Month in review

I can't believe William is four weeks old! How many mothers have lamented how quickly time passes?

William has gone from a delicate baby in need of extra care to a normal baby. Two weeks ago he was given the all clear to nurse full time, and he took off with it. No more pumping and bottles. He regained ounces to surpass his birth weight. Basically, they said, "See you at his two month check up!" What a blessing.

A week after the surgery my incision started opening up and developed a hematoma. After removing that, it had to be packed daily with a special gauze until it healed from the inside out. This led to daily nurse visits or trips to the doctor. Apparently this is common for any type of surgery, and with three c-sections, my number was up. It set back my recovery, but this past week has seen much improvement and it was nice to start to feel normal again.

The last month has been full of feeding, snuggles, diapers, bonding, laughter and tears. It has occurred to Erik and I that we are now officially outnumbered. But it sure feels nice! :)

Weeks one and two-

Size of diapers: Premie

Size of clothes: Premie

Number of heel pricks: 10

Number of baby IV sticks: 6

Number of adults needed to run household: at least 3

Number of adoring big sisters: 1

Number of brothers needing some encouragement and extra love: 1

Number of doctor visits after hospital discharge: 4

Official date of Easter: April 4

Our date of Easter: April 10




Weeks three and four-

Size of diapers: Newborn

Size of clothes: Newborn

Number of adults needed to run household: 2-3

Number of adoring siblings: 1 1/2 (unless Grace can count for 3)

Number of real baths: 3

Number of healthy, normal babies: 1

Number of nurse/doctor visits: 13

Number of nightly feedings: 2-3

Moments spent falling in love: countless

The Middle Brother turns two

I know you may want to hear more on how things are going on the baby home front, but I didn't want to let an important milestone slip by un-noticed.

Matthew, ie the Middle Brother, turned two this month on April 18th. You may remember that my due date was his birthday... at least now we know the two boys won't share an actual birth date! (Don't rule out combo parties- I'm thinking this could be a serious advantage to having two boys so close together!)
We did a simple evening at home with the family. Look at the smile on that face. Do you think someone was happy to have some attention, especially in the form of singing, just for him? :)

Matthew is the family comedian and keeps us in stitches constantly. His current favorite phrase is "No way" when he is shocked by something (like every 10 minutes). He is obsessed with cars, hence the "we-o", or car, themed party and just this morning was making his waffle vroom across his plate. He follows his sister everywhere and wants to do anything she is doing. He loves to snuggle, and we spend at least 30 minutes after nap time just sitting together on the sofa. I love his chubby little feet and hands, and the goofy smile he does for the camera.

We love you Matthew and can't imagine our family without you!

Home Sweet Home

We got to bring William home Monday night!

On Sunday they removed the IV to see how he handled his only source of nutrition being from the bottle. He is only a s0-so eater, due to his being early and not having the brain development, and from the jaundice. He has lost weight since then, but it is about 8% today, so not quite the 10% that would require him to be readmitted.

They were hesitant to let him come home, but in the end we think it was miscommunication between the pediatrician and the NICU nurses. The nurse who discharged us said that she felt comfortable sending us home as long as he continued to eat the minimum amount and was seen every day for check ups. So now we just pray that his weight loss plateaus and he learns better how to eat so we can avoid the dreaded re-admission to the hospital.

The kids were thrilled to get to go back and see baby William and do the "one finger touch". Check out the cute shirts that Daddy got for them, Big Sister and Middle Brother.

Oh, how good this home cooked food tasted! And to be back home as a family felt unbelievably joyful! Grace and Nana made a birthday cake for William (the candle was a zero :) ).

Welcome William!

First, some pics, then the story.

Where in the world does that dark, full head of hair come from?!?

Getting to hold William for the first time since he was born, about 24 hours later. What a sweet moment!

Thank you all so much for your prayers!! Yes, we had a little boy yesterday, April 1st. He was 6 lb 2 oz and we decided to call him William Robert (Robert was my beloved grandfather's name, so now each of our boys have a middle name of one of our grandfathers). He was born at the end of a very crazy day a little after 4pm.

My ultrasound on Wednesday afternoon showed that the baby was at the 11th percentile for weight (they guessed 5 lb, 14oz). If he had been at the 10th percentile, they would have put me on complete bed rest and delivered at 38 weeks. But with the extra percentage point, they were willing to put me on modified best rest and twice weekly Non-Stress Tests. I wasn't thrilled, but I wasn't worried either. I just figured we had a little baby since everything else so far looked so good.

I started out with a Non-Stress Test at the hospital in the morning. While I was sitting there I was having a lot of contractions, and the tech was concerned. Secretly, I was hoping she wouldn't notice the contractions because I had no intention of delivering a baby that day! :) She took the results over to our OB's office and they wanted to send me down to triage at the Family Birth Place for more monitoring to see if the contractions would slow down. After several hours, they were still very regular so they decided to move up the c-section to that day. It was the longest we have had to wait in the hospital, (about 5 hours in triage) but God was so good to give us his patience and peace- and time to figure out a name :).

The surgery went well, but William came out with a lot of fluid in his lungs and unable to get enough oxygen on his own, apparently common for a preemie baby (the pediatrician said today that there is a remarkable difference between a 37 week baby and a 38 week baby). He has been in the NICU since delivery, and I am hoping and praying that they will discharge him tomorrow or the next day or so that we can finally hold and feed the little peanut! (They don't want any stimulation- holding, touching- to raise his heart rate and breathing because he is already working so hard.)

His vitals are all good now and today he is breathing on his own without the oxygen tent, but he still has a high respiratory rate which they will have to wait for him to get under control. We have been told that babies at this age have not mastered the tasks of swallowing, breathing and eating, so he has to be on an IV for now.

We covet all prayers. The older kids are doing well with all the sudden changes. We look forward to being able to bring everyone home, and start our new, "normal" life! :)