One month

My prince William, it is so hard to believe that a month has gone by since I first set eyes on your beautiful face. Your journey through life started out a little rough. When you were born you took such a forceful first breath that it caused small air leaks in both of your lungs. You had some difficulty with breathing afterwards. Because of this, they whisked you away to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) right after you were born. Just before they took you away, I was able to look at you for mere seconds and I kissed your forehead, then you were gone. I knew that this was the best thing for you. I was worried but I didn't let it consume me. You stayed in the NICU for 3 days and you weren't allowed to come into my hospital room with me. Every time I left the NICU I felt empty and sad leaving you behind. I remember hearing cries from all of the other babies that were born the same night, they were with their mommas. I had to keep my door closed to drown out the sound. By the end of the second day, we were re-united and I was able to hold you for the first time. At that moment, I could not have been more happy.

On the third day, I was overjoyed when they removed the IV and the NG tube. I felt to bad when they pulled off the tape that was wrapped around your arm and was on your precious little face. You were finally free, free to come home with us! I was overwhelmed as we carried you through the hospital and out the front doors. We loaded you in the car and I just broke down with joy.

Since then we have been watching you grow right before our eyes. We are still trying to figure out who you look like, mom or dad. You are a good mix of both! I love to sit and stroke your super soft hair. You have daddy's dark hair. I hope that it will stay such a dark color. Your eyes are still a shade of blue. We are still waiting to see what they will become. Somedays they look blue like daddy's unforgettable eyes and other times they look more brown like mom's. You have inherited my hands with super long fingers that you wrap tightly around mine. You have the "Tully's" big feet too. I think that you might me a pretty tall guy someday.

You are always such a calm, quite and content little boy. You love to look around at your surroundings. I wonder what it is that you could be thinking of as you analyze different objects, especially when you stare into our faces. Lately you have been exploring your voice. You tend to make more sweet noises along with little sighs as you sleep. Daddy and I love to sit and watch your facial expressions. You pucker up your lips as though you are trying whistle or make monkey sounds. Daddy has termed this face as "Monkey Whistles." I especially love your little smiles as you contently drift off to sleep. They just melt my heart every time. I wish that I could bottle your little baby scent. I love to hold you and breathe your sweetness into my soul. I feel like a mom the most when you cuddle up on my shoulder and fall sound asleep. I sit and rock you and listen to you softly breathing and feel your warmth against me. I will always remember these things about you. You are amazing.

"Monkey Whistles"

My sweet little boy, you have gotten so big. You now weigh 11lbs and 3 oz. and measure 22-1/2 inches long. I still can't believe that you were once curled up into a tight little ball in my belly. You leave me in awe everyday by the things that you do and the new things that you are constantly learning. I feel so lucky to be your momma. Will, I love you.

A day at the park...

The weather recently has just been gorgeous! It's been nice having Kyle home with me while on maternity leave. We are able to do things during the day that we normally couldn't have done. A few days ago we went to the local park for a picnic and a nice walk. Our little guy slept through most of the outing. Here's a few photos we snapped.

Peanut's first ball hat. Uncle Ryan would be proud!

I love my boys!

Today we took our annual trip the the Wayne County Fair! We munched on fried veggies and had to get an apple dumpling before we headed out! Yummy!! We always go and take pictures of my nieces in front of the giant tractor wheels. Why break tradition? Every year we will be able to see how much he grows! He looks so tiny now.

Peanut's Arrival

I was thirty seven weeks and three days pregnant and had a little over two weeks left to go before our little guy was due. I had been having contractions for weeks, nothing to time or keep track of yet. I had a routine check-up scheduled for today. My doctor decided to check my cervix to see if there was any progress. He had asked me what the baby's name was and I told him that it was William Alexander. He responded with, "Well you know where he lives and you know his name, all you have to do now is send him an eviction notice!" After my exam, to my surprise, he said that I was dilated to two cm and was seventy percent effaced. I left the office feeling good and uplifted. All of the women that I know all went over their due dates with no signs of labor. I returned home and told Kyle the news. I remember that he didn't seem as excited as I was at the time. I think that it was more anxiety rather than excitement. Reality finally hit us at that moment. We were going to be parents in just a few weeks...or so we thought!
I still needed to do countless tasks before our little one arrived. Packing my hospital bag and writing out my thank you cards from my baby shower from the week before were at the top of that list. I had plans to pack that night! We went to the store and bought the thank you cards. We didn't feel like making dinner so we went through Wendy's drive-thru. I'm so glad that we didn't go in to eat! On our way home Kyle was making to laugh hysterically about a game he plays. We arrived home and as ALL pregnant women do, I needed to empty my bladder, afterwards I noticed a little trickle of fluid. It was 6:45PM and I told Kyle that I thought that my water had just broke. His eyes enlarged to the size of half dollars! Not knowing for sure if it had broke, we searched the internet! After a little research, I assumed that it had, Kyle told me to go lay down as he frantically packed our bag for the hospital. I had been lying there for about ten minutes and decided to get up and grab a going home outfit for our little man. When I stood up, there was a gush of fluid and there was no doubt in my mind that my water had definitely broke! I called the doctor and we quickly finished packing things up and headed to the hospital. I remember on the way there Kyle asked me, "So, is there a chance that they would send us back home if you aren't in actual labor yet?" in which I replied, "Nope. This is it. Within 24 hours we are going to have our baby!"
We arrived at the hospital around 8PM. After they determined that my water had definitely broke, they admitted me and started an IV, three painful sticks later it was finally in place. They hooked me up to the monitor and watched my contractions. They were still weak but 3-4 minutes apart and getting stronger. They just decided to let me go and see how things progressed. Throughout the night I got little sleep through my increasing contractions. Around 2AM, I was 5 cm dilated and I received IV medication to help me rest. My nurse at the time said that the medication was fast acting and makes you feel as though you are drunk. It was nice and took the edge off the pain. I was checked again around 7AM and was now at 7cm. My doctor came in to see me and he decided to jump start my labor by administering Pitocin. While he was in, he felt the little guy within my belly and said that he feels like average size. I then told him that I had an ultrasound last week and his estimated weight was 7lbs and 3oz. Dr. Brandau said, "Oh, that's a good weight, very average." I went for a hour and a half with strong contractions before deciding on an epidural. It was 8:30AM when it was put in. With the epidural, I felt more comfortable as my contractions increased. Five hours later, about one in the afternoon, I was finally completely dilated! I thought, "Yes, I am so ready for this to be over with, I want to meet my son!" Little to my dismay, he was too high in the birth canal for me to even start pushing. I remember thinking that he never wanted to come out and meet us! They increased the pitocin and had to put more meds through my epidural because by this time is was wearing off...very fast!
Finally around 3:45PM he descended down far enough for me to start pushing. Amy, who was my nurse at the time and was coaching me, made the first comment about little peanut by saying, "He has dark hair!" I thought, "Ha, to all of the family that said he would have RED hair!" Dr. Brandau was called to come in at 4:10PM to deliver him. Along with my doctor came a busy force of a few nurses and a delivery cart. We even had a few extra nurses from the special care nursery present because I was delivering early. When everyone was ready, the pushing began. I was so excited to finally see my little boy that it only took about five times of me pushing with the contractions to deliver him. My doctor was pretty surprised to see how big he was. As soon as peanut was born he blurted out in shock,"How big did you say he was last week?!" I responded with "Ultrasound said 7lbs 3oz." Without seeing my little guy yet I wasn't too sure what he meant. He said, "Oh, no he is much larger than what the ultrasound states. He's a big boy!" The doctor let Kyle cut the umbilical cord. Kyle later commented on how much larger and tougher the cord was than what he had expected. I was glad that he cut the cord, I wasn't sure if he was willing to do so. For him not having anything to do with blood or needles, he did great through the whole thing. Soon after the cord was cut, Kyle and I looked at each other in pure awe and amazement that our little boy was born. At that very moment we heard his cry for the first time and as a family we all cried together.
My pregnancy and birthing journey was over. Twenty-two hours of labor and a half hour of pushing and there he was. Born at 4:26PM weighing 9lbs and 5oz and was 19inches long. I too was shocked when they told me his weight. I would have never guessed he would be that big at two and a half weeks early. William Alexander, you wandered into our hearts since the time you were the size of a peanut. Now your journey through life had just begun as our sweet little boy!