Bo turns 1 Month

One Month - July 16

What a whirl wind this past month has been!


Week 1 - 
Bo was born and came home to his first home.

He met the dogs for the first time.  Luckily he is a great sleeper and can sleep through whining and barking.  Zoe did fine adjusting Jinx was really anxious with the change but now she is doing much better.

The first night we didn't know what to do with Bo.  Lance held him for a while then I fed him and slept with him on my chest.  The second night we swaddled him and put him in the cradle.  He did great and slept for about 3 hours at a time!


Week 2 -
Bo was a great eater from day 1!  When he was born he weighed 6lbs 13 oz.  By the time we left the hospital he dropped to 6lbs 9 oz.  At his 2 week check up he was up to 7lbs 13 oz.  Dr. Edwards was surprised and please with his growth and gave the go ahead to start bottle feedings.  I started pumping so Lance could give a bottle at the first night feeding.

We continued swaddling Bo and tried putting him in the crib...success!  Thank goodness for a good sleeper!

Mama left this week so we were at it on our own.  I don't remember having any major meltdowns but I do remember having a messy house :).

Bo had his first trip to the post office, bank, target and mall....all of the important places :).

Week 3 - 
Lance left for his youth trip to Passport.  We were so sad to see him leave but he facetimed with us everyday so he could see Bo.

Mama and Alison came to help out for the week.  Daddy even surprised us on the 4th!  He had spent the first part of the day with Ashley and decided instead of driving 3 hours home he would rather drive 3 hours to see Bo!  We were so glad for his visit.

Week 4 -
Lance returned and we were so happy to have him home.

Mama, Alison, and Daddy left and we were sad but knew we would see them soon at the hospital when Hayden was born.

JJ and Papa came to visit for a few days.  We had fun spending time with them at Wrightsville beach.

1 Month!
Hayden was born on July 14 sometime shortly after 10 pm.  We got the call early that morning that Ashley was having contractions.  We packed our bags, loaded the car and headed to Greensboro to await Hayden's arrive.  This was Bo's first road trip!  He did great as he slept the entire time.  About 5 minutes away he woke up hungry and ready to get out of his car seat.  We spent the entire day sitting in the waiting room but it gave us plenty of time to visit with family again.  We were so happy when Hayden was finally born and we knew he was healthy and Ashley was ok!  We headed to the hotel late that night...Bo's first stay in a hotel room.  We were worried about how he would sleep since the day had been so crazy but he slept from 1:20am - 6am...success!

Bo wakes up ready to eat then ready to play (or sit there happy and look around).  We can tell a huge difference in him.  He is starting to notice objects (like the animals on his swing).  Just this past week he has started grabbing my hair (painful but he is working on important motor skills).  He lifts his head a lot while he is on our shoulders.  He has been doing this since day one.  We have been practicing tummy time.  He lifts his head slightly but I don't think he realizes he can lift it like he does on our shoulder.  He has been alert since day one with his eyes wide open looking around.  He likes to look at lights and high contrasts (he likes the polka dot curtains in our bedroom and in his nursery).

I can't believe we have had him in our life for a whole month!  On one hand it seemed like he would never get here...now I can't remember a time when he wasn't a part of our life.  He has already filled our life with so much joy.  He is such a happy baby.  We love him so much.  I sit at night and nurse him all the while praying for him.  I pray he will grow up to be a man that loves God and loves others.

Bo Brady Rogerson's Birthday!

I was scheduled for an induction June 16, 2012.  Lance, my mama, and I arrived at the hospital at 7 am.  We were so happy we new our nurse, Jill, one of our youth's boyfriends mom.  She was amazing the whole day.  Nurse Jill asked a bunch of questions, got us settled in, and put in my IV.  I almost passed out getting the IV...that needle is HUGE!  Dr. Novacel broke my water around 10am and I bounced on a yoga ball for about an hour trying to get the baby to drop.  Daddy, Ashley, Alison, Daryl, Judy and Denise arrived as I was still bouncing.  I got tired from bouncing and finally decided to get in bed.  Nurse Jill let me go ahead and get an epidural at this point.  I was 4 cm.  I had been having contractions for a while but wasn't in any pain.  I could just feel my belly tighten and could see the contractions on the monitor.  Nurse Jill hooked me up to Pitocin.  Then, I just laid in the bed all day watching the monitor and trying to guess if I was having a contraction.  My feet were numb and tingly.

Sometime in the afternoon we had a scare.  I was just laying in the bed resting when all of a sudden 3 nurses ran in the room, flipped me on my side, threw an oxygen mask on me, and mashed on my belly.  Nurse Jill looked me dead in the eyes and said "don't worry we will get the baby out."  I had no idea what was going on and could feel my chin start to quiver but I tried to stay calm.  They told me the baby's heart rate had dropped because the Pitocin caused my uterus to contract a lot all at once and squish the baby.  They took me off Pitocin and told me to stay laying on my left side.  The baby's heart rate went back up and seemed fine.  After taking a break from the Pitocin they later hooked me back up at a slower drip.

We were hoping nurse Jill would be there for the delivery but her shift ended at 7pm and I was not far enough along.  Nurse Liz came on duty and announced "lets up the Pitocin it's time to evict the baby." She was funny and really helpful.  Sometime around 8:30ish I started to feel a lot of pressure in my pelvis.  I told Nurse Liz I felt like I had to poop, "your not going to push, that's the baby dropping" she told me.  I got the chills and felt like I was loosing control of my body.  Lance and mama were immediately at my side and put tons of warm blankets on me.  Then it was time to push.  I felt pressure that was like nothing I had ever felt before!  Nurse Jill coached me on my breathing and pushing.  Nurses trickled in one by one getting things ready for the baby and coaching me to push.  Dr. Novacel was not in the room at this point and I remember one of the nurses saying, "I get half the delivery fee."  I continued breathing and pushing and finally the doctor arrived. I think I pushed about 30 minutes and was getting tired.  Mama told me to "tuck my chin and push" and Lance rubbed my hair and gave me water.  Dr. Novacel said, "you can push about 5 more rounds or we can discuss an episiotomy,,"  I said, "DO WHAT YOU GOTTA TO DO GET THE BABY OUT." So she did an episiotomy and I tore a little more but the baby finally arrived.  The cord was too short to immediately lay him on my chest so Lance quickly cut the cord.

He was beautiful.  I remember seeing LEGS!  They were so long.  Lance started talking to him and he looked up at him recognizing his voice from all the bedtime stories he had read to him while I was pregnant.  Mama was busy snapping photos and documenting the whole process.  He laid on my chest for a while before they took him to measure him.  He was 6 lbs 13oz and 20 inches long and was born at 9:20 pm.  He was absolutely perfect.  I tried nursing him (the nurse just kept stuffing him on my breast...not helpful at all!).  I was bleeding pretty bad so Nurse Liz had to continuously knead (just about kill me) my belly and then gave me a shot of some drug.

Then our family came to visit.  Daddy, Alison, Ashley, Mama, Daryl, Judy, Denise, Heath, Jan and Grandma Rogerson were all there.  Lance announced his name, Bo Brady Rogerson, and announced he was named Bo in honor of Daddy and Brady as Judy's maiden name.  He handed Bo to daddy to hold first then everyone passed him around.  Everyone was in love with the little guy.  They visited for a little while and then headed out since it was so late.

Nurse Liz finished cleaning me up, got all of our stuff together and moved us to the 3rd floor.  I was still bleeding a lot so I had to be hooked back up to Pitocin at a really high speed.  This was not fun!  The nurses had to knead and check my uterus constantly to make sure it was shrinking and hardening back up.  Not a fun night!  We hated the first nurse...she was lazy and had the personality of tree bark but we survived the first night being parents.

Mama came early the next morning so she could watch Bo (have GG time) and Lance could help me shower and get cleaned up.  Amy and Connar were our first visitors.  The Johnson family, Colliers, Christy and Brooklyn, Pastor Eric, and Nurse Jill all came to visit along with our families.

We went home Monday morning around noon.  I was never so glad to get out of the hospital!  Mama stayed the week with us to help us adjust to parenthood. We have never been more grateful to have help!  She took care of the dishes, laundry, cleaned the house, but most importantly had GG time with Bo while we napped and rested.  Daddy and Al stayed the week at Carolina Beach and would stop by to visit.  Judy and Denise came the following weekend to visit.

We are so grateful for this healthy baby boy.  What a joy it was to bring him into the world in such a loving environment surrounded by so much love and support.