Bennett by the Numbers

Being the finance major that I am (or was, anyway), I noticed Ashley scribbling down the time and duration of Bennett's feedings and I realized that this was a spreadsheet waiting to happen. After building a spreadsheet last Sunday and collecting data for a full week, here are the ever-important results:

Total time spent breastfeeding (only counting when he was actually latched on): 17 hours, 2 minutes

Total number of feedings: 74

Avg. feedings per day: 10.57 (with standard deviation of 1.50)

Avg. time between feedings: 2 hours, 17 minutes (standard deviation of 1 hour, 5 minutes)

Avg. duration of each feeding: 14 minutes, 23 seconds (standard deviation of 4 minutes, 11 seconds)

Bennett has had a good week. Four out of the last five nights, he has eaten around 11:30pm, 3:00am, and 7:00am, a pattern we have very much enjoyed. We hope it keeps up, but we're not holding our breath.

Here are some new pictures:


He likes to try to eat my nose. No matter what I try, I just can't seem to satisfy his hunger the way his mom does.


This is his favorite new face, which his nana taught him this last week. It really does seem to be a learned facial expression, since he never made it before she started demonstrating it to him.


Here is Bennett enjoying his new toy, which we assembled just a few days ago. He slept in it all night last night.


Playing with Dad.


After his third bath at home.

First Days at Home

On Friday we brought Bennett home from the hospital, and it has been an adventure having him here. He's starting to catch on to how to eat, how to sleep, and all of that good stuff.

We did find out Saturday morning that he was on the borderline for needing to be under lights over the weekend because of a high bilirubin level. Our nurse at the BYU Health Center called a pediatrician, and they decided to play it safe and set us up with a home phototherapy kit, so he has been "under the lights" quite a bit over the weekend.

Aside from a few issues with learning how to eat, he has been pleasant and fun so far. His Nana discovered that he can already imitate faces. During one of his rare "awake and alert" moods, she made a puckered face, and 5-10 seconds later, he made the same face. Ryan tried the same thing later with an open-mouth face, and he managed to copy that one as well. In another developmental milestone, during his first tummy time today he managed to find just enough strength in his neck to move his face from one side to the other, and he did it 3-4 times within 10 minutes.

Early Sunday morning (i.e. 4 am) Ashley had an exciting first experience with changing his diaper. (Ryan had been taking the lead in that department, but in a kind gesture to aid Ryan's sleep, she took a turn.) As she laid him down, he promptly spit up. After cleaning that up, she carefully changed the diaper while meticulously covering his "wetting weapon." However, just as she uncovered it for an instant to switch to the clean diaper, he gave her his worst, resulting in a certain amount of precipitation in the general vicinity. Ryan woke up instantly, either from the precipitation or from Ashley saying, "Well, THAT couldn't have gone any worse!" Needless to say, Ryan has changed all the diapers today.

In other news, tomorrow (Monday) is a big day for Bennett, as he will have his bilirubin level checked again in the morning, followed by his circumcision and first post-hospital appointment with a pediatrician in the afternoon. It is not likely to be a very comfortable day for him, so keep him in your thoughts and prayers!


Getting dressed before leaving the hospital.

Ready to go. He's probably crying because his clothes don't fit.

Lookin' good.



I think his sleeves are a little long.

These are the only pictures of herself that Ashley would allow on the blog. If you want to see the other cute ones of Ashley and Bennett, you can email Ryan.



He looks like this a lot right now.

Our little angel.

In Mommy's arms.

When I'm hungry, I go to the fridge. When Bennett's hungry, he eats his blanket.

Here's Bennett's "tanning bed." He'll fit in quite well by the time we move to Southern California.


His Nana gave him his first bath today. We expected him to be fussy, but he actually really enjoyed it!

Day 3

Here are a few pictures with his Nana (Ashley's mom).



Taking the picture below was a pretty funny experience. We got the camera out because he was wide awake and really cute, but every time I would press the button to take a close-up picture, the orange light would come on right before the picture, and in response he would close his eyes right as the picture was actually taken. This is the best one we could get.

Day 2 (Yesterday)

Day 2 (Wednesday) went well. Bennett is doing just great. The main thing right now is to keep him eating so we can fatten him up.

Bennett made a particularly exciting new discovery over the last 24 hours: the pacifier. It's pretty funny to watch him with this pacifier because it is WAY too big for him!




The view from Dad's perspective in the rocking chair.

Bennett's 1st Birthday! (Well actually, his 0th)

Today we welcomed Bennett Kay Smith into the world. He was due this Friday (the 21st) and did not seem in a hurry to come, but he came early after all because of some disobedient behavior.

Bennett was head-down for weeks until the doctor discovered yesterday (at Ashley's regular checkup) that he was suddenly head-up. (Bennett must think he is very funny!) The doctor recommended that we set up an appointment at the hospital for the following day (i.e. today) to try to move him around (head-down) and immediately induce Ashley. In the event that they couldn't turn him, they would need to do a c-section. Either way, we would see the baby the following day.

Well, after a night of sub-par, anxious sleep (but probably still better than we'll get for weeks), we traveled to the American Fork hospital for our 6:30am appointment. By sometime just after 8am it was evident that the doctors would not be able to turn him, so the doctors decided just to do the c-section right then. Less than 15 minutes later (literally), I was holding our boy in my arms. After I went down to the nursery with Bennett and the doctors fixed up Ashley and allowed her to recover a bit, we were finally together. Now we're just taking it easy in Ashley's room.

Bennett is a very little guy - only 5 lbs. 4 oz. and 16 inches long. However, he seems very healthy, and his blood sugar and temperature are right on target. The nurses say that the main thing to keep in mind with a baby so small is to keep him wrapped up warm and cozy.

Here are a few pictures....

Immediately after delivery:



In the nursery (within an hour of delivery):

And back in our room a couple hours later:


This is his first time in Mom's arms....


Nice and cozy with Dad...


At age 8 hours (a few naps and a few feedings into life):