Colic?

Our little boy is growing like crazy. The doctors and nurses at the hospital were freaking out that he was losing too much weight and was getting too jaundiced. I knew better. He was fine. And he continues to get bigger and pinker.
Of course, now we're discovering that perhaps he's going to be a bit colicky. Luckily I've read Happiest Baby on the Block so we're using the 5S's to help calm him quickly.

Oops... he's crying for food now... more later.

Welcome Peter!

We are so happy to introduce all of you to the newest member of the clan - Peter. He was born on Tuesday July 1. 7 lbs, 6 oz and 19 inches long. After all those months of guessing we were very excited to meet our baby boy. He is a great eater and seems to be a pretty happy guy.

Big sister Allison isn't so sure yet what to think of him. I'm sure she'll have more thoughts on it once we get home from the hospital and she realizes that he's going to be sticking around.

Delivery went very well. My cesarean was scheduled for 9:30 am and we started almost exactly on time. The doctors found a little more scar tissue than they anticipated from Allison's birth but nothing too bad. It just made them go a tiny bit slower. Peter peed all over the doctor as he was being handed off to the nurses! A few funnies overheard in the operating room...
* As they were stitching me up I heard the 2nd surgeon say "I've never seen that before." Um.... excuse me. As a patient that's not exactly something you want to hear. Fortunately she explained that it wasn't a problem - just trying to insert the pain relief pump and must have gone through a vein so there was a large amount of unexpected blood. There are a few phrases you don't want to overhear while in surgery and that's one of them.
* My OB's cell phone rang while stitching me up. I asked her if there was somewhere she needed to be that was more important. Fortunately she has a good sense of humor. Even more importantly, she didn't actually answer the phone call!

A few pictures of Peter's first day

38 weeks

Just 2 weeks until my official Estimated Due Date. But even more exciting... just 6 days until the scheduled c-section! It is hard to believe that at this time next week there will be a new baby in the family.

I'm feeling pretty good today. The last week has been rough - but it's mostly just normal end-of-pregnancy discomfort along with the morning sickness. The sciatic pain is back but not nearly as intense as when I was working - thank goodness! I'm a super slow walker and it's really hard for me to get on the floor and play with Allison. I feel bad about that. Fortunately for her, her daddy has been a rockstar lately and is taking such good care of both of us.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this... he has been walking her to daycare each morning instead of driving. The mornings have been so pleasant lately and so they leave early - it takes about 12 minutes - and take a nice stroller ride to daycare. She seems to like the walk and getting to see dogs, joggers, porch-sitters, and birds. And her dad is getting extra exercise which is always a bonus. I think they are both enjoying the new routine quite a bit.

Pink Eye

The name sounds so sweet and innocent but it's not. Pink eye just plain stinks. Allison is the lucky recpient of said insidious bacteria. Sunday morning her daddy took her for a nice long walk so I could get some extra rest. He came home and mentioned that she needed a bath because she had mustard in her eye lashes. Um... that's not mustard... that's goop. I knew she might have been exposed but was hoping it would pass us over. No such luck. So she's on the drops. Unfortunately she's contagious until 24 hours after starting the drops so no daycare today. She and I are having a quiet day at home. Honestly, it hasn't been too bad. The goop is basically all gone but we have to keep the drops up for at least another 2 days. That's the hard part - getting her to keep her eye open so I can get one in. She HATES it. Fortunately no one else in the house has it yet - lots of hand washing going on. And she doesn't really seem to mind - it hasn't been red or swollen or seeming to itch so that's a blessing.

She Loves Mustard

Just a fun picture of Allison enjoying her hamburger with mustard. She does love the stuff.

37 Week Update

It's been a bit of a crazy week pregnancy-wise. I had a checkup on Monday and my blood pressure was unusually high. I normally have very average BP (120/80) or better. But it was on the high side (140/96). My OB had me come back today for another reading to see if it was a fluke or if it really is up. No signs of pre-eclampsia (protein in urine, swelling, etc), just the high BP. This morning the first reading was again high. Waited 5 minutes and took it again and it was totally normal. Strange. So they sent me home. I have another appointment on Monday. I have a suspicion that if it is high again then that the doctor will want to deliver the baby early. It wouldn't be the worst thing ever. I am so physical ready to be done with pregnancy. But it would definitely be unexpected. So, here's hoping baby stays put until July!

July 1

No, I haven't gotten my calendar mixed up.

July 1 is the day baby will arrive. Of course, that is provided that he or she doesn't decide that is too long to wait. So in no more than 2 weeks we will get to meet the newest member of TeamBrown.

I am excited and an appropriate amount of terrified. Mostly excited.

Allison and her daddy had a great Father's Day. They started the day with a nice long stroller walk during which she discovered the robins that have been hanging out in our yard. She likes to talk to the other kids and dogs she sees but that was the first day she noticed the birds. That afternoon she decided to take her first assisted forward motion steps. She's been cruising along furniture for months but didn't have a lot of desire to go forward. She's discovered that she can grab onto our pant legs and "walk" as we walk backward. She is soooo close to taking those first steps all on her own. I know she can do it but she just hasn't convinced herself yet.