Happy 12th Birthday, Birthday Girl

Has it really been 12 years since you were born?? Hope your birthday was everything you had hoped for and more!

2 Week Update

This past Wednesday, Brandon and I took Durham to the doctor's for a checkup. He has gained back almost all of the weight he lost after birth. Everything else checked out okay. The doctor did notice that he still appeared yellow and wanted him to get his bilirubin levels rechecked. Poor thing had to be pricked twice...one in each foot...to get enough blood drawn for the test. They then had to "milk" his feet for well over 10 minutes to get enough blood. He was a trooper! Hardly cried at all. Me on the other hand...I about passed out! I was okay until a lab worker started to explain the procedure in great detail to a lab student. It didn't help that I really didn't eat or drink anything before we headed out to the hospital! Yikes!

Here are some little tidbits about Durham...

He has FINALLY figured out that he can stay awake for a bit. Unfortunately, it's in the middle of the night when he thinks the party should begin! Brandon says he's living the rock star life...sleep all day, party all night!

He doesn't like to be naked.

His skin is shedding like a snake! The doctor said this was normal and should subside in a week or so.

He loves his swing. Thank goodness...sometimes it's the only time of the day I can get some things done.

He loves to snuggle and still curls himself up in a ball when you hold him. (My favorite part of the day!!)

Happy Mother's Day, Mama!

The Saga of Family Pictures...

This afternoon we went to my parents to celebrate Mother's Day. I really wanted to get a picture of all 4 kids together since they all cleaned up real nice today! I'm not sure who created the most trouble in getting "the picture"...I'll let you decide!

Hmmmm...Jordyn looks thrilled, doesn't she? Camden's done with this whole picture taking business and we haven''t even started!

Is Jordyn really laughing? Too bad her hand is covering her face...Ugh!

Oh no...the nose picking started!

We kept telling Jordyn to smile...this was the best she could (would!) do!

Ahhhh...going back for another!

Finally, this is the picture I was okay with. Not perfect, but what do I expect...right?? Nobody was picking their nose in this one and Jordyn didn't look completely miserable!

First Week Summed Up in Pictures

So sleepy...all of us!

Hanging out!

Lots of snuggles & naps!!

A Recollection of Durham's Birthday

I'm a sucker for listening to others' birth stories, so thought I'd share ours. This is a family-friendly website so it won't be too graphic!

The day started EARLY...3:30 a.m. Of course, I overslept so we were really rushing around trying to get out of here. At this point, Brandon and I were running on about 3 hours of sleep...FIRST MISTAKE! We finally got out of the house about 4:20 and headed to the hospital. We did (barely) make it to the hospital for our 5:00 a.m. check in (sounds like we checked into a hotel, right!?) We were greeted at the hospital doors by a very apparent homeless man (sad!). He wished us good luck and off we went.

When we got up to labor and deliver, I put on my fashionable gown and for the next 2 hours, we hung out. Things were quite busy on the L&D floor that morning and then we had to contend with the nurses' changing shifts. Brandon for some reason went out in the hall (probably to get some coffee) and saw the BEST (and I mean it) nurse ever. She was my nurse when I had Camden. Brandon casually mentioned to our night nurse, "Oh I see Steph's working today." She said "yep" and "I'll see if she'll be taking care of you." What do you know...she is our nurse for the morning! Awesome!

Nurse Steph came in a tad before 7:00 and started my IV with a very small dose of Pitocin. Of course I had to tell her (and everyone else that would listen) that I did not want to feel a thing and that I REALLY wanted an epidural. She assured me that I would get one and that she wouldn't crank the Pitocin until the epidural was in and working. Dr. Weaver came around 7:00 and broke my water. Around 7:30, I could have jumped for joy. The epidural guy came and delivered the goods. I was a little worried because the epidural pump kept malfunctioning. The ended up switching pumps and it was all good! Soon after the Pitocin was increased. I could feel contractions on my right side so to encourage the epidural to work, I had to keep switching sides to even out the numbing. About 8:00, the nurse came in and started setting up the room for delivery. Normally, they wait to do this, but they knew I have babies quickly so they did this so they weren't scrambling at the end. As I watched the nurse put all these metal, sharp objects on the table, I started to feel queasy. Between that and low blood pressure, I was feeling very nauseous. They give me some antinausea medicine in my IV and I was good to go.

At 9:30 or so, I had the strangest feeling to push. While I was freaking out, Brandon headed out to find my nurse. She checked me and yep, I was ready to rock n' roll. They called Dr. Weaver and she was there within a matter of minutes. It was at this point, I decided I really wasn't interested in finishing the birthing process and yes, I let everyone know. However, I overcame that fear and 3 pushes later (it would have been 2, but on push 2 I didn't take a big enough breath in and ran out of steam mid push)...Durham arrived. Cute as could be, covered with goo and a head full of hair. Brandon cut the cord and he was officially ours!

Introducing...

Durham Jukes Fenton

May 1st, 2009

7 lbs. 10 oz.

19"

Arrived at 9:45 a.m.

Everything went really well. He came out with a head full of hair...I think he gets the award for the most & longest hair of all his siblings. He seems, for the most part, pretty laid back. We didn't get much rest in the hospital, so are hoping our first night home is pretty uneventful.

Will post more soon...