1/2 a year has gone by...

October 26th was Landon's 6 month birthday. He is really looking like a little boy now and not so much a baby anymore.
He weighs 12 lbs 13 oz and is 25 inches long/tall.
He is going full time on solids now. He loves everything he eats and has yet to make a face, spit anything out, or flat out refuse anything. He has had avocados, peas, and sweet potatoes.
He can put his feet in his mouth and loves talking to them.
He says dadadada and bababa, and has started a high pitch screaming as a precursor to his cries.
The first tooth--bottom tooth--came in on 10/13 and the second bottom followed on 10/20.
He met some new friends. We went to the Houston Zoo for the first time and met my old co-worker there. She brought her new baby, Briana, and we all saw the animals.
We also met Samantha Cassady--Lenny and Amy's baby. We saw them at the hospital and a couple of times at their house.
Landon still wakes up during the night--anywhere from 2-3 times. He nurses then goes back to sleep.

5 months

Happy birthday baby! Today you are 5 months old. Time is really flying by.
Here are your milestones baby boy:

• Weight: 13.5 lbs
• Height: 23.5 inches
• We baptized you on August 31st during the 9:30 traditional service at Clear Lake United Methodist Church. Rev. Tony Vinson was the one who baptized you. It was a very special day and you had a lot of people come to see it. All of mommy and daddy's Sunday School class was there, your Grandparents the Benjamins and the Olivers were there as well. It was made extra special because your Great-Grandma Sarah Hale was able to come as well. Mommy was so happy that she was able to come and see you on your special day. Afterwards, we had a party at League Park. We cooked hot dogs and hamburgers and had cake. Mommy and daddy invited the Olsens and Carina took lots of pictures for us. We will cherish them always. All of the pictures turned out great!
• Can roll over from tummy to back only when you REALLY want to. If we are playing on the floor and you roll over to your tummy, you get very mad trying to get back and you cannot do it. However, at night when you are sleeping, you can manage to make it back.
• You started making raspberry noises. 2 weeks ago, you started making ahhh sounds. We love talking back and forth to you.
• You now sleep through the night (for the most part). You go to bed at 10:30, wake up at 4:30 or 5, go back to bed after nursing, and get up again around 7.
• You have started teething. Everything goes into your mouth, including our fingers, and you proceed to chew. You drool all the time and sometimes you do not sleep good at night. We can see your gums protruding with the front top two teeth and the bottom three teeth.
• Your newest adventure was evacuating from Hurricane Ike. We went to Ft. Worth and stayed with your MiMi who was there on business.
• You have discovered your hands and feet.
• You can now hold toys and are even starting to reach out and grab toys from us. You hold your loop with keys on it with both hands (and then continue to put them in your mouth).

We will be posting pictures (I promise) soon.

My baby's all grown up

Today, Landon started Mother's Day Out. He did GREAT! Mommy on the otherhand...not so great.

We have started him on rice cereal and at MDO, he ate the most he has had so far. Mommy woke up late so we got to MDO around 9:30 this morning. He had 4 oz. of milk at 10 then had rice cereal at 11 and took a nap from 11:50-1:25 when I came to pick him up. I know I put in more than enough of the rice cereal thinking he would not eat it all. Turns out he did. The teachers said he did great and did not fuss at all. I am so proud of him. Maybe tomorrow night, he will stay in the nursery long enough for Brian and I (really me) to finish choir practice.

On another note, his baptism went beautifully. He looked great in his baptism gown that his grandma Oliver made for him. We are really grateful to Carina Olsen (her photography link is on the right) for taking great photos of his special day. We cannot wait to see them! Thank you to everyone for being with us to celebrate!

Happy Birthday baby!

Today is Landon's 4 month birthday. It seems like he should still be the little baby he was just a short 4 months ago. He has really changed and seems so big now. I love watching him develop but sometimes I still miss my little baby (I also know that feeling will never go away).

Stats:
Weight 11 lbs 8.5 ozs.
Length 22.25 inches
Head 40 cm

Accomplishments:
He can roll over from his back to his tummy and prefers to roll to the right.
He can now push up on his elbows when on his tummy and look around.
We have play on floor time and when I put a rattle or keys in his hand he holds onto it and shakes it around.
He almost giggles.
He loves when we hold him in the standing position.
He sleeps through the ENTIRE night. Mommy is VERY proud. He goes to bed between 10:30 and 11:30 and does not wake up until 5:30 or 6am!!
He eats a lot during the day (I am assuming to make up for not eating through the night).
He talks a lot when he is on the changing table--regardless of whether or not we are actually changing him.
This month, we took our first trip to Arkansas to see family and friends. He did pretty good on the way there and back. Landon was in a picture with Brian, Brian's mom, and Brian's grandma when we were with Brian's family.
When we went to visit my family, we were able to take a 5 generation picture with him, me, my mom, my grandma, and my great-grandma.
Said pictures will be coming.
Landon and mommy joined a couple of mommy groups and are making new friends. Tomorrow (or almost today), we are going to meet some mommies and tots at a park. Landon loves being outside.

On a mommy note:
I am still walking most mornings.
I am now selling Mary Kay. If anyone would like a free facial, please let me know. I can come to you.
I have started school. I am only taking one class this semester--mostly due to the fault of the school. I was signed up for 2 classes.
I will be starting guitar lessons on September 18th. I am very nervous about this.
My sister-in-law (Brian's sister) has moved in with us. We are enjoying her company.


Big news:
Landon is being baptized on August 31, 2008. We are very excited about this and at the same time, it is hard putting into words all of our emotions. God has really blessed us by giving us the most amazing gift we could ever ask for. Landon has brought so much joy and love into our lives and we are so thankful for having such a beautiful, happy, and healthy baby boy.
After the baptism, we are having a cookout at League Park. A friend of ours is coming to the church and party to take pictures. We hope to see everyone there!

Milestones

Mommy's milestone:
I signed up on meetup.com for a walking group. There is a group of ladies that go walking in League City at 6:45am every morning. I have joined them every day for the past week . I can now fit into a pair of non maternity jeans that I bought at the beginning of the pregnancy. YAY!

Little man's milestones:
We just hit the three month mark (July 26).

He weighs 10 lbs 5 ozs. and is 22 1/2 inches long.

He is almost rolling over. He gets on his side, then throws his legs on over but alas, his arm is still in the way. So, technically, his bottom half rolls over from back to stomach but the top half gets half way.

He babbles now. Today, I had him on his play gym (on his back--he hates tummy time) and he was kicking the elephant at his feet and talking to the giraffe that was hanging by his head. It was the cutest thing ever.

He LOVES getting his diaper changed. He could be screaming at the top of his lungs and the moment we put him on the changing table, he starts smiling and recently starts cooing. He is very happy the whole time and will even stay on the table for a while after we are finished.

We went to Dallas August 13 and 14. The trip was good. We had to stop every hour and a half to let little man eat. But he was great riding in the car. Tomorrow, we leave for Arkansas. It is a 9 hour drive so hopefully things go great again and hopefully, he will space out his eating times a little more.

We are having Landon baptized August 31 at the 9:30 traditional service. We just found out that not only will both sets of his grandparents be able to come down, but also Landon's 2 great grandmothers. We are all so excited. We hope that our Sunday School class will be able to be there as well. We are going to have a cook out afterwards (at 12:30) at the park.

No mommy....no sleep

It is 12:30am and little man is wide awake with no sleep in sight.

On the plus side, I get to watch The Golden Girls.

Catching up

This past week, Brian's mom, dad, and sister came down to visit. We had a wonderful time with them and hated to see them leave. They came in last Sunday around 11 am and left this morning at 9am. We did a lot of things. Tuesday morning, we drove down to Freeport and hung out at the beach. Landon slept for most of the time on the beach but the one time he did wake up, we put his feet in the water. We think he liked it. Here is a picture of Landon and mommy in the water.

Thursday, I made a cake for a girl at my work. She is having a baby girl due July 31st. Everyone at work threw a shower for her. Me, Brian, and his family drove downtown for the party. Here is her cake:

Friday night we went downtown to Memorial Herman park for the fireworks show. The Houston Symphony was playing at the amphitheater starting at 8 and they were going to play the 1812 overture and had canons to shoot off. When we got there, there were not anymore seats left in the amphitheater so we pulled out our blanket and sat in the grass on the hill. We could not hear any of the symphony play. We sat until 10:15 waiting for the fireworks. Once they started, it was a really good show.

Saturday, we all got up really early and headed down to Galveston to the beach. I definately like Freeport beach a LOT better. It only took about an hour to get to Freeport so the next time we head to the beach, Freeport is our destination.

Sunday morning, Brian's family left and our house was quiet. It was sad seeing them leave but we will see them again soon. We all had a lot of fun and got a lot accomplished. Photos will be posted soon of Landon's bathroom we finished while they were here.

Happy 2 months!

Happy birthday to me! Today is my 2 month old birthday. I went to the doctor yesterday for my 2 month check up. I got lots of shots but I did so good. I was such a big boy for mommy and daddy. I only cried a little bit. The doctor said I am doing really good and really growing.

Today, I am 8 lbs 7 ozs. I am 20 1/2 inches long and my head is 37 cm around. All of my measurements are in the 3% but that's ok because I am healthy and growing. Some day I will catch up to all those other babies. During the day I eat every 1 1/2-2 1/2 hours but at night, I let mommy have a 4 hour stretch, usually between 12am-4am. I still do not smile voluntarily, just reflexively. Mommy and daddy can't wait for me to smart smiling at them.

Another fact about me: I do NOT like sleeping in my crib during the day. I have no problems sleeping there at night, but do not try to put me in there during the day. I know the difference. I will only sleep for 5 min. max before waking up screaming if I am there during the day. Mommy and daddy do not know what else to try to get me to sleep there. I am not going to tell them the secret trick though.

Photo Shoot

Today, mommy tried to take some nice pictures of Landon. He was too fussy to cooperate the way mommy wanted him to. But, we did get a few good shots.

I also forgot in the previous posts...

We went and saw a friend of mine who does photography a few weeks ago (May 17th) and we had her take photos of Landon. He was pretty fussy about 10 min. in so we did not get a lot of time. But, here are some of the ones she took.

Other news: My doctor's office called this morning. I do not have diabetes. It has disappeared with the pregnancy. YAY!!

June 15-June 21, 2008

June 15, 2008: Today is father's day. Brian got a blue tie with Landon's feet print on it. It turned out really cute. He wore it to church today. We managed to make it to Sunday School. Brian also got a book titled I love you, Daddy. It's about a little bear who looks up to his daddy as they complete bear type tasks. I also managed to wake up early enough to "make" cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Brian will also get time to himself. A co-worker of his has invited him and another guy to go fishing one day after work. And, from me, he will be getting an 8 drawer tool storage chest for in the garage.

June 18, 2008: Today, Landon and I had lunch with daddy. There is a scale at Brian's work. We weighed Landon on it while we were there. He now weighs a little over 8 lbs. We will see next week at the pedi's if that scale was close.

June 19, 2008: This morning, I had another glucose test for type 2 diabetes. It was a two hour test and it is to see if the diabetes disappeared after the pregnancy. I should hear something on Monday.

HIGHLIGHTS of this week

This week, Landon has really discovered himself in the mirror.

This next picture, we could not help ourselves. We started unswaddling him and his diaper was sagging. He wiggles around so much when he is swaddled, he wiggles his diaper down. So, here is the very important, every parent must have one,"embarrass our son when he brings a girl over" picture.

Here is his almost smile. It is very hard at this point to capture the full smile. So, here is the beginning:

This is his usual contented face:

Then, it quickly turns to angry:

Tummy time! He is getting to where he pushes his feet against the couch, picks his head up, and slowly makes his way in a circle. Before I realized it, he was facing the other way.

June 8-June 14, 2008

June 9, 2008: Today was my 6 week check-up with Dr. Phillips. She said everything looks great. I still have numbness at the incision site but she said that could take up to 9 months or more to get back to normal. She said I could also return to exercising which is great--if only Landon would allow me the time to do it.

Tonight, Landon slept 3 hours straight for the first time. I am not too hopeful that it will last, but it was nice.

June 10, 2008: Today I think Landon gave me a real smile...not just a reflexive one. He had finished eating and was watching me. I started running my finger right under his jaw line and he started smiling. I kept running my finger along his jaw and he just kept smiling. He has such an adorable smile. I hope to soon catch it on camera.

June 11, 2008: It is official--he is out of his premmie clothes. However, the newborn clothes are still big on him. The Fredericks gave us a set of size Just Born onesies that fit pretty good. They are still a little long on him but not as bad as newborn. His premmie clothes got to where they either a) would not snap at the bottom or b) if you could get them snapped, the neck was pulled way down.

June 12, 2008: Landon slept 4 hours through the night tonight.

June 14, 2008: Tonight we had dinner with the couple who had their baby the same day we did. Their baby's name is Helen. Here is a picture of Landon meeting his birth buddy.

June 1-June 7, 2008

June 1st, 2008: We made it to Sunday School today. It was great seeing everyone again.

June 3rd, 2008: Scott, Shannon, and Cooper came over this evening and brought us dinner.

June 6th, 2008: We were called last week to go to a timeshare presentation and in return we got a 5 day cruise, $80 gift cards, and a 5 night paid hotel stay in Aruba (we of course have to pay for food and transportation). So, today, we headed up to Conroe. It lasted about 3.5 hours but we did get everything that was promised to us. We will probably be taking our cruise in Feb. and having the grandparents watch Landon.

Our baby boy is still in premmie clothes. Although, a few outfits are starting to get to short to snap at the bottom.

Here are a couple of pictures from this week:

May 25, 2008-May 31, 2008

May 25, 2008--Tonight was the first night of Landon sleeping in his room in his crib. Up until now, he slept in our room in his pack and play.

May 26, 2008--Today Landon is 1 month old. His adjusted age is 1 day. It still feels like yesterday we were bringing him home.

Here are his highlights of this past month:

Weight: 7lbs Up from 4 lbs, 5 ounces at bith.
Length: 19 1/4 inches Up from 17 inches at birth
Landon can hold his head up for several seconds and switch sides he is looking when having tummy time.
Landon is a grunter. He does not make those "babbeling" sounds you normally think of. He grunts--a lot.
Landon is now breastfeeding fully with a shield but I hope to be able to ween him off of it soon.
Landon eats pretty much on schedule at night. He eats at 10:45pm, 1am, 3:30am, and 5am (unless he is hitting a growth spurt. Then it is pretty much every hour).
Landon can follow objects as we move them across his face and looks at himself in a mirror.
Landon has met everyone at mommy's work. They all think he is adorable.

May 30, 2008: The Martin's brought us dinner. Aiden got to hold Landon for a little bit. It was so cute.

May 19, 2008-May 24, 2008

May 19--The Montz's brought us dinner. It was really good and we really appreciated it.

May 21--The Arnold's brought us dinner. We are going to have to try that place out they got the food from. The food was wonderful. It would be a great back-up for dinner.
Today is also my original due date. It is a strange feeling to think that I should be delivering today or just within a few days of today. But, instead, Landon is already almost a month old. It is also amazing to see how much he has changed in just a month.

May 24--Landon is 4 weeks old today.

This week must have been another growth spurt. He has been up every hour-hour and a half to eat. I am glad he is growing but this has been really rough.

May 12, 2008-May 18th, 2008

May 12th, 2008: Today was my 2 week post partum/c-section follow-up with my doctor. Dr. Phillips said everything looks great and my incision is healing great. This is the first time she has seen Landon since she did not deliver him. It is an odd feeling that I have seen only Dr. Phillips for 9 months and together, we prepared for the birth of Landon and went over when to call her, what to do in the event of this, etc., and then when the time came, I never even saw her.

May 14th, 2008: Today was Landon's first visit with the pediatrician, Dr. Hammond. We really like her which is good because time ran out to interview anyone else. Landon weighed 5 lbs 1 ounce. In the week and half he has been home, he gained almost a pound. His length is 19 1/4 inches. Up from his birth length of 17 inches. His length is in the 10th percentile. He head circumference is the same from birth.

May 15th, 2008: Landon was circumcised. He did great and did not cry during or right after the procedure. It was only when we got back in the car to go home that he started crying.

May 16th, 2008: Sarah Eaves came to visit. She brought us a yummy soup. We loved the company and it was nice to ask another mommy a few questions. The soup was also wonderful and it was nice to have cooked meals for the weekend. Thank night, the Frederick's came by with dinner. We loved their visit. Julia got to meet Landon.

May 17th, 2008: Today was my mother's day gift. Brian got me a spa package. I got a massage, a sea weed mud wrap, and a facial. It was my first spa experience and I loved every bit of it. It was nice to get away for a couple of hours but I did miss my baby.

This week must be the 3 week growth spurt I have heard about. He is up eating every 1-1 1/2 hours.

May 6th, 2008-May 11th, 2008

The week Landon came home from the hospital, my mom and dad (the Benjamin's) came to visit.

We had so much fun with them here. We really enjoyed their visit. We hate living so far away from all of our family...especially now we have our own baby. When they were here, we took our first outing with Landon. They took us out to eat to Kelley's Kitchen. I LOVE their baked potatoes. Landon did great. He was nice and quiet the whole time.

This week, we also introduced Landon to his cousin Hayden. Hayden was very cute. He kept looking at Landon and smiling. He would reach out and "pet" Landon then start to pat on him. Eventually, Hayden would try to almost hit him so we had to take a break from the introductions.

This week has been exhausting and trying but absolutely the best week of our lives. It is so amazing to look over and see this little version of us. It is a surreal feeling. The first night he was home I was checking on him every 10 min. or so just to make sure he was breathing. In the NICU, he was hooked up to all the monitors. They were monitoring his breathing rate, heart rate, and oxygen saturation levels. Anytime those levels were off, an alarm would sound. We got so used to watching the numbers and hearing the alarms, it was strange having him home beside us and not having those monitors. I was so afraid something was going to go wrong. But, we made it through that night, then the next, then the next. And now, I am sleeping without worrying about him.

We also gave Landon his first bath at home this week. He didn't do too bad. Just a little screaming at the beggining then he calmed down and seemed to enjoy it.
It was also Mother's Day. Since my family was here, Brian and I decided to celebrate Mother's Day next weekend. I can't wait to see what he has planned.

Landon's arrival

After last weeks visit, Brian and I both had a feeling this was going to be the week. I had a feeling something wasn't right and Brian said if they find something this time, he pretty much guarantees we will be delivering by this weekend. Looks like our gut instincts were right on...

April 24, 2008:

This morning at 8:30, we had a NST and everything checked out great. Afterwards was our normal visit at 9:45 with Dr. Phillips. She said everything looked great--nice strong heartbeat and good measurements. We then went over to Dr. Goodrum at 11:00 for another ultrasound. The tech started and things looked ok from what he said. However, when Dr. Goodrum came in, she said Landon had pretty much plateaued on his growth and there were some issues with the umbilical cord. There was blood flowing to the baby just fine but not enough was coming out so his heart was having to pump really hard. So, she said she was going to talk to Dr. Phillips but was certain we would be going to the hospital to have our baby. At this point, the only food I had was breakfast at 7:15.

Dr. Phillips met us over at the hospital and talked to us about our options. She said we could start out trying with natural birth since she knew our wishes. She said since I was only dialated to 1cm and was only 50% effaced they would give me medicine, Cervidil, to ripen my cervix. Cervidil takes 12 hours to work and after the 12 hours, they would check me and it could take up to 3 rounds to work. Then, they would start me on Pitocin. She told us she would not be on call this weekend so Dr. Turner would be the one delivering.

So, around 1pm, we checked into the hospital and they start all the initial tests, IVs, and blood work. They informed me that I cannot have anything to eat because of the induction. I can have clear liquids but who are they kidding...jello and broth cannot fill a person up.

At 5pm, Cervidil is started. Insertion of it hurts. Because of everything going on, I have to have continuous monitoring. There is this nice jet tub in the bathroom and I can't even use it due to the monitoring. So far, contractions have started but are very light. In the beginning, I had no idea I was even having them except it showed on the monitor.

April 25, 2008:

At 5am, Cervidil is taken out and my cervix is checked. I am still only 1cm and still 50% effaced. So far, the drug has done nothing. At 7am, another round of Cervidal is started. Still nothing to eat except clear liquids--still more jello and broth.

7pm, Cervidil is taken out and cervix checked. I am now 1 1/2cm and still 50% effaced. The Dr. came in and told me I could have an hour off of the monitors(ie, now I can get in the jet tub). He also informed me that because things have not progressed enough yet, I can have a real dinner. So, Brian goes downstairs and gets me a Subway sandwich and a cookie. First real food since 7am Thursday morning.

8pm, Cervidil inserted again. Dr. said that at 9am tomorrow morning, they would start Pitocin

April 26, 2008:

8am, Cervidil taken out. 2cm dialated and a little more than 50% effaced.

9am Pitocin started. Contractions start in increase and get stronger. At this point, I am still going to try this without an epidural. So far, the pain is not bad. It's like a less severe menstrual cramp.

9:15am--3 hard contractions happened and after each one, baby's heart rate dropped drastically. Pitocin was stopped and the option for natural birth is out. Baby would not make it through the birth if he was struggling this much after only 3 contractions. Dr. Turner comes in and informs us we are going straight to surgery.

10:30am Prepped for surgery. Brian was given his cool blue scrub set to wear. I am wheeled on back to the operating room and the epidural/spinal block in given. That hurt a lot. It also had a weird sound when being inserted. The sound was awful. I never expected it to take effect so fast. What a strange feeling. NICU and regular nursery staff were all present just in case. Apparently, Landon has to weigh at least 2000 grams to be able to go to the regular nursery. If he weighs any less, he automatically goes to NICU even if nothing else is wrong.

11:52 Landon is born. He weighed 1956 grams (4 lbs, 5 ounces) and was 17 inches long.

He was also struggling with breathing. His breaths per min. were up in 120s-130s and somewhere around 30-60 is normal. I got to see him briefly before they took him to NICU. Brian left with him and took a few pictures. I got finished and they took me back to the room. On the way back, they did wheel me into the NICU and put my bed up to his so I could see him one last time for the day. One of the nurses did tell me that later they could put me in a wheelchair and take me down there but when I asked later that night, they told me no, that I have to remain laying down for 12 hours after surgery.

I did make Brian continue to go see him every few hours and take pictures for me. Landon was on oxygen to stabilize his breathing.

Part 2 of funny story: Remember the couple I commented about in the first or second post? The husband, Jacob, called Brian right before we went back to the operating room and asked Brian what we were doing. Brian told him, "about to have our baby. We are have a c-section and we are about to head to the operating room. What are you guys up to?" Jacob said, "having our baby too. Lindsay and I just got here." I then made some comment about how my predictions are coming true. After delivery, they were right on the other side of the wing entrance from us.

April 27, 2008:

I got to go and see my baby this morning. Landon was taken off of the oxygen today. Luckily, he is not on a feeding tube which a lot of babies are at first. He is on bottles/formula though. He will be on formula until I can get enough milk to come in to switch him over. I am not able to try breastfeeding though until a while from now because it takes too much energy for him to do it. The drs. want him to conserve as much energy as possible so he can gain weight to leave. He cannot go home with us until drs. are satisfied with a steady weight gain. It is very frustrating but we are very thankful that nothing serious is wrong with our little boy. We are able to go for each feeding and feed him (which is every three hours around the clock).

He has to take the whole bottle within 30 mins. and once he is done, we have to put him back in bed. We are not able to sit and hold him any longer because doing so would cause him to use more energy and he needs all the energy to grow. It is really hard leaving him when he is awake. I feel so bad walking away when he is looking at us with those eyes. I feel like I need to be there holding him.

April 28, 2008:

Weight is 4.0 I know all babies loose weight soon after birth but since weight gain is critical to him leaving here, it is very discouraging seeing that flash on the scale. My milk also came in this afternoon. So, now Landon will be completely off of formula and totally on mommy's production.

April 29, 2008:

Today we have to leave the hospital. I have been crying off and on all day at the thought of going home without my baby. But, I do know he is in good hands and has wonderful nurses looking after him. Plus, I don't want him home too soon and something happen at home. The nurses let us check out at 11pm instead of early in the afternoon because of the circumstances.

April 30, 2008:

The Dr. has increased his intake from 25mL to 34mL. This is a very good sign.
Today would also have been 37 weeks pregnant.
We have decided to go to the hospital for as many feedings as possible. This means 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm, and sometimes we make the 11pm. We skip the 2am and 5am feedings. It is exhausting but seeing him once we get into the room reminds me that it is all worthwhile. I know it does him good by having us feed him. We all get into a routine and he gets used to our scent.

May 1, 2008:

Weight: 4lbs 2.3 oz.
Brian's mom and dad have arrived for a visit. I feel bad that the only way they can see their new grandson is in the NICU but they did not want to wait till he was out. It is a struggle going back and forth. There are only 2 people allowed at a time in the NICU so we all have to take turns. I hate missing a feeding but it does give Brian and I a chance to rest every few turns. Grandpa David, Grandma Sheryl, and Aunt Laura all got to feed him. They will be in town until May 4. They are also helping around the house by cleaning and cooking.

May 6, 2007:

We are leaving today! Landon had to take a car seat challenge. He is put in his car seat for an hour and the nurse monitors all of his vitals every 15 mins. and makes sure he can keep his head up the entire time. He passed the test.

He also got his hearing test done and passed that. He has his first round of HepB. We checked out of the hospital and got into the car at 6:45pm. It is such a wonderful feeling.



Thank you everyone for praying for us.

First hospital visit

April 17, 2008: The day we thought we would get to meet Landon.

As a result of my diabetes, 2 weeks ago Dr. Goodrum (the high risk dr. in the same office as my dr.) ordered me to have weekly Non-Stress Tests (NST) done with Dr. Phillips. They usually last almost an hour each time. This is where I get hooked up to a monitor that tracks Landon's movements and compares it to his heartrate. In normal circumstances, when he moves, they like to see his heartrate increase by fifteen beats for fifteen seconds.

We had a normal Dr. visit. Everything checked out fine. Then on to the NST. This particular day, nothing was happening whenever he moved. His heartrate wasn't increasing even a little...much less for 15 seconds. So, Dr. Phillips called this a non-reactive NST. She ordered us to go to the hospital right away and have a longer NST done and ordered a Bio-physical profile/ultrasound. So we go over there and they hook me up and after about an hour, he is still non reactive.

So, they continue to watch him over the next 2 1/2 hours. At that point, they came in a took us to have the ultrasound completed. As for the ultrasound, there were four things they were looking for him to do (kind of like a check sheet) and he had to complete the four tasks within 30 min. If he did all four, he passes and we get to go home. Needless to say, one he did not complete. They also saw too much blood flow through the umbilical cord.

After the ultrasound, Dr. Phillips came over to the hospital and told us we were going to stay overnight just in case and then see Dr. Rowe (the other high risk dr.) the next morning for another ultrasound. She also told us that later that night, they would do another NST for about an hour.

10pm rolls around and the nurse comes in for the NST. I get hooked up and everything seems to be going ok. All of the sudden, babys heartrate dropped to around 80 and the nurses come running in and rolls me to my side. This seems to control it and they leave. It happens again within 10 min. At this point, they have called Dr. Phillips. They hook me up to oxygen, have started an IV, and drew the neccessary blood work needed for a c-section. Dr. Phillips comes by and informs us that if this happens one more time, we will be having the baby that night. This of course scares Brian and I. And of course, because they are watching his heartrate, I have to stay on the monitors all night. This does not make for an easy sleep. Luckily, things were normal the rest of the night.

The next morning, we have our ultrasound with Dr. Rowe and he said everything looked good and there was no need to have a c-section this week. He wanted me to come to his office next Thurs. for another ultrasound. He also told me because the baby is so small, to get off the diabetes diet, get on bedrest all weekend, and eat, eat, eat till I see him next Thurs. OK--I think I can handle that.

Because of all that happened so far, Brian and I have now packed our bags for the hospital and are now bringing them to all future dr. visits.

Finally

We have finally started our blog. We have been meaning to start one since we found out we were pregnant but everything else got in the way. So, we are going to do a quick recap of the pregnancy for a future keepsake. You can skip this whole post if you do not feel like reading all day.



August 18, 2007: Brian and I were driving back from the store when Brian started asking some random questions. He asked how soon I could finish school if I only took one or two classes for the next couple of semesters and if my current job could be done part time at home. Once we got home, I asked him why all the questions. His reply--I think we should start trying for a baby.

September 12, 2007: Found out we are pregnant. I tested at 5:45am before getting ready for work and went and jumped on the bed where Brian was still asleep. Nice wake up call for him I am sure. Showed him the test and started crying.
Told Tina and Latoya at work. We are the first three there in the mornings so I walked in with a pink onesie and a blue onesie, held them up and asked which one do they think I will need. (They knew we were trying.) They started screaming.

September 14, 2007: Made a cake for work. It was a Latoya's last day till next year, it was a few people's birthday, and I decided to tell everyone about the baby. The cake read "Happy Birthday, Good Luck, Congrats!" Gerald , my boss, caught on to the congrats and thought it was for Latoya. He assumed she was pregnant with her second child. Once I told them all if was for me, they all started clapping and cheering. Gerald's mouth was open wide.

September 17, 2007: First doctor appointment. We are using Dr. Cynthia Phillips. They did lab work to confirm everything. Dr. said everything looks great so far.

September 23, 2007: Told everyone in our Sunday School class we are pregnant.

September 26, 2007: Dr. office called. All of the lab work came back and we are officially pregnant. They said the HcG leves are right where they should be.

September 29, 2007: Went by Brian's work this evening. A few people at his office know we are pregnant but we have not told everyone there because Craig, my brother, works there. We have not told our parents yet (waiting till we can tell them in person) and if Craig knows, it would no longer be a suprise. When I showed up to Brian's office, a few people loudly said congrats and one woman said, "so this is the new mommy". Luckily, Craig was focused on something else and did not hear.

October 5, 2007: We had our first ultrasound this morning. It is so hard to believe that something so tiny can already have so much life to it. The baby's little heart was just beating away. We are leaving today to head home to Arkansas to see both sets of parents.

We told his family later that night. His family is very big on having lists for gift giving so we made our "list" for Christmas time. Our list was items for a bedroom. We put on there 2 sets of fitted sheets, a nightstand lamp, a couple of baskets, a set of curtains, a quilt, a few blankets. We handed a copy of our list to his mom, his dad, and his sister. His mom started asking why we just needed the fitted sheet, and if we were already redoing the bedroom. We just bought bedding and curtains in blue and brown. So, I then went out about how we have a picture of exactly how we wanted the room to look. We passed out a copy of the picture that is online of the nursery bedding set we were getting. The picture of course had the room and furniture all set up with all of the matching items to the bedding. His mom knew right away and started to cry. His dad asked why all of the furniture was so small. (he was still thinking we were redoing our room and hadn't even looked at the decor to see it was baby). His sister asked us why we wanted baby animals for our bedroom. Finally, everyone got it. It was great.

October 9, 2007: We decided to upgrade from our condo to a house. We are starting our search.

October 12, 2007: Went to see Christine's mom and dad. We had bought two coffee cups; one said I love grandma and the other said I love grandpa. I attached at tag that said love baby O. When they opened their gifts, dad thought the cups were from Hayden and he said thank you Hayden and put the cup back in the gift bag. I told him that he should read the tag. They both read them and were very excited.

October 14, 2007: During my previous church's (Piney Grove UMC) joys and prayers time in service, dad told everyone that we were making him a grandpa again. After church, we went over to my grandma's house for a big family dinner and we told everyone then.

October 29, 2007: We got the house we wanted!

November 13, 2007: Dr. appointment today. We got to listen to the heartbeat.

December 13, 2007: Brian's birthday. Dr. Appointment today. Baby's heartbeat was 157. We were ordered the full anatomy scan.

December 19, 2007: Exactly 18 weeks. Felt baby move for the first time this morning. It felt like fluttering feet like you do when swimming. Had the full anatomy scan done today. Everything is looking great. Found out we are having a boy!! You were being stubborn and not wanting to move. We picked out your name today...Landon Keane Oliver.

December 22, 2007: Brian's mom, dad, and sister are in town for Christmas. Very excited we are having a boy. We had a banner across the front entrance that said "it's a boy!" that they could see when they pulled into the drive.

December 23, 2007: Started working on our new house. We painted the master bedroom and took down wall paper in the office. Brian's mom and I made you some blankets--they turned out really cute.

December 25, 2007: My mom and dad arrived today. Today, we finished the nursery. My mom and dad got us a rocking chair and rocking ottoman for the nursery.

January 18, 2008: I left for Arkansas with my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. My dad is going to have a triple by-pass.

January 19, 2008: Saw you move for the first time. Can't wait to show Brian.

January 21, 2008: Dad had his surgery--only needed 2 bypasses instead of three.

January 25, 2008: Dad got to come home.

January 27, 2008: Brian saw baby move for the first time.

February 20, 2008: Started our Lamaze/baby care/breastfeeding classes. 6 weeks total.

February 28, 2008: Took 1st diabetes screen test. Found out I failed that one. Have to go in for further testing.

March 6, 2008: Took 3 hour diabestes test. Hated this test. Gave me a headache and made me very tired.

March 10, 2008: Found out I have gestational diabetes. I have to get a glucose test kit and start a new diet. I have to go take a diabetes class.

March 12, 2008: Made it to 30 weeks. We will start seeing the dr. 2 times a month now.

March 13, 2008: Took diabetes class. I start a strict new diet. I am allowed 45carbs for breakfast, 60 carbs for lunch, 45 for dinner, and 30 carbs 3 times a day for snacks. I also have to test my sugar levels four times a day. Once when I get up (has to be below 95), and each time 2 hours after a meal (has to be below 120).

March 15, 2008: In Arkansas to for our spring break. Today is a shower at Brian's house in Greenwood hosted by Terry. It turned out great!

March 22, 2008: Had a shower at my old church, Piney Grove UMC. There were a lot of people that showed up. It was wonderful to see so many of our friends again.


March 25, 2008: We met with our future pediatrician. Dr. Molly Hammond. We really liked her.

March 29, 2008: A co-worker of Brian's, Lenny, and his wife Amy hosted a shower/cookout for us and another couple. The husband of the other couple, Jacob, also works with Brian. Him and his wife Lindsay are due four weeks ahead of us.

Funny story--I had told Lindsay and Jacob that it would be pretty cool if their baby was a week or so late and ours came a couple of weeks early and we had them on the same day. (remember this story for later)

April 3, 2008: We had an ultrasound with Dr. Goodrum to make sure the diabetes has not made Landon huge. Mommy does not want a huge baby. Turns out, he was actually smaller than average. He weighed 3 lbs. 12 oz. at this point. They also said that he is shorter than average too--cause you know, Brian and I are just really tall.

April 12, 2008: Our Sunday School class (Covenant) at Clear Lake UMC threw us a shower. We really enjoyed getting to spend time with everyone.