Guess who made his debut into this world!
Brant Steven Johnson was born on February 1st at 9:07 pm. He was 7 pounds 5 ounces and 20.5 inches long. I had been going to the doctors twice a week so they could make sure I didn't develop preeclampsia again. When I went a week before my due date everything looked good with me and the baby but I wasn't showing any signs of labor and the doctor said it wasn't looking good for me to go into labor on my own by my due date. So she said we could either schedule a c-section for Thursday or the following Tuesday. Kyle and I decided if it was going to end in a c-section anyways we might as well get it over with and schedule it for Thursday so that Kyle wouldn't have to take as many days off from work. So Thursday morning came and I had one last appointment Thursday morning to see if I had made any progress or not. If I did, we would wait on the c-section. Well I had barely dilated to a 1 and things didn't look quite as hopeful as I wanted them too, but everything looked fine with me and the baby so the doctor said he was ok letting me go through the weekend to see if I went into labor on my own. We rescheduled the c-section for Monday and crossed our fingers something would happen before then. I walked 2 miles both Thursday and Friday trying to get this baby to come! A few of Kyle's coworkers told him that eating fresh pineapple is supposed to help induce labor, so Friday night we cut up a pineapple and I ate so much of it my tongue was raw! I don't know if it was the walking or the pineapple, but by 4:30 Saturday morning I started having contractions. They started getting more painful and by 7:30 we decided it was time to go to the hospital. When the nurse checked me I was only dilated to a 2! I thought for sure they were going to send me home and tell me to come back in a little bit, but the doctor was concerned about how much pain I was in for barely being dilated. He was worried my scar from my c-section could be tearing, so they admitted me and the waiting game began. I got an epidural (that is definitely one of the best western medicine inventions!) and once I reached 5 centimeters the doctor felt comfortable giving me a small amount of pitocin to try to help move things along. Every couple hours the nurse would come check me and I would barely be dilated another half centimeter or so. It was such a slow process! I finally dilated to a 6 by 5:30, 13 hours after my first contractions. I thought it was going to take me forever to finally reach a 10, but when the nurse came back at 8:30 I had reached a 10! She called the doctor and after 16 hours of labor and 25 minutes of pushing (the nurse said I'd probably push for a couple hours and I said no way, I'm getting this kid out!) he was born!! He had already had a bowel movement and had swallowed some of it before he was born, so they had to suction out his stomach and he was having some trouble breathing so they took him to the NICU to help stabilize him. After about 15 minutes the let Kyle go in to see him and about 15 minutes after that they brought him to me so I could hold him! He was perfect in every way!! He looked so much like kyler did when he was first born, but he has since developed his own look. Since it's RSV season the mom and baby unit wouldn't allow anyone under 18 in for visits, so kyler didn't get to come meet Brant. I was a little bummed because I was missing my little man and I was so excited for him to meet his little brother. But luckily they let us go home the very next night so we weren't gone too long! My mom stayed with us for 2 weeks and was a HUGE help! I have no idea how I would have manage two kids under two by myself those first two weeks. Then Kyle's parents and younger siblings came to visit and so did my dad and grandma Allred for the weekend so we could bless Brant. Brielle and Jared were also in town so they could bless their little girl so it worked out well that so many people got to meet Brant and we finally got to meet Brooklynn. Kyler and Parker had a blast running around and playing with each other. I sure miss having them live right around the corner from us!
Brant is now almost 2 months old and getting so big already! He has been a really good baby so far. He is way happier than Kyler ever was, which I am so grateful for. I don't know what I would do with myself if he was as colicky as Kyler was. He is starting to smile and coo which melts my heart, he's adorable! He is just barely figuring out his nights and days! Up until about last week he would start being wide awake sometime between 5 and 7 in the evening and would be awake until about 2 or 3 in the morning (some nights it would be as late as 4 or 5!). Then since he was up all night he would sleep all day! It was awful! It was exhausting to be up with kyler all day and then have to be up with Brant all night. Luckily, though, I think he's finally starting to figure it out. He now usually goes down between 1 and 2 and last night he even was a sleep by midnight and slept until 7!! It was a miracle!
Kyler LOVES his little brother. He always gives him a kiss whenever he walks by him and lately he's been wanting to hold him a lot. He loves to sit on the ground and then pat next to him to tell me he wants me to hold Brant sitting up next to him. It's pretty cute! I was so nervous about how Kyler would react to having Brant here, but he's adjusted so well! I sure love my boys and I can't imagine my life without them! (although I'm sure it would involve a lot more sleep and a much cleaner house!)
