Sweet Baby Blues
Another baby with my childhood eyes.
Sweet baby grey blue eyes.
Even bluer than Caden’s.
Speaking of, who thinks they are looking at Caden?
Nope…it’s Everett.
baby twins
A Trying 3
Everett is 3 months old!
(a week ago)
Remember how last month I said we had been making progress, especially in the sleeping department? Well, then all hell broke loose with sickness and the whole ordeal threw everything off. The poor guy went through it and back and ever since everyone has been floundering for normalcy.This has been a trying month in Everett and our life for sure. It is challenging to think of anything that happened leading up to him turning 3 months other than being sick, not sleeping, puking every morning at exactly 5:30, back and forth to the
pediatrician, lots of holding, lots of crying and more sickness.
However, in between it all there were still many sweet moments with our little man. While it is tricky to catch him smiling on camera, Mr. Everett smiles and coos ALL THE TIME. I swear he smiles even more than Caden did and you can’t help but sweet talk back to his grinning face. So precious. As soon as he locks eyes with me he gets a GIANT smile on his face and chuckles.
Oh the chuckle. At 3 months this baby boy already laughs himself straight to the hiccups. It always starts with a chuckle (usually during peek a boo or as I make noises at him or laugh myself) and progresses to a full on laugh fest. So despite all of his troubles this past month and the colic from his 
first month that still pops up he is quite the happy boy and finds plenty of things in life to smile and laugh about.
At three months he is just under 14 pounds and eats all the time. Just prior to him getting sick he had spread his feedings out but now in what seems to adjusting from being sick backing straight up to a growth spurt has him eating every 1 1/2 to 2 hours day and
night. It is most definitely not the best schedule.
I can’t help but constantly see glimpses of his future relationship with Caden. He loves him. Whenever Caden comes into view or brings something to share with him he grins and starts excitedly squirming. Sometimes Caden can get a reaction out of him even when we can’t. Too sweet.
Everett is very strong and even though he had a 3 week hiatus from tummy time 
while sick/coughing he continues to progress with his rolling (rolls tummy to back) and is working hard to go from his back to his tummy (pushes to his side and gets stuck). He still prefers to be carried in the Baby Bjorn while we are shopping or running errands but he is finally getting a little more patient in his car seat but only if he is freshly fed, a little sleepy and it is moving. A lot of conditions right? I still have hope that he will one day hang out a little bit better but at least he no longer demands to be held 24/7! Recently Everett has decided that he would like to have his hands in his mouth as much as possible which he them drools all over. Yummy!
We had planned on moving him up to his room shortly after he turned 2 months because he was doing so well. But, as I have said plenty this post all of the hospital/healing hubbub through that off and since he is still waking up like crazy he has only been up in his room prior to 3 months a couple very unsuccessful times. (I have to tell you that now, a week later he is up there full time.)
Now that he loves his playmat, can grab and play with his toys and move around without startling himself he is enjoying his playtime. Soon enough we will be getting out the bouncer for him to try out too! Little by little he is making progress again and we are able to get out and about and function like a normal family. We here are keeping our fingers crossed for a happy and healthy fourth month! (Then I will be able to give a real update with fun things and not just “since they’ve been sick” news!)
Poor E
Poor Everett
(and his parents)
We have been MIA again because we have been under quarantine and poor Everett has been through it and back. Hellacious things have been around here, absolutely hellacious.
As mentioned yesterday, Everett was in the hospital all last weekend. 
(I bet you want more information.)
Little E had had a runny nose for about a week, and then last Monday (9th) started with a little cough. It didn’t seem to bother him much and he was handling it well so other than us being sad that our little man was a little sick that was that. Well, by Thursday the little cough and turned into a big deep cough and while he still didn’t seem to upset by it off to the pediatrician we went. Diagnosis? The dreaded RSV.
Here is the thing, RSV is adults feels just like a bad cold. The younger you are the worse it is. So, at ten weeks old it was definitely not a good thing to get. We were told that this year it appears to be a much more aggressive strand than in years past. Lucky us! Since it is a virus it is a wait it out game but since he is so little you have to watch their breathing close etc.
Oky doky, got it.
Friday night, the shit hit the fan. He struggled a little during the day but about what
we expected. Around 8:00 pm that night, just after we got Caden down, Everett started wailing. I mean WAILING. He didn’t stop for twelve hours. Long story short, at 4:30 a.m I made a solo trip to the ER with him because he had completely stopped eating, was inconsolable (and had been since 8 pm) yet lethargic, couldn’t get his breath, wheezing and coughing and had spiked a fever that was steadily rising. Add those changes to the diagnosis we already had and mommy instinct that something was wrong and off we went.
FYI. When you bring a baby to the ER, you jump the wait.
Especially a washed out, crying yet wimpy baby who sounds like he is gargling mucus.
Never have I ever been through anything as hard as watching them try to start an IV on a teeny baby who has teeny tiny veins that are dehydrated making them even teeny tinier and trying to console him by getting in his face so he can see me over all these strangers who are causing him pain. Two sticks in one arm (while fishing around for the vein mind you), one in the another and a stick in each foot later we got the IV and bloodwork. Then there was the catheter for the urine sample…two times over. I will never, ever in my whole life forget the look in my sweet infant’s eyes as they were poking him – never. It was awful – AWFUL, and I couldn’t explain it to him.
Did I mention I was alone?
That is the thing about having two kids. Someone has to stay with the other sleeping child and waking him to try to wrangle him in the ER in the middle of the 
night just so the hubs could be there didn’t sound like a better plan.
Adulthood man – sometimes it hits like a brick.
Because he was dehydrated, and not eating and had coarse,shallow breathing (from all the mucus) with retractions (pulling his belly in around his ribs) I was readily informed that they would likely be admitting him. A couple hours later I tried nursing him because he seemed interested for the first time 14 hours and he immediately vomitted. Repeat that an hour later. Add that to the list with a fever that is still at 101 after Tylenol and up to a room we went.
Know what is sad?
A hospital baby crib.
Sad, sad, sad.
(which he was only in during some of the exams bc snuggling was obviously more comforting)
Then because it was RSV and highly contagious, we were put under quarantine. So, anyone entering the room had to gown and mask up. It was ridiculous. There I am covered, literally covered in baby vomit yet still snuggling this sad, puny baby while nurses and respiratory therapists are in and out, in and out.
Colter got Caden to Nonna and Pa Pa’s and came up shortly after with some clothes for me and some support. We were sad, Everett was sad, and we all were exhausted. It was a long day of a lot of check ups, poking, vacuum suctioning of his nose (think that little suction ball you get at the hospital when they are born X 100), puking, pooping, you name it.
The poor thing.
So sad and puny.
Next saddest thing?
From crying so much and coughing so hard, he lost his little voice!
So when we would cry that evening I could tell he was crying as hard as he could as they did things by the redness of his face and strain in his muscles but only this small, hoarse whimper wail was able to come out. So pathetic.
After a very long day I made Colter go get Caden to bring him home and put him in his own bed to sleep in. I mean, there was only one bed in the hospital room so what it the point of having another sleepless night for two parents when one can give our other child a semi normal night. I was exhausted, and crying, and overwhelmed and worried and Colter was so conflicted but I made him go.
5 hours later at 2 a.m. Igot a migraine in the hospital and started vomitting from that. Unable to hold Everett or function I had to call Colter to get him to get to the hospital for a middle of the night shift change. This is where Nonna and Pa Pa really saved the day. They drove to our house. Carolyn stayed at the house while Colter 
and Pa Pa came to the hospital in separate cars – Colter to stay with Everett, Pa Pa to take me home. Once I got home, they bravely roused Caden to take him back to their house. (If you believe it he went back to sleep once he got there.) Thankfully Everett had finally fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion in his car seat (he had to be upright) as the headache was hitting.
So we all had a middle of the night adventure – just what we needed.
Sunday was a lot of the same but since he had stayed hydrated without an IV for a long period of time (it fell out the evening before so instead of sticking him again we watched his feedings), he had started eating (a few min every hour) and his breathing was no longer coarse with no retractions, we got to come home!
(a much pinker exhausted baby seen here)
Sunday night was another awful night (crying, worsening cough, lack of appetite, vomitting) leading us back to the doc first thing, but with his breathing under control, a steady pulse/ox, a low grade fever and him thankfully feeding some it is all a waiting game. Waiting for his body to heal and this virus to give. It has been a sleepless week full of a crying baby who doesn’t feel good and a crying toddler who so desperately just needs some attention and two parents who have not slept a wink.
And then I got the RSV,or as we say in this house “the risve”.
I hope you don’t get the risve because last night it literally felt like someone had broken my entire face while making me so cold it hurt.
A hot, tired, showered for the first time in 5 days yesterday, in our PJS bc there isn’t enough hands to change everyone, landmine of toys across the house, nothing ( I mean nothing) in the fridge, Lord help us, mess.
So if you think you see us, but then you say to yourself, “No, couldn’t have been them, they looked homeless.” that was definitely us.
To think…lately I had been praying for health for our family.
Thankful he is okay. Thankful to be home. Thankful to not have a truly chronically sick child (I don’t know how they do it), but ready to find normal again.
(Why am I not sleeping instead of blogging you ask? Because I am not off duty. Currently rocking Everett in his bassinet with my foot hoping he stays content and even gets sleepy.)
Disclaimer: The pictures were to show Colter what was going on via text when he wasn’t there.
Progress A Plenty
My what a difference a month makes!
Sweet Everett has worked through his tummy troubles that dominated the first 
month of his life. Actually, I suppose I should say that I am so careful about what I eat that we avoid tummy troubles. It appears to be nuts (as in the actual snack, not “crazy”) that throw him into a tailspin of colic sadness, (evidence from Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve) however I am still particularly careful about dairy. I don’t eat very much dairy but I tested it out with some decaf cappuccinos a couple days in a row and so far so good. When it triggers a reaction it happens within 25 minutes or so – but it is strange because if that is it, it is from literally a couple of nuts. So, we will see but it is a welcome change!
Christmas was a whirlwind to say the least. I almost have a hard time recalling the whole weekend but Everett definitely celebrated until he couldn’t anymore. All in all, he was very overstimulated by the whole event. So many people (“pass” the baby) , 
noises,(cousins laying, paper, dishes, etc) lights at once caused him to be a bit fussy during most events. Several times we had to just take him into a dark room, lay him out and sssshhh him or put on a noise machine while he stared at us just to give him some downtime – totally understandable. I think he did what we all needed! It was a memorable first Christmas for us for him and yes, I did stuff his stocking with some carseat toys…I couldn’t not do anything. Caden showed him presents and gave him lots of pats on Christmas morning and Thrasher himself tried to steal a few of Everett’s gifts. It will be quite the change next year when Everett is going for the tree instead of being mesmerized by the lights!
Colter and I felt robbed of a few weeks with our boy since we didn’t truly get to see
him since he was so upset so it is hard to believe he is already two months. The hubs keeps looking at him and commenting on how grown up he seems now, especially in this last week. I will say that Everett gave us a bonus gift of “waking up” out of the newborn-ness right around 6 weeks and really showing his personality so to speak. “They say” by 3 months they really wake up but Everett has been smiling, interacting and “talking” back to us since about 6 weeks. Just like his big brother he is particularly fond of his changing table. He is comfy and has a great view of me from there so he will lock eyes and go to town with grins and his form of giggles. It is nice and refreshing to have a sweet baby 
give you that love just because he can’t help himself and is happy to see your face!
Everett is checking off his “milestones” one by one as he is also now a rolling machine! I thought since he hadn’t much cared for tummy time he might be on the slower side to do this and not get there until 3 months or so. Wrong! All of the sudden he was staying on his tummy longer and in a couple days he went from lifting his head for a minute and getting mad to hanging out, looking around and rolling himself right over. Maybe he just decided to solve the problem of being on his tummy himself! 
I was excited for his accomplishment and also a little sad that he is that much closer to having to be supervised at all times because who knows where he will go and Caden isn’t used to him really going anywhere/flipping over.
At two months, Everett is still eating entirely too often so we are working on spreading that out. He is a mama’s boy, but so was Caden for the first 6 months and I blame it on being his food source. His days in our room are numbered so by the next update he
will surely be in his nursery. His “stats” are all above average on their percentile scale so it seems as of now we have another tall, chunky baby on our hands. His sleeping has been inconsistent (until this week – more on that later) waking every 2-3 hrs after a “long stretch” of 3-4 hrs. Spreading his feedings out and moving him to his room should help with that! Everett still hates the carseat whether it is moving or not so most of our errands get done with him in the Baby Bjourn and Caden in the cart. He is loving his playmat and really smiles at Caden when he comes to snuggle him. Sweet brothers!
Here is to hoping that we continue on this positive path with our boy as he seems to enjoy life outside the womb a bit more each and every day!
Sweetness
The Sweetness of a Sleepy Six Week Old
One
One month already! (Technically almost 6 weeks now, so I’m a little behind) While the past couple weeks have been long (more on that in a moment) it seems like Everett has always been a member of our family so it is always a shock to be reminded of how fast time goes!
It is also a shock to see that your newborn has hit the 11 pound mark the weekend BEFORE his “one month birthday”. Eleven pounds! I should remind you that he was 8 lbs 9 ounces at birth, dropped to 7 lbs 13 ounces during those first days and has come back big. BIG! His little cheeks are so chubby and sweet, as are his chunker rolls on his thighs and his Buddha belly. At 5 weeks old, Caden was 9 lbs 13 oz which was pretty hefty, so baby brother is getting ready to defend himself.
Everett’s other news (sleeping, eating, demeanor) is a bit inconsistent as of the
month mark because once we rounded week two, we have been battling colic at its finest. I’m talking the angry, siren crying all day (literally all day and night), only semi-content if being held super tight and walked but still needing to be “Sssshhed” and patted or something to convince him he won’t always have a tummy that bothers him. L The poor little guy doesn’t (didn’t) really burp at all which is causing adding to the issue it seems. You can burp him for a good 40 minutes and still get nothing. He needs to burp, he wants to burp, his tummy hurts because there is air there…but he won’t give it up. With new burping strategies, a strict diet on Mommy’s part (no dairy, eggs, wheat, nuts, citrus, cruciferous veggies) chiropractor visits and a lot of love and patience this week has taken a turn for the better but you will have to wait for that 
update with the two month post. Fingers crossed. I will tell you that on Monday, I had my first night of sleep without him on top of my chest hugged tight which was huge progress in the colic department. Oh and by night of sleep I mean hour naps.
Therefore, sleeping has been well, minimal. (notice his grumpy face) I can’t tell you for sure how long of a stretch he can go without eating because he wants to be up and rooting as if he is hungry all the time but it is just because he was unhappy. Typically during his first month he ate every two hours during the day still. (Sometimes every hour). I am hoping in a couple weeks he will finally decide to space it out to every three hours consistently because with his size he should be able to but this whole colic thing has really thrown him
off. He hasn’t had a reliable “long stretch” during the night since he hasn’t been sleeping regularly either. He pretty much sticks to the 2 hr rule at night too and hasn’t yet embraced the 4-5 hr stretch he can supposedly go. So, not a great sleeper yet but that’s okay, we will get there.
For those of you who are curious, here are some comparisons with Caden’s third week and one month post. It appears they do look quite alike so I don’t think 
anyone will wonder if they are related or not.
Now that we are really getting a good look at him without a constant angry, crying face he has the most gorgeous eyes! Watch out ladies, because they are even bigger and bluer than Caden’s. We have regular staring sessions when I am holding him which is when I really get amazed again that he is ours and we made him!
So, to sum it up we are again blessed with a beautiful boy. Our goals for month two are to reintroduce some foods into my diet to see if we can find a specific trigger for him so we can solve his tummy troubles. With that we should then be able to make progress in sleeping and napping!
14 Days of Sweetness
Happy to be Two Weeks Old!
( probably because he is well fed)
A Week of Four
Today at 2:23 p.m. it has been one week since we became a family of four. It is hard to believe that 
only a week ago he was still in my beach ball belly and now he is with us. Yes, that was the point, but there is still something to amazing about that. My how things can change in one week! After a brief hospital stay that was anything but restful (won’t they ever just leave you alone?) we came home to introduce Everett to his big brother and begin the process of settling in.
So far so good.
(Minus the fact that Colter managed to get strep a day after we got home just like with Caden!)
Everett is a sweet, sweet, chunky little man. At 5 days old we officially decided he had
outgrown his newborn diapers since his thighs get squeezed too death by them. Go figure that now we have to go exchange our pre stock of newborns for Size 1s already! Most newborn hats slide ride off his head and sit on the very tip top also a bit too small. Fortunately, until today it hasn’t been too cold and he hasn’t really wanted or needed a hat while bundled up with us in the house.
Yes, he has dark hair…for the time being. Caden had a VERY fine dusting of dark hair his first couple weeks. Everett cooked a couple weeks longer than him so naturally he has more hair, but it still isn’t much. No one could make the call as to if it is going to stay dark or not but that seems to 
be the most immediate striking difference between the two right of the bat. Other than that, and the chunkier cheeks most of our friends feel as though they are staring at Caden as a newborn. Precious round button nose? Check. Pouty pink lips? Check. Wide grey blue eyes? Check. It will be interesting to see how he changes and what really is alike and different.
Thankfully, Everett is a champion eater too. The first day or so home is always a little rough as he starts to get hungry and I don’t have much for him yet. Once he could go into a milk coma after a feeding he has been a content, sleepy newborn happy to be fed and snuggled. Despite the difficulties of entertaining older brother while feeding, I am trying to embrace this time with Everett again. I don’t mind the nights so much just like before as it is such a peaceful time the two of us have together without distractions or stresses. You can’t be upset with a tiny person who just needs you because he is hungry!
Settling back into newborn life is a walk down memory lane. It hasn’t been THAT long since we we
re doing this but we find ourselves chuckling at the memory of getting peed on, diapers that always need to be changed and then as you soon as you change them….changed again, the flailing newborn arms that don’t know they are attached to a body etc. The nice part is that all of those things that were so new to us then are as familiar as our daily routine and just seem to be a part of life as anything else.
Everett got one good day of snuggling in with his Dad before Colter was quarantined. It is sad that they have only been able to spend “time together” from a distance that Everett can’t even really see him at but I know their time will come! Colter would like to not have to walk around with a surgical mask over his face too.
If you remember, when I wrote about Everett’s room in “The Nest” I mentioned that there would be one difference once he was born. Now, his full name is hung below the monogram letters too.
So, as with Caden I will do a what we have survived in this very first week of our new family.
- We survived labor…from it’s start of intense regular contractions on Tuesday morning at 6:30 a.m. accompanied by a stomach virus to it’s finish on Wednesday at 2:23 p.m. My boys sure do like to make their mama have a nice, long, really get the feel of it labor! So much for the second is shorter.
- We survived the nurses that would leave the only light on I couldn’t turn off from bed and who would leave the door open upon leaving so I had to go close it.
- We survived getting home without hitting any potholes this time. Thank goodness.
- We survived introducing him to his big brother who has yet to be anything but sweet to Everett.
- We survived the nights without any milk and have gotten on track without having to see the lactation consultant this time.
- I survived taking Everett to his first doctor’s appointment on my own so that sick Daddy and snotty big brother could stay home and away from us.
- I am surviving with Colter being sick in these first times together again. At least I wasn’t used to the opposite right? This just seems like the way our family does things!
As if we thought we would be anything but, we are completely in love. I sit and look at all of my boys and feel so blessed to have such a healthy family. Here is to surviving and thriving for the remainder of Everett’s first month and beyond!
Oh Happy Day
Happy Due Date Day!
Everett is happy he came a few days early too.
Sweet boy and his cheeks.
I Take it Back – Kind Of
I think I owe you an apology.
After giving you a internet hand-slap the other day during my grumpfest I felt a little bad. I get it, you are excited about Baby Kaz II (as are we) and the only way you really have to display that is by checking in on us. I get it I do…as with anything though it can get tiring repeating yourself.
So, I am sorry I revoked your checking in privileges.
I’m not sure that I am necessarily reinstating them persay, but I am sorry.
(Rumor has it you are now calling each other to say “have you heard anything”)
You see, I am not actually that grumpy. Sure, I am uncomfortable and all of that mess that one could complain about but if this little man needs more time to be big and strong and healthy – so be it! Actually in addition to the fact that being pregnant and childbirth is such a miraculous experience there are a couple of things in particular that I just love about it. Both have to do with the lack of control we have with this. The first is gender. Colter and I have never had a “gender preference” if you will. We both love that we have no real say in the matter and that we are given what is supposed to fit our family. The second part that is so mystifying is the birthday. When they are ready, they come. In a world of calendars and schedules it is nice to be reminded that we can’t choose everything and be 100% prepared.
Now, the grump fest came from a difference in experience that I had to make peace with weeks ago. With Caden I truly felt he was going to be early but had no real expectations. (Although through my whole pregnancy I mentally prepared for him to be late since he was my first.) I wasn’t exactly sure what I was waiting on (water breaking, contractions etc) and had nothing to compare it to. This time from very early on it seems the “waiting” began. Partially because I have been having contractions and other signs for months and partially because I already had one to experience to base some
things on. I have always said that due dates are such a “pardon my French” crapshoot. In our opinion anything approximately two weeks before or after that date they give you is on time.
Today I sit here somewhat proud based on how this pregnancy has gone that we actually made it to November, the month of his original due date. Caden, my supposed March baby became a February baby which for some reason was very hard for me to grasp at first! (How do you like my view when I look down?)
The hand-slap came in when I was having a harder time tuning others out. Usually, I am really good at this (now you know) and staying focused on our plans/goals/opinions etc. However, getting it from all angles (friends, doctors, family, strangers, neighbors) was making me need to go into hiding to refocus and re-center. Why? We do things as naturally as possible around here and in order for that to happen I have to remain as relaxed and focused as possible. That also means that I have to sometimes decide what is and is not helping and make an adjustment. So I did. Sorry.
I am so appreciative of all the excitement and support. Colter and I often talk about how much we love that our friends and friends that are like family are so involved in our kids lives (as well as ours). You are waiting just like us and while I can’t tell you when he will come, I can tell you that you will be informed. This I know for sure.
To appease you, I have a little bit of an update but no sono to show. My doctor is quite shocked that he is not here. (not helpful doc) In fact, she said that the only thing that is truly keeping me pregnant is this baby boy. (Poor thing is probably afraid of the judo-chops to the belly he gets from his big brother and wants to stay nice and cushioned.) Yes, I have continued to progress on my own quite steadily. I am actually almost as “far along” in my progression as I was when we ended up going to the hospital to have Caden (had already been laboring at home for 11 hours at that point). So here is to hoping that this labor is at least even 30 minutes shorter than the 31 hours I was blessed with for him. Regardless, he was healthy I was fine and I will take it if that is the way it needs to be again.
I swear I am not that grumpy though unless the hormones attack. Yes I want to meet him but when he is ready.
So we wait and in the meantime keep as busy as my waddle can keep up with.
In the meantime you can check out Baby E’s “nest” which I find to be one of the most peaceful places in our home.