At the hospital

Even though the hospital stay after having a baby isn't very restful, it's always a special time getting to know a sweet new baby. The hospital we were at was pretty great and we loved spending a few days with sweet baby Sullivan!

 First bath

 He didn't spend much time in here :)

Our family of 7!

Welcome little one!

Sullivan Nelson joined our family on July 19th at 10:30am. He weighed in at 8 pounds and 13 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. His weight wasn't the only surprise (doctors had all guessed between 7 1/2 and 8 pounds), he's our first baby to be born with hair! And it's brown! We're pretty happy in the Phillips household and are enjoying all the magic of having a newborn in the house.

Oh boy!

I had my 20 week ultrasound today and we found out baby 5 will be a boy! Pretty exciting. Because we waited until birth to find out what the last 3 were it was kind of strange to find out today, but fun. And boy names are so hard for me so we might need the extra time. We let the kids stay home from school with a neighbor until we got back because Brian is really busy writing a grant and won't be home until late and I knew the kids would be dying to know! Brian and I bought some mini cupcakes that had 6 pink ones and 6 blue ones and we let them eat the blue ones. They were excited. The girls were kind of hoping for a little sister but they are happy. Miles was really hoping for a boy and Wesley was hoping for a boy until this morning when he changed his mind and wanted a sister. When Nora woke up she put on a blue shirt and pink pants so when we came home and told her she could switch her shirt to a pink one if it was a girl or switch her pants to blue ones if it was a boy! Cutie. 

 I didn't have any strong feeling either way about what this baby is, but since I'd miscarried a boy last February I thought it was most likely going to be a boy. I can't stop crying happy tears because I feel like the Lord has given me that little boy I lost. I admit I do want another girl, but I'm not sure 6 kids is in our future so I might have to be content with the two I already have - which shouldn't be too hard. Everything looked normal and healthy on baby boy, no sign of the small hematoma that was there at my 11 week ultrasound and growth and everything was right on track. The ultrasound tech was very pleased with how agreeable and compliant the baby was at letting her get the pictures she needed. What a happy day!

Once again...

We told the kids over winter break that hopefully they'll have a new sibling this summer! I've been dragging my feet on making the official "announcement" that I am pregnant again. I finally posted it on facebook last week because the belly is getting hard to suck in (I sure pop out faster with each pregnancy!) and facebook is the easiest way to get the news out and stop all the questioning looks at church! :) I'm 16 weeks now and feeling much better in the 2nd trimester. I had an ultrasound at 11 weeks and found out I have another subchorionic hematoma (which is a tear between the placenta and uterine wall) like I did last winter, which led to a miscarriage at 18 weeks in February. So... I've been a bit anxious. It's a smaller one and I've had no bleeding so I am trying to not worry too much. But last time they told me I had "absolutely nothing to worry about" so it's hard to feel reassured. But there's nothing I can do about it, so I anxiously wait for each appointment so I can hear that precious little heartbeat. I think once I surpass 18 weeks I will be less worried, and after the ultrasound at 20 weeks when they can check the hematoma I will know if it's gone. Most subchorionic hematoma's resolve by 20 weeks, but sometimes they get bigger. The smaller the hematoma the less of a risk there is of miscarriage. So.... I am doing my best to not let it consume my thoughts and stress out about it, which isn't easy! And today I felt baby moving for the first time so that is a great feeling.

Anyway, we are so very excited to bring another baby into our family. It has been too long since I've had a tiny baby to hold and snuggle and kiss and smell! There is nothing better than a new baby. And we are going to find out the gender in February! With our last three babies we've waited until birth to know what we were having. And I truly loved that, but since we have an actual room to get ready just for the baby (so fun!), and with it maybe being the last one we are going to find out this time....which will be so fun! Hooray for babies!

I think it's a pretty safe bet...

...that boy or girl - this next baby will probably be blonde!

Ultrasound...

This is a lame picture of my picture... but it will do for now.

Today we had our ultrasound for baby! It was a good reminder that next time we will leave all the kids with someone and show them the pictures afterwards because they really can't tell by looking at the ultrasound that it is a baby, and they can't sit still that long. But chances are we'll forget and take all of them again next time anyway! It was fun to watch baby move all around and curl up into a ball and not let the ultrasound tech get any measurements for a while. The baby got it's first spanking from the lady {and hopefully last - but ya know I'm not perfect and all the kids have gotten a swat on the bum at one time or another...} She was trying to get the baby to move around so she could get a measurement so she was pushing on my belly and I watched the baby's bum go up and down on the screen. It made me smile. All looks well and we declined to find out if baby is a boy or a girl. I just love surprises!

Tiny Kicks

I'm 18 weeks today - and started feeling the baby move earlier this week. Which is seriously the best feeling in the world! Can't wait for the kids to be able to feel it, too!

At least I have our computer to take a picture... and please ignore my messy hallway!

New Family Picture

Sophie drew this - pretty cute, huh?