Peas in a Pod

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Jonah B...One month old!

I have quite a few things to update in this post! We have been very busy lately. Jonah is 5 weeks old today! He is growing so fast and changing everyday. He is filling out and getting some chubby little cheeks and legs. I love every tiny ounce of him. I am so obsessed with my little man. Last weekend me and Derek went out on our first date night. Nonny stayed with Jonah while we went on a whirlwind date to Ruby Tuesday in Gardendale ;). We laughed at ourselves because the whole time we could only talk about JB. I didn't like being away from him, even though we were gone for a whopping 1 1/2 hours! The next day we went to see Granny Jo so she could meet Jonah. She was so happy to see him and thinks he is just the cutest thing...which we already know!!! Sunday was Mother's day and baby dedication at church. I don't think I even need to stress how important and special this day was to me. It was not only my first Mother's Day, but is was a day for us to dedicate our angel to our church and make a promise to raise him in a Godly home and bring him up in the church that we love so much. For Mother's Day, Derek treated me to a spa day (massage, facial, mani & pedi)!!! I haven't used it yet, but I can't wait! Then, it was off to church. Jonah did so good during the dedication ceremony. We stood in front of the church with 10 other families and promised to keep bringing him to church and teach him about Jesus at a young age. He was given a bible, certificate of dedication, and a letter from Pastor Kevin that we will give him the day he accepts Jesus into his heart. Kiwi was also dedicated to the church! Nonny, Poppy, Tanner, Mimi, and Aunt Margaret and Uncle Bobby all came to the service. It was such a very special day for all of us!!!

Jonah being dedicated to GFBC

Pastor Kevin leading the dedication ceremony

Mommy, Daddy, and Jonah

In other news, Jonah had his 1 month checkup with Dr. Bill! He is growing so much, and I have the measurements to prove it. He was 9lbs 8oz and 22 1/8in long! No wonder he can't wear newborn diapers anymore, and his newborn onesies are getting kinda snug! Dr. Bill said he is average percentile for weight and 75% for length and head circumference. We keep thinking he has a little reflux, so Dr. Bill changed his formula and gave us a prescription for Zantac (which daddy thinks is hilarious). We haven't started the medicine yet, but we will see how things go with the new formula. Here is Jonah with Dr. Bill....

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Jonah Yarbrough...Room 1

Yesterday, Jonah had his 2wk checkup with Dr. Bill. We had quite the list of questions to ask. First, Bessie took his measurements. He was 7lbs 14oz, 20 3/4in long, 14in head circ. Dr. Bill was very happy with his weight gain, and his jaundice has resolved! My little chunk :) We asked about his feeding, spitting up, gassiness, sneezing all the time, noisy eating, and his gunky right eye. Dr. Bill wanted to change his formula to Enfamil Gentlease. He said the sneezing and noisy eating are normal. He also said Jonah probably had a blocked tear duct that is causing his gunkiness. I feel like I should know so much more than I do. I even told them that I'm a pediatric nurse, but it's so different being my child. I know what I would tell another mom if I was at work, but I don't know what to tell myself! Dr. Bill is so understanding and helpful that I don't feel as stupid asking all of my questions. Jonah is just so precious, and we cannot imagine our life without him now. I've been thinking of all the precious things he does. I don't ever want to forget anything, so I'm making a list (like I always do)....
*Cannot sleep without his hands up at his face
*Gives me a "what are you talking about" face (scrunches his forehead and looks at me with wide, confused eyes!)
*We call him our little "Squishy" because of his precious squishy face
*If he loses his paci, he will let out a warning grunt letting you know you have just a minute or two before the full on screams begin
*The way he smacks his lips when he's hungry. You can hear it in the next room. When he's hungry, he means business!
*The faces he makes in his sleep. He can be grinning one second, then go straight to a sad face with his bottom lip poked out. My bipolar sleeper!
*The way he looks into my eyes like he knows exactly who I am and is secretly telling me how much he loves me :)

I love my little boy with all of my heart. Even in my sleep-deprived state, I would do anything for that little squishy! I was watching something the other day about a baby with horrible parents. I looked at my baby and said "You are one lucky little boy." I immediately started crying, because I realized that I am the lucky one. I am lucky for having this baby in my life. God is so creative and generous. He gave me this special angel to look after. We are beyond blessed and will never take that for granted. Jonah B, you are so loved!!!!

Monday, April 30, 2012

Jonah has arrived!!!

Again, I have to admit that I am not a very good blogger. Not only has my little man made his debut, but he is now 2 weeks old!!! The past two weeks have been the most amazing, stressful, busy, and rewarding weeks of my life. I guess I should just start at the beginning....
On Saturday, April 14, me and Derek decided to have a date night at Davenport's. On our way home, we stopped at Chris and Ashley's so Derek and Chris could put in Jonah's car seat. I was walking beside the car on a slope when my foot slipped out from under me and I fell pretty hard. I caught myself on my hands and my left knee, but it hurt pretty bad. We made the joke that if that don't put me into labor, then we didn't know what would. A joke....but actually turned out to be true. At 12:45 that night, I woke up and realized that my water had broken. I was so excited that it had all officially started. I was in the bathroom, and I called out to Derek that it was time to go. I heard this really weird noise, and when I walked out into the bedroom, I saw Derek limping around the room. His leg was asleep and he had jumped right out of bed! It was hilarious to watch him try to get across the room to our bags. Anyways, we loaded up the car and headed to the hospital. When he got there, they took me into a temporary room to make sure I was truly in labor before they admitted me. I was 2 1/2 cm, and they comfirmed that my water had broken. By the time I was admitted and got into a room, it was 1:45am. Mom and Dad got to the hospital and we all sat around watching CMT music videos (the only thing on that early in the morning), and waiting for my contractions to really kick in. Let me tell you...when they started up, they REALLY started up! I was trying to last as long as possible before I got my epidural, but I ended up really needing it before I even got to 3 1/2 cm. After the epidural, things were great! I could tell when I was having a contraction, but did not feel any pain at all. God bless whoever discovered epidurals. I progressed pretty quickly, and before I knew it, I was pushing. I started pushing at around 9:40, and Jonah B was brought into this world at 10:03. He was 7lbs 5oz, 20in long. Derek was fabulous during labor. He just kept saying sweet and encouraging things in my ear. We were so amazed when we saw our little boy for the first time. He was so beautiful! We were on cloud 9. They gave me Jonah for some skin-skin time. It was amazing. Nothing could be better than that moment. Then things turned bad... I made a comment about him making cute little grunting sounds. The nurse (Megan...fabulous btw!) said they don't like grunting. She put him back under the warmer and looked at him again. She said he was breathing 100 times per minute. They like babies to be 30-60. They called the doctor (Wamack) and he said to give Jonah 4hrs transition time, and if he didn't regulate his breathing, he might have to go to NICU. Well, we hoped and prayed and tried a little more skin-skin time. 4hrs passed and he was still breathing 90 times per minute. I was holding him when Megan came in with a wheelchair and transportation unit for Jonah. I asked what was going on (knowing fully what that meant). She said they were going to go ahead and take him to NICU for observation. My heart dropped. I couldn't stand the thought of my baby being sent to a different part of the hospital. It terrified us that something could be wrong with our perfect baby boy. When we got to the NICU, the doctor told us what the plan was. They would start an IV, get blood cultures and other labs, and start IV fluids since he wouldn't be able to eat. He couldn't eat since he was breathing so fast. We had to leave for an hr and come back after they got him settled. There were 2 possibilities that could be causing his rapid breathing. Either he had fetal lung fluid left in his lungs (normal fluid that normally gets squeezed out during labor), or he had aspirated amniotic fluid (can easily cause infection that would need 2wks of antibiotics). We wouldn't know which one it was for 72 hrs when the blood culture results came back. When we got back into the NICU and I saw that little angel with an IV in his head, sleeping like nothing was wrong, I just lost it. All I wanted was to hold my baby. We were broken hearted. Things had gone so well, up until now. The hardest thing was going back to my room at night and sleeping without him right there next to me. I felt so lonely and empty. I had carried him around for 9 months and then in no time at all, he was here and then taken away. I was very angry. One thing that did help was the outpouring of love and support from our family and friends. We got a call from Mark Harrison and Pastor Kevin Hamm from GFBC. They prayed for us over the phone. It was so touching to know that people knew about what was going on with Jonah and sending up lots of prayers for the little guy.
The next few days got a little better a little bit at a time. The last time his breathing was abnormal was Sunday night around 10:00. He got to eat for the first time on Tuesday and did great. Poor thing was starving! He moved to a regular crib Tuesday night, which meant we could hold him and feed him anytime we wanted, plus grandparents could finally hold him for the first time. Tuesday night we had to stay in the Centennial Lodge attached to the hospital. I had been discharged, but I was not going home without my baby. Wednesday we got the ok to room in with him in a NICU family room. The cultures were negative and he was going to be sent home Thursday! That was such a good day/night. It felt normal, because we had him there with us at all times. They took out his IV, so then I could kiss his wittle forehead :) We snuggled with him and loved on him so much. Thursday was a little stressful trying to get everything out the door, plus we discovered the car had been hit in the parking deck. That made Derek furious! We were just ready to be home. We were discharged around lunchtime, and we headed home!!! Mom and Tanner were at the house when we got there. Mom had made a "Welcome home Jonah" sign for the front yard. So cute! The day was full of love, hugs, kisses, and visitors. Chris and Ashley came over to see Jonah. Kinley and J had some cute pics made together. They are going to be bff's! On Friday, we went to see Dr. Bill for a checkup. He said Jonah was a beautiful baby and he looked just perfect. He had gained weight from 6lbs 14oz at discharge to 7lbs 1oz. He was a little jaundice, but Dr. Bill didn't seem to be worried about that. He told us to come back in 2wks for another checkup.
The past couple of weeks have gone by so fast. Last week was pretty stressful. I cried...a lot. I was just so emotional. I even cried during Kloe and Lamar when Lamar went back to play against the LA Lakers and the fans gave him a standing O and made a video welcoming him back since he was traded. Stupid, I know. Jonah was waking up every couple of hrs at night, and I was so tired. This week has been much better. He eats about every 4hrs at night, which is as good as we can hope for at this point. Derek has been amazing through all of this. He is so helpful and supportive. He loves Jonah so much and gets mad if I try to hog him too much! Nonny and Poppy have been moving into their townhouse in Morris. I am so happy that they are going to be right down the road, even if it isn't everyday. I am just having the best time being a mommy. I love to snuggle with my little man. He is already getting so big! He can hold his head up on his own already! Not for long, but I still think it's a big deal. I have no idea how I waited so long to become a mommy. It's very stressful and busy, but it is the most amazing feeling in the world. Jonah is so perfect and beautiful. God truely blessed us when he gave us Jonah Brandon. I can't wait to watch him grow. We are in for an amazing ride!!!