Harrison - 3 Months

Hello Harrison - you are three months old now! You smile ALL of the time and are such a happy little boy. Rarely are you upset or not content. You are like the dream child because you sleep! I say that will love because your sister never wanted to sleep. Daddy and I do not even know what to do with ourselves because we have adult time after 8PM when you and your sister have gone to bed. It scares me to death, but you are a tummy sleeper. At night I can put you down at 7ish on your belly and you will sleep until around 5AM - seriously. I want to brag about your sleeping habits to everyone, but I know what it is like to be on the opposite end when your sister never wanted to sleep. The other day during your nap you were sucking and sucking trying to find your thumb {you and Heidi both have such heavy oral fixations} and then it got quiet. I turned to look over at you and you were sucking your little thumb. It was adorable.

Your dimple gets me every time - it is so stinking cute I love it. The smiles you give are just so big and full. You have been discovering your voice more and it is so sweet. The other day daddy was making noises and you were answering him. Y'all kept going back and forth, it was so sweet.

You are wearing size 0-3, 3, and 3-6 months. Diapers are a size 2. You drool so much. I think I have only seen you spit up twice, but you drool all the time.

You have a little schedule going on which is nice. You wake up around 8AM, hang out, eat, and play. Naptime is around 10AM for a little over an hour. After your morning nap you will eat, play, and hang out, then you nap again around 1PM until about 3-4PM. You follow the same steps as usual and then around 6PM you start getting into your "I'm fussy because I want to go to sleep" stage and we put you in your pajamas {which always makes you smile} and then you eat until you go to sleep. You sleep until about 5AM, wake up to eat and then go back to sleep and then start it all over again!

Right now you are still in the pack-n-play in our room. I love having you close by. Sometimes I feel so bad that you cannot sleep in the bed with the rest of us. The way your sister sleeps that is impossible. After I lay you down I never know what position I will find you in when I come to check on you. Right now you like to scoot all around. If I lay you on your back you have the hardest time getting settled and you roll around trying to get on your belly. I think after awhile you kind of give up and lay on your side. You are content laying on your back when you are awake, just not to sleep.

You love to look at yourself. I have discovered that car trips {unless you are tired} and much more enjoyable if you have a mirror to look at yourself. When we were traveling to Atlanta the other weekend you were fussing {hungry} so I took the iPad and put in on the reverse camera mode and you instantly settled down and started smiling so big! So vain :)

I love to watch your eyes try and find us when your daddy or I speak. You also love to watch your sister. You LOVE when she wallers all over you and hugs you - it is so sweet! Harrison, you are so blessed to have a big sister like Heidi. She loves you so much and I can tell you love her too. I cannot wait to see how even more precious the two of you become as siblings.

Harrison - 2 Months

Harrison, you are now 2 months old! It has only been 2 short months, but it feels like you have been with us forever. I could not even imagine life without you here. You are such a growing boy. We had your 2 month appointment today and you weigh 12lbs 7ozs and are 23.75in long! You love to eat and you are such a good nurser. When you smile it is just the sweetest little thing ever, especially when that cute little dimple shows. As far as clothes you are wearing around 3 months most of the time. Some newborn and 0-3 month clothes are too tight, but of course it varies with brands. You are wearing size 1 diapers, but I think we will move up very soon! I find it easier to have you in a diaper that is a little big.

There is an established routine in your life and you like to stick to it. You will wake around 9AM, stay up for a little, take a nap for about an hour, wake/play/eat lunch, and then nap for a longer period of time. When you wake from your long nap you then like to play, eat, and watch your crazy sister. Around 5PM you start your crazy nursing where you want to nurse all the time until it is time for bed. You like to be in bed around 8PM, but our schedule has been so busy lately that it has been more like 10PM. During the night you wake up around 3AM, the around 6AM, and then start back over at 9AM.

{Heidi trying to make you smile}

Sleep is amazing. You sleep in your bed and your pack-n-play. I am amazed that I can put you into your bed not asleep and you will put yourself asleep. Crazy how that works :) Your sister never would put herself to sleep at all. You lift your head so strongly and you like to look all around. When people talk to you you talk right back and smile. Content is a great word to describe you right now. You kind of go with the flow of everything around. I am so thankful you do that because you will soon learn that your sister is a little high-strung {like her mama} and we need you to be laid back.

The other night I was giving you a bath and I turned you to face the mirror and you loved looking at yourself and looking at me in the mirror. You seem to like your bath time. I like to put your hair in a mohawk after your bath because I feel the need to do something with your hair. Each time I leave the house I keep thinking I need to put a bow in your hair. I have been so trained the past 3 years to not leave the house without a bow in Heidi's hair.

Harrison - 1 Month

Where has the time gone? Has it really been a month since we first met our little Harrison? It is absolutely crazy how big Harrison has gotten and how fast time has flown. Pretty soon he will be driving a car! Here are some stats that I want to make sure I remember about this first month:

• You are wearing newborn/0-3 month clothes. We love to put you in the little sleeper gowns and the little outfits with the feet. You don't seem to care which one it is as long as you have clothes on.
• Diapers are newborn, but I think it will be time to move you to the 1 size very soon.
• You are nursing only and you are such a great nurser! You must love to eat because you make the loudest noises when you are eating. I have to leave the bedroom because I do not want to wake Heidi or John.
• Lately you have been staying awake more often, but you are definitely love to sleep. Sometimes I forget you are even around because you are so content and quiet.
• Your big sister adores you and the three of us had enjoyed being home together this past month. Luckily your daddy has a great job with a normal schedule and he gets to spend a lot of cuddle time with you as well.
• You are sleeping in the room with the rest of the family, but in the pack-n-play at the foot of the bed. You sleep so well by yourself! We are working on getting your room in order and soon you will be in your big crib.
• There is rarely a time that you cry or get fussy. Most of the time it is when you need a diaper change, you are hungry, sleepy, or you want to be held. For the most part you are perfectly content wherever you are.
• We are on the go constantly with taking Heidi to her activities and you do not seem to mind much being in the car.
• At night you make a lot of grunting noises - probably gas or trying to poop most of the time.
• Heidi loves to hold you and she always makes sure that your needs are being met. 

I wish we had more pictures. Lately it is hard to get any because Heidi keeps me running around! Well, and the point and shoot camera has had an error and we have sent it off to be fixed. Hopefully we will have more pictures next month! We have a lot of activities coming up this summer so you will be a busy boy! Sometimes I still cannot believe that we have a little boy here. The past few years we have been parents to a little girl so I am learning to get used to having a little boy around. You are seriously the sweetest little baby. You love to look around and I love to see the little smiles you give. I like to pretend they are all on purpose. One funny comment {just one because there are many} was made by Heidi while you were rooting in your daddy's chest and Heidi said, "I think he's looking for a boob". Too cute :)

Our New Life

Well, we have had Mr. Harrison for a full 2 weeks now. Life is good and we are immensely blessed. Heidi is an amazing big sister and she loves to help out with Harrison. Heidi will hold him, help with his bath, help in changing his diaper, everything. If it were possible she would try and nurse him. I am not quite sure she understands exactly how it all works. There has been a major change in our household, besides the addition of a newborn. John, Harrison, and I got home on Wednesday the 3rd and Heidi asked to nurse that night. Then on Thursday afternoon when I was laying down with her for a nap {at this point my "new" milk had come in} and she asked to nurse as usual, except this time she stopped and told me that, "my boobies were yucky now because baby brother had been chewing on them". Ever since then she has not asked to nurse. Then last night {4/13} Heidi asked me "when baby brother isn't born anymore can I nurse?" I think it makes her a little sad. I know I am sad. Of course I knew the day would come when she would no longer nurse, but I am not sure if I was quite ready yet. I know - call me weird.

This morning I took Harrison back to the hospital for his out-patient hearing test because he did not pass the two in the hospital. He passed today - yay! Most likely he still had fluid in his ears when he took the first two. I was very thankful that everything went well today.

It is amazing how "easy" everything seems with a newborn. Obviously having Heidi we have a little experience under our belt so that most definitely makes everything seem a little easier. I feel less stressed and a lot less anxious. I do not find myself staring at the pack-n-play and not sleeping for fear something is going to happen. The fact that Harrison is even in the pack-n-play and not sleeping on my chest like Heidi did is amazing in itself. Heidi sleeps in the bed with us, so it is not even possible to think about having Harrison sleep in the bed with us as well. Night time is much better with Harrison, maybe because we know what to expect? He wakes up when he needs his diaper changed and that coincides with needing to eat. So, we change him and feed him, put him back in his bed and then repeat. I usually get about 2-3 consecutive hours of sleep, but that has been normal starting about 2-3 months ago. I am definitely not as tired as I was so I am thankful for that.

So far Harrison just hangs out and sleeps a lot. Heidi would not be happy unless we were holding her. If she lasted 10 minutes in the bouncer for me to shower that was considered a success. Many times when John or I were home alone with Heidi we would be anxious for the other to get home to take a shower. Harrison will hang out in the bouncer or on a pillow or in your lap - anywhere. On days Heidi has school I can actually get things around the house done. Mornings are 100% less stressful for me and I love it. Hopefully I will be able to stay at home permanently because I have a feeling that I just won't be able to go back to work this time. It was hard last time and now with being able to feel such a major difference it will be even worse.

I'm so excited that we have a little boy here. Sometimes I catch myself almost calling him Hudson which is strange, but I feel it slip off my tongue constantly. We did not have an official name for Harrison until he was born so maybe I'm just not used to it yet. The only other baby boy was Hudson and I am so used to talking about him as our little boy, but now we have another sweet little boy who is amazing as well. {by the way, if you are wondering the other names on our list - Hamilton and Hampton - those names and Harrison were the only three names we had for the longest time}.

More later - and I promise to add pictures next time :)

Harrison's Birth

Today Harrison is 11 days old! I thought I would finally start to blog about his birth and all of that fun stuff. Heidi is digging into her Easter candy and Harrison is sitting in the bouncer just chilling. I cannot believe I actually have a child that just "chills out". It is obviously too early to make that call, but so far I am enjoying it! More about life with another newborn later. For now - the birth!

It all began on Easter Sunday. We went over to my sister's house to lunch and an Easter egg hunt. Lunch was great and I enjoyed my "last meal" before the hospital starved me. The food was delicious. I was super excited that I was not missing out on Heidi hunting for eggs. I fretted for days on the possibility of not being there. After hunting we left because we had to be at the hospital around 3PM. We checked in and then waited until transport came to pick me up. I always find it so embarrassing to be picked up in a wheelchair when I am perfectly capable of walking. A couple of people made little "well, we know what she is here for" remarks while we waited in the ER. Sitting in the ER is strange. I guess I picture more of the Grey's Anatomy trauma type of stuff versus people just hanging out waiting.

Transport came and then we went to the L&D floor. John had to wait outside in the waiting area because they have to ask you questions without anyone in the room first. After I got into my beautiful hospital gown and got all settled John was able to come in to room. The beds are so uncomfortable and I was not looking forward to spending the night, especially with an IV and all the bathroom trips I had to make. It made for a restless night. Bonnie was our first nurse, but she would only be there for a short time before the shift change and then we had Brenda. Julie, our nurse from Hudson, looked in on us and assured us she was making sure we had great people our entire time. Julie is very special to John and I and she was working in a different area that night or else we might have had her :). John's parents came up that night and visited in the room for a little before they headed to sleep over at our house.

Morning came quickly and then we met our next nurse Kendra. Kendra was the one who would be there with us when our sweet baby arrived. All day the contractions were coming and they would get worse throughout the day and then they would subside. I knew inevitably what was going to happen and I was not looking forward to it. For some reason contractions increase my anxiety and with increased anxiety the contractions subside. Dr. Helmken checked in on us several times and we were pressing for time trying to get the baby here. I knew that once I got the epidural things would go a lot faster. I stayed at 1-2 cm for most of the day. When I finally decided to get the epidural, around 2:15 I went to 5cm in no time. When the doctor came in to give me the epidural I started crying automatically. I am petrified of the epidural for multiple reasons. One, and the major one, is paralysis. So, epidural in and it was a race to see which of Kendra's patients would deliver first. The other girl had her water broken and an epidural before me. I was at a 1-2 and went to a 5 while my competitor remained at an 8. I'm pretty competitive and I was determined to have Kendra by my side during this delivery.

I knew it would only be a short matter of time before it would "be time". Shortly I started to feel those pains that let me know it was time. Kendra stayed in our room and let Dr. Helmken know we were ready. Several pushes later and our little boy was born! Harrison Thomas Henninger {Harrison because we liked it and Thomas because it is John's middle name} was born at 3:44PM weighing 8 lbs 13 ozs and 19 in long. Harrison also came sunny side us which apparently is rather difficult to deliver. What can I say? I like a challenge.

John and my mom were in the room during the delivery. The nurse for Harrison let he and I hang out for a long time before they took him to do all of the measurements, tests, and such. He nursed immediately! Apparently he was hungry like his mama. Which reminds me - they have you on a liquid diet until you deliver. I was starving. The lady came to take my dinner order and it was going to be either liquid or lasagna if I delivered. More momentum to get it all done :).

Everyone was in the waiting room and John went to get Heidi so she could meet her baby brother. To say she was excited would be an understatement. Heidi could not wait to meet and hold her brother. John's parents came next and then we were moved into our other room. My parents and sister came next and then friends Lyndsey and Holly - with food! Lyndsey stayed a little longer allowing John to go home and get a shower and do a few other things. My parents took Heidi with them - it was a long day for our little goose.

It was a long day for us too, but we were so excited to have our Harrison with us - and although I was not looking forward to the recovery afterwards, I was excited that he was here and I could start to feeling better. I kid you not, I was miserable the last almost 2 months of pregnancy and to say I was ready to have my strength and energy back does not even cover it.