Things I Don't Want to Forget...

--Emerson's excitement about being a big sister..."I'll do it, because I'm the BIG SISTER!"

--Liam and Emerson cooing back and forth to each other

--Liam's first bath....went something like this: Emerson seeing Liam naked for the first time, identifying his belly, asking about his umbilical stump, and then looking further south and asking, "what's THAT!?". I told her he had little boy parts, said that was where the pee pee came out, and right on cue...a fountain erupted all over the mirror (cue shrieking & surprised little girl!)

--the little sighs and grunts Liam makes when eating & breastfeeding

--what a great Dad Keith is, even when sleep-deprived

--how much Ed & Judy did for us the first 2 weeks of Liam's life

--how grateful we are that Liam is okay, after a scary week in the hospital

--how wonderful it is to have neighbors, friends and church family who care for us

--that work is willing to be flexible about my return to work date

--that in the end, all those damn shots, procedures and $$ were worth it to have our little boy

And then there were four...

He is here!

Liam Heaston Stouder was born via c-section on Tuesday, 5/3/11 at 10:20 pm. My water broke at 330 am on 5/3, almost 2 1/2 weeks before my actual due date. Quite a surprise in the wee small hours of the morning. Because I wasn't having contractions, the doctor said we could stay home & rest for a while, and come in to the hospital when we were ready. We didn't have anything packed for the hospital, and luckily no contractions started. We were able to rest, pack, and get Emerson off to school that morning. We arranged for a neighbor to pick her up from school, and Keith notified his parents to begin their trek up from Florida to stay with Em. We went to the hospital around 1030 that morning...still no contractions. They admitted me, and told me to start walking, in hopes that would trigger labor. After 12 hours of walking, I was only having a few small contractions...nothing major. They hooked me up to the monitor, and noticed that Liam's heart rate dropped after a contraction (not good). They repositioned me, and monitored. The decision was made to begin a pitocin drip, and monitor the baby closely to see if he tolerated more contractions...thinking maybe his cord was kinked and this would resolve. After about 1.5 hrs on pitocin, I was only having minimal contractions, and the babe wasn't liking them very much. The doctor didn't think it was a good idea to continue with labor, and recommended a c-section. So, I began the prep for surgery, with some relief not to have to continue on with contractions! During the section, it was discovered that Liam's cord was double-knotted! It was truly a good thing that my water broke early, and the course of his delivery happened as it did. Had I gone into labor on my own, we could have been looking at an emergency. I did miss being able to hold Liam right after his delivery, and in fact didn't get to hold him at all until the next day. After my post-op recovery, I was wheeled back to my room, and shortly afterward a pediatrics resident came in to tell us that they needed to take Liam to the NICU because his blood sugar was 19. That is scary low! I wasn't able to see him until around noon on 5/4, as my spinal anesthesia didn't wear off for a while, and I wasn't able to walk. Keith wheeled me to the NICU, and I saw our bitty baby hooked up to IV's and swaddled tightly. He only weighed 5 lb, 6 oz....a lot smaller than his 7 lb, 2 oz big sister! I stayed in the hospital until Saturday, but Liam didn't come home until the following Tuesday. He spent his first week of life in the NICU.

Keith and I marveled at the tiny babies in the NICU, many of whom spend months there. I could only imagine the fatigue those parents feel, and noticed that some nurses complained about parents who didn't come in for long stretches. So many of those babies have such significant medical issues...we felt truly blessed to have one of the bigger, healthier babies in the nursery. It was a joy to walk out with him on Tuesday!

We are monitoring Liam's blood sugars several times a day, and so far, they have all been normal. He's on a tiny dose of medication to help keep his sugars up, and he's eating like a champ. We are encouraged that this is likely something he will grow out of, and that this is not an uncommon thing with babies. He tolerates the heel sticks surprisingly well, although I joke with Keith that he may end up with an aversion to anyone touching his feet forever. Poor little guy!

We're enjoying getting to know Liam, watching Emerson morph into a wonderful big sister, and redefining ourselves as a family of four. Life is good!

Kid Conversations...

Last night, Em and I had a conversation that went something like this:

Em: When baby brother comes home from the hospital, I will push him in the swing on the play set.

Mom: Oh, baby brother won't be able to swing on the play set for a while.

Em: Why not?

Mom: When baby brother comes home, he will be very small. He won't be able to do much except cry, eat, sleep and poop.

Em: That's it? How small will he be anyway?

Mom demonstrates how small & says: He will be very fragile. That means we have to be extra careful with him.

Em: Oh, like a Christmas ornament?

Mom: Exactly!

Monday Roundup

Things have been busy at the House of S, as we prepare for the arrival of kidlet #2 in less than 5 weeks. Squeezing in lots of quality time with the big girl, getting organized, and generally taking care of business! Some highlights & things to catch you up...

1) Em is super into letters, spelling, sounding out words and practicing her writing skills. Every car trip now includes practice on her Doodleboard, usually with Mom writing a simple word (cat, car, dog, sheep) and Em sounding it out. She is so proud of herself!

2) Baby boy is flipped the wrong way...head is up, butt is down. He's got a couple weeks to figure this out, as I'm told babies are usually stuck in their final place around 36 weeks or so. No flip = C-section for me. We'll see!

3) Em has her dance recital coming up the first weekend in June. The theme is "Where the Wild Things Are". We checked the book out from the library so she understands the theme, and she has a little image of what she's to be. I'm looking forward to seeing the costumes, and it is fun to see the instructor begin incorporating elements of the routine into the usual classes. Em has now begun "putting on dance shows" in the living room, complete with multiple "costume changes" and passing out of refreshments for the audience.

4) We took a quick weekend trip to the coast 2 weeks ago, staying with church friends at Bald Head Island. Definitely want to go back, as it's very underdeveloped, quiet, and has lots of nature preserves to explore. No cars allowed on the island!

5) Last weekend was spent in DC, visiting all of the Stouders. Em got the hang with both cousins, and I think the earliest she fell asleep was 1030 or 1100 pm. She had a ball, and we were able to get some family photos done. I took the opportunity to get some maternity shots done as well. Got a few cute ones...will post once I have the disc.

6) Em's imagination is going wild! She loves to "write books" and tell us stories. The stories often include things like volcanos with "hot laba", trips to China, baby snatchers and of course, her old (imaginary) pal Olivia, who I'm convinced is Em's evil alter-ego. She's a naughty girl! It's really funny to listen to Em ramble and see where the story goes.

7) This past weekend we took it easy, since we'd been out of town the previous 2 weekends. Saturday was our usual dance class, errand day. Keith went & got the taxes done...Em and I went & got our toes done. Seemed like a good deal to me. We explored a new restaurant in Durham on Friday night, and went to the NC Museum of Natural Science in Raleigh on Sunday afternoon. Admission was free, and the place was really neat! Fun times!

8) Keith is working hard to finish his big database project for his class at UNC this semester. It's worth 50% of his final grade, and is due in a little over 2 weeks. He's got a final exam as well, and it's crunch time! He's doing really well, and is enjoying the instructor and course very much. No class during the summer session since we'll be sleep deprived & have our hands full at home!

9) The warm weather has brought pretty significant swelling in my hands & feet. My toes resemble stuffed sausages, and 90% of my shoes no longer fit. I can't get my wedding rings off, so hopefully I don't develop a purple digit which requires getting them cut off. 5 more weeks, 5 more weeks!

10) The pollen count has skyrocketed this past week...everything is a lovely shade of yellow-green, thanks to all the pines surrounding the house. Poor Em is sniffly-goopy-drippy, and wants nothing more than to be playing outside in this nicer weather. Generic Zyrtec & Rhinocort nasal spray are keeping her functional & happy, so we'll just hang on for the next couple weeks until this stuff clears out!

Is it wrong?

Does it make me a bad Mom that I don't correct Em when she says, "lellow" instead of yellow, or "callapiller" instead of catapiller? She's growing up so fast, and I sometimes cling to these little verbal foibles as proof that she's not totally there yet.

Funny 4 yr old

Tonight, as we were driving around doing errands, I was commenting to Keith that I was at the point in my pregnancy (which I had completely forgotten about from the first time around with Em) that my baby belly was getting high enough that it was pressing up into my xyphoid process (you know, that little piece of bone at the bottom of your rib cage at the base of the sternum) and was rather uncomfortable. Emerson pipes up from the backseat, "maybe that's why Dad should have the baby in his belly". We laughed so hard, and then explained to her that only girls could grow babies in their tummies, and boys weren't made to do that. She thought for a moment, and then said, "Hey! I'm a girl!! I could grow baby brother in MY tummy!"

I so love that she was trying to find a solution to my discomfort. She learned something exciting about being a girl tonight, and probably totally freaked her Daddy out in the process. (He may have mentioned that she could grow a baby in her tummy when she was 44)