First Christmas!

e left December 21 for the drive to my mom’s in Georgia. It was about a 5 hour drive and Tanner was a real trooper. About the last 30 minutes he had had it with the truck and car seat. I cannot say I blame him!

We got to my mom’s about 2 pm EST on Thursday and proceeded to unload a seriously packed truck! We had brought Tanner’s co-sleeper and swing in addition to presents and luggage! Tannner and I slept in the guest room on the first floor, so I would not have to navigate two flights of stairs in the middle of the night for feedings.

The rest of Thursday we just relaxed, and my friend Sarah came over to visit. We had dinner and were all in bed by 10 pm.

Friday my mom and I left Tanner with his daddy and we went shopping. Saturday was the big visit day! Mom and I left about 10 am and went to visit The MacKenzie’s, The Merritt’s, the Phillips’ and then went to Cherry’s house and Sherry came over. We had a nice visit there and ate lunch. Then it was off to see SANTA!!!

We had a private visit with Santa, as he is our old next door neighbor! By this time it was 2:30 and Tanner was getting a bit tired of getting in and out of the car, be handled, etc.

We headed back to mom’s and put Tanner down for a nap.

Christmas Eve we hung around the house. Tanner hung around in Mame’s arms! Christmas Day Tanner slept through the opening of presents, but he got some GREAT things! We had a nice turkey dinner that night and also loaded the car.

We left mom’s early Tuesday morning and came home!

Tanner's First Stroller Ride

We took Tanner on his first stroller ride today! Jerry went and got a umbrella stroller and we went to the park at the dam. Tanner seemed to enjoy the walk. We stayed out about 20 minutes. I am sure the fresh air was a nice change for him since he is almost always inside. I think we will try and do that more often as the weather permits. We will take it to Georgia too so we can go on walks there.

The first two months

It so hard to believe Tanner will be 2 months old tommorrow~! The time sure does fly. Although when he is upset and crying it seems to drag. Tanner has colic, and while it is no fun for Jerry and I, it can’t be fun for him either. He has “episodes” throughout the day. For almost 6 weeks now. But Jerry discovered 3 weeks ago that white noise helps. So we spent a few nights with the vaccum cleaner running and that lulled him to sleep. Tanner, not Jerry!

So the colic is still around, but its spread out throughout the day now and does not last nearly as long as it used to. I can usually get him calmed down in about 30 minutes. Sometimes longer, somtimes shorter. All in all I hear that colic generally dissapperars by 3 months or so, so we are hopefully almost there. And everyone has told me that colicy babies make the happiest toddlers! Lets hope so!

We took Tanner to Oxford and met both Jerry’s extended family and my step-mom’s family on Thanksgiving! It was fun, but tiring for all. We will go back to Oxford on the 17th to celebrate Christmas with our families.

On December 21 Jerry, Tanner and I are going to Georgia to spend 5 days with my mom for Christmas. The drive should be interesting. About hours normally, with only a stop or two. The longest drive we have taken Tanner on is to Oxford, which is 1.5 hours. Hopefully he will sleep all the way to Georgia.

Tanner's Birth Story

We arrived at the hospital at 8pm on Wednesday October 11 for my induction. I was put in Labor and Delivery room 4 and given a medicine to help my cervix prepare for labor. That pill was given at 9pm, I was 1 cm dilated. At 10 pm I was given an Ambien to help me sleep. It was then my contractions started. I was pretty much awake all night, despite the Ambien.

At 3am October 12 I was given another dosage of the cervix medicine. At 4 am I was checked again. I then took a shower, got and IV and started walking the halls. At 6am I was still only 1 cm, and the Pitosin was started.

By 11 am my contractions were 3 minutes apart and strong! At 11:40 the doctor broke my water and placed a monitor on Tanner’s head because we kept losing him on the monitor. At this point I was almost 2 cm dilated and the contractions were getting more and more painful. Finally at 12:30 I got a shot of Demerol/Phenergan, which did nothing for the pain, but made me pass out in between contractions. No help!! By 3 pm I could not stand the pain, contractions had been 3 minutes or less apart for hours now, I got an epidural. SWEET RELIEF!!!!

At 3:15 my friend Suzann arrived. About that time we noticed lots of dips in Tanner’s heart rate on the monitor. At 5:00 my doctor came back and checked me again and I was still only 2 cm, even after all this time and contractions. That and the fact that Tanner was not handling the labor well prompted her to say we needed to do a C-Section right away. At 5:20 I was in the operating room. Jerry came in after I was strapped to the table and the anesthesiologist was with me as well. The first cut was about 5:30 and Tanner was born at 5:41.

By 7:30 or so I was out of recovery and back in my room. Tanner was still in the nursery getting cleaned up and tested, etc. Jerry went there and took a video for me so I could see him, I was so anxious!! FINALLY about 8:30 they brought him to me. I could not love anything or anyone more. All I want to do is hold him and kiss him forever.

Tanner is such a wonderful baby and I would go through every second of pain and discomfort all over again for him in a heartbeat.

Tanner Reid

October 12, 2006

5:41 PM

Emergency C-Section

7 Lbs 11 Ounces

20.5 inches Long

14 inch head

1 minute APGAR 9

5 minute APGAR 10

3 months already

I took Tanner for his three month check-up today! He is 16lb 4 oz and 24 inches long! That puts him in the 90th percentile on his weight! Since he has been eating cereal in his bottles practically his whole life and will take a spoon, we will start him on some baby fruit food today. Should be messy but fun.