Much overdue update

I have been so remiss in blogging about our little guy! First of all, I have to say that God has given us incredible blessings that we obviously do not deserve. Liam is a great baby. There are challenges...namely sleeping and bedtime...and I'm sure there are plenty more in store for us. But thanks be to God that last night (after an hour of LOTS of crying) Liam went to sleep at 8:30 and did not wake up to eat until about 2 am and then did not wake up again until about 6:30. I am so thankful for the extra sleep!!! We have been working on Liam going to sleep in his crib without being rocked and nursed...sometimes he does it, sometimes he doesn't. The biggest deterent to him falling asleep on his own is if he is overly tired or cranky when we lay him down. If we lay him down happy then he's out with barely a peep!

Liam has no problems with eating...he's a champ in that area and his size proves it. At his 2 month check-up he was 13lbs and 24.5 inches (Birth was 8.10oz and 21.5 inches). He is now wearing 3-6 and 6 mo. clothes and is rocking his cloth diapers :-) We flew through 0-3 and 3 month clothes and now I have to pack up clothes that he wore maybe once! Now I'm trying to put him in something new everyday because I'm afraid he won't get to wear something that someone gave to him.

Liam's favorite things to do right now are play on his baby gym...he totally digs the classical music that plays from this sun that lights up with the music. Scott calls it a seizure light...but Liam just smiles and smiles at it. He loves to suck on his fingers and fist and to squirm all the time. He loves riding in the car and sitting in his swing, listening to his Daddy's voice and staring at his beautiful Mama :-)

Our love for him just grows and grows.

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Does this make anyone else uncomfortable?

Scott's letter to our birthing class

I really liked what Scott wrote to our birthing class so I thought I'd share it with you all...

Hey All, This is Scott writing on behalf of our family of three! Becca's water broke Saturday (4/11) morning at 12.30am. 13 hours later, we were holding our son, William ("Liam") Isaiah Pearce. He has a mother to be proud of, and they are both very well.

After Becca's water broke, she was trying to get me to time the contractions that soon came on. I, being the studious birthing class student that I was, remembered that "No, honey...we shouldn't get too excited too soon. Just go back to sleep--it's 12.30 in the morning." Twenty minutes later, Becca nudged me in the ribs and insisted that I time them. Sure enough, they were a minute long and almost two minutes apart! We called the midwives at 3.30am; Lisa was on call, and without hesitation told us we could come to the hospital.

The floor was almost empty, so we got one of the VIP rooms in the back corner. Becca was fully effaced and 5cm dilated (she had been 2cm and fully effaced at her checkup just five days prior) when Lisa checked her, and was 9.5cm not too much later. Her contractions grew in intensity, and she got into the tub a few hours after arrival. Anything good you've heard about laboring in a 95 degree tub was not an exaggeration--Becca loved it and was close to falling asleep between contractions.

Proverbs 16:9 says, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." As well as we had prepared for a vaginal birth, as many "good people" we had placed around us (the midwives, Teresa, the Hackettstown nurses, etc), it was not the Lord's will that Liam be born according to our birth plan. After Becca had pushed for a couple hours (and what pushing it was!), Lisa sadly reported that Liam's head had not made any progress and that Becca was still stuck at 9.5cm.

Becca was pretty well drained at this point, and Lisa said that her contractions weren't "packing a punch" since she was so tired. Becca went on a very mild dose of patocin, which helped to regulate and strengthen her contractions. She pushed in five different positions (in the tub and out of the tub), but after four hours (four!) of rigourous pushing, Liam had not moved an inch. Lisa and the nurses said that a C-section was necessary if another half hour didn't bring on miracle progress.

Liam's head had been down all of the last months of Becca's pregnancy, but apparently, he was not rotated to face the correct way ("sunny side up" is what the nurses called it). So all the pushing she did was just trying to push a square peg through a round hole. Lisa said that it was possible for babies to be born that way, but when we finally met our son and his big head, it confirmed that a C-section was absolutely necessary (his head was rather bruised at the top from the pushing).

The birthing classes were of such a great help in many ways, but the jewel of greatest worth was when Teresa told us "If your midwife says you need a C-section, don't question it--you need one." How true, and how much this counsel helped bring peace to Becca as we made the decision to have a C-section. When approached with the decision, she just breathed deeply and said, "I just want to meet my son." Dr. Smith did the section, and Liam was nursing within an hour or so (for 40 minutes, first try!).

Mothers, if you are anything like my wife--and I believe that you are--you have what it takes. Becca had not eaten any solid food for hours and hours. She had only slept two hours before her water broke. Yet she pushed for four hours with the strength of ten men despite multiple disappointments. I have hardly been as inspired by the resolve or selflessness of another man, woman, or child in my 27 years on earth. I am confident that each of you can rise to whatever the Lord brings to you when your time comes. Take heart!

Liam was 8lbs-10oz and measured 21.5 inches long. I attached a few pictures, too. Can't wait to hear all your stories!

Scott, Becca, and Liam

We are so thankful to the Lord for our precious gift, our little baby Liam...

Just something funny

New Belly Pics...hopefully the last ones :-)

Scott got camera/pregnancy belly happy 2 Sundays ago...here are a couple of the results!

SAHM

Yesterday I had a meeting with HR, which confirmed what I already knew...since I haven't worked a year AND 1000 hours yet at my job, I have no job security with HMC. So when I go out on maternity leave on the 7th of April (or sooner) they can post my job. Will they? They probably will, since I am not willing to go back for more than 1 day per week and a weekend a month max.

I didn't expect to feel what I felt, however, upon hearing this official news. I felt slightly "punished" I guess. Like I was loosing my job on account of having a baby. I also felt all this, probably undue, pressure to go back to work right away. Let alone go back to work right away, to go back to work at all.

I have wrestled for a while about working, while being a mom. I have been convicted over and over about staying home with our son. I'm not saying this is how every woman, family or marriage should feel about this. To explain further I will direct your attention to GirlTalk blog, yet again! The Lord is so kind to provide encouragement during this time of decision making. In the land of Jersey there is not much encouragement, I have found, for mothers who want to stay at home full-time, let alone home school (we'll not get into that!).

So pray for us with this transition and pray that we would be seeking the Lord's wisdom in all things... "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." (James 1:5)

Prizing our Husbands

Just a little post to draw your attention to GirlTalk this week as they talk about "Prizing our Husbands." I've seen so many times, children take the front seat of a marriage and one spouse or another get the backseat (this does not have the be the husband, sometimes it's the other way around). You can find their posts when you click on GirlTalk in my sidebar. While you're there be sure to read the "Friday Funnies" post from this Friday past :-)

As for baby P...all is going well! We are at the 36 week mark on Thursday. If you all could pray that he does not get too big, that would be much appreciated. That's really my only concern. Scott and I are praying that the baby might come before the due date and that it would be a safe and natural delivery. We are so excited to meet our little guy! This week I will make it my goal to post a pic of the very large belly I'm sporting (makes one never want to be carrying this thing around for life!!!) and our put together nursery.