9 Months!

Wow! So much for a "daily" dose of Dexter!  9 months later, I'm back for an update!  So, I am obviously not great and keeping up with this as I haven't posted since his birth! But, never too late to keep trying!  Today we went for Dexter's 9month check up.  He is weighing in a 21.8lbs (70th percentile), and is 29 inches long (75th percentile).  They tested his blood today and came back that he was very low on iron, and thus have him on a supplement.  Hopefully we can get it under control with that and more meats :).  He also has ear effusion, and may need tubes around his 1 year check up if the effusion doesn't clear up.  Otherwise, he is growing perfectly and has hit all of the 9 month milestones with flying colors.

He must have known today that we were checking up and testing him.  As, once we got home he decided to "test" me.  He was into EVERYTHING he wasn't supposed to be.  Dog food. Dog water. Toilet. Toilet Paper.  Climbed up on the fire place ledge. Climbed up on the stairs. Played with the computer cords.  Emptied and unfolded my dish towel drawer.  Knocked over the trash can as he was trying to get into it.  Refused to eat anything except the dog food.  Today he was a challenge, maybe moreso than ever before.  But, I am choosing to realize it is just his curiosity.  He wants to learn how everything operates, and wants to test everything out, including my patience!

He is pulling himself up with ease, standing on his own for moments at a time, climbing up one stair at a time, and expresses him self clearly without even speaking a word yet.   He has a certain grunt that he saves for me when he doesn't like something.

We love you to pieces Dexter! Happy 9 Months!

7ish Months

So, I wasn't on track with Maddie for the usual 3, 6, 9, and 12 month photos.  So, of course I have been off on Dexter too!  Oh well!  

Here are some of my favorites of my little man at 7 months...

My Days & NIghts with Dexter

Our first month with Dexter has flown by! Things have been sort of a whirlwind as I have still been having to work, we had tons of company, and I have had a slow recovery! We arrived home from the hospital on Monday, after begging. We tried to come home on Sunday, but they wanted me to wait one more day. So- we were dismissed Monday around noon. We spent the remainder of our first day home napping! On Wednesday, Jason, Gracie, Parker, Emma, Grandma Ellen and their dog arrived. On Thursday, Coleen, Cece and Baxter (their dog) arrived. So- we had a packed house for a few days. Everyone enjoyed meeting Dexter and the kids had fun hanging out!

Month 1:
-4 days old-8.9lbs when he arrived home
-2 Weeks-9.4 lbs
-4 Weeks- 13.4lbs
- You are a really mellow baby!
- You love to eat and have been getting feeding blisters on your top lip, the doctor says that many baby's who are aggressive eaters get these. You love your bottles!
-We put you to bed around 12am, and you wake up around 3am for a feeding, and again around 6. You are easily calmed with a bottle and go right back to sleep!
-You hate your diaper being barely wet. If it is, then you let us know!
-You love your baths! It is the most calming thing for you!
-You do not love your binky. You will take it at times, but you would rather be held to be calmed down than take your binky.

Welcome Baby Dexter

On Friday, July 22 2011- we left our home at 5:30am...

Maddie woke up early on her own to tell us goodbye! We arrived at the hospital and got checked in. Once the baby monitor was strapped on, I could tell by our nurses facial expressions something was wrong, so I asked. She said the baby's heart rate was low, like in the 80s. It had be the 140s-150s my entire pregnancy. So she had me lay on my side and it slowly increased back to normal. They started the pitocin and broke my water. A couple of hours went by and we realized everytime I got up to use the bathroom the baby's heart rate would drop. So, our nurse wanted to check me to see if I had dialated any further and again her facial expressions could not conceal her concern. I asked her again what was wrong and she said she thought the umbilical chord was wrapped around the baby's neck, but she was going to get another nurses opinion. So the other nurse came in and confirmed it, and they rushed to call my doctor. Dr. Lentel came rushing over and checked me and too confirmed it was the chord. At this point- they decided to go ahead and do a spinal block while we determined what to do. Dr. Lentel thought she might be able to get the baby turned enough to get the chord somewhat unwrapped and he could slip on down and be delivered normally. However, once she started to mess with him, his heart rate dropped. Thus- they rushed me for an emergency c-section. Yikes...I was not prepared mentally or physically for this. But, I had no choice. They got us in the the room and started explaining& prepping me for the c-section. They increased my spinal block and started testing my numbness...the problems started here when I could still feel everything. I was starting to panic that I might have to go through this and feel every cut and stitch that they did. They continued to increase the med's through the spinal block until I had maxed out the amount I could have, my speech was getting very slurred and I remember thinking- I can't even communicate with people cause my speech is slurred. Luckily Dustin could tell by my eyes that were about to pop out of my sockets, I'm sure...that I could still feel everything. At that point- the anesthesiologist said they were going to have to use general anesthesia. This meant I would be asleep for the delivery- however I didn't care at this point. They made Dustin leave the room, however brought him back in right before they pulled Dexter out. At 1:51pm Dexter arrived, healthy and happy at 9lbs 0 oz, and 21 and 3/4 inches long!

The Dr.'s continued to stitch me up, and finally around 5pm in recovery they let me meet our baby for the first time. I was still really doped up and continued to be very groggy for the rest of that day and Saturday morning. I was also very sore. The recovery from my c-section has been slow, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat for my baby! We are so in love and excited to have completed our family!