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Monday, August 30, 2010

Bye Bye Button.

William lost the rest of his umbilical cord this morning.  He has a perfect innie of a button just like his brother!

Name That Baby.

Can you tell me which of these two cuties is Michael and which one is Will? Think you can do it?  Just so you know, both my husband and my mother-in-law guessed wrong.  :)  It's tougher than you think!

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Got it?!  Have your final pick??  Well, just so you know the one on the left is William and the one on the right is Michael.  It's a little crazy how much they resemble one another, isn't it?!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Snapshots of August




The face I get in return for asking Michael to say CHEESE!


How does something the size of the boy on the right grow
to be the size of the boy on the left??





Rockin' his Nikes!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Rub-A-Dub-Dub...

Baby Will's in the tub!


First bath at home.


Happy to be warm.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Great- Grandma Buzz.

On Monday, August 23rd, Dennis' Grandma Buzz passed away after 
a brave battle with cancer.  She was an amazing woman who will greatly be missed.

Rest in peace, Buzz.


Jeanne Katherine Breier
November 24, 1932 - August 23, 2010

Week One (William)!!


I'm 1 week old!!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Michael... The Big Brother!!

Michael has been receiving lots of attention lately from everyone in the house because Dennis and I have been running back and forth to the hospital to be with William and aren't home as much as we would like to be.  Luckily, Michael has the best grandparents in the world, and he LOVES spending time with them.  This afternoon Michael and I came downstairs after his nap to find that Gramma and Boompa had spoiled him again.  There's kind of a story behind this.  I recently took Michael's infant bouncy seat out of storage for William to use and let's just say that Michael was the first one to take notice that it was out of the closet.  He quickly took his place in his favorite spot as I cringed at the sound of his behind hitting the ground because he easily quadruples the weight limit.  So, Boompa and Gramma got Michael his very own Big Brother Chair so that he wouldn't break William's,  and a gigantic Mickey Mouse balloon (he's a fan of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse).  Michael screamed with delight when he figured out that it was a chair built just for him, the perfect size to sit back and relax in.  Not to mention, he showed a lot of affection towards Mickey by covering him with kisses and hugs.  Incredibly cute.  Thank you Gramma and Boompa for thinking of William's Big Brother and knowing exactly what would take his mind off all of his new responsibilities (aka fetching Mommy diapers).

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Sunday, August 22, 2010

Our Newest Addition!!

Our boy is here, and here is his story...

It was Sunday.  As usual, we were enjoying the beautiful weather on the deck as Michael boodled around.  I had to pee.  Shocker, I know.  I peed, and lost my mucous plug.  I had been having small contractions for a couple of days.  Some painful.  Some not so much.  I had just been to the doctor the Thursday before, dilated to 1 1/2, 50% effaced.  Now that I had lost my plug I knew that William would not be too far behind.  I'm at 37 weeks, 3 days.  Monday came and went, still with a few contractions.  Nothing that could be timed, but regular throughout the day.  And, so comes Monday night.  1:10 a.m. rolls around and I'm up for my normal "middle of the night, pain in my a** have to pee".  Just as it happened with Michael, I peed, everything was great.  Stood up and pop, there goes my water.  Before yelling at Dennis to get up I had a quick flashback to when I had Michael.  It, too, was in the wee hours of the morning and Dennis was sure that I had just peed myself.  Let the show begin.

Unlike Michael I was not in a hurry to get to the hospital.  I was in labor with Michael for almost 26 hours, I had assured myself that it would be the same with Will.  Den and I called my doctor, called the hospital, got ready, grabbed our bag and we arrived at the hospital an hour later, after a brief coffee run of course.  The crazy nurse (more on her later) checked me, and yep, my bag had broke but I was only at two centimeters and 75 % effaced.  Hell, I almost jumped with joy.  That means there's been progress.  The thought of having another drawn out labor and delivery made me want to throw up.  We went through the routine.  Questions, followed by more questions, followed by more questions by the crazy nurse.  This nurse, who laughed at every wince I made, every joke she made and every time Dennis snored curled up on a chair in the corner.  My OBGYN finally made an appearance after a couple of hours- ordered the pitocin because once again I was moving slowly.  Baby was high, I was only at three centimeters.  Contactions were very manageable, but every three minutes or so.  By 7:25 I was in the mood to get the show on the road.  I asked  for more pitocin and was given the chance to order the drugs, which I did immediately knowing that the anesthesiologist would be making rounds at 8 which meant I could potentially be waiting hours for the epidural.  I wasn't going to take that chance.  After my epidural was in, and a shift change of nurses I was finally comfortable.  Pain free and assigned the best nurse in the entire world, Laura!!  I was checked every hour, making progress and by 10:00 I was at 5 centimeters.  11:00 o'clock rolled around and I had an urge to push.  I had immense rectal pain, I never experienced this with Michael.  In fact, I didn't have any urge with Michael.  I was so tired and drugged up that I had to be told when I was having contractions and when it was ok to push.  With Will, I felt every contractions after my epidural, the edge was just off.  I had to push.  Where's my doc?  One of the physicians in my OB's office came in to check me- 9, MAYBE 10!!  But, the baby was still high, so she wanted me to wait a little bit longer for my cervix to thin just a tad more.  Thirty minutes later... WHERE'S MY DOCTOR, I HAVE TO PUSH.  "Oh, he's in a surgery and should be ready soon.  Are you ok?  Do you think you can hold out for him or should I call another doctor?"  I can wait.  My doctor who happened to deliver Dennis is phenomenal and I wasn't going to be doing this without him.  I'll wait.  Can I get some more ice chips, please?!  Contraction.

An hour and forty-five minutes later it's 12:45 and Dr. Furey comes striding into the room.  "Ready to have a baby?"  YES, YES I AM!  It was wonderful.  There were three other people in the room besides Dennis and I, a baby nurse, my nurse and my doctor.  In Iowa there were 15 people in the room when I delivered Michael.  What a nice change.  Three contractions, three big pushes... WELCOME WILLIAM REAGAN.  "He's a big one!"  Yes, Dr. Furey, I know.  I've been hauling him around for 37 weeks.  Born at 1:10 p.m., weighing in at 8 lb. 12 oz (just like his brother) and 21.5 inches long.  But, this time it was different.  No baby on my chest right away.  No here Mama take a look at him.  Dennis cut the cord (when he finally stopped clutching the railing of my bed from well about my head- where he stayed during the entire delivery).  William was immediately laid on an infant bed, crying but not breathing right.  Grunting in fact.  The baby nurse was going through the steps, 1 minute APGAR- NINE.  Ok, so can I have my baby?  Nope, she was now beating his chest and back with a cup thingymabobber.  Five minute APGAR- NINE.  What's going on?  "Kim, he looks great, but he's having some issues with his breathing.  We have to take him to the nursery.  We'll come back and let you know what's going on."  Can I see him for a second?  "Yes, but just really quick."  They put him up to my face, and I kissed our new boy.  I was overwhelmed.

Two hours later I was cleaned up and recovered enough to be moved to the mother baby unit.  I was told Will would be ready for me when I was transferred to our new room.  He wasn't.  I immediately sent Dennis out for answers.  William, although huge, was titled premature.  He lungs weren't fully developed, and because of it he had fluid in and around his lungs.  He wasn't breathing smoothly, and was under observation.  I couldn't have him with me until he stopped grunting and his vitals were up.  I sent Dennis home to see Michael.  I missed him.  I knew that I was ok- in fact I felt surprisingly great.  Sore, but good.  Dennis left, I waddled my way down to the nursery.  I politely asked the nurse if I could hold my son, she said yes.  In fact she said he was doing better, not as well as they would like to see, but that I could take him to my room for a few minutes and she would check on us.

I held him so tight.  Listening to him grunt softly and watching him try to open his eyes.  The nurse was back.  "Kim, he's got to come back.  The neonatologist is coming to take a look at him and we need to run some tests.  I'll let you know what's going on as soon as I know something."  Instant tears.  There I was without my son, alone in a hospital room with nothing to do but worry about him.  I couldn't pass time quick enough.  Dennis came back, and we were told that he was going to stay int he nursery for the night.  His oxygen level needed to come up, that he wasn't ready to eat yet, so a feeding tube had to be put in and that he was undergoing tests to check for infection.  The next time I saw my son he was hooked up to three machines and was eating via feeding tube.  Horrified.  

I slept that the night as best as I could.  They told me to get my rest so that I could be ready to spend time with him in the morning.  That's just what I did, well kind of.  I was up every couple of hours wondering how he was doing.  I would walk to the nursery just to take a peed at him.  Morning came and so did a bunch of bad news.  There was no way that he was going to be able to go home for a good three days.  Not only was he not breathing correctly, he didn't know how to eat because he was premature.  He had to stay on the feeding tube for at least three days, hold a good weight and be breathing perfectly before they would even consider sending him home.  The good news- no infection, which meant no antibiotics.  I begged them to let Dennis get some cuddle time in with Will.  Den held him for the first time 29 hours after he was born.  I was ready to go home.  I couldn't stay in that hospital and twiddle my thumbs worrying.  I asked if I could be discharged and I was.  I went  home to see my Michael.  The next four days I spent traveling back and forth to the hospital every three hours for feedings, debriefings on Will's progress and cuddle time with our peanut.  I spent the time in between taking Michael to parks, pumping and thinking about Will.

This is by far the four hardest days of my life.  I can't even type about it without getting choked up.  I spent four days praying, begging, doing all that I could to be patient.  I knew that he was in good hands, and that he just needed a little bit more time.  Things got better day by day.  His breathing was the first thing to improve.  No more oxygen, and his vitals were good.  Then he started eating.  Slowly at first, just 10 cc. and keeping it down.  We had worked up to 45 cc and he became slightly jaundice.  He underwent light therapy overnight on Friday, and by Saturday I was ready to kidnap my own child from the hospital.  I was told a couple of times that Monday would be the soonest he could go home.  Saturday he looked so good.  He was eating well, the BilliRuben count didn't increase and he wasn't losing a lot of weight.  When can I take him home?  After basically threatening the life of a neonatologist I was told that I could ask the doctor who would examine him on Sunday if he was well enough to go home.  Sunday came along, Dennis and I brought the car seat to the hospital with the intention of bringing William home in it that day.  We also brought Michael so he could meet his baby brother.  It was the sweetest moment of my life.  Michael hesitant to touch William because he wasn't sure as to what was going on.  Who's the new kid with Mom?  We waited, and waited until the neonatologist graced us with her presence.   We got the green light to bring William home- with a couple of conditions.  He needed to be seen the next day by our pediatrician and he needed to  be stuck to check on his jaundice.  Done.  I think I can do that if it meant that we could take him home.  We quickly dressed Will and got our things together scared that the doctor would change her mind.  

Once we had him in the car I took a deep breath and waited anxiously to walk into the house.  I was waiting for that moment when our little family of four could sit together and thank God for Will's good health and our blessed family.  That moment came, and it is one that I will never forget.  Welcome William.  We love you more than you could ever possibly know.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Time with MLB.

Today was difficult.  I came home from the hospital without William.  I can't begin to tell you how difficult it is to have to leave him behind.  I'll explain more about Will in another post.  This one focuses on my favorite distraction... FEARLESS MICHAEL!!  Den and I took Mikey to Patriot Park today, our new favorite time passer/jungle gym/exercise arena.  There is a playground that Michael has fallen in love with, mainly because he can get every where he wants to go without the help of his parents.  Oh, and maybe he likes it because of the giant slides- which he is anything but afraid of.  So, for 45 minutes I watched and played with Michael and for most of that 45 minutes I didn't find myself thinking about having to leave William behind as he took baby steps to being able to come home.


William is Here!!

Our beautiful William arrived on August 17th after a short 11 hours of labor weighing in at 8 lbs. 12 oz and an amazing 21 1/2 in.  Currently William is still in the nursery at the hospital due to some issues he had because of his prematurity.  I will be happy to fill everyone in a little more when I get a second.  We are busy running back and forth to the hospital to spend some time with our newest nugget.  He is doing MUCH, MUCH better than he was a few days ago and it looks like he will be coming home on Monday if he keeps up the good progress.  Thank you all for your well wishes!  xoxo

William Reagan Breier

Saturday, August 14, 2010

All of His Hairs Cut.

Den has been bugging me about cutting Michael's hair since well before his first birthday.  I wanted to take him to a professional so he didn't come out of his first haircut looking like Edward Scissorhands got ahold of him.  Den, on the other hand, wanted to cut Michael's hair himself.  So, today I couldn't take it anymore.  I let Den cut Mikey's hair... and it's adorable!!  Michael sat so nicely for him, and Den surprisingly wasn't nervous at all.  It looks so much thicker now that those wispy ends aren't covering his ears.  Lookin' good, buddy!!




Look at What I Can Do!


Michael's crooked tongue.

It should be noted that yes, that is Dennis passed out on the bed behind us and that not a single one of us is wearing pants because we just woke up from family nap time.  Of course, you can't see that Michael and I aren't wearing pants because the camera cuts it off, but it is clear that Dennis isn't wearing any.  :)

Friday, August 13, 2010

50 Things I Love About Our One Year-Old!!

(I am borrowing this idea from a blog that I read called "Motherhood, WTF?"  If you get a second you should check it out.  You'll laugh so hard you'll pee in your pants.)
  1. I love the way you hold the collar of my shirt when I'm carrying you.  Not too tight, just enough as to remind me that you are definitely there and that I should not drop you.
  2. I love your disposition in the morning, just as you've woken up.  Eyes still kind of squinty.  Red marks on your face from the position you were sleeping in.  Big crazy smile that spreads from ear to ear.  Oh, and that scream!  You are just so happy to start another day.
  3. I love the way you giggle when I change your diaper.  I think it might have something to do with the area that I'm cleaning, but it's this genuine deep belly giggle.
  4. I love that you honestly believe that I can't see you when you are playing hide and seek in your crib.  Michael, you will soon find out that I have been able to see you this entire time :)
  5. I love how excited you are every time you see your Daddy.  He loves you so very much.
  6. I love that you will try any food, although I have a love-hate relationship with what you do when you don't enjoy something in particular.
  7. I love that you love to be outside.  You get upset every time we bring you in.
  8. I love that you enjoy dancing as much as you do.  You are a fan of all kinds of music, which comes as no surprise to either your Daddy or I.
  9. I love that you smell like maple syrup.
  10. I love the dirty spots you get on your knees and tops of your feet from all of the crawling you do.  You are so incredibly active, always on the go.  I would also love to see you walking in place of the crawling.
  11. I love how proud of yourself you get when you've accomplished something new.  You can't wait to clap for yourself, and then of course everyone else in the room must follow suit.
  12. I love that you love the piano so much.  You play every day, and you have the exact same routine every time you play.
  13. I love that you thoroughly enjoy ice cream.  We will share many dishes of vanilla ice cream I promise you that.
  14. I love that you prefer to be naked.  
  15. I love, love, love your smile.  
  16. I love that you are so easy.  Really, you are.  So easy.
  17. I love the way you bear crawl through grass because you don't like the way it feels on your knees.
  18. I love how incredibly careful you are of new endeavors.  Once you've tried something and realize you can do it you are fearless.
  19. I love that you love celery as much as you do.  This came as a big surprise to me, a pleasant surprise.
  20. I love that you weren't a puker.  In fact, I think you've thrown up a grand total of twice in your entire life, and one of those times you made yourself throw up by sticking your fingers down your throat.
  21. I love that you have such amazing relationships with the people in this house.  You have no idea how much you are loved.
  22. I love that you push me, Michael.  Every day, somehow I find myself saying "oh, that can wait," and then I look at you and I get off of my ass.
  23. I love that I can take you anywhere and you are so well-behaved.  A crowd favorite wherever you go.  We've met some interesting people because they couldn't resist telling us how adorable you are.  
  24. I love that you look like your Daddy.  I think he loves it, too.
  25. I love that you enjoy your Gymboree class so much.  You are by far one of the most active kiddos in your class, and one of the most fearless on the equipment.
  26. I love your kisses.
  27. I love that you love taking walks.  You are so incredibly observant.
  28. I love that you are eager to share.  You've discovered how you can pretend that you are going to share your snack with Daddy or I and then you psych us out.  
  29. I love the game we play in the morning where I fold up the blankets in your crib and you quickly rush to the pile and unfold them all and laugh as loud as you can. 
  30. I love that you are so ticklish.
  31. I love your mad face.
  32. I love your squishy face.
  33. I love your excited face.
  34. I love that you blow kisses.
  35. I love your giant hands and feet.  You can palm a ball that some grown men would have a tough time palming.  
  36. I love when you point at what you want.  Life got a little easier when you started doing this.
  37. I love that you aren't afraid of the dark.  No night light for this kid.
  38. I love how incredibly diligent you are about your daily routine.  I try my best not to screw it up for you.
  39. I love all the different ways you wave.  Sometimes it's side to side, other times it's this very gentle opening and closing of your hand.  It really says a lot about the mood you are in.
  40. I LOVE how you say hi.  This super excited, yet kind of soft HHHhhhhiiiiii.  You draw it out.  So very cute.
  41. I love that you are capable of climbing up and down everything these days.  Couches, stairs, people.  You name it, you conquer it.
  42. I love your big blue eyes and the way you squint them in the sun.
  43. I love that you don't mind wearing a hat.  You have quite a few of them.
  44. I love how every time I throw something new at you, like taking away your bottle, you just go with the flow as though nothing ever happened.
  45. I love how you stick out your tongue.  It curls to the right of your chin.
  46. I love your ears, and the tiny bump you have on the top of your right one.  It's from holding you on my left side when you were little.  It would always fold up under that noggin' of yours, and it left a mark.
  47. I love cuddling with you in bed with Daddy.  You don't stay still for very long, so those brief moments when you lay your head down... I just love 'em.
  48. I love everything about you.
  49. I love that we were the lucky two picked to watch you grow up.
  50. I love you.
*I meant to post this the week of Michael's birthday and somehow it got by me.  The list could be so much longer.  I could go on for days. :)

Frustrated.

What a word.  Frustrated is how I feel as of late, and for lots of reasons.  At the top of the list right now is my inability to physically give Michael everything he needs.  Michael's had a weird week or so.  He's naps have been short. He's decided that he is going to test the limits on what he can and cannot do, test how far he can push Dennis and I before we actually punish him.  He's eating habits have changed drastically, and I'm frustrated.  Don't get me wrong, my son is still possibly the most well-behaved 14 month-old I have ever known, but I think I can say he really hasn't been himself as of late.  I find myself wondering if it's because I am not capable of all that I was before I was the size of the titanic.  I do my best to get down and play with him, pick him up when he asks to be, and I still somehow manage to rock him to sleep although I no longer have a lap.  I feel guilty, I do.  So, this is me overanalyzing what some would say are the normal things any toddler goes through at his age, but I do feel guilty.  I look forward to having and meeting our little William, and I look forward to rolling around with my Michael.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The Apple of My Eye.

I love my mornings with Michael.  I love them a little more when he sleeps past 6:30, but nonetheless I love them all.  We have a new tradition that began about a month or so ago.  Every morning we go downstairs for breakfast and so he can say good morning to Gramma and then come right back upstairs for story/play/PBS/IMac time.  That's right.  Every morning I bring him back up stairs, put him down in the center of the room with his toys, turn on his favorite morning program and he wants nothing to do with it.  Instead, he crawls over to me where I am sitting at the desk going through my morning routine... emails, People.com, you know the usual.  I introduced him to the photo booth app on my computer.  Wanted to share with you just a few pics of us in the a.m.  We take one (or several) every morning and it gets cuter every day.  At first, he wasn't quite sure what to think of it.  Now, he just goes with it.  Every day it's something new.  You'll see what I mean!







Just For The Record...

Until today I believed that my son had 4 teeth, two on the top and two on the bottom.  As I was told by his dentist and pediatrician that the next two to come in would be the ones next to his front top teeth.  WRONG!!  Today I discovered that Michael's pre-molars have cut through the gums on the left side of his mouth... BOTH ON THE TOP AND THE BOTTOM.  Good thing we've been practicing the teeth brushing.  This kid, I tell ya.

Free Riggins.

We're a football family.  We love all sports, really, but we LOVE football.  I'm sure you've heard of the show Friday Night Lights?!  If you haven't, you live under a rock.  Well, in our house it's a religion to get together on Friday evening, throw FNL on the TV and scream and cheer at the top of our lungs throughout the hour long episode.  Sadly, we celebrated the season finale last Friday, and it ended with our favorite character turning himself in to serve 1-5 years in jail.  *Tear.  So, in order to support our boy Riggins we have decided to take on a little business venture.  And, so, FREE RIGGINS was born.  Check it out if you get a second... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270620582936&var=&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT#ht_500wt_1154

We love our Timmy and our Friday Night Lights.


Sunday, August 8, 2010

Taking Matters Into His Own Hands.


Just playing.


Thinking about lunch. 


Just eating sand.


Trying to clean out a MOUTH FULL of sand.


Just playing.


Making his own baby pool.


Excited that he fit.



Thursday, August 5, 2010

Week 36...

My doctor didn't want to measure me today.  Said, "Obviously, we know you're big."

No joke.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Weekend Leisure.

A few snapshots from our weekend.  First, a concert in the park.  Michael just loves live music.  And, yesterday was a day of baseball and splashing on the deck.  You'll see...





This is how the Breier men watch baseball games.


Thanks, Gramma, for such a fun idea!