Christmas Time

Braxton and Sanata

He looks so scared. Poor Baby

This how Braxton likes to walk around these days... with a toothbrush and binky in his mouth at the same time!

My BIG Boy/ 30 Weeks

It's official, Braxton is a big boy. At least that's how I think of him. I don't know if its the realization of this baby coming soon or what, but as of lately, I can't help but think of him as a big boy. He just seems so grown up to me. Every day he amazes me with the different things he knows and comprehends. Things and words that I didn't even teach him. I love that he is growing up and becoming a big boy. I honestly thought I would be sad about this day, but he's so fun to watch as he learns and grows. Braxton LOVES to read books (well, have them read to him) but he will point to all the pictures he knows and say what they are. Which is mostly all of them. His vocabulary is growing by the minute and I LOVE IT! Some of his favorite words to say (and pictures he points out) are:
Moon
Stars
grapes
snacks
MINE (yes he learned that one. Grr..)
Ghost
Strawberry
Nana (Banana)
Good Bye
Mama
Dada
Bubba (Thats what we call him)
Bees
Puppies
Boogies
Babies
Diapee (for diaper)
dark
Boobies (i don't know where he learned that one!)
etc...
Besides talking so much more, Braxton has also been sleeping through the night in his own crib. For those of you who know what we have been through the past 21 months, know how big of a deal this is! It has only been for the past 2 weeks but still! And of course he started once we bought his big boy furniture. Go figure! I have no idea what we will do when his brother is born. Braxton LOVES his baby brother! He will always come up to my belly and say "baby" He lifts my shirt and gives him hugs and kisses. It is so cute! I know that he is going to be the best big brother! I can't wait to see him them together! Braxton has already been practicing with his baby cousin Isla! He loves to play with her and even says her name! Its so cute! I love my big boy Braxton. Maybe its the new baby coming, but I feel so attached to him right now and I think he is the same way. I love to just snuggle with him! I can't wait until I am off of bedrest and can actually be a mom to him 100%. PS- I think we are going to be able to potty train him earlier than expected! Yay! He is so smart! Here are some pics of his "Big Boy" room so far. It obviously still needs to be decorated!




On a side note, I am almost 30 weeks pregnant! Can you believe it? I can't! Even though everyone keeps telling me I don't even look pregnant, I feel very LARGE AND IN CHARGE! Seriously, I don't think I have ever been this big. I'm super uncomfortable all the time, especially at night. Its hard to sleep. Everything seems to take more effort these days! lol! Most of all, I have been eating like crazy! Its like I am never full! Luckily, I haven't gained too much weight! I have also been having less contractions. Lets hope it stays that way! 10 more weeks of bed rest! Here are some pics of my bump!
27 WEEKS


29 WEEKS

23-26 Weeks

26 Weeks

I just thought I would update about the pregnancy, since there has been a lot going on lately. So since my last post, my cervix had continued to shorten some but decided to stay around 2cm for the past 3 weeks. Which was such a relief. They had actually told me that I could be up doing a little more, as long as I felt ok. I was still having contractions on and off but actually felt pretty good over the past couple weeks for once. Which was good because we were able to spend time with Jesse's grandparents, take Braxton trick or treating for Halloween, attend Isla's baby blessing and do our family (my maternity) pictures.


Wednesday rolled around and I was having a lot of contractions that day, more than usual. I had kinda thought the same thing the couple days before too. It was almost 10:00 PM, so I decided to just go to the hospital instead of waiting around until the next day to get into my doctors office. Luckily, 1 of my doctors is at Banner Desert 24/7 as well as one of their neonatologists. I honestly thought this would be a quick trip. Check me, monitor me, ultrasound me and then send me home like they did 2 weeks ago when I went. But I should have known it would be something more. The ultrasound showed that my cervix had shortened from 2 cm to 1.3 cm. They also said it was already beginning to thin out. Luckily, I was not funneling(something your cervix does before it starts to dilate)and I hadn't started to dilate. They decided to admit me and keep me until Sunday to monitor me. They did an FFN swab, which came back negative. I guess if it comes back positive, it means you are most likely going to go into labor soon. Whew! What a relief. The gave me 2 doses of steroids for Baby Boy. It helps his lungs develop what they need quicker in order for him to breathe better if he was born early. I was hooked up to the TOCO machine 24/7, which monitors contractions. I was (and still am) having 4-7 contractions every hour, 24 hours a day. And when I am not contracting, my uterus is what they call "irritable" so if you were to look at my monitor it was all over the place! Its not fun! Basically I am in pain 24/7 on top of my regular pelvic/back pain I was already having. They monitored baby twice a day. The first day, his heart rate kept decelerating and wouldn't keep a baseline, so they did an ultrasound to make sure that my amniotic fluid was ok. Everything looked good. They said he was probably just being a stinker and moving around a lot. Every other time, his heart rate was perfect! They said he looked great on the ultrasound too. She estimated that he weighed around 2.3 lbs. (I should get a more accurate number over the next 2 weeks from my doctors office)So after 5 days of being in the hospital, being incredibly bored, and missing my boys, they checked my cervix again and decided to send me home. It had stayed at 1.3 cm. Yay! No more having to FaceTime with Jesse and Braxton! Even though it was super cute that Braxton would say "Mama Mama" when he wanted Jesse to FaceTime me and he would give the phone kisses.


SO I got to leave Sunday afternoon. I am now on STRICT bed rest for the next 6 weeks. I am only allowed to get up to go to the bathroom or shower and go to dr appointments. So basically, my mom watches Braxton at her house Monday-Wednesday during the days and then brings him home to our house to sleep at night. Then Thursday-Sunday, Jesse has to watch him 24/7. I love being home but it is so hard to not do anything and especially not be able to help with Braxton. I feel like such a bad mom and wife. But I really need to listen and stay down, because we DO NOT want to have this baby super early. My visiting teachers and neighbors have been so sweet to bring us meals and offer to babysitt! We are finally letting the ward help us out with meals and stuff too. Can you tell I HATE asking for help? But if its going to be like this the rest of my pregnancy (14 MORE WEEKS), I can't expect my mom to have to do everything for us on top of watching Braxton. I see my doctor every 1-2 weeks, I actually go tomorrow so hopefully everything will look ok again.


Pregnancy lately:

So I finally started showing around 22 weeks... and now I feel huge and like I can't get any bigger. Seriously, I don't think my skin can stretch anymore!

I hadn't gained any weight this pregnancy until the past 2 weeks and I've already put on 10 lbs! Gross!

Some cravings are: Sushi (Las Vegas Rolls) and Edammame, Soft serve vanilla ice cream cones, Ham & Cheese sandwiches w/ lots of Mayo (I hate Mayonnaise too!) Sonic ice and Sprite.

I am officially uncomfortable 24/7 especially at bed time. It is so annoying. Plus all the contractions make it hard to sleep.

Most of my clothes don't fit... Its like I'm too big for regular clothes but not big enough for maternity. I guess it doesn't matter since I will just be at home in bed in PJ's from now on too. ;-)

Luckily, my hands and feet haven't started to swell... but maybe thats because I am lying down most of the day.

Braxton knows there is a baby in my tummy. He will always come and lift my shirt up and say "Baby" He also gives baby hugs and kisses! Its so sweet! He is still a little confused because he will sometimes do it to Jesse too. LOL!

I can't sit in a car for longer than 10 min without getting contractions and putting Braxton in his crib has become the most difficult task. My belly would get caught on the side rail. Good thing I'm not allowed to put him to sleep anymore.

I have never watched so much TV or been on the internet so much in my life as I have the past 6 weeks. I am actually sick of it.
23 Weeks

BABY # 2

So...since I found out that I was pregnant (almost 6 months ago) I have been slacking on my blogging. So here is my attempt to catch you up on what has been going on with us lately and the whole baby thing. I will try to make this short... telling the first part mainly in pictures.

May 20th- 22nd Jesse and I took a trip to Vegas to go see the GLEE concert and lets just say, what happened in Vegas, didn't stay in Vegas. A couple weeks after we got home, my doctor told me to take a pregnancy test before I came in to start my fertility tests and medicine. Little did I know that it was going to come out potitve. I believe I took 6 pregnancy tests, just to make sure. I guess I should have known with all the Dr Pepper and Sonic ice I had been craving. Not to mention, my new liking for hot dogs and easy mac. Gross


I wanted to surprise Jesse and tell him. So while I was giving Braxton a bath, I spelled this out with his bath letters (see below) I believe his first reaction was "Are you serious?" which was better than mine, "Crap."


The next week I had an appt with my ob who confirmed my pregnancy by blood test, but because my numbers were so low. I had to come in for weekly blood tests and ultrasounds. We finally saw baby at 6 weeks. It was the best feeling in the world. But now bring on the extreme fatigue, nauseousness, and throwing up. Little did I know that it would last the next 2 months (unlike with Braxton who I didn't get sick at all with)
6 WEEKS


My doctor continued to monitor me closely because of all the problems I seemed to be having, mainly all the pain and cramping I was having. Despite all the problems, everything looked fine with baby. He was growing just as he should. These couple months were difficult for us though... multiple trips to the ER, in constant pain, and my every other thought was if I was having a miscarriage or not. I'm happy to say I didn't have any complications, then.
8 WEEKS


When I was pregnant with Braxton, I heard about this "at home" gender test you could do as early as 10 weeks. It was right with Braxton, so I decided to do it again this time since I was dying to know what baby # 2 was. Sure enough I got a BOY result again! Supposedly they are like 90% accurate and so far they have been right for me both times!(You can find these tests at Walgreens/CVS Pharmacy is you are wanting to do one... they are just something fun to do and buy time until you have your gender ultrasound)
10 WEEKS

12 WEEKS


Because of all my pain (and my previous history of preterm labor), my doctor decided to transfer my care to a PPA, a strictly high-risk ob/gyn. They are suppose to be the best in the Valley. One of the first things they did was a detailed ultrasound to rule out different abnormalities. I'm happy to say that everything looked good. We also got to find out the gender early (at 13 weeks). It is... ANOTHER BOY! I was actually a lot more excited about this that I thought I was going to be. (although, I had a feeling it was a boy the whole time, so I had mentally prepared myself) Jesse, on the other hand, I think was a little more disappointed. He was hoping girl so we could be done having kids. Which he may still get his wish, but I will get into that later.
13 WEEKS


At my 15 week ultrasound, they were able to tell us it was a BOY for sure.Like I didn't already know that.
15 WEEKS


My doctors had been seeing me every 2 weeks to monitor my cervix and check the baby since I started going to them at 13 weeks. The day before my 19 week appointment, I felt like I started having contractions but I wasn't sure. Something just didn't feel right. I got in early to my doctors the next day who confirmed I was having contractions and told me my cervix had shortened a significant amount in the past 2 weeks. They sent me to the hospital to be checked out and I was then admitted for the next 4 days. The had initially talked about doing a cerclage (sew me shut) but wanted to put it off until my contractions stopped. While I was there they pumped me full of fluids, had me on strict bedrest, monitored my contractions and gave me all sorts of different medications to try and help. After 4 days, they sent me home and told me to take it easy. My contractions had stopped and they still didn't want to do the cerclage yet. Everything was perfect with the baby though. They did my detailed ultrasound at the hospital. Everything looked perfect and was measuring how it should. I couldn't have been more relieved. They now would be monitoring me weekly to make sure everything was ok.
19 WEEKS




I finally decided to take a picture of "my baby bump" even though I still didn't have much of one at this point and I still don't right now, although I am getting bigger each week now. My belly is measuring on track and the baby is actually measuring 1.5 weeks ahead. He is over 1 lb now. I can proudly say that I haven't gained any weight which is way different than my pregnancy with Braxton( I gained almost 20 lbs the first couple months but leveled off until I had him). I honestly don't know how I've been that lucky so far with all the junk food and take out I crave and eat and especially now that I am not allowed to do anything but lay around.
20 WEEKS


22 WEEKS
These past couple weeks (since the hospital) have been rough. It has been hard trying to "take it easy" with a 18 month old. Especially when Jesse is out of town Monday-Wednesday for work every week. I honestly don't know how I would do it without him or my mom. They are the ones taking care of him 24/7. I have had contractions on and off the past 3 weeks (on top of all of the pain I had already been having.) They get worse when I am up and doing stuff, so I try to not do much. My cervix has been getting shorter each week, and at my appointment yesterday they actually sent me over to the hospital to be monitored because they were so worried about it. I am now on strict bedrest. Which I am really trying to do because I do NOT want to have this baby early. I want to make it to at least 32 weeks at the earliest. I'm not sure what their plan is for me... there is still talk about a cerclage but I don't know if they want to do it if I keep having contractions on and off. I am just glad that everything looks good with the baby at each appointment. His heart rate is always good, he measures what he should, and he is definitely a very active baby! He moves constantly... maybe too much. He sits SUPER low, at every ultrasound they always say "he is so low, he is right on your cervix" my reply is, "I know, I can feel it" I told Jesse the other week he sits so low that it feels like if I were to jump up and down he would fall out already. I wonder if this has anything to do with whats going on with me. He definitely sits way different than Braxton did and maybe that's why I haven't been showing much. We were suppose to go to Texas last week to visit for Kellan's (my nephew) baby blessing. But because of all my problems, I am not allowed to travel.We are just happy that it is Matt and Beth's year for Christmas here so we can finally meet Kellan and get to visit with all of them.

I just want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers, especially this past month. This pregnancy has been a really hard on us so far and things just keep getting harder. I never had the feeling that this baby would be early like I did with Braxton, but with the way things are going, there might be not be another option. I am hoping that I can make it past 24 weeks, which is like the magic number for babies. They have a better chance of survival each week after that and especially after 32 weeks. We meet with a neonatologist this Friday to discuss the baby. I will definitely keep everyone posted. I hoping to get more answers and a game plan at my appointment next week. Thanks again so much for everything!

15 MONTHS

I can't believe tomorrow my little guy will be 15 months old! Where does time go? Seriously, it feels like just yesterday he was born! Looking at him now you would never know he is the same baby that is in all those hospital pictures. He has gotten so big! He is 26.5 lbs (75%tile) and over 34 in tall (above 95%tile) Which that explains why he looks so skinny to me now! He has thinned out so much! He flip flopped. He use to be heavier and shorter for his age and now he's taller and lighter! Braxton has such a littler personality these days! Its so fun to watch him become a little boy instead of a baby! He is generally happy most of the time and has the most contagious laugh! We do have to tell him "No No" a lot these days because he is getting into anything and everything! (He listens to Jesse... when I tell him no, he laughs...every time! Not a good sign) He learned to climb stairs... we didn't know he could until one day I was upstairs and all of a sudden I looked over and there he was. He had climbed the ENTIRE staircase all by himself! Yeah, we need to get a new gate for the bottom that he can open himself! So here are the top ten facts about Braxton:

1. He loves to play with anything and everything BUT his toys! He loves opening and closing cupboards, doors, the refrigerator and the dishwasher. He likes to push chairs and bar stools around the kitchen. His old favorite were door stoppers...they aren't as fun anymore since Jesse super glued the rubber tip on and now he can get them off. And yes, all of his toys just sit there.

2. He as ALL of his teeth but 2. So if you can't count that's 16 teeth including his molars!!!

3. He loves to eat! That is one thing we never had a problem with. Some of his favorite foods are hot dogs, mac and cheese, rice, yogurt, apples, cookies, ice cream and sonic ice. Yes, I sonic ice. He is definitely my kid!

4. Braxton loves WATER. He loves bath time and now that its summer, he loves POOL time even more! We try to play in our big pool or the kiddie pool once a day and we have planned to go to the beach pool once a week with the cousins! I honestly think I could put him under the water and it wouldn't bother him. I will try soon when I get up the courage. The best thing about Braxton loving the POOL, Mommy gets TAN!!!!

5. Braxton is crawling everywhere...he is super fast! We have been working with him on standing and walking for the past month or two. He can cruise around furniture really well and he pulls up on everything, he just can't walk on his own. I did catch him walking by himself with his push toy the other day so there is hope! I think he could do it, he's just lazy!

6. Braxton has some new tricks. He now waves, blows kisses, claps, hugs and gives kisses. Granted, he doesn't like to do them on command that often but sometimes he will. He likes to wave buh bye after you have already left the room! its so funny!


7. After months and months of horrible sleeping, we can gladly say that he basically sleeps through the night. He now goes to bed at 8 and wakes up around 5:45 or 6:00. Yes, that's a little early but hey, at least he's not waking up every hour like he use to. I just think its crazy that he takes his first nap when most people are waking up, at 9:00!

8. Braxton loves the puppies! He loves to steal their bones away and chew on them. Yes, I said he likes to chew on them...mainly when I'm not looking. Its so funny to see him with the puppies now that he's older. He can totally hold his own with them. When he doesn't want them around he sticks his one hand out and pushes them away. Its too cute! He also now loves to throw things out the doggie door. Usually its his toys, but today I found his binky, my phone and the remote. I gotta keep an eye on this kid at all times.

9.He is in a MAJOR "Mommy phase" right now. He follows me everywhere....even into the bathroom. If I leave the room he screams until I come back. I actually have to sneak out to leave. He seems to always be at my feet, crawling up my legs. I don't know when or why it started but I'm hoping it ends soon! Its cute that he always wants me...but at the same time its kinda getting old! Hopefully he turns into a Daddy's boy when I go to Texas for a week, either that or Jesse is going to have one LONG week.

10. He had his first "Poo explosion" today. Man, I totally would have rather dealt with this when he was a baby but no, it had to be when he's old and fights having his diaper changed. Lets just say, he got poop EVERYWHERE!!! It was all over him, his face (yes,his face, he just had to stick his hand down there when I changed his diaper. What a boy!), his clothes, the floor, and the bath tub. Oh, and ME! And yes, that happened 3 more times! Hopefully its under control now, but then again he's asleep in his crib and I won't know until he wakes up. Ugh.

So that's our little boy in a nutshell! I am so lucky to be the mom to this sweet little boy. I don't know what we would do without him. He is so stinkin cute. I actually get stopped everywhere I go by total strangers to tell me how cute he is! I love it! Each day with him just proves what a miracle he really is !I knew I was a true mom as I was walking around with his poop on me and it didn't phase me! Maybe I am ready for another one? Hmm...should we start trying? Or maybe we already are! ;-)

Braxton's 1st Birthday!

For Braxton's 1st Birthday, we decided to throw him a "Pirate Party" and invite family and close friends over to our house. We ate pizza and hung out while all the kids played. It was nice to spend time with all of our family and friends! Braxton had a blast playing with all the other kids. He wasn't too fond of his birthday cake and he didn't know what to do with all the presents! Good thing he had Maxwell and Essa there to help him open them up!I know this is a little late but we just want to say thanks to everyone who came and spent this special day with us.
Braxton's Birthday Cake

Some of the decorations

Braxton and Easton = BFF's

Some of the Rucker Fam

Some of the Greenwald/Dickson fam

Asher in his pirate hat with JD

Kallie and Easton in their pirate hats!

Braxton opeing his presents with help from Maxwell and Essa

Mommy reading Braxton his birthday card

Madisen and Andrew

We tried to take a pic of the boys...Easton, Asher,and Braxton. Man, its hard trying to get those 3 to all look at the camera and sit still!

I love how they both tried to grab Asher's face in the picture! Too cute! They love Baby Asher

MARCH

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Braxton and Mimi in their St.Patty's Day shirts!!

Braxton's first time to the zoo!

B and Aunt Kira! This was her first time meeting him ever! He loves his Aunt Kira now!

Braxton and Daddy at the Aquarium. He LOVED it! (way more than the zoo, too!)

Mommy and B up inside the aquarium.

With Kira and her kids visiting we decided to do a photo shoot at the park so we could get some pictures of all of them

The Twins- Sadie & Grace

Caleb & Emilee

Braxton climbed on a rock - JK MeeMa is hiding behind it holding him up!

Kira and her kids!

All the cousins!!!

FEBRUARY

Braxton in his Valentine's Day shirt!

Braxton and his cousins, Madisen, Andrew and Emalie. They had fun at Mimi's house while Jesse and I went on a double date with Marshall and Aimee to Ruffino's. Yummy!

This was the first day Braxton got his glasses. He wanted to be just like his Daddy! Isn't he just so cute with them on? Well, I think he is! So many people ask us how they knew he needed glasses so this is what happened. Braxton's neurosurgeon wanted us to take hiim to the eye dr so they could look at the nerve in the back of the eye. If the pressure and fluid were bad enough it would be visible. When I took him the dr examined him and looked me and said, "Well I have some good news and bad news." He said, "Good news is I don't see anything wrong with the nerve, (which means the pressure and fluid werent bad enough to be seen. Which made it less likely that he would have hydrocephalus) Bad news is he is near-sides in one eye and far-sided in the other." Which meant, he had to get glasses...before he was even one! He does pretty good with his glasses..he usually doesn't mess with them or take them off. He only seems to do that when he's sitting in his highchair or if you adjust them. I think then he remembers they are there. I wouldn't have never guessed he needed glasses he didn't act like he couldn't see. Although, we know now that his head tilt (that you can see above in the pictures) went away as soon as he got his glasses. They think he was tilting his head to help him see. I'm so glad we did months and months of physical therapy to try and get rid of that tilt and all he needed was glasses!