The Beginning of Something Amazing...

One of the best pieces of advice I got when I was pregnant with Levi was to have someone else hold him when Bennett came into the hospital room. That way it wasn't like he was looking in on his family, seeing Levi as a replacement. Since mama was already in there (she doesn't do any of the coaching-that's Quinn's job, but only takes pictures) we had her hold Levi when he came in.  He crawled up in the bed with me and got some one on one love. He checked out my IV and saw that I was ok. Then we asked him if he was ready to meet his brother. Of course he said yes.

That moment is one I hope I never forget. Bennett was in the bed with me when mama handed over Levi.  We unswaddled Levi and let big bro take it all in.  He first asked "that's my brother?" When we answered yes, he proceeded with checking him out.  As he touched every part of Levi, he said "I like his hands. I like his feet, etc" And then the sweetest moment of my life happened. Bennett looked up at me with those big blue eyes and said "Mama, I love him"  Ahhh. A mama can't get much happier than that.'

For anybody that has boys, you know it doesn't stay sappy for long. Because right after that sweet little moment, Levi pooped in his blanket. If he hadn't already won Bennett's heart, I am sure he would have at that moment.  Bennett was so amazed and maybe even a little proud that his brother pooped in the blanket.  From then on, anytime anybody asked him what he thought of his brother, he would reply "He poops"

Another funny experience was Bennett seeing Levi nurse for the first time. I nursed Bennett for 10 months, but of course he doesn't remember it. So, when I took my boob out and latched Levi on, Bennett looked at me puzzled and said "Mama, he eats your booby?" We just smiled and said "yes, that's how he eats buddy" He was fine with that answer.

I can honestly say that from the very beginning, we have been so blessed with how much our boys love each other. There (so far) has never been any hint of jealousy or sibling rivalry. Bennett is very quick to tell Levi when it is his turn for mommy's attention, but never in a mean way.  I pray that the beginning of their relationship is an indication of what they will be like for the rest of their lives.

Levi's Birth Story

(I wasnt into blogging when Bennett was born, but I will post about him soon as well)

So, after eating our delicious breakfast on the way to the hospital, I calmed down a little bit. The emotions about leaving Bennett subsided but the emotions of having a baby set in. I am such a planner, so I had to come up with a new plan on the way to the hospital.  I knew I would be getting pitocin so I wouldn't have the freedom I had the first time. I was also 8 centimeters when I finally got into a room with Bennett so things went VERY fast. I had to psyc myself that this time around could be much longer. I still didn't want a epidural, but tried not to focus too much on that and deal with what I HAD to have.

We got to the hospital about 11:30. The good thing about me having the baby that day was that Debbie was on call, so she would be delivering another Hadsock baby! Well, I have no idea why we bothered to preregister because it took forever to get to the room.  When we finally did, I had another blessing: my sweet friend Christine was working so she could be my nurse. I started to feel the anxiety subside and got my self pumped up for the "game"

When Debbie came in a broke my water, there was meconium (baby's first poop) A small concern, but not too much to worry about. It just meant that the nurses would have to suction Levi out really well to be sure he didn't swallor/inhale any of it.  They put the monitor on my belly and waited. Well, remember in my last post, I said Stacy was a little concerned with his heart rate? I hadn't even thought about it with all the excitement, but apparently it was still a concern.  Debbie didn't start the pitocin right away because we needed Levi's heart rate to regulate. I tried several positions, but nothing seemed to be helping. Finally, it was decided that we needed to monitor his heart rate internally (against my original birth plan, but when something could be wrong with your baby that stuff doesn't matter!) The monitor went in, I was positioned on my left side, and his rate rate stabilized. Pitocin was administered. 

Then, his heart rate started fluctuating again. If it was a big deal, Christine was awesome about staying calm and that helped me stay calmish.  A few times the machine alarm went off, and Christine would come in, adjust me, the machines and reassure me that everything was ok.  By this point, I had had quite a bit of fluids, and had to pee, A LOT! I couldn't get up because of the machine and pitocin so I had to call Christine to give me a bed pan everytime-EMBARRASING! I bet I apoligized a thousand times and she was so cool about the whole thing.  Debbie would radomly show up but I think everybody in Valdosta was having C sections that day and she was helping with those.

Up until this point, I had been handling the pain relatively well, but I told Quinn I wanted an epidural. I just told him, I knew I could handle the pain (I did it before with a 10lb baby, duh) but I couldn't deal with focusing on getting him here safely and the pain. I haven't mentioned before that there was alsoa potential problem with his kidneys. We had to have ultrasounds every two weeks during the pregnacy because his kidneys weren't draining just right. We knew he would have to have some tests after delivery to be sure that it fixed itself. He didn't try to talk me out of it. I think he was secretly freaking out too. So I told Christine I wanted an epidural and she said she would make it happen. By this time, it was around 4:00 an I was only 5 cm.  Well, the epidural was not quite what I expected. I mean, I've seen enough "A Baby Stories" to know how its done, but it was very uncomfortable. Kinda like, well like stabbing a nerve.  I knew it didn't feel quite right and I told the CRNA that I felt a sharp pain on my right side. I think he knew at that moment that it didn't work but he didn't say a word. It worked for about a second, and then I could feel everything on my right side. I think that it was worse feeling only on one side but didn't need to worry about that for too long because then I could feel on both sides. I didn't even need a catheter because I could feel everything!

I was really hurting and having a hard time relaxing through the contractions because I couldn't move for all the wires,etc.  About that time, Debbie and Christine came in together. It was around 5:30. I could tell that something was up. I looked at Debbie (who was eating a cracker) and very quietly said "I don't think I can do it anymore" and she very calmly said "well, let's see what's happening" Now the last time they checked, I was like 6cm.  When Debbie looked she said "oh well, there is his head" The weird thing is that I could feel the pain but not the urge to push like last time. Everybody went in turbo mode. I KNOW that they were coming in to tell me I was going to have to have a C-section but praise God he had other plans! I started pushing and they made me stop! They had not even lowered the table or called the nursery they were so excited.

I only pushed for about 15 minutes, about the same as Bennett, when I felt that most awesome feeling in the world. But I didn't hear that most awesome sound in the world. I remember kind of whispering "cry" and Mrs. Debbie telling me that they didn't want him to cry just yet because he was "playing with his cord.  He finally cried. I think all the worry and emotion finally caught up with Quinn. He almost passed out, not like him at all.  He actually had to sit down and drink some of my orange juice before he could cut the cord.

It was definately a more rocky road getting Levi here, but when he finally got here, he was perfect. He was born at 5:40 and weighed 8lbs 10 0z and was 21 1/2 inches long.

(more to come on the introductions)

On the day Levi was born...

I started this blog on Levi's birthday, but never finished it, so I guess it's just as good a time as any to reflect.

My pregnancy with Levi was so different than with Bennett. I was mega uncomfortable almost the entire pregnancy.  He was soo low the whole time, I felt like he was going to fall out. I'm not sure how much of it had to do with me chasing a 2 year old, but I am sure that didn't help. Anyway, Quinn and I planned to have natural childbirth using techniques we learned in our Bradley classes (just like we did with Bennett) but I was overly concerned about my water breaking this time around. I asked Stacy about 100 times what to expect, and if the discomfort I was feeling could be from my bag of waters.  She always reassured me things were ok, and we kept trucking along.  Now I know that was God preparing me! 

The Saturday before delivery (39 weeks), I took Bennett to the character breakfast at Merry Marketplace. Quinn was off at a cow show, so it was just me and my boy.  Things did not go well. He saw Elmo and darted through the crowd, and I ran after him as fast as a 9 month pregnant girl could go. It was so crowded and hard to manuever a stroller through the chaos. So by the end of the morning, Bennett and I both had major meltdowns and left in tears.  When we got in the car, I prayed that God would either give me the strength to deal with my circumstances or make me not pregnant anymore.

Monday Morning, November 22, I went to see Stacy for my weekly check up. Again, I asked a million questions about my water breaking and she reassured me.  I told her that the night before I felt something weird when I got up to to the bathroom. I don't really know how to explain it, but it was kind of like a "pop" She said she would take a swab just to be sure but could see the bag in tact. I was 3 centimeters, but not really feeling any contractions.  Levi's heart rate was a little bit of a concern, so she told me I needed to go on the monitor for a half hour and she would bring me the results of the swab.  I never even made it to the waiting room when she and Mrs. Debbie called me into the hallway to tell me that my water was in fact leaking and I needed to go to the hospital.  I freaked. First this was NOT my play (rarely is, right?) Secondly, it hit me that I would be leaving Bennett for the last time as an only child.

I could not stop crying. I actually still get teary-am right now. Thinking about that moment. Of course nobody else quite understood. I mean I knew all along that this was coming, but I still just couldn't get it together. For two and a half years, it's been me and Bennett. We were a team; a pair. Did everything together, went everywhere together. He didn't ask for a sibling. What if it changed is sweet disposition?. What if he was mad at me? Quinn was very supportive even though he did not share my emotions. He was pumped! He kept comparing it to "game day."

I finally got it together enough to get my things together. Mrs. Marilyn came to hang out with Bennett.  By this time it was around 10:30 and we had no idea how long it would take to get me settled in and the dreaded pitocin started.  We made the phone calls we needed to make, I gave Bennett one last hug (more tears) and we headed to the hospital-after we stopped for a chicken biscuit at Hardee's:)

Ways Bennett makes me smile

I don't even know how to write this one, but I want to have a record of the funny things that Bennett is up to so, here goes:

1.  Bennett calls sweeping brooming and raking scraping. He calls the broom the broomer. 

2.  He loves to play hide and seek, but doesn't quite understand that he is not suppose to come out of hiding to chase me around.

3.  He likes to play golf with his golfer thinger.

4. He reminds me so much of his grandma because he is cold all the time.  He can be sweating and still say he needs a blanket.

5. When He gets mad at his daddy, he hurts his feelings by saying "I'll break all your coffee cups"

6. He is selectively modest. He loves to be naked, but then he freaks if someone sees his penis.

7.  He scratches my back- one of my favorite things.

8. He LOVES to read. He reads to himself, to his brother, but best of all he crawls up in my lap with as many books as he can hold and lets me read to him.

9.  He is so tender hearted.  He doesn't like to see others sad and wants to "wipe their tears"

10.  He has an amazing imagination. I can't even count how many deer he has killed and how often he goes in to the woods (yesterday)

11.  When he was little, we read a first words book that had lots of animals in it. I made the sound of each animal as we looked at them, but had  no idea what the zebra said. So, I would pinch his knees when we saw a zebra. Now, any time we see a  "beejah" he waits for me to do the same thing.

12.  He likes mo-ca-cyles.(motorcyles)

13. He is fascinated with pantyhose. Mimi wears them to work all the time and he things they are the coolest things ever. Grandma actually gave him a pair and he loves wearing them around the house. I am VERY surprised that Quinn didn't freak out, but he was cool about it.

14.  We were at dinner one night talking about how much hair Levi has as opposed to when Bennett was his age. Quinn made the comment that one day he would lose his hair like his daddy and he cried! He did not want to think about losing his hair.

15. Bennett is so much like his daddy in so many ways, but he definately gets his sleep habits from me.  He naturally stays up late and wants to sleep late (by late, I mean 8:30ish) and if he has to be woken up he is VERY grumpy. It is not wonderful when you are trying to be on a schedule, but it still makes me smile to think that he "got that from me"

16.  He loves Levi. I mean really loves him. He always wants to include his little brother in everything we do.  I actually took Levi to school one day so Bennett and I could have a date and Bennett cried when we left Levi there. 

17.  He prays about everything. And usually that prayer is some form of praise. Even if he is praying for someone to get better, he says "Dear Jesus, Thank you for helping mommy feel better"

18.  I can tell that he has a tiny bit of my OCD tendencies. Now, he is a mess and loves to dump things out of any container. But he also loves to line up his toys, books, etc.  I love it when I find a line of animals through the house. He is also a mega rule follower. He definately tests the limits at home but anywhere else he does exactly as told.

19. He tells me I am his best friend. Nevermind that he tells everyone that they are his best friend. It still warms my heart. 

20.  He looks at me like I am the coolest, most beautiful mommy in the whole world.  Being a woman that has always struggled with self image, this is a very big deal.

It takes a village...

Every Labor Day weekend for as long as I have been alive has consisted of going to the Bennett family reunion. I have always enjoyed going and really look forward to seeing all of my extended family (and let me tell you there are a BUNCH of us) But this year was different for me. I guess it's because I am getting older and learning to appreciate family more, but I was so touched to be among people that truly love me.

We started the weekend off with a cookout. Growing up, this was a part of of our reunion, but hasn't been done in several years.I remember that by the end of the night everybody was in a circle with their guitars singing gospel songs. This year we had a water slide, snow cones, hay ride, and even a talent show.  Then on Sunday, we have the "big meal" and visit some more. But looking around this year, this is what touched me:

• There was Tammy and Stephanie leading up the thing. They were the ones that I would run across the yard to and jump in their arms when I was a little girl. Now they are making sure all the kids are acting right. And let me tell you, if yours is acting up, somebody will put them in their place. And it is expected. Nobody gets mad if you set a child right.
• Melissa was there with her camera. She was so much fun growing up. I thought she was the prettiest person I have ever seen. Now I understand her beauty isn't only on the outside. She is one of the strongest women I know.
• Aunt Patsy and Uncle Clyde are there with Chris and Brandon and all their kids. I think that they have 6 grandsons!
• Uncle Dennis and Aunt Pam are visiting with everybody, a grandchild in each lap. Denny and Paula are leading up the hay ride and making sure that our kids have as much fun as we did growing up.
• William and Uncle Carol are heading up the grill and keeping everybody enjoying watching everyone.
• Aunt Julia is just sitting back enjoying every body's company. After several years of having the stress of making sure everything is going smoothly, it's her turn to chill.
• Aunt Pat and Tracy are trying to keep all their boys in order. That's a job let me tell you!
• Uncle Swenson is keeping everybody laughing. 
• Granny Myrtle, the matriarch of the family is perched in her chair as we all come to see her. She is genuinely happy to see all of us.

There are many, many more people on the scene, and some whose presence was missed,  and all of them have a very special place in my heart.  They all had a part in making me who I am today. I looked around the circle as Uncle Carol sings and I think of the love these people have for each other-despite the mistakes we have made and  the different paths we have taken,  We are family. I am so very thankful that this village raised me.

Bennett's 3rd Birthday

I love planning parties, but get very stressed out doing it. Bennett's birthday is in June so it is usually very hot. Levi was 6 months old and the hottest baby I have ever seen, so I knew I didn't need to have Bennett's birthday party outside, so I weighed my options and decided to go with JumpNJacks. 

Bennett's actual birthday is June 2. On that day, we woke him up and took him to Daylight Donuts, his favorite. He got to pick the doughnut he wanted, the one with the sprinkes of course.  When we got home, Quinn kept him inside while I got his birthday present ready. Quinn brought him out to see his new John Deere Gator (new to him, we bought it at a garage sale-those things are expensive!) Bennett does not like to be center of attention nor does he like to be put on the spot, so he was very shy at first. But once he got over that, he was all over that thing. It didn't take him long, and he was changing gears, backing up, and having a great time. We let him ride it for a while before coming in and getting ready for lunch. We had a great day, spending time together as a family and then Quinn and I taking Bennett to Wild Adventures.

We had his party on June 4. Mrs. Nancy Stalvy made him the most amazing cake. I am a little anal about some things. Shocker, I know. But he wanted a Mickey Mouse birthday party, and that just didn't go with the bounce house theme. So she made me an inflatable slide cake with Mickey sliding down. We all win!

We really had fun, and it was definately the most stress free birthday party I have ever had. I will tell you that it was HOT in there. Three in the afternoon in a warehouse full of kids makes for a very warm environment. But the kids had fun, the staff was great, and I didn't have to clean up.  We are so thankful that all of Bennett's friends were there to make his day special.

NOTE: We had someone take pictures of the party for us and none of them turned out so if you have any of this special day, please let me know!

A very different Panama City Beach- part 2

So after a restful night with a head jammed into my armpit and feet jammed into Quinn's ribs,we woke up to a beautiful day at the beach.  We had a breakfast of champions-honeybuns and chocolate milk. After about a million trips to the beach, we were ready for a day of fun in the sun.  Well, that day turned into a couple of hours.

Some serious construction is going down

Around mid day, Bennett and I went up stairs to get lunch and have him at least rest if he wouldn't get a full nap in. Levi fell asleep at the beach, so Quinn stayed down with hiim and got to enjoy some quiet time on the beach.  I have to tell you the hotel we stayed in, Legacy by the Sea, was great. When you walked in, you were in the room with the bed/tv, then you walked through a hallway that had the bathroom on one side and the "kitchen" on the other. Next was the living room, with a sleeper sofa and plenty of room, and then on to the balcony. The bedroom could be shut off from the rest of the space, so when the kids are older it will be perfect (and no one can leave without going through the bedroom-for those teenage years)

this is what the beach does to him

After naps were over, we decided to check out Gulf World.  It was really fun. I have been to all kinds of things like that, but these shows were the best I can remember. Bennett loved the Sea Lion show, and got to take his picture sitting next to Otto the Sea lion.  We also watched the dolphin show (Bennett had his picture taken with the dolphins too), the reptile show, and the bird show. Well, Quinn and I watched the bird show. Both boys were conked out by that point.  It was very kid friendly, and super educational.  We will definately be going back there if we ever go back to PCB. 

checking out the penguins

petting a sting ray

After several hours at Gulf World, we went and got dressed for supper. Finally, seafood!!  We ate a Sharky's because it was within walking distance of our hotel and very kid friendly. Let me tell you the serving sizes are ridiculous.  We had so much food left over!  But it was great. After letting Bennett play on the playground there, we made our way back to the hotel.  We hung out in the pool for a while, walked on the beach, and then got ready for bed. See how exciting we are? 

On the way home, Quinn wanted to check out Mexico beach because he wants somewhere a little less crowded. We checked out a few places, ate a a great place called The Oyster Bar, and made our way back home.  It was a great family vacation. Can't wait to do it again next time:)