First Sunday at Church

We ventured to church this past Sunday! Nelson will be 6 weeks old tomorrow, so I figured it was time for me to have some spiritual enlightenment again. I don't think Nelson got too much out of it because he slept the whole time, but I thought it was great!

5 weeks old

My brother, Brian, visited us from Provo for President's Day weekend. We had a lot of fun, and McKay loved having uncle Brian stay with us. The morning after he left, McKay woke up and said, "where'd uncle Brian go?"

Wearing daddy's shoes with a cheesy smile

Nelson turned 5 weeks old today! He got a bath to celebrate. Baths totally soothe him. We love him so much! He doesn't cry very much, he is great at cuddling, and he is strong (has already survived a few hits from McKay's balls). Even with the continual reminders to McKay that Nelson is not big enough to play ball, it still seems to be a constant struggle. :(

Valentine's Day

With a new baby who takes up a lot of my time, this was the extent of our Valentine's activity. :) McKay liked taking pictures with the heart because it meant he could get a piece of candy. Bribing is a beautiful thing sometimes. We are doing well and hope all of you have a great Valentine's Day!

Two weeks

Has it really only been two weeks??? For some reason, it feels a lot longer than that. :) Nelson is doing great as of his two-week check up. He is growing, eating, and sleeping well. He is 75th % on height and 16th % on weight.

This lovely grandma of our's had to go home yesterday. :( I was really sad to see her go. She helped us so much. She really went all out in trying to keep us fed, well rested, cleaned up, and happy!

Being at home

McKay really likes Nelson and is always asking where the baby is and whenever I feed Nelson, McKay says, "baby eating milk" over and over again.

Now we are home and doing well. Here's some close ups of the babe.

Hi, Mr. cross-eyed cutie

This time around has been much easier. Having a healthy baby is a completely different experience. Since Nelson has been home with me, I sure do have a lot less time to post pictures, blog, and email. I think I did a lot of that when McKay was hanging out in the NICU. So the posts may be few and far between, but I will try to keep it updated so the grandparents can see him.

Our BIG surprise

Nelson Robert Holt
born 1-17-12 at 2:55 pm
7 lbs. 5 oz., 20 inches long
lots of blond hair

Dr. G. called me Monday to say that he had been thinking about me all weekend and decided that we should start my induction Monday night/early Tuesday morning instead of waiting one more day, due to the small size of the baby. He was thinking something must be going on inside for this baby to not be growing. Well....I guess that little tyke had us all fooled. I realize he isn't the biggest baby in the world, but to us, he is a chubby buddy compared to McKay's 5 lbs. 2 oz.

McKay came to visit and kept patting Nelson's head saying, "baby Nelson." I think McKay is a little confused at this point about what is going on, but I am sure it will hit hard & fast as soon as we get home.

Family of 4

For all my friends who like to read the TMI: Labor & Delivery went well. It was kind of slow because I was not dilated or effaced at all when we got to the hospital at 1 am. So for 8 hours they used cytotec to ripen my cervix and help me dilate, which got me to a 2 (yipee....some sarcasm intended here). They broke my water and started pitocin at 9am. From 9-1, things were slow. At 1 pm I was at a 5, but I was mostly just overjoyed because I got my epidural at 11 am and the baby was looking SO much better inside than McKay did during his labor. During every contraction with McKay, his heart rate would drop to 50 and there were all sorts of hysterical nurses running about. This time around, baby Nelson maintained a good heart rate and my blood pressure stayed normal. YAY! At about 2:30, I was completely dilated and feeling the pressure. The pressure feeling is honestly a VERY good feeling because then you know the end is near. Doctor came in at 2:45 and baby came at 2:55 after just a few pushes. At least, I think I was pushing. I really couldn't even tell which muscles to use to push, but I wasn't complaining about that. :)

The plan...

One morning, I was so tired and wanted to keep sleeping after McKay woke up, so I got him up and laid back down. After a few minutes, he started bringing some of his toys in. He lined them all up right next to me on the bed. Such a clever boy. Below he is posing next to his toys with cell phone in hand. He likes to talk on the phone (or pretend to).

We have a plan for the baby's arrival (unless I go into labor before Tuesday night). I'll be induced late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning at 1 am!!!!! Silly, I know, but that's the plan. This week at my appointment, I hadn't gained any weight for two appointments in a row. Weird...considering that I am, by no means, starving myself. :) An ultrasound yesterday showed that my fluid levels are great, but that this little baby has decided he wants to be small just like McKay was. Right now the baby is estimated to be 5 lbs. 14 oz., which is bigger than McKay was at this point, but still small for 39 weeks. Hmmm....frustrating. My blood pressure has stayed normal until this week it is elevated a little bit. So basically the consensus with my Dr. is that me nor the baby are sick enough to go ahead and induce right now. But his small size is concerning enough to induce me next week since something is going on inside that is restricting his growth. I am trying to think of the positives:

1) childhood obesity will probably not be a trial for our kids :)

2) I treated myself to a donut (and icecream and cookies and lots of other goodies) yesterday since I haven't gained weight in a while. :)

3) if the baby has similar problems as McKay did, we will still be able to stay in Cedar.

4) we get to see our little bundle on Wednesday!!!