2 weeks and counting

I had grand plans to update the blog when Liam was 2 weeks old but...Liam had other plans. Liam is now 17 days old and has kept us very busy. Unlike the babies that I take care of at work, I can't change, bottle feed and get him back in bed in half an hour. Breastfeeding takes a lot longer and though I LOVE the time with him, at 2am, 4am, 6am....a little more sleep would be a welcomed trade. I'm still so amazed that he is ours. It seems that he does cute, new little things everyday. He is very alert and likes to hold is head up. We had a fun trip to Grandma and Grandpa Ellett's for Thanksgiving. The food was great and I didn't have to cook a thing! Here's some pictures of our little blessing.

5 days old

I can't believe it has been 5 days since Liam was born. Every day seems so new and yet it's hard to remember being pregnant just last week. Life has been wonderful. Sleep has also been a distant memory but somehow the Lord blesses mothers to get through it. I know that I have gotten less sleep in the last week then ever before, but I don't feel as tired as I often did coming home from the night shift. I can't get enough of Liam and love to watch Frank as he interacts with him. He is a great Daddy! Still learning how to do that diaper bit! Here are some photos that we took of him this morning. He was wide awake and checking out the world. He's just perfect!

Finally a Mommy and Daddy!!!

Wow! What an experience! I can not begin to tell you how blessed our family is. We went in LATE Monday night to begin our induction only to find out that the Labor and Delivery unit was extremely busy. I was terrified that they would send us home and make us come back in the morning, which would have only been about 5 hours away. But, the nurses were great and hurried to have a room cleaned for us. By about 1am they had finally gotten us settle, IV in and pitocin started. Let me tell you, pitocin sucks but epidurals are amazing!!! After laboring about 6 hours without the epidural and having made very little cervical change my nurse (who was really great) said it was time to call the anesthesiologist. I love that doctor!!! The IV pain meds did nothing to cut the pain just made me feel very dizzy and weird, so I had only had one dose. The epidural worked miracles! At 2:30pm they checked me and said I was still only 4.5cm, an hour later I began to feel really hot but still had no pain. The doctor checked me and...10cm and a little head that was very, very low. At the same time the Labor and Delivery unit was bustling. My nurse, who was also taking care of another patient got called away. Her other patient was only 27 weeks pregnant, bleeding, contracting and going for a c-section. Since I was still comfortable and Liam was doing great they had me sit and let the contractions continue to push him down. Waiting actually turned out to be a great thing since I only had to push for half an hour. It was physically the hardest thing I have ever done. I remember the doctor instructing Frank to count to ten and after a few really hard pushes I told him, "you have to count FASTER!" Before I knew it, Liam was put on my belly and every pain and discomfort I experienced was completely forgotten. (Don't worry, the pain and discomfort was remember again when the epidural wore off!) What an amazing, perfect baby. The doctor, who had told me early in the morning that she felt Liam would be "an 8 pounder" looked and him and was shocked. We were all shocked! 9lbs 5.6oz!!! That's huge! Liam has been wonderful. He is breastfeeding amazingly well, is only slightly jaundice and sleeps....like a newborn! We are all very happy, tired and amazed. I still can't believe he is ours. We feel so truly blessed.

Robert Liam

Born 11 November 2008, 4:39pm

21 1/2 inches long

and weighing in at a whopping 9lbs, 5.6oz

I'd LOVE to give you all the gory details, but I'm exhausted. Not as tired as mom or baby, but I'm actually ABLE to sleep, so I'm going to.

What I will do now is upload some of my favorite pictures to satiate the curiosity of those who would like to know. He's perfect. I'll show you.

Mommy and baby are well. Recuperating.

I'll hopefully come back and edit this post when my cognitive skills have returned.

Here are the photos:

Pregnancy end in sight!

This will be my last post as a pregnant woman!!! Woo hoo!!! As expected our OB scheduled our induction at the visit today. Frank and I will be at the hospital tonight, at 11:45pm, to start the birthday party. Looks like we will be having a Veterans Day baby. I'm still 3cm dilated and the doctor was pleased that my cervix was soft so I will just need pitocin. I'm hoping that just a little kick of pitocin will start real contractions since I've been having irregular contractions for over 2 days. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers! I'll be sure to have Frank post pictures as soon as possible.

6 days late!

It's the eve of being 6 days post dates! Wow! I must be a really comfortable incubator. I have been having contractions for the last 36+ hours, at times being as regular as every 5 to 10 minutes and quite uncomfortable. We went to the hospital this morning even though knew I would be sent home. I just wanted the reassurance. I'm now 3cm and 70% effaced. The nurse assured me that my irregular contractions are completely normal and are part of the early stage of labor. So, things are in the works but are just moving more slowly than I'd like. I have a doctor appointment tomorrow afternoon and will most likely be sent to the hospital for induction afterwards. It was wonderful to see my Dad and Sister this weekend and wish that we could have had the baby while they were here! Well, I'm off to bed early. These contractions throughout the night make sleeping difficult!

Crazy Dogs

For Finn the best part about having my Mom here, is having Toby here to play with. Finnegan, weighing in at 90lbs, is second in command to Toby, who's a whopping 17lbs! They absolutely love each other and will run and play all day long. Where one is the other is sure to be close by. They have been a lot of fun to watch!


They are playing with a tiny piece of tennis ball that has seen much better days! All the growling you hear is from Toby.