The Meatball

Yes, that is one of his nicknames. He came out all red and round, and Jason immediately called him meatball, and the name has stuck a little bit. However, he does have a few others. For instance, he is our little baby nazgul (from Lord of the Rings) because sometimes when he cries, he sounds exactly like a baby version of the nazgul in the movies. And Jason thinks he looks like Brain from Pinky and the Brain, and I think he has one face that makes him look like Mr. Potter from It's a Wonderful Life.

Our son doesn't stand a chance...

Our appointment for the surgery was Friday at 10:00. We got there a little bit before 8:00. Of course, I was incredibly excited, so when we got to the doors that you had to get buzzed through, I pushed the button and didn't know what to say, so I ended up saying, "Hi.. .I'm here!!!" I meant to continue with the sentence, but Jason started laughing at me because I was just announcing my arrival. I did, however, get buzzed in succesfully, which is the important part. We ended up simply waiting around for quite a while because they were running a little behind, which I suppose can be expected in a maternity ward. During the wait time we read a little bit and watched a little bit of tv and I got prepped. Honestly, the most painful part of the entire hospital stay was getting the IV put in me then. While I'm not scared of needles, I tend to be a little skittish about them because I had a few bad experiences in Nicaragua. The wait wasn't bad, though, and I went in to begin the process about 11:00. I remember last time when I had to get a spinal how painful it was, not because of the needle itself, but because I had to be scrunched up into a position that really, really hurt when I was so incredibly swollen. The entire process took about 45 minutes. They cleaned him up and then Jason brought him over to me so that I could see him, and he got to hold him most of the time that I was getting stitched back together.

After the actual surgery, we all went into the recovery room for about 45 minutes and I got to hld Micah for the first time. He also nursed for the first time, and he took to that immediately, which made me very happy. After the recovery room, Micah had to go to the nursery for a few hours, so Jason and I went to my actual room and waited and rested. I felt pretty good after surgery; the worst side effect I had was feeling fairly nauseous for the afternoon. Mom and Earl brought Alexis and they all got to meet Micah. Alexis, however, really didnt' care and was a huge handful the entire time I was in the hospital. She had a good excuse, though; she was teething and hadn't been feeling well, so my parents had the daunting task of taking care of a somewhat sick and cranky toddler. (We couldn't have done this without them; they've done so much to take care of us and make this experience really easy.)

Micah stayed in the nursery at nights and a nurse would bring him into my room when he needed to eat, which was a really great arrangement. He had a bottle once in the nursery so that I could get a decent chunk of sleep, which was hugely beneficial, and he had another bottle at church yesterday. (I'm a little more uncomfortable nursing in public in the states than I was in Nicaragua, but that's a personal thing.) He didn't seem to have any problem with the bottle and then going back to nursing, so the whole "nipple confusion" thing that people talk about doesn't seem to be an issue with him. This is a very good thing because we're planning on Jason being able to feed him sometimes, although we'll use milk, not formula, for that. (I am very fortunate in that I don't have a problem with milk supply.) Okay, enough about that topic for now.

The day after surgery I got up for the first time and was able to take a shower. This was actually something I wasn't looking forward to because the firt time I had to shower in Nicaragua it was a really difficult experience and I was horribly cold the entire time. However, I did it entirely by myself. Hooray for small victories! That day (Saturday) I got up and walked around a number of times and felt really good. While I was obviously on some pain medication, the nurses seemed to think I was doing exceptionally well. (My doctor later told me that she thinks I have a body made for being pregnant because it was daeling with pregnancy and recovery so well... when she cut me open she also told me I had beautiful anatomy. How funny is that?) I basically spent Saturday and Sunday hanging out, feeding Micah, and ordering food from the cafeteria at will. And watching HGTV. Mom and Earl came by each day, and one day Jason went home to watch Alex so that they didn't have to bring her to the hospital.

Overall, everything at the hospital was great. The nurses were helpful, my doctor was awesome, and it was wonderful to hear Micah's pediatrcian say that he was in perfect health. (We still can't get over the 8 pound, 1 ounce thing... it's not that that's so huge but that that's so huge to have been in ME!)

We left the hospital late Monday morning. It was awesome to be able to bring my son home only a few days after he was born. I was very cautious at first about basically everything, especially steps, but I felt much better than I was expecting to feel and moving around pretty well. I've been home for a week now and don't think twice about taking steps at all, although I don't carry a lot of stuff up and down, other than perhaps my son. I still don't pick Alexis up and will hold off on that for a while. (Well, I've lifted her a few times, but mostly just to out her in her chair for a meal, nothing more.) Mom and Earl have been running errands and doing housework, which has been incredibly helpful. I feel great, though, and while I'm not running any marathons or anything, I feel as though I'm able to function really well and I don't feel overly tired, which is amazing. As of right now I'm just taking an ibuprofen in the morning for pain. I'll go to my doctor for a check-up on Wednesday, but everything seems to be going better than expected. I'm not overdoing anything, though, so for all of you who worry, please know that I'm taking care of mself and other people are taking care of me as well.

Alexis has done wonderfull! When we brought him home, the first day she was somewhat tentative, but by the third day she was completely comfortable with the fact that we had a baby in the house. The first two nights she woke up when Micah cried around 5:00 in the morning, but she hasn't woken up since then. She likes to look at him when he's sleeping and gets distraught if he cries. She loves to try and give him his pacifier and will bring him his blanket, even when he doesn't need it at all. She also likes to try and put his hat on, which basically consists of her draping the hat over his head, which is really funny. If Micah isn't in a place that she expects him to be, she wants to know where he is, and she'll even occasionally give him a kiss. She seems to like having him around for the most part, although there are some moments of jealousy when I have to be with him and can't be with her. However, I try and give her special time with just me at various times throughout the day, and she's adjusted really well.

And Micah is a round little ball of spunk and cuteness. Everyone always has an opinion about who a baby looks like, but Jason and I (and mom) think that he looks like a male, fat version of Alexis more than anyone else. They both have similar mouths and noses, and mom just showed me a picture of Alexis from when she was a newborn and the similarity is remarkable. There have also been a few people who have commented that he looks like his uncle, my brother. Mom said that Micah reminds her of Jason because of how strong Micah is and how alert and attentive he is. He really does watch things, which is pretty amazing to me. He's going through a little growth spurt right and has been spitting up a TON today.

And now it's the next morning...

He is a good eater and is very strong, constantly trying to hold his head up and sometimes looking like he wants to roll over. He likes to sit in his bouncy chair, and he tends to like his pacifier so far. He also does a really great job of going to back to bed at night. We have a monitor this time around, so I'm learning when his noises are just awake noises and when they are hungry noises that will turn into crying. I can usually get in there at night before he starts to bawl, and the routine seems to be that he eats, I change his diaper, he eats again, and after a little more burping I put him down and he's fine, either sleeping again or awake and content. Micah is definitely not big into crying so far and almost always seems to have a specific, justifiable reason for when he does cry. I'm really hoping this continues because Alex was a little colicky (sp?). She also had a dairy sensitivity, which Micah doesn't seem to have so far. This means I can eat cheese, unlike last time. He also sneezes A LOT, usually in batches of 4-5, and Alexis has started to say "bless you" whenever he does. And if course, the hiccups. (I can't remember if I already wrote this, so I'm writing it again.) Alexis didn't really have hiccups when I was carrying her, and Micah had them ALL THE TIME!!! And he still does get hiccups all the time.

I'm sure there are a dozen other little things I could tell you, but I am now going to end this email. All is well and we are very, very grateful to have an incredibly healthy son.

More Pictures

Some Pics from the Past Few Weeks

This is probably the last pregnant belly shot you're going to get. It's me at about 39 weeks, which was this past Sunday. You can see Alexis' new room; it still needs a few things on the wall (we'd like to do some quotes at some point), but it's come together nicely. Micah's room is basically the same with a few changes.

Two days!!!

The Home Stretch

It's Sunday evening, and Micah is scheduled to arrive Friday morning, so basically, I have four days left of parenting only one child. We did a ton of stuff this weekend, so what's great is that there's very little left to do this week except minor, easy things. It will be nice to take the next few days and really relax and not worry about much of anything. We now have a very clean house, a nursery that's ready to go, a big sister's room that's basically put together (for now), two completely full freezers, and some definitely swollen legs!

The doctor yesterday said that Micah's head was down and that I was just a tiny bit dilated, so she expects that I'll be able to hold out until Friday. We shall see! I'm in great health and Micah seems completely fine as well, so now it's just the waiting.

Alexis seems to maybe be understanding that there's a baby coming into the house, although I don't think she'll really "get" it until Micah's actually here. She's getting really good at identifying her colors. Oh, and the other week she stuck a pea up her nose, which freaked me out for a little while, but we got it out without too much of a problem. She's been hanging out with another kid who's a bit younger than she is, but we met another family down the road with a 16-month-old named Jack, and they've started playing together about once a week, which is really nice for her, and it's nice to be making some friends in the neighborhood! (They love Settlers, so sometime after Micah is born, we're going to get together and play.)

Yes, it's a brief update, but that's what happens when you're 39 weeks pregnant. :)