In Love

We got more newborn pictures back from Jenna and they.are.awesome. 

I love how she captured the new little family we've made.

These confirm to me that I absolutely picked right person to spend my life with.  

So in love with my man... and our little nugget.

Check out the rest of our session HERE

3 Weeks

Time is still flying by.  We are starting to figure out a 'schedule'... or at least a way I can get something done (besides feeding, pumping, and rocking a baby to sleep) and not feel like all my days are over before I know it.

At 3 weeks:
Braxton was sleeping 3-4 hr stretches but now wakes up starving every 2-2.5 hrs... hopefully just a growth spurt.

Is showing so much personality when he eats (well, to us).  Lots of noises, grunts, old man faces, and the crazy head shake that indicates the 'starving' mentioned above.  I'll get a video and post it... so funny!

Has his awake time between 8 and 11 pm.  Not ideal since his dad wants to go to bed at 9, but we'll work on it.

Still gets the hiccups.

Likes to be swaddled but hates when you wrap up his arms.  He likes to sleep with them up by his face.

Has outgrown his newborn clothes and is now fitting into his 0-3 mth ones.

I dressed my little man up and took a few posed newborn pictures.

Then, I took some more casual ones the other day and like these a lot better.

Funny side note... Brian experienced the first blowout yesterday.  I left to get some laundry out and came back to this.

Instead of putting more clothes on Braxton, he just swaddled back up his half naked body and continued to feed him.

Sleepy Little Guy

2 Weeks Old

I have no idea how 2 weeks have already gone by!

Exactly two weeks ago we went to bed just the two of us and when we woke up, Braxton was on his way.  Time is already flying by but we are loving this little nugget of ours.  

He sleeps 3 hour stretches at night already and gets the hiccups every day.  He sucks on his hands when he gets hungry and the only time he cries (with the exception of getting his heel pricked at the doctor) is when he runs out of patience while we are heating the bottle...and even then, its a single wail or two.

A few pictures of our first bath yesterday... he wasn't sure what was going on but I think he liked it.

He's Here!

Introducing...

Braxton Mitchell Beam

Born August 28, 2011

10:58 am

8 lb 3 oz

20 in

We are tired and adjusting... but we are pretty dang crazy about him.

Here are some highlights of his birth:

7 hours of total labor from 1st contraction to delivery

I was 6 cm dilated by the time we got to the hospital (1 hr after contractions started) and 10 cm within 2 hours.

 {the view out our window right after my epidural}

Thank God for epidurals.

I would have paid a million dollars for that thing if that's what they cost.  To go from the most horrible pain I've ever felt to feeling nothing... incredible.  I have no idea how women do this thing all natural- more power to them!

He was born 2 weeks early

(good thing...b/c he could have easily been over 9 lbs)

The first night at the hospital, the nurse noticed that he has a cleft palette.

That kind of news is a little devastating at 4 am when you've just popped out a baby.  We were pretty shook up at first but felt a lot better about it after talking to the doctor.  

We have talked to the Cleft Team at Children's Hospital in Denver and have an appointment for them to check him out in a few weeks.  His appears to just be the soft tissue at the back of his throat/roof of his mouth- the most minor of the clefts.  Since there is a 'gap' back there, he cannot create a suction and therefore can't breastfeed successfully.  I have just been pumping and we bottle feed him with a special nipple that helps 'push' the milk in his mouth.  They will do surgery somewhere between 6 and 12 months old to close up the gap and then he should be good as new!  Since they do the surgery early, he shouldn't have any issues with speech or feeding.

I think that covers the big points... here are some more pics of our little nugget!

My good friend, mentor, and favorite photographer, Jenna Walker, took some maternity photos at 36 weeks for us... here is a slideshow of those:

http://www.treeswingkids.com/slideshows/babybeam/

We also wanted her to come take pictures of the birth at the hospital.  They blocked off 3 weeks around his due date where they were on call 24/7.  When I told them I was already dilated at 37 weeks and he would probably come early- they blocked off another 2 weeks of coverage for me.  There was only 1 day, SUNDAY August 28th, from midnight until 2 pm, where they could not be there.  He was born at 10:58 am on THAT day.  (Of course)

Since they couldn't be there... Jenna was gracious enough to come up to the hospital the next day to snap a few pics of Braxton for us.  Here is the slideshow of those:

http://www.treeswingkids.com/slideshows/braxton/

They are also coming this week for more newborn photos so I'll be posting those too when we get them!