Busy Baby Boy

A baby’s life is very busy.  I started this post last Thursday morning and am just getting around to finishing it now!  Pete is doing great.  He’s been to the pediatrician twice for weight checks and after losing a little at the first one (babies lose up to 10% of their birth weight) they had hoped he’d gain two ounces by Monday.  He surpassed their goals and gained 5 ounces in two days!  He already has a little personality and Pat and I are totally in love with him.  He’s met so many people and we are overwhelmed with all the love and support we’ve received.  Little Pete has made so many people so happy.  We’re not proud of him at all, and just hate showing him off!

Pete met Bailey this week too.  I wasn’t sure how the introduction would go, but Bailey is mostly disinterested  (though seems puzzled as to why we’re so fascinated with him) and has adjusted just fine.  Each day she gets a little more comfortable with him and will tentatively lick his head, which is pretty funny to watch.

Pete and Bailey

Pete’s got a busy weekend ahead too.  He’s set to meet his Uncle Tim and Aunt Jenny and cousins Reece, Quinn and Lena.  The Wisconsin Conroy’s are in town for Lena’s christening on Sunday and we can’t wait to celebrate!  Here are some pictures through day 8:

Meeting the Munchkin

After a doctor’s appointment on Monday 4/25, it was decided that I’d be induced on Wednesday, when my doctor was on call.  The munchkin had other plans though … I woke up Tuesday morning and just felt different.  I was having lots of contractions, but not at really regular intervals. I had big plans to get a lot of stuff done before we were induced but based on how I felt, I quickly decided that I’d be staying home.  As Pat was leaving for work, he asked if he should pack a bag, just in case.  I said yes.

I called my doctor at about 11:30 just to let them know I was having contractions (about 11 minutes apart) and to ask a few questions.  He said to call when they were 5 minutes apart.  At about 12:30, I decided that nothing was going to happen and I left the house to run a few errands – I was going stir crazy.  I talked to Pat about 2:45 and he said he was going to leave work early.  I told him not to bother because the contractions were only about 8 minutes apart.  At 3:15, I texted him that it was good he was coming home because they were 5 minutes apart.  At 3:30, I called him and said “Come home now.”  I called my doctor and they said head to the hospital!

It was of course rush hour and the hospital is 25 minutes away on a good day, so we didn’t get there until about 5.  By this time, contractions were about 3 minutes apart.  We checked in through the ER and they took one look at me and said, “Oh, you’re in this, huh?”  I said yes and we walked to labor and delivery.  They hooked me up to the monitor and said “Oh, you’re in full blown labor.  That’s nice.  I think we’ll be admitting you!”  So we walked to the room where we’d be delivering the munchkin and waited for things to progress.  At this point, I figured that it would be late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning before the munchkin arrived, but I was wrong!

My doctor came in about 7 and said things were looking good.  At 8:30 he came back and had me do some “practice pushes”.  At 8:37, he said “Ok, I’m going to get some gloves on, whatever you do, don’t push”.  At 8:38, I gave a final push and the munchkin arrived!  I was shocked and amazed to see a fat baby and Pat said “it’s a boy!”  My doctor then said, “I think I might have underestimated his weight” – he guessed I’d have an 8 pound baby. Everyone in the room was baffled at the size of him, and took guesses as to what he’d weigh.  9 lbs 1 oz was the highest guess.  When they put him on the scale and Pat said he weighed 9 lbs 14 oz, I just started laughing.  I still have no idea how he managed to stay inside that long.  There could not have been much room for him!

While the nurses were getting Pete all cleaned up, the doctor told me that the little guy didn’t make things easy on himself.  He had what is technically known as a cord accident.  There was a true knot in his umbilical cord, the cord was wrapped around his neck and he was also clenching the cord with his right hand.  Those situations, never mind all three combined, don’t usually end well.  But Pete had a guardian angel looking out for him and I’m quite sure that Brienna helped her little brother make a safe entrance.  We miss Brienna so much it hurts, but I felt her with us the entire day, and I like to think that she is as happy as we are that her little brother is finally here!

Here is the munchkin’s first picture:

Meeting the Munchkin!

We were so happy to finally meet the little man and are totally enamored with him!

Peter Joseph Marr

The munchkin has finally arrived!  Our son, Peter Joseph, was born last night April 26, 2011 at 8:38 PM.  He is 20 1/2 inches long and shocked us all (especially me!) by weighing 9 lbs 14 oz!!

Peter Joseph

Family Photo

The munchkin is named after his great-grandfathers; Pat’s grandfather, Peter Marr and my grandfather, Joseph Conroy.  We think it’s a good, strong name and hope he likes it as much as we do!  Thank you all for your continued thoughts, prayers and well wishes!  We are smitten with our little boy and will post more pictures (as well as his birth story) soon!

Has Anyone Seen the Stork??

We haven’t and are beginning to think it’s lost!  The munchkin is apparently quite content in his/her current home and is reminding me an awful lot of his/her older sister.  I can remember waiting for Toot and thinking that she was definitely our child – stubborn, and late for everything. Apparently, it runs in the family!  We’re only four days past due and we’re being as patient as we can be, but are definitely getting antsy to meet this baby! So if you see the stork, send it our way!

Happy Easter!

Showered with Love

Thank you all for the munchkin’s baby shower!! Despite my initial reservations about having a shower, I am glad we did.  It makes me sad that we weren’t able to do the same for Brienna, but I know she was there with us.  I know she felt all the love in that room and knows that in many ways, it was for her and the munchkin.  Like I said on Sunday, the last two years have been overwhelming at times but we are here today because of all the love and support you’ve given us.  So thank you.  I truly don’t know how we would have survived everything without all of you … hopefully this is the start of more good things to come.  It was fun to celebrate a happy occasion and it means so much to us to know that the munchkin is already so loved!  We are getting pretty excited to meet him/her!!

Thank you also to our moms and sisters for making the shower such a success.  I know they worked very hard to pull everything together pretty quickly, and we love them for it!!  It was a great day and so many little special touches were because of them.  We are so lucky to have them in our lives!

Conroy Girls

Marr Girls

I also want to say a very special thank you to my best friend Andrea who flew in from LA to celebrate with us.  We’ve been friends for a long time (the picture below is from 1983!) and I am beyond grateful to her for being there to celebrate … I can’t really express in words what it meant to me, but suffice it to say, it meant a lot!!

Laurie & Andrea 1983

I think Pat will be posting a poll soon so everyone can cast their vote on whether they think we’re having a Mr. Munchkin or a Miss Munchkin … it’s hard to believe there’s less than four weeks to go until we find out!

Munchkin Update

We had our 32 week ultrasound this week and our little munchkin is looking good if I do say so myself!  We hadn’t seen him/her in over 12 weeks, so we were very much looking forward to this ultrasound.  The munchkin is growing like a weed, weighing in at about 4 lbs 3 oz!  Brienna was only 4 lbs 14 oz when she was born, so it’s hard to believe they’re almost the same size already.  Pat was 9 lbs 8 oz when he was born, but my doctor assured us the munchkin won’t be that big, much to my relief! Here’s our favorite picture from the ultrasound: it’s his/her nose and lips but we have no idea where the Angelina Jolie lips came from!

Munchkin 32 weeks

We spent the weekend in Madison, WI protesting visiting my brother Tim and his family and getting some baby practice with their newest addition, Lena Teresa.  She’s just over 4 months old and we absolutely loved her!  Her smile makes you want to melt and despite our best efforts to take her home with us, Tim and Jenny insisted she stay with them.

pat and lena

Her big brothers Quinn and Reece are pretty darn cute too and we had a great visit.  We’re hoping to see them all again soon … hopefully sometime after April when they can meet their newest cousin.

Let the countdown begin!