Brooke, who just turned five, said this to me a few weeks ago:
"When I grow up to a mom, I'm going to be your friend."
Monday, April 28, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Another Cutie Birthday Boy-or should I say "handsome"
Our oldest son is 11 years old today. We didn't do anything party-like today. He had his best friend of six years sleep over on Friday night. We turned our computer room into Redwall Abby-Redwall is a book series that Tyler is into at the moment. He never seemed too into reading until he discovered these books. There are a lot of books in the series and he's read maybe a dozen of them so far. It is a story set in something like the middle ages and is about mice and other small critters. One of the mice is a warrior. It's a great series of books, really quality literature. I'm very pleased that he's reading them.
So, we decorated the room with swords and shields and I drew some "R's" on some posterboard for banners. I printed a few character coloring pages off the internet and put them on a big piece of cardboard that said "A special feast in honor of Tyler's birthday." We brought in a TV so that they could watch the Dvd's of Season Two of the Redwall series that they did on PBS. We checked it out from the library. I bought some ice cream sandwiches and ranch Doritoes at Tyler's request. And they decorated their own Redwall shields on posterboard. I also sewed some pouches out of felt and tied them with some red felt cord that I found on clearance. Then Monday morning we'll have our Spanish class stay afterwards for play and cupcakes.
Tyler's birth story
Tyler is the second child-the first one was c-section. I knew I didn't want to go through with another one of those, so I did a lot of research into VBACs. We were in Hawaii and I was being seen by military doctors at a military facility. They weren't very encouraging about me having a VBAC. They were pretty sure it wouldn't work out, but they'd go ahead and let me "try". I had an ultrasound later in the pregnancy, maybe 32 weeks. I was carrying "small" they said, so they wanted to make sure fluid and all were fine. They noticed they the baby's ureters were dilated. That meant that the tubes that carry urine to the bladder were somewhat enlarged. They wanted me to schedule a test after the birth to make sure the plumbing was working normally. Things progressed along well. I was carrying him very low. Around maybe the 37th week, the nurse practitioner assured me that I was not going to make it to my due date. "You had better get your shopping done and your bags packed because your are not going to make it to your due date!" she said. Well this was my second baby, I was only 21 and I didn't know anything. So I believed her. The next week was the same thing, only added, "As soon as you start having contractions you better get here fast- this baby will be coming fast!" Okay.
My due date came and went. On the 9th day overdue, which was a Friday, they said that if I didn't deliver that weekend, they were going to induce on Monday morning. I've heard many wives tales on how to get labor started. And the only thing I had on hand was a spicy frozen burrito. It couldn't hurt. I ate the burrito on Saturday night and on Sunday morning I woke up with contractions. I was supposed to rush to the hospital, right? So, I called David who was out patroling (military policeman with the Marines) and told him that he'd better get home. He raced back to base with his blue lights flashing and picked up our friend that was going to watch Brittany. We raced up to the hospital and the nurse checked me out. "You're not that far along. You can go back home if you want and go walk around for a bit." Huh? So we went back home and walked. And walked. And walked......
This was my first lesson. Doctors, midwives, nurse practioners,etc. DO NOT know when you will go into labor and DO NOT know how long it will last.
When contractions picked up we went back up to the hospital. We'd gone up there the first time at around 8 am. We only lived about 5 minutes from the hospital. The hospital actually looked like a big pink palace up on a hill. Anyway, we went back up there maybe around lunch time. They went ahead and let me stay this time, but of course tied me to the bed with monitors, wires, IV, and stuff. They might as well use duct tape. Labor is much harder to deal with lying flat in the bed not being able to move. Lesson number 2.
Apparently Tyler was not dealing well with labor. His heart rate was dropping and they had me on oxygen and then attached an internal monitor to his head. I just couldn't deal with it any longer so they gave me Nubain. I was now out of my mind and still in pain. So, after begging David to just tell them to do another c-section to get it over with, they said they'd let me push. I wasn't ready so my cervix swelled. Things weren't progressing. They gave me an epidural. This was the only time, other than the c-section, that the epidural took on both sides and didn't make me throw up. They realized that Tyler had meconium, which means his first bowel movement had already happened. If babies asperate this they can get pneumonia. At least the epidural allowed my cervix to stop swelling and then I was able to push. They had a neonatal team standing by to make sure Tyler didn't cry until they had cleaned him up. There must've been a million people in that room. Give a girl some privacy-sheesh! Finally, after 2 and a half hours of pushing and an episiotomy Tyler was born at 5:36pm. This is the only episiotomy I've had, and even after having ten pound babies, I've never even torn. Tyler was only 8 pounds 6 ounces. The episiotomy was unnecessary in my opinion, but I didn't have any ill effects from it at least.
They cleaned Tyler all up and he was just fine. They took him to the nursery. I don't remember even getting to hold him or nurse him. I was taken down to my room, and I wanted my baby so I walked down to the nursery. He was in the little isolette under heating lights. I remember thinking, "Well, couldn't I just hold him and make him warm?" But, I just sat there for what must've been 45 minutes at least waiting for him to be released. Then we went back to our room, which I was sharing with another mom. Yes, military hospitals have customer satisfaction high up on there priority list.
The protocol was to have a nurse come to your house to give the baby a check up at two weeks. It was Hawaii so it was around 80 degrees and we had no central heat/air so you leave your windows open all year round. It was spring so it was really windy. This woman came in and took off his sleeper, and said he didn't need it. Then she took off his diaper and put on another, but this time folded it down in front under his unbilical cord, because I hadn't done it the right way. She treated me like a completely incompetent mother. Mind you, I had another 21 month old child right there and she had survived so far. She handed me Tyler, who proceeded to pee all over me because she had folded his diaper down too far. I didn't even let her know. I just sat there until she left. Lesson number 3. Do not let others treat you like you don't know how to care for your own child.
I scheduled Tyler's plumbing exam. He was about 2 and a half weeks old. They injected a dye into his urethra, and when he'd pee it out, they could look on the scanning machine and see if all was working. He screamed and screamed. They had him tied down. Everything was working fine. Well, at least I had a healthy baby boy.
So, we decorated the room with swords and shields and I drew some "R's" on some posterboard for banners. I printed a few character coloring pages off the internet and put them on a big piece of cardboard that said "A special feast in honor of Tyler's birthday." We brought in a TV so that they could watch the Dvd's of Season Two of the Redwall series that they did on PBS. We checked it out from the library. I bought some ice cream sandwiches and ranch Doritoes at Tyler's request. And they decorated their own Redwall shields on posterboard. I also sewed some pouches out of felt and tied them with some red felt cord that I found on clearance. Then Monday morning we'll have our Spanish class stay afterwards for play and cupcakes.
Tyler's birth story
Tyler is the second child-the first one was c-section. I knew I didn't want to go through with another one of those, so I did a lot of research into VBACs. We were in Hawaii and I was being seen by military doctors at a military facility. They weren't very encouraging about me having a VBAC. They were pretty sure it wouldn't work out, but they'd go ahead and let me "try". I had an ultrasound later in the pregnancy, maybe 32 weeks. I was carrying "small" they said, so they wanted to make sure fluid and all were fine. They noticed they the baby's ureters were dilated. That meant that the tubes that carry urine to the bladder were somewhat enlarged. They wanted me to schedule a test after the birth to make sure the plumbing was working normally. Things progressed along well. I was carrying him very low. Around maybe the 37th week, the nurse practitioner assured me that I was not going to make it to my due date. "You had better get your shopping done and your bags packed because your are not going to make it to your due date!" she said. Well this was my second baby, I was only 21 and I didn't know anything. So I believed her. The next week was the same thing, only added, "As soon as you start having contractions you better get here fast- this baby will be coming fast!" Okay.
My due date came and went. On the 9th day overdue, which was a Friday, they said that if I didn't deliver that weekend, they were going to induce on Monday morning. I've heard many wives tales on how to get labor started. And the only thing I had on hand was a spicy frozen burrito. It couldn't hurt. I ate the burrito on Saturday night and on Sunday morning I woke up with contractions. I was supposed to rush to the hospital, right? So, I called David who was out patroling (military policeman with the Marines) and told him that he'd better get home. He raced back to base with his blue lights flashing and picked up our friend that was going to watch Brittany. We raced up to the hospital and the nurse checked me out. "You're not that far along. You can go back home if you want and go walk around for a bit." Huh? So we went back home and walked. And walked. And walked......
This was my first lesson. Doctors, midwives, nurse practioners,etc. DO NOT know when you will go into labor and DO NOT know how long it will last.
When contractions picked up we went back up to the hospital. We'd gone up there the first time at around 8 am. We only lived about 5 minutes from the hospital. The hospital actually looked like a big pink palace up on a hill. Anyway, we went back up there maybe around lunch time. They went ahead and let me stay this time, but of course tied me to the bed with monitors, wires, IV, and stuff. They might as well use duct tape. Labor is much harder to deal with lying flat in the bed not being able to move. Lesson number 2.
Apparently Tyler was not dealing well with labor. His heart rate was dropping and they had me on oxygen and then attached an internal monitor to his head. I just couldn't deal with it any longer so they gave me Nubain. I was now out of my mind and still in pain. So, after begging David to just tell them to do another c-section to get it over with, they said they'd let me push. I wasn't ready so my cervix swelled. Things weren't progressing. They gave me an epidural. This was the only time, other than the c-section, that the epidural took on both sides and didn't make me throw up. They realized that Tyler had meconium, which means his first bowel movement had already happened. If babies asperate this they can get pneumonia. At least the epidural allowed my cervix to stop swelling and then I was able to push. They had a neonatal team standing by to make sure Tyler didn't cry until they had cleaned him up. There must've been a million people in that room. Give a girl some privacy-sheesh! Finally, after 2 and a half hours of pushing and an episiotomy Tyler was born at 5:36pm. This is the only episiotomy I've had, and even after having ten pound babies, I've never even torn. Tyler was only 8 pounds 6 ounces. The episiotomy was unnecessary in my opinion, but I didn't have any ill effects from it at least.
They cleaned Tyler all up and he was just fine. They took him to the nursery. I don't remember even getting to hold him or nurse him. I was taken down to my room, and I wanted my baby so I walked down to the nursery. He was in the little isolette under heating lights. I remember thinking, "Well, couldn't I just hold him and make him warm?" But, I just sat there for what must've been 45 minutes at least waiting for him to be released. Then we went back to our room, which I was sharing with another mom. Yes, military hospitals have customer satisfaction high up on there priority list.
The protocol was to have a nurse come to your house to give the baby a check up at two weeks. It was Hawaii so it was around 80 degrees and we had no central heat/air so you leave your windows open all year round. It was spring so it was really windy. This woman came in and took off his sleeper, and said he didn't need it. Then she took off his diaper and put on another, but this time folded it down in front under his unbilical cord, because I hadn't done it the right way. She treated me like a completely incompetent mother. Mind you, I had another 21 month old child right there and she had survived so far. She handed me Tyler, who proceeded to pee all over me because she had folded his diaper down too far. I didn't even let her know. I just sat there until she left. Lesson number 3. Do not let others treat you like you don't know how to care for your own child.
I scheduled Tyler's plumbing exam. He was about 2 and a half weeks old. They injected a dye into his urethra, and when he'd pee it out, they could look on the scanning machine and see if all was working. He screamed and screamed. They had him tied down. Everything was working fine. Well, at least I had a healthy baby boy.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Brooke's Birth Story: The Final Installment
I called my friend, R, the next morning and asked her if she'd watch my kids while I went to the army base to go to the doctor. She said she'd come over with her daughter and she'd just drive all of us in my van. it was 80 degrees outside and I was in sweatpants and a jacket looking like death warmed over. Mastitis gives you flu like symptoms. My left breast was bright red and on fire. I had to wait an hour just to be seen and then after the doctor came in and determined it was mastitis (brilliant) gave me a prescription for antiobiotic and prepared to leave the room. In my mind I was yelling at him, "My husband comes in with a little leg infection and you admit him and keep him for fours days to lie around and rest, while I am in immense pain, feel like I've been hit by a truck and have a new baby and four other kids to take care of and you send me home with a bandaid and a get well wish!" But, I actually said, "Okay, thank you. Could I get some pain medication?"
R. drove us all home after stopping by the store for some cabbage leaves, the old wives remedy. But, my body was so hot the leaves wilted by about 5 minutes. I am not good with medication. If there is a side effect to be had, I will get it. So add throwing up to the list of ailments. All in all I was in bed for the next two weeks. I had to go back up to the doctor on that Thursday because the doctor wanted to make sure it wasn't an abcess. So I had to have a one inch incision in my left breast. It turns out that there was no abcess, but I had to have that incision packed with guaze til it healed. I think that was probably as painful as labor! I'm so thankful for my friend, L.. She came to my house twice a day for two weeks to change the dressing. She was a registered nurse. Otherwise I would've had to have changed it myself, yikes!, or had to go up to the army hospital twice a day. I'm also very thankful for R. She became my personal organizer. She scheduled people to come to the house to take care of the kids in shifts from breakfast to bedtime. It was literally Grand Central Station. I don't know what I would have done with out her or all the people that came to take care of us. It was really a great portrayal of the serving hearts of God's people.
They had done a culture of the incision and found out that there was antibiotic resistant staph. The typical protocol was to be placed on six weeks of IV antibiotics, but thankfully after upping my dose of oral antibiotics twice, I was on the mend. So since I was recovering the doctors decided to not give me the IV antiobiotics. By the third week, I could mostly stay out of bed all day and only had people coming by here and there to see if we needed something. You know you are feeling better when you are ready for people to get out of your house! But, I deparately needed them up until then!
The day after I found out that I wouldn't need the IV antibiotics, Tuesday, I noticed that Brooke was starting to get some red spots. It looked exactly like baby acne and she was at that age. I dismissed it the first two days and then on Thursday she was splotchy from head to toe. I just thought, Wow, this is bad baby acne. I was just in such a fog from the last six months of life. But that night I noticed she had a fever. One month old babies should not get fevers. The next morning, some dear friends were taking the older four kids to the zoo, so I called to bring her in to the doctor. I went to the army base and the doctor took one look at her and told me I needed to take her to the Children's ER at the county hospital. So, in a daze, I took her over to the Children's ER and the doctors weren't quite sure what to think. Everyone kept asking me what I'd eaten, like she'd had an allergic reaction to something. I had stopped nursing her two weeks earlier because of the incision and the pain medication. I knew it wasn't an allergic reaction. What was wrong with my child?
They admitted her and started all sorts of tests. They tried to draw blood, but because she was so small and splotchy red, they couldn't get a vain and forever they kept poking her and she kept screaming. Then they told me I'd have to leave the room, because they needed to do a spinal tap. I went into another room to wait, and called G (who took the kids to the zoo) to let her know what was going on. I just burst into tears. This was my limit. Thank goodness for G. She called the Red Cross so that they could send David back. She called me back to get the necessary paperwork from the doctor so that they could give him orders to come back and get him on a plane. They still didn't know what was wrong with Brooke, but went ahead and put her on IV antibiotics. I gave them the recent medical issues with David and myself, and they thought it could be the staph, and were afraid she could get septic. (That means the infection would get into her bloodstream.) Friday afternoon they wheeled us up to the peds unit. Thank goodness for some other friends who came and sat with me, and with Brooke while I went to eat. And thanks again to L. who came up to the hospital room twice to change the dressing on my incision! David was able to fly back for 10 days and he arrived Saturday evening. Someone went and picked him up and drove him to the hospital. By the time David had gotten there, Brooke was looking so much better. Apparently, the antibiotic resistant staph had gotten into her body through a little scratch on her head. They gave us a prescription for vancomycyn (sp?) and let us leave on Sunday afternoon. Praise God she was recovering. The staph easily could've killed her.
I fully recovered, Brooke fully recovered and things were less dramatic and eventful for the rest of the time until David returned the following September. And that series of events let us have David home for that additional ten days which we just savored because the whole time he was home before was so chaotic.
R. drove us all home after stopping by the store for some cabbage leaves, the old wives remedy. But, my body was so hot the leaves wilted by about 5 minutes. I am not good with medication. If there is a side effect to be had, I will get it. So add throwing up to the list of ailments. All in all I was in bed for the next two weeks. I had to go back up to the doctor on that Thursday because the doctor wanted to make sure it wasn't an abcess. So I had to have a one inch incision in my left breast. It turns out that there was no abcess, but I had to have that incision packed with guaze til it healed. I think that was probably as painful as labor! I'm so thankful for my friend, L.. She came to my house twice a day for two weeks to change the dressing. She was a registered nurse. Otherwise I would've had to have changed it myself, yikes!, or had to go up to the army hospital twice a day. I'm also very thankful for R. She became my personal organizer. She scheduled people to come to the house to take care of the kids in shifts from breakfast to bedtime. It was literally Grand Central Station. I don't know what I would have done with out her or all the people that came to take care of us. It was really a great portrayal of the serving hearts of God's people.
They had done a culture of the incision and found out that there was antibiotic resistant staph. The typical protocol was to be placed on six weeks of IV antibiotics, but thankfully after upping my dose of oral antibiotics twice, I was on the mend. So since I was recovering the doctors decided to not give me the IV antiobiotics. By the third week, I could mostly stay out of bed all day and only had people coming by here and there to see if we needed something. You know you are feeling better when you are ready for people to get out of your house! But, I deparately needed them up until then!
The day after I found out that I wouldn't need the IV antibiotics, Tuesday, I noticed that Brooke was starting to get some red spots. It looked exactly like baby acne and she was at that age. I dismissed it the first two days and then on Thursday she was splotchy from head to toe. I just thought, Wow, this is bad baby acne. I was just in such a fog from the last six months of life. But that night I noticed she had a fever. One month old babies should not get fevers. The next morning, some dear friends were taking the older four kids to the zoo, so I called to bring her in to the doctor. I went to the army base and the doctor took one look at her and told me I needed to take her to the Children's ER at the county hospital. So, in a daze, I took her over to the Children's ER and the doctors weren't quite sure what to think. Everyone kept asking me what I'd eaten, like she'd had an allergic reaction to something. I had stopped nursing her two weeks earlier because of the incision and the pain medication. I knew it wasn't an allergic reaction. What was wrong with my child?
They admitted her and started all sorts of tests. They tried to draw blood, but because she was so small and splotchy red, they couldn't get a vain and forever they kept poking her and she kept screaming. Then they told me I'd have to leave the room, because they needed to do a spinal tap. I went into another room to wait, and called G (who took the kids to the zoo) to let her know what was going on. I just burst into tears. This was my limit. Thank goodness for G. She called the Red Cross so that they could send David back. She called me back to get the necessary paperwork from the doctor so that they could give him orders to come back and get him on a plane. They still didn't know what was wrong with Brooke, but went ahead and put her on IV antibiotics. I gave them the recent medical issues with David and myself, and they thought it could be the staph, and were afraid she could get septic. (That means the infection would get into her bloodstream.) Friday afternoon they wheeled us up to the peds unit. Thank goodness for some other friends who came and sat with me, and with Brooke while I went to eat. And thanks again to L. who came up to the hospital room twice to change the dressing on my incision! David was able to fly back for 10 days and he arrived Saturday evening. Someone went and picked him up and drove him to the hospital. By the time David had gotten there, Brooke was looking so much better. Apparently, the antibiotic resistant staph had gotten into her body through a little scratch on her head. They gave us a prescription for vancomycyn (sp?) and let us leave on Sunday afternoon. Praise God she was recovering. The staph easily could've killed her.
I fully recovered, Brooke fully recovered and things were less dramatic and eventful for the rest of the time until David returned the following September. And that series of events let us have David home for that additional ten days which we just savored because the whole time he was home before was so chaotic.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Brooke's Birth Story Part 3
So, I woke up having contractions and they were strong. By the 5th kid you can tell the difference in contractions. We called over a friend who had also sat with the kids when Bethany was born and raced off to the hospital. Maybe 45 minutes had gone by. The hospital was probably 25 minutes away. I didn't get to deliver with the midwives this time because that hospital didn't accept the military insurance. We had to park in the parking garage and walk about 5 miles, or so it seemed, to get to labor and delivery. I'm pretty certain I was completely dilated at this point. The dear little woman in labor and delivery insisted we go into a "let me see if you're really in labor, and if not we'll send you home" room. Dear, dear lady. Do I look like I may have to go back home? She also insisted that I lie down so she could check to see how far along I was. I told her that she had better get it done quickly before this next contraction. She checked and said to the other nurse, "Hmmm. I can't tell. Either she's not very far along or she's complete." Was she new to this business?
After establishing the fact that I did need to be moved into a delivery room, they had me walk down the hall to one! Finally in the room, they called the doctor and got the IV antibiotics for my Group B strep. The two nurses kept telling me to hold on because I needed to get a good dose of the antibiotics in before I had the baby. I had been standing this whole time, because I couldn't deal with it lying down. They insisted that I needed to lie down because the doctor would definately want me lying down. I told them that they'd better give me the epidural because I couldn't hold on any longer. So they order the epidural, which of course, as usual, didn't take on one side. And, made me throw up. The doctor showed up just in time to douse me in betadine and push, push, push, we have a red headed 9 pound 4 ounce baby girl. It was 6:50.
I could easily have delivered at least an hour prior if the wonderful and quite competent staff had actually delivered a baby before in their careers. You know hindsight is always 20/20. I wished I would have told them to go get their baseball gloves, because I am NOT laying down and I am pushing this baby out right now! And take your betadine and .......... well, I'm not bitter, just wiser.
Brooke was so cute, she was a fat little thing with curly red hair. Keep in mind that we didn't know the sex of the baby beforehand and I was just convinced that we were having a boy!
After establishing the fact that I did need to be moved into a delivery room, they had me walk down the hall to one! Finally in the room, they called the doctor and got the IV antibiotics for my Group B strep. The two nurses kept telling me to hold on because I needed to get a good dose of the antibiotics in before I had the baby. I had been standing this whole time, because I couldn't deal with it lying down. They insisted that I needed to lie down because the doctor would definately want me lying down. I told them that they'd better give me the epidural because I couldn't hold on any longer. So they order the epidural, which of course, as usual, didn't take on one side. And, made me throw up. The doctor showed up just in time to douse me in betadine and push, push, push, we have a red headed 9 pound 4 ounce baby girl. It was 6:50.
I could easily have delivered at least an hour prior if the wonderful and quite competent staff had actually delivered a baby before in their careers. You know hindsight is always 20/20. I wished I would have told them to go get their baseball gloves, because I am NOT laying down and I am pushing this baby out right now! And take your betadine and .......... well, I'm not bitter, just wiser.
Brooke was so cute, she was a fat little thing with curly red hair. Keep in mind that we didn't know the sex of the baby beforehand and I was just convinced that we were having a boy!
Everything else, at least, went well, we came home on that Saturday, and we still had another week before David had to head back to Cuba. Around Tuesday, I started feeling as though I might be getting mastitis. I had it once before with my second child, and had gotten over it with just taking vitamin C. So, I took vitamin C. for several days and didn't seem to be getting better, but was hoping it would work. By the weekend it was hurting quite a bit, but I knew on Monday morning I had to drive David back to the airport. I think part of me was ignoring the pain. We only had a little time with him left, so maybe I was just over doing it. We drove him to the airport on that Monday- man goodbyes are so hard!
By that night, I was laying with an ice pack on my chest, it just throbbed. I was alone with a fever, chills, a new baby, four other kids to take care of and no husband. Could things get worse?
To be continued...........(I promise only one more installment!)
By that night, I was laying with an ice pack on my chest, it just throbbed. I was alone with a fever, chills, a new baby, four other kids to take care of and no husband. Could things get worse?
To be continued...........(I promise only one more installment!)
Friday, April 18, 2008
Brooke's Birth Story Part 2
David got home on Friday evening, April 11. I was due with Brooke the next Tuesday- April 15th Tax Day. Some very dear friends of ours had scheduled a welcome baby/welcome home David party for us that afternoon. We had a very nice time seeing everyone and visiting. That evening, some other dear friends were planning on spending the night at our house watching our kids, while David and I stayed at a Bed and Breakfast. That morning David noticed a bug bite or something on his thigh, and mentioned later that afternoon that it was sore. We dismissed it until that evening at the B&B, it was quite sore. By about midnight his entire thigh was bright red, and by about 3 am he was soaking in the tub in hot water and eating Tylenol like it was candy. This was not quite turning out as we had planned.
The next morning we called our friends to let them now we were taking David to the urgent care on the local army base. He had to be seen there since he was active duty. So after about 5 or 7 hours of waiting they finally called him back to be seen. By this time David was in unbearable pain. When the doctor came in, he took one look at him and said, "Yeah, I think you'll be admitted." So, here I am, my husband has been home for two days after being gone for six months, my kids are at home with our friends, I am due to have a baby in two days and my husband is being admitted to the hospital with some strange skin/leg issue. I remember leaving him there to go back home, it's now around 6 that evening and I hadn't eaten all day. I sent the friends home and just sat on the couch in a daze.
I took the kids to see him for a little while the next day, Monday, but there's only so long that little kids can sit in a hospital room. Tuesday morning, I had an OB appointment and the doctor wanted to do a non stress test. I was admitted over at another hospital to do the test. So, for a brief while that day, we were both laying in hospital beds in different hospitals. The test was fine and I went back up to see him afterwards. Wednesday morning came and still no baby and no contractions. They finally allowed him to come home that evening around dinner time. He was on some pretty serious pain medication, but was doing much better. He had gotten an infection in his leg-some antibiotic resistant staph that he had apparently picked up while deployed.
So, we brought David home that evening and around 3 am that morning David gets up and takes more pain medication. I woke up and told him, "I'm having contractions. I think we need to call someone to come over and sit with the kids. NOW!"
To be continued.......
The next morning we called our friends to let them now we were taking David to the urgent care on the local army base. He had to be seen there since he was active duty. So after about 5 or 7 hours of waiting they finally called him back to be seen. By this time David was in unbearable pain. When the doctor came in, he took one look at him and said, "Yeah, I think you'll be admitted." So, here I am, my husband has been home for two days after being gone for six months, my kids are at home with our friends, I am due to have a baby in two days and my husband is being admitted to the hospital with some strange skin/leg issue. I remember leaving him there to go back home, it's now around 6 that evening and I hadn't eaten all day. I sent the friends home and just sat on the couch in a daze.
I took the kids to see him for a little while the next day, Monday, but there's only so long that little kids can sit in a hospital room. Tuesday morning, I had an OB appointment and the doctor wanted to do a non stress test. I was admitted over at another hospital to do the test. So, for a brief while that day, we were both laying in hospital beds in different hospitals. The test was fine and I went back up to see him afterwards. Wednesday morning came and still no baby and no contractions. They finally allowed him to come home that evening around dinner time. He was on some pretty serious pain medication, but was doing much better. He had gotten an infection in his leg-some antibiotic resistant staph that he had apparently picked up while deployed.
So, we brought David home that evening and around 3 am that morning David gets up and takes more pain medication. I woke up and told him, "I'm having contractions. I think we need to call someone to come over and sit with the kids. NOW!"
To be continued.......
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Brooke's Birth Story Part 1
Moving right along in our plethora of birthdays, Brooke turned five today. We went under the sea to join Mermaid in a birthday celebration. Brooke loves all princesses/famous people with red hair. Rightly so. Here favorites are, of course, Little Mermaid, Strawberry Shortcake, Fiona, and Pippi Longstocking. Brooke invited her friend to come and join us. We found princess jewels that Mermaid had hidden in the living room, pin the sticker on mermaid, and a felt craft that I'd found at Michael's for $1 each. The cake didn't turn out exactly as I had imagined, but it was good enough. Those are gold fish in the ocean, and a Mermaid candle, also from Michael's. She was very excited.
Brooke's Birth Story Part 1
I got pregnant with Brooke when Bethany was only four months old. So, the two of them are only thirteen months apart. My husband had just joined the national guard about six months earlier. He had gotten out of the Marine Corps the previous year, but when 9/11 happened, they tried to recall him. They were originally just taking volunteers, but if they didn't get enough people to volunteer, then they would inforce a total recall. David would have had to go back in because he still had a few months left of inactive status. When you enlist they sign you up for four years active duty and four years of inactive. The inactive is for that reason. They can recall you if necessary. So we weighed our options and decided that he should join the National Guard for one year, which would cancel his inactive time, he could drill one weekend a month for the year and be done. But then, this unit that hadn't been deployed since the Gulf War got called to go to Cuba. My husband was military police and they put a stop loss on military police, meaning "You can't get out until we let you out." David left that October to go to Cuba to guard the detainees. I was three months pregnant with Brooke, and the other kids were 7, 5, 2, and 7 months.
I didn't really have much morning sickness with Brooke, which was good. I was incredibly tired all the time. I had a terrible time with anemia, so much that the doctor had me taking iron twice a day. I've never had a problem with iron. I don't know if it was the back to back pregnancies or stress. I'm not sure how I survived other than by the grace of God. I had an awesome church and friends to help. J cooked me dinner twice a week. Several ladies came in more than once and cleaned house for me. Some men from church came and put up our backyard fence. They mowed the lawn and raked the leaves. They babysat. A dear lady from the bible college where David worked came and watched the kids for every one of my OB appointments. People were so supportive.
Things were fairly uneventful, except for my falling down the stairs, and thinking my water had broken, called 911 and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. But, I've tried to block that out of my memory. I fall all the time, clumsy. Hello, my name is Courtney, and I fall. I also twisted my foot and couldn't walk for two days. By the way, my water had not broken.
Anyhoo, everyone was granted a time of leave, so David was sceduled to fly home for two weeks around my due date. We were totally planning for God to work out the details. We didn't want to schedule an induction or anything. We weren't even sure what we'd do with the other kids when I went to the hospital. We just planned on God to allow Brooke to be born while David was home. He would fly home on a Friday and I was due the following Tuesday. I hadn't delivered early the past four times, hopefully I wouldn't start now.
To be continued...........
Monday, April 14, 2008
Monday Musings
I'm just going to give up for now. Thomas is just NOT ready to wean. I decided this last night when he woke up for the third or fourth time. I was tired, he was inconsolable and I was in major pain from engorgement. I little voice in my head said, "If you wean and he doesn't sleep through the night, then you'll have to deal with getting him calmed down with out the ease of just being able to nurse." Anne's probably thinking "I could've told you that!" :) And I cannot figure out how to add her to my friend's list. HTML is so difficult! Wendy suggested switching to blogspot because it's more user friendly but that means I'll have to start the blog all over again. But, I digress.........
Okay, okay. Fine. I'll keep nursing the little guy. I guess it means that he still needs me. It's nice to be needed. Maybe we'll try again in a few months. Maybe not. He is just so different than the other 6. They mostly slept through the night and stopped nursing by 12 or 13 months. He's always had sort of a grumpy disposition, although he's growing out of it . Sometimes when he'd cry when someone would look at him, stranger anxiety, they'd say, "He doesn't like me." So, I'd say, "Sometimes I don't think he likes me either!" He'd cry at me like, "Your supposed to be my mother! Why aren't you figuring out what wrong with me and fixing it woman!!" He'll always go to Tyler though. Tyler is great with the babies. He has such a gentle way with kids, they just love him. He'll be a great dad someday.
Anyway, maybe Thomas felt some remorse about his screaming fits this weekend. He tried to wash his own mouth with soap last night in the bathtub. I looked away for a minute and he'd eaten some soap that was hidden in the toys. He was spitting for about the next two hours. Poor guy.
Okay, okay. Fine. I'll keep nursing the little guy. I guess it means that he still needs me. It's nice to be needed. Maybe we'll try again in a few months. Maybe not. He is just so different than the other 6. They mostly slept through the night and stopped nursing by 12 or 13 months. He's always had sort of a grumpy disposition, although he's growing out of it . Sometimes when he'd cry when someone would look at him, stranger anxiety, they'd say, "He doesn't like me." So, I'd say, "Sometimes I don't think he likes me either!" He'd cry at me like, "Your supposed to be my mother! Why aren't you figuring out what wrong with me and fixing it woman!!" He'll always go to Tyler though. Tyler is great with the babies. He has such a gentle way with kids, they just love him. He'll be a great dad someday.
Anyway, maybe Thomas felt some remorse about his screaming fits this weekend. He tried to wash his own mouth with soap last night in the bathtub. I looked away for a minute and he'd eaten some soap that was hidden in the toys. He was spitting for about the next two hours. Poor guy.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Learning to Read
I've been working through the Bob Books with Bethany (age 6) and Brooke (4) asked if she could start also. So, a few months back I had her start a phonics book, which I do with all the children when I teach them to read. We take a 3 ring notebook with page protectors and 13 sheets of paper. I print off each letter of the alphabet on a separate sheet and stick them back to back in the sheet protectors. I got the letter print offs from www.hubbardscupboard.org. Then we take magazine cutouts, one for each sound the letter makes and paste them onto the letter sheets. We go over these periodically and then once they've grasped all the sounds then we move on to the Bob Books. I bought all five sets when my oldest was learning to read because we like them so much. (I bought them at a book store with my educator discount.) I've found that after the Bob Books, they are ready to move on to Easy Readers of various levels.
So today Brooke asked me if she could read the Bob Books. She had tried maybe 4 months ago and just wasn't ready. Today she read through the first three and did great. She was very excited and I was excited for her.
Also, I found that the Spelling to Write and Read Curriculum, I think available through www.rainbowresource.com has these great flash cards with 72 phonics sounds and blends. These are practically all of the sounds that english letters and letter combinations can make. Although we didn't stick with this particular curriculum, the kids have really benefited form using the flash cards.
So today Brooke asked me if she could read the Bob Books. She had tried maybe 4 months ago and just wasn't ready. Today she read through the first three and did great. She was very excited and I was excited for her.
Also, I found that the Spelling to Write and Read Curriculum, I think available through www.rainbowresource.com has these great flash cards with 72 phonics sounds and blends. These are practically all of the sounds that english letters and letter combinations can make. Although we didn't stick with this particular curriculum, the kids have really benefited form using the flash cards.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Tasty Thursday
Pork Chops with Scalloped Potatoes
3 T. butter
3 T. flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 can chicken broth
6 pork chops (3/4 inch thick)
2 T. oil
6 c. thinly sliced/peeled potatoes
1 medium onion
Opt. paprika and parsley
In a saucepan, melt butter; stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Add chicken broth; cook and stir constantly until mixture boils. Cook for 1 minute; remove from the heat and set aside. In a skillet, brown pork chops in oil; season to taste with additional salt and pepper if desired. In a greasted 13x9 inch dish, layer potatoes and onion. Pour the broth mixture over. Place pork chops on top. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for one hour; uncover and bake 30 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender. If desired, sprinkle with paprika and parsely.
3 T. butter
3 T. flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 can chicken broth
6 pork chops (3/4 inch thick)
2 T. oil
6 c. thinly sliced/peeled potatoes
1 medium onion
Opt. paprika and parsley
In a saucepan, melt butter; stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Add chicken broth; cook and stir constantly until mixture boils. Cook for 1 minute; remove from the heat and set aside. In a skillet, brown pork chops in oil; season to taste with additional salt and pepper if desired. In a greasted 13x9 inch dish, layer potatoes and onion. Pour the broth mixture over. Place pork chops on top. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for one hour; uncover and bake 30 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender. If desired, sprinkle with paprika and parsely.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The anti sleeper strikes again
Yesterday was Brittany's 13th birthday. I am now officially the mother of a teenager. I'm not worried one bit. She's a pleasure to have around. She knows we've been so tight on money for a while, so all she asked for was to have pigs in a blanket for dinner, red velvet cake and for us to play a game together as a family. She has been such a blessing to us. She babysits when I need to run out, or just so David and I can go out together. And, she's even offered her babysitting money when we've needed it. I knew she'd been really wanting a digital camera and, for about the last year, I've been thinking how I really, really wished I could get her one for her birthday. So, I kept praying that God would provide some way for me to get one for her. A few weeks ago, someone gave us some extra money, and I took that as answer to prayer. We went out and got her the camera from Wal Mart, with a memory card and carrying case.
We had a book club meeting yesterday afternoon at a friend's house, who also let me bake the cupcakes in her oven, and then had the appliance drama (see the previous post) that evening, so we didn't actually get to "partying" until around 8 pm. She finally opened her gift and was in shock. She loved it! As I knew she would. She kept asking, "Is this a real camera?" "Is this for real?" I'm so thankful to be able to do that for her.
Brittany's birth story.
Hers was a surprise pregnancy in a whirlwind wedding. I turned 20 in June and she was due mid July. David and I had just gotten married the previous February, and I had just moved out to Hawaii in April. David was in the Marine Corps and this would be my first lovely and moving experience with military doctors. (Sarcasm is kind of hard to write.)
Anyway, I didn't KNOW nothin' bout birthing no babies. I think that one must give birth at least 3-4 times to really understand exactly what it going on. I think I just assumed everything would somehow just happen, and sort of likened myself to an innocent bystander. I read "What to Expect" and all, but nothing really wakes you up like actually having a baby.
I was due with her on the 16th of July, and starting the trend, that day came and went. On the 19th, in the early am, I started having contractions, but we decided that David should go on ahead to work. By that evening, we went to Labor and Delivery thinking that certainly things were happening now. They sent us home, because I wasn't far enough along, and there wasn't anything they could do. "What do you mean, nothing you can do???" We went back home and Brittany gave new meaning to the term "back labor". The next morning David went on in to work again, but came home later that morning with tonsilitis. I had an already-scheduled appointment at 2 pm, so David drove me in. The doctor discovered I was at 6 cm. and they rushed (wheelchaired) me upstairs to L and D. Hours later things still weren't progressing. They tried to break my water with this stick-thingy that must've existed in medieval torture chambers. Finally the other nurse had pity on me and told the other nurse to stop. I was quite exhausted. No sleep and no food going on 40 hours. I decided to get the epidural and of course, threw up, right as my pregnant friend and her husband showed up. She was due the next month with her first child. I must've have made quite a scary impression.
I eventually got to ten cm, and the nurse said to push, but I was so tired that I couldn't stay awake. And, she still was not coming out. So, the doctor decided, shortly after midnight to do a c-section . At 2:18 am, we had a Brittany. 6 pounds, 11 ounces and 17 and 3/4 inches. I had "failed to progress" because Brittany was sunny side up (babies are supposed to be face down with their spine facing up, but she was facing up with all her weight on my back-hence the back labor) and she was also crooked with her should trying to come out with her head.
David had opted not to come into the operating room. He was sick and more than a little overwhelmed. You know all the "risks" they let you know about with an epidural? There are even scarier "risks" they let you know all about with a cesarean. He must've been terrified.
So, they sliced me open, ripped out a human being, took out my insides and examined them, put them back in and stapled me shut. Literally. And, that's literally what I felt like had happened to me. Although, I was still numb from the epidural for a while after, they wheeled me to the recovery room for a few hours, then onto my own room. (I only got my own room because I had a c-section, I had to share a room when I had Tyler at the same military hospital) It must've been 4-6 hours before they even brought her to me for the first time. I don't know if they fed her, I don't know what happened. And, of course, I didn't know any better. The nurse came in that morning and wanted me to get up to take a shower. I thought she must be crazy. I had been in quite a bit of pain since the epidural had worn off. They gave me a morphine pump, but I was a little afraid of overdosing or something, so I don't think I ever really turned it up high enough. It would take me about 30 minutes just to get up and go to the bathroom and get back in bed. And of course, as soon as I would lay back down, Brittany would start crying.
The day before I was released, a student nurse came by to take out my staples. Well, I guess they have to practice on somebody. Ouch. I did heal fine, though, with no problems. I was so thankful for a healthy baby, but I knew that if I had another baby, I was NOT going through that again. Think VBAC.
We had a book club meeting yesterday afternoon at a friend's house, who also let me bake the cupcakes in her oven, and then had the appliance drama (see the previous post) that evening, so we didn't actually get to "partying" until around 8 pm. She finally opened her gift and was in shock. She loved it! As I knew she would. She kept asking, "Is this a real camera?" "Is this for real?" I'm so thankful to be able to do that for her.
Brittany's birth story.
Hers was a surprise pregnancy in a whirlwind wedding. I turned 20 in June and she was due mid July. David and I had just gotten married the previous February, and I had just moved out to Hawaii in April. David was in the Marine Corps and this would be my first lovely and moving experience with military doctors. (Sarcasm is kind of hard to write.)
Anyway, I didn't KNOW nothin' bout birthing no babies. I think that one must give birth at least 3-4 times to really understand exactly what it going on. I think I just assumed everything would somehow just happen, and sort of likened myself to an innocent bystander. I read "What to Expect" and all, but nothing really wakes you up like actually having a baby.
I was due with her on the 16th of July, and starting the trend, that day came and went. On the 19th, in the early am, I started having contractions, but we decided that David should go on ahead to work. By that evening, we went to Labor and Delivery thinking that certainly things were happening now. They sent us home, because I wasn't far enough along, and there wasn't anything they could do. "What do you mean, nothing you can do???" We went back home and Brittany gave new meaning to the term "back labor". The next morning David went on in to work again, but came home later that morning with tonsilitis. I had an already-scheduled appointment at 2 pm, so David drove me in. The doctor discovered I was at 6 cm. and they rushed (wheelchaired) me upstairs to L and D. Hours later things still weren't progressing. They tried to break my water with this stick-thingy that must've existed in medieval torture chambers. Finally the other nurse had pity on me and told the other nurse to stop. I was quite exhausted. No sleep and no food going on 40 hours. I decided to get the epidural and of course, threw up, right as my pregnant friend and her husband showed up. She was due the next month with her first child. I must've have made quite a scary impression.
I eventually got to ten cm, and the nurse said to push, but I was so tired that I couldn't stay awake. And, she still was not coming out. So, the doctor decided, shortly after midnight to do a c-section . At 2:18 am, we had a Brittany. 6 pounds, 11 ounces and 17 and 3/4 inches. I had "failed to progress" because Brittany was sunny side up (babies are supposed to be face down with their spine facing up, but she was facing up with all her weight on my back-hence the back labor) and she was also crooked with her should trying to come out with her head.
David had opted not to come into the operating room. He was sick and more than a little overwhelmed. You know all the "risks" they let you know about with an epidural? There are even scarier "risks" they let you know all about with a cesarean. He must've been terrified.
So, they sliced me open, ripped out a human being, took out my insides and examined them, put them back in and stapled me shut. Literally. And, that's literally what I felt like had happened to me. Although, I was still numb from the epidural for a while after, they wheeled me to the recovery room for a few hours, then onto my own room. (I only got my own room because I had a c-section, I had to share a room when I had Tyler at the same military hospital) It must've been 4-6 hours before they even brought her to me for the first time. I don't know if they fed her, I don't know what happened. And, of course, I didn't know any better. The nurse came in that morning and wanted me to get up to take a shower. I thought she must be crazy. I had been in quite a bit of pain since the epidural had worn off. They gave me a morphine pump, but I was a little afraid of overdosing or something, so I don't think I ever really turned it up high enough. It would take me about 30 minutes just to get up and go to the bathroom and get back in bed. And of course, as soon as I would lay back down, Brittany would start crying.
The day before I was released, a student nurse came by to take out my staples. Well, I guess they have to practice on somebody. Ouch. I did heal fine, though, with no problems. I was so thankful for a healthy baby, but I knew that if I had another baby, I was NOT going through that again. Think VBAC.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Homeschool Field Day
I missed monday musings yesterday because I was stressing over planning a homeschool field day that two fellow TKD and homeschool moms and I had planned. You know, it's sometimes hard to get people interested in something, and then even if they seem interested it is hard to get people to commit and even harder to get them to follow through. So, we amazingly had 41 kids signed up. (We thought we'd have to beg people to come!) And out of the 41, only 5 didn't show up. We were very pleased, yet surprised.
Things went very well, and all the moms thanked us for putting it together. We had the event at our Tae Kwon Do studio. We had dodge ball, an egg relay, our instructor taught a small TKD class with warms ups, front kicks and board breaks. We also had an obstacle course, refreshments and certificates for each child. All this accomplished in an hour and a half. It's always nice to breathe a sign of relief when it's over.
Things went very well, and all the moms thanked us for putting it together. We had the event at our Tae Kwon Do studio. We had dodge ball, an egg relay, our instructor taught a small TKD class with warms ups, front kicks and board breaks. We also had an obstacle course, refreshments and certificates for each child. All this accomplished in an hour and a half. It's always nice to breathe a sign of relief when it's over.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Tasty Thursday
Orange Jello Salad
1 8 oz. tub Cool Whip
1 8 oz. tub of sour cream
3 oz. box of orange jello
1 can mandarin oranges, well drained
1 large can of chunk pineapple, drained
Combine the Cool Whip and sour cream. Stir in the dry jello powder and well drained fruit. Chill for several hours or over night. Serve.
1 8 oz. tub Cool Whip
1 8 oz. tub of sour cream
3 oz. box of orange jello
1 can mandarin oranges, well drained
1 large can of chunk pineapple, drained
Combine the Cool Whip and sour cream. Stir in the dry jello powder and well drained fruit. Chill for several hours or over night. Serve.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Dried up Mushrooms
We actually got to some nature study today. You know, the thing that is good in theory, that I'd love to do everyday, but never seem to get around to. We've been studying about the 5 Kingdoms in homeschool and had covered fungi last week. We checked out this neat book "Katya's Book of Mushrooms" and the kids begged to go to the woods and look for some mushrooms. So, since all the rain this week I was sure we'd find some. And we did. Three shriveled, decayed, dried out mushrooms. Ugh. Everyone was quite disappointed. I guess I'll have to go get some from the store so we can do the spore experiment. You set them out overnight on a paper and the spores will have fallen on the paper by the morning. Oh wait, the nature study isn't totally lost. There are two bluejays right outside my window. One flew down out of the tree and scared away a cardinal. Well, the boys thought that was neat.