Briggs is TWO months!

Last week, our baby boy turned two months! Time is flying by, and my little guy is getting so big and grown! Here's the latest on Briggs:

He has knocked this cactus over  repeatedly during both monthly photo sessions :)

Weighs: As of this week's doctor appointment, this guy is one ounce shy of 14 pounds and is almost 24 inches long! The nurse informed me that he weighs a whole pound more than Wells (our notoriously humongous baby - and still big for his age) weighed at 2 months! So, Briggs went from being our smallest newborn at birth to now the biggest.

Sleeps: Briggs is still a pretty good sleeper throughout the day most of the time. Some days it seems like all he wants to do is sleep, and other days he doesn't sleep as much. He is not on any sort of napping schedule and just sleeps when he wants to apparently! We usually keep him awake during the evening hours, except for the occasional cat nap. We've been laying him down a little earlier at night, and I will usually wake him for a "dream feed" when I go to sleep. He will then wake up about 2 times in the night/early morning after that. He's done two 6-hour stretches in the last couple weeks, which were glorious :) ...let's hope he starts doing it more often!

Eats: Since I started back to work last week (just two days a week), we have kind of figured how much Briggs is eating. He eats about 4-4.5 oz every 3ish hours. But when he is with me, he prefers to eat a lot more often just like his brothers did when they were nursing. I am pumping on the days that I am at work and so far have been pumping more in a session than he eats from a bottle when away from me - so it's great not having to worry about making enough milk!

Wears: I have started cleaning out all newborn clothes from his dresser/closet (#insertallthecryingemojis). The 0-3 month onesies still fit, but the 0-3 month sleepers are getting awfully short in the arms/legs! So, 3-month clothes are the best fit right now. Still squeezing into a size 1 diaper, but we'll be bumping up to a size 2 once we finish off our last couple of boxes.

Plays: He's such a happy and content baby, and he shows it with all his little smiles. His brothers love to see him smile and hear him "talk." He will lay under his activity mat and stare intently at all the hanging toys. As long as he's in a good mood, he will lay on the couch on his boppy pillow and watch all the shenanigans going on around him. Unlike Wells and Grayer as babies, he will happily sit in his swing and bouncy seat. He enjoys bath time now, too, which is great. He is getting more vocal everyday (he was chatting up a storm in the car last night), and I CAN'T WAIT for that first baby laugh!

Briggs brings so much joy to our house. I never dreamed the boys would love him so much, and I know that they can't wait for him to be able to play with them. I guess because he's our last and also because he is such an easygoing, happy boy, I am really getting sad about him growing up! I want him to stay a little baby forever! We love our sweet "Briggsie Wiggsie!"

Friday Favorites

Whew! What a week! We started back to school this week (Eric teaching and Wells' first day of PreK4!), and mama is TIRED. But at least it's Friday! Linking up with Andrea, Narci, and Erika for Friday Favorites!

.:one:.

While I am not crazy about my big boy already being old enough to go to PreK4, school is definitely Wells' favorite! He has been so excited about starting school, and yesterday was the BIG DAY! He rocked his first day, ate every single thing in his lunchbox (and still came home starving), and crashed hard at bedtime. I miss him during the day, but I know he's having a blast. 

.:two:.

So, I know this is going to get old real fast. But for now, I am loving packing lunches. I even dedicated a whole cabinet to it. I give it a week before I am totally over the whole situation. Ha! And while we're talking school lunches, if your kid is a fellow crust-hater, get yourself one of these. Seriously.

.:three:.

Those moments when everyone's playing nicely together and no one is screaming/crying/tackling their brother. Definitely a favorite :)

.:four:.

A favorite moment that had me laughing and rolling my eyes was when I caught sight of my husband washing his hand with the produce wash. He thought I bought a new hand soap and had been using this for a week! 

.:five:.

Two words: baby lips.

.:six:.

This right here. Grayer is our snacker. He is in our pantry the whole day. This meme was made with him in mind, I'm sure!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Briggs' Birth Story

Just like with Wells and Grayer (their birth stories are HERE and HERE), I wanted to make sure to write down the events surrounding Briggs' birth.

I had my 37 week appointment on Monday, May 21st. I had not dilated at all, which was no surprise. I did not dilate with either of the other boys until I went into labor. I found at at this appointment that my lab work from the week before showed that I tested positive for Group B Strep. I did not test positive for this for either other pregnancy, so I really had no idea what that meant. I was told that I would be put on an antibiotic via IV during labor to ensure that the baby did not contract it. The only issue? You have to be on the antibiotic for at least 4 hours before giving birth. Since Grayer was born only 45 minutes after checking in to L&D, I was told to get to the hospital as soon as I started contracting this time to ensure the medicine would have time to get into my system.

That Saturday, May 26th, we threw Wells' 4th birthday party. Since the baby was due only 2 days before Wells' actual birthday, we wanted to make sure to have the party a few weeks early. It was a fun but tiring day. I was on my feet a LOT and was feeling exhausted. On Sunday we met up with family after church to have lunch and then walked around at the outlets some. More walking = more tired!

I woke up on Monday, May 28th (Memorial Day), with contractions. They weren't painful, but they were regular. I had been having Braxton Hicks for months, so I wanted to make sure these were the real deal. I got up and made pancakes, and the contractions continued to come. I told Eric to go ahead and pack his bag (I had just packed mine 3 days earlier!) and gave my mom a call. My contractions were still not painful (but were regular enough that I was pretty sure today was the day), but because I needed to be on antibiotics hours prior to delivering, I wanted to make sure that we got to the hospital in enough time. 

We headed to my mom's and dropped off the boys. My mom wanted us to call her and let her know when to head to the hospital. Since Wells was a 30+ hour labor and Grayer was a super quick labor, we had no idea what to expect this time around. We said goodbye to Wells & Grayer and headed to the hospital. Side note: Eric almost turned into the wrong hospital. Even though this is our third child. #facepalm

We got to the hospital and checked in around maybe 12:30pm. Another girl was being wheeled up to L&D alongside us, and she looked like she was in a lot of pain. I felt like an idiot for being there so early and feeling pretty good still, but i knew it was important for the baby's health to be there early enough for antibiotics. Once we got into the exam room, they hooked me up to the monitors. The contractions were getting a little stronger but still not too bad. They checked me and I was at about 4cm. We were in the exam room for about an hour, and the doctor admitted us. We moved rooms around 2pm I guess. Once we were there, my mom, dad, sister, nephew, and the boys headed up to the hospital. Things didn't seem to be progressing as fast as I'd hoped, and all the boys headed to the waiting room to let the boys watch their tablets and then they headed to the McDonald's right around the corner.

Ready to get the show on the road!

When your husband taunts you with food but all you can eat is ice.

My mom and sister stayed with me. My sister painted my nails and did my hair, and my mom made fun of me for diffusing my essential oils in the room. :) By this point, I was hooked up to IVs with the antibiotic and fluids. Because they wanted to monitor the baby's heart, I was not able to walk around, which I was kind of upset about. But I was able to sit on a birthing ball right next to the bed. The contractions were getting much stronger by now and were taking some considerable concentration to get through. I did much better this time around focusing on my breathing and remaining calm. 

Eventually the nurse checked me and I was only at 5cm! I had only dilated a cm more than the last exam which was several hours before. The doctor came in and asked if I wanted to have her break my water to see if that would speed things up. I definitely wanted to speed it up. But she also wanted to know if I wanted an epidural. I was really torn. I didn't have an epidural with Grayer (because he came too fast), so I knew I could do it. But this labor seemed to be taking a lot longer. The doctor also said that the anesthesiologist was on the floor at that time and that she could not guarantee that he could get there quickly later. I was really stressed about what to do, and Eric practically begged me to get the epidural (apparently, the screaming I did without the epidural the last time scarred him for life! haha just kidding! #butseriously). I decided to have my water broken and hold off for a little bit on the epidural. Almost immediately after she broke my water, the contractions got much, much worse. I was checked a few minutes later and was at 7cm. Still not sure how long labor was going to take this time, I went ahead and asked for the epidural. The contractions were awful once the anesthesiologist got in the room, and my mom and the nurse helped me through the contractions so that I could be still enough for him to administer the epidural. For whatever reason, it took two or three tries to get it in right. Not fun. At this point, it was almost 8pm, and my mom decided to go ahead and take the boys back to her house to put them down to bed. She would come back up by herself after that. The epidural did not seem to be kicking in all the way. The contractions were a little better, but I started feeling intense pain in one targeted area. My left side was in excruciating pain every time a contraction would come (which was almost continuously at this point). I was writhing in pain, and Eric decided to call the nurse. She checked me and I was at 10cm. I could tell by her phone call asking for assistance that the baby was close. She never said it, but I would guess that he was crowning or close to it because I'm pretty sure I heard her tell whoever was on the other end to hurry because the baby would probably be out in one push. 

The doctor (the same one who delivered Wells almost 4 years earlier) came in and we were ready to roll. I pushed through one last contraction, and Briggs Alexander was here at 9:13pm!

They put him on my chest immediately. Just a few minutes later, one of the nurses noticed that he was apparently making a strange noise when breathing. I'll always be thankful for her noticing that. They took him from me, put him on the warming table, and discovered that he wasn't breathing quite like he should. He was breathing on his own but not at the level he should have been. They put an oxygen mask on him, but when they took it off, his numbers would drop every time. Eric and I were really scared, and they told us that they were going to need to take him to the NICU. I was a mess. Before they put him in the incubator on the rolling cart, they took his measurements. He was 7lbs 7oz and 19in long. He was our smallest baby (but if he had been born on his due date two full weeks later, he probably would have been our biggest!). My mom walked in and was able to see him before they left for the NICU. 

We moved rooms and were finally able to go visit Briggs around midnight. We weren't able to hold him. He had an oxygen tube and was hooked up to all kinds of machines. I cried the whole time we were there. The doctor came to let us know that he likely had breathed in amniotic fluid. He said that this happens a lot and that some babies are able to work it out themselves and that some need to stay in the NICU a little longer. We were told that they would make a decision around 4am as to whether he would stay in the NICU or if he could come back to us. My mom headed home, and Eric and I headed back to our room. Eric had grabbed me a little something to eat from the cafeteria (I hadn't eaten since breakfast), and I cried the whole time I ate. Eric prayed for Briggs, and by the time we got in bed, it was 2am. I was up and pumping by probably 3:30am (since I hadn't been able to nurse Briggs right away due to his complications). At 4:00, I called the NICU to ask if we could come see him and hold him and also to see what they had decided. When we got there, I held him and was able to breastfeed. Then Eric got to hold him. He was off of all oxygen and was breathing perfectly. They decided that he could move to the step-down unit.

Exhausted from no sleep & nonstop crying,but so happy to hold my boy!

Daddy & Briggs

 We headed back to the room and I was able to sleep for about 45 minutes. I headed to the step-down nursery to feed Briggs again. His new nurse let me know that as long as his blood sugar tests were good after each feed, he could come to our room that afternoon. So all that morning and early afternoon, I would nurse him and then feed him a few milliliters of formula to ensure his tests would be good. It was in this nursery that Wells got to meet Briggs for the first time (Grayer was not old enough to visit this area), and he was so excited. He held him and picked out a book for him from the little library they have there. 

Briggs' nurse in the step-down unit was was awesome and got him discharged even earlier than she promised. I was so happy to have baby Briggs with me again. Grayer got to meet him that afternoon. For the next day and a half, I got to spend lots of snuggle time with my new boy. We ended up having to stay until Thursday morning (he had to have antibiotics for 48 hours because of the Group B Strep), so we were beyond ready to be home! So thankful that God took care of our boy and that he has been healthy ever since.

Briggs is ONE month!

Literally, how in the world did that happen so quickly? The baby of the family is already a whopping one month old, which means it's time for his first monthly update/picture!

Weighs: Briggs' one-month check-up is next week, so I don't know his exact weight right now. But I did weigh myself on the scale and then held him with me on the scale and figured out that he weighs about 10.5 lbs. We'll see how accurate that was! {{Just for reference, at his two-week appointment he had gained 1.5 pounds and two inches in length}}

Sleeps: Briggs is a pretty good sleeper throughout the day. He still enjoys napping a lot, and due to the LOUD noise level of our house, he can sleep through just about anything ;) Just like we did with Wells & Grayer, we try to make sure he gets some awake time in the evening so he's ready to go down at night. During the night, he wakes up every 3-4 hours; so that's usually two overnight wake-ups and one in the morning once it's time for everyone else to wake up.

Eats: Briggs is a great eater! He hasn't had a full bottle of breast milk yet (just about one ounce that I pumped for Wells to feed him because he had been DYING to feed him!), so I'm not sure how many ounces he is eating in one sitting. During the day, he usually eats every two hours.

Wears: He can still wear some newborn items (some of the sleepers are definitely getting too small, though). I guess 0-3 month clothes are the best fit right now. We are finishing up the last of his newborn diapers, and then we'll be starting to use size 1's.

Plays: He's obviously not into toys yet, but he is starting to hold his gaze a little more. He will stare at items if you put them in front of him. He will listen to you talk to him, and he is starting to get a tinnnnnyyyyyy bit vocal. He seems to like when there is a lot going on around him (which is all the time in our house!!!).

Briggs has been such a blessing in his short little life! He has such a sweet personality and has been so easy going. His big brothers both love him and always want to be near him, be touching him, and be talking to him. As fast as this month flew by, I know it'll seem like no time that he's up and running around with his bubbas.

Hello Baby + Hello Summer

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. I was busy having a baby and all! :)

My due date was June 11th, but I had a feeling little man might come a little early. We celebrated Wells' 4th birthday with a party a few weeks early just in case the baby came on a later weekend. We got the party done just in time because I was in labor two days later. We welcomed Briggs Alexander on May 28th. Just like I did with Wells and Grayer, I'll be posting his birth story here on the blog.

So far it has been a great summer! Eric is off of work (perks of the teacher life!), and we are getting to spend lots of quality time together as a family of FIVE! Here's a little of our life lately...

Like I said, we had an early birthday party for Wells. He has been LOVING sea turtles lately, so we had an Under the Sea 4th birthday party for him. He and Grayer had a great time playing with all their friends, and we were all exhausted after all that bounce house/water slide fun!

Two days after that, we headed to the hospital since I was in labor! Later that night, we welcomed baby brother Briggs into the world! We had to stay in the hospital from Monday through Thursday morning (details why in upcoming birth story), so I was BEYOND ready to get back home! Even though they came to visit at the hospital, being away from my big boys for that many nights was hard.

All my boys together!

Settling into life with three kiddos was hard the first couple of days (hello, hormones! haha!), but things have been really great since then. Briggs has been such a good baby, and the boys are doing great adjusting to having a baby in the house.

We've been enjoying time on the boys' new trampoline (but they enjoy it more when we put the sprinkler underneath it because it is HOT outside!), going on bicycle rides, watching some favorite movies, snuggling baby brother, and attending a week of VBS.

Last week, we celebrated Wells' actual birthday by taking a little day trip to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island (which is only about 1.5 hours from us). He loved seeing all the turtles, and we stopped by the beach for a little bit on the way home.

So, that's what we've been up to lately! We've got about 5 more weeks of summer left to soak up, and I'm hoping to squeeze in a trip or two to the movies (hello $1 summer movies!), lots of water fun, some ice cream runs, 4th of July fireworks shows, and our trip to the beach (Charleston, SC) with Eric's family. And hopefully I can find the time to get back on the blogging train!

Friday Favorites

Linking up with Andrea, Narci, and Erika for Friday Favorites!

What a crazy week! We have been so busy lately - getting ready for baby #3, ALL the birthday parties, end of the year activities, and the usual craziness of life in general! I am ready to slooooowwwww down, but I don't see that happening any time soon :) But still, here are some current favorites...

So, I bought this juice on sale the other day. Both boys said they didn't like it (even though they both love apple juice and pineapple...apparently just not together?). So, I've been drinking it all myself - although, I did tell Eric that he could have some, too. ;)

I so wanted these dryer sheets to be a favorite. Does anyone else use them? They smell really good, but I feel like the scent barely clings to the clothes. The other day when washing a load of sheets, I had to use 3 sheets...and the smell was still barely noticeable. Anybody have a favorite, good-smelling natural dryer sheet/fabric softener?

I love lowkey day dates with these guys. We like going to our local library, and when we went the other day, they were SO well-behaved. We did puzzles, played on the felt and magnet boards, and made towers out of the checkers, and had a great time...Aaaaaaaaand then we went to Kroger, where they lost their ever-loving minds. #kids

We had a great little Mother's Day as well. For my gifts, Eric planted hydrangeas (my favorite) in our new flower bed, and he also washed my van (MUCH needed!). Wells was so excited to give me his handprint key chain he made at school, too! We usually go to my parents' church instead of ours on Mother's Day since that is where my mom and Granny attend. Later, we all went to a cookout at my uncle's house.

Eric and I had what I will assume is the last date before we become parents of THREE! Saturday night, we headed to Treylor Park, a restaurant in downtown Savannah that we haven't been to. Eric had the Southern Sloppy Joe, while I had the waffle fry nachos. OMG. Those nachos were so stinking good. We finished out the night by heading to the outlets to check out a toy store that was closing and swung by Old Navy, where Eric found a few really great deals. I didn't get anything, but I cannot wait to be able to fit back into normal clothes!!!

This guy had his last day of PreK-3 this week. I cannot believe he will be in "real" preschool next year. That is not a favorite of mine, although Wells is pumped about it! But it is a favorite that he is now on summer break. Just two more weeks until Daddy is on summer break, too!

Hope y'all have a great weekend!