Last visitors

We have been a busy household with visitors for the last 6 weeks. The last was my sister Nicole and her daughter, Sophia. It was great to have everyone here, especially to have all the help they gave and the extra attention for Cata. Cata had a blast with her little cousin, Sophia. Here are some pics from their visit:

Pictures!

Family of 4!

Quick photo op after dinner with our great friends - is it possible to have 5 kids under the age of 3 to look at the camera at the same time?

I swear, he looks about 3 months old already!

My kiddos vegging out after Cata got 3 stitches

She's going to be a good big sister - she just LOVES looking at him.

3 weeks

3 weeks ago today I was in labor and Tomas was ready to join us. Kevin and I have reflected back on that day several times - reflected on bringing another child into this world, reflected on finally meeting Tomas, and reflected on the scary events of that day that could have taken our lives. We had our OB visit this week and were able to talk through the events of the day with her. I will never forget when she said to me in the OR - this is your miracle baby. It was not until talking through what happened with her that it truly registered that it is a miracle that we are both alive and healthy.
January 24th started early for me as contractions woke me up around 5am. Contractions were progressing through the morning, getting closer together and stronger. Kevin and I were excited to know that the day had finally arrived. Then suddenly I got a pain that I will never forget. That was my uterus rupturing. It took us about an hour to get to the hospital because I was not able to move. Kevin practically carried me to the car as I felt so weak I could not even open my eyes. I just kept saying to Kevin "I'm going to die". Once at the hospital, we were blessed to have a fabulous nurse in the assessment area who took one look at me and immediately took me to a L&D room, got the OB on the phone, the monitors on me, and an IV in. Within 15 minute the OB arrived and was telling me we were headed to the OR for a c-section.
Once in the OR, she made a skin incision and saw Tomas' head right there - with my uterus ruptured he was floating out. As our OB said - there was someone else looking over us because of all the things that happened right to give us the outcome we had. Somehow Tomas was kept tucked in my uterus enough so that my uterus did not get the message that he had been delivered. Had my uterus felt he had been delivered, it would have released certain hormones that trigger the placenta to be delivered. Since this did not happen, my uterus kept contracting, the placenta stayed attached, giving Tomas oxygenated blood. Also, because Tomas was partly out, but still being held in, this put enough pressure on my uterus to prevent significant bleeding. There were a lot of miracles here that we are so thankful for, especially this one:

Two weeks

Another week has flown by. Tomas is growing. He weighed in at 10lbs 11oz at his 2 week well child check! I don't know what it is about my kids, they just thrive on milk. I had a nurse ask me if I have fortified milk - haha, I guess so. Tomas is much more alert, with longer awake periods. He is looking around and exploring the world (or whatever he is able to see at this point). He is quite an eater but does let me get some sleep. He loves being held and will wake up when he is placed anywhere but in someones arms.
Catalina is getting used to having Tomas around. She doesn't cry anymore when he makes any sort of noise. She even smiles at him! She likes to walk up to his car seat if he is in there and rock it. She also likes to walk by and touch him when he is in her reach. We are all happy to see her adjusting. She started in a new school program last week and seems to be doing really well there. She has a one-on-one aid and I think she is just loving the constant attention.

One week

Time flies. Tomas is already more than a week old and still looks like a 2-3 month old :) Life is much easier with just one child, but we are adjusting! Cata is the one having the hardest time adjusting. She has had so much change recently - I really feel bad for her. First she spent the night at one of our friend's house when I had to stay overnight in the hospital. Then my mom arrived for 2 1/2 weeks. During that time I went to the hospital and had a 4 day stay. Cata was really unsettled during those days and was even more unhappy when she came to visit in the hospital. She wouldn't look at me and was just fussy. It broke my heart. Even worse is that because of the c-section, I can't pick her up. That has been the hardest part for me, not being able to comfort her like I normally would. Then we came home from the hospital and she was a doll for 2 days - she even was smling at Tomas! It was amazing - I thought we just blew by that whole adjustment period. WRONG. By Thursday she noticed something was different and she has been irritable and sad. Friday my mom left, my sister Alicia arrived, and my in-laws arrived. More change. Then Sunday Alicia left. This has been hard.
Little Tomas is doing quite well. In his one week of life he has changed already. His face has changed from the swollen post-delivery look, to something very similar to Cata's baby face. He eats like a champ, even going 3-4 hours between feeds! He is more alert now and spends time with his eyes open looking around, especially if there is a face close by to stare at. So here are the pictures from week 1:

Our first moments together - Daddy cuddling Tomas

Day 2!_______ Cata a bit skeptical about big T ______ Eyes open


Abuela + Tomas_____ Family of 4! _________ Daddy + Tomas

Big sister Cata

I think I have a picture taken 2 years ago that looks identical to the one on the left!

Not sure what to think... This about sums up how Cata is feeling :(

Some shots from Big T's one week birthday :)
Do you think he's singing?



We have seen a few smiles from Cata, and this one was for Tia Alicia