Friday Quick Takes (18)

I'll call this the "What my last 3 days have been like" edition

--- 1 ---

First of all, the hospital has been absolutely wonderful.  They gave us our own room and we got wristbands so that we are allowed to get the baby from the nursery and we're also allowed to have him in our room.  There have been a few especially sweet nurses.  That has made this so much easier.

--- 2 ---

I decided I needed a break today.  I'm staying home with Anna for the morning and hanging out like usual.  I missed her so bad.  And she is just thrilled that mom's home with her.  Jeremy went to the hospital to hang out with Anthony.

--- 3 ---

I spent the night with Anthony last night.  It was so nice to have one on one time with him.  Jeremy stayed home with Anna.  That also meant I didn't get any sleep again (I know, get used to it right :-).  So tonight we're switching and Jeremy's staying with him and I'm staying with the "sleep all night" toddler so that I can catch up a little bit.

--- 4 ---

I am beyond happy and excited.  And at the same time, I'm worn out and overwhelmed. 

--- 5 ---

One of the overwhelming things has been the birthmom.  She is a wonderful lady.  But she doesn't really have a need for alone time.  She basically wants us there all the time.  I'm glad she wants us to be a part of it, I really am.  But I'm on birthmom overload...  Maybe part of it is my exhaustion, but that's one of the reasons I just needed a break today.  She absolutely loves us (which is fantastic) but she also doesn't realize that we want a little alone time too.  Oh well, hopefully only one more day and we can bring him home!  I really am grateful that she's allowed us to have such a hands-on role in Anthony's birth and hospital stay.  I'm just tired and grumpy :-) and a little bit overwhelmed!

--- 6 ---

 Jeremy just called and said they're taking Anthony's newborn pictures.  I'm happy he got to be there for that.  He sounded so excited, what a fun father/son thing to do this morning!
 

--- 7 ---

We feel like part of J's family now...  Her mom's been there the whole time and we've met aunts, sister, friends, etc...  It's nice to know Anthony's background and get a glimpse into where he comes from.  I'm glad this is an open adoption.  It's hard not to be able to tell Anna's birthmom about how wonderful Anna is.  I wish I could tell her she's got a baby brother, I know having siblings was important to R.  I'm glad that Anthony will be able to know and see his birthmom regularly.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Anthony Xavier

After 28 hours of labor and finally a c-section,

Anthony Xavier

finally made his grand entrance.

He's a big boy at 8lbs 12oz and 22 inches long.  He is absolutely gorgeous and we are totally in love. 

It looks like birthfather issues may have worked themselves out, but prayers are still greatly appreciated.  We will post pictures after surrenders are signed, so not for at least 72 hours.

His birthmom is a strong lady.

4/5 - Updated

Update:  J's in there pushing right now.  It was a LONG night.  I'm running on empty, but super excited to meet this little guy!  Luckily Jeremy and Anna got great sleep.  And I miss my baby terribly.

Well, it looks like our son's birthday won't be till April 5...  Not much going on here, still sitting and waiting.  I sent Jeremy home with Anna to get some sleep.  I don't think I could sleep if I wanted to.

Labor Update

Today started off kinda crazy.  We woke up to Anna coughing like crazy.  She's had this cough for weeks now, but shd could hardly stop this morning.  So I rushed to the doctor's office real fast before we went to the hospital.  She's fine, just a cold, but I wanted to make sure it was nothing contagious before we (hopefully) bring a baby home!

So we've been here at the hospital since like 9.  We went home to hang out with Anna for a little while at lunch.  Leaving her has been hard.  We've never left her this long before (or really at all!). 

J has been on pitocin since like 8 this morning.  Last she was checked, she really hadn't had any change although she's having contractions pretty close together.  She was very chipper and chatty this morning.  But as the afternoon went on, you can tell it's wearing on her.

The hospital gave us a room so we've been hanging out here for a little while so that she can take a nap.  We're going to head out and get some dinner here in a little bit and hopefully come back to some action.

We're just hoping we have a baby tonight!

And it's looking like there could potentially be some birthfather issues, so please keep us in your prayers as more is figured out on that.  We're just hoping things go smoothly from here on out.  We know birthmom is very solid and so is her mom, but the birthfather situation makes us a little bit nervous. 

Hopefully I'll get a chance to update later.  We've actually been in the room with J most of the time, so I haven't really had time to post!

4/4

Apparently I had some posts already written and scheduled this week.  Apparently I thought it would be just a regular week!

We were wrong, not a regular week, we're having a baby tomorrow!  They scheduled an induction for tomorrow morning at 7am.  We're nervous and excited and impatient. 

We can't wait to meet our son.

And at the same time, spending so many hours away from Anna is making me extremely anxious.  We've never left her for more than an hour or two.  And that was always at or after bedtime.  But we're very fortunate to have wonderful family in town who would jump at the opportunity to watch her!

I'll try to keep the blog updated tomorrow.  If nothing else, for my parents and sister.  My parents went to Spain to visit my sister this week, what a week to be gone!  But I know they're enjoying their time with Julie.  And it's good motivation for me to keep updated!



And this is a random sidenote, but I think someone gave these kids goofy pills this morning.  Wow, they are being so silly!  Such a switch from yesterday, it was Whiny Monday!  I'd so much rather have Silly Tuesday!

Parish Switch

Jeremy and I have very recently switched parishes.  During Catholic Schools week here in town, we had a discussion about where we wanted to send Anna to school.  The answer was easy.  But the parish we were attending gives their parish money to one of the other Catholic schools in town. 

So we talked about switching, primarily for that reason.  We want Anna to go to Mass in the same parish that she attends school in.  It just makes sense.

However, today I was reaffirmed in one of our other reasons for doing so.  Most of our friends go to this parish.  We didn't really have friends who were our age and our stage in life that we saw reguarly at Mass at our old parish.  Obviously the reason we go to Mass is for the Eucharist.  However, a big part of my church experience as a child was the fellowship.  We, as children, actually looked forward to Mass each week.  We looked forward to seeing our friends at Mass.  Most of our relationships as children were built around what we hold most sacred as Catholics.  And I want that for my children as well.  We just weren't getting that at our old parish.

Now Anna will see all of her little friends each week, attending Mass.  It's so important to surround yourself with holy people to make yourself holier.  I want to surround my daughter with other children whose parents strive to make them holy as well. 

There are other reasons, including the awesome Adoration Chapel at our new parish, it's the parish I grew up in, the one my parents still attend, it's more conservative overall, and multiple others.  And we're happy that we've made the switch, it has been good for our souls :-).

Weekend

This past weekend was incredibly relaxing.  And the weather was GORGEOUS! 

We did some snuggling.

Some family bike riding with trips to the park.

And of course some wheel of fortune watching for Anna.  She's already claimed her spot on the couch.

And of course we've finished getting the house ready for another baby.  Including yard work, cleaning, organizing, purging and getting things out.

We also met with J again yesterday.  She just LOVES Anna.  Talking to her and her mom is just so comfortable.  They are really great people and I hope everything continues to go smoothly.