Thursday, July 12, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
back tracking
I feel like I have a million things and updates running through my mind all the time that I want to put into this blog, but it just doesn't seem like I ever time to get it done!
I hope you don't mind the bulleted list of our updates, but that seems to be the easiest way to get it all out.
*at 6 weeks, Paxton really started smiling intentionally and purposefully. He is starting to pay more attention to faces and smiles back at you often, it's soo precious!
*at 7 weeks, not only is he smiling a ton, he is starting to talk a ton too. He loves someone in his face and he just smiles and chats, making my heart melt.
*I had my 6 week post-partum visit last week. Paxton came with me, but he was a little on the fussy side. He was in his seat and the dr. had to rock him with her foot the entire time. The poor guy just wanted to sleep but wasn't ready to give it up. After the twins I had Diastasis Recti, which is basically separated stomach muscles. This often happens to women who are: carrying multiples, have multiple pregnancies, or are carrying large babies. All three were a positive for me. The dr. checked me again at this appointment and was surprised that my stomach muscles were actually doing a nice job of healing. There is still some separation, but it is only mild. She made the comment that there are many, after having twins, whose stomach muscles never do grow back together, so I was glad to hear mine are!
*I've still been rather emotional. I seem to cry about every little thing and my anxiety usually gets the best of me when my head finally hits the pillow at night. My dr. could sense that my personality was a little off when comparing me to previous visits and when I started crying in the office, she thought maybe we should address it. She put me on a low dose of some "happy pills" and hopefully this will only be a short term thing until my hormones settle down a bit. I think I'm more emotional than I expected to be and things are harder than I expected them. I am not the mom nor the wife I want to be and it's breaking my heart. My dr. said sometimes we don't realize how bad we feel until we feel really good. And she wants me to feel really good. So here's to being HAPPY!!
*Paxton seems to be doing better with the Zantac. Sometimes feedings can still be difficult, but he seems a lot less uncomfortable than he had been. He still has some issues with settling himself and putting himself to sleep, but it's getting better.
*This little guy has been having some awesome nights. He's basically sleeping through the night, sleeping around 9-10 hours at a stretch. I know this could change at any moment, but for now, I'm all about it!
*Paxton is eating around 5oz. and during the day he eats every 2-4 hours.
*I'm still pumping and Paxton continues to only get breast milk, but I'm getting tired of it. Like, really tired of it! The time in between pumpings seems to get longer and longer and I'm noticing my supply is decreasing. I don't want to give it up yet, but it's just soo darn time consuming!
*We have been very busy this summer! It seems like we are always on the road and are never home. The kids and I have spent a lot of time in Brandon just hanging out. It's usually a last moment decision, sometimes not even having extra clothing and needing a quick trip to target to get extra diapers... but it's been fun :)
*We went camping over the 4th of July. It was HOT HOT HOT!!! I'll try to post pictures.
*In less than two weeks the twins are going to be 2!! I cannot even believe it. It just doesn't seem possible :(
*I say this every year, but the month of July has a lot of meaning and brings out a lot of emotions.
Memorable days in July:
July 4th: one of our most favorite holidays, spent with amazing friends and family!
July 7th: 7 years ago, Cody was diagnosed with a brain tumor
July 8th: we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary :)
July 22nd: 7 years ago marks Cody's brain surgery
2 years ago will mark the twins coming into this world
July 25th: Cody diagnosed with brain cancer, given a prognosis of 3-5 years
July 30th: Cody will celebrate his 31st birthday!
We have been so incredibly blessed over the years!
I hope you don't mind the bulleted list of our updates, but that seems to be the easiest way to get it all out.
*at 6 weeks, Paxton really started smiling intentionally and purposefully. He is starting to pay more attention to faces and smiles back at you often, it's soo precious!
*at 7 weeks, not only is he smiling a ton, he is starting to talk a ton too. He loves someone in his face and he just smiles and chats, making my heart melt.
*I had my 6 week post-partum visit last week. Paxton came with me, but he was a little on the fussy side. He was in his seat and the dr. had to rock him with her foot the entire time. The poor guy just wanted to sleep but wasn't ready to give it up. After the twins I had Diastasis Recti, which is basically separated stomach muscles. This often happens to women who are: carrying multiples, have multiple pregnancies, or are carrying large babies. All three were a positive for me. The dr. checked me again at this appointment and was surprised that my stomach muscles were actually doing a nice job of healing. There is still some separation, but it is only mild. She made the comment that there are many, after having twins, whose stomach muscles never do grow back together, so I was glad to hear mine are!
*I've still been rather emotional. I seem to cry about every little thing and my anxiety usually gets the best of me when my head finally hits the pillow at night. My dr. could sense that my personality was a little off when comparing me to previous visits and when I started crying in the office, she thought maybe we should address it. She put me on a low dose of some "happy pills" and hopefully this will only be a short term thing until my hormones settle down a bit. I think I'm more emotional than I expected to be and things are harder than I expected them. I am not the mom nor the wife I want to be and it's breaking my heart. My dr. said sometimes we don't realize how bad we feel until we feel really good. And she wants me to feel really good. So here's to being HAPPY!!
*Paxton seems to be doing better with the Zantac. Sometimes feedings can still be difficult, but he seems a lot less uncomfortable than he had been. He still has some issues with settling himself and putting himself to sleep, but it's getting better.
*This little guy has been having some awesome nights. He's basically sleeping through the night, sleeping around 9-10 hours at a stretch. I know this could change at any moment, but for now, I'm all about it!
*Paxton is eating around 5oz. and during the day he eats every 2-4 hours.
*I'm still pumping and Paxton continues to only get breast milk, but I'm getting tired of it. Like, really tired of it! The time in between pumpings seems to get longer and longer and I'm noticing my supply is decreasing. I don't want to give it up yet, but it's just soo darn time consuming!
*We have been very busy this summer! It seems like we are always on the road and are never home. The kids and I have spent a lot of time in Brandon just hanging out. It's usually a last moment decision, sometimes not even having extra clothing and needing a quick trip to target to get extra diapers... but it's been fun :)
*We went camping over the 4th of July. It was HOT HOT HOT!!! I'll try to post pictures.
*In less than two weeks the twins are going to be 2!! I cannot even believe it. It just doesn't seem possible :(
*I say this every year, but the month of July has a lot of meaning and brings out a lot of emotions.
Memorable days in July:
July 4th: one of our most favorite holidays, spent with amazing friends and family!
July 7th: 7 years ago, Cody was diagnosed with a brain tumor
July 8th: we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary :)
July 22nd: 7 years ago marks Cody's brain surgery
2 years ago will mark the twins coming into this world
July 25th: Cody diagnosed with brain cancer, given a prognosis of 3-5 years
July 30th: Cody will celebrate his 31st birthday!
We have been so incredibly blessed over the years!
Saturday, June 23, 2012
staying busy
*At 3 weeks, Paxton finally had his first bath. It was time for a bottle, so he pretty much screamed through the entire thing!
*At 4 weeks old, Paxton is our newest little camper. It's certainly not easy to camp with an infant, but we made it work the best we could. The kids had an awesome time. They ran themselves to exhaustion...our nights were awesome because of it too! Everyone slept amazingly :)
*This last week I had my follow-up appointment with the Urologist regarding my kidney stones. I went in for a CT scan and met with the dr. the same day. When I was last admitted to the hospital, the ultrasound showed a stone measuring at 9mm in my right kidney. The CT scan that I had done on Tuesday was showing the stone only measuring 3mm. This is exactly why they like to do a CT scan, because it is much more accurate and they can get a clearer image. So this was great news for me, no surgery! The stone is not anywhere where it should be causing problems, it might stay there for years or I might pass it on my own at some point...but for now we are just going to leave it alone.
*Paxton has been having some issues regarding feeding lately and has just seemed soo uncomfortable. I brought him into the doctor on Thursday and he's showing all the classic symptoms of acid reflux. The dr. put him on zantac, so we'll see how it goes. It's hard to see your baby seem so in pain :( At 5 weeks he weighs in at 12lbs. 15oz.
*Our summer is going by way too fast! We have every weekend booked up until I start back to school in August. It's making me very emotional (oh yeah, did I mention that I'm still pretty emotional regarding every.single.little.thing!)
*Having 3 kids, ages 2 and under, is definitely not a walk in the park. I wish I could blog more often, but my hands are pretty full, literally! I can't believe I have 3 kids! There was a day my heart was aching wondering if we would ever even be able to have any kids, now we have been blessed with three of the most beautiful children in the whole world. But I am definitely still adjusting! I often feel like I shouldn't be struggling so badly with only 3 kids. I mean, come on, everyone has 3 kids right? But I keep having to remind myself that they are all under the age of 2 and that's not an easy task! I guess that helps justify it for me, when I keep wondering why I feel like I'm running a circus around here! But I do feel like we're starting to get into a groove. Not every day is easy, but there seem to be more parts of the day that are getting easier. I wake up in the morning with a list of things I hope to get accomplished that day. But more often than not I don't accomplish a lot more than caring for the basic needs of my kids. Once again, I need to remind myself that it's a big accomplishment to simply keep my kids fed, diapers changed, bathed, safe, and rested! :) Above all (even if there are 4 loads of unfolded laundry and dirty dishes in the sink) I pray that at the end of the day our kids feel loved and secure.
*At 4 weeks old, Paxton is our newest little camper. It's certainly not easy to camp with an infant, but we made it work the best we could. The kids had an awesome time. They ran themselves to exhaustion...our nights were awesome because of it too! Everyone slept amazingly :)
*This last week I had my follow-up appointment with the Urologist regarding my kidney stones. I went in for a CT scan and met with the dr. the same day. When I was last admitted to the hospital, the ultrasound showed a stone measuring at 9mm in my right kidney. The CT scan that I had done on Tuesday was showing the stone only measuring 3mm. This is exactly why they like to do a CT scan, because it is much more accurate and they can get a clearer image. So this was great news for me, no surgery! The stone is not anywhere where it should be causing problems, it might stay there for years or I might pass it on my own at some point...but for now we are just going to leave it alone.
*Paxton has been having some issues regarding feeding lately and has just seemed soo uncomfortable. I brought him into the doctor on Thursday and he's showing all the classic symptoms of acid reflux. The dr. put him on zantac, so we'll see how it goes. It's hard to see your baby seem so in pain :( At 5 weeks he weighs in at 12lbs. 15oz.
*Our summer is going by way too fast! We have every weekend booked up until I start back to school in August. It's making me very emotional (oh yeah, did I mention that I'm still pretty emotional regarding every.single.little.thing!)
*Having 3 kids, ages 2 and under, is definitely not a walk in the park. I wish I could blog more often, but my hands are pretty full, literally! I can't believe I have 3 kids! There was a day my heart was aching wondering if we would ever even be able to have any kids, now we have been blessed with three of the most beautiful children in the whole world. But I am definitely still adjusting! I often feel like I shouldn't be struggling so badly with only 3 kids. I mean, come on, everyone has 3 kids right? But I keep having to remind myself that they are all under the age of 2 and that's not an easy task! I guess that helps justify it for me, when I keep wondering why I feel like I'm running a circus around here! But I do feel like we're starting to get into a groove. Not every day is easy, but there seem to be more parts of the day that are getting easier. I wake up in the morning with a list of things I hope to get accomplished that day. But more often than not I don't accomplish a lot more than caring for the basic needs of my kids. Once again, I need to remind myself that it's a big accomplishment to simply keep my kids fed, diapers changed, bathed, safe, and rested! :) Above all (even if there are 4 loads of unfolded laundry and dirty dishes in the sink) I pray that at the end of the day our kids feel loved and secure.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
total random-ness
Wow, I'm tired!
A friend of mine, well actually a friend of a friend, once described her life raising twins with...everything looking great and put-together on the outside, but on the inside it was pure hell! Now there have definitely been some days where I can't even make the outside look anything but pure hell :( I know things will get better, it's just taking me some time to adjust.
our little pac-man
*I have been soo emotional thinking about the fact that this will be our last baby. I can't believe how unbelievably sad that makes me (along with everything else under the sun that makes me cry)! I want to take in every moment of this little guy, knowing he will grow up way too fast and I'll never get these seconds back. oh dear, here we go again, bring on the tissues :(
A friend of mine, well actually a friend of a friend, once described her life raising twins with...everything looking great and put-together on the outside, but on the inside it was pure hell! Now there have definitely been some days where I can't even make the outside look anything but pure hell :( I know things will get better, it's just taking me some time to adjust.
Finally, at 3 weeks, his belly-button-stump fell off. I'm looking forward to giving him real baths now. There is nothing better than a freshly bathed babe!
*Paxton is exclusively getting breastmilk. With the twins I was never able to make enough so we always had to supplement several bottles a day with formula. But this time, my freezer is already starting to fill up, this is awesome!
*At 3 weeks now, we just bumped Paxton up to 4oz. of breastmilk. He just didn't seem to be happy after 3oz. and he was wanting to eat so often. He typically goes between 3 and 4 hours, however at night he is sleeping up to 7 hours at a stretch!!
*We've already had to bump him up to size 1 diapers. Newborn diapers never really did fit him that well, but it did work better around his belly button. So we finished off the newborn diapers that we had and at 2 weeks he was into size 1. Wow, my big Kenley girl didn't hit size 1 diapers until 5 weeks and I thought that was soon!
our little pac-man
*I have been soo emotional thinking about the fact that this will be our last baby. I can't believe how unbelievably sad that makes me (along with everything else under the sun that makes me cry)! I want to take in every moment of this little guy, knowing he will grow up way too fast and I'll never get these seconds back. oh dear, here we go again, bring on the tissues :(
*Because Paxton is only getting up once during the night, both Cody and I get up with him. I pump while Cody feeds. This is working out great!
*My "perfect" newborn is starting to develop some not-so-perfect "issues." The biggest difference I've noticed so far between him and the twins is his sleeping patterns. The twins would just lay on the floor and play until they fell asleep. They have always been awesome sleepers. This little guy, not so much! He typically doesn't put himself to sleep. He likes to be held to be put to sleep. And once he does go to sleep in your arms, he usually wakes up the second you put him down (unless you've gotten him into a nice deep sleep, which often takes a long time). Now I don't seem to be getting much done when all I'm doing is holding a sleeping baby. And at night....he's awful! He goes down really well at bedtime, but after his feeding he does not want to be put back into his crib! It takes a lot of work to get him back to sleep. Now here is where I'm thankful we're only messing with it once a night!
*Since working on our house/yard, we had to unhook our air conditioner and pull it away from the house. Well, we Cody hasn't gotten it hooked back up yet! Now, I know some of you like the heat, but I am not one of you. I am an air conditioner kind of girl and chasing after 3 kids is making me one hot, crabby, mama!
This is one of their favorite things to do!
I made my own home-made laundry detergent the other day. From what I've read, this is going to hopefully save us some money on detergent since we seem to be going through tons of it lately.
While mixing everything, the smell throughout my house was totally worth it!! I haven't tried it yet, but I'll let you know what I think :)
Saturday, June 2, 2012
just a little excited!
My sister is moving back home this weekend and I'm beyond excited!!
Everybody left early this morning to head to Des Moines to finish packing them and load everything up.
I, and the three kids, stayed back in Brandon. Because who wants to travel and move with three kids?
But I honestly can't even tell you how excited we are to have them so close.
Let the summer fun begin :)
Thursday, May 31, 2012
goodbye inhalers
This morning the kids had their appointment with the Pulmonologist. They've been doing very well in the "lung department." They only had a few colds this winter, which they tolerated nicely. Kaden only had one episode of wheezing, but other than that their lungs have been in good shape. The dr. felt confident today that we could stop their inhalers all together and see how things go once we enter fall and winter. OK!! I certainly didn't have a problem with that!!
As you've heard me mention before, Kenley dealt with her horrible diaper rash for 4 months before her pediatrician thought about the possibility of it coming from her inhaler. The pulmonologist said it was unlikely that her inhaler caused it, but things can certainly happen. I on the other hand, don't just think it was coincidence that we couldn't find a single thing to fix this rash for 4 months, and then when I take her off of her inhaler she clears up in a week! Just call me Dr. Holli :)
Cody is already out of sick days so any time he takes off he has to take unpaid. I haven't been brave enough (up to this point) to take both kids to appointments by myself. But we talked it over and thought I should give it a try. I only had a couple of times where both kids were having a tantrum at the same time, or running the halls in opposite directions...but for the most part they did awesome!
As you've heard me mention before, Kenley dealt with her horrible diaper rash for 4 months before her pediatrician thought about the possibility of it coming from her inhaler. The pulmonologist said it was unlikely that her inhaler caused it, but things can certainly happen. I on the other hand, don't just think it was coincidence that we couldn't find a single thing to fix this rash for 4 months, and then when I take her off of her inhaler she clears up in a week! Just call me Dr. Holli :)
Cody is already out of sick days so any time he takes off he has to take unpaid. I haven't been brave enough (up to this point) to take both kids to appointments by myself. But we talked it over and thought I should give it a try. I only had a couple of times where both kids were having a tantrum at the same time, or running the halls in opposite directions...but for the most part they did awesome!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
I'm surviving!
It's naptime and so far we've all survived the first half of the day!
Cody started his new "summer hours" this morning. He is starting an hour earlier and getting home an hour earlier (which I think I'm going to love). So he left the house about 6:30 this morning.
The rest of us slept until about 7:40, when I heard Kaden whining around in his crib. I threw myself out of bed, went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, sat out a bottle for Paxton (since it was getting close to the time he would need to eat again too), and pumped. The kids were now just chatting in their room, so I just needed the baby to keep sleeping and everyone would be good! After pumping, I grabbed the kids out of their bed and changed their diapers, just as Paxton started to scream. I changed his diaper and gave him a bottle, just as the kids were hanging on their highchairs wanting to "eat." The succession of things were working out well :)
Paxton has been going through this thing where he just doesn't seem happy after he eats a bottle. He can't decide if he wants to be awake or asleep, swaddled or unswaddled, held or laying out, paci or no paci. It's been taking him a while to get settled and hopefully we'll all figure it out shortly.
Daddy came home for lunch and gave me a chance to get into the shower. Other than that I've been busy with dishes (seriously this breast pump really should come with multiple sets of parts...washing everything every.single.time is getting very old!), laundry, bills, making and rescheduling appointments, and pumping. Now the kids are taking a nap and I'm waiting for Paxton to get up and eat.
Ahh...it's soo quiet in here!!
I'll leave you with this picture, just because I can't get enough of it. It melts my heart every time I look at it :)
Cody started his new "summer hours" this morning. He is starting an hour earlier and getting home an hour earlier (which I think I'm going to love). So he left the house about 6:30 this morning.
The rest of us slept until about 7:40, when I heard Kaden whining around in his crib. I threw myself out of bed, went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, sat out a bottle for Paxton (since it was getting close to the time he would need to eat again too), and pumped. The kids were now just chatting in their room, so I just needed the baby to keep sleeping and everyone would be good! After pumping, I grabbed the kids out of their bed and changed their diapers, just as Paxton started to scream. I changed his diaper and gave him a bottle, just as the kids were hanging on their highchairs wanting to "eat." The succession of things were working out well :)
Paxton has been going through this thing where he just doesn't seem happy after he eats a bottle. He can't decide if he wants to be awake or asleep, swaddled or unswaddled, held or laying out, paci or no paci. It's been taking him a while to get settled and hopefully we'll all figure it out shortly.
Daddy came home for lunch and gave me a chance to get into the shower. Other than that I've been busy with dishes (seriously this breast pump really should come with multiple sets of parts...washing everything every.single.time is getting very old!), laundry, bills, making and rescheduling appointments, and pumping. Now the kids are taking a nap and I'm waiting for Paxton to get up and eat.
Ahh...it's soo quiet in here!!
I'll leave you with this picture, just because I can't get enough of it. It melts my heart every time I look at it :)
(I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of his newborn pictures. I love this little guy!!)
Sunday, May 27, 2012
we {do not} have a pooper on our hands!
Baby Paxton does not like to poop. Which can be a good thing and a bad thing. He has only been going about every 5 days or so. Which is good, because who likes to change dirty diapers? But it's bad because when he does go, he has a HUGE blowout. This kid was covered from head to toe last night, taking the efforts of three-gagging-grown-adults to clean him up and an outfit that went straight into the trash!
I love everything about this new baby in our lives. He is totally fulfilling my baby fever, with his soft hair against my cheeks, the snuggles into my chest, his squeeks and grunts letting me know he's hungry, the contorted facial expressions that make me giggle, and the arm and leg movements that remind me of when he was in my tummy...I could have 12 more of these :)
I think we have another paci-lover on our hands. Paxton loves to have his paci in his mouth and has a pretty strong suck. The one he came home from the hospital with was the exact one that we just took away from Kenley a short time ago. We were having some issues with this, so we decided to get him some different colored ones and it seems to have done the trick.
Kaden and Kenley love helping out with the baby. They always think he has to have his paci in his mouth, love to help give him his bottle, love to tickle his tummy, and think they need to poke his eyes out.
Paxton is eating 2.5 ounces at a time. During the day, he eats anywhere between 2-4 hours. He is doing really well sleeping at night. We are getting up to feed him only once during the night and that's it!
This post-partum sh*t is for the birds!! A friend of mine put it greatly... the Lord gives you such a miracle after giving birth, you would certainly think he could perform a miracle with the healing of your body! To say that I've been a little emotional would be an understatement. I am pumping and bottle feeding, but I absolutely hate pumping! My boobs are soo sore, I cringe just thinking about the next time I have to pump and in between I feel like I'm going to explode everytime the kids crawl on me throwing themselves into my chest. And although it's getting better, my bottom cannot heal fast enough and it's getting the best of me!
I love everything about this new baby in our lives. He is totally fulfilling my baby fever, with his soft hair against my cheeks, the snuggles into my chest, his squeeks and grunts letting me know he's hungry, the contorted facial expressions that make me giggle, and the arm and leg movements that remind me of when he was in my tummy...I could have 12 more of these :)
I think we have another paci-lover on our hands. Paxton loves to have his paci in his mouth and has a pretty strong suck. The one he came home from the hospital with was the exact one that we just took away from Kenley a short time ago. We were having some issues with this, so we decided to get him some different colored ones and it seems to have done the trick.
Kaden and Kenley love helping out with the baby. They always think he has to have his paci in his mouth, love to help give him his bottle, love to tickle his tummy, and think they need to poke his eyes out.
Paxton is eating 2.5 ounces at a time. During the day, he eats anywhere between 2-4 hours. He is doing really well sleeping at night. We are getting up to feed him only once during the night and that's it!
This post-partum sh*t is for the birds!! A friend of mine put it greatly... the Lord gives you such a miracle after giving birth, you would certainly think he could perform a miracle with the healing of your body! To say that I've been a little emotional would be an understatement. I am pumping and bottle feeding, but I absolutely hate pumping! My boobs are soo sore, I cringe just thinking about the next time I have to pump and in between I feel like I'm going to explode everytime the kids crawl on me throwing themselves into my chest. And although it's getting better, my bottom cannot heal fast enough and it's getting the best of me!
Friday, May 25, 2012
updates
*Cody's MRI looked good yesterday! Wow, I can't believe we are going on 7 years already!
*Paxton had his newborn follow-up with the pediatrician last Friday. He still looks perfect :) When he was discharged from the hospital he weighed 9lbs. 7oz. and on Friday he was 9lbs. 8oz.
*He really is the best little baby. He is soo good!! The first couple of days he was home, he didn't seem to quite be content during his awake times, but he seems to have that figured out now. He is still sleeping a lot and only cries when he is hungry. Last night he slept for 7.5 hours straight!! It was awesome!
*My mom is helping out this week. I haven't felt the best yet this week and have been moving pretty slowly, so having the extra set of hands has been a blessing!!
*I haven't healed up in the "nether regions" as quickly as I would have hoped and that's taken a toll on me. Finally, today, I have noticed a difference. I am hoping this is the turning point and things will start going up hill from here on out! Apparently nothing good happens "down there" after pushing for 3.5 hours!!
***(I started this blog post three days ago and still haven't posted it. So, even though I don't feel it's complete, I'm just going to call it done and post!!)
*Paxton had his newborn follow-up with the pediatrician last Friday. He still looks perfect :) When he was discharged from the hospital he weighed 9lbs. 7oz. and on Friday he was 9lbs. 8oz.
*He really is the best little baby. He is soo good!! The first couple of days he was home, he didn't seem to quite be content during his awake times, but he seems to have that figured out now. He is still sleeping a lot and only cries when he is hungry. Last night he slept for 7.5 hours straight!! It was awesome!
*My mom is helping out this week. I haven't felt the best yet this week and have been moving pretty slowly, so having the extra set of hands has been a blessing!!
*I haven't healed up in the "nether regions" as quickly as I would have hoped and that's taken a toll on me. Finally, today, I have noticed a difference. I am hoping this is the turning point and things will start going up hill from here on out! Apparently nothing good happens "down there" after pushing for 3.5 hours!!
***(I started this blog post three days ago and still haven't posted it. So, even though I don't feel it's complete, I'm just going to call it done and post!!)
Monday, May 21, 2012
I've dropped the ball on this one...
Cody has his 6 month MRI tomorrow!!
Scan at 9:00am and then we see the dr. at 2:30.
Scan at 9:00am and then we see the dr. at 2:30.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
going home
We are going home today.
Because we had him before midnight on the 14th, that counted as our first night...in and out!!
They just came to get Paxton from us to be circumcized.
They will monitor him for a couple of hours and hopefully we will be on our way.
They have checked him for Jaundice, but it sounds like his levels are looking good!
Everyone is doing so well!
Paxton is eating and sleeping like a champ.
Mama is still pretty sore and is moving pretty slow, but hopefully that'll start getting better soon!
The kids came to visit us and meet their new baby brother last night.
I have been missing them like crazy and it was soo good to see them!
They didn't really seem that interested in the new baby.
They noticed him a couple of times, but they were too busy running around and playing.
They might think of him differently once we are home and he's there to stay :)
It'll be interesting.
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Tuesday, May 15, 2012
He's here!!
Happy Birthday,
Paxton John Finke
May 14, 2012
11:00pm
9lbs. 14oz.
22 inches
Here's our story:
*6:45am check in at admissions
*get settled into our room. had lengthy discussions with the doctor and nurses as far as the traumatic experiences we had last time, what we wanted the day to look like, and the decisions we needed to make in order for it to go more smoothly.
*9:00 started the induction with a single dose of cytotec, dilated to 2cm, contractions starting to get more consistent
*1:15pm 3cm, dr. breaks my water, now contractions really starting to intensify over the next few hours
*3:00 dilated to 4cm, ordered my epidural
*4:00 epidural. the anesthesiologist was aware that I did NOT have optimal pain management during my last labor/delivery, so he was determined to make this experience different. he gave me a combination spinal/epidural and he was the new love of my life :) I was 100% numb from my belly down (I was enjoying the idea of being pain-free, but not being able to move or feel anything, really kind of messed with my mind, and I didn't like it very much)
*5:00 dilated to 5cm
*7:00 complete and ready to start pushing! there was only one doctor on the floor, so we needed to wait for her to come in and give us the "ok"
*7:30 started pushing. contractions were very consistent at 2-3 minutes apart
*9:00 my spinal was starting to wear off. I was really starting to feel a lot of pain again and we weren't really getting close to delivery, so it started to worry me with how long we had to go yet. the anesthesiologist was paged again and he came back and gave me another bolus of a different medication, in hopes of getting me through delivery! he didn't anticipate it doing much, but boy it worked out perfectly! it took away my pain, but I could still feel touch and pressure, which really helped me in the pushing process.
*11:00 baby was born! three and a half hours of pushing, I didn't know if we were going to get it done!
*Paxton was here, all 9 pounds and 14 ounces of him! I never thought he would be that big!
*I can't even begin to tell you how awesome this experience was as compared to the delivery of the twins. we had an amazing team from start to finish and I couldn't have asked for anything to go any differently. the whole proces, worked 100% in our favor and that makes us very happy :)
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Monday, May 14, 2012
Today is {hopefully} the day!
We are all checked in and hanging out in our room. We were here at 6:45 this morning and in our room at about 7:00am.
I was checked and dialed to 2cm. My cervix is pretty soft, but baby remains kind of high.
Cytotec was given at 9:00. This is the induction medication. Last time, they inserted it vaginally, this time I just took it orally. This is to help kick-start my contractions. Dr. will be back around 1:00 to re-check things and hopefully break my water at that time.
Now we are just "waiting". I don't know if we'll expect him today, but that is our hope.
I was checked and dialed to 2cm. My cervix is pretty soft, but baby remains kind of high.
Cytotec was given at 9:00. This is the induction medication. Last time, they inserted it vaginally, this time I just took it orally. This is to help kick-start my contractions. Dr. will be back around 1:00 to re-check things and hopefully break my water at that time.
Now we are just "waiting". I don't know if we'll expect him today, but that is our hope.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
38 weeks
I was 38 weeks on Monday and had my appointment yesterday afternoon. I first did my NST and then met with the doctor (unfortunately not my regular OB). The NST looked good. Baby boy was pretty active right away in the beginning, giving them the information they needed and then he got a little sleepy. I stayed hooked up to the monitors for about 45 minutes. It simply amazes me that they can put me in this chair, recline me, and put my feet up and I won't have a single contraction for 45 minutes, but once I stand up or move around, I start contracting like crazy!
After that I saw the doctor. She checked my cervix and I've dialated to a 1cm. I was really hoping to be further along than that. I know he is still high, because I can feeling him digging into my ribs and I'm always short of breath. But I also know he's dropping because I can feel increasing pressure on my pubic bone. Maybe it's because he's so big and he's just everywhere!
Our goal for delivery is obviously to try a vaginal birth first. My doctor is completely aware that I am terrified I'm going to have an experience like I did with the twins, and she has done everything she can to calm my fears. If at any point, I'm getting uncomfortable with things or the process, we will go straight into a c-section. I'm hoping she's right and things will go much smoother and faster this time around.
I've been working around the house like crazy this week. I really feel like the organizing and everything as far as the baby's concerned is complete. Now, I just want my house clean. Like, deep-spring-cleaning, clean! I know I'm over-doing it, but I can't seem to get my husband to help out :( My to-do list is still a mile long and we're running out of time. I'm trying to tell myself it's ok not to get everything done. This is not the important stuff (although in my mind, it is a big deal).
Things at work are finally starting to wind down, although I've worked my butt off trying to get everything done in time. I wish I would have this kind of ambition the whole school year!! I couldn't have done it though without some amazing co-workers who really stepped up to help me out :)
Happy Wednesday!!
After that I saw the doctor. She checked my cervix and I've dialated to a 1cm. I was really hoping to be further along than that. I know he is still high, because I can feeling him digging into my ribs and I'm always short of breath. But I also know he's dropping because I can feel increasing pressure on my pubic bone. Maybe it's because he's so big and he's just everywhere!
Our goal for delivery is obviously to try a vaginal birth first. My doctor is completely aware that I am terrified I'm going to have an experience like I did with the twins, and she has done everything she can to calm my fears. If at any point, I'm getting uncomfortable with things or the process, we will go straight into a c-section. I'm hoping she's right and things will go much smoother and faster this time around.
I've been working around the house like crazy this week. I really feel like the organizing and everything as far as the baby's concerned is complete. Now, I just want my house clean. Like, deep-spring-cleaning, clean! I know I'm over-doing it, but I can't seem to get my husband to help out :( My to-do list is still a mile long and we're running out of time. I'm trying to tell myself it's ok not to get everything done. This is not the important stuff (although in my mind, it is a big deal).
Things at work are finally starting to wind down, although I've worked my butt off trying to get everything done in time. I wish I would have this kind of ambition the whole school year!! I couldn't have done it though without some amazing co-workers who really stepped up to help me out :)
Happy Wednesday!!
Monday, May 7, 2012
we're set
Well, we've scheduled our induction.
Monday, May 14th at 7:00am (checking in at 6:45).
HOLY COW!!
Now, I'm starting to get a little nervous :)
Monday, May 14th at 7:00am (checking in at 6:45).
HOLY COW!!
Now, I'm starting to get a little nervous :)
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