"The Goodest Christmas Ever!"

We had a really wonderful Christmas around here. Everyone got up around 8:00, and we opened stockings. I really think D would have been ok if his stocking was all he got. But of course it wasn't all he got. I tried really hard to buy thoughtful gifts, and not just buy things because they were a good deal (anyone else have that problem?). He ended up with fewer gifts than usual, but he LOVED everything he got. All day, he kept exclaiming "This is the greatest/best/goodest Christmas ever!!" After presents, we had a nice breakfast all together and then we did NOTHING. It felt so nice to not have anything that I had to do, especially after working so frantically to get things done the day before (I was up until 1 am knitting Baby a stocking-- ridiculous, I know). James played his guitar, and I sat on the couch snuggling with the baby and watching D play with his new toys. It was completely wonderful.
James had to work  in the afternoon/evening, which was a huge bummer. As he was getting ready to go, D told him, "Just take the day off, Dad! Christmas is for families!" It was heart breaking. Once he had gone to work, me and the boys headed to my mom's house for our traditional prime rib dinner. There was much baby snuggling and laughter and good food. One of the funniest moments was when my mom attempted to toast some French bread... she didn't just burn it, she started it on fire! The smoke alarm went off for quite a while, much to the annoyance of the kids, but all the adults could do was laugh. We had a great time opening presents, too. Everyone got and gave really great stuff this year. My dad got a cat and was so, so excited about it. Sadly, no one got a picture, but the look on his face was priceless. And I gave Nikki a Harry Potter Snuggie-- my favorite gift of the night. After presents and dessert were done, we all agreed that it had been one of the best Christmas's ever. I'm not sure why this one seemed so special, but it really was wonderful. 

D and his Spider Man "snugglie."

D loves his zombie.

Me and the boys.

Santa brought D a Raphael set!

Handing out the presents at my mom's.

Cousin M made Baby a hat-- all by herself!

My mom really loved the pictures I gave her.

Nikki and the Harry Potter Snuggie.

My favorite present of the year.

Things I've Learned

I can't believe how quickly the days are flying by. Baby (who still doesn't have a nickname; we're working on it) is 9 days old today. How can that be possible? We've been so busy with Dr's appointments and getting ready for Christmas and having visitors. Hopefully things slow down for us soon...

I feel like I've learned lots of things in the last nine days. In no particular order...

1. Baby does not like to be messed with.

He cries more than D did, but still not a lot. He especially hates it when you dress or undress him, change his bum, and bathe him. And he cries when he's tired. D never did that.

2. It's easier adjusting to having two kids than it was adjusting to having one kid.

Even though it's been nearly five years since D was born, I feel like I'm an old pro at this. Easy peasy.

3. Recovering from having a second baby is easier that recovering from the first baby.

I remember sitting on the couch for about two weeks after D was born. This time, I was out running errands three days after giving birth. I just don't have time to sit around. And I think getting up and being active has actually helped me bounce back more quickly. Of course, it probably also helps that I'm sleeping better this time around.

4. Nursing is way easier the second time.

I was in total agony for at least the first 10 days of nursing D. This time, it never got too painful and I already feel "normal," or as normal as you ever feel while nursing. 

5. Those bonding hormones are some powerful stuff.

I've already forgotten about how sick, uncomfortable, and tired I was for nine months and how painful labor is. I'm good at making babies, and I want more. Hopefully, it won't take me another five years to convince James again.

Our New Little Miracle

We are reviving the blog... I just can't help myself from sharing all the gory details of our newest little guy's birth.

I went into labor Wednesday night. My sisters were here with me, trying to get me to laugh hard enough that labor would start. Contractions started before they even got here, so they timed me and took me for a walk and just sat with me. Nikki took D home with her, so that we wouldn't have to shuffle him around in the middle of the night when I went to the hospital. As soon as they left, my contractions stopped. I had a few strong enough to wake me up in the night, but they weren't consistent at all. I stayed home from work, knowing I really was in labor, and sat around waiting for something to happen. I had a Dr's appointment in the afternoon, and when I saw him, he told me I was dilated to 3 cm. He told me that breaking my water wasn't an option quite yet, because the baby's head was still floating too high. He told me we could wait a few days and see what happened, or I could go over to the hospital and start on Pitocin. I really didn't want to have any Pitocin, but I wanted to be done being pregnant even more. I agreed to let them induce me, hopeful that a small dose would be all I would need to get things going. They told me to go get something to eat and that the hospital would call me when they were ready for me. Since we had some downtime, we went and picked up D and we all went to Wendy's. Before we dropped him back off to my sister, he started crying and saying that he was going to live at Nikki's from now on, because the baby was going to be living at our house now. It was very sad. We consoled him the best we could, dropped him off, and went home to wait. I laid down to rest while I could, and my contractions started. Within the hour, they were about 3 minutes apart, so we headed up to the hospital It was a very busy night for having babies, and we got the last empty room. Once we were settled in, the contractions had slowed back down, but they had done enough to bring the baby down that I was able to have my water broken.  I was having lots of back labor, and the nurse told me that from her exam, she was pretty sure the baby was face-up. When my doctor got there, he said he thought the baby had his head turned sideways. Either way, I was in agony and not progressing very quickly. I got stuck at about 5 cm for quite awhile. I got up and got in the bath, sat on the birthing ball, laid in bed in several different positions, and nothing brought me any comfort. But the moving around did seem to get things going again, and I started progressing very quickly. I felt like I needed to push, but they kept telling me that it wasn't time. I was really losing it, yelling and screaming at the nurse and at the doctor. Finally, I looked at the nurse, and yelled "I need to push, NOW!" She said ok, brought the doctor back in, and they started to have me push. Pushing was much more difficult than it was with D. Because the baby was in a weird position, they had my lay more on my back than I would have liked, but it made my pushes more productive. I pushed for maybe half an hour, and then he was here! He was born at 1:41 am, weighed 7 lbs 11 oz (no wonder he was harder than D!) and was 20 inches long. And I did it without any drugs (not even the Pitocin!) and didn't even need any stitches.
They laid him on my chest for a minute, and then he stopped breathing on his own. They told me that he had aspirated on some fluid as he was coming out. They took him over to the warmer and put him on some oxygen. I guess that didn't work as well as they wanted, because pretty soon they took him down to the NICU to hook him up to the baby CPAP machine. They told me they'd have for an hour.When they took me to my room, we stopped to see him. He was all hooked up to machines and monitors and had an IV in his hand. His oxygen levels weren't stable enough for them to let him go yet, so I went to my room with out him. I rested for a while, and finally at 7 am, they told me to come down to nurse him. It is a strange thing to have a baby, and not get to hold him for the first time until 5 1/2 hours later. I went down and nursed him and snuggled with him, and went back to my room without him. They finally brought him to me at about 9:30, just in time to meet the rest of his family. D was overjoyed with him and James just marveled about how much he looked like him. I spent a lovely day receiving visitors and cuddling with my new boy. That night, I got more sleep than I had had in quite awhile (nearly 8 hours!). The baby was still choking and spitting up a lot of mucous and wasn't interested in eating at all. I did go down to the nursery at about 4:00 am just to hold him and see how he was. By about 6:30, he was ready to eat and he's been eating well ever since. We brought him home that afternoon.
We are all in love with our new little guy. He is so, so cute, and very sweet. He's finally worked out all of the mucous and is a great little eater. He's a great sleeper, too. I should be sleeping more while he sleeps, but I just can't bear to put him down. I just know how very quickly these precious days will pass and I want to soak it all up.