BU and ATM

So the family BU and A&M rivalry continues...

We lost to A&M again. We (me) even put Kaitlyn and Jackson in BU attire for good luck this weekend. Kaitlyn and Daddy wore A&M attire two weekends before and A&M won. Here are a couple of photos below.

We still chugging along. Gigi is here until Wednesday when Brandon's brother and sister in law go in for a scheduled induction and we will then have a new little cousin. Yeah! I think we are all looking forward to October and getting out more!

(This is a BU dress, but you can't see the BU on it)

One Long Day

September so far has felt like one long day. We have been so fortunate to have friends and family cook for us. It has been a relief as we try to sneak a bite here or there in between taking care of Kaitlyn and Jackson. They don't seem to sleep in the afternoon at the same time for very long and then trying to catch up on getting a shower or other things does get in the way of sleeping. I don't know how I am doing it with as little as four hours of sleep, but the body keeps on going. As long as I am not going out of the house too much, we are all a-okay that way.

So that is the update for me. Jackson seems to be doing better. He still has the occasional cough, but not like last week where he would go all morning with reflux and then congestion from a cold as well. I think there is still some of the cold left, but I hope we can start getting better about going to sleep for the little guy.

Kaitlyn is great and is calling him her baby brother. She said today he can call her K.K. She is pretty happy these days and is getting so much better about going down for a nap and to bed at night. All of August and part of September have been a nightmare in that department. It would take her an hour or more to go to sleep. It was part of adjusting to going to sleep without her pacifier. We are finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. Yeah!

Now Brandon's mom is coming to help out this week after my mom has helped us out for two weeks. I don't know how I am going to do it once she leaves, but I am going to enjoy having help this week for sure! I think Kaitlyn has definitely benefited from the extra attention to make the transition a little easier.

It will definitely be a fun October!

A couple of setbacks

What a week! Kaitlyn is sick. I am sick. Brandon is sick. And Jackson is sick. And my mom got sick while helping out this week. We all have the same cold! As soon as Jackson is over jaundice, he catches a cold. Poor thing! The doctor's office knows him really well now!

Since we have had to introduce a bottle early because of the jaundice, we have had some setbacks with nursing, and I was really worried this week about it. Luckily, I was able to call on a free lactation nurse hotline for some help. It has worked so far. Yeah!

I forgot how this whole eating thing takes such a long time, and will have to wait to see if any patterns develop after he gets better.

Kaitlyn and I enjoyed some time at the park and she loved school this week. She is definitely feeling the loss of some attention from her mommy and is acting out. I feel so badly about it because I want to give Jackson a lot of attention as well. I think I am on the right track though to work through it by letting help and attention come for Kaitlyn and trying to have our little activities while Jackson sleeps.

We had some visitors come this week to bring dinner, and that has helped bring some normalcy into our lives. Thanks to our friends John and Amy Woodard, Rebecca Palmer and friends from my mom's group like Ellen who have set up some friends to bring dinners this next week.

Around two weeks, we took some black and whites of Kaitlyn so here are a few of Jackson from today. Enjoy! It was awefully cute to take them and see him falling asleep. When I have a chance, I will send a Kodak Gallery of all the photos in B/W.

1 Week and Counting

Can't believe Jackson has been here a week! The last couple of days have been a blur with trying to get Jackson over his high levels of jaundice, Kaitlyn's cold and my arm injury. We are waiting for Brandon to come down with something.

On Sunday, Jackson's jaundice came down and we think he has made it over the hump. We can now stop supplementing with an extra ounce of formula and hopefully get back to exclusively nursing, although I hope the bottle has not ruined any chances to nursing longterm. We will see how it goes and will have lots of questions at his 2 week checkup. I just need sleep. He is wanting to eat every two hours because that is what we have had to do with the jaundice.

Kaitlyn has been into games the last week. She has been playing with all of the board games and I think it is time to bring on CANDYLAND. Yeah, can't wait for that because I loved that game growing up.

Here are a few recent photos - sponge baths and hanging out.

I don't like my sponge bath!

Ah, Big Brown Doggie!

It's in the genes. Picture time!!!

A precious gift

Can you believe this is me going into the hospital as I was having a contraction last Saturday?

Well, there are so many things to write and so many things to remember from this week. I have wanted to write an update earlier; however, time has not permitted it and sleep deprivation is going to my brain.

First, we had our precious Jackson Benjamin Meche on Saturday, September 1. We had no idea what we were in for when we woke up that day. I started feeling contractions at 1 pm and got to the hospital at 2:45 with very strong, regular contractions. They worsened just as the nurse was going to order the epidural and then it went from bad to worse where I just involuntarily started pushing. It was amazing how everything just went so fast and without me doing anything except be in a lot of pain. The epidural finally came through, thank goodness for a good CRN there and the pain eased up before the head crowned and Jackson was born at 4:56 pm.

He had his eyes wide open almost immediately and only gave a couple of soft cries. He is so sweet. The grandparents and Kaitlyn didn't even have time to wait as they started arriving about thirty minutes later.

We had so many visitors on Sunday. It was really nice. For me, I was worn out, Jackson too. But great surprises. The Green family surprised us with a visit and we didn't even know they were in town. Yeah!

Now this week, Kaitlyn has just loved on Jackson, but hasn't really been able to be too involved as he is sleeping so much or eating or she is sleeping or trying to go to sleep. She is so sweet on him and I haven't seen too much jealously yet. She does get very upset if I don't put her to bed. We are still working on getting the routine down.

This week, we have had absolutely no sleep and I have been a wreck, emotionally. What a surprise, I had that with Kaitlyn, but I haven't been able to nap like I should and that is adding to it.

Jackson just loves to stay up at night and sleep all day. He is eating well for the most part, but we still have some nursing issues, learning each other. We went to the doctor yesterday for a weight and jaundice check. Jackson has elevated levels of the birlilum (sp?) and we had to check him again today. It is still really high and I now have to add an ounce or two of formula after a feed. Hopefully, this won't interfere with nursing too. We will have to get his levels checked out again tomorrow. We have him by the window for indirect sunlight too. We are hoping that today will maybe be an improvement.

He really hasn't been fussy at all except for when he gets really hungry, diaper change or something is wet that is on him like a wet wash cloth.

Yesterday, I turned the big 30 and I couldn't stop crying all day, even at the doctor's office. I am so happy that we were able to do a bday celebration early. Although, Brandon and Kaitlyn went to get me a cookie cake and that was pretty tasty.

It was bad yesterday and trying not to get too stressed out about call backs, etc. and leaving a lot to Brandon. Wow, he is doing a great job with Kaitlyn. The hard part is getting over this initial two weeks with Jackson and no sleep. More to come...