R-2's Hospital Stay

Well, this week started out sort with him having a little bit of greenish-colored diapers; which after reading online I saw that most of the time it was a problem with him getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk, so I tried pumping in a way so separate the two and make sure he got enough of the hindmilk. It seemed to have work a little bit, but then on Tuesday he had a whole day of projectile vomiting (all three feedings in the day) and it was enough with the greenish stools to make a trip to the nearest pediatric urgent care. We were also worried because he was showing signs of having a problem with his stomach called pyloric stenosis that would require a minor surgery to correct. (This picture was taken just before the 2nd vomiting episode.)

Well, we made our way to the urgent care and saw a Dr. who also thought it sounded like pyloric stenosis and told us we better take him to Phoenix Children's Hospital and make sure that it's not. We arrived there about 7:00-7:30pm and, at the time, R-2 was having some extremely neon green and runny diarrhea and started to get sort of lethargic (or just SUPER sleepy) so that alone was enough for them to want to admit him and do some basic blood and stool tests, as well as an ultrasound to check for pyloric stenosis. It was so sad to see him go through everything he did. Randall stayed with him while he got his IV put in around 9:00pm and I went to the family waiting room and called my sister Becca for some moral support (who helped tremendously). Afterward he was taken almost immediately for the ultrasound where we were SOOOOOO fortunate to have caught a main ultrasound doctor that allowed us to get immediate results instead of having an ultrasound technician do it and have to wait for the results to be evaluated and then finally get word. He ruled out the pyloric stenosis and we were so relieved!


After that, we waited a bit and then were taken to our room that we ended up sharing with a little girl who was in for an infection with fever... so sad. This picture was him finally getting to sleep again after the whole ordeal. Randall ended up going home to get some sleep around 1:30am and I stayed with him for the night. Wednesday morning we were supposed to have some upper GI tests done, but the only test that ended up being performed on Wednesday was a urine test that they had to put a catheter in to retrieve. Again, Daddy was the one to be there for that. I still have been more emotional lately than I ever did during my pregnancy or even during puberty or periods or whatever. It's kinda interesting...














I was able to have 3 meals a day delivered to me since I was breastfeeding (pumping), which was nice so I didn't have to leave him and go to the cafeteria every time. Randall came back in the afternoon of Wednesday with more supplies from home since they said it could be another 2-3 days stay. Poor Randall... he's had to put up with a lot during the past few weeks. I know that I have, too, but he has just been so wonderful and has taken it so well. Nearing the end of our stay at the hospital this time our nerves started to unravel a bit, but that was only because I think the communication of things started to slow down between us and the hospital staff. Not like they didn't do a good job, it was usually during a shift change that information would slip through the cracks, I think. All in all, they did a good job.

On Thursday morning the last tests were performed, which actually turned out to be beneficial and that was nice because it would have really sucked if we had been there for no reason. Not like I wanted anything to be wrong or anything, I'm just glad that we will be able to give Randy some more comfort. We finally had the upper GI tests performed, which consisted of two different tests performed under x-ray. He wasn't able to eat for a few hours before the test and it was really hard to see him so hungry! The first test he was strapped down to a table and they had him drink a bottle with barium in it for the contrast on x-ray to see if his esophagus, stomach and small intestine function properly. The x-ray doctor said everything looked good. The second test was performed with that doctor as well as a speech pathologist where they had him drink different thicknesses of the barium to see if any would go down his windpipe. They started with breastmilk consistency which is the thinnest liquid and it should that he did have a little problem with it trying to go in his windpipe. The same was with the formula consistency and then there is two other consistencies called nectar and honey (honey is the thickest). He did better with the nectar and honey. So they ended up prescribing this gel that I have to add to his breastmilk bottles to make it to the 'nectar' consistency. So far today (Friday) he seems to be doing a lot better with feeding and being less hurtful and fussy! I'm so glad. So he will be on that gel for at least a month they said and that it should correct itself in time.

It's so nice to have him home and in our care exclusively again. We had a really good night and day together today. He actually slept from 1:00am to 6:00am and woke up happy as a clam and then went through today with his regular 3 hours sleep and 1-2 hours awake. During which, he fell asleep in my arms and I had his boppy pillow next to me to put him in, but literally as he was falling asleep Ween came in and stole the boppy pillow (don't worry sistas... there was a blanket over it, so I could easily clean away any hair and stuff :) ) but seriously it was so cute. I didn't get a picture, but Ween ended up laying in it just the way that a baby does! So cute. I also let it happen because he has been so nervous of the baby and it was nice to see him so close to him for once... I think it will help his psyche. Thanks to everyone's prayers and well wishes for him this week. We definitely could feel the love and are grateful to have such a caring family.

Life with R-2: Week Two

Well, this week has been a lot better for me physically and emotionally. My swelling has gone down a bit, so I'm not so uncomfortable that way, but I still have quite a ways to go to full recovery. This week with Randy, however, has been wonderful. It's so nice to be able to spend so much time with him. He's been setting his own natural schedule of roughly 2-3 hours sleep and 1-2 hours awake. Right now, we're still having troubles with breastfeeding so I have been pumping primarily and using a bottle to feed. We're still working on trying to eliminate the bottle feeding, but we'll see how that goes.


Randall still helps so much. He works full days laying tile, then comes home and helps me with Randy as much as possible. Today, Sunday, he let me sleep in until 10:00am and said I could sleep longer, but there is too much to catch up on to do that! :)

Randall also adds some fun to it all and helped R-2 sprout some nice-looking locks! We love to shower him with tons of kisses, even when he's upset or crying. He's just too cute!

I have also noticed something interesting that I didn't know was possible to pass down through genetics, but it seems like Randall and R-2 like to sleep the same way with a hand over their faces... like so...























This week we received two packages with stuff for little Randy!! One was from his sweet aunts who sent: an awesomely knitted?/crocheted? mini-blanket from Aunt Summer (I LOVE IT, perfect size, perfect color, perfect feel!) with the biggest onesie I have ever seen (will he really get that big!?) and some incredibly cute 6-12 month clothes (which he does NOT have that much of, if at all) from Aunt Valerie and Jessica! Valerie had also made him two custom onesies; there is one with hand-sewn tie (so cute!) and one with his nickname R-2 (shown here!)
My "mommy sense" is starting to kick in... I KNEW that he would ruin this onesie if I put it on him... and low and behold, no more than 45 minutes into wearing it, he EXPLODED in his diaper, for the first time, and got it all dirty. I was planning on doing a cute little photo shoot where I would set him up next to the other clothes that they sent to show the difference, but all I could manage to do, because of the 'explosion', was just this picture, but you get the idea!And, as you can see, I had just given him a bath, too, so I had to reclean him. *sigh* What a fun day! :) The other package was sent by Randall's Uncle Ray and Aunt Sherrie who sent some adorable socks, slippers, a hat, and an outfit! I haven't got a chance to take any pictures, but I will here soon! All in all, week two has been as wonderful as the first. We're still so ecstatic to be parents, especially to our little guy!

What Is a Baby?

R-2 has officially marked his playpen crib as 'his'. While Randall was changing him the other day, Maynard, Julie's cat, had been sleeping underneath the changing table without Randall knowing. During the diaper change, Maynard poked his head out and started emerging from his hiding place. As he did so, Randy had begun to pee and the stream went straight up into the air and in the path that Maynard was now taking from beneath the table. Poor Maynard!


As you can see from this picture, Maynard is missing quite a bit of hair from a recent hip surgery from when he somehow fractured his hip. This cat has been through a lot! But, he does seem to like Randy a lot and enjoys watching him 'do his thing'.


Ween, on the other hand, hasn't been himself lately. He mainly just slinks around the house and watches the baby with a cautious eye. I don't know if he's jealous or territorial himself, but he definitely seems starved for attention whenever I get a chance to pet him. He'll come around....

Life with R-2: Week One

We have had so much fun getting to know little R-2. He is an absolute joy and pleasure to be around. He is already very communicative on what his needs are and it makes watching after him relatively easy... at least for now!

He loves to spend time with daddy. They're already best friends. It's really awesome to see them interact together.























The first week has been hard, but not for the regular reasons. Basically, he has been an angel, but my body has experiencing some 'technical difficulties'. It started off with us realizing that he wasn't getting enough to eat and then realizing that I was producing close to no colostrum and therefore breast milk. With the help of my mom and Steve's mom, we concluded that I would pump out whatever I had in me, then supplement the rest with formula (something we wanted to completely avoid.)

Meanwhile, every day I was getting more and more swollen until by Saturday the swollenness had moved from my feet all the way up to my mid thighs and was visible in my hands and face. So, on Sunday morning we paged my OB's on call nurse and was told that we needed to go to the emergency room for the swelling.

After arriving around 10:00am I was there all day 'til around 7:30pm. I was given an abdominal ultrasound and also on my legs. Then was given a CT scan of my abdomen because my kidneys looked enlarged. Turns out there's nothing wrong with them that they can tell they're just enlarged and also the tube that leads from the kidneys to the bladder (ureter) is compressed. They said it's probably from the uterus pushing against it and that it will go away on it's own. They also prescribed me a diuretic that has not worked so far. It's supposed to be really fast acting and work like a charm, but I have yet to see any results. It's really frustrating, to say the least.

But, back to our babe, he is just so worth any discomfort I may be or have experienced. Every time I see him I am reminded how amazing life is and how much I just adore him and likewise Randall.

He loves to smile. He smiles all the time! Here's a video of a 4:00am smile session from a few nights ago.

Our New Arrival

First of all I would like to thank everyone who contributed their time, money, and support throughout my entire pregnancy and beyond. We welcomed Randall James Brooks IV on July 28th 2009 at 10:55am weighing 8 lbs 8 oz. He was born in Mesa, AZ at Banner Desert Hospital; the same hospital his daddy was born in!

After going to bed sort of disappointed that I had made it to my due date (July 27th) I woke up at 1:40am (July 28th) to what I thought was me peeing myself, but upon standing up realized that there was no way my bladder could have held all that fluid. I hobbled to the bathroom, all the while still leaking and cleaned up as best I could. I hobbled back to our room and stood there and woke Randall. I think he said something like, "Are you sure?" or something and I said, "Yeah, it's time." Randall called his mom, who lives nearly 4 hours away and she headed straight down.

We started getting everything together and before we left took this last picture (left) of the 'bump'. Contractions started lightly coming on the way to the hospital but it wasn't until 6:00am or so that they started becoming pretty painful. Since I wanted to have a natural birth they sent me ans Randall walking around the hospital to help progress it along. During which, Randall and I had lost each other when yet another 'gush' happened (luckily we were outside) and I sent him for a wheelchair. I didn't want to stand there in the puddle, so I slowly started walking in the direction he ran. Well he took a different route back and I ended up walking all the way back around to the entrance and walked around up there until 15-20 minutes later on he walks with the wheelchair... he was so sweet.

Delaine arrived in good time and was such a good help and comfort. I'm so grateful that both she and my mother were able to be there with me and lend their knowledgeable support. My dad and little sister Sushanna were also in the delivery room up until I was about 8 cm dilated but I was in such pain I just wanted to focus on each contraction that I had to send them out. My goal was to have as natural of a birth as possible and besides a pain shot in my IV around 7 cm I did it completely without any drugs and epidural. It was the most intense pain I couldn't ever even imagine.

When it came time to push, I really thought that I might not be able to make it through it. It wasn't until they put the mirror down so I could see what my extremely painful pushes
were doing that I was able to muster up enough strength to fight through it.I ended up having to get an episiotomy (ouchy), much to my disappointment. But it was so awesome to see him for the first time that it was so worth it.

We stayed at the hospital until Thursday and were very glad when we were finally able to bring our little guy home to stay. He has been such a joy to have; we are so in love!!!
(First car ride home)