The Birth of Anna June

Okay, so here goes the whole story about the best Good Friday (and maybe the worst???) I've ever had. I will give ample warnings before anything that could be deemed graphic, but none of it is that bad.

We took off from home at 6am, two boys in pj's in tow. The snow storm had already begun and it was actually quite beautiful outside. I love falling snow, even after a whole winter of it. Rachael was up and waiting for the boys and they eagerly went inside. I even forgot to kiss them goodbye! Then Rob and I got him breakfast and hit the road. The roads weren't bad at all, but the snow was blowing quite a bit. We got to the hospital right on time.

Not having done a hospital tour, we didn't know what to expect. I did have info on the hospital so that helped, but we were surprised to find that I was to go straight into my room. At Kaiser (where the boys were born) we were shuttled from room to room before finally ending up in the actual room for the stay. At Oconomowoc, they have Labor/Delivery/Recovery/Post-partum rooms, so mine was a before-and-after surgery room. Anyway, we unpacked and I got into my airy hospital gown to prepare for multiple horrible things to come my way.

Trish, our nurse for the morning, came in with stacks of paperwork for Rob and I to sign and began to prep me for surgery. I got to drink a shot of nasty stuff to settle my stomach (which never worked for any of the c-sections) and then prepared for one of my least favorite parts of the surgery: the IV. I inherited the worst veins ever from my father (thanks, Dad!) and always have trouble with IV's....especially since I couldn't have anything to drink prior to surgery. For over an hour, various nursing staff members came in to look at my veins. I was poked in both hands and on the meat of my forearm until they gave up and called in the anesthesiologist. He got there right before surgery and put in the IV in the crook of my left arm, the spot normally used for blood draws. Not the best place for an IV, but it worked. By this time, I was shaking pretty badly, nervous about the next step (the spinal), and not in a good frame of mind. But, it was time to leave and I was wheeled down the hall to the surgery room.

WARNING: THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SURGERY DETAILS. VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED. The surgery room looked like a leftover closet, but that was my final observation before getting poked in the back. I had told the anesthesiologist that my last spinal was too low to work. He decided against my advice and tried twice in the same spot. It hurt terribly...pain shooting down my legs. **shudder** I was bawling by this point and really too stressed for another go at it. He asked if I wanted to go under and I said yes. Before they laid me down, I had to sign a consent form. That was probably the worst signature ever and very shaky. Anyway, they laid me down and had Rob come in to say hi real quick. I apologized to him, b/c going under meant that he could not be in the room. He later told me that he was so happy that I would be at peace during this surgery and wasn't worried about not going in. (He did manage to sneak in...the pediatrician asked him to come in. Rob didn't think he should have, but he went inside. He said he would rather not have seen me with a tube down my throat. The surgeon caught him and he left.) One of the pluses to the spinal was that they would administer it before putting in the catheter. The plans changed, and some Nazi-concentration camp trained nurse put it in. VERY PAINFUL!! That's the last thing I remember until recovery.

I'M DONE WITH YUCKY STUFF. When I woke up in recovery, I apparently tried to get off the table. I remember thinking that I had to go to the bathroom and then check on the boys. It finally dawned on me that I was in the recovery room. I was given instructions (which I didn't remember) and then laid there until I was taken back to my room. I had a pain pump installed (praise the Lord) and was able to give myself meds when necessary. When I got to the room, Rob and Anna were waiting for me. Rob showed her to me. Now, I must admit that it was not love at first sight. She looked different from the boys (who looked identical at birth) and was all red and blotchy. Trust me, it didn't take long to fall in love with that face, but I'm going to blame my non-maternal moment on the recovery.

The rest of the day was spent in various stages of pain and sleepiness. I couldn't keep my eyes open longer than a few minutes at any point and remember very little of what went on. Anna was started on a bottle, but we did manage some initial nursing sessions. She's still using the bottle, but her nursing skills (and mine) have improved. We're going with a combo thing right now and I'm so happy. I'm just thankful that she's taken to nursing, unlike the boys who wouldn't do it. I told Rob that she could quit right now and I'd be happy, just because we were able to do it. I'm not looking to exclusively breastfeed or be some champion nursing mom who keeps going through toddlerhood (although I fully support moms who want to do those things). I just want to enjoy my baby and give her the best of both worlds: great nutrition and antibodies from the breastmilk and feeding time with Daddy on the bottle. We're happy.

Anyway, that's the story of her birth. Oh, Anna's apgars were 8 and 9. She had a bit of trouble with body heat, so we're making sure she stays warm, but otherwise she's a perfectly healthy little girl. Adorable, too. And sweet. And a very pretty princess. Can you tell I love her???

Quick Update

I've been trying to get in here to give a good, long update on the surgery/birth of Anna, but I've either been too tired and groggy to type when I'm on the computer or I've been prevented. Even now, she's making indications that it might be time to eat again...

Anyway, I'll give all the gorey details of surgery and recovery later (with ample warnings for the weak stomached) but I'd just like to let everyone know that we're home and doing well. Anna is a delightful baby who sleeps most of the time, is absolutely adorable (and not nearly as chubby as that picture makes her out to be), and is my first child who wants to nurse! Yup, she's actually interested in nursing, although we are also using bottles. She started on a bottle since I was so out of it after surgery so that has continued. We're making good progress everyday in that department.

The boys are adjusting well to this new little sister. They love her and have not shown any animosity towards her...yet. They have shown that they need more Mommy time, so that's something I have to work on. Benjamin decided to come down with croup the night before we came home, so that was fun for Rob and Grandma to deal with. He's loads better now after his shot and hasn't had a problem since.

We enjoyed having Rob's parents here for a few days. I was praying for a major snowstorm so they wouldn't leave. We really appreciated their visit and teased them multiple times about hiding parts of their car so they would stay. My folks come on Friday and will be staying until Anna is 18 (right Mom??).

That's it for now. Duty calls.......and hiccups.....

Baby Anna!

Hey, This is one of the few times I (Rob) will probably ever blog, so I hope you enjoy it!

Baby Anna was born this morning at 9:36, she weighs 7 pounds even, and is 19 1/2 inches long (same as her siblings). She is cute as ever, and has a good set of lungs - a very good set! (I could hear her through two sets of closed doors right after she was born. Penni is doing well, but sore and very groggy from the anesthesia (I had to use spell check to know how to spell that word - why does it have an "h" anyway?). Thank you all for your prayers - God has been very good to us!

Since I don't know how I am supposed to end a blog I will just have to stop typing at some point in

The Last Day

Well, this is my last day of pregnancy forever. Unless God has a sense of humor, which He does, so we may see another Litwiller ten years down the road or something....but I digress. It's been an interesting last day for sure.

My goal for the day was to get some housework done so Rob has less to do on Saturday, have some fun with the boys, and get ready for the hospital. Believe or not, this blog is on my list of things to do :) I did manage to get some work done...at least the dishes are done, the laundry is done, and the floors were swept and vaccuumed at one point in time (I just found a cracker mess...grrr....)

The boys and I did have a good day together overall. We went to the hospital so I could have some blood drawn. They were pretty good and both got suckers and stickers (I, the poked one, got nothing but my hospital bracelet.) Then we went for lunch at Mullen's Dairy. They were pretty well-behaved overall and we had a nice time together. Then I tried to pay. The card machine wasn't working, the boys got antsier as we waited and ran everywhere. Finally, the manager just told me to come back and pay later. Gotta love small towns :)

The boys both took naps today, I was able to get some rest. Matthew then began showing signs that he is not happy about me leaving. He threw fits about every little thing that happened and I finally talked to him about it. He just doesn't want me to be gone. Pray for the little guy...he's going to take this separation pretty hard. Ben doesn't really know what's happening, but I'm sure he'll be affected as well.

We have two sitters tomorrow, so both had to be briefed. I took stuff over to the home of one, who watches the boys all the time. They are starting there tomorrow at 6am and then another friend is picking them up after lunch and bringing them home for naps. Rob should be home sometime in the late afternoon. We're now planning to have Rob just stay home tomorrow night and bring the boys up on Saturday. I'm going to video tape a message for them for Friday night.

Prayer Requests: 1. The surgery and a healthy baby. 2. The boys--that they are well-behaved tomorrow. 3. THE SNOWSTORM!!! We're supposed to get 6-10 inches of snow tomorrow...go figure. Pray for safety on the roads as Rob travels. This is crazy!!!

Here we go :)

Kid Quotes

We were driving to church on Sunday morning. Rob rounded at curb (at a very safe speed) and Ben yelled, "Whoa, Daddy! That's too fast!"

Ben started real Sunday school yesterday. He calls it "Matthew's church" because they are in the same room. They divide up for the lesson but are together for opener, snacks, and playtime. I think he's too little...he still looks like a baby to me! And next youngest two-year-old is seven months older than him. Rob says he'll look bigger to me on Friday....

Rob and Matthew were wrestling last night and Matthew yelled out, "Thou shalt not sit on me!!"

Matthew let out a blood-curdling scream followed by smaller screams. Rob ran into the living room expecting to see severed, bleeding body parts. Instead, Matthew had his fist held out and said, "There's....a....ladybug....on.....my....hand...." Rob told him to flick it off and get over it. (Matthew is deathly afraid of bugs...good thing we live in an old house..) Later, Matthew said, "It's okay. He didn't eat much." Rob is now planning a family trip to the Milwaukee public museum to see the insect exhibit. Can't wait to see how MJ responds to hissing cockroaches!

38 down, one more to go

That's right, I am 38 weeks along today and have just one week left to go. I kind of feel like Lightening McQueen as he rounded the last lap of the Piston Cup and blew out his tires. He can see the finish line, but it still looks sooooo far away. Rob goes back to school on Monday so we have to readjust to our Daddy-less mornings for four days. That's okay...I do have some special things planned this week, so time should pass. I've had at least one contraction for sure, I had my last prenatal appointment yesterday, so we're getting there.

This week, Matthew decided that he no longer needs to nap. He's certainly old enough to stop napping and quite frankly, I'm surprised he went this long. However, his timing is atrocious. It would have been nice had he waited until May to give them up, but that's okay. He plays quietly or watches a movie while I rest and Ben naps. I'd love to tell him to stay in his room, but since he shares it with Ben, that's impossible. Ah, well, such is life.

We're all finally healthy. Or so we think. Rob's been feeling some chest pressure, like he's getting a cold. He's giving himself his usual doses of spicy chips and jalapenos, so that should do it. If we had a Jamba Juice closer than Madison, he'd be sucking down Coldbusters all day. So far, no cold has developed, so we'll just keep praying that he stays healthy.

We did have to make an unexpected baby purchase. Rob pulled out the infant car seat and it was dirty, moldy, and the straps looked stressed. Dirt and mold can be cleaned...stressed straps can't be strengthened. We picked up a new seat at Wal-Mart today. I had to laugh at Rob when we discussed getting a convertible car seat instead of an infant seat. He asked if the convertible seats have their tops down. Silly guy. We went with the infant seat b/c we like the convienience of popping it in and out easily w/o waking the baby and Matthew's seat can be used for Anna when she outgrows the infant seat, so we don't need another big seat hanging around.

MBBC posted their summer session classes and fall semester classes yesterday, so I've been tinkering with Rob's schedule. It looks like he'll have to take U.S. History (his last gen ed) in summer school. He didn't want to take a class this summer, but he does want to graduate next year, so he'll have to suffer through it. He'll have 15 credits left after that and only 6 of them are offered in the fall. He's going to ask if all the classes he needs will be offered in the spring and if not, he may have to do some as directed study.

I think that's all the important news that's fit to print. Now back to our Saturday of cleaning, straightening, and baby prep!

Poor Benjamin

So, I went from one post about Rob and I getting sick into a post about the baby preparations and completely forgot that BEN TURNED TWO ON FRIDAY!!! No, I didn't forget his birthday...I just forgot to mention it on the blog. What a bad mommy.

We weren't going to plan a party anyway, but all the sickness kind of showed that we were wise in that decision. We had already given Ben his present--a tricycle that looks like Scoop from Bob the Builder. We had money from various grandparents to spend on him, but we weren't able and well enough to get something for him until after his birthday. Thankfully, Grandma and Grandpa Litwiller had sent wrapped presents, so he opened those after breakfast. He enjoys his books and a I can't wait to see him in his cute shorts/overall outfit this summer. We went through the McDonald's drive-thru to get Happy Meals for lunch and I picked up a cake at the grocery store. I'm so proud of him--he wanted chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. That's my boy.

We let him pick out a gift from my parents at Wal-Mart on Saturday and he paid for it himself. He got the Little People bus, which he has been playing with non-stop since we brought it home. His great-grandma also sent him some money, so we got him 101 Dalmations on DVD, which both he and Matthew love. Oh, she wrote the check out to Ben, so we thought we'd be funny about how to sign it. Rob took Ben into the bank, popped him onto the counter, and asked the teller how to have Ben sign the check. She laughed and suggested finger painting. She then told Rob how to properly sign a child's check for the future. We kind of already knew, but it was pretty funny to take him in. He got a sucker out of the deal, so it was worth it :)

If you ask Ben how old he is, he'll tell you that he's three. He's just copying his big brother, but it's cute. He did miss his first chance to be in a "real" Sunday school class on Sunday, since we kept him home to be on the safe side. We should have kept Matthew home as well. He cried almost the entire time he was there. I was working at the nursery desk all morning, so I was handy when he needed me, but I think that he's going to have to relearn social skills. When Ben's there next week, it should help.

So, Happy Birthday (late) to my little guy. I told him that he's a big boy now and he can't be a baby anymore. Too bad---he's so cute and he still looks like a baby when he's sleeping. I guess he'll always be my baby boy.

Getting there

Well, we're a little bit closer now to being ready for the baby. The pack and play/bassinet is up, the 0-3 month clothes are sorted and ready to be washed, several essentials have been purchased, and our bedroom has been cleaned out. We still have a few items on the list yet to get and need to wash up clothes, clean the car seat (yes, it's still fine), wash the bouncy seat cover, and I think we're good.

I told Rob today that this is the first baby I have really wanted OUT OF MY BODY!!! She keeps moving and kicking in places that are painful and LOVES my bladder. Thirteen days until uterine liberation.......

In other news, Rob and I are recooperating from this crazy virus. He still gets nauseus off and on and I'm just really tired. Of course, that could be end of the pregnancy tiredness. The boys wouldn't nap today, so they are very cranky little guys. They will go to bed early for sure!

A couple of funny things from the day:

1. We went to Family Video today. We haven't rented movies in a really long time--quite frankly, there's nothing decent out there anyway and we proved it by looking at the movies today. But, they have free kids videos and we had an invite to join and get 1/2 price movies for a month, so we went over. Okay, it's been so long since we've rented a movie that I forgot that the actual movie to rent is BEHIND the case! So sad....

2. Today we were talking about Ben and his great hand-eye coordination. I am going to teach him to play baseball when he's a bit older and we were speculating on what sport he'd be best at. Then I asked Matthew, "What do you think you'll be good at when you're older?" He said, "I'll be good on the date." Now, I know he's talking about the date he and I have planned for this week, but it sounds like he plans to be a player of a different sort when he's older.

3. Rob looked at my pregnant belly after I got dressed today and said, "Boy, I think you're in a couple of time zones." That was a new one and got a good laugh out of me.

It happened

Well, what we were dreading happened: we're both sick. Rob has a pretty bad headache and had a fever yesterday. His stomach is queasy, but he's been drinking fine. I have some queasiness myself and can't stand for too long, but w/o the headache, I'm definitely the more well one. We'd ask for help with the kids, but Ben is still having diarrehea, so he's still contagious. We'd also like to keep Matthew away from people for a few more days, so we'll just try to survive this day. I think we're going to dip the whole house in a gigantic vat of Lysol before the baby comes.

I had my prenatal appointment yesterday (finally) and everything is fine. I am not dialated at all, which is good, b/c dialation is not something you look for in a c-section delivery :) The doctor thinks that the baby is heads down, but she hasn't done an ultrasound to check. I think she's breech, so we'll see who's right. Maybe we should have a pool going.....

Losing patience with my patients

I thought of that title a few days ago and thought I'd save it for the day I needed it. This day was it. Ben got sick again this morning and since then has needed Mommy almost constantly. He has been drinking well (too well this morning, that's why it all came back up) and he ate some crackers and has kept them down. He's chatting with Daddy on the couch right now, so he's doing loads better. However, he was pretty miserable for about three hours waiting for the crackers to work through his system, and every five minutes had to change positions. If I left the couch for a minute, he'd follow me, carrying his blankie, doggie, and crying. I did manage to get supper eaten and fed Matthew (thanks to Jimmy Johns) but it was a trying evening.

Matthew has also wanted his fair share of attention. He finally broke down at naptime (they did nap today!) and said that he wanted his Mommy. He's symptom-free right now, so I think we'll go on a breakfast date on Saturday (the first day I'm letting him around people.)

A lady from church came over today for two hours and cleaned the kitchen, did dishes, and cleaned the floors. She also kept Matthew occupied for a bit. That was a big help, especially since Ben was extra-clingy today. He did sleep for a bit while she was here, so I was able to tackle the stacks of stuff on the piano. (Murphy's Law--Any horizontal surface is quickly piled up.) Hopefully Ben is better tomorrow so I can get the dusting done and start (eek!) getting ready for number three.

Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment, so I'll get out of the house a bit. I'm also going to Tiny Trackers while Rob stays home with the kids. Supposedly, influenza is spreading right now and I don't want the boys exposed to more germs (although Ben could definitely spread some right now).

Ahhh...the sounds of Ben babbling. Haven't heard that for a few days. He also smiled at Rob and I tonight, which I haven't seen since Friday. Warms my heart.

Not out of the woods yet

Matthew has made a full recovery, pretty much. He's been eating non-stop today and with as much weight as he lost, I'm letting him. I'm trying to keep it healthy, but I am thinking about giving him a milkshake or two just to bulk him up :) Actually, I think there's a section in my kid's dietary book (Healthy Food for Healthy Kids) all about the underweight child and what to give them. I'll be skimming that for ideas.

Benjamin, on the other hand, spent most of the day in lethargy. He did perk up a few times and has been drinking plenty, but he's pretty weak. It was like caring for a newborn all over again. He wanted me with him whenever he was awake, so you can just imagine what the house looks like. Poor little guy did have another round of diarrehea today along with vomiting once, but I think he's okay. He doesn't look dehydrated to me. I read some more about the rotavirus and the only treatment is hydration. He's taking in fluids pretty well, so I'm trying not to worry. He's on day four and at this point with the virus, Matthew was also lethargic and sleeping alot. We'll see how Ben's doing tomorrow before we make any judgment calls on taking him to the doctor. I don't want to tramatize him further.

Rob and I are pretty tired. The boys aren't on their normal nap schedule, so Rob and I couldn't get much of a nap today. Rob was home for four hours between school and work, so that was nice. He doesn't have class tomorrow (there's a conference) so he'll be here until 10am, but then he works 10 hours. Someone is coming to help tomorrow, so that will be nice.

Another praise--Our mom's group was cancelled this month due to the outbreaks of flu all over the place. We weren't going anyway, but it's nice to know that I won't be missing anything.

I'll end with a good Matthew quote: Today, as I was sitting on the couch and Ben was sleeping, Matthew said, "Mommy? Don't you wish Ben was driving you crazy, too?" I had told Matthew at the hospital that I was looking forward to him driving me crazy again and he put it all together and applied it to Ben. Isn't he cute??

He's Back!

I've got my Matthew back. He's been pretty normal most of the day. He's eaten at lunch and supper, drank lots, is using the potty, has no more diarehea (I simply do not know how to spell that word), and is running around the house driving us nuts again. It's good to have him back. He'll still be kept home for a couple of weeks. I don't want anyone else catching it and I don't want him to catch something else while his resistance is low.

Ben has been off and on today. He perked up when he got his toy from Grandma and Grandpa Litwiller (a Little People police car) and has eaten a little, but he threw up twice. Then at supper, he kept gagging and acting like he was going to do it again. So, we gave him a dose of the anti-nausea stuff and he's doing better. He's been drinking, but I'm not sure it it's enough. We'll see how he is tomorrow and we might take him to his pediatrician just to be sure he's okay.

Funnies: Matthew was running around and Ben was ambling back to the couch. Matthew growled at Ben and Ben cried. I said, "Matthew, Ben doesn't feel good. Did you want Ben to mess with you when you were sick?" Matthew replied, "Ben sat on my head when I was sick!" No sympathy.....

When I strapped Matthew into his carseat last night, he asked what day tomorrow was. I told him Sunday, but we wouldn't be going to church. He replied, "I don't want to go to Sunday school. They don't have beds there."

I'll have to post all the funny stuff that happened or Matthew said at the hospital. I also have some pics of the little guy in his bed.

We're home

We're all home tonight. Praise the Lord! Matthew looked great after a long afternoon nap and the doctor said that if he ate an okay supper, he could go home. Rob basically fed him his supper so that he would eat it...he's just so weak at times. He did great. I also picked up a Propel water for him, which he loves, and he has had quite a bit of it. The nurse was a bit nervous about it, so she called the doctor and he said that it was perfect. I only have one complaint about the whole time we were there, and that is that the only electrolyte/rehydrating drink they had was unflavored Pedialyte. Yuck. He's very weak and skinny, so right now we just need to build up his strength, push the fluids, and reteach him to use the potty. I think now that we're home, he'll be more likely to try to make it. He wants his underwear back!

Ben ran a fever for most of the afternoon, ranging from 99.5-102. I gave him some medicine when we got home, so that should break the fever. He has had lots of popsicles and Gatorade today, so I'm not too worried that he'll end up like Matthew. He's having LOTS of loose stool, but so did Matthew on day two, so I know it should ease up. Ben scared us at the hospital when he tried to get off the couch and slipped. He fell and didn't do more than scare himself, but I hollered and two nurses shot in there. I must say, they had pretty good reaction times!

I'm doing better than I was at the time of the last post. I had my cry and I'm okay. The Lord reminded me of the verse "Jesus wept." Why was he weeping? Because his friend had died. It didn't matter that he would raise his friend from the dead, the man had still suffered and died. Part of being human is releasing our emotions by crying, and being fully human yet perfect, Jesus cried. So it was okay for me to cry, too :)

I did run into the head of our Ladies Missionary Fellowship and told her what was going on. She's going to arrange some help for me over the next week while I nurse the boys back to health. She's even going to find someone to stay with them while I go to a prenatal appointment on Wednesday. We're planning to keep them quaranteened at least until the diarrehea goes away. From what I've read about it and heard about this virus, they need to stay home for a couple of weeks. I've also read that it's nearly impossible to keep children from getting it and that all kids under the age of five get it. Around 500,000 ER visits per year are related to this virus. Crazy!

And here's your "funny" story from the hospital: Matthew was napping and the rest of us were resting when a nurse in surgery gear popped into the room. She took a long look at Matthew and said, "Hmm...she's not having her appendix out, is she?" I replied, "Um, this is a he and no, he's not." She mumbled something, said that Ben looked tired, and then left. Apparantly, she overshot the right room by one. We saw them wheeling away a girl later who was much older than Matthew. Rob and I just had to shake our heads!

Good-night!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Tired. I think that sums up the Litwiller family right now. We're all four of us very tired. Rob and I have been sleeping okay, but we're exhausted from caring for these little boys. Ben's on day two of the virus, so he has a fever and is tired. Matthew is exhausted from very little in his system. We're just tired.

Matthew perked up last night after they hooked him back up to the IV fluids. He was eating crackers and drinking diluted fruit punch and was acting like himself. He slept very well and did not stir during two vitals checks. He woke up lethargic, however, but did drink orange juice (a big mistake, see later in the entry) and had some dry cereal. By the time breakfast came, he didn't want anything and went back to sleep. He woke up later and vomited the orange juice. I know, I know, it's not the best thing for his tummy, but right now they are trying to get him to take enough fluids orally so that he can come home and it's the only thing he wanted. He did feel better afterwards and ate some lunch. I ordered him some chicken noodle soup, half a sandwich, juice, and jello. He managed a few bites of soup, a bite of ham, and most of the juice before he couldn't eat anymore. He was too weak. He asked me to save his jello for later before he conked out again. I did get him up for a bit after he vomited (or was that the huge, leaky stool) to clean him off. He is very shaky, very unsteady on his feet, and very thin. I wouldn't call him emaciated, but he doesn't look that healthy. When I left the hospital, he was sleeping peacefully again. I want my Matthew back.

Benjamin did go to urgent care yesterday. He had thrown up 15 times and we were directed by his pediatrician to take him in. The poor guy has my veins and was poked repeatedly by needles until they could draw blood. They tried and failed to set up an IV area in case he needed fluids. Rob said there was lots of screaming and "I don't like it!"'s from the baby. They gave him medicine for the nausea, and that has worked. He was on the low end of normal for hydration, so they did not admit him. He has been taking in lots of fluids and even ate a popsicle with Matthew last night. He's running a low grade fever right now and is having many bouts of loose stool, just as many as Matthew had in that short period of time. He has been sleeping alot today, but has been drinking plenty and even ate a cracker. He's up in Matthew's room right now. We didn't see the point in keeping him home since he'll be miserable anywhere and if he gets worse, we're already at the hospital. We were offered our own wing, if need be. Gotta love nurses with a sense of humor.

Anna is by far the most active child right now. I'm most thankful that she has not been born yet, as I don't even want to know what happens to a newborn with this virus.

This is hard. I've cried my way through this post. I just want my boys home and healthy.