Graham Joseph: Day 4 and Going Home!!!

We enjoyed hanging out in the morning while we waited for our last pediatrician visit, a chat with the lactation consultant, and Graham's second hearing screening.  He continued to be quite the snuggle bug :)

I purposely packed Josh's Big Herm's t-shirt as a little taste from "home."  We LOVE this picture of Graham snuggled up against it!  Hopefully he will like hot dogs better than his big brother...

Graham was not jaundice, but we did try to sit with him in the sunlight when we could.  He is clearly comfy here, all stretched out!

Yay for regular clothes!!!  I wonder if he felt as refreshed as I did when I got to get out of the hospital garb and into my own clothes ;)  We got to talk to the awesome lactation consultant who was made for this job!  She liked that I had used her suggestion of putting an extra pillow under the Boppy to make it higher so Graham was positioned properly to nurse more comfortably.  I think that made her want to give me more advice since I listened the first time :)  We told her the pediatrician wanted us to supplement with formula, but when we tried, Graham would spit it up shortly after.  She agreed with us that it probably wasn't necessary, and since we did try his recommendation, we could just go along with what we thought was best.  She gave us the confidence to just follow our gut and Graham would be just fine!  When we were in the hospital after having Jackson the lactation consultant we saw definitely did not leave us feeling full of confidence...  Josh went with Graham for his second hearing screening, and they were gone FOREVER!  I was so nervous, and it turns out he did not pass :(  He DID pass on the ear he failed the first time, but then he failed on the one he passed the first time.  UGH!  Josh said the tech was really good and took the time to keep trying, but the program only lets the test go on for so long.  All we needed to do at this point was come in to be retested once he was two weeks old.  She said there is a lot of fluid that builds up in c-section babies, and he would most likely pass then.  Fingers crossed!

This was the view from our window while in the hospital.  It was like our own little castle!

We got home during Jackson's nap, and I felt really unsettled :(  I didn't quite know what to do with myself, I was a bit weepy, and I got a migraine pretty much as soon as we got home :(  I don't get the pain of migraine headaches very often, but I always get the flashing light aura.  That was super annoying because it keeps me from seeing clearly which made it difficult for me to locate where I had put various things for Graham and me around the house.  Mimi was happy to hold Graham while I tried to refresh myself with a shower in MY OWN SHOWER!!!  I'm pretty sure I missed our shower more than our bed...

Jackson gave Graham some of a bottle while I was in the shower!  SOOO cute!

The Bashores were our first visitors once we got home!  They dropped off cookies in the afternoon which helped me feel better immensely, and then came to snuggle with Graham after dinner!  It was not that long ago that we all moved into our new houses and Rachel was pregnant with Baby Levi!  He will turn ONE at the end of August!  Craziness!  

All swaddled up for his first night at home!

Graham did pretty well for his first night at home.  Thankfully, Mom was here to help with Jackson!  It was wonderful for Josh and me to just concentrate on Graham.  He ended up sleeping in our bed between feedings since that's where he was happiest.  We are going to try setting up the Pack-n-Play in our room near the bed for night number two and see how that goes.  Jackson fell out of bed in the middle of the night, and I could hear him calling for me even though he had Mimi.  Luckily, I was up already with Graham so I went in to hug and kiss him.  He went right back to sleep, thankfully.  That is really hard--not being able to go up and tuck Jackson in whenever he wants.  That is the only downfall to a two-story house after a C-section!

Graham Joseph: Day 3

Yesterday was another good day!  We are so thankful that Graham is doing so well!  

Jackson and Mimi came for another visit, and Jackson just wanted to snuggle "his baby!"  He got to sit in the big chair and hold Graham for a bit...

...then he switched spots and sat on Daddy's lap to watch the video we took of Jackson "shushing" Graham (at the end of this post)...

,,,then Josh got to snuggle both of his boys for quite a while :)

Mimi getting in some more snuggles with her youngest grandson

Smooshy face!

We have been getting more glimpses of this face as Graham likes to rest on our shoulder more!

Close up of the smooshiness

Lora came to visit!  She was one of our few visitors when Jackson was born, and we were thrilled she was able to come this time too!  Graham was pretty sad when she first arrived, but we got him fed, and then she got some time to hold him as he snoozed :)

Sarah came to visit too!  We were so excited for her to meet the newest Smith boy!  It is crazy to me that we didn't know each other when we had Jackson and Maddie, but we have both gotten to hold each other's baby boys almost right away :)

Jackson had his hearing screening, but only passed on one side :(  The technician explained before she even did the test that she would do it again the next day if necessary, and if he still didn't pass, we would come back in two weeks.  It is common for newborns to still have fluid in their ears, and that keeps them from passing the test sometimes.  So, now we will wait to see what the test says later today...

Graham did great overnight again!  We sent him to the nursery to get checked out and to sleep around 11, and he stayed put there until 2.  We got him fed and happy again, and sent him right back!  LOL  We LOVE our little guy, but we know that pretty soon it will be just us at home, so we are taking advantage of the back-up now ;)  They brought him back to eat around 5:30 after the pediatrician saw him, so he gave us some great stretches of sleep!  

It was not our favorite pediatrician from the practice on call this morning, and that did not help the conversation he had with us: Graham has lost more than 10% of his birth weight, so they want us to supplement with formula until my milk comes in.  I'm torn on how I feel about this, but I definitely didn't like the way he was delivering his "advice..."  Graham is eating for long stretches and seems plenty satisfied, so I do want to talk to the lactation consultant before we leave today.  We did attempt to give him some of the bottle the nurse left after his last feeding, but he only ate a very little bit before falling deep asleep.  Next on my list after finishing this post is to call the pediatrician's office to make an appointment for tomorrow.  We will see how everything is going then, I guess!

We are going home today, but we need to wait for Graham's second hearing screening, and I want to talk with the lactation consultant.  So, we don't have a time set yet.  We do know Jackson is THRILLED to have us all coming home!  I think he is having a ball with Mimi, but he did have a hard time the other afternoon when he realized we were staying at the hospital (it was after he woke up from a quick nap in the car--I know he's not really missing us that much), so it will be nice to snuggle him too whenever he/I want :)

Graham Joseph: Day 2

Graham definitely let us sleep Monday night, but then he didn't seem quite as into eating during the day :(  We did make him wake up a few times to eat, and by the end of the day he had proven himself again with some really strong nursing sessions--Go Graham!

Morning snuggles with Daddy!

Jackson was really excited to get to hold "his baby" again :)

Mimi got a lot of cuddles in while we were waiting for the doctor to take Graham for his circumcision.  I couldn't feed him for an hour and a half beforehand--luckily, he was content to sleep in Mimi's arms, so we didn't have to make him sad by not feeding him.

Jackson got to take a special walk with Daddy to go get some lunch while Mom and I hung out in the room. He didn't miss any chances to get in a kiss or hug, though :)

Susie came to visit in the afternoon!  It was so fun to have another visitor!  She got a lot of cuddles in before we had to wake him up to eat--what a rough life ;)

I got unhooked from all of my "stuff" yesterday morning, but then I had to pee twice on my own before I could take a shower.  I took that assignment VERY seriously, since I remembered how GREAT it felt to put on my own clothes!  I didn't end up getting to get in the shower until late afternoon, but it was glorious!  LOL  Sleeping without lots of wires attached and wearing my own pjs was quite an improvement :)

Last night went well again!  Graham definitely cluster fed in the evening.  Once he was full we sent him to the nursery around 1am, and they didn't bring him back until 5am!!!  WOO HOO!!!  That stretch of sleep was glorious :)

Happy Birthday, Graham :)

 Everything went SOOO smoothly on Monday morning!!!  When we had our c-section with Jackson, it was scheduled, but only by one day.  My surgery was really successful that time, and my recovery went well, but the logistics were trickier.  We were put in a curtained-off area, and forgotten about, so Jackson's surgery was much later than planned.  This time, they took us right to a L&D room, hooked me up to monitors, and started getting everything ready!  The anesthesiologist was quite thorough and wanted to make sure I could handle the spinal block she planned to use, so she put in a call to my cardiologist.  If we hadn't double-checked that, Graham would have been born even earlier!  We already got taken in ahead of schedule--I was pleasantly surprised :)  Our nurses for pre and post-op, Rina and Courtney, were awesome!  The anesthesiologist and her nurse were wonderful!  Her nurse, Dan, was key in keeping me calm during the surgery.  He could see everything and kept me posted, especially when they were ready to take Graham out, he warned me there was going to be a lot of pressure and pulling.  

 Josh was awesome, just like last time!  He dutifully got dressed in his "outfit" for the OR, and sat by me the whole time.  Now that we are through the surgery, I can say that it went amazingly well, but I was a little more nervous than last time.  I remember the surgery going so well, and my recovery being pretty easy.  I started to wonder, however, if those were memories were just the product of so much time passing.  Maybe it was easier to stay calm when I didn't know what to expect?  The first time I remember getting panicky and short of breath before the surgery started.  This time that didn't happen, and I was so excited...until I started to to get really nauseous, and ended up throwing up after Graham was born :(  That was really a yucky feeling, but I did feel MUCH better!  It was hard to be patient while they sewed everything up since Graham was crying and I just wanted to hold him!!!    

 We got moved to our recovery room right away, and not only did Graham start to eat nurse right away, but my first snack was GRAHAM CRACKERS ;)  LOL  The nurses took Jackson to the nursery to get all checked out, and Josh and I just relaxed before it was time to head up to our room.

 Overall, I felt really good after the surgery!  I did feel much woozier than I remembered from the first time.  We were happy to just relax in our room.  Once Graham got back from being checked out, we just snuggled and fed him :)

 Mimi and Jackson headed to the hospital after naptime, and it was WONDERFUL to all get to be together :) :) :)  Right away, Jackson wasn't as excited as I had expected.  He was happy to meet his little brother, don't get me wrong, but I think the room took his attention away for a bit as he checked everything out.  By the time it was time to leave, Jackson had already discovered his talent of "shushing" Graham and calming him down--he was SO proud of himself!  I don't know where he came up with that--maybe he heard me do it with Liam or Levi?  LOVE it all the same :)

 We were SO excited that my mom was able to hold Graham right away!  Such wonderful first visitors!

 Super happy to get to snuggle his baby brother--he was so patient for many months!

 First picture of me and my TWO boys!!!

 Family shot with Mimi

 Our family of FOUR :)

Jackson is so curious about EVERYTHING we do for Graham!  He likes to be RIGHT THERE when I'm feeding him to make sure everything is ok :)

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful.  Graham continued to eat really well and even slept in the nursery for a good three hour stretch!  

The Belly Report: Welcome to the Other Side, Graham!

 We are SOOO excited to introduce the world to Graham Joseph Smith!!!

He was born Monday, June 4 2012 at 10:24am

He weighed 9lbs 2oz and measured 20 1/2 inches long!

 Daddy got the first snuggles!

 Finally, I got to snuggle my little guy as we got wheeled to Recovery :)

The Belly Report: It's Tomorrow!!!

 Today we are 39 weeks pregnant, AND we are ready for our c-section tomorrow morning!!!  Sammy is about the size of a mini watermelon (about 20 inches long and just over 7 pounds)!  Sammy's full-time job is gaining weight to prepare for life outside of the womb.  I CANNOT wait to meet this little guy.  Josh is guessing he will weigh 7 lbs 10 oz and I'm guessing 8 lbs even.  We shall see...  It's hard to remember that we are meeting him a full week earlier than we met Jackson!  

My mom got into town Friday night (after multiple flight delays, a plane that took off without some passengers, and finally no gate at which to deplane--all due to various tornadoes in our area), and we have been LOVING having her here the last couple of days :)  Jackson hasn't been quite sure what to be more excited about: Mimi's arrival or meeting his baby brother!  Yesterday we celebrated Mom's birthday two days late and then went to the Sacbibits' house for a start-to-summer BBQ.  We had such a good time catching up with friends and enjoying some of Jolene's delicious cooking :)

 Today we had a lovely last day as a family of four!  I got to sleep in while Josh and Jackson had a fun morning full of little projects.  After lunch Josh took off for a hike while Jackson napped and Mom and I got a few last minute things ready.  We all went to Five Guys for dinner before Mom and I went to see "What to Expect When Expecting."  It was SO bizarre to see that movie knowing we were going to welcome our own new baby the next day!  Here are a couple of picture of the four of us--can't wait to take some of the FIVE of us!!!

Our surgery is scheduled for 10:30am--hopefully we are on time and holding a baby boy shortly after!!!  Jackson is excited to spent time with Mimi and to visit us in the hospital!  I CANNOT wait to see by first baby meet my second--the cuteness might be quite overwhelming...  We will definitely post an update as soon as we can...

Flashbacks: It's Tomorrow???
A Busy Due Date!
The Last Night
Welcome!

Mega Menu Planning!

This whole post would have been WAY more impressive had I actually posted it when I started thinking about it...  When we were three weeks out from our June 4th C-section date, I did some major menu planning along with a massive grocery shop!  Honest, this was all put together weeks ago ;)

Before I share our list of "last" meals, I want to rant and rave about homemade microwave popcorn!!!  Josh and I had seen an episode of "Good Eats" in which Alton Brown showed how to make your own microwave popcorn.  I also saw an idea on Pinterest for something similar.  We decided to give it a try, and it took a few different trials before we found the perfect recipe.

Perfect Microwave Popcorn Recipe

1 microwave safe plate

1 brown paper lunchbag

1/4c popcorn kernels

1t vegetable oil

salt and butter to taste

Place the brown paper bag on the plate.

Add popcorn kernels and oil and shake bag to combine.

Fold over the top two inches of the paper bag.

Place plate and bag in the microwave for about 3 minutes, but stop popping once the pops become spaced out.

Empty into a bowl and add salt and butter to your taste :)

I can't remember each of the recipes we tried, but we learned that you definitely should NOT staple your bag shut as some recipes suggest and the plate keeps the oily mess off of your microwave "floor!"

There was some tweaking, but here is the original list:

Monday: Sweet and Sour Chicken with rice--this was YUMMY!

Tuesday: Italian Sausage Pizza Bake

Wednesday: Leftover chicken

Thursday: Leftover Pizza Bake

Friday: Leftovers from freezer

Saturday: Chicken Parm Bake with salad, fruit, and Chocolate Break Pudding

Sunday: Mother's Day Make-Up: Qdoba :)

Monday: Friends over after golf outing--Burgers and hotdogs on the grill with fruit, potato salad, chips, chips and salsa/guac, and Chocolate Chip Pound Cake (recipe below)

Tuesday: Leftover burgers and salad

Wednesday: Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps (I used ground beef this time, and it was quite tasty!  It will be even better next time when I remember to mix in the taco seasoning like I had planned...) with salad (I was quite proud of what I did with the salad--I bought the bag of Dole Ultimate Caesar Salad, but I added grape tomatoes and mixed salsa with the dressing--yummy!)

Thursday: Leftover Chicken Parm Bake 

Friday: Leftover Southwest Wraps

Saturday: I can't remember now--but it was probably easy ;)

Sunday: Thai Cilantro Grilled Chicken, Three Cheese Potatoes on the grill (SOOO GOOD), and fruit

Monday: Steaks on the grill, Texas Roadhouse Rolls with Honey Butter (these were REALLY good, but I wouldn't use as much honey in the butter next time), and fruit

Tuesday: Buffalo Chicken Meatballs with leftover rolls

Wednesday: Avocado Pasta

Thursday: Slow Cooker Orange Chicken with rice

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: BBQ at the Sacbibits'

Sunday: Last Meal before we are a family of FOUR!!!

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

1 box of yellow cake mix

3 eggs

1 cup sour cream

3/4 cup oil (I substitute applesauce)

3/4 cup water

1t vanilla

1 small box instant chocolate pudding

1 bag chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients and then add chocolate chips at the end.

Pour into greased and floured bundt pan (I used a 13x9 pan because I don't have a bundt pan, and it worked fine!)

Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

Enjoy :)

There are a few recipes I have tried in the recent past that I wanted to share too:

French Dip Crescents

Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches