Home, At Last

Here is little Benjamin, all bundled up for the car ride home.  The car ride happened, and we are all home again as a family!

A Short Video

This is Benjamin in the hospital last night. He is active and happy, and if he keeps, eating, they'll take him off the IV.   Just a few more days, we hope.

On food and things

It appears that things are looking up for Big Ben. He started taking bottles of Pedialyte yesterday, and he was able to keep it down. Today the doctors cleared him for some milk, and he was very happy to eat. If he keeps eating and holding it down, he can come off the IV, which is one step closer to coming home.

This is great news.

Status update

The short version: Ben is still in the NICU. Tina is home from the hospital. Mike has logged many, many miles in the car. Zeke now has binkie privileges almost all the time.

The longer version is complex and will be written in the appropriate journals. For now, we rejoice every time Ben poops (4 times so far) and we are appreciating the kindness, love and support of family, friends, and the staff in the NICU.

Today's good news: surgery is not likely to be needed.

Ben Goes to the NICU

They just took Ben up to the NICU. It should be on the same floor as the post-partum/recovery unit, in my opinion, but no one consulted me when the hospital was designed. I've got my tennis shoes on so I will be ready to go as soon as they come to get me to go see him.
They tell me this is preventative care and not to worry, but none of that makes sense to my hormone influenced brain. Ben is not eating and not pooping or peeing, and the tests they did suggest a blockage of some sort. There was a doctor who used the word "surgery", but he tried to make it sound like last-resort thing.
I guess the plan to be discharged on Thursday needs to be revised.

Announcing....

Benjamin!

Our second little boy was born on Tuesday night. It was a scheduled induction on the due date, at the doctor's request because she believed Ben was "really big", and by my consent because being pregnant had become miserable.

Ben was 8 lbs. 12 oz. and 20 inches long. Comments regarding his size are not requested and will probably be taken down. Comments regarding his amazing, full head of dark brown hair are very welcome, as are comments about his ten fingers and ten toes (the only requirements for a baby to be considered cute).

Reporting from the hospital

We are currently in Not-Too-Ghetto Hospital, where we have reported for induction.  We arrived last night at 11pm, and now (7:30 am) we have some decent contractions and are moving right along.

We'll keep you up to date.

Pic related: it's our hospital room.

No baby, yet

No one is more disappointed that I am, but we are still a one-child family.

I have no reason to expect that Thing2 will come sooner than January 25th, but I find myself becoming more frustrated the closer we get to that date with nothing to show for it. I have known many women who bear pregnancy with grace, beauty, and patience. I am not one of them.

Even the maternity clothes are snug fitting now, Mike is tired of hearing about my aches and pains, and last night sleep was difficult even in my special sleeping chair. And I waddle. Just like a duck.

Thanks for the well-wishes and support - we'll let you know as soon as anything starts happening.

Aquarium

Mike had some time off between Christmas and New Years so we went as a family to a not-so-local Aquarium. Zeke loved it, probably because he loves his Dad and is 10x happier doing anything with Dad than without. Mike was very patient about holding him up to touch the sea-stars and prawn in the touch tanks and helped him to record messages of "doo-dah" at the whale exhibit.

The most memorable event was visiting the parakeets and feeding them nectar from a small cup.
It was all fun and games until one of the parakeets bit Mike's hand and took off two little chunks of skin.

Christmas

This year, for Christmas, Zeke got Hand-Foot-and-Mouth Disease. We were in an urgent care center on Christmas Eve and spent almost a full week recovering. Mike and I took turns holding an inconsolable little boy and waking up with him at night. We were very grateful that he got this before BabyBoy#2 comes and not after. This disease is not survivable (for the parents) if there is also a newborn in the house.

For the curious, this picture is relevant because one of the first solid foods that Zeke would eat again was Fruit Loops, and he ate them because we poured them into this awesome 4-square plate (thanks Grandparents!) and stacked them in little soggy piles to distract him while he ate.  He enjoyed the game very much, and we were relieved to be tricking him into eating, even if the food had no nutrition.  This was on day 4 of the illness.

It should be noted that soggy Fruit Loops are easier to stack than dry Fruit Loops.

Wedding

In mid-December we choose to attend a Wonder Family Event - the marriage of MovieGuy to SweetThing. As family member attendees of the event, we came early and stayed late, which made Zeke a little stir-crazy.

The above clip is just after he woke up from his nap. He liked the music and does his own version of a dance, but then bee-lines for the cake with a speed far surpassing his pregnant mom's synapses and muscles.

After this trip, Mike and I vowed we would never again take a two-year old on a multi-state car trip. I hope we remember.