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Monday, December 17, 2012

Jack and Charlie Updates!

Yes, we are alive, I promise!  Life really does get more hectic with 2 kids, but it gets more amazing, too!  We have had an interesting time getting used to our family of 4 the last 15 weeks, but we couldn't imagine our lives without Charlie now!  Our fab family of 3 is now more complete by adding such a sweet baby like Charlie to make us 4!  He really is a perfect baby and has made the adjustment so much easier!  Jack is a great big brother, too, and helps us out a lot!  We are so blessed!

Way too much has happened in the last few weeks to blog about it all, but I'm sure everyone just wants to see pictures anyway, so I'll just do a few updates then lots of pictures!

When Charlie was just 2 weeks old, we went down to Auburn for the first home game, plus to see Kurt's granddaddy who had been sick.  It definitely was a lot on all of us to travel so far so soon after Charlie was born, but we were brave and tried it, and we survived!  Daddy and Jack went to the game while Charlie and I stayed back at Granna and Poppy's house, and then Sunday we hungout with Granny and Granddaddy all day so they could meet and bond with Charlie.

We came back down the next weekend, too, for the LSU game, and again Daddy and Jack went while Charlie and I stayed back at Daddy Mer and Mama Becky's condo since he's still too little to go to a game.  We also wanted to come back and see Granddaddy, since he had gotten a whole lot worse, and since he was so sick that Sunday, we decided to come back on Monday and he passed away that night. It was difficult for us all since we were so close to him, but we are grateful he's in a better place now and no longer sick.  It was hard to explain all of this to Jack since they were such big buddies, but we tried our best and he seemed to understand it as much as a 3 year old can!


A couple of weeks later we went back down to Auburn for the Arkansas game.  We tailgated more for this game, plus Mommy got to go to this one, too, while Granna and Poppy kept Charlie.  I was glad to finally get to go to a game, but it was so hot and at 11:00, plus we lost bad, so it wasn't all that great! It was good for just Daddy, Mommy, and Jack to be together, though, since that hadn't happened since Charlie had been born.  I know Jack enjoyed having us all to himself again!


That next week, Jack had to have tubes put back in his ears again.  The first tubes he got at 18 months hadn't done their job, plus the one in the left ear still hadn't come out, plus was lodged in there, so we had to get that one out then put new ones in both.  He did so well and it was much better than the last time since he could understand more what was happening.  The nurses said he woke up cracking jokes and making them laugh!  I definitely think he was their favorite patient, and of course probably the cutest!

Later that week we went to go see Mimi since she still hadn't met Charlie.  She was so glad to finally hold him and talk to him, plus she always loves seeing Jack, too!



Blakely had her birthday party that next weekend and it was a pixie and pirate party, so Jack loved wearing his pirate hat and shirt!  He also got to make a sword with paint and glitter, so that was a lot of fun!


A couple of weeks after Blakely's party was Halloween week!  The Sunday before, we all went to Old Baker Farm to get pumpkins at their pumpkin patch!  We got some awesome orange and green ones, plus got to ride on a hayride to get to them!  Besides that, Jack got to ride on a horse, feed a horse, plus climb a giant haystack!  We all had a great time!  The next night we went to Vulcan to be a part of the Halloween episode of the show "The Iron Bowl Hour."  Jack even got a special part in it!  He was a hit in his acting debut!  Go Jack!  We also went to "Boo at the Zoo" that week, plus that Wednesday was Halloween and Jack and Charlie looked awesome!  Jack was a skeleton, and Charlie was a sweet little pumpkin!  We went trick or treating for a while to get some good candy, then we came back to the house so Daddy and Jack could scare the little kids! We had a great night!

 

Mid-November was Brooke and Jake's birthday parties. It was at a park in Alabaster and we had a lot of fun!  Jack played on the swingset, playground, but mostly played football with the "big boys"! Charlie slept for a lot of it, but then when he was awake was passed around between a lot of people, but he didn't seem to mind!  After the party we drove down to Auburn to make it for the last half of the football game against Alabama A&M, and Auburn won big!  Any win was great, but to have a big win was even better!


Thanksgiving was very fun-filled and family-filled! We had 5 celebrations in 5 days, so we stayed busy and very full!  We had a great time with everyone, though, and are so blessed to have so much family! We actually were so busy we barely had time for any pictures if that is possible!

December 1 was Opelika's Christmas parade, so we definitely wanted to be a part of that.  Jack loved seeing all the people and especially loved seeing the marching bands and of course, Santa!


On December 4th, Jack had his tonsils out.  A couple of doctors said they were "ginormous" or "golf balls", so we definitely had to get them out. The surgery itself went well, but then later that night he started coughing up a little blood, then over night started throwing up lots of blood, so we had to take him to the ER down at Children's Hospital.  They immediately saw he had a blood clot where the surgery was, and had to perform another surgery to fix that.  Poor guy had 2 surgeries in just 2 days!  They admitted him so they could keep an eye on him overnight, and thank goodness he never threw up any more blood.  He had a very hard 10 day recovery, but we are all over that now and he's doing much better!  Thank you Lord for getting us through that scary time!  It was very hard as a mother seeing him sick like that but hopefully he is so young he won't remember it down the road!


Since Charlie was born, Jack has been going back to preschool, but this time with his teacher Ms. Linda and in a class he will be with until the end of the school year in May.  He goes every Tuesday and Thursday and loves it so much!  A few weeks ago they had a Nursery Rhyme Character Parade and he went as Jack from "Jack and Jill"!  He was precious in his overalls and pail and did so well parading around the sanctuary.  Mommy even got teary-eyed because I couldn't believe how big he looked!


Every Thursday since Charlie was a week old I've taken him to a breastfeeding support group just to bond with other moms and ask any questions I may have.  He has done very well nursing and so far has only had to have formula a few times (when I had shingles and when Jack was in the hospital). I get to weigh him every week, and each week he gains very well, and last week he was 15 lbs 12 oz, so the lactation consultant said that's very good since he started at 8 lbs 4 oz at birth. He's getting a little chunky, too, so of course we love that!

He has also starting "cooing" and smiling, and it's the most precious thing!  We love seeing a little personality develop!  He's sleeping very well during the day and pretty good at night, so life is starting to get somewhat back to normal, whatever normal is! :-)



Christmas is just a few days away, so we will hopefully have more pictures coming soon!

Monday, September 10, 2012

Charles Coleman Branch

Our sweet Charles Coleman Branch ("Charlie") was born Sunday, September 2nd, 2012 at 8:22 pm.  He weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and was 19 1/4 inches long. He is absolutely perfect!


His birth story is definitely a good one.  That Sunday morning I woke up and got ready for church, but had to get back in the bed because I was having horrible upper stomach pain.  It almost felt like the reflux pain I had in the middle of my pregnancy, but more severe.  I also felt very nauseous, so Kurt got up with Jack so I could rest.  We obviously stayed home from church that morning.

After about an hour, I started having back pain as well as the stomach pain, so I had a slight idea that this could be labor pains.  The two days prior, Friday and Saturday, I'd had semi-regular contractions, as well as lower stomach cramping, but the contractions would stop after a couple of hours, so I knew that wasn't the real thing.  However, Sunday was a different story.  I've been praying this whole pregnancy, especially toward the end, that God would allow me to really know when I was in labor and not just having false contractions.  This definitely felt different to me than the other contractions I'd felt recently.

Around 10:20 I felt my stomach really contract during the stomach and back pain, so I knew that was a real contraction and I started timing them.  They were 7 minutes apart for an hour, and I knew that the doctor said to call when they are 10 minutes apart in an hour, so I was getting a little excited, but didn't want to call right away.  I started to pick up around the house, plus give Jack a bath (to get my mind on something else), plus I wanted the house to look nice if this was indeed the real thing!  After an hour and a half of them being 7 minutes apart, I told Kurt I really felt like I needed to call the on-call doctor just to see if he thought this was it and I needed to come in.  When I called, Dr. Ross was on-call and he said that since I was already progressed to 3 cm just 3 days before, I should probably come in just to get checked out and monitored.  So...  over the next 20 minutes Kurt got ready and I finished packing (even though I was already prepared and had most of our stuff packed in the car), and we made sure Jack was packed, and got in the car.  We called Mama Becky and Daddy Mer and asked if they would mind keeping Jack for the afternoon so we could go to the hospital hoping we were having a baby that day!  They met us on 280 and then Kurt and I were on our way!  By this point, my contractions were 6 minutes apart and pretty painful, so I was getting more confident this was the real thing and the day I could meet Charlie!

Once we were admitted at 1:30, they put the monitor on Charlie and on my contractions, and for 30 minutes they weren't picking up the strong contractions that I was feeling.  They were still 6 minutes apart, and I definitely knew they were strong, but I didn't have proof on the computer! :-(  The nurses checked me too and even after all my contractions the last few days, I hadn't progressed at all past 3 cm!  I was so discouraged and started crying thinking this was again false contractions and they would have to send me home.  Sweet Dr. Ross came in though and said I could stay until 3:00 when they would check me again to see if I had progressed further.  I'm not sure I've ever prayed so hard in my life that hour and a half!  I was sure God knew the desires of my heart were to have Charlie that day, and I was praying even for the slightest sign of progression so the doctor would realize what I'd felt all day that Charlie was coming soon!  So, here came 3:00 and I was nervous and also very anxious, and as soon as Dr. Ross was done checking me, he said he had good news!  I was close to 5 cm!  Wow, that is a lot in just an hour and a half!  Praise the Lord!  He then said we would have a baby that day, so I became so giddy and excited!  I knew I was in labor and I'm so glad I was right!

They then moved us to a real Labor and Delivery room where they started my IV and gave me my epidural.  I was so happy I didn't have to have Pitocin this time because that drug is of the devil!  I had progressed enough on my own that I didn't need it, so praise the Lord about that too!  Once I had my epidural, Dr. Ross came back in at 5:00 and I was already at 7 cm, but since my water hadn't broken yet, he decided to break it to keep things moving along.  He came back at 7:00 and I was 9 cm, so he only waited one more hour to come back, and I was fully 10 cm by 8:00!  I couldn't believe how fast and easy things were going, and it was finally time to push!  I started pushing at 8:06, and after just 8 more contractions, Charlie made his appearance at 8:22!  He was perfect and I was so excited he was finally here!

It was such a memorable day and I'm so grateful to God there were no problems or complications!  God is so good, and now Kurt and I have 2 amazing and beautiful boys!