Spring has sprung!

It's finally starting to feel like spring!  Bennett is wearing short sleeved shirts most days, and when getting dressed he keeps trying to pull his sleeves down.  But being from New England I know that the weather could quickly turn, so the long sleeve shirts are still easily accessible.

One day this past week we picked Bennett up from school and he had a ponytail, or as he called it, a "popo tail".  Apparently all of the kids who had any amount of hair got ponytails.  What I love most about this though is that Bennett finally has enough hair to be put into a ponytail!  And yes, it is often that curly.

May the 4th be with you!  The Lego store was celebrating by giving out Yoda hats.

On Sunday we went to Sturbridge.  Hey, it had been two weeks, so it was time, right?

Bennett brough his phone with him (an old cell phone of mine) and started taking pictures of the sheep.

We had noticed that Doc and Blue, the two oxen who reside in the center village weren't in their normal enclosure.  When we got towards the farm we saw them working to plow a field.  As we were getting closer, they finished up and came up the path towards us.

When they reached the end of the path, the farmer stopped them and talked to the small gathering of people about the oxen.  Technically they won't be "oxen" for another year or so.  This is the term that they get when they are fully trained.  Doc and Blue (Doc's horns point down) are 3 years old.  They are doing well, but still have some learning to do.

As they were being led away, Bennett very loudly yelled after them, "BYE OXEN!!!"

Then we went into the barn and saw the twin "mambs" that had just been born.

Back at home at dinner time, Bennett had his first corn on the cob of the season.  He ate it like a pro, eating an ear and a half.  He probably would have eated the whole second ear but I wanted more so I split it with him.  We may need to find some plastic corn dishes because I don't think I want to risk these glass ones getting broken.

A medical update

I realize I haven't updated on Bennett's medical condition lately.  (Ok, I haven't really updated on anything lately.)  So here goes.



At the cardiologist- August 2011

August 2011 he saw the cardiologist.  It had been a few months since he had last been in.  The cardiologist he had been seeing had left to go to another hospital.  We considered staying with him, but in the end figured we'd rather stay with Children's. 

The ECHO was challenging.  Bennett did not like lying still.  They got some images, but not great ones.

We met (very briefly) with the new cardiologist and were told that everything looked good.  Come back in a year.

Fast forward to 2012.  When we left last year, they had mentioned the possibility of doing a sedated ECHO next time, but that they would let us know.  After a horrible experience with a kidney/bladder ultrasound back in February, Chris and I knew sedated was the way to go.  So I called and made it known that we thought it would be best if Bennett were sedated.  Finally we heard back that yes, they thought so to.  And then the appointment ended up being rescheduled a couple of times.

Finally at the end of September we were able to get in.  Being sedated meant nothing to eat after 2:30am the night before, and only clear liquids until 8:30am.  (Appointment scheduled for 9:30.)  Surprisingly he did well with nothing to eat, and didn't fuss about no milk.  He was more annoyed with the 2 hour drive to Children's in the morning.  Under "normal" circumstances it would take maybe 45-60 minutes, but it was rush hour.  Chris found some Thomas videos on his phone for Bennett to watch, and that kept him happy for a little while.

Then began the waiting.  At this point we're used to appointments at Children's taking excessive amounts of time with lots of time waiting.  In this case, we were told 9:30, they had us down for 10:00.  They got a height and weight and then brought us back.  Interestingly, our little pipsqueak, was pretty much right on the upper range of being able to take the sedation medicine. 



Passing time while waiting to be sedated. 

They had a play doctor kit in the exam room that Bennett liked playing with while we waited.  Finally they were ready!  The nurse came back in and gave him the medicine.  And then we had to wait for him to fall asleep.  Bennett does not like being told to go to sleep, especially a couple of hours before his normal nap time!  Daddy and I took turns holding him and trying to keep him still.  We couldn't put him down because he would likely fall and hurt himself.  Plus I think he would have been really confused about what was happening.  In the end Chris lay down on the exam table and held him.  All in all, this took maybe 15 minutes.

Then it was time to transfer him to the room where they do the ECHOs.  He woke up slightly when he was transferred but he went right back to sleep.  The nurse stayed with him and Chris and I went to get some food.



He also did some coloring with his new Aquadoodle
that he got for his birthday.



Some people have commented that they wouldn't be able to/ wouldn't want to leave their child there, but with our experience at Children's, we've learned that when you get an opportunity to eat, take it.  Doesn't matter that it's only 11:00.  Go. Eat. 

When we got back to the room the person doing the ECHO was just wrapping up.  They had been able to get great pictures and a very thorough look at his heart.  Bennett was still sleeping, so they went ahead and did an EKG.  Then the cardiologist came in to talk to us.

It was awesome being able to talk and be able to give our full attention to the doctor rather than only have listening while we're trying to entertain Bennett and keep him from getting into everything.  And the news is... He's doing awesome!  The cardiologist commented that Bennett now has "mild regurgitation".  Wow!  Such a change from what we were hearing just before he was born.  They may not do an ECHO again next year, but that's ok because they were able to get such a thorough look this time.  And everything is looking great.  No reasons why he should be prevented from doing sports or other activities.  Future surgeries?  Maybe, but likely not until he's a teen/young adult, and possibly won't ever need anything else.

When we were done talking, and Bennett had been asleep a decent amount of nap time, the nurse removed the EKG stickers.  This woke Bennett up.  The nurse commented that coming out of sedation was similar to being drunk.  And that like with alcohol there are happy drunks and angry drunks, there was a similar range of outcomes when coming out of sedation.

Bennett is a happy drunk!  But  he also thought he could act like his normal self.  Um, sorry buddy.  We had to hold him to keep him from falling down or crashing in to things.  After he drank some milk we were free to go.

He also had his 2 year appointment with the pediatrician that afternoon.  We had time to kill between appointments so we stopped by Brandeis to visit Chris' co-workers.  The effects of the sedation hadn't worn off yet.  It was a struggle to restrain him!  This is a boy who doesn't like sitting still for very long!  But it was entertaining watching him try to walk.  But also a little scary since we had to keep such a close eye on him.



Asleep in the waiting room.



Then it was off to the pediatrician.  Bennett fell asleep again in the car.  He must have still been feeling the effects of the sedation because he didn't wake up when we took him out of the car.  Plus he slept in my arms while hanging in the (noisy) waiting room.  It was awesome!  I haven't been able to hold a sleeping Bennett in almost a year.  I hadn't realized how much I missed that.



Asleep in the exam room.



Then when we took him into the exam room he was still sleeping.  The nurses kept asking if he was ok- was there anything wrong with him?  Nope, just the after-effects of the sedation medication.  Understandable though, because I can imagine if I saw him lying on the table like this I would probably freak out a little as well.

When the doctor came in, we woke him up since we had to get an updated height.  They didn't like the measurement that we had gotten at Children's because it was very different from the last measurement that they had.

And then it was a pretty basic appointment, except we had to keep a closer eye on Bennett to keep him from falling from chairs and crashing into things.  But he was good about sitting still when he needed to be examined.  Pediatrician didn't express any concerns to us.  Yeah, Bennett has a speech delay, but he is making progress.  (We'll be so happy when he learns to communicate more!)

Day Out with Thomas

So for those who aren't aware, I have a degree in Theatre with an emphasis on Costume Construction.  Other than summerstock the year after I graduated and working on one production at a local theatre, those skills have been pretty under-utilized in the past 13 years.  People often ask me if I miss it or if I would want to get back into theatre.  I say, "not really, but my kids will have kick-ass Halloween costumes."  For years (long before Bennett was even a twinkle in our eyes) I've been saying this.  Well, it's now that time...

Back in August Chris and I brainstormed and we came up with idea of Bennett's Halloween Costume being Sir Topham Hatt from Thomas the Tank Engine.  Right after we decided this I started working again and then had to finish everything for his birthday party, so costume plans were set aside.

Then about 2 weeks ago I sat down and planned it all out.  I had a month to get the costume done.  Not too bad- I could take my time and I wouldn't have to rush or stress.  But then I wondered if "Day Out with Thomas" was coming up.  I figured we'd probably missed it, but that it didn't hurt to check.  It was less than two weeks away.  Eeek!!!

So for the past week and a half I've been up late every night stitching away.
4th went fabric shopping and started cutting out the jacket
5th - 9th made the jacket
10th made the waistcoat (vest)
11th started the hat
12th more or less finished the hat, started the spats (and stayed up until 1am)
13th (while at my hair appointment and in the car on the way there) finished sewing the lining into the tophat and sewed snaps onto the spats.

Phew, that was a long 10 days!

All week long he was very resistant every time I had to have him try his costume on.  The jacket was the worst!  He did NOT want to wear it!  I was a little nervous of how things would go on Saturday.

Bennett napped in the car on the way there, but didn’t sleep long enough and woke up cranky. We tried changing his clothes in the parking lot, but He. Was. Not. Having. It. We managed to change his pants but he didn't really want that to happen.  Put on his dress shoes and tried to put the spats on.  As soon as I got them snapped on, he was ripping them off.  So we put him back in his sneakers and I put the clothes in a bag and brought them in with us. Shortly before Sir Topham Hatt showed up for pictures we changed him. He still resisted, but once we got him dressed he was fine. Only we didn’t bother to change his shoes, since that had been the initial cause of the meltdown at the car. So he was all spiffy- and then in sneakers. Phooey

It was fun to hear the comments from other parents about how he looked like Sir Topham, and from some of the staff as well.

At first he wasn’t happy, but this may have been because we tried putting him down on his own. When that didn’t work, Chris quickly jumped in. Got a few pics that way, and then tried a single shot.

But the best is this one from the official photographer. I may need to pay the crazy amount of money to get it.

Not thrilled with any of the official photos with Thomas, and I didn’t get to take any with my camera. This one may be the best (there were three) and I think Bennett’s eyes are closed.

We then got to ride the train. We had a car all to ourselves which was nice because Bennett was able to run around.

Then at the end of the day (they were about to close) a staff member asked if she could take his picture for the website, but then she later said FB. Either way it’s pretty cool. Guess they don’t usually get people dressing up.

So all in all, I’m glad I pushed to get the costume done in time. I’d like to say I won’t be this ambitious next year, but I doubt that’s true.

Oh, and his hat really does fit. There’s a little resistance when you put it on, and Chris didn’t realize that. So it’s just sitting really high in all of the hat pictures except the last one.

Then yesterday I brought him to Brandeis.  The costume designer there had been most helpful to me with some pattern drafting- especially getting things to me during tech week!  She wanted to see him in his costume, and due to schedules, yesterday was really the only day I would be able to bring him in when she was there.  So after nap we headed in.  I changed him in Chris' office.  He was a little resistant, but not too bad.  Still didn't want to wear his hat though, although he is wearing it here.

We changed him again before we left and he wanted to carry the bag with his costume out to the car.  When we got home, he insisted on carrying the bag in.  Then what does he do?  Reaches in, pulls out the hat and puts it on.  And then starts pulling other things out and wants to put his spats on.  Really?  I'm glad you like it, but couldn't you have been more receptive on Saturday?

 

Still a few more occasions to wear it, so I hope he remains happy with it. (Trick or treating in town on the 26th, costume birthday party on the 27th, Halloween party at school, trick or treating on the 31st, and we're also taking him to have pictures taken.)

I've got no tubes...

Sung to the tune of I've Got No Strings from Pinnocchio

I've got no tubes
To hold me down
To make me fret, or make me frown
I had tubes
But now I'm free
There are no tubes on me

Yup, that's right.  The little guy lost his feeding tube this morning.  Now he's only connected by the standard monitoring wires, and they do disconnect those from time to time.

We have progress!

So much has happened today! Bennett...

• had his PICC line removed.
• had his pacing wires removed 
• took a bottle at multiple feedings today (yesterday he guzzled one down but then didn't want one at a second feeding)
• nursed from the breast for 20 minutes!!!!!
• and yesterday he had his nasal cannula removed.

On the not so fun side, we just learned that since his car seat is only recommended for over 5 pounds, we'll need to find something else for him until he reaches that weight.  :(  So rather than spending lots of money on a new carrier style car seat that is rated for over 4 pounds we'll probably be buying (through the hospital) a car seat bed that he can use until he reaches 5 pounds.  Hopefully we won't get much rain or other icky weather until he can fit in his regular car seat as I imagine it will be more of a pain to get him in and out of the car.

But maybe some of the best news?  Looks like we're aiming for the middle of the week to be able to take Bennett home!  Since he will still be on some meds we'll start to get training on how to administer those.  I guess now we just need to really crack down and find him a pediatrician.

Next Steps

At this point Bennett is doing really well.  Everyone is really surprised at his great progress.  So what's next?  

To move from the Cardiac ICU to "the floor" he needs to be able to maintain his temperature outside of the isolette.  I guess he's doing this well, because they started opening the isolette up last night, and tonight he was moved to a regular crib!  He also needs to be either 2 kilos or 2.2 kilos.  The doctor we spoke with yesterday couldn't remember which it was.  Currently he's right around 2 kilos, but if he has to be 2.2, that means he needs to gain about half a pound.

At some point he needs to learn to take food orally.  I'm not sure if that is a skill he needs to learn before he is moved or if he can learn that when he's on the floor.  We attempted breastfeeding today, but he was pretty sleepy.  But he got to taste some milk in his mouth.  We just need to get him to learn to latch.

As an aside, in everything I've read, I've seen how pacifiers are bad for babies if you want them to breastfeed.  Apparently that's not the case with preemies- especially in Bennett's case where for about two weeks now he hasn't taken any food orally.  The pacifiers are good because they help them learn to suck.  So I guess I have to bite my words (and the urge to throw one out today) and let him have it.

In regards to Bennett's feeding, he was being fed continuous breastmilk through a feeding tube.  Today they changed it from continuous to bolus feeding.  This means they are now timing it to get him used to having a full and then empty stomach.  So they are feeding him every three hours, but to start off that feed took an hour and a half.  When we left they had cut it back to an hour and 15 minutes, and they will continue to shorten the time it takes to feed him until they get to half hour feeds.

Once he is moved to the floor, we're almost home.  He likely will only be there for a few days for us to learn how to  do all of his care.

Once he is discharged, we will probably be back monthly for follow-up with the cardiologist, and depending on how he is doing, that will be changed to less frequently.

So the end is in sight.  We don't know exactly how long it will be, but probably he'll be going home in the next couple of weeks.  Yay, Bennett!

An update

Here are a few updates.  We've both been meaning to post with an update for quite some time now, but sitting down in front of the computer and getting our thoughts down in a coherent manner is difficult.  A few days ago I started making notes to myself of things that I wanted to mention, and it just took me a few minutes to figure out what one of my notes meant.  So, let's get this out before I forget even more.

Bennett milestones-

• He's started getting breastmilk via feeding tube.  They tried this one day earlier in the week and had been giving him too much too soon, so they stopped and started again a couple of days later.  He's now been getting it for a few days with no problems.  They have added some formula to the breast milk in order to give him more calories without increasing the volume of liquid.  They're hoping to help him increase his weight more quickly.  Although I understand the logic behind it, I'm not sure how I feel about this.  Isn't breastmilk supposed to be a superfood that shouldn't need to be supplemented?
• Earlier in the week (I don't remember which day now- Tuesday, maybe?) they turned off the meds that had been paralyzing him.  It was great to slowly start to see him moving around more.  First, his eyes opening, then him reacting to touching his feet, and then moving his arms.  Now he's moving around like a normal little baby.
• On Wednesday he celebrated his 1 week birthday. In true scrapbooker fashion, I made a little sign for him.  I plan to have these every week to begin with, then every month, as a way to show his growth.
• When I was pregnant I knit a pair of socks for him.  We had brought in some other socks/booties but they've all been huge on him.  The hand-knits fit perfectly!  And of the nurses who come by rave about how great they are.  It almost makes me want to knit another pair- except the needles that I used are so tiny it hurts to knit them.
• On  Friday he had his breathing tube removed!  We got to hear him cry.  Such a wonderful sound.  
• Thursday I got to hold him for the first time, and we've been able to hold him pretty much every day since then.  Each nurse has a different way for us to hold him, and some like him piled up with blankets more than others, but it's great to be able to do this.  I just wish I had asked earlier.  We had kind of thought we weren't allowed since there were so many tubes/wires.  I asked one of the nurses on Thursday when I would be able to, and she seemed shocked that I hadn't held him yet.  She quickly made sure that I was able to do so.

Stuff about Mumma-

• Pumping has gotten much better!  There are some better days than others, but overall it's going well.  Monday one of the lactation consultants came by.  She spent about half an hour with me, massaging and squeezing my breasts to work out the clogged ducts.  We got 150ML out of me, compared to maybe the 15-30 I had been getting on my own.  Wow!  I haven't gotten nearly that much since, but it's been going well.  And when I start to have problems I know how to fix them.  And she's come back frequently since then and helps me with little problems I'm having.  Chris and I kid around that Kim is my new best friend.  :)  I was having some problems with my pump yesterday, but Chris and I came up with a work-around.  We'll need to ask Kim if it's a problem with the pump or if it was something with me- maybe another clog or something.
• After the struggles that I was having with pumping, the nurse tonight commented that I have so much milk at the hospital now that I don't need to bring in what I pump at home- we can just freeze it and keep it for ourselves.  I guess it's nice to know I'm already building up a stash.  Apparently I'm a very good producer and I have no issues with my supply.  She also suggested that since I have such a good supply I shouldn't set an alarm at night and that I should let myself sleep, but I disagree with that advice.
• When I was over at the Brigham, the nurses were constantly checking my feet to see if they were swollen.  They never really got that bad.  Monday they were very swollen.  Tuesday they were just as bad.  Wednesday I went over to my OB's office to follow up on some paperwork and asked if a nurse could take a look at my feet.  They brought me back and had me do the normal OB appointment stuff- blood pressure check, weight check, and urine check.  Odd just for swollen feet, but whatever.  Apparently my blood pressure was rather high.  20 minutes later they re-checked and it was fine.  But since it was high my OB freaked out.  No one ever looked at my feet, but she sent me off to have some blood work done and to come back the next day for another BP check. She also wrote me a script for a diuretic in case I was retaining extra fluid.  By the time I got home, without taking any pills, my feet were much better.  The next day, my blood pressure was fine.  This OB likes to worry about everything!
• One nice thing about going back to the OB was that because of the weight check, I was able to see how much I've lost.  But the results surprised me.  On Wednesday, a week after giving birth, I had only lost 5 pounds.  That's not much more than Bennett weighs.  We had just eaten, so that may have accounted for some of it.  By Thursday's appointment I was down another 2 pounds, so I imagine a lot of it was food/water weight.

Here's looking at you, kid.

It's been a while since I've posted pictures, so here are some from the past few days.

Tough day for Mumma

Yesterday was a tough one for me- both physically and mentally.  In general, my recovery process has been going swimmingly.  I've been up and walking- perhaps even for longer distances than the nurses may like, but I've felt ok.  A little sore, but not so bad.  In fact, Friday night and Saturday morning I started to cut down on some of my doses of meds.  Pain hasn't been so bad.

Thursday and Friday mornings after waking we would make our way "quickly" over to Children's to see Bennett.  I put quickly in quotes because we found that between when we wake up and when we can leave, it seems to take 2-3 hours.  Pumping, showering, ordering food and eating, and speaking with the nurses takes a while!  But yesterday we decided to take it a little easier.  We knew we'd have a lot of visitors today over at Children's, so we spent some more time gathering some things together so that we could rest at Children's- laptop, magazines, etc.  By the time we headed over it was probably 11:00 or so.

We got there and had a little bit of time to get updated on how Bennett's doing.  And I went to pump.  Bennett's first visitors of the day were Uncle Andrew and Aunt Gentry.  Unfortunately they didn't get to stay long.  The nurse was going to remove some of Bennett's lines and wanted us to step out while she did this.  Since it was after lunch time by this point, we headed down to the cafe.  While there, Grandma and Grandpa Tedford arrived.  We all chatted for a bit and then Andrew and Gentry had to leave for a wedding that they were going to.  I felt bad that their visit with Bennett was so short, but there will be plenty more opportunities.

A short while later Mel arrived.  She seems to have a knack for timing her visits when I'm pumping. :)  When she came by on Friday I was just finishing up, and yesterday I was just starting.  She got to visit with Bennett, Daddy Chris, and the grandparents while I pumped.  Unfortunately her visit was probably cut short by my clumsiness. 


I  had been at the sink washing my pump parts.  As I turned to walk to put the parts away, the leg of my pants got stuck on the footrest of the wheelchair and down I went.  According to those who saw, it was a very graceful fall.  Bennett's nurse had stepped out of the room, but another nurse came over to make sure I was ok.  When Ben's nurse returned she told me I had to go get checked out.  I was going to go anyway, but she was pretty insistent that I go in the next 20 minutes.  So everyone took this as their cue to leave.  Mel headed home and the grandparents headed back to our house.

Chris and I headed back to the Brigham.  Although I had walked over to Children's in the morning, we had brought a wheelchair in case I needed it.  I needed it to get back!  I'll admit it, I was in pain.  Part of the pain was probably just due to the fact that I was overdue to take my meds, but other pain was fall related.  When we got back to my room we had a nurse come in and check me out, and she had a doctor come by who asked me a few questions as well, just to be safe.  All looked good, but I was sore.  And tired.  I lay in bed for a while until we got a call that Chris' co-worker Leslie had arrived.

I briefly thought about just staying at the Brigham for a little while longer, but ultimately decided to go back to Children's with Chris.  We were talking with Leslie, and Chris was going over some of the details of what had happened to him over the past few days, and that's when I had the realization that Chris had been able to see Bennett move.  All I've seen is Bennett in his sedated state.  Realizing this brought the first tears of the day to my eyes.

I think it was also around this time that I was realizing that I have very little idea of what's going on with my son.  The doctors and nurses tell me, but most of the time I'm only half aware of what they are saying.  The other half is usually zoning out into some sleepy state.  Or, I also feel like I'm not there very often as I'm off pumping.  I understand the logic behind all of this.  I'm tired and I need to pump, but there is certainly Mummy guilt in the fact that I don't know what's happening.  (Because of this, at least for the near future, Daddy Chris is going to have to be the one to update you on Bennett's medical condition.

Shortly after Leslie left, Grampa Jerry and Nana Liz came by.  Since pumping is my life these days, I headed off to pump.  In general, pumping has been going ok.  Friday night I was feeling as if my milk was starting to come in.  However, the pumping session prior to this one hadn't been great, and this one was very frustrating.  My breasts (especially the right one) were rock hard.  I pumped, and had great results on the left side (15ML) but only one ML on the right side.  And I was still hard.

When I got back into the room I think this hit me.  I started crying.  Kind of hard.  We needed to eat, so Dad and Liz took us out to Bertucci's.  It was nice to get out of the hospital.  It was gorgeous out!  Just the perfect temperature.  However, when we got there I was still feeling overwhelmed.  Making a decision about what to eat was tricky.

After dinner Dad and Liz headed home and Chris and I went back up to Bennett's room to grab our stuff and say good night.  Luckily it wasn't super late at this point- probably around 9:30 or so.  When we got back to my room at the Brigham I called my nurse for meds.  I was in pain- both in my abdomen and also my breasts.  I started crying again.  She was wonderful- offering multiple suggestions of things to try (ice, certain positions, etc).  And she also asked some of the other nurses for other suggestions.

And Chris has been great.  I think we both realized I need more support.  I've been trying to let him sleep through my nighttime pumping, but it makes it worse for me.  So last night he was wonderful getting up to help me with setup, washing pump parts, etc.  And I'm still engorged and in pain, but at least the night wasn't as bad as it could have been.

This morning the OB doctor came in, removed my staples, and basically cleared me to go home.  I cried again over my frustrations, but she was very understanding.  It's odd how such a seemingly normal and routine thing can frustrate me so much.  She also is going to do what she can to have a lactation consultant see me before we leave this morning.  If that doesn't happen, I'll make sure that I see one at Children's tomorrow.

So to sum everything up, I'm frustrated- partly because I don't know what's going on with Bennett.  My brain is mush.  I'm constantly tired.  I'm busy with visitors (this doesn't mean you should stop visiting.)  I'm buty with pumping.  I just can't keep it all together anymore.
And now- for a final word to everyone who we know only mean well....
Please don't tell me that I need to be taking care of myself.  That I need to remember to eat and sleep.  I know this.  We both know this.  We are eating.  I'm drinking plenty of fluids.  I'm sleeping as much as I can.  If Bennett were in the room with us, I'd be waking up as much as this so that I can feed him and I wouldn't get so much of what comes across as criticism.  I want to ultimately be able to breastfeed Bennett.  To be able to do that, I need to keep up with pumping as frequently as I would feed him.  This means pumping every 2-3 hours.  Since there's set-up and clean-up time that goes along with pumping, I feel as if I'm always pumping.  Or at least I should be.  I find that I may not be pumping as frequently as I should since I feel like I'm always pumping, but I also know I need to be better at it and keep to a schedule.

Bennett's Name

It's official.  Bennett can legally be a Bredford!

Although we've known for years that we wanted to use the last name Bredford for any children we have we weren't sure if we legally could.  And it seems to be a question that stumps people when we've mentioned it here.  In fact, when Chris went to fill out the registration paperwork for Bennett and he explained what we were going to do, he was asked, "Does the mother know?  And is she ok with it?"

Yesterday afternoon someone found me in my room at the Brigham.  This in and of itself is a challenge- it seems as if I'm rarely here.  Anyway, I had to give her first and middle names and had to change what she had for last name.  Interestingly, they had his last name on the paperwork as Tedford, while everywhere else he has been listed as Baby Boy Breecher.

So I cross out Tedford and write in Bredford.  She asks if it had been spelled wrong.  I say no, we're giving him a new last name- and I explain that Bredford is a combo of Breecher and Tedford. "Can you do that?" she asks.  And this is where I started to get defensive.  Maybe because I don't know if I legally can.  But as Chris and I have told numerous people now, how is it any different than making up a new last name by hyphenating.  Breecher-Tedford is still a new name.  It's just more common.  I explained this to her and she said she'd call City Hall to verify.  A few minutes later, she calls me.  No problem!  Woo hoo.

She comes back a little while later with the actual certificate for me to sign.  I review (and second guess the spelling of my birthplace- does Anniston have one N or two?) and sign.  Now we just need to wait a few weeks and we can get our copy.  She gave me a letter in instructions on how to do that, and it also included social security info.  It says I requested that as well, but I don't remember doing so.  It must have been a box that was checked or initialed or something that I assumed was something else.  I had been a little distracted during all of this as I was making phone calls during parts and had a visitor (thanks for coming by, Mel) when I had to review and sign the final copy.