2 months old - 8lbs 12oz

It’s been quite a busy and interesting week or so around our household. Madi and I both got sick almost a week ago and have been fighting that off while trying to keep our distance and keep Nicholas safe from getting sick. Unfortunately, we lost that battle this morning when Nicholas woke up around 3:30am with a 101.3 temperature. For those that don’t know, this is so not good for a baby at his age. We had to get him right into the ER and it basically automatically means he will have blood drawn and a spinal tap. That’s exactly what it entailed! It was an awful experience for all of us. Nicholas does not have very good veins at all so it took 5 different nurses and doctors to finally get just .6mL of blood which was JUST enough to do blood cultures. He had at least 10 different pokes throughout his body trying to find a good vein. It also took them two attempts at the spinal tap. Ugh!! So far they don’t see any kind of bacterial infections, which is GREAT news! He got a dose of antibiotics and was released to go home as long as we brought him back tomorrow for a follow-up which we have scheduled. Over the last week or so we’ve had Dave’s mom come visit, my mom come visit, and now Dave’s mom is back to help out with all of us (except Dave!) being sick and trying to care for Nicholas at the same time. Thank you to everyone who was there fervently praying, its truly been a God sent to have friends and family like all of you! We are disinfecting our house and getting healthy now. We are hoping to be back on our feet and good to go by the time my sister, Andrea, and her fiancé, Tory, get here on Saturday. We are so excited for their visit for a few days! An update on Nicholas’s growth…He is now 8lbs 12oz and will be 2 months old on Thursday (29 Oct 09)!!!! What a Champion!!

7 Weeks Old!!

Nicholas's Schedule Due Date!! 7lbs 4oz!!

Well, today is the day I should have been heading to the hospital for our scheduled C-section. His actual due date was Oct 22nd, but today is the day he would have been born. Instead he is almost 7 weeks old and weighs 7lbs 4oz!!! Less than 10 days after weighing in at 6lbs 4oz he has gained an entire pound! Nicholas has been such a great baby overall. We are still feeding every three-four hours which is making for some tired parents, but how can you resist spending time with such a cutie! It’s worth it right now and I haven’t lost my mind just yet. =o) Family will start coming in for visits now and we are very much looking forward to those. Dave’s mom comes in for this weekend and my mom will be here all next week. Then we are looking forward to more visits through November. Nicholas is now in newborn sized diapers, no more preemie and has outgrown a few of the preemie sized clothes too. He’s having a lot more wake periods and just loves to watch and listen to his big sister. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers over these last few months, its been amazing to see God work in our lives and especially our children’s lives!

6lbs 4 oz!!!!!!!!

Nicholas has hit the 6 Pound mark!!! He is now 6lbs 4oz and the doctor is VERY happy with his weight gain and how he’s looking. We couldn’t be more happy with how he is doing. We have little scares here and there, but the pediatrician on base is absolutely awesome and I even have his home number so on Sunday afternoon when we had an episode of inconsolable crying and craziness I could just call to see if everything was okay. Now to just get him past the two month mark when he can start getting his shots and then through this flu season with no issues and we’ll be in the clear. Madi is loving her job as a big sister and now takes care of herself in many areas. For example, just now she was laying on the floor on top of her new diaper telling me she needed a new diaper on. While I was sitting here typing this she took off her old diaper, sat on her potty, threw away her wet diaper, got a new one, and put it on the floor and laid on it. Hmmm…maybe I’m not doing enough as a mom for her anymore that she thinks she has to do it all herself. Ha ha!

Madi's First Haircut

It is so nice to be home! Although I’m really missing those nurses who took care of Nicky when I wanted to just sleep. I’m beginning to miss those stretches of more than 2 hours of sleep, but it won’t last forever…maybe just another year of this?? Ha! No way, maybe just a few more weeks or a month before Nicky can sleep more than 3-4 hours at a time. He had quite a fussy night last night. Cried pretty hard when he was awake and had trouble settling. I’m hoping it was just some aches and pains from growing or some tummy gas. We’ll see how he does during the day today before calling the doctor about it. In the back of my head I keep hoping that he doesn’t end up with colic, but I’m believing this to not be true. =o) Madi got her first haircut this past week. It was a Mommy-Daughter evening out. I tried to talk up the haircut experience the whole way there (30 minutes in the car here). We got there and she just kind of checked things out while we waited for our turn. She did great! She even told the hairdresser when she was “All Done” and started to take off her smock. That was when she was getting her bangs cut. We were able to keep her there, making faces at herself and us in the mirror and holding different things like the spray bottle and comb. She was a trooper. So afterwards Mommy and Madi had dinner and ice cream then headed back home to be with the boys and show off her new haircut. Aunt Ree Ree (my sister Carrie) came up to visit on Saturday and got to see Nicholas for the first time out of the hospital. She lives down in Fargo now. She moved there a little less than a year after Madi was born and its been wonderful for me to have my sister so close and able to experience so many things with us. We are looking forward to more family visits this month!!

5lbs 7oz!!!

Well, Happy October!! Can you believe its already here? We sure can’t especially since it seems like yesterday I was heading into the hospital hoping the nurses and doctors were just going to stop my amniotic fluid leak and two hours later Nicholas was here. Wow! The past five weeks have been quite a whirlwind for us and, surprisingly, we are surviving, learning, loving, laughing, crying (mostly just me and Madi) and overall just cherishing our moments together as a family of four. Thankfully, after just a few days of loving (and tough) discipline I think I have a little more control over my little girl and she and I are learning how to work together again. She’s quite a little angel when she has some control and understanding of what’s going on. This has all been quite a change for her over the last 5 weeks. She was going to daycare (we called it school for her) every day with other adults and LOTS of other two year olds and then spending evenings and weekends with Mom and Dad with all of their attention. Then…”POOF” Mommy was gone for three weeks, there was this cool new baby doll that moved and looked around, and Dad was taking care of everything at home and with Madi. Then Mommy and Nicky come home and a new person is in charge and around most of the time (that would be big tough Mommy!). =o) But we are all adjusting better and starting to get on a consistent schedule so that things aren’t so fluid for Madi. Madi started with a runny nose on Saturday and by Monday Nicholas was stuffy, sneezing, and coughing. I made an appointment to take him in to make sure all would be okay with him. He weighed 5lbs 7oz at this appointment and the dr said he would be just fine and gave me some signs to watch for, but overall he’s doing AWESOME! Madi and Nicky’s Omi (my stepmom) suggested some pictures to take of Nicholas to give everyone a better idea of his size. I should have done this sooner because he’s gained almost 2 pounds since his birth, but its still pretty cool to see. That’s what the pictures above are….Nicholas with a typical teaspoon and with a ten dollar bill. These pictures will be so much fun to show him later when he’s towering over me. =o) Thank you all for your prayers! I’m so glad you all are enjoying this site and able to keep up with us. I wish we could get out to visit all of you, but by next summer he’ll be “almost” running around and we’ll be back to our traveling and camping!