Nicholas Week 2

How has another week passed so quickly?!?!

Sunday was our first day together just the four of us.  We had a nice breakfast together and then had cousin Emily stay for the day to visit.  She was able to participate in the first bath and also got to snuggle with a VERY sleepy Nicholas for the rest of the day.  The first bath was not very enjoyable for Nicholas (the water temp cooled off quickly) but he did enjoy having his hair washed.  Mikey helped with a washcloth of his own, washing his arms and belly (and then made a big watery mess on the floor!). 

On Monday, Daddy worked from home in the afternoon (Mommy juggled you and your brother for the first time that morning "all by myself") and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were spent home with Mommy while Mikey went to Eva's House.  On Thursday afternoon, Mimi arrived for a few days to help out while Daddy had lots of work to attend to (moving his Peabody office on Friday and  having an all day conference on Monday). "Papa Fred" came for the weekend, too. 

On Friday, December 14 you had your two week check-up at the pediatrician's office.  You currently weigh 8 lbs 3 oz and are 20" long (why they say "long" and not "tall" is beyond me).  We went together while Mimi and Mikey went to My Gym.  The nurse practioner was very impressed with your weight gain (about an ounce/day).  My concerns revolved around the fact that you only nurse on one side (not a problem since you are gaining weight), your red tushy (due to your constant pooping schedule), and the fact that you do not want to sleep at night (we deduced that it was possibly too quiet since during the day we are so LOUD to keep you up!  The NP recommended using a white noise machine to add some noise and help you sleep better).  One night you and I slept in 20 minute chunks.  You tend to sleep better in the pack n' play versus the cradle upstairs (with the incline/positioner) at night, so Mommy or Daddy will take you down there to avoid waking your brother and letting the other parent sleep.  During the day you will sleep ANYWHERE. 

You still only cry when you are hungry or when you have gas/poop.  You love being cleaned up with warm water (I'm not bathing you since your skin is still peeling and a little dry) and watching your big brother do ANYTHING---play, sing, eat, etc.  One night we all layed in Mommy and Daddy's bed and Mikey, Mommy and Nicholas all read books together.  This week Mikey is really interested in giving you kisses and including you in the routine.  Then there are other times when he wants Mommy and Daddy's attention to himself---which is very appropriate---you are very cooperative with sharing our time.

On the few occassions that you have been in the car (three times this week MAXIMUM and that only includes driving Mikey to Eva's--you aren't even taken out of the car--or to your doctor's appointment),  you have slept the entire time.

In your two weeks of life you have already become a celebrity.  One of the pictures that I took last week was of you in your new outfit from Uncle Timmy and Emily.  You made a funny expression when I took the picture and knew Uncle Timmy would enjoy it.  He showed it to his co-workers at the newspaper and now that picture is a daily running advertisement for others to wish a "Happy 1st Christmas" to other babies in the area.  Between the "Post Star" newspaper and all the pictures Grandma Anita has been circulating throughout her school building, you are definitely the most talked about "celebrity" of the week.....hands down.

And here are more "Pictures of the Day" for week 2:

First bath

Big Brother helping out

I cried most of the time excluding getting my hair washed

                             

                            

                              

 Meeting cousin Emily

                                           

Nicholas Week 1

Dear Nicholas,

Our first week with you has been a dream!  We stayed 2 nights in the hospital and then brought you home on Sunday, December 2.  In the hospital it was the same business as usual: you slept, we worked on the breastfeeding techniques (it's amazing how much I forgot in three years!) and we had lots of visiting time with your brother, grandparents, Uncle Timmy, the "two Emily's" (cousin Emily and girlfriend Emily!) and Bob & Katie Perniola.

Once you were home you were either sleeping, eating or pooping.  You cried mostly when you had gas/needed to poop.  Once it passed, you were quiet as a mouse.  You do A LOT more sleeping than your brother ever did.  During the day, I would wake you to nurse every three hours and overnight you slept for one 4 hour long-stretch and then woke about every three hours otherwise.  After your 6:00ish morning feed, you tended to have another long stretch of sleep (until 9) which helped immensely as Mikey was then waking up and needed to get ready for the day.

Grandma Anita stayed with us for the week and spoiled us as usual.  Auntie came on Sunday night and stayed until Tuesday of your first week as well.  They went grocery shopping for us, made all the meals, played with "Big Brother Mikey", helped us get all of your baby "stuff" organized/washed/put together, and of course, snuggled with you!  "Bob" also helped when he came back the following weekend with a list that I compiled for him!  (He wasn't allowed to leave until the list was complete!)  Needless to say they were a HUGE help and I was sad to see them go. 

While Grandma was here, you participated in your first "Face Time" session with some of Grandma's co-workers!  We also strived to get the ideal "picture of the day" to send to family and friends.  I think the camera made you look 10 pounds heavier---and I thought that only happened to people on TV.  You have chubby cheeks but some of the pics make you look really chubby.  Make no mistake...chubby cheeks or not....you are perfect no matter what!

On Tuesday, December 4, you had your first outing to the pediatrician's office for the standard weight check.  Daddy met us there.  You left the hospital weighing 7 lbs 8 oz and at this appointment you went back up to 7 lb 10.2 oz.  This was a huge relief for Mommy since I was very paranoid after caring for your brother and his weight gain issues in the beginning.  No worries with you, my friend!  Even if you only eat on one side, you are obviously getting what you need!  Eat up!

Here are some shots from your first week:

Making the "o" face with Auntie

This picture made Nicholas famous in the newspaper in Queensbury.  Uncle Timmy used it for an ad at work!

Dinnertime

The big brother NOT cooperating for the camera (there was a lot of this behavior going on this week)

Nicholas Patrick Scialabba

He's here!  The newest member of our little family has arrived!  Nicholas Patrick Scialabba was born on Friday, November 30 at 1:25 pm weighing 7 lb 15.6 oz (which was rounded to 8 lbs) and 20" long at 38 weeks gestation. He is absolutely perfect.

Prior to his arrival we had two false alarms.  The first was on Thanksgiving as I was having a sharp, constant pain in my abdomen and around my right side to my back.  It would last for a few hours at a time and then taper off for a bit before coming back.  Unfortunately that meant I spent all of Thanksgiving on the couch (either sleeping or watching football) and was unable to participate in Thanksgiving dinner with Michael and Mikey.  (I had made most of the food the day before with the exception of the turkey that Mike prepared on Thursday.)  My boys took excellent care of me.  By the next day I was back to my regular self and my midwife believes I had some sort of GI issue.  The following week (Thursday, November 29) we went to the doctor since I thought my water had broken. No such luck.  I learned I was 2 cm dilated and was sent home disappointed and frustrated.  I was so disappointed that the baby wasn't coming yet and the frustration stemmed from the fact that I kept thinking all of these symptoms were "it".  I vowed on Thursday that I wasn't going to call or text anyone until I was actually in the hospital giving birth.  And then Friday morning rolled around.....

The contractions started to wake me up at 1:35 am.  I kept a log on the notes section of my iPhone with when I felt a contraction and then would time them and indicate the pain level.  From 1:35 until 4:00 am the contractions were coming between 10-12 minutes apart, lasting for one minute and were increasing in intensity as time elapsed.  By 5 am the contractions were coming closer together (8 minutes apart) and I was in pain, so we called the hospital.  As I got up and went downstairs the pain and contractions weren't as bad---leading me to believe I was having yet another false alarm.  I spoke to my midwife (Michele) and she suggested calling back in an hour to check in.  45 minutes later I was still in pain and I called to say I was coming in.  We woke up Mikey, gathered my bags, I packed some activities and breakfast items for M and we left.  As we got in the car at 6 am we called "cousin Emily" at Boston College and asked her to meet us at the hospital to take care of Mikey, just as we had planned on her doing.  Thank goodness for Emily.

We checked in quickly and waited for Michele to get me in the waiting room.  They brought me into a pre-admission room to hook me up to a monitor and see what was going on.  As I got into bed, Emily arrived and Mike took them down to the car to go home.  When Mike left I started crying to Michele saying that I was afraid this was another false alarm.  After a quick (and painful) examination, it was determined that I was 4cm dilated and I was in fact in labor!  She admitted me and then left for her two week vacation to Hawaii.  Lucky lady.  (This is when we called our parents and notified them that I was in the hospital.  We got a hold of my Dad who then contacted my Mom.  My mother was on the way to work, pulled over to call her school and tell them she wouldn't be in and then drove home to meet Dad and drive up to Boston.  They arrived around 1 pm.  "Papa Fred" was at work and said he would come as soon as he could and Mimi left Queensbury by herself and headed straight to Wellesley to check in on Emily and Mikey.)

The midwife who was covering the maternity floor after Michele was named Suzanne Wright.  She was familiar to me since I had seen her a few times for my prenatal appointments.  It was so nice to have a familiar person be involved in such an important event.

I'll spare you the nitty gritty details of the actual labor and delivery.  I will disclose that there was an epidural involved (thank GOD for that!) and I had to use oxygen in between pushes.  I pushed for an hour and twenty-five minutes prior to meeting little Nicholas....but he was worth it!!

Big brother Mikey was able to meet him just a short time after he was born and he was ready to take on his new role.  When I was pregnant Mikey would talk to my belly and say "Baby!  It's time to come out!  You're ready now!".  When Mikey came into the labor and delivery room and saw Nicholas he said "He came out now!".

And now for some pictures....

Mikey eating his breakfast in the waiting room.  He has no idea what is about to happen!

Mommy and Nicholas

Proud big brother!  He couldn't wait to hold him!

"Bob" and Nicholas

Gran-ma Anita and Nicholas

Papa Fred & Nicholas

                              

Nicholas & Mimi

Uncle Timmy & Emily (my own personal midwife!)

Giraffe hat!

Wearing my special "coming home" outfit that Grandma bought me

Ready to go home!

Two kids in the backseat!!!  We are officially a family of FOUR!!

Great Grandparents come to visit!

We were lucky enough to spend two days with Michael's paternal grandparents over the weekend of Thanksgiving.  Grandma and Grandpa Scialabba DROVE from Florida along the east coast visiting their family along the way.  Unfortunately Nicholas wasn't ready to arrive yet (he came 5 days later) but the rest of us were able to spend time together.

Thanks for the visit, Grandma and Grandpa.  We were so happy you were able to come to Massachusetts!  Now it's our turn to go back to Naples!  (Oh, darn!  Twist our arm!)

Way behind!

We moved this weekend.

Everything went better than we could have imagined. 

Needless to say I am way behind in my blogging and hope to catch up in the very near future.

We have so many things to be thankful for this time of year and I am even more thankful for the blog since it is one less thing I need to unpack!!  :)

Will be back to update soon.

xo

Giving Thanks (5)

I am so thankful that I can work part-time and still spend quality time at home with Mikey.  Today we have already lounged in our PJ's while watching Curious George, ate breakfast together at the table, did puzzles, "fixed" the house with the Handy Manny tools, played with playdoh and stickers.  Now I am sitting at the kitchen table writing this post and keeping my eyes on Mikey while he is on the patio playing with beans (it's 39 degrees outside---I just can't bring myself to go out there!!)

(This activity lasted 5-7 minutes TOPS!  He is already inside eating a snack!)