Family Walk

Tonight we did a short family walk - our first one with two kids! Eli in the wagon, Cole in the ErgoBaby. For part of the walk, Eli even held my hand. It was so sweet. 

It's a JEEP thing

Eli LOVES a Jeep. Out of the blue, a few months ago he started identifying Jeeps on the road. He gets all excited every time he sees one and points / tells us it's a Jeep. Now we use Jeeps to test his colors (he is VERY good with colors). He'll tell us he sees a red Jeep, white Jeep, blue Jeep, etc. But his most favorite is a yellow Jeep. This week Grandma C gave him a Jeep Wrangler matchbox car and he has been so happy. Tonight, for the first time ever, I got on You Tube and let him watch Jeep Wrangler videos. He had a blast watching them go through the mud, climb rocks and we even saw one flip over and crash. We're not sure where he picked it up but I guess it's just a Jeep thing. =)

New Jeep from Grandma C

Watching You Tube with Mommy

Jeep climbing a big hill - he loved watching the videos

Good news - 12.4

Got the call from the pediatrician's office and Cole's bilirubin was only 12.4 - which is very good news. These levels peak at about 4 days so we should start trending back down. Light treatment isn't required until closer to 20. Now we just focus on feeding Cole and getting those poops out!! If we notice any change we'll give the doctor a call but for now, no more foot pricks and blood tests. =)

4 days old (almost)

Today Cole had his 4 day check at the pediatrician. He's doing great and is such a peaceful (for now) baby. I told the doctor that I don't think he has really woke up yet - he won't really be 4 days old until later tonight. 

So here are the stats:

Weight - 8 pounds, 3 ounces - 50th percentile (down 10 ounces from birth weight but they're ok as long as he starts gaining)

Length: 20-1/2" - 75th percentile

Head: 35cm - 25th percentile. 

It's funny, these stats are very close to Eli's 1 week stats. Eli was 8 pounds, 3.8 ounces - 20-1/2" long - Head 36cm. Absolutely amazing. Guess I grow them one size!!

Other stuff from today. Cole has erythema toxicum - a newborn rash that looks like little mosquito bites on him. Nothing for us to worry about. Doc says it will go away on its' own. They also took blood from his heel today to do a bilirubin test. He's a little more yellow today than he was and while his bruising is going down, that means the blood is absorbing back into his body. He hasn't done too much pooping yet to get rid of the bilirubin so he may have elevated levels. They should call me later today to let me know the results and it's possible that I'll have to take him in tomorrow for another blood draw and count but we'll see. If the levels are too elevated, we'll have to do the same phototherapy we had to do with Eli. Good news is that this time we know what's going on and won't be so freaked out about it. My task for today is to push the feedings so that hopefully we can get some of this out of his body and not have to go back to the hospital. 

Right now Cole is sleeping peacefully and even snoring. The baby noises are so sweet. I'm trying to savor them a little more this time around. =) 

Brotherly Love

Eli has been so cute with Baby Cole. His report from school today said that he can't stop talking about him. Tonight we let Eli "hold" Cole again on the couch and we watched 'Thomas the Train' together. He was also very lovey on him giving him hugs and kisses. Before bed, we let Eli take Cole to see his room - Cole had not been to the nursery yet - and Eli also got to show off his big boy room. 

Holding his little brother

Hugs =)

Eli wanted to show Cole outside his nursery

Catching up on pictures

Whew, it has been a whirlwind 48 hours! The time in the hospital went by so fast (we got home about 1:30 pm today). Thinking about it, the insurance company HAS to owe us money - no doctor for delivery, no epidural, and we were only there 41 hours. 

So yesterday was busy with lots of hospital checks and lots of friends coming to see us. Tim & Eli got to the hospital around 10 am and it was pretty much nonstop until about 6pm. We are so fortunate to have such wonderful friends and family. After Tim got Eli to bed, he came back last night for a little bit but ended up staying at the house so Cole & I were on our own. We had a pretty good night but it seemed like the nurses were coming in quite a bit. In the middle of the night, they did his pku bloodwork and then his hearing test. There were also a few checks on me so we didn't get as restful of a night as I would have liked but we did well together. Trying to get Cole interested in eating. He hasn't been very predictable in that regard and is just now starting to get interested. Right now he's favoring sleep over food and is so sweet and snuggly. He has only lost 7 ounces from his birth weight so they weren't too worried about it. 

This morning Tim took Eli to school and then came back to the hospital. Both my doctor and Cole's doctor came by to check on us and then declared us ready to go home. Cole is doing very well and we don't seem to be headed for the jaundice problems that we had with Eli - although we are keeping an eye on it, as are the doctors. At lunch time, Tim picked Eli up from school and then they came to pick Cole & I up at the hospital. It was very important to me that we go home as a family. Eli was wild man and wanted to love on his brother. He helped the nurse wheel me out when it was time to go. 

We got home about 1:30pm, made sure both boys were fed and then it was nap time for everyone. Boy was that nice!!! Eli has been wild and crazy being a total boy but has been great with Cole so far. Right now Tim is snuggling with Cole and we're just enjoying some of the Tour de France. It's amazing how calm we both are (at least for now) adding this sweet bundle to our family. We have pledged to each other to remain the "tag team champions of the world" and learn how to adapt to life with two kids. It will definitely continue our adventurous life together!!

Sunday morning - happy to get out of that hospital "lounge wear"

Eli & Ryan - waiting to watch 'Bob' at the hospital

Grandma & Grandpa N

Eli was so sweet wanting to see Baby Cole 

I love this photo - our family of four!

Eli cheesin' with Grandma C and Baby Cole

Grandma & Grandpa C

BIG Brother Eli

Uncle Billy 

Such a sweet little boy

Eli "holding" Baby Cole

Helping wheel Mommy out of the hospital to go home

A very full back seat

Eli's new dump truck - a present from his little brother

Welcome Coleman Thomas

It has been a crazy past 12 hours! We're excited to welcome the arrival of our little 4th of July firecracker - Coleman Thomas (Cole). 

8:32pm - 8 pounds, 13.3 ounces and 21-1/2" long

Now, the story....

Yesterday morning I went walking with my friend, neighbor and fellow preggo Carrie. I told her that I did not feel a baby on Saturday - and I really didn't! After the walk, Eli & I went to Kohl's, followed by a nap and then pool time. We stopped in Food Lion after the pool to pick up some buns for our cookout and I started having back pains. They felt an awful lot like the back labor I had with Eli. I must confess that I immediately got scared. They got strong really fast and I just wanted to wimp out. Took a shower and called the doctor who advised that we go ahead to the hospital and that if I was in active labor that they'd keep me, if not I could walk around the hospital some and see if that would help. Quite many more back pains later (they were coming close together), we loaded Eli and his bag up and dropped him off at Ry-Ry's house for a sleepover. I so wanted to give him a goodbye hug and kiss but he was so excited to see Ryan that he didn't care about me and ran right inside. That was probably good because I ended up doubled over in the seat with another contraction. They were really hurting then!!

We got to the hospital and they checked me to see if I could be admitted. I was at 3cm so they went ahead and did so. The nurse asked if I wanted an epidural and I said "absolutely". I was so scared of the pain. This was a completely different feeling than when I had Eli. I had tears in my eyes and was just flat out scared. They put the monitors on me and called the doctor to let her know. One nurse took blood so they could do my bloodwork and then get me an epidural. I kept having really intense contractions. They checked me again and I had progressed to 8cm. They tried calling the doctor because she had to at least be on the property for me to get the epidural. A few more contractions and I yelled pretty loud (I'm kinda embarrassed but it really did hurt). Next thing you know, here comes Cole, not waiting at all for the doctor to get here. The nurses had to deliver him - three I think, my eyes were closed the whole time. He had the cord wrapped around his neck and they had to cut it to get him out and then his shoulder got stuck so there was some acrobatics to get him unstuck. All this took place in 1 hour 3 minutes after we arrived!!! His apgar score was only a 3 when he was born but then quickly jumped to a 9. They had to help him breathe a little to start and I was just waiting for that little cry - so happy when it came. 

Cole is pretty bruised (a la Eli) and had to go to the special care nursery right off the bat since there was no doctor present when he was born, they wanted to check him out. They did some monitoring and checking on him and he is perfectly fine and healthy. We had a pretty good night last night. I didn't sleep much due to all the excitement and spent quite a bit of time snuggling with our newest little monkey. 

We're excited for Eli to meet his little brother today and for the grandparents and our friends to come visit. Eli has no idea what is in store for him but he's going to be a great big brother. 

Last picture of Eli & Mommy before Cole got here - we left just a few minutes later

Sweet little feet

Proud Papa

Happy and Relieved Mommy

Baby Cole

Tour Time

Woo hoo - the Tour de France starts today. The Tour is what we look forward to every July. Will be interesting to see the team dynamics in Astana and how Lance and Alberto work together or against each other. We now have something to watch on tv for the next three weeks. =) 

Eli's new tricks

Eli has managed to add some new "tricks" to his resume. Some good, some not-so-good - let's take a look:

The Good:

• Sang the entire ABC song, unprompted this morning on our walk. He's been working on it for a while and got through it without help this morning. Of course, I'm going to try to get it on video. 
• Counting - he does a pretty good job of counting to 10. This week he started counting to 10 in Spanish!! He came home from school and just started uno, dos, tres-ing away. Pretty amazing. 
• More songs - seems like he is really good with quite many songs. This morning I also heard "Head, shoulders, knees and toes" on the walk. 
• Bike riding - Eli has taken great interest in the little bike that Grandma & Grandpa N found for him. He has learned to get to a downhill and pick his feet up to coast. Every time we go into the garage, he wants his bike. He will be riding in no time now. 

The Not-so-Good:

• Eli is suspect #1 for pulling the fire alarm at school yesterday, emptying out the entire place and making the fire truck come. He told Tim & I that he did it and that it was scary. He's not a fan of loud noises. The school wasn't 100% sure it was him but said when they walked back into the classroom he kept eying the fire alarm pull station with a look of "oh, so that's what that does". 
• High chair escape artist - today at Chick-Fil-A, he climbed out of the high chair when I turned my back, onto the table and stood straight up. He was so proud of himself and had his hands in the air like a gymnast who just stuck a perfect landing. There was a couple nearby who was trying so hard not to laugh b/c they didn't want to give him approval but it was pretty darn funny. I just told them that he's my little daredevil, obviously. 

Just a few antics of our silly little boy. He's so full of energy and happy that it's a lot of fun. Can't wait to see what he comes up with next!

38 weeks, 3 days......waiting, waiting, waiting

Today was my 38 week doctor appointment - I'm actually 38 weeks, 3 days (belly shot above). Not too much to report - not a lot of change from last week. 

• Blood pressure good
• Strep B test came back negative
• Baby's heartbeat good and strong
• Still at 1 cm

I was VERY frustrated to still be at 1 cm but doctor assured me that it really means nothing. My water could just as easily break tonight or tomorrow or next week and 2.0 would be here. I keep comparing to Eli and it seemed as though I was much further along at this point - he was born 3 days from now. Trying to stay patient (not one of my better qualities!!). I feel pretty good and am still able to work. I'm getting a little uncomfortable but most of all antsy and ready for 2.0 to be here. 

Anyone want to take a guess on 2.0's birth day?