3 Weeks

Liam is 3 weeks already!  He is growing into his preemie clothes and will be in his 0-3 mo. clothes pretty soon.  It's crazy, I know he needs to grow, but I would love it if he stayed this small for longer.  He is starting to have more awake time during the day, and it’s fun to hear him “talk” and look around.  He is fairly strong for a preemie, and when we put him down for a nap he likes to roll on his side to sleep.  He also likes to stretch his arms over his head while he sleeps (just like his dad!)  After he was born I had troubles trying to keep him awake long enough to eat, but now it seems he can’t get enough!  He’s starting to get chubby in his cheeks and on his legs.  We notice that he’s growing and changing everyday.  We know we need to savor every minute because this time is going to fly by!

The First 2 Weeks.

So it's been a crazy and wonderful 2 weeks. Liam was born Friday, December 7th, 2007 at 10:27 am. He was about a month early, and gave us quite the scare! Luckily, he was born a healthy 6 lb. 6 oz baby, and didn't need to stay at the hospital. We were able to take him home after 48 hrs. The doctor and nurses were a bit concerned because he wasn't eating much. Since he is a preemie, they tend to sleep more than a full term baby, and I had a difficult time keeping him awake long enough to feed him. So it's true what they say that all babies do is eat, sleep and poop. And the sleep deprivation that goes along with caring for a little one is NOT a myth. I think I went for about 4 or 5 days with maybe a couple of hours of sleep combined. At times I get sooo tired that I can't even think straight. It really is a lesson of patience for sure. Since he was not eating, the Doctor wanted to wait on his circumcision. We went in to the doctor a few times to check his weight. He started to gain weight after the first week, but not as much as he would like to do the circumcision. So yesterday we went back for another check, and he is just under his birth weight, 6lbs. 4 oz. He now felt he could have his circumcision. We were so sad to have to do it, but felt in the long run it was for the best. The first night was just awful. He cried out in pain at times, but thankfully he slept and ate a lot, and today he was feeling much better! In the second week he started to be more awake and aware of his surroundings. Sometimes he will just sit there and coo and look around. He rarely cries, except when he's hungry or wet. And he is easily calmed when we sing to him, or stroke his head. Liam is a such an all-around good baby, and we look at him every day and ask ourselves how we got so lucky?!

comment by mom/grandma on 12/26/2007
You got so lucky because you are both good, good people. He is beautiful and it is beautiful for us to watch your little family together. Love you all so much, mom.

The Birth Story

So, after I had gone in the first time to the hospital thinking my water broke, they told me to come back if it continued.  The following day it had slowed a bit, but it had not stopped, so I left work in the afternoon and went back to get it checked out again.  Again the tests they took showed it to be negative for amniotic fluid.  So, that night it kept at it, and at this point I'm just not sure what to think.  I woke the next morning having some back pain, and I mentioned to Mike that I thought I might be having contractions.  He asked well how far apart are the contractions…not knowing exactly how to time them, I said they seem to be lasting 20 min.  He said well then they aren't contractions, you must just be having back pain.  So, I got ready for work.  I said to him that I was still having some pain, and that I would let him know if anything changed.  On the way to work I called him and said to stick around, and that I decided to stop by the hospital to get checked out again and would let him know what was up as soon as possible.  After the crying wolf incidents for the past 2 days, he really thought it was nothing, so he left for work.  When I got to the hospital I told them I had been there the last 2 days for fluid that was negative, but I was now having some pain.  They brought me to a room, and did yet another test….it was positive for amniotic fluid this time and I was dilated to 5 cm?!  So I called Mike up and told him to come over.  The nurses tried to contact my doctor, but couldn't get in touch with him.  I started contracting pretty close together.  And thankfully my mom showed up because the nurses disappeared for what seemed like an eternity.  I kept asking my mom to see what was up…they could not do anything for me until they reached my doctor.  I was in agony screaming, and they decided to get the fluid going so I could at least get the epidural….FINALLY they got in touch with the doctor, and then Mike showed up shortly after.  By the time I got my epidural I was already at 10 cm!  They said I basically had a natural labor.  Although, I'm very glad I was able to get the epidural for the delivery.  It all happened so quickly, I was a bit concerned they wouldn't be able to get to it in time.  I showed up at the hospital shortly after 8 am, and Liam was born at 10:27 am. The whole experience was just so surreal and amazing!  Shortly after he was born, they took him to the nursery to get cleaned up and checked out.  The nurse helped me to the bathroom, and I passed out. She said it looked like I had a seizure, but since I don't have any history of that, we think it was just from the blood loss and maybe a reaction to the medicine.  They wheeled me to my room and brought him to me.  His birth weight was 6 lbs. 6 oz. which is pretty good for being a month early.  He had some issues trying to eat because he was just so sleepy all the time.  I had a hard time getting him to stay awake long enough to feed him. He also was a bit jauntice. So we ended up staying an extra day at the hospital to keep an eye on him.  He's doing much better about eating now, and his jauntice is going down.  He did lose some of his weight, which is normal, but the doctors have kept a close eye on him since.  Our last check up he was just under 6 lbs. which was 3 oz. more than his last check up 4 days prior.  His next check up is on Friday, and we are optimistic that he has gained some more!