Will vs. Henry

Henry & Aunt Kim at 4 weeks old

Will at 4 weeks

Henry

Will


So, do YOU think they look alike?

Where does the time go?!?

Will will be 4 weeks old tomorrow... boy does time fly! He's been great; I'm still waiting for the tables to turn and for him to be a crabby baby like Henry was! He eats great, which is evident by the double chin and chubby legs and arms. He naps wonderfully, which is evident by the fact that Henry is not "jealous" because I have time to play with him! He sleeps pretty well at night, which is evident by the fact that I am not crabby!

We had a nice Christmas, although we seem to be trading sicknesses... I had a stomach bug Christmas eve, Will seems to have gotten some of that because he had a day or so of diarrhea and now Henry is sick with a flu-like thing. The joys of Winter!

Santa was very good to us this year... we acquired a new video camera, vacuum, Spiderman accessories, race cars, Thomas toys and a few toddler toys... all in all it was a great holiday! We are however ready to start down the path of normalcy since we've lived anything but since I was first admitted into the hospital back in September! Henry should be starting preschool (I say should because he's still wait listed) and Chris starts his 80 hour a week busy season just after the new year...

I'll include some pictures, we took a lot over the holidays!

Some pictures...

Will is doing great! He's started to wake up a bit, opening his eyes more and eating more and making mommy & daddy MORE tired! We love it though!

Henry is doing great as well, he really loves his little brother and is conscience of where he is at all times, its adorable. He often asks to hold him and when he does, he just says.... "he's so cute" and he's right!

I had my first day totally alone with the boys; it went well. Physically I'm feeling so much better and the pain is very controllable by taking Advil. I'm pretty tired, but that's all part of the fun, right?!?

8 Days and counting...

Will is 8 days old! He is a great baby! Wonderful sleeper, great nurser, healthy pooper, what more can parents ask of a newborn! He rarely cries, at least not yet....

Henry absolutely adores his little brother. He often asks to hold him and we've gotten into a routine where Henry holds Will while he watches Diego cartoons first thing in the morning. Henry seems to have a sense of where Will is at all times because if he doesn't know, he goes looking for him... it's really cute. Yesterday i caught him talking to Will while he was just waking up from a nap and he was saying "hi there little brother, you're moving around do you want me to pick you up?".... hummm, I'll have to keep an eye on that one!

I am doing pretty well. This c-section is a bit harder to recover from than with Henry. Right now I have elephant legs (ie they are swollen and huge and look like Elephant legs) and my incision is a bit itchy, but overall I feel pretty ok. I finished taking my narcotic pain killers and the pain from the surgery has really minimalized in the last couple days. Hopefully before long I can think about working out... I think I'll start slow by going for walks; I think walking from our front door to the street will be exhausting considering I've been on hospital bedrest for so long! Maybe I'll work up to being a mall walker after that!

I'll update more later - hopefully with some cuter pics of our boy!

Home at last!

We are home safely with Will. Henry is beyond excited to have us home and loves his little brother! Once I recover a bit more and am finished taking painkillers, I'll write more... these pills make me very sleepy!

We welcome visitors anytime, so just say when and our door is open!

Henry meets Will

Henry came to the hospital today to meet Will... I wish pictures could capture just how excited he was to meet his baby brother! He wanted to hold him right away and even helped feed him a bottle. It is so reassuring to know that despite baby Will keeping mommy in the hospital, Henry is SO excited to be a big brother. He's also excited to have mommy home in 2 days!

1 Day Old!

I wanted to post a couple more pictures and give an update on baby Will! He's doing wonderfully!!! He is staying in the hospital room with me and has passed all his tests with flying colors... good hearing, good bloodsugar, and whatever other tests he's taken. He is pooping and peeing like a Rockstar, I guess he really is a Skinger! He's eating pretty well too; I have to say he is partial to mommy and daddy because the nurses can't get him to eat but so far he's taken bottles from both Chris and I well and is nursing just great! We're supplimenting with formula until my milk comes in - we want to keep those blood sugars up!

I'm doing well. C-sections are not fun, but so far recovery is going well. The surgery yesterday went as good as one could hope for. I had a lot more bleeding than a normal c-section because of the placenta previa, but my body dealt with it ok and I didn't need a transfusion. I did puke my brains out, not sure why. They kept giving me all kinds of drugs to make my uterus contract, which was the only "challenge" they had during surgery. The drugs must have also contracted my stomach because I puked for the entire surgery. Oh well, it's over.

Sneak Peak!

William was born this morning at 11:25 am, weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces and measured 20 inches.

Amanda and Will are doing very well. Despite him being a month early, he's breathing normally and is blood sugar is at a good level. Mom had a rougher c-section this time, but she's recovering nicely and enjoying her sherbet and apple juice. Both mom and baby are out of recovery and up in their hospital room - hopefully both get to come home this weekend.

Chris

The Results

Just got my amnio results back... our little man scored a 48!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He got a 32 last week, below are the ranges:

Immature 10-40 (our hosptial's cut off is 38)
Intermediate 40-50
Mature to full term >50

The high risk OB who did the amnio this AM said that 48 is generally the low end of the range that they will deliver at, SO... TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY!!!!

I can't tell you how relieved I am for this LONG road to end! The Dr. did reiterate that there is a chance this little guy will spend some time in the NICU getting some extra oxygen, but his lungs should be ok and he **should** come home with us on Saturday! He's been such a trooper through all this trauma, actually he has acted completely unaffected, so I'm confident he'll do great!

Because of the c-section I'll be here four more days, so I should be home Saturday! I can't believe it... I will have accumulated 51 days in the hospital! I can't believe it has been that long...

We will post pictures as soon as we can!