We spend a lot of time staring...

From the pictures, it looks like Henry sleeps a lot...He doesn't. That is just the only time he lets us set him down! He also wanted to show off his double chin. He was very jealous when his cousin Lukas visited...Lukas' girth was something to be envied, and Henry is working diligently at matching him! As of last night, pre bath, Henry was almost 10 pounds...Not to shabby for 3 weeks old. I am going to have to look back and check out Logan's stats. I am sure they will look similar!

The "older kids" as they are now referred to, have become very comfortable with "baby." Every morning they come in and first thing have to check on him!

We have made 2 trips to the zoo...I will post those pictures later. One with just the kids and I, and the other time, Jonah came with!

Can't wait to head back to Illinois on Thursday and let all the Illinoisians meet Henry!

More later!

Completeness

So, last Sunday, Henry was freed from his bili-blanket. He ended up having a combination of physiological jaundice along with breastmilk jaundice, and while breastmilk jaundice is not dangerous, it would not allow his bilirubin count to come down, so the doctors would not allow him to come off "treatment." We ended up supplementing every other feeding with formula for 48 hours and his levels plummeted! So thankfully, life has returned to our "unchained" normalness.

We have taken full advantage of being free this week. On Tuesday, we all went hiking at Wirth Park in Minneapolis. They have a Quaking Bog and a wildflower sanctuary that we all had fun exploring...and the weather was gorgeous. Today, we hung out at home and walked to the park and then played in the sprinkler this afternoon. The kids were excited to get the sprinkler out for the first time this year!

(I had to add some photos of the kids drinking from the water fountain at Wirth for Jill...We did not allow the kids to actually lick the metal part, but they did try to come close!)

I would say the picture of Henry sleeping and smiling pretty much sums up how we are all feeling these days. There is a great sense of being complete in our house now. Not that we were missing something before, but we definitely feel like a whole now. As crazy as our house is MOST of the time, and as crazy as we all drive each other, I think that if any one of us (or the animals) were missing, we just wouldn't function the same. It makes me happy numerous times each day that for the rest of my life, my little family will all have the same memories. We will all be included in making them happen. Henry has for lack of a better way of putting it completed us! (So Jerry McGuire)

There is also something amazing this time around. Maybe it is because the "big" kids are a little bigger than Belli was when Logan came along. All the fears of how a day would look, or if we would make it through, or if everyone would get what they need, don't exist this time. Everyone has fallen seamlessly into place. We never even missed a beat. This week has been our first week "alone" (visitors are gone, Jonah is back at work) and we have done just fine. It really has been great. (Henry has also been sleeping 6 hour stretches at night, so that doesn't hurt!)

Hope all is well with everyone in Illinois. We miss you all a lot. Then I went to the DMV today to get my Minnesota drivers license and everyone holds doors for me and asks about the baby and tells me how perfect he is and lets me rush through lines because I have him....And I think Minnesota isn't really all that bad.

The Incredible Shrinking, Glowing Baby!

Ok, so Henry's stats at birth since I never posted them were:

Born May 5th, 2011 at 3:35 pm. 7 pounds, 12 ounces. 22 inches.

Now, 8 days later, he has returned to his birth weight as of this morning (he was down to 7 pounds 5.5 ounces)--and surprisingly enough, he shrank. When we took him for one of his first check ups, he was 20 3/4 inches. We are attributing this to his enormous cone head at birth. His cone head was accompanied by a huge bruise on the top of his head--technically called a cephalohematoma.

As I think I mentioned in the last post, Henry is jaundiced. This bruise on his head definitely did not help things. He has been under the bili-blanket since last Saturday. His levels peaked at about 20.9, which the doctor said had I been a first time mom, she would have hospitalized. He now is at a 19.1. Coming down slowly, but they are now questioning if he has a combination of regular jaundice with breastmilk jaundice (which lasts a long time...). The doctor does not feel comfortable taking him off the bili-blanket until his level is back down to about 15. While he is not showing any signs that this is at all bothersome to him, I think continuing treatment has more to do with the doctors protecting themselves...So Jonah and I are trying to figure out the best method to resolve the issue ASAP so Henry can be "unleashed" and taken out into the world. To add to things, we have had an abnormally cloudy week up here, so he can't even sit in a sunny window!

Overall though, we are all doing great, and without a doubt, Henry will get his numbers down and be fine.

Enjoy the pics from this week, and I will keep you updated!!

(As you can see from the picture, when Henry met his cousin, Lukas (11 weeks old), he decided to just eat him instead of play!)

Oh What A Wait...

I figured I would start with some pictures, because let's be honest, that is what most of you are looking for. :)

As you can see from the first picture, Belli and Logan are pretty proud of themselves! They are on their way to being quite possibly the best big sister and big brother ever! Belli took to Henry immediately. Logan kept his distance for a while, but now is pretty sure he always knows best, as usual. I have a feeling that within the next year, I will begin dreading the bond the 2 boys already have. Logan will in fact be a great teacher to Henry, whether it is things I want him to know or not.

Long story short--it was a quick delivery! Basically at about 2:25pm, I was still smiling and laughing--talking to my sister on the phone, facebooking on the IPad. At 3:00, I felt like I was not going to make it. They told me I was 6 cm--I was thinking to myself that there was no way I could make it thru another couple hours of labor. After what seemed like a LONG time, my baby was out and laying on my chest. He was born at 3:35pm after 6 minutes of pushing. Needless to say, after fear of everything that happened at Logan's birth (meconium, shoulder dystocia, & the cord wrapped around his neck) in combination with really not wanting any pain medication and horror story after horror story of how much worse labor is with pitocin, I was thrilled to pieces that I had done it---My goal in this birth, going into it with a basic understanding that it will be my last, I really wanted to be present in every moment. I feel like I accomplished that. I feel like I proved to myself what my body is actually capable of. And on top of it all, I walked away with a happy, healthy baby.

Henry and I left the hospital the next day. He has a huge bruise on the top of his head...I am sure it was a little traumatic to him to be floating peacefully and forced down a birth canal a half hour later. He is currently jaundice (just to follow suit with his brother and sister) so he is glowing away here at home in his biliblanket. He is a great eater, overall very laid back baby. We have his first official baby check up on Monday.

At the hospital, he did not pass his hearing screen. The nurses and doctors did not seem too concerned by this. They said that ordinarily he would have just been retested, but since we were leaving the hospital so quickly, he just has to have it retested by his physician. I think they will retest in a couple weeks.

I feel so lucky and happy and so in love. There is a lot this time around that is easier being the third. I also feel like there is a lot more anxiety---I know how much I get from my kids each day and the fear of anything happening to them gets scarier and scarier. It was much easier to worry before I loved them so much. :)

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes and kind thoughts and words. It was successfully my longest pregnancy, and I think both Jonah and I are happy that part is over. We are all feeling very complete here at home.