's smelling.  Her reply, "it is rotting human flesh after all".  I was totally turned off by this comment, but she's right.  After that call I smelled nothing BUT his flesh rotting.  It was Funk with a capital F!  We used rubbing alcohol on Evie's which kept down the stench I guess.  This time we let the air do its job.

Braylen gave us a Christmas present- his cord fell off!  11 days, not bad.  About 4 days of me wanting to yak at the odor.

I gave Braylen two sponge baths over those 11 days.  He had his first bath tonight as an umbilical free man!  He was unsure at first then calmly looked around.  We have him in the sink for now.  Bath time has been the only time I've noticed Evie acting a little strange.  She usually loves to be in the bath.  Now she stands and looks over at baby.  It's like she doesn't want him sharing her special time with us.

Peaceful little boy in his first bath!

Braylen's sister around 1 month old.  Talk about the same shot.
Do they look like siblings??

He's going to outgrow the Puj tub quickly!

Almost a White Christmas

I was a little consumed with other things the last few days (imagine that?!) that Christmas snuck up on me.  Luckily we had some afternoon snow on Christmas Eve to get me back into the spirit of the holiday.  Evie went down for a nap at 1 and woke up to a dusting of snow on the grass.  She was so excited to go outside and check it out.

My goal for Christmas Eve was to make it to the 6 PM service at church.  We started showers and packing diaper bags at 2 PM in preparation for our first major outing with both kids.  It was a Christmas miracle that we were out the door at 515 PM as planned!  The weather was crummy at this point with the snow changing to sleet.  There was no nursery at church, so Evie was with us.  Luckily we sat with our friends Amy, Tim, and TJ who were fine with our antsy child.  Evie behaved pretty well considering she is not used to sitting in church with us.  Braylen was not as happy to be in his covered car seat.  I hung in the "quiet room" with him for most of the service.  Oh well, I made it back into the service to sing "Silent Night" with LED candles. 

We had a snack of pretzels and milk under the tree in our PJs when we got back from church.  Daddy read Evie The Polar Express and tucked her into bed. 

We woke up Christmas morning, leisurely ate breakfast, opened a few gifts, and sat around in our PJs until nap time.  It was glorious.  Evie was thrilled with her kitchen and other gifts from us.  I'm glad we kept it simple this year since Grandmom arrived with a car full of presents for all of us. 

After her 3 hour nap (of course it was long the day we wanted to get over to Auntie Laura's...), we packed in the Audi (I'm glad I have thin hips to fit in between the carseats) and headed to the Hettinger's for Christmas dinner.

Auntie Laura is a great host and Uncle Sam makes a mean Prime Rib.  The table looked amazing and the meal was planned perfectly (except for the oil splatter in the oven that set off the smoke alarm for what felt like hours).  The cousins were overwhelmed with all the gifts and were eager to play with each other's toys.  It was chaotic and heart warming all at the same time. 

For just having a baby 11 days earlier, our holiday was fabulous.  We were able to get to church, spend time with our family, and I didn't have to do a darn thing for the meal! 

Christmas 2012

Settling In

We have officially been home a week and it took me a week to have time to sit down and give you an update!  This post might get cut short if someone beckons for me sooner than I expect.

So how are we??

Braylen is sleeping, eating, and growing!  He visited the pediatrician on Monday.  He weighed in at 6 lbs, 7 oz, which was his discharge weight.  It seemed like he bottomed out and was ready to beef up from this weight.  At his follow up appointment on Friday he weighed 7 lbs, 3 oz!  After having a baby with serious weight gain issues, I have anxiety about every weigh in for my children.  I'll take Braylen exceeding his birth weight in a week.  We won't go back until 1 month.  If we don't return to the pediatrician until then, I'll be shocked.  I think he already caught my cold... winter babies are rough!

Braylen likes to sleep a lot.  I have to wake him for most feeds.  We get up 3 times a night to tend to his needs.  I'm getting used to having a boy.  I think I made it a week without a pee incident.  Now they seem to happen two times a day.  Yesterday he wore the same outfit ALL day!  Hopefully his chicken legs will continue to bulk up and keep the diaper tighter around his legs minimizing side leakage. 

Winter babies might be tough for the fear of the flu, but it is so nice to snuggle up with him on these chilly days and nights!

Evie is adjusting quite well to her baby brother.  I'm pretty sure she didn't miss us at all while we were in the hospital.  She had G and Poppop wrapped around her finger.  G and Poppop stayed with us until Wednesday, giving most of their attention to Evie and preparing meals for the crew.  Evie's eyes lit up when she saw G and Poppop throughout the day.  She adores them.  Thank you G and Poppop for going beyond the call of grandparent duty for 6 days!

Once G and Poppop left, it was just the 4 of us.  Evie quickly re acclimated back to our rules (Grandparents always let some of those slip).  One of the main things we had to break was Evie wanting to be picked up and carried up/down the stairs.  After leaving her crying at the top of the stairs once or twice, she figured it out.  Now she doesn't even ask to be picked up.  Her behavior gets a little iffy in the evenings.  She is used to going out on more daily adventures than we are doing right now, so rightly so.  Christmas cannot get here fast enough; her kitchen will be a big distraction!

Evie asks to see "baby" and likes to pat his back.  She has taken a big interest in her babies and mimic ks what we do with Braylen.  She hasn't tried to breast feed... yet.  I haven't noticed any signs of jealous or anger towards him.  So far, so good!

Parker is on dog vacation until Christmas.  He has his nose in every one's business.  I am so thankful we have a crate trained dog.  He might be chillin' in there quite a bit the next few months until I can get some order in this house.  Overall he is starved for attention. 

I have healed very quickly and am feeling great post delivery.  Braylen is sucking away my stomach quickly.  I pulled out a few of my normal tops in hopes of wearing some "new" things very soon.  These first few weeks are draining and it's hard to find time to eat when I have two other mouths to feed.  I also dislike the nastiness of this time- night sweats, pee and poop all over the place, boob juice leaking, snot, spit up... ugh.  I shower every day, but average about 3 shirts at night.  Laundry is taking over the house!  My sugars have leveled out after being out of control at the hospital.  I am so thankful for our church community bringing meals with ample leftovers.  I am staying a float!

Jason worked on Tuesday and Wednesday and is off until Christmas.  2 adults with 2 kids is manageable.  I wish he didn't have to go back to work!  Jason is mainly in charge of Evie.  I was free to put Evie down to bed last night and she requested Daddy instead.   I'm thankful Jason had a set bedtime routine with Evie.  The two of them are best buds right now.  Jason helps out with Braylen's diaper changes and snuggles him at night when I want a break. 

Phew, I made it without an interruption!  Thanks for checking the blog.  I will post as often as my children allow me :)

Week 1 with Braylen

Labor and Delivery- part 2

** If you don't want to hear all about my uterus and other girl parts, stop reading and just check out the pictures at the bottom.  This is a record for me and all my girlfriends that want the details of the main event*

As you might recall, this was my second trip to L & D with Braylen.  He gave us a little scare at 24 weeks.  I had to laugh that I was so worried he would come early as I was going on my 24th hour of Pitocin with no dilation changes.  Always expect the unexpected

As I did with Evie, here are the details of Braylen's arrival.  We read back over Evie's as we were hanging out.  It was interesting the compare the two.  I like to have it documented in case I somehow decide I can go through another pregnancy as a diabetic!

We arrived at Howard County General Hospital at 8 am for induction.  We had a super nice nurse, Aimee, who got us settled in.  I told her my IV issues last time.  She was very sweet to give me a numbing agent as she tried over and over to get the IV in.  My veins like to roll.  I was anxious about getting it in and although I couldn't feel it, I got very close to passing out.  So we had to stop while my blood pressure tanked and they settled me back down.  My IV ended up being up higher up in my forearm.  Check.

I saw Dr. Means at 9:40 am.  I was only about 2-3 cm dilated.  She instructed me to stop "pit".  Her goal was  a 3:30/4 delivery.  I would not see her again except in the hallway.  Totally unimpressed with her.  24 hour shift and I saw her ONCE!

The Pitocin didn't give me painful contractions for a while.  My back pain was the biggest issue.  Braylen was most likely sunny side up (his face looking at my belly meaning the hardest part of his head was against my spine).  I tried all kinds of positions to alleviate my pain and hopefully get him to turn.  I sat on the birthing ball, stood/swayed at the bed with my head on pillows, rocked in the chair, lots of lower back massages by Jason, and slow dancing with Jason.  We played cards, watched a little TV, read, blogged, and watched the clock tick away.

By 6:15 PM I was up to 26 units of Pitocin with no dilation changes.  30 is the max for Pitocin.  The Pitocin was turned off at 6:15 PM to give my body a rest and allow me to do some walking, showering, and EAT!  I was very discouraged by the lack of progress after 8 hours of moderate to strong contractions.  I had to remind myself that we were forcing something to happen that shouldn't start until 40 weeks.   After a a long cry, face wash, food, and some laps around the unit, I felt a little more normal.  Too bad we were starting over again at 9 PM.

Back on Pitocin at 9 PM, back down to 2 units, increasing 2 units every 20 minutes.  By this time I was exhausted.  I gave up on trying to get Braylen to turn and rested in bed.  I lost the mucous plug around 10:30 pm giving me slight hope I would have him sometime this month.  The pain wasn't too bad, but the thought of contractions all night and no sleep sounded unhealthy.  I asked for some Nubain to take the edge off around 2 AM.

Wow!  The room started spinning and I felt totally out of it.  The only thing I could do was sleep!  I didn't sleep amazing- my heart was racing, Braylen was doing somersaults (I think he turned the right way! No back pain on Friday), and I was seriously paranoid I was dying.  I did not like the way I felt.  I woke up at 7:30 AM feeling light headed and ready to barf.  Pretty much what you feel like after a night of too much alcohol!

Dr. Sun was the OB working on Friday.  I saw her THREE times before noon!  Imagine that?!  Around 11 AM she said I was getting close to 4 cm and would break my water.  All along we were asking if breaking my water was a good way to get things moving.  Braylen's head wasn't far enough down to safely break my water for a long time.  If they break too soon, the cord could fall before the head settles in making a life threatening situation.  I told her I wanted to wait a little longer.  About 20 minutes later, I heard and felt a pop.  Water broke on its own around 11:30 pm.

At this point the contractions were coming very fast and strong.  After 26 hours, time for the epidural.  By 12:15 pm I was not feeling anything.  I was really numb this time.  Actually, too much for my comfort level. I was told I would feel pressure.  I felt nothing. I slept on and off.  Braylen's heart rate was dropping a little so they put me on oxygen.  I started to get uneasy.  I was shaking and crying.  Dr. Sun checked me around 2:30 pm and was shocked to see the head very, very low.  I had no idea Braylen was so close!  The epidural was way too strong!

Our nurse, Mimi, was awesome.  Dr. Sun needed to check on another patient and told Mimi to have me start pushing.  Mimi refused since she was pretty sure Braylen was coming out in 1 push.  She was right.  I pushed two times and he was out.  My whole lower body was a big marshmallow.  Luckily I had pushing experience and people telling me when to push or I would have not known what to do.

Longest induction ever and finally some silver lining on a long, long pregnancy!  And zero damage to my nether region!  Thanks Braylen!!

I got to hold him right away.  I also got some skin to skin time with him and tried nursing.  All my fears about delivering again at HCGH were for not.  Everything was so much better.  After 30 minutes with us, Braylen went to the nursery for heel sticks and other stuff.  No formula needed!

I loved our nurses (Aimee and Mimi).  I made Dr. sun's job super easy.  I liked her much better than Dr. means.  All in all, a great experience despite being there for 2 days.

I recovered amazingly fast this time.  I was up and walking by Saturday morning.  I didn't need any help from Jason in the bathroom this time :)  Again, finally something going right for me! 

We were discharged around 12:45 PM on Sunday!

Hospital Stay

It's a BOY!!!

Welcome to the world Braylen Thomas Hollencamp!

Born December 14, 2012 at 2:59 PM after two pushes!

6 lbs. 15 oz.  20 inches.

Thank you epidural for making this a super easy delivery.  I had no clue I was ready to push.  God hooked me up!

Why Braylen?

We have been holding this name since the 2010-2011 football season.  If Evie was a boy, this would have been the name.  We liked this name when we heard Braylon Edwards' name mentioned while watching football.  I don't even know his current team... actually, he doesn't have a team.  My bad, I guess my hint was not true!  I just like his name, with a slightly different spelling. 

Why Thomas?

Who doesn't have Thomas in their name in Jason's family??  First, Jason's middle name is Thomas.  Jason's mom's maiden name is Thomas.  Jason's dad's middle name is Thomas and prefers to be called Tom.  Ironically, Jason's sister married Matt Thomas.  We felt like it was the thing to do and it sounds good with Braylen. 

We will post pictures as soon as we can!

A Nice Even Number

I can see there are many people checking obsessively to read some news.  I wish I had better news this morning for you.  No baby yet.  I am not at 4 cm, which is the magic number to really hit active labor.  Things should move faster then.

After close to 24 hours of pitocin, I have to find some positives and humor to share with you.  At around 1:30 AM, I asked for Nubain to ease my discomfort.  The nurse said it would take the edge off and give a buzz like 1 glass of wine.  I instantly relived a 1:30 AM return from the bar/Wibs in my college days.  The room was spinning and I felt drunk as anything.   Wine buzz?  I was trashed!  I had a drunk sleep from about 2-7:30 am.  Jason got some rest too.

Dr. Sun is on today.  She will probably break my water next.

I am glad H2 will have a nice even number as his/her birthday.  12.14.12 feels better than 12.13.12 to me.  Back me up someone about this.  Jason thinks I am crazy.

I can't get out of bed yet.  I am really nauseous.  Oh childbirth, you challenge this mama.  Thank you for your words of encouragement.  I have lots of downtime to read your comments.

Evie is having a ball with G.  She enjoyed her sleepover with her cousins too.  I miss my little girl, but am relieved my family is keeping her so happy.  Parker and Evie are off to Lancaster today for a quick overnight at G and Poppop's house.  Everyone will be back tomorrow.  A shout out to Jess for bringing Jason lunch yesterday.

C'mon H2!

It's a .....

Really stubborn baby!

After 8 hours on pitocin, they turned it off.  The baby is not moving down.  I am having very sharp back pain due to the baby's head pressing against my spine.  I haven't dilated anymore.

Needless to say, I am an emotional wreck and am cursing all of you who told me 2nd deliveries were faster and easier.  It sounds like it's going to be a long night and hard delivery based on the baby's position.

Jason just left to get us dinner.  I am glad I can eat!  We'll relax for a little then go back on pitocin and try again in a few hours.

It looks like H2 wants to share Uncle Matt's birthday of Dec 14.

Totally bummed and frustrated.  Stop praying for a speedy delivery and start praying for my sanity.