Back to Life, Back to Reality

So it's been over a month since I posted and things are starting to get back to normal. I've completed two weeks of work and only have 43 more days of school - but who's counting. Sebastian has done two weeks at daycare and doesn't seem to have any problems. Of course, someone is always holding him and rocking him, so he shouldn't have any problems. Everyone likes to go in and hold him (he's the youngest one at the school) so you know he's getting lots of love.
Shelby and Sydney still love making faces and talking to him in the car on the way to and from school. This week he started smiling at them when they were talking to him and that just made their morning. It's really cute to see how much they love their brother. Sydney still can't keep her hands off of him, but she's getting better.

It's allergy season around here and things are bothering us all. Sydney has an ear infection in both ears and Sean has a sore throat. Shelby is a little tired and I'm a lot tired. Sebastian has stuff in the back of his nose and we haven't been able to get rid of that for a couple of days. I'm worried it will become an ear infection, but it's not like we haven't gone through that with the girls.

What's Going On....

As of today, Sebastian is 3 weeks old. It's just amazing how fast time flies. That puts me at the half way point in my maternity leave, but I'll just pretend not to notice. :) So to catch you up:

The first week at home went really well. He seems to sleep about 3 hours at a time at night and likes to stay awake in the early evening. Around 5-9pm. This lets Sean have some "awake" time when he gets home from work and lets me take a nap in the early afternoon.

His two week check up went just fine. He had gotten down to 8lbs by the time we left the hospital and was back to 8lbs 10 oz at this check up. We'll go back in a few weeks to recheck the weight - just to make sure he's still making adequate progress. He got his first shot at this appointment and while he didn't like it, he didn't cry for long.

Sebastian tolerates his sisters very well at this point. Sydney can't keep her hands off of him and Shelby loves to stand and watch him. Since his car seat goes in between the two of them, he gets a lot of pats and blown kisses during any car ride. It's fun to see how much the two girls love him and how they show their affection. Sydney has learned that we can't squeeze him, poke his eye or tap his head. She even understands that her head is hard like wood and his head is soft like a cushion and it will hurt him to pat his head too hard. :)

Both of the girls have been sick and are completely well. Sean and I both have lots of congestion and sore throats. I've been coughing a lot as well, but that's not as bad today. Last week we had an 80 degree day and it was wonderful - I'm looking forward to some more of those this week.

Although I'm tired and have a really sore throat, life is good. I can't believe how calm and happy I am. I know that this is the last baby so I'm trying to soak up as much baby time as I can. He will grow up soon enough.

The first night home

The first night home with a baby is always interesting. Shelby spent most of the night crying and Sean propped himself up in a corner with pillows and slept with her on his chest. Sydney slept 3 hours at a time and would wake up to eat and then go back to sleep. Obviously one of these children was closer to "normal" (Sorry Syd!) Sebastian was up until about 2:30 when I realized it wasn't so much about him being hungry as it was about him being cold. We'd left the AC on and it was about 65 in the house. Not a problem for those of us in flannel sheets, but he was too cold. Once I set the house at 73 and the room heated up, he slept like a champ. Until the alarm went off at 5:30 and it was time to get ready to take Shelby to school. Except for the constant stream of diapers that were used last night, things went well. Here are a few photos of our little man.

The last night

So I've got to be at the hospital at 5am. The procedure got moved to 7am and it's getting late. Here's an update on this week.
Sydney woke up in the middle of the night Wednesday night/Thursday morning with pain in her ear. Sure enough she has an ear infection in both ears. Antibiotics started on Thursday night and I think she is feeling better. Shelby woke up about 6am today with a scratchy throat and a fever of 102.5 She does not have strep (according to the nurse practitioner) but it's probably a virus. Both girls went with my parents today and we may or may not see them tomorrow. Just depends on how they are doing / feeling.
I'm ready for Sebastian to arrive. Good thing it's tomorrow. I'm off for one last drink before bed. Next post will have a photo of my son. :)

6 more days

My c-section has been scheduled for Sunday the 8th. My doctor couldn't get an O.R. on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday so he went with the earlier day. I've got a solo contest on Saturday and then plan on putting up my feet to relax before the big day. I have an 8am time, so I've got to be there by 6am. Why? because I have to get a certain amount of fluids in me before they can do the spinal. I can't be dehydrated. However, since I drink about half a gallon of water a day, I don't think it will be a concern. It's really exciting to know that I'll get to watch the Grammy Awards with my son. At least I know that he won't try to talk or sing through the performances. :)
Everyone in the house is really excited (except the dog) and in the count down mode. I've got lots of loose ends to tie up, but I feel confident that everything is going to come out fine. My substitute is lined up (even after he fell and had surgery) and my students understand that I'll be back after Spring Break. Now I just have to figure out what clothes Sebastian will wear for his first photo. :) Oh and pack my bag for the hospital. Looks like it will be in the 70s for the big day, but I'm not sure about the rest of the time. Only in Texas do we wear shorts in February!

Three weeks and counting

We had a great weekend. I've gotten into a habit of dropping Shelby off at dance on Fridays and then taking Syd to McD's to eat and play while we wait. This week Sean met me there and stayed with Syd while I went out to eat with some girl friends. We had a great time and it was fun to eat and talk without kids. We all have kids, so it's a big deal for us to have a "girls night out." Saturday Syd went to dance class and then I started attacking some things on my to do list. We've rearranged the bedroom for the bassenett and washed baby blankets and sheets. Now at least he's got a place to sleep. :)
Sunday was a fun day at my parents house for mom's b-day. We stayed out there late and everyone was tired by the time we got home. Yesterday was a day off too and I was planning on getting some more things done - until the screaming started. Sydney's stomach started cramping and she was screaming at the top of her lungs. (Don't blame her a bit.) I got her to the bathroom in time for her to explode out the back end. I got her cleaned up and in a pull up and thought everything was calm. I took something down stairs and she started screaming again. I didn't make it up the stairs in time, but she had a pull up on and that helped. Cleaned up again, I went downstairs to make her a drink with probotics in it. She was fine and started drinking like a champ. I didn't mix it with much water hoping to get most of it in her quickly. (According to Shelby it tastes nasty.) Almost done with the drink, gave me a funny look and proceeded to throw up all over me. :) The good thing was that she took a 3 hour nap yesterday. She kept down gatorade and crackers and even toast last night. This morning she begged for water, so I gave her some bottled water and teddy bear crackers. It all came up. Today so far so good, but it's slow going. She's really hungry, but I won't give her much at a time. Hopefully she's on the mend and will get over this soon. I hate to have my girl sick.
As for my doctor's appointment yesterday all went well. I'm on the every week schedule now. The dr. did some general measurements and says that Sebastian is about 6lbs 12 oz right now. Amazing what ultrasound machines can do these days. That was looking at his head circumfrence, belly and femur. I'm not sure how they come up with it, but it will be interesting to see how big he actually is. Right now the guess is that he'll be in the upper 8lbs to low 9lbs range at delivery. We'll see. Next week I'll find out what time my c-section is scheduled for. I hope it's not the 7am slot. That has me at the hospital at 5:45am. Not that I won't have most of the day to sleep after that, but I'd like to see Shelby off to school.

Back to work

We all had a wonderful break and were not happy to get back to work. However, both girls had a good week back at school. Sydney learned about the letter M and Shelby worked on spelling words with the short i sound. I started back with a full week that included cafeteria duty before school each morning and after school sectionals that went until 4:45 most days. I also had a couple of last minute projects fall on my lap and had to get those taken care of. This week should be easier for me - we have half days on Thursday and Friday for final exams and I had everyone show up for my concert, so I don't have to give an exam. Plus we have next Monday off. Three day weekends are such an exciting thing!

I'm in count down mode for Sebastian to get here. We're looking at Feb 9 for the delivery day. That's only 4 weeks away. I'm not sure if it's having him or the fact that I won't have to go to work for 6 weeks that excites me the most. :) I like having time to pick up around my house and do laundry one load at a time (not in a marathon session on Sunday afternoon).