Being a mommy of TWO

Since Caleb arrived, our routine as changed... in fact, we don't really have a new routine yet. Eli was a champ when we brought Caleb home.  Andrew and I went throught every nickname in the book trying to figure one out for Caleb (as Eli has been/continues to be Bubba). We could not come up with anything we liked.. then Eli solved the problem for us. Completely on his own, he started calling Caleb his "buddy buddy." He is the sweetest big brother and LOVES to squeeze hug and kiss his buddy buddy. E can't wait for Caleb to wake up in the morning so he can play with him and is always right there asking "what's wrong Caleb?" when his lil brother starts crying. It melts my heart to watch these boys interact!

And no one can make Caleb smile like Eli does!

C is starting to get some good head control, with the occasional head bang. I thought we'd never get there as this boy REFUSED to do tummy time! He did great at first, was super strong... but then decided he wasn't going to do it anymore. If I put him on the boppy, he kicked himself up and over...

I can't help but laugh everytime I see this pic!!!

And if I laid him flat, he would just lay his head down and go to sleep (even if he had just woken up for a several hour nap).

But within the past week, Caleb has apparently decided he's gonna be a big boy :)

And Eli is silly as ever!

And a BIG helper ;)

Basically, i'm loving life with my two little men and my big man Daddio :)

Newborn Pics

We have been going to Obscura Photography for all our pics for a little over a year now and knew we wanted them to capture the milestone in Caleb's first year. Here's a few from his newborn session. (Caleb was exactly 1 month old)

Big Brother Eli

Eli has been incredible with Caleb. I was so worried that Eli would freak out with a crying baby as it made him super concerned when he heard one out and about before having Caleb. But after hours of exposure, he handles it like a champ. He has been a BIG helper getting things we need and boy does he love his little brother!!

We had been working on potty training E for a while before Caleb came. Nothing too intensive or serious, but offered the potty often and Eli would go whenever we put him on it. He just wouldn't stay dry in between potty breaks. Well that all changed once BABY Caleb came home. Just days after C came home, Eli decided he was going to the a BIG boy. He started tellling us he had to go potty AND was staying dry in between. After a few days with dry diapers all day, we switched to undies and very few accidents... maybe 2 the whole first week. Since he has had the occasional, I waited too long to make my way to the potty moments... but has had very few accidents where he just let it go. He's been in undies ever since and boy is it nice to not have 2 sets of diapers to change!

I didn't much care how he sat on the potty as long as he made it in the potty! I am proud to say that he now gies potty like a big boy, standing and all :)

Along with potty training came middle of the night potty breaks. For about 2 months, Eli was coming in multiple times a night to get Andrew or I to take him potty (we still put diapers on him overnight). Very quickly Andrew was put on Eli duty because I wasn't getting any sleep getting up with Caleb 2-3 times a night and another 2-3 different times with Eli. But I am happy to say that Eli only gets up once a night IF that now. He sure is getting to be a big boy!

Some of my favorite phrases E is saying lately:

"Ok, i will do that"

"Oh hi my friend Daddy" or Mommy/whoever he is talking to

"Caleb Ryan, stop crying"

"When the sun comes up, I will play with my toys"

"The sun goes down, that means it's nighttime"

"Just a lil bit" as he holds his index finger and thumb abt a centimeter apart

"when i'm not a good listener, it makes mommy and daddy cross"

"i'm ready to make good sicions"

"when caleb gets bigger, he will _________ with me" (fill in blank with whatever Eli is doing at the moment)

"mommy's a mam and daddy's a sir!!!" (thank you thomas lol)

"lets go on a nature walk"

"swab the deck/hoist the main sail/walk the plank" (everything is about pirates!)

"I SEE A FIRE TRUCK/WICE (police) CAR!!! IT SAYS WOOOOOWOOOOOOO"

he used to call Laura "Urla" which made me giggle everytime, but has graduated to "aunt laura"

What's daddys name? "Daddy Carl Bridges

What's your name? "Eli James Bridges"

What's Caleb's name? "Caleb Ryan Bridges"

What's mommy's name? " Mommy Carl Bridges" LOL not quite!

What's Grammie's name? "Grammie Girl Bridges" If he doesn't know the middle name, it is boy/girl accordingly.

 

E can:

-count to 20

-name/identify the colors- Red, Yellow, Blue, Purple, Green, Black, Brown, Pink, Orange

-name/identify the shapes-circle, elipse, square, star, diamond, triangle, pentagon, hexagon, heart

-say the days of the week in order

-sing his ABC's

Things E likes:

-LOVES to sing to Jake and the Neverland Pirates soundtrack and Veggietales Sunday School Songs

-LOVES to ride his bike and pedal fast

-asks for PB&J almost everyday for breakfast AND lunch

-trains, trains and more trains

-everything comes back to pirates somehow.... everything! He uses his baseball bat, paper towel roll, and pretty much anything that is long and round as a periscope.

There is so much more that Eli does that makes me laugh and smile... it is impossible to recall them all. So maybe if I can get better at blogging, I can write them down as they happen. Bottomline, I sure do love this boy!!!

Growing Boy: 1-3MONTHS

When we were released from the hospital, C weighed a whopping 5lbs 14oz. We were told to go back for a weight check the following week. So we went on March 19th to find out he was up 9.5 oz, putting him at 6lbs 8oz. He was still right at 19 in, so most of his growing was in his weight.

1 MONTH OLD

At C's 1month check up he gained 1lb, weighing 7lbs 8oz and grew an inch to make him 20 in long/tall ;) He was diagnosed with acid reflux and was put on Zantac to help give him some relief. The kiddo can scream like no ones business and spit up is a total understatement to the amount of fluids that leave this little body. The medicine helps relieve the discomfort, but the endless supply of spit up continues.

Caleb was sleeping pretty much whenever he felt like it during the day, far more than I remembered Eli sleeping but was told it was because Caleb had lots of catching up to do from being so early. At night he would sleep about 3 hours each stretch most night, with the occasional sleepless night. He was still in the pack n play in our room, he frequently choked on spit up in the middle of the night, so I wanted him as close as possible. And there were plenty of nights he slept in his swing because he didn't choke as bad being in the sitting position.

I couldn't help it... this is what C looked like most of the day!

1 Month b-day

2 MONTHS OLD

At the 2 month check up, C weighed 9lbs 9.5oz and measured 22in. He gave us his first REAL smile May 4th and decided to sleep through the night (7.5hrs) on May 9th. He did not consistently sleep through the night everynight, some nights were 5hr stretches while other were 7.5 hr stretch. Caleb was still a screamer and a projectile "spitter" (spit is still an understatement!) But with more sleep at night (and his big ol smiles), the daytime was a *bit* more bareble!

3 MONTHS OLD

We have to wait until 4 months to get an accurate update on height and weight. We are anxious to see how much he has grown since his last appointment! But we can happily report that Caleb CONSISTENTLY started sleeping throught the night by 3 months. He sleeps anywhere from 7.5 hrs to 9.5 hrs straight at night EVERY night!!! Now if I would just learn not to stay up til midnight, I could take advantage of some solid stretches of sleep. But when Andrew and I have to wait til 9ish to get some kid free time together, it's hard to get to sleep early. Caleb is getting stronger and is more willing to do tummy time. People keep telling me that bc he was born at 34 weeks, he will be delayed a bit with his milestones. So instead of being at 3 months developmentally, he's more like a 2 month old strength wise... so I'm happy with his progress! The boy smiles and tracks like no ones business, so I think his strength is the only part delayed a bit. He sure is darn cute tho!

A Blessing in Disguise

And this right here is why Caleb is my miracle baby, why he was so determined to come so early...

Caleb had a knot in his cord. Andrew heard the dr whisper to the nurse about the knot and later we found out just how serious it was. While visiting Laura several weeks later when she had Joey, her nurse talked about cords around the neck and knots, saying cords around the neck are more common that one would think... but knots are nothing to be messed around with. As the baby gets bigger, the knot gets tighter... leading to a stillborn baby if the blood flow is cut off from the knot getting too tight... God knew what he was doing bringing this lil boy early! Puts it all into perspective and makes the NICU experience seem so minor in comparison.

NICU

After my few moments of snuggles, the nurses snatched up Caleb and took him down to the NICU to start him on oxygen. They put him under an oxygen tent to begin with and pumped in 100% oxygen. He also had an IV in his poor little head.

Caleb was super swollen from all the fluid they had pumped into me trying to stop labor.

He stayed under the tent all night and part of the next day. Andrew and I headed down for another visit to find Caleb out of the tent and on nasal oxygen. They had turned down the concentration as well.

We were finally allowed to hold our lil boy!

Andrew's first time holding Caleb (nearly 36 hours later)

Over the next few days, the stepped him down little by little until Thursday, March 8th when he was just receiving a little pressure behind the room air they were giving him. Friday they turned off pressured air, IV was removed and we were able to start nursing on Saturday... the feeding tube was still in to supplement nursings until Caleb pulled it out early Sunday morning.

Only cords left are the monitor cables!

The only obstacle keeping us there was waiting for the lil man to gain some weight. Monday's weigh in put him down half an ounce but they let him "room in" with me anyway. They came down middle of the night Tuesday for weigh in and came back with the best news a momma could hear. Caleb had gained an ounce and a half... the last thing on our checklist just got marked off. We were going home! After an 8 day stay, we were finally going to be home all together as a family!

SMMC was amazing throughout the whole process, letting me room in after being discharged so I could nurse and be near my baby boy. This was a huge blessing, but it was such an emotional strain too. Being away from my precious Eli was one of the hardest parts of the whole situation! The nurses were amazing and I knew Caleb was in good hands. I knew Eli was in good hands too, but I was so used to having him around 24/7. I was used to hearing his laugh and watching him be so silly. My heart was truly ripped in two, or should I say three? I missed my hubby too. Having my family split in three different locations was heart wrenching... but we made it through. And man was it amazing to finally be a together again... at HOME!



It's been a while, a lot has changed!

Whelp folks, obviously I am not very good at keeping up on blogging. Perhaps it has to do with all the things that have changed within the past year ;) So here's a recap for those interested.

Mid July 2011- Found out we were gonna welcome another sweet baby into our family. Due date was set for April 10th. And this time, the sickness started even earlier... so on Zofran I went! My little miracle pill however, was not quite the miracle it was with Eli. It cut down the number of times I got sick a day, but did not take away the throwing up completely like it did with E. So the sickness started by week 5 and decided to hang around til about week 28. We found out on November 11th we were going to have another lil man to love and snuggle, we couldn't be happier to give Eli the "brudder" he wanted and knew that they would have SO much fun playing together! I won't lie though, I did have a very small moment of sadness, knowing this was our last baby that I wouldn't have a little girl to put in tutus and bows. But that sadness quickly faded thinking about my boys wrestling and playing together, rough housing and playing in the mud. And Eli was so excited to hear he was getting a brother :)

Besides getting sick a couple times a day, the pregnancy was going well. I was feeling much better than I did with Eli, harldy had any swelling! But this time I started feeling anxious about not having things ready, I guess I was nesting. I didn't experience this with Eli. Then came Sunday, March 4th. I woke up that morning feeling crampy. As I got up and moving, getting ready for church, I told Andrew "I'm gonna have this baby today!"He laughed at me and told me it was in my head. I didn't have braxton hicks with Eli nor did I experience contractions until they induced me... so I was clueless what the beginnings of labor felt like. Therefore, I convinced myself they were braxton hicks contractions and we carried on about our day. As the day went on, they were getting a little stronger and more consistent... but I kept telling myself "I'm not even 35 weeks yet, it can't be real labor." After hanging out with Jon and Christina all evening, and secretly timing my contractions, I told Andrew on the way home that I think we need to go to the hospital. We called up Grammie to come stay with Eli while we went to get checked out. Andrew was still in denial, but I was quickly realizing something big was going on due to the fact that my contractions were getting pretty strong and 2-3 minutes apart. We get to the hospital, get checked in around 1030 PM and they start fluids (hoping I was dehydrated, not in labor). They ran a test and sure enough, I was in pre-term labor. After hours of trying to stop it, the contractions continued to gain intensity and remains just as consistent... AND I was dialating. Then came the unexplained bleeding. So a sono tech was brought in to make sure the bleeding wasn't anything severe. All checked out ok, so they continued to attempt to slow down/stop labor. After about 21 hours of contractions and little to no meds to help, the doctor decided to break my water since everything else was continuing to progress. We were going to welcome our lil man into the world and boy were we scared. Would he be ok? Would the delivery go smoother than with Eli? Will he have to go to the NICU and if so, for how long? It was a lot to take in, but all I could think about was "When are they getting here with my epidural?!?" The contractions were 1000 times worse than with Eli, and I had pitocin with Eli! I'm not sure whether it was because I had been contracting for so long  or what, but there was no breathing through these! After the epidural was put in, it was smooth sailing. The doctor came to check me a little over an hour later and said it was baby time. No sooner did he get his scrubs on and my legs up and Caleb was already crowning! This kid wanted out!! Two VERY small pushes later and he was out and SCREAMING! It was music to my ears, like he was telling me "i'm gonna be ok mom." (His lungs were the concern with being so early) I was able to hold him skin to skin for a few moments and family was able to come in to take a quick glimpse before they took our little Caleb down to the NICU for oxygen. And the long, tiring, emotionally draining hopsital stay began...

 Caleb Ryan Bridges born at 9:16PM. 6lbs 3oz and19in long