Tuesday, January 31, 2012

A Family Now

 Gus has been so excited to help with Baby Walter. He wants to feed him, help change him, hold him- he gets so thrilled when we let him. I honestly have never seen him so happy in my life. He keeps saying "We are a family now." I am not sure what we were before (haha!) but apparently we are a family now! It just melts my heart how happy he is.


 Hazel has been great too. She is a little young to help as much as Gus, and doesn't understand that, but she loves having a baby brother. She calls him "Wawa" and talks about him all the time. Last night as she was falling asleep she was whispering "Wawa? Wawa?" It was adorable.



 Gus picked out this toy for Walter at the store about a month ago and gave it to him at the hospital. He helps Walter play with it all the time.


 Our first attempt at a family picture.


 Our second attempt... And then we gave up ;)


 Thanks Spratts! We had cookies for desert last night.


Peek-A-Boo! Day 5.

Walter has been quite the addition to our Dillavou Klan. He started out like all my other babies, needed to be induced, but this delivery was by far the best. It did take all day, but my epidural worked amazingly, and every time the nurses checked me, I had dilated another centimeter, so there was never any time where progress was not being made (although it was slow- 11 hours from start to finish). Once ready, I pushed for 3 contractions, and that was it.

I have to say that the most unbelievable part of the experience was not knowing the sex of what we were having. I wish I had done that with the other two. That moment where you give birth and you look at the baby and you check to see what it is- is something I will never forget. He had us all tricked, for some reason, everyone just seemed to think it was going to be a girl (even me!). Guess we won't be getting our Scarlett Myrene.

Since we have been home, things have been great (other than sleeping at night!). As I said, the kids are adjusting great, I am recovering well (which is good- I have to teach a class Friday morning!), and Josh has been once again the glue that holds me together. He is amazing. The last month, in particular, he really stepped it up, as I was having constant pelvic and tailbone pain and could literally do nothing around the house or with the kids. He has taken this week off to help me recover, as most of you know, next week I go back to work. The older two will be going back to Iowa next week though so when I am not working in the mornings, it will just be Wally and I so that we can both continue to thrive and recover.

Walter "Sweetness" as Josh has been calling him, did go to the doctor yesterday for a check up as you can tell from his pictures, he is a little yellow. His Bilirubin levels were at a 10 (they were 7 when he left the hospital), but he is eating and pooping so much that the doctor is not worried. I remember Gus and Hazel's numbers being much higher. He weighed 7.4 pounds yesterday (7.2 when he left the hospital) so he is almost back to his birth weight. Other than a weigh in in a few weeks, he doesn't go back until he is one month old. He is really healthy.

Well, I'll try to update more often, especially here at first, but I think my life will soon be overwhelmingly busy once Josh goes back to work! Love and miss you all. Oh- and thank you to everyone for the well wishes on facebook, my family for being here to support us, and for those that have sent cards and gifts for us. Much appreciated!

1 comment:

totalktoreba said...

A family now... that's hilarious Gus! You all look great. I'm a bit jealous that your kids like baby Wally since Oliver still suggests we give Owen away to Goodwill. :) I think of you often and wish you the very best with recovery! Loved the details...it really is amazing not knowing the sex of the baby. It's such a reward for the pain! Again, all the best!