6 Weeks Old and Sick...Poor Baby

As I mentioned last week, Daniel was gone to a car show in Helen, GA this weekend, and we had a really rough weekend without Daddy.  Cyndel and Mom stayed Friday night with us, and Mom stayed again on Saturday.  Bentley got really fussy on Friday, but I thought he was just having one of those days.  He seemed a little better on Saturday morning, so we headed out for a little shopping.  He was okay that afternoon until I took him outside to swing.  He immediately started fussing and crying uncontrollably.  We thought he might have gotten too hot or had allergies to the pollen.  After a bath and his bedtime bottle, he drifted right off to sleep.  On Sunday morning he woke up congested, stuffy, coughing, and sneezing.  It just got worse from there.  If his eyes were open he was crying, and I couldn't suction his nose and mouth enough.  After three days of fussing and crying, I had about all I could take.  Finally, Daniel got home at about 6:00, and he took over.  I had already decided to call the doctor Monday morning, so we were just waiting for morning.  Bentley went to sleep pretty easily for Daniel, and he did really well for his first nighttime feeding, but he woke up again at 2:40 AM, and he obviously still felt bad.  Every time I put him back in his crib he started coughing and choking on all of his mucous.  At about 4:00, we ended up propping him up on a pillow in our bed so he wouldn't be laying completely flat.  We all slept pretty well after that, but 8:00 couldn't come fast enough...I called the doctor when we woke up at 7:00, and they put us on the schedule for 8:30. 

The doctor was really good with Bentley, and he determined that Bentley has a cold. 
-The good news...we have a diagnosis, and I know I'm not a horrible mother with an insanely fussy baby.
-The bad news...there's not a whole lot you can do for a cold.  We are supposed to prop Bentley's mattress up to keep him inclined while sleeping, and we need to get a humidifier for his room. 

Other than that...the virus has to run it's course.  The only good thing that came of all this, is that we have an updated weight for Bentley...8 pounds 2.5 ounces...Can you believe it??  He's gained 2 lbs 1.5 ounces since he was born! 

We got home at about 9:45, so he had another feeding and went to sleep really easily.  I think he feels bad enough to sleep through just about anything today.  He has now been asleep for over 2 hours.  He looks like a little angel sleeping so peacefully.  I plan to let him sleep as much as he wants because he's pretty miserable when he's awake.

Doesn't he look so peaceful...you'd never know he feels bad here.

All stretched out...swaddling doesn't work so well for him anymore. :)

Be praying for my sweet baby in hopes that he feels better soon.  He's pretty pitiful right now, and it breaks my heart for him to feel so bad.  Be praying for us, too.  As you know (if you're a parent), it is absolutely exhausting to have an unhappy baby...especially when you can't do anything for them to make it better.  :(

A Busy Week...

Hey everyone!! 

Bentley is now 5 1/2 weeks old, and he's growing so quickly.  I know he's still tiny, but he seems to have grown a foot since he was born.  He discovered his gym this week.  I've tried it out a couple of times, but this week was the first time he seemed to enjoy it and actually play. 

You can see that he's looking at the toy that he's hitting around.  He was getting so excited!

I got his attention for a second.

I got it!!! :)

Along with figuring out a new toy, Bentley also went to the doctor with me for my postnatal check-up.  Daniel had an eye doctor appointment at the same time, so Cyndel went to be on baby duty in case Bentley decided to have a meltdown while at the doctor.  He never even woke up, but I'm sure he would have if no one had been there with me 

My check-up went well.  The doctor said I'm healing fine, and all is well.  My iron was just a tad bit low, so I still have to take my iron, and of course I have to continue taking my prenatal vitamins because I'm nursing.  I'm one of the lucky women of the world...I weight two pounds LESS than I did when I got pregnant.  Daniel and I have decided that I lost a lot of muscle mass during my two months of doing NOTHING!!  I'm going to have to get to the gym to get my muscle tone back.  I was joking with Cyndel they other day, and I told her that I feel like MamaPete, my great grandmother.  Since I lost some muscle, I feel flabby, so I definitely have some work to do.

After going to the doctor on Tuesday, Daniel and I decided it was time for Bentley to have his first bottle.  We wanted Daniel to be able to be more involved, so we decided that Daniel will give Bentley a bottle at bedtime each night.  So, we've been working on a good bedtime routine this week, and here's what we've come up with.  I give Bentley his bath about 15-30 minutes before his final daily feeding.  Once he's out of the tub, Daniel wraps him up in his towel and snuggles with him in Bentley's green chair.  After I clean out the tub, I get Bentley all lotioned up and delicious and get him dressed for bed.  Daniel then takes him back to his chair for his bottle, which he has learned to take really well.  After eating, he usually (ALWAYS) poops, so I take care of that, and then Daniel gets to snuggle Bentley off to Sleepy Town.  We are trying to put Bentley in his crib while he's still awake so he can learn to get to sleep on his own.  He's done pretty well, and most of the time he drifts off after a little extra "shhh-ing" and patting.  Last night he had a tummy ache and was having an all out meltdown, so I just rocked him until he was good and asleep. 

It took his a minute to realize what was going on, but Bentley caught on pretty quickly to the bottle scenario.

I think this shot is precious.  He's looking at his Daddy with those sweet blue eyes.

Hey Daddy...this is yummy!

All wrapped up and comfy.

Drifting off to Sleepy Town...

As far as sleeping goes...we've been pretty lucky so far.  Bentley didn't sleep well last weekend (for three nights in a row), but he's slept really good the rest of the time.  Lately, he's been asleep sometime between 8:15-9:00.  He usually wakes for his first feeding between 1:00-2:00, and then again between 5:00-6:00.  Most of the time he goes back to sleep until about 8:00.  He does really good about going back to sleep, but his poopiness really gets in the way sometimes.  He poops everytime he eats, so I have to feed him, wait for him to poop, change him, and then get him back to bed.  Usually we can do all that in about 30 minutes, but every now and then we have moments like last night.  He woke up at 3:40 to eat, so I fed him, waited for him to poop, changed him, and then he got the hiccups.  (He hates the hiccups!)  While hiccupping he pooped again, so I had to change him again, which woke him up just enough to need some serious effort to get back to sleep.  Finally, he went to sleep. and I was back in bed at 4:45.  At least all feeding sessions aren't that way! :)

Another big event of the week was my baby shower at school.  Of course, we only got a couple of pictures, and none of them are great.  I am so lucky to work with such wonderful people.  We got so much great stuff for Bentley, and the shower was beautiful!  Bentley went with us, but I didn't even get a picture of him.  He was passed around to quite a few people, so he got to meet a lot of my co-workers.  He slept pretty much the whole time, so he may not remember anyone. :)  Thank you so much to all the lovely ladies I work with...You are amazing!  Like I said at the shower...your prayers were enough of a gift to us, and we are so thankful for all the thoughts and prayers that helped to get Bentley here healthy.  I love you all!!

Chocolate covered pretzels...too cute!! :)

Daniel got a shot of me stuffing cake into my mouth...YUMMM!

Well, that pretty much sums up the week so far.  Be praying for all the boys in our family.  They are on their way to Helen, GA for a car show (SOWO) this weekend.  It's the first time Daniel will be away from me and Bentley since he was born...we'll see how that goes.  We miss Daddy already!

Newborn Pictures

I already posted that Bentley's newborn pictures were taken on Saturday, when he was 5 days old.  A friend of ours, Sean Harrison, and his friend Bekah.  They were so sweet to come to our house, so we didn't have to get Bentley out an about just yet.  We got some AMAZING shots (you already saw the bunny shots on the Easter post), and I was so pleased to capture the innocence beauty of my sweet new baby.  Those first days pass so fast, and babies grow so fast that it was important to Daniel and me to capture those memories while we could. 

We had a space heater that kept the room at a steamy temperature (somewhere in the 80's), so Bentley was comfortable in all his sweet naked pictures.  Check these out...I melt everytime I see them.

I hope you enjoyed your peek at my baby boy!  There will be more posts to come, so stay posted! :)

My First Graduation!



Bentley here...I just thought I would update you on my weekend.  First, here's a big smile for all of you! 

Check out this cute gummy smile...I have more where that came from!! :)







Now that you got a smile...here's what we did this weekend.

Aunt Cyndel and Raven graduated from college on Saturday.  They both attended Athens where they got business degrees.  We are so proud of them, so to show our support, we went to their graduation on Saturday morning.  (The graduation was in Athens at 9:00, so we left home at 7:30.  This was our first early morning outing since I was born...Mommy and Daddy did really good, and we were ready early.)  This was my first graduation to attend, and I did so good.  My granddaddy held me, and I slept the whole time.  Here's a few pictures of us after the big event.

Cyndel and Raven are all decked out in their caps and gowns. 

Here's all of us "kids."  Coen and I are the only ones left to graduate.

Coen decided to get a head start with graduating...he tried on Aunt Raven's gown.  I think he'll need a smaller size...what do you think?

After graduation, everyone (ALL of Cyndel and Raven's family), went to eat at Cracker Barrel.  YUMMMMMM!  Mommy fed me in the car before she ate, so I was a happy little boy at Cracker Barrel.  On the way home, Daddy took us through all the tornado damage in Madison/Harvest.  It was awful.  It's hard to believe that all of that actually happened.  We are still keeping all of the people affected by April's Fury in our thoughts and prayers.

Saturday's busy day was followed by a normal Sunday.  Mommy, Daddy, and I went to church, and Daddy played golf...that's the norm this time of year.  Because it was a little cool, I got to wear my adorable day gown.  I was so handsome!!  I did really good in church for the third time since I was born.  I slept through the whole service until the very end when I decided I needed to poop.  Mommy and Aunt Cyndel got tickled at me when I was grunting really loud during the prayer.  Hey...you gotta do what you gotta do, right?  Mommy decided to take some pictures of me when we got home. 

I wasn't really wanting to give up my paci...it was time to eat, and I was trying to wait until the "photo shoot" was over.

Mommy tried to take my paci out for a couple of pictures...I didn't like that idea very much.

Ahhhh...that's better.  (She gave my paci back.)

We decided to take a quick break from pictures for me to eat lunch.  I was much happier after that!

Here's my happy face! :)

Mommy thought this was a really sweet look on my face.  I was so pleasant, and I really enjoyed looking out my window.

I was trying to make a kissy face!

I was cooing at Mommy right here, and she was cooing back at me.  Isn't that silly??

While we were taking all these pictures my sister, Porsche was trying to play with me.  She used to ignore me all the time, but now she follows me and Mommy everywhere.  She likes to play in my room, and I think she likes me know.  Here's a few pictures of us trying to play together.

Porsche was stretching out on my blanket.  I think she was trying to be long like me.

Mommy thought Porsche was really cute, so she had her pose for a picture.

Porsche brought me her bone.  I think she thinks I can throw it, but I haven't learned to do that yet.  I like to hear her squeak her toys, so she does that a lot.

After taking my picture, Mommy and I changed from our church clothes into lounging around clothes.  Mommy has on sweat pants and a t-shirt, and I have on my All-Star outfit.  "Casual but Cute..." that's what Mommy said as she changed me.  What do you think?

I like my lounging clothes, but not as much as I like looking out my window!!

Enjoy the update...I'll stay in touch!

Love,
Bentley

One Month Old and GROWING!!

I've really been slacking on posting and taking pictures of my baby.  I think I need to hire someone to follow us around with a camera.  First of all, I never have the camera where I need it.  Second, I never can get a picture of what I want when it happens.  Third, I'm too busy watching what Bentley is doing to even think about taking pictures.  I promise to be better about this from now on.  Here's a basic update on Bentley in the last month...

Born on Monday, April 11, 2011 at 7:34 pm. 
Weight: 6 pounds 1 ounce
Length: 18 1/2 inches

Here's a picture of Bentley less than 24 hours after birth.

He spent all of his time eating, sleeping, and pooping.  We rarely saw his eyes for the whole first week he was here.  After that, he started having a little more awake time.  At his 4 day check-up, he was down to 5 pounds 10 ounces, and still a little jaundice.  Overall, he was  healthy, though.

At his two week check up, Bentley weighed in at 6 pounds 4 ounces, which surpassed his birth weight.  WooHoo!!  This meant that he was getting plenty to eat, so there was no need for supplementing with anything.  We were lucky...we never had to give him any formula at all.  He took to nursing very well, and so did I for the most part. :)  Not only had he gained 10 ounces in 10 days at this check-up, but he had grown 1 1/2 inches.  My itty bitty baby is growing so fast!!

While at the 2 week check-up, we asked the doctor about a tub bath since Bentley's umbilical cord had recently fallen off, and we also asked about sleeping arrangements.  He had been sleeping in his pack-n-play in our room for the first two weeks, and the doctor said that the earlier the better for transitioning him to his crib.  So, we went home prepared for him to have his first real bath and try out his crib that night.  So, two weeks old was a big day for Bentley!

Bentley took a nap in his crib that afternoon to see how he did in his crib.  As you can see, he's sleeping like a baby! :)

Check out my big boy!  He's sleeping all by himself in his crib! 

Here is Bentley's first bath!  I don't think he loved it, but he certainly didn't hate it.  He did really good, and didn't cry at all.

Rub-a-dub-dub...baby boy in the tub!

Bentley did amazing in his crib that night.  I laid him down really drowsy, and he whined for short time and then cried for about 3 or 4 minutes.  Then, VOILA...he was asleep.  (I should probably tell you that was the longest 3 or 4 minutes of my life while he was crying.)  I felt like a horrible mom, but as soon as he went to sleep, I felt like we had done the right thing.  He slept really well, and only woke up to eat every 3 hours.  After each feeding, he went right back to sleep.  YEAH! 

Two days later, April's Fury took place.  April 27, 2011 will always be known as the horrible day of the tornado outbreaks.  Luckily, no tornadoes came too close to our home, and none of our family was hurt.  We had a couple of family members that to deal with downed trees, but that was the worst of it.  Sadly, though, one of Daniel's coworkers was hit hard.  Five of her family members, including one of her 17 month old twins were killed by a tornado.  My heart still breaks for her each day.  I cannot imaging losing family members to such a disaster, but I especially cannot imagine losing a child.  Her other child is currently in the hospital with injuries, but she's improving each day.  Thank God for that.  Though it seems so cruel, God has a plan, and there is a reason that this happened.  His grace will see their family through this tragedy, and it makes the rest of us cherish what we still have.

Here is one of the storms coming in from a distance.

Here is one of the tornadoes forming.  This was the one that ran through the north side of Huntsville.

 As you may know, there was a massive power outage after the storms.  We lost power Wednesday afternoon, and we didn't get it back until Sunday afternoon.  Luckily, we have some really great friends in Tennessee that offered up their generator to us.  We were able to run the refrigerator, small appliances (coffee makers), the T.V., and phone and computer chargers off of that.  Russ, Cyndel, and Coen stayed with us from Thursday until Monday, and Keith and Raven stayed one night as well.  We cooked on the grill, and boiled water for baths on the grill and in the coffee makers.  That was a long four days, and we are so thankful that the power is back. 

We backtracked a little during that time.  Because we had no power and we didn't want to disturb everyone staying with us, Bentley slept in our room in his pack-n-play again during that time.  Overall, everything went well, but I think all the commotion got him a little out of whack.  He was really fussy for those few days, but he seemed to go back to normal after the power came back on and everything was back to normal. 

Here are Coen and Bentley laying in Bentley's gym.  Aren't they cute?!

My two boys side by side!  Too Cute!!

Today is May 11. 2011.  Bentley was due last Thursday, May 5th, but he's been here for quite some time now.  Bentley is officially one month old, and he's growing so much.  I haven't weighed him or measured him since his two week check-up, but I can tell he's grown a lot.  He seems so long to me now, and he's so much more alert.  He's awake a lot of the time, and he's starting to smile real smiles.  He's always smiled as he's falling asleep, but now he's starting to smile in response to me acting like a  monkey.  Ha ha! :)  He also recognizes faces and stares at us as we hold him.  It is so neat to think that he's mine.  I have a baby...an adorable baby that I love so much!  Here are some pictures I took this morning...ONE MONTH OLD!!



Look how long he is!  My big boy!!

He was looking out the window in his room from the changing table.

Here he is trying to smile.  I was tickling him and talking silly...I think he liked it.  :)

Check out my t-shirt!  "I Love My Daddy"

Napping in the crib...ZZZzzzzzz
We've started using a paci at times, so here he is with a MASSIVE paci in his mouth.

Daddy came home for lunch and got some Baby Time in.  Bentley was lounged out and sleeping good.

As a recap of the first month of Bentley's life...here's what I've learned about him.

Likes:

• To be held up on your shoulder (burping position).
• Bath time, as long as it doesn't interfere with eating time.
• Bouncy seat, especially when it vibrates and sings.
• Swinging.
• Laying by himself...he doesn't always want to be held.
• Windows and light...He loves laying on his changing table with the blinds open.
• Clean diapers...dirty diapers make him really mad.
• The vacuum cleaner and hairdryer...they put him to sleep every time!
• Meal time! 

Dislikes:

• Dark...We have a nightlight in his room because he has a come apart if it's really dark.
• Dirty diapers...and he tends to dirty them at least 6-8 times a day, maybe more.
• Diaper changes, though he does much better with warm wipes.
• Being held like a baby (cradle hold) unless he's REALLY sleepy or eating.

That's all I can think of right now...I guess it's good that the likes outweigh the dislikes.  I think we are finally updated, and I'll try to do a better job of taking pictures and posting more often.  I'm not making any promises. :)

We are so blessed to have our sweet little family!  I love my life!! :)