I just uploaded a bunch of pictures to our shutterfly site so head on over there and check them out! Some are old and some are new so make sure you look at the whole June album. Also make sure you see the video that I posted a couple of days ago.
Asher is changing everyday and today while laying on his stomach he picked up his head and turned it so that he was looking the opposite direction! It was weird to come back and find him facing a different direction from the one he was facing when I laid him down because he has not done that before.
Ethan still loves his baby brother and he especially like helping give him a bath and put lotion on him afterward. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of this but when you've got an infant in the tub and a toddler who wants to "help" it is difficult to do anything but tend to the kiddos!!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
The best case scenario (Part 2)
First, I want to apologize that I haven't written anything about Asher since we came home from the hospital.
The day after I wrote that post Asher had a terrible night. He was nursing fine before that, but on that Monday night he screamed for hours at a time and tried to nurse but just struggled to eat. We went in to the pediatrician first thing on Tuesday morning and the lactation consultant watched me nurse Asher and said that I was doing a great job. Asher at that point was continuing to lose weight and so our pediatrician and the consultant agreed that we should start supplementing with formula before and after a feeding. Basically, (she explained) little boys are often lazy nursers and because he was technically 3 weeks early that would make him even lazier. Well after supplementing for four days Asher finally was satisfied with no supplements on Saturday morning. We went back to the pediatrician that morning and he had gained weight so we officially took him off of supplements. Here is a picture of the cake I got to celebrate this milestone.
Since then we really have celebrated the best case scenario!! Last Friday I brought Asher in to the pediatrician and he had regained weight and was back up to his birth weight. Regaining their birth weight by two weeks is exactly what pediatricians look for and that is exactly what we needed to see to know that he is eating successfully. I was so happy!!
Since that visit we have been blessed with many friends bringing us meals. It has been so great not having to plan out dinners and even more of a blessing not to have to cook!! Philip's parents had stayed with Ethan while we were in the hospital with Asher and then they stayed for a week past that. When they left I have to say I was quiet nervous about how I would take care of both kiddos by myself! But so far so good. Ethan and I have survived a whole week and a half by ourselves. He has been a little more challenging, but he loves Asher and that's a relief and a blessing.
Well, I'll try to update this blog more often. I still need to write about our 10th anniversary trip and coming up next weekend Ethan will be turning three!! My mom and sister are coming up to celebrate and meet Asher for the first time too, so that will be fun.
The day after I wrote that post Asher had a terrible night. He was nursing fine before that, but on that Monday night he screamed for hours at a time and tried to nurse but just struggled to eat. We went in to the pediatrician first thing on Tuesday morning and the lactation consultant watched me nurse Asher and said that I was doing a great job. Asher at that point was continuing to lose weight and so our pediatrician and the consultant agreed that we should start supplementing with formula before and after a feeding. Basically, (she explained) little boys are often lazy nursers and because he was technically 3 weeks early that would make him even lazier. Well after supplementing for four days Asher finally was satisfied with no supplements on Saturday morning. We went back to the pediatrician that morning and he had gained weight so we officially took him off of supplements. Here is a picture of the cake I got to celebrate this milestone.
Since then we really have celebrated the best case scenario!! Last Friday I brought Asher in to the pediatrician and he had regained weight and was back up to his birth weight. Regaining their birth weight by two weeks is exactly what pediatricians look for and that is exactly what we needed to see to know that he is eating successfully. I was so happy!!
Since that visit we have been blessed with many friends bringing us meals. It has been so great not having to plan out dinners and even more of a blessing not to have to cook!! Philip's parents had stayed with Ethan while we were in the hospital with Asher and then they stayed for a week past that. When they left I have to say I was quiet nervous about how I would take care of both kiddos by myself! But so far so good. Ethan and I have survived a whole week and a half by ourselves. He has been a little more challenging, but he loves Asher and that's a relief and a blessing.
Well, I'll try to update this blog more often. I still need to write about our 10th anniversary trip and coming up next weekend Ethan will be turning three!! My mom and sister are coming up to celebrate and meet Asher for the first time too, so that will be fun.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Just one more...
A couple of days ago we used an ink pad to get a foot print and hand print of baby Asher. During the process (as you can imagine) Asher did not appreciate our pushing, pulling and smooshing of his hand and foot. As he started to cry Ethan said, "Asher doesn't like making art!"
Friday, June 11, 2010
More darndest things....
At the dinner table:
Me: You can use this spoon.
Ethan: No I can't, this is Daddy's spoon
Me: Yes, but Daddy isn't here anymore.
Ethan: Daddy?
Daddy: (who is sitting in the living room) Yes Ethan?
Ethan: Daddy is still here!
Ethan: When I run really fast my batteries go dead.
Mawmaw: That's funny. Bridgette you need to put that on Facebook.
Ethan: I need to put that on Facebook!
At least five more times at the dinner table Ethan (after saying something funny) would say, "I need to put THAT on Facebook." It was too funny!
Me: You can use this spoon.
Ethan: No I can't, this is Daddy's spoon
Me: Yes, but Daddy isn't here anymore.
Ethan: Daddy?
Daddy: (who is sitting in the living room) Yes Ethan?
Ethan: Daddy is still here!
Ethan: When I run really fast my batteries go dead.
Mawmaw: That's funny. Bridgette you need to put that on Facebook.
Ethan: I need to put that on Facebook!
At least five more times at the dinner table Ethan (after saying something funny) would say, "I need to put THAT on Facebook." It was too funny!
Kids say the darndest things!
I just wanted to record some really cute things that Ethan has said recently.
The week before Asher's birth Ethan prayed and thanked God for Dr.McPeas (Dr.McLees) who delivered Ethan and was suppose to deliver Asher. It was so sweet to see him thank God for someone who played such an intimate role in him coming to the world.
Pawpaw, "Goodnight little man."
Ethan, "I'm not a little man."
Philip, "Yes you are buddy."
Ethan, "No, I not!"
Philip, "You are a little man and when you grow up you'll be a big man."
Ethan, "No, I'm not a little man, I'm a Cajun!"
Last night as we were leaving P.F.Chang's Ethan said, "Thank you for taking me to this restaurant." It was so cute!
I'll try to get this on tape soon, but if you ever want some free entertainment put an almost three year old in front of a full length mirror!!
The week before Asher's birth Ethan prayed and thanked God for Dr.McPeas (Dr.McLees) who delivered Ethan and was suppose to deliver Asher. It was so sweet to see him thank God for someone who played such an intimate role in him coming to the world.
Pawpaw, "Goodnight little man."
Ethan, "I'm not a little man."
Philip, "Yes you are buddy."
Ethan, "No, I not!"
Philip, "You are a little man and when you grow up you'll be a big man."
Ethan, "No, I'm not a little man, I'm a Cajun!"
Last night as we were leaving P.F.Chang's Ethan said, "Thank you for taking me to this restaurant." It was so cute!
I'll try to get this on tape soon, but if you ever want some free entertainment put an almost three year old in front of a full length mirror!!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
Home Sweet Home
After only a few days at the hospital we got to come home yesterday afternoon. I personally like being in the hospital where they bring you hot food three times a day, change your sheets for you and the nurses were a great help when I had any questions about nursing. The hospital can be aggravating though when you have to deal with all the policies and procedures that they are MARRIED to, but when Philip or I would get frustrated we would just sing "Do everything without complaining."
I do have to say that even though we left without a free diaper bag (I thought this was standard practice) the nurses and staff at UT all seemed to have a minor in hospitality. No one ever left our room without asking if they could anything for us or if we need anything else. The second day of our stay was a little overwhelming just because of the sheer number of people that came through our room, but I don't know if could have been helped. The list included our normal nurse and her assistant, med students, a resident, the lactation consultant, an OB, a pediatrician, a tech from the lab (to draw blood), a photographer, someone from anesthesia, the charge nurse, the birth certificate guy, two guys from maintenance, etc.
With all that said we had a non-eventful day yesterday and we were glad to be home by the late afternoon. Asher is a really laid back baby and he is an excellent sleeper. In fact as I type this I'm considering waking him up so that I can feed him before our lunch time. Our first pediatrician visit will be tomorrow and I'm anxious to get him on the scale to see how much weight he is gaining or losing. Nursing has been going well, but as I'm sure most moms know, it is hard to tell how much he is getting. With Ethan getting bottles we always knew he was getting "enough" so this is new territory for us.
As far as pictures go, I'll try to upload some more this afternoon, but in the mean time check out the pictures that big brother has been taking!!
I do have to say that even though we left without a free diaper bag (I thought this was standard practice) the nurses and staff at UT all seemed to have a minor in hospitality. No one ever left our room without asking if they could anything for us or if we need anything else. The second day of our stay was a little overwhelming just because of the sheer number of people that came through our room, but I don't know if could have been helped. The list included our normal nurse and her assistant, med students, a resident, the lactation consultant, an OB, a pediatrician, a tech from the lab (to draw blood), a photographer, someone from anesthesia, the charge nurse, the birth certificate guy, two guys from maintenance, etc.
With all that said we had a non-eventful day yesterday and we were glad to be home by the late afternoon. Asher is a really laid back baby and he is an excellent sleeper. In fact as I type this I'm considering waking him up so that I can feed him before our lunch time. Our first pediatrician visit will be tomorrow and I'm anxious to get him on the scale to see how much weight he is gaining or losing. Nursing has been going well, but as I'm sure most moms know, it is hard to tell how much he is getting. With Ethan getting bottles we always knew he was getting "enough" so this is new territory for us.
As far as pictures go, I'll try to upload some more this afternoon, but in the mean time check out the pictures that big brother has been taking!!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Update on baby Asher
As I stated a few days ago, my heart's desire was to have a "normal" delivery and a healthy baby. Well, our God is a wonderful God and he has more than fulfilled those desires.
Friday morning at 6:00am we left for the hospital and after a surreal morning where everything went as expected I got to experience my first C-section. This time around I was awake for the procedure and it was an interesting experience. First, instead of an epidural I had a spinal. There are several differences, but the main one for me was that it is a shot instead of a catheter controlled drug. This makes a huge difference because once it is injected the doctors can't control where the drugs go or how effective they are. This really didn't play a part of my experience until the very end where I felt like I had about 80 pounds of weight sitting on my chest. The doctors monitored my O2 rates and they were fine, but it is crazy for a doctor to tell you that you are not out of breath when you feel like you can barely breath. It was quite an unsettling experience.
After about 3-4 months of being head down and even being head down on Wednesday for the amniocentesis, Asher pulled a fast one on Dr. Howard and was butt down on Friday! Dr. Howard had begun the procedure when I heard, "Well, that's not a head!" It was so exciting to hear him screaming so loudly while he was being cleaned up. For those of you who care interested in that sort of thing his Apgar's were 8 and 9! Better than Ethan's!
Being wheeled from the OR to the recovery room was also a really weird feeling. I've never been on a roller coaster while being drunk, but I have to imagine that it would have felt similar to that trip. If the bed moved just a little, I felt like it was moving a whole, whole lot. Because of these strange sensations I did not feel comfortable holding Asher at first, but that didn't last long and I have hardly wanted to put him down since! He even spent the whole night just sleeping on my chest.
So far our hospital stay has been good. We have had three good platelet counts and Asher appears to have been protected from all possible harm from the NAIT. How amazing it is to just be able to love on him and have him near us!! Our plan is to try and go home tomorrow, but we all know how speedy hospital discharges are.
Thank you all for all your prayers! We will be so glad in the upcoming months to share our blessing with you all.
Friday morning at 6:00am we left for the hospital and after a surreal morning where everything went as expected I got to experience my first C-section. This time around I was awake for the procedure and it was an interesting experience. First, instead of an epidural I had a spinal. There are several differences, but the main one for me was that it is a shot instead of a catheter controlled drug. This makes a huge difference because once it is injected the doctors can't control where the drugs go or how effective they are. This really didn't play a part of my experience until the very end where I felt like I had about 80 pounds of weight sitting on my chest. The doctors monitored my O2 rates and they were fine, but it is crazy for a doctor to tell you that you are not out of breath when you feel like you can barely breath. It was quite an unsettling experience.
After about 3-4 months of being head down and even being head down on Wednesday for the amniocentesis, Asher pulled a fast one on Dr. Howard and was butt down on Friday! Dr. Howard had begun the procedure when I heard, "Well, that's not a head!" It was so exciting to hear him screaming so loudly while he was being cleaned up. For those of you who care interested in that sort of thing his Apgar's were 8 and 9! Better than Ethan's!
Being wheeled from the OR to the recovery room was also a really weird feeling. I've never been on a roller coaster while being drunk, but I have to imagine that it would have felt similar to that trip. If the bed moved just a little, I felt like it was moving a whole, whole lot. Because of these strange sensations I did not feel comfortable holding Asher at first, but that didn't last long and I have hardly wanted to put him down since! He even spent the whole night just sleeping on my chest.
So far our hospital stay has been good. We have had three good platelet counts and Asher appears to have been protected from all possible harm from the NAIT. How amazing it is to just be able to love on him and have him near us!! Our plan is to try and go home tomorrow, but we all know how speedy hospital discharges are.
Thank you all for all your prayers! We will be so glad in the upcoming months to share our blessing with you all.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Asher Nolan Boudreaux
Asher arrived today at 9:05 AM. He weighed 6 lbs 14 oz with a platelet count of 154,000 which is good. They will check him again tonight and tomorrow as sometimes they start to drop with NAIT. If they do they will likely give him IVIG in the NICU. We are hopeful this won't be the case. Thank you for all the prayers, and continue to praise and worship Father for His great love and care. He surely knows and works all circumstances out for the good of those who love him. Bridgette is doing well, she is already walking a little and sitting up. Just don't tell our nurse that she has already had some cookie cake! We will be posting pictures soon here.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
"I'm sure everything will be okay....."
A lot of people have said this to me over the past week and I just wanted to share my thoughts on this phrase and it's implied (or un-implied meaning). At first when well meaning individuals say this I want to retort, "You don't know that!" but instead I just say, "Yeah, thanks." The thing is that I don't know that everything will be okay. I don't know that my immune system hasn't fought the treatments for the last four months and that baby Asher won't have to go to the NICU after he is born and if he does I don't know how long we will be separated from him. I don't even know if he will be free of cranial hemorrhages (although at this point we haven't seen any and the PUBS results were great four weeks ago). None of us are assured of our next breath, much less that "everything will be okay".
This is what I do know: on the morning of the amniocentesis I got up to do my Bible study and before even beginning I prayed that God's will would be done on that day and that I would glorify him no matter the outcome of the day's events. You can understand my amazement when I opened my Bible study and the first sentence of the lesson was, "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." The days lesson was all about being willing to submit to God's will no matter what it is. Do you know what this really means? Submitting to God's will? It means that even if God takes everything I have tonight: my children, my husband, my possessions, my life; that I am willing to submit to His will. He knows what is best for me even if I can not understand it or see it and ultimately I was placed here on this earth for ONE purpose and that was to glorify Him. Not to glorify Him "if, and, or but", but to glorify Him no matter what the circumstances.
Our greatest example of submitting ourselves to God's will was Christ himself. Christ who is and was God became man to come to the earth and ultimately became the one thing in the universe that he hated: sin. Then after he became sin he endured the wrath of God so that we would not have to (John 3:36). Have you accepted this truth and are you willing to submit yourself to His will for your life?
When we went through the drama of having Ethan and almost losing him Philip and I came to be firm believers in these two truths: God loves our children more than we do and they are 100% His. Not 99.9% mind you, 100%. We have no claim to them as our own and if he wishes to take them from us or let them endure hardships then that is His will and we must submit to that will.
Our friends the Raby's had 25 week old twins last December and what he said to his wife just before they were born is a perfect human example of submitting to God's will. He told her, "Either God is big enough to heal these babies, or He is big enough to heal us." Listening to Jared say this during a news interview brought tears to my eyes because until then I had really been too scared to pray for what I hoped would happen: a "normal" delivery and birth. Instead I was just praying for His will to be done and for me to glorify Him. These two things are still at the forefront of my prayers but now they include what I hope will happen, because God does want good for my family and he knows my heart's desires. When I pray for them it shows that I am submitting these areas to Him, as only he can affect the outcome of this birth.
When Ethan was born the song and scripture that I clung to was Casting Crowns "Praise You in this Storm" and Psalm 121: 1-2. Today I heard this song on the radio and I felt it fit perfect for how I feel during this pregnancy. It is "Bring the Rain" by Mercy Me and here are the lyrics. The refrain really captures how I have been praying these last few weeks: "Bring me joy, bring me peace, Bring the chance to be free, Bring me anything that brings You glory, And I know there'll be days, When this life brings me pain, But if that's what it takes to praise You, Jesus, bring the rain"
So now instead of being angry when people say, "I'm sure everything will be okay...", I simply think that they are right. I am in God's hands and I am willing to submit to His will no matter what it may be.
This is what I do know: on the morning of the amniocentesis I got up to do my Bible study and before even beginning I prayed that God's will would be done on that day and that I would glorify him no matter the outcome of the day's events. You can understand my amazement when I opened my Bible study and the first sentence of the lesson was, "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." The days lesson was all about being willing to submit to God's will no matter what it is. Do you know what this really means? Submitting to God's will? It means that even if God takes everything I have tonight: my children, my husband, my possessions, my life; that I am willing to submit to His will. He knows what is best for me even if I can not understand it or see it and ultimately I was placed here on this earth for ONE purpose and that was to glorify Him. Not to glorify Him "if, and, or but", but to glorify Him no matter what the circumstances.
Our greatest example of submitting ourselves to God's will was Christ himself. Christ who is and was God became man to come to the earth and ultimately became the one thing in the universe that he hated: sin. Then after he became sin he endured the wrath of God so that we would not have to (John 3:36). Have you accepted this truth and are you willing to submit yourself to His will for your life?
When we went through the drama of having Ethan and almost losing him Philip and I came to be firm believers in these two truths: God loves our children more than we do and they are 100% His. Not 99.9% mind you, 100%. We have no claim to them as our own and if he wishes to take them from us or let them endure hardships then that is His will and we must submit to that will.
Our friends the Raby's had 25 week old twins last December and what he said to his wife just before they were born is a perfect human example of submitting to God's will. He told her, "Either God is big enough to heal these babies, or He is big enough to heal us." Listening to Jared say this during a news interview brought tears to my eyes because until then I had really been too scared to pray for what I hoped would happen: a "normal" delivery and birth. Instead I was just praying for His will to be done and for me to glorify Him. These two things are still at the forefront of my prayers but now they include what I hope will happen, because God does want good for my family and he knows my heart's desires. When I pray for them it shows that I am submitting these areas to Him, as only he can affect the outcome of this birth.
When Ethan was born the song and scripture that I clung to was Casting Crowns "Praise You in this Storm" and Psalm 121: 1-2. Today I heard this song on the radio and I felt it fit perfect for how I feel during this pregnancy. It is "Bring the Rain" by Mercy Me and here are the lyrics. The refrain really captures how I have been praying these last few weeks: "Bring me joy, bring me peace, Bring the chance to be free, Bring me anything that brings You glory, And I know there'll be days, When this life brings me pain, But if that's what it takes to praise You, Jesus, bring the rain"
So now instead of being angry when people say, "I'm sure everything will be okay...", I simply think that they are right. I am in God's hands and I am willing to submit to His will no matter what it may be.
"I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain"
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain"
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
A delay in the plan!
This morning was our amniocentesis and after fasting since mid-night and then hanging out in the doctor's office from 7:45 -11:20 we finally learned that baby Asher's lungs aren't quiet ready to make it in the world. I received a steroid shot before I left the office and I have to go back tomorrow to receive a second dose. Finally, on Friday morning at 8:30 we will meet the second little Boudreaux of our family!
Check back Friday afternoon for pictures and updates!
Check back Friday afternoon for pictures and updates!
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