Letter at Two Weeks Old

Dear Eli,

Not much has changed in the past two weeks… your jaundice is almost gone.  You still go through a ton of diapers a day, but you have only really gotten one outfit dirty and one changing pad cover.  You’re pretty clean for a baby.

You have had two doctor’s appointments, got to go to the park last week, and to Bob Evans and church Sunday, but otherwise you’ve been pretty housebound. 

Sleeping is still your main activity.  It comes very easily to you.  You love to be swaddled but could take or leave a binky.  And you still have your umbilical cord, I think just to annoy your big brother.

Love ya,

Mama

Baby #2 has arrived!

 On Sept. 12, 2012 at precisely 8:04 am my eyes filled with tears as I heard my little one’s first cries.  As soon as I could see his little body, I fell in love all over again.  My first thoughts were of how bald he looked, but when I got closer look I found he does have a light layer of brown hair. As I was anxiously awaiting getting to see him myself, I heard the nurses score him a 9 on the apgar scale, and I was glad to hear he was a healthy 8 pounds and 9 ounces, and 21 inches.  I was worried beforehand that they had estimated him to be smaller than Theo, but he turned out to be pretty good sized and everything was healthy with him (other than a little jaundice).  He has the exact same size statistics I had when I was born.

First picture.

Two minutes later, Brian got to re-cut the cord.

It wasn't until 8:19 (15 minutes after his first cries) that I finally got to see him up close. 

It seemed like it was forever before they finally brought him close for me to see, and a really long time before I finally got to hold him when they wheeled me back to recovery.  While I was still shaking from the shock afterward this time, it wasn’t quite to the extent I remember shivering last time.  The anesthesiologist nurse did a really good job making sure I was comfortable this time. 

8:50 Finally holding baby!  One of the many cons of a c-section is waiting so long to hold baby.

After this photo they took me to recovery, where I spent a few hours.  Elijah met his big brother and his grandma, and attempted to nurse for the first time.  

We finally got to our room around lunchtime, and spent the next few hours so excited and happy getting to know our new little guy.  So much different than last time where we were exhausted and upset about the c-section and struggling to get through our first night.

The rest of the hospital stay was pretty routine, and I was up walking as soon as possible.  I had almost no feet and leg swelling this time, and knew to keep asking for pain meds to keep myself going.

Going home outfit!

 Elijah is a very sweet baby, but has such a serious little face.  He does not spit up much at all (I didn’t know such a baby existed), and he doesn’t need to eat quite as often as Theo did (but already regained his weight and is gaining fine).   He will stop crying almost as soon as you pick him up and tend to him, and it is pretty easy to figure out what he needs (not sure if that’s b/c he is a second child or just an easy child).   

 “Old Man Wrinkles” was almost immediately my nickname for this little serious face.

 First meeting!

 Theo is adjusting well.  His life hasn’t changed that much now that he’s a big brother.  He is still into playing with his blocks, trains, reading, watching Word World, and playing with his stuffed animals.  But now, he has a little brother to come check on, set beside and watch, and talk about constantly.  

One cute thing is every time he sees Eli’s umbilical cord he yells out “Look-LOOK!” and is freaked out.  Hopefully it falls off soon.  He then claims it is “My Turn” and will climb up on the changing table to change his diaper too.  The toilet is still not looking inviting to him apparently. 

Theo also uses a lot of the phrases I use-he’ll walk over to Eli and say how cute he is.  He likes to keep him near when he is playing blocks/trains/making the bed with blankets on the floor.  And he is always worried about him having a blankie/binky.  He acts like it is completely normal to have a little brother join us. 

I was a little overwhelmed Sunday when we went to our first church service as a family of four, and I had time to just reflect on how truly blessed we are to have two wonderful, healthy boys. 

 

 First pic as a family of four!

1st Pregnancy vs. 2nd Pregnancy

I have been lucky and blessed by two fairly easy pregnancies.  Both times I had no complications, always low blood pressure and normal glucose levels.  I did not have much nausea in either pregnancy, and carried both babies well.

I definitely had more heartburn with my first pregnancy, leading me to believe the wives-tail about the more heartburn the more hair, b/c my second had very little heartburn, and very little hair. 

Both pregnancies ended in unwanted c-sections.  In the first case, I was unsuccessfully induced and stopped progressing at 7 cm.  This time, they would have let me try for a VBAC had I started labor on my own, but I did not and the alternative was a scheduled c-section at about 41 weeks.   The second c-section was a very different experience.  The first time, it was so entirely unexpected as I never, ever imagined my childbirth experience going that way.  But this time, after my due date had come and gone, and I had tried everything to get the baby coming on my own, I was resigned to the fact that I was going to have a repeat section.   While with the first I had lots of baby blues and emotional swings after he was here, I got all my emotions about the c-section taken care of before my second son was born and have really been able to enjoy almost every moment since he arrived.  It was also much easier to recover from without the induced labor beforehand, and knowing what to expect after.

40weeks + 1day Pregnant with a 9 lb baby (Age 25 1/4 years)

40weeks + 4days Pregnant with a 8 lb 9 oz baby (Age 27 5/6 years)

My weight gain was different with each, though my starting weight was similar for both pregnancies.  For the first I gained 41.5 pounds, while I only gained 32 pounds with the second.  Perhaps that had sometime to do with the ease of recovery too? 

Hopefully, for #3 I’ll be able to successfully have a VBA2C.  I really don’t want to go through surgery again, but thankfully I am almost recovered from this one.

2.5 Years, Alright

Theo recently had his 2 and a half year wellness visit.  He has been going with me to the doctor lately, so he's getting to understand how the medical world works.  He's even been asking to go to the doctor when his tummy hurt (I'm pretty sure he just bumped into something).  So, I thought he'd be excited when he finally got to go see his doctor, but I was wrong.  He was cranky and a little hesitant, but he did say "hi doctor" and got through the appointment.

Height and Weight:  He is still off the charts for his age, 39 inches and 41 pounds.  Literally off the charts.  But he is active (kicking/throwing a ball around the house as I write this), strong, and healthy.  She had no concerns about his speech or language.  He has really taken off in the last six months and became such a talker. 

Eating:  Not as well as he used to.  If it is meat, cheese, eggs, beans, pasta, potatoes, or bread we normally have no problems.  But he is in a picky stage and will pick out onions and vegetables from dishes.  He still actually will eat pureed food much better than actual veggies, and I don't seem to be able to get him past this.  Fruit has about a 50-50 chance of getting eaten, depending on his mood.  He likes to put lemon and lime juice in his water, and will drink any kind of watered down juice that he can get.  I don't really push it with most food, but I would like him to eat some green things...

Early Literacy:  He loves the shows Word World (yay) and Super Reader (boo).  WW has definitely upstaged Elmo.  For that matter, so has Grover, which they unfortunately don't play much on Sesame Street so we have just been skipping that all together lately.  Last time, when the Super Grover segment was over and they did the advertisement for Elmo coming next, he actually said "No Elmo, More Grover!" and pouted.  He really is learning his letters thanks to these two shows, and when we work on his Pre-K book together he gets very excited to point out the letters and sing "LMNOP" and "Z".  He is into a couple longer Dr. Seuss books lately, unfortunately, and amazes me at just home many books he has committed partially to memory.  When reading his favorites I always pause and let him say words at the end of the sentences.  When we are out walking he likes to stop at signs and point out letters.

 Early Numeracy:  Theo is a good little counter now.  He can't make "S" sounds well, so six and seven are rough but we know what he is trying to say.  He is getting into shapes, asking to watch "Elmo's Shapes" quite often and again pointing out the shapes of signs on our walks.  He's starting to name numbers, however, he is quite adamant that the number "8" is "number B".

Potty Training:  We have not kicked this in full gear yet.  He has went on the potty precisely Three times, and each time was a bit of a fluke and was not to be repeated.  He takes off his diaper lately though, when it needs changed, which is somewhat helpful but makes more of a mess sometimes.  I think this is starting to point toward him being more ready to start training though.

Sibling Training:  Theo does seem very excited about the baby coming.  He will "knock" on my belly and tell the baby to wake up, and always blesses him in his nightly prayers (Mama, Dada, then little brother).

Behavior:  I think he is typical in his occasional defiance (for a two year old).  He will be naughty on occasion, and sit through his resulting time out.  Recently, he cracked us up with his reluctance to comply with a request (to eat something, or go to a time out), when he said "ALRIGHT" and started doing what had been asked.  It was so unexpected.  I'm not sure where/when he learned that phrase, but now he has been saying it all the time.  It is too cute.

New Book Favorites: Little Critter Books, Fox in Socks, One Fish, Two Fish

Favorite Toys:  Toy cars and ramps, Duplos, Barn and animal set, Firetruck.  He also loves his stuffed animals.  I was always confused why my mother kept giving him random stuffed animals, (a lion at Christmas, a random Iguana) but now I'm thankfully.  He loves to play with his animals, and they get to partake in a lot of the activities that we do.  He will set them up all over the house.  Often times they are fighting and eating each other, but it is still fun to play with him with them.

I haven't done a great job documenting his growth with his blue bear, but I think this tells the story pretty well:

Newborn!

 6 Months!

12 Months

 30 months