Before I forget

A few snippets from our first days with Noah...
*Abby meets Noah: I could hear her voice coming down the "recovery" hall in the birthing center. Abby was giddy and a little nervous about meeting Noah. He was smaller than she expected, but that didn't matter to her. Abby immediately asked to hold him. She put her hands on his tiny head and brushed his downy-soft cheeks with her five-year old, pink nail-polished fingers. She looked so grown up to me all of a sudden. Her hair was a mess and her cheeks were pink from playing at school. She wore her uniform and climbed into the hospital bed with us, with her shoes on. There wasn't a hint of hesitation in her once she had Noah in her arms; she kissed him over and over and giggled at every sniff and wiggle that he made. She looked amazed when he yawned. The next day at school, Abby proudly showed off her hospital bracelet. Apparently her report to the class included two salient details: " I am a big sister, and poor daddy has to sleep on a tiny bed--his feet hang off the edge." No mention of poor mommy--I must have seemed fine to her. :)

*Abby leaves a rock on Noah's bassinet: A gift of sorts, Abby brought a rock to the hospital. (Grammar folks--the dangling modifier is purposeful; both Abby and the rock were gifts). I don't know if she got it from school or where, but she put it under Noah's hospital bassinet on a little stainless-steel shelf next to his diapers. The nurses comment on it--they guessed Noah must have a sibling who brought the rock to him. I offered to move the rock, but they said "No, leave it; it's his little talisman." Well, I suppose stones do mark great moments even in scripture. We have a bowl of rocks that we write important events on (a wedding gift to us, nearly 7 years ago now, from the Parks family). Abby's little stone gift looks different from the dark-gray rocks in the bowl, but perhaps it will be Noah's rock anyway.

* On April 12th in the morning, my mom called me in the hospital: "You're late for jury duty!" I laughed and thought, :"That's right, I'm supposed to be sitting in the courtroom about now! Oh well, let them come and get me."

*G changes Noah's diaper for the first time, gets hosed: I had heard that boys are tricky to change; they have a habit of spraying everything around them. It is TRUE. My first diaper change and the kid goes off like a (well-timed) fire-hose. Only ten days later and he has now gotten me, Matthew, our bed (a few times), the floor, the couch, himself. Want to come over for tea? I warn you, there are no safe places to sit!

*G and N's first night together alone--Matty went home to be with Abby after two nights away from her. I was lonely and afraid to be the only one there with such a tiny little baby. I think pregnancy hormones played a part in this, but I cried and blubbered on the phone to Matthew for a while; he listened patiently and lovingly and then suggested that I take advantage of the nursery and the excellent staff at the hospital so that I could get a few hours of sleep. Noah slept in the nursery for a few hours then spent the rest of the night asleep on my chest. The nurse did offer to take him back, but I wanted to keep him with me for the second half of the night. I was weary but proud of myself for keeping him. I felt brave. I felt like he and I were going to make it after all. This little boy brought me big comfort, and he and I really bonded in those hours together, alone.

student of the month

Yesterday the whole fam took Abby to school. I made that sound way too easy; let me start over. I was up with Noah from 4:30-7:30 a.m. He was wide-eyed and hungry. Abby made her way to our room after hearing Matthew and I talking to Noah (around 5 a.m.). Matty and Abby fell asleep again and I woke them up at 7:30 so that M could get A ready for school. I requested a wake-up call at 8 a.m., but time flew and I woke up at 8:35...totally unprepared to get into the car to go to Abby's school recital. A mad dash ensued and we were all in the car by 8:54 (she was due at school by 8:55). Noah was wailing because he was starving (I was going to feed him right before leaving the house). I grabbed a bottle of formula, which kept Noah happy during the recital, but also provided the ammo for his first world-class spit up episode--all over my nicest shirt that fits and in the middle of a large group of parents watching their kids sing patriotic songs. (Formula spit-up stinks). At that moment I realized I had forgotten to pack another outfit for him, and he was covered too. All of this faded into the background when Abby's teacher got up to announce that our own little Abby was "student of the month" in her class! Watching her walk over to her teacher to receive her star necklace and words of praise was a great moment. She smiled at Matthew and me and made sheepish grins to the rest of the onlookers. I remembered being about her age and singing in school recitals with mom and dad watching, and I wondered: How did I get here? My own daughter is singing and smiling up there and my son is in my arms; my husband is 30 and I'm turning 30. What a trip!

Next Abby shared Noah for show-and-tell. She held him carefully on her lap and told her classmates the important details: "This is my baby brother. He is very soft and very cute. He likes to suck on my nose and sometimes my finger too. We have to change his diapers when he poops. I like to snuggle him and kiss him. He smiles when he dreams." Wow. Abby really does love Noah. She lights up with smiles when she gets to snuggle with him or hold him. Last night she had him in bed with her for a few minutes and she wanted him to stay for the whole night:
A: I want him to stay with me. He makes me feel not afraid.
G: But he is so tiny; how could he protect you?
A: I don't know, he just makes me feel better. I want a real person with me in my room.
G: I understand, sweetie. When he gets bigger, he will sleep in your room.
A: Mama, will Noah grow up to be a dwarf? He is so little.
G: (laughing) No. Dr. O would have told us. Noah will probably be nice and tall.
A: Will I be a dwarf?
G: No. You're going to be taller than mommy.
A: Are you a dwarf?
G: No. (Though daddy likes to make fun of my shortness!)
A: I'm tired...

And so it went. Abby slept through the night--our little "student of the month"--she is such an amazing girl. Not once has she expressed even the slightest bit of jealousy toward Noah! I now have to remind her that I exist if I want a kiss goodnight; the girl is smitten with this new brother of hers. We all are.

Abby feeds Noah

We're home!

Two hands full
Originally uploaded by gennabby.

The Pearsons FOUR are home at last. This is Genna by the way; now you get my side of the Noah story! Born April 11, 2007 at 10:47, he weighed 5 pounds 5 ounces (and is a little less than 5 pounds at the moment). He is 17 3/4 inches long (his sister was born at 6 lbs. 5 oz. and 19 inches, but she was three days early, he is between 3-5 weeks early). They think he may be at about 35 weeks, or perhaps 36. Noah arrived in spectacular fashion. My blood pressure was up so I was put on bed rest. The next day I went in to the birthing center to have some labs drawn and the doc just didn't see the point in letting the baby and I remain in any danger of complications due to blood pressure, so she suggested that we induce. Abby was at school, my hospital bag was at home and partially packed, and the infant car seat was still in storage. We thought we had some time left to prepare! Delivery details: so they placed a tiny pill next to my cervix, which had me dilated to 3cm by the morning. A pitocin drip got me to 4 cm shortly after that (all of this causing only mildly uncomfortable cramping). Then Dr. Wilson (a doc from Ireland) said he would break the bag of waters to "get things moving." He also said I could have an epidural at any time so I said I'd take it right then. Well, the rest of the story is the spectacular part: In less than 40 minutes, I dilated from 4 cm to 10 AND had Noah--WITH NO PAIN MEDS. They didn't even have time to get the epidural placed (though they were rooting around in my back for the right spot for a minute or two). I told the nurse that I had a super strong urge to push. To our surprise, she felt the baby's head already crowning! I was in complete agony from about 30 seconds after Dr. Wilson broke my water until Noah was born, but he was born with one push for his head and one for the rest of him. I don't know if I had more than one contraction. Matthew said he just came flying out. The doc made it to the room just after Noah arrived. Matthew said he hopes his hearing is intact (I screamed so loud that my throat hurt the next day). I had no tearing at all, and therefore no stitches or extra worries about infection, etc. I am sore, to be sure, but I feel really good. My BP is back down. Noah is itty bitty, but very healthy. Matthew taught Noah to nurse! We needed to give him some formula to keep his weight up, so Matthew got to feed him using his pinky finger and a tiny tube. My milk has come in now and Noah is nursing well. I have more stories to share, but I am exhausted right now. Before I go though, I just have to say that Matthew is an amazing husband and dad; he is taking such great care of me and of Noah and Abby too. You're the best, Matty.
Abby is in love with her baby brother. She thinks he is the cutest baby ever, and she is very proud about being his big sister. What a joy to see them together! Forgive my fogginess, but I am taking a muscle relaxant for a very owie neck (a result of looking down to nurse and admire Noah). More soon...

Video of Noah in the hospital

Hi dear readers. Matthew again. I am home with Abby tonight, but before I left I took some video of a sleepy little Noah. Thank you all for your prayers, well wishes, and college fund contributions. Love, the Pearsons.

Noah Scott Pearson, 4/11/07

Noah, Apr. 12
Originally uploaded by gennabby.

Hi all, Matthew here, guest-blogging for Genna, who is still in the hospital without an internet connection. I wanted to get some photos out to everyone though. Click on the photo to see more, and I will upload more pictures and video later.

Noah Scott Pearson was born yesterday at 11am, weighing 5lbs. 5oz. He's a tiny little tyke, but he and mom are doing great. I'm especially proud of Genna--she had the baby in 40 minutes with no pain meds! The doc was trying to give her an epidural but Noah wanted out! And actually, I don't think I suffered any permanent hearing loss as a result of it, so that's good. Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts, and phone calls and we'll post more updates soon!

honest opinion

Before church yesterday, I asked Abby what she thought of my outfit.
A: It's nice. But your belly sticks out a little.
G: (laughs).
A: Do you think people will think you're having a baby or that you ate too much?

lip gloss and tighty whiteys

Abby woke me up at 7:30 this morning: "Momma, I have to get to school early today."
G: "Because you want play time in the morning?"
A: "Yeah."
Matthew drove Abby to school so that she could play for a while before class started. Right before getting out of the car, Abby proceeds to put on some (clear and glittery) lip gloss! Matthew came home to tell me that Abby looked just like me-- checking her lips in the mirror as she glossed and smacked. I told him that she reported getting an approving comment about the lip gloss from 4-year old friend Max (in another class, hence the desire to get to school early so that she can play with him before they go their separate ways). I think Abby has a little crush on Max. She called him her best friend and said she likes how his face looks. Matthew walks down the hall saying "Oh no, she has a crush. What are we gonna do?"

Then I related another conversation (from this morning):
A: Momma, why are girl undies called panties?
G: I don't know; that's just a name for them.
A: What is the name for boy undies?
G: Underwear?
A: No, something else.
G: Tighty whiteys?
A: Yeah! Those are gross.
G: Why? Are your undies gross?
A: No. Boy undies are gross because they go on butts.
G: So do your undies.
A: But girls aren't gross. Even daddy's undies go on his butt.

I did not ever clarify why boy bums are gross and girl bums aren't, but I took this whole conversation as an excellent reason not to make too much of her putting on clear lip gloss before school. As long as boys are gross, we're fine. Of course, if BBQ ends up being a boy, we will have more conversations like this one, I'm sure. Most of them will likely confirm her suspicions about boys--lovable and gross.