THE BIG SISTER

Last night Mackenzi's girl scout troup from Cross of Christ had a scrapbooking party at JoAnn Fabric's in Cedar Hill. We wanted her to go so she could see some of her friends from school since she really didn't have much of a notice that she was experiencing her last day of school the day before Levi was born. I didn't get things together ahead of time for it - and so Kenzi and I decided for her to do a "Big Sister" scrapbook page since we had printed pictures of her and her little brother. . .She liked this idea. So, here is the product finished. She had a great time, and enjoyed doing the page. We don't have a book for her - but I am sure I'll do a first year book for Levi like I did Mackenzi and would love to include a page that his big sister did for him. It's turned out cute.

This is just a sweet picture I took yesterday before we headed to JoAnn Fabric's. I had laid Levi down on this little playyard and when I looked back, he was sound asleep. . .too precious to not take the picture - I think he looks like a little turtle! When I see him sleeping like this with his mouth open, I try to close it! I don't want him to get a sore throat sleeping with his mouth open!

Precious Cargo

We have this precious little boy and this precious little girl. . .it's truly remarkable to look at them and know that our love created them. . .

Mackenzi is also known as Levi's other mommy. . .she literally knows about caring for him in ways I had no idea she knew about. . .she sees what he needs before anything is said and takes care of it! She's hilarious! Her understanding is unbelievable. . .she has wanted so badly to change a diaper - and we've told her that when his umbilical cord comes off - she'll have the opportunity. . .well, it came off, and maybe she's forgotten about that. . .because it hasn't come up again. . .but, here you can see in the picture how she's holding him and gazing at him. . .she told me the other night when she headed to bed and kissed him on the forehead that she LOVED him SO much! The sound of her voice when she said it was so sweet. She hasn't shown any jealousy toward him - although she has acted out some - wanting our attention, I suppose. She is willing to do whatever Levi needs - and doesn't seem to mind at all. It's still so surreal to have two children. They are definitely precious cargo!

One day shy of being 3 weeks old

This little life that came to us almost 3 weeks ago is absolutely precious! I can't even put into words how incredible it has been. With our previous history of miscarrying a baby - I think our poor hearts have been so burdened with almost not believing that he was real - my entire pregnancy was filled with worries and fears and at the same time elation that I was pregnant and that everything was going well. I kept believing that when I reached certain milestones I would stop worrying. . .like when I surpass where I was when I miscarried, I would stop worrying. . .or when I reached the sonogram and saw how precious he was I would stop worrying. . .and on into my 3rd trimester with when I had my last sonogram appointment, I would stop worrying. . .and sadly, I couldn't get past worrying. I tried - and I would cling to my faith to attempt to stop worrying. . .and to my credit, I did allow my saviour to comfort me throughout - unfornately I would allow the enemy to creep back in in no time. . .

And so now, we are at 3 weeks, and one would think I would have stopped worrying - and I guess in some ways, I have. . .but in other ways I have added new reasons to worry. . .the latest being that he wasn't eating enough to gain weight. . .when we took him to the doctor the day after we came home from the hospital, he weighed 6lbs 9 1/2 ounces. . .and the doctor explained that it was a little lower than they would have liked to have seen. . .and so, that created great panic in my mind. Thankfully when we took him this past week, he had surpassed his birth weight and had an additional 3 ounces to boot. . .and, I can almost say that today I had a wonderful day just enjoying him the way I know God wants us to!

I've known all along throughout this pregnancy that I would regret worrying so much and not trusting Jesus enough. . .and I have felt that way - I really knew I would. . .and so with today, I'm so thankful for this precious little boy - he's truly incredible.

Yesterday morning I took him into his room to change his clothes. I laid him in his bed and he was so content! We have been having him sleep in the bassinet in our room at night and during the day he sleeps in a little bouncer, or in the evening on Daddy's chest. . .and so when I laid him in his bed and he seemed so happy, I let him stay there - and look around. . .he did that for about 15 or 20 minutes. . .when I picked him up, he looked sleepy, and so I changed him and put him back in his bed. I put him a little on his side and he slept in there for about 1 1/2 hours. Here's a sweet picture of him sleeping in there.

Then later on that evening. . I was playing with yet another new camera (yes, I broke another one) and took some black and white pictures of Levi and Mackenzi. It was a lot of fun, Kenzi was cracking up because Levi was starting to get hungry and was rooting on her. This picture is one of the first ones I took. Mackenzi chose the way they were laying, so we can give her the credit for how sweet it turned out.

Levi Ashton Kreymer born June 27, 2008

JUST A QUICK RECAP SINCE I HAVEN'T BLOGGED SINCE BEFORE HIS ARRIVAL. . .

He was born Friday, June 27 at 10:19pm. He weighed 7lbs 4ounces and was 19.5 inches long. (Although after our pediatrician appointment on June 30th, he measured 20 1/4" long - so he must have been mismeasured in the hospital!)
I went in Thursday afternoon to the doctor for my appointment and she went ahead and sent me to the hospital for a treatment to help soften my cervix. Mackenzi and I headed over there at 3:00pm and started the treatment. The medication they gave me generally will have an affect about 6 hours after treatment. . .however, I started having contractions within the hour observation period. They discharged me and we headed out to Mackenzi's indoor soccer game. My contractions continued throughout the evening, finding us at the triage at the hospital that night around 11pm. They gave me a shot of demerol and sent me home. My parents headed into town and arrived around 2:30am. Throughout the night, I continued contracting, but did get some rest. Then Friday morning when we woke up, we started counting contractions. They continued throughout the morning and on into the afternoon. We decided to head to the hospital around 3:00 and was VERY disappointed to find out I was still only dilated to the same 1 cm I was the night before in the triage. However, they continued to monitor me for the hour as is standard, and within that hour, she came back to check me and I had dilated to a 3-4cm. I was so relieved to know that the pain I was experiencing was going to finally allow us to be admitted!
Unfortunately, Friday was a busy day for babies to be born and I was not the priority because I was not a high risk pregnancy. This meant that I didn't get a room right away, and didn't get an epidural very quickly either. . .so, I continued to work through the contractions until about 6:30 when my best friend came in to help relieve some of the pain! I was already dilated to a 6 by then. After the epidural, I was good for the wait. . .which, thankfully wasn't too long - I was dilated to a 10 by 10pm and he was born 19 minutes later! He is such a blessing!

AND BACK TO TODAY. . .

Today was our 2 week appointment. I was a bit concerned about his weight because he had lost a little more when we took him in the Monday after he was born - he had dropped down to 6lbs 9 1/2 ounces. . .When we took him today he had gained back up to 7lbs 7ounces - so he's gained an additional 3 ounces. He's doing really well, and the doctor doesn't need to see him until he's 2 months old. Unfortunately it's "feeding time" and so I'll have to finish this later!