Thursday, April 29, 2010
Celebrating
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The brothers three
Thursday, April 22, 2010
And on the third day...
I took the photo above this evening after everyone left for the night. Matthew still isn't totally sure about opening both of his eyes all of the time (he seems to prefer the one eyed gaze, a la Gary Coleman's "whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis" face), so when he was this alert, I had to snap a couple of shots. This was a little tough with him in my left hand and the camera in my right, but it turned out ok!
It looks as though we'll be discharged some time Friday afternoon. We're looking forward to getting Matthew home and to try the whole brother-introduction thing again on more familiar turf for Luke and Will. If anyone wants to come see us tomorrow in the hospital, just give me a call on my cell to talk about times!
Thanks again for checking in on us - this is a miraculous time for our family and we appreciate all of the excitement and well wishes that have been sent our way over the past several days!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Getting to know all about you...
Oma picked the boys up from school early and brought them to Nate and me at UNC. I was feeding Matt when Luke walked through the door, and I SO wish that I could have gotten a picture of the expression on his face. He had no emotion in his mouth, but his eyes were huge and not understanding the new scene. Will was also very perplexed when he heard Matt cry. He clearly wanted to get away from the source of the noise!
So despite our best efforts to prepare the boys for Matt's arrival, it wasn't the introduction that parents dream about! All we could do was laugh about it. The scene was confusing to Will, overly stimulating for Luke, and Matt was hungry (again! - this kid eats and eats and eats...) and ultimately, it was getting late. So the photo below is THE BEST new introduction photo we were able to take!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Matthew Sullivan
Monday, April 19, 2010
This is it...
By the time most of you read this blog post on the morning of April 20, Cart will have arrived - full term at 39 weeks and 4 days gestation! We had our pre-op appointment today at UNC, and are expected to check in Tuesday morning at 5am. We're the first case of the day in the OR, so Cart should make his arrival before 8am.
My doctor told me to make sure I get some rest tonight because tomorrow is a big day. While I understand the idea, how on earth am I supposed to get any rest? I'm excited for the birth of our son, but also nervous about the surgery. So between those feelings, and the sound of my growling tummy (I am not allowed to eat or drink anything after midnight tonight), I am sure to spend most of the night watching QVC. Or maybe M*A*S*H reruns.
Thanks to my wonderful husband for taking this maternity photo of me. We never had the chance to take any typical maternity shots with the boys' pregnancy, so we were very excited to take this one. I have been exceptionally fortunate to have Nate's encouragement and positivity by my side through this pregnancy. He's been the steady shoulder through all of the angst I felt over delivering again prematurely and never once waivered on his determination that we would make it to this day. I think he's a bit bummed that he no longer gives me weekly shots in the bum, though.
Thanks also to my lovely Mandy Lyon for doing a little photo editing to make this shot super special.
Check www.ncslaviks.blogspot.com for updates tomorrow. We'll post updates and photos when we're able. We seem to have created a lot of familial angst with the creation of Cart's "un-real" name, so we're sure that there are great-grandmothers and friends alike who can't wait to call him something else.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Letting go
Let me just say that the Paper Reduction Act of 1995 failed.
So I sat down for several hours today and poured over documentation from hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, everyone... thousands of pieces of paper. And when the organizational process was complete, I had about 10 pieces of paper in my "keep" pile and about three thousand pieces of paper in my "shred" pile.
These are documents that I thought I would hold onto forever. These are Explanations of Benefits from insurance companies that when totaled, prove that Will and Luke are "million dollar babies." These are documents that I thought were required to define the early life of my sons. Emotions can do weird things to you sometimes. So can pregnancy hormones.
What I realized today is that by holding onto these documents, I never truly accepted and let go of the trauma and drama that surrounded their arrival.
So I am still sitting here. Only now I am shredding paper. I am realizing as the whirring blades of the shredder destroy these documents that this is the perfect time to get rid of this baggage. With our decision to expand our family, we made a statement that we are not going to be defined by fear of history repeating itself with a premature birth. My sons are not defined by paperwork. They are defined by their smiles and laughs and personalities. Their futures are bright, and the darkness described in this paperwork can only dim that light.
It feels good to finally let go! Although it is taking longer than expected because our shredder keeps overheating. I have to wait for it to cool down before I can start again. Clearly I held onto too much paper for much too long.
Cart arrives on Tuesday. Oma is here for the next three weeks to help out. It's all good.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
License to nest
So now my hospital bag is packed, the house is 95% ready for an infant, and we've got just 12 days to wait for Cart's scheduled arrival on April 20. 12 days?! All of a sudden that seems REALLY soon...