Dear Benjamin

Dear Benjamin,

     Today, you are 19 months old.  You have brought so much joy to our lives.  I can't believe how fast you are growing up, how intelligent you are becoming and how much you make us laugh.  You are coming up with new words every day.  Your favorite things are playing with Chelsea and Andrew, watching Dora, and getting tickles.  You love to eat fruit (but not vegetables).  You are fantastic at identifying animals and even better at making their noises!  (Your favorite noise to make is for a dinosaur -ROOAAARRRRR).  You climb like a little monkey.  You are constantly talking and your new favorite word is "stuck!"  You have 14 teeth and still love drinking mommy's milk!  You will bring me a pillow and blanket during the day when you want some.  You will pick out which color cloth nappy you want to wear when it's time to get changed.  You hate wearing socks (like me) but love to put shoes on.  Thankfully you know that you need socks in order to wear shoes so you will put them on sometimes.  You have beautiful blonde curls and are way above average in both height and weight.  Thank you for being you.  We love you!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Benjamin at 8 Months Old

Benjamin is currently 8 months old and growing like a weed! At his last check he weighed 9.32 kg/20 lb 9 oz and was 73.5 cm/28.9 inches! He has learned how to clap and wave, can crawl and pull him self up and will walk while holding someone's hands! He's a gorgeous little boy and I'm proud to say he's mine!

Home

We're going home! Paul and I are taking all three kids to America! I can't wait. This will be the kids first trip to the U.S. I am so excited to have them meet all of my family and friends. There are so many shops and restaurants to go to, mom's home cooking to eat and people to see!

Look out! Here we come!

Benjamin's Birth Story

The entire week before Benjamin was born I had been having cramping in my lower back. I tried timing them, but they were so erratic that I didn't think much of them. Saturday I had started leaking, but wasn't sure if it was amniotic fluid or not. Sunday, September 26, 2010 was the morning of my virtual baby shower. All my family and friends gathered at my parent's house and Paul and I joined them on cam. After the shower was over I called the hospital because I wanted to get checked out. Since I was GBS+ they had me come in right away. We made it to the hospital by 1:30 pm. They set me up in a bed and got me hooked up to the monitors. The midwife did an internal, asked the student midwife to look and asked her "Do you see that dark circle?". My first thought was "Oh my God! I have cancer!". Seriously. The midwife told me that I was at almost 4 cm, the head was right there, and the baby has some dark hair. I was incredibly happy to find out that I didn't have cancer, I was just in labor.

I was set up in a room by 2 pm, given antibiotics, and was told to go walk around but be back by 6 pm. We (Paul, Chelsea, Andrew and I) returned at 6 and I was given another round of antibiotics. The midwife (a different one this time) broke my waters and started the Syntocinon to help my contractions. The contractions started right away and got strong very quickly. So quickly that I barely had time to rest in between. At about 6:30 pm, Paul took the kids downstairs to get picked up by their Aunt. I had asked for gas for pain relief. The midwife set me up with it, told me how to use it, and left the room. The next contraction started and I started inhaling the gas, and started to feel sick. I stopped inhaling but it was too late - I ended up vomiting everywhere. Of course I was alone and had no idea what to do. Paul walked back in and saw me sitting up with a panicked look on my face. He told me afterward that he thought I had had the baby! He ran out and got the midwife and they came in and cleaned me and the room up. I was so embarrassed.

I started pushing around 8:10 pm. I pushed laying down in bed, I pushed while sitting over the toilet, and standing up leaning over the bed. Finally I wanted to get back into bed. I got a shot of Pethadine, but I was too far along and it did nothing to help the pain. I could remember thinking that I just wanted a c-section because it hurt so bad and didn't feel like I was making any progress. Finally he was born, and Paul yelled out "He's got a willy!". It was such an awesome feeling finding out the sex right then. I ended up with a second degree tear and some stitches, but never needed any pain medication other then the first lot.

Benjamin Ernest was born at 9:07 pm on September 26, 2010. He weighed 7 lb 9 oz and was 19 1/4 inches long. They placed him on my chest right away and then took him over to get cleaned up. It took about a minute for him to start breathing and then I heard that lovely cry. He was born face up so he came out extremely bruised.

I took a shower up in the birthing room and then we walked upstairs to our room for the next 2 days. Benjamin slept most of that first night and, of course, I couldn't. I had to wake him up for feeds and he seemed to latch on pretty well. I did get some help from the nurses with breastfeeding, but all in all it went pretty well. He had a tongue-tie which we got cut at 3 weeks old. After that breastfeeding was much easier since he was able to move his tongue more.

Here are a few pictures of him at birth, and now at 4 1/2 months (February 16, 2011).

New Year, New Commitment

It has been an incredibly long time since I last blogged. I am going to give a full update in one post as it will be easier. I am also going to start blogging more. At least I hope. I really had good ideas for this blog, but then life got in the way. Even though I don't have as much time as I did before, I WILL blog. Simple as that. It may not be everyday. Actually, I know it won't be everyday. I will aim for once a week. That will be my goal for 2011. To blog once a week. I promise.

Anyway, here is what has happened since I last posted.

I had a baby. If anyone still reads this, I'm sure you figured that out. Since my last post was about being 34 weeks pregnant. And no one would be 49 weeks pregnant. I will post my full birth story another time. Don't read it if that doesn't interest you. It's mostly for me. I want to have it written down so in the future I will be able to read it, instead of recalling on my faded memory of it. For now, here is the quick version.

September 26, 2010 was my online baby shower. After the shower I went to the hospital to get checked out for leaking. I was told that I was 4 cm, the baby's head was right there, and I was going to give birth within the next 24 hours. I got a room at 2 pm, got my waters broken at 6 pm, started pushing at 8:10 pm, and Benjamin Ernest was born at 9:07 pm. We didn't know the sex of the baby before he was born and it was awesome hearing Paul yell out "He's got a willy!". The next baby will definitely be a surprise too. At birth, he was 7 lb 9 oz and 19 1/4 inches long.

As of today he is 15 weeks and 4 days old (3 1/2 months). I measured him myself last week and he was at 15 lbs and 24 1/2 inches. He is growing like a weed and awesome in every way possible. He rolls front to back, loves to stand, has HUGE smiles, and a cute little bald patch on the back of his head. He is exclusively breastfed, we co-sleep (only until we get his mattress then we will start transitioning to his crib), I wear him in the Moby, and wears cloth diapers. He goes to bed between 8 and 9 pm, sleeps through until 3 - 4 am, has a quick feed and burp (15 minutes total), and goes back to sleep until 6:30-7 am when he starts fussing. To me, that is sleeping through the night and I love it.

At 5 weeks old, my parents and sister flew over from Buffalo to meet him. They spent 2 weeks here that went way too quick. We did lots of sight seeing, but the best part was seeing them spend time with Benjamin.

He's had his first Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year, even though they aren't all celebrated in Australia. He's been on the Great Ocean Road, to Bairnsdale, Raymond Island, Wonthaggi, Geelong, Portarlington, and Altona Beach. He's been to the waves pool, and the playground. Pictures are to come later.

34 weeks 3 days

How far along? 34 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain/loss? About 20 lbs gained.

Maternity clothes? Yes

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep? Still getting up every 2 or so hours to pee and waking up for good earlier each day.

Movement? Slowing down a bit. Most active in the evenings.

Food cravings? None.

Gender? Unknown.

Labor signs? None.

Belly button in/out? In. Shallower and flat on the bottom.

What I miss: Being able to bend over. Being comfortable.

What I am looking forward to: My baby shower is coming up!

Milestones: Less than 6 weeks to go! I don't know if it's considered a milestone, but baby is head down and ready!

30 weeks 3 days

I have seen these questionnaires before and figured I might as well fill them out for the last few weeks of this pregnancy. Hopefully I remember to do them weekly!

How far along? 31 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain/loss? I don't know. They only weighed me at my first appointment.

Maternity clothes? Oh yeah. Although I do have some non-maternity shirts that still fit.

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep? Much better now that I'm over my nasty cold. Now I only wake up 3-4 times a night to pee instead of that plus waking up every ten minutes because I couldn't breathe/swallow.

Movement? All the time. Usually in the morning and evening I feel it the most with some occasional kicks throughout the day.

Food cravings? None right now. I haven't had many strong cravings. Most of the things I do want though are only available in the US so I can't even have them.

Gender? Unknown.

Labor signs? None, just an occasional Braxton Hicks contraction.

Belly button in/out? In. Shallower and flat on the bottom.

What I miss: Not much. There really isn't anything that I did before that I can't do now. Except maybe bend over comfortably to shave my legs more often.

What I am looking forward to: My midwife appointment tomorrow. Another ultrasound in 2 1/2 weeks. My shower at the end of September. Being able to finish buying all the baby items.

Milestones: Finally making it to 30+ weeks. It seemed so far away at the beginning, but now it's here.



Don't mind the blurry picture, or the messy room. I was having a hard time getting it to come out clear.