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.