Truman Update

Truman is doing well :-) He is only getting up once per night!! (Knock on wood!) He did well the first night he was home, then had a couple of rough nights, but is back doing well again.

Here is a picture of him on the Bili-bed which he was on for 6 days after he came home.

He didn't really like being on the bed all that much (he was just in his diaper all the time). So, Connor and Elianna were not able to hold him all that much the first few days. Because anytime he was asleep or content, we put him on the bed!!

Last Thursday his weight was up to 7 lbs. 4 oz. which means he is still not up to his birth weight. We will go in again this Thursday for another weight check. He is doing well eating and is content most of the time, so I'm hoping he has gained weight!!

He definitely does not lack for affection!!

Check out the previous posts that have some pics of Connor and Elianna playing baseball/softball!

Softball Pics

This is Elianna's first year playing softball and she is having a blast!! Sometimes watching her games can be a little painful...the girls are not quite all with it all the time....but they are getting better!

Yes, she is wearing a skort playing softball!

She was probably paying too much attention to Mom taking the picture instead of to the coach pitching to the next batter!

Baseball Pics

Here are a few pics of Connor playing baseball this summer. He LOVES baseball! He especially loves looking up the stats of professional players. His team isn't as good as he would like this year, but he is still having fun playing.

Truman at his first of many ball games!

I'll post some of Elianna's softball pics and other misc. summer pics later! Time to feed Truman and eat supper....

1st night at home

We have survived our first night at home :-) Truman slept really well! He slept from around 10:30 until 4:30! I fed him, then he slept again until around 7:00. It was a great first night!

The doctor that was doing rounds from the pediatrician's office wanted me to bring Truman in for a weight check and bilirubin check today. He had lost about 10 oz. in the hospital, and if he lost 3 more, than he would have lost 10% of his birth weight...and then they get a little more concerned. Well, he lost 3 more :-( So, now I need to supplement with about 1/2 - 1 oz. of formula after he's done breastfeeding. Hopefully my milk will come in soon, and then we won't have to worry about it!

Because he is not getting enough to eat, his bilirubin levels are also high. So, they will be delivering the bili-lights to our house and he gets to sun tan a little bit :-)

Connor and Elianna had a busy day today as well! They started swimming lessons this morning (Jon got to take them for the 1st time!). They go Monday through Thursday for 3 weeks...1/2 hour each day. They then went with Daddy to get the oil changed and get some groceries, then the Park program started today also! Most weeks during the summer, they get to go to the park from 1 - 4 p.m. for free activities with a couple of teenaged instructors. They can do art activities, play games, puppet shows, and so much more :-) They really enjoy it, and it is nice to have something they can walk to (or ride their bikes) and it's supervised!! LOVE IT!

Pictures!

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of days!

The weight picture...but you can't see that it says 7 lbs 10 oz. (same weight Connor was!)

Meeting Truman for the first time.

We don't have any problems with finding someone to hold Truman!

Our first family picture with Truman.

How many people does it take to put one baby in a car seat?

We're on our way home!

Same pose, different child :-)

Truman Glenn Van Hulzen

We liked the name Truman and Glenn is Jon's middle name also. (After his Uncle Glenn Van Hulzen)

He's Here!

Truman Glenn Van Hulzen arrived on Friday, June 12, 2009 at 7:38 p.m.!

On Thursday I had my weekly appointment. They told me I could schedule my induction since they wanted me to deliver between 39 and 40 weeks because of the high blood pressure and gestational diabetes. I was scheduled for an induction for Friday morning, but when we called the hospital at 6:30 a.m. there were too many people in for delivery already. They had me call back at 9 a.m. but were STILL too full. They did say they would call me if they could get me in. I had gone to work for our last workshop day, and Jon went to work to get a few things done too.

The hospital called around 11 a.m. saying they could get me in....so I called Jon and we headed to the hospital! They start pitocin, broke my water and labor began. Around 3 I asked for my epidural :-)

Any time I moved onto my left side, he went into distress with a heart rate into the 60's. So, I had to stay on my right side. (Which meant a lot of the epidural settled into my right leg, and I couldn't move it at all!...It was somewhat comical.)

I can't remember exactly what time they had me start pushing, but I only had to do 3 series of pushes with a little help from the vacuum extraction on the last one. When he arrived, they saw that he had a true knot in his cord! It was around his leg. Thankfully, it was not pulled tight enough to cause any serious complications--just scare us a little bit. A friend of ours from Connor and Elianna's daycare had lost a baby at 39 weeks due to a knot in the cord, so we are even more aware of and thankful for our miracle!

I'll try to update with some pictures soon! We forgot that cord at home :-)

Baby Update

I have confirmation that they will not let me go past my due date :-) I was happy to hear that! Not that I'm looking forward to more sleepless nights.....but it is nice to have some sort of idea as to when baby will arrive.

I had another appointment yesterday and am dilated to 1 cm, but I was there last week too. The doctor felt my belly and the position of baby and she said she would guess he is about 7 1/2 pounds right now. How she could guess that is beyond me....but she's guesstimated a lot more times than I have!

Since I hadn't changed Jon and the kids will be going camping with Cadets this weekend. They are heading up to Gooseberry Falls, north of Duluth. Yes, it is over 3 hours away, but I'm not worried (too much, anyway). It will give me some time to get things organized at home!! This is Elianna's last trip with the Cadets--we told her when she got old enough that the boys in her class could be in Cadets, then she was too old. Well, the only boy in her Sunday School class and his family just left our church, but maybe there will be another one that moves in :-) Or, some boys from Calvin could come to Cadets too. I think she'll be okay with it, though. She already wasn't sure if she was going to go camping this weekend or not.

Sometime this weekend I will try to post some pics. I got a couple of cute ones of Elianna playing softball. She's loving it!