Home at last!

We are home with Cullen. We came home late Monday night, so he has had his second full day at home. Follow up with the pediatrician today went very well. Cullen is nursing like a pro and sleeps the rest of the time. We are so thankful to be home now and so blessed with as few complications as he had for a 35 week preemie. Thanks for all the calls and prayers. I should get some more pictures posted within the next day or two.

Update on Cullen

Cullen began nursing again yesterday after follow up tests came back well. He also began "making big poops" in his diaper after nursing. I'm sure he will appreciate everyone hearing about his bathroom issues. He was allowed in a room with Kimberly and me last night. He is technically still "in" the NICU, but they have a family room that is right next to it that serves as a transition from constant monitoring to being released to go home. He did perfectly last night. He is eating and sleeping and pooping like a champ.
They initially thought one night in the transition room would be enough, but his bilirubin levels were up this morning, so they have to keep him at least another 24 hours. This is more precaution than anything else. We were hoping to get to come home with him maybe this evening, but it will now be tomorrow at the earliest.
Thanks for everyone's prayers and encouragement. We are frustrated with having to hang out in the hospital, but that's easy to deal with knowing how blessed we are to have Cullen doing so well.

Cullen James Stringer

Kyle here. Kimberly sent me home from the hospital to post a blog about our newest addition. I'm sure most of you have heard that boy #3 arrived rather unexpectedly. He seems to have been in some kind of a hurry to join his family here in the outside world- he wasn't due for another five weeks. Here's the stats on the littlest Stringer:
Cullen James
born May 21, 2009 at 1:17 am
6 lbs 6 oz
19.5 inches long

He's doing well considering the preterm issues he's dealing with. He weighed more than they expected, which was probably due to Kim having gestational diabetes with this pregnancy. He has been in NICU since delivery, but he did not require oxygen at all. He is breathing on his own, regulating his own body temp well, and his blood sugar is stable. He did have some bowel issues, mostly just being stopped up. They said it was because the motility of his colon was not strong enough to pass the meconium. They had to do a barium x-ray of his tummy, and it showed no abnormalites. He still can't nurse due to the bowel issues, but they will let Kim try to feed him again in the morning if his follow up xray still looks good. As of now (9:00 pm on friday), he is still on IV fluid only. Pray for a good test result in the morning.
Here are some pics.






Also, Kimberly is doing great. She did still have her stitches in, which miraculously broke without damaging her very badly. The doctor really doesn't know what happened, just that somehow the stitch came undone and then Cullen came very quickly. The stitch was not scheduled to be removed for a few more weeks, like it was with Seth and Blake. We barely made it to the hospital in time. We got there at 12:50 am and Cullen arrived at 1:17. That's 27 minutes folks. Kim hates to waste time. But really, she is up and walking around- you probably would never guess she was pregnant 36 hours ago. We have no idea how long until Cullen can come home, but I don't think it will be more than a couple of days if he continues to do this well. More details later.

Pirate Party

We just finished with a crazy weekend! Saturday morning I had my shower - I'm so surprised and grateful that my friends threw me a shower even though this is my third boy. But hey, Clothes wear out, things get broken, and diapers are always needed. We had a lovely time. As I was taking pics at the shower it occurred to me that I had never taken any pics of my friends here, and I do in fact have friends in San Antonio. I have been going to church at NEBC for a year now, and God has richly blessed me with friends - closer friendships than I thought I would have in one year, and I look forward to becoming closer still. So, here are some shower pics:

My hostesses: Amanda, Sandra, Leni, (me), and Kelly

Kelly and Leni

Mom, me, and Katie
P.S. Katie might win sister-in-law of the year award because she swept and mopped my floor for me before the party - which I knew was futile but really wanted done b/c I am in that stage of pregnancy!

Sandra, Wendy, and Dawn

And here is the pirate cake! It turned out really well, and I had fun making it. I never would have thought I'd be the type of mom to do cool cakes, but I really enjoy it and it's not hard. I think I like it b/c cakes like this are more in the vein of building, which I can do, than creating. If I had to make a wedding shower cake look pretty or something I would be pretty lost. It really helped to do this cake in stages and freeze it before I started icing the exterior. The party was a little crazy - it poured rain and we had to very quickly clean out the garage to make room for all the tables. Fortunately, it dried up in time for the pinata! Then that evening family and friends went out to the Grist Mill to eat! All in all, it was a great time.

Ladies, he did good...

I had quite a Mother's day. I got homemade waffles for breakfast, homemade cards from the kids, a sweet note from Kyle and we went out to eat for lunch. I even had a nap. All this is my usual treatment for Mother's day and I love it. I have no other expectations whatsoever, so I was shocked by Kyle's extravagant gift. He got me a little blue box. That's right, ladies. Kyle bought me a pearl necklace from Tiffany's and I write this not to brag about my necklace (well, maybe a little, it is gorgeous) but to brag on my husband. He's amazing! I've never gotten a little blue box from him before, and frankly I don't expect to ever get one again. I'm not a huge jewelry person, but I have been asking for pearls for the last year. Let me clarify, though. By pearls, I meant maybe a $20 knockoff from Dillard's or something. You know, one up from Target maybe. This was so far beyond my expectations that I was speechless. Take note, men out there. Every once in a blue moon, a girl needs a grand gesture! He did awesome!

Also, just a pic to show you how I'm doing. I'm at 33 weeks now and definitely feeling huge. I'm not fishing for compliments, here, I know I haven't gained too much, but I FEEL huge. I also think I've dropped already. He's just so much lower this whole week than last week. Really, I'm doing great, very little swelling and no real complaints, just general pregnancy gripes.

Easter

Okay, here are my Easter pics - very belated, but oh well. I just got Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, and it is very addictive. I have had a lot of fun learning cool ways to edit my photos. I didn't use it for all the pics, just the first 3. It is incredibly slow on my computer. Really makes me want a Mac!

Roger and Beth. I Love this picture! Kyle took it.

I think I should frame it.

Claire (Andy's girl) painting an egg

Easter eggs!

Laura (Roger's girl) Both girls are so pretty! I didn't get a portrait pic of Maddie this time, I will have to try again soon.

All the Bennett grandkids

My boys on Easter morning.

Numbers

1/2 inch: depth of water covering floor of upstairs bath when I checked on Friggs in the shower today. He had plugged the drain. It is a shower only.
1: number of times Friggs turned the sprinkler on me.
1: number of books I've had to read in the last nine days (not acceptable! Library, open!!)
2: number of hours Kyle and I spent training Blake to stay in bed last night.
4: number of times I got up to use the bathroom last night.
5: number of times Blake has climbed into the top bunk in the last two days, even though the ladder is not on there.
6: number of items Daisy has completely eaten in the last two days.
9: number of days kids have been at the house without leaving, thanks to swine flu and everything being cancelled.
12: number of buttons I've fished out of Blake's mouth.

Frogs and Such

Okay, obviously I have posted before about Seth and frogs. They are all different frogs; we find one and keep him for about a week and then I say something like, "Friggs, I think he misses his family, we have to let him go." Enter this week's frog. Let me just say that I hope PETA is not reading this, because little boys are rough on frogs! I mean, Friggs is just playing with him, it's not like I would let him take a hammer to the frog or anything, it's just that at the end of each frog's stay it probably has a little internal bleeding. Friggs runs him around the yard like an airplane. I have tried to explain the finer points of holding a frog under the armpits to do this, but he usually holds his legs, leaving the entire body to flail back and forth. He throws him up in the air and tries to catch him - I do get onto him for this one. Last Sunday took the cake, however. My parents and Kyle and I were playing Catan, Scooter was napping, and Friggs was outside happily playing with his frog. He came running in and said ,"Everybody come watch! I made my frog a swing!!" Uh-oh. So we run out there, and sure enough Friggs has tied the frog up under his arms with the loooooong cord of the outdoor roll-down shade. He then backs up about three feet and let's him swing, and precedes to gently push him, all the while smiling at himself for being so friendly and being such a good host to the frog. The frog is seriously swinging about five feet back and forth. If it is possible for a frog to look ticked, this one does. The frog did live (he did look a bit swollen) and lived to at least hop, hopefully far, far, away.

Growing up, I always loved the little boy from Old Yeller and Swiss Family Robinson and thought it would be fun to have a mischievious little boy like that someday. Little did I know...

In other news, I'm sure everyone is aware that we live in Cibolo, where there is swine flu. I'm going a little stir crazy staying home and even the public library is closed! How's a girl supposed to cope without a book!! I guess with all this staying home my house should be sparkling clean! But, hey, I'm me, so it's not. I am doing a lot, but I have officially reached eight months pregnant, and I get tired easily, and don't sleep well at night. That's just the way of it!