Special visit!

Last week, we were excited to introduce little Ben to 2 very important people: his Gi Gi and his Nana! Mrs. Susan and Nana came for a few days from South Carolina and boy was it a treat. Owen spent lots of time with them at the guest suite at Grande View while Benjamin and I worked on nursing and napping. We're hoping to make it to South Carolina soon to show Ben off to the whole family, but in the meantime, here are a couple of pictures from Gi Gi and Nana's visit:

Gi Gi holding Ben for the first time

Nana meets her second great-grandson!

Four generations!

The name game

Soon after finding out we were pregnant, Richie and I started casually tossing around baby names, as most expectant parents do. I felt very certain that we would be having a boy, but we batted around girl names too just in case. I was surprised that we quickly agreed on a girl name. A boy name, however, did not come as easily. Over the course of my pregnancy, we tested out a few names but never decided 100% on anything. Then the baby was born and we were faced with a 5 day deadline to pick something for his birth certificate...pressure! The night before we were discharged from the hospital, we took some time to really think about our new baby and what his name should be.

We decided on Benjamin Branum, which honors special people on both sides of our family. Benjamin comes from my dad's father (my Granddaddy Griffin) and from my Uncle Bennie (my mother's brother), with whom I share a birthday. Branum is Jeremy's middle name and it is Richie's grandmother Lila Mae's maiden name (Mr. Richard's mother). We also found out after we named him that Mr. Richard has recently found 4 Benjamin Branums in the family tree dating back to the 1700's. Benjamin has been such a blessing, and we both agree that his name just fits him perfectly, although the name he hears most often around our house is "my baby brudder" from his very proud big brother...

A family of four!

Monday, June 28, 2010 at 6:17 p.m., we welcomed Benjamin Branum Lister into the world! Here's how it happened:

My mother got to Nashville on Saturday, the 26th. Sunday evening I debated whether or not I should go to work on Monday. I was feeling pretty exhausted, and the idea of going to work just didn't get me terribly excited. So I decided to stay home on Monday and see if anything interesting would happen. My mom and I spent the day doing a little running around town. We enjoyed a nice leisurely lunch before heading home to rest for the afternoon. I wrote some Thank You notes and then got on the bed to check my email and browse around online. All of a sudden at 2:45, I felt the tell-tale gush of my water breaking. I excitedly informed my mom and then texted Richie, who was at work. He called almost immediately and said he would be coming straight home so that we could go to the hospital. I thought that was a little premature, as I wasn't even having contractions at that point. But he felt very strongly that he needed to come home, and it is a good thing he did!

By the time Richie got home, I was definitely feeling things moving along. I had a couple of contractions 8 minutes apart. Then suddenly they were 5 minutes apart. We finished up packing our hospital bag and headed out the door. We got to the hospital and were shown to a room (a big, beautiful labor tub birthing suite!). The nurses started the external monitor, which measures contractions and the baby's heartrate. They were required to monitor me for 20 minutes before I could get out of the bed. The nurses also put in a hep lock because I tested positive for Group B Strep and had to have IV antibiotics. A quick cervical exam revealed that just an hour after my water broke, I was at 6 cm dilated! After the hep lock was in and the 20 minutes of monitoring were up, I got into the shower. The hot water on my back definitely helped me relax, but the contractions were coming hard and fast. I moved to the labor tub, which felt wonderful. I stayed on my knees for a couple of contractions, but during the first few minutes in the tub I told Richie that I already felt like I needed to push. Luckily my amazing midwife Linda came in to check me and discovered that I was 10 cm dilated and ready for delivery!

Richie and Linda helped me out of the tub and we moved back to the hospital bed. Linda helped me get into the position that would help me deliver with the least chance of tearing and then the pushing began. Linda encouraged me to listen to my body and push when I felt the need. I was timid about pushing at first, and Linda coached me until I was effectively moving the baby down, down, down. At one point the baby's heart rate dropped down and she instructed me to stop pushing to let him recover. She then directed me when to push hard and when to push gently. After about 17 minutes of pushing, our beautiful son was born! He had the cord wrapped once around his neck, so he was a bit blue at first, but he cried right away and quickly turned pink. I am proud and humbled to say that, thanks to the support and guidance of my husband and my midwife, I was able to have the natural birth that I was dreaming of. It was painful and almost overwhelming at times, but it was one of the most powerful, beautiful experiences of my life. It has given me new confidence as a woman and as a mother. I could not be any prouder of my sweet son and the amazing entrance he made into this world.

Below are just a few pictures of Benjamin's arrival...

Taken by Gi Gi on 6/26...two days before Benjamin was born

Soon after arriving at the hospital...trying to breathe through a contraction

My blue baby and my bikini top (from the labor tub). What a surreal moment!

Very happy mommy and daddy at the end of a long and emotional day

Benjamin Branum Lister

6/28/2010

6:17 p.m.

8 lbs 9 oz

21.25" tall

An unexpected turn of events...

Last Saturday was rolling along very nicely. Owen and I were hanging out in the living room. I updated our blog (finally). We ate waffles and played dress-up. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Owen frantically cried out, "I swallowed a battery!" Panic ensues. A very small button battery had popped out of his blinking reindeer nose (seen below on top of his head--he wanted it to look like a little red hat). For whatever reason, Owen just stuck the battery right in his mouth and proceeded to accidentally swallow it. Richie and I consulted Owen's pediatrician and Googled "watch battery ingestion" to get a little guidance. Both sources instructed us to proceed immediately to the emergency room. And so we did...


We got checked into Vanderbilt Children's Hospital and settled in for what would turn out to be 4 hours of E.R. fun. Owen had an X-Ray, which revealed that the battery had made it through his esophagus and was resting comfortably in his stomach. This was great news...although it meant that we were put on what we have nicknamed Poop Patrol. Basically, we (Richie) have been monitoring all of Owen's movements since last Saturday to see if the battery comes back out. A follow-up X-Ray on Tuesday confirmed that the battery was slowly but surely making its way through his system. But don't worry...Owen doesn't seem to mind any of this at all. See....

Hey, this hospital is pretty swell!

Spring wrap-up

What a whirlwind the last few months have been! My nesting instinct kicked in hard and heavy, so I have spent every bit of energy I can muster on cleaning, organizing, painting, cooking, researching, and just generally preparing for our little guy, who is due to arrive sometime within the next couple of weeks. This pregnancy has just flown by! Just thought I'd share a few photos of our last few months:

Owen made a Q with his ketchup at lunch one day...he was quite proud. March 2010

Flying kites and laughing it up with Dylan at the park. March 2010

Gran, Pop, and Mimi came to visit for Easter. Think someone might be a little spoiled? April 2010

Mad Scientist at the Adventure Science Center, May 2010

My sweet boy on Mother's Day...he made me a card and got me a new summer robe. Perfect!

It's hard to believe that soon we will be joined by a new little life and Owen will be a big brother. Can't wait to see what life has in store for us as a family of four!

Inevitable

We've had a first around here, and not the kind of first we're terribly excited about...

Owen had to get stitches last week!

His preschool called to say that he was playing on the "hopper" and hit his chin on the handlebar. Richie called on his way to pick him up; tears ensued (me, not him). We decided that it would be best to just go ahead and have him examined by our awesome pediatrician, just in case he needed stitches. A short while later, Richie sent me a text saying "Gonna need 4 stitches." And then....nothing. I expected to hear back from him saying, "It's over, we're headed home!" But nope. Almost an hour passed and I started to panic. Apparently, I wasn't the only one. According to Richie, it took approximately 5 people to hold Owen down so that the doctor could stitch him up. Once the actual stitching started, he calmed down a good bit, so that was a relief to hear. Thank goodness for those numbing shots!

The stitches came out today and Owen was very brave. He even got a cool Daffy Duck bandaid, which he thought was really cool. His little chin still has a red mark where the stitches were, but it looks like it will heal very well. One day, I know 4 stitches will seem like a walk in the park, but I am hoping we can remain injury-free for a while!

What a weekend!

I spent most of last week in Memphis for my company's annual leadership conference, and boy was I excited to get home! Friday night, we got together with a few friends and went bowling, something none of us are particularly good at and not really the kind of activity I would typically bring Owen along for. He was really anxious to give it a whirl, and he did about as good as you could expect a 4 year old to do, considering we didn't use the lane bumpers! We figured out that "granny style" was his best approach...


The only problem was that by the time his ball made it down the lane, it was going so slow that it would enter the ball return without resetting the pins. On average, it took four rolls per frame on Owen's turns, which was slowing us down considerably. Since we were on a schedule (thanks to Owen's bedtime and the upcoming league reservations), after about 5 frames like this, I wound up rolling Owen's turns to get us out on time. He had a ball, though. Each time he took a turn, he would run back to us in the seating area and just laugh hysterically as he watch his ball putt down the lane. I love that he is so willing to try new things, and almost always with a very cheerful attitude!

This weekend, Mother Nature decided to give us a nice break from the frigid weather we've had lately and give us a little sneak peak of what spring has in store for us. We enjoyed 2 days for crystal blue skies and 65 degree temperatures. Owen and I spent some mommy/son time on a picnic together at Shelby Park this afternoon. Although he was more interested in playing with sticks than actually eating, it was so nice to spend some sweet time with my #1 son on such a beautiful day.

Of course, we knew this was too good to last...as I write this, I am listening to a steady rain shower outside, and temperatures are expected to dip back down this week. But we sure did enjoy it while it lasted!