Bros

Reese is very amused by Gus, especially his nose and mouth. Using the boppy pillow he is free to laugh all he wants at Gus without squeezing him in a death grip.

Going Home

Woo hoo it's time to bust out! Today being Sunday things did not move too fast. The pediatrician came by pretty early to clear Gus, but I had to wait for my doc to clear me. My BP has been super, almost low even, so my dose of BP drugs is cut in half.

Reese waving "hi" to Gus.

This AM Gus weighed 6 pounds 1 ounce. The pediatrician was somewhat concerned so she asked us to make an appointment for Tuesday. By discharge time he was down to 5 pounds 14 ounces--which officially puts him at 10% loss. SO...they sent us home with some formula. She wants Gus to nurse until he's done and then get a bottle of an ounce, ounce and a half of formula until he plumps up his weight. Earlier he had 1/2 an ounce of ready made Similac---gross smelling swill! Since then I think my milk is starting to come in. So we're going to wait until morning to reweigh and see if we can skip the formula. Either way we go to the Pediatrician on Tuesday and I have afollowup BP appointment with my doc the same day.

Reese kissing his little bro.

The boys playing while wait to be escorted out.

Mommy and Gus ready to go!

So we finally headed out. We went to my pharmacy sort of on the way home---closed at 6pm on Sunday. Ugh...we tried 2 more before we headed back to Silverdale --drove passed the hospital to get to the 24 hour Walgreens. Grrr.....so we were in the car forever it seemed. And Gus peed through his cute baseball suit.

Chillin' with Dad.

Finally we made it home. Gus ate and Mommy and Gus napped while Reese and Daddy watered the outdoor plants. Reese thinks Gus is hilarious. He laughed and laughed while holding Gus. Not sure if Reese thinks he looks funny or if they have an inside joke on mom and dad.

Gus' First 2 Days

Can you believe this tubby belly?

Lounging in one of Reese's preemie suits that fits perfectly---it swam on Reese for quite awhile.

Wearing his "angus cattle" suit

Getting his hearing test---he passsed!

Visiting with mommy and big bro.

Snuggling boys

brother kisses

First visitor, Mommy's friend Laura

Uncle Dylan

Uncle Travis, Amy and Poppop supervising

PoppopMimi

Grandma

Introducing...

On the way to the hospital.

Checking into our room.

Getting ready to go to the OR for anesthesia, then surgery.

And the boy is here!!

Angus Robert Benza
"GUS"
June 26, 2009
8:01AM
6 pounds 9 ounces
19 inches long
APGAR 8;9

GUS in his yoga position

Admitted AGAIN

So our last day as a family of three was essentially wasted on more monitoring. My followup NST today resulted in more heart rate decelerations, so back to the maternity ward for monitoring I went. Then at 6pm the nurse came in with a menu and said the on call doc (mine is on vacation) ordered dinner. I was a bit flabbergasted and discombobulated about what was going on--ok really I was pretty ticked off. I mean if I am having surgery this evening I can't eat and if I'm not I can certainly head home and eat there. SO the nurse says "didn't she (the oncall doc) say you'd spend the night and have surgery in the AM?" Well no because I didn't actually see or speak to a doc it's all hearsay through the nurses and medical assisstants. AND how doe sit make sense for me to hang out here and have surgery at my regularly scheduled time? I have laundry in the washer and a 2 year old to spend my last evening with! So the food came and well, I'm pregnant so obviously I can pretty much eat anytime and there it was in front of me, so I ate. Finally at 8pm they came in and said I can go home and return at 6am tomorrow. GRRR........wasted day!!!! So I have no family portrait of our last day as a family of three. So all I've got to say is my doc better be at work on time tomorrow because we are kind of sick of this taunting us with the possibility of having a baby! Hopefully we are ready to deal with having 2 boys at home!!!

Admitted

Sorry no photo, but there was some excitement today. I went in for my Tuesday NST at noon. I've been going twice a week since week 34, once a week since week 30. I sit in the lazy boy chair hooked up to the monitor that tracks the baby's heart rate and one that tracks my contractions. He has to have 2 heart rate spikes of 15 beats per minute above his baseline to "pass." So today he not only failed to do that he also had a deceleration. So they put me in a wheelchair (ridiculously embarrassing as the whole waiting room of the super busy practice gawks at me) and wheeled me over to Labor and Delivery. I got a gown and a bracelet and the whole nine yards. More monitoring commenced. The nurse had to kind of chase him around to keep him on the monitor. He had more decelerations so they ordered a BPP, bio-physical profile. This is essentially an ultrasound where they are looking for specific things---practice breaths (expansion of lungs), limb movement, amniotic fluid levels, heart rate. I did this with Reese too. Reese took about 30 minutes (in the middle of a CSI episode I'd like to point out) to pass. This baby did it in about 5 minutes while hiccuping. So they determined he was doing okay -- no explanation for the decelerations -- and healthy enough to wait until Friday.
So we essentially wasted the whole afternoon, will likely pay a huge fee for being admitted and we still got no baby!!! Very frustrating. Every Tuesday it seems is get us all excited about maybe having a baby day only to be sent home still pregnant. Luckily it's only a couple days to go. Aside from the unexplained heart rate drops he appears to be perfectly healthy--hooray!
This is what happened next.
This is the finale.

Hair Cut

Reese and Daddy got a haircut this week. Reese is back to being mostly cooperative like he was the first few times.

He got a few pieces of cut hair in his eyes. He promptly screeched "eyes!" and poked himself. So this handy face shield was supposed to help eliminate any other falling hairs, but mostly he just played with it.

Menu Plan Monday

It's baby arrival week! Woo Hoo!! Make sure you participate in the contest.

MONDAY: Spaghetti and aidell's meatballs.
TUESDAY: NST day--this has been taking about an hour and half, plus drive time so -- leftovers
WEDNESDAY: Teriyaki chicken, brown rice, veggie (I'll make extra rice for tomorrow)
THURSDAY: Fried Rice and egg rolls
FRIDAY: BABY DAY chipmunk grill
SATURDAY: Chipmunk Grill
SUNDAY: discharge day--depending on time Chipmunk Grill or pizza

Check out what other people are eating at OrgJunkie.

Benza Boy Baby #2 Contest

So it seems in the bloggy world everyone is giving away a prize to the best guesser of the new baby's stats. The best guesser of BBB2 will get a gift card to the movies!!
The date will be June 26. My surgery is scheduled for 8am. Reese was scheduled for 9am or 9:30, but ended up at 10:26am though, so you can't really tell.
What you need to guess is:
NAME
TIME
WEIGHT
LENGTH
Whoever comes closest to being 100% accurate will win the prize. So leave your guess in the comments.

*******UPDATE: Maybe I should've mentioned the name WILL be one of the finalists on our list: Sawyer, Angus, Simon. Since we haven't chosen yet I will try to wait to look at guesses so we aren't influenced in our choice.
Someone named anonymous guessed, but I don't know who you are if you win.

Fence

Woo hoo we're making some visible progress with the fence! Almost all the panels are up. All that's left really is the driveway double door gate and then the regular people gate on each side of the house and I think just one panel. Now we need to weed and feed our grass and do something about the crappy looking patio. At least we'll be able to leave Reese's soccer net and climber outside.

37 weeks

This is what Reese looked like at 37 weeks. By this time he had moved to Harrison's nursery to "feed and grow." See no feeding tube! He was eating all his food from a bottle on this day.

And this is what Benza Boy Baby #2 looks like:
It totally looks like he's shrunk since the massive 35 week photo. Of course he didn't shrink, but he has tapered off. I am 37 weeks today and he is measuring 37 weeks. In previous weeks he was measuring a little bigger than his actual age. Even still he is a buffalo compared to Reese.
The name game is still in play. This name choosing is hard work. We cut Miles from the list a little while back leaving us with Sawyer (no nickname) or Angus (Gus for short). Both of which I like, but both of which I worry could be names maybe I won't like as much forever...I'd prefer not to regret our choice you know? Then we watched Run, Fat Boy, Run with Simon Pegg (you know: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Ice Age 3) and Kyle says "Hey Simon is a cool name I like that. Let's add it to the list" Mind you this was my number one pick back in October and Kyle was vehemently opposed. Not just mildly against, but hated it. So now it's back in the mix. My husband is a fickle thing. We have 7 days to figure it out. I wonder if you MUST decide before leaving the hospital?

To Shower or Not To Shower

This is what Reese looked like the day after his baby shower. We held it on the originally planned day it just turned out he was 43 days old by then! Believe it or not this is a preemie sized onesie that is swallowing him. He still has his feeding tube in and a scratch on his chin.
So we've been debating the etiquette for having another shower since it's a boy again and only slightly more than 2 years have passed. My mom threw quite a large shower last time and thought it may be tacky to host again. I thought it may be tacky to have a shower period again. But it is decided as there is no host there is no shower. However, several people have asked me when my shower would be and acted like of course there should be another shower. SO.....we went ahead and registered at amazon.com wishlists and Target.com baby registry both under Heather Benza. If you think a 2nd shower is tacky--perfect we're not having one. If you think that's absurd and want to get a gift---perfect there are some suggestions. Once I'm allowed to drive myself again I would love to meet for lunch or coffee and show off the new boy!

Surprise Delivery?

Well, we thought we may get a baby earlier than planned. Yesterday my BP spiked and at my NST I had a lot of contractions and the boy took a LONG time to perform his tasks. So they sent me home with a 12 hour urine collection and doubled my dose atenolol (my beta blocker). When I dropped my urine jug off this am my OB's assistant said yesterday (NST day) he had her shuffle all his appointments and put us on the surgery schedule. WOWZER! But then he spoke with my perinatologist who said wait for the urine results to see if my protein is high and if it's not try to hold off. Bummer. So of course we have been anxiously awaiting the phone call--with my bag packed and an overnighter for Reese ready to go and Kyle itching to call into work and start his leave. Of course my protein is below the 300 cut off at 273, so.....she's waiting to talk to my OB about "the plan" since really protein over 300 would be the go ahead and we're not quite that high it's kind of a subjective call to make. My OB goes on vacation Saturday (he'll be back to do my c section next Friday) but I think he was quicker to say let's do it this week so I don't end up with a problem next Tuesday at NST for one of his partners to make the call on. And I am not all that hot with the idea of some random doc making the call for me. We were all set for Friday the 26th but the prospect of having a baby this week kind of jazzed us up a bit, so of course now we are anxiously awaiting news that "the plan" includes delivery tomorrow. It's quite the letdown once your hopes are up. I guess this is how it feels to go in to labor and delivery thinking labor has started only to be sent home with a braxton-hicks diagnosis. UGH!

UPDATE: I got the call this evening. Previously my proteins were 408, so the atenolol is obviously working to bring it down to 273. Doubling the dose should definitely prevent any blood pressure spikes so we are waiting until June 26 as previously planned. Which is probably better anyway. My doc goes on vacation Saturday-Thursday and I am the first thing on his calendar on his first day back, so he should nice and refreshed and raring to go. I met with the anesthesiologist tonight who answered all my questions. So I feel pretty good about that aspect now. But man it sure would've been nice to have a baby tomorrow!!!

Birthdy Bash and Baseball

Reese had a birthday party on Sunday for my friend's 2 daughters. One wanted Luau (6 year olds) and one wanted Handy Manny (3 year olds). Since we don't watch tv except Sesame Street we don't know who Handy Manny is, so we went with the big kid Luau theme. Note Reese's stylin' Aloha shirt.
He was supposed to make a hand print and then decorate it with doodads and fill it with plaster of paris, but he wasn't into the hand print part. So we only got finger jabs a la grabbing a fist of dirt. He did enjoy the decorating part though:

He also really liked the Pinata--chili pepper because I think Handy Manny speaks Spanish.
Daddy is helping him take a whack.......which was great practice for the new tee. He thinks it's a lot of fun.

Though he does enjoy hitting it like a caveman club instead of swinging like a bat. During our practice session he learned two new words: tee and bat.#1 Draft Pick 2029?

36 Weeks

So after the crazy giant photo last week the baby dropped and now I don't feel nearly as huge anymore! It's pretty weird. This last week I had my Tuesday NST and Friday NST. I found out I misunderstood how the test worked. I thought his heart rate had to spike 15 beats with each movement, but it's really only at least twice during the test. I'm not sure why I even have to use the clicker to note movements. Anyway he is taking the full hour to get his spikes in now, but he is still getting it done, so we are on track for our 6/26 appointment with the OR. Now that I've dropped I'm really hoping there is a better chance I'll go into labor before then and avoid the c section all together.
I can't believe we only have 2 weeks to go!

Welcome Baby

Ha ha fooled you--not ours. My "bloggy" friend, Jessie Leigh, has a blog about her 24 week preemie that I read. We've had a pretty similar timeline with our post preemie pregnancy. In fact we originally had a due date only a couple days apart, but it turns out she was a little farther than me. Her new baby arrived Friday and is introduced here! Congratulations to JessieLeigh on making to full term this time around!!

Plum Tree

My friend, Julie, that brings the plums to our canning sessions is moving BEFORE canning time, so I had to by a plum tree. I can't live without my plum jelly!

I figured fruit trees are probably big bucks, but I headed over to Bremerton City Nursery just to see. Well they were very helpful and they had ONE self fertilizing (usually you need 2 trees) dwarf plum left for only $30!!! Even better--I kept my sales tax dollars in my own city--gotta do what we can to help pay for that money pit tunnel they built, don't ya know.


On our last trip Target Daddy picked up some gardening tools for Reese in hopes of thwarting the theft of his own. Reese REALLY like to play in the dirt with his rake and shovel. He was very helpful filling the hole back up with soil, though he also likes to take it back out and move it to the grass or an empty pot.
Here is our plum tree, anxiously awaiting fruit next summer!

Yard Work

We and I use this word loosley have been doing lots of weekend yardwork. Reese enjoys trying to rake.

He spends a lot of time watching Daddy too.

Hard work deserves a hydration break!

Manning the hose is great fun.

No aversion to dirt here.

My veggie garden is finally in and we severely limited the number of plants this year as the zucchini totally overpowered one end and the tomatoes the other last year. SO...I put in only 4 zucchini plants, 4 beefsteak tomatoes, 4 cherry tomatoes, 4 pole beans and 7 bell pepper plants. We'll put up some twine "lattice" for the beans tomorrow.

Can you see the dirt on his tooth? Yum!

Reese was so excited to help he was a little rough with the plants--hopefully they survive. I'm a little afraid that the limited # plants will be a mistake and result in a poor yield this year.