Bennett Wade archive at Filtering Life

Loading Newer »

Less

Archive for the 'Bennett Wade' Category

Dramatic Pause

Published by Kelly May 29th, 2008 in Bennett Wade and Chloe Grace. 22 Comments

I am afraid you are going to have to take the crumbs I throw at you and eat them as a meal because I don’t see me blogging much until things settle down on my end. I am dealing with a serious case of Growth Spurt HELLLLLLLL. My angel baby decided at 3 weeks, 2 days to turn my world upside down for the last three days.

My back is killing me from lugging him in the sling, the swaddle, my arms, my chest, rock, pat, jiggle, do the Hustle…whatever for him to stop fussing. He owes my boobs a serious apology for wanting to eat morning noon and night. Having two is a whole new world to me. I need to rattle our money tree because I want a nanny to help me during the day. Mom…I am hiring…want to apply?

My mom left on Sunday after a month of help. What did I do the second she pulled away? Your dang skippy I bawled my eyeballs out and continued to cry on and off for the next three hours. It was pitiful. It isn’t that I can’t do it. Please don’t leave me a comment saying that…so patronizing. Of course I “can do it”, it has just been wonderful to have basically your best friend staying with you all day giving you wonderful adult conversation and harmoniously taking care of the house and kids with you. We were a well oiled wheel. Like peanut butter and jelly. Although, truth be told, she did way more work than me. Mom I love you so much and miss you. I am counting down the days until you visit again. A thousand thank yous!

You have asked me how Chloe likes her brother. Well I think she thinks he is boring and a bit whiny. I would tend to agree with her on some level, except I find him irresistibly adorable and kissable and that makes up for his lack of ability to run around and play with her. She mostly ignores him but will tolerate us asking her to point out his hair, nose, eyes (which she loves to poke and dies laughing). I have chased her around the house with him in the Superman position, which she finds very amusing. I like to trick her into thinking he is playing with her. At night when we sing and do prayers we put Bennett in her crib with her. She was a little weirded out at first but now thinks it is pretty funny and has held his hand a few times. Melt my heart and put it back in my chest. So I think it is going as well as it can with an 18 month old. I think in about six months when he is sitting up and reacting to her she will love the audience.

Let’s get to what you all come here for…pictures! You won’t be seeing any Bennett pictures. Right now he is laying with a paper bag over his head until his raging case of baby acne and milia clears up. Kidding, but let’s just say I am not anxious to document his skin right now and I haven’t picked up a camera to take his picture in almost two weeks. (slaps hand)
What I will give you is a dose of Chloe Grace. About a week after Bennett was born we decided to take Chloe on a special date. Things had been so weird with me in the hospital and then when I got home here I am with a baby in hand….she needed some one on one time with mommy and daddy.

There is a very cool place around here called, Amazement Square. It is an old warehouse that has been converted into a kids discovery museum. On Wednesday nights it is only $2.00 for adults to go. The bottom two floors are for the wee ones.

Chloe’s head exploded when we walked through the door and she saw there was an area that was set up like a farm. Her favorite type of animals. She was like a pin ball machine bouncing from one thing to another. It was so fun to watch her face. Enjoy some of my favorite moments.

Yes the wall color was that obnoxious. Apparently, toddlers love it.

Putting corn in the stalks hanging from the ceiling.

Whoops…how did that get in here (wink). I recognize that assett!

Carrying her favorite animal….COWS!

Daddy being a trooper crawling through the tunnels with Chloe

This is a gigantic wall of plastic pegs that Chloe could not stop pushing in as fast as she could.

The stairs light up…how freaking cool!!

They had a tactile tub with all these rubber bits and toys hidden inside. Chloe was more about throwing the rubber bits than the toys…but there was no rule about keeping it in the bucket.

Playing with daddy on the athletes foot mats. Can you only imagine what is growing on those things. Ignorance is bliss!

Chloe desperately wanted to take this mushroom stool home with her. Too bad it was bolted to the ground. She was a wee bit frustrated and I think she may have thrown out her back trying to pull with all her might. It was hilarious.

This is for you Sizzle. Remember that creepy glove picture you sent me after my post about the tree man? I found this “puppet” and thought of you right away.

Fun, fun, fun till your daddy takes your T-bird away. Smell you later!

Is this mic on?

Published by Kelly May 18th, 2008 in Adventures in Pregnancy, Bennett Wade, Life Changes and Photoganza. 55 Comments

I know I know I know….and even if I didn’t, one look at my stats, which are taking a nose dive, I would know that “my public” is growing impatient with me. This is where I separate the fair weathered readers from my faithfuls. So pat yourself on the back and consider yourself “committed” to Filtering Life. You stuck out my drought from blogging so I could absorb myself in my family and relax and heal.

Today I took the first pictures of Bennett since he was 3 days old. So I will pepper some photos throughout his birth story. This was his first day at church today and he wore a “big boy outfit” to show off for the lady folk. Already stylin and profilin!

Okay, so let me begin by blowing the dust off my brain and rewinding 15 days. Can you believe he is already a half a month old??? Good night nurse. It seemed like he would never come and now he is over two weeks old.

I will share my “story” and then I will share my “feelings”. Sounds like therapy but without the big bill at the end. This is going to be a long one. Are you in it to win it?

I went to bed around midnight, which would technically be his birth day of May 3rd. I immediately started having contractions. These were the kind that definitely raise your eyebrow and you can’t sleep through.

Let’s look at the pattern I wrote down for how many minutes apart….12, 8, 9, 5, 7, 13, 9, 9, 5, 7, 5,12, you get the picture. Absolutely no sort of pattern. However and this is a BIG however. By 3:00am I was literally putting my Lamaze breathing techniques to work. The contractions were VERY real. This mama has been around the block before. Screw the whole 5 minutes apart thing. I toughed it out another hour in bed and then decided to get Ryan up and go to the hospital. I didn’t want to be foolish twice and risk being turned away, but something in my brain told me this was no false alarm.

As soon as I stood up to get my things together my contractions really took off at a steady 4 minutes apart. By the time we got in the car and started driving for the hospital they were 3 minutes apart. MAMA MIA!!!! All of a sudden November 4th, 2006 came rushing back into my brain. Was I really doing this again? Newsflash…contractions hurt. They hurt really really really REALLY bad. Just in case you were wondering.

We were brought into a holding room around 4:45am and who greets me but my friend Brooke. She was the nurse on duty. She made sure I was comfortable with her being my nurse seeing as she was about to see all my bits and pieces and not to mention in some of the worst pain of my life. I was totally cool with it, she is so fun and laid back. She checked me and I was 6 cm and 100% effaced. Jackpot! I was immediately admitted into a real Labor and Delivery room.

As soon as they admitted me I put up my white flag and asked for the sweet nectar of the gods. GIVE ME MY FLIPPIN EPIDURAL!!!! Unfortunately, much easier said than done. I had to wait another hour while they put the IV in, did blood work and got my paperwork ready.

You do the math. Sixty minutes divided by a contraction every 2-3 minutes. Roughly 20-30 more times I had to enter the 5th ring of hell. Gotta love active labor! You natural girls…kudos to you, but you can keep that.

Eventually, the man of my dreams entered the room. My dear, sweet anesthesiologist. He can shove a 12 inch thread in my spine anytime. Within 10 minutes I had a serious case of “log legs”. Cue season two of The Office!. Oh Michael and Dwight, how I love thee, even while I am laboring away. Eventually, I moved my viewing pleasure to more serious things like the Today Show. A girl has got to know what is going on in the world while in the hospital.

Just like clockwork my body was steadily dilating the last few cm and by 10:00am I was at 9cm…just a tiny little lip of cervix left. At this point I had a different nurse. She was nice, but no Brooke. She told me she would come back in an hour but I knew it would take nowhere near an hour for me to dilate 1 more cm. I realized that if I kept my bed upright my contractions would come ever 1-2 minutes and double and triple peak. If I reclined my bed they would come every 3 minutes and were not nearly as strong. I could also feel a lot of pressure in my “special spot” so I knew his head was very very low and we were getting close to pushing.

Sure enough, she checked me around 10:30 and I was fully dilated! TIME TO PUSH! Chloe took 1 hour and 40 minutes of pushing. This clearly was a different experience. I had them set up the mirror. Yes, I am totally cool with watching the process as unglamorous as it can be at times (pooping on the table in front of your mom and husband….sexy!)

Push one….”I forget, do I hold my breath or breath out?”.
Push two……”Holy cow…is that his head?”
Yup, he crowned at the second push.

This is where my second hero entered the room, Dr. Baker. He stayed 3 hours PAST his 24 hour shift so that he could deliver me. Now that is about the coolest thing ever.

It is hard to explain how the next few pushes went because they weren’t the bearing down, grunting kind. Dr. Baker sorta guided me while he worked his fingers around Bennett’s head to gently pull his head out. So I stayed in the C pushing position and the dialog was something like:

Dr. Baker- “Push a little…pull back…now hold…give me a little more….hold….push a little more….reach down and pull your baby onto your chest.”

It was just that fast and easy. Maybe five minutes at the absolute most from push one to holding Bennett! I so desperately wanted to hold him immediately and I got to do that, goopy body and all… I was kissing and crying my little heart out.

So that is the 411 on Bennett’s grand entrance into the world. It was an excellent labor and delivery, less than 7 hours if we don’t count the midnight to 3:00am contractions. I don’t have one complaint. Maybe the cluster of hemorrhoids and the 1st-2nd degree tear….but that is nothing really.

Now onto the mushy part.

Not so much mushy as eternally grateful to God. A few months before Bennett was born, my friend Joy started a prayer group at our church for expectant mom’s. It was just a few times but the prayer time centered around identifying our fears about pregnancy, labor and delivery and parenting. We prayed over each other and found scripture where God talks about such fears. It was a really sweet time.

I realized I had some very real fears, many of which I have blogged about. I was afraid of raising a son, afraid I couldn’t love Bennett like I love Chloe, afraid of tearing from stem to stern, of Bennett not being healthy, Chloe feeling neglected, that Bennett would be incredibly fussy and difficult, a long and painful recovery, not having Dr. Baker deliver me, being stitched wrong, etc….

I have to list how many things God did for me. There are the obvious things; I had a wonderful labor, Dr. Baker took amazing care of me and my stitches are NOTHING compared to the six months of agony I faced last time. My whole hospital experience was 100% different. I feel terrific, just TERRIFIC after about 3 days. I dare say it has been “easy”. Don’t kill me for saying this, but Bennett really is a dream baby. He is so easily soothed and incredibly laid back even after 15 days…I know this is his personality and it has made my emotional transition with two so much easier.

Most importantly, my fears about not loving him as much as Chloe melted away the second I laid eyes on him. A love so strong and intense swept over me and I was completely and utterly broken over this little boy. I love him so much I can’t stop thinking about him or staring at him. He is wonderful, beyond words. IT is true, you may have to divide your time and attention amongst your kids, but you do not have to divide your heart. My heart has expanded to a tremendous level that I never knew existed. I have that “in love” feeling flowing through my veins. God has blown me away with his plan for our family. He choose Bennett to be in our lives, we weren’t even thinking about more kids when I got pregnant. He knew we needed him, that he would perfectly fit in our lives and hearts. I am SOOOOO glad I had a son. It is a different affection I feel towards him and yet so wonderfully precious and tender. I am thrilled to have a little boy and thank God for the opportunity to experience raising both genders.

Life is good around here. I still haven’t experienced my first day with just the two kids. My wonderful mother is still here and will be here another week getting me almost through my first month with help during the day….so I may have a rude awakening next week when it is just the three of us, house work, and still healing…but I have no doubt that we will do just fine, even on the rough days. My cup is full and running over and I can not thank God enough for showing his goodness to Ryan and me.

Photo-thon

Published by Kelly May 5th, 2008 in Adventures in Pregnancy, Bennett Wade and Photoganza. 39 Comments

I promise a birth story is coming….but we just got home today and I am enjoying my Chloe and my amazing son so I feel very very little desire to pump out a massive sentimental post. Believe me…it is coming, God has been SOOOOO good, I have had several good cries today overwhelmed with how amazing this whole experience has been. I feel like my cup is running over with blessings. I am so in love with this little guy I can hardly stand it….then throw Chloe into the mix and I am sure to die of a lovestroke. Is there such a thing? There should be.

So enjoy a less swollen, devilishly handsome, wide-eyed little Ben. Still have to resist the urge to pick that nasty baby acne around the nose. Bad mommy!

Chloe wasn’t the least bit interested in Bennett at the hospital, she never knew that, that “baby” was coming home with us. She did, however, roam the halls like she owned them entertaining the nurses. Is it first child syndrome that is the ham?

She did find my flowers interesting. My recovery room had these cool ledges that she enjoyed climbing up and down on.

This was Bennett’s homecoming picture.

I forget how tiny they are in the carseat.

Now onto some pure studliness! He has changed so much already, it is crazy! He looks so much older than 2.5 days old.

Can you even…I mean….I just….I can’t stop kissing this boy.

Whoa…dial down the Gollum eyes. “my precious…..”

Excuse the Dan Rather combover…but his lips are massive in this picture. Just like the ultrasound.

Okay….that should do you until I get the time and energy to give you the goods. If you are hankering for a good birth story, feel free to read Chloe’s.

Thank you for all your well wishes, it is wonderful to see the excitement surrounding his birth. God has been so good to us.

And in the Blue Corner…

Published by Kelly May 3rd, 2008 in Adventures in Pregnancy, Bennett Wade, Family and Life Changes. 64 Comments

Weighing in at 9lbs. 1oz. and 21.5 inches in length…. Bennett Wade Portnoy! I couldn’t help continue what I started when Chloe was born.

That’s right, Bennett is very “hearty”. He’s just perfect. He crowned within 2 pushes and was out into the world after 5 pushes. He was born at 10:40am after less than 7 hours. Kelly got her wish too by being able to pull him onto her chest and hold him right away and our great doctor, Dr. Baker actually stayed around 2 hours past his shift so that he could deliver Bennett for us. We couldn’t be happier with how his birth went this morning. I’m going to keep this short and sweet because, well, this isn’t my blog and I’ll let Kelly tell her story in a few days. But for now, I give you Bennett!

Kelly informed she can push now!

Getting measured, all goopy.

Our Sweeny Todd of OB’s….Dr. Baker holding his prize, Kelly’s placenta (nothing is off limits when I shoot!)

Spread eagle in all his glory.

Getting stamped into the baby book.

bumped, swollen and bruised, but still looking studly with his curly hair.

my favorite.

Game On!

Published by Kelly May 3rd, 2008 in Adventures in Pregnancy, Bennett Wade, Family, Home sweet home, Life Changes, The Office Rocks and Uncategorized. 26 Comments

Ok everyone… this is Ryan writing on Kelly’s behalf as she is sitting next to me 6cm dilated, contracting, epidural streaming, The Office playing in the background. Life is good. So, the next post you’ll see is pictures of Bennett (born on his aunt’s birthday - Happy Birthday Meridyth!)

Michael Scott is calling us…