Friday, October 28, 2011

Sweet Big Brother

This was Perry's first time holding Mills. He thought it was so funny at first, but his interest only lasted a short minute.



Sunday, October 16, 2011

Brothers



Perry is so great with his baby brother and it has been such a blessing and joy to see him love on Mills. The first day we were home from the hospital Perry was acting out and wasn't himself, but ever since he's been perfect! When Mills isn't with me, Perry will often ask for the "babeee". He has also been wanting to help us do things for Mills. When Mills was crying the other day, Perry went and found a paci and tried to give it to him. I don't think he's ever seen us give Mills a paci, so I was very impressed that he thought to do that. When Alex and I got home from Mills' doctor appointment, Perry greeted us in the garage and insisted on helping Alex carry the carseat inside. I'm sure I'll continue to be blown away at Perry's love and maturity. He will always be my sweet baby, but he is definitely demonstrating that he can be a wonderful big brother too!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

First Days Home

Things have been going well since we got home last Sunday. Alex's mom stayed with us until Wednesday and my mom helped out the remainder of the week. It was so nice to have their help and I'm really going to miss it!


Alex and I gave Mills his first bath this week and he did NOT like it, as you will be able to tell from the pictures. He didn't like his second bath either, so I guess we will just have to get used to the blood-curdling screams every time we bathe him.

Poor boy! I really do feel sorry for him.

Mills' Birthday

The day started off very early. Alex and I left the house a little before 5 am and headed to the hospital.
 last belly picture

I got situated in my labor and delivery room and they started the induction around 6:30. I started contracting very easily and wasn't in much pain. Then at 8:30, Dr W. came and checked me. I was about 4 cm and 80-90% effaced, so he went ahead and broke my water. When my next contraction came, I realized I needed my epidural ASAP! My contractions had gone from uncomfortable and mildly painful to EXTREMELY painful in a matter of seconds. The next 15 minutes or so were miserable. I was having such frequent contractions and my body was tingling and shaking from the pain, so Dr. W. had the nurse turn off the Pitocin. Soon thereafter, the anesthesiologist arrived and brought me relief. I'm telling you, Pitocin is brutal! When my water broke with Perry, I wasn't on Pitocin. Those contractions were painful, but they were in no way as severe as these. Anyways, after a while, my nurse came in to check on things and realized she never turned the Pitocin back on. I was contracting away in a good pattern, so she didn't resume the drip and I just labored naturally (with pain medication, of course) until Mills was born. I was so thankful that everything went smoothly and that Mills entered the world as a big, healthy boy!
 What a wonderful moment!!
Alex walked out to the waiting area to share the news. Perry was happy to see his Dada.
Happy Birthday!
We were able to spend a little time with the baby in the room, but they ended up taking him to the nursery for observation since his respirations were a little rapid at times. He checked out just fine, but because of the time it took to get him back down to my room, Perry missed meeting him. I'm so sad we didn't get any pictures of the four of us that night. 

Perry was so sweet to bring me flowers and balloons.
The following day, Perry came up to the hospital and got to meet his baby brother. He was excited and interested in the baby and was so sweet with him!
 Perry had to immediately call all his friends and tell them about the baby.
 The first of many kisses!
I really cherish those first couple days we spent bonding with our sweet baby Mills.

Friday, October 14, 2011

He's Here!!!!

William "Mills" Burke was born on Friday, October 7, 2011 at 4:55pm. 7 lbs 14 oz and 19 3/4 in. He is absolutely perfect and we are so in love!!!


Thursday, October 6, 2011

The Day Before

Well, tomorrow is going to be the big day! I went to the doctor this morning and I was nearly 4cm/90% effaced so we decided to go ahead and schedule an induction. My doctor fears that we could have a home birth or parking lot delivery if we wait much longer. It's so surreal knowing that we are going to be having a baby tomorrow! I was able to accomplish a couple last-minute errands today but spent a lot of time at the house talking on the phone and relaxing. Being that this is my last day with just Perry, I decided we needed to do something special. When I picked him up from MDO, we headed to the new Counter Culture for a treat and then picked up a couple new toys at Tuesday Morning. It was such a sweet time for me...Perry had no idea of the significance. Then, this evening the 3 of us went to dinner at Newks.
Perry enjoying a Humphry
Alex and I have to wake up super early tomorrow, so I should go to bed now. I doubt I'll sleep a wink, but at least I can say I tried.

Monday, October 3, 2011

38 weeks

Wow! This will very likely be my last weekly update. I had my cerclage removed this morning at my doctors office and it went fine. It wasn't the most pleasant experience, but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Glad it's behind me now! For the last day or two, I've been feeling like labor is just around the corner. Now that my cerclage is out, I'm thinking these contractions will probably help me progress to the point of active labor. Doctor said the baby is very low today (0 station) and I was 1 1/2 cm dilated and 80% effaced. I'm starting to feel all the end of the road pregnancy symptoms too--heartburn and nausea, waddling, feeling like there's a bowling ball weighing me down, and the worst of all is my back pain. Carrying all this extra weight in the front is really taking a toll on my back and I'm sure it's worse for me since I've been on bed rest for so long and haven't had the chance to work up my strength. Enough complaining...on to more exciting things...
Alex and I went on a date to Superior Steakhouse on Saturday night. We decided to sit in the bar and have a more relaxed time. It was fun to get out and spend the evening together. We tried to enjoy every second knowing this would probably be our last date for a while.
It's SO crazy to think that we will probably be meeting our baby boy this week. I think 10-4 sounds like a good day to be born. If the baby decides that tomorrow is good for him, I would be happy. I think we are as ready as we will ever be, so we are just praying that God would bring our son into the world when He sees fit.