Who does Liam look like?

Dow

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Courtney

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Baby Liam's first week

Baby Liam

He's here!

William Linville Pizzitola was born via emergency c-section on October 7th, 2008 at 3:50pm. He weighed 8lbs, 7.5oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. I went into labor during the night and we made our way to the hospital during rush hour traffic. After laboring for several hours, I spiked a very high fever and the doctors decided we needed to get the baby out ASAP. After a mandatory 2 day observation period in the NICU, Liam was given a clean bill of health and all signs of infection had cleared my system. We were finally able to leave the hospital last Friday and could not be happier to be home. Mom and baby are both doing great! As you can imagine, we are exhausted but I wanted to get a few pictures up for everyone. We really appreciate all of your calls, texts, and emails and look forward to catching up just as soon as things settle down a little bit.
We have now been home for several days and things could not be going better. I am feeling 100% better. The pain is very manageable and I can get around a whole lot better. Liam has taken to breastfeeding wonderfully and is getting plenty of food. We took him for his first checkup yesterday and he has already exceeded his birth weight; he now weights 8lbs 9oz. The doctor said this was very good because most breastfed babies do not achieve this for several weeks. We are getting Liam on a schedule and each night it gets better and better. Last night he only woke up 2 times! We are just so in love with him and are so thankful that he is healthy and happy.

36 weeks - ultrasound pictures

From 2008-09-17 36 weeks

36 weeks

Well it sure has been an eventful 2 weeks! Hurricane Ike blew through last week and left Houston in quite a state of disaray. Because of where our house is located, we decided not to evacuate and just "hunker down." We ended up with Dow's grandfather and Dow's dad's outside dog at our house. It was interesting to say the least! When the storm actually blew through it was really scary and really hot! All night long the wind was blowing so hard and it sounded like the house was going to just fall apart. We lost power about 7:30, before it was even raining, and we did not have a radio or anything to have any idea what was going on. Luckily after the storm had passed we were able to hook up a generator and have the tv going and several fans. That made it much more comfortable. Our power came back on the next night around the same time so we were incredibly lucky to only be without it for 24 hours. The majority of people in the greater Houston area are still without power over a week later! I am just so thankful that Liam decided to come during this disaster.
My Mom and Dan were also here last week which was so wonderful! They were originally supposed to fly in on Saturday morning (as the hurricane was hitting) but were able to reschedule their flight for Monday. We were worried that they might not get in because the airport had been closed but they made it. Mom and I were able to get a lot done to get ready for Liam. We got the stroller and carseat, bassinet, and bouncer seat so I am feeling much more ready. I was panicing that I was going to go into labor and we were not going to have a car seat to bring him home in! We were supposed to have our baby shower today but because of the hurricane we ended up cancelling it. I have been out shopping all morning trying to get everything we have left. We also celebrated my 27th birthday; luckily one of my favorite restaurants across the street was open and Mom and Dan took us out. It was so good but I paid the price with heartburn all night. I am at the point now where Tums don't even really help. :) We also got some more clothes for Liam; this baby has got more clothes than he could ever wear. I really hope the next one is a boy so they will get some more use.
We also had a big doctor's appointment on Wednesday. They did an ultrasound in order to see how Liam is positioned and to get a feel for how big he is. Well it looks like he is big; they are estimating that he already weighs 7.5 lbs! They took lots of measurements and basically used some formula to come up with this. I have been researching a lot online and seem to find one story after another where people were told their baby was going to be huge and they turned out to be normal sized so I don't know how much faith I am putting into it. The doctor seemed surprised and immediately started talking about a c -section. This has definitely had me upset because that is not what I wanted. On one hand, I don't want to try and and have a normal delivery, end up in labor for 30 hours, and then have to have a c-section anyway (I have heard that the recovery in situations like this is brutal) but on the other hand I don't want to schedule a c-section only to find out that the baby is normal sized and then regret not trying. I guess at this point we are just going to take it one week at a time. I go back to the doctor on Monday and they will do another Fetal Non-Stress Test (they did one on Wednesday too) where they basically hook you up to monitors and monitor the baby's movement, contractions, heartrate, etc. But there were several good things that came out of all this. We got to see Liam for the first time since the gender ultrasound at 18 weeks. He is so cute! They took lots of pictures for us and even flipped over to the 3-d for a few shots. I have posted the pictures so you guys can see. He looks like he has some pouty lips and some big fat cheeks. We can wait for him to get here so we can kiss on them! The other good thing is that I may have worked my last day! The doctor said she would fill out the insurance paperwork for me to be out until the baby comes. Woohoo! I don't want to get too excited until everything has been completed but I sure am hopeful. Well that is all I can think of for now; he will be here before we know it! Decided to suck it up and take bare belly shots for the last month because I know everyone is dying to know what it really looks like. :)

34 weeks

I know, I know, it has been way too long again! In my defense I will say that I have been doing a decent job of taking belly photos just not a good job of posting. If you looking in the slide show in the top left corner you can see pics from the last few weeks too. Ok, so looking at this most recent picture I officially feel enormous. It actually looks like I am holding my stomach up with my arms when i am really just trying to smooth over my dress so you can see everything. I think the baby is supposed to be somewhere between 4 and 5 pounds at this point but I am thinking Liam may be a little bigger. We go for an ultrasound in 2 weeks and I am really excited to get to see him again! It has been almost 20 weeks since we saw him last and I know he has been doing lots of growing and changing. We went to the doctor today (I have been going every 2 weeks lately) and she said she thought he was in a transverse position which basically means he is sideways. She said he should turn in the next 2 weeks and decided which way he wants to lay so in addition to his size, they are also going to check his position. Hopefully he will put his little head down and we can avoid a C section! Other than that, everything is going well. I am very tired all the time, have constant heartburn, and am generally just uncomfortable. I have no idea how I am going to last for 6 more weeks getting up in the mornings and going to work. I am really not sleeping very well at night which is very hard for me. I have to sleep kind of propped up at night in order to fend off the heartburn enough to get any sleep. I wake up several times a night and have to get up to pee and then have a really hard time going back to sleep. My mind turns on and starts thinking about labor and all the things I still need to do before Liam arrives! The time has been going by so quickly and he will be here before we know it! My Mom and Dan are coming out in about a week and a half for my birthday and I am really excited! I am hoping we can do any last minute shopping to get everything ready. I think I am going to back my bag for the hospital this weekend too, just in case. Well that is all I can think of for now... hopefully I can try and remember to check back in next week!

29 weeks

I can't believe it has been 3 weeks since my last post! I really do not know where the time is going. At the beginning of my pregnancy time seem to drag on and it felt like it took forever for another week to pass; now the time is just flying by!
We had a great trip to St. John. It was so nice and relaxing. We spent a lot of time hanging out by the pool at our villa and on the beach. We did an Ocean Runner trip to Willy T's and Yost and between Woody's and Skinny Legs, we ate more cheeseburgers than I have probably eaten in the last year. We also got to see some old friends (like Shadow, Island Tom, Chad and Todd, and even Lindy and Greenie)and celebrate with Tony and Ziya (they are getting married any day now). I will see if I can get some pictures from Courtney and post a link.
We got our new camera! I think that was a big part of why I haven't posted. It is a Canon Powershot and is basically the 2008 version of the camera that broke. I love it and can't wait to use it to take lots of pictures of Liam!
Not much new to report with the pregnancy. I did have a doctor's appointment this week and everything looked great. So far my pregnancy has been completely textbook and complication free. Let's just hope the last 10 weeks are that way as well! I finally found out the results of my GD test and I passed! I was a little nervous because they never called to tell me either way and I just hoped that meant everything was fine and was able to confirm when I went for this last appointment. I am hoping we will get another ultrasound before Liam arrives but am not so sure that will happen. The doctor said maybe we would do another one closer to my due date to check on his position and size but that we would just have to wait and see. I am definitely getting bigger, as you can see by the belly shot. It is difficult to get comfortable in any position other than laying down. My lower back continues to hurt and I feel like I have to pee every five minutes! I ordered some new tops because I could not longer squeeze into the prepregnancy ones but my most comfortable options right now are my few maternity dresses.
My mom booked her ticket to come out here for Liam's birth and I am really excited about that. Dow has been great about everything but for things like this you just need your mama! She booked it for a few days before his due date and is staying for several weeks. Now we just hope that he cooperates and doesn't come early!