The Hustle and Bustle of Christmas - Part 2

With Tim working at Amazon as a customer service tech support, we had to head home so he could work his shift on Christmas Eve. While we were sad to leave my parents house after a ridiculously short visit, it did give us an opportunity to visit (and show off Isaac) with Tim's aunt who stopped by before her flight out of Portland.

Christmas morning arrived and we enjoyed our customary Hungarian coffee cake for breakfast before we read the Christmas story and exchanged presents.

Isaac's first Christmas!

  We had a Christmas catastrophe when Isaac's diaper leaked all over his favorite quilt that he has slept with ever since the day he was born. Thankfully, the swaddle blanket that his Great Grandma Luse sent him kept him content while the quilt was washed.

Elijah loves his little baby brother and occasionally wants to hold and snuggle him.

Christmas night, the Hawaii and the California cousins arrived at the grandparents house, so we drove over the next morning to  reunite with our cousin friends.

The Whittaker Newmas (Christmas around New Years Day) was celebrated.

Cousins were held.

Elijah actually wanted his picture taken...

...and to have a chance to try out his photography skills.

(I think a cheap digital camera is going to be on his wish list soon)

Isaac turned 1 month old...

...and stole his auntie's heart...

... and the rest of the family's hearts too.

The Hustle and Bustle of Christmas - Part 1

It's been a month since Christmas and I have yet to write about how wonderfully full and busy the season was for us. I guess that is what I should expect since we now have 4 birthdays, Thanksgiving, and 3 Christmas celebrations just in our immediate family between November and January. 

Tim had to "make" his own birthday breakfast since I was still recovering from my multiple surgeries. He opted for store bought doughnuts, which the boys loved!

Elijah was very disturb with how dirty he got from eating a chocolate doughnut. 

I had my mother in law take the boys out shopping for Tim's birthday while I recovered from the c-section at home.  

They were very excited to have Tim open his present.

I found this wonderful beard t-shirt website that had the perfect shirt for Tim.

   After Tim's birthday celebration, my mom took Beniah and Elijah down to Roseburg for a couple of days so that I had some time to recover from my gall bladder surgery without two boys trying to cuddle up to me and bumping and pushing on my belly.  Two days later, we headed down to Roseburg for the Luse family Christmas celebration and to introduce him to his Auntie,Uncle, and cousins.

Isaac didn't cry when he first saw Ravi! A first for one of my boys.

   Beniah had his first slumber party at his cousin's house while he was down there. Elijah wanted to have his own slumber party, so he crawled into bed next to grandpa and slept next to him the whole night. Grandma got kicked out to the twin bed in the spare room.

So far, every time we've been in Roseburg at Christmas time, Beniah has been able to go onto the stage to perform with his cousin. It's massively cute to see how excited (and slightly confused) he is to be singing with Jeshu.  It has set a precedent though. I have to had remind Beniah that he will not be going on stage when we visit Roseburg again.

After church, it was time to gather together... 

...to pray and speak a blessing over Isaac... 

...and open presents before the night was through.

because we had to leave the next morning so Tim could get back to work.

Isaac FAQs

 During our hospital stay, we were relatively quiet on Facebook, in emails, and on this blog, mainly because the internet was spotty in our hospital room, but partially because I kept falling asleep at random moments. I don't even know how many cups of my requested peppermint tea went cold because I would fall asleep as soon as I was given the tea.

So, this post is an attempt to answer those questions (although some were answered in my previous post) and to show off my adorable baby some more.

What are Issac's STATS?
  Isaac was 7 lbs. 9 oz. He is 20.5" long with a 14.5" head.  He was almost 2 pounds lighter than Beniah and Elijah were at their births.

  


How was the c-section?
   Considering that the doctors were wrist deep in my belly (that line is for you Tim), this c-section was my best surgery. The anesthesiologist placed my spinal perfectly and I had absolutely no pain or "hot spots" this time around. It was really nice to not be given more morphine during the surgery and to be more "with it" in the recovery room and enjoy cuddling with my baby boy. The main problem I had with the surgery was not being able to painlessly laugh when Isaac peed on himself and Tim's face.

If you had to choose one aspect of Isaac that is your favorite, what would it be?
   My favorite aspect of Isaac would definitely NOT be his wonderful baby smell that comes and goes depending on the cleanliness of his diaper. My favorite would be his Vulcan right ear.  The nurse told us that his ear was probably pressed against something in utero and would round out over time. We'll miss this quirky little ear when it rounds out.

Live long and prosper, little one!

What was Elijah's reactions to Isaac? 
   Elijah loves his baby brother and comments on how cute he is and has asked to hold Isaac, but he does seem to have a bit of jealousy over how much I am holding Isaac. At one point, Isaac was starting to get upset so I bent over to pick him up and Elijah said (in a pathetically sad voice), "Mama, don't pick him up." Thankfully, Tim was right there to care for Isaac so I could cuddle more with Elijah. It's definitely going to be a juggling act between caring for my baby boy and my little cuddle bug.

 

"Look at his little mouth!"

"Looking at babies is not nearly as fun as coloring with Daddy."

How did you deal with hospital boredom?
   I made both boys a big brother bag and filled it with some Target dollar spot toys and coloring books. I used this bag idea that I found on Pinterest and modified it to include 2 handles.

 

Of course, the tablets came out to be played.

Other than randomly falling asleep and cuddling my baby, I had one of my closest friends and her son come over for a visit.

 

Tim, of course, took the opportunity to cuddle with his son

But once his arm went numb, Tim began taking many random photos (mainly to tease me about the page long list of photos that I wanted). While there are a lot to be deleted, he got some pretty clever ones.

 

 

How are you feeling?
    I am feeling much better now that I am at home resting and watching my boys play together and love on their little baby brother.

Elijah is happy to be a big brother. He was just not happy with the number of cameras pointing at him.

The Whittaker Five preparing to head home.

 

 

We are all very proud to have Isaac join our family!
  

He's Here!

 The excitement for Issac's birth has reached it's pinnacle! Grandpa and Grandma Luse have arrived and the sleepover at Grandpa and Grandma Whittaker's is about to commence!

Mama's tummy has grown as much as it will grow!

(Last pregnancy photo at 39 weeks)

On November 27th, at 5:30 in the morning, Tim and I packed up the last little bit for the hospital and set off to have our baby.

   

 

After a couple of hours of  prep work and monitoring, Tim and I walked down to the operating room.

Tim had to sit outside the room while the anesthesiologist placed my spinal and made sure that it was working properly. 

Meanwhile, Tim amused himself by reading obvious hospital signs.

   I couldn't have asked for a better c-section.  My favorite OBGYN doctor performed the surgery (as planned) and was assisted by my favorite resident doctor (who was on call the weekend we miscarried our 3rd child, performed the D&C because my body wasn't letting go of Baby Blah (Beniah's name for the baby we lost), and she was on call when I had my gall bladder attack. She's been through all of the horrible experiences with us).
I also had a wonderful anesthesiologist who listened to me explain my weird pains during my last 2 c-sections and worked hard to make sure I had no hot spots during this c-section.
I, of course, felt Isaac kick and squirm during the surgery. When he was born, I felt him give a massive kick as the nurses and doctors shouted out, "Oh my gosh! He is just jumping out of her!"

Isaac was born at 8:35 am and weighed  7 lbs. 9 oz., 20 1/2" long, and had a 14 1/2" head. He is my tiniest baby.

He was born hungry and aggressively attacked anything that went near his mouth.

Thankfully, the surgery ended soon and we were wheeled to the recovery room where he could eat...

 ... and get his reflexes tested.

(I'm falling! I'm falling!)

Once we were back in our room, Isaac was given his first bath.

Then it was time to meet his big brothers, who were thrilled to see Baby Isaac. 

 Grandma was equally impressed with her 10th grandchild.

Elijah kept exclaiming, "Look at his little (fill in the blank)!"  At one point, he noticed the size of Isaac's feet and ripped off his socks to compare the difference.

 

 
Beniah was thrilled to be able to hold his baby brother and ran to the sink to wash his hands, climbed up on the couch, and placed the boppy around his waist and waited to be given the baby.

Every time they visited us, Beniah would make sure that he had a chance to hold Isaac (which we were more than happy to oblige him).

 

We are all so thrilled that Isaac's arrived!