Family of 4

Damon
The first week of my life was pretty awesome having both Daddy and Grandma Schlenker around to help out mommy, Houston and me. One downer was that I had high levels of bilirubin (causing me to be Jaundice). I never got as bad as my brother did so I didn’t have to endure the dreaded lights but I did have to go in for 2 extra blood tests while they monitored me (BTW I didn’t even make a squawk either time the pricked my little heel; mom was so proud of me). By my one week birthday, the doctor said I had gained enough weight and lowered the levels of bilirubin enough that we didn’t need to worry anymore. My good eating habits surely helped lower the bilirubin levels quickly. Everyone was happy to hear this especially mom because she no longer had to set an alarm and feed my every 2 hours. Also at that doctor’s appointment I was circumcised which is just a lovely experience. Mommy and daddy both came but daddy was the one to be right next to me and comfort me when I needed it. The only real painful part of the process is the numbing needle at the beginning. However I was super tough and everything went quite well.

Our beautiful family.



Me in Houston’s shrunken Halloween costume made by Grandma Schlenker.



Also on the day I turned one week old, Grandma Cari was nice enough to catch a late flight to Utah to spend the weekend with us. Since Grandma Schlenker was sleeping in the third bedroom, Grandma Cari offered to sleep on Houston’s top bunk but some how ended up on the lower bunk with him each morning. She is such a softy and I’m sure Houston LOVED the snuggles (I take after him in that respect).


Visits from cousin Daria


Morning snuggles with my brother.


He is so good at sharing!


As the weeks go by and I am filling out, everyone is commenting on how handsome I am. Mom definitely agrees and says she becomes entranced in my big, lovely eyes.

I am steadily gaining weight and mom has made the conclusion that she gives birth to small babies who become big babies quite quickly. Just like my brother, I was born with smallish lips and mom and dad always get a chuckle when I purse them - I make it simply irresistible to kiss them.


Check out my cute slippers from Cousins Marissa and Dan



Houston
Most nights, daddy gets home from work right before I go to bed. We both look forward to reading stories and singing songs together before I fall asleep. I not only love reading books these days but I also love hearing what daddy and I call “Fred Stories”. These stories are about one of my stuffed Teddy Bears we have named Fred and Dad tells me about adventures Fred goes on. My favorite and most requested adventure to hear about is Fred going to the park and going down the slide.
Daddy and I have also discovered Raffi songs. Daddy and I sing them so much I can almost sing whole songs on my own. Some of these songs include Baby Beluga, Peanut Butter Sandwich, I’ve Been Working on the Railroad, He's Got the Whole World in His Hands, and Down by the Bay.

Another favorite song of mine right now is Wheels on the Bus. I’m sure you are sensing this, but Damon and I have the best dad in the world!!
I am usually fickle about baths and have recently not been a fan. However mom decided to pull out some bath crayons that were given to me by Cousin Marissa a while ago and I have since loved baths. I love drawing circles and balloons but am also great at wiping off the sides of the tub when I’m finished. Another fun thing we were given were little color tablets that dye the water colors. They are helping to teach me about primary colors and what colors you mix to get other colors. I have a blast with them and give a thank you shout out to Auntie Richelle for giving them to me.


I got daddy so wet one bath, he decided to just hop in with me.


Damon, mom and I were out at a Relief Society function and daddy came home to this:

He then sent mom the following text:
“Just got home. I think someone broke into our house and was searching for something. Must’ve had a hot tip that it was in one of Houston’s toys.”
Needless to say mom is not enjoying as clean a house as she once did – just too hard to keep up to me some days. The up side to this is that I am becoming remarkably good at playing by myself with my toys!

This is a typical morning these days. On this particular day, mom went out to the living room to feed Damon and when she came back, there was no room for her anymore.


Off to church with daddy.


Dad found a sweet deal on helmets and had to get me one so now I am even more ready for quadding with Papa and my cousins.


Next weekend Uncle Derek is coming to visit and attend Conference. We are very excited to see him and Damon is excited to meet him for the first time. The weekend after that is Easter and we are blessing my baby brother. Lots of family and friends will be in attendance and we are very excited!

Introducing Damon Schlenker Wilcock

Hello everyone,
I would like to introduce myself: my name is Damon Schlenker Wilcock. I was born on February 24, 2012 at 5:53am at Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem, Utah. When I was born I weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces and was 19 inches long. My brother Houston asked me to write the story about how I was born so he could post it on the blog for you all to enjoy.
God definitely works in wonderful ways. After mommy hit 37 weeks she was both anxious and nervous about when I would arrive. She knew since Houston was born 3 weeks early I could come anytime between then and my due date of March 5. Luckily, however, mom had lots to keep her busy while she waited. During a particularly busy week, mom kept thinking this would be a bad time for me to come. She had a huge to do list for her church calling on top of other weekly chores like grocery shopping and house cleaning. As the week went on, mom was happy she was getting all she needed to done. Her business peeked on Wednesday with a Cub Scout blue and gold banquet where she was in charge of bringing the food for 80 people and doing a presentation and book club afterwards. That night she took a deep breath and told me that I could now come anytime and preferably soon. The next day was pretty normal and mom was able to get much of her weekly cleaning done in the morning. But as soon as Houston and her woke up from naps she began experiencing mild, but nonetheless very regular contractions. However, trying not to get anxious or too excited she fought through them by finishing up her cleaning and playing outside with Houston. When daddy got home she broke the contraction news to him but told him not to get too excited; contractions like these can last days before it is time for baby to come.
Later that night while mom and dad were watching the BYU basketball game, mom felt something funny around 10pm: nothing like her water breaking but enough to make her think I might be coming sooner then she thought. Immediately she started packing her bags. But as soon as mom decided to give up and go to bed, sure enough at 11:30pm her water officially broke and the decision was made to head to the hospital. Since my brother Houston was asleep, mom and dad called one of their angel neighbors to come sleep over and watch him for part of the next day. Mom had quite a hard time leaving Houston and prayed wouldn’t be too overwhelmed with all that was about to befall.
Once they got there and mom got situated, it took a while and 3 different tests to finally determine that mom was leaking amniotic fluid. At this point, about 1am, mom was dilated 3cm. Finally at 2am she was officially admitted to the hospital. Then it took 3 different stabs to get mom’s IV in her (the nurses were trying to train and new bee). Mom tried to be a good sport and since it was waaaayyy past her bedtime, she was just too tired to care very much. As soon as they could, they started mom on pitocin to make her contractions stronger. This seemed all too familiar to mom because she pretty much experienced the same situation with my brother, Houston. Some babies do not react very well to pitocin and I apparently am one of those babies. Once the contractions become quite strong and painful, my heart rate dropped and the nurses became quite concerned. They tried putting mom in all sorts of different positions and even put a monitor inside mom on my head to keep a closer eye on me. Dealing with a lot of pain and the stress of my heart rate not cooperating put mom through quite the ordeal.
By 4am mom gave in and got her beloved epidural which helped her relax. It was a good thing because by 5:30 she was fully dilated 10cm and the doctor was on the way. The nurse expressed a strong desire not be the one to deliver me so she told mom to keep her legs closed and not to cough or sneeze until the doctor got there. After the doctor arrived he gave mom instructions on how to push. Mom remembers pushing being the worst part of labor because she got super nauseous last time. This time turned out to be a breeze however. Mom pushed 3 times for one contraction and half way through the next contractions I was out at 5:53am! As soon as mom heard my cry, she was in tears of relief and joy that I had finally arrived happy (well not so much) and healthy.
As soon as they cleaned me up, they took my temperature and it was a little low so they quickly put me on my mommy’s chest to try and warm me up. This part was so special for mom, dad and me because we really got to bond for the first time.


Mom and dad noticed how much I looked like my brother, Houston when he was born. One stand out feature was the beautiful shape of my head. Because mom didn’t have to push for very long, I had what one nurse called a “c-section baby head”. Later, when others saw pictures of me, they said they saw more of mom in me, where as Houston looked more like dad. I also had very long fingers and feet just like my brother. My eyes even take on the same “no color” that Houston’s did. I wonder what color they will end up being. After I was warmed up a bit, mom tried feeding me and to her surprise I latched on right away. Mom was thrilled and I continue to be a great eater to this day.
After I was cleaned up, we moved to the recovery room and mom, dad and I had a nice, quiet morning.


It was definitely hard on mom and dad pulling an all-nighter right before I was born. It was especially for mommy because she knew it would be a while until she would be caught up on her sleep since she chose to breast feed me and I get hungry about every 2-3 hours.
Later in the day, daddy went home to shower and pick up my brother to bring to the hospital. Even though everyone was exhausted (my brother didn’t have the best night either) we were all so happy to be together as a family of 4 for the first time. Houston was most interested in being with mommy but became more and more interested in me as time past. He was excellent at being very soft with me and was fascinated with how small my features were.

That night, daddy took Houston home so they could sleep in their beds. This time around mom decided to take advantage of the nursery at the hospital so that she could catch up on some much needed sleep. The nurses were so good to me and mom felt blessed that she could leave me in such good hands during her recovery. The next day Houston and dad came back in the afternoon and we spent the day in the hospital waiting for Grandma Schlenker to arrive from Medicine Hat, Alberta.

At this point, Houston was running on little sleep because of all the excitement and was fortunate there was a cot in the room by mom and dad. After Grandma got some snuggles in with me, she took Houston home to bed and dad stayed the night with mom and me.
The next morning it was time to go home and we were all very excited!