All around

Baby boy is now 3 weeks old! I cant believe it.

We went for our clinic appointment this week for our check up. Drew and Chantale had a small bet going as to how big Aidan would be at this appt. Chantale guessed 6 lbs 3 ozs and Drew said he would go for 6 lbs 5 ozs. Guess what? Baby boy was 6 lbs 7.5 ozs! Amazing! Yup Mommy's parts are working just fine thank you!


We also noticed this week that Aidan was holding one of his legs differently than the other. We brought this up with our midwives and we are now going to get an appt with the pediatrician (hopefully soon) as there may be something wrong with Aidan's hip. So far it does not seem really serious as he is just laying there most of the time but this does explain why he screams so much during a diaper change. He does not like to have the leg moved too much. Thank you to our friends at the PCRC for praying for Aidan and we hope that he will be all right soon.

In other news Mommy had her first diaper changing injury this past weekend. I was leaning over to comfort the little one when he shot me in the eye with his sharp little nails! Ouch! I am now sporting a scratched cornea... after the doc gave me eye drops things are much better. I can drive again.

Everything else is going great here. Grandma has come down for a visit for a while to help Mommy and play with Lilly. So far Lilly really likes having someone else around to talk to. Thanks Grandma, Mommy needs the help!

Big sis Lilly is having some adjustment issues with the baby being here and Mommy being busy with baby but like everything we all have to learn how to cope and Lilly will figure it out soon. Mommy and Daddy are being as patient as possible (and then some!).

A Mystery Solved!

For the past several weeks L has been saying to us, "Take nog off!" then laughing hilariously at some "inside" joke we know nothing about. We have been trying to ascertain what a nog is the whole time but she just keeps laughing about it and repeating it off an on. Well yesterday the case was solved! I was trying to get her dressed in her room when she got up on the chest and pointed to the walpaper border she has been systematically pulling off the wall since we moved in. (we have not redecorated her room yet) She touched it and said, "Take nog off!". Now I am not sure why "nog" means this paper but hey if it works for her... :)

Kids are the best! You can't write better material... really.

Rough day...

Today began between 2 and 3 am... Poor little boy could not settle, started a fever, would not eat, whined for a few hours straight and could not sleep. I called the midwives and they came right over this morning. We almost went to emergency, but luckily A started to come around and calm down, eat and breathe normally. I admit I was scared! It is amazing how fast things can change with a little baby like him - for bad and good. We spent the day making sure he was fed, and sleeping well and making sure big sis Lilly was occupied.

Mommy is very tired only having gotten a few hours sleep last night and about 1 hour today... your brain starts racing and you are listening to any sounds baby and toddler make.

On the upside - A is now 5 lbs 11 ozs!

Thank goodness for good, compassionate & skilled midwives. Thank you to Sky and Chantale.

Happy (early) Birthday Lilly!

Yesterday we had a great visit with Grandma P., Auntie Deena, Uncle Peter and cousins Riley and Kyra! Lilly will be 2 years old this week so they all came down to celebrate with Lilly and her new brother! Thank you for all the nice presents!

And a good "clean"time was had by all... then the water turned purple thanks to some fizzing bath bombs provided by Grandma for the occasion! Then it was off to bed for everyone... Big bathtubs are awesome!

Daddy and Aidan decided to sleep in the other day while Mommy and Lilly had breakfast. Aww aren't our guys so cute?

Milk - it does a body good

Well it does Aidan's little bod good for sure! When he came home on Saturday he was weighed by the midwives and they did a baseline for him that was 4 lbs. 12 ozs. He was weighed yesterday and he is now up to a whopping 5 lbs. 5 ozs! Holy cow - no pun intended. Aidan is now 1 week old - time flies...

The milk came in on Monday and whoa was it ever uncomfortable. We got through it and now things seem to have evened out and he is feeding very very well. This is a concern for babies born as early as he and Lilly were as some do not have their sucking reflex developed yet. We are very fortunate that both our babies have been able to feed well right from the start.

Just thinking here...

Over the past couple days we have been doing a lot of things here and at the hospital. Most of those things are making sure two kids are fed and clothed and clean and happy (for the most part). Lilly has been having some tantrums when she is tired but she has had a lot to deal with since Thursday! Today seems to be going better for her so we will sit around here at home and get her back on her routine and spend some time with her. She is very interested in everything "baby Aidan" and wants to know what he is doing when she is near him. Today in order to get her dressed we had to lay baby next to her so she could compare her hands to his and Mommy's while Daddy got her dressed. It was very interesting.

I am having my reflective moments too - one of those things you do when you are up at 3am feeding a baby and trying not to fall asleep. There are a couple that stick out in my mind since last night so I figured I'd share...

When our nephew Riley was born (5 years ago!) our BIL Pete sent out an email to everyone announcing Riley's arrival and he also put in something that always stuck with me. Since Lilly was born and now Aidan I can see why he did it. Here is what Pete wrote back then as a new parent, I dont have that email anymore but here is what I remember:

28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11 28:30

The second thing was something our friend Lori T. said to me after her first son was born as we were sitting around in her office. I was still unsure at that point if children were in the picture for us. I asked Lori how she felt about having a baby now that the pregnancy and birth were over and she was just back off a few weeks or months mat. leave. She stopped what she was doing and simply said, "It is the best thing I have ever done."

It is true, we will carry burdens & give rest to our kids and they are the best thing we will ever do. We just have to remember that when they are screaming at us and we are so bone tired and frustrated we cant see straight!

We're Home! Thank you!

We're Home

All we can say is wow. It is the best gift in the world.

We were sent home yesterday afternoon after Aidan went thru a battery of tests to determine if he was all right to go. He had to do his PKU, meet the pediatrician again, check his feeding, do the 90 min. car seat test (to see if he can breathe when in the car seat), hearing test etc. Basically, our midwife tells us we just make our babies faster and smaller than other people (ha ha). So far all is well and we are learning to establish a feeding routine. He is still pretty small so opening his mouth really wide will need work. Lilly is enjoying her new baby brother and is learning to "pet" baby's hair and identify body parts.

Thank you

Grampa Dan for looking after Lilly when we rushed off to hospital Thursday morning.

Sky, Chantal, Julie, Gaby & Nicole for helping us through the pregnancy and delivery

Dr. Heick & Lori for helping Mommy with her back in the last few weeks of pregnancy

Kimberley for helping Mommy learn how to do Hypnobirthing as it really helped Mommy conserve energy during labour and cope with pain before and after delivery

Barbara, Kate, Benita, & Sharon for looking after Mommy in the hospital

Kim, Gisela, Beth, Brenda, Anna, Mary for looking after Aidan & Mommy in the NICU

Paula and Joe, Mary, Cindy and Paul, and Rachelle for looking after Lilly when Daddy had to attend feeding & Kangaroo time with Aidan

Uncle Ron & Aunt Dorothy for delivering baby supplies to our house

Dr.Cresswell for giving us the all clear to go home

The staff at Tim Hortons for feeding Mommy... (ha ha they feed everyone)

Hoping we havent forgotten anyone but we are sleep depr? something... didnt get enough sleep last night...