Briggs' First Halloween Party at the Beecher's House ...
Our cute little devil baby!!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Mommy Photo Shoot
This photo is going to be the first of many. I have been trying to come up with a way to document Briggs' growth and I think this is going to work well for us!
 |
| 5 weeks |
Just a few of my favorite things ...
Cute naked baby butt
Briggs Monster
Ok mom, I've had enough ...
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
One month old
I'm going to be super cliche and sound just like every other parent in the world here when I say this, but OH WELL. It seems like just yesterday we brought Briggs home and now he is already a month old!! WOW!!Briggs has changed so much in such a short time and although I have taken DOZENS of pictures, there still aren't enough!!
I got a special present this morning as Briggs was cuddled up in his towel about to get a bath. We were waiting for the water to warm up and we were chatting away when it came, A SMILE ... a real, non-gassy, not sleeping SMILE!! Not sure what I did to deserve it and I haven't been able to recreate it, but it was fantastic! We see lots of smiles and even laughter when Briggs is sleeping, but this was special!
THIS PAST WEEKEND:
More Visitors, Daddy & Briggs' First Evening & Sunday Race Day
Katie Hupp and Laura Sadler came to visit Briggs Monster this weekend! Katie got into town on Thursday evening and stayed with us through Saturday. It was GREAT to have her here for some girl time and Briggs thought his Aunt Katie was pretty cool! Laura was in town for the football game so on Friday evening us girls (including Karen) enjoyed a well-deserved sushi night! I pigged out on sushi, man how I've missed that!!
SO ... because of Sushi night on Friday, David had his first evening alone with Briggs. He threatened me that if he called, I must come home immediately! Well we were gone for about two and half hours and I had left a bottle for him to eat. When we walked in the door after dinner, David informed us that it had been horrible! Briggs had not done well with the bottle, was still hungry, and was battling some gas pains. Not a good night for the boys.
On Saturday mid-morning, Katie and I met up with Karen and Charlotte in Greenville and went for an awesome walk in Cleveland Park. I was shocked what a great park this was and we walked along the Swamp Rabbit Trail from the Zoo to Falls Park. I must remember to go back here for walks and especially once Briggs is bigger because they had GREAT playgrounds!
Then Sunday, the boys made up and "watched" the race all day, I don't think the apple fell far from this tree ...
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Diapers, Diapers, Diapers, Boobies and Videos!
It's hard to believe, but very soon our little man will be 3 WEEKS OLD! These days have been fun-filled and exhausting. There have been lots of friends and family that have come to the house to meet Briggs, but for the most part, Briggs has devoted his energy to diapers, diapers, diapers, and boobies.
Over the last few days we have taken some time out to shoot some videos to share with everyone!
Some antics from these first few weeks at home:
Over the last few days we have taken some time out to shoot some videos to share with everyone!
I just had to capture some of the hilarity of Briggs when he wakes up!
He can go from sad to happy so fast ...
Briggs has started staying awake for longer stents of time,
today he was up for almost 2 hours!
Some antics from these first few weeks at home:
- When Briggs is waking up he grunts, stretches, farts, smiles, pouts, and groans! Waking up is obviously such hard work!! (David Jr.)
- We've battled with a little bit of spit-up and vomit over the last week. We started out thinking that it was due to food I was eating or Briggs' exuberant eating habits. As we've tampered with things, we now are pretty certain it is because of my abundant supply. The worst episode was one evening in bed, Briggs calmly tossed his cookies while David and I panicked ... not our best moment!!
- This weekend Briggs had a visit from Grandma & Grandpa (my parents) and he soaked up some love from both of them! He also rocked out an almost 4hr shopping trip to Greenville where I was certain things could get disastrous, made me a proud momma!
- On Sunday evening, Dr. Cross was hosting a cookout for his church and wanted us to come by. It has started to cool off a little here and that evening was a little windy. So we BUNDLED Briggs up in pajamas, a hat and two blankets. Yep, we overdid it just a bit!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Visitors
Briggs' Future Babysitters!
The Cobb Family came to visit!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Hospital Day 2 & 3
Day 2
David and I woke up on Day 2 and knew we would have lots of visitors and doctors rotating through, so we got Briggs fed and then got me into the shower (best shower ever by the way). Then our door opened. It started with the hospital photographer, I knew the prices so although I let her take the shots, I didn't plan on buying any. Flash forward to today, I am about to order the entire CD, I cannot resist his cuteness. Then we had visits from my OB and the pediatrician. Next, a tech came in to do his hearing screen. Then, we had a visit from the lactation consultant. Next, a few more visits from the nurse and pediatrician as they checked in on us and made plans for his circumcision.
We also had a handful of friends and family visitors on Monday. Aside from my parents and sister coming through, we also had some friends come to meet Briggs.
Melfi stop in and he brought me some yummy cheeseburger soup and then later brought Kim back for some baby love. 
Paula came with her girls who were absolutely adorable to watch! They brought Briggs balloons, a super cute elephant and Caroline made me a bracelet.
Then, Karen came and brought me some cookies (much appreciated) and spent some quality time cooing with Briggs! Not sure what she did right, but after she left we had one of our best feedings!! Day 3
I woke up on Tuesday morning with 100% hopes of going home. I was done with being confined to the hospital room and I wanted Briggs out from under the stupid light. We got a good breakfast and started packing up our things. The nurse came in to say they would come to do his labs again around 10 or 11 and then results would take about an hour. On Monday night his level had been 9.5 and as long as he came back at or below that, we could go home. We had a few more visits from my doctor and the lactation consultant and then FINALLY the pediatrician came to say his level was still a 9.5 and that we would be released. We had orders to really push his intake including adding some supplements and that we'd check again with our pediatrician in a few days.
Krista and Sandy arrived shortly after and just before we had all of our discharge information from the nurse. They helped us load up all the stuff we have accumulated in less than 48 hours and then helped us get Briggs into the car. Krista played paparazzi which was great and then they were going to stop at Publix for some groceries as well as our lunch and dinner, thank God!
When David and I pulled up at the house we decided I should go in first to greet and fuss over Logan and then he'd come in with Briggs for the introduction. Logan came charging for me and then immediately started smelling me! He knew something was different. After a few minutes, David came in with Briggs and set his car seat on the floor. Logan went right over to smell him, but then pretty much ignored him for the next few hours. Krista and Sandy arrived shortly after and we all feasted! I got Briggs fed and then headed off for a nap. When I emerged, the housekeeping gnomes had done amazing work and had dinner in the works. I was starting to feel human again. It wasn't long until I realized these girls were leaving me and I wanted to chain myself to the door in an attempt make them stay forever!!
Surprise ... Early Delivery!!
WARNING: This post is about Briggs arrival, including UNCENSORED labor and delivery details!
Sept 24th was just a typical fall football Saturday for David and I, we went out first to find David some new jeans and run a few errands. On the way home we picked up some good football food and settled in for the Clemson and Carolina games.
In hindsight we either had a premonition something was going to happen or maybe our actions got things started! During halftime of the Clemson game, David and I knocked out a few things on my to-do list. We installed the carseat and then put together the stroller. As we settled into the Carolina game, David had a few beers and made the comment that pretty soon he ought to not drink so that I wouldn't end up having to driving myself to the hospital. Of course, I was only 36 weeks at this point, so we were talking at least a week if not more before this was a concern, right!?
I started to drift off to sleep during the Carolina game, so I headed off to bed around 9:30. David stayed up for more football and came to bed around midnight. Around 1:45 I started my nightly ritual of bathroom breaks. During my first trip, I realized I had wet myself a little. Whoops, this hadn't happened to me yet, but I had read this could happen so ... I changed and went to bed. Around 2:30 I woke up and realized I had done it again. So, I changed again and settled back in wondering what was going on. The thought did cross my mind that this was something, but I brushed it off. Just a few minutes later, I had a bit larger drip. When I went to the bathroom this time, I turned on the light and realized my leak was also bloody. AHHHH!!! What does that mean!?!? There just wasn't enough fluid for me to really think this was my water breaking, I expected that would be more of a gush.
So, I turned on the lights in the room and pulled out my pregnancy book trying to figure out what was happening. Even though it was 2:45am, I tried calling Krista. She actually was on a trip to St Louis with Rick's family, but knowing her vampire lifestyle I thought I might be able to get her, but no answer. So I started to wake David up. He wasn't happy I was waking him up and it took a minute for it to settle in when I told him I think we need to go to the hospital. David had me call the hospital and I talked to an L&D nurse who said we should come on in. So we got up and started trying to get our things together. Prior to all this, I had started to pack a bag, but there were probably only 5 items in it at this point! So, we threw stuff together and headed out the door.
Thank goodness it was 3:20am when we left, there was no one on the roads which just might have pushed David over the edge! On the car ride, I came to the conclusion that this was definitely my water breaking. In the meantime, we made a few phone calls to wake up the grandparents. We arrived at the hospital around 3:50, checked in and headed up to L&D. The nurses laughed a little realizing I was the girl who had just called. They got me in a room, changed and settled in the bed. For the next hour we went through lots of questions, paperwork and started IV's. At this point I was just barely 1cm dilated and about 70% effaced, so the doctor on call (Dr. Mizzoli) ordered a pitocin drip to start. I was having contractions about every 3 - 5minutes, but I wasn't even feeling them. I really just thought it was Briggs pushing on me. We knew this might be a long day so we both tried to sleep a little. David was more successful than I was as the nurses were in every 15-30 minutes.
Things progressed slowly that morning, so they kept ramping up the pitocin drip. The contractions started getting a bit more intense and by 11am I was miserable. I was only 3cm and couldn't start the epidural until I was 4cm so the nurse offered some IV pain meds. I wasn't sure if this was going to delay things, so I had David call Krista who said DO IT. They came in and started those in my IV. Immediately they kicked in and I was D-RUNK! I had to truly focus to talk to the nurses and to my parents phone calls. They did allow me to get some sleep though!! My parents were hitting the road by noon and Krista was able to book a flight that would arrive by 7:45pm. By around 2pm I was starting to wake up, but thank GOD there was very little pain during contractions.
Around 4pm, I was finally 4cm and the epidural was ordered. I was a little nervous about this part, but it wasn't bad at all and immediately I was numb. Shortly after, my parents arrived. We got everyone updated and just sat and talked for a bit. The nurse didn't want to speculate, but sort of gave us the nod that this baby probably wouldn't arrive until later into the evening. Given that, my parents decided they were going to head to the house to drop off some stuff, get some food, and tend to Logan.
Just before 6pm, the nurse came in to give me a check and HOLY COW, I was fully dilated! This was totally unexpected so while she buzzed the doctor who was in a surgery and David called my parents to TURN AROUND! They stopped the pitocin at this point and attempted to get me to labor down. My parents walked back in the door at 6pm and shortly after the nurse wanted me to get start pushing. So dad headed to the lobby and David and mom assumed their positions. With the nurse, we did 3 or 4 sets of pushes (each about 3 pushes) to prep for the doc. I started to wonder if David was going to be able to hang, he was getting a little queezy and kept giving me "the look". Also during this time, the nurse told us that this boy had a full head of hair!
The doctor and her entourage came in shortly after and that's when things got rolling. Again, we did about 3 or 4 sets of pushes and having NO feeling below my waist, I had no idea how quickly things were going. David had gotten a little brave at this point and was starting to take some peeks at what was happening. I was just finishing up a set of pushes when I heard David say, "LOOK" and there he was (6:45pm)! The doctor lifted Briggs up high enough that I could see him. I'm not sure how to describe this moment. Up until now, I was so focused on laboring and just really felt like everything was so medical. At that moment, the emotions rushed through me and I was seriously taken by surprise. I immediately started pouring tears down my face, and the first words that came out of my mouth were, "it's a baby!" (The nurses loved this comment by the way!) I looked over and David was absolutely taken with emotions too.
David had opted out of cord cutting much earlier in the process, so mom stepped up and took care of this. As soon as he was free, they placed him on my chest for just a moment and then took him over to the warmer. Since Briggs was what they call "pre-term" there was someone from the nursery there to check him out too. Everything was great though, he weighed in at 6lbs, 15oz and measured 19in long! The hospital staff all said if the paperwork didn't state he was pre-term, they would think he was full-term. I say, THANK GOODNESS we didn't go to 40 weeks!!
Here are Briggs' first pictures ...
Getting checked out by the nursery
Proving that his lungs are just fine!
Weight check
We all love this picture of David & Briggs.
They both are looking at each other like they
aren't sure what to think of this situation!!
Briggs & Mommy
About an hour after Briggs was born, they moved us all over to the mother-baby suite, then shortly after Aunt Krista arrived. She was disappointed not to have made it for the delivery, but she stayed with me for quite awhile the first night so David could go home and pick up the things we didn't grab in our panic. She was a huge help as it took quite awhile for the epidural to wear off and I was pretty exhausted.
David returned sometime after midnight and we settled in for our first night. Things went pretty well, he ate well and really slept well too. Thank goodness because none of us were prepared for all that was ahead of us on Day 2.
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