Thursday, March 21, 2013

Oops, I did it again....

I made another Mary Poppins baby...meaning he is "practically perfect in every way."  For some ridiculous reason, I cannot get pictures to upload, so you will need to refer back to facebook to see the amazingly awesomely adorable pictures of my son.

I took him in for his 2 week check up on Thursday March 14.  At that time he weighed 8 lb 4.5 oz and was 20.5 inches long.  Dr. Brasher was a little concerned that he had not gained more weight than that since his birth weight was 8 lb 8 oz.  He wanted me to bring him in a week later to check his weight.  Everything else looked fine.

Today, March 21st was the weigh in.  He weighed in at a hefty 9 lb 3.5 oz...almost an entire pound gained in a week!  I knew his chubby cheeks were not hiding secrets!  He is totally and completely fine.

At this early on in his life, he has got himself on a pretty good schedule...way more than Leila ever did!  He takes a bath around 8 to 8:30 pm...eats, then just plays until he is tired...anywhere from 9 to 10:30.  He wakes up around 1 to 1:30, 4:30 to 5, then 9-10:30 ish....those times vary of course, but for the most part he is waking up every 4 ish hours, is only awake for about 35 minutes, then goes back to sleep.  I have also been laying him in bed while he is still slightly awake.  This has been good for him to learn to sooth himself to sleep rather than relying on being held or eating to go to sleep.  He truly is practically perfect.

During his waking hours, he is still mostly calm and patient.  He lets Leila love on him and hold him all she wants.  He just chills and waits until it's time to eat.  He loves his bouncy seat.  He loves to be held and talked to.  He has the sweetest Spirit.  I swear he can sense when I'm about to lose my cool taking care of both children while Kuso is out of town at work.  During those moments, he smiles (yes, he smiles and flirts at this young age) and just sends love straight out of his eyeballs.  Or he'll just smile, then go to sleep knowing that I'm needing to rest.  He does have a bit of a temper when it's time to eat and he doesn't have a bottle in his mouth after the first squak or two...otherwise, he seriously is so complacent to just exist.

I LOVE THIS BOY....

Monday, March 11, 2013

Sinave Aukuso Aiono - March 1, 2013

 
 

 First Family Photo! (above)
Leila's first look at Baby Brother (below)
 


 Leila's first time holding Sinave
Daddy's first nap time with Sinave



 Leila is a GREAT helper!




 Leila giving mommy a "check up" (above)
Sinave ready to go home! (below)

 Daddy and his kids (above)

 Kuso told me to look at some pictures he took.  When I did, I found a whole string of these smile pictures.  I'm not sure this kid can be more adorable!  He was 5 days old when these were taken.
 
Now you have seen the pictures.  If you want, you can continue reading for the story.
 
I was set to be induced on March 1, 2013.  I was first on the list and the hospital said the nurse would call me sometime between 5 am and 10 am.  When they called, I had an hour to get to the hospital.  This meant that I had to shower and get ready the night before.  The call came in around 6:20 am.  We checked in at 7:15 am.
 
The Pitocin was started at 8:00 am.  (the cute nurse was named Stacie and was the sister in law to my cute friend Marla at work.  It was kind of fun to have a "connection" with the nurse.)  In talking with her about my past history of surgeries and last birthing experience, we made the connection that having had a previous surgery on my cervix could explain why I start to dilate, stay there for a long time, then go REALLY fast through the higher numbers.  And that's what happened.  I was dilated to a 3 for a long time (well, as long as a 4 1/2 hour delivery can be).  I finally decided to get the epideral when the contractions were coming more intense and much more frequently. 
 
The nurse checked me again and I was dilated to about a  7.  I told her my family was about 20 minutes away and to let me know a good time to let them know to head to the hospital.  They weren't coming in the room, but wanted to be outside to hear his first cries.  She said they probably better head over.  This was around 11:30 if I remember.  I dilated quickly through the rest of the numbers and soon enough, I was "ready."
 
The nurse said she was going to have me do some practice pushes while we waited for the doctor, but then when I progressed so quickly, she told me to hold on.  The doctor came in right then and we were ready to go.  I pushed for 8 minutes and the little guy was here!  (What an improvement to the 2 hours I had to push to get his sister here!)
 
If you read my last post, I had some predictions about how he would be.  So far, I'm accurate.  He looks like his sister, has hair, but not as much.  He is super mellow.  He has huge hands and long toes.  He is such a good baby! 
 
As of writing this, he is 10 days old.  For the past four or five nights, he has had a "routine" that seems to be working AMAZINGLY!  Around 8 pm, we give him a bath.  That kind of wakes him up and gets him to play.  He eats during that time, then around 9:30 to 10:00 he goes to bed.  He sleeps until 1:00 to 1:30, then gets back to bed in about 30-45 minutes.  Then wakes up again between 4:30 and 6:00 and is up for 30-45 minutes.  Then sleeps until anywhere between 9:30 and almost noon!  If he keeps this up, he will get the BEST BABY award for sure!  When he is awake, he is pretty mellow.  He enjoys laying on the floor for periods of time.  He likes his bouncy seat.  He likes to be held and talked to.  He likes to cuddle. 
 
Leila is an amazing big sister.  She is usually helpful.  She has tested the patience of her parents on a few occasions by suggesting that we can do it instead of her, but since daddy went back to work, she has been very helpful.  Exactly what a mom needs.  She is very aware of where he is at all times.  She is soft with him, wants to hold him, and tries her hardest to make him happy all the time.
 
NOW...A couple of cute "stories."
 
At the hospital, Sinave was getting his diaper changed or vitals taken or something.  Anyway, he was crying. Leila was standing on the bed to watch and she started singing ever so softly to him.  As if it were just she and him there alone.  She sang her own song of "Quiet...Slowly....Quiet....Slowly...." (She uses the word slowly instead of softly.)  She tried so hard to make him happy.
 
Leila has turned into a huge mamma's girl, but she also knows she has to share with Baby Brother.  The first night, she was a little hesitant to leave the hospital because mom and baby were staying there.  I explained that we had to sleep there so the doctors could help us feel better.  She understood that and went home with daddy.  The next day they came back to the hospital and that night she fully understood what was going to happen and was so good to go home with daddy.  The day it was time to go home, she called me from daddy's phone on the way to the hospital.  "Hi mom!  You feeling better?  You ready to come home?"  She was very excited to show brother where his room was going to be at our house. 
 
Leila talks to him in the car and does her best to have him "cheer up." 
 
Leila always has to know where is baby brother?  When she wakes up, that's the first thing she asks.  When she leaves the room and comes back, that's the first thing she asks.  At the hospital when they took Sinave to the nursery to do his assessment, daddy went with Sinave and I stayed in the room.  Leila wanted to go see Sinave, so grandma took her to watch through the windows.  After just a very short while, she wanted to go check on mommy so grandma brought her back to the room.  After seeing that I was fine, she wanted to go back and find brother.  We convinced her to wait at the room and he would be back soon.  She agreed and soon enough we were all back in the room.  She was satisfied.
 
At the hospital we only had a couple of visitors. 
Grandma Neener and Papa Vic
Kim and Danny Boyer, and Maile Hoopes.
Auntie Alofa and cousin Leone.
 
The first week home we had more visitors.
Uncle Troy and Aunt Casey
Alysha Miller (and Brooklyn and Logan)
Heidi Morrison (and Hadlee and Makay)
The Blake's (Home Teachers)
Carol Koller and Karlene Jensen - I visit teach them and they brought dinner.
Leslie (Uta'i) (and Matai and Kingston)
 
Almost all of these visitors brought gifts for both of my kids.  It was nice for Leila to continue to receive love and attention while Sinave got his. 
 
Kuso went back to work on Sunday March 10th.  The first night home without him was simple as it could have been.  Here is to hoping life with two kids and an out of town hubby stays as simple as it can be!