Our pumpkins

As we got ready for Halloween tonight, we realized we made two pumpkins this year. We vote for #2 as the cutest!!

If I had delivered on my due date, Liam would have been born today. He will be 7 weeks old tomorrow and I can't imagine the past 7 weeks without him.

Tonight we celebrated Halloween, Liam's original due date, Reformation Day, and Papi's birthday.

BIG little guy

Liam had a weight check with the doctor today. Based on how his eating has changed the past few weeks we were suspicious that he must be having a growth spurt. We could tell he was getting bigger but we were not sure how much bigger. We thought he was probably gaining about an ounce a day and we guessed his weight was about 7 pounds now since the last time we were at the doctor he was 5 pounds 13 oz (2637 grams). You can imagine our surprise when they weighed him today and was 8 pounds 4 ounces (3742 grams)!!! This means he put on roughly 3 pounds in 3 weeks!!!

The doctor was thrilled with this weight gain. Liam's original due date was tomorrow. Had he remained in the womb he would have put on an average of a pound a week the past 3 weeks. This means his development remained normal despite his premature birth. His height is now 20.75 inches (55.2 cm). The doctor told us this means Liam is now completely caught up on height and weight with a full term baby born on his due date.

Overall it is still expected that he will be completely caught up developmentally by 12 months, but the doctor says his major systems are now considered to be functioning normally. To put this in perspective, the doctor told us he saw another preemie on Tuesday who was born the same time as Liam (at 33 weeks about 7 weeks ago) and this baby has not been able to put on weight since it left the hospital. We are very lucky that Liam is doing as well as he is!!!

Liam still remains a little yellow in his face and upper body. If this has not cleared up by his 2 month appointment they will need to test his bilirubin levels to make sure everything is OK, but the doctor said he was not too concerned about this.

We are so thankful for all the prayers and support that have allowed Liam to grow and develop so well. What a blessing!!

And, while we are on the topic of weight, I had my 6 week post op visit on Tuesday. I was very thankful to learn that everything has healed properly without complications and I am free to start exercising again. Along with this good news I found out I am 5 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight and I fit back into my pre-pregnancy jeans. It was a good day!!

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We are having a great visit with Mami and Papi (aka Oma and Opa). In addition to lots of fun, good eating, and shopping, we have enjoyed having extra support with the night shift.

Now we are just waiting for Christmas when Onkel Christof meets Liam Christof.

Don't worry, Annie is here

After a month of runny noses and coughing, Liam's cousin, Ann, was finally able to come meet him. She is an incredibly sweet and tender girl. The second she got to the house she looked at Liam and said, 'I love you so much.' Then she sat on the sofa, cradled her arms and told us she was ready to hold him. Bruce and Traci helped her. She gets a lot of joy from babies and her face just lit up when she got to finally hold him.

Later on she was watching Little Einsteins with Abby on the side porch and every time she heard him cry or scream she would run in and say, 'Don't worry. Annie is here.' She was able to figure out that his crying was due to problems going to the bathroom. She then looked at Oma (who was holding Liam) and said, "I think you need to make him go to the bathroom.' It was very sweet.

Hold the baby, heal the knee

Nanna had knee surgery this week and she is trying to obey the doctor's orders to stay completely off the knee this week in order to make sure she is fit enough to travel to Boston for Thanksgiving. Nanna decided the best way to heal was to ice the knee, do the exercises prescribed by the doctor, and hold Liam - a lot. She is still pulling the night shift even when she can't move. Today she watched Liam so we could take a nap and get some things done around the house. - Thanks, Nanna!!

Oma and Opa are here!!

Oma and Opa arrived this evening. Since Liam has entered the world of colic (Kolik), I was afraid they would arrive and only see his crying and yelling phase. Luckily he had a good 90 minutes before the colic kicked in to let them see how sweet he can be when he is not in agony.

We are looking forward to a wonderful week with Oma and Opa here.

Hairy Janke

My dear friend, Karen, and her daughter, Kyra, came by to visit Liam on Friday. When Kyra was looking at Liam she said, "Welcome to the world!'

Karen has also taught Kyra to call address us in German as Herr & Frau Janke. Kyra has the 'Frau' part down, but she refers to Tobias as 'hairy Janke'. :)

39 weeks

Today Liam's adjusted age is 39 weeks. Since he was premature the doctors measure his age two ways. There is his birth age, which is 6 weeks tomorrow. And there is his adjusted age, which is his age had my pregnancy gone to his due date. It's hard to believe he was not due to arrive until a week from today.