Four Weeks Old

Four weeks have flown by since Liam was born...my little baby is going to be one month old on Monday!

Liam was weighed on Tuesday of this week, and he is up to 7 pounds 10 ounces - more than one pound bigger than he was at birth. It's funny to think that he is still smaller than a lot of our friends' babies at their birth!

Some pictures from the past week:

Meeting Great Grandma Dot

Mike holding Liam at Bunco

Sleeping in his new swing (aka one of God's greatest inventions)

Liam's First Bath

Liam's umbilical cord stump finally fell off this past weekend, so we went ahead and gave him a full-fledged bath last night. Fun times! I'm not sure if Liam was too crazy about the whole thing, but he didn't really cry...mostly just looked shocked and confused about what we were doing to him.

Our little guy makes us laugh all of the time - it's so much fun to see him explore and make sense of his new world!

Two Weeks Old!

Liam turned 2 weeks old on Friday - hard to believe he's already been with us for that long!

We took him to his two week appointment with the doctor, and not only did he pee all over the table while we were there (again - this also happened at the first appointment on July 8), but he surpassed his birth weight! Liam was up to 6 pounds 13 ounces on Friday, which was great news!

Here are some updated pictures of our little man:

Liam is here!

I can't believe it has taken me almost two weeks to post Liam's birth announcement on here - time flies with a newborn!

We were blessed with a perfect baby boy, William Ralph, at 8:15 AM on Friday, July 3, 2009. He weighed in at 6 pounds 9 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long. We're calling him Liam, which is the Irish nickname for William.

The c-section went well. The worst part about it was getting the spinal tap beforehand, but that was just uncomfortable, not painful. I was shaking uncontrollably in the operating room before they gave me the spinal tap - probably from nerves and because they keep those operating rooms so cold. My doctor held my hand while they did it, and that helped me calm down a bit so they could get the needle in. As soon as they did it, I could feel the lower half of my body go numb. When the screen went up, they brought Dave into the room, and he sat by my head the whole time.

The procedure itself was very quick, and all I could really feel was pressure. I could hear the doctors and nurses calling out times: 8:03 AM was the start of the procedure; at 8:07 the incision was made; and at 8:15 our sweet baby boy was born. Dave and I both started crying when we heard Liam cry for the first time, and then Dave went with Liam and the nurse. I can't even describe the feeling I had when Dave brought my little guy to me a couple of minutes later - it brings tears to my eyes just to write about it. It was the best feeling in the world, and I knew from that point on that life would never be the same.

We were released from the hospital on Monday, July 6. The hardest part about being home with him has been nursing him - definitely a lot more challenging than I had anticipated! But we're getting it figured out, and each day, we make a little more progress in that arena.

Dave and I are so in love with our little man - he's such a doll! I promise I'll post updates and pictures more frequently going forward - these first two weeks have just flown by in a blur!

Last Belly Picture!

I figured I should take one more belly picture before we have this kid on Friday, so here I am at 38 weeks and 4 days:

Mojo, The Little Stinker

Our kid is already being difficult...we found out at a growth ultrasound on Monday that Mojo is breech! The purpose of the ultrasound was to make sure he / she isn't too big due to my gestational diabetes - and Mojo was measuring just fine at 6 pounds 3 ounces - but to everyone's surprise, Mojo's head is where his / her bottom should be!

For weeks, my doctor and I both thought that it was Mojo's little bottom that frequently sticks out from the upper right side of my belly, but we were wrong - it's Mojo's little head. I've been doing all sorts of exercises and following the advice of old wives' tales this week in an effort to get Mojo to turn, but so far, no luck. At this point (37 weeks 6 days), there is little chance that the kid is going to turn, so the doctor has scheduled a c-section for next Friday, July 3 at 7:30 AM...and just like that, Mojo has a birthday! Crazy! July 3 is also my cousin Drew's birthday (hope you don't mind, Drew!), which I am proud to have our little one share because Drew is a cool guy - he has the same travel bug instilled in him that I do and has no fears when it comes to exploring our big, beautiful world - and I would love for Mojo to inherit the same passion for travel Drew and I share.

So, at this time next week, Dave and I will be parents…what a strange thing to say! Obviously, we’ve known Mojo was coming for quite a while now, but to actually know when this huge change is going to happen is surreal.

We’re planning to spend our last weekend sans child sleeping in, cleaning the house and going out for a couple of nice dinners. Hopefully, I’ll make one more post before our big day next Friday, but if I don’t, stay tuned for the birth announcement!

How Nina has been spending her time anticipating Mojo's arrival

37 Weeks - Full Term!

I cannot believe we're at 37 weeks...as of today, I'm considered "full term", meaning that if I went into labor at this point, my doctor would go ahead and deliver Mojo (and not try to stop labor). We have an ultrasound on Monday to see how big Mojo is (apparently, I measured a bit small at the last appointment). In any event, the reality is that Mojo could be here any day! We're ready for you!

Dave and I went downtown this afternoon to walk across the pedestrian bridge, get ice cream at Ted & Wally's and walk through a couple of condo models in Omaha's "Little Italy" neighborhood (just for the fun of it - we were curious). It was a really nice afternoon...it's strange to think it may have been the last leisurely afternoon we'll share together as just the two of us.