Under the Weather :(

So last Sunday Grayson woke up in the early morning with a fever. He was miserable! I took him in to the pediatrician on Monday and she thought he had a stomach virus. I should have known better because after coming back home, his nose started running and he started coughing. I went back again on Wednesday and it was confirmed he had his first ear infection. Yikes! I got him an antibiotic that just happens to be highlighter-yellow and he spits it out of his mouth three times a day...and I get to have this fun for 10 days!

Passed out on Daddy's shoulder! :( 

And I think the worst thing is that he now has no appetite. I was so proud of his eating and then wham! he gets sick and is now back to only breastfeeding again.
The ear infection seemed to start with a horrible cold/sinus infection that Claire got after Grayson and then I got it on Friday. I am now just as miserable as they were! I guess now I know how they felt...but I think I could've gone on not knowing and it would've been fine!!
This was the first time that one of the kids was sick for a whole week. I think I would like a do-over on last week! I seemed to spend most of my time holding Grayson while in my pajamas!
So, here's to hoping that this week brings healthy, happy (and hopefully hungry!) kids!

9 months

Grayson is nine months old!
 I thought for fun I would add some pictures of Grayson throughout his daily routine. It was kind of funny to me that after taking pictures for half the day, I realized I was taking the same pictures over and over! Ha! We seem to do a LOT of the same things over and over all day!

Good morning, blue eyes!

Grayson usually wakes up around 8:15am. He is breastfeeding every four hours and just this week he started eating baby food three times a day. Our biggest accomplishment this month is actually eating the baby food! I am so happy that he is interested in eating now! (It's about time, kid!)

Mmmm....cereal for breakfast!

I have been putting him in his pack n' play to play and he likes it. He has really gotten in to playing with his toys lately. He loves anything that rattles, sings, or makes some sort of noise (especially if it is annoying!). He is still in the I-want-to-chew-on-anything-that-I-get-my-hands-on phase. He especially loves anything Claire is playing with. Watch out, Barbies!

Grayson is now wearing 12 months pajamas (still) and 6-12 months shirts. He has moved up to 12 months pants. He weighs 17 pounds 11 ounces. I have decided that this little guy is just going to be long and skinny!

Lately he has become more proficient at sitting up. Yay! He loves to pat things with his hands. I think he might clap soon, but for now he is just patting everything!

I tried to get a picture of playing with Sissy...

I have found that Grayson will watch Baby Einstein for hours on end....which helps during fussy times! Although, he will stop watching if he sees the remote and will spend the next ten minutes trying to figure out where it went!

He also LOVES puffs now. He gets so excited when he sees them on his tray!

I am hoping that he will crawl soon. He rolls all the time, but still just gets frustrated when he can't reach something. I have been really encouraging him lately. Not sure if it is working! :)

So cozy...

 We are enjoying our boy!

8 Months!

Grayson is 8 months old!

He has really stretched out this month! I took him to get his latest immunizations and he was 17 pounds 10 ounces. His hadn't gained as much weight, but his length and head circumference were great!

Grayson's biggest change this month is his two bottom teeth. Check them out, aren't they cute?
Last week Grayson suddenly developed a rash on one cheek. I thought it was due to teething, but after talking to his pediatrician and HealthLink Alberta on the phone we ended up in the ER. Yep, fun times! I got a prescription for an antibiotic but took him to his pediatrician the next day for a second opinion. I was really hoping that he would be able to tell me what the rash was. He thought maybe an allergic reaction or a skin infection. So, I have been putting some cream on his face the last few days and now it is completely gone. But, goodness! You just never know with kids!

Grayson is now wearing 6-12 months shirts and 6-9 months pants (which I think are getting too small!) He is in 12 months pajamas and is filling them up! He is long and lean, my boy!

Grayson now can roll over (finally!) from his front to back and back to front. He is in the grabby stage where you can't put anything near him or he suddenly has it in his mouth. For example, he tried to dive off of my lap one day and I caught him and when I pulled him back up he had the tv remote in his hand...and a triumphant smile on his face!
He is getting close to being able to sit up. In the church nursery on Sunday, he sat up with a toy in front of him pretty well. So, I think he will be able to soon!
Also, Grayson can now say, "Dada!" Now we are working on (the most important word!!) "Mama."

Claire wanted in on the photo shoot!

Grayson is still not eating baby food well. He will only tolerate a few bites. At his immunization appointment I was told to not worry about it, but I am looking forward to him enjoying his food and not looking at me like "get this out of my mouth right now!" So far he has tried applesauce, cereal, oatmeal, pears, sweet potatoes, and mango. I think those sound pretty yummy! :)
It doesn't seem like four months ago he had his surgery! He has changed so much lately and his lip scar keeps fading more and more.

Only three pictures with a cleft lip!
We are so thankful for him, and his beautiful smile! :)

Seven Months!

Grayson is seven months old!

I know I say this every month, but these last seven months have flown by! Grayson is now wearing 9 months and 6-12 months clothes. He does have a pair of pajamas that are 12 months and he can wear those too! I had to move him to the 12 months pair because he loves to bust the snaps open in some of his 9 months pajamas and when he wakes up in the middle of the night his foot will be twisted or both feet will be in one leg or both feet will be out of his pajamas all together!

This is Grayson's newest "face." He has been blowing lots of raspberries lately while making this silly face!

Last week I took Grayson to the pediatrician for a check-up. He now weighs 17 pounds 11 ounces! His doctor told me to keep trying with the cereal and baby food and lately he has been doing a little bit better. He actually enjoyed cereal a few days ago! I was so surprised I almost fell out of my chair!

Our biggest news of this month is that Grayson is getting two teeth! We even think there is a third coming soon...oh boy! Well this explains the drooling and crankiness...bless his heart! His next month post will have a toothy grin, I can't wait!

Here is Claire and Grayson at 7 months. This picture of Claire was taken the day she started crawling...I don't foresee Grayson doing that soon, but I am glad. It gets crazy when they are mobile, ha!

They still look so different! We sure do love 'em though! :)

5 months, a new schedule..a new year!

Grayson is now 5 months old! (This post is really late...he will be 6 months in a couple of weeks!)
He turned 5 months while we were still visiting family in Tennessee. We celebrated with a photo shoot by Auntie Cynthia (my SIL). She is a super awesome photographer and a great person to have around to capture our adventures while we are together.

Now that we are home, I have now moved Grayson to a four hour schedule. I remember when I did that with Claire life seemed to much easier! The same is true for Grayson. Now, if I could just get him to sleep through the night!!!!

Grayson is now wearing 9 months and 6-9 months clothes and a size 3 diaper. I just took him this week to get his immunizations and they weighed and measured him then. He weighed 16.8 lbs and measured 26 3/4 inches.

The last two days he has eaten rice cereal. The first time I gave it to him, he loved it! Then last night, he spit it out. Who knows what he will think today?!

Charlie and I still marvel at how different our kids are. We are enjoying Grayson's laid back personality and love watching him change and grow into a happy little man!

Plastic surgeon and splash park!

On Wednesday, we took Grayson for his day full of appointments. He did really well and so did Claire. Poor girl, she had to spend the whole day with Grayson at the doctor!
The cleft lip and palate clinic here is one of the best around and our plastic surgeon is really good too. I was really pleased with him. He gave us a lot of information and answered all of our questions about the surgery. It should be booked next week and will take place when Grayson is 3-4 months old. We were surprised that it is more extensive than we had thought. Charlie and I just assumed it would be stitching the lip together, but cleft lip babies are born without one of the muscles under their nose and so the surgery involves a cut up to the nose and several other cuts to pull the skin and straighten his lip and nose. Grayson also has to wear arm splints for three weeks to keep him from scratching his face and messing up his stitches. He will stay in the hospital overnight and we can stay with him. Also, breastfeeding won't be a problem after his surgery. I am so relieved about that!
Whew! That was a lot to take in!
After we ate lunch we went to see the feeding specialist/speech pathologist. She asked a lot of questions about feeding. Grayson has done well. He already exceeds his birth weight, and I am so thankful to be able to breastfeed him. If Grayson had a cleft palate or worse cleft lip, this would probably not be possible.
Grayson has to have a hearing test done (it is mandatory for all cleft lip/palate babies), but I don't think he has any hearing problems. He always jumps when his sister gets loud, ha! Then, she will see him at 6 months and they will continue to follow him as long as we live here.
As much as we hate to put Grayson through the surgery, we did think that we heard a lot of good things at the appointments.
When we were finished, we thought Claire needed a reward. I put her down for a quick nap and Charlie came home a little early so we could take her to the splash park. She was in heaven! I have never seen her so excited and she kept making me look at her wet hair and her wet swim suit.

P.S. Grayson took a nice nap in his car seat while big sister played in the water!

Counting our blessings...

When Grayson was born and I looked at his beautiful face I didn't even notice his lip, but I do remember Charlie talking to a nurse from across the room and asking her about it. "What about his lip?" I asked. I was told he has a cleft lip. Immediate dread set in. When he was brought back to me I looked at his sweet face. Sure enough, he has a small cleft lip on his right side. Luckily, it is incomplete and doesn't extend to his nose or include his palate. Charlie and I were really surprised. And I admit, we were upset too. I don't think anyone wants to hear about birth defects minutes after your baby is born. The nurse said that a pediatrician would come and talk to us the next day.
Charlie and I looked and looked at his lip, and we have had countless conversations over the last few weeks about it. We were immediately really funny about sending pictures or taking pictures of Grayson. We just didn't want anyone to comment on facebook and say something about it. When I did finally post pictures I was super selective about which ones I chose to post. I now think that I shouldn't worry about that so much. I am proud of my little boy, and I don't want to hide him! He is such a good baby and we are enjoying him so much.
The pediatrician set us up an appointment with a plastic surgeon and feeding/speech pathologist. The pediatrician said that the surgery would be in the next few months and would completely correct his lip. We felt relieved that the problem could be fixed, but we really hate that Grayson has to go through the surgery at all.
Grayson's lip has been a constant reminder of God's mysterious ways. In the midst of dealing with Grayson's lip, we have realized how much we have been blessed. There are so many things to be thankful for, such as the fact that his lip isn't that bad and that I have been able to breastfeed him at all.
We think Grayson is beautiful, even with his lip. Here he is in the hospital when I got to dress him for the first time.

Grayson's birth story - part two

I went to bed Tuesday night with the thought that by morning I could be in labor and heading to the hospital. I woke up early Wednesday morning with horrible pain in both of my sides. I realized I had been rolling back and forth for a while and could not take the discomfort any longer. So, I headed down to the couch. It was when I got to the couch that the first real contraction hit. I looked at the time and waited for another one. After a few more came I went back upstairs and told Charlie he probably needed to get up. I took a shower, got dressed, packed up the last of my toiletries, and went back to the couch. Charlie came down with Claire and fed her breakfast. I decided it was best not to eat anything. I timed a few more contractions and called my friend to see if she could come get Claire. She said she would be over in 45 minutes. Charlie brought all of our stuff downstairs and helped pack Claire a bag.
When my friend showed up we said goodbye to Claire and got in the car. I remember at one point that Charlie was mad that we kept hitting red lights and I told him to calm down and take his time, he was making me crazy! Ha!
We made it to the hospital and parked the car. I could barely walk through the parking lot...now that I think about it, I should have made Charlie drop me off at the front entrance. We walked in and went to the "admitting" desk. The receptionist took all of my information (in between contractions!) and then a lady came around the corner with a wheelchair. Thank the Lord! I was so ready to sit down by then!
I was wheeled up to the assessment room...which is basically a big room with lots of curtain dividers. They check you there to decide whether you are in active labor or not. I met my nurse when we got to the room and she gave me a gown to put on. Then, she told me to lay down on the bed and she checked me. I was a 4-5, which was great since the day before I was a 3 at my doctor appointment. She said I was staying in the hospital and I said, "ok, then can I have the epidural?" I am no hero. I was ready for the pain to go away!
Also, Charlie and I can laugh about this now, but the whole time I was in that room the girl beside us was throwing up. Charlie kept checking the floor to make sure he wasn't stepping in anything!
I was wheeled to a labor room and put in the bed. It was a nice big room. The nurse went to see about the anesthesiologist. I was ready to rest for a minute! It didn't take long for her to come. She sat me up and gave me the list of side effects and Charlie got to stay in the room. I was proud of him, he let me hold onto him without even flinching.
Ahhh the epidural! It was such a relief, but as soon as I laid down in the bed I started to feel dizzy and nauseous. Immediately an alarm went off and the nurse rushed over to me and rolled me onto my side. I told her I didn't feel well and she said my blood pressure had dropped. They brought the anesthesiologist back into the room and she gave me some medicine to up my heart rate. This helped a lot. I stayed on my side for a long time and then I started feeling bad again. I set off the alarm and got more medicine. All this time the blood pressure cuff was checking me every 15 minutes! It continued to check me that often for several more hours!
Luckily I didn't feel that bad again, but I did continue to periodically set off the alarm. I got to where I could tell if the alarm was going to go off or not. My poor nurse. I think I stressed her out! She was on her first day back from maternity leave. I don't think she will forget me for awhile!
I think it was finally figured that the epidural was the source of my problems. At one point it was even turned off until I was stabilized. Fortunately, none of my problems seemed to bother Grayson. I was really thankful for that.
My nurse wanted to get my water broken to speed up my labor, but I seemed to be doing better and four other babies were being born, so it didn't happen until 3:30pm. I was 7 centimeters then and when I was checked at 4:30pm, I was 9! My nurse said to let her know if I felt any pressure. I rested for a while. I kept waiting and waiting to feel a lot of pressure. At 5:30pm, I was 9 1/2 and my nurse kept asking me if I felt pressure. I kept saying that I did only during a contraction.
Finally, Charlie asked me if I was afraid to push. I admitted that I was. I could feel a lot more than with Claire and I was worried that it was going to hurt a lot to push. I asked the nurse if I could get my epidural topped off before I started pushing. She went to get the anesthesiologist and he gave me more medicine. I had the epidural turned down so low that I was really uncomfortable. The extra dose helped just a little.
At 6:00pm I was ready to push. The nurse let me push whenever I wanted to and let me rest when the contractions were over. It was so much nicer to not be forced to continuously push, like I had to with Claire. Even the OBGYN let me rest and really listened to me. I pushed for 26 minutes and Grayson was born! He weighed 7 lbs and 9 ounces and was 21 inches long.
I really have to say that my experience here in Canada was great. I appreciated the fact that I wasn't checked a ton and was really left alone to rest. The nurse didn't even count while I was pushing!
We were so happy to see our beautiful baby boy! I hope I never forget the moment he was laid on my chest after being born.

Grayson's birth story - part one

I feel like I should quickly write down the events of Grayson's birth before they are forgotten!

Three weeks ago I thought I was going to go into labor at any moment. I had three nights of braxton hicks contractions that would get pretty consistent and then by morning they would disappear. My sister-in-law decided to go ahead and come to Canada because she didn't want to miss Grayson's birth. We picked her up on the 12th of July and it was so nice to see her! She watched Claire while Charlie and I went to my 39 week doctor appointment. At that appointment my doctor stripped my membranes and we all thought something would definitely be happening at any moment.
The next few days were uneventful in the contraction department. I actually felt fine. The membrane stripping didn't do anything and I started to worry that my sister-in-law was going to have to leave before Grayson came. One day we even looked up labor-inducing methods and tried a few. We baked lemon drop cupcakes, applied acupressure to my feet and ankles, drove over speed bumps, and I did the running man a few times. No luck! I will say though that the cupcakes were SO GOOD!
That Saturday, the 16th of July, my parents and their good friends came to Canada. They were going to stay with us at the beginning and the end of the week and go to Banff, Alberta to see the mountains in the middle of the week. I was super excited to see them since I hadn't seen them since Christmas.
On Sunday we decided to take everyone to Fort Edmonton. My sister-in-law was leaving the next day to fly home and my parents were driving to Banff then too. We spent the whole day outside in the sun and it was hot and by the end I was WORN OUT! I could tell I had overdone it.

At Fort Edmonton...I look huge!

I got into the car and by the time we had driven to a restaurant for dinner, the braxton hicks had started. I didn't feel well. I hardly ate any dinner, and I think the poor waitress thought I was going to drop the baby at any moment! My sister-in-law started writing down contractions and though I knew they were braxton hicks, some of them were painful!
When we got home I went to the bathroom and put on my pj's. Charlie got all of our stuff to take to the hospital and put it in the car. We were all so convinced it was going to happen that my sister-in-law started looking into changing her flight! I laid on the couch and tried to recooperate.
After a while I decided to go to bed. I kept waking up during the night and timing the contractions though. And then AGAIN, by morning the contractions were gone. I felt fine again. So, my parents and my sister-in-law left. I was really sad to see them all go. I was worried that there would be no one to keep Claire and I had really wanted some family to be here when I needed them.
I made Charlie stay home Monday and Tuesday. We had a nice time just spending our last moments together as a family of three. On Tuesday (my due date!)  we took Claire to a splash pad and I sat in a lawn chair and watched while Charlie and Claire played in the water. It was a really fun time. We then all came home and took a nap. I had my last doctor appointment that day and Charlie and Claire came with me. My doctor asked if I wanted him to strip my membranes again and I told him YES!!!! This time felt different. I'm not sure what made the difference, but from that moment I didn't feel as well as before. I also started bleeding, which I know is normal, but I could tell that this was going to lead somewhere.

To be continued...