Eleanor's Spaceship

We got a new chair for our living room and it came in an exciting big box!  Eleanor quickly decided that it was her spaceship.  I asked her where she was going in her spaceship and once she said she was "flying south" (like the birds in one of her books) and another time she told me she was going to "washing to see with the airplanes."  Her daddy has flown to Washington, D.C. a few times, so according to her all airplanes go to "washing to see".

Another view of the "spaceship"

(and the new chair too)

And some other pictures...

Eleanor's "naughty face"

(ignore the food on her face)

Happy little girl

Our little monster

(Not his Halloween costume; just a cute outfit a friend gave us.  It's size 3 months.)

Eleanor helped Hunter make biscuits and requested special Eleanor and Arthur biscuits.  Of course, she got to eat Arthur's for him.

Meeting an old friend

Last Saturday I got to meet an old friend for the first time!  Sounds weird, doesn't it?  In the months after Ada died, I found several other women online who had just gone through similar experiences.  We became each other's online support group (because thankfully most of us don't know many people in real life who have had similar losses) and through that became friends.  Jen is one of the first people I "met".  Her daughter Lily passed away just a few weeks after Ada died.  We helped each other through those first few months, trying to get pregnant again, getting pregnant again, scary moments during pregnancy, having another baby, and still grieving our first babies even after having another child.  Her son, Cooper, is about 3 months younger than Eleanor.

Jen told me a few months ago that they were going to be in Orlando in October and I was excited that we would finally have the chance to meet!  Our families went out to dinner last Saturday night and it was so wonderful to finally meet in person somebody who has been there for me so much over the past 3+ years.  Her husband and little boy were amazing too!  I'm so glad we got the chance to meet!

Unfortunately, just a couple of days after those pictures, Cooper got really sick when they got back home.  He got pnemonia caused by RSV and coupled with his asthma and hypotonia he has had a really, really hard time.  He was put in the ICU on Friday but is being transferred back to a regular room today.  Please keep Jen, Cooper, and Jen's husband Chuck in your prayers.  Cooper is one LOVED little boy and he needs to get better fast!

Finally done

Today was the 8th morning in a row that Arthur had to go to either the pediatrician or the hospital lab to have his bilirubin tested.  Thankfully, we're now done with that!  His bilirubin is still a little high (around 14), but the pediatrician is not concerned anymore because it's on its way down.  We still have a slightly yellow baby though. 

And he is growing!

Arthur at 2 1/2 weeks:

9.9 lbs (that's 9 lbs 14/15 oz, not 9 oz)

23.25 inches long

Eleanor at 2 months:

10.2 lbs

23.5 inches long

Arthur's first bath in the tub - he actually seemed to enjoy it!

Wearing a 3 month onesie at 2 weeks old

Here's Eleanor in the same onesie when she was 3 months old.  Of course, it does fit her a little better.

I'm 2 weeks old today!

Eleanor helped me make Hunter's traditional birthday pumpkin pie

The crust looks a little rough here, but it turned out pretty well

Helping Hunter eat the pie

Since I don't care for pumpkin pie, Hunter used to always get the whole thing to himself...but not anymore!

It cooled off considerably so it's finally nice outside!  The sun finally came out too.

I'm not sure what prompted her to pose like this

Arthur enjoyed a little walk too

I have only found one kind of swaddling blanket that babies can't break out of (these) and therefore they actually calm down and sleep.  We have 3 of them...one of which was Eleanor's and happens to be pink.  I guess this is what happens to little boys with big sisters!  :)  

(Not that I care...I just thought it was funny!)

So, do you think Arthur looks like his big sister?

We have survived

Since coming home from the hospital 10 days ago...

- Eleanor got a bad yeast diaper rash that required prescription cream.  We had to call 3 pharmacies before we found one that carried it.

- Eleanor also got a virus that gave her a fever of 103 and made her cough so hard at one point that she threw up...on Hunter.  And all over her bed.  And on her special bear that she MUST have to sleep.  (Thank goodness we have a backup Osito!)

- Hunter and I both also got the same virus, though neither of us were as sick as Eleanor.

- We've made 4 trips to the pediatrician's office (2 for each kid), and have another one scheduled for Friday

- So far I've made two trips to the lab at the hospital to get Arthur's bilirubin levels checked and we have to go back again tomorrow and Monday.  Yes, my first outing alone with both kids involved needles.

- We lived with only one car for a while and got Hunter's car towed and repaired.  Thankfully it was very inexpensive.

- We had an unnamed storm that dumped about about a foot of rain here in one weekend and was definitely as bad as a tropical storm.

- Hunter unexpectedly had to work all of this weekend.

- And of course, we have been sleep deprived and dealing with the stress that comes with having a newborn.  Is he getting enough to eat?  Does that umbilical cord stump look right?  Does that cry mean that he's hungry or needs to burp or is just tired?  Has he pooped enough?  Oh man, he just peed on me again!  :)

- Oh yeah, and the cat left a headless squirrel on our back porch.  Okay, so that's not quite up there with everything else on this list, but even the squirrels around here had a tough week.

Whew!  Of course, we've had plenty of good moments too though!  Arthur is gaining weight just fine - by 10 days old he was already about 5 ounces over his birth weight.  He's also been a pretty awesome sleeper and usually goes 4 hours between feedings at night.  (There has to be some advantage to giving birth to a 9 pound baby!)  Other than the whole jaundice thing he is perfectly healthy.  Nursing was a little painful for the first week, but it's going really well now.  We've had lots of friends bring us meals which has been SO nice!  My in-laws were here for a little while after we got home from the hospital, and then my mom came down for a few days and we had a nice visit.  Now we're just ready for things to calm down a little bit around here.  Let's hope Arthur gets over this jaundice quickly and we can have an uneventful week.

Leaving the hospital

First ride in the car

Welcome home, Arthur!

Sleeping on Daddy

First walk in the double stroller

Only 3 days old and Arthur already has the answers!

Sweet little face

Eleanor's bear needs a nap, too.  And that's Arthur's gown that it's wearing.

Family story time

Giving Arthur a kiss goodnight

Arthur's first time on the play mat

Visiting with Buela

Our little glowworm

Hunter thought this was cool

Randomness

Maybe it's the lack of sleep, but I'm not up for writing a very coherent post.  So, here are random thoughts and updates from the last few days:

• We got to go home from the hospital on Thursday and everything went very smoothly.  Eleanor was happy to see us, and she had picked out a balloon and flowers for us (thanks to her Grandma).  We were all happy to be back home together!  She mostly ignores Arthur, but she does occasionally narrate what he's doing.  "Arthur is sleeping in the swing!"  "She is drinking milk from Mama!"  "Mama is changing her diaper!"  (Poor Arthur is always "she" or "her".  We're working on that.)
• I've said this every time I've gone to the hospital, but labor and delivery nurses are amazing people.  At least, all of the ones that I had are.  (Minor exception:  I wasn't thrilled when one nurse referred to Arthur as my "second baby."  She had obviously seen my history if she knew that he wasn't my first.)  The nurse who helped me get through labor was especially amazing and I'm not sure I could have pushed Arthur out without her coaching.  She even made me feel better about the whole no epidural thing, because she said that if I had one she wasn't sure if I would have been able to push him out since I wouldn't have been able to feel what I was doing.  You could tell that this nurse enjoys what she does, because she was there again the morning we were leaving and quickly got up from the nurses station to come see us and say goodbye.
• While we were waiting on a few final things before being discharged from the hospital, I took a walk down the hallway.  The room where Ada was born was empty and I stopped outside for a few minutes.  (Eleanor and Arthur were both born in the same room next door.)  It's amazing how clear all of my memories still are of those 32 hours I was in labor with her.  It's bittersweet, because the happiest and saddest moments of my life all took place on that same hallway. 
• Arthur is the sweetest little baby!  I love, love holding him.  He is also an amazing eater!  He nursed for about an hour right after he was born, and other than some pain while latching  we've had no real issues.  It has been way easier than it was with Eleanor!  Also, he already goes 3-4 hours between feeding (most of the time), whereas it was usually every 2 hours with Eleanor.  Eleanor always took 45-60 minutes to nurse, but with Arthur it's usually 20-40 minutes; I think he's just a more efficient eater.
• Arthur had his first appointment with our pediatrician yesterday and everything looks great.  He weighed 8lbs 7oz, the same as when he left the hospital the day before, so I'm not worried at all about him getting back up to his birth weight quickly.
• Sleep is getting better - last night was actually pretty great.  He ate at midnight but it did take us until 2:30 to get him to sleep.  Then he woke up at 4:00, ate and went right back to sleep, and slept until I woke him up again to eat at 8:00.  I may have gotten more sleep last night than the first 3 nights combined!
• I put on a pair of regular jeans yesterday - admittedly, a pair that was big on me when I got pregnant with Arthur - and I was able to zip them up!  They were a little snug in the waist so I didn't keep them on, but I was excited anyway.  It helped make all of those painful contractions while breastfeeding worth it!
• At 4 days old, my tall boy has already outgrown his newborn diapers.  They fit around him fine, but were so short they barely covered his bottom and you can imagine what that leads to.  ;)  (We'll switch to cloth once the cord stump is gone.)

More pictures and a video

Arthur got to watch us eat our fancy celebration meal from the hospital.  :)  He stared at the chocolate cake for a long time!

Eleanor's first response to meeting her brother:

He's here!!!

Arthur Stephenson

10.4.2011  9:40 AM

9 lbs, 1 oz

22" long

I went in on Monday night to be induced with Cervadil, which didn't really do much.  The pitocin started at 6:00 AM this morning, and by 8:00 AM I was at 4 cm.  Yay, time for the epidural!  Things were starting to get uncomfortable by this point, but totally bearable.  The anesthesiologist came in and got everything ready, then asked if I was on any medications besides vitamins.  Yes, I told her, I've been taking baby aspirin.  (My OB had me start this back in the first trimester to reduce the risk of placental blood clots, like what happened with Ada.)  Her jaw dropped, and she informed us that there is a high risk of bleeding in the spinal cord if I've taken aspirin in the last 7-10 days.  We quickly decided not to go that route, and I ended up laboring completely drug free.  

Turns out, I am NOT a fan of natural childbirth.  Especially not when the baby is 9lb, 1oz and has a 15" head.

We did turn off the pitocin since my water had already broken on its own anyway, and that helped make the contractions more bearable.  The pushing part was the worst part and took about 30 minutes.  On the positive side, I will say that Arthur was definitely more alert than Eleanor at birth (I had an epidural with her) and I had no trouble getting up and walking around soon afterwards.  But would I choose the epidural if I could go back and change things?  YES!

Oh, and I have to add that Hunter was amazing and I could NOT have done this without him.  :)  The nurse I had was pretty awesome too.  Also, the pediatrician here checked Arthur out and said that he was perfectly healthy.  He has already nursed like a champ several times....whew!

Now, for some pictures!

Finishing up with his first bath

Big sister is ready to meet her brother!

The only thing Eleanor said?

"Want to put him back," over and over while pointing to the bassinet.  Oh boy!

She was much more interested in the cool furniture.

Proud Grandma and Grandpa

My sweet boy

Opening her present from Arthur

The book was way more exciting than the baby!