Anneli was sitting on the bed, and she got up to move. There was a fairly large bread crumb where her butt had been. I told her she had pooed, and she must have believed me. She asked, "Is there a hole in my pants, did it come out of there?" Good times.

Eric is definitely going to be a big boy. He long ago outgrew the newborn-sized clothes, and is now on his way to outgrowing the 3-months clothes, too. There are still some outfits he has yet to wear! He is noticeably more clingy than Anneli was, perhaps because he and I had regular contact in the hospital. (Anneli was in the NICU.) Eric always wants to be cradled and cannot seem to fall asleep on his own, if he hasn't already passed out from eating. We joke that he's like a baby rhesus monkey, but you'd never know the difference. (Maybe because of all the monkeys on his clothes?)

Milestone: Eric 1 month

Weight: 10.5 lbs
Head: 15 in.
Chest: 15 in.
Length: 21 in.

Eric is growing very fast, more so than Anneli for sure. He had a one pound advantage over her at birth, and he has outpaced her in his weight gain in the first month. Dr. T informed us that Eric has a tongue tie, which could cause some speech difficulties later (most notably a lisp). She said it isn't absolutely necessary to have it corrected right now, but Dr. E said we should get it done sooner rather than later. Eric has an appointment to see an ENT doctor in April.

Weight: 8 lbs.
Head: 14.5 in.
Chest: 14.5 in.
Length: 20 in.

Eric's first check-up went well! Since he was jaundiced (or as my mom put it, "He's Asian. He's supposed to be yellow."), the doctor wanted to make sure Eric's bilirubin level was okay. He did the standard weight check (8lbs. - lost a few ounces), plus all the other usual poking and prodding. We all ended up having a good laugh when Eric decided to pee and sprayed the doctor! Otherwise uneventful, and Eric got a thumbs up on his health.

We were allowed to leave late this afternoon, and so far, it's been uneventful at home. (Whew.) Eric has had one poopy diaper and one meal, and now he's sleeping. I expect he'll be hungry in a couple hours, but that's no surprise. Anneli's been very good so far, no jealousy that I can tell. She is taking everything in stride and wants to be helpful. Tomorrow will be our first full day together at home; we'll see how that goes...

The Birth!

Time: 8:29 pm
Weight: 8 lbs. 3 oz.
Length: 19 3/4 in.

Just like big sister, Eric decided he just couldn't wait until he was scheduled to arrive. I left work on Wednesday thinking I'd have a lot of time the next morning to get more lessons planned and handouts copied. I decided to leave my books and flash drive on my desk... I should have known better!

I picked up Anneli from daycare and we went grocery shopping. I wanted to stock up on things we (read: Ryan) could whip together easily. We finished with an insane amount of food from Safeway and headed to Costco. On the way, I felt a little strange and thought I might have peed in my pants a little. Not really thinking much of it, I figured I'd just use the restroom at Costco and finish up. Well, as soon as I stepped out of the car, I felt a gush of water. I got back in the car and tried to call Ryan, but my phone wasn't working. I tried several more times with no luck. Luckily, we only live a couple miles from there, so I rushed home and called from the house. I called my mom and my cousin too, just to let them know.

We finally got to the hospital just before 7. I went into triage by myself (no children allowed - Ryan had to wait downstairs with Anneli), and I endured an hour of painful contractions. I wasn't allowed an epidural because I needed a liter of saline in me before they could administer it. I didn't get one until I was already in the OR. From there, things went very smoothly and quickly (unlike the first time, thank goodness). Zero complications and twenty-nine minutes later, baby Eric was born.

Both of us recovered quickly from the birth. Eric was a bit jaundiced, so he spent most of his time under a light in the nursery, but we still got to spend a lot of time with him when he came to my room. Anneli has been enjoying getting to know Eric.

Anneli doesn't just like to talk about cars. Now, she likes to draw them. When I asked her where the doors were, she added them (in purple). She also enjoys "writing", which usually means a series of "X"es, but we'll work on it. In the meantime, I'll enjoy getting pictures of cars and faces.