Matthew - 1 day old

They have a photographer on staff at Northside that will come to your room and take pictures of your baby at one day old.  We were lucky enough to get a few good shots of Matthew and his Nana bought us the digital prints as a gift (thanks Nana!). I wanted to share them here. I love the one where you can see his dimple.

Most Awesome Big Brother

That's what his shirt says if you can't see it.  I have to admit, I was concerned about how Mason would react to having to 'share' mommy and daddy.  We talked about it before Matthew was born, but I don't think Mason 'got it' until he arrived.  I am so proud of what a wonderful big brother Mason has been so far!  At first, he wasn't really interested and kind of ignored the baby, but he quickly took the role of protective big brother.  He's very gentle and he wants to help with anything and everything.  Matthew and I pick up Mason every day at school and Mason is more excited to see the baby than me.  He considers it his 'job' to push the stroller back to the car and his teachers say he talks about 'baby brover Maffew' all day.  It melts my heart!  Unfortunately, Mason hasn't stayed still long enough to get a decent picture of the two of them yet.  Here's the best I could do - Mason is giving him 'kisses' on his feet.

A very special Mother's Day

I am very blessed on my first Mother's Day as a mommy of two.  Mason made me breakfast in bed and now I'm enjoying a lazy, rainy day with all three of my boys and my mom.  Mason loves having his Mimi here and I am so thankful to have her helping us out.  I am getting stronger every day and Matthew's gift to me was a decent night's sleep!  We're still adjusting to the newborn thing.  Since Mason came home from the NICU at 2 months old, he was already on a good schedule and sleeping much longer at night.  The picture above is me with Matthew at 6 days old (before my Mother's Day dinner).  Mason was already in bed, but I can't wait to get a good picture of me with my sweet boys.

We are also very blessed to have the best Mimi and Nana to Mason and Matthew.  The past month has been very difficult with me in the hospital and both of them have stayed with us for extended periods to help out.  We couldn't have done it without them!  Happy Mother's Day from all of us!!

Here are pictures of baby Matthew with his Mimi and Nana on his birthday.  We love you both very much!

We're Home!

Despite mommy having a few complications, the doctor let us both go home on Tuesday.  It's been a long week of recovering and taking care of a newborn, but we're finally getting some sleep and I'm starting to feel better.  I had some severe bleeding after Matthew's birth that took a while to get under control.  I'm very anemic from losing so much blood (in addition to the regular childbirth recovery), which has made me very weak.  I'm under strict doctors orders to take it easy, which isn't exactly easy with a toddler and newborn.  My mom has been here doing everything and forcing me to rest. I seriously would not have survived the week without her! 

Here are some pictures from Matthew's birth and first few days at home.

Welcome to the world Matthew!

Matthew Martin Henretty was born Sunday, 5/6 at 8:12 am.  Despite being just shy of 37 weeks, he weighed in at 7 lbs, 1 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.  He was given a clean bill of health and did not have to visit the NICU or transition nursery at all!  Chris and I are very blessed and happy to welcome him into our family!  I know Mason will be a wonderful big brother and they will be great friends in the years to come.

The plan was to induce me on Wednesday when he was 37 weeks, but apparently the super moon on Saturday encouraged him to come a few days early (and I'm not complaining :-).  My water broke in the middle of the night and I had a very quick labor to deliver on Sunday morning.  Thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers over the past few weeks.  It has not been easy, but we are so blessed to have a healthy baby boy.  Hopefully we will all be going home tomorrow!  This picture was taken with my phone, but I think he really looks like Mason.  I'll add better pictures when we get home.

36 weeks!

I've made it to 36 weeks at Northside.  The cholestasis is under control (with medication), but I still have mild pre-eclampsia.  Because of that, my doctors are keeping me here until I deliver, which will be sometime next week (after 37 weeks) unless he decides to come sooner.  Chris and my mom have been keeping me company and bringing Mason to visit as often as possible.  Mason is not very fond of the hospital, so his visits are usually very brief.  Chris' mom flew up to stay with us for a few weeks so my mom can go home and we're very glad to have her here helping out.  I obviously want to keep cooking this little guy as long as possible, but it has been a long week and I really hope I can handle one more.