Overindulgent ...

...but its my blog and I'll post whatever I want to ;)

Aren't they CUTE?

Daddy is responsible for (and proud of) the mohawkish like hair.

This Kid Can Sleep Through ANYTHING...

You'd think he'd have noticed and awakened when his diaper was changed ... But no, not so much.

Which One is Which?

Can you tell which picture is the girl and which is the boy? Ignore the pink :)

A Mere 3 Weeks Ago

I can't believe that only 3 weeks ago I was still pregnant. Its kind of weird after 9 months of lugging a kid around on the inside to have him on the outside. To be totally honest I didn't know how I would take to a boy. I was so used to being a mama to a girl that I knew it would be different. I did not expect to be so totally in love so quickly. He is the sweetest kid. Doesn't complain much at all, unless he's hungry and in that case he gets quite angry. That kids way of crying so hard that you think they are being tortured -- you know the cry where they almost stop breathing. Thankfully, being second time parents and all, we've figured this out and we try to get the food in him before we have a total crisis :)

So I am in love. In love with his tiny nose, his one dimple that only shows when he practices his smiles which aren't real yet, in love with the way he smells, the way he moans and yawns, everything I tell you...Totally in love. Sappy yes, but all true.

I am truly blessed with the two cutest and sweetest kids on the planet! Now, if the younger would just sleep through the night. This 2, 4 and 6 am stuff is KILLING me & the daddy!

A Snow Day for ALL!

The boy had his first real (as opposed to sponge) bath last night & barely complained at all.

Yesterday was valentine's day and also turned out to be a snow day for all. Hubby is able to work from home now once a week! YAY! Plus, anytime the weather is bad he can work from home. Pretty nice flexibility! I am liking this!

Daycare was closed yesterday so the girl was home. We started the morning with Valentine's day goodies and art projects. Who knew glitter glue, stickers and construction paper could entertain a little one so long. Then she and daddy took a trip outside to play in the snow. The boy and I stayed in and stayed warm.

On Our Own!

Its our first day totally on our own. It's amazing how quickly life gets back into a rhythm. Daddy went back to work today after working from home last week. Gramma went home after spending the weekend with us.

The girl and the husband were out the door by 7 am. So its just me and the boy. Its a bit lonely, since he spends most of his time looking like this (see picture) but it is so sweet. I am really (against my normal instinct) trying to just take it slow. Enjoy the moments. With the girl I was overwhelmed and in a huge hurry to get from one phase to the next. Now looking back almost 5 years later I see how fast it all went by. She will start kindergarten in September and I swear her little life is just like a blink now looking back. So I will try to breathe, relax, and enjoy the next 6 weeks or so!

I am still a bit emotionally overwhelmed by it all. To think that just weeks ago we still had no idea how things would turn out for us. To think that just about 10 days ago he was in the NICU. Its hard to believe he is home, safe and sound and just fine. After all the drama of the pregnancy, its hard to adjust to a seemingly normal, uneventful life. I am grateful for the lack of drama .. don't get me wrong .. it is just an adjustment. My emotions range from very high and super mommy to a little blue. Not a lot blue, just weepy. I think as the reality of it all sinks in ... what is and what could have been ... I work to adjust and understand it all. I have been holding my breath for the last 5 months or so, and its gonna take a while to completely exhale.

The Girl and Her Bro!

The girl enjoying a moment with her brother. She really thinks he's very cool. I can't believe it has already been 10 days. A week and 1 day since we came home! Unreal. How can time fly and stand still at the same time?

First Doctor's Appointment

Yesterday we had the first doctor appointment for the boy and he looks great. A bit jaundiced but the tests came back in the acceptable range (which is a good thing because unacceptable range would have meant 24 hours in the hospital again)! I don't think mama could have handled that.

Gramma headed home last night after a week here. I miss her! She is such an incredible help! And she does love her grandkids. And they adore her. She'll be back Friday, thank goodness!

Another picture...

Mom getting ready to bust him out of the NICU at G'town! I thought I was just going for a visit, but they said "you wanna take him home?" Um, HELL yes I do. Fortunately, for us, he was the healthiest little one in the entire NICU. I saw babies there that I wish I had not, just an incredibly sad mix of emotions as we were so elated that Max was doing so well, yet we were surrounded by such sad circumstances. All with the knowledge that it so easily could have been us in those parents' shoes.

No weeks to go ...

The boy has arrived! I am happy and relieved to report that the boy is home as of Friday evening, February 4th! He was born on Tuesday, January 30th at 4:50 am and weighed in at 9lbs, 2.8 ozs. He's 20 1/2 inches long! Not as huge as mom thought but ahead of schedule just as I'd predicted!!

I ended up going into labor at 1 in the morning on the 30th. I had felt weird/off all day at work, but pushed through it thinking I am just REALLY pregnant. Turns out I was moving into the labor phase. Did not stop hubby and I from going out on our date night. Dinner at Outback and a short trip to the bookstore. Finally, I had to throw in the towel and asked to go home. We got home around 10ish and from then on I just felt like crap. No regular contractions, nothing you know OBVIOUS that would have made it easy for me to figure out that I was indeed in labor. So after about 2 - 3 hours of whining and tossing and turning and not sleeping, I woke up the father of my children to say "I think I might be in labor" and he says "what do you want me to do about it?" I am SURE he didn't mean that the way it sounded. Still, he resumed snoring within 20 seconds of my pronouncement. SO, I unilaterally decided to call Dr. J-C. She said you know what considering this pregnancy, let's err on the side of caution and get you checked out. And so ... she sent me to the hospital.

So I wake Hung and say we gotta go. He's like "huh?" Again, how does this not register??? Men! Anyway, a middle of the night trip to Labor & Delivery was NOT our birthing plan. We were supposed to go on Feb 5th at 6 am. We had a plan. Ella would be at daycare! But as I predicted and knew, there was no way in hell I was making it till Feb 5th! So we rouse the little one and say we have to go to the hospital because the baby might be coming. She hopped to much faster than her dad and had a sweet twinkle in her eye.

So we loaded up the car and headed off to Alexandria. They were waiting for me when we arrived and got me all hooked up. The nurses did not seem all that impressed so just as I was convincing myself I wasn't really in labor after all, a nurse comes in and says "we're gonna prep you." Apparently I had what they were calling a "regular" pattern of contractions and Dr. J-C had decided to do the deed. She arrived at the hospital around 4 am and I was in surgery by 4:15. Luckily I had called my mama at 1ish and she immediately came arriving after I had been rolled into the OR. If she had arrived 5 minutes later daddy would have missed it all as he would have to stay with Ella.

Dr. J-C delivered our nw little boy at 4:50 am and he came out screaming. First sigh of relief. I just remember Dr. J-C repeating, "he looks good, Amy. He looks good!" almost as if she didn't believe it herself after all we had been through. He looked great and all of his vitals were strong. He was taken to the NICU for observation. After an entire day of good reports and really no major concerns, the neonatologist decided to throw us for a HUGE loop and decided that he might have a malrotation of his bowel and wanted to transfer him to Georgetown U. Hospital's NICU that night for a surgical consult. We were completely shocked and stunned at the thought of him needing surgery after an entire day of being ok. Needless to say that was not a good night.

They came to get me (still recovering from major surgery mind you) so that I could be with him until he went. I was able to hold him for about 1/2 an hour before the transport team arrived to take him to the Georgetown Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at about midnight. Hung, after being up from 1 am when I awoke him, was now 24 hours later heading to Georgetown to be with Max to make any decisions regarding his care throughout the night. If he did have a bowel obstruction or malrotation, immediate surgery would be necessary. Happily, after 3 days of observation and many, many tests at Georgetown they ruled out surgery. It appears everything is working as it should. He was able to come home yesterday. As soon as I was released from Alexandria we went straight there to get him.

He's home, happy, and very, very mellow. Seems like my theory that all the excitement in the womb will make him less likely to cause trouble on the outside is panning out ... so far! The girl is thrilled with her new brother and the dog even seems to like him.