So Many Things, So Little Time

Well, I cannot believe it's been 6 months since my precious little boy made his way into this world. Where has the time gone??! On one hand, it seems like it's been ages, and on the other hand, it seems like it's been only weeks.

As most of you know Paxton had a little bit of a rough start. He was born about 5 weeks early and suffered from severe reflux and a milk protein allergy. It took us quite a while to get it under control and so we spent the first 4 months of his life going back and forth to doctors, scheduled and canceled a feeding tube 3 times, and have had him on enough medicine to fill up a dump truck. Finally he is a healthy, happy boy!

We are really getting to start enjoying him now and his little personality is developing every day. He is a big source of entertainment for Grant and I and we love him to pieces.

And Paxton isn't the only thing that's kept us busy. We bought and moved into this house which was a foreclosure right before Paxton was born. Luckily, we got most all of the renovation completed before he got here. And a good thing too because in February, Grant took a new position within his company in Birmingham. Here we go again!! This will make the seventh move the Bennett family has made since it's establishment in 2001. We sold our house here and have bought another house in Trussville. We plan to move the last weekend in April.

So much has gone on in our world lately and I am thankful for it all and getting to roll with the punches and enjoy the journey of life with my new little family.

Surprise, Surprise!

Guess who arrived?! And a little over a month early!

Paxton Grant Bennett made his way into the world on Friday, October 9, 2009, at 8:14 pm. He weighed in at a whopping 5 lbs 3 oz and measured 17 inches long.

I'd been having what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions for a couple of weeks and had some regular contractions (about 10 minutes apart) one day the week before he came. I also quit feeling Mr. Paxton move quite as much as his normal, active self usually kicked and tumbled. I figured he'd just run out of room.

On Tuesday, October 6, I felt super cruddy that evening and had really begun to have a lot of swelling in my ankles, hands and face. I was incredibly uncomfortable that evening, to the point I just began crying. Grant asked me if I thought I was in labor and I told him of course not since I was only 35 weeks pregnant. The next morning I felt like I had the flu. I hurt all over and felt nauseated and was having sharp pains in my lower abdomen. I called the doc after some nudging from my secretary (Thanks Barbara!!!) and they asked me to come on in and get checked. When I got there, I was having contractions every 1-2 minutes and was dilated, effaced and in active labor. My blood pressure was very high and they were concerned that I had some preeclampsia. They gave me a shot to stop my contractions, which worked great for approximately 3 minutes when they started right back up. The doctor decided to keep me over night for observation of my blood pressure. This meant I got to pee in a bucket for 24 hours so they could test my urine. Nice.

On into the night, each time I'd get up to go to the potty, Paxton's heart rate would drop. This continued a few more times until I was put on complete bed rest at about 3 am Thursday morning. It began that he was trapped in the birth canal and even while lying completely still his little heart rate would drop. Things just kept getting worse and worse, so Friday night at 8:14 pm, I had a ceasarian and Paxton came to us tiny, but very healthy. His lungs and all his other parts were working great, so he didn't have to spend any time in the NICU. Thank God!!

We are so thankful that Paxton arrived here healthy and lively, sweet and precious and that God heard our prayers to keep him safe and sound. And we couldn't be more in love with our sweet little bundle of joy.

Womb with a View

Today was the 4D ultra sound. It was very exciting to catch a glimpse of what our little boy will look like when he arrives. He weighs approx. 3lbs, 8 oz right now and is measuring right on track according to the technician.

He has Grant's top lip for sure and a big Brindley bottom lip. He'll definitely be kissable! We also think maybe he has Grant's cleft in his chin. We can't quite tell whose nose he has because his little nose was squished up against me so it kind of had it flattened out.

He also loves his fingers. He kept putting his thumb in his mouth and his little fingers and even tried to eat his wrist a couple times. He likes to stick his tongue out a lot too. He is still a very active little boy moving continuously. I now know that it's his little booty that is sticking up on my left side that he likes to press up against me and make a nice little softball shape near my ribcage.

He even made a pouty face and looked like he was going to cry when the technician kept pressing him over trying to move him so she could get a better shot of his face. It's amazing that he already has a personality in there. It's truly miraculous what is occuring inside me!

I hope you enjoy the pics! We sure had a great time today.

Only 79 Days To Go!!

I cannot believe how quickly this has gone. It seems like yesterday I was laying on the couch trying to figure out why I was so tired and now I'm less than 80 days away from my due date and very close to meeting our little boy in person.

We have definitely decided to name the baby Paxton Grant Bennett and we can't wait to meet him! He is going to be an active little boy. He moves and kicks all the time.

Here's a belly pic. I'm 29 weeks tomorrow. Excuse the picture of myself in the mirror, I'm just home alone playing with my new camera and trying to decide when to get my pregnancy portraits done. Gotta make sure my belly is ripe! ha ha!

Tomorrow is our first baby shower. Our family and friends back home are giving us a shower on Saturday. I'm so excited and can't wait to hang out with old friends and family members.

The White House

The Bennetts now reside in the White House... or a white house anyway! ha!

Recently, Grant and I sold our house and purchased a foreclosure. It's a little white cottage just off Cobbs Ford Road (Exit 179) in Prattville. It's the cutest thing! It has a screened in front porch, a sun room off the back and hardwood floors. It wasn't in the best condition when we got it, but we got a really good deal on it and repainted, did new floors and cleaned like there was no tomorrow. It's a half mile from Publix, which I love and a half mile from Bass Pro Shops, which Grant loves! It still feels like it's in the country though... which my Dad loves. LOL.

In the mean time between homes, we lived it up like rockstars in the Hometown Suites - an extended stay hotel in Prattville. Boy was Dixie ever glad to get a new home where she didn't have to have a leash to potty!! It took about a month for all the renovations and a lot of help from our family with the cleaning and moving. We are in there now though and almost completely settled. I'm enjoying getting Paxton's room together and having the best time making up his little baby bed, hanging little clothes on little hangers and sitting in the glider with the tv on in his room getting ready for all those late night feedings!!

It's a Boy... but you already knew that.

Here are the pictures from my 19 week sonogram when we found out we are having a little boy. He's grown so much and you can really see the details of his profile - a little nose, mouth, ears and eyes. He was also very proud of the fact that he was a little boy!! That's the first thing we saw when she put the wand to my belly! LOL. Good thing we wanted to find out!

He was moving around quite a bit and didn't seem to want his face captured. He kept putting his hand up and turning his head. "No paparazzi, please!!" At that time I still couldn't feel him moving, although I could see that he was a little acrobat inside there. It wasn't long after that I began to feel his little kicks.

Grant and I were very excited to find out we were having a boy. We both kind of hoped for him. I looked over during the sonogram and Grant was grinning from ear to ear. That made me even more excited about it. It's so amazing to think you have a living thing inside you.

I am the worst blogger ever!

So it's been forever and a day since I've updated my blog. Life has been crazy lately; one thing after another. Important things first... WE ARE HAVING A LITTLE BOY!!! We are so excited. Still kicking names around, but Paxton Grant emerges as our favorite right now.

I'm 25 weeks along and still feeling really good. My belly has really popped out there and strangers now ask me when my baby is due, so there's no hiding it or keeping them guessing anymore. It's been quite the adventure watching my body change so much. There have certainly been ups and downs. It's very exciting seeing my tummy grow and knowing that I have a precious little boy in there, but it's also been a little depressing seeing the numbers go up on the scale. I know weigh more than I have ever weighed in my life. Guess I couldn't make it through the whole pregnancy and only gain 10 lbs, huh? ha!

We've sold our house to get something cheaper (aka smaller). I'm going to be spending more time at home with the baby and taking on a reduced schedule so we were looking to get something more affordable. We sold our house in Grand Oaks and purchased a house under foreclosure near the Bass Pros Shop in Prattville. During the renovations, we lived in a hotel. We are officially moved in the new house and checked out of the hotel on Sunday. Things are really starting to come together.

I promise to post some pictures of the house, my big belly, the sonograms and the baby's room in the near future. So much happening these days!!