Eileen's Birthday Party

We had Eileen's birthday party on Nov. 30 (the Friday after we'd gotten home from the hospital).  Her actual birthday fell on Thanksgiving day, and I didn't want her having to compete with turkey and dressing for attention at her birthday party.  We had planned the party for Nov. 28, the day before my scheduled c-section, so that everyone could be present.  However, William's early arrival derailed that plan.

Eileen with her Mumsie and Sittie

Eileen with her Chichi, Mumsie, Sittie, and Mamaw

Eileen with her dad, Daddy Dave, Pops, and Deda

Eileen's party was pretty simple, and my mom ended up doing most of the work.  We had lasagna, salad, and bread for supper.  Super easy!

Apparently, Eileen LOVES lasagna

Eileen's cake was an Elmo cake made by a lady in Camden, Alabama.  It looked so cute, and Eileen absolutely LOVED her "Melmo Cake."  She's still talking about it... so much so that we've promised her another "Melmo Cake" if she will learn to use the potty.

Eileen's birthday cake.  Too cute!

Eileen blew out both of her candles in one try!  Mamaw had been working with her all afternoon, I think.

Eileen blowing out her candles

Then we got to the presents.  I think Eileen was overwhelmed by all of her "stuff."  Lucky Kid.

She did get a swingset:

Swinging!

And the first part of her kitchen:

Adam and Eli helped Eileen figure out how to "cook" on her new oven

She also received a new blanket sewn by Mamaw, kitchen/cooking accessories, books, a coat, and so many other wonderful toys!

Eileen trying out her new ironing board and iron

William politely slept through most of the festivities:

I'm glad that we threw a party for Eileen, but I would not ever recommend hosting a party a mere five days after a c-section.  I felt pretty rotten on Saturday.  However, it was SO much fun to see Eileen enjoy her family at her party!

It's safe to say that she had a very, very happy birthday!
    

William

William turned one week old on December 2:

Eileen and William on William's one-week birthday

He celebrated being two weeks old on December 9:

William, two weeks old and wearing one of Uncle Adam's outfits.

Relaxed on a Sunday afternoon

He's growing and growing.  By his one-week checkup, he had gained 11 ounces since leaving the hospital, and was up to 6 ounces over his birth weight.  He was 6 pounds, 12 ounces.

Sleeping on Aunt Amy

Last Wednesday, we noticed that he was spitting up quite a bit and kind of choking when he did it.  It scared this momma to death!

Two weeks old and very alert!

Dr. Powell told us on Thursday that she was pretty certain that he has reflux (just like Eileen did) and we had an upper GI xray to confirm it.  So now William is taking reflux medications and is doing so much better!

William and his daddy

His umbilical cord stump fell off sometime in the early morning hours of December 8, so we were able to give him his first bath!

William's first bath. Eileen helped!

Eileen is getting used to William.  She LOVES him if he's in his bassinet (as opposed to taking up "her" space in Mommy's arms), and she will go and get the attention of an adult if the "baby" is crying.

 

Eileen hugging the baby

Eileen tried to feed William some of her sugar cookie.  We didn't let her, but we did snap a photo first.

I think they're going to be good buddies when William gets a little bigger.  Eileen is going to be such an excellent big sister!

And William keeps getting cuter and cuter:

 

William Thomas Steele was born on November 25, 2012.

As many people know, he was "scheduled" to arrive on November 29, 2012.  I had made plans to host a birthday party for David's mom on Sunday (Nov. 25) at lunch, to attend a shower for Thomas & Meredith on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 25), to go to a trial on Wednesday (Nov. 28), and to throw a birthday party for Eileen on Wednesday evening (Nov. 28).  At my last doctors appointment, on November 21, there had been no "progress" made towards labor, so there was no reason to think that my plans might be altered.

We put up our Christmas decorations on November 24 (Saturday) and I, for some strange reason, polished all of my silver- this hasn't been done since we got married over three years ago.  On Sunday, I got up to shower for church and realized that I probably needed to call my doctor's on-call line.  I told David that we'd probably be going to the hospital's labor & delivery unit.  When Dr. Powell called back, she did instruct us to go to the hospital.

Last picture before heading to the hospital

So I showered, dried my hair, did my makeup, and we got things together to leave.  About 90 minutes after we'd been told to head to the hospital (David was getting irked at how I took my time), we dropped Eileen off with David's parents and set out for Monroeville.

Eileen and me

Our last picture as a family of three

I was hooked up to the monitors and checked for signs of labor.  Things were kind of "iffy," so David headed out to get some breakfast for himself while I walked the halls of the hospital to hurry things along.  About 20 minutes later, I was having regular contractions and Dr. Powell and my nurse Mrs. Cindy Jones decided that we were going to have a baby!  (Because I wasn't yet at 39 weeks pregnant- I was 38 weeks, 5 days- I had to be "in labor" in order for my insurance to cover my c-section... thus the necessity of regular contractions, etc.)

They began prepping me for my c-section and I was wheeled back and getting my spinal before David got back to the hospital.

Getting an epidural with Eileen when I was in the middle of labor and had been for hours was no big deal.  Getting a spinal, which involves a large needed being stuck into one's spinal column, when I was not exhausted from labor, was quite another story.  I briefly contemplated trying to talk my doctor and the nurses out of doing a c-section, realized that was futile, and just tried not to think about it.  Really, the anticipation was much worse than the actual spinal.

I was wheeled back to the OR at 11:46, the c-section was begun at 12:06, and William was born at 12:09!  He weighed 6 lbs, 6 oz, and was 19.5" long.  And absolutely adorable.

William

My mom had left Tennessee when we called that morning and she arrived in the afternoon.  David's parents came after the shower and they brought Eileen to meet her new baby brother.  Oh, it was also David's mom's birthday! 

My mom (Sittie) and William

David's mom (Mumsie) and William.  They share a birthday!

We got to go home on Tuesday (less than 48 hours after my c-section!) and we're settling in.  The surgery was much easier this time around.  It might have been too easy- I absolutely overdid it when I got home and spent most of the weekend in pain.

William dressed to go home

In his car seat

We're recovering and Eileen is gradually getting used to having another baby in the house.  

Eileen meeting her baby brother