Christmas Happened?

A couple of observations:

1. I don't take nearly as many pictures of Leo, as I did the first time around with Sadie. I don't seem to have the time or energy. I barely have any pictures from Christmas either. Then again, I had a baby nursing 95% of the time.

2. Christmas was a blur. It happened so fast, and with Sadie eager with presents, we were done in about 5 minutes.

With all this, I still have a few memories to share...

Our official 2012 Christmas card, taken the day that Leo came home from the hospital. It was basically a one shot deal. He was crabbing, she wasn't cooperating. Miracles do happen, I suppose.

 

 A lovely photo of Aunties Heather and Kristin with Sadie and Leo during our WMass Christmas celebration.

A tiny Leo doing a little night cuddling with Daddy. This is Leo's state a good chunk of every day. He's a snoozy baby (compared to Sadie, who has been awake since birth).

Taken on Christmas night, Sadie had had enough. She was wired beyond belief and wanted her shirt off to cool down. Again, it's a wonder I don't have time to take more photos...

Bilirubin Babe

I learned more about jaundice and bilirubin than I really ever cared to during my hospital stay. A few days after being born, the hospital pediatrician let me know that Leo had some increaing levels of bilibrubin and we may need to take action. After some discussion on what could be done, I went for the all natual approach. I was going to fight this battle by over feeding Leo, thereby allowing his liver to kick in to gear and he'd poop it out. My valiant effort didn't work.

The day of our supposed discharge I was told we had to stay. He had to be put under the lights to get the levels down to a safe level - they were at 19 and needed to be under 12. It was also on this day that my pregnancy hormones were at an all-time out of control level. I couldn't talk to anyone without crying.

Leo went under the lights at 8:40 am. The rules were that he had to stay under at all times, with the exception of only coming out every 3 hours for a 30 min max feeding. How do you calm an upset baby, who's forced to wear a blindfold, and you can't pick him up? I don't know either. It was awful.

By 2:00 pm the maternity ward discharged me as a patient and moved us to the pediatric ward. My crying was out of control at this point. Every nurse or doctor that came in to talk to me asked me what was wrong. Told me it "wasn't my fault" (I know). Asked if I was depressed. And to top it off, once you get on the pediatric ward, there's a trail of interns that follow the doctors - so I'd have a minimum of 5 people in the room asking me the same questions and staring at me.

Was I depressed? Yes. First, I wanted to go home. I wanted to see Sadie and just get out of the hospital. Although I didn't see any other children while on the pediatric ward, I just didn't like the thought of any kid having to be there (no matter how "cheery" the walls were painted). I knew Leo would be fine and healthy in the end and I didn't blame myself - but I just wanted out. Second, I just had a baby. My hormones are out of whack. I thought they knew that basic science. Third, I also happened to just have surgery. While the pain was managable - my organs were literally outside of my body for a period of time four days prior. That takes some recovery time, I'd think. And finally, for the past 4 days I had brushed my teeth with a disposable toothbrush that barely had bristles and washed my hair with handsoap. So all in all, yes, I just wasn't feeling it.

It was a long, stressful night and I'm so grateful that Alex was with me (in a twin bed we had to share). We anxiously awaited the status update in the morning. Our baby boy miraculously had dropped his bilibrubin points from 19 to 9 in 25 hours. Amazing (they tell me). I think he just wanted to go home too.

Sister of the Year

Sadie has waited so long to be a big sister. We told her that Leo would be coming at Christmas time - and once the trees and decorations started coming, she knew it was time.

The morning of the delivery, I dropped her off at school per usual, with the promise that it was 'little brother day'. At a little writing table in the classroom she happened to pick up the laminated word that said "brother". I told her what it said. She made me wait as she carefully mimicked the letters and drew a heart. It was beautiful. Only hitch was that there was a large space between the B and the R so she tossed in an I when all was said and done.

Sadie had told everyone at school that "Kyle" was coming. She had previously stuck to Grady, Ben or Killian as possible names - and spread them as rumors wildly. We never told her the name for just that reason.

When she got to the hospital on Friday night she was psyched. It was a little overwhelming altogether - a small hospital room with too many people, a new baby and things to explore. She gave Leo a moment's pause before she was digging into my cup of ice and trying to push the nurse's call button. Good thing I didn't show her how the bed could move up and down.

So far she's been very doting at home. She wants to make sure Leo's armed with a stuffed animal at all times. She loves to kiss his head, cover him up and sing "Twinkle Twinkle" on repeat. We're teaching her the basics of what can and can't be done with such a tiny baby - "no he can't have a glass of water" "you can't swing him too hard" "don't pick at his scalp" - and she's taken it all in stride. Leo will be her #1 fan without a doubt.

Say Hello To Leo James

We've waited a long time and our tiny boy is finally here! He arrived just as scheduled (thank you c-section) at 12:55 pm on Friday, December 7th. Though the dark coat hides it, it's the final image of me in street clothes with baby on board. Enjoy it, it's likely the very last ever.

The section went just fine. It was strange waking up that morning, showering and hopping in the car like I was going to any other appointment. Very nonchalant. As I had IVs running into me, Alex and I relaxed, watching a little Price Is Right. Talk about anti-climatic.

When it was time, I walked myself into the OR to be prepped. I was happy that the hosptial staff put my fears at ease of feeling pain during the surgery (based on my Sadie experience). They let me know exactly what was going to happen when, and what I was supposed to be feeling. When it was 'go' time, Alex came into the room and perched himself on a stool at my head. He had a clear view of the operation, but refused to look - he was dramatic about it all. Then about 15 minutes later the doctors announced "it's baby time". There was a lot of pushing and tugging, a vacuum was used along the way - and before he was even fully out of the womb, he started crying. It was sweet music to my ears.

I asked the doctor if he happened to have a short cord too. Answer was no, but he did have it wrapped around his neck. My kids and their cords, sheesh.

 

He weighed 7 lbs 7 oz and only cried for a few short minutes. He's a snuggler. As he's a week old today, he's only cried a handful of times - and nothing that can't be cured with a little body heat and love.

Random Acts

Just wanted to share what Sadie has been learning in school. All amazing stuff, to make for an amazing little girl:

We have been very busy in the Preschool Two classroom. This past month we did an author study on Kevin Henkes and the children loved reading his stories. We talked about the characters in the story and the stories themselves. The past two weeks we have been talking about nutrition and the food groups. The children have been checking out their lunch every day to see what foods fit into the food groups.

We are very excited about our upcoming unit. We have not done this curriculum previously and hope it is met by the children with the same energy as it is bringing us. In the spirit of the season we will be doing a “Random Acts of Kindness” unit. We will talk about helping people just because we can. There will be a discussion about doing things to be helpful to friends and family, as well as for those who might need our help in the community. Some of the activities we will be doing are:

Pajama drive: in conjunction with Scholastic Books we will collect new pajamas that Scholastics will give to a locale place of need and with each pajama they will donate a book. We will also have a collection jar for donations that the children earn from doing random acts of helpfulness at home. We will purchase a pair of pajamas from Grapevines, which is selling them to us at a reduced rate. We will make cookies for the Police and Fire departments, and take a walk to bring them then. Any leftover random acts “money” will be used to purchase a toy which we will donate to the Toys for Tots program. We are planning to go to Timothy Daniels Nursing Home to sing to the people there, as well as take a day to walk around handing out gift certificates to random people in the community to brighten someone’s day. We will also be building a toilet paper tower to donate to the food pantry. We will put all donations into our wagon and walk to the food pantry. We hope that you will join us in encouraging your child to help others including their families at home.

Mr. Claus

I had wild visions of cutting down our own tree this year, complete with Santa, hayrides and cocca. That just didn't happen. Perhaps next year. But I was able to find something very local and just as good.

As soon as we stepped foot back in our house, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, Sadie was harping on us to decorate for Christmas. She is totally her father in this instance. We promised her that we would this past weekend, tree and all.

We went to Weston Nurseries in Hopkinton on Sunday afternoon. Word had it that Santa was there, available for pictures, for a $5 donation to charity. Sold! It was a beauitful set up, and a very authentic looking man. Sadie jumped and pranced in line until it was her turn. We made her practice what she was going to ask for so she didn't freeze up when the big moment arrived.

The moment it was her turn, she marched up and recited her list (but in a tiny voice). She sat on his lap and gave some shy smiles.

Outside Weston had a firepit and marshmallows set up for the taking. My Marshmallow Queen beelined for it. She likes when they catch fire, which was a pretty picture of smoke blowing in my face and trying not to light my hair on fire before disaster struck. On her second (and last mallow) she roasted that baby right on the wood, so a tiny piece of hot ember was stuck to the burnt coating. I thank GOD that I saw it in time and she didn't crunch down on it. While that would have ended in many tears and other medical issues - we instead had a sticky situation with marshmallow stuck on my coat, her coat, my hair, my hands...Needless to say, the trip to the tree farm was over.

 

We came home with a beauitful tree - best one in years. There's something cozy about being on the couch amongst the glow of Christmas lights.