Update on us since Zain was born...

Hello!! Long time, no hear...I know, I know...but if you were at our house, you'd really understand...

My goodness, I can't believe that I have a 5 week old and a 16 month old!!! Life is hectic.

Zain is doing pretty good. He's getting so big. At his checkup at 5 weeks, he was a whopping 12 pounds 4 oz and 23 3/4 inches!!!! He's a good baby. He does have some tummy issues and he seems to have a touch of colic. That's been really hard. He will only sleep at most 3 hours during the night. And during the day he wants to be held when he sleeps and the second you put him down, he's wide eyed and wondering what the heck you are doing putting him down. But we wouldn't trade him for the world. Hana absolutely adores her little brother. We've had no jealousy issues except when she is sleepy and he is nursing, then she wants to nurse, but she patiently waits her turn...she loves to give him hugs and kisses.

Hana is doing great. She's getting so big. She knows more body parts and has some animal sounds down...it's too funny to watch her expressions. But, she's turned into a daddy's girl recently and doesn't want Thaer to even be near Zain. She'll hold his legs and whines for him to pick her up....rotten child :) She has finally learned to like the grass, so she now will play outside in it. Last weekend when Thaer was mowing, she was following behind him waiting for him to give her a ride...it's too adorable. On Saturday was her first time to play in her inflatable pool. Even though the water was super cold, she didn't want to get out. She also started to drink out of a big girl cup this weekend. We found that one out by her playing with a cup in the pool and filling it with water and drinking it....cutie pie. When we took her to the dr. for her 15 month checkup, she was 32 inches long (90th percentile) and weighed in at 23 pounds (50th percentile)...so she is my healthy girl. She's just getting so big I wonder where the time went. It seems like in the last few weeks she's grown up soooo much. She's not a baby anymore. :(

I am doing well. At my 4 week post partum checkup everything was great and I was down 20 pounds from the 40 that I gained during the pregnancy....I am super excited about that. I just hope I can get the rest off without having to eat healthy or excercise :), because that will never happen...I've just been a little overwhelmed at times having the two alone during the day. Especially being so drained because Zain doesn't sleep well at night. Zain sleeps in the bed with me and poor Thaer sleeps on the floor. We've got to get him a crib and moved out of our room soon.

Thaer is doing well. He just runs on fumes. He finished his classroom portion of the 6 Sigma Blackbelt course and is almost finished with one project and will only have one more project to do after that til he gets his certification. On Monday the 13th he will finally be getting that neurostimulator permanently placed in his back. They didn't want to do it any sooner since we had the baby. He'll probably be out of work for 3 or 4 days. Hopefully all goes well and it will work well for him. The temporary one did, so we are confident that this will do well also. It should last about 10 years.

I think that is about it with us. Just busy with the kiddos that we hardly have time to breathe. But it is getting easier. Just say a little prayer that little man Zain starts sleeping through the night soon, we all need our rest!!

Thanks for checking in on us! I will try to post more frequently!!

Zain Thaer Yousef

I know that it has been forever and for that I am sorry, but it's been hectic with the 2 of them. I wanted to post his birth story really quickly though... Zain was due on Monday, May 18, 2009...that day came and went and on May 21st we went and had an u/s and the dr. told us that he was 9 pounds and we needed to induce the next day and to be at the hospital at 5pm.... We got to the hospital at 430p with Hana in tow and they told us that it was going to be about 15 mins to get the rooms cleaned up and maybe we should grab something to eat....well, 1 1/2 hours later I was finally getting in my room. So when they took my blood pressure it was way up....I was so agitated at that point. Well, they checked me, no dilation but cervix was softening....so they put in the Cervadil and the waiting game started....I started having contractions really regular a few hours later, but they were manageable....Luckily though I had no back labor like I did with Hana....Thank God! I didn't sleep through the night because I was trying to get through the contractions....They were every 2 to 3 mins from about 10p on....At 6a they checked me and I was at a 3 I think...They didn't want to start the Pitocin since I was contracting on my own, but got the dr. in there to give me some Diloden for the pain...it helped a lot....but the contractions were getting stronger so at around 10 am I got my epidural. Anyways, they started my Pitocin drip around 1245p and at about 330p I was at an 8 and needed a boost for my epidural. They came in at 430p and said I needed to start pushing and in 5 contractions at 449pm on May 23rd, 2009 Zain was born weighing in at a whopping 9 pounds 6 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long....He was a big boy!!!! Hana was only 7 pounds 2oz and 19 1/2 inches....But he is a very healthy little boy and by day 5 he was already back up to his birth weight.

Here are a few pics from when he was only a few days old.....



I will update on another post!!!