Two Months and an Update

Collier is now 2 months old! His little personality is beginning to blossom and we are learning more and more about what our little guy likes and dislikes. I believe he is going to be our strong-willed child. He's already pretty set in his ways... for example, I'm been nursing exclusive, but occasionally, we'll give him a bottle (so I can get some sleep, etc.) Well he was doing fine taking a bottle every once in a while, until a few weeks ago... he REFUSED to take the bottle. I mean would cry and spit it out! This happened several times, however, one night, I had dinner plans with the girls and my mom and dad kept him. He took the bottle without any fight for my mom. A few days later, I tried to give him a bottle, and nope... wouldn't take it. So this became a battle of wills between the two of us... I was determined to get him to take a bottle from me! I tried on Monday and it took 45 minutes for him to take 3 ounces; I finally thought to hold him against my skin, like I'm nursing, and offer the bottle and to my surprise, it worked! So the following day, I offered the bottle again and he took it without any problems at all. Whitney - 1 Collier - 0

Now that we've gotten him well and his reflux is under control, for the most part he's a happy little boy. He smiles all the time and is making lots of cooing, lots of ohh's. He has even started making what we think is a little giggle. The best way to describe it is that it sounds like he's sucking in air. We were on the go so much at Christmas but Collier did GREAT! He loves his bouncy seat and will fall asleep in it, but doesn't really care for the swing, which surprises me because Noah LOVED his swing. He loves his passy and when it falls out, Ill find him sucking on his fist or thumb. He is always kicking his little legs in the air, especially his right leg... we joke that he looks like he is kick-starting a motorcycle.

Until mid-last week, Collier was still waking every 3 hours to eat. The night he turned 2 months, he slept almost 7 hours. The following 2 nights, he slept 7 1/2 hours. I was ecstatic with what I thought was going to be our new sleeping schedule. However, he's now going 5 hours (from around 8/8:30 - 1:00ish) and then is up every 3 hours following that to eat. He really spoiled me with the 7 1/2 hours of sleep but having a 5 hour stretch is much better than waking every 3 hours all night. He still isn't taking good daytime naps. He'll take a few 30 minute cat naps, but that's about it. We haven't had his 2 month well check yet, but I know he's weighing around 13lbs. He has recently began watching Noah and smiling at him. I'm really looking forward to how much he changes in the next month and watching them interact and play together!

The whole purpose of my blog was to record Noah's progress and I haven't really done that in a while. First of all, he's adjusted to Collier just fine. He really loves him and wants to hug and kiss on him all the time. I really have to keep an eye on him because he tries to touch his eyes, mouth, etc. Noah is no longer a "sympathy" cryer... being around Collier helped him get over that pretty quickly. He also is doing much better at school and at home playing with toys that make noises or are loud. In the past, they used to scare him and make him cry, but he enjoys them most of the time now. He's doing GREAT in his walker and can manuever it all over the place. He can now stand on his own for at least 5 minutes.

However, I'm not going to sugar-coat it...it's been hard caring for a special needs child and a baby. Alot harder than I would have imagined. Noah still isn't walking or talking, but he is cruising. On top of that, he's so tall, that he can reach and get into EVERYTHING. It's like having an almost 4 foot tall 9 month old. He gets into all my drawers and pulls things out; he can get anything off the counters in the bathroom or kitchen; he can reach the ice/water dispenser of the fridge and will press it, spilling water and ice all over the floor; he can touch the top of the stove and grab pots and pans so cooking is VERY challenging. Nothing is without reach of him. On top of that, he doesn't communicate so there is alot of crying on his part out of frustration. If I walk out of the den with Collier (to change a diaper, etc) he cries. I can tell him what I'm doing and that I'm coming right back, but he will still cry and crawl after me. My patience is tested daily... no more like, hourly! I KNOW he understands some of what I say because just this morning, he stood up in the recliner (which is a big no-no) and I told him that I was going to count to 3 and if he didn't sit down, he was getting a spanking. I counted to 3 and he sat down but started crying. I didn't even spank him! So that just showed me that he understands me but really tests me alot of the time.

I recently came to the realization after conversations with Jamie and my parents, as well as one of Noah's pediatricians, that he probably will always have some sort of delay and require special ed classes. For the longest time, I was convinced he would overcome everything and live a normal, productive life. Having yet to receive ANY diagnosis, I convinced myself this was possible. However, I now realize that may not be the case. All of our doctors have really sugar-coated things for me and been very vague whenever I've asked about his future. But finally his pediatrician was upfront with me... which I needed to hear and probably wasn't ready to hear until now. It took a couple of days of me mourning the news, but I'm okay with it now. I realize it's the path God has chosen for us and for Noah and I'm willing to walk that path He chose for us! I'm not lowering my expectations of Noah and I will always push him to do his very best. I do believe that he'll walk and I do believe he will begin communicating with us at some point. He may be different from others but this I know for sure... Noah is the most loving, sweetest little boy. He would never hurt a fly and he has the kindest heart!

Lastly, we will be going BACK to Birmingham in February for Noah to participate in Children's Hospital's Intensive Physical Therapy program again. All three of us! YIKES! Just like this time last year, we will be there for 3 weeks living with my aunt while he gets therapy 3 days a week for 3 hours each day. Since a parent has to stay there and participate while he's getting therapy (and Collier would make that difficult) Jamie will be taking off the latter part of each week and joining us. One of us will stay at my aunt's with Collier while the other parent goes to the hospital with Noah. Noah will be getting therapy on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Jamie will be there for the Thursday and Friday sessions but I will be on my own each Monday. Right now, we aren't sure what we will do with Collier during those Monday sessions. I may find a church (possibly my aunt's church) and put him in their day care... we'll see. Please pray for us during this time as it will be hard to be out of town, without my husband for 1/2 the week, with 3 year old and a 3 month old. Also, please pray for Noah's progress! I would love to bring him home walking!!

Winter Colds

Well, it didn't take long for Collier to catch his first sickness... 6 weeks to be exact. Last Monday evening, he developed a bit of a cough, hoarseness when he cried and lots of nasal congestion. That night, we didn't get a wink of sleep. Our poor guy felt terrible and there wasn't much I could do but hold and rock him. The following morning, I took him to the doctor where I was told that he was too young for any medicine (couldn't they have just told me that over the phone rather than have me come in and pay a $30 co-pay???). The only thing I could do was to use saline and suction his nose periodically. As you can imagine, the following days were rough on Collier... and on us. Not much sleep and a fussy fussy baby. Six days later, he still has a bad cough and lots of congestion. Thankfully, we've managed to keep Noah well, so far. With the exception of picking up Noah from school on Friday, we've spent the week indoors and out of the cold and windy weather.

To be honest, it's really been one thing after another for Collier these past 2 weeks. The week before he got sick, he had an entire day of non-stop crying and absolutely no nap. He was exhausted but every time I laid him down, he woke up screaming as though he was in pain. His poor little eyes were so red and swollen and he looked pitiful. I called my mom desperate for help and we both came to the conclusion that something was obviously bothering him. I took him to the doctor and he was diagnosed with reflux. He weighed 12lbs 12oz and was in the 97% for weight. After looking at his weight gain and talking about his recent behavior, Dr. Allen came to the conclusion that Collier is a very efficient nurser and was overeating causing him to have tummy pain and reflux. Collier was prescribed Zantac and I'm supposed to nurse him half the amount of time that I was nursing him. It took a couple of days for the Zantac to kick in and we finally had a happy, content baby... until he got sick with his cold 1 day later.

Hopefully, we are on the tail end of this cold. I hate seeing my little baby feel so cruddy. Not only that, but I'm ready for a decent night's sleep (as I'm sure Collier is too). After catching the cold on Monday, he had two nights of no sleep, but slept really well Wednesday night and Friday night. In fact Friday night, he almost made it 6 hours between a feeding. However, last night (Saturday night) he was up every 2 - 2 1/2 hours. And I think he may be going through a growth spurt because as of the past two days, he's been acting hungry every 2 hours or so. It's hard to do any Christmas shopping with a sick newborn and all of this cold weather! As much as I don't want to, I may have to resort to giving out a few gift cards to those left on our Christmas list!

**Please excuse my generic blog header/design... my laptop crashed and I'm borrowing my father-in-law's and don't have access to Photoshop. Also, please excuse the poor quality of these pictures... they were taken with my iPhone.


... sick baby boy ...


... this is what we do when we're bored inside, we watch tv upside down ...


... and play in boxes ...


... he may be sick, but he still gave me this huge grin ...

Thanksgiving Rap Up

Being that we are still in newborn baby mode, the holidays really snuck up on me. I feel like it should still be October rather than December 2. Thanksgiving has ALWAYS been my favorite holiday simply because there's less hustle and bustle (compared to Christmas) and it's the official start of the holiday season. I love that Thanksgiving is really about enjoying your family and all of the many blessings in your life. I also love having Jamie home during during the Thanksgiving break. We spent Collier's first Thanksgiving Day with Jamie's family, enjoying a delicious lunch at Deer Step Hunting Lodge. Deer Step is my sister-in-law's hunting lodge and it's located about 30 minutes outside of Florence. It's become somewhat of a tradition for us to have our Thanksgiving meal out there. Collier was perfect and didn't fuss at all while we were there and Noah, Eastlon, and Madelyn (Noah's cousins) had a good time running around and playing in the floor. However, the BEST part of that day was that Collier slept 5 hours that morning (or Wednesday night)from 12:40 - 5:30am... it was GLORIOUS! Jamie and I both woke up when he cried out at 5:30 and when we realized how long he had slept, we high-fived each other! It was awesome to get more than a couple of hours of sleep at one time and we felt very well rested for Thanksgiving Day.

The following day, my aunt Carol and my grandmother, Nonnie, came in town from Birmingham to spend the weekend with my family. They arrived just in time for us to all watch the Alabama/Auburn game at my parents house. Alabama dominated the first half, but to our disappointment, Auburn came back and beat us. Needless to say, Jamie was not a happy camper. I'm pretty sure he would have cried had we not been with all of my family. Since my sister had to work Friday and Saturday (gotta love retail), we had Thanksgiving with my family on Saturday evening, after she got off work, and it was delicious! My mom and aunt made Nonnie's dressing and it is by far, mine and Jamie's favorite. In fact, when Jamie and I were planning our wedding, I joked that I wanted Nonnie's dressing to be served at our reception! It definitely did not disappoint! This was Nonnie's first time meeting Collier and I made sure to get some sweet pictures of her holding him.

On Sunday, we took Collier to church for the first time since his arrival. We had intentions of going the week before, when he was 4 weeks, however, he decided to stay up that entire Saturday night, so we had a change of plans. However, this past Saturday night, he did much better so Jamie and I got both boys up and ready and actually made it on time for Sunday School. Trying to get two kids dressed, fed, and out the door by 9:30am is so chaotic! Once we got in the car, we both felt like we'd just gone through a hurricane! Collier did good in the nursery and Noah enjoyed being back in his class with his buddies. My mom teaches Noah's class so he always loves it!

We spent the rest of Sunday afternoon relaxing at my parent's house. My mom took over baby duty and let me take a much-needed, uninterrupted nap. And like all good things, our Thanksgiving weekend came to an end.

One Month Already?!

I can hardly believe that it's already been 1 month since our sweet little boy entered our lives! Collier has just started to interact a little more these past few days, other than eating, sleeping, and crying. He's begun smiling at us and what a precious smile it is! He has the same little dimple in his left cheek that his daddy and Noah both share. His little eyes are really checking out his surroundings and he's even began cooing at us. He still looks so much like Noah did as a newborn, however, with extra chub and fat rolls. I'm dying to know what he weighs, as I'm positive it's around 10 - 11 lbs already.

Noah is in love with his little brother and constantly wants to give him kisses and hugs. He loves to grab his little hand and just hold on... however, sometimes I have to remind him to be gentle. Noah hasn't shown any jealousy, however, he is very clingy towards me when Jamie's at work and just the three of us are at home. It makes for a challenge for sure, especially when I'm trying to tend to Collier.

Last week, I began implementing a Baby Wise schedule for Collier. Some days he does really well with it and other days are not as good. He still fights sleep alot during the day so it's hard to get him down for a nap at times. However, the BW schedule has helped to spread out his eating to every 3 hours, which has freed me up and is WONDERFUL compared to the eating every 2 hours that he was doing. Each night I go to bed praying that it will be a good one because we never know how he's going to do. Over the weekend, he was up all night and would only sleep if he was held. However, the past 2 nights were much better. He goes to bed after nursing around 10-10:30 and sleeps really peacefully until 1:30 - 2ish and wakes to eat. I LOVE that I'm getting a good 3 - 3 1/2 hours of sleep. However, after his first feeding, he never gets back into a good sleep. He'll doze off for an hour, wake up crying, and so on until it's time for him to eat again. I'm not sure why he can't get back into a good sleep after his first night time feeding, however, I'm hoping it'll change as he gets a little older. Last night, he went 4 1/2 hours between one feeding (from 10:15pm - 2:45am)... that was the longest he's ever gone and it was FABULOUS. Of course, he then was up almost every hour to hour and half following. I swaddle him at night and for naps, however, and he'll sleep really peacefully, but then he also gets hot, so I wonder if that's what wakes him? I'm still trying to figure out what he prefers.

Lastly, Noah has been doing really well with standing on his own. We'll stand him up and let go of his hands and he'll remain standing for a good minute or so, sometimes a little longer. He'll begin to lose his balance, and sometimes sit down or sometimes regain it and remain standing. Last night, he was walking by holding on to our hands and I let go, he stood for AT LEAST 5 minutes! It was by far the longest he's stood on his own without ANY help at all. He had such great balance that he was standing there like it was no big deal! I just wished I could have caught it on camera!

We are so excited about our first Thanksgiving with our newest little guy, as well as spending it with the rest of those most important to us. To be honest, I can't believe it's already time for the holidays. I'm been so preoccupied with our little one that it's snuck up on me. The thought of entering the Christmas season, shopping and getting all the decorations out kind of seems overwhelming with a newborn, however that's not what's important. It's about spending this time with our loved ones and recognizing just how much we have to be grateful for this year!

Mommy Advice Needed!

My first time around when Noah was a newborn, wasn't the "typical" experience, simply because Noah was very weak and sick. He slept literally, the entire day away and we rarely would hear a peep out of him. We woke him up every 2 hours to force feed him just so he would gain weight. So I went into this KNOWING that I would be kind of like a first-time mom again. I was still under the impression that newborns sleep majority of the day. So is this some kind of funny joke, that I'm not getting? :)

Collier is awake ALOT... it feels like he's awake more than he's asleep. He doesn't take long naps, but a few (very) short ones and majority of the time it's when we hold him. If we lay him down, he wakes up. Sometimes the swing works, but not often. It makes for a challenging day because Noah needs me too and I can't tend to him while holding a sleeping newborn. I'm guessing Collier's up to 10 lbs now and my pediatrician told me that once at 10 lbs he should be going 5 hours between a feeding at night, however, he's still nursing every 2 1/2 - 3 hours (at night). During the day, he will act hungry after just 2 hours have passed, sometimes he can make it 3 hours. Dr. Allen told me to try and make him go at least 3 hours between feedings, but then that means I'm doing everything I can for an hour to keep him from screaming his head off. He seems to have tummy/gas issues (even though I'm nursing exclusively and have cut out all caffeine) and we've let him sleep in his carseat with it sitting in the crib at night.

Maybe this is just typical of some newborns, however, does anyone have any tips for getting a baby to take better/longer naps during the day? What about going longer between feedings? Is it "normal" for a 3 week old to want to nurse every 2 hours?

Just the Three of Us

I survived my first week at home by myself with the boys. Jamie went back to work this past Monday and it went pretty well! All though I will admit, I was kind of eased into things. On Monday, Jamie only worked half a day, so that he could keep Noah while I took Collier to his 2 week check-up and then my mom was off work Thursday (Thank you, Veterans!), so she spent the night Wednesday night and helped out the following day. However, I didn't have any emotional breakdowns and I'm feeling pretty confident that I'm able to handle two! I even got them out by myself and we went shoe shopping for Noah and then on Friday, after Noah seemed to have a bit of 'cabin fever', we loaded up the double stroller and went for a long walk around our neighborhood. Speaking of... I think I've found a form of excercise! That HUGE double stroller weighs a good 35 lbs + Noah (35 - 40lbs) + Collier and his carseat = one heavy load. Pushing all of that uphill had me breaking a sweat and my muscles burning!

During the 2 week check-up on Monday, we discovered that we've got quite a little piggy on our hands! In 10 days, he gained 1 lb and 4 oz and was up to 9 lbs 12 oz! He had only been going about 2 hours a night between feedings so I had actually been concerned about him getting enough to eat at each feeding. Apparently, that isn't a problem! Dr. Allen told me I could try 1 formula bottle at night, in hopes to stretch out the amount of time he would sleep, which would allow me a little extra zzz's. I tried it for a couple of nights, but it didn't really make a difference in his sleep, plus it seemed to cause some tummy issues, so I've taken him off of it for now. Wednesday night was a pretty rough night and he was up on the hour every hour, however Thursday and Friday were much MUCH better, with him going 3 - 3 1/2 hours between each feeding. Noah has always been our easy-going little guy and I think Collier is going to be our opinionated, more stubborn one. He isn't like a typical newborn, sleeping majority of the day; he's awake ALOT. In fact, Thursday (after being up almost all night) he only napped for maybe a total of 2 hours?! Thank goodness I had my mom there with me! Thankfully, Friday was much better and he napped on and off throughout the day. I've been getting up with him each night by myself, simply because I feel bad asking Jamie to help when he has to go to work the following morning (plus, it's not like he can breastfeed). So Friday night, after Collier ate at 8:30, I went to bed. My mom fed him a bottle that I had pumped at midnight and he didn't wake up again until 4am... so I got a good 6 hours solid of sleep and felt like a brand new woman! What would we do without our mommas? :)

It's crazy to me that he's already 3 weeks old and I realize just how quickly it's already going. The newborn stage is TOUGH and EXHAUSTING as every mom knows, however I'm just trying to savor every minute of my boys and the age that they are right now. Yesterday, as we were waiting on Jamie to come home from work, Noah crawled up beside me on the couch and fell asleep with his head in my lap. Collier was asleep in my arms and I thought... it really doesn't get any better than this. I'll take the sleepless nights and the trying days for moments like these!

The wait is over... Collier is here!

Two weeks ago, on Thursday the 21st, Jamie, Noah and I ate lunch at Dish, then Noah and I went home so he could nap. Meanwhile, I laid down for a little while and dozed off for maybe 30 minutes. Once he woke up, we met my mom at the mall. I left the house without really looking in the mirror or "freshing up" since I'd only laid down for a little bit. Once we got to the mall, I went to the restroom and realized I looked pretty puffy in the face (I had not really had much swelling up until this point). I mentioned to mom how rough I looked and she commented that I was alot more swollen than I had been the night before, when my whole family had carved pumpkins together at my parent's house. She suggested that we go to a pharmacy and check my blood pressure. We left immediately and went to the nearest pharmacy where we discovered my blood pressure was elevated. I called my doctor's office to see what they thought and they told me to immediately go to the hospital to be monitored. Mom took Noah and Jamie and I headed to Helen Keller, where they admitted me. After about 2 hours, it came down to normal so Dr. Keith discharged me but wanted me to come in to his office the following morning for a re-check. I had a small feeling that if my bp was back up, I would be having a baby that following day. Friday morning, Jamie took Noah to school and I went to my appointment. On the way there, I stopped at CVS to see what my blood pressure was and it was even higher than the previous day so I was prepared that I would probably be having Collier that day. At the doctor's office it was even higher, 154/94 and I had traces of protein in my urine. They had me lie on my left side then they rechecked it; it came down some, but not much. Dr. Keith checked me and I was having mild contractions and dilated to 2 cm. He told me that he felt like I was in the beginning stages of preeclampsia and he didn't want to let it go over the weekend. I was far enough along in the pregnancy (38 weeks, 3 days) that he felt like Collier would be fine and if we waited, there was a chance I could get really sick, really quick. He told me to go to Helen Keller Hospital immediately and the C-section would be scheduled for later that afternoon. YIKES! I was prepared for this but nervous doesn't even describe the feeling! Noah was delivered at 38 weeks 1 day so I was so afraid that Collier's lungs wouldn't be ready, just as Noah's hadn't been. I asked him what he thought regarding Collier's lung development and he said that majority of the time, if there is some sort of problem, (such as preeclampsia, etc) the baby's development speeds up in preparation for delivery. I trusted Dr. Keith and he reassured me that he felt everything would be okay.

Since I was already in Sheffield at his office (which adjoins to Helen Keller Hospital) it didn't make sense for me to go home to finish packing my stuff. I called Jamie and gave him a list of the remaining items I needed added to my bag, along with all of Collier's things. I got to the hospital around noon and they got the ball rolling quickly. My mom was already there waiting for me in the room and shortly after that, Jamie, Noah and my dad arrived. The nurse attempted to get my IV started, but after blowing TWO veins, they had someone else do it,thank goodness, because the IV's HURT. Finally, the other nurse got my IV in. Because I had eaten breakfast and had something to drink right before my doctor's appointment, they had to hold off on the C-section until 3:30 - 4ish. We had a crew of people waiting in the room with us, which helped to keep me from being nervous and was a good distraction. Finally about 3:30, Dr. Keith came in my room and said we were about to get started. Shortly after that, the nurses came and got me and off we went to the OR.

First of all, let me say this was a completely different experience than my first C-section because that time, I had already been given pain meds and an epidural before they took me to the OR, so needless to say, I was loopy. This time, I walked myself into the OR and was completely aware as they gave me the spinal. My nerves had the best of me because I was shaking uncontrollably! Because of my scoliosis, they had a difficult time getting the spinal to take and at one point told me that he might have to put me under completely because I still had feeling in my lower half. Finally, I went numb and it was the WEIRDEST feeling because my legs were so HEAVY... at one point, I even had a heavy feeling in my chest making it hard to breathe, which made me a little panicky. While this was going on, Jamie had to wait in another room. After 30 minutes of prepping, Jamie was allowing in the OR and the c-section began. I kept closing my eyes and just praying for my baby to be okay. Finally at 4:16pm on Friday 10/22/10, I heard the most precious sounds, our baby's first cry! I immediately began asking if he was okay and thankfully, I was told he was perfect and healthy. Knowing what I did with Noah, I asked the pediatrician what his APGARS were and they were 9 / 9... as good as they could be which was music to my ears! :) My eyes immediately filled with tears and I just thanked the Lord over and over. Jamie told me that he looked JUST like Noah did as a newborn, which he did and still does. He weighed 8lbs 8oz and was 20 3/4" long. The nurse brought him over for me to see him before they went off to the nursery. Jamie went with Collier while Dr. Keith stitched me back up. Around 5:00pm, I was moved into Recovery where I spent the next hour and then at 6pm, I was moved into my room and told that Collier had already been bathed and was ready to come into the room with us.

All of our family joined us to meet our sweet baby boy. Noah, however, was exhausted from the long day and having had no nap, he wasn't the happiest camper. He also did not like his momma being in the hospital bed. My parents hung around for a little while but took him home so he could go to sleep and we spent the evening loving on our little guy.

Jamie stayed with me in the hospital and by the following morning (Saturday) I was up and slowly moving around. It was so much easier of a recovery than my previous c-section. That evening, we decided it would be best for Jamie to go spend some time with Noah and watch football with him at my parents house. My mom, aunt, and sister came and hung out with me, watching football in my hospital room, until Jamie returned that evening after Noah went to bed. Late that night, while I was asleep, my IV was knocked lose and came out of the vein, but was still under the skin, pumping pain medicine into my arm. I woke up with this huge swollen and sore spot on my arm. The nurse removed my IV and started yet another one in the other arm (that makes the 4th place where they tried IV's.) My arm is STILL bruised from where the IV came lose. The rest of my stay was thankfully, uneventful. We were discharged late Monday afternoon and couldn't be happier to get both of our boys home!

Life with 2 kids has been interesting (and tiring) but I've also had Jamie's help these past 2 weeks. He goes back to work Monday and I'm DREADING it. The hardest part has been that Collier wants to nurse every 2 hours so I'm not getting much sleep at night and I feel like ALL I do is feed him and change him and turn around and do it all over again. However, I couldn't be happier or more in love with both of my boys. It took Noah the first week to adjust to sharing our attention but he's doing much better. At first, he would cry every time Collier cried but now it doesn't seem to phase him. One of the hardest things has been that I've been unable to pick Noah up. Jamie has been such a HUGE help and we've really made a good team. We've even successfully ventured out of the house several times. As much as I wish Jamie had more time off, I'm also curious to see how it goes with just me and the boys as we settle into our routine. Jamie has been taking Noah to and from his therapy each day, however, we are taking next week off to ease me into things. The thought of trying to get both boys dressed, feed and out the door all by 9AM stresses me out just a bit. Hopefully, this next week will go smoothly and we'll get into a routine easily. I'm also hoping and PRAYING that Collier will start going a little longer between his feedings ...I'll keep ya'll posted!

Baby Birthday Bets...

Tonight while watching the Alabama / South Carolina game, we all placed 'bets' as to when Collier would arrive. For some reason, everyone thinks I'll go into labor before my scheduled C-section on the 28th. Here's everyone's guesses:

Lindsay ... October 20, 2010 (because she likes the date 10/20/10 and it's her off day:)

Jamie ... October 21, 2010

Derrick ... October 24, 2010

Me ... October 25, 2010

Dad ... October 26, 2010

We'll see who's right... or if we're all wrong. Heck, he very well could make us wait until the 28th.

Last night, Jamie looked at my belly (and how low it is now that Collier's dropped) and he said, "I think you're going to have him next week!" This morning, I called him while he was on the golf course and he immediately called me back thinking my water had broke! He's so funny! He is SO eager for Collier to be here. It's funny, the difference in his excitement this time around. With Noah, neither of us knew what to expect and even though we were both very excited, we were also pretty dang nervous about becoming parents. This time around, it's 100% pure excitement! Jamie talks all the time about how he can't wait for him to get here. It's pretty sweet! :)

The Final Stretch

I'm officially in my 9th month of pregnancy. My 36th week began on Tuesday and I had my check up yesterday afternoon. Prior to my appointment, I could tell that Collier had dropped down some because I have more room around my rib cage (and less room around my bladder because I have to pee all the time). Dr. Keith was in a big hurry to go deliver 2 babies so my visit was very short, but he told me I was beginning to dilate. He didn't give a specific number so I'm thinking maybe I'm at 1 cm? He also confirmed that Collier had dropped and was right on my bladder. Maybe there will be progress at my next week appointment... but regardless, at the very latest, we will meet Collier 3 weeks from TODAY! Jamie and my mom are both convinced that I won't make it to Oct. 28th. Part of me agrees, however, I don't want to have my mind set on that in case I don't go into labor on my own. I'm ready, not that I'm wanting to rush Collier... I want him to come when he's ready, however, I'm VERY uncomfortable. Taking care of Noah has become harder. Lifting him, bathing him, carrying him, taking him to therapy 4 days a week... it's a little more challenging now because I just don't have the energy plus I'm achy and he's really REALLY heavy! I've started getting those "sympathy" looks while in public... you all know what I'm talking about. Where people just look at you and you can tell exactly what they're thinking, something like "bless her heart!" I had a man at the grocery store say, "you look like you're about to go off any minute!"... as though I'm a ticking time bomb. Okay, thanks sir.

You guys probably aren't interested, but I'm including all these details so I can look back and remember how I felt in these last few weeks. I'm still sleeping pretty decently... every once in a while, I'll have a night where I can't sleep, but for the most part, I'm still getting a good night's rest. Thankfully, my back hasn't hurt NEARLY as bad as it did with Noah. During my 36th week of pregnancy with Noah, my doctor took me off work completely. I had SO MUCH back pain with Noah and maybe the reason I haven't had as much this time is because I'm used to carrying Noah around so maybe my back is stronger, therefore the pregnancy isn't as straining on my back? Also, I've been having contractions for the past 2 weeks when I'm on my feet for a while... such as grocery shopping, walking at the mall, cleaning/cooking dinner... and they HURT! They do stop shortly after laying down so I guess it's just strong Braxton Hicks. Also, during my pregnancy with Noah, I began swelling by around week 33 however, I've yet to have any swelling this time, THANK GOODNESS!

This past weekend was UNA's Homecoming and our friends, Sonia and John Montgomery, along with their daughter Addison, came home all the way from Germany, where they've been stationed for the past year! It was SO SO great to see them, especially since it's been 9 months since their last visit. Friday night, we (my best friends from college/Phi Mu, with the exception of a few who couldn't make it) went to dinner: husbands and wives, along with most of the kids... I think there was around 18 of us. Because of the craziness, we didn't get a group picture. Saturday morning was UNA's Homecoming Parade and we all met up and let the kids watch it together. This was Noah's first time watching a parade and he was amazed! He's pretty sensitive and still gets startled by unexpectedly loud noises so I was curious how he would handle all the sights and sounds (the band, police sirens, etc), but he really loved it! He continues to surprise us... things that we think will bother or upset him, thrill him! Following the parade, Jamie took Noah with him to allow me to eat lunch with the girls in downtown. Majority of the group tailgated following lunch, however, I chose to come home and take it easy for a few hours. That evening was the AL - FL game so everyone reconvened at our house to cheer on the Tide. We had a great time, especially since Alabama dominated Florida. Chenequa and Brett's little girl, Hannah, Addison, and Noah all had a good time playing together in the floor. The following day, Sunday, we met for an early lunch at Ricatoni's before the Montgomery's headed out of town. Thankfully, they will be around for several more weeks, so all of us girls have planned a playdate with the kids next week. It was a busy but very fun weekend!


Sonia, Chenequa, Me, and Becca






Me and Chenequa


Becca, Me, Sonia, Melissa, and Chenequa