Three Wishes Come True: May 2010

Grady turned 3 1/2 yesterday, so I thought it would be a good time to do an update about him. Of course, the biggest thing going on for him right now is adjusting to his role as big brother. In that regard, he is doing amazingly well, as I am sure you can tell from the pictures in the last post! He just loves his little brother like crazy, wants to spend as much time as possible with him, and constantly tells us how cute he is and how much he loves him. One of my favorite comments was a couple of days ago when he told me "Mama, our baby is really special." He is just so proud to be a big brother, and I know he will continue to do great.

Grady also recently finished his first year of preschool. It was such a success, and he is definitely sad for it to be done for the summer. He has already been asking when we can have all of his classmates over to play. Luckily he will have the same teacher next year and have many of the same classmates. At the end of the year teacher conferences his teacher told me that he met all of the goals they have for the school year. And she said he especially excelled in his social skills - like showing empathy for other children, sharing, and being kind. Unfortunately the last day of school for Grady was the day of my induction, so I had to miss out on the fun. But Nana was able to bring him and to stay with him for his special water fun day. She took lots of pictures for me too! He also had an end of the year pizza picnic the next day, which was nice since I was still in the hospital. Nana also brought him to see the new Shrek movie in 3D our first day home from the hospital!

Lately Grady has also been loving the pool. He is doing great with his swimming and is swimming underwater lots now! He loves his goggles and will actually swim for real a bit if I shoot him underwater. I can actually see him lose the momentum from me and start swimming! It's amazing to see such a little guy do that! He has also been getting dive sticks off the bottom stair of the pool. Our pool had to close the past couple days, so we have been playing in our small inflatable pool, and even that provides him with tons of entertainment. He will bend over and stick his head underwater, just for fun. He certainly loves the water!

Here he is on the last day of school...

having a pop with his friend Reese

And here he is at the pizza picnic...

With his "girlfriend" Jenna - he tells me he loves her and they are getting married

He must have been showing everyone a bird's nest - he is fascinated with animals and science, in general right now too

Another thing that Grady has really been enjoying is gymnastics. The semester started off slow because we had to miss several classes for sickness and travel. But now he is doing great and earning stars like crazy! I actually ventured out of the house the other day to go watch at Parent Week.

almost there on that bridge!

stretching

A bit cheesy, but super cute

spider hang

I think beam is his best

handstand

"skin the cat"

L-sit

knee scale

This was right before he got his certificate at the end - everyone was clapping - he loved it, of course

with his teacher

We plan to keep him in gymnastics over the summer since he is really enjoying it!

One last picture - Grady just being himself - messy (hence, the bib), super happy, and so darn loveable.

We are so thrilled that our baby boy is here. This is the story of his birth...

On Monday, May 17th I had to go into the OB's office early to have my amnio. It was definitely a bit scary, but not painful, and it went very well. They showed that his lungs were ready, and we were all set for an induction to begin that night! It was hard saying goodbye to Grady that afternoon, as we headed to the hospital, but he did very well. He picked me an orange gerbera daisy from the garden that stayed with me at my bedside through my entire hospital stay and is still alive! We gave lots of hugs and kisses, and I know he felt OK since he was with his Nana. They actually went out for a nice dinner that night!

Once we checked in at the hospital we were put in a labor/delivery room right away. I was surprised how quickly everything went. They hooked me up to an IV and a monitor. I was having contractions already, but nothing major. So around 7PM they started Cervadil that I had through the night. I had some discomfort with it, and by morning I was having strong, regular contractions, but not enough to avoid the Pitocin.

On Tuesday, May 18th they started the Pitocin around 8AM. They were going to start it sooner, but because my contractions were looking good they wanted to see what my body was doing first. I have to say, they did an amazing job of monitoring me and not letting the Pitocin get out of hand like it did last time. They said they would tell me each time they put it up a notch and they would start at the lowest setting. I told them what happened with G and they were very concerned that it not happen again. They said that contractions on top of each other isn't good for me or the baby. I had amazing nurse the entire time - an older British woman who was just fabulous. She actually told me in the morning "I think we are going to have a lovely day today". She also knew I most likely wanted to get an epidural, and she promised I would not need to wait and wait like I did with G. We did the paperwork up front so I could get it quickly when I wanted it. Contractions progressed, but I was still at 2cm after a couple hours. So around noon they broke my water - definitely not fun and my least favorite part. I hadn't had the epidural, so it hurt! After that they suggested I get the eipdural if I wanted one because contractions would start getting worse. I opted to do that (around 3cm) and then next time they checked me I was at 4cm. By about 2PM I was at 6cm and called my mom to basically say the baby probably would not come in time for G to visit (just so she could break the news to him). Well the nurse told me to tell them if I felt the urge to push, and I did right after that. I thought it had to be wrong since I was JUST at 6cm, but when they checked me I was a full 10cm and his head was right there! They said I could push! It was about 3:30 by then, and I just could not believe how quickly it was all going! The nurse and doctor were in there but they called for 2 more people. Well they didn't get there in time because in 2 pushes he was out! Well actually, it was 3 pushes because the doctor didn't even have time to get her gloves on and told me to wait so she could.

They immediately put him on my chest, and it was incredible. I don't think anything in life could ever come close to matching the feeling of meeting your brand-new baby that you just brought into the world. You just feel like it is more amazing than a human deserves to experience. I just wish I could bottle the feeling and keep it forever. And I think it is that very feeling that makes it impossible to imagine stopping at 2 children. But that's a story for another time. Anson was just beautiful and I was instantly in love.

They cleaned him up while he was right on me, which was nice. Then they weighed him (6 pounds, 15 ounces) and did a few other things under the warmer. I felt so good and was just chatting with the doctor and nurse. He got 9s on his Apgar, and she actually told me "he would be a 10 if we gave 10s!" They kept commenting on how nice and pink his skin was. I think they were happy to see such a healthy, big baby at 37 weeks.

Everything went well in the hospital for me and him. His jaundice levels were low and he did not lose much weight (6 pounds, 9 ounces before we left). He was already back up to 6 pounds, 12.5 ounces at 6 days old. I am feeling very good and getting around great.

So on May 20th we were released from the hospital. Grady and Nana came so G could come home in our car with us. It was super cute because as we were waiting to be discharged Grady read "The Hush Book" ("Goodnight Moon") to Anson (since he has it memorized). The weather was beautiful - warm and sunny - for Anson's first trip out into the world.

I really do already love him beyond words, though things are crazy as we adjust to life as a family of 4. Grady has been so good and loving with him. If anything it is hard to just keep him from constantly touching him (like when he is sleeping). I feel so incredibly blessed to have two beautiful little boys.

Here is a link to the hospital pictures (for anyone who didn't get it) - they came out great!

http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=ed9deada-2e12-4875-a6d4-005141349675

Now for pictures!

right after he was born (about 1 hour)