“I want…”—Things to laugh about

Princess: Saying and doings

April—

The Saturday before Buddy’s 6 month check-up, Princess went to the store with Daddy. On the way back to the car she said something about an orange car. Hubby looked around and saw an orange Mustang, so he told her she was right and what kind of car it was. She replied, “I want a yellow Mustang, Daddy!!” He told her she was too little for a car. Of course, when they got home he told me he needed to buy a Mustang and drive it for Princess. (He has been talking about getting a Mustang off and on since we got married. A few days later Hubby’s parents were visiting so he was telling them about it and saying that he thought he could talk Princess into a red one instead. She piped up, “No, red mustang, Daddy.” Hubby: How about a blue one? Princess: NO!! Hubby: A black one? Princess: NO!! Daddy, I want a yellow Mustang!!!! Randomly, she talks about getting a yellow Mustang when she is a “bigger, bigger girl”.

My cousin came to visit and brought lunch from Taco Johns. She called to ask what I wanted. After I hung up, Princess says, “Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew, I want Mountain Dew!!” Me: No, you are too little for Mountain Dew. Princess: “When I get to be a bigger, bigger, girl I can have Mountain Dew. That sound like a good idea, huh??” (In a super high excited voice running her words together.) Umm. Definitely needs to be a lot older.

“When I am a bigger, bigger, girl…” is one of her favorite sayings! J

From my FB post on April 30:

SO a few minutes ago [Princess] & I had this conversation:
[Princess]: Can you sit with me?
Me: Just a minute.
[Princess]:  Sit right here.
Me: In a minute.
[Princess]:  Hey! Don't touch that!! (referring to my laptop).
Me: I'm the Mommy, I can touch what I want here. (I know, real mature of me.)
[Princess]:  Oh, you poor, poor dear. (Covering her eyes and shaking her head.)

May:

From Hubby’s FB posts:

(May 6)

Me to [Princess]: Am i beautiful?
[Princess]: (Giggling) No your daddy!
Me: Is mommy beautiful?
[Princess]:  (Still Giggling) No, mommy's a girl.

(May 8)

[Princess] at dinner table: I am a happy girl, I am a happy girl, I am a good girl. I want a bike!!!!

(She hasn’t gotten one and won’t for at least another year.)

On Mother’s Day Princess started a new thing when asked about what she learned in SS (she continued in this each week until the end of June, except she stopped telling Daddy too.)

Hubby: Princess, what did you learn in SS?

Princess: Daddy, you know!!

Hubby: Yes, you told me on the way to nursery, but Mommy doesn’t know.

Princess: Yes, Mommy knows.

Me: No, I don’t know. What did you learn about?

Princess: You being silly Mommy, you know!! (Giggling)

    We later realized she was saying we knew, because it was a Bible story we had told her previously. Therefore, we knew what they talked about!

Some Sundays she would vary her answer or tell us right away that she was being silly.

These were some of the most memorable things she has said over the last few months. I know there were many more but I wasn’t able to write them down so now I don’t remember them. Sigh. 

Buddy--Answers to Prayer

April 18, 2014

Yesterday we took Buddy to the specialist. After looking at the x-ray we brought with us the PA said that the bones weren’t fused. She agreed that the shape of his head was odd and suggested that it was due to him sleeping on his back and shifting the bones requiring his brain to grow out the other way—I thought this was a dumb explanation as I know how he sleeps and he does not sleep with his head at the angle required for such a possibility. To be on the safe side in case there was a different reason she said she wanted him to have a CT Scan. A while later a nurse returned to the exam room where we were waiting to say that there weren’t any open slots in CT but that they would work us in. The PA had earlier indicated that it would be best if Buddy slept for it as he was super active. If he wouldn’t sleep or hold still we would have to return another day to have him sedated.

We got upstairs and checked him in about a quarter to 1. Though he was very tired by this time we weren’t sure he would allow himself to sleep. He looked around a lot for a while before finally laying his head on my shoulder and falling asleep. Hubby checked with the desk to see if they had any idea how long it would be as he had fallen asleep. They weren’t sure but said that we should just let him sleep.  About 2 minutes later they called his name. We walked out the waiting room door and around a long half-circle hallway to the room for the scan. He stayed asleep. They had me lay him down on the machine and then they wrapped his arms and weighted them down. He stayed asleep. His head was turned to the side so they carefully adjusted it using the sheet and some small pieces of foam. He stayed asleep. Hubby and I left the room. About 2 minutes later they called us back in to get Buddy as they were done with the scan—imagine if they had had to sedate him for that??. I picked him up and followed the tech out the door and down the hall. A minute later we passed an open door where a baby was crying. Buddy woke up!! He looked around like he was asking why he wasn’t still asleep. We returned downstairs to the neurosurgery clinic waiting area for a while before being called back to another exam room and waiting there for almost an hour. Buddy didn’t sleep again until after we left the hospital. My Hubby later told me that he had been praying Buddy would sleep so that the scan could be done. He had slept just long enough for them to get the scans that they needed!! J

While we were waiting we fed Buddy and tried to keep him entertained. There were several times throughout the day that we had him giggling and laughing so hard! It was so wonderful to hear him laugh! At one point Hubby took out his ipod touch and took a video of Buddy. Then he showed Buddy the video. Buddy thought it was really neat. When he started the video Hubby told Buddy to smile for Daddy, so every time the video was played Buddy would turn and smile at Daddy at that part! J

Eventually the PA came back and reviewed the CT scan with us. The CT confirmed that the bones weren’t fused; she said that that “is not the concern” and went on to show us that Buddy’s brain and all the fluid is good. So, that means that he doesn’t have a tumor or anything like that—the only other thing we knew of that would cause his head to be malformed. I hadn’t really thought too much about this possibility, but Hubby had been praying and trying not to worry about this. She said that she wanted one of the surgeons to review her findings and she would be back.

She returned with the Head of the Pediatric Surgery Department—Dr. M. He introduced himself and then asked a few questions about my pregnancy with Buddy. We told him that Buddy had been transverse for a while. He then asked me some questions about my medical history and asked to see a picture of Princess. Then he went over the CT with us and told us what had probably concerned the radiologist here about Buddy’s initial x-rays. In addition to the shape of Buddy’s head being slightly off, his eye sockets aren’t completely round. They are slightly up tilted at the outside corners. Also, the bridge of his nose is flat. Dr. M called this a saddle bridge. He said that the flattened bridge pushed his forehead into more prominence and changed the shape of his head. He believed that it was caused by Buddy being transverse, most likely with his face tilted up and pressed into my side (we don’t know his exact position as my Dr. didn’t do an ultrasound during that time.), combined with the fact that I have hypothyroidism. He said that this can also cause a saddle bridge. Apparently, being on too much, or not enough, or not any, medication when you need it, can cause this condition. There isn’t anything I could have done or not done to cause this it just happens and they don’t know why. (Princess doesn’t have it.)

Dr. M said that he diagnosed the cause by looking at me. He said that he always likes to meet the patient and parents because just looking at films doesn’t tell him the whole story. We wonder a bit what we would have been told if he hadn’t come to talk to us, but aren’t dwelling on it. He told us that the tipoff for him was my face. I have a bit of facial hair that I try to keep removed but sometimes forget. That morning as we pulled out of the drive I remembered that I hadn’t taken care of it. Hubby told me not to worry about it that it wasn’t that noticeable. IF I had taken care of it, Dr. M might have still noticed but who knows?? Anyway, it helped to figure things out. J

We are looking into a couple things related to my hypothyroidism just to be on the safe side, but it sounds like if Dr. M is correct, then we don’t need to do anything and Buddy will be just fine!! J This is such a huge relief and answer to prayer. We prayed for correct and clear information—we believe we have it. We prayed for peace and joy—we have it.

When we got home my mother-in-law shared that she had been praying some verses for us that had been special to her back when my Hubby was a baby and had almost died. She said that all her prayers for Buddy and us had been answered. Here are the verses:

Psalm 34

King James Version (KJV)

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. ¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. ²² The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

March 31, 2014-April 8, 2014: Buddy-Eczema, X-Rays, & Uncertainty

     Eczema

So, Buddy has always had dry skin (he gets it from me) and this winter was particularly brutal to those who suffer with this. Around his 4 month checkup he started having more red patches but didn’t seem to be scratching much. His doctor told me to moisturize him using Aquaphor or Vaseline, but I admit I thought that was a pain and I wasn’t very faithful about it. It seemed like such a pain and since he didn’t seem bothered by his skin I didn’t make it a priority. In mid-February Princess got an ear infection and Buddy got a cold. Prior to this Buddy was sleeping most of the night through, but since then he hasn’t. His skin also didn’t clear up. He had a spot on his cheek that got red and then weepy. I put some of my moisturizer on him. That seemed to help but I worried that maybe it wasn’t okay to use it on a baby so I stopped. The spot came back and his neck area got really red. About the last week of March his neck started weeping too. I thought I’d try to wait until his 6 month checkup which was scheduled for April 7^th, however the last weekend of March things exploded. He started getting what looked like whiteheads all over his body. If they broke open sometimes there was a clear fluid and other times there was blood mixed with it. He also started scratching and crying in his sleep. He’d cry every 45 minutes to 1 ½ hours all night long, waking around 3 to eat a little. So last Monday March 31, I called his doctor and brought him in about an hour later. When we got there the nurse said she’d never seen anything like that and he was running a slight fever (now he had been all closed in to his car seat for over half an hour so that could be why). The doctor came in and didn’t even get over to the table where he was laying before diagnosing him as having Severe Eczema. She looked him over and prescribed an antibiotic and steroid cream as well as an “Eczema Plan” for future breakouts. Hopefully we can control them before they get that bad again.

From the very first night he has slept better. Except for last night he has slept 10+ hours without waking. We have started swaddling him again and he LOVES it. This was suggested by a friend a couple weeks ago. Though he really liked it, when he started to break out more, I worried that the swaddling was the cause but it wasn’t. Also, in less than 2 days there was vast improvement in his skin. Those at Church who were worried last week couldn’t believe how much he had improved by this past Sunday. J

At first I felt guilty for waiting so long to take him in, but after thinking about the way it looked and its course, I’m not sure he would have gotten the help he needed if we had taken him in earlier. I think he may have had to get this bad before it was taken seriously, or at least until the weather warmed up and it was evident that the cause wasn’t the cold.

He is also SO much more active this week than he has been. I’m not sure if it was just time or if his skin was holding him back. He’s been able to roll over for a while, but now he has discovered that he can use rolling as a form of transportation!! We put him on the floor and he immediately rolls over and is across the room in seconds. J He is enjoying playing with his toys even more than he was before. He also loves it when daddy holds him so that he can stand and pretends to make him walk. I think he should sit before he crawls and walks but that’s just me. J Hubby says sitting isn’t fun, moving around is so why would Buddy want to sit.  

      X-Ray's & Uncertainty

Yesterday I took Buddy in for his 6 month checkup. At his previous checks his doctor has examined his head closely and commented that she was keeping an eye on it. I had noticed before his 2 week check that his head was slightly misshapen, but tried not to dwell on it to the point that I’d forget for weeks at a time. I was hoping that it would correct itself and usually didn’t think much of it as it is not obvious that anything is abnormal.

Therefore, I was a bit shocked and taken a back when she said she would like to send him for x-rays that morning and she wanted to send him to a specialist. After talking a few minutes she sent us to radiology, when we returned to the exam room he was given his shots and I waited to hear about the scan results. Basically she was looking for evidence that two of the bones in his may have fused prematurely. After seeing the x-ray she said that she would definitely feel more comfortable if he saw a specialist as the scan was inconclusive. She mentioned setting us up for an appointment in the capital city rather than the big medical center here in the state. She said she’d have someone call after the appointment was set up.

I called my Hubby at work to let him know what was going on. He was completely shocked as he hadn’t realized there was anything wrong. I thought I’d mentioned it before but maybe not. Anyway, it was a bit of a rough day as we both tried not to dwell on it too much. It was hard to know what to think and how to feel. That night after filling in the rest of the details for Hubby, he said that he’d prefer to see someone at the medical center as he actually knows some of them through his work and he knows that they are very familiar with the condition there. I told him that maybe we should pray that our doctor changes her mind as to where to send us. I also pointed out that we can always get a second opinion. He agreed that all that was true.

We had done some research and it looks like surgery will be required if the bones have fused. There seem to be two main options depending on how they are fused and a few other factors. One surgery requires the baby wearing a helmet 23 hours a day for 3-12 months, while the other surgery has more blood loss but after it is done there shouldn’t be anything more treatment needed other than a few checkups.

After filling in a few family members, word started to spread on FB and we posted a prayer request on our Church’s FB page. I mentioned to a couple people this morning about Hubby’s preference as to where we are referred. This afternoon I got a call from the doctor’s office saying that after discussing the situation with doctors in the capital city, she felt that we should go to the medical center. Hubby says hearing that answer to prayer is both encouraging and disconcerting as it makes one wonder if the situation is more serious than the one set of doctors can handle. I think we shouldn’t “read” too much into it. Either way, we are thankful for this answer to prayer. Yesterday, we really weren’t sure when the appointment would be. It was possible that it would be next week but might not be for a month. Today we know that it is scheduled for next week. We are thankful we don’t have to wait a long time and yet uncertain about how fast things are moving. I assume it is quick due to the risks involved if in fact fusion has occurred. Currently his development is normal and he is not experiencing any ill effects from this condition. The faster it is resolved the less likely it is that any will occur.

So we really don’t know anything for sure, there are just all these possibilities. Yet, we know that our Lord does know. HE knows and is in control of all of this. Here is part of the request I posted to our Church family: “Please pray that we would get correct and clear information and that we would have peace and joy in this. It is hard to know what to think and how to feel when you get this kind of news, but we KNOW that we have a powerful and wonderful Heavenly Father and [Buddy] is in HIS hands.”

There has been joy already. Yesterday after I got off the phone with Hubby, Buddy was laying on a blanket rolling around and playing. Princess was supposed to be in time out in the corner of that room (yeah, I wasn’t thinking), when I hear them both giggling. Princess was sitting in her time out chair talking to him and encouraging him to move and he was lapping up the attention from his big sister. Later she started bringing him various things to play with—some of which weren’t toys—and she was so giddy about it that he was laughing too. It did my mama’s heart wonders to hear their joy.

There is peace. At least at this point I believe that both Hubby & I have peace. We know that all of this can and will work for God’s glory. Many people have been praying for us, some are friends of friends so we don’t even know them! When I logged onto FB yesterday there was a post by a lady in our Church who is battling cancer and had received discouraging news. She posted some verses she had been encouraged by from Philippians 4 that were a great encouragement and reminder to me. Pastor came over tonight to share scripture and prayer with us. That was very encouraging. We are thankful for all the care and concern from others and for the prayers that God has already answered as well as the ones He will answer, whether they would be what we would prefer or not.

Isaiah 55:8-11

King James Version (KJV)

⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰ For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

¹¹ So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Just a few happenings from March

March 30, 2014

This Month

Some of Princess’s favorite sayings right now are: “What’s wrong, Mama?”; “You’re not going to get away with this!”; “Hey! What’s going on here?”; “I don’t feel very well.”; and “Helloooo There!!” Also, “That was a close one.”; “I’m sorry I take so long.”

Princess is having more fun with Buddy, though sometimes she is still struggling with sharing Mama & Daddy. For the last couple months she has been having a real problem with me feeding or changing Buddy. She’ll say “no! don’t feed/change him!” I often tell her that I have to because Buddy is hungry/wet, etc. The other day she was playing with her back to me and Buddy was lying on a blanket playing next to her. He started fussing wanting a bottle. After making it, I picked him up and carried him to my recliner. Princess turned around and told me to put him back. I simply said “No, Princess”, to which she replied in a resigned voice “you have to feed him.” Then she returned to her toy. Progress??? We can hope!! J

A couple weeks ago I made hard-boiled eggs for lunch. After slicing and giving one to Princess I started feeding Buddy some rice cereal. Then I heard, “Mama, it’s a snake.” I looked over to see Princess holding the white part of an egg slice that she had broken so that it hung in a strip from her fingers. Due to the position the yoke had been in and the way the white had broken, one end was thicker than the other, and it did indeed resemble a cobra or similar snake. I can’t remember my reply, but Princess proudly announced that she was eating the snake several times. Yesterday we had hard-boiled eggs again and the first thing she did was break one of the egg slices and announce that she was going to eat the snake. J What an imagination she has…she didn’t get it from me either! J

Buddy is getting more mobile. He’s been rolling onto his tummy from his back for about a month. This week I saw him do a complete roll over, though we’ve suspected he has been able to do it for a while we hadn’t seen it. A couple weeks ago he was on his play mat and moved himself most of the way off of it. I walked over to him and asked how he got off. He proudly started kicking his feet and moved another few inches off! He has also been doing the beached whale impression quite a bit. The last couple days I have seen him with his legs under his body and trying to get his arms into the crawling position. J

Buddy's Birth: The NICU-Part 2

So Saturday and most of Sunday Hubby & I went back and forth from my room to the NICU, though I did go home for a couple hours on Sunday for lunch and to see Princess. Here is a FB post Hubby did about my visit home:  [My wife] was able to go home today for a little bit. Before, she got their, [her] sister K had been struggling with [Princess] to change her diaper. As soon as [My wife] walked in and before K had finished changing the diaper, [Princess] looked up as said, "Diaper change, I tried to stop her ..." Princess had been having a rough day and giving her Aunt & Granny a hard time. We think that she must have thought that if she didn’t let them change her than Mommy would have to come home. J Princess asked me if Daddy was at the store I told her that he was at the hospital with Buddy, she said that was okay. We played and had lunch then I put her down for her nap and got some things together to take back to the hospital. Princess was much better the rest of the day and the next.

That afternoon Buddy’s IV was leaking so they removed it, deciding that he could receive his final rounds of antibiotics by injection. That morning his levels were down to a 3 something, so they were planning to discontinue the antibiotics the next morning. Since he didn’t need the IV anymore we were able to take him back to my room along with a monitor for a while. That was such a relief we were both so happy to have him with us in relative privacy. He continued to do well, though when I was ready for bed I had to take him back to the NICU so they could continue monitoring him and finish up his tests. Around midnight the nurse brought him back to me so I could feed him. When he was done I called her to get him. She did, but brought him back about 10 minutes later saying he was hungry again. This cycle was repeated with her never keeping him more than a few minutes and every time he would just nurse for a few minutes, I’d get him to sleep, she’d take him and he’d wake up so she would return him. She wouldn’t believe me that he wasn’t really hungry. She said that he kept sticking out his tongue looking for food. I tried to tell her that that was just his way of figuring out his world, but she was so used to NICU babies that were small and underweight and pushing them to nurse at every little sign that she wouldn’t listen. I was really frustrated and tired and “telling her off” in my head (while nursing), having decided to tell her to just do her job, give him his bath and keep him content for a few hours so that I could sleep a little, when she returned to check on him and tell me that she thought she should do his weight check and bath etc. She said that she thought he was just being woken up by the hall lights and he was probably fine. DUH!!!! That’s only what I had been saying for hours…it was now 4:30 am. As she was about to leave she was paged that I needed to move to the other end of the hall so that my room could be used for someone else. So she took Buddy back to the NICU while I packed up my stuff. Someone else came with a cart to help me move everything in one trip. After getting settled in the new room it was after 5:30. Before going to sleep I texted Hubby to let him know where I was. Sleep was wonderful. J

Shortly before Hubby arrived with breakfast, I checked on Buddy in the NICU. There had been a shift change and the new nurse told me that he had been sleeping since right after his bath!! He was still sleeping when Hubby went to see him, but just after 9 they brought him to us so he could eat.

Things moved quickly then, as DR. W came to do his final check while he was nursing. After she left the nurse came back to schedule his discharge. She asked when we wanted to leave and we said “how about now?” She went to get the paperwork done and scissors to cut his bands. We left the hospital a little before 11, along with Hubby’s dad who had walked over and arrived about 10 minutes before we were ready to leave.

Princess was excited to see us and thought that Buddy should be taken out of his car seat immediately. J

Buddy's Birth: The NICU-Part 1

The next morning Hubby brought Princess, his parents, my mom & my sister to the hospital to see Buddy. Princess was smiling and excited to see me until she spotted the baby in my arms, then she didn’t want anything to do with me for most of the rest of the visit! She also wasn’t happy about Daddy holding that baby; she wanted to be in Daddy’s arms. He was able to hold them both for a few minutes which helped and then she ate some cereal that I had but hadn’t eaten which helped her warm back up to me. J Hubby took everyone back to the house and didn’t return until early evening. I think he ended up going into work for a little while. Anyway, that afternoon Buddy was circumcised and when they returned him to my room they said that his breathing had been a bit fast so we should watch that. The pediatrician Dr. W (on-call, not Ours) also said that Buddy had a clunk in his hip which was common with transverse lie and that if it was still there the next day Buddy would have to have an ultrasound on his hip.

After supper, Dad & my other sister came to visit for a little while before going to the house and getting Mom & R. Shortly after Hubby left to be with Princess, Buddy started breathing fast again, but it didn’t last long. A little after midnight, he woke, ate and slept for a few minutes. I thought he was breathing a bit fast. A few minutes later the nurse came to get him for his weight check and to do a couple pre-release tests (as we were to be discharged in the morning). The nurse called the on-call Ped’s Dr. N who said to hook him up to a monitor for a bit and get some blood work. They took him down to the NICU and I went to sleep. Just before 2am I woke up as the nurse came back in. She said that his breathing was still very fast and that Dr. N had ordered more tests. She told me to wait about 30 minutes and then come on down.

That was a long 30 minutes though I tried to occupy myself with having a snack and listening to the music play list I had used during labor. I headed down to NICU and was told that there had been an emergency c-section, so he hadn’t had all his tests yet, but I could stay and stroke his hand. Later, as they were drawing more blood, Dr. N came in and showed me the initial test results. The x-ray showed his lungs were clear so Buddy didn’t have pneumonia, but his blood work showed that there was a possible infection. His white cell count was normal as was everything but his CRT (I think that was the one) which should have been less than 3 was over 9. Do to the GBS they wondered if he had a delayed infection, though most babies would still test at a 3. To be on the safe side they started him on two different antibiotics and scheduled a retest for 7am. I stayed with Buddy until almost 4 am before returning to my room to get a little sleep. Around 6 am I called Hubby to let him know what was going on so he could be at the hospital for the Dr’s. early morning rounds.

When I called I obviously woke Hubby up. This did cause a bit of confusion and extra panic for Hubby as he misheard part of what I said. I said “Buddy’s in the NICU, though they don’t think he’ll be there long.”  Hubby heard “Buddy’s in the NICU, he’s not stable.” I did get a bit emotional there too, which also scared Hubby. Hubby ‘heard’ what I said and then hung up after saying he’d be there in a few minutes. (I remember thinking, “he did hear me say Buddy’s okay, right?”) I guess he threw on some clothes, went downstairs to post on our Church’s FB asking for prayer and called out to his parents to keep an ear out for Princess as she had woken up as he passed by her room—his parents didn’t hear a word he said, just his voice.

I came out of the bathroom as he walked into my room with his hair sticking up in all directions and absolute panic on his face. The nurses later told me that nobody knew where this panicked dad belonged as he raced down the hall. I explained what I knew and we headed down to see Buddy. When we got there they had already given him his next dose of antibiotics and redrawn his blood. I think it was this day that they had to redo it twice because there was a problem with the sample. Anyway, we were later told that his level was 5.7 which was still high but down a lot from midnight. This caused the current on-call Pediatrician, Dr. P to think that it wasn’t an infection because he hadn’t had enough antibiotics to reduce it that much, but to be on the safe side they would continue the medication.

At this time I was able to nurse Buddy. While I did so, Hubby called his parents to update them and also called my parents. My parents immediately sent my sister K up to help so that Hubby’s parents could come to the hospital. Mom thought she was getting sick so she didn’t want to risk it, though they did later bring food up.

Hubby’s Dad walked over to the hospital and his Mom came over after K got there. His mom later told me that that day was one of the scariest of her life. Considering Hubby was 7 weeks early and nearly died from an amoeba before he was 2 years old, I can’t imagine it.

Hubby’s Dad doesn’t usually hold or touch babies before they are 4 months old, but that day when Hubby took him in to the NICU to see Buddy, he asked to stroke his leg. That meant a lot to my Hubby. I can still see him getting choked up as he told me about it, after his parents returned to the house. Over the next couple days they made multiple trips back and forth to bring us stuff and check on us. They along with my sister were a lot of help.

The next time I went to feed Buddy, the nurse had had a recliner brought in for me instead of the glider rocker that was just a bit uncomfortable for me. I was impressed at her thoughtfulness. She was very encouraging and helpful that day and the next. We really liked all the nurses except the last night’s nurse. I just felt like she wasn’t listening and that frustrated me.

Later that day (Saturday) I was “discharged”; meaning they changed my status in their computer from patient to guest. At this hospital they think it is very important for the parents of babies in the NICU to be on-site so they allow you to stay in the same room you were in (unless they need it for a delivery, then they move you to a smaller room on the other end of the floor) so that you can be close to your baby. They do this at no additional charge to you or your insurance company. 

Buddy's Birth Story-Part 2

My sister was there (they were doing almost 24/7 “baby watch”) and my Mom came up the 2^nd. It was very helpful and nice having one or both of my youngest sisters able to come up and watch Princess during most of my appointments. They were a lot of help.

Anyway, we got to the hospital at 7am and checked in. About 7:45 my doctor broke my water, well he tried but was successful so he said to start me on the Pitocin and the first of three doses I would receive of the antibiotic, and he’d come back in an hour. About 10 minutes later it broke and showed quite a bit of meconium—a lot more than with Princess, but they were still calling it “light”, can’t imagine what heavy would be! By 10am I decided to go ahead and get an epidural as the contractions were getting harder and I figured that I’d barely be able to take it by the time the epidural kicked in. While it was being put in they were getting pretty hard. Right away I wasn’t getting the relief I remembered having with Princess. I had a lot of pain in my right hip. They gave me a couple of bolus injections to help. It took another hour to be “pain free”.

During this time I read a book and Hubby had some books based on a comic strip. The temp nurse (subbing while my nurse was at lunch) was amazed how relaxed we were. Apparently some of the nurses/doctors thought I was too nice and polite to my husband. Really??? I should tell him he can’t eat because I can’t?? I DON”T think so! (He did choose a bad time to get his supper though. It came shortly before I was ready to start pushing, and something on the tray didn’t smell good to me.) Though many of them really enjoyed the music I had playing.

After lunch my nurses checked me and thought I was at 10. She called my Dr but when he came he thought I was more 7-8. Which actually was pretty good considering an hour before the epidural I was barely a 2? So 2-7 in the 2 hours since things kicked in sounded good. However about 30 minutes later I was in a lot of pain from my right hip across my belly. They gave me 2 or 3 more bolus injections but they didn’t help at all. I think it was during this time and not later that I felt like I was going to pass out. They gave me oxygen, but the mask made me feel like I was suffocating. After a few minutes I felt better so I took it off. The nurse replaced it and I told her I was fine. She told me that the oxygen was for the baby, so I left in on for a while. Finally they checked my epidural and discovered that it had come out. I hadn’t been receiving anything for at least 2 hours. They called down to get it replaced. I got to get rid of the oxygen. YEAH!! J A different anesthesiologist came and after removing all the tape they use and the old line—NOT FUN to have tape ripped off your back during a contraction!!—gave me a shot, some type of block I’ve forgotten the name of. The relief was immediate. Hubby said that he could see in my eyes, within the first 20 seconds, the pain melt away. The new epidural was placed in and the Dr stayed to make sure it kicked in. It was now about 4:30pm. I hadn’t progressed anymore.

Pretty much from the beginning Buddy showed signs of distress during contractions but would be fine between them so they figured that the cord must be under him in some way. Certain positions such as my right side caused a lot of distress. My Dr decided I needed an amnio flush. Basically they put fluid back in to try to give the baby enough room to move off the cord. They also put me back on oxygen for a little while.

My Dr left at 5:30 and the on call Dr checked me about 6. He said that I was now at 10 but needed to thin out a little more. It sounded to me like the same situation I had had with Princess. About 7 he came back and said that I was the same. He said to try sitting up straighter to see if that would help. He told us that if I were to try pushing that it could cause swelling that might prevent me from giving birth and from future deliveries. That made us wonder if some of my problems were because I had pushed with Princess for an hour when I was like this. He left the room saying he’d be back in a half hour or so and that we might have to start talking options if this didn’t work.

After checking me he told me to do a practice push with the next contraction. After seeing it he told the nurses to finish getting everything set up. I started pushing around 7:45 and at 7:54 our little Buddy was Born! J

When we saw him for the first time his mouth was open in a scream and Hubby said “his mouth is huge!!” It was true that in comparison to Princess it was. Buddy weighed 8 lbs 12 ou so the ultrasound estimates were VERY WRONG!! He was 8 ounces and 1.5 inches longer than Princess, but thankfully his shoulder had not gotten stuck. J However the cord was wrapped once around his neck.

While I had been in labor Hubby’s parents arrived at our house from CO. Hubby called the house and told Princess the news as well as the grandparents who were there J then the news spread to other family members thru them rather than us calling everyone like we had done with Princess. Hubby told the grandparents that he’d be home after a while and would put Princess to bed so they should just let her stay up a little late. Hubby got to hold Buddy that night!

Buddy’s Pregnancy & Birth Story-Part 1

The summer of 2012 we decided to try to have another baby. My OB agreed to give me the medication I had been on with Princess but started me out at a lower dose. Not surprisingly to me it didn’t work. He bumped me up to the next dose which hadn’t worked before. This time it worked better but not as well as my Dr wanted, so he gave me the same dose as I had before. At first my Dr wasn’t pleased with the results because though it worked he felt it should have been faster and said that the middle dose the previous month actually did better. After I told him my previous experience with the medication he decided that though it wasn’t ideal it was probably just the way my body was and that since I had had success before I should continue, but let him know if I hadn’t gotten pregnant in 6 months so that we could discuss options. Two months later, I got pregnant. The funny thing was that again Hubby & I thought that the medication hadn’t worked that month! It was also the same month of the year, as Princess, though slightly later in the month. My due date was 2 days after Princess’s second birthday.

Again I didn’t have morning sickness, though I had a lot more headaches than with Princess. My doctor decided not to do an early ultrasound so this time we got to find out what we were having a month earlier than before. In late April we found out we were having a BOY! J

We started telling Princess about her brother and referred to the baby as such. We pretty much knew “brother’s” first name from the start as it was a name we had decided on previously, but changed and discussed the middle name for a few weeks. Whereas, with Princess we didn’t use her name even to each other as we were trying to keep it a secret, this time we used it with Princess and each other, but tried to keep it from others. It was funny because it drove my family nuts, they were always trying to figure it out. When they learned that Princess knew it they tried to get her to tell them. She would say “NO” or put her finger to her lips saying “Shh” (we actually never heard Princess use his name until after he was born). Sadly, I was the one that slipped up. One week when my sister was at our house as she had watched Princess during an appointment, I used his first name while talking to Hubby. My sis said that she wouldn’t tell as she liked the idea of knowing when others didn’t. However, a week or so later she said it and my brother thought he heard it (turns out he heard wrong). Anyway, we ended up telling most of our family the first name but keeping the middle a secret.

There for a while it felt like every doctor’s appointment brought bad or disappointing news. At 34 weeks I was told that Buddy was in a transverse lie position. This is sideways and is the worst position for a baby. At 35 weeks he was still there. The doctor said that if he hadn’t changed position by 36 weeks we’d have to discuss options. Thankfully at 36 he was head down. At my 37 weeks appointment I was told that I tested positive for GBS which meant that I would have to have antibiotics during labor. My doctor said that it was actually safer for the baby to test positive rather than negative because it was possible to be negative at 36 weeks but positive at delivery and vice versa. Since you can’t be tested during delivery if you are positive but don’t get the antibiotics the baby can get very sick and in rare cases die.   

At 38 weeks we had another ultrasound to check Buddy’s weight as Princess was big and had the shoulder dystocia so Buddy could have that problem too. They said that he was on track and should be fine, though we had our doubts especially considering Princess wasn’t born until 41 weeks. I was also told that I hadn’t progressed toward delivery at all. That continued over the next couple appointments. At 41 weeks we had a non-stress test and another ultrasound. Supposedly Buddy was only 7.5 pounds plus/minus half a pound. DOUBTFUL!!! I also still hadn’t progressed. If this continued another week my Dr would recommend a c-section as I probably wouldn’t be able to be induced. He said that if we tried at that point I would likely end up with an emergency c-section which is more difficult than a planned one. Anyway, at 41 weeks 4 days we went in for another non-stress test. Buddy was still doing well and thankfully I had started to progress!!! I was now eligible to be induced. It was scheduled for Thursday morning (exactly 42 weeks…according to him, I say 42w 1d), October 3, 2013.

The Last Couple Months-Part Two

Saying and doings of Princess

She has done so many cute things and I KNOW I have forgotten many of them. It has been a hard couple of months especially the last one. Princess had a really weird cold that started as a low grade fever with no other symptoms for over a week. As she started having a runny nose and cough her fever spiked to 104-105, going down with medication and then straight back up as the meds wore off. After a few days of this we took her back into the doctors, where she was diagnosed with a bad ear infection. She is now doing really well and back to normal. Due to her being sick which lasted about 3 weeks and then several bad snow storms the kids & I were stuck at home for a whole month. I think I went out 5 times that month including the 2 trips to the doctors.

A few days ago she was dressing and undressing her doll, talking to the doll about going home. I asked her where Doll Baby was at. She replied “at the Doctor. He make her all better!” I asked if the Doctor made her better, she said YES! Last night at Church she was telling her SS teacher about being sick she said that she had had an “owie in her ear”. This was only the second time she had mentioned her ear or that it hadn’t been feeling well.

Several weeks ago Princess was playing with her toy kitchen that she got for Christmas. She brought me a mug and told me to drink it. After pretending to drink we had this conversation—Me: That was very good. Could I have some more coffee?

Princess: Yes! I will make more delicious coffee.

Me: Who taught you to make such delicious coffee? Was it me?

Princess: No.

Me: Who then? Nana?

Princess: No, not Nana.

Me: Aunt R?

Princess: No not Aunt R. Daddy!!

Me: Daddy taught you to make coffee???

Princess: YES!!!

This is hilarious because Hubby HATES coffee. While he has bought it for me, I don’t think he has ever made it or would even want to. J She still sometimes tells me that Daddy makes delicious coffee.

She likes to pretend to cook and has come up with some interesting dishes, like cranberry soup! Not sure what she puts in it though!

About a month ago on a Sunday morning (I think it was the morning after the tator tot casserole) Princess climbed up on a chair and started chanting “No more girls; eat that first; don’t touch that; Time Out!” She said this over and over and has said it several times since. Most of these phrases are variations of things we have said to her, except the “no more girls”. We can’t figure out where that came from!

Last week Princess sat on the floor with her doll saying “Girls can’t…” (I can’t remember what it was that she said girls couldn’t do except that it was definitely something that girls CAN do.) Hubby told her that girls can do that, to which she replied “No they can’t.” Hubby: Princess, you are a girl and you can.

Princess: No I’m not!

Hubby: You aren’t a girl???

Princess: No! I a boy!

Consequently, we had to explain that yes she is a girl and so is Mommy, but Buddy and Daddy are boys. Guess we will see how many more times we have to explain that.

Princess has also decided that her one of her dolls is a boy and has her brothers’ name. That was pretty cute. She loves to sit and feed and change her doll copying what we do with her brother.

She has a hard time with certain parts of language. She gets her negatives and pronouns mixed up. She will often say “carry you” or “hold you” when she wants to be picked up. But I think she is starting to get it. Yesterday morning she was eating breakfast when suddenly she looked up at me saying while pointing at me “mommy is you, Princess is me” (now pointing at herself). Most of the rest of the day she had them correct though this morning was a bit of both. A few minutes later she called me “Grams” after a character on one of her shows. I told her that I was Mama not Grams. She then said “You Mama, not Grams. I Princess, not Grams. Brother Buddy, not Grams.”  I got upset with her a couple weeks ago when she was calling me Grams. But my Mom pointed out that Princess was recognizing that I take care of her like Grams does the twins on the show. That Princess was doing really well with recognizing that relationship. SO I am trying not to let it bother me if she does that.

          Buddy

Well Buddy is 5 months old already!! Can’t believe how fast time has gone. I know I still need to do his birth story. My goal is to do it next post. J

He loves to watch Princess run around. At first he almost looked scared when she would come near him, sadly with good reason. She could be very sweet one minute and then be scratching him the next. Thankfully she seems to have stopped that. Now he often tries to get her attention. We got him an activity mat for Christmas. He loves to play on it and bat at the toys. The mat came with a Sun that plays music and goes over some shapes and animals when certain buttons are pushed or levers are pulled. About a month ago I looked over one day to see him with his legs in the air and his hands holding onto his pants trying to swing his legs at the Sun. I reached over and hit one of the buttons. He looked up at me with a beautiful smile as if to say Thanks I wanted that! The next day he did it again, only this time he managed to hit the button! His aim wasn’t great so he swung more often than he hit but he kept trying! Now he is big enough and coordinated enough to pull the shapes that are attached to the ribbons and levers. He also loves to play with the mirror. He rolls over on the mat up against the arched sides and tries to scoot. He hasn’t succeeded but not for lack of trying. Hubby thinks he will be crawling soon. If so it would be much earlier than Princess did. Of course Buddy has more incentive to do so than Princess did. Yesterday he had his legs under himself for a few seconds, so Hubby could be right. I joked that at this rate, he would be crawling before he can sit up!

Sometimes it sounds like he is saying “HI”. Yesterday, my cousin and her mom came for a visit. Princess was getting pretty wound up running back and forth between them. Buddy was laying on his mat watching everything. My cousin looked down at him saying “Your sister’s pretty crazy, huh?” With perfect timing Buddy makes noise that sounded like “Ye-AH”. We had a good laugh over that. 

The Last Couple Months-Part One

January 7, 2014-March 6, 2014

More on the last couple months.

          Cooking adventures:

The day before Thanksgiving, Hubby decided that he would like to try to make Crème Brulee. He found a recipe at on a site for engineers. He loves this dessert but rarely has it. I’ve never made it. I don’t think I would have had the courage to try making it for the first time with guests coming but Hubby did…it turned out GREAT!!! He made it again at Christmas for his family.

We also made caramel corn for the first time. It was really good and we ate WAY too much. J

Hubby had some whipping cream he wanted used up so he got online and found an amazing cake recipe. I’m not a big fan of cake and I’d never had this kind but I guess it was one he had while he was in Grad School. Anyway, he made a chocolate cake, poured warm caramel sauce over it, and then he covered it in homemade whipped cream and toffee bits. I told him he was welcome to make that for me anytime.

Next, he decided he wanted to try to make homemade fried chicken. He decided to start with by making chicken strips. I thought they were very good but he was disappointed that the coating wasn’t crunchier. I think he just needs a little more practice, after all he can’t expect everything he makes to be perfect on the first try! Though, truthfully he hasn’t had a fail yet! J

One night we were going to have French toast, Buddy decided he needed to eat as I was getting out the ingredients, so Hubby told me he’d take care of it. He headed downstairs to the computer and came up with a recipe a few minutes later. Telling me that I may not need a recipe but he did. It was different than what I usually make but again very good.

He has several more things that he’d like to make but is trying to pace himself so that he doesn’t gain too much weight.

One Saturday night I decided to make tator tot casserole. Princess wanted to help so hubby got a chair for her to stand on. She helped me put the tator tots on the top. Since then she asks to help with something almost every day. Some times that is a bit of a pain but overall it is cute and I am trying not to discourage her so she doesn’t get to the point where she won’t help when she is older and I am really ready and needing her to help! J

October’s gone and over half of November too! OPPS, December is gone as well!!!

I’ve changed the title of this post so many times, and never finished it. I just need to post it and then start new! J Anyway, it’s been a crazy couple months. I didn’t realize just how hard it was going to be trying to care for a newborn and a toddler at the same time. As my husband said one day “there is no off” no time to just be. One of them constantly needs something. It’s the hardest, most exhausting, yet rewarding thing we have ever done. Now after 3 months I am starting to think we will make it and that some days during the week I might actually get something done. My husband says that though our friends say that it is easier with more kids he doesn’t see how that could be possible. Of course our Princess is such a Daddy’s girl that if he tries to spend time with our son she thinks it’s the end of the world. I think what our friends meant is that as you have more and the older ones aren’t as needy they help out by entertaining each other. Right now, though Princess is happy playing by herself some, she thinks if we are doing anything other than sitting in a chair, she needs to be right there doing it with us or we should be playing with her.

Many times Princess believes her brother needs to be in the pack and play, on a blanket or in the bouncy seat…ANYWHERE but in Mama or Daddy’s arms. At times she is so sweet with him and then other times she hates his interference with her time with us, especially Daddy. Trying to balance both of their needs is hard. Every time I think I have it figured out I’m proved wrong. Oh well, guess that’s life.

Well our little guy “Buddy” arrived Oct 3^rd and ended up going into the NICU a few days later (more on all this in another post). Princess did pretty well with all the relatives that were here. Hubby’s parents arrived the day Buddy was born and stayed about 10 days. After that my sisters took turns staying parts of the next couple weeks to help out. Hubby had a business trip at the end of Oct so one of my sisters came up to help me. I have really appreciated them being able to come up and babysit or distract Princess from time to time.

Here are a few of the cute and funny things Princess has said/done. I regret that I didn’t write some down as I know I have forgotten some. Since the purpose of this blog is to remember, I am going to try harder thins next year to post regularly, even if it’s just a few sentences.

           

            [My wife] was able to go home today [this was while Buddy was in the NICU] for a little bit. Before, she got there, her sister had been struggling with [Princess] to change her diaper. As soon as [my wife] walked in and before [her sister] had finished changing the diaper, [Princess] looked up and said, "Diaper change, I tried to stop her  (Oct 6, 2013-Hubby)

            We ate at Perkin's tonight and they had some music playing in the background. I looked over and noticed Princess was "dancing." I asked her if she was dancing, and she said yes in a resigned voice. I asked her if it was required. She said "yes, it required." I guess if music is playing we are supposed to dance even when we don't want to. Or maybe its a Perkins requirement that I missed! . (Oct 19, 2013-Hubby speaking here.)

[My Brother] to Emily, "Is there anything you don't know?"
Emily, "I'm not sure."
Well, that's an honest answer! (Oct 20, 2013)

            There was a Mace Windu (Star Wars Jedi) figurine in our cereal box this morning. Emily, our 2 year old, was excited about the "guy" and loves playing with him. Of course, playing consists of laying the noble warrior on his back and changing his diaper. Oh the humanity! (Nov 2, 2013-Hubby again!)

            Yesterday at lunch after praying for the food [Princess] wanted to pray (she's been doing this for a few days) so she waited for me to say a few words and then copied them. A few minutes later I hear, "Dear Lord, Thank you for Mommy, thank you for Daddy, thank you for [Princess], thank you for Daddy. AMEN!!" (Dec 13, 2013)

            Last night on the way to Church--
Princess: I see the Moon!!
Us: Yes, that's the moon.
Princess: I can't reach it!!! 
We looked back and she was reaching her hand up towards the moon.
Hubby: That's okay, I can't reach it either.
Princess: Yeah, can't reach the moon. (sounding sad).   (Jan 5, 2014)

Buddy is getting so big. At 12 weeks he weighed the same as Princess did at 4 months!! My mother-in-law was calling him “the incredible stomach” when she was here over Christmas, because he was always eating…and eating a lot!!

Hubby’s parents and sister and her husband were here for about a week over Christmas. It was great having them here and spending time with them. Princess hadn’t seen her aunt and uncle for a year so she didn’t really remember them, but quickly warmed up to them. She especially enjoyed playing with her uncle. We thought she was going to go into withdrawal without him and her grandpa. J

Princess really enjoyed the snow we got right before Christmas. Before this she didn’t really like it as she fell into the snow a couple weeks ago. She loved playing in it with Daddy and Grandpa and building her first snowman with Daddy!!! J

Princess was in her first Christmas program at Church. Her class sang Away in the Manger. Though she knew most of the words she didn’t sing, just stood on the stage with a finger in her mouth as her SS teacher had taken her paci before putting her on the stage. It was neat to see her up there and to think about how she might be next year. She is one of the youngest kids in the class and her teacher told us that during practices she and a little boy (the teacher’s son) would just look around at the other kids. J