Weekend

 Good heavens,

this girl and the Ipad.

She's addicted to You Tube.

And you know what kind of videos she watches?

Toy tutorials.

It's quite comical because she is now playing with her toys as if she is showing how they work.

For instance,

"Hi guys, Disney Collector here.  This is my princess castle.  We got it at Target (not really, Santa brought it for her last year!)  Today I'm going to show you how to make Ariel sing...."

You get the idea.

 We went to visit my dad and stepmom and had pizza for dinner.

It took me straight back to when I was 10 years old.

This was a biweekly tradition we had with my grandparents in this very house that used to be theirs.

Being there made me want to bring  the tradition of "pizza at pop-pops" back.

It was always something we looked forward to as kids and I'd love for my kids to feel the same way.

Too bad these pictures are all blurry.

I couldn't resist taking some pics of Molly and Owen in their matching clothes.

Poor Owen,

this is literally how Molly is with him all day long.

Constantly in his face,

touching, patting, poking, kissing, screaming.

He's either gonna love her or hate her!

 

The rest of our weekend consisted of Nutcracker rehearsal for Jane, cleaning up lots of leaves,

Target trip, dinner at 5 Guys, church, and a nice long outing for the girls with their nana Sunday afternoon.

Before going to bed last night,

Brian and I said what a nice weekend it was.

Wish they were all this peaceful!



Owen's Birth Story

Better late than never.

 

I wanted to write this for myself.

There were so many emotions this day.

But I want to always remember how I felt and how miraculous God really is.

 

I guess I should start with around week 23 of my pregnancy.

After reexamining my ultrasound pictures of our little boy to be,

I noticed what seemed quite a lot like 6 fingers on one of his hands.

I took the picture to Brian and had him look at it.

He's usually always calling me crazy when it comes to anything health related,

so when he said that indeed it did look like he had 6 fingers, I kinda freaked.

Straight to the internet I went.

After reading multiple parent boards,

it seemed like it was rather common and I was immediately calmed.

Of course I called my OB doctor the next morning.

I was overly upset that the doctor reading my ultrasound picture missed this after confirming with my OB doctor that is did look like our son would be born with 6 fingers.

But the fact that he would have 6 fingers hardly bothered me.

As long as he's healthy, this didn't matter.

Besides, it's a rather simple problem to take care of.

 

However, I soon learned that 6 fingers was often a symptom of a much more serious condition.

In fact, there are several serious syndromes related.

After learning this I pretty much shut down.

All I could do was just pray that things would be okay.

I had a level two ultrasound done that didn't show any signs of other conditions,

but the doctor told me we really wouldn't know until the baby was born.

It wasn't until I talked to a nurse at my office that while having the glucose test done that my fears were finally settled. 

Not gone, but I was feeling some relief.

 

I went about the rest of my pregnancy pretty calm.

But the few weeks just before Owen was born, they started to come back.

He was due October 13.

The 13th came and went.

1AM on the 16th I woke up to go to the bathroom.

When I came back to bed, Brian asked me if it was time.

I laughed and laid back down.

But all of a sudden I felt like I was having a real contraction.

I laid there waiting for another.

Still in disbelief, I waited for another 3 or 4.

 

Finally I got out of bed and started straightening my hair.

Ha, of all things.

But I figured, if this was really it, I might as well get myself ready.

Brian woke up and asked me what I was doing. 

I told him I thought maybe I was having real contractions.

He went back to sleep, hahahha.

By 2AM I woke him back up and told him to call his mom.

I had a pretty quick labor with Molly, and I was strep B positive so I knew I had to be there early for 4 hours of antibiotics.

 

Just after 2:30 we were on the road heading to the hospital.

I was a nervous wreck.

I just kept praying that God would give us a healthy baby.

 

Turns out I had actually been leaking amniotic fluid for over 24 hours so the doctors wanted to try any hurry my labor up with Pitocin because of risk of infection with being strep B positive.

By the time they got my IV going with the antibiotic, the anesthesiologist was coming in with my epidural, something I did not get in time with Molly. 

My contractions weren't terrible but I didn't want to miss getting it!

From that point on, I felt nothing!

 

With no pain to distract me, I was a worried mess.

Finally around 8am as I was almost finished my second round of antibiotics, they decided to check and see how far along I was.

They were shocked that I was already 10 centimeters.

Their plans to give me the Pitocin wasn't going to be needed after all.

They had me wait another 30 minutes to make sure the antibiotic was completely done.

 

As the doctor came in, I couldn't help but start to cry.

Everything was about to happen and we were about to have a son.

A son who I knew I would love no matter what,

but it broke my heart to think about any hardships this child may endure.

 

In two quick pushes, Owen was born. 

As they laid him on my chest,

I immediately looked at his little face,

a face I loved so fiercely already.

I looked at Brian,

then picked up Owen's tiny, trembling hand.

I glanced at the other hand.

They looked so normal, but I was tired.

Before I even had a chance to count his little fingers,

Brian said there was only 5 fingers- on each hand.

 

What?

It so clearly looked like 6 fingers on the ultrasound,

 and it had been confirmed by a high risk doctor.

They looked at his hands to see if it had somehow already fallen off.

No.

 

Healthy baby.  10 fingers.

I couldn't even believe how lucky I was.

 

As the nurses cleaned him off and wrapped him up,

all the chatter was about this mysterious finger.

Then it was silent as Brian and my mom were texting away.

 

When I got Owen back in my arms,

I immediately knew I was just going to be obsessed with this little baby.

He's my world, and I love him so!!

(yes, yes, his sisters too!)

 

 

 



One Month

How is it even possible that Owen is a month old already?

He had his one month check up today.

I was shocked that he weighed 8 pounds 10 ounces already! 

He sure gained a lot since his last weigh in!!

I totally forgot to ask about his other stats because I was completely preoccupied keeping the girls out of trouble. 

Third kid problems, I tell ya!

Also, the doctor couldn't believe that he's smiling at 4 weeks!

But, yes, he sure is! 

It is just about the cutest thing, my heart just MELTS!

We've also decided to put him on some zantac.

With his sisters histories of silent reflux, the signs were all pointing that he is victim to it as well.

To say I am disappointed is an understatement! 

The reflux with the girls has been terribly difficult and they are terrible eaters as a result.

I thought maybe this time I'd get a child who likes to eat. 

Who knows, maybe he still will- fingers crossed!

 

Owen is just the sweetest baby!

He just has the best temperament.

Other than the reflux, he's been a pretty easy baby as well.

He sleeps most of the day- and most of the night, waking to eat usually twice.

His daytime awake periods are starting to get longer though.

He's still sleeping with me at night which I'm afraid is going to probably make for another terrible sleeper down the road- but, hey, we already got two of those, what's a third!?

 

The girls love to help me give him a bath.

He seems to really like the water- just not the cold.

Being born during the cold weather season kinda stinks!

When the weather isn't too frigid, I bundle him up and but him in the wrap to take the girls outside.

As soon as he gets in that thing he is zonked out!

 

One last thing, he totally looks like Jane did as a baby. 

I don't know if he'll get the eyes, but I'm pretty sure he's going to look a lot more like her than Molly.

 

 

 

 



Life as 5

Things have settled down and we've quickly picked up a new routine around here.  It's certainly busier.  And at the same time- not. 

I say not for two reasons.  One being that mostly, other than school, ballet, and more doctor appointments than anyone would care for (well visit, sick visit, weekly weight checks), we aren't running all around.  We've gotten pretty content with staying home.  Most days are pretty good.  Sooommme days are dreadfully slow and boring.  The other thing is that with nuring an infant, it's just that- a lot of sitting around and nursing.  I'm not a big producer so it's been very time consuming.  And with that, there's the flip side and being busy.  If I'm not nursing, I'm trying to make sure everyone's' needs are met, both physically and emotionally.  If I can manage to have everyone content for two seconds then I'm either cooking or cleaning up one of Molly's ten thousand messes.  As crazy as it feels at times, I've never been more in love with being a mom.

It's been amazing to watch how everyone's relationship has changed, grown, and blossomed.  Molly's had the biggest challenge.  Being a complete mommy's girl, it was hard for her to let someone else meet those needs for her that I was always able to do.  Brian's been amazing at trying to pick up where I can't.  With that, Molly and Brian's relationship has really grown.  Her favorite thing is when he takes her to the high school football games, just the two of them.  She talks about it all the time, and  know it's really special for her.  I hope that in the future she will be able to remember it.  Brian obviously isn't home during the day though, and that's where Jane and Molly's relationship has changed.  Where it was once more bickering than anything, now they've become more like friends.  Not being available to them all the time as made them become more dependent on each other.  Everyone's relationship with Owen is blossoming daily.  The girls adore him, constantly asking either where he is, what he's doing, if they can home him.  And I can tell he likes them too!  It's amazing really, I swear it's like he already knew them before he was born.  Their shrieks don't faze him at all.  I guess he got quite used to it in utero!  And he just watches them, wide eyed, as they run around him.

Overall, it's been pretty sweet around here.  Lots of kisses, lots of hugs.  Lots of learning new roles in this family of now 5.