2 & 2

MY 2 WEEK OLD

- 9 lbs .5 oz (52nd %ile)
- 20 1/4 inches long (27th %ile)
- 14.5 inches head circumference (47th %ile)
- Sneezes 4 or 5 times at a time
- Fair-weathered binky sucker
- Umbilical cord still strongly attached
- Quick to temper but also quick to calm

- Loves to be cuddled tight but loosely swaddled
- Smells like graham crackers
- Already recognizes and loves his brother
- Gained one pound since birth
- Barely squeezing into NB clothes and diapers

 

MY 2 YEAR OLD

- 26 lbs (25th %ile)
- 37 inches tall (100th %ile) (Yes, 100th %ile!)
- 19 1/2 inches head circumference (75th %ile)
- Loves his brother

- And basketball

- And bubble baths
- And brushing his teeth
- And singing the ABCs
- And hopping with both feet
- And helping mom cook
- And clipping Ryder's baby seat
- And playing in the sand box

- And sucking on rocks

- And sliding down the big slide

- And flushing the toilet (but not anywhere near interested in potty training)

- Has figured out that he can reach anything by climbing on a chair
- Finally grown into 24 month pants and pushing to fit 3T tops

Changes

(I started this post on Sunday.....)

I don't even know where this is going to go.  I'm just sitting home with Ryder, waiting for Tyson and Teryn to get back from church, and I feel like it's time for a post.

It's been just over 2 weeks since Ryder arrived.  We are adjusting better than I anticipated.  He is an angel baby.  Teryn was an angel baby though too, so I feel greatly blessed that angel babies are all I know (so far). 

It's amazing how much Ryder has changed already.  He's gained a pound and grown almost 2 inches.  He's starting to keep eye contact with me and his innocence burns through my soul.  It's funny how I so anxiously wondered what he would look like because now he's here I look at him and it's like I've known him forever.  

Teryn is adjusting very well and loving his brother more and more every day.  The first thing he says in the morning when he wakes is "baby!"  A few days ago, I left Ryder on a blanket in the living room while I left to do something and he started screaming.  It wasn't long before he stopped and I went to check on him to make sure he was still breathing because he stopped so abruptly.  I found him covered with Teryn's blankies with Teryn laying beside him on the floor just jabbering away at him.  Ryder was so intent on him.  Possibly the most precious moment I've ever experienced.

Ryder has his days and nights figured out which is wonderful.  It took a lot of training to get Teryn turned around but Ryder has caught on pretty quick.  He wakes twice in the night to eat but he is a quick 10-15 minute eater so I don't miss out on too much sleep.  He is such a little snuggler and I can't get enough of it.

It's funny how so much has changed in the past couple of weeks yet it feels like this is the life we've always lived.  I asked Tyson what he feels some of the biggest changes have been and he couldn't come up with anything.  Everything is coming together, it all makes sense, and it's comfortable.  We couldn't be happier.

Two Of A Kind

 You know when you're playing a fast-paced card game and you have to double take at the clubs and spades to make sure you know which one is which?
(Say yes just so I think I'm not the only one.....)

Looking at these two is kind of like that.  It's funny how incredibly different they look, yet how incredibly alike they look at the same time.

As you know from prior posts, I could have sworn I was having a girl this time around and I was so excited.  Then we found out the baby was a boy and a whole different sense of excitement set in.  Mostly when I tried to picture what he would look like.  Obviously, if he were a girl, I would expect her to look different than Teryn.  But he was another boy!  How would he be different than his brother!?  I couldn't wait to find out.

I browsed through some pictures to find some that were similar enough to show the differences and similarities between the two.  Take a look and see for yourself.

(All comparisons show Teryn on the left and Ryder on the right.)

 So different, yet so alike!  

I must say Ryder is cuter than I could have imagined.  

Just like his brother =0)

His Name

While I was a nanny in New Jersey I drove past a street called Ryder St. every day on my way to work.  I fell in love with the name and decided I wanted a little boy named Ryder someday.

Teryn was born and we gave him the middle name Gregory after Tyson's dad.  When we found out we were expecting another little boy I thought it was only fair we name him after my dad somehow.  My dad's name is Rouel J and a lot of people call him R.J. so we decided to give our little boy the same initials.  I'm happy Tyson loved the name Ryder as much as I did, so that took care of the R.  It didn't take us long to decide on Jaxon for the J, so that was the anticipated name.  Until the night before he was born.

Tyson got home from work and we were talking about the induction the next morning.  He sat on the couch with Teryn's Magna Doodle, writing "Ryder Jaxon" over and over again.  Then he wrote "Ryder Jackson" and asked if we were sure we wanted to spell it with an "x".  Before he even finished his question I knew I liked it better the traditional "ck" way.  Jaxon all of a sudden seemed trendy and he-was-definitely-born-in-the-twenty-teensish.  Also, joined with the name Ryder, it felt like we were trying too hard.  Jackson seemed stronger and more sturdy.  Natural.  Timeless.  Classic.  

And so it was decided.  Ryder Jackson Todd.

It couldn't fit him more perfectly.

Lucky

We are home from the hospital and so in love.  Despite the lack of sleep over the past few days, I have a sense of energy that is fed by my excitement for Ryder's arrival.  More than excitement, my gratitude and in-awe-ness.  There is nothing more precious than a newborn.  I know that more than ever now that I've experienced how quickly Teryn's newness came and left.  I don't want to miss a single second of this stage and I find myself watching every facial expression, feeling every inch of beyond-this-world soft skin, savoring every innocent cry, and smelling every whiff of sweet newborn goodness- - -part of me wishing he will never change.  He really is a little piece of heaven.

As with Teryn's birth, Tyson took notes throughout my labor and Ryder's delivery.  It's fun to see things from his perspective, so here's the story in his words.  I'll add my two bits in parenthesis as we go along.

Thursday, February 23, 2012
6:30 am: Left the house.  G-man called as we were leaving.  Met G-man here because he had 7:00 meeting w/ hospital board.  Got checked in.
7:05 am: In room 5.  Nurse questions about Rubella work, whether was done or not.  Dani changed into gown and belly tube.  Urine sample.
7:25 am: Jennifer the nurse.  Started IV first try.  Skin around it is very tender.  Lots of questions and paperwork.
7:40 am: Contractions 10 minutes apart.  Can't feel them.
8:00 am: Started watching ESPN and Angels & Demons.
8:30 am:  Dr. Williams broke water.  Meconium tinged water - pea soup green. 3 cm dilated. (The presence of meconium in my amniotic fluid was alarming, but it wasn't severe enough to take immediate action.  Medical staff just needed to take extra precautions to ensure nothing would harm the baby.)
9:00 am: Went for a walk until 10:00.
9:30 am: Beginning to feel a little nauseous.
10:20 am:  Contractions 6-7 minutes apart.  Napping.
11:00 am.:  Begin walking again.
11:10 am:  Dani leaked everywhere!
12:00 pm:  Quit walking - feet hurt.  Dilated to a 4.
12:15 pm:  Contractions starting to hurt.  Too much GAC.  (As in Great American Country.  The songs "All Your Life" by The Band Perry and "I Got Nothin" by Darius Rucker will always take me back to that day in the hospital =0)
1:00 pm:  Pitocin.  Really painful contractions.  4-5 minutes apart.  (They gave me the option to continue walking to keep things progressing but I was ready to get the show on the road so I asked for Pitocin.  It got things rollin' real quick- -really painful contractions is right!)
1:30 pm:  "3 kids is fine with me!"  - Dani's own words.  (He wants 3, I want 5.  In that moment, the pain definitely had me convinced that 3 was enough!)
1:40 pm:  Doubled Pitocin to 6 ml/hr.
2:00 pm:  Dilated to a 5.  Epidural Doc came.  (Hallelujah!!  I made it to 9 cm with Teryn before asking for an epidural but I was begging for one before I even reached 5 cm this time.  I swear it's because the pain was that bad, but Tyson thinks it's because I went into Teryn's birth convinced I would make it without one but I went into Ryder's birth knowing I'd get one.  There's probably validity in that.  After experiencing 9 cm of dilation with Teryn and then receiving such relief from the epidural I was 100% converted and I will never go without one again.  Anesthesiologists are the angels of the hospital in my book.)
2:15 pm:  Dilated to a 6.  100% effaced.  Has contractions about every 2 minutes.  Almost no pain.  Numb.  Gave Ephedrin to bring up blood pressure from 83/64.
3:10 pm:  Ellen Degeneres Show. 
3:45 pm:  Dani is feeling a lot of pressure during contractions, like Ryder is huge.  Feels like he is going to explode out of her sides.  Has a desire to push during contractions.  (Seriously, every time my uterus contracted it felt like he would just rip right out of it.  More than his size, I think it's because he was sprawled out and I could feel him on every side.  I really wanted to push which was a new experience.  I never felt that way with Teryn.  When it came time to push him it was more of an artificial constipation push but I could feel the real need to push Ryder.)
3:50 pm:  Ryder is down.  Jennifer is calling Dr. Williams to come deliver soon.  (Dr. Williams has clinic hours in Duchesne on Thursdays so once I reached a 6 the nurses had no reason to check me until they knew he was on his way back.  When they checked me at this point Jennifer could feel Ryder's head and immediately called for Dr. Williams to come.)
4:00 pm:  Delivered - pushed 3 times in 3 minutes.  Had a true knot in the U-cord.  Dr. Williams said we should call him "Lucky."  Had a birthing party.  5 students, 3 nurses, 1 doctor, Dani, Tyson, Ryder.  Ryder latched on well to the breast.  (Two labor nurses and the nursery nurse showed up with Dr. Williams.  They walked in and I announced, "it's a party!"  One of the nurses told me, "it can be if you want it to be.  We have 5 nursing students out there that would love to join!"  so we told them to come on in!  I pushed for 2-3 minutes, twice during one contraction then once again during the next contraction and he was here!)

Born at 3:53 pm, weighing 8 lbs 1 oz and 19 inches long.

So what's a "True Knot" in the umbilical cord?  It looks like this:

Our little man had twisted himself in and out of his cord while he was still small enough to do so.  Fortunately, his cord was long enough to allow him slack until he was delivered.  Had it been shorter he could have tugged it to the point of (obvious) problems.  Just the thought of that makes me really, really sick to my stomach.  I read more about true knots when we got home and found out that they occur in only 1 in 2,000 pregnancies.  I don't know how many of those turn out to be fatal but I'm beyond grateful that we weren't one of those statistics. 

Considering that, in addition to the meconium in the amniotic fluid, Dr. Williams said we couldn't have had more perfect timing getting him out.  "Lucky" will be a great nickname for years to come.

Lessons Learned

Over the course of the last three days- -we'll call them my "overdue days"- -I've learned two very important lessons.

#1 - Everything I say and do has something to do with my pregnancy, whether I mean it to or not.  I need to think twice about everything.
#2 - I shouldn't go anywhere without my phone.  Neglecting to answer phone calls makes my dad worry and before I know it he's at my door making sure I haven't fallen down the stairs or something.

Thanks Dad =0)

More than anything, I guess I should realize just how many people care about me and this baby.   I'm grateful for so many family and friends who love us so much.

I still haven't had any real signs of labor.  Lots of cramps and discomfort over the past couple of days but nothing consistent.  At this point we are just planning for our scheduled induction Thursday morning.  We'll take Teryn to my parents' house tomorrow night to sleep and we'll be at the hospital bright and early the next morning to get things started.  As far as my doctor is concerned, all it will take is breaking my water.  We'll soon find out!

Oh, I measured my belly last night.  I'm at 44 inches.  Just a little bit bigger than I measured with Teryn.  I'm guessing this guy weighs 8 lbs 8 oz.  Tyson's guess is 8 lbs 4 oz. 

He must really love his Grandpa G-man and Grandma Betty- -making sure they're home for his debut =0)

Only two more sleeps and he'll be here!

The Big Day

I hit 40 weeks today.  We had an appointment first thing this morning so before I went to bed last night I took the time to sit down and remind myself what was going on at this point in my pregnancy with Teryn.  I was much better at updating about my first pregnancy than I have been this time around.  Kinda kicking myself.

At 40 weeks with Teryn, I was 2.5 cm dilated and 80% effaced.  According to the ultrasound, my doctor estimated he would be 9 lbs 10 oz, give or take 3/4 of a pound.  I was measuring 41 weeks and 1 day along and everything looked great so he sent me on my way.  My water broke that night at 7:10 pm and Teryn arrived 9 hours later, weighing in at 8 lbs 2 oz.

This time, at 40 weeks I am 2 cm dilated and 75% effaced.  A little less progression, but then again the difference is minimal enough it could just be the difference in doctors perceptions?  They didn't do an ultrasound so I didn't get any information about his size, nor did they tell me how far along I'm measuring, but everything looks great so the doc sent me on my way.  Tyson and I joked about how funny it would be if my water broke tonight, just like the first time.  It's now 9:15 pm and there's still nothing goin' on though so I'm not getting my hopes up.

So we wait.  There are only 2 reasons I would (personally) want to be induced.  The first is if there were medical reasons I couldn't safely carry the baby and the second is if there was a chance my doctor wouldn't be available to deliver.  I asked if he would be available next week and the only day he won't be available is next Friday, so we got on the schedule to be induced on Thursday the 23rd to make sure he's here.  Hopefully the baby comes before then.  Doc says there's a good chance.

Until then, here I am in all my 40-week glory.

Do I look uncomfortable?  Because I am.  The discomfort really really settled in last night. 

On another note, today was also my birthday.  The big two-six.  After the appointment this morning we spent the day at Greg and Betty's house with Tyson's siblings.  Tyson made 7-layer bean dip and we baked pizza and made homemade Moose Tracks shakes for lunch. Yummy!  We watched The Dark Knight while Teryn took a nap (Heath Ledger as the Joker could possibly be my favorite movie character) and spent the afternoon at the park after he woke up.  I walked up and trotted down the park hills, trying to get something moving.  No luck (obviously).  We came home and my parents brought dinner and visited for a while. 

After everyone was gone and we were alone Tyson gave me a gift.  New perfume!  Remember my thing with perfume?  How I have this thing with having a different scent when I start a new phase in my life?  With the birth of another baby on the rise I needed something new and he chose very well.  Ed Hardy's "Villain".  It's delicious!  Thanks babe!

It's been a great day.  The only thing that could make it greater would be some sort of labor signs.  I just keep thinking, now that I'm officially 40 weeks, it could be any time! 

Hear that Ryder?  Any time now.......

39 Weeks

A few days ago I washed, folded, and put away all the laundry.  I thought it would be a good idea to have it done just in case something happened this weekend.  After it was done I realized I had probably jinxed myself for being so ready.

Yesterday was Tyson's sister Breanna's birthday and she was hoping the baby would make his debut.  I scrunched/diffused my hair with loads of gel and hairspray hoping to reverse the jinx of the laundry and make her birthday wish come true.  I would hate to go into labor with my hair scrunched.  So uncomfortable.

12:01 this morning, still no baby.  Sorry Bree!

Today marks the 39th week and we had an appointment this morning.  I'm 1 cm dilated and 75% effaced.  I've been that way for the last 3 weeks.  No contractions.  No water gushes.  Nothing.  Doc stripped my membranes so we'll see what happens.

My hair is still scrunched.

I'm not washing it until tomorrow.

Next appointment is next Saturday- -the due date.  Tyson thinks the baby will come Monday or Tuesday.  Here's to hoping he's right.

His dad is headed to Belize Monday night and won't be back until the following Wednesday.  He was in Guatemala when Teryn was born.  Now that we've moved home and the hospital is only minutes from his house he's really wishing he could be here for it all.

We'll see how much Ryder loves his grandpa ;)

The belly.  Not much different than last week, although the scale at the appointment this morning said otherwise.  More incubation just means a chubbier baby.  I'm OK with that.


Check out that awesome stretch mark.  I think it deserves a name.  I'm thinking
"San Andreas" would be fitting.

Awake & Racing

Tonight is the second night in the last week that I've awakened starving between the hours of 2:00 and 3:00 am.  The last time was understandable because I hadn't had much to eat that day, but little man must be scouring my stash tonight because I ate well yesterday.  The perfect excuse to eat a hefty slice of the delicious banana bread I made with Breanna.  Mmmmm......

Before finally deciding to get out of bed and feed my hunger, I laid there thinking about all the little things I don't want to forget about life right now.  I am so blessed and beyond happy and there are so many little things I want to remember.  Like the way:

Teryn trots around like a horse when he's excited about something.  It's extra cute when he's in his blue planet pajamas.  They accentuate his leanness and show off his chicken legs.

Teryn is mesmerized by bubbles in the bathtub.

Tyson looks in his new truck. 

Teryn understands nap time and bedtime and doesn't fight either one. 

Teryn loves to close things, put things in their places, and put garbage in the trash can.  Most times without even being asked.

Tyson chops wood and so effortlessly builds the most amazing fires.

Teryn helps daddy blow the embers to get the fire going.

Teryn runs around the house just because he can.  No more speed walking.

I can feel Ryder breathing inside me when he's in just the right position.

Teryn cuddles up to me and watches while I do my computer rounds every morning.

Teryn grooves to the music with me while we drive.  His sense of rhythm is surprising.

Tyson goes to work so early every morning without disturbing me or Teryn and comes home so happy to see us.

Teryn climbs on (more like steps on) things and waits for me to count to three before he jumps off.  Even something as low-profile as a wooden puzzle.  He thinks he is so cool when he jumps from it to the floor.

My belly waves and jumps and twitches and rolls and bulges.

Tyson so proudly plays basketball with Teryn.

Teryn says "Dada, Daaaaaaaa......Mimi, Miiiiiiiiii!"  (I don't know when I became Mimi instead of Mommy but it's the cutest thing ever.)

Teryn loves to watch me write words.  Daddy, mommy, Teryn, Ryder, kitty, doggy, cow, etc.

Teryn has the cutest words that only we can understand.  "Yiyah, yiyah!" (fire), "Yi" (bye-while waving), "Bampa" (grandpa-he bites over his bottom lip to say the b and p), "Bibiez" (baby), "Ere is" (here it is), "Uh huh" (thank you).

Teryn tries to grab his belly button and pull it out like mommy's.

Teryn puts his hands up and shrugs his shoulders like "I don't know!" and jabbers like he's making a confession.

Teryn has such a soft heart.  It can be frustrating and heartbreaking in times of attempted-discipline, but it's the sweetest thing in the world.

And there's more where that came from.  You can see that 75% of what I want to remember has to do with Teryn.  Within (hopefully) the next week it won't just be me and him hanging out every day.  He's going to have to adjust to another little man in our lives and my attention is going to be forced to split two ways.  Some days, as excited as I am to have another baby, I wish I had a little more time to focus on just Teryn.  He is at such a cute, loveable, impressionable age and we have so much fun.  I just don't want to take for granted all Teryn's adorableness when Ryder comes along.  I know this stage is going to pass all too quickly and I'm going to wish we could have it back. 

Twelve Days & Counting

Any day little man.....any day.......