All About Miller

We are still plugging right along!

I figured baby Miller deserved a little post dedicated just to him before I forgot everything.  I try not to compare him with Ellie, but the truth is there is not much to compare because our experiences with each child have been SO different.  From my pregnancies to the deliveries and now to their personalities, they are two unique little creatures!

We had a few tough days last week.  I was afraid we were on the verge of having a colicky baby but thankfully we made a few changes that I think helped his problems!  I think our sweet baby had a little confusion when it came to what kind of bottle he preferred.  He was so used to the small bottles that I used to pump that for a while they were the ONLY ones he would take!  I had every expensive bottle on the market that we tried and he would not take any of them well.  We finally got him to take a Tommee Tippee and a Dr. Brown's this week and it has made all the difference.  No more gassy/fussy baby.  That was just not fun!  He is also just now getting the hang of taking a paci.  I was afraid he'd never take one and it was a little stressful.  You don't realize how handy those can be in extra fussy moments when it's not quite time to eat!

As far as feeding goes, he nursed great right after he was born. After our little trip to the NICU I was encouraged to start pumping and supplementing with formula because he had become dehydrated and needed to eat more to pee and help pump the antibiotics through his system.  Once again, I was disappointed because I felt that we were doing well nursing but I also wanted to do whatever was necessary to help him get better.  So we are still nursing/pumping/supplementing.  It is exhausting and I am not sure how long any of it will last, but for now we are going to try and stick to is as long as we can.  The hardest part about all of this is that Miller has ZERO patience and is a big eater!  When he's hungry, he lets you know it!  He is a big screamer and is LOUD.  He is also a very aggressive nurser which still proves to be quite painful.  I try to be tough but sometimes it is just unbearable so we only nurse a couple of times a day.  Just another part of being a mommy that you have to endure that people don't warn you about!

Our nights are going fairly well.  I really cannot complain because I am already noticing that they are getting better.  We have our little routine that works and he is sleeping in his crib!  I started this right at 2 weeks because I felt like I was running all over the house all night to try and avoid waking Ellie up.  This was a great decision and it has been a very easy transition.  I can feed, change and rock him all in one room without waking anyone up!  I have also started staying up late for his last feeding before I go to bed to avoid getting up that one extra time.  He still eats about every 3 hours and even went 4 hours the other night.  I'll take it!

Emotionally I am doing well.  It was questionable the week or so after he was born but thankfully those lovely hormones have calmed down.  I don't enjoy being a hormonal mess:)  I also feel great and have a ton of energy.  I honestly don't know where it's coming from because I have never gotten so little sleep in my life!  I guess it's just a natural mom thing because I am always so busy there's not much time to think about how tired I am.

Now that we have his fussiness mostly under control, I am really noticing that he is a sweet, laid back little guy.  I feel like he has been here forever and adding him to our family was just a natural transition.  I am so thankful for our sweet baby and cannot wait to see him grow and change.  I am trying to savor every second of this sweet baby stage though because I know how quickly it passes.  Sometimes I still have to pinch myself when I look at our TWO kiddos.

Weight:  10+ pounds
Diaper:  Size 1
Clothes:  growing out of newborn, wearing mostly 0-3 and even some 3 month clothes!
Feeding: 4 oz. every 3 hours
Loves his bath, his swing, being held, and lounging on his boppy pillow.

Life with Two...

Now that we have been home for a couple of weeks, we are finally starting to establish a little bit of a routine.  Adding a new baby is a huge adjustment for any family, ours included. I was nervous how it would all go...especially with Ellie, but I feel like it has gone very smoothly.  She could not love him more and has not shown one bit of jealousy towards him at all.  Her volume level on the other hand has increased tremendously but we are learning how to handle that.  She does love one on one time with each of us and I try my best every day to give that to her.  She has handled all of the changes like a champ.  So, so proud of her.

We had a lot going on the first week or so of Miller's life.  Things that forced us to "just keep swimming" and go along with our daily lives as usual.    As hard as it was a times, I am proud of us!  Having Don home has been the biggest blessing.  He bathes Ellie, takes her fishing or they run errands together.  They also get lots of outdoor playtime.  I think if he was still in school I would have gone crazy long ago:)

We have had lots of help and yummy food brought to us thanks to sweet family and friends.  Ellie is still going to her sitter twice a week and thank goodness for VBS!  I  think she will attend every church's VBS she can this summer.  She loves to craft and sing:)

Life with 2 kids is always busy, always LOUD, always chaotic.  But there is more to kiss, more to snuggle, more laundry and more to LOVE!!!  I thank God everyday for trusting us to raise these two beautiful babies.  I definitely feel unworthy to be given such a precious gift.

The rest of the story...

Miller's birthday was perfect!  He was perfect, my delivery was easy, and everyone was on could nine.  Just how I had hoped!  We enjoyed having lots of visitors in and out.  Ellie had come to see us on Monday with my mom and grandparents and I was enjoying a little mini vacation in the hospital! We were pretty positive we would be sent home Tuesday afternoon.

Until...Dr. Blake, one of the pediatricians on call notified us of an elevated white blood count and CRP level. They were just going to monitor it carefully and not jump the gun on any decisions to send him to the NICU. Of course the minute I heard "special care" and "NICU" I lost it.  We held our breath and waited for test results the next morning.  Dr. Smith came to by to talk to us that afternoon, and they had gone up, not what we were wanting.  So they said they would re-test again that night and let us know.  Well, they went up again, and again.  So ultimately the decision was made to go ahead and send him over to the NICU for antibiotics.  Don and I were both so bummed.  We had wanted so badly to avoid that place this time around but unfortunately that didn't happen. It's extremely difficult to send a normal, BIG, full term baby to the NICU for treatment when you really aren't sure why or what you are treating.  Deep down we knew it was best to take care of the issue before we went home and it really turned into a problem, but that didn't make it any easier.  Basically, an elevated CRP level indicates inflammation and/or infection.  This was more than likely from the meconium in my water and/or me being Group B positive and only receiving antibiotics for a short time before he arrived.

So, Tuesday night he went.  We went to see him as soon as we could and this was how he looked when we walked in.  Doing this all again the second time around does NOT make it any easier.

My two beautiful babies.  More like twins!  I need to get a better comparison picture together.

 We were zombies.  Just like with Ellie, we were the only crazy parents that never missed a feeding (even in the middle of the night) so naturally, we got NO sleep.  But he was worth it.

After two and a half days of antibiotics, we finally got the big surprise that we were going HOME!  The hardest part about the NICU is the constant roller coaster.  There are so many people telling you different things that you never know what to think.  I have learned to not get excited about any good news because issues always seem to come up and to lead to something else.  It's an exhausting process.  But his levels had continued to decline and Dr. Go, the neonatologist felt it was okay for him to come home!!  We were shocked and SO excited.

Thankfully my mom had brought Ellie up to see us that day anyway.  It had been 4 days since we had seen her and Don and I both couldn't stand it any longer.  Seeing her run off the elevator is still one of my favorite memories of that entire week.  I love that sweet girl SO much!!

Those of you that know Don well can imagine what he had to say about this coming home outfit.  I thought it was the sweetest thing I had ever seen:)

We were finally all together and headed home.  What a sweet, sweet day!

Miller's birthday!

We are now a family of four!  I can hardly believe baby Miller is here and almost two weeks old.  It has been a CRAZY two weeks, that's for sure, but I still wanted to make sure I got a post in about his birthday before it beaome a distant memory.

I woke up on Sunday morning around 8:15 not feeling quite "right" but also not feeling like I was going to have a baby that day.  We'd had a busy weekend and spent most of the day Saturday recovering from Ellie's dance recital the night before. I was fully prepared to be at my doctor's appointment Monday afternoon.
 I took a shower at 9:30 and was 80% sure we were going to church!  Around 10 am, I started cramping but really didn't think too much about it until the pain went away, then came back again.  And again, and again and again, and they were getting stronger.  So I started timing them.  They were exactly 5-6 minutes apart!  I was in full denial because I didn't want to get my hopes up and be sent home from the hospital.  So I "labored" at home (not really knowing it at the time) until noon.  I called Holly, my midwife and left her a message telling her I was 90% sure this was it!  She was in church but texted me back telling me to go on to the hospital and get checked.  We called my parents and they decided to come on to Jackson and said even if it wasn't "baby time" that they would hang out with us and just see what happened.  Don's mom came over to watch Ellie and we hit the road!  We kissed her and told her we were going to the hospital and I showed Don's mom where her Big Sis outfit was just in case.  I didn't think they would be coming that day, but I am glad I showed here where it was anyway!  Looking back now, it all happened so fast that I didn't have time to really think about that being our last time as a family of three.  But she was SO sweet and SO excited that it made leaving her much easier.

So we left for the hospital right at noon.  That 50 minute drive to Jackson was NOT fun.  I am convinced we hit every red light on the way.  Every time I'd have another contraction Don would say "another one already?" They just kept getting closer and closer together. So we got there and up to L&D triage right around 1 pm.  They had a little lady volunteer come down to get us and take us back to L&D.  I remember with Ellie they had an orderly come down with a wheelchair.  I was really hoping that I wouldn't have to walk all the way up there, but no wheelchair came this time.  Now that I think about it I am not sure how I did it!  Once we got to our room I changed into my gown and was hooked up to the monitors.  Mrs. Terri, the best nurse ever walked in just as I was hoping she would and I was so relieved.  She decided to check me right away just to see where we were.   If I had not been in the bed already I would have fallen to the ground when she told me I was at a 7!  We were all in pure disbelief!  We were having a baby, that day, and SOON!!!!

After that, things moved super fast.  I was feeling all kinds of pain from the contractions and pressure.  The pain was bad, but not unbearable.  I knew I wanted an epidural, but really wasn't sure if there was time for one.  The anesthesiologist came pretty quick and after THREE TRIES and 20 CC's of lidocaine he finally got it in.  That was not fun.  I probably could have gone without it after that ordeal.  They started my penicillin for Group B, and we were ready to go!

Holly came in to say hi, break my water and check me after we got settled, probably around 2:15 or so.  There was meconium in my water but she said not to get worried.  I wanted SO badly to go without any problems or issues and this just tore me apart when she told me.  One of Ellie's issues was meconium aspiration and I really didn't want him to have to endure the same thing.  She assured me that she wasn't going to worry and just have the NICU come suction him after delivery. After she broke my water she checked me and said I was complete.  HOLY COW.  SO fast!  But she said she was going to come back in 45 minutes or so to wait for him to move down more on his own.  I told her I didn't want to push forever and she agreed.  Little did we know that he was moving down super quick and was ready to go about 15 minutes later.

After about 25 minutes, Miller Lee Pitt was born!  3:20 pm.  9 pounds even and 21 inches long.  I could hardly believe how fast and easy it all was compared to Ellie's birth.  He came out screaming, he turned pink, and he was BIG!  I was so relieved.

After the birth everyone got to come into the room and see us, hold the baby and just enjoy the time that I had wanted so bad when Ellie was born.  They took her to the NICU so soon after her birth that we didn't get to enjoy that special time. I was so grateful things were different this time around.

Ellie got there just in time to meet her brother and many of our family members were there waiting as well.  We were so happy he was here, healthy and PERFECT!  He looks so much like his sister and we are SO in love!!

I am so thankful for my little family.  My heart could just explode I love them so much!

Still here!

Still here, still pregnant.  Trying to be patient!

I have nothing new to report other than some updated pictures of big sister.  I have enjoyed my time with her SO much.  We've had some really good days together.  Some, longer than others but I know we will never get these days back so I am really trying to enjoy them.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!  On Saturday we went down to the nursery to pick out flowers and some new pots.  My little gardeners did a great job planting and I love all of my new flowers!  The sweet kiddos at church sang a few songs that almost made me cry (hello hormones) and we went to lunch.  We also knocked out the last few things on my never ending "before baby" to do list.  So not much relaxing happened but I was glad to get it all done!

The first "before baby" hurdle we had to get past this week was Don's spring football scrimmage.  It was pretty hectic before hand trying to get it all together but we all survived and Miller didn't come, although we thought we were close there for a minute.  Whew!

Tomorrow night is Ellie's dance recital, also known as the before baby hurdle #2!  If my water breaks while she's dancing we will just head to Jackson right after it's over.  I refuse to miss my baby dancing.  Ha!!

Story time has been fun for us.  She loves picking out books each week.  I am so glad we have this to look forward to each Tuesday!

Hello 39 week baby belly.  WHOA!  I can't wait to see how big this boy is going to be.  

That's it for now!

Lately

While we have been PATIENTLY waiting on baby Miller, 2 out of the 4 May babies (that we know of) have been born!

We got a text message early Sunday morning saying baby Evie, my niece, was on her way!  We just so happened to be heading to Memphis that day anyway for Don to take his Praxis test.  It worked out perfectly!  We got to be at the hospital for her birth and meet her shortly after.  She is so sweet and I just cannot get over how well it all worked out.  I really didn't think I was going to get to meet her until after Miller arrived, but she had other plans and I am so glad she did!!

Pretty proud grandparents!!

Ellie just "ooohed and aaahhhhd" over Evie.  She had no interest in holding her but was just fine with me holding and her looking.  She is going to be such a sweet big sister!!

Ellie got so excited about going to DeDe's that she packed her own suitcase.  She couldn't wait to go and meet her new baby cousin!

Sweet girl before bed.  She is looking more grown up everyday.  Makes my heart hurt!

 Before cousin Ginny's birthday party.  She requested a picture with Daddy before we left.

That's all for now, hopefully we will have a baby of our own VERY soon!!

Miller's Nursery

Our sweet baby boy finally has a room to call his own!  It was questionable there for a while if we would be able to pull it off, but it did happen and I am thrilled with how it turned out!

There was a TON of trim to be painted in this room since it was originally an office with a lot of shelving.  Don did most of it himself and Peeps helped the weekend they came to visit.  I feel like painting them made the biggest difference!

DeDe was my personal shopper throughout the process.  She made countless trips to HomeGoods, Tuesday Morning and Pottery Barn Kids scouting out rugs, lamps and accessories.  Thank goodness for picture text messaging:)

I ordered his bedding from Polka Tot Designs, the same people that made Ellie's bedding.  It took almost 10 weeks for it to come in, but it was worth the wait.  They do great work and make it really easy to pick out custom bedding.  To me it was much easier to let them do the fabric shopping, sewing and monogramming all in one place.  We stalked the UPS man earlier this week waiting for that big box to finally arrive.

Now, onto the pictures!

Now all we need is baby Miller.  The countdown is on!!