EVERETT IS HERE!

EVERETT MATTHEW BREAUX

DOB: March 31, 2010
WEIGHT: 5lbs 15oz
LENGTH: 19 1/4 inches

Three weeks ago, our second little angel entered the world! He decided to come two weeks early and we couldn't have been more excited about his early arrival. The day before, I was having hard contractions throughout the day so I had a strong feeling he would be coming soon. I spent the day at home with Beckham, playing in the backyard. We blew bubbles and he played in his new car that he got for his birthday. It was such a beautiful day!

That evening, Donna and I went shopping for a new car seat for Beckham while Gene and Joshua picked up Everett's crib and put it together. My contractions continued to be strong and by the time Donna and Gene were leaving our house around 10pm, they had only gotten worse. As they drove off, Joshua and I quickly decided that Beckham should sleep by their house just in case I went into labor so they turned around to pick him up. By the time I got into bed around 10:30pm, my contractions were 10 minutes apart. By midnight they were still 10 minutes apart so I texted Kate with a warning because I knew I wanted her in the delivery room with us. By 1am, they started getting closer together, going from 8 minutes to 6 minutes apart; and by 2am they were only 5 minutes apart. At that time, I started packing my hospital bag (I know, REALLY last minute!) and some extra clothes for Beckham since he would end up staying with Donna and Gene for another night or two. I then called the doc and was told to head to the hospital. I woke Joshie up and we hurried to pack up the car. We left the house at 3:15am and stopped at McDonald's on the way for breakfast. It was Joshua's idea!

After checking in and getting situated in our room which happened to be the last one available, it was then about 4:15am and I was 4cm dilated. My nurse, who was an old classmate from middle school, informed me that there was still a good chance that I would be going home without delivering that night and my doctor wanted to monitor my contractions for two hours before deciding if I needed to stay. Not the news I wanted to hear! I was already at the hospital and ready... I wanted that baby out ASAP! My nurse came back to check me about an hour later and I was at 5cm. At that point, my doctor said that I would be staying since I was making progress so my nurse said that I could get the epidural then if I wanted to. Foolishly, I told her I would wait since I felt like the contractions were bearable. Within the next hour, I was 7cm and my contractions had gotten so strong and close together that I was begging for the epidural and trying to get control of the curse words that were flying out of my mouth! It took FOREVER for the anesthesiologist to come in and set everything up. He was so sweet but so slow! It was the worst pain I had ever felt in my life and I was insisting that I would never have another baby again. The epidural was finally over but it took longer to take effect than I had remembered with Beckham. Then again, when I had Beckham I was drugged up on Demerol so my memory of everything is kind of cloudy. Only two hours after getting the epidural, I was ready to push! Before I even started, we could already see Everett's head inside! Kate yelled, "Oh my God, he's right there!" and the doctor corrected her by saying, "Not yet" but to us, he really was right there! The contraction started so I began my three pushes and in the middle of the third one, the doctor told me to stop and slowly lean forward; and out Everett's head came. The doctor immediately said, "He looks just like his brother!". I then leaned forward to grab him and slowly pull him out. It all happened so fast and before I knew it, I was in tears and holding my baby boy. And he did look just like his big brother. He was wide eyed staring at me and I just couldn't stop saying how cute he was. I'll never forget the first time I gazed in those eyes!

The delivery went so well and fast that we were able to return home the following day. Before we left the hospital, I took some pictures of Everett when he was just a day old. You can view them all at www.StaceyBreaux.com/everettonedayold.html.

While I was in the hospital, Donna brought Beckham to his 12 month check up for me. Little did I know, he had to get 4 shots! My poor baby! I wasn't even there for him! Donna thought I had tricked her into going for me because I told her he was only getting two shots. He weighed 19lbs and was 30 inches long. I was shocked! I thought he had gained more than 1lbs and grew more than just one inch over the past 3 months.

I was so worried about how Beckham would react to having the baby around but he has just been loving his little brother! Every time he looks at him, he smiles so big and laughs. In the beginning, he would only touch him real quick with his pointer finger; and when we would tell him to give him a kiss he would close his eyes, smile and turn his head away as though he were shy. Now he's gotten more brave so he touches him quickly with the palm of his hand and kisses him on the forehead. In the car, Beckham watches him and says, "Hey Baby! Hey Baby!" and tries to give him his pacifier. I always end up finding Beckham's pacifier in Everett's carrier.

Beckham has been off the bottle since he was 11 months old so I was concerned about what he would do when he saw one around again. Surprisingly, he doesn't get upset about it. He knows that it's his brother's and he brings it to him. I also use a different kind of pacifier for Everett so we won't get it confused with Beckham's, and Beckham will bring it to Everett when he finds it. He is such a good big brother!

Because Everett came early, I ended up having both of my boys here for Easter! The day before, Joshua took Beckham to the mall to have his picture taken with the Easter Bunny and from what I saw with the photo, it didn't go so well. Joshua said that as soon as Beckham sat on his lap, he looked up at him and busted out with tears. Joshua and Beckham ended up taking some pics together in the photo booth and Beckham looked a bit happier in those. I really hate that I had to miss the Easter Bunny pictures but I felt Everett was too little to leave the house. I can't wait until next year when they'll both get to sit on his lap together!

On Easter Sunday, Beckham found that the Easter Bunny had left him a basket of goodies but it took him forever to show any interest in it. After a while of trying to persuade him to dig in it, he finally started pulling everything out. The Easter Bunny didn't know that Everett would be here in time for Easter so there was only one basket for Beckham.

My mom, Huey and Cherie came over to visit along with Donna and Gene, and they all had baskets for the babies. The boys even got more baskets and gifts from Kate, Dad & Robin, Aunt Karen and Aunt Sabrina so they ended up with lots of goodies. But Easter Sunday was nice. It was the first holiday we stayed home and we enjoyed having visitors. Donna, Gene and Cherie took Beckham out to the park and he had a lot of fun playing out there. (The first picture of gifts is for Beckham and the second is for Everett).

I wanted to take a family picture on Easter but I forgot so we took one the next day. :)

Before we knew it, Everett was a week old! It was time for his one week check up with his pediatrician and we took both boys out the house together for the first time. As always, we had to wait forever at the doctor's office before we actually saw the doctor and Beckham was really patient. Everett weighed 6lbs 1oz which was what he weighed when we left the hospital. And according to the nurse at his pediatrician's office, he was 18 inches long... ummm okay... I didn't realize babies can shrink! hehe

Everett was ready to take his first bath when he was two weeks old! His umbilical cord had already fallen off so he was ready for the water. Beckham sat on the side and watched; and when Everett started crying towards the end, so did he!

Also when Everett was two weeks old, I took some pictures of him and Beckham in our living room. Beckham did such a great job. He was being so sweet and Everett was wide awake in all of the shots. I just love my boys! You can view all of the pictures at www.StaceyBreaux.com/everetttwoweeks.html.

From the time he was born, we noticed Everett was a noisy baby. As a matter of fact, Joshua and I got very little sleep in the hospital, not because of feedings and diaper changes but because he is a noisy sleeper! We were so concerned about this in addition to him spitting up a lot that the nurse took him and had his stomach pumped to make sure there was nothing left from the delivery that could be causing it. All she found was some formula and he is still a noisy sleeper.

As time progressed, we noticed that he was spitting up more and more. Sometimes he would even projectile vomit what looked like an entire bottle. Because of this, we ended up taking him back in yesterday to see the doctor. We were told that he has acid reflux and to start thickening his feeds with cereal. He's also extremely gassy so she gave us some tips to help relieve the pain. At this appointment, he weighed 7lbs 5oz! He was such an easy baby during the first week but now we're getting less and less sleep. He's in so much pain during the night that he can't sleep which means we don't. Somehow, Beckham manages to sleep through it all!

Beckham has the cutest personality ever! Somethings I need to mention:

1) Beckham picks up our cell phones and holds them behind his head instead of at his ear and talks as though he's on the phone. LOL

2) Beckham used to be so good at handing things to us when we asked him to but now he takes off running when we tell him to give us something he has.

3) We took the boys to visit my grandmothers last week and when my great grandmother shook her pointer finger at Beckham and told him, "No, no, no", he mimicked her!

4) Beckham tries to snap and he does his fingers perfectly but is unable to create the sound so he makes it with his mouth when he snaps his fingers.

5) Beckham is a parrot! He repeats everything he hears... even sounds! He tries to make the sounds of the blender and running water, the sound of a phone ringing, the sound of birds chirping outside, other babies yelling, sounds Everett makes, etc. And he repeats everything we say!

6) Beckham is already polite. He says "Thank you" when you hand him something.

Some NASTY things Beckham has eaten during the first year of his life:

1) CAT FOOD - We had a bowl of cat food on our couch for the kittens because they were too little to jump down. Beckham found it while Joshua and I were talking and ate it until he puked!

2) DOG FOOD - We found Beckham behind the couch eating dog food at my mom's house. He apparently he likes dog food better than cat food because he didn't puke this time.

3) POOP - Yes, poop! And not just any poop, his OWN poop! Sometimes Beckham has this little rabbit poop like balls and I think one of them must have fallen out of his diaper when I was changing him because after I picked up the diaper, I went upstairs to get him some clothes, and when I came down his hands and mouth were covered in poop and he was chewing while making the "yuck" face.

4) DIRT - A week or so before Everett was born, Beckham was sitting outside in the grass while I was emptying junk out of our car. When I checked on him, I found him with a mouth full of dirt. He was choking on it and trying to swallow it down. I dug out a whole pile of the stuff and had to give him water to wash the rest down.

5) EVERETT'S UMBILICAL CORD - This may be the nastiest of them all! When Everett was 9 days old, his umbilical cord fell off while Donna was changing his diaper so she wrapped it in a napkin and placed it on top of our entertainment center. Well we forgot about it and it must have fallen off. I ended up seeing Beckham chewing on something about a week ago and before we got a chance to dig it out of his mouth, he spit it out. Joshua told him to bring it to him but instead, Beckham put it back in his mouth! So Joshua ended up digging it out and I watched him as he stared at it for a minute trying to figure out what it was. Then suddenly, Joshua gasped and covered his mouth with his hand. I freaked out thinking it was a roach or something, and Joshua was too grossed out to say what it was. Eventually he got the words out and eeewwww!!! I couldn't believe it!

REWIND!!

I want to post some pictures from before Everett was born! On March 28th, we all went to Theresa and Payton's christening. The girls were sooooo adorable! We got some cute pictures of Beckham and the babies that I want to share.

Before I end this, I need to post some pictures of Everett's room! It's much smaller than Beckham's and we didn't paint the walls so there isn't much to it but it's still cute and cozy.

More pics below!!