Time Flies When You're Raising a Baby

The past few months have flown by so fast. It started out slow with me saying “how can I make it by myself with Corban for two months while Aaron’s gone to recruiting school?” Followed by “I can’t believe we’ve been living in Illinois for 2 months already!”

I haven’t had time to scrapbook but each month I reflect on the things that Corban has accomplished and write it down in my phone so when i do get around to printing off my pictures and scrapbooking i'll remember the important details. So here I wanted to post some pictures of this extremely healthy and growing baby boy with some of the highlights of what he’s learned each month.

3 Months- Daddy left for recruiting school so we had a countdown going….

 *The first time to reach up and grab objects with both hands The first time he did this it was with a holey football toy. His fingers could grasp it easily and it became his favorite toy. (I used to think his arms were broke because he would never let us stretch them up in the air, he always kept them by his side…it was a constant fight to stick his hands through the arm holes of his outfits).
                While Aaron was gone, we went to visit the great grandparents and his other set of grandparents (Aaron’s parents) in East, Texas for a week. Corban slept in the car the whole trip until about 5 minutes before we made it to our destination. It was my first time to travel alone with him, but we managed quite nicely.

Corban and Great Grandma aka. Memaw

Corban and Great Grandma- aka Granny

Here's a picture of him "grunting/talking" to his Grandpa Brian

Grandma Sheila aka Nana rocking this sweet baby to sleep

At 3 months, He loves to hear his voice, he would make drawn out grunting sounds for minutes at a time. It was so sweet and music to my ears. Instead of music, when we would go to town, I would hear him in the back seat just “grunting” (ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)- **above, he was making his voice heard in the picture with his grandpa Brian.

 4 months- He FINALLY started to roll. Corban tried for a couple weeks, and I was sure that Aaron was going to miss the first time Corban rolled, but thankfully his daddy was around to witness “the first roll.”         
                At 4 months he had his first real laugh instead of just happy squeals. I’m pretty sure his daddy got the first real laugh out of him. He started to like tummy time better. And loves to stand on his chubby legs while being held up.

 He weighed 16lbs and was in the 90% for height and weight at his checkup. Right before he turned 5 months he started to make vowel sounds while “talking.” Some of his favorites were “mamamama” “dadadaaa” and my favorite random word “bludge.” I swear he said mama first even though he didn’t associate “mama” with me, he still said it first! He started trying to scoot by face planting and then moving his feet. How adorable to watch him learn. Here's a picture of him face planted and trying to move his feet...

5 months- After learning to faceplant and move his feet at the end of month 4, Corban started to scoot backwards. He ate his first real bites of baby food at the end of month 5. (Gerber Squash, 6-29-14). He can slowly scoot forward a bit. Trying to master sitting up. He is officially a traveler as we moved from Oklahoma to Illinois and spent a whole month as nomads living in hotels and having crazy schedules. He learned to hate his carseat after hours driving to IL along with long days in the car due to house-hunting. What a trooper!

6 months- Mastered sitting up. Started crawling. Started to associate “mama” with me. He will call me if he wants me. However, he calls everything [he loves] “ma-ma-maaa.” He’s a very friendly baby, makes friends in the church nursery and comes home with new skills he’s learned from other babies.- We went to church one Sunday and that afternoon he was crawling super fast). He eats baby food in the morning for breakfast and evening for dinner. Loves to squeal loudly when he gets excited. Babbles a lot. And at 6 months we finally got into a good bedtime routine- daddy has bonding in the bath every night around 7 or 7:30. Mommy or daddy dresses him and reads a bedtime story. He has a bottle at 8 and between 8/8:30 goes to sleep. He still doesn’t sleep through the night.

7 months- We had to lower the crib because he is starting to pull himself to his knees. Praise God, we FINALLY found a good pediatrician in Chicago!! He is a happy happy baby. We are so blessed to have this little light in our lives. He is starting to pull himself up at the coffee table and gets into EVERYTHING!! He’s got a mixture of teething pain and a cold with fever that we’re kind of dealing with this week, but other than that he’s healthy and happy. He crawls everywhere now and crawls fast!! He’s starting to love the game peek-a-boo. He eats oatmeal and fruit in the morning, has a fruit or veggie for LUNCH (and a bottle) and dinner is oatmeal and fruit/or veggie, with a bottle before bed.. He loves to eat, although it doesn't seem like he’s very fond of pears.

 he loves to play

That's a catch up of my growing family and all our new adventures! 

From Oklahoma...

To Illinois....

My sweet family is excited to see what God has in store for us in this new city. And look forward to seeing the many adventures we will face as Corban continues to grow and learn so quicklybefore our eyes!

Loving This Role...

Being a mom is a great adventure. No day is exactly the same. 

I've read many articles as I was preparing to meet this little one and there were many that stated how easy it was to get your baby in a routine from day one. Yeah, right! I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure babies cannot be programmed right off the bat to sleep through the night by day 2. 

Sleep. What's that?!

No, in all seriousness, I'm thankful Corban has finally gotten into the groove of sleeping one 5 hour stretch during the evenings. Sometimes it's 9-2am, sometimes it's 8-1am, or 10-3am. You get the point. I have now caught on that this little guy is a morning person. When he wakes up around the 4-6am time frames, he doesn't go straight back to sleep like his mommy would prefer. Nope, he is "Mr. Smiley", "let's play", "Mr. kick those feet and wave those arms around excitedly" for at least an hour after eating. 

As much as I am not a morning person, I can't help but smile back at that bright-eyed baby with his grin stretching from ear to ear. He brightens my day!

This morning however, mommy was extremely tired so instead of staying up after our 5am feeding, we went back to the bed. He laid next to me "kick, kick, kickin" his legs and making his cute little half-giggle noises. I'm so thankful for a happy morning baby who was content to play next to me while I dozed off and on. This is what I saw this morning...

Every day is different with this little guy. Sometimes he will be happy and voluntarily take his naps and other times he fights his naps and gets really cranky until he finally cannot stay awake any longer. We have introduced him to an activity mat that he loves to kick his feet excitedly and wave his arms around, but he hasn't quite grasped the concept of touching the toys hanging down or anything like that. He still spends his time there happily talking to his angels who make him "laugh." I put the word laugh in quotations because he hasn't quite mastered a real laugh, it's more of him sucking in his breath real big and a short squeak comes out, but you can see all over his face that the noise he makes is in fact his way of laughing for now...until he learns 

Today he was in a rather fussy mood when he got really tired, but when he wasn't tired, he was really happy. I need to work on my story telling because he loves to smile back and move his arms and legs when I tell stories and use big motions and exaggeration.  

Like i said, mommy was tired today, but here is my sweet boy taking a short nap this morning.

I don't always get things done around the house. There are times like this, earlier today, where he will not sleep unless I'm holding him. So I try to remind myself that this is my job. I am a stay at home mom. This is what I'm supposed to do. It's my duty to hold him and let him be comforted. I have to remind myself that the mess of the house can wait. After all, he will only be this small for a short while.  Thankfully he is taking another nap right now without the assistance of mommy holding him so I'm trying to scramble and straighten up the house and write this little blog. I do see him rustling about across the room....nap time must be almost  over. 

I am so blessed to be a mom. It is a hard job. It is never ending. I may not get all the sleep I want, and may be left with a messy house at the end of the day, but I hope and pray that the Lord will bless the time that I spend with my baby boy and that I will realize that he is more important than a small pile of dishes stacking up  in the sink or an un-vacuumed carpet throughout the house.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3:1

4 Year Anniversary

Four years ago today I got married. It was more of an elopement, but I don't regret the way we got married one bit! I didn't realize how drastically it would change my life, but it was one of the best decisions of my life. I am so thankful to have married Aaron Henry. God has definitely blessed me and our marriage. I'm thankful for His protection when Aaron went overseas the first year of our marriage. We have had our share of ups and downs, but I'm proud to say that the struggles we have faced have just made our love and our marriage that much stronger. We have seen each other at our best and at our worst, and I'm just so grateful that when i'm being my worst, Aaron still loves me. I daily struggle to follow 1 Corinthians 13, but I hope that as Corban grows, he will see that Aaron and I cherish each other and long to raise him in a loving atmosphere.
I really look forward to many more years with this man in my life and to the new adventures that we will come across together

1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. 


Thank you Aaron for your love, for being a wonderful, caring husband and father. 

A Rocky Journey to Our Heavenly Blessing

I've decided to start back on up this blog since this year is guaranteed to bring the Henry family many new adventures. But first, let me get you caught up on how we ended 2013 and brought in this New Year. It's a long story and i want to download everything  I remember to get it off my chest, but I promise there will be pictures towards the end!

After a lovely Christmas with the family, here in Oklahoma, I got sick. At first, we thought it was just a cold since I was coughing and feeling stuffy. I tried over the counter meds and couldn't breathe well enough to even dream of getting any sleep, but the coughing started making my stomach get sharp pains and since i was 8 months pregnant I decided to go to the doctor before it got worse.
Here's a picture of me 8 months pregnant. The last picture I took while pregnant, the first day I was sick and just spending my day resting.

 Well, the doctor basically said there was nothing he could do, and prescribed me more over the counter meds....to which I was less than thrilled. I decided since he is a doctor I would at least try it for one day. Well, the next afternoon there was no change, and I was getting worse. I went and turned on the shower to get the steam going to help me breathe, but then noticed I hadn't felt the baby move...I tried to get him to move by pushing around which usually would get him to kick me back, but he didn't. It was devastating, I was so scared...I was crying so hard when I told Aaron and we got in the car and he rushed us to the hospital (which thankfully is a 2 minute drive from our house). On the way there though, as I prayed and prayed and prayed that the baby would be ok, he kicked me twice, they were not very strong, but I was relieved to at least feel him.

I got admitted to Labor and Delivery at the hospital on base because the baby's heart rate was in the 200s which is dangerously high. They diagnosed me with an Upper Respiratory Infection and gave me an IV and some medicine as they continued to monitor his heartbeat. My oxygen level started to decline with the coughing and congestion so they put me on oxygen. Two days later they were going to discharge me, but then my fever spiked and the baby's heart rate went too high again. They were talking about a c section to get him out, but continued to monitor him and hold off to see if they could get my fever and symptoms under control. They then ran more tests and found out I had a severe case of pneumonia.  Day 7 in the hospital, I was finally on a really low dose of oxygen and they were talking about discharging me the next morning. I went to the bathroom and leaned down, and when I got back to my bed I was not able to breathe even after putting oxygen back on. It was the scariest moment of my life. They put the oxygen on really high and I still felt like i couldn't breathe. So they decided to have an ambulance transport me to a hospital in Oklahoma City that would be able to take care of the baby since they had a great NICU team if he needed to come out soon and there were complications. The doctors made it seem like as soon as I got to the new hospital I would have a c section because things did not look good.

When I arrived at OU Medical Center I was placed in the ICU and monitored. I was still on oxygen but I was breathing better with it finally. The doctors and nurses started taking blood and vitals and they seemed to be less worried than the team from the base hospital. I had stabilized on the way over. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to attend to me at both hospitals and the EMTs who transported me. In the ICU they continued to monitor me and the baby and slowly tried to wean me off the oxygen. I was doing pretty well. They talked to me about my options on delivery and decided that the best option was to get the baby out soon so that he would no longer be in danger and I could then be able to take stronger doses of meds to get me well and out of danger too. The doctors said csection would be their last option when they found out I really wanted to try to go natural. We compromised. They would allow me to try a natural delivery as long as I had an epidural. They were worried that if I went through labor without any pain medicine then I would be too tired at the end to push the baby out and it would put me at a greater risk if they had to do a csection.

They induced me on the 7th, my water broke naturally on the 8th and on January 9, 2014, at 5:17 A.M. I had my precious baby boy, Corban James Henry. He was 6 pounds 1.7 oz and 19.1 inches long. (i was 38 weeks and 2 days pregnant, so he was only 2 weeks early). As soon as he came out they put him on my chest. I got to hold that gooey baby for 30 seconds before they took him aside to clean him up. Aaron snapped this picture as our sweet boy was being cleaned up.

They didn't want me to hold him without a mask and gloves, so i was prepared  to hold him longer after they cleaned him up, but things didn't go as planned. He wasn't breathing well when they were checking him out. They placed him on oxygen and took him the NICU. Aaron and I did not have time to understand why exactly they were taking him away, but the Lord provided us with a wonderful nurse who took time to explain what exactly the nicu nurses had told us in a hurry before they took Corban away.

This part was difficult. Since I was sick I was not able to go to the NICU because they did not want me to get mine or any of the other babies in there sick with my germs. Aaron was the only one who was able to go visit Corban and get me information on what was going on.
I was released from the ICU and transferred to a regular room in the maternal ward that afternoon. Aaron went to visit Corban and said that he was doing good, but had a feeding tube and they wanted to keep him longer for observation to make sure he could keep his food down because he was not eating the amount they wanted him to, and his head was in a globe so he could keep his oxygen regulated.

How devastating it is when you can't see your baby. It was hard to see pictures of him with a tube in his nose and wires all around him, and not being able to be there and have those first bonding moments with him, or just be there beside him. Aaron was amazing. When he would go up and visit Corban, he would come back and show me pictures of our precious baby.

 Aaron was going back and forth between Corban and my room to keep us company and make sure that we were healing. He got to give Corban a bath one day and kept going up to the nicu every 3 hours to feed him. What a great father!

I was finally given permission to go to the NICU two days later. It was terrifying to see such a small little baby laying there so helpless. My first visit up there I was able to hold him and got to feed him. I also got a picture of dad in action.

 They discharged me from the maternity ward on Saturday, the 11th. And the hospital provided a place for us to stay in the Ronald McDonald Newborn Village. It was a small room with a bed so that we could stay until he was discharged. We are so thankful for that room. Here is a picture of Corban under the blue lights since they were treating him for jaundice. And another picture of the room we stayed in with Aaron sleeping (much deserved, poor guy didn't get much sleep the past two weeks of hospital time and worrying over me and Corban)

Finally Corban was discharged on the 12th. We got discharged around 6pm and got home at 8. There's a picture of his going home outfit. We had an easy first night home with him, with feedings every 3 hours. I have tons of more pictures but i think i'll save those for another post.

It was a whirlwind of a journey that got us to where we are now. This sweet boy is almost a miracle baby! Without all the prayers from family and friends while I was in the hospital struggling to breathe and heal over pnemonia and the flu, we would not have made it. Honestly, I don't think Aaron and I have caught up on our sleep...and I don't think we ever will. We were not prepared to be in hospitals for so long, or have Corban home with us so early, but we were also blessed that his family and mine helped us by getting us last minute items to have, and my mom made us meals so I didn't have to worry about cooking.
I'm still healing from the flu&pnemonia and child birth, along with being a new mother and sleep deprivation, but I am so thankful that I serve a God who gives rest to the weary, because He knows I surely get weary. I'm so glad He is my Strength and my Healer. I don't know what I'd do without my faith.

Aaron and my relationship was made stronger through this rocky journey, and he was wonderful the way he took care of me and made sure the nurses and doctors were taking care of me. He even stayed on the nurses and doctors cases about getting me cleared to go see Corban in the NICU, he asked each one, each time they came in the room to check on me "when will she be cleared to go upstairs" "can he be brought into her room now" "what does she have to do to get the ok to go up" (I love that man!).

These pictures are from his first couple of days home. His newborn clothes were a bit big for him, but he's now grown into them :)

I can't believe it's been 1 month since he's been born. He is definitely growing, and I'm so glad he's healthy. He loves to kick his feet and flail his arms. He's starting to make sudden noises that sound like he's just wanting to talk and get our attention. He still sleeps most of the time (which mommy is thankful for since i'm still trying to rest and recuperate) but when he is awake he has these captivating blue eyes that follow the sound of mine and Aaron's voices and watch us as we are close to him. He hates being changed. He cries the whole time (although he's starting to get a little calmer i think, or i'm getting used to it). Daddy and I are still adjusting to being parents, but we are teaming up pretty well.

 One month old today. I didn't get any good pictures that day, only when I was feeding him. :) But look how he's grown!

Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Psalm 127:3