Week One and Two ... ish (With first Tummy Time)

I realized it had been one week since Walter had been born and the camera was near by. So I snapped a few pictures... also, Ellie the bear was nearby so I thought I'd throw her in a couple for size comparisons. :)

Just like most babies... Walter did not enjoy his first tummy time... but he's cute nonetheless so we got some pictures. :)  It's the simple things. :)

Here are a few of Walter getting some of his first (of many) sister loves. :)

Newborn Pictures

As I mentioned before, Rosie made the most adorable sock monkey and bear hat for Walter...we used them to take some newborn pictures with the boppy under a white blanket... I think they turned out cute...what do you think?

Tongue Tied

We went to Walter's 4 day appointment today and found out that he is doing great.  He weighed 7 lbs 3 oz.  The only thing the doctor was concerned about was the fact that he was tongue tied, meaning he had a tendon hooking the bottom of his tongue to the bottom of his mouth.  Clipping this was an easy procedure that he could do right there and would help with any nursing problems and prevent potential speech problems so we had it done.  He didn't bleed at all which was good. :)

First Bath at Home

Here are some pictures of Walter's first bath at home.  He didn't care for it too much as you can see. :)

Home with Wally

We had some visitors today!  That's right, Grandma and Grandpa stopped by and gave Lena some much needed attention.  Though I've tried my best to NOT let Lena feel neglected, she still appreciated a little extra attention from Grandma and Grandpa.  They made a little house out of her foam letter puzzle and she loved it. :)   Even though she likes some attention to herself she still adores her little brother and loves to hold him.  I'm so proud of her for being such a trooper with this HUGE adjustment.

More Hospital Time and Going Home

My mom and Rosie were so nice to watch Lena for a LOT of the time that we were in the hospital.  I had made a blanket for Lena before as Walter's "gift" to her that we had her open when she came to meet him at the hospital.  She was so cute with it and wanted to sit in the chair with it.  She is being so cute with him and is such a sweet big sister already.  

One of our big goals for this birth was to only have to stay for one night... mostly because I didn't want to leave Lena for two nights in a row and wanted to help her to start adjusting sooner... anyway, we made our goal and made it out of the hospital by 5:00pm the day after he was born.   We picked up Lena from my mom's house and when we got home we found cute Lena had fallen asleep with her hand resting on her baby brother's carseat.  She is already so fond of him.

First Night and First Bath

I don't remember Lena's first night this hard, but it probably was and I just forgot.  I love my cuddly baby boy and that is just what he is... cuddly, he does not like to be set down, or at least he didn't his first night.  I stayed awake most of the night just watching him sleep in my arms.  At one point though, when I realized I was having a hard time staying awake I finally had the nurse take him for a couple of hours... which felt like a couple of minutes... before they brought him back crying for food.  Anyway,  I was so excited that I decided to wait until his first morning to do his bath, especially since I wanted to take pictures. :)  He really LOVED his bath and was so cuddly and comfortable being wrapped up in those heated blankets after.  I love my little snuggly guy. :)

Walter John Williams

Our little Mr. Walter John Williams has joined us! Oh he is such a sweetie and I love him to pieces... at first he reminded me exactly of Lena but now as the days progress he is starteing to have his own unique look about him.
He arrived at 4:54 pm weighing 7 lbs 13 oz (Lena was 8 lbs 4oz... I totally thought he would be bigger than her!) and 21 inches long and I did it with absolutely no drugs... all natural. :) If you ask me now I'm so so so happy I did it without drugs... if you would've asked me within 24 hours after I would've said never again, but the pain memory is already fading and how amazing an experience it was is standing out clear in my mind. It was so amazing to feel this little guy come out of me and then be able to see his sweet little screaming face. :)
So if you're interested in when/how it happened... here's the story.

Randy worked until 12:00am on Wednesday night and I thought to myself "I hope the baby waits one more day so that Randy can be sure to get some sleep tonight" well, of course baby's come sometimes when it's not the most convenient... around 4:30am I felt a couple of contractions, but they were inconsistant and I was sure I was kidding myself so I decided to stay in bed to see if more of them came... well after about half an hour of waiting I couldn't lay there anymore or get myself to sleep more so I got up to use the bathroom and found that my water had broken!!!   I took a shower and then let Randy know... we decided not to rush because with Lena we rushed only to have them induce me... I wanted my contractions to come naturally since it hurts less that way. Anyway, Randy e-mailed work to let them know and we ate breakfast and gathered up some last minute things and headed to mom's house. Rosie took the day off to be with my mom, Lena and Jimmy (and to take turns with mom coming to be with me at the hospital while I was in labor). We hung out there for a couple of hours and around 10:00am we headed to the hospital. By that point I was having contractions but still not consistently... some 5 minutes apart and some 22 minutes apart. When we got to the hospital they showed us to our room and came back a bit later to check where I was dilated (probably around 11:00am at this point) and I was already dilated to 4 cm. Randy and I started watching some episodes of Chuck to help the time pass... my contractions were noticeable but not so painful that I couldn't talk through them at this point and they were starting to be more consistent... like 5 minutes or so apart. Rosie joined us shortly after and knit a cute hat (in pictures) while we continued to watch. I think around 1:00pm or so my midwife arrived and mentioned that the nurse felt that my water had broken but his sack was still in tact partially (so it was like I sprung a leak and didn't break my water completely).. she decided to try and "break it" the rest of the way... when she did that she checked me and I was dilated to 6 cm already... this was around 2:30pm. Well, breaking my water the rest of the way got things started... my contractions started getting more painful to where I had to concentrate on breathing through each one. I sat on the bed and Randy stood in front of me and I leaned against his stomach and held onto his arms to help me through these... Rosie was timing them for us. :) After about 5 or 6 of these hard ones Rosie went to let the nurses and my midwife know that they were pretty strong now... this was around 3:30pm. She came in to check me and I was at 7 cm and I thought, okay, we still have a ways to go then and prepared my self for a while longer of these contractions... however, my midwife believed differently and started setting things up for delivery... I thought that was wishful thinking. Rosie called my mom to see if she wanted to come trade her but mom could sense that Rosie wanted to stay I think and said that she would have my dad watch the kids so she could come up too... well, my dad never came in time... but that's another story. My contractions started getting harder faster and Randy and Rosie were on either side of me comforting me while my midwife pushed my knees against my hips to helps relieve some of the pain. By 4:30pm or so I started having the urge to push... 15 or so minutes later Walter arrived into the world. :) Oh it was so painful but so worth it once they placed my sweet little baby boy in my arms. Randy then said "I hate to admit it... but he's a Walter" :) He was so thrilled and excited and kept saying "Olga, look how cute he is!"... he was a major support to me and is so awesome. Rosie got the camera and took pictures for us. It was so good to have her there on my other side stroking my shoulder to help comfort me through the contractions.

Oh!!! Families are truly the meaning of life. It is so amazing that we get to participate in creating life... I can't believe that we are able to create such amazing little lives that we get to claim as our own. I'm so grateful that we made the decision to add to our family. We are all healthy and well and getting adjusted. Lena loves her little brother and is such a big helper... if someone calls him "Wally" she says "no, it's WALTER". :) She is so sweet with him.