Brecken: Post Op Day 1

Brecken is 1 day post op, and you would never guess he had surgery.  He woke up happy as a clam and has been crawling all over the place.  The video below is from this morning.  He was chasing a container around on the kitchen floor (Chesney is talking in the background while eating breakfast).  I love how kids seem to rebound so quickly, and I love my happy baby.

Brecken's Surgery

Brecken was not able to be circumcised when he was born, so today he was scheduled for surgery.  We got him up at 5:30 to get to the hospital in Madison by 6:20 am.  He was a happy camper for 5:30 am.

He ended up sleeping most of the way up there.  After we were checked in, we waited until surgery which was scheduled for 7:50 am.  Many doctors and nurses came in to introduce themselves.  The hardest part was that he was hungry but could not eat until after surgery. He couldn't eat after 3:30 am, so I made sure to wake him up to feed him.  In our room at the hospital, he kept looking at me like me I should feed him.  Luckily, he fell asleep in my arms for a good 30-45 minutes.  The anesthesiologists and a nurse came to take Brecken at 8:10 am.  He cried when I handed him to the nurse but I sent his blankie to snuggle with.  So hard to watch someone take your baby away (luckily it wasn't a super scary surgery).  And when the nurse told me "We'll take great care of your baby" I almost lost it.

The doctor came to the room less than an hour later to tell us the surgery was done, and Brecken did well.  After he returned to the PACU (recovery area), I got to go back to hold and feed him.  Brecken was under general anesthesia for the procedure which can be hard to come out of for little ones.  He was a little restless when I got back there and crying.  The nurse let me hold and feed him which helped to settle him down.  He did get slightly restless a short time later and needed  more pain medication which did the trick.  From there on out, he ate and rested.  It's definitely a little trickier feeding your baby with an IV in his hand. After about 45 minutes in recovery, we went back to our original room where Chesney and Daddy were waiting.  Chesney was doing a dance routine when we came back.  Chesney was beyond thrilled to see her little brother.  We waited in our original room to ensure Brecken was stable.  About 45 minutes later, we were on our way home.

 

 Our little guy was pretty groggy for a while when we got home but spent the afternoon crawling around and playing with his toys.  He would stop once in a while and whimper a little (maybe from twinges of pain).  He didn't get any further pain medication after we went home until bedtime.  At bedtime, we gave him some tylenol just to ensure he wasn't in pain during the night.  He sure was a happy boy all day for not having pain medication. So happy this surgery is behind us and even happier for a safe and healthy boy.

Brecken's 1st Swim

The warm end of summer weather has given Brecken a chance to "swim" in the little pool. 

 Chesney showed him the ropes of swimming.

 

 

 Brecken loved the water, even when he fell face first into the water.  But most of all, he loved splashing.

 

 Two swimming cuties!

 This girl has fun doing just about anything.

 

  Brecken will have to take a little break from swimming from now until we go to Disney in October because he has a minor surgery tomorrow.  He sure enjoyed his intro to swimming.

Brecken {32 Weeks Old}

 There is one word to describe our little guy...busy.  He has learned so many new things this week.  Earlier this week, he started pulling himself to his knees.  And that was apparently too boring because today he started pulling to a stand.

 And climbing stairs.

He likes to make a mad dash for two things: the cat food dish and the top of the stairs.  It's actually kind of cute because he knows he isn't supposed to be near either so he giggles when you run after him. Such a fun personality.

 Happy 32 weeks Brecken.  We love you so much!

No Training Wheels

Chesney rode her bike without training wheels today.  So very proud of our little girl!

Brecken {31 Weeks Old}

Brecken is 31 weeks and has started to pull himself up to his knees on things.  It's a whole new world seeing things from upright.  All of a sudden, I feel like he needs a helmet.

 See that look below, that's the "My sister is so amazing" look. Which is usually followed by him chasing after her.

 

 Happy 31 weeks handsome little man.

And Happy 8th Anniversary to my best friend and husband, Charlie.  Thanks for giving me these two precious angels to love on every single day.  It is so amazing to share this journey with you.  Love you so much!

Milwaukee Zoo

On August 15, we went to the Milwaukee Zoo for a work outing for Daddy's work.  This was Brecken's first zoo trip.

 They have a special at the zoo at this time where you get to pick all kinds of food to eat with tickets courtesy of the company Daddy works with.  So, there was a lot of eating.

 And some animal watching too.

 I thing everyone had a good time.

Oh Boy

Someone learned a new trick yesterday.

 Time to move the crib mattress down.

Brecken {7 Months Old}

I can hardly stand how fast Brecken is growing.  It certainly does not feel like he has been with us for 7 months.

He has had a busy month with a few new milestones...

Started eating pureed food (July 17, 2013).  Your first food was carrots.

Started crawling (July 18, 2013) at 26 weeks old.
 
Started sitting up on his own (July 25, 2013) at 27 weeks old.

 

 Got cuter...

and cuter!

 Found new places to play.

 Hung out with big sister.

 Played in the grass.

• Weight: 15ish pounds
• Length:  27.5 inches 
• Clothes: You are wearing 3-6 month clothes.
• Shoes: We have not put shoes on you yet.
• Diapers: Pampers Size 2 and cloth diapers when we are home.
• Food: You started eating pureed food this month and love it!  So far, you have tried carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, mango, zucchini, green beans, peas, pears, plums, peaches, bananas, avocado. Your first food was carrots. Mommy makes all your food with help from Chesney at times. You love eating and sometimes whimper if we don't shovel it in fast enough. You drink mommy milk and water. 
• Development: You are crawling all over the place and can now pull yourself up on your knees. You can sit but you don't often because you are such a busy boy that you would rather be crawling. 
• Words: None
• Teeth: None
• Sleep:  You have decided to start waking up for snacks in the middle of the night, usually just one.  You go right back to sleep after eating. At night you sleep from 8 pm until 7 am You take a morning and afternoon nap, about 1.5-2 hours each.
• What I love about you: You love to snuggle and are such a little love bug.  You think your sister is amazing.  You like to crawl after her or on top of her when she is playing.  Your constant smile melts our hearts.

 

 Happy 7 months Brecken!  We love you so very much!

Brecken {30 Weeks Old}

Brecken is 30 weeks old and starting to look like such a big boy.  My baby is growing up way too fast!

 

 

 Oh my goodness, I love this little guy!  Happy 30 Weeks Brecken!

Best Day Ever

Today was one of those days where we weren't all that productive, unless having fun is considered productive.  Then we were the most productive family in the world!  We hit 3 different parks today and had a picnic.  This was a Chesney kind of day. After going on a bike ride to a near by park this morning, we ate lunch and mowed the lawn while Brecken napped.  Then it was off to try out the new splash park in town.

 There was a lot of squealing all the way there.  And even more when we finally arrived.

 

 

 

 She may have liked it...a little.

 Next to the splash park is a school with a playground.  So, we played there for a bit before we ran home Chesney's picnic surprise.  I told Chesney I had a surprise for her, but I had to feed Brecken first.  Chesney went up to her room to read.  When she didn't come back after 10 minutes, I went to check on her.  She had fallen asleep.  So, I woke her up and off we went to grab a pizza for our pizza party picnic.

 We sat out on the front lawn for our picnic which Chesney loved.  She told me it was the "Best Day Ever" about 20 times. Brecken enjoyed the picnic by crawling all over in the grass.

 

 

Such a fun day with my little loves especially since it qualified as a Best Day Ever!