My Girl

We had fun at a nearby lake yesterday evening. Had a cook out and Emalyn was able to play in the water. Her favorite, favorite thing to at the moment.

That night she decided she was big enough to sleep in her big girl bed. (Her big girl bed is a daybed trundle).

I have not made a big deal about switching beds or pushing her into the change. Mainly because her big girl bed is in another bedroom in addition to adjusting to the new family member in addition to our slowly planting potty training seeds as well. Girl's got a lot on her plate!

So I have asked her every night before bed if she wants her crib or her big girl bed. The crib always wins. This night she said big girl bed and I actually asked her 3 more times to be sure she knew exactly what she was saying...oh, she knew!

She got in bed without a problem and off to sleep a short time later. At this point I'm thinking, Cam & I hardly get full night's sleep anyway, what's the difference if she wakes up as well, right?

The next thing I know, Cameron was checking on her as he was getting up for work...she was sleeping on the floor...apparently she had fallen out! Not a peep all night long!

Cam decided to leave her where she was so as not to wake her and went about getting ready for work. After walking the dog, he checked on her again and she put herself back in bed.

THAT I didn't expect.

Now, I know it was just the first night, and who knows what may come, but she's really not so little anymore!! So proud of her!

First Smiles...

Well, first smiles actually caught on camera. :)

LJW-1 Month

Dear Little Boy,

You've been around a month already! And just like everyone always says it is hard to believe its been that long...but time sure flies when day and night run together. In the sleep department, you do pretty well and I get three to four hour chunks of sleep. But there are other nights when I only get 45 minutes between each feeding. NOT COOL for your momma.

But you smile the next day and I don't feel so badly. One thing you will learn about your momma, I really, really, REALLY need sleep.

I find myself constantly thinking, "well, with Emalyn, it was like this." And as much as I don't want to compare the two of you, it is hard to say anything else since she is the only practice of being a mother that I have had! If anything, you are a much calmer baby that likes sleep more than she ever did! She would cry and cry at night and we could never get her to sleep easily. I wonder if that was because she was so much smaller then you at birth...probably.

One thing you do a lot of at night is grunt. Big, long pushes where you are trying to help something out, but can't quite get things going, if you know what I mean! I have tried changing some things in my diet thinking that may help you, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to all the noise. And as far as I can tell, you aren't in pain really, just working on things inside. I will not be missing your periodic groaning that starts at 4am and lasts until about 7am-I am really going to have to learn to sleep through all that noise!

You are a big boy! I was not expecting a baby over 7 pounds and out you came at 8.7lbs! You have to be at least 12lbs now...and you are a very good eater as your weight shows! My arms are already killing me, but I should be grateful for the free workout... :)

Your big sister is still pretty enamored with you and wants to kiss you and "ahg" (hug) you as much as possible. She is very gentle with you and you like to turn to look at her. You smile most in the morning...probably because you are most rested...Emalyn is in your face from the moment you wake up in the morning until she goes to bed so you get overstimulated pretty quickly.

As you will come to find out, your mommy loves light colored eyes. Actually, your mommy loves any color eyes but her own brown eyes. That being said, I think you are going to be just like your daddy-we'll see!

It was been a busy month getting everyone adjusted, but we are looking forward to many more months and years to come, little man. I can't wait to get to know you more as your personality will just keep coming forth...

Love you buddy,

Momma

Some Favorite Shots

Liam's New Born Photo Shoot

Little boy was a week old when these were shot.

And of course I had to show you this one....

Cameron picked out this outfit for Liam and the photographer brought the sign in back from her own son's room on a whim. Couldn't have been more perfect!

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If you are in the Twin Cities area, Kim is totally worth working with...

Kimberly Williams Photography

www.kimberlywilliamsphotography.com

Delivery, LJW

So as most of you know, I was due 6/26. And that date came and went.

I went to my appointments and found out that both the baby and I were doing great….the worst thing I was experiencing (that anyone could see) was my swollen hands/feet/ankles.

The Thursday before Independence day, I had my last appointment and I was pretty much made to set an induction date because here in Minnesota the union nurses were going to go on strike starting the next Tuesday if there was no agreement reached…(nice to have to think about THAT when I am working on getting a kid out of my womb, right?!)

I ended up setting the induction for Monday. But we got a call later that day that due to the nurse strike, no inductions would be scheduled for the work week…so Sunday was when I was to come in. The midwife I saw mentioned that I would be induced by breaking my water….I was so happy Pitocin was not the first choice with all those horror stories out there!

So Sunday it was. And Sunday came and went. Apparently someone else needed to be induced out of necessity. I was moved to Monday.

And Monday came and went. Another necessary induction vs. my "elective" induction.

Finally, Tuesday morning I received my phone call to come in within the hour-we got to the hospital around 8:30am.

I got all checked in and the midwife came in and asked where I was dilated at my last appointment-I had only been about 1-2cm. So the midwife says, we'll do Pitocin, it would be the best option. NOT what I wanted to hear!

As we were talking, we just decided she would give me a cervical check, then decide. Whew!!

I think it was around 9:30am and she found that I was actually up to 3-4cm so we went ahead and stripped my membranes. I also walked for the next hour to try to get things to progress. And I did start having irregular contractions. They weren't that bad because I could talk/walk through them pretty easily.

By now it was 11:00 in the morning. The midwife came in and we decided we wanted to see how I would progress if she broke my water instead of giving me Pitocin (since I was already feeling contractions just with my membranes being stripped). Okay, sounds good.

WOW. That did not feel good.

I ate something by recommendation of both the midwife and Cameron. I was so hesitant because with Emmy I threw up and I hate vomiting….but I was a good girl. :)

Maybe around 12:30pm I was told that I would NOT be allowed to have an epidural. Basically, my platelets were low, as they were during Emalyn's delivery, however this time they were VERY low (low=100, I was at 73). The midwife said she was glad I mentioned I would want to try natural childbirth, because I didn't have a choice!!

On a side note here, I freaked. A little. Just because I had probably the most traumatic delivery with my daughter. And I had an epidural. All these what if's went through my head. I just wanted (badly) to have the epidural option in my back pocket. Just in case. I am just that way, always have plan B right?

But man, did this delivery progress after 1:00pm. Standing was most comfortable-forget that stupid birthing ball, it hurt so badly sit on it-and I swayed with every contraction.

Cam was a champ because it seemed like before I knew I needed something, he had it or brought it up or just knew how to direct me. That being said, he directed me to the bath and thought that would be a good idea. Which it was!

Contractions were so finally coming so hard that I had to get out, I was feeling "pushy." No joke, ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS PUSH. And as with Emalyn's delivery, if my body starts pushing, I really, really can't stop it.

The nurse called the midwife because I needed to be checked to see if I really could start pushing…it was funny because we later found out that the midwife upon entering the room thought all she was going to do was check me. Little did she know that I seriously was going to have this kid.

Twenty minutes of pushing and Liam was here. 2:50pm.

After it was all said and done, the nurse even looked back into her notes to see if she could tell where I had that big transition to the time I was ready to have the baby. She said it was interesting, because there wasn't that telltale time. I think we did actually catch them off guard (a little).

(Finally got around to getting this done....two months later :)!)

Arriving Home

So, in our hospital the baby has to be in a bassinet, or a car seat anytime you are in the hallways as an additional safety precaution.

As we started to put Liam in his seat, I realized I forgot how to use this carrier even though I buckled Emalyn in it for over a year. :)

As you can see, Emalyn was Liam's welcoming committee...more KISSES!

First Meeting

She was squealing she was so excited to know that she was finally getting to meet her brother!

And were we relieved to see that.

She has shown such understanding of him as a concept in that we have been waiting for him to arrive. We had to tell her back in April when she was kind of insisting that he needed to be here, that he was coming when she could get in the pool-it would be hot outside. And we have been to the pool as you have seen, so the time had come!

Onto the photos(!):

You can see she brought her own camera-she found that in a box we had full of random things-and yes, she takes her own photos...with little help :)

I love seeing her smile in this next one...she had no hesitation to "hold" him.

And no hesitation to kiss him.

And kiss him...

And kiss him...by the way, thanks to Mimi for watching Emmy while we have been at the hospital.

Our first family shot...

Then Emalyn wanted to hold Liam with Momma...

Another family shot...and I am sure there will be many more to follow!

Seriously that smile....right?

And finally, our big boy...resting.

I will try to give the details to as to delivery soon...such a contrast from Emalyn's! Thanks to all for your prayers and support!

The Boy

Liam John Weiss

8 lbs. 7 oz. & 20.5 inches long

2:50pm, Tuesday, July 6th

And one of the Fam....minus Emalyn-she's at home with Mimi.

Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes...we are healthy and happy and looking forward to getting home!

Happy Birthday, Daddy

We Love You!!