(Disclaimer: This is going to be super long as I'm about to catch up on the past seven months)
Beckett Allen Dunaway made his entrance into this world on January 29th, 2011 at 1:25pm. He weighed 7lbs 13 ozs and was 20.5 inches long. We gave him his middle name after David's dad who was sent to heaven three years ago. Hopefully someday Beckett will realize how lucky he is to share a name with such a great man.
My pregnancy was a pretty miserable one. I was diagnosed with mild pre-eclampsia and was forced to be on bedrest for two and a half weeks until I was induced at 37 weeks. The induction was long and boring. 30 hours total from start to end. It took five and a half hours of pushing before the doctor decided to take matters into her own hands to get Beckett out. His head was stuck on my pubic bone so she had to use forcepts to get him out. He was taken to the NICU shortly after he was born because he was having breathing problems. He also had Bells Palsy from the use of forcepts. The left side of his face was paralyzed. This made feeding difficult for him and once his breathing problems resolved, we then had to worry about getting him to eat. He also was jaundiced and needed the bili blanket. We spent four days there with him before we got to take him home. It was both the best and worst four days of my life. I felt so many emotions during this time, but the ones I remember the most vividly were extreme anxiety and stress. The day we got to take him home was so amazing, and that's when the real fun began.
This is the first picture of us as a family. They had to take him away to the NICU so fast that I barely got to hold him, let alone get a family picture.
Grandma Cheryl
Grandma Judy
Grandpa Scott
Beckett was not the easiest baby. He was extremely fussy all. the. time. I breastfed him and that was a struggle. He didn't want to latch on, and when he did, he would pull off a lot because he would choke. So I resorted to mostly pumping and bottle feeding him. I can honestly say that breastfeeding is the hardest thing I have ever done. I have so much respect for the women who are able to do it for a year+. We made it to three and a half months with Beckett getting exclusively breastmilk. We then switched to half breastmilk/half formula until a little after four months, and he's been getting mostly formula since then.
Our little man ended himself back in the hospital when he was five weeks old. His pediatrician thought he had pneumonia so he was admitted for a chest x-ray and to have some tests done. It just turns out that he was admitted the day before he was supposed to be baptised. We had some family driving in to be there for his baptism and luckily we were able to stop most of them from coming. Beckett's great-grandma Marge was already on her way so she came anyways. She got to meet Beckett in the hospital for the first time. It was such an awesome moment having four generations together. Beckett, me, my dad and my grandma. Thankfully Beckett was discharged the next day after he was diagnosed with RSV (no pneumonia!) and we missed his baptism by just a few hours. It went off without a hitch 3 weeks later though, and a lot of family was able to be there for his special day, including his great-grandpa Russ on my mom's side of the family.
His baptism outfit was ruined by a major blowout so luckily Aunt Jaci and Uncle Dan gave him this outfit as a baptism present otherwise he would've been wearing a diaper for the rest of his party!
His Godparents, Kristen and Jesse
His first big holiday was Easter. The Easter Bunny visited us for the first time and left Beckett his goodies in a soccer ball basket (of course). No Easter egg hunts for us this year, but we look forward to them in the years to come!
Once Beckett hit about four months old, he became a much happier baby. He started sleeping longer stretches at night and got to try solid foods for the first time. I was already back to work and finally feeling like I could handle everything now. He started going to daycare and loved being around other kids. Up until this point, Grandma Judy had been watching him during the day. She was a saint for putting up with our fussy, crabby baby for several days a week!
At the end of June, we got a new nephew, and Beck got his first boy cousin! He already has four girl cousins, so he was happy to get a buddy to play with in a couple years. Oliver was born on June 30th (my birthday also!) The weekend after Oliver was born, we took our annual trip out to the cabin for the 4th of July. It was Beck's first time at the lake, and he did really well. He got to go swimming with Dad in the lake and loved it, despite the cold water. He loved watching the boats go by and seeing the outdoors in a whole new way. I can't wait to take him out there next year when he will be walking and able to explore a little more on his own.
Right around this time we decided to put our house on the market. We are in need of more space for our growing family. Two adults, a baby, and two big dogs takes up a lot of space. Our house hasn't sold yet, but we are optimistic about it. It will sell when the time is right.
That brings us to now! Beckett is a thriving almost seven month old. He is wearing mostly size 12 month clothes! At his 6 month appointment he weighed a little over 20 lbs, which put him in the 87th percentile for weight. He's in the 85th percentile for height, so he is big and tall! He is such a joy to have. We love making him laugh and nobody can do it better than his daddy. He is "talking" up a storm and we love to listen to his stories. He has been sitting up on his own for over a month now, but isn't crawling yet. He can get into the right position, but has yet to figure out he needs to move his arms and legs to go anywhere. He loves both of our dogs, Lola and Clifford. Lola acts like she doesn't care for him much but we know better. Most nights she will sneak into his room and sleep next to his crib. Clifford just loves Beck. He loves to lick every part of him and make him laugh his head off. He loves being outside and he really loves swimming. I can't wait to see what amazing things Beckett will do in the months to come. There is never a dull moment at the Dunaway residence!
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