Welcome, Adam Leighton Mueller!

Adam Leighton Mueller was born on Thursday, April 24, 2014  at 8:09 a.m., weighing in at 9 lbs. 14 oz. and measuring 21 inches long.

The whole birth and hospital experience was much different this time around than it was with Davis.  The entire day before I was getting worked up and nervous about it, but I felt calmer once the big day actually arrived, and once the scariest part for me was over (getting the spinal block, which didn't hurt nearly as much as it did with Davis), I felt pretty relaxed.  They had to apply a lot of pressure on my upper abdomen to squeeze the baby out and I heard them commenting on how big the baby was - and also posterior (face-up instead of the usual face-down).  Baby started to cry as soon as they pulled out the shoulders, which was a huge relief to me since Davis didn't cry at first and it made me very anxious.  The next thing you know, baby was out and they announced it was a boy!  I didn't feel surprised when Davis was a boy, even though we hadn't found out in advance, but this time I felt a joyful surprise and an overwhelming feeling of happiness.  Since he was crying so lustily and obviously breathing well, I had the pleasure of getting to see him more and watching him over in the bassinet getting cleaned up while I was being stitched up.  Since Davis had to be whisked away to the nursery due to breathing difficulty with me barely getting a glance, and I didn't get to hold him for two hours, it was SO nice to have Adam in the room the whole time, and once they were done checking him out, they wrapped him up and placed him in my arms in the bed and wheeled us back to the recovery room together.  We were able to do skin-to-skin and have his first feeding within one hour of his birth.

Watching Davis meet his new baby brother was obviously a special part of that first day.  Seeing him smile at Adam and gently touch him, looking so happy and proud, just made me so thankful for both of my boys and excited to watch them grow up together as brothers.  On one of his visits to the hospital, I was feeding Adam under the nursing cover and eventually Davis noticed his absence and wondered where the baby was.  When I explained where he was, Davis misunderstood and thought that Adam had somehow been put back inside my tummy!  It was so cute seeing how confused and alarmed he was!

The hospital stay was . . . well, boring at times, compared to our first go-around.  I guess that not being a first-time mom does make a big difference in your anxiety level.  I wasn't a basketcase this time, breastfeeding was going well and I was able to completely eschew visits from the lactation consultant, pumping, and stressing out about feeding and supplementation.  Adam did have a slight heart murmur (which has now disappeared) but was otherwise a strong, healthy newborn, although he barely opened his eyes more than a crack for a few days and we started to wonder whether they were glued together or something!  He lost 9% of his birth weight, which is within the normal range and less than Davis, so it was nice not to worry about that.  We were mostly just spending our time in the hospital feeding him, changing his diaper, holding him . . . and didn't get a whole lot of attention from the nurses, who probably redirected a lot of their efforts to the first-time basketcase moms like I was with Davis.  :)  Still, we were surprised when they sent us home on Saturday morning after only two days in the hospital, since we were there for 3 days back in 2011.

Our homecoming was a relaxed and happy experience.  Davis was really excited that the baby had come home.  It was a beautiful day and we even took Adam with us on a trip to the park that connects to our neighborhood.

 (Adam already found his thumb and started sucking it when we got home.  When Davis saw this, he ran and laid down beside Adam and started sucking his thumb, too.  Some bonding time for my two sweet thumb-sucking boys! :) )

Adam had his first pediatrician appointment this past Monday and she declared him to be a healthy, perfect baby boy.  His stats at the appointment were:

Weight: 9 lbs. 2 oz. (88th percentile) - up 1.5 oz. from his discharge weight last Saturday
Length: 21 inches (93rd percentile)
Head circumference: 14 1/8 inches (79th percentile)

Although it's not always easy - and I am not enjoying only sleeping for 30 minutes at a time each night - we are adjusting to our new life as a family of four! We are so happy (and tired) and feel extremely blessed!

7 Day Countdown

This week, Davis and I made a paper chain to hang up in our house and help us count down the days until the baby comes.  Each night before bed, Davis gets to tear the bottom link off the chain, showing that we are one day closer to the baby coming. I figure if something happens early, we can rip off a few at a time.  :) I decided to do this because I have been talking to Davis about the baby coming soon, but he doesn't have much of a concept of time yet (everything that happened at any point in the past happened "yesterday" according to him).  He started saying things like, "Three more naps, baby's coming out."  Hold on there, buddy, there had better be more than 3 naps before this baby comes out!  I am not quite ready yet!  We are now down to our last 7 days (or less) as a family of three. 36 weeks 38 weeks Let's compare my final 38 week belly shot with Davis to my 38 week picture with baby #2: (Ignore the fact that I look way more tired in picture 2 and obviously have no time to care about my appearance - ha ha!)  This is the first time that I've really compared pictures side by side, so it's interesting to see.  Yes, there is only one baby in there, despite what people keep asking me. A couple of weeks ago at my 36 week appointment, my doctor measured my abdomen and said that I was measuring 42 weeks.  Yikes!  She said that she would be shocked if I made it to April 24, but then yesterday at my 38 week appointment, she had changed her tune and thinks I will most likely hang in there for another week.  Everything feels a lot different this time than it did with Davis, though, so I'm sometimes on pins and needles wondering if labor is coming whenever I feel some weird pain or cramp or sensation.  We shall see!  Dr. F. told me to take it easy and not overdo it, so I'm trying to listen to my body and make myself rest even when there are a thousand things to do.  I'd like this baby to keep baking a little longer. Greg and I are relishing these last weeks with Davis as our "only."  While he has been putting us through some terrible threes recently, he has been such a sweetheart these past few days and such a joy to spend time with.  He is getting so big and smart and indpendent.  We just love him so much!  Last week we went to "big brother class" as the hospital.  We learned about babies and went on a tour of the maternity floor, so Davis got to see a room like the one Mommy will be in when he comes to visit Mommy and our new baby for the first time.  He also got to make a picture frame and have his picture taken.  When he comes to the hospital to visit, he should be able to see his framed picture up on a bulletin board in the hallway on the maternity floor celebrating the fact that he is a new big brother!! The other day, I was down on the floor by Davis and he put his little hands on my tummy and said, "Baby's getting bigger bigger bigger.  Baby's going be born."  He also told me one night, "Our baby's going (to) POP out of your tummy and drink Mommy's milk."  That seems to be the one thing he knows about babies - that they drink Mommy's milk, so hopefully he will understand somewhat when that's all the baby and I are doing all day long!  He also tells me "I be a baby, drink yours milk.  You be a baby, drink Grammy's milk."  Ha ha!  :)  He came up with that on his own, too. So the days are passing by, the paper chain is getting shorter, the to-do list is slooooowly shrinking, and before you know it, it will be time for this baby to join our family.  Please pray with us for a safe delivery and a safe and healthy baby and mother.

From Loving the Life We Live

I have HOW many weeks left??!!

On Davis' third birthday, I officially became 34 weeks pregnant. Wait, how did THAT happen? Well, time has a way of passing and baby has a way of growing . . . and growing . . . and growing.  30 weeks 32 weeks 34 weeks A lot has certainly happened since I last posted about baby's progress.  At the end of January, I ended up in the ER with mild stroke-like symptoms on my left side and was diagnosed as having had a possible transient ischemic attack (TIA), a mini-stroke where a blood clot temporarily blocks blood flow to the brain.  Coupled with a couple of subsequent episodes of odd tingling sensations in my head, it made for a pretty scary time.  I am under the care of a neurologist and for now things seem to be okay, just hoping that I can finish out this pregnancy, deliver a healthy baby, and then reassess the situation to see if there is a larger clotting issue going on that isn't just pregnancy-related, or something else.  My prayer is certainly that everything is going to be completely normal.  Amidst all the stress, though, I neglected to take a 28 week picture, so you'll just have to bridge the gap with your imagination.  The comments about "oh, that baby must be coming any day now" and "you've gotten SO BIG" have certainly already started . . . but there is quite a bit of time left for me to keep baking this little muffin. We had our standard 32 week 4D ultrasound on March 4th and took Davis with us to see the pictures of the baby.  Fluid levels looked good, placenta had moved up 7 cm (was originally low-lying), and everything about the baby seemed normal and on target.  The baby was measuring 6 days ahead, had "a little hair" per the ultrasound technician, had a heart rate around 131-ish, and was estimated at around 4 lbs. 13 oz., which is around the 64th percentile or something like that and would put baby at an estimated birth weight of right around 8 pounds.  This was a shocker to me, since Davis was quite a bit bigger (remember this post?).  We got some great pictures of our new little one and I was so thrilled to see this precious face for the first time. I had my 34 appointment earlier this week.  Everything was still looking good.  Baby's heart rate was 142 and he or she is currently breech.  Most babies have assumed their final position for delivery by 33 weeks, although it is still possible that they will change position.  It was interesting that Dr. F said that siblings often take after each other as far as what position they assume in the womb - Davis was also breech very late in the game, and while he briefly turned head down, he had moved into a transverse (sideways) position when he was born 4 days before his due date.  At this appointment, I also had the big discussion with Dr. F about VBAC vs. repeat Cesarean.  I am definitely pro-VBAC and my obstetrician is VBAC-friendly (which is nice, since not all doctors are), but as my personal chances of a successful VBAC are likely less than 50%, a failed VBAC & emergency C-section are far riskier to mother and baby (and have a much harder recovery) than a scheduled C-section, and considering the neurological scares I've been having, we both think that a repeat Cesarean is going to be the wisest decision in this instance.  Believe me, whatever is going to give this baby the best chance of a safe arrival into the world is all I want! That being said, we went ahead and got a C-section scheduled, since the longer you wait to schedule the later in the day the surgery may be, and no one wants to have a 5 p.m. C-section when you're not allowed to eat or drink anything after midnight the night before!  So if nothing happens before then, pencil this in on your calendars . . . 4-24-14 . . . Thursday, April 24, 7:30 a.m.  I am not so thrilled at having to be at the hospital at 5:30 a.m., but hey, what's one less night of sleep when you know you're going to spend the next several months in a zombie-like state of torturous sleep deprivation. (Sidenote: Davis was born on my paternal grandparents' anniversary, March 16. Our new baby is scheduled to be delivered on my maternal grandparents' anniversary, April 24.  How weird and coincidental is that?) Holy cow!  That's in only 5 weeks!  The more I think about it, the longer my "to do" list gets.  I know that these last weeks are going to speed right by, and I hope to soon be holding a healthy newborn in my arms . . . but, you know, not TOO soon.  I NEED those five weeks!

From Loving the Life We Live

Birthday Boy!

This past Sunday we marked a new milestone . . . Davis' third birthday!  It's hard to believe that he's THREE and not our little baby anymore, but wow, we love our big boy! Davis loves playing dress up.  Here he is a dragon and I am "bunny mommy." The dragon chases bunny mommy saying, "I'm going to eat you up!" His birthday was a lot of fun this year because he actually knew it was his birthday and understood what that meant (well, he understood that there would be cake and presents and candles to blow out!).  Months ago, he proclaimed that he wanted a "Jake cake," referring to his favorite television show about pirates.  He has been on such a pirate kick and talked about his "Jake cake" for months, so - I tried not to disappoint the little guy and made and decorated a true Jake cake for him. We had some family over to celebrate in our typical low-key fashion, although Davis was HIGH ENERGY after taking a three hour nap to be rested up for his little party, so I don't know how low-key it ended up being!  It was obvious, though, that he thoroughly enjoyed every bit of his birthday - from singing Happy Birthday to blowing out the candles on his birthday cake (for the first time - he did not understand what to do last year) to opening and playing with his gifts - it was all a huge blast for him, and I was happy to endure the chaos just to see him having a great time on his special day. And if this last picture isn't proof that it was a successful third birthday, I don't know what is! Happy 3rd birthday, Davis Reid Mueller!  We are so proud of you and so blessed to be your parents and watch you grow up before our eyes!

From Loving the Life We Live

Let It Snow!

In case I haven't mentioned it before . . . I don't like winter.  At all.  I especially don't like this winter with all the snow and unusually frigid temperatures.  I am convinced that I am cursed because both my pregnancies have been during bad winters.  I guess all this snow and cold is better than the constant ice of the 2010-11 winter, but I am beginning to despair that spring will every come.  At least one person in our house doesn't seem to mind the winter too much, though.  This year, if it is not too cold to go outside, Davis really enjoys playing in the snow!  He talks about how he likes to walk in the snow, was excited to build a snowman with Daddy complete with carrot nose, and is sad whenever the snow melts.  I guess winter hatred is really more of an adult thing, because I'm sure Davis' philosophy is, "Let it snow!"