This is why I don't have time to blog anymore! All is well in our household. We've had a busy half year. We sold our house in May and moved into a better school district. We're renting a duplex with tons of space and nomaintenance worries. Eric has been staying home with the kids and it's actually very nice not to have to worry about babysitters.
Grace starts kindergarten on September 1st and she's so excited. Speaking of starting school, it's finally happening for me too! I've been working on it for years, but in just 4 weeks, I will be starting my Master's program full time! I've given my notice at work and been getting prepared by buying my books, parking pass, scrubs and equipment, and getting my clinical complance done (CPR, immunizations, background checks, etc.). I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!
Anyway, before all that goes down, Faith is scheduled for her cleft palate repair on September 7th. I'm praying it will be smoother for her than Grace's surgery. My parents will be coming to stay for a few days while she's in the hospital and first days home to help with Grace and Luke and make sure Grace doesn't miss school!
That's my short entry for now. Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still around. Just busy and happy!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Craniofacial Visit
My day started off kind of crazy. It started last night (yesterday afternoon) when I got a text from my best friend telling me that her baby was sick and so she wouldn't be able to watch Grace and Luke during our doctor's appointment with Faith so we didn't risk catching it. So, we called our old babysitter and left a message and tried a church friend (who unfortunately was back to work as a teacher) to find someone to watch them. We didn't get a return call from the babysitter before bed. Due to Faith's feeding schedule, I didn't attempt to really go to bed until after her midnight feeding.
We slept really well until about 3 a.m. and then Faith moved from the bassinet to my bed until about 4:40 a.m. when she let me know she really was hungry. I fed her, pumped, and then attempted to convince her it wasn't supposed to be "awake time" until about 6:30 a.m. when she finally fell asleep and let me turn off the TV (light). At 8 a.m., Grace burst into my room and told me that Luke was awake and that Daddy had sent her upstairs only one time. I informed her that Faith was not awake and she needed to leave us alone. About 20 minutes later, she came back in and told me that she got Luke out of his crib and sure enough he was all smiley beside her. I have no idea how she got him out of his bed. He weighs more than 30 pounds! I was a bit grouchy, but I changed Luke's diaper and took him downstairs and got his milk and handed them over to Daddy. I attempted to go back to bed, but I couldn't stop thinking about our babysitting situation, so I got back up and started my morning. Around 9 I started making more calls, but long story short, we couldn't find anyone on short notice to watch the kids. So, we decided that we'd attempt to give Luke an early nap, so he wouldn't be too horrible at the 1 p.m. appointment.
Around noon we left and stopped at McDonalds for lunch and then headed to Children's Hospital for Faith's craniofacial appointment. The kids were mostly well behaved except for Luke figuring out where the light switch for the room was and feeling the need to push the chairs all over the room and play with the automatic water in the sink.
Faith's appointment started with the Nurse Practioner and her weigh-in and measuring. She weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces! After 2 1/2 weeks she's made it back to her birth weight. She was born at 8 pounds, 2 ounces, was 7-8 at discharge (2 days). We had a weight check at 4 days and she was down to 7-2. At 1 week we rechecked and she was up to 7-6 and then again at 9 days and she was up to 7-8. So in the last 8 days she's gained another 14 ounces. I guess my pumping is doing some good at fattening her up! They asked us about her feeding and seemed satisfied that she's taking 3 1/2 to 4 ounces every 3 hours. Next we met with the surgeon. He explained that her cleft is both hard and soft palate. He will do a repair surgery when she is 9 or 10 months old (we got back June 1st for another consultation and to finalize the plans). The reapair will be the same as Grace's surgery. They will cut down the gum line to get some extra tissue and then pull the skin together and stitch it up the middle. Apparently, the bone on the roof of the mouth isn't that important as long as there is something separating the mouth from the nasal/sinus cavities. So, her repair will be all soft tissue and she will never have any bone on the roof of her mouth. The next doctor to come in was the speech pathologist. At this point we don't have much to discuss with her, but I'm sure around age 2, she'll become a vital part of our team. The ENT came in and told us that we can expect Faith to have lots of ear infections and unless she somehow doesn't have any ear infections and her ears look great, we'll have tubes put in during her repair surgery. Shouldn't be a big issue and we are used to that with Grace, so we'll just keep an eye on it. The last set of doctors we saw was the dentist group. She confirmed the cleft doesn't extend to the gum line. She did say it appears that her mandible (lower jaw bone) may be a little small and that if it doesn't catch up we may need braces or something, but for now, there are no major issues. The geneticist wasn't in today, so we didn't get to have that meeting, but they do want us to reschedule that appointment, now that we have siblings both with clefts. I'm curious to know why (if they can tell us) we had two out of our three children with the same birth defect, but at the same time, we don't have any intention of having more children, so it doesn't really matter as long as they don't find anything else wrong with Faith (or Grace).
So, that's the update on the appointment. I need to go make some more milk for Faith before she wakes up for our last feeding before Mommy's bedtime. :)
We slept really well until about 3 a.m. and then Faith moved from the bassinet to my bed until about 4:40 a.m. when she let me know she really was hungry. I fed her, pumped, and then attempted to convince her it wasn't supposed to be "awake time" until about 6:30 a.m. when she finally fell asleep and let me turn off the TV (light). At 8 a.m., Grace burst into my room and told me that Luke was awake and that Daddy had sent her upstairs only one time. I informed her that Faith was not awake and she needed to leave us alone. About 20 minutes later, she came back in and told me that she got Luke out of his crib and sure enough he was all smiley beside her. I have no idea how she got him out of his bed. He weighs more than 30 pounds! I was a bit grouchy, but I changed Luke's diaper and took him downstairs and got his milk and handed them over to Daddy. I attempted to go back to bed, but I couldn't stop thinking about our babysitting situation, so I got back up and started my morning. Around 9 I started making more calls, but long story short, we couldn't find anyone on short notice to watch the kids. So, we decided that we'd attempt to give Luke an early nap, so he wouldn't be too horrible at the 1 p.m. appointment.
Around noon we left and stopped at McDonalds for lunch and then headed to Children's Hospital for Faith's craniofacial appointment. The kids were mostly well behaved except for Luke figuring out where the light switch for the room was and feeling the need to push the chairs all over the room and play with the automatic water in the sink.
Faith's appointment started with the Nurse Practioner and her weigh-in and measuring. She weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces! After 2 1/2 weeks she's made it back to her birth weight. She was born at 8 pounds, 2 ounces, was 7-8 at discharge (2 days). We had a weight check at 4 days and she was down to 7-2. At 1 week we rechecked and she was up to 7-6 and then again at 9 days and she was up to 7-8. So in the last 8 days she's gained another 14 ounces. I guess my pumping is doing some good at fattening her up! They asked us about her feeding and seemed satisfied that she's taking 3 1/2 to 4 ounces every 3 hours. Next we met with the surgeon. He explained that her cleft is both hard and soft palate. He will do a repair surgery when she is 9 or 10 months old (we got back June 1st for another consultation and to finalize the plans). The reapair will be the same as Grace's surgery. They will cut down the gum line to get some extra tissue and then pull the skin together and stitch it up the middle. Apparently, the bone on the roof of the mouth isn't that important as long as there is something separating the mouth from the nasal/sinus cavities. So, her repair will be all soft tissue and she will never have any bone on the roof of her mouth. The next doctor to come in was the speech pathologist. At this point we don't have much to discuss with her, but I'm sure around age 2, she'll become a vital part of our team. The ENT came in and told us that we can expect Faith to have lots of ear infections and unless she somehow doesn't have any ear infections and her ears look great, we'll have tubes put in during her repair surgery. Shouldn't be a big issue and we are used to that with Grace, so we'll just keep an eye on it. The last set of doctors we saw was the dentist group. She confirmed the cleft doesn't extend to the gum line. She did say it appears that her mandible (lower jaw bone) may be a little small and that if it doesn't catch up we may need braces or something, but for now, there are no major issues. The geneticist wasn't in today, so we didn't get to have that meeting, but they do want us to reschedule that appointment, now that we have siblings both with clefts. I'm curious to know why (if they can tell us) we had two out of our three children with the same birth defect, but at the same time, we don't have any intention of having more children, so it doesn't really matter as long as they don't find anything else wrong with Faith (or Grace).
So, that's the update on the appointment. I need to go make some more milk for Faith before she wakes up for our last feeding before Mommy's bedtime. :)
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Faith's Going Home Duds
As mentioned in my previous post, here is a picture of Faith. Click for more pictures.
Happy 2010!
It would seem that I've been on a blogging hiatus for most of 2009. It was a crazy year that I never could have imagined, but we've made it through. Now I'm standing here looking forward to 2010 and not really knowing what is in store for my family. If I learned anything over the last 18 months or so, it is that I am not in control and my best laid plans don't always work out. I've become much more relaxed in that manner. I'm learning to go with the flow, have faith that God is in control of my life, depend on my husband and cherish our open communication, and believe that in the end as long as I have my family and my faith, things will work out for the best.
That being said, I do have a couple of resolutions/goals for 2010 (and then I'll attempt to catch up on 2009).
1. My pregnancy years have come to a close (yes, I gave birth to #3, more to come later), so as soon as I am cleared medically, I plan to start watching what I eat and exercising. I'm currently 10 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight, so at a minimum I need to lose that, but ideally 20 pounds would put me at a very comfortable weight (especially if I can tone a bit).
2. Be a good wife. This year I read the 5 Love Languages book and think I've learned a little more about how to make my husband feel loved. I need him and that means I need to continue to show him that I love him, need him, and respect him. This means I need to be fully committed to supporting his dreams and aspirations, and being thankful to what he contributes to our family, be it financial or through work around the house or time with the kids.
3. Be a good mom. I have 3 children now, so it's vitally important to me that I remember to enjoy all the small moments with them. Each of my children needs quality time with me, so sometimes that means that the dishes or laundry have to wait until after bedtime, so I can play a game of Operation, give a bottle, or have a tickle fight.
Those are the only things I'm willing to put down as goals. Some other things that I'd like to see happen, but I can't 100% control are:
1. School - I'd like to start my Masters program full time in the fall.
2. Finances - I'd like to get in the position that we can get by if I am in school full time.
So, a little about what's been going on.
Baby #3
Faith Evelynn is my new daughter. I don't think I posted since my intial announcement, but Faith was born on December 19, 2009 at 4:39 p.m. She weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. We did end up finding out she was a girl, although we had considered having this last baby be a surprise. In an early ultrasound (12 weeks) we thought we saw "boy parts" so we wanted to confirm and when we confirmed, we found out "he" was actually a "she." Because of all of our shoulder dystocia issues with Grace and Luke and Luke's extremely large size, we kept a close eye on her growth and decided to induce 3 weeks early to be sure she didn't get too big. We did an amnio on Dec. 17th for lung maturity and when we got the results, my parents and Eric's Dad and girlfriend came in on the 18th. Christie stayed with Grace and Luke on Saturday morning while my parents and Eric's Dad came to the hospital with us. My induction went smoothly. I seemed to stall at about 3 cm for a couple of hours (too early for an epidural), so I spent some time on a birthing ball for some pretty intense contractions. Finally made it to 5 cm and got my epidural. After that I progressed to 10 cm very quickly and when it was time to push I pushed twice during one contraction and she was born. No shoulder dystocia and the easiest delivery yet!
After birth, when we were doing the newborn assessments in our post-partum room our baby nurse surprised us by informing us that Faith had a cleft of the hard palate. We were shocked that we again have to deal with this birth defect. We will be visiting the Craniofacial Clinic at Children's Hospital on Tuesday (1/5) to determine exactly what the plan will be to get her fixed up. So far, things are going well. She has to use the same special bottles that Grace used and I'm pumping as she can't breastfeed. I haven't decided how long we're going to pump, but it isn't making me crazy yet, so I am just keeping going day by day.
Eric's Job
I think at my last post, Eric was still at home with Grace and working nights and weekends at Wal-Mart. He did take a job with a medical collections firm at the beginning of July. Things were going well when he was let go without a good explanation at the beginning of November. He did qualify for unemployment again, but now the "base" period used for calculating benefits only included the time he was at Wal-Mart, so our weekly benefit is significantly less than before. He's now keeping both Grace and Luke at home and will have Faith too if he isn't back to work before I finish up maternity leave. For now, we've decided not to have him take a part-time job as it would reduce the unemployment benefit and there's no way he could work late nights and take care of all the kids all day. We are also looking into ways for him to get started on some photography stuff. In the fall he took some pictures of friends in outdoor settings for his portfolio and he just used some of his birthday/Christmas money to buy some backdrops and studio lighting so he can start doing some indoor work too. I hope he can get a couple of shoots set up and eventually start doing some photography work on the side. It's crazy and I don't know why we have to deal with this unemployment stuff again. I am not sure what our plan is. He really needs whatever job he takes to pay well, as we'll have to pay for childcare for 3 kids.
Grace
Grace just turned 5. She's awesome and funny and so smart. She can almost read now. If we spent a little more time working on it, she'd have it down. She's an excellent colorer. She does imaginary games all the time. She loves dinosaurs and learning about anything. She also loves her baby sister and brother.
Luke
Luke is about to turn 20 months old. He's hitting the terrible twos I think as we are constantly saying "No, Luke." He's so sweet though and the "no's" are all because he's into everything. He loves the "moan (phone)" and watching "Mo" (Nemo). He runs, dances, and attempts jumping. He loves playing peekaboo and laughs and smiles all the time. His conversational skills keep improving. I feel like he drops a new word on us almost every day. He's grown up from my baby to a toddler. It's exhausting, but also wonderful. He loves his Momma and blows kisses and gives big hugs before bedtime (all other times of the day he's too busy to be bothered). He's become a Daddy's boy too. I love it.
School
I just finished my Columbus State pre-requisites for the Master's of Nursing program. My application to the Masters program was due December 15th. I completed everything and sent it all in. I haven't received the decision yet, but could find out in March. I expect I will be accepted, but am not sure if I'll be able to go or not. With Eric's job situation it doesn't seem to be possible financially to think I could quit my job. Now thinking of the possible future surgeries that Faith might need, I know I need my insurance, so I unless Eric gets a great job with comparable benefits, I'm not sure how it's possible. I do think this career path is what God wants for me, so I'm trying not to look too far ahead as I can't control the future. I'm hoping that something will work out by Spring when I have to make a decision as I can't defer and if I don't start in the Fall, I'd have to reapply for next year.
House
We're trying to sell our house again. When Eric lost his job in November we put the house up again. We're hoping to get out and break even. If we can rent someplace with at least 3 bedrooms for a little less than we pay now in a better school district, we can eliminate some expense, plus solve our delima of where to send Grace to kindergarten in the fall. We'd be able to rent until I finish school and then hopefully buy a bigger place in the same school district. So far, no luck, but we're trying to stay positive.
So, that's about it. I'm going to try to post more often because I missed writing. Now that I'm done with classes until at least summer (assuming I'm going to start full-time in the fall), I should have a little more time in the evenings. I'm not sure if the picture I tried to post with this worked, so if not, I'll add a picture of Faith soon.
That being said, I do have a couple of resolutions/goals for 2010 (and then I'll attempt to catch up on 2009).
1. My pregnancy years have come to a close (yes, I gave birth to #3, more to come later), so as soon as I am cleared medically, I plan to start watching what I eat and exercising. I'm currently 10 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight, so at a minimum I need to lose that, but ideally 20 pounds would put me at a very comfortable weight (especially if I can tone a bit).
2. Be a good wife. This year I read the 5 Love Languages book and think I've learned a little more about how to make my husband feel loved. I need him and that means I need to continue to show him that I love him, need him, and respect him. This means I need to be fully committed to supporting his dreams and aspirations, and being thankful to what he contributes to our family, be it financial or through work around the house or time with the kids.
3. Be a good mom. I have 3 children now, so it's vitally important to me that I remember to enjoy all the small moments with them. Each of my children needs quality time with me, so sometimes that means that the dishes or laundry have to wait until after bedtime, so I can play a game of Operation, give a bottle, or have a tickle fight.
Those are the only things I'm willing to put down as goals. Some other things that I'd like to see happen, but I can't 100% control are:
1. School - I'd like to start my Masters program full time in the fall.
2. Finances - I'd like to get in the position that we can get by if I am in school full time.
So, a little about what's been going on.
Baby #3
Faith Evelynn is my new daughter. I don't think I posted since my intial announcement, but Faith was born on December 19, 2009 at 4:39 p.m. She weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. We did end up finding out she was a girl, although we had considered having this last baby be a surprise. In an early ultrasound (12 weeks) we thought we saw "boy parts" so we wanted to confirm and when we confirmed, we found out "he" was actually a "she." Because of all of our shoulder dystocia issues with Grace and Luke and Luke's extremely large size, we kept a close eye on her growth and decided to induce 3 weeks early to be sure she didn't get too big. We did an amnio on Dec. 17th for lung maturity and when we got the results, my parents and Eric's Dad and girlfriend came in on the 18th. Christie stayed with Grace and Luke on Saturday morning while my parents and Eric's Dad came to the hospital with us. My induction went smoothly. I seemed to stall at about 3 cm for a couple of hours (too early for an epidural), so I spent some time on a birthing ball for some pretty intense contractions. Finally made it to 5 cm and got my epidural. After that I progressed to 10 cm very quickly and when it was time to push I pushed twice during one contraction and she was born. No shoulder dystocia and the easiest delivery yet!
After birth, when we were doing the newborn assessments in our post-partum room our baby nurse surprised us by informing us that Faith had a cleft of the hard palate. We were shocked that we again have to deal with this birth defect. We will be visiting the Craniofacial Clinic at Children's Hospital on Tuesday (1/5) to determine exactly what the plan will be to get her fixed up. So far, things are going well. She has to use the same special bottles that Grace used and I'm pumping as she can't breastfeed. I haven't decided how long we're going to pump, but it isn't making me crazy yet, so I am just keeping going day by day.
Eric's Job
I think at my last post, Eric was still at home with Grace and working nights and weekends at Wal-Mart. He did take a job with a medical collections firm at the beginning of July. Things were going well when he was let go without a good explanation at the beginning of November. He did qualify for unemployment again, but now the "base" period used for calculating benefits only included the time he was at Wal-Mart, so our weekly benefit is significantly less than before. He's now keeping both Grace and Luke at home and will have Faith too if he isn't back to work before I finish up maternity leave. For now, we've decided not to have him take a part-time job as it would reduce the unemployment benefit and there's no way he could work late nights and take care of all the kids all day. We are also looking into ways for him to get started on some photography stuff. In the fall he took some pictures of friends in outdoor settings for his portfolio and he just used some of his birthday/Christmas money to buy some backdrops and studio lighting so he can start doing some indoor work too. I hope he can get a couple of shoots set up and eventually start doing some photography work on the side. It's crazy and I don't know why we have to deal with this unemployment stuff again. I am not sure what our plan is. He really needs whatever job he takes to pay well, as we'll have to pay for childcare for 3 kids.
Grace
Grace just turned 5. She's awesome and funny and so smart. She can almost read now. If we spent a little more time working on it, she'd have it down. She's an excellent colorer. She does imaginary games all the time. She loves dinosaurs and learning about anything. She also loves her baby sister and brother.
Luke
Luke is about to turn 20 months old. He's hitting the terrible twos I think as we are constantly saying "No, Luke." He's so sweet though and the "no's" are all because he's into everything. He loves the "moan (phone)" and watching "Mo" (Nemo). He runs, dances, and attempts jumping. He loves playing peekaboo and laughs and smiles all the time. His conversational skills keep improving. I feel like he drops a new word on us almost every day. He's grown up from my baby to a toddler. It's exhausting, but also wonderful. He loves his Momma and blows kisses and gives big hugs before bedtime (all other times of the day he's too busy to be bothered). He's become a Daddy's boy too. I love it.
School
I just finished my Columbus State pre-requisites for the Master's of Nursing program. My application to the Masters program was due December 15th. I completed everything and sent it all in. I haven't received the decision yet, but could find out in March. I expect I will be accepted, but am not sure if I'll be able to go or not. With Eric's job situation it doesn't seem to be possible financially to think I could quit my job. Now thinking of the possible future surgeries that Faith might need, I know I need my insurance, so I unless Eric gets a great job with comparable benefits, I'm not sure how it's possible. I do think this career path is what God wants for me, so I'm trying not to look too far ahead as I can't control the future. I'm hoping that something will work out by Spring when I have to make a decision as I can't defer and if I don't start in the Fall, I'd have to reapply for next year.
House
We're trying to sell our house again. When Eric lost his job in November we put the house up again. We're hoping to get out and break even. If we can rent someplace with at least 3 bedrooms for a little less than we pay now in a better school district, we can eliminate some expense, plus solve our delima of where to send Grace to kindergarten in the fall. We'd be able to rent until I finish school and then hopefully buy a bigger place in the same school district. So far, no luck, but we're trying to stay positive.
So, that's about it. I'm going to try to post more often because I missed writing. Now that I'm done with classes until at least summer (assuming I'm going to start full-time in the fall), I should have a little more time in the evenings. I'm not sure if the picture I tried to post with this worked, so if not, I'll add a picture of Faith soon.
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