All Aboard

Here are some pictures from Nicholas' 3rd Birthday Party. Thomas the Train themed.

Nicholas with cousins, brother and Great Aung Joann.
Nicholas with his cake. Made by me of course. He LOVED it!

The full cake view.

Opening presents with cousins and Grandma.

It's great to be 3!

As usual I am a bit late but here it is anyway.
My "little man" turned 3 on Wednesday. He is no longer my "little man" and hasn't been for some time. He is now my Big Guy. I don't even remember what it was like before we had Nicholas.
What can I say about Nicholas?
We went to lunch at Friendly's yesterday and he picks the meal of broccoli and Mac & cheese. Go figure. He did actually eat it too. Given a plate of food he will eat his peppers first. He also right now is in love with turkey cheese burgers.
He is into pirates. Still loves fire trucks, dump trucks, trains.
He still tests my patience everyday.
He's so strong-willed. I hope this is an asset in his adult life.
He's got a great imagination. This winter shoveling snow was actually shoveling coal ( as into a steam train).
He's still our crazy man. But he is OUR crazy man, forever and always.

Here are some pics from the las t couple of months. I will try to get up the birthday pics soon. But check out the video for now.

A good day

Friday.
We ventured out. We had a dr appt for Alexander. I decided to throw in extra stops too. I know I was asking a lot from all of us.
So we went to the doctor.
Alexander now weighs a whopping 8 lbs 11 oz. And grew another inch. He is almost 2 lbs above birth weight. Yay! He had a great check up. Nicholas was only mildly disruptive. He took a bunch of tongue depressors out of the canister to use with his trucks. Then pushed everything on the floor. He did pick them up. Then tried putting the sticks back in the container. Oops. One made it in and got lost. So I guess that won't be so sanitary.
Ok leave dr office and head to the balloon store. Joe's birthday Saturday so we had to get balloons. Mission complete.
Get gas.
Head to McDonald's for a quick snack. Two trips through the drive thru. My friend called and wanted something just as we finished. After we were pulling out for the second time I forgot to order myself fries. I wasn't going through again.
So off to the playground.
It was near 70 degrees, sunny, breezy. I was smokin'. Alexander was only in a light sleeper and a hat. He was smokin too all nestled in the Jeep front carrier. We all ate, then we played...for two hours! Alexander just slept. He is such a good baby. By the end Big Man and I were tired and ready to head home.
Home we came. Nap time for all of us.
For supper I grilled chicken legs.
It was a good day.

Growing

When I upload photos they always go before my text. So photos will be first. Enjoy.

Oh, my sweet Alexander. You're one month old today. I can't believe the feeling of you moving inside of me is now a distant memory (as is sleep). You, my boy, are doing great. You have pretty much outgrown your newborn sleepers. You were swimming in them when we brought you home. Now you are stretching out your legs and filling them out. It's sad you wore them such a short time. But you are growing just as you are supposed to be. Your face and head look fatter. Your body is longer. You are heavier and meatier. You are just...growing. Yay for Mommy's milk. Your eyelashes are filling in. as is your hair. Which I am still curious how the color will develop.
The feeding has been challenging but I feel we may be settling into a rhythm of eating and pumping. However you still throw me sometimes. You are a champion (albeit slow at times esp. At night when you are sleepy) eater though and let us know when you want more.
You still love to sleep a lot either snuggled on us or in your swing. But you also love to just lay on your own and look around. You are still so relaxed. And for this I thank you.
You are just the sweetest thing. I am curiuos to know who you will become. What your personality will be like. I imagine you to be a gentlier spirit than your brother. To have you smile at me. Grab a toy. Wave your hand. I look forward to all these many things and so much more. But don't grow up too fast. You are my baby.
Nicknames I have for you: snuggle muffin, fat boy, beefcake, sweetheart, chompers.
I love you, Muffin.

Balance

Alexander is 3 weeks old already. Time and events are referred to as "before He was born" and "after He was born".
So how are things?
Things are going ok. Monday began the real challenge. All by myself with the two boys. My mom was here this past week but she is home now. I wish she could stay a month. Or better yet just not live so far away so that our time together could be more spread out. But unfortunately that is not the case nor will it happen.
How is eating and sleeping?
Well he sleeps really well, as a newborn should. I feel like the eating thing has been an uphill battle the whole way. A few highlights; cracked bleeding nipple, painful letdown, finger feeds. He just doesn't eat well at the breast. He gets lazy. He falls asleep. But he's still hungry. He just won't work for it. So he ends up snacking all the time. And it's frustrating. I would love to just sit and feed my newborn and hold him all day. However, life with a toddler does not allow for that. So my goal is to find balance. We all need to be taken care of, physically, emotionally and mentally. It's finding the right balance for us all. But it is exhausting to feed and pump and feed and pump. It leaves little time for anything else.
Have you been out with the two by yourself yet?
Why, yes. Monday I took Nicholas to MyGym. Of course I was trying to plan out feedings for Alexander. And of course he had different ideas. Luckily though he likes to sleep in the car so he slept the whole time. Even at MyGym. It was really nice because I didn't know how I was going to chase Nicholas and feed Alexander. MyGym is active for Mommies too. But it worked for this week. We'll try again next week and see how it goes.
How is Alexander?
I haven't described much of his features. He has auburn hair and when the light hits it, it looks reddish. He has Joe's wide flat nose. My head, it's small and round and so soft. I just love to touch and kiss it. His eyes seem to be turning brown. Go figure.

He is such a good baby. He likes to lay by himself and just look round.
He's getting long. Filling out his newborn sleepers. He had a dr visit last Friday. He weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and 19.5 inches. So he grew an inch and is 7oz above birth weight. Thats good in my book.
He likes to suck on his thumb. When he finds it. I think he will do well with a pacifier. I am just waiting to get this eating thing settled before giving him one. We've thrown a lot of things at him in three weeks.
How is hubby?
What a guy. I could never do this without him. He takes so much on himself. He not only goes to work for ten hours a day, he comes home to a distraught wife, a super active toddler with meltdowns and a messy house. He takes care of us all. Gives me time to sleep and chill with Alexander. Plays with toddler and puts him to bed. Feeds baby. Gets ready for another day of work and does schoolwork. He is my Superman.

Okay here are some pictures. I haven't taken that many. I guess it's second baby syndrome.

Alexander with cousin Abbey

Me and my boys

Cousins: Abbey. Alexander, Nicholas and Noah

Cousins and Aunt Kerri

I'm 3 weeks old!! And losing the puffy newborn face.

1 Week Already

I had to start with a little teaser. Look at that precious face.

Alexander is over a week old already. The week has really flown by. We are all still adjusting to having a newborn in the house. I wanted to do question form for this post. Here goes.

How is the feeding going?

Better. He started latching better. Still with the shield but that works for now. We actually started giving a bottle. It seemed easier than the finger tube feed thing. However I think it has disrupted his latching. So we may need to lay off the bottles for a bit longer yet. However, it was nice because Joe could do some night feeding and I would pump. It goes much quicker than feeding him. He likes to fall asleep during feeding and then as soon as I put him down he is awake again and wants to eat. So it can take me an hour to feed him in the middle of the night. It's exhausting. But the kid needs to eat.

Milk is in full swing. We had him weighed at 1 week and he was only 3 oz under his birth weight. Yahoo!!

What kind of baby is Alexander?

He is so sweet. He loves to snuggle and be held. It's easy just to sit and hold him. I get nothing done. But I decided to cherish this time because once Joe's back at work. I won't be sitting any longer.

He loves to sleep. Which is super nice. He is such a chill baby. I sure hope it stays that way.

He does really well just laying awake on his own for 20 mintues or so. And he spent a whole night in his bassinet without sleeping on one of us.

How is Nicholas handling his little brother?

Oh, my spirited child. He is very good with Alexander. He brings him toys when he cries. He thinks mom should pick him up when he cries. Alexander's feet were hanging out the other day and Nicholas thought he needed socks. He's been helpful in small ways too. Getting things for us on occasion. We aren't pushing that. He's not the parent.

He has done some acting out. Fit throwing over the small stuff. We expected some of this. We just weren't prepared for how to handle it. But can you really prepare? We are all working through this together. And I can only hope it gets better with time.

He has done some good things. Peeing on the potty...once. But it's a start. And sleeping in his toddler bed for nap today. He has never been interested in the big boy bed.

It goes to show you that you just never know.

Okay I won't bore you anymore and get on with the pictures.

Big Brother helping to feed

Leaving the house, feeling good

After my first bath.

Mom's men

There's those eyes.

Squishy face

Home from the hospital

A little more alert at the end of week 1

I love to have my hands up by my face to sleep

My favorite place to sleep...on Mom

Sleeping, burrito style

Alexander's Entrance

I have been meaning to write this post all week. It has rolled around in my head and taken many shapes. So now with Alexander one week old and snuggled up on my chest and my two older "boys" wrestling in the living room, I will write the entrance of Sir Alexander into our world.
It will probably sound uneventful here in these words but if you have ever had a child or attended a labor/delivery or adopted a child, you know that it is not uneventful to you. It is your story. Of your child.
So it began on Valentine's Day morning. The only day I told this baby growing inside of me it couldn't be born. Well "he" had other plans. The contractions started around 8:30 am and were very mild, 15 minutes apart. I called Joe after this went on for an hour.
"honey, I am having contractions. They are 15 min apart so I will see if they develop into anything. Just so you know."
Now I knew these weren't Braxton Hicks. But with 10 days to go I just wasn't sure if they would progress.
Well they didn't.
They started stretching further apart to every 20-25 minutes. I was becoming disappointed. Joe too. I emailed him with an update.
However, I did start to lose the mucous plug with some bloody show. After a quick reference on the www I discovered this could happen days or even weeks before labor. Ugh!
I was feeling a lot of preessure and had to pee every 15 minutes.
Around 2 pm I put Nicholas down for nap and continued to let the contractions roll when they so desired. I laid down for my own nap thinking it could be a long night ahead.
Well I couldn't sleep. Are you serious? I might be having a baby.
The contractions began to pick up around 3 pm. They were 10-15 minutes apart and growing in strength. But totally manageable. I called Joe around 4pm encouraging him not to be late tonight. He said he was leaving very soon and would call from the car.
At 4:15, I redialed my husband.
He answered with a " i'm leaving soon."
I answered with a "you need to leave now."
It would take him 30 min plus to get home.
Contractions kept flowing. Now coming 7-10 minutes apart.
Nicholas woke up. Joe rushed in the door to find: me and Nicholas chillin' on the couch watching tv.
The contractions were manageable, coming 7-8 minutes apart.
I called my dr around 5:30 pm. Telling her they were averaging 6 minutes apart. She didn't seem concerned and said if they were manageable then stay home and call the on call dr later when needed.
Joe's parents were on their way from MA to stay with Nicholas. I took a shower. Joe and Nicholas ate supper. We were getting ready but doing good.
By the time joe's parents arrived after 7 pm I was ready to go to the hospital and have my epidural. That was the plan. I don't like pain. I did not want to be a hero.
The contractions were 5 min apart. We called the on call dr to say we were coming in. He seemed a little more "ready". So we left the house at 8 pm. It is a 30-40 min drive to the hospital.
About half way there the contractions came 2 minutes apart. Yikes! They hurt.
We made it to the hospital. 8:30 pm. A nurse brought me in with a wheelchair. She said get in the gown and she'd check dilation. She gave us our first verbal lashing for waiting. Second baby and all.
She checked. I was soft and 8-9 cm. What?!?
Nurse rushed out to get the team. A hord of people flooded the room preparing pans and instruments and the dr in his gown and goggles and cap.
They were starting the IV in my arm, no time to find the vein in my hand.
It was while all this was happening that I realized I would be receiving no pain meds. The contractions were still coming on strong, mind you. I think I may have squeezed some blood out of Joe's hand. My head just kept saying, "I can't do this. No meds? Oh my gosh!"
my dr rushes in. I was relieved to see her. I like her. It took her 2.5 min to get to the hospital. She had just moved. Otherwise her 12 min drive might have made her late.
Contraction coming. I wanted to push. I said so. She checked, 10 cm! Okay, next one push.
Contraction came on ( I think I was clawing my husband's chest at this time) and I pushed. I could feel the baby's head enter the birth canal. Weird. Okay stop pushing. Breathe, relax.
Here comes another one. Push! Baby slides a bit further.
Water has not broke. Dr comes in with a hook to break my water.
Another contraction. Push! With the membranes out of the way I could really feel baby just right there, ready to pop out. I just kept pushing. I wanted baby out. Then pop! Baby's head came out. Checked for cord. All good. Push, and out slid my new baby. It is quite a feeling. It was now 9:14 pm. Only 45 min after arriving at the hospital.
I hear Joe say, "it's a boy". My new baby boy was then placed on my chest and Joe and I just stared at him. He was here. Finally, here. And I had done it. I birthed this son with no drugs. I will wear my badge of honor, thank you very much.
The nurse asked his name. And funny enough, we didn't know. We had picked a girl and boy name probably in the second month of pregnancy and it never changed...until. Until I threw a curve ball on Saturday saying I didn't know if I liked Alexander. So I thought and came up with another name. So now we had two boys names. And we had a little baby boy in need of a name.
It only took a few minutes and I just started talking to my son and out came Alexander. I immediately looked at Joe and said, it's Alexander. Alexander Thomas.
This is how Alexander came into the world. And this is his story as much as mine.

Pictures as Promised

Big Brother Nicholas
With Grandma and Grandpa

Sleepy Boy

Daddy and Alexander
His ear is the size of my thumb. So adorable.
A happy Mommy and Daddy
Chillin' on the scale
All snuggled up. Look at the scrunchy face.

Sweet Baby Boy

Alexander has the sweetest perfectly round head. I think it is more like mine. Joe and Nicholas have the same head but it is more square at the crown. I hope Alexander's head stays like this.
And it is so ridiculously soft. I love to just stroke it and kiss it.

Still going

Still having contractions. They've picked up in frequency and strength. We will most likely be heading to the hospital sometime tonight. Hopefully tomorrow we can introduce our newest addition.

38 Weeks

I think I say this every week, but I can't believe it! Only 2 weeks to go. Every day I wonder If today is going to be the day. It could be. But I have a feeling this baby is holding on for next week,39 weeks. I am ready. But not as anxious as I was a few weeks ago. I know it's coming soon so we'll wait and be ready for when it happens. The room is ready, as it is going to get. Things are washed. Bag is packed. Friends and family are set up to jump in with Nicholas. So when the baby says so, it's go time.
I'm tired tonight so I don't have much to say tonight.

Week 37

Still hanging in there. Saw the dr today and all is good. She just delivered a baby this morning so she is all ready for this one. We decided Baby could come on the 15th. Both our schedules are free. Hee hee
I've been feeling some Braxton Hicks. Which probably means nothing. Just more uncomfortable for me. Baby gained another pound and a half this week. It was probably the brownies Baby was eating.
Okay all for now.

It's here

February has arrived. The month this baby should be born. It can come any day now. Well, except the 14th. I feel this baby needs it's own special day and not have to share it with the whole entire society.
Nicholas came only 2 days before his due date. So we'll see how comfortable this wee one is in it's current home. Mommy is quite uncomfortable.
But baby if you are listening, you come whenever you are ready. Preferably this month though.

Only 1 month to go

36 weeks! I've said this before but I can't believe it is almost over. It is very bittersweet. Pregnancy is such a blessed time and also a trying time, especially with a toddler along for the ride too. I have definitely enjoyed the latter half of this pregnancy more than the first half. Not to say I am not ready to have this baby. I am ready. Although I think if I went into labor tomorrow, I might be a little freaked out. We still have some things to prepare. But I also know everything would fall into place. I would like baby to develop and grow a couple more weeks. I am just anxious to know more about this little one. I can already tell this baby has a personality all its own. It's strange to explain it but I just know in the way Baby moves and seems to "communicate". Baby does seem to be all knees and elbows, poking everywhere. As I think back I do remember this about Nicholas. It is just not a very vivid memory.
Doctors visit today. I did not end up going last week for the stress test because of snow. I had taken my BP here at home and it was good so I reported that to my doctor. After my visit today, All is well with me and baby. I've gained just under 32 lbs so far. The weight gain seems to be slowing down so that makes me feel better. I do seem to be all belly. Just as long as the baby is a healthy weight, I'm good.
I sure would like this snow to stop now. I don't want to go into labor during a snow storm. And driving in this stuff makes me anxious.
I have a picture that I'll get up tomorrow. Now it is time for sleep.

Digging out again

Another snow storm. Our piles are taller than we are. Joe shoveled over 4 inches last night and then woke up to another FOOT of snow! And apparently we are some of the lucky ones in the state. The NE got over 22 inches. And we still have power. Thank the good Lord.

Our driveway is not like a tunnel. I can't even see to pull out onto the road. There is just snow everywhere.

16 Weeks

Baby Facts: The baby is measuring about the size of an avocado this week and weighing in around 3 1/2 ounces. Wahoo!!

How are you feeling?

Physically? Medium energy, occasional nausea - mostly when I haven't eaten enough and I eat ALL.THE.TIME. Emotionally? Roller Coaster. Which quite frankly scares me. I was very hormonal after Nicholas was born and up until I stopped breast feeding at 6 mos. You could say I had post-partum depression. So I've been feeling hormonal lately. The other night I had a mini-breakdown which happened after I had another not so nice moment with the Porcelain King. Thoughts of: "I am tired of...: not having energy, feeling like yuck all the time, not being able to be everything I can for my son, for my husband, not having a clean house(or even some semblance of an orderly house), not connecting with my husband most of the time"...and the list went on and the tears flowed. Then I decided to make my mind go blank and fall asleep. I didn't wake up in the greatest of moods but the day started anyway. (Update: I wrote this several days ago and I am happy to report that my hormones have settled down....for now at least.)

Have you felt the baby move yet?

It's so hard to tell. The other day I thought I felt a bunch of flutters and another day I felt some little "punches." I definitely felt Nicholas at 19 weeks and it was a noticeable kick. So I am kind of waiting for that to say for sure.

Any other pregnancy symptons/signs?

Why, yes! First the good one, I have the baby bump. As you could probably tell from last week's photo I am getting a little "pouch" (as my mother put it). I didn't show with Nicholas until after 20 weeks for sure. And I was a little bummed about that. I wanted people to know I was pregnant. But now, oh, I don't know. I feel like I am getting big, fast and at this rate I will be HUGE come February. (Update: As I wrote the before stuff earlier in the week. Now, I feel like I can own this belly. Bring it on.)

Another not so fun sympton: heartburn. Why yes, I already have heartburn. I have identified at least one of the culprits: Tomatoes/tomato sauce. That's truly a bummer. Not that I love tomatoes themselves but I do love spaghetti and pizza. So for now, I am avoiding any tomato related foods and feeling heartburn free.

Any inkling to whether it's a boy or girl?

No! But I won't lie, we want a girl. So sometimes I think I am carrying a bit higher this time or think b/c of all the extra sickness (due to hormones) that it could be a girl. But in reality, there's no sure way to tell. So we'll just wait and see.

How are the clothes fitting?

Not so well since my bump arrived. I can still get into a few of my pre-pregnancy pants (ones that were big on me before). I look through my wardrobe for the longest tops I have. But I am feeling the itch for some new maternity clothes. I pulled my stash from last time and things just seem a little too big yet, especially the pants. So what did I do? I went online shopping. I am so excited b/c I ordered a TON of clothes, some sweaters for this winter and some leggings. I am going to try them. I even ordered a dress, not maternity, so I am hoping it will work. I'll keep you posted when the order comes in and maybe even do a photo fashion show, we'll see. For now, here's a belly picture.