A Bunch of Random Things

Life has been so nutty the past few weeks and I'll get to that later. Here is a post that I started but never finished. Riveting stuff, for sure.

The Terror/Terrier in our Backyard:

After five years of unsuccessfully pursuing wildlife in our yard, Elsie finally got lucky. She caught (and killed) a shrew in the back yard and was having a lot of fun flinging it around until I stepped in a took away her fun (literally). Eww!

Cora's Bee Sting:

Eva put her hand on a bee and the bee did not appreciate it. I had her treated in no time and gave her ibuprofen and benadryl to help with her comfort. That night Cora was an absolute dream. We typically have to wrestle her to get her ready for bed but that night she lay peacefully and without fighting to get her pajamas on. Matt said that Cora should be stung by a bee every day.

Some cute pictures just because...

Don't their cheeks look similar?

Such a happy boy! He makes short, fat and bald look good!

Alex's 2-month Appointment

The stats:
Head Circumference: 50th percentile
Length: 23 inches/50th percentile
Weight: 15 lb. 11 oz./95th percentile WHOAH!

Alex is healthy and doing really well (obviously with a weight like that)! He received three shots and an oral vaccine and seems a little off today but is still his happy, laid-back self.

Cora keeps us laughing

Cora continues to amuse us with just about everything she does and says (when she's not driving us crazy). Some recent funnies:

"Uncle Phil, you change my poopy diaper?"

We have had the following exchange a lot in the past few days:
Cora: "I have idea."
Me: "What?"
Cora: "I don't know."

Also, she loves to pretend she's fishing (thanks to many episodes of Little Bear) and always finds a stick outside that becomes either a fishing pole, a walking stick or both.

Pics of Alex

Here are some recent pictures of Alex (9 weeks).


Don't you love his little piggies?


I realized that many months or years from now I will look back on this picture and I wanted to remember just how little he is at this moment.

Tummy time!

A little fuzzy, but I wanted to share a picture of his sweet smile.

Eva Ties Her Shoes

I've been meaning to post this but I'm so horrible about editing and posting videos. Here you go--prepare to be amazed! = )

8 Weeks Old

Alex is now 8 weeks old! He is still a pretty easy going guy and he is doing really well. He is sleeping longer stretches and usually gives me one good long nap (2-3 hours) during the day and a decent stretch at night (5+ hours). Though, now that I just wrote that I'm sure I've jinxed myself and Alex will be up every 2 hours tonight! He has his 8-week appointment at the doctor next week so we'll find out just how chunky our future football player is (though, considering the high rate of head injuries football players endure, I don't think I'll let him ever play football).

Alex LOVES Eva. Anytime she holds him he is so calm and comfy and nobody elicits more smiles from Alex than Eva does. Apparently, he is so comforted by her presence that he fell asleep last week while she was holding him.


Monkey #2 sleeping with her dee-dee (blanket), baby and a thumb in her mouth.


Three Musketeers!


So smiley!



Dad & his boy. We drove up to Lake Ontario because I was going to go nuts if I didn't escape the 5-mile radius in which I live and shop.


Me and my gang of three (Alex is under my nursing cover).



Apparently this is Cora's new favorite pose.


Cora thought Alex needed some company.


Cuddling my sleepy little guy (don't you love his pink Sleep Sack?).

Alex's Birth Story

On Friday, June 3, we went to the hospital for a scheduled induction. I was dialated 3 cm and the pitocin was started around 9:30 a.m. By late afternoon my contractions were getting painful enough to get the epidural (sending love to the person who invented the epidural).

At 6:20 p.m. (an hour after getting my epidural) I was dialated to 6 cm and they broke my water. My nurse started bringing in equipment to prepare for the birth and I told her, "Either you are very organized or very hopeful." At 6:40 p.m. (20 minutes after breaking my water) I am dialated to 9 centimeters. WHOAH! The resident says, "Let's call the doctor. You're are going to have this baby." Yes, let's call the doctor.

Well, this hospital is a little different than Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee. Various private practices deliver there but I don't think that while anyone is on call that they are actually at the hospital unless they have scheduled procedures/operations/appointments. In Milwaukee, our doctors had their offices in the hospital and when they were on call they were at the hospital the entire time. At this hospital my doctor had to be called and then she had to get in her car, run some errands, get a pedicure, drive through Dunkin' Donuts and then mosey on into the hospital to catch my kid.

Meanwhile, back at the hospital I start experiencing the most excruciating back pain known in the history of mankind. Our little stinker was posterior, meaning he was facing up looking at the ceiling rather than looking down at the floor as he should have. What does this mean for the laboring mother? Well, the baby pushes on the nerves in your back causing extreme pain and it is harder to push the baby out because he is coming out with a wider part of his head. Eventually, I tell my nurse that I don't give two hoots about whether or not the doctor is there--get the resident and let's get this baby out!

I finally start trying to push out our posterior facing baby. Fortunately, the epidural masks the pain of the contractions (thank God) but doesn't even touch the excrutiating pain in my back. Also, I had both the girls out in no time (10 minutes for Eva and just 5 minutes for Cora) so my expectations for this delivery are a bit high. In between pushing I look at Matt and say: "Why is this so hard? I really need him to come out. This is so hard!" After pushing for 20 minutes Alex is finally born!

A couple of interesting facts about Alex's birth:
1. He is our smallest newborn baby weighing 7 lb. 2.7 ounces (Cora was 7 lb 3 oz). Considering his presentation and how difficult it was to push him out, I'm really glad he was small.

2. In the course of his in-utero acrobatics, Alex managed to tie a true knot in his umbilical cord. A true knot can cause some serious problems (things I don't even care to speak about), and we are glad he is safe and healthy. From what I've been able to find on the internet, true knots occur in about 1% of births. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/262470-overview#aw2aab6b6
http://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/pregnancy-health/complications/cord-knots.aspx