Weekend Recap: Wedding, Walking, & Strawberry Picking

It's Monday Eve, but I had a fabulous 3 day weekend after working 1 day last week, so I really can't complain too much.  And, I get to look forward to one of my favorite holidays this week--the 4th of July!  I would write another post on Ben's progress, but it would just be repeating over and over how awesomely well he is doing.  Surgery did not knock him down one bit!  His sleep schedule was a little messed up, but fingers crossed it is almost back on track.  Just as the doctor predicted, he is only eating in 3-4 ounces at a time, but even that is improving and he is almost  back to his pre-surgery appetite.   The video below was taken about 4 hours after surgery.  He hasn't slowed down since!

I was obviously off of work for Ben's surgery last week, but he was doing so well that I couldn't justify taking any more of my sick leave.  I worked Thursday and then took a vacation day on Friday for my good friend's wedding!  It was such a perfect ending to our week.  We were really living large because we had an OVERNIGHT baby-sitter (my mom.)

Getting ready for the wedding.

The ceremony was beautiful; you could tell that they put great thought into the planning.  As you can see below, Christine was an absolutely stunning bride.  She looked so happy and relaxed up there.  Oh, and her groom is pretty good looking himself!  (I am bummed because my pictures are not the greatest.  I must have been so nervous that Ben was going to let out one of his famous screeches that I couldn't concentrate on my pics.  For the record, he was an angel.)

Christine, I apologize for the poor quality.  I'm so annoyed with myself!  I might as well have had Ben take pics.

After the ceremony, we went to check in to the hotel and wait for Benji to be picked up.  Nana was a bit late so we had to kill some time.  What is the first thing that came to mind at 5:00 on a Friday?  Happy hour!  We hit up the hotel bar/lounge/lobby until I started feeling like a bad parent for drinking with a baby.  So, we moved the party to our room.  Ben could only crawl back and forth on the bed and bang on the large windows so many times before we were needing another drink.  Happy hour is not what it used to be.  ;)

When we finally (ok, we were not actually that late) arrived at the reception, we were instantly in awe of everything.   The Milwaukee Art Museum did not disappoint.  My few photos do not do the place justice!  It is such a gorgeous venue and you can't go wrong with the lake as the backdrop.  To top it all off, Christine has impeccable taste so everything was as classy and elegant as can be.

While I did not know a ton of people there, those I did know were some of the best people out there!   It was great to catch up with my old roomie Caitlin and her family as well as my friend Jamie who I studied in Spain with back in the day.  I should also mention nearly the entire 2003 Marquette men's basketball team was there minus D-Wade.  (Hah!)  Christine, Caitlin, and I travelled to the Final Four together in New Orleans, so of course many great memories came flooding back.  I cannot believe that was 10 years ago!  Sigh...but back to the wedding.  It was amazing.  Every last detail from the flowers to the band to the candy bar and late-night food was just perfect.  Andy and I had a blast dancing the night away.

It was almost midnight when we left and we did not realize that Summerfest was closing at this time as well right down the road.  There were oodles of people leaving the area so it took a little longer than anticipated to get back to the hotel.  On the way home I realized that I do not like staying out late these days!  I also remembered that waaaasted drunk people are annoying.  If I'm going to be up in the wee hours of the morning I prefer to be up with my little babe.  But I prefer all of us to be sleeping at this time. Despite feeling like an oldie, we had a fantastic evening.  As always, these fun nights go so quickly!  I wish I could say I slept like a baby that night, but I was up bright and early the next morning.  I missed my sweet boy so much!

Campus Town East Room 122!!                                               Beautiful wedding, weather, bride, etc. :)

On Saturday, we had big plans to go to the zoo and then to a BBQ, but unfortunately we did not do either of these things.  Andy went trap shooting in the morning (he is now obsessed) and then we had a lazy Saturday afternoon.  We did venture out to the hardware store for about 10 minutes, but Ben was totally loving his naps so I was not about to impede on those.  And since early to bed means early to rise in this house, Ben was up with the sun today.  When you start your day at 5:00am, you have plenty of time to walk to Panera for breakfast.  While Andy initially shot down my great idea, ("No way!  Do you know how far that is?!?!") he was loving it after he remembered there were some trails we could take to get there.  Ben was in heaven as well.

How cute is that fire hydrant booty?!

After a quick cat nap in the stroller, Ben woke up and was ready to go.  Between making friends (ie flirting with girls) and playing with his cup at Panera, he was a happy camper.  It was initially kind of chilly but that was probably because it was so crazy early.   It was a great way to start the morning, especially since our workout routines are lacking these days...

And last, but definitely not least, we went strawberry picking this afternoon.  Strawberries are definitely one of my favorite foods so picking them every year is a must.  (Even last summer when I was preggo and it was 9 million degrees outside.)  We went with a bunch of our friends and their kiddos and it was a total blast!

While we love our Ergo, Ben wasn't a huge fan of it while Andy picked strawberries, so I held him and we pointed to the good ones.  ;)  Benji was a fan of the loud, stinky tractor ride we got to go on though.  He was also interested in the strawberries so I made the mistake of letting him hold one.  Nice mess--oh well!

After picking more strawberries than I am sure we need, it was time to hit the road.  Although Ben was as smiley as can be with his friends around, he was also exhausted and fell asleep almost instantly on the way home.

OK, this is officially the last thing.  I cannot neglect to mention that Ben got to see yet another one of his gfs today.  Maddie (and her parents) came over for a little visit!  He of course had to show off his battle wounds and his parents had to brag about how tough he is.  I think she was impressed. ;)  They played together so nicely and I am not sure, but I think they were communicating in their own language.  Babies do not get any cuter than these two.

Blurry, but you get the point. :)

Good night, all!  Have a great week!

Post-op Day #1 = Home!

I am writing this from home and I could not be happier!  Andy and I are both relaxing in bed with our laptops, writing blog/caringbridge posts, and anticipating that we will physically not be able to keep our eyes open for too much longer.  We contemplated some vino but these posts would never get written if that was the case.

That being said, I will probably let the pictures do most of the talking tonight!

I love this picture of my boys and I forgot to add it yesterday.

Last minute snuggles with Daddy.  I think he knew something was up.  

Ben played his little heart out yesterday.  We were giving him tylenol about every 4-6 hours, but this was only because we were anticipating he would need it.  I can honestly and happily say I do not think he was having pain.  Since I had barely eaten all day, my fabulous mom brought us some Maggiano's.  Mmmmm!  Ben gave Nana a tour of his room before falling asleep in her arms.  He slept from about 6:30-9:00, had a bottle, went back to sleep until 3:30, had another bottle, and then slept until 6:00 which was prefect timing for the surgery team that was rounding.  I wish I could say that my sleep was equally awesome--too happy to sleep!  The team was pleased with how well he was doing and said that he would probably be able to be discharged later.

"Check out my view, Nana!!"

In my head I was thinking that there was absolutely no reason he was not ready for discharge.  However, we had nowhere to go but home so I didn't want to push things.  We had great RNs this time around, but at the same time, there was nothing that was being done in the hospital that we couldn't have managed at home.  (He wasn't even hooked up to a pulse ox or an IV overnight!)  But, instead of stressing, I enjoyed every minute that I was able to be with Ben.  Little guy has gotten LOTS of snuggles and naps while he is being held over the past few days.  He is just so loveable--how can you resist?!

In between naps, we had a few more visits from some awesome co-workers, went to visit some of my RN friends on another floor, and took a trip to the lobby for breakfast.  We obviously had to check out the fish tank, but oddly enough Baby Fish was not a fan!

We got the green light to go at around 11:30.  The last thing to do before leaving was to take out the IV.  I may or may not have taken it out for him the last time he had one, and maybe I should have considered taking it out today.  ;)  I didn't exactly see what happened, but all of sudden I sensed panic and looked to see blood all over the floor.   Ben was screaming and a decent amount of blood was everywhere including on Andy's clothes.  This was the only time that Ben was really upset the whole time he was in the hospital!  The poor nurse too!  I am just thankful this did not cause her 9 month pregnant self to go into labor!

The Before: He didn't mess with it the whole time!                             The After:  Poor little piggies!

We received our discharge paperwork and we were out the door!  I feel dramatic writing this because we were only there for one night, but it feels soooo good to be home!  I think Ben was happy about this too.  He crashed (in his bed) almost immediately after we got home.

Ben is so loved!  The little guy even got flowers sent to him in the shape of a doggy!  So cute!  And of course, Auntie Anna wanted in on Benji snuggles.  I cannot even count the number of people who were thinking about and praying for Ben not only this week, but always--even before he was born!

After he became reacquainted with all of his toys and ate like a champ, it was time for bed.  We read our favorite book, "A Very Special Me" and it was off to dreamland.  (This book was written by the mother of a little girl who was born with an omphalocele.  The book talks about how special "o" babies are and it brings a tear to my eye every time.)  These babies are truly special.  I am still in total amazement that we were in and out of the hospital in just over 24 hours!  Ben is my inspiration and I am infinitely blessed to be his momma!  And I am totally jealous that he sat so nicely to read with daddy but tried to eat it when I was reading.

I should probably proof this before posting but I am exhausted and I know some of you are expecting some pics.  Goodnight!

Surgery Update!

I had been trying to keep all of my documentation for Ben's omphalocele stuff on the caringbridge page, but since the site isn't letting me upload pictures, I am going to add them on here.  I am too excited about how well he is doing not to share.  :)

His surgery lasted a little over an hour this morning, and everything went perfectly!  The plan has always been to do a staged closure, and today was stage 1.  The surgeon was able to take a strip of "skin" (scar tissue) from the middle of his tummy and then the sides were pulled together.  He was able to close some of the muscle, but the final muscle closure (and belly button creation) will be in several months from now.  We've only seen his belly with the dressing still on it, but it is definitely flatter!

Trying to escape

Enough with the surgery details though, time to talk about my super tough and awesome boy!
Since super parents left the diaper bag with his toys in the car, we had to get creative with the entertainment.  After flirting with the receptionist for awhile, we luckily were able to run into TUG.  Tug is basically a robot that travels around the hospital and delivers supplies to various floors.  Andy thought it was the funniest thing when we were here when Ben was born, so it was fitting that he/she/it made an appearance this morning.   And after Tug left, the parent name tag was equally entertaining.

It was a bit of a whirlwind this morning prior to surgery.  We were able to talk with the anesthesiologist and surgeon, but as soon as we got to the pre-op holding area, they gave him his versed and off he went.  My friend's mom is an OR RN here, so she made sure that Ben got extra fabulous care.  The surgery itself lasted about an hour and a half.  One of my great friends and co-workers kept us company which helped the time go relatively quickly.

I was able to see him in the recovery room (only 1 parent could go back) and when I walked in I expected to see him sleeping in the crib.  Nope!  He was sitting on my friend's mom's lap, content, awake, and looking around.  He was definitely a little groggy and did not get as excited to see me as he usually does (or as I was expecting), but he happily cuddled right into my arms.  About 10 minutes later, we were on our way to meet daddy and head to his room.    I got a few more snuggles before he realized how cool his cage bed is and that they have all new toys here.  We couldn't get him still long enough to take a good picture, but as you can see...flat tummy!

It was probably less than an hour before he was back to his active, inquisitive, explorative self.  He was smiling, playing, pulling himself up, jumping, singing, talking, eating, etc.  I am still in shock.  I know it isn't exactly the same as a c-section, but I am pretty sure I wasn't feeling as good as Ben looks now at my 8 week post-partum check up.  These omphalocele babies are SO TOUGH!  I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by how well he is doing.  I already knew he was way braver than me.

I know it looks mean putting him in that animal cage of a crib, but for one, he is content, and two, it is the least germy place (or germs are best contained??) for him to play in his room.  And it is the safest.  There, I justified the jail cage. :)  I know Auntie Anna was/is highly concerned about this.

I am happy to report that his IV is capped, he is not attached to any cords, and he is sleeping peacefully in my arms.  (As I am typing this with one hand...)  Hoping the rest of the night goes as smoothly so that we can go home tomorrow!  I want to make sure his pain stays well controlled!

He moved to my arms after one of the PAs messed with him.  Don't mind the blankets in the crib...gasp!

I will update more soon!

Weekend Recap

Although we try and jam as much fun as possible into every weekend, we wanted to make sure that this weekend was extra awesome.  Benji has his surgery tomorrow, and the busier we were, the less time we had to stress about surgery!

Friday night, Ben had his first non-family member baby-sitter!  One of my friends/co-workers, who just so happens to be a pediatric social worker, came over with her husband to watch Ben.  Judging by the huge, opened-mouth smiles in these pictures, I think it is pretty clear that he had a blast.  Just when I thought he was starting to get sad when I leave... ;)  I am happy he did so well!

While Ben partied, Andy and I went to the residents' graduation.  It was kind of sad!  I've become good friends with some of these docs over the past 3 years, and I am sad to see them go.  It was a nice program though and it was fun to eat and drink with some of my fabulous co-workers.  Despite the fact that the dinner was at the botanical gardens, we only managed to snap this shot in front of the fire extinguisher and the dirty dishes clearer thing.   I was probably ready to get back to my babe by this point.

Saturday we went to the farmer's market and fido fest.  There were probably several hundred dogs there, so naturally, Andy was in heaven.  It was REALLY hot walking around, so we took a break in the shade and watched the dog-jumping-into-the-pool contest.  Ben was more interested in Rosco's stick.  I was more interested in Ben.

And since I can't get enough of this face...

If I smile for your picture, can I take this hat off?

Ok, here is my real smile.

My head is too sweaty to wear this any longer.

After a nice nap, we decided to cool off in the pool.  Baby Fish, or should I say, Baby Shark, LOVES the water.  He smiles the whole time he is in the pool.  He can splash the heck out of the water, but then he gets it in his eyes and he doesn't like that.  We decided not to dunk him today like Auntie Anna did the other day.  Instead, he threw a diving ring into the pool for daddy to retrieve over and over and over again.

While we had big plans of going to the strawberry festival today, the 90+ degree temperature and extreme humidity convinced us otherwise.  Instead, we hung out with our wonderful friend Maggie!  Andy and I always love to catch up with her, and although I didn't get any pictures, Ben was loving his time with her as well.  We ended up chatting for hours before meeting my mom and Uncle Joe for a late lunch.

Uncle Joe let me drink ice water from a big boy cup. 

And since frozen goodness is essentially a requirement on a hot day, we ended our afternoon festivities with some frozen yogurt and a walk to the park.   We came home and played a bit before we gave Benji his "pre-op bath," took about 100 pictures of his tummy, and packed everything up for tomorrow!  Praying that it all goes smoothly.  I am one worried momma over here. :(  Thankfully he is the toughest person I know, seriously!  Love this boy more than life itself!

9 Months (6/13/2013)

(Note to self: cell phone camera adds some nice poundage! Bottom left picture was taken with my real camera. ;) )

Dear Ben,

Happy 9 months!

GENERAL: You had your 9 month check up on the 13th and the official stats are that you weigh 15 pounds and 10 ounces and you are 27 inches.  We are so excited that you've hit the growth chart for height!  You are in the 8th percentile for height and you're almost on the chart for weight.  We are just so proud of how well you are growing.  Babies with special tummies like you usually have a really hard time growing and gaining weight, but you are doing such a great job!  We actually switched pediatricians and you're now seeing my old pediatrician! (Who, unfortunately, is moving, so we'll need to find another one.)   I am glad you got to meet him though!  He remembered Nana from nearly 30 years ago!  He said you are right on track for everything and that you are one healthy boy!  You have your first tummy surgery coming up on Monday, so momma and daddy are getting a little nervous.  Luckily, you are much tougher than we are!

Grocery shopping with Nana.

EATING: You are starting to eat more and more baby foods.  You really like yogurt!  Any and all kinds of yogurt seem to be your favorite.  You especially love the raspberry/spinach/greek yogurt combo.  (From the store, we haven't really been making baby food...)  We are trying to get better at feeding you three (food) meals a day.  You are still getting your breast milk/formula bottles, which you love.  I am not sure if I mentioned this in a previous post, but you are done with nursing.  No interest in or time for that!  (You just want to make me do lots of work pumping!  Which I do, because I know it is good for you!!)  Slowly but surely, you are starting to like the non-baby food foods such as puffs.  However, most of them end up on the floor and then in Rosco's belly.  We'll keep working on this!  You now have 2 little bottom teeth peeking through!  (We noticed them on Memorial Day.)  Aside from the drooling, which you had been doing for months, we couldn't even tell you were teething!  Such a tough little guy!

Ice cream & Ice water

SLEEP:  As I am writing this, we're coming off of 2 not so great nights of sleep.  You've been getting up around midnight and then around 4:00 and at this time, you're not wanting to sleep unless you are being held.  For the most part though, I think you are a good sleeper.  We still cannot put you to sleep awake, but after you are fully recovered from your surgery, we are going to work on this more!  You take 2-3 naps a day with your longest nap being around 2 hours in the morning.  You still tend to go down for your morning nap quite early.  I'm hoping we get back on a schedule where you're sleeping until at least 5:00!  (Although 6:00 or later would be even better!)

I guess (nana and) I take a lot of pics of you sleeping.

FINE/GROSS MOTOR:  You are such a speedy crawler!  You are pulling yourself up on everything, climbing shelves, and even crawling up stairs.  You can push your little car around while walking all by yourself.  We are going to get you one of those playpen yards because we cannot take our eyes off of you for a second!  I think we can say that you officially took your first step!  (And then fell immediately after, but I think that counts.)  You can stand for about 10 seconds at a time, and maybe a little longer if you are holding a toy in your hands.  Speaking of toys, anything and everything is a fun toy to you! :)  You love knobs, drawers, laundry baskets, the wine bottle rack, and cords.   In fact, you even have a way of finding all of the non-toy objects in a room.

Watching the guys cut the grass across the street. 

COMMUNICATION/COGNITION: You seem to babble more and more (and louder and louder) every day!  We hear a lot of "ma ma ma ma ma ma" but there are other syllables thrown in there too.  You have yet to call me "mama" though!  (No "dada" for daddy either.)  You are such an inquisitive little guy!  Exploring is your favorite thing to do.  You are also quite determined--if there is something you want, you will figure out how to get it.  (Often with cute grunting noises.)  You are starting to get some stranger anxiety and you often cry if I am out of sight.  While I love that you love your momma, it also makes me sad when you're sad.  If you hear my voice from another room, you stop what you're doing and crawl as fast as you can to find me.  It is sooooo cute.   You definitely like to be by your momma and daddy.  When you wake up in the morning, if only one of us goes to get you, you are looking around for the other.

Relaxing with Uncle Joe

FAVORITE THINGS:  I am adding a new category because there are so many things that you love!  You can't get enough of your light up/music play table, your maraca, all water bottles, real and play keys, cell phone/laptop-- you don't get those, watching Rosco, sitting in your lobster chair while we eat dinner, pulling out drawers, stacks of books, and momma's necklaces.  I am sure there are many things that I am missing at the moment, but this is what comes to mind right away.

I love you so much, Benji!  You make every day a great day! xoxo

Weekend Recap

Another weekend has come and gone too quickly, but at least this past weekend was jam-packed with FUN!  I am happy to report that Andy and I survived the half marathon!!  I honestly do not know how I did it, but I felt great the whole time.  Andy finished in 2:11:00 and I finished in 2:11:09.  (He started his end of the race sprint before I did. :) )  We ran at a steady 10 minute pace the entire race, stopping to walk for about a minute at each water stop.  The course was great--all of the hills except for 1 were in the beginning, just the way I like it.  While my 6-months-ago goal was to finish in under 2 hours, I am just proud of myself for finishing at all, especially after majorly slacking on my training program.

(Not my wheelchair in the background)                                 My bff Sarah and her hubs also ran the half.

I forgot to mention that Ben thought it would be a good idea to wake up at 3:30AM on Saturday, so Andy and I were both up with him.  Although Benji went back to sleep after a bottle, Andy and I were wide awake!  Andy made some delicious banana pancakes, which he believes are the reason we felt so great while running, and then we were off.  (After my mom came over to watch Benj, of course.)  Thankfully, the rain stopped shortly after we started running and it was beautiful weather after that!

We were exhausted after the run, but we didn't want to miss the 8th and 10th birthday party celebration for the lovely Hannah and Emily!  It was a beach themed party complete with leis and shades.  Although it looks like we are holding Ben's hands down, he actually really got into his glasses.  However, after a lot of partying, (which included crawling everywhere and finding any teeny tiny crumb he could get his little paws on) he decided to take a nap...with one ear closed so that the rest of the party-goers wouldn't disturb him. :)  Since Andy and I were struggling to not only keep our eyelids open but also to stand, we called it an early night so we would have energy for Dad's Day!

Benji was so excited for his first Father's Day that he decided he wanted to get up around 4:45.  Luckily, Ben bought Daddy some of his all-time favorite Alterra coffee to help keep him awake!

"You have to read the card first, Daddy."

"I can help."

Benji hit a home run with the gifts he picked for daddy.   However, I think his favorite gift was his "DAD" photos.  Ben was such a little model for his pics that it was hard to choose the cutest ones!

In case I didn't brag about Andy enough in the last post, I have to add how he was such a good sport to wear the following shirt.  Granted, Benji is the cutest kid around so who wouldn't want to dress like him, but still...

We spent the morning with my dad, Joe, and Anna down by the lake getting some breakfast and walking around in the BEAUTIFUL weather!  We went to lunch at Andy's parents' house and then went and got pizza and fro yo for dinner!  We even let lil Benj try some frozen yogurt and he kicked, squealed, and smiled in delight.  All in all, it was a perfect weekend with my little family.  We're hoping the weather stays warm so we can take Ben swimming before his surgery in a week from today.  EEK!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

I am beyond blessed to have such wonderful dads in my life!

Of course, I have to wish my dad, one of my few readers, a very happy father's day!  Dad, thank you for always being my biggest fan!  For my entire life, you have been the best dad a girl could ask for.    You always put your kids first and you are genuinely interested in everything we do.  From feeding the ducks at the park to shopping til I drop at the Mall of America to driving me to the airport a countless number of times, I have nothing but happy memories with you!  Thanks for being there whenever we need you. You are now an equally wonderful grandpa to Ben.  We love you so much!

As my dad celebrated his 30th father's day, Andy got to celebrate his first!  I think it is safe to say that Andy LOVES being a dad.  I knew he would be an awesome dad, but I am not sure he knew just how much he would love the job.  (Or how good he would be at it!)  

Andy, I could write a list of a million reasons why you are an amazing dad, but I am going to stick with  a few highlights, in no particular order.

• You are so willing to help.  Since Ben likes to wake up allllmost every night, I really appreciate you getting up, making his bottles, and feeding him!  I know he loves it too.  (And who could turn down snuggles from this guy?)
• I know you do not especially enjoy the medical field, but you dove in when it came to Ben's medical issues.  You learned as much as you could, asked great questions, and didn't even flinch when it came time to learn Ben's dressing changes.  You wowed the RNs in the NICU and your confidence took pressure off of me too.
• Speaking of facing your fears, thanks for always tackling the cleaning of my pump parts!  You know I totally hate strongly dislike cleaning all of those pieces, so when I go into the kitchen and see the row of plastic parts drying neatly on a paper towel, it pretty much makes my day. Thanks also for entertaining Ben while pumping. :)
• Since we are talking about cleaning, I should also mention that you are the best at it!  I know I complain a lot about dog hair, but I also know that you do your best to get rid of it.  Thank you for vacuuming nearly everyday and for using tape to get the hair off the furniture.  The germaphobe in me appreciates that Benji will eat less dog hair because of you.  :)
• Not only do you clean dog hair, but you also do a great job of cleaning the kitchen, especially after you could dinner.  Thank you for making a delicious, healthy, meal for us nearly every night.  You never make me feed bad about my lack of cooking skills.  You know I would live on pasta and fruit if it wasn't for you.  (OK, and Laffy Taffy...)  Thanks also for making baby food for Ben-- he loves it!  
• Not only are you dedicated to being healthy, but you are equally committed to being active.  Benji LOVES riding in the stroller with you when you run.  You are setting such a good example for him.  I am sure he will want to be just like you when he grows up!  (Besides, he can already crawl as fast as you run.)
• I love how excited Ben gets when you enter a room.  He can be totally content in his playing, but when he sees you, his whole face lights up and he kicks and squeals in excitement.  I equally love coming home from work and seeing how happy both of you are to see me.  :) 
• Thanks also for mastering the bedtime routine.  Some nights Ben just needs daddy snuggles before he can fall asleep (and stay asleep.) 

Well, I better stop bragging about you before someone tries to steal you.  ;)  I guess I am mixing reasons why you are a great hubby and a great daddy, but they all kind of go together.  From the bottom of our hearts, WE LOVE YOU!!!  Thanks for everything you do for us!