Beckett James Bybee

Beckett James Bybee was born October 16, 2014 at 4:26am.  He weighed 7lbs, 12oz and was 20.5 inches long.

His Arrival Story
Beckett had been planning his arrival for a couple of weeks.  When I went to the doctor at 38 weeks, I had already dilated 2.5cm.  My doctor was sure he would come within 2-3 days, but another week went by and when I went back at 39 weeks, I was at 3cm.  The night before my 39 week appointment I woke up at 11pm with sharp cramps.  I headed out to the living room to time them and wondered if this was the night.  I drank some water and the contractions were coming about every 5-7 minutes.  After about an hour I thought I should probably call the doctor to see if I should come in, but I decided to wait alittle bit longer because I didn't want to wake anyone up, especially my mom since she would have to come over to stay with Grayson.  After another half hour, they were not as intense and I was able to fall back asleep.

At my appointment the next day, we decided we would plan an induction for October 17 if he didn't make his arrival on his own.  I was slightly hesitant to induce for a couple of reasons.  If Beckett wasn't ready to come out, I didn't want to "evict" him regardless of how miserable I was.  Plus I had read that induction could cause a more painful labor since the contractions could be much more intense.  Either way, the doctor had recommended it and I trust his decisions.  And it would have meant that he could guarantee he would deliver Beckett since he was not able to deliver Grayson.  After my appointment, I went home to lie down.  Later that evening I did what every other women does when she is merely days away from giving birth...I went and bought new bedroom furniture for us.  I know it seems like an odd time, but Shane and I had looked at a set a couple of months ago and decided to wait.  The furniture we have is what I had when I bought my house prior to us getting married.  That day I got a sales ad in the mail and the furniture we had looked at was on sale.  I did not know how long the sale would last, and when I would be able to get out again, so my mom and I headed to the store at 7pm that night and bought the furniture.  It's so popular that we won't actually get it until mid November, but we aren't necessarily in a hurry.

On Wednesday I went to work for my last day.  I had designated that Wednesday as my last day a couple of weeks prior so I could have a couple of days off assuming he would come closer to his Sunday due date.  I worked almost a full day and left around 4pm.  We had dinner as a family, bathed Grayson and I put him down around 7:30pm.  About an hour later, I hopped in bed to get a full night's rest (so I thought).

Around 1am, I woke up with a contraction.  It felt similar to the contractions I had Monday night but they were lasting about 1 1/2 minutes and spaced only 3-3 1/2 minutes apart.  After about 30 minutes something told me I should probably call the doctor.  The on-call doctor called me back and told me to go into the hospital.  I then called my mom who made her way over within about 15 minutes.  We headed to the hospital and got there about 3am.  They took me to labor and delivery and began to ask all of the necessary questions and check my cervix.  I was at 4cm.  The contractions then moved to my back and I had flashbacks to my labor with Grayson which was fairly painful until I was given some demerol and an epidural.  The nurse checked me about 15-20 minutes later and I was already at 5-6cm.  She made a call to the anesthesiologist who was in another room but would be down soon.  It was at that moment I knew I would probably be going at this without any medication.  Sure enough, I was right.  Within a couple of minutes the contractions were much more intense.  They had barely hooked up my IV and were taking blood from my other arm for lab work when my water broke during a contraction.  It had meconium in it which immediately changed the dynamic of the room.  Nurses began rushing in and a NICU team came in as well.  She checked my cervix again and I was at 8cm.  Things moved exceptionally fast at this point.  I remember the anesthesiologist coming in the room and the nurses waving her off.  I was about to go at this without any medication, whatsoever.  With each contraction I had the urge to push but every nurse kept telling me not to because the on-call doctor had yet to arrive.  They were having a hard time finding Beckett's heartbeat on the monitor so I was given an oxygen mask.  Within a few minutes, they had a hospitalist in the room who was qualified to deliver babies.  I had been on my side clinging to the bed in pain with each contraction but as soon as she came in, they made me flip onto my back so we could deliver.  To say the next couple of minutes were painful would be an understatement.  The only thing that got me through it was knowing it would be over soon, and I had to get Beckett out for his own health.  After pushing a couple of times, his head popped out and then his body and they quickly took him over to the warmer to begin cleaning out his mouth and throat.  They needed to get the meconium out prior to his first cry in order to avoid it getting into his lungs.  The same thing happened with Gray but it seemed much more urgent with Beckett since he had been in the womb with it longer.  After they cleaned him out, they noticed he was grunting and having a hard time getting to the appropriate oxygen levels so he was given an oxygen mask and the NICU team worked with him.  Shane stayed by his side while they finished working on me.  Again, I have yet to get any medication so I continued to feel everything but the pain I was in was not near as bad as what I had just gone through.

After about 10 minutes, they let me give Beckett a quick kiss and they took him to the NICU to put him in an oxygen tent to see if he could begin breathing better on his own.  Shane continued to stay with him to make sure he was ok.  It was at this point that I found myself alone in the room for the next hour.  It was sort of surreal since I had merely walked into the hospital only an hour and a half prior, gave birth to a baby and now he was being cared for in NICU.  Luckily Shane was texting me while he was down there letting me know that he was doing great!  About 8am, they moved me to my own room where Beckett and Shane met me.  Right before they handed him to me, the pediatrician had called and requested to see him.  They took him down to the nursery and quickly brought him back about 8:30am.  Finally I was able to hold my sweet baby boy!  Immediately I noticed so many similarities to Grayson, except Beckett had much darker hair.  I then spent the next 2 days in the hospital cuddling with him as much as I could to make up for the 4 hours we were apart right after his birth.

Life Since His Arrival
Beckett has been an absolute blessing.  Although it is still early, he is so much like Grayson.  He eats well, he sleeps well and has been extremely easy so far.  Grayson came to the hospital the day Beckett was born to meet his little brother.  He was alittle hesitant at first, but I think he is warming up to having him in the house.  He loves to see him and say, "Baby Beckett!  Baby Beckett!"  When Beckett cries, Gray will come over to help me, and usually hands me a diaper since most likely he needs to be changed.  We knew Grayson would be such a great helper and he truly is.  He is all about helping anytime we ask him.  We are still adjusting to life as a family of 4 and find that a "man to man" coverage is best.  Gray will continue to go to school during the week so it will give me time to focus on Beckett during the day and allow Gray to keep his normal routine.  We are doing everything we can to make sure his routine is not disturbed.  Shane is home the next two weeks, too, to help me and spend some time with his new son.

Shane and I could not be happier about our growing family.  I am truly blessed to be surrounded by handsome men!  Our next adventure will be Grayson's 2nd birthday party this weekend.  I can't believe my "baby" is going to be two already!  I'm going to have a 2 week old and a 2 year old.  Our Octobers will never be the same!

Baby Beckett got his big brother a few gifts.

Gray was alittle freaked out by the room.  He 

went into his "shy" stance where he holds his hands

and stood by the door.  It was pretty cute.

 Seeing his brother for the first time!

 More interested in his new Mickey book than his 

little brother.

This photo warms my heart!

 Being a day old is exhausting.

 I plan to get as much tummy time as possible

with this one.

 What does every little brother need...stickers!  Gray had

just "slapped" a sticker on Beckett.

Shane's face is priceless. 

Finally headed home!

 Such a proud brother!

Aunt Cray Cray came by to meet the newest addition.

39 Weeks

I'm finally at the home stretch and merely days (or hours) away from meeting Beckett!  Last week was a crazy week at work with a big event so I wasn't able to update the blog, but as you can see, there was not much to update.  I'm still pregnant and miserable.  We thought for sure Beckett would have come this past weekend because last Tuesday I was already dilated 2.5cm when I went in to see the doctor.  He didn't think I would make it 2-3 days, let alone through the weekend.  But alas, I still find myself pregnant an entire week later!  I go back today so I'm hoping he will have a better estimate on Beckett's arrival.  I went ahead and brought my hospital bag with me in hopes that he will say, "You're ready to go!  Let's get you admitted!"  If that isn't the news he has for me, we may talk about an induction date, but at the same time, I don't want to push it and evict Beckett before he's ready to greet the world.  No matter what, he should be here early next week because we will not go too far past the due date.  Worst case, we induce on October 20.

On the home front, we have been spending alot of time at the house.  Moving around alot is hard for me so I usually do a few things, take a break, then get up and do alittle more.  I'm trying to run errands to get everything ready for Gray's 2nd birthday party and also put his Halloween costume together.  I finally figured out what he's going to be so I ran to a few places this past Saturday to get everything so I could make his costume (to be revealed at a later date).

I'm also trying to spend time with Gray when I can.  It's not easy for me to pick him up and carry him around, but if we can snuggle on the couch and watch football or do something fun, I try to make the time.  Last weekend while Bobby was here, my mom and I took him to a pottery painting place.  He loves arts and crafts so I thought it was something he would enjoy.  He picked out a dinosaur and some random color selections of yellow, green and red and began painting.  We had to help him alittle but I think he enjoyed dipping the brush in the water and the colors and lathering it on his dinosaur.  It took a week for it to be completed because they had to let it dry then fire it, but the finished product is sort of cute.

Getting his paint brush loaded with paint

 

We had to direct him where to paint or all of 

it would have been concentrated on the dinos back.

All shiny and glazed!

Well hopefully my next post will be about Beckett's birth!  Everyone is on pins and needles waiting for him to get here.  My mom is on constant standby so she can help us with Gray so I'm not the only one stressed out.  They get possession of their new house today/tomorrow so I know she's eager to get a few things done so they can move in later this month.  So many great life changes happening this week!  Stay tuned....

37 Weeks

Another week down, and nothing to report.  I had my weekly check up yesterday and Beckett does not appear to be making an arrival anytime soon.  My doctor and I are discussing my options but no definite plans have been made yet.  We will talk again next week and see if an induction date needs to be set.  For now it looks like I'm going to be in this for the long haul!  It's good news for me work wise so I can spend the next 2 weeks getting things in order and also getting prepared at home.  This weekend I plan to make some meals to freeze like I did prior to Grayson being born.  It was nice to have some food in the freezer that I could easily pull out in the morning and then pop in the oven or our crockpot.

This past Saturday was a busy one for us.  We noticed Gray did not seem to be feeling well that morning so Shane skipped out on soccer tots but I left to go to a vintage baseball game and BBQ for work.  Gray perked back up about lunch time so he got his nap in and then they joined me at the BBQ so Shane could judge the ribs competition.  I was asked to sit on the panel but my ability to eat large quantities of food right now is limited.  Shane had to step up and take one for the team.  As you can probably guess, it didn't take much arm pulling to get him to agree to sit in my spot.  Right after the BBQ, we headed to another birthday party at Gymboree.  The party was for a boy that was in both our soccer tots and Gymboree classes this summer so we had sort of gotten to know his parents.  Gray loves Gymboree so he had a blast.  He also had no problems eating the cupcakes that were provided to all of the kids.

After the party, Shane and Gray headed home and I went out to Western Days in Lewisville to spend some time with my friend, Kevin Fowler.  If you don't know who Kevin is, he's a Texas Country Musician.  I met him in college when he first got started and now he's pretty popular.  I remember going to his shows when there were only 5 of us in the audience and no one knew who he was.  Now there are 50,000+ in the audience all singing his songs while he puts on this amazing show.  We spent a couple of hours hanging out on his tour bus catching up then I went home to grab some dinner, take a nap and headed back out for his show that started at 10pm.  I had just planned on sitting backstage during the show, but he pulled up a chair and sat me right on the stage behind one of the sponsor screens.  I definitely had the best seat in the house!  That night I didn't get home until midnight which is WAY past my bedtime.  I can't remember the last time I had been out that late, even before I got pregnant with Beckett.  I had not been to one of Kevin's shows in a few years, and it's rare that I get to see him when he's so close, so I couldn't pass up an opportunity to go to this one since it was literally 10 minutes from our house.  We have kept in touch all of these years so it was nice to spend some time with him and see how much the show has changed with all of his success.

Cupcakes are finger licking good!

Me and Kevin

The view from my seat.

Aunt Nancy sent Grayson and Beckett some

Halloween gifts. The hat is actually Beckett's

but Grayson felt he should break it in.

Eventually we will break him of his schnoolies, 

but until then he will continue to play with them.

He is only allowed to have them at night and during nap

time so he isn't too attached anymore.

Uncle Bobby is coming to visit this weekend but things never get too out of hand while he's in town.  We have not seen him since our trip to Belize so it will be nice to catch up with him.  Everyone have a great weekend!  We will keep you posted!

36 Weeks

On Sunday I officially hit 36 weeks or full term!  I remember when I made this milestone with Grayson how relieved I felt knowing that he could safely come at any point and have a greater chance of being healthy when he arrived.  After so many years of thinking we would not be able to start a family, it's sometimes hard for me to imagine we are about to welcome another little boy into our lives.  I feel blessed everyday for what God has given me over the years!

I went to the doctor yesterday for my weekly check up and it doesn't look like Beckett will be coming too early.  I'm not dilated at all so the waiting game continues.  On Monday I began having some bad cramps and more intense braxton hicks contractions so I came into work for a couple of hours, went home to lie down and work in bed, then back to work for a park board meeting that night.  Things were better yesterday so I guess I just need to be prepared for some good, and some bad, days over the next few weeks.

Unfortunately I have no new photos of Grayson to share.  This past weekend he did attend his first birthday party for a boy in his class at school.  We always see them playing together on the cameras so it was nice of his family to invite Grayson to their home.  I think he had a great time playing with some of the other kids that were there.  His favorite part was most likely the truck full of goldfish they left on the table for the kids to devour.  Our chunky monkey probably ate 3/4 of it.  Not to mention all of the grapes out of the fruit salad.

Like I said, we continue to wait.  My hospital bag is packed just in case, but I have a feeling we should be well into October before we get to meet Beckett.  That's ok for this momma because it gives me more time to clean the house and get prepared to add yet another man to my life!  :)

35 Weeks

Only one more week and I will be full term!  Although given the size of my stomach, I already feel full term.  I get the feeling Beckett feels the same way as he is still regularly attempting to find ways to get comfortable and hurting me in the process.

I had an appointment last week and everything looks right on track.  I go back next Tuesday and begin weekly appointments at that point.  Each week we may get a better idea of how much longer I will be able to go since my doctor will be checking to see if I have dilated at all.  My goal is to keep him in until atleast October 10, as I have a special event at work on October 9 that I need to get through.  This will also give me the next few weeks to prepare for my absence from work.  My current plan is to periodically monitor my emails while I am on maternity leave, then begin working 10-20 hours a week from home after about 6 weeks (emails, phone calls, etc) with a few visits to the office for meetings from time to time.  There are a number of council directed projects that I am responsible for overseeing and my division is currently part of a process called Managed Competition which requires my attention.  After Christmas break I plan to go back full time and put Beckett in daycare with Grayson at Kids R Kids.

Grayson is still great as always and continuing to develop each day.  He seems to pick things up so easily and retains so much information.  The biggest milestone is he went pee pee in the potty for me on Sunday!  He had already done it at school a couple of months ago (and a couple of times since then) but never for us at home.  We aren't pushing it too much since we know the arrival of Beckett could only set him back, but we are letting him use the potty when he asks and encouraging him when we can.

Shane and I had the "guilt" discussion the other night at dinner in that we wish we could have more alone time with Gray before Beckett arrives.  All of my friends have told me this is normal and that the guilt feeling will immediately disappear once Beckett arrives.  I haven't had the feeling as much because of the discussions I have had with my friends, but Shane is starting to experience it.  The best advice I could give him is that we are giving Grayson the greatest thing in the world, a little brother.  I am so excited to see how they will interact and grow together.  Our family is going to go through a big change, but all in a positive way!  For now we will enjoy these last few weekends as a family of 3 and continue to enjoy each minute we have with Gray.

This kid still loves his glasses.  

I love the "attitude" he's giving me in this photo.

Snuggle puppy needed the glasses on this car trip.

A couple of weeks ago I started to let Gray pick out

his own clothes in the morning.  I had just bought

him a new A&M jersey to get him through this season and 

he picked it when getting dressed a couple of mornings!

Obviously I still need to pick Shane's clothes out for him as he seems

to have poor taste!  :)

Aspen and Grayson have really bonded over the 

last couple of weeks.

Someone loves his bubbles!

Gymboree bubbles are by far the best brand

we have found.  We will find bubbles on our furniture 

days after we played with them.

That's a serious bubble blowing face.

This brings a tear to my eye...Grayson

is cleaning!  We had just made cupcakes and 

I was wiping down the counter.  He loves to say

"I try" and then imitate you.  So I handed him the

sponge and let him finish up while I washed dishes.

Dusting the furniture.

I'm not going to complain if I have one more person helping

me clean the house!  This OCD mom is in heaven!

33 Weeks

I have a very casual photo today since it was taken yesterday on my day off.  This was the first Labor Day weekend I have had off in over 6 years and it was really nice to be home, rather than at the pool guarding or managing the staff.  We are merely 6-7 weeks (or less) away from meeting Beckett!  I had my 32 week check-up last week and all is well.  His heart rate sounds great and things are progressing as normal.  Beckett must be hurting for real estate in my belly because I frequently feel him trying to poke an arm or foot through my belly button or the sides of my stomach.  Some of his attempts are pretty painful.  With him being so active, I have been able to put Grayson's hand on my stomach a couple of times for him to feel his baby brother move around.  Grayson is getting pretty good at saying Beckett's name and points to my stomach when we ask him "where's Beckett?"

Aside from purchasing diapers, we are fully prepared for Beckett to make his arrival.  A week ago, my mom and I sorted Grayson's old clothes that I plan to use for Beckett and got them washed and put away in the nursery.  I raised the crib back up to its highest setting and reset the car seat to accommodate a smaller size since Grayson's last use of it almost a year ago.  It has been much easier preparing for #2.  Almost too easy, which makes me feel as if we are missing some major element to this transition we are about to go through.  If we are, I am sure we will adapt quickly, as we have to any other event in our lives.

As for our Labor Day weekend, it was pretty low key.  I did do alittle baking with Grayson on Saturday afternoon.  I love to bake and it has been awhile since I don't have as much free time anymore.  I figured it would be a fun activity for Grayson and I do to together so we made Shane's favorite cookies, Snickerdoodles.  Grayson really enjoyed standing on the stool near the counter helping mommy put all of the ingredients in the mixer.  He was scared of the mixer at first, but once I showed him what it was doing, he was very excited to be part of the process.  He also appears to love him some raw cookie dough, too.

Adding the dry ingredients

Watching the mixer do its magic

Mmmmm, raw cookie dough!

Our final product

Our only fun adventure was taking Grayson to the Lego Kids Fest at the Dallas Convention Center on Sunday.  Over the last few months he has really taken a liking to Legos and finally figured out how to assemble them.  He was free to attend so we thought it would be something fun we could do as a family.  The exhibit hall was sectioned off into different areas based on the various types of Legos.  One section was specific to Duplo (the bigger blocks for smaller kids) complete with a huge pile and some small side stations for little ones to build objects.  They had areas for you to create art projects using Legos that would be displayed on these large walls as well as a place called "Creation Nation" where you could create a structure and have it added to a giant map of the United States.  Throughout the entire exhibit hall were Lego creations such as superheroes, animals, Disney characters, etc.  Gray loved walking up to them and checking them out.  We rode the DART train downtown (Grayson is a pro at riding the train now), walked through the exhibit for a couple of hours, grabbed lunch in the West End and then rode the train back home.  I think Grayson had a good time while we were there.  Although he was still pretty young for about 75% of the exhibit, I think he enjoyed looking at everything.  It's definitely something we will come back to as he gets older.

Grayson attempting to walk into the pile of Legos

In the lion's mouth

Jake is life size!

Gray loved this little monkey and his hat.

He was also obsessed with this car.

The rest of the weekend we spent some time hanging out at home.  After walking around on Sunday and carrying Gray, I was having issues with my IT band yesterday so movement was fairly limited for me.  I spent most of the day sitting or lying down on the couch.  It's still quite sore, but most of the stretches I need to do are hindered by the massive belly I have protruding in front of me.  Oh well, it's only 6-7 more weeks, right?

I will try to post updates weekly as we get closer, if I can find the time and have anything to share.  September is a semi-busy month for us with Shane and I both celebrating a birthday as well as one of my nephews.  I am sad that this will be the first year I am not able to celebrate my birthday with my grandfather.  He was my birthday buddy for 34 years and I loved making that call to him on our special day.  Shane was lucky and I gave him his birthday present early.  It's a Honda mower he has been bugging me about getting for years.  On Friday, I had to go talk with a vendor we regularly do business with about an event we have coming up and they sell the exact mower Shane has wanted.  They struck me a deal so I couldn't pass up the opportunity.  I'm not exactly sure, but I think I saw Shane jumping and kicking his heels together as he mowed the lawn yesterday...

Everyone have a great September and pray for some cooler temperatures!  Here are a few other photos and some videos of Grayson from the last week or two.

Grayson loves to wear sunglasses now.

Helping daddy patch a *giant* hole in our wall.

Gotta love water leaks.

Playing guitar with daddy

Mastering his foot skills at Soccer Tots

Shane and I like to make up songs and this is one we are 

really proud of.  I taught Grayson the last word and he always 

says it with such excitement.