Lela's First Giggle

Until today, Lela has yet to giggle out loud for us. She just turned 7 months on Thursday and it's about time we hear a little chuckle from her. Brady giggled at Marenda at only 3 months old, so we've been expecting to hear something out of Lela. She does smile and will make a sound like she wants to giggle, but it's almost like she's holding her breath. Marenda and I joked around and said she was going to have our "silent laugh". This is when we get to laughing at something together, but neither one of us makes a sound. Kind of hard to explain in words, guess you'd have to be there. Anyways, so tonight I was sitting with Brady and Lela on the love seat and Chad threw this soft Frisbee to us. I "bonked" Lela on the head and she obviously thought it was hilarious because she laughed out loud! It was adorable! Here's the video.

My Little Chef and Marshmallow Lover

Brady has always enjoyed watching me cook. He started asking me to "help" when he was around 18 months. I would sit him on the counter and he would pour ingredients into the bowl or help stir. Recently he's been "cooking" during his imaginative play. Whenever he cooks for us it's usually one of his favorites, like hamburgers or hot-dogs, or if it's a drink, it's usually coffee. When we take showers together, he talks as if he's on a cooking show while he's pouring water from one container to another and sits it on the shelf to cook, it's usually takes "4 hours"...his favorite words lately.

So this weekend we were inside majority of the time since it was rainy and Brady had a fever, and was not feeling so good. I decided to make a treat with him, because I knew it would make him happy. His favorite thing to eat is marshmallows (which I hate giving to him because it's nothing but sugar) but we've made them a special treat. We made S'more Bites, a recipe that I found on the bag of Publix marshmallows. Here's how you do it.

Take 18 marshmallows and stick a wooden toothpick in the center of each. Place the marshmallows in the freezer for about 10 minutes to harden. Melt a 12oz package of milk chocolate morsels in the microwave for a couple of minutes (I used Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate baking chips because it doesn't have dairy, so Brady can eat them). Next, crush several graham crackers in a sandwich bag. You'll need 1/2 cup of graham cracker crumbs. I can't remember how many crackers we used, I just happened to grab enough for 1/2 cup the first time. Next, take the marshmallows out of the freezer, dip them in the chocolate, then roll them in the graham cracker crumbs and place them on a piece of wax paper. 

Here's some pictures of our cooking experiment. 

*Funny side story about his obsession with marshmallows. We were in Kroger the other day and he was riding in the car buggy. We walked past the marshmallows, he reaches out and swipes a bag off the shelf and quickly puts it in his lap. He didn't ask me if we could get them like usual but just kept quiet. I guess he thought I wouldn't notice... we survived with only a short melt down when I told him we weren't getting them.* 

Here are some other ideas of how to use marshmallows from the Publix bag. I figured it might be a good idea to save these somewhere when Brady gets a special treat.

* Cut in half, top brownies during last minutes of bake time.

*Stir in fresh or canned fruit salad

*Spoon over tops of mugs filled with hot chocolate

*Add pretzel sticks for "octopus" legs, peanut butter and morsels for eyes.

Sleep Training

Sleep training is an ongoing battle in the Fearnow house. We've had issues with getting Brady to fall asleep from the time he was born. We've used everything from the swaddle, a bottle, the rocking chair, a pacifier, his night-night (blanket), a story, and singing. Mostly now it's just our presence in the room. Brady has always needed us to fall asleep. There have been very few occasions that he's fallen asleep on his own in his room. I know this is our fault because we always give in. I don't know how anyone just lets their child "cry it out". Brady will cry for hours before we eventually cave. There are times when it frustrates me that we can't just put him in his bed, tell him good night, and enjoy some time to ourselves. However, other times I enjoy the fact that he still "needs" us. For instance, the other night we were trying to get him to go to sleep and Chad had been in his room with him for almost a couple of hours. Chad eventually left him in there by himself and shortly after Brady followed him down the stairs. Chad told him to get back into his room and through his crying, he says, "Brady wanna hold mommy". How can I say no to that? As I'm laying in bed with him, I ask if he wants me to rock him in hopes that it will help him fall asleep faster. When we sit down in his rocking chair, his body taking over more than half of mine, all I can think of is the book, "Love You Forever". If you haven't read this book, you should. Although sometimes I get annoyed with having to stay with him until he falls asleep, I try to remember that he's not going to be little forever. At some point I'm sure he'll be shutting his bedroom door to avoid us, spending the night with his friends, and eventually moving out of the house. One day I'll be missing our bed time conversations by night light, his little giggles, and his sweet random kisses. I'm going to try to treasure every moment we have together because one day all I'll want to do is hold my baby boy to sleep and I won't be able to.

"I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be". Love you Forever, by Robert Munsch

Lela's Birth Story

Lela's birth story is much less complicated than Brady's, however, interesting to say the least. I'm going to start her birth story with decisions that I made that would determine how I would deliver her.
After having a c-section with Brady, actually the day he was born, I said "I'm having a VBAC if I ever get pregnant again". A VBAC for those of you that aren't familiar  is a vaginal birth after cesarean. So, when the time came to talk to my doctor (different doctor now since our insurance changed to Kaiser) about having a VBAC, he told me I was a great candidate. They mentioned that since Brady was the reason for the c-section and not my body, then I should be able to VBAC. I got to 36 weeks pregnant and Chad accepted a new job...changing our insurance...this time not with Kaiser. Now, I was in the search of a new doctor. I didn't want to go back to the doctor's office that I went to with Brady because they only delivered at Northside Cherokee, and after that experience, I didn't want to go there again. During my search I posted a status on Facebook that asked if anyone could recommend a great doctor. I talked to the PA, that I went to for years, about having a VBAC. She told me some pretty frightening stories that had me wondering if I still wanted to go through with it. I was torn now whether to do a VBAC or just have a repeat c-section. I decided to go North Atlanta Women's Specialists. Many women recommended them and a close friend had known one of the doctors practically her whole life. Long story short, he would not do a VBAC. He was totally against it and talked to me about why he did not believe in them. After many tears and prayers...I decided that I was going to have a repeat c-section and the date was set for October 2nd, at 39 weeks.

Taken 9 days before Lela was born

It was October 1st... Chad called me on his way home from work to tell me that his truck broke down and he needed me to come pick him up. Great! This was not how I wanted to spend the last night as a family of three. After I picked him up, we drove to auto zone to get the parts he needed to fix his truck. We realized quickly that Brady was not going to be patient enough to sit in the car while Chad worked on his truck. My dad ended up helping Chad, while I went home with Brady. A few hours later, I hear Chad walk in the door. I run downstairs to talk to him, excited about the next day as he washes the grease off his hands and arms. Seconds later, I feel a gush of water come out of me and hit the floor. WHAT! That was not supposed to be happening. I tell Chad I think my water just broke, this was around 7:30 pm. I went to the bathroom and more fluid came pouring out of me. I soon realized that Lela, much like Brady, had decided to come on her own time and was not going to come "as planned". I called my doctor's office and told them what happened, they said a doctor "on call" would return my call shortly. Chad decided to take a quick shower and instead of waiting for the phone call we went ahead and left for the hospital. I asked Chad what he thought I could do about riding in the van with all the fluid coming out of me and he said he would put some towels down. He also suggested to wear one of Brady's diapers..so that's what I did. Hey, whatever works! When we arrived at the hospital, the doctor calls. He suggested that I head towards the hospital (we were already in the parking deck at this point) and they would monitor my progress. They would either do the c-section that night or wait till the morning when my doctor could do it. My contractions had started on the way to the hospital, so I didn't see me making it till the morning. I got admitted to the hospital, my parents and Marenda got there, and I was being monitored. The nurse said I was only about 2-3 cm dilated and it could take me hours to actually progress. This was not cool, I was having to labor...just to end up having the planned c-section. The fluid continued to gush out of me and the contractions were steady. I tried to lay in bed and watch "Friends" but the contractions got to a point where all I could do was scream. Thank God the nurse's shift was up and a new nurse came into the room. She could tell I was in pain and let the doctor know that it was time to get this c-section rolling. I didn't know how to breath because I wasn't planning on having to labor, it was horrible. The nurse checked me and said I was at 6 cm. Little miss Lela was coming whether we were going to be ready or not. At this point I wished they would have just let me VBAC because I know  Lela and I could have done it, even though there was still the 1% chance my uterus could have ruptured from the previous c-section. I finally got the epidural and could relax.

After getting the epidural

The doctor came into the room and introduced himself and talked about the procedure. I got wheeled to the operating room, anticipating meeting this little girl of ours. The doctor started working on me and at 1:13 am on October 2nd our sweet baby girl was born. They held her over the drape and I got a glimpse of her beautiful face. I remember thinking about how pretty she already was to have just been born and how blessed we were that she was here and healthy.

7 lbs 13 ounces 20 inches

Love at first sight

Daddy bonding with our little bitty baby girl

Holding her for the first time

Brady's Birth Story

I've always wanted to write down Brady and Lela's birth stories. Now, that I have a blog this is a great place to do it! First up...Brady! I'm going to start a couple days before he was born. It was a Thursday, October 14th, I was 39 weeks pregnant and  so ready to meet our baby. I went to the doctor after work and told the doctor I was just ready for it to all be over with. She told me that they were willing to induce me and we could go ahead and meet our little boy. Since I was so anxious and getting impatient, I agreed. They gave me the number to the hospital and told me to call in the morning at 7am. I called work, told them I wouldn't be there till I returned from maternity leave, and was expecting to have our little boy in our arms on Friday. I woke up early (without sleeping much that night) and called the hospital. They told me that they didn't have any rooms and I would have to call back in a couple hours! Noooo! I was not expecting to hear that. So I called a couple hours later, and this time they said that Dr. Rush would like to reschedule my induction for Monday morning. I was so disappointed. After I got over it and realized that it was all in God's plan, I enjoyed the day shopping with my Momma. The next day, Chad and I went to my parent's house to hang out and watch football. My cousins, Alayna and Anthony, and his wife Kay came over to hang out too. My dad made his signature hot wings, which I was hoping would put me into labor. Around 5:00pm I started having contractions. It was the hot wings! :) They were around 10-20 minutes apart, not painful, and I kept telling myself (and everyone else) that it was nothing, probably just braxton hicks. In the meantime all the girls decided to go to the mall. We walked around for a couple hours and I kept feeling the contractions. I was getting nervous because they started to be consistent. We went home that night and my cousins came with us to spend the night. I decided to go to bed, remembering what the nurse in our labor class told us...which was to labor at home. I told Chad that if it were true labor, then my contractions would get painful enough that I would be woken up. Sure enough....my contractions woke me up at 1:00am. They started to get uncomfortable and I began timing them, they were 3-5 minutes apart. I told Chad we should probably go to the hospital and we started getting ready. I woke up my cousin, Alayna, who was sleeping on the couch in the living room and told her we were going to the hospital and I would let them know what was going on when we got there. I called my parents on the way and told them the same. We left for the hospital around 2:30am.

Right before leaving for the hospital

When we got to the hospital, Chad walked me into the ER and I told the nurse that I thought I was in labor. I was wheeled to labor and delivery, given a robe, and hooked up on the monitors. The nurse was getting the paperwork ready and watching my contractions on the screen. She told me that I was in labor and they were going to admit me. Whoo Hoo! After only being there an hour or so, I was filling out paperwork while the nurse stood next to me in front of the monitor screen. All of a sudden she starts moving and shaking the monitors on my belly. My heart dropped, what was happening? From there, I remember a team of nurses running into my room, one told me to turn around and get on all fours... one put an oxygen mask on me...another tells me it would be uncomfortable but she had to check inside me. While all this was going on, all I could do was pray. Pray my baby was going to be okay and pray that I was going to be okay. Moments later, I found out that Brady's heart rate had dropped, the position I was in and the oxygen was to help it come back up. The nurse that was checking me, was actually checking for the cord and making sure it wasn't wrapped around Brady's neck. I've never been so scared in my entire life. The doctor wasn't even there yet and the anesthesiologist was in the hospital somewhere sleeping, it was just me, Chad, and the nurses. Chad and I started praying. They gave Chad scrubs and me an epidural. They were preparing us for an emergency c-section. My entire pregnancy I wanted to do this birth as natural as possible, but it was already not going as "planned".

Getting some extra oxygen to Brady

My parents and sister made it to the hospital. They immediately knew something was wrong when they saw the oxygen mask and scrubs.We told them the story and saw the look of concern come over their faces. Dr. Rush finally made it to the hospital and told us that since Brady was now "behaving", he would let me labor instead of doing a c-section. I got to 7 cm and he came into the room to break my water. After breaking my water, he was washing his hands and joking around with my dad. A nurse opens the door and says, "What's going on in here?" She was looking at the screen in the hallway at the nurses station. Dr. Rush looked at the monitor screen in the room and tells us Brady's heart rate is back down and it's time for the c-section. They didn't waste anytime and I didn't waste anytime crying either. This was the one thing I didn't want to happen and it was happening. The anesthesiologist pumps me with more epidural medicine and they start wheeling me down the hallway. I remember hearing the anesthesiologist telling me that everything was going to be okay and this was best for the baby. The labor and delivery operation room was being used and they had to take me on the elevator to an OR in the basement! Yes, the basement of the hospital. I remember hearing the nurses talking about how they had never been in that room and didn't know where anything was. I guess they forgot that I was still awake and could hear everything they said. Next thing I know, the doctor is poking around where he's going to make the incision and asked if I could feel anything. Well, I couldn't until he started cutting. It was a sharp burning sensation that I've never experienced before. Eventually, at 7:42 am, he pulled Brady out and we heard his first cry. It was the sweetest sound and I praised God for getting him into this world safe and healthy.



        Our healthy baby boy, 7 lbs 2 oz , 20 inches
                                                         

My reason for this blog

I decided it was time to start a blog since I have two small children and I don't want to forget the little things from their childhood. My two year old, Brady, says the funniest/sweetest things and I know I will never remember them all if I don't write it down. My 5 month old, Lela, is just starting to really show her personality and I can already tell she's going to be a happy little girl. This blog will be a journal to their lives and I know one day I'll be glad I did this.

This picture was taken just 5 days after Lela was born. Brady has shown a great love for her since the very first time he met her. This Saturday we were reminded of his love he has for his baby sister. We were at Costco and Chad was pushing Brady in the cart while I pushed Lela next to him in the stroller. Chad and I were talking about what we needed to buy and I over hear Brady saying "Yuv (love) you"...I look down and he is leaned over looking at Lela saying, "yuv you, yuv you, yeya". I smiled at him and said, "what did you say"? He looked at me with the most serious face and said "Yuv her!" It melted my heart. I pray they will grow up loving each other each and every day.