5 Weeks Flown By

Well it has been 5 weeks since Levi was born. I can't believe it has already been that long. We went to the doctor today and he now weighs 9lbs 14.5 oz and is 22 inches long. He is doing a little better with his strider while he eats, but we still hear it. The doctor said that it will get better with time, but it could be years before it is all the way gone. His visit was nothing but good news. He is in the 50th percentile for height, weight and head size. He is starting to smile when we smile at him and he has been sleeping between 7 and 10 hours a night for the past week, which is definitely nice for us!

Chloe is still doing really well with him. There hasn't been any huge jealousy issues and she just loves to help out with him. She thinks that he needs a pacifier at all times and if he doesn't have one she tries to look for where he dropped it, even if he never had one in the first place. She likes to push him in the swing and is always curious as to what he is doing and where he is at. She does get a bit ornery and if she tries to give him his pacifier and he doesn't take it then she takes it and puts it in her mouth, if Levi is in the swing she likes to try and climb in too, and when we stop feeding him and put the bottle down to burp him then she likes to try and sneak away with the bottle. She doesn't drink out of it, but she likes to run off with it for some reason. She also gets this look in her eyes of mischief as she will go and do something that she knows she is not suppose to when we are feeding him because she knows are hands are full.

Chloe is now 18 months old and she is on the go. She loves loves loves to be outside and wants to be outside all the time. We have a little gazebo over her water table and little play set with a slide and swing, but in 100 degrees it is still pretty hot! She is talking and mimicking everything that we are doing. It is really funny, but sometimes it is hard to keep a straight face when we are trying to discipline her while she is mimicking us. She is definitely the little ham and she knows it. She has a small baby doll and Peter Pan stuffed doll that she carries around and pretends like it is her baby. She will put them in the swing and push them down the slide, burp them, put them to bed, and give them a "bath" in her water table. Its really cute to see how motherly she is becoming.

Zach's parents came out for a quick visit to meet Levi and to see Chloe. We had a great visit. Chloe loved having her "Mimi" (Grammie) and "Pup Pup" (Grumpy) to play with. We went out to Westgate one day and spent a lot of time relaxing outside in the back yard while Chloe played. By the end of the trip Levi was giving out some smiles so I'm guessing he liked having them around as well.

Now that Zach is back to work and I'm on my own for most of the day 4 days a week it has definitely been different. It isn't too bad, but there have been a few days when Levi decides he doesn't want to nap so I am constantly going upstairs and back downstairs and back up again to try to get him to sleep. I curse those stairs at least once a day. Note to anyone with small children and wanting to buy a house. DON'T BUY WITH STAIRS! I do try to get the kids out on a walk everyday so that way we all get out of the house, but with the temps rising it is getting a little more difficult. We did go out the other day and we were caught in a dust storm. All the sudden the skies turned dark and the wind picked up and dust was EVERYWHERE! Levi was completely covered by the stroller shade so he didn't know what was going on, but Chloe and I were not. I tried to pick a route back to the house that the dust wouldn't be blowing in Chloe's face, but I couldn't find a route that was entirely safe so there were parts where I was pulling the stroller rather than pushing so that way I could keep the dust out of her face. It was no fun, but we made it and only I had dust in my hair and teeth. The kids were clean.

I'm sure this next month will be full of change as Levi seems to change daily and I'm sure Chloe will find new dance moves as she loves to dance all the time! Enjoy the LOADS of pics from the last few weeks.

First attempt at a family photo

Second attempt at a family photo...we will get it one of these days

"Pup Pup" and "Mimi" swinging Chloe

Playing at the Neighborhood Park

"Pup Pup" and Chloe relaxing at Westgate in-between water time

Levi big eyed while listening to Uncle Jeremy talk to him

Trying to get Chloe to lay next to Levi for a pic

Getting Back to Normal

After having almost a month off with Zach, he has gone back to work. The last week we had together we tried to get out and do some fun family things before he had to go back to the real world. We took a trip to the zoo, went to Westgate, and just hung out around the house as a family getting to know Levi. The man on man defense (one parent per child) is now going to be more of a zone defense now that Zach is back to work. Hopefully sanity will stay over our house!
Below are some of the pics from our family week.

Chloe playing w/Levi

Chloe & Zach looking at the Tiger at the zoo

Chloe & Zach playing in the water at Westgate

Chloe playing

Chloe giving Levi his pacifier

Levi "smiling"

Belated Easter

Levi was still in the NICU on Easter and even though Chloe doesn't really understand Easter I still felt guilty not doing anything real special with her. She did go over to her cousins' house for a quick egg hunt, but she didn't really care too much about it from what I was told. So we celebrated Easter a week late. Which is kind of nice because if you get Easter things after Easter they are all on sale! Below are some of the pictures from the day. Enjoy!

Chloe decorating candy eggs

Chloe looking in her Easter "basket"

Levi just chilling on his first "Easter"

Chloe playing with her water table that she got for Easter

Chloe taking a water break

Past few weeks

Chloe enjoying some DQ ice cream. She is a strawberry lover like her mother. She did not want her dad's chocolate ice cream sundae.

Chloe being silly shaking her water and ice

Trying to get a picture of Chloe winking (mommy was too slow with the camera) while at Subway enjoying lunch after taking our first family walk, Levi included.

Chloe wearing her crazy socks for and picnic at Westgate

Chloe in her new Shades (thanks to Mamaw) and new shirt/dress (thanks to cousin Sydney)

The past few weeks have been challenging at times starting with the crazy man trying to get in and then Levi in the NICU, our A/C breaking and finally bringing home Levi, but they have also been some of the best family bonding times as well. My parents were in town over my Dad's spring break which luckily happened to fall right when I was due so both my parents were able to be here. My parents got here the Wednesday before my due date and since I didn't deliver until the Thursday after my due date we had a full week of spending time with my parents as well as my sister and her family and a few of my dad's friends/old high school teachers of mine for that week. We went to the park, baseball spring training games and bike rides among other things. I should say that by bike ride I mean everyone else rode bikes while I followed in my sister's golf cart. I was 40 weeks pregnant there was no way I would be getting on a bike.

We were also able to spend some good quality time with Chloe since Zach was off as well. I was/am so paranoid that Chloe will feel left out and I want to make sure that she doesn't feel like she is any less special now that she has a brother who needs more hands on care than she does.

While we were going to doctors appointments, our hospital stay and the frequent visits back to the hospital for feeding Levi while he was still in the NICU Chloe was with my parents. She got a lot of quality time with her Mamaw and Papaw as well as her cousins. Chloe has always been a Mamaw's girl, but it was definitely intensified. Even when we were home she would often prefer Mamaw to change her diaper or Mamaw to help her with her toys. She would look and ask for Mamaw and Papaw. It was really nice to know how smitten she was with her grandparents and vice verse. It was definitely reassuring to know that we were leaving her in great hands while we were tending to Levi. We can't thank them enough for helping out and my mom for staying until Levi came home from the hospital even after Daisy ate my mom's hamburger one afternoon and ran out of the house with Buster on both my parents.

In the next few weeks Zach's parents will be in time and I'm sure Chloe will be just as smitten and just as big of a ham when they are here too. She was such a ham for my parents. Chloe is in that fun stage where she is talking a lot more and mimicking everything. I can't wait for the next few months to unfold and all the family time we will get together.

A Little Delay

Levi just born

Levi in NICU

Levi sleeping in NICU

Bringing Levi Home

Chloe saying Hi to Levi

Zach feeding Levi w/Daisy the guard dog

Well this post may be a little delayed, but so was Levi so I guess it all fits.

Levi Allen Batsche was born on Thursday April 5th at 6:31pm. He weighed in at 8lbs 10oz and was 19 inches long. His head was 15 inches around and his chest was 13 3/4 inches around. He has a lot of hair that is a light brown/strawberry blonde and looks a lot like Zach (according to Levi's doctor). He was a big boy compared to Chloe who was 6lbs and 12 oz when she was born! He still looks and seems so small compared to Chloe now. I still feel like he would just snap in half even though he is bigger than what Chloe was when she was born.

Labor was on the same path as Chloe as we had to be induced, but the time was much shorter. We started the induction medication around 9:30am while I was not dilated at all and at 5:30pm Thursday they took me off the medication because my contractions were lasting one minute and one minute apart and they said the could no longer control my body. I was then again put on oxygen for the remainder of the time. I quickly started to feel like Levi was going to fall out and I believe by 6pm I was fully dilated and at 6:31pm he was born. I was exhausted and really cold. In my head Chloe's delivery was all quiet and rainbows and relaxed, but this time there seemed to be millions of nurses and it was chaotic. It was probably more chaotic because it was right at shift change and the fact that I went from a 5 to a 10 in about 30 minutes probably didn't help (normally they say you go up a number about each hour), but I think there were about 8 nurses/doctors in the room with us. After Levi was born he cried, but it was very muffled. The nurse immediately noticed there was some fluid in his lungs still. This is normal and most babies they can suction it out or the baby can get it out within a short time so they continued to clean him up. Once most of the nurses were gone there were only about 4 nurses/doctors and they decided to take him to the NICU to observe him some more because of the fluid and difficulty breathing.

Zach was able to hold him and get a few photos, but I was not able to hold him just to see him from afar at first. What was suppose to be just a few hours of monitoring soon turned into admitting him for a 48 hour watch in the NICU. So we were still planning on taking him home when we were to leave on Saturday. On Friday morning I spoke to the doctor and his words were: "You will bring a very healthy baby home, but just not on your desired time frame." He said it would be the beginning of the next week before we could probably bring him home. This was hard...very hard. I had a pretty healthy baby that I couldn't take home and then I was stuck in the hospital for two days while I only saw my daughter a few times a day.

We finally were able to bring Levi home on Tuesday April 10th around 2pm. Chloe was napping when we got home and so we brought Levi in and put him down for a nap in his pack n play. When Chloe woke up and came downstairs she immediately went over to the pack n play and said hi to her brother. No prompting from us she just knew. It was pretty much the sweetest thing ever. I wish we would have gotten it on video, but we did not expect that from her and the lights were so dim since he was sleeping.

Chloe has been very curious, but very good with Levi. She likes to come over and see him and say hi and tell him he is nice. She also likes to give whoever is feeding him the bottle and put it in the sink when he is done. We are really trying to include her in everything with Levi and show her how she can be helpful and a big sister. I think it has been harder on me more than Chloe because I want to make sure that she is still getting our attention and knows that she is special and it isn't all about her brother.

Its been a rough few days for me. Since Levi came home 5 days after he was born we feel like we missed some of the bonding time and time to figure out his cries and cues. When Chloe came home we had a good grasp on her, but Levi is different and I've had a bit of a hard time, but thankfully nurse Zach is here to help. He is definitely the more natural of the two of us and I forgot a lot even though it was just 17 months since we brought Chloe home. All the nurses in the NICU couldn't believe how confident and good he was with Levi. He had tubes everywhere the first two or three days and Zach would just get in and take charge.

I'm so glad and lucky that Zach has still another week off and I'm off until June!

911

I've never called 911 or had the need to call 911, but in the past month 911 has been called from our home twice!
Chloe likes to play with our phone and pretend to talk to her daddy. She loves to turn the phone on and hear the operator come on and say "If you would like to make a call..." She has called Zach once on accident, but no one else. Normally when she has our phone I follow her pretty closely to make sure she doesn't call anyone. It just so happened that she was playing with the phone and dialed 91111111. I got to the phone before it rang on their end and I was hoping we were safe, but I was also expecting a sheriff to arrive at the front door and make sure everything was okay. That was not the case. About 5 minutes later I got a call from 911 stating that they received a call and wanted to make sure everything was okay. I apologized and said it was an accident by my daughter and everything was okay. I still kind of sat a little nervous expecting them to come out and double check since I did say my daughter called and didn't reference the age of her. No one ever came out to the house that I know of. So we were in the clear.
Today, was a little different. It was about 4:30pm and Chloe and I were playing downstairs when I heard the front door knob turn and it sounded like someone was trying to force their way in. I first sat there in shock and partially thought Zach was coming home early to surprise me and just was having troubles with the door or it was my sister trying to be funny. I was definitely wrong. After a few seconds I went up to the door and looked out the peep hole. There was a man outside trying to get in. My heart started racing and I really didn't know what to do. I could tell he was an older gentleman and he had a broom. I quickly went to the back door and shut and locked it.
The man kept telling me to let him in so he could get his daughter. I would respond back asking who he was and that he had the wrong house and his daughter wasn't here. I could tell he was an older gentleman and was obviously confused, but I was still terrified as he was trying really hard to get in the door. After a few minutes I decided I should call 911 because I didn't know what else to do.
The 911 dispatcher was very nice and was asking everything that was going on. She had said a sheriff had been sent out to my house and would be there shortly. After what felt like eternity I asked her how long until the Sheriff was there and she very nicely said, "I know you are scared, but it has only been 2 minutes and they will be there as soon as possible." I was breathing pretty heavy and she was trying to keep me calm by asking if I was there alone and all of those kind of questions. I told her I was home with my two dogs and 1 1/2 year old daughter and that I was 9 months pregnant. She started asking about my pregnancy and when I told her my due date was less than a week away she was very sympathetic and reassured me again that help was on the way and told me to stay calm as I didn't need this kind of stress.
The man had a broom and would start sweeping our porch and then come and knock on the window, which scared me even more as I was afraid he would try to throw the broom through the window or something to get in. The dispatcher chuckled a little bit when I told her that he wasn't using our broom and he brought it himself. He was clearly disoriented, but I was not going to open the door and have him still convinced his daughter was in the house.
The sheriff finally arrived after what seemed like forever, but it was only about 10-15 minutes. He came up and talked to the old man and then came to the door and I opened the door just as much as the chain would allow since Chloe and the dogs were trying to see what was going on. The sheriff explained that the man was disoriented and appeared to be suffering from Alzheimer's and that he was going to take him and find out where he lived. What scared me again was that the old man tried to tell the Sheriff that the two dogs were his and the little girl inside was his. I immediately said "No, they are not. This is not your house." The sheriff got on to me and said not to argue because the old man didn't know what was going on, but in my head the sheriff needed to know that the dogs and Chloe were not this old man's.
About 5-10 minutes after the sheriff left with the old man he came back and explained that the old man actually is living NEXT DOOR with his daughter! I had never seen him before and I was shocked that he was next door. He said that it appeared the old man was sweeping rocks from the sidewalk and came up to our door thinking it was his and that he dropped off the man at the house and if we see him wandering again just to call and say George is out and they will come escort him back home. The sheriff then made me feel like an idiot and said he understands that it was scary, but that the man was not out to hurt us and blah blah blah. In my head I wanted to say, that's fine but I still have the right to be upset as someone whom I've never seen is trying forcefully to get in the house. Clearly the sheriff has never been 9 months pregnant and 100 times more emotional than normal!
When Zach got home I was able to laugh about it a bit as I had about an hour to calm down and reflect. So we are all fine and now I'm just paranoid. I told Zach that I want to put another deadbolt on the door because if this old man got out once he will probably get out again and I would like to seal the door and have locks up and down the door so I feel a bit safer.

Quick Update

We think Chloe is the funniest girl ever, but probably because she is ours. Her brother will be here any time now. We've tried to teach her about her brother, and she rubs my belly and says "nice" or "hi brother". It is really cute, but she has recently started to do it to Zach and herself. We are trying to teach her the difference, but she's only 16 months...it may take some time. She has also started yelling at the dogs a lot. If they are in her way or not playing with her she says "Daisy" in a high pitched voice. Poor Daisy as it is always her fault even when Chloe is directing her command at Buster. A lot of time has passed since our last update. We've been really busy and I haven't made much time to record things on the blog so below are some photos from the past month as well as a video at the end.

Chloe playing in the grass at the park

Chloe & Zach playing on the playground

Our own little Houdini taking off her clothes and diaper instead of taking her nap!Chloe trying to figure out how to get out of her short sleeve onesie...her foot is out of the same hole as her head rather than in the leg hole where it is suppose to be.Another angle of her foot out of the head holeChloe drinking water out of a big girl cup

Chloe's favorite seat...not sure why, but she loves it.

Chloe dancing, giggling and changing her stuffed animals because they are "stinky"