More pictures of Cannon

I don't really have much to say, so I thought I would just post some pictures of typical life around here lately. Oh, I do have a story about Ryan. We spend five hours in the ER on Monday night. Here's what happened. After we got home from Blue's obedience class, Ryan went out back to play with her. Our ground is bumpy in the backyard and there are some shallow holes. Well, Ryan stepped in one of those holes and he twisted his ankle. All of a sudden I heard him call to me in a calm voice, "Jefra, get a back of ice." Thinking I heard incorrectly, I went to him outside and found him lying in the grass. Immediately I knew something was wrong because we don't sit in our grass for two reasons: 1)it's Texas grass; 2)we have fire ants. He hobbled inside and I iced and elevated his foot. I asked if he wanted me to take him to the hospital and he said to wait and see. His foot was swollen and bruised. I gave him one of my prescription ibuprofen's from when I had Cannon. Ryan started to go into shock and that's when I decided to take him. Also, this was Ryan's right foot, the one with the metal plate. So that made it more concerning to me. The ER was super busy that night and after five hours of waiting, the x-rays revealed a sprained ankle. We got home at 3am, just in time to feed Cannon. Ryan is fine. He denied the crutches, so he had to teach standing up.


Here is Ryan resting his foot. Notice Cannon's long chicken legs and his long feet.



A family picture right before church on Mother's Day.


Classic Blue.



Cannon's cousins, Jeremiah and Cole.



I was trying to get a good picture of Cannon with his eyes open. This is an ok picture. His eyes are starting to get so big.



Blue is allowed limited supervised licks with Cannon.

Date night!

I really surprised myself after having Cannon. I thought I would be all about the baby for the first couple months. But earlier this week I realized how much I missed Ryan and spending time with him, so we decided to plan a date night for Friday. Cannon's pedi gave me the green light to introduce him to the bottle. So yesterday I was able to pump out 4oz for him and I fed him right before we left. My mom, Nanna, stayed with Cannon. Ryan and I went to the Alamo Draft House to see the Soloist. We were met by Ryan's friend Wes and his girlfriend Amber. It was really nice to get out and to start to feel normal again. At one point I forgot I had a kid, but later on in the night I started to miss him. On the way back home we stopped at Shakes for a delicious treat. My masterpiece creation there is a sundae made with chocolate custard, then you add hot fudge and raspberries, that is topped with whipped cream and a cherry. Delicious! When we got home Cannon was hungry again. He had downed the 4oz and wanted more! My mom said his eyes got really big when she gave him the bottle and he realized he didn't have to work as hard to eat. It was fun to have a date with Ryan and I think we will make this a regular event.

I love my baby!

Last night was our best night ever! Cannon ate and then went to bed at 10:45. He stayed asleep until just after 4:00 am, ate, and went back to bed until 9:00 am! It was wonderful! I hope this is a new trend.

Yesterday Cannon had his two week well-check. Here are the stats:

Weight: 6lbs 8oz (5th percentile)
Length: 21" (75th percentile)

So he is long and skinny! He was not a happy boy for the doctor. They had to take more blood for all the metabolic screeners and he did not like that.

Here are some recent pictures.


This was Cannon after his ordeal at the pedi's office.



Ryan and both of his babies!


A rare picture of me. I'm showered, dressed, and I'm wearing makeup!


Robert and Bev brought the kids over to meet Cannon. Jeremiah LOVES babies. He loves to hold and pet them. However, Jade was reluctant to hold Cannon. She prefers babies when they are older.


My mom, a.k.a Nanna, is in town for two weeks. She has been a big help for all of us!


Blue, with a guilty look on her face. This has been a common expression for her these last couple of weeks.


Ryan and Cannon.

Quiz about me

I saw this on Stacey and Heather's blog and it looked fun.

1. Last beverage→chocolate milk
2. Last phone call→Elena Robinson; she wants to come over and see the baby
3. Last text message→Shae; to tell her happy birthday yesterday
4. Last song you listened to→Your Call
5. Last time you cried→yesterday

HAVE YOU EVER:
6. Dated someone twice →no
7. Been cheated on? →no
8. Kissed someone & regretted it? → No
9. Lost someone special?→Yes
10. Been depressed?→Yes
11. Been drunk?→Nope

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS:
12. Turquoise
13. Tiffany Blue
14. Light blue

THIS YEAR HAVE YOU:
15. Made new friends→Yes
16. Fallen out of love - No
17. Laughed until you cried →Yes
18. Met someone who changed you→ Yes
19. Found out who your true friends were→Yes
20. Found out someone was talking about you → Yes, but in a good way
21. Kissed anyone on your friend's list→ No

TRUTH
22. How many kids do you want to have→Ask me again in a year!
23. Do you have any pets →Yes, 1 dog Blue
24. Do you want to change your name→Yes, but I would never actually do it
25. What did you do for your last birthday? My mom came in to town that night, so we picked her up at the airport. Then that Sunday we had a family party.
26. What time did you wake up today? 9:40 am, Cannon slept in!
27. What were you doing at midnight last night?→Feeding Cannon
28. Name something you CANNOT wait for→to fit into my regular clothes!
29. Last time you saw your father→Yesterday
30.What is one thing you wish you could change about your life→ I wish we owned our house
31. What are you listening to right now →the sound of the washing machine
32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom →Yes
33. What's getting on your nerves right now? →nothing at the moment

PERSONAL:
34. What's your full name →Jefra Taylor Rees
35. Relationship Status →Married
36. Zodiac sign →Sagitarius
37. Male or female→ Female
38. Primary School→Rosslyn Heights
39. High school → Jordan
40. Hair color →Brown
41. Long or short →Long
42. Height →5' 8"
43. Do you have a crush on someone? →My Ryan
44. What do you like about yourself? I leave lasting impressions on people
45. Piercings →ears
46. Tattoos →None
47. Righty or lefty →Righty

FIRSTS :
48. First surgery →none
49. First piercing →I was 2 when I got my ears pierced
50. First tattoo →none
51. First best friend →Megan
52. First sport you joined- soccer
53. First pet →Meho
54. First vacation→Sun Valley, Idaho
55. First concert →Alanis Morrisette
56. First crush→Will
57. First alcoholic drink→None

RIGHT NOW:
58. Eating →Nothing
59. Drink → Water
60. I'm about to → Take Cannon to the pedi for his 2 week well check
61. Listening to →the quiet house
62. Waiting for →Blue to stop biting
63. Want kids? →yeah, we'll have more
64. Want to get married?→already married
65. Careers in mind? →something I haven't yet done: play therapist, child life specialist, or hospital early intervention specialist

WHICH IS BETTER:
66. Lips or eyes →Eyes
67. Hugs or kisses →I like both
68. Shorter or taller →taller
69. Older or Younger →older, but Ryan is younger than me
70. Romantic or spontaneous →Romantic
71. Nice stomach or nice arms → Stomach?
72. Tattoos or piercings?→None
73. Sensitive or loud →Sensitive
74. Hook-up or relationship →Relationship
75. Trouble maker or hesitant→Trouble maker

HAVE YOU EVER :
76. Kissed a stranger →No
77. Drank hard liquor →No
78. Lost glasses/contacts →I have better than perfect vision
79. Cried yourself to sleep→Yes
80. Danced in the rain→Yes
81. Broken someones heart →Probably
82. Had your own heart broken →Yes
83. Been arrested → No
84. Turned someone down→Yes
85. Cried when someone died → Yes
86. Liked a friend more then just a friend →Yes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
87. Yourself → Yes
88. Miracles → Of course!
89. Love at first sight →Yes
90. Heaven → Yes
91. Santa Claus → Yes!
92. Kissing on the first date →sure
93. Angels → Yes

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
94. Is there one person you want to be with right now? Ryan
95. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time? →no
96. Do you believe it’s possible to remain faithful forever?→Definitely
97. Where is your favorite place to vacation? Dominican Republic
98. What's the one thing you cannot live without?→My family
99. What is your biggest pet peeve?→Crowded grocery stores
100. One thing that most people don’t know about you → having a baby is harder than I thought it would be

My growing, hungry boy!

Yesterday, Cannon had another weight check at the pedi's office. First off, he made a huge dirty mess on the table. The nurse wanted to take his temp and she wanted to be very accurate so she did it the old fashioned way. The first time she stuck it in, he squeezed it out with his butt cheeks and the second time ended in a huge poopy mess! Serves her right though, having to do such a violating act on my little guy. As I was cleaning him with the wipes, he peed so high and so far that it went all over the wall! I was a little embarrased and I felt bad that the nurse had a big mess to clean, but mostly it was pretty funny! The good news is that Cannon was back up to his birth weight (6lbs 4oz) and his jaundice seems to be resolving. Yeah! Now he wakes up to eat instead of me waking him every three hours. Last night he did a cluster feeding and this morning all he wanted to do was eat again! I am so happy all of his feeding issues are gone!

On a side note, my feeding issues are back. The IBS and the lactose intolerance has come back in full force. So I must say so long to raw carrots, celery, and apples with the peel. And Ben and Jerry will have to be occasional visitors.

The whole story

So here is the whole story of how Cannon was born. It all started Monday night (4/20). I went to bed at 11:00 and my water broke at midnight. Ryan and I were freaked out knowing that this was it. Luckily, I had already packed my bag, but Ryan still needed to get some things together. We also had to pack up the dog's stuff and drop her off at my dad's house. We got to the hospital around 2am. My contractions were irregular and quite tolerable at this point. When they checked me I had just started to dialate. I was started on pitocin and that made the contractions become regular and stronger. Ryan's job was to time the contractions. When the contractions were lasting for one minute and two minutes apart, I couldn't take it anymore. I had an epidural around 11:30am. Keep in mind that I hadn't slept at all the previous night, so I was completely exhausted. The epidural was nice because that allowed me to get a few cat naps here and there. Cannon's heart rate would get really low during each contraction. The nurses suspected that his umbilical cord was either around his neck or foot. They put an oxygen mask on me that I wore until he was born. Finally at 4:50 pm it was time to push. I pushed for almost two hours and Cannon was born at 6:40 pm. It was so exciting! I thought he would never come! The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, but they were able to slip it off over his head. He cried for minute and they put him on my belly. I patted him and he stopped crying. The thing that I couldn't believe was how much hair he had, not only on his head but all over! The nurses took him to the warmer and Ryan went with him. He had some trouble breathing, which was why his first APGAR was a 6. There was also an issue with his umbilical cord. They said that on part of it, the skin around a major blood vessel was very thin and they were nervous that it could bleed. They had the neonatologist look at him and then they took him to the nursery to monitor him. I only got to hold him for a few minutes. Ryan went with him to the nursery and he recorded his bath so I could see it. After they got me all cleaned up they allowed my family to come in to see me. Throughout everything, Ryan was awesome! He was so supportive of me and encouraging when it was hard. He really got into it too. He would ask the nurses what he could do and where he should stand. I was so proud of him! He even cut the cord, which he swore he wouldn't do! The whole experience to me was amazing.

The hospital stay was nice and we loved all of our nurses. Throughout the stay, they closely monitored mine and Cannon's blood sugars. I am happy to say that our blood sugars were perfect every time! Now that I am home, I will continue to check my morning blood sugar for the next few weeks. So far it's been normal. I was excited to go back to my regular diet and to reunite with my old friends Ben and Jerry. I owe that to my sister Shae and my dad. We got to come home Thursday afternoon. You know you are in the Rees family when the first thing you do after you leave the hospital with a newborn is stop at Baskin Robbins.

Our first night home was horrible! Cannon really regressed when it came to nursing. At the hospital, he was a champion eater, but it quickly went downhill. He barely ate that first night. He was hungry and exhausted and I was exhausted. We saw the pediatrician the next day and he had lost too much weight. When we left the hospital he was 5lbs 13oz, but at the doctors he was down to 5lbs 9oz. He was also jaundiced. His bilirubin counts were at 13. The doctor recommended a miracle device called a supplemental nursing system. It worked like a charm! I was able to pump some milk and put it in this thing. It looks like a mini IV. I clipped the plastic container, with the milk, to my shirt and taped the small tube to myself and when Cannon would latch on he would immediately get the milk from the tube. When I felt like he was really on, I could then slip the tube out of his mouth. This was great because we didn't have to use a bottle. Now Cannon doesn't need the SNS and he's back to being a great eater. We saw the pediatrician again on Saturday and his weight was back up to 5lbs 13oz and his bilirubin counts were lower. We will go back again Monday morning for another weight check.

Cannon has such a calm, chill temperment. He only cries when he is cold, like during diaper changes, but is quickly able to be comforted. He loves to sleep! I have to wake him for his feedings and then he will go right back to sleep. He has short awake periods about three times a day and will look at you and look around the room. He is also a cuddler, which we all love! Here are some pictures of life around the Rees home.


Father son bonding over XBox.




Cannon and his cousin, Cole, who is six months old.









When Ryan was at church today I decided to take a shower. This was Cannon's first time in the swing and he loved it. I put it in the doorway of the bathroom so I could peek on him. I thought Blue was asleep in the front room, so I had closed my bedroom door so she wouldn't come bug him. Blue was actually asleep in our room and when I stepped out of the shower, this is what I found. I think she was protecting him. Despite her robust urge to lick his face, she is otherwise calm around him.






A lazy Sunday afternoon.

He's here!

Here is a quick post of Cannon Taylor Rees.
Born: 4/21/09 6:40 pm
Weight: 6lbs 4oz
Length: 19.5 ''
APGAR: 6, 7, 8 (he had three because the first one was lower than a 7)



I will post more photos and the story when I get a chance.