Luke's 4 month

Luke's 4 month appointment was quite the milestone. He is 15 pounds and 3 ounces which puts him in the 55th percentile and 24.5 inches landing him in the 34th. WOW!!!! He has come such a long way since arriving in early in August. He was so little and is now such a chunk! We were also allowed to take him off the preemie formula. Since changing this, he has become a happier baby. He does, however, cry often. He is a very impatient baby which makes it trying for Mommy and Daddy while we are trying to determine what is wrong. He really makes up for the crying when he smiles and laughs though. Luke is holding his head up very well, and has started to eat rice cereal and sweet potatoes. I can't really tell if he likes it or not as he gets about half in and half out of his little mouth. He does smile and start to giggle when he is eating. He has rolled over once from his belly to his back. Sophie loves Luke she has started to say, "Bay-ee" and "Loook". She loves to kiss, hug and pat him and wants him to sit in her lap lots and gets upset when he doesn't want to be held by her. Luke is also sleeping through the night 80% of the time making us even more happy!

More Fall Fun

Trick or Treat, Monkey Joe's, the zoo, and Thanksgiving are just to name a few of the fun adventures we have had this fall. Lucas is 4 months today and goes for his check up on Thursday, so we will know more about where he is growth wise then, but I think he is close to where Sophie was at 4 months.

3 Months

Today I took Luke to the doctor, I was amazed at his weight. I knew that he had been growing at a rapid pace, but still was shocked. He is now 13 pounds and 5 ounces~ wow!!! He has gained almost 4 pounds in a month at his 2 month checkup. A few updates about him~ he is still not sleeping through the night, but only gets up once about 2:00 am. Hopefully, he will hit the great place where he makes it through the night soon!!! He has started to smile some at us, this has just happened in the last week on a regular basis. Also he has started to coo at us a lot~ it is so sweet to hear. Luke's cry is also ear piercing, coming a long way from where he would just grunt. Luke is awake more of the time, too. Sophie is doing great. She is jealous of Luke and will bring you a book toread to her if you are holding him. She does want to kiss him and hold him which is so sweet. If I put him on her lap and then move him, she gets upset and pats her lap as if to say put him back! All in all, we are all doing well, taking one day at a time and enjoying these sweet babies.

Fall Fun

2 Months Already?

Lucas is officially 2 months old. I can hardly believe that much time has passed. I took him to his well baby check up and all was well. He is 9 pounds and 12 ounces and 21.5 inches which is in the 16th and 12th percentile. Our doctor said that he will continue to catch up and by his first birthday we will not remember that he was so small. He is still sleeping a lot, I guess with all that growing that he needs to do it is to be expected. He has increased his intake and is eating about 4 to 5 ounces at each feeding. I am continuing to nurse him as well as giving him special preemie formula once a day. Lucas actually has a real cry now. At first, he would just grunt or squeak when it was time for him to eat, but now he will cry loudly if we aren't quick to get him. He is good at crying is his sleep too, this is not nearly as loud but enough to wake me up in the middle of the night. When I go to his crib to get him up, he is asleep then it is back to bed for me. Lucas is such a different baby than Sophie was. He actually likes the paci, I remember she only took it for a couple of weeks then no more. He love, love, LOVES to be held, especially in the evening. He doesn't spit up much, she spit up a ton. He likes to be swaddled, tightly and she did not like it at all. Every baby is different, but I hope he has the same easy go lucky temperament as Sophie does!

Sophie continues to want to love on Lucas. It is very sweet, she can say, "baby" and will try to hug and kiss him. She also is jealous of Lucas. She will bring us a book when one of us is holding him and say, "Me, me." All in all, I believe she is doing great with having a new little brother.

I return to work next week. As Monday inches closer, I am dreading it more and more. It seems like he is just too small to take to someone else to watch him. I really was lucky to have been able to stay at home with Sophie for long, and wish I could with him. Hopefully, the school year will be a good one with minimal snow days making way for a long summer break. My fingers are crossed!!!

Due Date

So Luke's official due date is today. It's hard for me to imagine still being pregnant. Frankly, I am so happy to have a happy, healthy baby regardless that he was 7 weeks early. I was having such a hard time with the pregnancy this time, it was so much different than when I was pregnant with Sophie. Some of the main differences was that all the weight I gained with Lucas was in my belly area, with Sophie it was all over- I just felt swollen everywhere. With Lucas, there was no gestantional diabetes and no problem with high blood pressure and no swelling. However this time, there was lots of pain. I hurt in my hips and legs. I couldn't get comfortable at all!!! I also was an emotional basketcase, I cried a LOT, and felt bad all the time.

Since my last post, we have had bunches going on. Sophie started a new day care which she is doing very well with. She cries 3 out of 5 days that I leave her, but they say that she quits within a minute or two. Next, we finally sold our house, actually the week before I went into the hospital. After weeks of searching for a place, we ended up in Masterson Station. This is temporary at least for a year while we figure out where we want to be. Masterson is not the ideal place as it seems like it is so far away from everything that we are used to be close to. It has been so helpful that I am on maternity leave to get settled in the new house. I don't think I could have done it if I had still been pregnant. Sophie did great with the move to the new house, it didn't faze her a bit. She acts like she has lived her forever. I was so worried that the new day care, new house, and new brother would really bother her, but she didn't miss a beat.

Sophie also has turned 18 months- she was 28 pounds and 33 inches. Both in the 90th percentile. She didn't grow much from the last checkup but I think that has to do with the way they measure her. Maybe she wasn't as long as they said at 15 months. Sophie has also had a couple ear infections, but the tubes are doing their job- releasing the pressure and ooze from the middle ear.

As for Sophie and Lucas, she is a litte jealous. When I am nursing him or Marty is holding him, Sophie wants to get in our laps and have us read to her. She loves to pat him and kiss him. She amazes me with how well she has done with this. We can not wait for him to get bigger so they can play together!!!

Lucas' Crazy Arrival

Lucas Thomas arrived seven weeks early and boy, was it a scene from beginning to end. On August 2nd, I was at Target when I felt a gush. I knew it wasn't something that was good so I called Marty and told him, luckily he was on his way home from work. I called my OB who directly me to head to Labor and Delivery at CBH!! What?!?! I couldn't be in labor, I was only 31 weeks, and this little boy needed to stay in and bake a little longer. Marty and I arrived at the hospital where it was extremely busy. They had to give me a bed in the recovery area for a while. The nurse hooked me up to all the machines, and sure enough I was having contractions. I had been feeling these for a few days but I figured they were just Braxton Hicks. My OB ordered a medicine to stop them which worked for about an hour. After that, he decided it was best to put me on Magnesium to really stop them. This also told me there would be no returning home for a while because of the IV running the meds into me to let him mature more. They also started me on a steroid to help his lungs mature. The steroid needed 48 to get the full effect on his lungs so I had to remain on the mag (as the nurses call it). Did I mention that I was 4 cm dilated which made my doctor decided there was no more getting out of bed. So there I was hooked to an IV, BP cuff on another arm, and cuffs on my legs so there would be no blood clots. Talk about going crazy!!! I was hooked to my bed- it was enough to make me crazy, which it did at times. Another side effect of the mag was that I was sooooo hot!!! I actually froze Marty out of the room because I needed it cool and I was still sweating at some points. Luckily, I made through my 48 hour window for the steroid.

The next morning they took me off the mag to see what would happen. They were going to let me go into labor if it happened because the day before my water broke. If it didn't happen then, I was told that I would just remain in bed and wait and hope that I could make it to 36weeks and deliver then. After they turned it off, nothing happened for a while. That Friday evening I started to have some contractions, but they, for the most part, were not bad. About 11:00, I told Marty that he should go home, just to keep his phone close in case he had to rush back. Rush back was the understatement. About 1:30, contractions really started to hurt and the nurse checked me again- 5 cm. I called Marty and told him to get here FAST! The nurse moved me to a delivery room and gave me a little pain medicine that made me really loopy! Marty got the hospital in 13 minutes- 1:53am. By the time he got there, I was complete and ready to push! What?? Really? How could this go so fast? And how could I have not have an epidural? Oh, my, it was so fast that I only pushed 4 times- I think- and Lucas Thomas arrived at 2:23am. He weighed 5 pounds and 8 ounces. BIG for a preemie that would have technically been 33 weeks and 2 days. A stay in the NICU was in the works, but he did such a great job and was able to come home after 12 days. Lucas is doing great, gaining weight and sleeping all the time. Sophie is taking to the changes better than I expected. She ignores him most the time unless I have Lucas in my arms to feed him. She wants me to read to her when this happens. I imagine as he gets more active, she will get more jealous, but since all he does is sleep she is not too bothered by him.

We are so thankful to have all the Williams' family in the same place.

Ear Tubes

Looking at books in her room has become very interesting to her now that she can climb in the rocker on her own. She generally picks up the ones that we read before bed.

We are celebrating Aunt Kate's birthday, Sophie is very interested in the hibachi cook!

After 5 ear infections since May, our pediatrician recommended that we look into getting ear tubes for Sophie. He was afraid that if she was getting this many in May and June then we would be at his office all the time in the upcoming winter months. With the impending arrival of Baby Brother, we just couldn't do that, plus the infections were making her a bear to be around ~taking our sweet girl into a complete mess. So last week, we had them put in! She did great, all except for the waking up. She was upset until we got home from the Surgery Center and as soon as she got some breakfast, life was good again. She was a little more subdued than usual, and we snuggled on the couch and watched a movie. By afternoon, she was just fine. Keep your fingers crossed that this does the trick and there are no more infections!

We are starting to count the days until #2 arrives. He will be here before we know it. So far all is still going great with the exception of my back and hips hurting constantly and my inability to sleep well at night. I have no problem sleeping during the day, which will make a return to school hard. Being pregnant a second time is totally different than the first. I think it is in the way that I am carrying him- he is all in my belly and Sophie was more weight everywhere. He is also a lot more active than Sophie was, I feel movement morning, noon, and night. My stomach looks like an alien has taken over, it is so fun and exciting to watch. My blood pressure is good so far, but it really didn't act up until 34 weeks with Sophie. Now I am 31 weeks. I am saying some extra prayers that it remains this way even after school starts. As for a name, we are still unsure, hopefully it will come to us by the time we get to the hospital!!

Beach Baby

What a great vacation we had last week! It was lots of fun and lots of work for Mommy and Daddy, but all worth it. We hit several places while we were gone and Sophie enjoyed most of them! First things first, we went to Wrightsville Beach where Marty's best friend now lives and spent a few days relaxing, playing in the sand and surf, and visiting a couple tourist attractions. Sophie liked the beach for the most part. At first, she didn't know what to think about the water and waves, but became braver and she and Mommy would sit by the edge and let the waves cover our legs. She also liked the sand a lot. It covered her from head to toe by the time we left. All in all, our first adventure at the beach was a hit! We can't wait to take both kids in a few years. While in NC, we also went to visit the USS North Carolina, a battleship from World War II, Fort Fisher, and the NC Aquarium. We were busy to say the least.

The next part of our vacation was spent in Gatlinburg. The Ripley's Aquarium, Titanic Museum, Go Cart Racing (Daddy, not Sophie ) and pool time were among the fun things that we did. Sophie was pretty good in the car for such a long time, there were only a couple of times that she was upset. Who could blame her when she was strapped into the car seat for hours? Along the way, she enjoyed looking at books, watching Despicable Me- her fave, and the MagnaDoodle. Surprising to us, she didn't sleep in the car very well which we were really hoping for, I think slept a total of an hour on the way down, and 30 minutes on the way home. We can't wait for more vacations in the future, but they will have to wait at least 2 years as we can't imagine giong somewhere next year with a 2 year old and 9 month old! Talk about naptime city.....