pictures!

Just after delivery, I'm looking a little out of it... I'm finally able to move without pain, though the bruises from delivery still itch like crazy and are giving me fits.

My sweet boy. He is such a doll. He's eating like a champ and sleeps better during the day than at night.

Our little drama queen. Holy moly she is giving us a run for our money. She climbs on everything and is testing her limits. She does everything for attention right now (not at all related to the baby) so we are trying to figure out how to correct her and get our point across without making a huge fuss out of things and giving her what she wants. Tough one, that.

Dad had to take Zoe to the park to burn off some energy the other day. Between the hundred degree heat and me being pregnant, we've mostly been in the house lately. According to Cody she absolutely love the slide, but wasn't sure what the mulch surrounding the play ground was all about.

Rhys loves to swing, but he still likes to lean backwards so it's hard for him unless it's in an infant type swing that has a higher back (which we have in our backyard).

I don't remember if I've shared this before, but this is Rhys in his gait trainer. And this is usually his expression. He is doing really well in it, but we are still having major issues with him pitching fits any time he is made to do something he doesn't care to do. We just had his nutrition/eating "disorder", OT and PT consult for private therapy this week and we are very excited about the team who will be treating him. They have great ideas, a ton of fantastic equipment to work on and have created some very aggressive goals for him to reach. just based on preliminary talk it looks like he will have school in the mornings and probably have various therapy 3-5 days a week. Hello, mama is going to be busy shuttling kids!

Rhys is 3 years, Zoe is 16 months and Beckett is 1 week old!

more on Beckett

Beckett was born last Thursday, weighing 6lb 14oz and measuring 19.5 inches long. Not bad for a 36.5 weeker! Delivery went well, though my lower abdomen is black and blue from all their TLC during the procedure. It is currently a lovely shade of yellow-purple and itches to high heaven. Other than that I am taking a day or so longer to get rid of the soreness, as compared to Zoe's delivery, but I am moving well. I retained a ton of fluid from the IV (I lost count at 6 bags of fluid in less than 48 hours), but I am finally getting rid of most of it. Now if I could only catch up on sleep. Mr. Beckett eats on demand, anywhere from every one to three and a half hours. He is a beautiful baby and we feel blessed. I'll post more pics when I get a minute. One thing I we didn't underestimate was that we are now a three ring circus. But in a good way.

Introducing...

Beckett William

6lbs 14oz

baby will be here next week!

Baby will be born next week. I'm oh so ready to meet this little guy. I had an anatomy scan at the peri's office today and all looked well. The fluid around the heart looks normal, we're still expecting a boy, and the u/s tech says it looks like this little man has a head full of hair. Baby is still measuring at the 50th percentile and his estimated weight is 6lb 4oz. You may remember they estimated Zoe's weight at approximately 6 pounds one week before her birth, and she came out weighing 5lb 13oz. So even if Baby's estimate is on the high end he should still be a decent size. Plus, he'll technically be one week farther along in gestation than Zoe was so that should give him a little more time to plump up.

Even though I'm ready to have this baby I am completely dreading the c-section. Not the recovery, but the actual procedure. I had the closest thing to a panic attack I've ever experienced during Zoe's delivery. Something about being cut open while awake, plus being unable to move from the waist down, the nasal cannula, blanket on my chest and drape in front of my face made me claustrophobic. I remember staring at the clock thinking "please hurry up, please hurry up". My OB offered to knock me out for the delivery, but I declined. :)

So in less than two weeks our family will officially be that circus, with three kids in the house under three years of age. Cody asked me the other day if I realized I'd been pregnant 22 of the last 42 months. I'd not put a number to it other than noting this was our fourth child in almost exactly three years. That's a lot of stress on a body and boy have I been feeling it the last few weeks!