Welcome Emmett Dean!

We welcomed our beloved baby boy into our family on July 14th, 2011. Emmett Dean Stohs was born at 8:03 am weighing 8 lb 2 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long. He was born by scheduled c-section. We were quite surprised that he was a boy since both Greg and I felt we were having a girl! Our first hint was during the surgery when Dr. Taylor said the baby had very broad shoulders and they had to widen my c-section incision. I have to admit it took an hour or so to adjust to the idea that we now have 2 boys! Emmett was born healthy as can be. He was a calm little man too, not even crying until they started to examine him on the warming table! He was able to hang with his Momma in the recovery room and I actually got to watch the nurse give him his first bath. These two things did not happen with Garrett and Avery's births, so it was quite a blessing.

Big brother Garrett and Big sis Avery came up to visit (with Grandpa and Grandma Stohs and Grandpa Reimer) about an hour or so after we settled into the postpartum room. They brought Emmett a balloon! Avery was a little unsure of all the medical equipment and hospital bed. She hung back by the wall during the first visit and wouldn't climb on the bed to sit by me. Garrett was a little quiet, taking it all in, but he did hold his little brother right away! Avery checked out Emmett while Grandpa held him. She said, "He likes me Mommy, he likes me!" We've all been enjoying him every since!!

Baby Update

Can it really be almost 2 months since I blogged last? Yikes. We've been busy around here....

Here's the latest baby update....I am currently 36 weeks along. My c-section is scheduled for July 14th. We'll have to be there bright and early at 5:30 am and baby will probably arrive around 7 or 8 am. I've been having a lot of mid-upper back pain this pregnancy, feeling as if my ribs are crushed, which means I've resorted to spending some time each night sleeping in a recliner. Yuck. I actually googled "broken ribs in pregnancy" about 2 weeks ago! So I am very ready for baby to arrive!

I feel like this baby might arrive early based on the number of Braxton Hicks contractions that I have especially when I walk any distance at all (i.e. walking the dog around the block) and the painful rubbing of the baby's head against my pelvis which seemed to start a little early this time around. So we will see. My c-section is scheduled for 39 weeks and my actual due date is the 20th of July.

The kids and I had hoped to squeeze in a lot of summer before the baby arrives, but that isn't really happening. The weather has been really cool so hanging at the pool and even playing with water toys at home has been limited. I guess I should be thankful for the cooler weather!

I think the kids are excited about the baby. Garrett still thinks the baby is a girl and Avery is wishing for a boy. I'm trying to prepare them that it could go either way! Garrett is very sweet and asks me questions about if I think the baby would like this or that. I think he will be a good helper. He also has been telling me that all of his favorite stuffed animals are "newborns" except for his stuffed Cookie Monster, who is 5 years old, just like Garrett!

In the beginning of my pregnancy, Avery said she had two babies in her tummy, a boy and a girl, but then she lost interest for awhile. Now she has one again. We were eating supper the other night and she leaned over to tell me, "My baby is kicking in my tummy right now." She has also been 'mothering' her stuffed animals, strapping them into the baby's bouncer and feeding them with an old sippy cup that I let her play with.

The countdown is on...only 18 days to go!

What We've Been Up To...

I should be able to think of a more creative name for this blog post but for right now, that's all I've got. Here are some updates...

Garrett's stitches are out! We've been using steri-strips to hold his gash closed a little longer while it finishes healing. Today should be the last day. Swimming lessons can resume this week since he is fully healed! These are all wonderful things!

Avery has discovered my perfume. She came into the kitchen last weekend saying, "mell me, Mommy, mell me." She wanted me to smell her - she leaves off her 's' sounds. It's too cute to start correcting it yet! Turns out she had sprayed my perfume right onto her forehead. Thank goodness she didn't get it in her eyes! Guess I'll be keeping that out of reach from now on. She is very proud of 'being like Mommy!'

Avery is really into nail polish. Unfortunately we don't always have the same taste in colors. I prefer pinks and reds and she prefers green, orange, and purple! She insists that our nails must match so now I am wearing green, orange, and purple! It's hard to resist my little fashionista's style recommendations.

We have a sick bird for the first time in 13 years. Yes, much to Greg's dismay, the birds are going on 13 years now. Harry came down with a sinus infection and is taking a daily antibiotic (by tiny oral syringe!). We discovered that avian exams cost about twice the price of a dog/cat. But like I told Greg, we can't let her die of something easily treatable, and turns out, that was the case. Let's just say that Greg and I are becoming very experienced at medicating a tiny bird, again, much to his dismay. The birds have also been very unsettled lately, squawking at anything and everything. I think their general tolerance for a noisy environment is decreasing with age. It just so happens that my tolerance is decreasing with pregnancy. Anyway, this weekend, for the first time ever, I had suggested that maybe they need a quieter home. When I asked Garrett what he thought about this, he said, "No Mom! They can live in my room. If they keep me awake at night, that's okay." That boy has such a big heart. We definitely can't give his birds away.

My doctor's office is working on getting my c-section date scheduled. The date will be either July 14th or 15th, both good dates for birthdays, I think! I really seems like a reality when we start to talk about a birth date! This last trimester is going to fly by. I'm not quite sure that I'm ready for the sleepless nights and restricted diet again, but I sure am ready to start sleeping on my back again!

This might be the best news yet...there are only 33 days of school left!! Woo hoo!

Our Ultrasound

We had our 20-week ultrasound today! Several hours later, I still can't believe that we did NOT find out if we are having a boy or girl! The suspense might kill me, but it is exciting! The baby is perfectly healthy which is the most important thing. Garrett and Avery joined Greg and I for the ultrasound, which was a pretty special experience to see them smiling and watching their little baby brother or sister on the monitor. During the ultrasound, the technician asked the kids what names they liked for the baby. Garrett came up with the following ideas: Peaches, Diego, or Possom (wait a minute...aren't those characters from Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs?) or Dora. The baby's heart rate varied from 138 to 133 beats per minute and later 154 with the nurse. We'll see if my theory (and gut feeling) that it's a girl holds true. I have always heard that lower heart rates are girls and that held true for Garrett and Avery. We got to see a lot of movement including the baby opening and closing her mouth and swallowing. It took a long time for the technician to see an air bubble travel to her stomach to pinpoint that the stomach was located in the right place, so the ultrasound took a really long time. We even took a break and tried a second time before she located the stomach. But eventually she saw it and everything looked great, so all is well.

No Petting the Baby

I showed Avery how much bigger my belly is getting these days. Her response was, "I don't want to pet her, Mommy." I smiled and told her she didn't have to touch my belly! She still says that she has 2 babies in her tummy. The last 2 times that she talked about them, she called them her "Garrett babies." How do they come up with these things? Garrett overheard this and was NOT happy!

Names

Lately I've been in the habit of calling Garrett by his full name when he is not listening. Something along the lines of, "Garrett Scott Stohs, get in here right now!" Avery seems to think she has the same middle name. She was walking around a few days ago singing, "Avery Scott Stohs, Avery Scott Stohs!" Luckily, her brother didn't hear her.

We've been working on our list of favorite baby names. Since we're not finding out the sex of the baby this time, we'll need a boy and a girl name. I've been asking the kids lately what names they like, just for fun. Garrett always says we should name the baby, "Avery" and Avery says we should name the baby, "Garrett." Either the teasing just never really stops at our house or they don't quite get it.

Baby News

I'm a little late in sharing on the blog, since most already know that Baby #3 is on the way! We are so excited to announce that our family is growing! I'm 10 weeks now and my due date is July 19th. It will be interesting to see how I survive a hot humid July at the end of my pregnancy! We will probably be hanging at the pool EVERY day! We had our first ultrasound at 8 weeks. Everything looked great and we could see the little flicker of the heartbeat. We'll get to hear the heartbeat on January 5th, our 9 year anniversary and my first dr's appointment! Can't wait for both of those things! I feel like I'm showing really early this time - guess those poor abs just don't hold things in so well the 3rd time around. Oh well. Greg and I have decided we will NOT find out the gender this time. We found out with both Garrett and Avery but since we already have boy and girl stuff, we'll just let this be a surprise. That might be tough for me. I have a hard time waiting for surprises and the suspense can almost kill me! When we ask Garrett and Avery what they want to have, Garrett says a sister and Avery says a brother. Then they proceed to argue about it!

Garrett and Avery were thrilled about the news. Garrett announced to Grandpa Reimer over the phone, "We're having a BABY!" Avery shared with Grandma and Grandpa Stohs, "I gonna be big sister!" Garrett has SO many good questions this time. It's really different having a 5-year old around to ask about everything instead of just a 2-year old like my last pregnancy. He wants to know, "How big is the baby?" "What does it eat?" "How does it breathe?" I have a nice pregnancy book with real color photos of babies at each week of development. For about 2 weeks, Garrett poured over the pictures, studying them closely.

Avery told me the other night, "I have a baby too." I thought she was referring to her baby doll, so I said, "Yes, you do." She patted her tummy. "Right here Mommy. Two babies." I guess she is having twins!