I have heard that Blue Jays (the birds) are the meanest birds around. I've watched them with other birds, and I agree they are. Figured if we leave them alone, they'll leave us alone. Fast forward to this summer. We have a family of Blue Jays in our back yard. I believe they have 2 or 3 baby birds. No biggie, since it's been so wet & I've been on maternity leave, I've not had to worry about kids in the back yard, other then my own.
This past weekend, as Spencer was trying to mow the grass, we saw a baby bird, trying to climb up the tree. Then all of a sudden out of no where, you hear the Momma bird, just squawking at us, and dove at us a couple of times. Then the Daddy Blue Jay joined in. Made all of us a little nervous. So we've been leaving that side of the yard alone.
Earlier this week, you could hear this soft sound/call from a baby bird, couldn't find where it was coming from,then Spencer found it. Yep- fell into one of the window wells of the basement. The kids freaked out, because they were so worried how this baby was going to get out, and the parents were sitting on the roof -raising up a ruckus too. So I got the kids to get some wood, and we placed it in the window well. Later we checked on it, and the baby was gone. So now, I've placed a large piece of wood over the window wells, to prevent any more babies from fall in.
The kids are relieved the baby is okay, I'm okay that neither one of the parent birds attacked me, my neighbor or our kids. My neighbor told me that one of the parent birds, attacked her husband, and pecked him on the shoulder. Ouch! I'd hate for that to happen to any of us.
Wonder what will happen next in our little Blue Jay soap opera....as the "World Turns" lol.
God Bless~
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Blue Angels
Oh my word was today hot!! This weekend has been a busy weekend for us. The kids and I finally got to see Dawn in a parade. I was such a proud mommy. My friends and I cheered and hollered for the band, and for Dawn. I got all teary-eyed finally getting to see my baby girl in a parade. I'm such a proud mom. lol. I was so thankful that God kept the weather at bay until the kids were done with the parade. Then it rained. It was a VERY long parade, but the boys had a blast and I finally got to see Dawn march so it was worth it.
Today was a memorable one. The city of St. Cloud like all Minnesota cities in the summer is having it's annual City festival this weekend. But this year was different, they held an air show that hosted the famous Blue Angels and several other famous air planes. So as a family we were blessed to go to the air show. It was a long day, but the kids had fun. At first I wasn't sure if we had made the right decision. Nana was talking about taking the kids to see Aunt Nancy this weekend, and the kids were bummed that they weren't going with her, but to the air show. To be honest - when they acted less then thrilled about going, I was crushed. The older two are always talking about wanting to do more "fun" stuff as a family, and I thought - the air show..with the Blue Angels?! What would be more fun then that?
The kids didn't last very long when we got there, either between the hot weather (Clear blue skies, sun and humidity), or just being kids and sitting there for so long, they got super antsy. So between Jessie and I, we walked the kids around the airport where the air show was being held. The kids had a blast climbing in and out of the various planes on display, the boys even got to try on one of the pilots' helmets. The kids climbed the rock wall. It was neat watching Dawn do it, since she had so much fun doing it at Deep Portage earlier this spring. Spencer and Cyril even tried to climb the wall. Spencer got about half way up, and came down. Cyril didn't even get out of the Soldier's arms.lol. They also had a play area for the kids. The inflatables were a blast for them. They played and bounced for over an hour on those things. Including during the Blue Angels flight show. lol.
It was really cool to see the plane formations and etc. There were a couple of times that I about died because of the fly byes that they did. But it was fun watching the kids get excited about the planes. It will be neat to have the pictures to look back on this day.
There were a few times while we were there that again made me question if we made the right choice to go. One because of how loud it was at times for baby Gordon. We made a make-shift ear muffs for him, and he seemed fine,slept thru the loudest parts. lol. Dawn and I argued briefly, and etc. But I hope over all the kids had a blast. All of us but baby Gordon got sunburned, even with sunscreen on. It will be interesting to see what they think of tomorrow's festivities. We'll see what more the city of St. Cloud has to offer.
God Bless~
Monday, June 14, 2010
I miss my husband..
I miss my husband very much. It's tough having him gone all week long, sometimes more then others. Then again, there have been a few times, I'm glad he's gone for the week. lol. Which I'm sure there are times that, he's been glad to be gone all week. I'm not that easy to live with at times. lol. Things have been tough this last week or so with him gone. Due to him working overtime this past weekend, it will be 2 weeks by the time the kids and I see him again. Over the last couple of days it feels like an eternity away, and makes me wonder how military families do it?
With all the rain, being couped inside, the adjustment to having Gordon here...things have been really tough. The kids have been at it more then normal, and I've ready to pull my hair out. lol. I didn't realize that having 4 kids would be this hard. I knew it would be tough, but I honestly thought that it would be a little easier having the age differences that we have with our kids. I wish someone had knocked me on the side of the head during my pregnancy. lol.
Dawn has been a HUGE help with Gordon and the 2 daycare kids I had last week. She and Spencer have been a thorn in each other's side come evening time though. Here I thought with them having activities that would lessen a bit, it has and it hasn't made that much of a difference. I wonder if that makes sense? lol. Cyril is being super naughty last week and this week. I know why, and was prepared for it to come...it's still been really tough, having my sweet boy become this...this...I can't really find the words other then naughty.
Not to mention that Gordon and I are having trouble getting the nursing relationship down. He's a lazy latcher, and nurser. He falls asleep nursing barely after 10 minutes, doesn't matter if I strip him down to his t-shirt or not. Then he wakes up an hour later to nurse again. Or he'll go 4-5hours between feedings, by then my chest is ready to explode! lol. I think I gave him his nuk to early too, because he likes his nuk, way more then he should. Plus he doesn't want to latch on right either and gets so mad because the let down doesn't come as quickly as he'd like. So needless to say my milk supply has taken a serious hit -which is adding to the stress and frustration - of having a new baby, in addition to 3 children who all need attention. Did I mention I miss my husband? lol.
Do I need to mention the hormones too? lol. I had forgotten about those changes too. This weekend they really hit, and are stilling going strong. I'm crying and laughing at the silliest times, getting cranky at other times.
When Jessie was off those few days after Gordon was born, and when he was home that 1st weekend too, it was a HUGE blessing to not only have him there, but to have that extra helping hand. I had forgotten the extra work you have when a new baby comes into the household. I think a great gift for ALL new parents is for time to stand still or give us an extra hour, or two or three...so that we can get everything done that needs to be done.
Only 4 more days till he's home...and I'm counting the hours till he's here. It's Father's Day weekend this coming weekend...the kids and I will need to plan something to show him just how much we miss him and appreciate him.
God Bless ~
With all the rain, being couped inside, the adjustment to having Gordon here...things have been really tough. The kids have been at it more then normal, and I've ready to pull my hair out. lol. I didn't realize that having 4 kids would be this hard. I knew it would be tough, but I honestly thought that it would be a little easier having the age differences that we have with our kids. I wish someone had knocked me on the side of the head during my pregnancy. lol.
Dawn has been a HUGE help with Gordon and the 2 daycare kids I had last week. She and Spencer have been a thorn in each other's side come evening time though. Here I thought with them having activities that would lessen a bit, it has and it hasn't made that much of a difference. I wonder if that makes sense? lol. Cyril is being super naughty last week and this week. I know why, and was prepared for it to come...it's still been really tough, having my sweet boy become this...this...I can't really find the words other then naughty.
Not to mention that Gordon and I are having trouble getting the nursing relationship down. He's a lazy latcher, and nurser. He falls asleep nursing barely after 10 minutes, doesn't matter if I strip him down to his t-shirt or not. Then he wakes up an hour later to nurse again. Or he'll go 4-5hours between feedings, by then my chest is ready to explode! lol. I think I gave him his nuk to early too, because he likes his nuk, way more then he should. Plus he doesn't want to latch on right either and gets so mad because the let down doesn't come as quickly as he'd like. So needless to say my milk supply has taken a serious hit -which is adding to the stress and frustration - of having a new baby, in addition to 3 children who all need attention. Did I mention I miss my husband? lol.
Do I need to mention the hormones too? lol. I had forgotten about those changes too. This weekend they really hit, and are stilling going strong. I'm crying and laughing at the silliest times, getting cranky at other times.
When Jessie was off those few days after Gordon was born, and when he was home that 1st weekend too, it was a HUGE blessing to not only have him there, but to have that extra helping hand. I had forgotten the extra work you have when a new baby comes into the household. I think a great gift for ALL new parents is for time to stand still or give us an extra hour, or two or three...so that we can get everything done that needs to be done.
Only 4 more days till he's home...and I'm counting the hours till he's here. It's Father's Day weekend this coming weekend...the kids and I will need to plan something to show him just how much we miss him and appreciate him.
God Bless ~
New schedule?
Things aren't slowing down by any means...not sure if that's a good thing at this point or not. I'll have to let you know. Dawn had her 1st parade this past Saturday. She was so nervous about being able to do everything: playing the piece and marching at the same time. From what I'm told she did WONDERFUL! Why - did I not see it, you may wonder? Well, because we were in the wrong spot. We were at the beginning of the parade which was my plan, but we were in the WRONG spot. lol. We got to see all the great floats, but the bands were at a different spot, due to the parade officials having them merge further down the route then where we were. Both Dawn and I were extremely disappointed that the boys and I didn't get to see her. Later this week, she will have another parade that she'll be in. The boys and I are leaving with the band, so that I know exactly where they are beginning, this time. lol. I'm a Band mom, so I'm learning...is there a learning curve as a band parent?
Mother Nature is upsetting my schedule and plans for this summer. Seriously - enough with the rain...or can we at least have it at night? I haven't been able to finish planting the garden, and I'm starting to have some serious doubts if I will ever be able to get it all done. Especially because we will be out of town this weekend and with the rain never seems to stop, my days are numbered if not already up. The kids are starting to be affected by the rain too, since there have been more days then not where they've been couped up in doors. My kids and 2 of my daycare kids - trashed the daycare room downstairs today, from all of the playing...but I'll worry about that tomorrow as the saying goes. It was just nice not to listen to the yelling or the arguing between the kids. I actually had the living room to myself with Gordon and my daycare boy Mr. E. It was cute watching Mr. E explore the living room without the other kids around. The weather man says that tomorrow is the last day of rain for the week, that remains to be seen.
Speaking of schedules, my mother and I are implementing a new schedule with my kids this week, well even the older daycare kids will be in on this as well. The kids have "school" time for 1-2hrs every day, with the exception of Friday. The older two work on math and reading skills for that time, while the little ones will be continue to do their colors, fine motor skills and etc. The older kids will also get some of their chores done in the morning as well. We are getting tough on the older kids this summer in regards to their manners, and snotty attitude. The more disrespectful they are, the more chores they have. Mom is starting to really see what the older two have been doing, and wants to help me correct it. I'm thankful for the help. When Jessie is home the kids aren't even close to being this way with him. So we'll see at the end of summer what the results are of this new schedule...
God Bless~
Mother Nature is upsetting my schedule and plans for this summer. Seriously - enough with the rain...or can we at least have it at night? I haven't been able to finish planting the garden, and I'm starting to have some serious doubts if I will ever be able to get it all done. Especially because we will be out of town this weekend and with the rain never seems to stop, my days are numbered if not already up. The kids are starting to be affected by the rain too, since there have been more days then not where they've been couped up in doors. My kids and 2 of my daycare kids - trashed the daycare room downstairs today, from all of the playing...but I'll worry about that tomorrow as the saying goes. It was just nice not to listen to the yelling or the arguing between the kids. I actually had the living room to myself with Gordon and my daycare boy Mr. E. It was cute watching Mr. E explore the living room without the other kids around. The weather man says that tomorrow is the last day of rain for the week, that remains to be seen.
Speaking of schedules, my mother and I are implementing a new schedule with my kids this week, well even the older daycare kids will be in on this as well. The kids have "school" time for 1-2hrs every day, with the exception of Friday. The older two work on math and reading skills for that time, while the little ones will be continue to do their colors, fine motor skills and etc. The older kids will also get some of their chores done in the morning as well. We are getting tough on the older kids this summer in regards to their manners, and snotty attitude. The more disrespectful they are, the more chores they have. Mom is starting to really see what the older two have been doing, and wants to help me correct it. I'm thankful for the help. When Jessie is home the kids aren't even close to being this way with him. So we'll see at the end of summer what the results are of this new schedule...
God Bless~
Thursday, June 10, 2010
2 weeks today
It's hard to believe that little Gordon has been here for 2 weeks already. He had his 2 week check up today, and I'm happy to report that he's doing great! He got down to 10lbs 2oz when we left the hospital on the 29th. He's now 11lb 5oz. measuring at 22 inches long. Our peds. doctor: Dr. S. thinks that the hospital messed up on measuring him (which isn't surprising considering how scrunched up babies are when they are 1st born). So I guess you can say that nursing Gordon is going well. I just hope it will continue to do that. Which is almost every nursing mom's concern. lol.
It was also a tough day for Gordon too. He had a procedure done, that's normally done at the hospital. Since we refused the vitamin K shot, they needed to wait till Gordon was at least 8 days old to have it done. Things so far seem to be going well, he's been sleeping most of the day, but I think anyone would after that. It was a tough day for mommy too. Hopefully he and his brothers will be glad we had it done, and not resent it.
Spencer is getting more and more enthralled with Gordon. It's neat to watch. Dawn loves Gordon, she has been a huge helper this week, since 1 of my daycare families returned. To be honest I don't know how I would have been able to do it, if she wasn't there to help. Cyril, we have to keep a sharp eye on, when he's around Gordon. It's not that he's naughty with him, it's the complete opposite. He LOVES him soo much. Twice I've found him, holding Gordon, even though NO one has helped put Gordon in his lap.
Dawn has had a busy 1st week of Summer break. She has had marching band practice every night. She has her 1st parade on Saturday. Dawn is very excited about it, and as far as line up goes, is in the 1st row. :)
Spencer and Dawn are also in swimming lessons, already I've seen a HUGE improvement from last summer, both in attention/focus and endurance. So we'll see if the kids will pass the levels they are in this year. I have to help fine tune a couple of things as far as skills go, but not to much this year. It looks like things are finally clicking for them. I am thinking of possibly putting Cyril in lessons this year or next year, I'm not sure. I'll need to talk to Jessie about it.
So the last couple of days have been busy and exhausting. I'm really glad that I didn't take on my full daycare this week, because to be honest I don't think I would have been able to handle it. I'm so exhausted as it is. It's been a huge blessing to have several of my MOPS moms bringing us dinner last week and this week. To know that my family has a nutritional meal each night has been a huge gift. Starting next week, I'll be on my own, and I'm nervous, about how I'm going to be balancing all of this.
God Bless
It was also a tough day for Gordon too. He had a procedure done, that's normally done at the hospital. Since we refused the vitamin K shot, they needed to wait till Gordon was at least 8 days old to have it done. Things so far seem to be going well, he's been sleeping most of the day, but I think anyone would after that. It was a tough day for mommy too. Hopefully he and his brothers will be glad we had it done, and not resent it.
Spencer is getting more and more enthralled with Gordon. It's neat to watch. Dawn loves Gordon, she has been a huge helper this week, since 1 of my daycare families returned. To be honest I don't know how I would have been able to do it, if she wasn't there to help. Cyril, we have to keep a sharp eye on, when he's around Gordon. It's not that he's naughty with him, it's the complete opposite. He LOVES him soo much. Twice I've found him, holding Gordon, even though NO one has helped put Gordon in his lap.
Dawn has had a busy 1st week of Summer break. She has had marching band practice every night. She has her 1st parade on Saturday. Dawn is very excited about it, and as far as line up goes, is in the 1st row. :)
Spencer and Dawn are also in swimming lessons, already I've seen a HUGE improvement from last summer, both in attention/focus and endurance. So we'll see if the kids will pass the levels they are in this year. I have to help fine tune a couple of things as far as skills go, but not to much this year. It looks like things are finally clicking for them. I am thinking of possibly putting Cyril in lessons this year or next year, I'm not sure. I'll need to talk to Jessie about it.
So the last couple of days have been busy and exhausting. I'm really glad that I didn't take on my full daycare this week, because to be honest I don't think I would have been able to handle it. I'm so exhausted as it is. It's been a huge blessing to have several of my MOPS moms bringing us dinner last week and this week. To know that my family has a nutritional meal each night has been a huge gift. Starting next week, I'll be on my own, and I'm nervous, about how I'm going to be balancing all of this.
God Bless
Peanut's Arrival!
As you know I've been in the early stages of labor for weeks, it seemed to drag on and on. To be honest I was starting to get frustrated, I was expecting that part to go quicker then it did, but after peanut's arrival, we discovered why it was that way...or a theory anyways.
On Wednesday May 26th, my contractions started up again, not regular, but strong. I figured it was due to the stress of dealing with Spencer's eye injury. I was feeling really tired, not myself, so I laid down to take a nap since Cyril was sleeping too. That was around 3:30pm, by 4:30pm I was awoken with some really strong contractions, this was when I noticed I had back labor too starting in. So I told Dawn what was going on, and decided to take a bath to see what would happen: would they get stronger and more regular or would they stop, like before. I was in the bath for about 30 minutes and this time, nothing happened positive or negative. So I told the kids to get their stuff ready, and I was going to call my friend Amy. My hospital bags were backed (including one, with my Gluten Free foods and a baby name book), and we waited for Amy to call me back...once she did it was arranged that her husband Bob would watch the kids and Amy would come up and keep me company. Either till I was admitted and Jessie arrived or till they sent me home.
When we got up to L & D, they checked me and there was still no change. I was still 3cm and only 80%. I was so frustrated I could have cried, but had a sneaking suspicion that this was a possibility. They still wanted to monitor the contractions to see if this was the real thing and if not, I was going home. Around 10pm - the nurse came in and said they were admitting me, starting pitocin & inducing labor. The reason: Peanut wasn't tolerating the contractions very well. Peanut's heart rate would drop every time I had a contraction, the OB doctor on call didn't like that. And to be honest I didn't either, we were actually going to say something the next time the nurse came in. This was the 2nd time Peanut did that, 1st being when I went in a couple of weeks ago. So I called Jessie - who was already aware that I was up there, and told him it was time to come home and what was going on. Then Peanut chose to move and resettle, which was a good thing, because it's heart rate stabilized. The doctor then gave me the decision to either go home and wait for labor to start OR to go ahead with the induction (Which I really didn't want, but I wasn't comfortable going home with Peanut's heart rate dipping like that.) SO I called Jessie and asked him what we should do. Told him my feelings on the matter, and he said he wasn't comfortable with me going home either. He would rather we get the induction started and have Peanut's arrival. So they waited till Jessie arrived before they would start the pitocin. Thankfully Amy waited with me till Jessie arrived. Bless her heart, because it was around 1:30/2am before he got there. While we waited, we walked and walked trying to get the contractions to move on their own. I'm so thankfully she was there, because we talked and talked, she kept me distracted thru my contractions.
When Jessie arrived, Amy when to rescue Bob. lol. No - he did a great job with 5 children in the house. Their boys went down easy, Cyril kept his brother and sister up for awhile before Bob had to step in and make him lay down. Amy & Bob made sure the kids got to school on time and safely. Melissa another MOPS mom friend watched David for the morning while Amy had a field trip with her oldest son. We will forever be greatful for them for all the help & support they provided.
Jessie and I walked around the L & D floor for about another hour before they started the pitocin, which was started around 3am. The staff were great for letting me do more walking and stuff naturally to get things going, they also kept the levels low till my OB doctor. Dr. B went on call at around 8am.Our nurse Liz called him. He said he would be there by10:30am to break my water if it hadn't broken by then. By about that time though things were getting very regular and strong. I am thankful that I took another friend's suggestion of acupressure up, because that helped get me through a lot of the contractions. At around 9:30am - nurse Liz (Jessie gave her such a hard time, but she was great, kidding around with him.) checked me. I was then 3-4cm & 90%, so we walked some more. At 10am - the strangest sensation I have EVER had happened. My water broke all on it's own. I never had that happen with the other 3, the funny thing was that i was in the bathroom, when it happened, glad there wasn't a huge mess. lol. After mentioning it to the nurse (now looking back it's funny how I mentioned it to her.), she double checked and confirmed that it had. This is when everything sped up.
Both my front contractions and back labor started kicking into over drive. It got to a point where the few acupressure points that I remembered, weren't doing enough to relieve the pain. I asked Jessie to run a bath for me, thinking if I could at least get relief from the back labor, things would be fine. I never got settled into the tub. I was on my knees the whole time. Jessie was wonderful. A great labor coach, he put pressure where I needed it, soothed me with the water when I needed it, but it was tough for him, since I didn't have any pain meds at this point. So I know the moaning & etc, I did through contractions, was tough because I was in so much pain and he couldn't take it away. By this point when I went into the tub -both sets of contractions started piggy-backing. (When one stopped, the other kind picked up.) It got to the point where I knew I needed something to take the edge off, I didn't think I could do it anymore. So I had Jessie go get our nurse, but after hearing a contraction, she checked me, and said I was to far gone to have any to relieve the pain.
This was at 11:15am - I was 8cm and 100%. I then had 2 more contractions, which I guess I started to push with those. She checked me again, and discovered that less then 5 minutes later, I was ready to push. She called Dr. B to come. I was ready for the show to get started, but like Jessie said, we waited this long for Dr. B - we could wait for a few more minutes. Thankfully Dr. B arrived shortly after that. It would be a long period of pushing though. We discovered through some of the pushing that Peanut had turned back over, so it was again posterior or sunny-side up (meaning facing the front instead of the tail bone.), so Dr. B was trying to get him to turn every time I pushed. It got really tough. Everyone was great, encouraging me when I didn't think I could do it anymore. I was exhausted and amazingly "slept" through a couple of contractions, or focused on something else.
Then I became one of "those" women. lol. Women that I swore I was never going to be, because I'd like to think of myself as more modest then that, more of a lady then that. But when "animal" instinct takes over to get that baby out, you do what you need to do. I ended up yelling thru the contractions towards the end, and it helped surprisingly. But trouble soon appeared after Peanut's head was delivered. Peanut's shoulders became stuck. I don't know if Jessie realized it or not, but I didn't realize that there was something wrong till all of sudden 4 more nurses arrived. They helped support my legs, while 1-2 other nurses pushed on my stomach from the top to give more force behind my contractions to help get Peanut out. I will never forget Dr. B said just as the nurses pushed on my stomach. Peanut would get a broken collar bone as a result. :(
Then after a few more minutes we heard: Congratulations you have a BOY! I knew it was all over. Gordon was born at 12:32pm on May 27th. And he really isn't a peanut. He was a whopping 10lbs 11oz (We have a picture showing 10lbs 8oz - so not sure which one is right.)and he's 21 inches long. NO wonder my labor took so long to start and he got stuck. I am happy, even though my labor was so intense and so tough that I didn't get the time for the drugs, because I didn't want them. I went into labor with that plan. And as a result Gordon was a much more alert baby, for which I'm very thankful. I still think it's humorous that it would take us most of the day to come up with a name for him.
His collar bone will heal on it's own - they don't do anything for it these days. We just have to be very careful around it, which is hard when you have a 3yr old wanting to hold his little brother all the time. Cyril & Dawn are very much in love with their new baby brother. Spencer is handling his disappointment that Gordan is a boy and not a girl very well. He also pays a bit more attention to Gordon then he did with Cyril. Which has been very interesting.
So that is Gordon's birth story....
God Bless.
On Wednesday May 26th, my contractions started up again, not regular, but strong. I figured it was due to the stress of dealing with Spencer's eye injury. I was feeling really tired, not myself, so I laid down to take a nap since Cyril was sleeping too. That was around 3:30pm, by 4:30pm I was awoken with some really strong contractions, this was when I noticed I had back labor too starting in. So I told Dawn what was going on, and decided to take a bath to see what would happen: would they get stronger and more regular or would they stop, like before. I was in the bath for about 30 minutes and this time, nothing happened positive or negative. So I told the kids to get their stuff ready, and I was going to call my friend Amy. My hospital bags were backed (including one, with my Gluten Free foods and a baby name book), and we waited for Amy to call me back...once she did it was arranged that her husband Bob would watch the kids and Amy would come up and keep me company. Either till I was admitted and Jessie arrived or till they sent me home.
When we got up to L & D, they checked me and there was still no change. I was still 3cm and only 80%. I was so frustrated I could have cried, but had a sneaking suspicion that this was a possibility. They still wanted to monitor the contractions to see if this was the real thing and if not, I was going home. Around 10pm - the nurse came in and said they were admitting me, starting pitocin & inducing labor. The reason: Peanut wasn't tolerating the contractions very well. Peanut's heart rate would drop every time I had a contraction, the OB doctor on call didn't like that. And to be honest I didn't either, we were actually going to say something the next time the nurse came in. This was the 2nd time Peanut did that, 1st being when I went in a couple of weeks ago. So I called Jessie - who was already aware that I was up there, and told him it was time to come home and what was going on. Then Peanut chose to move and resettle, which was a good thing, because it's heart rate stabilized. The doctor then gave me the decision to either go home and wait for labor to start OR to go ahead with the induction (Which I really didn't want, but I wasn't comfortable going home with Peanut's heart rate dipping like that.) SO I called Jessie and asked him what we should do. Told him my feelings on the matter, and he said he wasn't comfortable with me going home either. He would rather we get the induction started and have Peanut's arrival. So they waited till Jessie arrived before they would start the pitocin. Thankfully Amy waited with me till Jessie arrived. Bless her heart, because it was around 1:30/2am before he got there. While we waited, we walked and walked trying to get the contractions to move on their own. I'm so thankfully she was there, because we talked and talked, she kept me distracted thru my contractions.
When Jessie arrived, Amy when to rescue Bob. lol. No - he did a great job with 5 children in the house. Their boys went down easy, Cyril kept his brother and sister up for awhile before Bob had to step in and make him lay down. Amy & Bob made sure the kids got to school on time and safely. Melissa another MOPS mom friend watched David for the morning while Amy had a field trip with her oldest son. We will forever be greatful for them for all the help & support they provided.
Jessie and I walked around the L & D floor for about another hour before they started the pitocin, which was started around 3am. The staff were great for letting me do more walking and stuff naturally to get things going, they also kept the levels low till my OB doctor. Dr. B went on call at around 8am.Our nurse Liz called him. He said he would be there by10:30am to break my water if it hadn't broken by then. By about that time though things were getting very regular and strong. I am thankful that I took another friend's suggestion of acupressure up, because that helped get me through a lot of the contractions. At around 9:30am - nurse Liz (Jessie gave her such a hard time, but she was great, kidding around with him.) checked me. I was then 3-4cm & 90%, so we walked some more. At 10am - the strangest sensation I have EVER had happened. My water broke all on it's own. I never had that happen with the other 3, the funny thing was that i was in the bathroom, when it happened, glad there wasn't a huge mess. lol. After mentioning it to the nurse (now looking back it's funny how I mentioned it to her.), she double checked and confirmed that it had. This is when everything sped up.
Both my front contractions and back labor started kicking into over drive. It got to a point where the few acupressure points that I remembered, weren't doing enough to relieve the pain. I asked Jessie to run a bath for me, thinking if I could at least get relief from the back labor, things would be fine. I never got settled into the tub. I was on my knees the whole time. Jessie was wonderful. A great labor coach, he put pressure where I needed it, soothed me with the water when I needed it, but it was tough for him, since I didn't have any pain meds at this point. So I know the moaning & etc, I did through contractions, was tough because I was in so much pain and he couldn't take it away. By this point when I went into the tub -both sets of contractions started piggy-backing. (When one stopped, the other kind picked up.) It got to the point where I knew I needed something to take the edge off, I didn't think I could do it anymore. So I had Jessie go get our nurse, but after hearing a contraction, she checked me, and said I was to far gone to have any to relieve the pain.
This was at 11:15am - I was 8cm and 100%. I then had 2 more contractions, which I guess I started to push with those. She checked me again, and discovered that less then 5 minutes later, I was ready to push. She called Dr. B to come. I was ready for the show to get started, but like Jessie said, we waited this long for Dr. B - we could wait for a few more minutes. Thankfully Dr. B arrived shortly after that. It would be a long period of pushing though. We discovered through some of the pushing that Peanut had turned back over, so it was again posterior or sunny-side up (meaning facing the front instead of the tail bone.), so Dr. B was trying to get him to turn every time I pushed. It got really tough. Everyone was great, encouraging me when I didn't think I could do it anymore. I was exhausted and amazingly "slept" through a couple of contractions, or focused on something else.
Then I became one of "those" women. lol. Women that I swore I was never going to be, because I'd like to think of myself as more modest then that, more of a lady then that. But when "animal" instinct takes over to get that baby out, you do what you need to do. I ended up yelling thru the contractions towards the end, and it helped surprisingly. But trouble soon appeared after Peanut's head was delivered. Peanut's shoulders became stuck. I don't know if Jessie realized it or not, but I didn't realize that there was something wrong till all of sudden 4 more nurses arrived. They helped support my legs, while 1-2 other nurses pushed on my stomach from the top to give more force behind my contractions to help get Peanut out. I will never forget Dr. B said just as the nurses pushed on my stomach. Peanut would get a broken collar bone as a result. :(
Then after a few more minutes we heard: Congratulations you have a BOY! I knew it was all over. Gordon was born at 12:32pm on May 27th. And he really isn't a peanut. He was a whopping 10lbs 11oz (We have a picture showing 10lbs 8oz - so not sure which one is right.)and he's 21 inches long. NO wonder my labor took so long to start and he got stuck. I am happy, even though my labor was so intense and so tough that I didn't get the time for the drugs, because I didn't want them. I went into labor with that plan. And as a result Gordon was a much more alert baby, for which I'm very thankful. I still think it's humorous that it would take us most of the day to come up with a name for him.
His collar bone will heal on it's own - they don't do anything for it these days. We just have to be very careful around it, which is hard when you have a 3yr old wanting to hold his little brother all the time. Cyril & Dawn are very much in love with their new baby brother. Spencer is handling his disappointment that Gordan is a boy and not a girl very well. He also pays a bit more attention to Gordon then he did with Cyril. Which has been very interesting.
God Bless.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Busy, Busy.
The last couple of weeks have been very busy at our household, hence the long silence on my part. Our Peanut made HIS arrival on May 27th, 2010. But I'll save all the details for another entry...just cause I can. lol. Spencer also got hurt during that same week on Tuesday the 25th. And let me tell you it's been a learning experience as far as helping to get the injury to heal.
Spencer was bouncing a bouncy ball in the back yard, showing one of the daycare kids, how high it went. The 1st several times everything went well, but then some how instead of bouncing forward, it bounced back and struck Spencer full force in the eye. He dropped like a ton of bricks, as you can imagine. After about 20 minutes with an ice pack, looking at the eye, seeing a bit of blood on the eye ball itself, I knew that this was a little more serious. So we called the Eye Doctor, who advised us to come in right away. After looking at the eye, come to find out, Spencer had a severe cut on the cornea of the eye, and a blood vessel had ruptured on the iris. At 1st the doctor couldn't tell if the retina was intact, due to all of the blood, so we had got some medicated drops, and had to return 24hrs later. We would later discover the good news that, his retina is still intact, but will have to be on guard for the next 3yrs, because a retina can still become detached after an injury like this. Poor guy. We are still doing medicated drops, and seeing the doctor every few days to make sure that the eye is healing. The cut on the cornea is healed, but we are waiting for the blood and inflammation to go down in the eye. His eyesight is returning to normal so hopefully things will get better.
The kids have were busy having end of the year school activities and parties to celebrate the end of the school year. Dawn's school got to go to Valley Fair, this past week they got to go to a movie, and pretty much have an easy last 2 weeks of school. Spencer's class got to go the Diary Queen for a middle of the day treat. Actually all the classes go in the elementary school. Doesn't your heart go out to those employees of the Diary Queen? lol.
I ended up having almost no daycare kids these last two weeks, so that was very interesting. I miss my "kids" terribly, but it was really nice spending that last week with my kids, before peanut arrived, even on the day Spencer got his injury.
I didn't even make it to my last OB appointment before Peanut arrived. lol. He actually arrived the day of my last appointment. It was a nice long weekend for us to enjoy as a family with our new addition. This week has been very quiet, and interesting learning how to get things done with 2 little boys in the house, and trying to get 4 kids ready at night for bed. I've been so thankfully of my MOPS moms who have brought us dinner these last couple of nights. They have been Heaven sent, knowing that I didn't need to worry about a meal for the kids at night.
Last night we had our 1st officially event out of the house since our little guy was born. We had our annual MOPS family picnic last night. It was great seeing some of the MOPS moms again, the kids had a blast at the park and the splash pad. Thankfully the rain held off till we were pretty much done. Then it seems like everyone made a dash. lol. It was a great evening...
Spencer was bouncing a bouncy ball in the back yard, showing one of the daycare kids, how high it went. The 1st several times everything went well, but then some how instead of bouncing forward, it bounced back and struck Spencer full force in the eye. He dropped like a ton of bricks, as you can imagine. After about 20 minutes with an ice pack, looking at the eye, seeing a bit of blood on the eye ball itself, I knew that this was a little more serious. So we called the Eye Doctor, who advised us to come in right away. After looking at the eye, come to find out, Spencer had a severe cut on the cornea of the eye, and a blood vessel had ruptured on the iris. At 1st the doctor couldn't tell if the retina was intact, due to all of the blood, so we had got some medicated drops, and had to return 24hrs later. We would later discover the good news that, his retina is still intact, but will have to be on guard for the next 3yrs, because a retina can still become detached after an injury like this. Poor guy. We are still doing medicated drops, and seeing the doctor every few days to make sure that the eye is healing. The cut on the cornea is healed, but we are waiting for the blood and inflammation to go down in the eye. His eyesight is returning to normal so hopefully things will get better.
The kids have were busy having end of the year school activities and parties to celebrate the end of the school year. Dawn's school got to go to Valley Fair, this past week they got to go to a movie, and pretty much have an easy last 2 weeks of school. Spencer's class got to go the Diary Queen for a middle of the day treat. Actually all the classes go in the elementary school. Doesn't your heart go out to those employees of the Diary Queen? lol.
I ended up having almost no daycare kids these last two weeks, so that was very interesting. I miss my "kids" terribly, but it was really nice spending that last week with my kids, before peanut arrived, even on the day Spencer got his injury.
I didn't even make it to my last OB appointment before Peanut arrived. lol. He actually arrived the day of my last appointment. It was a nice long weekend for us to enjoy as a family with our new addition. This week has been very quiet, and interesting learning how to get things done with 2 little boys in the house, and trying to get 4 kids ready at night for bed. I've been so thankfully of my MOPS moms who have brought us dinner these last couple of nights. They have been Heaven sent, knowing that I didn't need to worry about a meal for the kids at night.
Last night we had our 1st officially event out of the house since our little guy was born. We had our annual MOPS family picnic last night. It was great seeing some of the MOPS moms again, the kids had a blast at the park and the splash pad. Thankfully the rain held off till we were pretty much done. Then it seems like everyone made a dash. lol. It was a great evening...
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