Our Favorite Moments

  This week's favorite moments are as follows:

Mom's favorites:

*  Reed is big enough to be in the Baby Bjorn and Moby Wrap!  This will (hopefully) mean that we can be a bit more mobile without using the car seat/stroller for walks.  

*  Yesterday (10.22), Reed used his cooing voice twice during tummy time!  I was talking to him and he made a few cooing sounds back to me!  I was so happy to hear his little voice!

*  Reed and Dad let me sleep from 5am-9:30am this morning!  It was FAB!

*  Reed moved out of preemie diapers last Sunday! He is a such a big boy wearing his newborn diapers! :)

*  Reed and I became sustaining members to MPR and they mentioned our names on air!  

Dad's favorites:

*  During tummy time today, Reed was able to lift his head and support weight on his hands while holding his chest up.  One time, he held himself upright so well that he accidentally rolled over! 

*  I bought Reed an Adrian Peterson Jersey!  Reed cried a lot when the Vikings lost. (See picture below....Sarah wasn't being very sympathetic to Reed's feelings!  She is a typical Bear's fan...)

*  Sarah and I were able to go out on Thursday night for dinner while Nana Val watched Reed.  It was great to be out together for a while.

*  Reed is loving his baby swing! 


Reed's favorites:

*  I got to spend my days cuddling with mom, eating whenever I wanted, and taking an occasional nap!

*  I spent my evenings cuddling with dad, eating whenever I wanted, and taking an occasional nap! 

*  My Uncle Beau came over for Monday night football!  I got to hang out with him and my dad for guys night and it was great (except when my mom crashed the party to feed me)!!!

*  I spent a few days with my best buddies Trajan, Rees and Gracie!  On Friday, my mom brought me to Koni's house (Koni is Gracie and Rees' mom) so I could meet Mary (my childcare provider)!  I got to spend a few hours with Mary, Trajan, and Rees while my mom spent time with her friends Koni, Danette, and my friend Gracie.  We got to go to their house again on Saturday as they hosted a party for me.  I got to meet a bunch of my mom's friends and they gave me really great gifts...but the best part of the day was when Gracie and Rees held me!  Photos will be posted soon!!!


**** Photo Disclaimer:  Sorry for the blurry photos...our computer is "in the shop" right now and are only able to upload photos via email on our phones.  I will try to repost the photos AND add a photo slideshow when our computer returns! 

We hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Sarah, Bennie, and Reed

Babies are... exhausting!

Our sweet Mr. Reed has decided over the past week and a half that he wasn't going to sleep much (or at all) during the day.  Since Thursday, October 6th, Reed has done nothing during the day except eat, eat, eat, eat take a random cat nap (20min or less), and then eat, eat, eat, eat again.  It has been exhausting for me...and I feel like I've tried everything to get him to sleep! Walking around, holding him upright, bouncing, music, singing, etc nothing worked! I tried to occupy him with stroller rides, tummy time, music, talking with him, trying to nap with him and STILL no luck!  At one point late yesterday afternoon, I'd had enough.  I was physically exhausted from a long night and the day of feeding Reed for what seemed like six hrs straight.   I put Reed in his little lounger seat, hoping that he would doze. No luck with the sleeping, BUT, he did turn to me and stared straight at me (sitting 5 feet away) for a solid 10 minutes.  It was almost like his eyes were saying "Ummm, Mom.....why aren't you feeding me right now???"  I just sat back and laughed at the little dude! 

After talking with my mom and a few friends, I received a few new ideas for what I was calling "Operation: Get Reed to Sleep."  I just needed to decide which strategy to try first.  Now that Reed is finally over 7lbs, we are able to use the Baby Bjorn...so, that jumped to the top of my list of things to try.

Today, I am so happy to announce that Reed slept for a straight 1hr 30 min!!!  Even though, I "technically" didn't put him down, he was content to sleep while suspended in the Baby Bjorn.  WOOOHOO!!!  I was so excited to have a little "free" time!  After he fell asleep, Reed and I quickly scrambled into the kitchen and I started a baking frenzy!  I made a Blackberry Cobbler AND Chocolate Chip Cookies all while Reed slept contentedly next to my chest!  Talk about WELL-overdo therapy for me!

After the baking party was over, I fed Reed and he promptly feel back asleep in his little lounging chair.  Here is a picture of the little guy FINALLY taking a nap! 

Today, was pure BLISS! 

Happy Napping!

-Sarah and Reed

We are home!

Whew!!  We are home, adjusting to life with Reed, and TRYING to sleep when we can!  It has been a crazy 6 weeks!  We were able to go home from the ISCN (Intermediate Special Care Nursery) on Friday, September 23rd.  It was exactly four weeks after Reed was born (his age was 37 5/7 weeks).  When the Nurse Practitioner told us that we would be going home, Bennie and I were slightly shocked (originally expecting to go home on Saturday or Sunday), nervous, but mostly, extremely excited to embark on new adventures with Reed and to show him the world beyond his hospital room!

While in the hospital, Reed was cared for by an AMAZING nursing staff.  We really liked (almost) all his nurses!  One of our favorite nurses was Angie...she was the nurse who took care of Reed when he was first admitted to the ISCN (directly after birth).  She also cared for him a few times every week.  Angie was very helpful to us and always seemed to know exactly what we needed...whether it was information regarding Reed's health care needs, helping me with breast feeding, or just chatting with us for a few minutes to help keep our mind off the stress of the hospitalization, Angie did it all! :)  She was willing to listen to our concerns and was there to share our tears of happiness.  We couldn't have asked for a better nurse or overall hospitalization.

Here is a picture of Reed and Angie during her last shift with us...

In order to leave the hospital, Reed needed to tolerate a variety of tests with stabilized vital signs.  One test was a 90 minute car seat trial.  He was strapped into the seat and had to show us that he could maintain his respirations, heart rate, and oxygen saturation within healthy parameters for a full 90 minutes.  Since this was the first time his little body sat in this position, he was a bit uncomfortable at first, but quickly adjusted and passed the test!

Here is a picture of Reed chilling during the car seat trial.

We were ready to head home!!! Notice Reed's "Jail break" outfit?!?  He got the stripes from my friend, Julie!  We all thought it was a PERFECT outfit for Reed! :)

Getting buckled into the car...




And finally..... HOME!