Category: Caleb

In A Blink

Published by dee on May 24, 2012

I keep finding myself thinking back to when Zach was a baby. Looking back now, it seems like life was so simple then. My world completely revolved around him. There were no other distractions. There was plenty of time to sit and cuddle and get totally lost in his sweet little baby face.

With Caleb being baby number three, I feel like I so rarely get that time to just sit and enjoy his babyness. I feel like I blinked my eyes and BOOM! He’s three months old already. He’s growing and changing so fast.

The mommy guilt? Oh man, is it ever setting in. While I’m trying to savor every minute I can with Caleb, I feel like I’m totally ignoring the other two kids. I see the behaviors coming out and the begging for attention. It is impossible with the limited time we have together at home to give everyone all of the attention they need. The hardest part is when I am feeding the baby and cannot help the other two with what they are needing in that moment. Not to mention the husband who has been feeling totally neglected since the baby arrived.

On top of trying to juggle the new baby while sticking as close as possible to our normal routine, I’m trying to get my little photography business rolling again. Just as it was gaining momentum I had to take a break (due to being massively pregnant)…that turned into about 6 months. Winter would have been slow anyway, but not taking on clients for 6 months was kind of a killer. What that time did give me though, was a lot of time to think through what I am doing and make some changes. I’m now getting a bit of a do-over, or fresh start, and hope to make things better this time around. (Speaking of which, have you seen my gorgeous new logo?) This all takes time though, so I find myself having to choose between the business I want to grow, my family, and sleep. Guess which one loses out?

If you guessed sleep, you would be correct. Fortunately, once I do get to bed I can actually sleep. I just don’t get enough hours in. Caleb is still sleeping through the night, which is a true blessing. He usually snoozes off and on after about 8:00, zonks out completely around 10:00 or 11:00, and then sleeps solid until at least 6:00, sometimes later. Then he nurses and goes right back to sleep. I can deal with that. It does make it hard for me to get up though, because after that 6am nursing session I like to snuggle in bed with him instead of getting up and starting my day.

So, let’s get back to why I originally started this blog post and talk about how awesome my sweet baby Caleb is, shall we?

Caleb turned 3 months old on Saturday and celebrated this amazing feat by rolling over for the first time. He had been working on it for several days with no success. Saturday night he was a little restless so I put him down in the floor on a blanket and sat down to play with him for a bit. He kept trying to twist his body and finally, after several attempts, he made it all the way over from his back to his tummy. After I helped get his arm out from underneath him, he was quite proud of himself and had a huge smile on his face. I cheered and even clapped for him until I realized that I could no longer leave him on the bed by himself.

He has also discovered that he has hands and feet that he can control. He found his hands a while ago, but the feet are a pretty new discovery. Whenever he sits up in the Bumbo or another chair, he will stick his feet up in the air and stare as he wiggles them around.

Over the last couple of days he has also discovered that he has a thumb that moves independently from the rest of his hand. And that he can stick said thumb in his mouth and suck on it. He has taken a pacifier from day one, but suddenly he is spitting it out in favor of the thumb. I’ve never had a thumb sucker before and I’m not sure whether I want to try to stop it now or have to deal with breaking the habit later. He’s pretty intent on having it in his mouth right now. He has sucked that thumb so much today that the tip of it is bright red. I guess he had to throw something new at me though, seeing as he’s nearly perfect in every other way.

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For the Love of Sleep

Published by dee on May 1, 2012

It almost seems wrong to say anything, for fear that it will never happen again, but Sunday night Caleb slept for 8 1/2 hours straight without waking.

8 1/2 HOURS.

Now, I love sleep just as much as the rest of you, but I have to say that when my alarm woke me up instead of a baby waking me I went into panic mode. Okay, maybe not full on panic, but definitely a state of confusion. It took me a minute to figure out where the strange sound was coming from and even longer to figure out why the baby was still in the bassinet and not in bed with me.

Granted, I did not go to bed at the same time he did so I didn’t get the full 8 1/2 hours in, but I did manage to get at least six consecutive hours of sleep and it felt SO good.

When he did wake up, he was quite unhappy that his tummy was so empty but we quickly remedied that. If you’ve ever breastfed a baby, you know that 8 1/2 hours without feeding the baby or pumping is quite uncomfortable so I was more than happy to comply with his screaming demands.

I’m still a little in shock that he slept so long and keep thinking that it has to be some kind of fluke. My older two did not sleep through the night this early so I didn’t expect it at all. I could certainly get used it though!

Update! — He slept 9 1/2 hours last night and I feel amazing today! Keeping my fingers crossed that this is the new schedule!

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Two Months

Published by dee on April 19, 2012

Now that I finally got the birth story written out, I can go on and whine about how my sweet little baby is already two months old. Time is cruel. It just keeps speeding up faster and faster. I really don’t know how two entire months could have passed by so quickly. But, here we are.

We had a few very frustrating days with Caleb this week because he suddenly decided he didn’t want to sleep during the day. He was fine until late afternoon/evening, then he turned into Mr. Crankypants for several hours until he finally would give in and sleep.

The good news is that he finally seems to be breaking through this little phase. The better news, is that he has slept for a six hour stretch the last two nights without waking up. You won’t see me complaining about that!

Caleb is also figuring out how to move his hands and feet and is starting to grab at things in front of him. He has a special interest in Mommy’s hair and necklace, but will grab at his toys on his car seat or play mat as well.

We have found that he’s very ticklish, and a tickle on his belly or toes will more often than not earn you a big smile. There is nothing better than a baby smile to turn a bad day around for me.

At two months old, this little guy has us all wrapped around his little finger.

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Caleb’s Birth Story – Part 3

Published by dee on April 18, 2012

Caleb’s Birth Story – Part 1
Caleb’s Birth Story – Part 2

If you’ve ever stayed overnight in a hospital, you know that they don’t really let you sleep. It seemed like every time I would fall asleep a nurse would be stopping in to check either my vitals or the baby’s. I dozed off and on, tried to get Caleb to nurse several times, and got poked and prodded every couple hours until I finally decided I might as well just give up on sleeping. Not long after that, Hubby sent a text saying that he and the kids were headed back to the hospital.

Monday was a flurry of visitors, mixed with several tests and procedures for Caleb. Once Hubby and the kids got there, my mom left to take a break for a bit. I was happy to have my little family there all together. With only about six hours of sleep, the big kids were a little restless, but they were happy to be at the hospital with mommy and the new baby as well.

My dad stopped by for a visit just moments after they had taken Caleb out of the room for a procedure, so he got to sit around and wait for a bit. My brother came to visit not long after that. The photographer came around for photos and actually snapped a great shot of the three kids so I got suckered into buying them. Then my sister and her family, plus my other niece and nephew came to visit. It got a little crazy in my tiny room with all of the kids there, but they were all so excited to meet their new cousin!

Everyone cleared out just before dinner time, including Hubby and my kids. My mom had returned by then and since I had a few moments of quiet I decided I better use it to my advantage and take a shower. And oh, did that shower feel good! We had one more visitor that evening when my sister-in-law got off of work and then it was finally time to try to get some sleep. I was hoping to upload some photos, but I barely got my laptop out before the tiredness took over.

Caleb had finally started latching on and was showing more interest in nursing. I was getting a little concerned because my other two babies had latched right away, but the nurses assured me that it was fine and perfectly normal.

Again, the nurses woke me several times during the night. I think I would have paid for a few solid hours of sleep at that point. I was so sleepy I didn’t know what they were doing most of the time. I didn’t mind waking up to feed the baby, but I really don’t think it was necessary to take my temp and blood pressure quite so frequently.

Tuesday morning we were all set to go home after the doctors made their morning rounds. Hubby dropped the kids off at school/day care and came to the hospital. We were hoping to leave early, but the nurse came by and said that they needed to do some more tests on Caleb before he would be released. His bilirubin level was high and they needed to re-test him, then decide if he would need to stay at the hospital another day or do some light therapy at home.

We waited around for quite a while, then finally got the all clear just before noon. The pediatrician asked that we bring Caleb in to the office the next day for another bilirubin test and a weight check as his weight had dropped down quite a bit. We were instructed to put him in some indirect sunlight as much as possible. We agreed and soon after that we were headed home. I couldn’t wait to get home and finally get to sleep in my own bed without nurses waking me up!

On Wednesday, we took Caleb to the pediatrician. His bilirubin was still high and his weight had dropped even more. He was down to 8 lbs, 15 ounces, more than a pound below his birth weight. My milk was just really coming in good, so they decided to give it one more day and set up another appointment for Thursday.

Fortunately, at Thursday’s appointment Caleb’s color was looking much better and his weight was going back up so they decided to skip the bilirubin test. He was back up to 9 lbs, 7 oz, which the nurse practitioner said was the biggest gain they had seen in one day. They asked for him to come back in a week for a weight check, but other than that he didn’t need to be seen again until his one month check-up.

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And that is Caleb’s birth story. Life has been a bit crazier since his arrival, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I am SO in love with this little boy.

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Caleb’s Birth Story – Part 2

Published by dee on April 17, 2012

Caleb’s Birth Story – Part 1

When we arrived at the hospital, it seemed there was a whirlwind of activity around me. Since the doctor apparently didn’t get the earlier page, the hospital was not prepared for my arrival. The nurses were quick though, and set into action immediately. They got me into a room, dressed in a gown, and strapped into the monitors in just a few short minutes. After running through the prerequisite questions, my nurse had an IV going in my hand and was ordering blood tests.

The contractions were getting quite painful by this time and I asked the nurse when I could get an epidural. She said they had to wait for my blood test results, but she had already notified the anesthesiologist and they would get it as soon as my results were back. I was anxious to get it because I knew that once I had the epidural I would be able to relax and rest for a bit. I was hoping that my mom and the kids would be able to come in the room and visit for a bit before it was time to push.

Contractions were getting even stronger, and coming closer and closer together – close enough that I was struggling to make it through each one without screaming. My body also started shaking uncontrollably just before and through each contraction. I must have looked pretty bad, because my nurse came back in said that they were going to go ahead and administer the epidural even though they didn’t have my blood test results back yet.

I’ve had an epidural with all three deliveries and this one was by far the most painful. I’m not sure whether it was the fault of the anesthesiologist or if it was because my contractions were coming so close together that she couldn’t get it done in between them, but I had really bad pain down my left side before it finally went completely numb. It took a while for it to work on my right side, but eventually that side went mostly numb too.

I still wanted to see the kids, but Hubby vetoed that. I figured at that point he was in a much better place to make a judgement call, so I went along with it.

Once the epidural had fully kicked in, I was finally able to relax and actually fell asleep for a few minutes.

Thanks to the epidural, my left leg felt like it weighed a ton. I kept wanting to move it to get comfortable, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t move it. I could move the right side a little, but I just could not get comfortable. Hubby and the nurse tried to help me reposition myself, but it just wasn’t working.

I’m not sure if the epidural was wearing off a little or if the contractions were getting that much harder, but it didn’t seem like very long before it started getting painful again. My whole body was shaking almost non-stop at that point. The nurse did another check and decided it was almost time to push. My water had not broken yet, so the nurse decided to help it along.

My head was pretty fuzzy through all of this, but I remember thinking at some point how glad I was that it was the last time I ever had to do this.

I think I spent about an hour pushing, though I was so out of it that I’m not really sure about that either. At some point the on-call doctor showed up and at 11:52 p.m., on Sunday, February 19th, 2012, my beautiful son, Caleb Joshua, was born.

I was still shaking when they placed him on my chest, but I was instantly in love. That little face, nearly identical to his big brother’s, made every minute of pain completely worth it.

While the doctor finished up with me, Hubby took photos of Caleb. I remember hearing Hubby laugh because Caleb was peeing all over the place. The nurses cleaned him up, then placed him on the scale – 10 pounds, 0.4 ounces, 21 inches long.

It seemed like forever before they brought him back to me, but finally, I had my sweet boy in my arms again. The doctor and nurses finally cleared out and Hubby and I were alone with our baby. I tried nursing him, but he had no interest at all so I wrapped him back up and enjoyed just snuggling with him. My nurse came back in and snapped a few photos of the three of us.

Since he was born at nearly midnight, Caleb didn’t have quite the welcoming committee that the other kids did when they were born. He did have a very excited big sister, big brother, Grandma, and Aunt waiting to meet him though. We got them back to the room as soon as we could and our first photos as a family of five were taken.

After everyone had gotten sufficient snuggles and kisses, Hubby took two very tired big kids home to get some sleep. Aunt Tanya headed home as well, and Grandma stayed with me at the hospital for the night.

The nurse came back to help me change and clean up a bit, I tried to nurse Caleb again (though he still wasn’t interested), and finally we got to settle in and sleep.

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Caleb’s Birth Story – Part 1

Published by dee on April 16, 2012

I woke up Sunday morning ready for a lazy day. I had convinced Evie to stay home with me while the boys went to church because the doctor had put me on bed rest for the weekend. I promised her a movie and some snuggle time, so we settled into Daddy’s big recliner with our blankets. “Annie” was her movie choice for the day, as it often is when it is just the two of us.

Soon after we started the movie, I realized that I was having some pretty regular contractions. They had been off and on through most of the weekend so I wasn’t surprised, but they were getting a little closer together. I decided maybe I should start keeping track and started timing. 10 minutes apart. I debated whether to call Hubby and have him come home from church, but I decided to wait a little longer and see what happened. Instead I texted my mom so she would be prepared in case I needed her to come quickly. Evie and I snuggled through the rest of the movie while I continued timing.

The contractions were fluctuating just a little, but on average continued to be about 10 minutes apart. When our movie was done, I decided I better go take a shower – just in case. I was getting a little nervous and was pretty sure that we would be meeting the newest member of our family by the end of the day.

Evie and I had a light lunch and then headed back the the chair for more cuddle time. Shortly after that, Hubby and Zach returned from church. I was very happy that they were home. Evie ran off to play with her brother. I stretched out on the love seat and was able to get in a much needed nap.

When I woke up I was a little frustrated because it seemed like my contractions had really slowed back down. It wasn’t long before they were back though, and even stronger than before. I talked to my mom and decided that she should go ahead and come over to the house since she was designated to watch the big kids when it was time to go. She was waiting for my brother to pick his kids up from her house and then she would head over.

I started trying to gather my last minute things, double checking my bag, and making sure the kids had something to entertain them while they waited at the hospital. I had Hubby make the kids some dinner while I tried to finish packing. The contractions were coming much closer together and were so much more intense that I had to sit each time one started.

My mom finally arrived and I decided it was time to page the doctor. I talked to the kids and told them what was happening and that Grandma would be bringing them to the hospital to meet their baby brother in a little bit.

We waited for what seemed like forever for the doctor to call back. The contractions were getting closer and closer together. When they were under five minutes apart, I decided we were just going to go to the hospital anyway. I wasn’t going to wait any longer for the doctor to call. I gave the kids hugs and kisses and Hubby and I headed out the door.

When we arrived at the hospital, just before 8:00 pm, my contractions were only about two minutes apart.

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