Blog, what blog?

I am sorry that I have been very slack about updating my blog.  I have made it rather difficult on myself, because we got a new camera and some how when setting it up I told it not to sync to my computer.  Ever since then I can not get it to recognize the camera when I plug it in...err!! (If anyone has a way to fix this, please share!)  So, I can only get the pictures off the camera on Paul's computer.  This would not be an issue today since he is working, but conveniently I can not find the plug to the camera now- nice.  So, I apologize for the lack of pictures (of the cutest baby boy in the world) in this post.

It seems like ages ago that I was in the hospital meeting my baby for the first time.  I have really gotten the hang of this mommy thing, and I am loving every minute of it.  Brady is sleeping longer periods at a time at night (thank the lord!).  And, he has been sleeping in his crib every night (not in my arms).  Another, thank the lord!, because I was starting to have serious back pains from trying to lay still in the same position all night to make sure I didn't smoosh the little guy.

Our not so little boy anymore is 2 months old!  And boy has he grown!

2 months! 

He weighs a whopping 10lbs 12oz! (52nd percentile)

23.5 inches long (25th percentile)

I knew he had grown, but I had no idea he had almost doubled his birth weight!  The boy likes to eat I'll tell you that much.  The doctor actually told me that I needed to cut him off and not let him nurse so long.  He was getting fussy after eating like he had a stomach ache.  The pediatrician compared it to one of us going to a buffet and eating so much so fast then realizing that was not such a good idea.  He is also on Zantac for some reflux issues.  With those two adjustments, he is a much happier baby.

Here is just a cute picture that I never shared of Brady with Papa and his cousins, Walt, Emmie, William, and Marcus!  I promise I will have more pictures next time.  Trust me, there is no lack of photos around here :).

4 weeks!

I can't believe my baby is already 4 weeks old!  More so, I am so proud that I have accomplished a whole month of breast feeding.  I read a lot about nursing before he was born, and I knew it would be a challenge.  But, I imagined it would be challenging in a different way.  Baby and I caught on to feeding very quickly.  He was eating well, and I was producing enough to satisfy him.  What I did not think about was how much TIME nursing takes.  I feel like by the time I feed him, change his diaper, and finally sit down it is time to feed him again.  He has to eat every 2-3 hours- and that is around the clock, which means I can not go too far.  The 3am feeding is the hardest, but I do it knowing that it is the best thing for him, and I am happy that I am able to provide him the love and nourishment that he needs.  It is a special bonding time for us, and I love sharing these moments with him knowing that they will be short lived.

I love this little guy more than I could ever explain.  It is hard caring for a newborn, but it is also so rewarding.  I am so glad that God picked me to be his mommy, and I promise I will do my best to always be the best mommy I can be.

 Here he is at 4 weeks old- look how much he's grown!

 First time "playing" in his bouncer

 My good friends and sorority sisters from college came to visit, Cady Nell and Samantha.

 Brady met his Great Grandmother on Paul's side for the first time and his cousins, Walt and Emmie.

 Visiting at Waldo's house!

 Mommy's little pumpkin :)

3 weeks old!

...and so stinkin' cute!

Riley, meet Brady

Riley has been a great big brother to Brady.  I have to admit I had a lot of anxiety about bringing him home to meet him.  I just couldn't imagine trying to deal with his barking, keep him from jumping on me (since I was healing from surgery), and keep him a good distance from the baby.  He did much better than I expected.  He was definitely VERY curious about this little thing that makes some strange noises, but he quickly realized that he was not to be messed with.  He likes to try to sniff him, but he knows his place.  He has learned to share his mommy, and I have tried to make sure that I still pay him attention.  But, there is no doubt that he has been demoted.

 This is still his favorite spot, but he has learned to share.

Brady had his first real bath this past week.  He was not too thrilled about it...

All clean and sleeping like a baby....(until I get hungry in a couple hours :)



Brady's Nursery

I had all intentions of posting pictures of Brady's nursery before he made his arrival, but he had other plans for us.  I had so much fun decorating his nursery, and thankfully I did not procrastinate on getting it done, because it was pretty much complete by the time we brought him home.  So, here it is!

I just love his furniture and his bedding.  I got the animal prints from Amazon.com, and I found the rug online somewhere for $50!

We spend a lot of time in the glider nursing.  It is so comfy. The side table is something we had, because I had not had a chance to find one yet.  But, it works!  The ribbon picture holders I had in college and just thought they matched nicely with his room.  The valences match his bedding.  I love the cute polka dots!

 Here is his changing table, diaper genie, and clothes hamper.

His hutch, equipped with the spy cam on top.  This thing is awesome.  It has night vision, the camera moves to pan the whole room, and you can talk through the monitor to the baby.  This has come in handy while I am nursing to talk to Paul if I need something.

 His bedding that I just adore.

And, the best part about the nursery is that it is totally complete with baby and all.  This is our little guy at one week old on Tuesday.  I just love him to pieces!!

Brady Walter DuRant

Brady Walter DuRant

Born 9/20/11 at 10:07pm

5lbs 8 oz

18 1/2 inches

Absolutely perfect!!

The last week has been an absolute whirlwind!  Never in my dreams did I imagine I would have a week old baby by now.  I have been meaning to update my blog and tell my crazy delivery story, but it is hard to find a free moment.  This little boy is growing and has to eat about every 2-3 hours.  In between feedings I am either trying to clean stuff up around the house, entertaining visitors, or catching up on some much needed sleep.  It is quiet in our house right now...all the boys are sleeping, Paul, Brady, and Riley.  So, where do I begin?!

Last Tuesday started as another normal day of bed rest.  After I came home from the hospital everything had calmed down and by all accounts the bed rest was working.  I was not having any more contractions, and I was just spending my days lounging.  I set up a phone interview with a pediatrician since obviously I could not come in to his office to meet.  Our appointment was at 6pm, so he called and we chatted for about 45 minutes.  I decided that I liked him a lot, and he would be our choice.  He knew that I was on bed rest, but we ended the conversation with hopefully we will see you at the end of October when the baby is born. 

About 15 minutes later I started feeling some contractions.  Paul was down the street at a friends house, so I called him and said something was going on and he needed to come home.  The contractions quickly became very painful and steadily coming every 2 minutes.  I called the doctor on call and he instructed me to take the medicine they gave me to slow the contractions, drink a large glass of water, and lay on my left side.  If they did not stop within an hour call back.  Well, they were not stopping.  They were to the point of absolutely excruciating pain. (Side note: props to those moms who have natural births.  I can officially say I would NEVER opt for a natural birth.  I felt like I was dying.)  While this was going on I told Paul to pack my hospital bag.  I had been unable to do this since I was on bed rest, but luckily I had made a list.  Paul then asked me if he should go ahead and start cooking the pork chops.  Umm...no, I don't think it's time to start cooking anything!  I don't think he understood the severity of the situation.  But, he got my bag packed, and we were on our way to the hospital.

We checked in and everything just happened so fast.  Paul was frantically calling everyone to let them know what was going on.  As soon as they checked me out, they discovered I was already 5 cm dilated and 100 effaced.  So, I asked the lady does that mean we are having a baby.  She said, oh yes, you are having a baby tonight.  They quickly wheeled me to a labor room.  I was getting so frustrated because they had to ask me 100 questions to get me checked in to the hospital, and I could barely talk!  Luck would have it that I happened to pre-register at the hospital the day before.  I mustered up enough breath to tell the nurses that at my last visit the baby was breech.  Which, the doctors told me if he didn't turn meant automatic c section.  The doctor came in with the ultra sound machine and discovered the baby was still breech. (The doctor on call that night happened to be the one doctor in the practice I had never seen- typical)

From there everything just moved super quick.  They wheeled me straight to the operating room and Brady was here by 10:07 pm.  My labor story really was like something out of the movies (they always tell you it doesn't happen like that), but apparently sometimes it does.  As much as I didn't want to have a c section at that point I didn't care how he got here I just wanted some drugs!!

They warned me before hand that depending on how big he was, there was a good chance that he would have to go to the NICU with some help breathing or eating.  Our little guy defied all the odds.  He was able to go to the regular nursery, and was perfectly healthy.  The pediatrician showed up the next morning and joked that he would be telling this story for a while. This past week has been crazy, but he is just such a blessing.  I never knew I could love this little person SO MUCH.  Although I spend my days catering to his every need on very little sleep, I wouldn't change it for anything in the world.  Being a mother is the greatest gift.  Here are a few pictures from the past week:

Paul's 30th

Paul just celebrated his BIG 30th birthday!  Let me tell you, I have been contemplating what to do for his 30th for a long time now.  It is a big milestone, and I wanted to do something special for him.  But, he is infamous for never telling me anything he wants or would like to do.  So, the day kept creeping up on me, and I still didn't have a plan.  Well it just happened that his birthday was the day after the first Carolina football game.  So, I knew we would be going over to one of his friends' houses to watch the game.  I started scheming with his best friend, Chris, on how we could tie in a little surprise party with the football party.  If you know Paul, you know he would make the best private investigator there is.  He always knows what's going on with everyone, and you can not get anything by him.  So, this was a major accomplishment for me to pull this off.

Along with all of his friends who he knew would be there to watch the game, we had his brother, sister, their kids, and his parents waiting on his arrival.  In true Paul fashion, he brought all the food to his own party.  He played golf with his friends that morning, so I used that time to run all the errands, decorate Chris' house, bring over food, etc.  I kept trying to tell him that we didn't need to bring all this stuff, but he insisted and what could I say, "It's already there because I bought it all earlier."  So, I just let him do it.  I was sweating waiting for him to be ready to leave the house.  I knew everyone was there waiting on us, and he was dragging getting out the door.  But, we finally got there, and he was totally shocked.  I think he may have been a little mad at me at first, because he was in the mind set that we were going to party with friends, not go to a family event- whoops.  But, after the initial shock, he had a good time, and I know he appreciated it :).  He was also a little mad at the pictures I put out of him growing up, but they were too cute not to share and a fun topic for later in the evening when everyone had a few drinks in them.

 I apologize for the lack of pictures.  I was freaking out trying to get Paul to the party without blowing my cover that I forgot to bring my camera!  So, I had to make due with my phone.  Doesn't he look thrilled??

We have made it a week since I checked into the hospital and the baby is still cooking- whoohoo!  I have not been driven to insanity yet, but I am sure that is soon to come.  I am not sure who will go crazy first me (not being able to do ANYTHING) or Paul having to cater to my every need.  He has been such a trooper and is taking such great care of me.  Riley is a pro at bed rest.  He has been at my side the WHOLE time.  It is to the point of where I had to tell Paul to please just get him off me for a minute.  He is the most snuggly thing, and I know he is just trying to take care of me.  But, as small as he is he can manage to take all my leg room and 3/4 of the bed.

 Ahh, this is great..

And just because Riley isn't spoiled enough, Paul's mom went and bought these stairs just for him.  He can't jump up on the bed himself and since I can't pick him up, we got these so he can let himself in and out the bed.  I know what you're thinking, if they are this obsessed with their dog imagine how they will be with their child.  There is no denying it, he will be one LOVED little boy.