Enough with the madness for a while

At last report from Payton's mom, Levi is apparently feeling better but still awaiting test results. Please keep on praying! And Tiffany is still on bedrest and Salem's sitting tight. 21 weeks now! Keep on praying she holds that baby in a few more months!

I haven't updated much on my heathens lately, so I guess I should. It's 7AM and they're both asleep, Shep's left for work, and I'm lying in bed unable to go back to sleep after Thing #2's 5:30 feeding, so I guess now is as good a time as any :)

And since we've already mentioned Thing #2, we'll start with him...

Mr. Ty is growing like a weed! I've completely given up on him going to Boobtown at this point, so I still pump and he still takes his bottle. He's 3 weeks old now, and I'm going back to work at 6 weeks, so there's really no use in boobie-training him now just to switch back in less than a month anyways. Or at least that's how I'm rationalizing it to make myself feel better!

At any rate, he does great with a bottle and he's (currently) taking around 3-4 oz every 2.5-4 hours. I say currently because 2 days ago, and likely again tomorrow, it was more like 1 oz every 1 hour... We've had some tummy issues and thrush, but hopefully those will resolve and we can get on, and stay on, a normal schedule.

Our poor baby... On days when his tummy bothers him, he can burp and fart louder than any 40-year-old trucker I know. I had no idea that much noise could come out of both ends of a baby! (I also had no idea how much "stuff" could come out of both ends. He's a pooper, and he's a spitter. With great kidneys. You can't hold the child without taking away a souvenir somewhere on your shirt!)

And then there's the thrush. Poor kiddo!

Other than that, he's a happy, healthy little boy. We'd had to visit the ped his 1st week home for a jaundice check, but we avoided the bili lamps. By that weekend he was finally a pink boy... (Whoo hoo, our first pink baby!) By our 2 week check-up he was up to 7lbs 13oz, and I haven't weighed him at home yet, but I can tell he's putting on weight pretty steadily.

The PT has commented when she's out seeing Dax that Ty is already super strong for a newborn... He's lifting up off his chest some using his elbows and forearms and has decent head control for a bobblehead. How lucky we are to have two big strong boys!

On to Thing #1... Dax is doing fantastic :) He's still pulling up on everything and is now attempting to let go when he's feeling brave. We've seen him stand hands-free about 2-3 seconds before his butt hits the floor, and he's so proud of himself! Still no unassisted steps, of course, but he cruises everywhere and crab crawls all over the place with his little booty stuck high in the air. We finally put up the kiddie prison gates, so he is safely secured in the living room the majority of the day, which is not such a bad thing when you see that our living room looks like Toys R Us threw up in there. (Although the funnest toys remain the dog's chew toys. Go figure.)

As for brotherly love, last weekend Dax pulled up twice on my leg while I was holding Ty, and when Ty cried Dax laughed and patted him on the face like a puppy dog. Other than that, very little progress. The jealously kicks in the worst if Dax's nurse picks up Ty... Dax bites her and cries and grabs her arms to attempt to keep her from patting the baby. With me he's not so bad, but who am I kidding? Dax likes the nurse better than me!

As for me, I had a terrible bladder infection that kicked in pretty soon after we came home from the hospital. Got on some drugs and it finally cleared up, but for a few days there I felt pretty crappy. It didn't take very long for my soreness from my delivery and stitches to subside, and I finally last week felt that maybe all my "innards" would stay "innards," even if I sneezed. Now if I could just get my "out-ards," especially this big ole belly, to get back where it's supposed to be.

Shep and I are adjusting slowly to life with a healthy newborn. I'd say it's like learning to swim by someone throwing you off a bridge... We've had to gasp for air a few times, and it's been a struggle! We're grateful he's a healthy baby, but the sleepless nights and screaming have been hard. My mom told me once that every parent thinks about abusing their children... The difference is that some parents follow through with it, and others don't. And as I lie trying to sleep on the stairs (Yes, the stairs... Made sense at 2AM) the other night as I let Ty cry it out... again... I whispered obscenities under my breath, and thoughts popped in my mind that I hope Ty never knows about. Admittedly, he was much cuter and sweeter after I got some sleep.

And I'm betting whoever bought him on Ebay would have sent him back anyways, and it would have ruined my perfect feedback score! And throwing him out the window would have been pretty messy... (But maybe we should move the nursery to the 1st floor in case of colic, just to be on the safe side...)

Anyways, screaming baby... Hope you're all doing well, and thanks for all the continued prayers and support for us and our friends...