Our Family
Our Family
Monday, April 30, 2012
Bath Time!!!
Andrew had his first real bath today! And we managed to not spill to much water and cooperate enough to get one clean baby. Andrew did some business of his own - leaving a little present for us in the baby tub! He's definitely gaining weight, as we had to pull rolls aside to ensure we got everything clean!
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Growing a Larger Greek!
Andrew is growing!!! We went to the doctor yesterday and he gained almost a pound in 1 week! It looks like the feeding plan is working. It has been a challenge since I feel like all I am doing is feeding him but we can't complain about something that is working.
We thought that Andrew was gaining as we saw more rolls and his cheeks plumped up but didn't think it would be as much as it was. He now weighs 7 lbs 9 oz!
We also hit another milestone this week as well! Andrew started sleeping in his own room! I had a hard time with it but Pete was insistent as Andrew is super vocal and we needed to get some real sleep. The funny thing is he is still sleeping in his car seat - just in his crib! He just likes it that way and who are we to argue with the big guy : )
Here are some new photos and a video as well to show how active he is!
We also hit another milestone this week as well! Andrew started sleeping in his own room! I had a hard time with it but Pete was insistent as Andrew is super vocal and we needed to get some real sleep. The funny thing is he is still sleeping in his car seat - just in his crib! He just likes it that way and who are we to argue with the big guy : )
Here are some new photos and a video as well to show how active he is!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Trying to Put on the Pounds
Andrew is having some issues gaining weight - probably the only time in his life! We went to the doctor last week just to have him weighed and he was only 6 lbs 6 oz. He should have been at the very least 6 lbs 8 oz. Everything looks fine with him; the doctor is just thinking he's not eating enough on the breast. So the course of action is to nurse, then pump, and then feed him a bottle of what was pumped. We think he's already gained weight by this method but we will know for sure on Friday when we take him in to get weighed again!
We headed home for a day trip. It was great because we got to see the family, but the reason for the trip was not positive. My friend's dad passed away from cancer so we were home to attend his funeral. It was a great service and reminded us just how lucky we are to have our faith, our family and our health. Here are some new photos - Sophia was pretty interested in Andrew but only jealous when Papa G had him!
We headed home for a day trip. It was great because we got to see the family, but the reason for the trip was not positive. My friend's dad passed away from cancer so we were home to attend his funeral. It was a great service and reminded us just how lucky we are to have our faith, our family and our health. Here are some new photos - Sophia was pretty interested in Andrew but only jealous when Papa G had him!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
No one likes that Billy Rubin guy
This was the theme for the rest of the hospital stay - as we tried to make like of Andrew's jaundice and body temperature control. Billy Rubin is actually billirubin - the stuff that passes through the liver and is gotten rid of through bowel movements. So we were feeding Andrew as much as we could and hoping to see that Billy Rubin guy as much as possible in his diaper!
Our stay in the hospital was complicated a bit more as Cole, Andrew's only Stopulos cousin, came down with chicken pox - only the day after he had given lots of kisses to Andrew. Our doctor was confident that Andrew would be fine and would not get it, but the hospital had to take procautions as to not infect other patients. Therefore, we were moved to a controlled room so that our air would not be shared with other patients. So far, Andrew has not gotten the chicken pox. Unfortunately, his Aunt EE (Ellie) was not so lucky and she came down with them soon after Cole did, since she didn't have them as a child.
After moving Andrew was able to regulate his body temperature and the jaundice was dramatically reduced. We spent Easter Sunday in the hospital but were discharged that night!
The following Tuesday we had a follow up with Dr. Omar, our peditrician and everything looked good, including some blood work.
All is staring to go very well for our little man!!
Our stay in the hospital was complicated a bit more as Cole, Andrew's only Stopulos cousin, came down with chicken pox - only the day after he had given lots of kisses to Andrew. Our doctor was confident that Andrew would be fine and would not get it, but the hospital had to take procautions as to not infect other patients. Therefore, we were moved to a controlled room so that our air would not be shared with other patients. So far, Andrew has not gotten the chicken pox. Unfortunately, his Aunt EE (Ellie) was not so lucky and she came down with them soon after Cole did, since she didn't have them as a child.
After moving Andrew was able to regulate his body temperature and the jaundice was dramatically reduced. We spent Easter Sunday in the hospital but were discharged that night!
The following Tuesday we had a follow up with Dr. Omar, our peditrician and everything looked good, including some blood work.
All is staring to go very well for our little man!!
Saturday, April 7, 2012
So This is What Being a Parent Is Like
I am writing this blog from a hospital room. Only a week after Andrew and I were discharged from Trinity, we are now in the NICU at Genesis.
Andrew was very lethargic and was not waking up to eat on his normal schedule. Pete decided to take his temperature and it was 92.5 degrees. We couldn't believe it and found another thermometer to take his temperature with the same results. We immediately called his pediatrician and they had us go to the emergency room.
Andrew's temperature there was 93 degrees and his heartrate was a low 70 bpm. He was immediately hooked up to every piece of equipment they had - blood was drawn, fluid was given, the pediatric specialist was called down to oversee by Dr. Omar, our pediatrician. He was moved up to the NICU for further tests. At that time we were told it could be anything from a small infection to meningitis.
They did a spinal tap on him to rule out the meningitis and fortunately that came back clean!! They started antibiotics immediately following to cancel out any infection. Further tests came back good, ruling out any other infection. The doctor believes this was a case of hypothermia - with his age, size and being early at only 37 weeks, he has a more difficult time regulating his body temperature. He is also pretty jaundice - rating high on the bilirubin scale.
They will keep him at least 48 hours. He is under a lamp to help with the jaundice and a heated bed to help regulate his body temperature. Pete and I spent our first night in a family room here at the hospital. I was able to get up with him to breastfeed and we were both able to hold him some (but want to keep him under the lamps as much as possible).
He is doing much better and the doctor believes we will be able to be discharged on Sunday evening. His first Easter will be spent in a hospital but he's here with us getting better and that's all that matters.
I write this all very calmly now, but I was scared to death. I never thought I could care for something so much and worry so much. I had to fight so many tears and try to stay strong for our baby boy - something Pete is so much better at! We are so thankful that we are blessed with great doctors who knew what to do and that the Lord was watching over our little man and our family!!
Here are a few photos from the hosptial:
Andrew was very lethargic and was not waking up to eat on his normal schedule. Pete decided to take his temperature and it was 92.5 degrees. We couldn't believe it and found another thermometer to take his temperature with the same results. We immediately called his pediatrician and they had us go to the emergency room.
Andrew's temperature there was 93 degrees and his heartrate was a low 70 bpm. He was immediately hooked up to every piece of equipment they had - blood was drawn, fluid was given, the pediatric specialist was called down to oversee by Dr. Omar, our pediatrician. He was moved up to the NICU for further tests. At that time we were told it could be anything from a small infection to meningitis.
They did a spinal tap on him to rule out the meningitis and fortunately that came back clean!! They started antibiotics immediately following to cancel out any infection. Further tests came back good, ruling out any other infection. The doctor believes this was a case of hypothermia - with his age, size and being early at only 37 weeks, he has a more difficult time regulating his body temperature. He is also pretty jaundice - rating high on the bilirubin scale.
They will keep him at least 48 hours. He is under a lamp to help with the jaundice and a heated bed to help regulate his body temperature. Pete and I spent our first night in a family room here at the hospital. I was able to get up with him to breastfeed and we were both able to hold him some (but want to keep him under the lamps as much as possible).
He is doing much better and the doctor believes we will be able to be discharged on Sunday evening. His first Easter will be spent in a hospital but he's here with us getting better and that's all that matters.
I write this all very calmly now, but I was scared to death. I never thought I could care for something so much and worry so much. I had to fight so many tears and try to stay strong for our baby boy - something Pete is so much better at! We are so thankful that we are blessed with great doctors who knew what to do and that the Lord was watching over our little man and our family!!
Here are a few photos from the hosptial:
A Weeks Worth of Visitors
Andrew had so many wonderful people visit in his first week of life. We are so blessed with such great family and friends!! Here are a few of those that were caputured on camera!
IT"S A BOY!!!
He's here!!! Andrew James Stopulos was born March 31st at 7:12pm, weighing 6.1 lbs and coming in at 19.5 inches long. Even 3 weeks early he is PERFECT!
We arrived and got checked in at 8:30am on Saturday, March 31. It was so exciting and I felt great. They took blood, hooked me up to an IV to start antibotics. Dr. Barr arrived around 11am and fully broke my water at 11:30am. She said that the bag of waters is multi-level and the first part had broken and it was leaking. When she broke it, it felt like a gush of liquid. They also started pitosin at that time. Contractions really sped up then. I moved around the room and got on a birthing ball to try and work out the contractions. We also tried watching the Muppet Movie :)
By 2pm they the contractions were pretty painful and we decided that an epidural was in order. At 3:30pm, I received an epidural and was able to relax for a bit. We actually finished watching the movie. It was a weird feeling - I could feel my toes and move my legs around a bit but could not move my hips at all. I was dilated to 5cm at that point and within an hour and half was a full 10 cm and 100% effaced. They then turned down the epidural so I could start feeling the contractions more and know better when I could push. It started getting more and more uncomfortable so I just tried to relax, breath and listened to some old school rap music!
Dr. Barr arrived around 6:30pm and I pushed for about 30 minutes until Andrew was born. I got to a point that I didn't know if I could get him out, but we did it! Pete was an amazing coach - wiping my sweat, giving me oxygen and cheering me on. He counted the timing of my pushes and was so good!
Andrew had the cord wrapped around his neck and Dr. Barr was still going to let Pete cut the cord, but Pete told her to let the experts do it. They said the Baby had a head full of dark hair and I just wanted to push the last push. They waited until the next contraction so Dr. Barr could take care of the cord and then I pushed him out and they said It's A BOY! I think I was looking to see if the Baby had those parts or not! He was immediately laid on my chest while I delivered the rest of the placenta.
It was hard work but an incredible experience - made even better by the nurses at Trinity and Dr. Barr, who now shares a birthday with Andrew!
Our parents, Kelly, Chris and Sophia were in the waiting room having pizza, wine and beer - a classy hospital tailgate : ) They came in immediately and were able to share in our joy of our new son! Joe and Kristin (the Godparents) joined us soon after. It couldn't have been a better experience!
Below are the emails that were sent out to our family by Pete:
Actually, her water was not fully broken. They just finished breaking it and are starting a pitosin drip to accelerate the labor process. The proverbial snowball has been pushed downhill. We'll keep everyone updated.
Andrew is here! Thanks for all your prayers. He came out like his dad, with the cord wrapped around his neck. Mom and baby are doing well.
We had an amazing experience and such great treatment at Trinity. They called it an "spontaneous" birth because my water partiallly broke Saturday morning. I woke up at 2 am (needing to go the bathroom of course) and thought I was sweating everywhere. I changed clothes, pillow cases and such and went back to bed. I woke up again at 4am and the bed was wet - like I had wet the bed, but the fluid smelled sweet. We called the doctor and got patched through to Dr. Barr. She said that she thought my water had broke. I was not having regular contractions and so Dr Barr said we could take our time getting to the hospital. I needed to get there sooner rather than later though to start meds since I had tested postive for Group B Strep.
We arrived and got checked in at 8:30am on Saturday, March 31. It was so exciting and I felt great. They took blood, hooked me up to an IV to start antibotics. Dr. Barr arrived around 11am and fully broke my water at 11:30am. She said that the bag of waters is multi-level and the first part had broken and it was leaking. When she broke it, it felt like a gush of liquid. They also started pitosin at that time. Contractions really sped up then. I moved around the room and got on a birthing ball to try and work out the contractions. We also tried watching the Muppet Movie :)
By 2pm they the contractions were pretty painful and we decided that an epidural was in order. At 3:30pm, I received an epidural and was able to relax for a bit. We actually finished watching the movie. It was a weird feeling - I could feel my toes and move my legs around a bit but could not move my hips at all. I was dilated to 5cm at that point and within an hour and half was a full 10 cm and 100% effaced. They then turned down the epidural so I could start feeling the contractions more and know better when I could push. It started getting more and more uncomfortable so I just tried to relax, breath and listened to some old school rap music!
Dr. Barr arrived around 6:30pm and I pushed for about 30 minutes until Andrew was born. I got to a point that I didn't know if I could get him out, but we did it! Pete was an amazing coach - wiping my sweat, giving me oxygen and cheering me on. He counted the timing of my pushes and was so good!
Andrew had the cord wrapped around his neck and Dr. Barr was still going to let Pete cut the cord, but Pete told her to let the experts do it. They said the Baby had a head full of dark hair and I just wanted to push the last push. They waited until the next contraction so Dr. Barr could take care of the cord and then I pushed him out and they said It's A BOY! I think I was looking to see if the Baby had those parts or not! He was immediately laid on my chest while I delivered the rest of the placenta.
It was hard work but an incredible experience - made even better by the nurses at Trinity and Dr. Barr, who now shares a birthday with Andrew!
Our parents, Kelly, Chris and Sophia were in the waiting room having pizza, wine and beer - a classy hospital tailgate : ) They came in immediately and were able to share in our joy of our new son! Joe and Kristin (the Godparents) joined us soon after. It couldn't have been a better experience!
Below are the emails that were sent out to our family by Pete:
Saturday, March 31, 2012 8:34 AM
In case you all haven't been informed by now, stuff's about to get real here in the QC. We are at the hospital now. I will keep you posted.Saturday, March 31, 2012 11:34 AM
Saturday, March 31, 2012 3:20 PM
Just received an epidural. Things are better in the pain department.Saturday, March 31, 2012 7:18 PM
Showered Again
On March 19th, Becca and Sally hosted a shower at Corporate for Pete, me and Baby Stop. It was WONDERFUL! We received our high chair and so many nice gifts. We had snacks, drinks and lots of cupcakes (continuing the trend of each shower offering booze for the guests - ha!)
We can't wait for Baby Stop to be here and enjoy all these wonderful gifts. We put the crib together this weekend and are starting to get the nursery set up and functional. Only 5 more weeks!!
We can't wait for Baby Stop to be here and enjoy all these wonderful gifts. We put the crib together this weekend and are starting to get the nursery set up and functional. Only 5 more weeks!!
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