Growing Boy

I had a visit from a public health nurse this afternoon. They offer to come by a week or so after you bring your baby home to see how you're handling things at home. I was pretty sure we were managing things fine, but they also weigh the baby which I was interested in. His first doctor's appointment isn't until next week so I was curious to know if he was gaining weight and getting enough to eat.

Wesley is 9 days old today. The nurse said they like to have the baby back at their birth weight by 10 days old. I was nervous about that, because he was still several ounces short of his birth weight last Saturday when he was weighed.

Today he weighed 6 lbs, 1 oz! That's 3 ounces more than his birth weight! I'm very excited about that.

On a different note, Nick and I decided to be brave and to head out for dinner last night to celebrate our anniversary. We took Wesley with us, so we chose Applebee's, a pretty family-friendly place where you still get a great meal. He slept all through dinner and we had a really nice couple of hours 0ut. Wesley was a big hit with everyone sitting around us.

And now I have to go and change a diaper.

9 years!

Happy anniversary to my husband, Nick. I can't believe we've been married for 9 years.

With a one-week old baby at home, we're not doing much to celebrate, but unlike last year, at least we're in the same province today.

Thanks for 9 great years. I love you.

The Big Sister

Darcy loves being a big sister! So far there hasn't been too much jealousy. In fact our main concern is that she loves him a little too much. She's always wanting to pick him up or cuddle him (which is a little rough for his liking). She likes to rip the arms and legs off her dolls and I'm afraid she's going to try to do that to him!

The closest thing we've seen to any sort of jealousy has been when she asked me, "Are you still my mommy?" She's asked that a couple of times, but seems to be assured now that nothing will ever change the fact that I'm her mommy, she's stuck with me.

Stef mentioned this on her blog, but I wanted to mention it here too. Yesterday when we were outside in the backyard playing, Darcy said (out of the blue), "I live in a home filled with joy." I asked her who told her that and she said, "No one. Just me." Good to know we're doing our job, kid!

Free At Last

So here I am, sitting in my house on a Saturday night. My son is having a nap and my daughter is having a bath. Life is good.

I'm sure you're all aware that Wesley was born last Tuesday at 8:21 pm, weighing 5 lbs, 14 oz, much higher than we expected. I was told my labour would be induced starting at 7:00 am, but it didn't get started until 11:00. All in all it was a pretty smooth labour and delivery, if such a thing can be said.

I've been feeling pretty rough since then, which makes sense, I guess. I'm using my legs for the first time in 6 weeks and I'm pretty tired. Top that off with the fact that Wesley's not letting us get much sleep and I'm pretty wiped out all the time.

I was really nauseous the whole time I was in the hospital after the birth. My doctor asked me if I wanted to stay in another day, but the answer was an emphatic "NO!" which she understood. So we left Thursday around lunch time.

I'm nursing Wesley which keeps us up a lot at night. He still isn't going very long between feedings. Hopefully that will change over the next couple of days. We've been going to bed around 9:30 to help prepare for the long nights.

We had to take him back to the hospital today for the 2-day check-up they recommend for breastfed babies. Everything looked good. He had lost some weight in the hospital which is normal but he's been starting to put some back on now that he's home so they were pleased. Now that that appointment is over, I should have no need to go back to that hospital for a very long time.

Thanks once again to everyone for all your support and encouragement over the 6 weeks I spend in the hospital. Now my blog will stop being my complaints about that and back to the Darcy (and now Wesley) stories that are so much more enjoyable!

Last Visit Home

I'm home for what is hopefully my last visit from the hospital. If everything goes according to plan, the baby will be born on Tuesday (although some of the nurses think I'm going to spontaneously go into labour before then). If he's born on Tuesday, I hope to be home from the hospital permanently on Thursday.

We went to the mall this morning and bought a few final things we'll need before he comes. It was good just to be out in public again.

I'm sure Nick will be posting when the big event happens and there are sure to be a few pictures!

Milestones

This weekend has marked a couple of milestones for me in this pregnancy. The yucky one is that today marks one month that I've been in the hospital. I can't believe that. Hopefully the end is near.

The other milestone, which I hit yesterday is 37 weeks of gestation which officially means I am full term. The baby can really come at any point now. I'd be OK with that. He's still on the small side, but we've got no reason to believe there will be any long-term health effects because of that.

I got a tour of the NICU the other day and I got to ask what kind of things need to be done for small babies. The main concern is that he won't have enough fat to maintain his body tempertature (I can identify with that!) so if anything, he'll likely need to be kept in a warmer. At this point his lungs and other organs should all be fully developed so he shouldn't need any extra help there.

I got out today and went to church and will be heading back to the hospital soon. If he doesn't come on his own this week, I'll be induced next week.

The end is near! Of course, that's really just the beginning...

Another Escape Day

So, they've let me out for a few hours again. They fly by all too quickly. As much as I miss internet access while I'm in the hospital, I don't want to waste all my time at home sitting at the computer.

Another week has passed and my fluid level is now 10. That is the bottom of the "normal" range. To me that indicates that it's time to come home. To my doctor it seems to indicate that being in the hospital is working. She's been out of town for a week, so we'll see if she has a change of heart when she gets back. I'm not holding my breath.

I got rid of my super-insaneo roommate and have had a couple of short-term replacements who've been very nice. One even had a son who was born on the same day as Darcy. Cool. The third bed is occupied by a very sweet woman named Helena. She's a Mennonite woman who doesn't speak English very well and sometimes has trouble communicating with the doctors and nurses. Her water broke in week 19 of her pregnancy. She's now in week 24. They're probably going to move her to London or Toronto this week so she can get better care if the baby comes early. Her husband didn't even seem to have much of an idea how far it is from here to Toronto, so I don't think they're the type who do road trips very often. It will be very stressful for her if she has to make that switch.

I am officially at week 36 today. Junior should be born in two more weeks! Thanks again for all your kindness, prayers and good thoughts. We appreciate it all!