Off the Radar

So, if you've ever had a newborn, you can guess what I've been up to for the last three weeks... trying to survive :-) We brought Cody home from the hospital and I was trying to nurse him. He was very sleepy for whatever reason and wasn't interested in eating. After losing a pound and a half, his pediatrician told me I needed to bottle feed him so that he could quickly get the calories he needed in the short time he was awake. Basically, there's a lot more detail to it, but, I was pumping 9 times a day along with feeding Cody a bottle 8 times a day. My butt created a permanent indent in the couch. I went to Cody's pediatrician 3 times in one week checking his weight. I felt like they were therapy sessions for me because I always ended up crying. Cody's Dr. (Dr. Dushman) is awesome! He always asks me how I'm doing and if I'm ok. Last week Brandon took Cody in to be circumcised and the Dr. asked how I was feeling about bottle feeding because he knew I was trying really hard to nurse. He had already told me that statistically, if a baby isn't nursing and needs a bottle, he will never go back to nursing. Brandon told the Dr. that I was still nursing and he was shocked. Anyway, Brandon took the kids to the children's museum to treat them to a fun day. They had a wonderful time. The only problem, Denton got the flu. Ya, not fun. The good news... I just took Cody to the Dr. today and he weighs 10 and 1/2 lbs. at 3 weeks old. He's very healthy, we're just hoping he doesn't get sick. All in all, I'm ready for some normalcy. I don't think I'll get it for another few weeks, but I have hope. Brandon goes back to work on Monday. I'm kind of scared to be left on my own with all three kids. We'll see how it goes.

At the kids museum there is a little pretend grocery store. Julia was sad there wasn't really ice cream in the carton. Brandon listed all the things off to me that Julia tried to eat, like the plastic apple, the plastic banana, ect.
This was a fun project to create waterways using the plastic pieces.
>divMy cute little grease monkey.

Welcome To Our Family Cody!

I finally had the baby! Wed night I started having real contractions and by early Thur morning they were hurting enough to wake me up, but they were very far apart. I woke up Thur morning and told Brandon, "I think today is the day." I continued having contractions throughout the day, but I still got a pretty good nap in. By 5:30pm the contractions were hurting pretty bad, so I told Brandon to call his mom to come. He was hesitant because he didn't realize how bad my contractions were like I was. My mother-in-law was a lifesaver. She immediatly got ready and drove here from St. George to come look after Denton and Julia. We had a girl from the ward come watch the kids until Brandon's mom got here, and we left right away for the hospital. We got there at about 7pm. When I got to the hospital, they ckecked to see how far I was dialated. I was already at a 7!!! They addmitted me right away and called my Dr. in. I had the IV put in right away, and blood drawn. Shortly after, I had the epidural put in. He had to do it twice because it got blood in it the first time. The Dr. came in and broke my water (that's the first time my water didn't break on its own). I could still feel the contractions and I told the nurse, but she convinced me it was just pressure I was feeling. By 10:45pm I was really feeling like I needed to push, but I was only at a 9. I called the nurse back into my room 5 minutes later and told her I was going to start pushing. She said, "The Dr. is coming." I crossed my legs until he got there, and finally they told me I could push. To my grief, I could feel everything. The epidural was a no show. I was going to get that baby out as quickly as I could. Dr. told me to stop and catch my breath and I was like, "NOPE." Within 2 contractions, my precious Cody was born. He was a whopping 9lbs 11 1/2 oz and 20 inches long. The Dr. and nurse were both amazed at how big he was. I stayed in the hospital until Saturday morning. I'm so glad my mother-in-law was nice enough to entertain and take care of Denton and Julia so I could rest and not worry. On Saturday, my father-in-law, and sister-in-law came to see the baby and bring gifts. It was so fun to show off my new little baby. Stephanie (my sister-in-law that came) took a bunch of cute pictures. To see more of cute baby Cody, go to http://www.totalblissphotography.blogspot.com/