He's Here!

After a ridiculously fast labor and delivery (which I will post about later), we welcomed the newest member of our family:

Joshua Todd Maxwell
Born October 25th at 1:48 AM
5 lb, 2 oz and 18 1/2 inches long



Apparently we are a "one size fits all" family with both boys hitting the exact same weight. Josh is over an inch shorter than his big brother is, so not as scary skinny, but still a tiny little guy. We are infinitely more relaxed this time and enjoying the wonder of new life. We are having a quiet, peaceful day at St Charles and expect to be home tomorrow.

Grandmas are Great

It's a week of awesome grandmas around here. Scott's mom stopped by on her way down to a California wedding last week and is back this week helping out. I've been able to put in a couple extra half days at work while she watches Owen - may seem silly, but it SIGNIFICANTLY lowers my stress level to check the stuff off my list at work. Last week, we made freezer meals, and this week she's cleaned my house from top to bottom. On one hand, it's pretty embarrassing to have someone see the "ick" we've been living in (in our defense, I wasn't doing any cleaning in the midst of the big painting project). On the other hand, having someone witness the mess up close is TOTALLY worth it for the sparkling result in the end.

AND...

On the other side of the world, my mom is busy playing soccer in the World Masters Games in Sydney. Her over 50 team of women from Seattle and the East Coast seems to be dominating with a 5-0 record so far and not a single goal allowed. Thursday they play the other top team and then Friday is the semis. Of course, my mom is the one who managed to get a concussion in game #4 and is (thankfully) being smart to sit out a few games. She may be back on the field if they make Sunday's final.

Not to be discounted, the grandpas are getting in on the action as well. Jeff comes into town on Thursday and will join us at Friday's Pumpkin Patch field trip before driving back to Seattle with Ethel. My dad heads off to Sydney on Sunday and, in addition to enjoying the sights, I think his main challenge will be to keep my mom from catching an early plane back to Seattle. As much as we would like them here when baby arrives, I would feel awful if they cut their vacation short only to loiter here in Bend waiting for a baby that decides to take his time. Or worse, get here and find out that the H1N1 restrictions* don't allow them in the hospital. Message to Baby - WAIT for November 1.

*We found out this week that the hospital has restricted visitors to "immediate family members 13 years and older." We don't yet know that that means for grandparents. =( We DO know that Owen won't be allowed to meet baby brother until we bring him home. In addition to missing out on those classic photos of our family snuggled on the hospital bed, I'm going to be missing my kiddo like crazy and pushing to get baby out of that virus factory and home (to our clean house!) ASAP.

Baby Progress Report

I'm 35 weeks pregnant. Baby #2 is officially due November 12, but we started having some indicators this week that this baby will not stay (or be allowed to stay) where he is for that long. My doctor and I are hoping for at least November 1 as I will be past the 38 week mark (best for lung development), finished with work (best for my stress level), and my mom will be back from Australia (best for a successful labor).

The relevant history: Owen had IUGR (inter-uterine growth restriction), and was statistically a low birth weight baby (less than 5 1/2 pounds full term). Basically, he stopped growing in the last few weeks of pregnancy, and I was induced at 38 weeks because he was showing signs of distress. Our scrawny kid was beautiful in our eyes, but most full term babies have chubby legs...

People keep looking at me and saying, "You're 35 weeks?! You look tiny." Yes, a compliment, but also a good summary of the potential challenges. Over the last month, my belly has grown very little and I'm not putting on weight. Awesome for losing baby weight later, but not so awesome for the end of pregnancy when the baby is supposed to be doing two things: finishing lung development and PUTTING ON WEIGHT.

For those reasons, we are watching this baby's growth a bit more closely this time around. I was measuring on track through 32 weeks - yea! - but my measurement was starting to lag at this week's doctor visit. We had an ultrasound at 34 weeks that showed baby was about 1 1/2 weeks behind in growth. Not that big of a deal, as nobody expects me to grow an 8 pound baby. What will be more important is whether baby shows good growth between now and our follow-up ultrasound on October 19.

I also had my first session hooked up to the monitors this week and we discovered that some of the "baby stretching" that I've been feeling is actually contractions. Not frequent, not painful, and thankfully not producing any action that would land me on bed rest, but enough that I should be aware. As my doctor said, "Maybe this baby will show up early on his own and we won't have to push him along." Wait for November 1 please!

What it means: I will likely be spending quality time attached to the monitors at each of my weekly doctor visits. This will gage my contractions and also watch for slow baby heart rates that would indicate distress. If all looks good, we'll just keep waiting for a natural occurring later. If we see challenges, then I get to make more frequent visits to the doctor (yea!), all the while trying not to stress out about the things that I'm NOT getting done while sitting in their little closet of a monitoring room. Maybe I can bring my laptop and get some work done...

Bellies

I'm not one to take belly shots throughout my pregnancy. I kind of wish I had, but I can't go back now. However, in Seattle I did get to connect with two dear friends who are also expecting boys in the next month or so. Amy and I got this pic after our night out with Liz. She's due any day, so she would have been about 36 weeks in this pic and I at 32...
Doesn't she look great? I'm stretching to try and hide the double chin, but Amy is slender except for that baby belly.

Sheri and I also got a great pic at her baby shower. She's due just 5 days after me, but is such a tiny little thing that her belly has no where to go but straight out. So cute.
Someone's camera also has a picture of Tara and I from her shower two weeks ago. They welcomed baby Ian into the world Sunday night - Hooray! What a treat to have all these little ones joining us in the next couple weeks.

Getting Ready for #2

Things we are doing to prepare for baby #2:

Reading - we decided to get Owen used to the idea of a new baby by first reading books. My favorite so far has been "Cornelius P Mud, Are you Ready for Baby?" The others at the library haven't impressed me - mostly because they have full pages of words, and don't quite work with a 2 year old with a short attention span. I've gotten good recommendations for "We have a Baby" and "I'm a Big Brother" so maybe those will be in my next Amazon shipment.

Talking - Owen now says that mommy has a baby in her tummy. Good start.

Big Boy Bed - we bought a great little bed for Owen at Ikea and figured we'd build it for him in the fall, but he was really protesting going to sleep in the crib last week. Always wanted to sleep on the floor or in our bed. We thought we'd try setting up the bed and give him the choice of where to sleep for a month or two. Well, after helping us build the bed, he was so stoked that he took a nap in it that afternoon and hasn't looked back.


For the first few days, I don't think he knew he could climb out of the bed, but now Scott has deemed him the "Sleeping Ninga." When he decides to climb out of bed, he is SILENT. Our only warning in the morning is the clanging of his door handle, and last night he showed up in the kitchen (15 minutes after I put him to bed), grinning, and declared, "I have GOOD nap!" Scott and I were both fighting hard to keep the laughter at bay on that one. It looks like we have some bedtime battles ahead of us, but we've seen SuperNanny.


Baby Doll - Owen got to pick out his own baby doll last weekend. He was pretty excited, and knew just how to give the baby a bottle and put her down on the couch to rest. It made me realize that he's been around a TON of babies at daycare, so maybe we're in better shape than I thought.

Other Stuff - We're thinking about putting both kids in the same room. The more I read about the idea, the better it sounds, but we'll just have to see how it goes. I had high hopes of getting rid of the binky and tackling potty training before the baby arrives, but those things may not make the timeline.

What's missing from this list:
Anything relating to preparing ourselves for the baby. Oops. All those things that were all consuming in a first pregnancy have gone out the window this time around. I guess a 2-year old demands a bit more attention than a baby in the belly, though this baby is doing his best to make himself known though some wicked acid reflux for mom. (Ironic note of the day: I just got prescribed the same medication that Owen was on for 6 months as a baby.) We've talked a teensy bit about names and I made my list of "stuff" we need for this baby - 4 items - but I think it's a really good sign that my energy is focused on things other than stressing about having a newborn. We've done this before... and survived. There's something so comforting in that simple statement.

It's a...

Boy!

We had our ultrasound today to get a sneak peak (or an amazingly detailed look) at Baby #2. Both Scott and I felt genuinely excited for either gender - we love raising a boy and we would love to have a girl. While I had quite a few "girl" dreams, this baby is definitely a boy. Hooray! (Truth be told, it's probably better that my dreams didn't become reality as they were all "its a girl...with no brain" or "its a girl...with only 3 limbs" type dreams.) The best part is that this little guy looks wonderfully formed and is growing completely on track. Since Owen was so tiny, we'll have another ultrasound at 34 weeks to see how things are going, but it's a great relief to know things look great so far.

It's really amazing to think that this baby is only 10 oz right now, but we can already see every finger, rib, vertebrae, and kidney. The tech was measuring things like the space between parts of his brain and how thick his skin is a the base of his neck. Awesome. Beautiful.

True to form, the little guy was supper active, practically running in place and doing stomach crunches. I haven't felt any movement yet, but it looks like I'm in for a bumpy ride once he gets a little bigger. My ribs are already cringing just thinking about what the next 5 months will bring. But we are excited to know that after we get through the next four or five months, we'll get to meet another little boy.

P.S. Don't hold your breath waiting for a name announcement. That will show up on the same day this baby does. =)

Announcement, Announcement, Announcement

The news is out: Maxwell baby #2 is headed our way in mid-November!

We got to see the baby heartbeat on the old school doctor's office ultrasound today, but that grainy, beating image was a wonderful sight. (With the history of twins in this family, it was also a relief to see just one growing baby - few!) I was amazed at how big the baby already looked and can't wait to see some more detailed shots at our 20 week ultrasound.

The second time around is so, so, so different. On the one hand, I've been feeling a lot more exhausted and ill than I ever did with Owen. On the other had, there's just not the concern, confusion, and head-spinning desire to devour information that you have with a first pregnancy. It's a great relief to know that I have done this before and that there are more knowns than unknowns. We got to look forward to all the little milestones along the way (first movement, learning the sex, kicking, even baby hiccups). Let the countdown (or up) begin... 10 weeks down, 30 to go.