He's Here!!

Since I'm sitting here with nothing else to do, I thought I'd put a couple of the first pictures up of Kilun. Kilun Nicholas Engelbrecht was born July 31, at 5:17 pm. He weighed in at 6 lbs 13 oz, 20 1/2 in.

Labor was uneventful. I had a doctors appointment this afternoon and I had progressed from last week, so she sent me over to the hospital. I got here shortly after 1 and he came at 5, so it was pretty quick. All it took was the doctor breaking my water.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that I was past 37 weeks and considered full-term, I still don't have him here with me. He was doing great when he was born and then they think that he "inhaled a lugee" or something. So, they took him down to "transition" which is where they watch babies to decide whether or not they need to be admitted to the NICU. Please pray that little Kilun will not have to make a NICU stay. We want so much to take him home (don't mind my previous post about liking the NICU, I lied :) ) Chris went down to check on the status about a half hour ago but they were in the middle of shift change so he couldn't go in. I'll post an update when I hear one.

36+ Weeks

Yesterday I officially hit 36 weeks along in this pregnancy. Hopefully that means that we no longer have to worry about being in the NICU and this will be a take home baby. I'm both excited and nervous about this. On the one hand, it was kind of nice being in the NICU for a few days to get to know my babies. Their stats were monitored and I had a lactation specialist available at all times. We didn't go home before we knew the baby could eat and breathe. It was all just a little more safe. On the other hand, it's so hard to have kids at home that I have leave every day while I spend all day at the hospital, not to mention stressful and sometimes lonely since Chris didn't spend much time there. If we can just make sure the baby can eat before we leave, before we even leave the labor room, actually, all would be great! So, for every day this little one continues to cook the better off those lungs are and the better off we'll be-as long as he comes in July.

All About the Blue

About a week and a half ago my mom took me to get a pedicure. With the upcoming events, I decided to go with blue. Yesterday I got my nails done, and again, we went with blue. I got my hair cut on Friday (don't worry, nothing blue there) so I think we're ready for this baby boy to join our family now. I guess since all the nails are painted blue, I should put my hospital bag together. Eh, just one more minor detail.

I'm 35 weeks tomorrow and it's in this week that both Xadun & Brekan were born. So now, we just wait.

May...Better Late than Never

Baby Update

The number of weeks left keeps getting lower and lower. As per the numbers on ultrasound yesterday, I'm 32 weeks and 6 days, which means for my body, I've only got a couple of weeks left. The appointment yesterday was with the perinatologist who is over the research study I'm a part of this time around. I've been a couple of times in the last couple of weeks to do an official measurement of the cervix. They've been looking at a couple of things. First, to see if I have any other issue that might cause the early labors like an infection or something. Second, they are trying to figure out how early I will go and if I will need steroids. At both appointments where the cervix was measured, all measurements were within normal limits and nothing to get too excited about. So, yesterday, the dr said that at this point, it doesn't look like there is a need for steroids unless something happens between now and 35 weeks, like my water breaks or I start having contractions. I asked about the steroids and what it is that they actually do. The doctor gave me a great explanation that helps me understand why we may not need them this time and why they didn't work with Brekan. Anyway, from my OB, when I saw her a week and a half ago I was only dilated to a one, so no big deal. I go back on Monday and we'll see what happens from there.

Yesterday before they measured the cervix they gave me a full ultrasound just to check on the size of the baby. Everything looked great! He's measuring about 4 lbs 10 oz, so he should be right in line with what the other boys were. I was able to get some 3D photos of this one. This is the first time I've ever had 3D pictures of my babies. It was pretty cool. So, here is a preview of the little one that will be here in a couple of weeks.

You What?????

I plan to go back and hopefully cover the last couple of months few activities, but I had to get this one out now. I hadn't even thought of the blog until he brought it up, so I figured while the kids continue to sit in time out, I would hurry and tell you about the life of having boys.

I was laying in bed, still mostly asleep when I heard Xadun, in a fairly close area of the house talking to Chaetun, telling him, "Just a minute, I have to pull up my pants." I was confused by this statement as it sounded like he was in the kitchen. I got up and went to ask why his pants were down. Xadun in all his innocence said, "Cuz we peed in a cup." I immediately turned to Chaetun to verify this story. When he's in trouble he lies, but all you have to do is question a couple of times and he tells the truth. Xadun will lie to the end even when it's an obvious one (ie, when I tell him to go upstairs to play and he'll continually tell me he is when he is very clearly in my room). Anyway, Chaetun verified the story. Yes, they peed in a cup. Like, the glass ones everyone drinks out of, and in the middle of the kitchen. So, they are currently sitting in corners for a 30 minute time out, will not watch the tv today and no bikes, 'cuz that's the real love right now.

I called Chris to tell him what his children had done and he just laughed. Laughed. I did not find this situation funny at all. I suppose being the boy he is, he just remembered back to his childhood and that at some point he had probably done it to. I pointed out that yes, maybe you peed in a cup outside, but not in your kitchen in a glass cup everyone uses, 10 yards from the bathroom in a house with 6 bathrooms, just because you needed to go potty (sorry for the run on sentence). I might be able to understand a little more if it was an outside thing. I should have reminded him of the time just a few weeks ago he caught Chaetun pooping outside (saying he wanted to kill the weeds) and was quite upset about it. I guess it's the one who's home to find the act is the one that gets the most upset while the one on the phone just laughs about it.

I often get confused at why Heavenly Father would send me 4 boys that I have no idea what to do with. This would never in a million years have crossed my mind. Chris just warned me that they will try to pee where ever they can, just to see that they can. Great! I look forward to the time they try to pee off the deck and it just drips down only to find the head of someone sitting on the patio down below :S This is so out of my realm of knowledge!!!

Potty Update

I know no one cares as much as a parent about potty training, but I'm going to give you all an update anyway (and the fact that all this can be printed for later recall is a good reason, too). I would like to report that Xadun's potty training has been a success. I haven't had to clean poopy underwear in a while. I guess when we let it be his decision, he made the right one. He still wears pull-ups when he sleeps, but I don't think he'll have to for very long. He generally wakes up dry, even though he drinks water all night long. The other night he came in and told me he needed to change his pull up because he peed in it. I think that's a good sign - at least he knows when he's gone in the middle of the night and hopefully soon he'll wake up before it gets to that point. It was a longer process than Chaetun's, but it still wasn't too bad.