Michael Rand Greenburg

He's here! This is Michael Rand Greenburg, born January 29th at 8:20am. He weighed in at 8lbs 2oz and was 20in long (pretty easy to remember, what with the 8's and 2's). He is so sweet and very laid back (he hardly ever cries and when he does, it's so cute!). He is such an alert baby, he likes to talk all of the time (even when he's sleeping...), and he really loves his mommy :) Labor was awesome - from the time they put pitocin in me until the last push, it was a total of three hours - way better than Elise's 17hours. He was able to come back home tonight, and is healthy and strong, despite the torture that is circumcision :) I'm doing alright - they poked me three times for the epidural (at least I was able to have one, but it translated, it means incredible pain for me) and due to one of the pokes, I leaked spinal fluid and had to have a weird procedure done that took care of the most monstrous headache I've ever experienced. So, all in all, it's been an amazing experience and I'm so glad he's here!

His first sponge

bath

Right after birthWith Nana tonight

With Papa

January 29th!

It's funny I've been so excited to finally be done with this pregnancy, but now, I'm terrified of it becoming reality. We had our appointment, I still haven't dilated or effaced any more, so it could (naturally) go on for another two weeks. There was a really quick ultrasound done (so I have no idea how big he is now...), and everything looked alright. However, the doctor went out of the room, called the hospital, and scheduled me for an induction - scary!! I was so glad Rand was there with me, it was really shocking! I'm still surprised by it. So, I'll spare the gory details of what they are going to do to me, but I go in on Wednesday night, and then 7am on Thursday, they are going to induce me, and hopefully 20 minutes later :), he'll be born. In reality, it will probably be 11:59pm, but hopefully it will go a little quicker the second time around (?). I'll keep you updated, sorry there's no weird looking ultrasound pictures to share :) But, Ihave to say, it's pretty exciting to know that I will be done in two days. Wednesday will probably seem like an eternity (and for that matter, Thursday probably will, too), but it works out perfectly. We can be a whole lot more prepared, and Elise will be able to more easily be taken care of (something I have been stressing about), so, even though it scares me out of my mind (Wed night, specifically), it's really a blessing in disguise :)

Shakespeare is the best -

I am not at all a fan of poetry, especially love poetry. I am the most sentimental person in the world, but I hate mushy love stuff (I don't know what else to call it). Rand loves chick flicks - I can't stand them. However, because of this class I'm taking, I have to study everything from poems about childhood death (terrible subject) to onions (hmmm) - why they decide to torture us in this way, I don't know. But, I've struggled through it, and have come out really liking Shakespeare. I have never heard of this poem of his before, but I think it should be everywhere!

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments; love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O, no, it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, not no man ever loved.

Ahh...Will he ever come?

What you're looking at is a profile of the baby - check out those lips! I'm thinking I'm having the male version of Elise. I got to see his fingers, too - beyond the fact that you could see the bones inside of them, they were really cute :) He's now in the 81% and is 7lbs 14oz (+/- 7oz). So, possibly (and I'm hoping for the lower end), he could be either 7lbs 7oz or 8lbs 5oz - and there's another week to go... I'm still a one and am still at 50% effacement, despite the contractions I had last week. The doctor doesn't think I'll go before my due date (probably because nothing is changing), but he said that he's been wrong before - I can only hope. I'm still thinking the 29th, either by fate or by pitocin. It's not too bad, though. I feel great, other than when I am trying to sleep, and though I'm tired, I bet it will be nothing compared to what it will be like once he's born :) That, and everybody here keeps talking about RSV and how awful February is. So, in all reality, I should probably just appreciate the fact that he's so conveniently taken care of, now. The best part is that he (and everything else) is continuing to look healthy, so even though he's huge, I can't complain :)

Baby News...probably not the kind you're expecting :)

So, I guess part of the reason that Elise was only 5lbs 8oz, was because my placenta started to shut down a little earlier than it should have. Because of this, though, I get the opportunity to have ultrasounds each week during this last month (bad for the budget - we have no insurance, but it's great for satisfying my curiousity - I have to try to be optimistic). At my 20week ultrasound, we were not able to see his face at all (his fists conveniently covered it). However, the ultrasounds with my new doctor are amazing - you can see the little guy so clearly! He definitely has my nose and high forehead, but I think his face shape is more like Rand's. To be truthful, he kind of looks like his namesake, Mike, but this is from trying to interpret a fuzzy black and white pic. It was kind of funny, the angle she showed me was right up his nose, so it wasn't the most attractive picture in the world, but when he opened his eyes, he was so cute!

Elise was there at the first ultrasound a week ago and she could have cared less, but now, she keeps pointing to my belly and saying "baby" and "Geico" (her version of Michael), and then she'll point to her own and do the same thing, so I don't think she fully understands it, yet... I'm sure reality will hit home soon :) The newest addition to the Greenburgs is totally different from his big sister. She was in the 3rd - 5th percentile on everything (still is), Michael is in the 71st-76th percentile, and looks to be about 8lbs or more come his due date. What?! I knew he was a bigger baby, but wow! Thankfully, he has a narrow head :) His placenta looks great and he has plenty of fluid in it (which was another problem with Elise). So, as far as they can tell, he's looking really healthy and strong (the strong part is an understatement - Rand wants me to say that he's just like his father). He has a powerful kick and lets me know of his extreme frustration with me whenever we hit a bumpy road - we'll definitely have to have a talk when he is born :) (just for the record, Rand does not kick me in the ribs when he's extremely frustrated with me) Oh, and that's the other thing, he's measuring right around his due date (some things are to the day exactly, some are three-four days off). I have had hardly any contractions at all, and am dilated to a one - so, we'll see... I figure, the big day has to come at some point, right?

Christmas with Elise

We had a really great Christmas this year! Partly, I think, because Elise actually stayed awake this time, but for the first half an hour - life was great...then our sweet little girl switched into toddler terror mode and started to jam her stroller into bizarre places and scream out in fits








of rage. However, after some "quiet time," she was able to handle the rest of the day (or maybe I should say we were). I really think that if we would have kept it to two or three presents, she would have been just fine :) We were really blessed this year. Despite Rand's not having a job for a good portion of the month, we were still able to have an awesome Christmas, and Elise got a lot of things she just can 't live without (namely the baby you see in the scary position on the pink swing - that smile is deceptive). We had a lot of fun and it was nice having a white Christmas (it snowed all day and was beautiful!).




Elise picked up the word "santa" pretty quickly. Whether it was out of sheer terror that everywhere she went was an old, hairy guy who wanted her to come near him, or just the fact that he's a fat guy in a bright red suit, was really indistinguishable... We went to the library to have Elise sit with him; needless to say, she wouldn't and started crying when he reached out to give her a candy cane. Santa followed up with "these kids are smarter than they look" :) It was pretty cute to watch - afterwards, she just couldn't stop saying, "santa, santa" :) I also like this picture of her on her brand-new potty. Rand calls it "the queen on her throne."