A year ago today. . . .

Exactly a year ago today, our little Braden was transferred into my womb as one of the two embryos below. Which one? We'll never know. The past few days I've been pondering the miracle of his creation and the events we were going through a year ago. It's mind boggling to consider the miracle of his life. We look back and feel oh so blessed that God has given Braden to us to raise. As of this past Thursday, he is 15 weeks old. What a transformation from a year ago! He continues to become more and more interactive. Right now as I type this, he is laying on his play mat beside me cooing up a storm, as well as having hiccups and kicking at the toys hanging from the top of the mat. He's the cutest thing ever!!!

As of 3 weeks ago on April 20th, I started back to work part time. The first week was hard, but continues to get easier. I know he is in good hands with my sister, Cara.

I'm continuing to attend a Breastfeeding support group once a week on Wednesdays. I'm glad I found out about it. They have a scale so we can track our baby's weight gain and a lactation consultant runs the class making rounds to answer any questions that we have and talk about common topics of concern. I'm also making a couple friends with other new mommys. As of last Wednesday, Braden weighed 11 lb 3 oz. He's still little compared to most babies his age, but we're making progress. Considering mine and Curtis' size, he'll probably just always be a little small, but that's ok. :)

Braden has been sleeping awesome at night usually 9-10 hrs and going 10-11 hrs between feedings. He's now nursing usually 5-6 times per day with his last feeding around 8-9 o'clock. It's great!!! Naps don't always go as well, but most of the time he does ok sleeping 45min to an hr.

I feel so blessed to BE a mother for this Mother's Day. I guess I technically WAS pregnant last Mother's Day, but didn't know it yet. Praise God for his grace and mercy!!!!

Braden is one of those beautiful embryos. . . .

Our happy smiling boy! Don't you think he looks like Curtis here?

Braden loves playing with and chewing on his lovey bear. It's too cute!

This darn head is so heavy . . .

2 months

Yesterday Braden had his 2 month Dr. appt. We've been hoping that he was keeping up with the 1 oz. per day weight gain recommendation and he has- exactly. He now weighs 9 lbs. even which is exactly 1 oz per day more than the last Dr. appt. Yeah! He's now 21 3/4 inches long and 37 cm head circumference. He's still bottom of the chart, but we've climbed up a little from 2% to 4-9%. Little by little. . . .

Just a few days ago we had another episode of him apparently ingesting blood, likely from a crack on my nipple. He then spit up blood- a lot of it. It's was really scary and gross. I called the Dr. and he didn't seem terribly concerned since Braden was acting happy and healthy. I just pumped the entired day and bottle fed to give my nipples a little bit of a break. Then at his appointment we discussed it further. Dr. Kersteff (his pediatrician) thought it also could have been from a small tear in his upper GI from increased spitting up that he has done lately. He decided that we should do a trial of giving him 3-4 weeks of Zantac for reflux. So, we're trying that, but I still believe it's from me. I also may speak with a lactation consultant just to make sure we're getting the latch right and not continuing to break blood vessels on me. Also, he got his first shot, a combination of 3 vaccines DTP?, Hib and polio. There was another they wanted to do also, but we're postponing that for a month. I believe vaccines have their importance, but I also believe in being cautious with all the publicity about possible austism risk. ( Although research denies that claim). Our basic plan with vaccines is to get only what is necessary and not more than a few at a time.

Braden and I have had lots of outings lately. I've been to lunch with several friends that have had babies within a few weeks of Braden. He'll have several little friends right around his age. I also took him into work last Thursday so everyone could meet him. He's a little charmer smiling at everyone. :)

We'll be going home at Easter which will be our first time to travel since having Braden. I'm sure it will be quite the circus with him, Chloe and all our stuff and just being away from the conveniences of home. It will be good to be with family, though. :)

Smiling boy!

Braden gets cozy with Chloe. Hanging out with Grandpa

Grandma feeding Braden a bottle

Our first walk in the stroller on a beautiful 70 degree day!

Braden trying on a hat made by my friend Laura.

And. . . the best one yet. . . Braden's beautiful toothless smile smiling at Daddy. He started smiling at 6 weeks and he's the cutest thing ever!!!

Braden is becoming increasingly more alert and interactive. It's so fun! What initally was a somewhat glazed expression responds to our voices and now smiles at us. We love it! He is such a good baby and now rarely fusses unless he's hungry, needs a diaper change or is tired. And, the best news is that the last 5 nights he has slept through the night (6-7 hrs). It's been awesome!!! I'm hoping it continues.

1 month old

Here is one of the pictures used in Braden's birth announcement. Sorry we couldn't send one to everyone.

Yesterday Braden had his one month check-up. He weighed in at 7lb 2 oz. and his lenth is 20 1/4 inches. He's at the bottom of the growth chart, but he started out small, so it will be a while before he catches up. The Dr. says they hope for a 1 oz/day growth. It's been 25 days since he was last weighed and he's gained 19 oz. So, he's a little behind, but the Dr. isn't worried saying he is within normal range.

We're still breast feeding and overall going well. We had an episode this past weekend where I apparently had a crack/blood blister in a nipple and Braden consumed a little blood. Disgusting, I know. He spit up pink, blood tinged milk a couple times. I went back to using a breast shield for a while to let things heal and we'll try to wean off of it in the next couple days. Since yesterday he's been eating like a fiend. He must have heard the Dr. say he was small and he's trying to catch up. :) He's been eating often every 2- 2.5 hrs and often for 45 minutes total. We also have introduced the bottle the last few days with breast milk. He took to it with no problems. Curtis has been feeding him each time and is enjoying the baby-daddy bonding time. :) The first time we gave him the bottle, he took 3 oz and then woke up hungry again less than 2 hrs. later. The next day we gave him 4 oz. and he was still acting hungry rooting and trying to suck on his hands. So, we gave him 2.5 oz more and he took it without even slowing down. 6.5 oz for a 1 month old seems like a lot, but apparently he was hungry and he didn't even spit any of it up. So, if this little boy keeps eating like this, he'll catch up eventually. :) But, might wear me out in the process. At least he's still doing well at night going 4-5 hrs at a time between feedings and sometimes even 6-7. Overall I don't feel horribly sleep deprived. I guess I'm getting used to getting my rest in smaller doses.

More pics

Braden was given an embroidered t-shirt from a Wild Birds Unlimited store owner. Here he is sporting his up and coming love of birds like his grandparents. :)

Braden's first bath was not the most pleasant of experiences for him. You can see he was not too happy about it.

But, getting wrapped up in his froggie towel helped. :)

Braden continues to be a great baby. He slept 6 straight hours last night. It was wonderful and I feel somewhat rested today. He has had some issues with spitting up lately and I'm learning that he doesn't do well to lie flat on his back after eating. We are continuing to get into a routine, but some days I feel like all I do is nurse. . . . when it takes 40-45 minutes each time between eating, changing, burping etc. . . Then a little over 2 hours later we're doing it again. Whew. I am trying to enjoy each moment though. I try to find time to work out a little bit and if I can accomplish one other thing during the day (laundry etc) I feel like I've actually done something.

It's hard to believe on Thursday he'll be 4 weeks old already. Time is flying. . . .

Our precious boy!

Both of the above pictures were taken today. Isn't he the sweetest?!!!!!!

The decal on Braden's wall. So true. . . . .

Braden and Chloe getting to know each other. She still isn't too sure about him and isn't a fan of our attention being divided, but overall she is adjusting well.

Braden right before leaving the hospital.

This is the first post I've done since Braden was born. Curtis has done the last 2 since I was unable with everything going on, obviously. We're now home and adjusting well. My parents stayed with us from Sunday, Jan 25th through the morning of Thurs, Jan 29th. It was such a blessing to have them here. My dad cooked up a storm in my kitchen and my mom helped to clean, do laundry, organize my kitchen etc. It was wonderful. After they left, Curtis was still home the rest of the week. It enabled us to try and establish a routine together before he had to return to work. At the end of the week and through the weekend, I started to feel crummy, had one very sore and red breast and developed a fever of 102. I called my Dr. and determined that I had mastitis and was quickly put on an antibiotic. As if recovering from a C-section and taking care of a newborn wasn't enough. . . .it was a rough couple days.

But, we are definitely doing well now. Curtis is back to work this week and Braden and I are on our own. I'm starting to feel like I have a routine and getting Braden on a good feeding/sleeping schedule. This sweet boy has done so well with sleeping (knock-on-wood). I'm feeling quite spoiled. For the last 4-5 nights, he has slept 4-5 hrs at a time and I'm even having to wake him up much of the time. So, I'm not feeling terribly sleep deprived- not like I expected. He also is eating very well. At his 1st Dr. appt. last Friday, he had already gained weight back to his birth weight. He was 5 lb 8 oz when we left the hospital, and as of 8 days old was back to nearly 6lb. The Dr. was very pleased as he said that most breast fed babies don't reach their birth weight until at least 10 days.

I'm definitely enjoying being at home with Braden! He is such a joy and a blessing. Sometimes we just look at him and marvel at the miracle of his life. I know all babies are miracles, but with the difficulty of his conception he seems more so. He is a miracle of modern medicine and a gracious, loving God. We feel blessed beyond words to have him in our arms. I wasn't sure if this day would ever come and feel so honored that God would allow us this opportunity. Even if he is the only child we'll ever have. . . it's OK. We feel like we've won the lottery with him!

We had professional pictures taken of him this past Saturday. If you'd like to view them, they'll be up until February 10th. The website is http://www.sprinklesoflight.com/ Go to "clients" and type in password: braden . We think they are very precious and we'll have a hard time choosing.

We are Home:) More Pics of Braden

Braden and family are now back at home! We got home this afternoon around 1pm. Amy's parents are staying with us until Weds. Curtis has this entire next week off. Braden is doing great but very sleepy today. It is a chore trying to get him awake enough to nurse but hopefully that will continue to get better each day. Chloe and Braden met for the first time this afternoon and Chloe is super curious about her new baby brother!

Here are some more pictures of Braden.