Shots, shots, shots!!!

Well, Colton went in for his 2 month well check up today. I have been dreading this doctor visit since he was born! But first things first, here's his stats:

Weight - 13 lbs. 11 oz.
Height - 24 1/4 in.
Hat size - 40.5 cm

Everything else checked out, and the doctor gave him an A+!! Woohoo!!!!!

Well, that part was great. Dr. Prochnow answered all of my questions and assured me that everything that I inquired about was normal...whew! So on to he immunizations...

Doug held his hands, and I sat on the other side of the room. He was a trooper with the oral dose. When the nurse gave him the first shot, he started to cry right away. He went right into the cry where he stops breathing for as long as he can make it...Doug blew in his face to get him to take a breath and that did absolutely nothing...so actually, he didn't realize he got the second shot because he was still holding his breath from the first one...then the nurse told us that the last one would hurt worse than the other two...argh! She gave it to him and he immediately started crying and went right into screaming. He screamed twice, but quickly after that I was cleared to snuggle/console him. As for me, I started crying while she was swabbing his leg - sheesh - cried during the first shot, was relieved a little when he finally took a breath but was quickly losing it again when he started screaming...that absolutely broke my heart! I know what we're doing is good for him by preventing life threatening illnesses, but the pain just eats me up! But I told Doug that his pain is part of his growing up, and my hurting heart is part of growing into my role as mother (of a son - tee hee). I feel that I need to prepare myself for the future broken bones, sprains and other injuries that come with growing boys...

So I'm glad that my son is healthy and that his first round of shots are over! Now I'm nursing his little legs back to health after their pricks this afternoon...I'm sure he'll be back up and about tomorrow...tee hee

Praise God for a great check up!!

A few more milestones...

Well, today Colton is 2 months old. I can't even believe it! However, I was looking back at my pregnancy photos, and I have to say the last month of my pregnancy was a complete blur...my memories of the end are so vague I think because my delivery came so suddenly, that I didn't have any sort of transition from pregnancy to motherhood...but I'm so thankful that we got pictures done of us when I was 32 weeks. Those help me to remember that time...

Anywho, back to Colton's milestones. Last night, Colton slept in his crib in his big boy room for the first time. He did really well. We'll pray continuously that it stays that way. He went to sleep at midnight - we're night owls - and he slept until 5:30. He was up off and on until 6 when he slept until 6:30. He was up briefly and slept until 7. I fed him and let him sleep with me until 9:30. It was nice that he slept for so long in his crib and that I got to snuggle with my little man for a few hours...it was very sweet!!!

I have to say that I am madly in love with the two men in my life. I have been blessed more than I deserve!! Praise God!!!

A new milestone...

Well, today Colton and I went over to Jennifer's house to hang out for a little while, and Colton had a very productive afternoon. We are officially cooing! They're pretty few and far between but extremely cute! He has discovered his voice, and I'm loving hearing it when he's not fussing, whining or crying...it's so adorable!!!!

We're starting to have really productive tummy times and are staying up more throughout the day. This has created a very sporadic napping and eating schedule...sheesh! But I'm taking each day as it comes...they're each fun and their own adventure.

Just a side note - I want to thank everyone who was able to join us this weekend at the shower, and thank you very much for the precious gifts and wonderful books! And I want to thank my mom with all my heart. She allowed me to have a very sweet shower with most of my closest friends. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I love you so very much and appreciate everything you have done and shared with me since becoming a new mom!

It was really nice having my sisters and mom together again - that doesn't happen very often! It was extremely unfortunate that my mother-in-law couldn't join us. Please keep her in your prayers as she is recovering from a very serious run-in with an allergic reaction to antibiotics. She is doing much better but is still recovering from the original illness and its cousin bronchitis.

All in all, this past weekend was great, and my son is growing up! That's so scary to me since I'm already bummed that he's 8 weeks old...I can't imagine how "bummed" I'll be when we hit later milestones and birthdays...now I understand when moms say they wish they could stop time in order to cherish their children just a little bit longer...I can now relate. I am working to enjoy and cherish every minute I have with my son. He is the other (little) man in my life, and I love them both more than either will ever know. What gifts I have been blessed with...thanks be to God!

A cure??

Well, yesterday was a bunch of the same...trying my darned-est to keep Colton awake as much as I could without being cruel to him...and he was out cold around 6:30 last night. Doug and I tried just about everything and it all failed. So we kindly let him sleep, but Doug kept tickling his feet/hands to make sure it wasn't a good heavy sleep. After all, we're trying really hard to exhaust him throughou the day so he'll sleep like a bear at night. Well, he got his bath and last meal of the day (until about midnight) and he sat very contently in my arms as he faded.

Well, he fell asleep around 10 (so did I) and he woke up at 1 am. Well, I was able to get him back down by 2 after a diaper change and a meal. Then he woke up again at 4:30 for more of the same...this time it took a little work...I got him back down at 6:30...then we both got up for the day at 9:30...that's progress!!!!! I'm actually more tired today than yesterday...I think I officially got too much sleep. Ha ha ha!!

Well, I'm back at it again today...Colton is on his tummy working on those neck muscles. We're making progress there too...he put his arms up above his head and rolled over twice (in a row). Right now he's on his right shoulder with his arm already tucked under his body...pause...I just watched him roll all the way over...wow!!! Well, I must admit he's had a little bit of help...he's on the couch and he rolled over into the back cushion...which means he's rolling a tad bit downhill...

Doug and I were joking yesterday that we're already turning into "those parents"...the ones that only brag that their child(ren) is/are so far ahead of the curve, they must be baby geniuses...well, here I am bragging (not really) that my son is already well on his way to a full rollover at 5 weeks...I know he's got a ways to go before his muscles will get him all the way over on a flat surface, but he's got the moves down...go Colton!!!

Anywho, back to hanging out with my son! Have a great day!!

The evil sleep sack

Well, for those that I talked to at length about Colton's sleeping habits early on know that he was a dream sleeper - even through the night. I would inevitably wake up once to fill his tummy and change his diaper, but I could easily get 6-8 hours with just the one interruption. Well, that has now changed thanks to the evil sleep sack. First, I must admit that the SS was a gift from a dear family member. We very much appreciate their generosity and are extremely thankful. The SS came as a part of a layette set which included a small onesie pajama and a larger full leg pajama for when Colton gets bigger. Oh! And it comes with the cutest little sleep cap! It's a great set!

Well, I didn't realize that the SS is really for advanced sleepers. Little did I know, my son is a beginner sleeper. Regardless of how well he was sleeping from the beginning, he was merely holding on by a thread. He wasn't a master of his trade...he was an apprentice who had beginner's luck. So I thought the SS would be a great alternative to the typical swaddling that my son seemed to enjoy at night. Well, it failed miserably! I now have a son who thinks that noon-6pm is his night time and that from 2-6am is his recess.

In order to attempt to set my poor little man straight, yesterday I significantly interrupted his routine of hanging out (needy) in the wee hours of the morning and recovering from his romping throughout the entire day. Well, that wasn't working for me since I'm not much of an afternoon napper - even with an infant at home. So when he woke up to eat at noon, I fed his little tummy and got him all cleaned up but did not let him go back to sleep. I was determined to keep him awake and tire him out by the evening. Well, I was successful in keeping him awake from noon-2pm and from 4-5:45pm at which point he would have collapsed in exhaustion had he been able to get himself off of his back to begin with. He was exhausted!

So I was feeling pretty confident that I might get a little more sleep than usual tonight, and yet, here I sit waiting patiently for him to realize that he's tired and settle in for a few more hours of Z's. I even went to Babies R Us and got him one of those swaddlers which I sweetly have nicknamed the Infant Straight Jacket. Since he loves to get his arms free, I figured this might help him to stay relaxed (and warm) at night. Well, we've been up since 2, and I've been feeding him his pacifier after each time he spits it out and then opens his little mouth like a bird to get it back for over an hour now...ooh, he's finally settling in a little bit so I'm not going to miss my window of opportunity...I'm off to get as many minutes of sleep as I can until he gets hungry again...Good night!

A health update...

Well, the past few weeks have been so rewarding yet challenging - I won't deny that! When Colton was released from the hospital, his bilirubin count was at 10.2 - babies are supposed to be below 10 to get released, but since he was so close, and everything else looked good, he was discharged. Well, we had to go see his pediatrician the next day (Thursday) to check on his bili levels. He was up at 16.5 - sheesh! So we had to come back on Friday. He was up at 17.9 - this is not good! A bilirubin count of 20 sends him back to the hospital - 25 is when brain damage starts and increases the possibility of a stroke. Argh!!! So the doctor wanted us to try phototheraphy at home in order to prevent him from going back into the hospital. I was willing to try anything to avoid that! So I ordered the "suitcase" and they delivered it to us. He had to lie under the lights in just a diaper with little cloth-lined "sunglasses" to protect his eyes from the UV rays. Since our windows were being replaced at the house, I was at a friend's house that day. Colton spent a few hours in the suitcase at the Wilcoxson's house and then the rest of the night at home. We went to the after hours clinic on Saturday morning to check his bili levels and he was at 14.3 - woohoo!!!! We were officially moving in the right direction! Then we went back to the doctor on Monday and he was down to 12.3 -this was such a relief! Each and every time we went to check his levels they had to prick his heel and draw blood. It was heart-wrenching for me! I cried through almost every one of them. It hurt me that he was being hurt. I know it was for his health, but it killed me every time. He would sleep through the whole episode, and I would be crying crocodile tears...it was to be expected, but embarrassing nonetheless...

Well, we went back in last week for Colton's 2 week check up and he's growing like a weed! He was born at 7-9 and 20 inches. He lost a bunch of weight and was down at 6-12 when we left the hospital. He was up to 6-15 on Saturday when we went to the after hours clinic and up to 7-12 at his 2 week check up. And he's already grown a half inch! We are very excited about his improved health and growth spurt...tee hee!

Things are going really well - except for the occasional sleepless night, but I'll take it each and every time because I have been blessed with the most beautiful gift I could ever receive! Doug and I have brought home and are now responsible for the most miraculous human life! He is absolutely gorgeous!

Colton Cash Ranney

What a face!!!

A cutie pie in his bassinet...



This is the "closed for business" face. I get it when he's done nursing and/or doesn't want to take a bottle or pacifier...I love this face!!!!!!

The craziest weekend...

Saturday morning started out with a trip over to Noel and Jennifer's to celebrate Elijah's 2nd birthday. His party was actually at 2pm, but I had plans so I couldn't attend the actual party. I visited with Jennifer and her mom and chatted about my pregnancy and need to get to the end of it. I told them both that I was “done” with the heat, the swelling and the non-fitting clothes. I joked that I was counting down to either 37 weeks or 75 degree days...for those not in Texas, it's been about 100 degrees for the past two months or so. That wreaks havoc on a pregnant woman.
I had somewhere to be at 12:30 so I raced out of the Wilcoxson household to the other side of town to attend our birthing class. I met Doug at the hospital where the class was held and prepared for a significant learning experience. The class was interesting, and I actually did learn quite a few things. At this point, I was determined to practice the breathing exercises in order to have a completely natural delivery. Well, leaving the hospital, I got a really severe pain in my lower abdomen which caught me off-guard but quickly subsided...whew!
Well, dinner Saturday night was great, and I got the usual few hours of sleep in between tossing and turning to find a comfortable position for my large belly.
Sunday morning I woke up with Ike bright and early – as usual – and just felt exhausted...I was tired. Doug and I hung around the house all day in the hopes of rejuvenating ourselves for our upcoming week. The hospital where we were scheduled to deliver conducts tours of the Labor and Delivery floor on Sundays at 5:30. So Doug and I mustered the energy to head over to the hospital and check it all out. The tour was quick and the nursing staff was very polite. Jennifer delivered Hannah at this hospital so we knew the facilities were nice and the food was good. But it sure helped us to see it for ourselves. We headed from the hospital over to Dillard's to purchase a couple suits for Doug. I walked over to Motherhood to get a new pair of black pants for my business meeting the next morning, but they were closed. I would have to figure something out for the next day since my other black pants were a bit too snug. After Dillard's, Doug and I went to Marie Calendar's for dinner and then on to he grocery store.
At the grocery store, I started to get strong contractions. This didn't really catch me off guard since I typically get contractions at the grocery store because of all of the standing/walking. Except this time, they were a tad bit painful, but I still wanted to get home and sit down to see if they persisted. So we checked out and headed home. Well, since I wanted to get to the couch as quickly as possible, I unloaded just a bag or two and sat down to relax. Doug continued to unload the gazillions of bags of groceries which I thoroughly appreciated! In an effort to get the front door open with both hands full of bags, Doug kicked the door open with his foot and somehow managed to get it just right so that the door hit the wall (actually a broken door stopper) and the locking mechanism of the door knob crushed into the knob itself...so it rendered our door knob useless...forget being able to get in or out of the front door for the night...man oh man!
So as I'm sitting on the couch, I feel just a few contractions, but then they seemed to stop...which was fine since I was only 35 weeks and 2 days along. Well, I just felt the need to call my mom and inquire about how she went into labor with my sisters and me. She told me that her water broke with Lindsay, she got contractions with me and that my older sister, Molly, was so long ago – tee hee – that she couldn't remember. So that didn't really help me since it was pretty much 50/50 whether I'd get contractions first or have my water break first, but the information was helpful nonetheless. So that phone call was at 10:30 pm CDT which was 11:30 for my parents. So with that information, I headed to bed since I had to be up at 5 am in order to be ready for my 9:30 meeting in Waco the next morning. Well, I got ready for bed and was able to finally get comfortable in bed with my Ike-a-Rama-Jama puppy. Well, it only took about 2 minutes and POP!!!! My water broke!!!!! Holy wow...this is not happening! So now I'm yelling Doug's name because I figured he was hanging out in the backyard with Frisco. So I yell for him once...nothing...twice – a little louder...nothing...a third time – even louder and I finally heard him respond. He came running in from the restroom and I told him what was going on. He was more shocked than me!
So he asks me,”What can I do for you? What do I need to do?” I tell him that I guess I need some towels since with every breath, I'm losing more and more fluid...sheesh! So he heads out to get me towels and then I hear him yelling and cursing at the front door since he can't get the door knob to cooperate...oh no...this is not happening! I guess he finally got it to work since he quickly returned with towels. So he's running around the house trying to figure out what to pack – since we were completely unprepared figuring we had at least a few more weeks if not the 4 ½ weeks until our due date of September 19th. Then Doug asks me what else I need...I look down and around and realize I don't have any bottoms on...I need to somehow “get dressed” while not having a barrier between my fluid and me...sheesh! So I tell him to grab the sarong I have in the bottom drawer in the closet. That's going to have to do. So we head out the broken door – Doug with a bag of random things and me in a sarong with a beach towel between my legs like a diaper...I'm sure glad it was 11:15 pm and not broad daylight. And before I even realize it, Doug is barreling down the freeway at 85 mph. I tell him that we really don't need to drive that fast as my contractions haven't started yet. He slows down temporarily but creeps back up to about 85 just a few minutes later.
We arrived at the hospital with no issues. The hospital is so new (opened in February) that you have to check in at the ER because they lock down the lobby of the hospital. I got checked in without too much of a hitch, and Doug wheeled me up to Labor and Delivery. They checked me into the L&D room that we saw on our tour just 6 hours earlier! How funny...
The delivery went well, and Colton Cash Ranney was born at 11:51 am on Monday, August 18th. He was born 7 pounds and 9 ounces and 20 inches long.
I'll try and get caught up on his progress since it has taken me almost 2 weeks to write this...sheesh!!

An update...maybe?

Well, folks, I think the baby may have dropped Wednesday morning. I definitely felt him move lower, and friend of mine said that night that he looked lower than last week. I definitely have more back and pelvic pain and my clothes fit differently, but I'm still not sure if that's what happened. Either way, I'm 34 weeks today which means we're getting down to the wire now...he's coming and he's coming soon...

Doug and I are going to put together the baby's room this weekend and get everything set up...that'll make it feel even more like he's right around the corner.

And nope, no name reveal yet...We've been holding out for months now, and it's getting harder and harder with each passing day and week to not tell anyone, but we're really excited about the big reveal when he's born...especially since we already know his gender...so this will be the big surprise on the big day...

We hope everyone is doing well. My girlfriend from high school, Andrea, and her husband, Brian, had their first baby, Little Miss Audrey Jean Lawless, last Wednesday which has been exciting for me. Andrea was 8 weeks ahead of me so I got to hear all of the wonderful things that were headed my way, and now that Miss Audrey has arrived, I'm even more excited to have this baby because I know what we're gearing up for...it's going to be such a blessing when he comes and changes our lives forever! We're really excited!!!!

Well, Dr. appt next week so maybe an update then...two more appointments including this one next week before we go to weekly appointments...uh oh! Tee hee Until the next update...

Pictoral update...

Hello again everyone...well, I got a wild hair and in the blink of an eye decided I wanted to get professional photos done before this sweet little miracle arrives. One of my coworker's girlfriend, JoVann, is a photographer...a very talented photographer. I had seen her personal work and wanted her to do our photographs...I knew I would be happy with her work. So we worked out the details of when/where and we got our photos taken. Doug was such a trooper - this type of thing is not his cup of tea - and the photos came out so beautiful! Here are a few to wet your whistle...

I'll post a few more tomorrow...Enjoy!!