Home Again

We are finally home. After 6 nights and 5 full days in the hospital, Zac was discharged on Sunday morning. We were so excited to get the okay to leave, we were home before church! (although we did not go). Hilary dropped Elias off on her way to church and he was sure excited to see his little brother, and all his toys!

Hilary and Addie left Sunday afternoon. We miss them tons, but are so thankful for their time here. Mom is staying with us this week since Dad is gone on Spring Break Tour (Emmaus Ensemble). Zac is loving his Grandma "cuddle time" since he is light enough for her to lift.

We are thankful to be back together as a family and continue to pray for Zac's fully recovery. Thanks to those who were praying for us during our hospital stay.

A week gone...

Well, this has been quite a week. Hilary and Addie came up from Dallas to visit and meet baby Zac, and are we thankful. On Monday, Zac went to the dr. to have them take a look at his eyes (they looked pussy), and we discovered he had RSV. So we came to the hospital Monday night for monitoring...and have been here ever since. Zac is doing better now, but still is working on a total recovery.

Elias has gotten to spend the week with Addie and Aunt Hilary, while "helping" take care of Grandma while she recovers from gallbladder surgery. Needless to say, it has been a very interesting week. We are so thankful that Hilary has been here this week and are continually reminded of God's faithfulness, even in the timing of illness. We look forward to being home soon and together again as a family.

Although, I have not taken any pictures this week (the hospital room is not too exciting), Aunt Hil has taken some. Check out the Denny's Blog for great pictures of some cute kids!

The Boys

We have been home for almost 1 week now and are settling in. Elias is adjusting to being a big brother and doing a pretty good job. He always has a slobbery kiss for Zac whenever we ask him to and loves to 'cuddle' with Zac when we lay him down for tummy time (sometimes his 'cuddling' is a little too close!)

Checking out eachother.

Elias holding Zac for the first time...it didn't last long and was well supervised!

Daddy's favorite thing to do when coming home from work.

Zac's first pictures

Here are a few pictures that were taken at the hospital. We did not get too many since Zac was not in our room very much.

Zac while in the NICU (the board on his left hand is to keep the IV in)

Zac and Mommy cuddling. We have one of Elias like this too!

Introductions

We would like to introduce to you...

Zachary Hanley Mathew

born 2/08/08 at 3:19 p.m.

6 lbs 1 oz.

19 inches long

He took a while to decide to join us, but once he did, we met him very quickly. The day was long for me, a lot of waiting and waiting, but thankfully I was comfortable (the epidural is definately my friend!). After what seemed like forever, Zac decided he was ready to come around 3 pm. We called my mom to come over to be there for the delivery, but Zac didn't give her much time (or the Dr. and nurses much time for that matter). I pushed through 2 contractions, a total of maybe 5 minutes and he made his appearance!



He did have some breathing difficulties at first and spent the night in the NICU with oxygen, but got off that pretty quick. He is off all monitors now and is working on nursing. We are getting the hang of it now and he is starting to gain some weight. Zac may spend one more night here, while I am being discharged today...but he is doing very well and should be home soon!



Elias has been at Grandma and Grandpa's all weekend and has been getting spoiled royally. He has not met Zac yet, and hasn't seen mom in a few days either. I am missing him terribly, but I am sure he is doing fine.

We are so thankful for him and this blessing from God!

We will post more pictures of Zac and the family as the week goes on. Stay tuned!

Waiting

We arrived at the hospital this evening after a relaxing dinner at Panera...one last time with just the 3 of us. Elias is at Grandma and Grandpa's doing great we hear...

The induction started around 8 pm and things are progressing well. I am having contractions about 2 minutes apart, but they are not too painful yet. Ben is watching TV and I am resting. The Dr. did say that he predicts a baby by morning....we are hoping... Hopefully the next update will be with pictures of a new Mathew!

Update

Well...the latest news is that we get to meet baby Mathew #2 sooner than expected. I had another ultrasound this week which showed that the baby's belly is slowing down in its growing, probably due to lack of nutrients. So the Dr. decided it was time to induce. Ben and I are going in tonight to get the process started and should get to meet baby sometime tomorrow. ( I was induced this way with Elias and he came in the middle of the night!) Elias will be at Grandma and Grandpa's for the night, and hopefully will sleep great so Grandma can even be at the delivery. We are very excited to finally get to meet this baby and be a family of 4!!! (Sometimes we still can't believe that we will have 2 kids)

On the walking front....Elias still is a avid crawler, but does venture to take steps every once in a while. His record has been 6 steps during the Super Bowl on Sunday night. We are still hoping that one day soon he will realize how much faster he can go when walking, or in his case...running! Maybe time at Grandma's will help!

I will try and get an update out this weekend introducing the baby...we will see.