Taking care of my babies...

I survived my first night alone with two children... but it was more than interesting!
Since Julius arrived a week early, we adjusted our plans to allow Pat to take a week off, work a week and then take another week off so I would have someone with me from the time Julius was born until my Mama arrived on March 9.
Our niece, Erin, was supposed to spend this week with us to give me an extra pair of hands around the house.
But Erin got sick over the weekend and wasn't able to join us this week... and although we would love to have her here, it's better that she stay at home and rest and not pass her cold along to me or the children.
Anyway, I digress.
Taking care of the two kids went smoothly most of the night... I watched a lot of Wiggles, put Julius in his vibrating chair so I could have two hands for spending some time with Savannah and worked a little on cleaning up the house.
Savannah and I had chicken fingers and baked fries before I put her in the tub and gave Julius his first sponge bath... quite a chore because there is only so much you can do with one pair of hands!
I'm sure it will get easier.
The kicker came when I put Savannah to bed last night... we've been able to get her in bed between 8 and 9 each night and I tried to put her to bed shortly after 8. She was crying and I was waiting it out when the phone rang.
It was Pat telling me that he was on his way to Heather's house to put up a few things and help take her trash can to the corner.
Then I heard Savannah scream louder than she normally does... and jumped up as she ran down the hallway and into the living room.
She had successfully climbed out of her crib!
Luckily for us, Savannah didn't hurt herself and seems to have freaked herself out more than anything. We put the toddler siding on the crib, but realized we had one lower space on the bed and will try to put her back in the crib.
I wanted to post a few pictures from our first day "home alone"... I hope things aren't as crazy tonight.

Life at the Fitzgeralds

Sorry it has taken me a few days to post, but things have been hectic since we came home from the hospital on Saturday.
The first night was a total disaster... Savannah wouldn't sleep because she wanted to know what was going on with Julius. That meant that everyone was up until 4 a.m. when Pat finally got Savannah to sleep in the spare room.
Julius and I ended up sleeping in the recliner... the only place I felt comfortable holding him through the night... as he doesn't want to sleep in the co-sleeper or bassinet yet.
We had a lot more success the second night... Savannah and Pat got a good night of sleep and Julius and I slept in between nursings.
Here are a few photos from our first days home... you will see Savannah wearing her brother's knitted cap, a photo of Julius hamming it up for his mother and a couple of shots of the kiddos together.
We're so blessed to have them.

Visit from Grammy and Papa...

Savannah and Julius' grandparents drove over from Virginia Beach to see the newest family member this afternoon. It was nice to have them here with us and share in our special day... and since Julius is the first Fitzgerald grandson, I know it was an important day for them as well.
Savannah continues to amaze me with how she's going to have to adjust to sharing everyone with Julius... she has a special relationship with her Papa and I think it was hard for her to watch him holding Julius. She had to crawl up in his lap too and share his attention.
Here are a few pictures from our special visit... we hope to go down and see them when my Mama comes up next month.

Julius Patrick Fitzgerald

Our little man, Julius, arrived into the world yesterday via C-section at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville. He weighed in at 10 lbs., 13 ounces and is 21 inches long.
I might sound a little biased, but he is one of the two sweetest babies I've ever seen at this age... the other is our beautiful Savannah. Although they looked a lot alike at birth, Julius doesn't have the big cheeks that his sister came into the world with.
He has his father's mouth and feet that either came from the Fitzgerald or the Crawford sides of the family... they certainly aren't like his Daddy or Savannah's feet.
I'm looking at him right now as he sleeps in his little bassinet here at the hospital... content with the world.
Savannah has taken a liking to him, but the true test won't be until we get home and have all four of us together under the same roof. I expect there will be plenty of highs and lows when that happens on Saturday.
I'm recovering from my C-section and feeling good... but that could be the pain medication they gave me about 30 minutes ago doing all of the talking.
Here are a few pictures from Julius' first day in the world...

In her shoes...

I had to capture this photo Friday of Savannah wearing her cousin, Samantha's, boots. Doesn't she just look cute?

An unexpected trip to the hospital...

Although many of you already know this, I got to test out the nursing staff at Martha Jefferson Hospital a few weeks early.
Savannah and I were visiting our friends Heather, Brooke and Haiden on Tuesday when my heart started beating rapidly... at first I didn't think much about it, but as the evening wore on things didn't get any better.
I called the doctor and he suggested I lay down and drink plenty of fluids (which I'm beginning to think is the standard answer for a whiny pregnant woman).
After an hour with no relief I called the doctor back and he decided to meet me at the hospital... so off Pat and I went once he got off work.
Needless to say, it wasn't a little problem... by the time I got to labor and delivery my heartbeat was almost 200 beats per minute. The average person's heartbeat is between 50 to 80 beats per minute so we had a big problem.
Although they were afraid I had a blood clot in my lungs or legs, a CT scan came back negative for anything like that. They determined that my fast heartbeat was due to my pregnancy and made worse by a Sudifed pill I took for congestion (which is supposed to be safe for pregnant women).
I spent two days in the cardiac unit and had a labor and delivery nurse come in each shift and listen in on Julius... who was a trooper throughout the entire ordeal and his heartbeat never lowered.
I don't want to brag, but Julius and I were celebrities on the floor (and among the minority of patients who were not comatose - according to the nurses). Three nurses came into the room Wednesday night and started dancing when they finally got my heartbeat back to normal.
I got out of the hospital Friday afternoon and have been taking it easy this weekend while everyone else helps get things ready for Julius... who is now scheduled to arrive on Wednesday.

Savannah plays dress-up...

Last weekend (before I ended up in the hospital), Aunt Debbie brought a box filled with clothes Mom Fitzgerald made for Erin and Samantha. Savannah loved looking through all of the clothes and I picked out a few that she could wear now... and she put on a little fashion show for me that I wanted to share.

Who does Julius look like?

Here is a picture of Savannah taken just hours after her birth... now who does Julius look like?

Our big butterball...

Well, we found out today that Julius is competing to be one of the biggest babies born in our doctor's office. According to our doctor, the biggest baby he's delivered was 12.4 lbs. at birth... and Julius measured today at 9.5 lbs. ... and he still has three weeks to go before delivery.
I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I don't think it was news that he was this big already... he'll be much bigger than Savannah was at birth and she was pretty big.
He's healthy and happy in my belly and right now there are no plans to take him early... even though I'm winding down every day.
Here are a few pictures from our ultrasound today... he's going to look just like his big sister!

Just another snowy Tuesday on the hill...

I woke up this morning to another beautiful blanket of white in our yard... but this time it was snow instead of ice!
The big, fat snowflakes started falling Monday evening and continued on and off through the night... Pat and Savannah were even able to sneak out and get a little sledding in by moonlight (what little there was of it).
Pat moved the Scion down to the bottom of the hill and backed my car up the driveway in the hopes we would be able to leave the house this morning... but I don't think there will be any chance of that happening.
I'm sure they'll be out there again once the two sleepyheads wake up... and I hope to capture some video and photos that you can actually see.
In the meantime, please enjoy these photos I took just after daybreak.... I can't get too far out because I worry about slipping.

Savannah after sledding...

You have to love local weathermen... tonight they predicted we would get a "light dusting" of snow in the next 24 hours... and low and behold, we now have at least a half of inch on the ground (and driveway) just a few hours later.
Pat and Savannah have already enjoyed a few sledding trips down our hill and driveway... and although I shot video of one of their trips, it was really too dark to see.
Here are a few pictures of Savannah after her first sledding trip... she kept asking her Daddy to "Go again, go again!"
I bought Savannah a snow suit several weeks ago, but thought we had missed the bad weather and took it back... so Savannah has several layers of clothing under her PJs!