Baby Pictures of Course!

Yes, I am really feeling like a SAHM lately. I don't get out much and my life revolves around Liam at the moment. I feel a bit sheltered from the outside world and my blog shows it!

I look forward to getting out and about, being more involved in the kids school, and even taking some time for myself now and again.

Liam is growing right before our eyes. His hands don't look so fragile anymore. They look 'meaty' and I suspect there will be dimples at the base of each finger before long. His nights are getting better. He is usually up only once or twice. Sometimes it's a bit hard to get him back to sleep but Keith takes care of that for me. I only hear about it in the morning!

Here are a few recent photos...

Happenings

My regular Wednesday visitors (who really come to see Liam, not me!) brought over a delicious sushi lunch! It was so good.

Then on Wednesday evening my office put together a baby shower for Liam and I. Liam and I were positively spoiled by excellent food and extremely generous gifts. I was given a MEC backpack so we can trek around with Liam on our backs. Actually to clarify....Keith will be wearing the backpack!

Aretha hosted the shower. Just look at all that fabulous food!
Kori's famous cookies. Isn't she talented?
I wish I could eat like this everyday!
Giving Liam cuddles....he was a perfect baby the whole evening.

Yesterday was my THIRD baby shower! Yes, very blessed! My aunties and cousins put together a joint shower for me and my cousin who is due in February. It was a good time of food, presents and lots of visiting!



Keith gave our cat a bath on the weekend. I had to include this shot as she looks so very ticked off. In reality she didn't mind the bath too much. I think this was her first bath in about seven years. It was time.
Nate and Chad continue to adore Liam. The novelty of having a baby in the house has not worn off at all. They just love him so much.

Dismissed

Sadly, we are now done with the 'baby' doctor. Liam had such a successful check up yesterday that we have been released back into the care of our GP. I am sad in a way because I really liked Dr Drieger.

Liam weighed 7 lbs 11 oz which is a gain of 8.5 ounces in a week. He is finally above his birth weight! The formula seems to be doing the trick.

We have had a few random 'good' nights which gives us hope that we won't always be walking around in a sleepy fog.

Our baby is one month old! Amazing.

3.5 Weeks Old Already

Liam is growing right before our eyes. The days are long but the weeks do fly by. I can't believe we've survived almost a month of 'newborn' stage!



As you can see, Liam's cheeks are filling out. He's not anywhere near being a chubby baby but those cheeks are soft and very kissable.


My s-i-l gave me these very clever little 'Pee Pee Tee Pees' for diaper change time. We tried using one today and he shot the little 'hat' right off with his stream!!!

My Gut Feeling

So, as much as you are probably tired of reading about Liam's eating habits I am tired of stressing about them!

A few nights ago I had made a decision to give Liam a bottle of formula after his feeding. Basically, this was a test to see if he was full after breast feeding or not. He often roots around and sucks his fist after a long feed so I was suspicious. Well....he took to the bottle like he'd been drinking from one all his life and slurped it down so fast! Suspicions confirmed...the child is hungry.

So...for now we are giving him a bottle before bed (and yes this does let us have a good four hour stretch of sleep) or any other time he appears hungry after a feed. It makes me happy to see him happy so now everyone is HAPPY!

Keith is enjoying being able to feed Liam himself instead of me doing all the work :)

Trying to Fatten Up!

Reporting back from our most recent check up at the doctor's office. Liam gained four ounces last week. Dr. D. says slow and steady is good enough for him. So he is now up to 7 lbs 2.5 oz. Not quite at his birthweight but we'll get there.

We told the doctor about Liam's horrible digestive issues. The poor kid farts and pukes and has the loudest digestive sounds coming from his belly. It was recommended that I remove dairy from my diet (boo-hoo!) and that we buy some pro-biotic drops called 'Bio Gaia'. The tiniest vial of liquid you've seen for $32! Liquid gold, I'd say. But if it helps then I really don't care how much it costs!!!

On Thursday night my wonderful girlfriends threw me a baby shower. I feel so spoiled since one usually only gets a shower for their first born. It was 'showered' with so many wonderful gifts and Liam is going to be the best dressed child ever!

This Is Hard

We have good nights and we have bad nights.

A good night means about 5 hours of broken sleep.

A bad night means about 2-3 hours of broken sleep.

It's all catching up with me and I feel like death warmed over.

I want to nap today and will try but usually Liam seems to know when I try to nap and makes that his fussy time!

Anyhow...I can barely put a coherent sentence together here. Going to go and feed the babe and see if I can catch a few winks.

Election Day

A conversation with Chad as we were leaving to go vote:

Chad: Who are you voting for Mom?

Me: It's a secret and I'm not telling.

Chad: I hope you vote for Ed Fast.

Me: Why is that?

Chad: Because his signs are blue and I like that. And Nana told me he's the best one.


If it were only that simple!

A Whole Lotta Pictures!

Yawn! Life is tough when all you do is eat sleep and poop.
Hey Mum....how cute am I?
I can't believe how exhausted I was after a short walk. We didn't go for long or very fast. I am horribly out of shape.
My proud boys...everyone took turns pushing the stroller that afternoon!
Liam with his Grandad, both Great Grandfathers and his DaddyA family shot from Thanksgiving
My mom made Liam this quilted and framed birth annoucement. Each of our boys have one on their wall. A wonderful gift!

My family

He is having more and more 'alert' moments. He really seems to enjoy looking at the world around him.
And finally a serious and thoughful Liam. I'm sure the thoughts are about milk...or perhaps filling his diaper :)

Bit by Bit

Good news from the doctor's office today. Liam gained 3 ounces in four days. He is now up to 6 lbs 14 oz. We are really pleased with that. Dr D. says Liam 'has turned the corner'. So the meds must be working. I have noticed that Liam isn't taking a whole hour to nurse anymore (40 min. or so now) and that when he is done eating he has a milk mustache! There must be a more plentiful supply for him. It's a big relief for me!

Keith has been experiencing really tense shoulders and neck muscles lately. He usually can get a 2-3 minute massage out of both Nathan and Chad but today he told Nate to walk on his back. Nate was more than happy to oblige. Keith tells me that it actually felt quite good!

As Requested

Recent pictures!

Busted

Yesterday I got quite a scare. My body told me in not so many words that something was quite wrong.

I was at the doctor's this morning and was assured I am okay but need to slow down a bit.

I was going full throttle much too soon. It's so hard for me to take it easy.

My doctor completely understood once Keith told him I was Mennonite. He said...'Aha! I married a Mennonite woman too. They are from good stock...hard workers.'

So I am going to attempt to tone it down this week. I think I'd better hit the library and stock up on some good reads!

Trouble in Paradise

I was so confident nursing was going well for me this time. I've done everything the books say to establish a plentiful milk supply. Liam seems to eat well and is content after most feedings. But the scales do tell the facts and our wee baby is not growing as he should. He was born at 7.6 lbs and dropped to 6.10 lbs as of Friday. Today he was weighed and had only gained one ounce. The doctor is concerned and has written me a prescription for Domperidone to increase my supply. I was on this drug with Nathan and it didn't really do much in that regard. Liam is going to be weighed again Friday and if he isn't making significant progress we'll have to start supplementing. I did supplement both of my other boys and I know it's just a slippery slope to quitting nursing altogether. Sigh.....I truly wanted to nurse exclusively for Liam's health but now I'm not confident it's going to turn out that way.

Getting Our Groove Back

Well, today is day one of 'regular' life. Keith is back at work. I drove the boys to school. All went tickety-boo. I guess having a wee one doesn't have to make life too crazy after all. Liam isn't actually a very fussy baby. We've just learned that he loves to be swaddled tightly and will take a soother quite nicely if you put some gripe water in his mouth first! It's not good enough for him to dip the soother in the gripe water...he wants more :)


On Saturday while Keith and Nate were at soccer, Chad and I took Liam for his first walk. He seemed to enjoy the stroller ride. We only went out for about 20 minutes and took it pretty slow. I was a bit sore afterwards but it sure felt good to get some fresh air.
Keith was called to a fire investigation during the wee hours of Saturday. He was gone from 4 am to noon. Poor man...as if he didn't have enough sleep interruptions. He got a little cat nap with Liam that afternoon.
Nathan is a great help. He's been so awesome, vacuuming, getting me things when I'm nursing, being the official soother putter-inner during car trips. Thanks Nate!
On Sunday we actually made it to church.....and the early service to boot! Liam loves to curl up like a little peanut and sleep on me. I can't say I mind too much! (but I've got to stop calling the baby 'Chad')
Yesterday we went to K's parents for Thanksgiving dinner. She will be away next week so we had it early. It was very yummy and Liam slept pretty much the entire time. What a good boy!

Well I just pulled a banana bread out of the oven, folded the laundry and it's time for Liam's circumsion. Tara!

First Week with Liam

What we've been up to this week...

These two bandits sanded and varnished the deck rail.
Chad made lego designs for his new brother

I've started my thank you cards for so many wonderful gifts and this one is definitely one of my favorites. How perfect for our three sons!
And we've spent much time gazing at the wee babe. He's changing every day!

For Now

To quote Lovella:

Lots of blogging material....no time to blog.

Things I Am Learning

~Liam is fussy
~a demand fed baby is more work than I ever could have imagined
~putting on make up and doing my hair is the one treat I do for myself each day and it feels good ~I can actually function on 3-4 hours of sleep
~not all babies like soothers...even dipped in gripe water
~VW Jettas do not have enough room for three children....we are car shopping
~post partum bodies should not be viewed in mirrors
~swollen legs and ankles don't just disappear after pregnancy....still waiting....
~I will not be able to respond to each of the 200+ emails I have received over the past 3 days...but thanks everyone

Some of you have asked for the 'birth story'. There isn't much to tell. We got to the hospital at 6:15 am. I was prepped for surgery and everything was on time. The spinal took a little longer for some reason and I have a nasty bruise on my back to show for it! The operation was smooth...Keith was with me most of the time. He only left to watch Liam get weighed and cleaned up. I felt very relaxed during surgery. The recovery room was good too....I think the nurses there gave me the best care of my whole hospital stay. I was very sad to find out that Keith and Liam could not be with me in recovery. I had been told otherwise but due to staff shortages it wasn't possible. After I got back to my room some nurse but morphine in my IV against what my chart said and I got very sick. Keith had 'words' with her and it was promptly removed but the gravol I was given to counteract the nausea made me super groggy for the rest of the afternoon. I had so many visitors that day and the next. I appreciated everyone coming so much! The nurse I had for that evening was not really in top form. She kept forgetting to change my IV and Keith kept having to run out to get her. We felt like since it was our third baby they sort of just left us alone. Nice in a way but I did need some basic care! The next day I felt amazing....so good! The doctor came in the late afternoon and said that since I was feeling good (and I think they needed the bed :)) that I could opt to go home that night instead of the morning. He didn't have to ask twice. We were out of there like a shot after dinner. So fast we forgot to get post op instructions for my incision and Liam's umbilical cord clamp removed. Luckily the health unit called on Sunday afternoon so we were able to ask all the questions we had forgotten about. She was very helpful.
So I am home...feeling quite well if I keep on top of my pain meds. I am nursing like crazy. Liam wants to eat and eat and eat some more. I do have milk though and am so grateful for that. I am drinking my special herbal tea and it seems to be doing what it's supposed to. I hope that once my milk supply is established I'll have Liam into a bit of a routine.

Thanksgiving for Miracles

Keith saved our baby's life last night.
Please read the email I sent out to my family this afternoon......

We went to bed. I fed Liam and Keith put him in his bassinette which was switched over to K's side of the bed for ease of access. The night before had been horrible with K having to get up and down out of bed a million times to get Liam for me. He was fussy and we finally put him down and settled down to sleep around 2 am. All of a sudden Liam started to choke on mucus. Now this happened at the hospital and it was while the nurse was bathing him so we learned how to deal with it. C-section babies can have extra mucus in their lungs they must bring up because it doesn't get squeezed out in the birth canal. So we held him on his tummy with his head to the side and patted his back really hard. But instead of the mucus coming out it went up his nose, his throat shut down and he couldn't breathe! His color changed and his arms were flailing in panic. Keith yelled at me to call 911 and at the fear in his voice I did just that. I was completely hyper ventilating on the phone with the operator and she was so calm. It was absolutely surreal. She dispatched both ambulance and fire rescue immediately. Keith worked on Liam and resorted to putting his mouth over Liam's nose and sucking out the mucus. This seemed to help to he could at least breathe but his breathing was laboured. I stayed on the line with the operator until the guys got to our house which seemed like 10 years. Keith worked on Liam, patting him and thumping his back etc.
I let in Fire Rescue and when they saw Keith (being that he's their co-worker) they were more than shocked. Keith was able to tell them in medical speak what the issue was but by then Liam was drastically improving and the panic was dying down. The ambulance arrived..actually they sent the Advanced Life Support Unit. You won't ever hear me say one bad thing about a paramedic EVER! These guys were incredible. They checked Liam out thoroughly and didn't make us feel dumb for calling them and were just so supportive. We decided against going to the hospital as his vitals were excellent by this time.
They all went home and I collapsed into hysterics. I never realized how much I loved this little baby! I would have gladly died for him.
Anyhow....it was rather difficult to sleep after that. We had adrenalin pumping through our veins. We took Liam to our bed and sleep for about an hour. We are rather scared to leave him alone now for even ONE second. We may just sleep in shifts tonight.....and until he's past this 'newborn' stage. Not sure when we can be assured the mucus is all up. We'll talk to the doctor about it on Friday at our appt.
Could you pray for us as a family? The boys didn't wake up but we told them about it in the morning and it really scared them. We could use a little peace of mind around here. Keith was at the fire hall today talking to the crews and his co-workers as they all saw the report this morning and were so worried about us. We're really relieved it all turned out okay.

Three Day Old Darling

In love....so in love! I can't believe I ever said I didn't want to have this baby!!! I'm an eejit.