The first 5/6 weeks

Brennan is almost 6 weeks old!!!  The time has flown by......here's what's been happening in the Meroney household.
Tanner is very sweet to his "dede" (baby).  He gives him kisses all of the time.  He even cries when Brennan is really upset and crying-which is not very often (YAY!!)  When I pick him up from school, the first thing he says is "dede" if the baby is not with me.  It took Tanner a few weeks to get adjusted to having a new baby in the house.  The first week while I had help from the grandmothers, Tanner basically ignored me.  That really made me sad, but it passed quickly.  Once it was just the 3 of us (since Bobby was back at work), Tanner became extremely clingy and whiny!  He was also teething and running a fever, so.......that was a tough week.  But after that week, he has been back to his little silly self!  :)  Speaking of silly self-Tanner now plays pretend and imitates almost every thing we do!  It's really cute!  His vocab is picking up and it seems as if he learns a new word everyday!  He is still doing great at school and we decided to sign him up for summer school.  It runs for the last 3 weeks in July and he will go Mon-Thurs!  They are focusing on science experiments and I think he will LOVE it!  Tanner has started to test his boundaries with us, so we have started using time-out for discipline.  Bobby and I do not believe in spanking, so hopefully time-out will continue to be effective.
Brennan is such a good baby.  He has a really easy temperament and doesn't cry much.  When he does cry, he is easily soothed!  Hooray!!!  He has been socially smiling for a week or more, but I refused to believe it at first.  Now, there's no denying it!  He gives Tanner huge smiles when they "play" on the floor!  He is starting to do a longer stretch through the night.  We moved him into his own room when he was 3 weeks old.  I sleep so much better without hearing all of his sounds.  He sleeps better when he is swaddled and thanks to my friend Jamie, he has some swaddling sacks!  He is on all formula because again with him, I did not make enough milk.  With Tanner I supplemented and nursed him for 6 months. We spent at least an hour nursing every time and then supplemented with formula.  Since I have a toddler who I need to keep a constant eye on, nursing for over an hour was not possible.  Plus, Brennan did not latch on well and ended up cracking my nipples-OUCH!  So I decided to pump until my milk ran out and go with all formula for him. He eats every 3 to 4 hours and is taking in about 5 ounces per feeding.
Oh....Need to go-Brennan's up and ready to eat!  :)

Brennan's Birthday!!!

After going to the doc's on Monday, Feb. 7th, Bobby and I decided we would choose to be induced.  At the appt, I was 4-5 centimeters dilated and the doc said I may not make it to the induction date (set for Wed. Feb. 9th at 6:30 am).  We called the grandparents and got prepared for our big day!!  My mom was coming on Tues night to stay the night and get Tanner up and to school the next day.  Bobby's parents were coming down on Wed morning.  BUT........Mr. Brennan had a mind of his own!  On Tues night around 5 ish I felt a really strong contraction (while I was on FB-go figure).  Then another one came about 20 mins later.  I was like, OK, this could really be it!!!  Then another 8 mins later.  I kept having random ones here and there until 5:45 when they started coming 6 mins. apart! I was caught by surprise, I thought they would come at 10 mins apart for a while, then slowly get closer together, but nope, 4-6 mins apart for an hour!  So I called the midwife and she asked if I was wanting an epidural.  I was like "Oh yeah!!!"  She said to come up to the hospital and she would meet us there.  Luckily, my mom got to our house at the same time as I was on the phone with the midwife and Bobby and I hauled off to the hospital.  Even though he was driving super fast, I was so scared I would not get there in time for the epidural.  (The hospital is  about 25 mins away).  Luckily, I made it in enough time for them to give me the epidural-YAY!!!!!  It only took on one side the first time, but they took it out and fixed it.  The nurse checked me after I had the epidural (around 9 at night) and said I was 9 centimeters, but that he was still sitting really high.  So we decided to just have me chill out, try to take a nap, and let them know when I feel the urge to push.    Well, my mom and Bobby both fell asleep, but I just couldn't nap.  So at 1 am on Feb. 9th, the nurse said, I guess, I'll just check you.  So she did and she said, "I see hair, get ready to push!"  Boy, was I surprised.  I woke up Bobby and my mom, started pushing at 1:05 and had him at 1:10!! It all happened so fast we didn't even have the cameras ready to take a pic of Bobby cutting the cord!  :)  There were extra nurses on hand in case I hemorrhaged again, but I did not (thank God) and they layed Brennan on me and I was smitten!  He had dark curly hair and was just so cute!  He weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces, and was 20.5 inches long.  That night I held him all night as he slept on my chest.  I couldn't really sleep, I was just so happy that he and I were both healthy!  I breastfed him immediately and many times throughout the night!  He even pooped 3 times the next day-Whoa!!!  Kas, Bobby's parents, my mom, Tanner, and the Montini's came to visit us on Wed. We requested to go home on Thurs. and were released around noon!  Then we began our life as a family of four!  The next blog will be about our first few weeks as a family, but for now, this is all I have time for!!  :)