4 Weeks Old Today....

Time is flying by & I feel like Brayden will be walking before we know it!! We received his social security card in the mail today & I am in the middle of filling out the paperwork for his insurance, & birth certificate & I can't wait for everything to come back to us in the mail.....he is our little angel & we love him with all of our hearts!

Today to celebrate the day we went & lunch with daddy at work......it was so nice to visit Lance & to be able to sit & eat with him even if only for a half hour; he has been working like crazy & we miss him very much.


Brayden is doing wonderfully; he is so alert & is focusing on things very well. He is now a formula baby all the way; my milk apparently dried up all together & I feel like a failure because of it. The doctor said that it happens sometimes & to not worry or feel that way but I really wanted to experience this with Brayden. He is holding his head up all the time & he has gained 2 lbs (as of his hospital visit)so he now weighs 10 lbs & 1.4 ozs.......he is so sweet & loving & everyday we thank God for blessing us with such an amazing & wonderful little boy!!

Home Improvements...

My parents came into town for 2 weeks when Brayden was born & my dad is the type of man that has to stay busy or he will go crazy so he always asks for stuff to do around the house & e had been trying to get around to a few things but with getting ready for Brayden's arrival we just didn't get to them so......

My dad installed the new black sink & faucet in the kitchen......
Before:


After:



He removed the old doors from our back door; we had a storm door that had our doggie door in it & then had the big door as well but it had to stay open all the time & I never felt safe & secure with it like that so we bought a new steel door & dad installed a new secure doggie door in that door so we would only have the one door!! It is amazing the amount of room we have in the walk way by the back door now; plus Brayden's swing is right near there & the heat & cold would get in through the old stom door so now he will be as snug as a bug in a rug!!

The old door is the one to the left & the storm door is still on the hindges.

This is the new door before he installed the doggie door to it.

This is our new back door complete with a new doggie door!!!



Dad also installed a new storm door to the front door so that the pups could look out during the day.....of course when I am home alone with the baby I don't open it but when Lance is the home the dogs really enjoy watching the people & traffic go by on our street & I think it looks amazing!!

Playing Catch Up & Looking Forward Too....

Let's see what has happened in the past 3 weeks.....

Lance had his 32nd Birthday on August 16th & we celebrated with my parents & a yummy ice cream cake at home the Saturday night before his birthday & then we his mom & dad came over on his actual birthday on Sunday 7 we had lunch at Kani House (our fave Japanese hibachi restaurant)




Brayden & I have been trying to get on a schedule & we were getting it down packed until the visit to the hospital so we are starting over it seems but we will get the hang of it again soon I am sure.

Breastfeeding has not been going well at all; I am only producing about 4 oz a day & it seems that I am drying up already so I am pretty bummed about that.

The dogs are doing really well with Brayden; they love him so much & love to sniff & lick him all the time. Bella has eaten 2 of his pacifiers so far so we are trying to keep a better eye on them.



Brayden is so alert & loves to lay on his play mat & just stare!!


My best friends is coming to meet Brayden next weekend & we are so excited!! Lance is off the whole weekend so we will have a blast I am sure. Lance's mom is coming to babysit for us Saturday so we can get out for a bit with Danielle I am looking forward to it but not really. I know that I am going to miss my little man while we are away from him!

I have a hair appointment that I am looking forward to next Friday & thank god....my hair is a mess!!

That is all that has happened & the things that I am looking forward to in the next week that I can think of. I know that there has been more but the lack of sleep over this past week is messing with my brain!

Here are some pictures of Brayden & his daddy, my 2 favorite men!!

3 Weeks Old Today.....

It has become very hard to blog but I am going to try to do catch up today......

Brayden had his 3 week birth day on Monday the 24th but it was not a good day at all.....well it started off good but my mid afternoon we were headed to the ER!! All last weekend Brayden was acting very fussy & we were on the phone with the Kaiser advice nurses all weekend just to make sure that we didn't need to bring him in to the doctors office at all but they said that he just sounded colicky & told us to give him some gas drops & keep a very close eye on his temperature & if it went above 100.3 to call. Sunday evening he sleep better than he had ever & so when Monday morning rolled around I thought it was going to be a good day. I got up fed Brayden & then he took his morning nap so I got in the shower & was actually able to do my hair & put makeup on before he woke up & I thought that was just an awesome feet so I was in a great mood. Then, Brayden woke up & I changed his diaper & fed him again & then went to take his temperature & it was 100.6 so I called Kaiser & they told me to get him to the Scottish Rite ER ASAP. I freaked out........but Lance was wonderful, he was again the rock I needed him to be!!



I called Lance & was on my way to pick him up from work & then we were on our way to the hospital! We got there & when we walked in it was quite a scary site. All the kids there had masks on for their safety as well as there own........the swine flu virus is a huge scare for kids! anyway, we got taken back to a triage room where they proceeded to tel us that for babies under 30 days it is protocol to draw blood, run a urinalysis & do a spinal tap. I was alright until I heard spinal tap then I lost it & started crying. Brayden was only 21 days old & a fever in such a young child is not good & they have to test for everything including spinal meningitis so needless to say the test HAD to be done.

They did the urine test first & to get his urine they had to use a catather & Brayden screamed at the top of his lungs & my heart broke. Then they had to try to get the IV in his arm & they had to poke him 3 times; he apparently got my rolling thin veins so it was a long & awful process & he was crying & screaming the whole time & I was just in tears. Thank god they took him to another room for the spinal tap because I don't think that I could have handled any more!! This is my poor little boy while we were in the ER & with his IV......





They had to do cultures on his urine & spinal fluid so we had to be admitted & they told us that they would be starting antibiotics ASAP to help fight whatever he had. The initial test results were all good except for his urine test; he had a high white blood cell count & that is a sign of infection so they watched that culture very close. It was a scary 2 days in the hospital but THANK GOD nothing grew in the cultures & all he had was a viral infection that was cleared up with all the antibiotics they gave him over the two days we were there. We got to go home Wednesday afternoon & I was so happy too get here.



Brayden napping on his PaPa......


I know that they have to monitor Brayden but I swear every time I would get him to sleep they would come in & mes with him which would of course wake him back up & he would be mad as hell & cry for about another hour & then they would come in again. i finally asked Lance to talk to the nurses & tell they that they need to do everything they have to do at one time & then leave us alone for the rest of the time!! I had, had it by Wednesday & after we received the good news from the doctor I was happy to leave that place! The hospital & staff were all wonderful but there really is no place like home (Brayden in his car seat on the way home....finally asleep in peace)!!

2 Weeks Old Today....

WOW...can't believe that it has been 2 weeks already...time is sure flying by!! We are having so much fun getting to know our handsome son & I swear that he is getting bigger by the second. He is so alert & loves when we kiss his feet. He does have his days & nights mixed up but we are working on getting him switched & let me just say that he does not like when his momma keeps him awake during the day.....he doesn't like it at all!! He had his first bath after his belly button fell off (yuck) & his belly button is sooooo cute.


He loves bath time & just lays there enjoying the warm water!!



His circumcision is all healed & he is eating like a champ.....Brayden doesn't latch on at all & that has been a struggle for me. I was really looking forward to breast feeding & am disappointed that it didn't work out but I am pumping so he is still getting the vitamins & nutrition that he needs from me. A part of me feels like a failure even though I tried my best to do everything possible to get him to latch & feed from the breast he just NEVER took to it; not even for a minute. I have cried over it & just hope that this sad feeling goes away soon!!

We had our first day alone together today & it was so awesome!! We just played & slept & he peed & pooped like a champ...it was a great 2 week birthday!!

Hospital Pictures

These are the photos that wee taken at the hospital....isn't he perfect??

Brayden's First Family Cookout.

We have my parents & sister staying with us until next Sunday so we decided to have Lance's family over yesterday for a cook out. It was so nice to have everyone over to the house to celebrate our little baby boy! Everyone just wants to hold & love on him & it is so wonderful to see how much everyone loves him!



This is Brayden with his PaPa & JuJu....Lance's parents!


Puddy & Bella are getting some time with our precious little one.


Grams just loves him so much!!


Brayden & Bella


Love this little face!!


Cousin Max & Aunt Cindy

Brayden's Birth Story

It has been a week (tonight @ 6.57pm) since our little bundle of joy joined the outside world & I am just now finding a few minutes to get his birth story typed up; we are just enjoying him so much......I can't describe the emotions that come over me when we look at him!

We checking into Emory Eastside on 8/2/09 at 6:30 & we got settled in at about 7pm our midwife came in, check me (still no dilatation) & went over the induction plan. We decided not to stress about the baby being 'sunny side up" & to just proceed with the cervidil to soften my cervix & see what happens from there.



It had to stay in for 12 hours so Lance & both settled in for the night & tried to get some sleep but who can sleep at the hospital with all the interruptions?? My parents & sister got into Georgia at about 1am, got to our house to take care of the puppies & then got some rest so that they were ready for the next day.

I was awake early on Monday....I was excited & nervous & was having some cramps too so I was a bit uncomfortable but nothing horrible. Our midwife came in that morning & removed the cervidil & ordered the pitocin, she also checked me & I was only a fingertip dilated so we had a long way to go still. I got my IV put in after 2 attempts & they started me on my antibiotics (failed strep B test), pitocin & fluids & away we went. We thought that things would be moving right along & they were HOWEVER the nurse turned the pitocin on but did connect it to my IV so from 8-10:30 I was having contractions every 2-5 minutes on my own (which was a good thing). We realized this when I had to use the bathroom & when we rolled my IV into the bathroom with me Lance noticed that there was a huge puddle of liquid underneath where my IV was & when the nurse came in she realized that she never hooked up the pitocin line to my IV so we wasted 2.5 hours of the morning!! Anyway, at about 10:30am she hooked it up to my IV & this is where the fun begins. My contractions got to be every 2 minutes & lasted for 2 minutes so I was not getting a break at all. My water broke at about 1 pm & it was the funniest thing ever; I was in the middle of a really bad contraction & Lance was breathing with me through it & all of a sudden water was gushing & I looked at Lance & started to cry & said "I think I just peed all over myself"...he looked under the blanket & said no baby I think your water just broke & it did it all by itself...Good Job (he is so cute). He ran out of the room & got the nurse & she came in & checked it...it did appear to have meconium in it so we had worried about that for a bit but then the contraction pain took over! Let me just say that my husband Lance was a great & wonderful coach. he was so calming & wonderful, we were doing our breathing together & without him I never would have made it!!

I made it to 5 cm with no drugs or epidural but I told Lance I couldn't do it anymore & he told the nurse to get the epidural for me as soon as possible. The pumped me full of fluids really fast so that they could give me the epidural & while they were doing this I was having contractions while in tears about the whole thing but the pain was more that I could handle & even though my wonderful husband was right beside me holding my hand & breathing me through every contraction I just couldn't do it naturally....I am still a bit upset about it but Lance & I did what we thought was best for the baby & I.

The epidural didn't hurt at all & once I got the epidural I was in heaven.....I was contracting still but in no pain! Brayden's heart rate dropped a bit from the epidural so they had to put me on oxygen.....

At about 6pm I told the nurse that I was feeling some pressure so she got the midwife in the room & she checked me & said are you ready to start pushing?? Lance & just looked at each other, smiled & said "really"...she said yep & he ran down the hallway to get our moms & the pushing began. I pushed for about 45 minutes & then he was here. Brayden Lance Goodson was an outside baby & on my belly looking at me at 6:57pm.....it was the most wonderful feeling that I have ever felt in my life.



Our baby boy was here after all these months of carrying him & the past few days of worrying about his delivery. He had apparently turned himself to the correct position & was no longer sunny side up so that was not an issue at all....THANK GOD! I only had "skid marks" as they called them but received 3 stitches for them just so that they would heal properly.

Lance went through my whole pregnancy saying he wanted to cut the cord but not watch the birth.....he was holding my leg the whole time & when he saw Brayden's head crowning starting to cry & as I pushed I looked into his eyes & fell in love with him all over again. He was the rock that I needed him to be & is such a loving father to our son. He cut the cord & actually almost cut our midwife because he was crying & shaking....it was a sweet & beautiful moment!


Brayden is the cutest bundle of joy that we could have ever been blessed with. We love him so much & we are enjoying every minute with him. We are having issues with breast feeding but are trying to work through them as best we can.

My birth plan wasn't completely thrown out the window but I did give into the epidural & am thankful that I did; I actually got to enjoy my labor & delivery & wouldn't change anything that happened on August 3rd 2009 for anything!!