One Week Old!

Our little Baby Brycey (as Brennan often calls him) is one week old today. I feel like the week has flown by. Honestly it feels like Bryce has always been a part of our family. He has just fit right in so easily. Of course we've had an easy week and I haven't been out of the house with both boys alone yet, so we'll see how easy I think it is after that.

Even though it's only been a week, we've still learned a lot about Bryce. Here's what we already know:

• Loves the baby swing
• Loves the bouncy seat
• Loves the car seat
• Gets swaddled at night
• Falls asleep on his own at night; doesn't need to be rocked to sleep
• Eats well every 3 hours - sometimes going 4 at night
• Forehead gets wrinkled while eating; it's super cute
• Often gets the hiccups after feeding - trying to keep him upright after eating to help with this
• Spits up sometimes - yesterday we had several projectile vomits after the hiccups, hoping this is just the result of him getting used to my milk coming in
• Poops a lot
• Doesn't use a binky yet, but did take one for a little bit Saturday night
• Seems to like it when I sing to him
• Starting to have some longer periods of wake time after feedings

I have mentioned several times how impressed I have been with Brennan this past week. He has been a super big brother. Here's what I've learned about him:

• Does great playing independently while I feel Bryce - likes to be in the nursery with us, but will play a board game or do puzzles
• Having fun rediscovering all his baby toys that are in Bryce's room
• Asks to hold "it" when he wants to hold Bryce
• Knows Bryce eats Mommy's boobies - "Bryce all done eating Mommy's boobies now?"
• Constantly asks where baby Brycey is
• If asked, "Who wants you to obey?", now responds with, "God, Mommy and Daddy, and baby Bryce." 

I am head over heels in love with these two boys! Wish us luck as Daddy goes back to work this week!

Happy Sunday

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Bryce's First Bath

Tuesday morning while Brennan was at school, Kyle and I gave Bryce his first at home sponge bath. Just like with Brennan's first one, Mommy did the bathing and Daddy took the pictures. Bryce liked it at first, but once I moved the washcloth off his tummy, he wasn't happy anymore. Then he started peeing and I didn't think he was ever going to stop. He was all calm and content again once I wrapped him up in the towel. Kyle was taking a few more pictures of him and Bryce pooped all over the towel. Thankful it wasn't on me! So then he basically got his second bath. :)

And Brennan's first sponge bath!

Dear Brennan,

It is pretty much mind blowing to think that you will be three next month! 3! Where has the time gone? And now that you're a big brother, I'm sure it won't be slowing down at all. Yep! Baby Bryce is here and you are a great big brother so far! I hope you two are best friends! Here's a little more of what you've been up to!

You are wearing size 3T clothes and still your 6.5 size shoes. If you're not careful, your baby brother might pass you up in shoe size! :) You'll see the doctor next month, but I feel like you've packed on a few pounds.

You talk pretty much constantly. I was in the hospital just over 36 hours and I swear you were talking more when I came home! Here are some of my current favorite sayings of yours.

• "What's that say?" - you want us to read you every printed word you see
• "Holy moly!"
• "Hugs make Mommy happy." - as you give Mommy a hug
• "That would be perfect!"
• "Where's ________?" - you say that when you don't understand a word we use
• "I wanna hold it." - asking to hold your little brother

You also differentiate between "a lot" and "a little". Sometimes you'll ask to watch a DVD and Mommy will say, "You can watch a little bit." You will reply, "Brennan watch a lot!" Just like night I was surprised by how well you were talking. You were looking for a toy and said, "I lost it. I can't find it anywhere." 

You are really into playing board games right now. You got several of them for Christmas. You like Hungry, Hungry Hippos and Chutes and Ladders. Your favorite Christmas present was definitely Hi-Ho Cherry-O (you call it "the apple tree game"), but then we bought you Candy Land and it became your favorite. It's so fun to sit down with you and play those games. You also just got another new game as your big brother present. It's called Red Rover Game and it's pretty awesome. It reviews your letters, numbers, colors, and shapes and you love it! You love for Mommy to play with you, but are also good about playing independently. When Mommy is feeding Bryce, you like to be in the room with us, but just keep yourself entertained playing with your old toys. 

You also enjoy playing Hide-n-Seek with Daddy. Well, you sort of play it. My favorite is when you hide and Daddy is trying to find you. He will walk down the hallway saying, "Is Brennan in the bathroom/bedroom/closet?" and you'll say from the place where you're hiding, "nooooo". It's so cute. No matter how many times I tell you, you just can't keep quiet. Then if you hide again, you always go back to the same place. You also like searching for Daddy, but like Mommy to come with you so Daddy doesn't scare you.

As I'm sure is the case with most almost three year olds, transitions can be a little difficult. Thankfully using a digital clock has made this much easier. When it's almost time to get ready for nap (so glad you're still napping!), bath, or bed I will tell you what the clock will say when it's time to transition and then you will watch it as you continue playing. When the clock shows the right time, you are usually ready to make the transition. We also use the timer on Mommy's phone sometimes. Having Bryce at home is helping too because I can tell you that you need to be a good example for your brother or need to make baby Bryce happy and then you'll comply quickly. We'll see how long that tactic works!

You are such a smart boy. Everyone who meets you comments about how smart you are. You have quite a few words you recognize now including: the, off, out, to, for, on, warning, Disney, and Sony. You can also read number words up to ten. You know your entire address and can say the house number, street, city, and state without any help. I think your little mind works a mile a minute. More than being smart, I pray that you love school like Mommy did and always work hard and do your best.

You have started walking down the stairs all by yourself. I know this is way overdue, but I'm glad you're doing it safely and willingly now since Mommy will be carrying Bryce down the stairs. You have also started to show interest in peeing standing up, so we'll keep working on that. You are just growing up too fast. You say you want a Mickey Mouse birthday party with a green birthday cake for your third birthday.

You certainly have your whiny moments, but overall you are such a sweet, smart boy. I am looking forward to watching you continue to interact with Bryce and looking forward to all that this next year will bring!

Love,
Mommy

Brennan Meets Bryce

I was so excited to see Brennan's reaction to Bryce when we got home from the hospital. I mentioned in Bryce's birth story that Brennan wasn't allowed at the hospital because of the flu epidemic and visitor restrictions. We were discharged around 4:30pm on Monday, January 7 and arrived home just before 5. Val was at the house hanging out with Brennan and when we got home Brennan was on the potty trying to "make a big splash". Poor Brennan was on the potty for at least 30 minutes after we got home, so I had to wait a little while to see his reaction. He finally pooped a gigantic poop (poor B) and then it was show time!

Brennan was so excited! He couldn't stand still and was dancing all around. At first he said he didn't want to hold him, but then quickly changed his mind and wanted to. I love how happy he looks in the first pic holding his new baby brother.

So far, Brennan is a great big brother. He always wants to know where baby Bryce is and says, "I want to hold it" multiple times a day. Daddy is off work this week, so it's been a huge blessing to have his help at home. Brennan has always been a Mommy's boy, so he's having to learn to let Daddy help him some. Overall, it's been a much easier transition than I ever expected!

Dear Bryce {Your Birth Story},

Sweet, sweet baby boy. I wanted to take a moment to write down the details about your big debut into this world. It'll be long post, but Momma wants to remember these precious moments.

Mommy and Daddy went to bed early Saturday (Jan. 5) night and I fell right to sleep. Around 1am I woke up with a painful contraction. Even that first one that woke me was different than the others I had felt the previous few days. I got up to use the bathroom and started timing the contractions on my phone. They were painful enough that I had a hard time working my phone during them.

They continued to be painful and it was hard to relax and breathe through them. Around 1:40am, I woke Daddy up so he could help me time them. They were pretty consistently 3 minutes apart. Around 2:15, we decided  it was time to call my doctor. The operator took my information and said the doctor would call me back. I texted Auntie Val and to see if she was awake and she was. A doctor who was covering for my doctor quickly called me back and said to come to the hospital. I told Auntie Val it was time and she headed over to stay at the house with Brennan. Daddy jumped in the shower while I changed clothes and added a few more things to my hospital bag. Auntie Val got here quickly and we were off!

We checked into the hospital at 3:20 and went to triage. I got changed and hooked up to the monitors and started answering the nurse's questions while trying to relax through the contractions. Then our nurse, May, checked me and I was 5-6cm dilated. I was being admitted!! We then walked to the delivery room. By 4:10 I was done with all the paperwork and hooked up to my IV. From the beginning, May was trying to talk me out of getting an epidural because I was progressing so fast and doing so well. At 4:30, I was 7-8cm dilated and she asked again if I was sure I wanted the epidural. If someone could've promised me you were coming really soon, maybe I would've gone without the drugs, but Mommy knew how nice the drugs were when your big brother was born, so I took the chicken route and got the epidural. I got it at 5am and it helped take the edge off the contractions, but I could still feel them. At 5:15, I felt a pop and my water broke on its own. There was meconium in it, so you had already pooped! They told me a NICU nurse would be during the delivery to suction you so you wouldn't ingest any. I had read about this happening and it didn't worry me at all.

With my following contractions I felt a lot of pressure and May checked me at 5:35 and I was fully dilated and ready to go. The doctor came back in (just minutes after delivering a baby across the hall) and with each contraction from then on, I pushed. The doctor was fantastic and gave great directions on how to push. He said he felt a small scar from where I had torn when Brennan was born and after the first set of pushes he did a small episiotomy. A few more pushes and you were here at 5:49am! I could immediately tell you were smaller than your brother. I didn't get to hold you right away, but the NICU nurse and other nurses took great care of you. Daddy took lots of pictures while the doctor stitched Mommy up with a single stitch and Mommy delivered the placenta. Then the nurses did your stats and you weighed 7 pounds 11 oz and were 19.5 inches long.

Daddy held you first and then I got to hold you. You were perfect. I couldn't believe I had been blessed with a second perfect little boy. Mommy got to have skin-to-skin time with you and just like a season champ, you went right for the breast and started nursing. This made Mommy happy because Brennan struggled with nursing at the hospital.

After that, it was shift change and our new nurse, Jessie, came in. She gave you your first bath. It was nice that Mommy was able to nurse you before you had your bath. I held you again after your bath and from that point on you were either eating or sleeping in your crib by Mommy.

Daddy left just before 10am to run by work and then to the house so he could meet Val and Brennan when they got home from church. Brennan wasn't able to come visit at the hospital due to visitor restrictions because of the flu. Mommy took a little one hour nap and then felt good to go! We had visitors come say hi at 2:30 and then Daddy came back to tell us goodnight around 5:30.

You did well at the hospital and passed all your tests. Mommy was up and moving and pretty much pain free quickly after your birth. I was even able to get a shower and changed into my own clothes after just a few hours. It was pretty amazing how good I felt. You got circumcised at 1:00pm the next day and we were discharged at 4:30! It all happened so fast. Checked in at the hospital at 3:20am on Sunday, you were born at 5:49am and were home by 5pm the next night! I am so thankful it all happened as easily as it did.

You are such a cute baby and seem to look like your big brother. Your hair is lighter than his was at birth and you are more fair-skinned. You have long toes just like Brennan and Daddy and right now your eyes are blue-gray just like Brennan's were, but my guess is they will turn brown like his did. Like I said before - perfect!

I love you so much already!

Love,
Mommy

Now for the good stuff - the pictures!