Happy Holidays - Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to Everyone!!!

Ben and I received our best Christmas gift ever this year, the birth of our son, Samuel. We were released from the hospital on Wednesday, just in time to be home together as a family for the holiday. Due to the serious weather conditions we had this week, a lot of our family had to drive back home, so it was a small Christmas with Samuel, my mother, Ben and I. Even with this we had a great day just spending time with our favorite gift. This is just one of the many many pictures we took on Christmas of Samuel in his Santa suit. We put Sam in 4 different outfits throughout the day so he could wear all of the cute little holiday outfits that we had gotten for him. We are pretty sure Samuel already thinks his parents are crazy forcing him into all of these outfits and taking tons of pictures, sorry Samuel hopefully when you grow up you will forgive us.

We have been so fortunate to have my mother here with us, it has made the transition home from the hospital a great one and allowed us to really spend time with our son. She has been such a great help, Samuel is so fortunate to have such an amazing grandmother that loves him so much! She is leaving this week and we can't imagine how different it will be without her.

Samuel is adjusting well, I got my first present from him while changing his 1st diaper after we got home. He is eating well, and sleeping about 3 hours at a time at night, allowing Ben and I to get pretty good sleep. With each day he is more and more alert, loving to look at the lights on the Christmas tree. We spend most of our days watching him and even fighting to get to be the one to change his diaper (how crazy are we.)

Thank you to everyone for your support and calls over the last week. We will continue to update his blog as he grows.

Samuel Joseph Levy

Well, I got what I wished for. Samuel Joseph Levy was born, yesterday December 21st at 2:15pm. It was an amazing experience and Ben and I couldn't be happier. My water broke early in the morning and we headed into the hospital. We were shocked (and we are not sure why) when they told us we were going to have a son in just a few hours.

Ben was fantastic and so supportive. And from the minute he arrived, they have had such a great bond. Ben can't go more than 20 minutes without holding him, it is so cute and I feel so fortunate to have a husband that is going to be such a great father.

All of our family has made it to Kansas City and had the chance to meet our new addition. We feel so fortunate that he has so much love surrounding him. Here is a family picture to get you started, we will send more when we get home.

With Love, Ben, Noelle and Samuel

Family in Waiting

We are 39 weeks, and you guessed it we are still waiting for Little Levy to make his debut. I have never been a very patient person, but this is like torture. As most of you know I am a VERY type A person and I do not have the means or tools to understand what is going on. Normally, when a difficult situation arises, I assess, figure out my options and what I need and then execute. Unfortunately, when I did that with trying to get little Levy to arrive I have come up unsuccessful. And yes, I have tried it ALL!! I have read all the websites, blogs and ideas in books on how to induce your own labor and all have failed. The only thing I have not tried is acupuncture which I may consider this week. People at the gym think I am crazy. I am there for hours every day trying to walk this guy out of me, but with no success. Hopefully it will help with my recovery. What I should see is that we are fortunate that he has stayed in this long as he has, as he could have arrived 10 weeks ago. Ben keeps reminding me that his ACTUAL due date is still 6 days away which is true, but I can't handle it anymore, not because I am uncomfortable because for the most part I feel great, I am just so excited to meet him.

On another note, our doctors appointment went well and we are still right on track she thinks he is still in the 7.5 lbs range and has a heart rate of 130-140. My doctor actually told me she was surprised she didn't get a call from us over the weekend while she was on call. We did however discuss the idea of having a resident appear in the delivery room when he does arrive and she promised me it will not happen.
I guess I am just so excited to meet our son, see what he looks like and start the next chapter in our life, that I am impatient. I have been talking to him for so long I really just want to get to do it face to face. But we are in the home stretch and within 10 days he will be here.

Ben and I have also gotten to continue our empty nest activities. We are eating out and seeing lots of movies. If you need any suggestions on what to see with your family over the holidays just let me know, we've seen em all!!

Ben and I hope that all of you have a wonderful holiday with your family and friends, and that 2010 is full of happiness!!

38 Weeks

This week was a week of to do's. I have been putting off a lot of things until my maternity leave started and they all came due this week. We now have an inspected car seat, Kansas pediatrician, insurance approval and savings/investment plan for little Levy. These little things are helping me to sleep a little better each day, which is getting harder and harder to come by.
We also had another baby shower this week. Ben's school threw us a very nice baby shower on Friday after classes. We got a lot more monkey toys, books and clothes for little Levy, and received some amazing hand made blankets that are the softest things I have ever felt. It was great to get to meet the people he works with every day.
Our doctors appointment this week was pretty uneventful. Things are right on track, but from what she can tell he is growing very quickly. Don't know for sure how big he is, but she said she thinks he was around 7 or 7.5 lbs. on Wednesday.
Ben and I are really trying to live these last few weeks up. Seeing movies, going to nice dinners and just relaxing at home with not a care in the world!!
We hope we have some news for all of you in the next 10 days, so keep your fingers crossed. I am such an impatient person that not knowing each day when he will come is exciting, but so hard!!

Full Term - 37 Weeks

So according to all the books and information 37-42 weeks is considered full term, so we have made it. I can't believe 37 weeks have gone by, and at most we have 23 days left to meet little Levy.

We took our final class this week on how to feed little Levy, so hopefully we have all of the essential information. We also did our hospital registration and tour. Shawnee Mission is really a great place, and so supportive during this time. Ben and I keep thinking we should have to pass an exam before all of this happens to determine if we are really ready. "Have they met us. do they know Ben has never changed a diaper?"

My last day of work was Friday, and I still don't think it has set in that I have the next four and a half months off. I am excited to have these next few weeks to relax and hopefully get through some of the reading I have been procrastinating. I still can't believe how fortunate I am to have this time off and to be able to spend it with our new son.

We had another doctors appointment this week and things are moving along. It still could be 23 days but she said it could be sooner. Last night when we thought Nebraska had won the big 12 championship I jumped so high in the air I thought I had for sure induced labor on my own. I had to sit down for a while to catch my breath and realize it was just little Levy having his own little party. A Husker fan so early, really makes his dad proud.

So all of you have patiently waited for this picture, and like I promised it is a doozy. If you took a woman's basketball and put it under your shirt we could probably be twins.