What a night

So last night we learned 3 things. Sydney has croup & asthma. The local ER clinic is wonderful. Joshua does not like it if I drink soda. (I had a nasty headache and killed it with my favorite combo-cola & lots of tylenol, but it was not well received.)

I was watching a movie last night with Karl and his mom and Josh. Josh was cranky, and finally we toddled off to my room to try and get him asleep. Karl & his mom finished the movie then heard Sydney upstairs coughing. We gave her a hit of Albuterol, but it didn't seem to work well, and so they went to the ER. Karl said by the time they got to the ER (5 minute drive) she was breathing better, but I am glad we did it since we have never had a doctor hear her in the middle of one of these episodes. The doctors gave her a nebulizer treatment, and some oral steroids to help her breathing settle down. They got back home & got Sydney settled in to bed around 1am. She coughed some more during the night, but seems much better this morning. Thr croup is contagious, but not too serious since there is no fever, and she is downright chipper! We just have to keep her from hanging on Josh, which she does pretty well by herself. She can't got to Primary tomorrow, and should be fine for school on Monday. Josh, once he finally fell asleep was wonderful for the rest of the night.

Doing well

So Josh is now a week old, and doing very nicely! He is getting a little chubbier around his cheeks and chin and is sleeping better at night now instead of staying awake from 12-3am. His sisters are doing very well having him home. Emily has complimented me on my tummy shrinking, but wants to know why it isn't small yet. I do too! I secretly hoped that under my very large belly lurked the body of supermodel which would magically reveal itself post delivery. Alas, my love of all things sweet has again proven to be my downfall. My supermodel body is currently hiding, but would be happy to reveal itself with just a bit more effort on my part!

Before Josh came, I had been stressing about dealing with a newborn. I had complained to friends that the newborn stage terrified me, and I really started enjoying them when they were a little bit less fragile. I had forgotten how much I love watching them sleep. I love the funny little faces they make, the way they stretch when they wake up, the way they smell after a bath, and all those uniquely newborn things. I also love that they sleep almost all day! So for now I am happy to snuggle with my little munchkin as he is sleeping and enjoy the quiet time during the day while the girls are at school!

Joshua Edward Pilz is finally here!

Monday the 15th at 4:32pm, Josh was born. he weighed in at 8lbs almost 11 oz (10.8) and 21.5 inches long. Labor went really well once it got started. Just like with the girls, I had false labor a few days earlier. I went in to the hospital on Tuesday thinking it was the real deal, and it really quite convincing, but I never got past a 3 so they sent me home assuring me it would happen any day now. I went walking almost everyday at the YMCA hoping he would just fall out due to my friend gravity, but no luck. At my appointment on Friday, I was at a 4, but not having regular contractions, so I went home again this time sure it would happen over the weekend.

On Monday, Mom (who sweetly came Thursday responding to my distress call Tuesday) and I planned to go stroller shopping. But as I was getting out of the shower, my water broke. So, that ended the shopping trip, but yeah it brought home Karl from work and I finally got admitted to the hospital.

Just like with Sydney, despite water breaking, I wasn't having hard contractions for the first 2 hours. I was in pain from my hip so asked to get my lovely epidural in before things really got rolling since I was at a 5 when I was checked in. After a few hours at the hospital we decided to start the pitoccin to get the ball rolling. That ramped things up quite nicely, and so an hour or so later, my wonderful doctor came to check me again, and did something magical with her exam which took me from an "Oh this isn't comfy, but I can still watch a movie in between contractions" status to "Oh my gosh, I'm having a baby RIGHT NOW." After a few minutes to get ready and set up, I was off and pushing and he was born after only a few pushes.

The girls came by with Mom that evening to see him. Both girls oohed and ahhed over him which was really fun! They seemed shocked at how cute & how small he was. However when asked if they wanted to hold him, they back pedaled away as fast as possible! Sydney just shock her head, but Emily, being her funny self, replied "I'm not big enough. Maybe when I am 12" That just made me laugh! It did not occur to her that when she is 12 her 6 year old brother probably won't want to sit on her lap:)

They kept me there in the hospital until today, partially because they like to keep new moms 48 hours, but mostly because they were concerned about his "large" size and whether or not he would have blood sugar issues at the 40 hour point. I thought he was normal size for one of my munchkins, but they have a better safe than sorry policy I guess. We scampered home a few hours earlier after promising we would take him to the doctor on Friday. Not that he ever had any issues with his vital signs, but, oh well. He is happy to nurse, doesn't cry too much, which I am sure will change very soon!

So now we are all home & very happy, if very tired. Mom has a link on flickr for some very cute pictures that she took at the hospital. click here

School Days are here again!

This morning Emily and Sydney were up and dressed and finished eating their cereal at 6:45. We picked out outfits last night, and I started getting lunches ready then. I was hoping to sleep in until 7am, but instead we got rolling as a family at 6:45! Emily had her backpack on at 7:00 and did not understand why I would ever suggest that maybe it could wait another hour until the bus was in our neighborhood.

So we brushed hair, double checked backpacks, added some clothes to Sydney's bag, brushed teeth, finished lunches and read two stories to kill some time. I went upstairs to get my camera, and got sidetracked on hunting down my sneakers so when I heard a bus rumble up around 8 am, I was surprised. Luckily I was downstairs, saw the route number and yelled for Sydney to come get on the bus. Very nice! So she came running down, I chatted with the bus drive about normal route times, since her route was the one I could not find in the paper, and took a few quick pictures. She was a tiny bit nervous at first, but not terribly nervous. I think riding the bus last year helped her out a lot! Our only major mistake today, other than not being outside, was forgetting to stick her name tag around her neck. I hope the bus driver catches that before she gets to school!

Emily of course was outside when Sydney left with her lunch box in hand. We waited the 10 more minutes and the neighborhood kids and their parents all waited taking pictures and laughing about the first day of school. Our cats were out amusing all the other kids, and everyone was excited. Emily was probably more nervous about the bus ride than Sydney was, but as soon as it came, she got in line and marched on the bus to find a seat. One quick wave, and she was off! After the bus drove away, on other the other moms started to cheer. Oddly enough, it was harder to see your kids get on the bus, than it was to take them to school and walk them to class. I wonder why!