One Week Old!

Frankie is officially one week old today! At his doctor's appointment this week he weighed in at 7 lbs even (surpassing birth weight in just a few days, yipee!) and with a 13.75 cm noggin'--thank goodness he came out with a 12 cm head at delivery! His head appears to have un-smushed nicely. He is slightly jaundiced but the doctor said it was nothing to worry about.

Evie is doing a really good job adjusting to being a big sister. The first few days we had lots of melt-downs but now she has hit her stride and is usually a great helper getting things for us, throwing away dirty diapers and holding Frankie's hand or giving him kisses. She even made up a song for Frankie about how much everyone loves him. It is very cute and she has done a good job holding him (sitting with much supervision) although she is ready to pass him off if he poops or cries. We are very proud of her!

Frank is a pretty awesome little guy. He sleeps all day long and is up all night long, but we are figuring out ways to trick him into napping at night--including tight swaddling and pacifiers. I have been getting some rest by snuggling with him on our guest bed--he slept for 2 hours that way last night, which brought my total sleep time up to...3.5 hours. I know, folks are probably jealous that I slept so much with a newborn (don't worry I nap :)).

He was really alert this morning and we got some good pictures of him in his birth announcement onesie so I just need to pick one of the poses, print them, and send them out to folks at some point in the not-so-distant future. He is a pooping machine, so we change diapers often--usually right after we just changed one and got him all dressed/swaddled again. He has impeccable timing. He also is really gassy and has a touch of reflux--I feel so bad for him when he can't get comfortable. It breaks your heart and he hasn't gotten his tears in yet, so his little cries are all dry and sad.

Second kid is definitely just as cool as the first--he is the most amazing little person and I want to kiss and cuddle and love him forever! He is very cute and handsome and is the perfect addition to our family--I couldn't be happier or prouder. He is just so much fun, even sleeping or fussing!

I also think the two kiddos look a lot alike as babies--Frank has lighter hair and a less prominent chin dimple than Evie did but they have the same eye, nose and face shape. Frank also has some pretty different ears from big sis--they are a bit more prominent but do lay flat against his head.

Can you tell which is which?

Nerdy Tbone kid fact: Evie's birthday is 4-11 and Frankie's is 8-22...exactly twice that of big sister's!

And here are Frank's hospital pictures--they did a great job so we ended up getting lots of poses: Hospital Pictures.

Introducing... Frank August!

T2 is here...

Frank August
born August 22, 2009 @ 1:35pm
Weight: 6 lbs, 14oz
Height: 19.5 inches

After last Monday's fake-out, we were a little hesitant to head back to the hospital again, but Friday night at dinner, Amy's water broke. She wasn't sure if this was the real deal or not, but we had to head in to be safe. Both of us were feeling like we'd just be sent home again, so other than the pre-loaded car, we didn't even do much prep - after all, she wasn't even in labor.

But it only took a few minutes into the triage room to confirm that it was the real-deal, and we weren't going home this time. We got moved into the Labor & Delivery room, and they got started inducing labor.

Things were fairly slow going at first, but by late morning things were well underway, and Amy & I were both thrilled to meet Frank when he finally arrived!

Happy Mommy & Baby

The whole experience was much better for Amy this time - no preeclampsia, so no magnesium sulfate - she was aware & bounced back after birth MUCH faster without all that crap in her system.

Frank with his namesake - his grandpa Frank!

Happy to meet big sister!

Because of his timing, we still wound up staying until Monday, but we were able to head home fairly early Monday morning.


More pics are at Nana's site, and on Facebook (under my (Max's) account - visible to friends only).

Fake Out

So I started having fairly regular contractions yesterday at work and went home, packed up the car, changed into more comfy clothes and we all went to dinner and to walk around to make sure they were the 'real deal'. 3 minutes apart consistently from 4:30-9 p.m. so we went to L&D.

I should have just gone to sleep and seen what happened because we got there, they checked me out and within 20 minutes knew that I had not dilated further since office visit last week and I was not far enough along to keep (3 cm dilated) but we had to wait there for about 2 hours before being sent home. It was exhausting and disappointing. Oh, and my contractions which had been going on for hours sort of pooped out once we got there.

So next time I have contractions I am totally going to bed before I worry about trucking over to the hospital. If I wake up and they are still going, I might head in then. So embarrassing--you'd think I would have gotten it wrong the first time around and known what to expect the second. Guess not--I swear they were real. I am just ready to meet Baby!

Watermelon Girl

Aunt Lea & Anna came into town to visit last week, and Evie had a great time playing hopscotch (despite the heated discussions over the proper drawing of a hopscotch board), chalk drawing, shopping, dining, and playing inside and out with them on their visit.

And just in case the fun and food wasn't enough, they also gave Evie some fun new outfits, including this awesome watermelon getup that Evie was showing off today:

Schooled

Evie was watching TV and I had to blow my nose, so she said "I can't hear."

In my sarcastic way I replied, "Well, I can't breathe, so I win."

Evie looked at me and said, "You do it like this mommy" and proceeded to take a deep breath in and blow it out. Daddy and Grandpa said she showed me!