Bow ties

I bought the boys bow ties for their Easter outfits. William likes to wear his around the house with random outfits. Today, for example:

Love this little boy!! William turns 21 months old this weekend. He will be 2 on Aug. 13. He loves the Three E's: Elmo, Ernie and Elliott. He is a diligent worker and usually finishes anything he starts. He is my laundry helper and will hand each piece of wet laundry to me until he reaches to the very back to get the last piece and then shuts the washer door. He pulls the lint trap from the dryer for me to clean. He likes singing the alphabet, Hello Everybody, and Happy Birthday. He still falls asleep by sucking his thumb and twirling my hair. He still wakes up during the night but can easily be put back down. He likes to take his diaper off. He is a good eater, although he doesn't care for many vegetables. He seems to like basketball a little more than his brother does (yay!) He loves talking on the phone to his Nana and Granny. He sometimes requests to call them and always wants walk around while talking, and usually insists that Elliott also talks to them. Some of his favorite sayings are "I don't want to do that," "I love you too" and "Ernie! Elmo! (requesting to watch them on Youtube). He is best known around our house as the gatherer of shoes and coats when it is time to go somewhere. He gets everyones out of the closet while we try to force Elliott to sit down to get ready. To say they are a little different in personality is an understatement :)

Two months!

William turned two months old last week. We had his well-check this week and found out that he is 14 pounds (90th percentile) and 24 3/4 inches long (97th percentile). He is my mega-baby. He has a nasty case of cradle cap. The pediatrician suggested Selsum Blue, but I am a bit leery of using something so medicinal. I might try some oils first.

He is getting a lot better head strength and smiling more. He sleeps well at night, a blessing I never expected after Elliott's sleep struggles. We just got a crib for him this week and plan on moving him from the bassinet to the crib this weekend. I am praying that it will be a smooth transition for him and that his good sleep continues.   

Elliott is still unpredictable with him, but now that William is getting less fragile I am not as horrified by it.  But it is still pretty shocking to see your newborn baby hit in the head or bitten. But other times Elliott kisses him, wants to dance with him or give him toys. He even talks to him in this baby voice. He shouts "Will-em!" whenever one of us brings the baby into the room.

He's Here

We welcome William Emerson Staley into the family. He was born at 1:16 a.m. on August 13th, weighing in at 9 lb, 10 oz and 20 inches long.

In spite of Tracy's 40 week appointment on Monday making it look like William was going to take his sweet time, Tracy's water broke at about 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the actual due date. Since her contractions weren't too strong or close together, we decided to labor at home for a while, and didn't head into the hospital until around 9 a.m. Things seemed to be progressing pretty well, but around 6 p.m. Tracy's temperature was above normal and the baby had an elevated heart rate. Since it had been so long since her water had broken, the doctor decided it would be best to move from Family Beginnings (the natural childbirth center at Miami Valley Hospital) to Labor and Delivery, so the baby's heart rate could be monitored more closely. Unfortunately, this meant Tracy couldn't get in the water, which was something she was looking forward to to help deal with the pain.

Luckily, our wonderful nurse Judy from Family Beginnings was able to accompany us over so we didn't have to switch nurses during the change over to Labor and Delivery. After some fluids and antibiotics , Tracy was moving along pretty well. However, after getting all the way to 9 cm naturally, her body decided to back-track, going back to 6-7 cm. At that point (around 10 p.m.)the nurse and doctor ordered pitocin, so Tracy decided an epidural was in order. The good news is that all of that time allowed the baby to descend slowly, so by the time he was ready to come out, Tracy only had to push for less than 5 minutes before he was out in the world.

Though William's hair is a bit darker, he does bare a strong resemblance to his older brother. Unfortunately, his birth story is a bit too much like his older brother's as well, though labor with William only clocked in at about 22 hours, compared to Elliott's 28 hours.

As of Friday, we're all home and baby and mom are doing wonderful. Elliott is also doing well as a big brother.

Week 39: Baby update

So the doctor says I am no more progressed toward labor than I was a week ago. Still about 75 percent effaced and not even to one centimeter dilated. The baby is at negative 1 station. 

Maybe he's afraid of what he hears on the outside ... 

Barring labor before then, I go back to the doctor next Tuesday for my 40 week check. I won't be induced until 41 weeks if I were to make it that long. 

I am not entirely opposed to induction, but I would prefer to wait as long as it is safe to wait before throwing any hopes of laboring and hopefully delivering at Family Beginnings (the natural childbirth section of Miami Valley) out the window.

That said, I am SO READY TO HAVE THIS FREAKING BABY that induction might just start sounding good to me after all.

P.S. I am watching Elliott try to put on my deodorant. 

Book shower

My friend Yvonne graciously hosted a small shower at me last week. Since I have most of everything I need for a baby, she suggested the guests bring children's books as gifts. What a treat. All of the books were so thoughtful; I have read a few to Elliott already and am looking forward to being able to read them to both boys over the next few years. You can see pictures of some of the books at my friend Becky's blog (I am too lazy to go find a camera right now; in fact, I'm too lazy to do much of anything.)

And that brings me to a pregnancy update. I will be 39 weeks on Wednesday. I wasn't dilated at my last appointment, but there's other evidence that things are moving along toward delivery. I am much more impatient this time around than with Elliott. With him, I had prepared myself to to wait it out, even two weeks over my due date would have been acceptable to me because I had mentally prepped myself to be late. But now, I am more than ready to get this show started. I doubt that I will be induced or try any other measures like membrane stripping before my due date; however, if I go over, I'm just not sure what I'll do. I really am tired of being pregnant. It has come over me suddenly to be incredibly put out by carrying this child any longer. He needs to just come on down and out. 

So this baby thing ... it's actually going to happen

I spent much of yesterday wondering if I was going into early labor. I just felt strange - sick to my stomach, a little crampy, slowed fetal movement. Around dinnertime, I even felt a few light contractions. When Tim came home he wanted me to call the doctor just to share what had been happening. Dr. Wood actually suggested that I might be going into labor last night. I said "Oh Lord!" and he said "What? Is this a bad time?" 

Me: "Is there ever a good time to go into labor?"

After resting for a while, all of the symptoms went away. The baby, who had until yesterday been moving at a frenetic pace, finally picked back up a little movement.  

So I am certain that I felt contractions. But they must have been Braxton Hicks. This morning I feel fine - actually more energized than in several days. (I hope this isn't "nesting.")

I'm only 37 weeks. I'm perfectly fine with having three more weeks of sleep before William joins us.

But yesterday did jolt me into understanding that this baby could come anytime. I should be prepared.

Ahhhhhggggggggg ....

Baby update

We are down to six weeks before the due date for Baby William. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and everything checked out well. I go back in two weeks for my next appointment and then every week after that. 

We are pretty much ready for him to be here. I can't imagine what it will be like to have a newborn to care for at the same time as a toddler, but we'll manage. It's certainly been done before. I'm running into more and more people who have their kids even closer together than 18 months. 

We're excited to see what he'll be like - his personality, his features. A friend said recently that he was most surprised by just how different his two kids were as babies and now as children. 

Bringing back the blog

Tim and I have let this blog go stagnant. But I think it's time for a revival.
Since we last posted, we have

* eaten too much at Thanksgiving and Christmas
* found out that we are expecting a second baby in August
* found out that this baby will be a boy
* decided to name him William
* taken a trip to Charleston, S.C. with Elliott and a trip to Denver, Colo. without him
* finally have Elliott sleeping through the night and napping for 2 hours every day
* and have enjoyed our friends and family in too many ways to list here.

So now. I am 27-weeks pregnant (that mean he's about the weight of a head of cauliflower and about 14 inches long). I am not ready to give up my full nights of sleep just yet, but I am definitely ready to see what life with two little boys will be like. I am praying that they will be great friends and truly enjoy one another. I expect great adventures and challenges, but what is life without either?