Brothers

"A brother shares childhood memories and grown up dreams"

One Month Old!!

Nixon has now been a member of our family for over a month! As I did with the other boys, each month I will take his picture with Eeyore, so that we can see just how big he is growing. Here is a summary of the past month.

Weight: 10lbs (approx)
Favorite activities: Sleeping, eating, sleeping, eating, sleeping....
Dislikes: Dairy (so mommy is now on a dairy free diet. She definitely misses milk chocolate)
Good Boy: Nixon is an excellent baby, he is generally happy and rarely fussy. He is up to feed every 3 1/2-4 hours, so mommy is getting decent sleep.
Brothers: His brothers love him so much. They have welcomed him with open arms into our family, showering him with affection constantly, which is so sweet to watch. Dawson is so proud of his little brother and has been thrilled to show him off at playgroup and preschool. Cooper loves sharing his toys and even his special taggie blanket with baby brother (we'll see if he still feels so generous when Nixon actually wants to play with those toys).

Here are some pictures of Nixon's firsts.....

First bedtime stories

First Bath


First Cuddles

First Naps

The Story and Conversations With A Three Year Old...

A few of you have been curious about Nixon's arrival and the how the whole delivery went. I've been meaning to post his story for the past 3 weeks, but with all the adjustment and lack of sleep, it hasn't happened. But today I have oodles of time, thanks to my mother-in-law who has kidnapped the big boys for the day and an infant who is still in the sleep most of the day stage!

So for those of you who are interested in Nixon's arrival story do read on. Those who find discussion about childbirth disgusting, simply skip this post!

Early on in my pregnancy, I was warned by my friend Lisa (who has been a maternity nurse for over 10 years) that the third pregnancy and delivery can often be different then the first two. I didn't really believe her at the time. But once I had made my third trip up to unit 25 with what turned out to be false labour, I began to see the truth in her statement.

On the morning of August 5th, I woke up feeling really crampy, but this was not a new feeling. Dave came and said goodbye to me and headed out the door to work. I decided to get up and use the washroom only to discover that I was bleeding (this was definitely something I'd never experienced before) and not just a little bit, a lot! I quickly ran to the front door and yelled for Dave, who thankfully hadn't left yet. We quickly made some phone calls, Grandma A. soon arrived and we were off to the hospital. We arrived at 7:30am and they admitted me right away. They had an obstetrician come exam me and he determined the bleeding was caused by my cervix dilating and that I was simply going into labour (for real this time). At around 9:30am, I started to have light contractions about every 10 minutes. At noon the doctor came to examine me and found that I was about 6cm. He said that if I wanted he could break my water and things would probably happen pretty quickly. But, he also said that baby's head was not fully down, so it could also take a while, it was a gamble. I opted to wait and let things happen naturally, my contractions were still mild and only every 10 minutes anyway. At 2:30pm my contractions started to get more intense (still very manageable) but still only every 10 minutes. I stayed this way until 5:00pm when the doctor returned. He examined me and found I was at 8cm, baby's head had dropped completely and it was time to break my water. water. He broke my water at 5:10pm and after some pretty intense contractions and only 2 pushes, Nixon arrived at 5:28pm!!

We are so thankful to God for allowing everything to go so smoothly, especially after 3 false alarms. Nixon was born at 37 weeks and 4 days, which is considered term! We are so blessed!

On a funny note:

Conversations With a Three Year Old....

Dawson: "Mom let's play hospital and pretend you're having a baby again. I'll be the doctor and I'll give you your water in a plastic cup, so you don't have to worry about it breaking this time!!!!"

Happy Birthday Cooper!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Cooper, you are becoming such a big boy! Since you reached 18 months old, you have been determined to let us know that you were no longer a baby, by refusing to wear a bib, insisting on eating with a real fork, and having a meltdown when your food was cut into small pieces. We love your curious nature, busyness (yes even that), obsession with mighty machines, sense of humour, the way you pretend to be cookie monster when you eat and make a mess of the kitchen, your desire to do everything your big brother can do, and the fact that you love to cuddle. Really we could go on and on. We can't wait to see what this next year holds for you! We love you little man.

Introducing.....

Nixon Peter Yates Andrus

Born: August 5, 2010 at 5:30pm (2 1/2 weeks early)
Weight: 6lbs, 5oz
Length: 18 3/4"
Hair: Blond (I know everyone is wondering if we have another red head!)
Name Significance:
Nixon:"son of Nickolas" picked simply because we liked it.
Peter: named after his great grandpa Peters (yes Pete Peters!) he passed away when I was one years old, but I know he loved kids and would have loved to meet my boys!
Yates: named after his great great grandpa Foxall who had a wonderful impact on my life growing up, he lived to 102 years old! Nixon we hope you inherit his zest for life and love of chocolate!

More details to come, but for now it's nap time!

Waiting For Baby

The hospital bag is packed, newborn clothes are washed and put into the dresser, teeny tiny newborn diapers have been purchased, the crib is setup and now we wait. With less then 30 days to go until our little ones due date, we are starting to get really excited (and a bit inpatient). Last week he sent us to the hospital for assessment again, as I woke up Friday morning with pretty strong contractions. I was certain that I was going into labour (and you think with this being pregnancy #3 I would know by now) Needless to say after 7 hours at the hospital the contractions subsided and the doctor sent me home and told me to take it easy. This time around they couldn't find evidence of a bladder infection and they really weren't sure what was causing the contractions. Basically the nurse said it seems my uterus is not very happy right now! Since then I have had some pretty uncomfortable cramping that comes and goes, but no real contractions. Tomorrow will be week 36, so baby can come pretty much anytime, as far as I'm concerned!

On a lighter note, one of the really cool things about this pregnancy has been watching Dawson as he anticipates the arrival of a new brother. Last time around he was Cooper's age and couldn't really grasp what was going on. Now he enjoys talking to my belly and feeling the baby kick. The Friday I was at the hospital, my parents came into town to watch the boys. When my mom told him I was on my way home he asked if I was bringing the baby with me. She said no and that the baby decided not to come out today. He then replied "oh I know why, I think mommy forgot to order the baby." When I got home I reassured him that a baby had been ordered and hopefully the next time I make a trip to the hospital the baby will actually decided to come out!

Here are a few pictures of Dawson helping me set up the baby's crib. He took this task very seriously insisting that he wear his safety glasses and double check every screw to insure that they were extra tight! You are such a great big brother Dawson!

History Repeating Itself.....

This past week, we experienced a little pregnancy deja view as I near the 33 week mark. Over the past 2 weeks I have been suffering with a bladder infection. I was given antibiotics and by day 3 I felt a lot better. Then a couple days later I began to feel crampy and uncomfortable again. I thought I would wait out the day and see if it went away (which it usually does). But as I was lying in bed that night I began to feel more intense pain that felt a lot like contractions, so we made a trip to the hospital at 11:00pm for assessment. Sure enough the non-stress test showed I was having small contractions every 3 minutes and larger ones every 10 minutes. After further examination by my doctor and this amazing new test that is available, it was determined that although I was having contractions, I was not showing signs that labour would be imminent. I was sent home to rest and given a stronger dose of antibiotics. After 2 days on these new meds I am feeling much better and contractions have stopped!

One little blessing that came out of all of this was I was sent for an ultrasound this morning. Last time I had an ultrasound at 33 weeks the ultrasound tech would not show me the images on the screen (due to the fact that they were busy and it would take to much time). But this time around things were slow and the tech took time to show me the images of our new little one wiggling his toes, suckling, and rubbing his eyes as if he were tired, it was so amazing. Now more then ever I can't wait to meet this little one!