Chipley Chatter

Hunter Update 8/29

2009-08-29T21:19:00.002-06:00

Hunter's behavior post-surgery has exceeded all of our expectations. God has answered all of our prayers far beyond our requests. Hunter has been so happy, active, smiling at everyone, kicking his legs at all times with lots of energy.

Our only concern is the amount of blood seeping through his bandages and blood coming out through his urine. We've called the doctor twice, but don't feel it's enough to warrant a visit to the ER. If it continues at next diaper change, we'll head on to TCH ER.

He's responding well to the meds so far. The pain med, however, istead of making him sleepy, it's causing him to be hyper...wow!!!

Released from Hospital

2009-08-28T16:37:00.003-06:00

Daddy finally able to feed Hunter

tiny little foot...reminded us of Madison in the NICU

His hospital bed

Bye! I'm outta here!

Hunter was released from the hospital early this afternoon. We went into the recovery room - it was a sad and yet surreal sight...so many children in individual beds recovering with their parents by their side. Many cancer patients and very sick kids. It really put many things in perspective for Mark and me.

We went to Hunter's little crib and he was wide eyed and already awake. He was hooked up to many tubes and oxygen. It instantly reminded us of when Madison was in the NICU. When Mark said a big hello, Hunter smiled so big. We were so relieved! Even though we know that he won't always be so comfortable in the next few weeks, we breathed a sigh of relief when Hunter smiled his famous smile at us.

He was starving and drank several ounces of Pedialite and then they allowed him some formula. He's on three medications, with main concerns around his bladder spasms and infection. We are now home at Clareanne and Raymond's and they are treating us just like family. They are so sweet to us. Hunter is resting now. He will have a cathetar until Monday and a strict medicine regimine. We go back to the hospital on Monday and they'll assess him and remove the cathetar. Full recovery will take 2-3 months.

I'll update soon. Thanks again, friends, for all your support. We love you!

Hunter with Daddy prior to surgery

2009-08-28T11:20:00.001-06:00

Hunter Surgery Update

2009-08-28T10:35:00.005-06:00

***Update 12:20 pm
The surgery only took about 2 hrs. We just saw the surgeon and he said all went well. He explained everything - the procedures they performed and next steps. We'll be called back to recovery in about 15 mins or so. Hunter will be in recovery for at least an hour. He'll be in a lot of pain, but he has 3 different meds to take for infection and pain. He'll have a catheter for several days. We can take him home to Clareanne's later today and watch him closely, but we have to stay here in Houston. We'll see the doctor again on Monday.

***Update 12 pm
We got a call from OR nurse saying surgery was going well, may be a half more hour and Hunter really liked his blanket. Thanks, Rachel Witten, for the little blanket you gave him!

***Update 11:35 am

We drove to Katy last night, where we're staying with our former neighbors and close friends, Raymond and Clareanne. Since their kids are in college, their house will be relatively quiet - ideal for Hunter's recovery. After a sleepless night (Mark has sinus infection and perferated ear drum, but on antibiotics/rec'd two shots so he could come to the hospital and I was just nervous and restless the whole night), we arrived at TCH before 8 am this morning. Our Pediatric surgery floor looks more like a children's museum than a hospital! So bright and colorful, lots of ride-on toys, fish tanks, computers and games. The doctors and nurses even take the kids back for surgery in red wagons lined with pillows, rather than the stale hospital bed on wheels.

Hunter couldn't have any milk after midnight and only clear liquids until 7 am. We were afraid he'd be screaming this morning due to hunger (the boy likes to eat!), but he did just fine. In fact, once he was in his little hospital gown, he was so happy. Smiling and laughing with us. We met with several nurses, anesthesiologist, doctor's asst. and the surgeon. All were very warm and nice. Mark asked great questions. I just felt nauseous - still do- and wanted to faint. Hope I don't later, as I did the last time we met with the Pedi surgeon. It was awful. Never done that before!

After all the papers were signed, procedures/risks explained, recovery instructed, it was time for Hunter to leave our arms and be taken away for surgery. I kissed every inch of his little face and rubbed my fingers over his fluffy hair. I hugged his body tight and smelled his soft skin. I tried to take everything in all at once. It's not because I was overwhelmed with the potential risks, it's only because I love him so much. I told him to be a brave little boy and that I love him with all of my heart. When they took Hunter away, I watched them carry him all the way down the hall until I could no longer see. Then I started to cry. I want to be the one to protect him. I want to be there to hold his hand. I want to be there to ease his pain and comfort him. I miss him already.

Thank the Lord that He is in control. I'm so grateful to Him. I know without doubt he is surrounding Hunter with angels now. Thank God we can take comfort in that and trust His almighty hand and protection and guidance. We always remember that, but I think sometimes when life is going smoothly, I take that for granted. It unfortunately takes crisis or a large event to draw us back closely to Him. But thankfully, He is always there waiting for us.

Hunter went into surgery at 10:30 am. He got an epidural before surgery, IV with meds, as well as a breathing tube down his throat for respiratory assistance. The surgery will last 2 1/2 hrs, minimum. He'll then be in the PACU (Pediatric Post Anesthesia Care Unit) for a minimum of an hour, where Mark and I can wait by his bedside for him to wake up. Will update again soon. Thank you all for your comments, texts and prayers!

Please pray for Hunter's Surgery

2009-08-27T13:21:00.003-06:00

I'm interrupting the (somewhat) order of my posts, as I had wanted to catch us up in succession via pictures. However, this is more important.

Hunter is having surgery tomorrow at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. We leave for Houston tonight and will be there until Mon/Tues. I'll have my laptop and try to keep you up to date.

We've known he would need this surgery since birth, but have kept it private until now. The surgery needed to be performed between ages 6 months - 12 months. The surgery focuses around his urinary tract. We have met with several Pediatric surgeons and feel the Lord has led us to a wonderful doctor in Houston. The surgery should not be long, but it will depend on what they find after surgery begins. Recovery will be long and uncomfortable.

I'm sure the experience will be harder on me, emotionally, than Hunter. Thank God he won't remember it! I'm sure the surgery will go well. I'm just nervous about the anesthesia and recovery. I cried myself to sleep last night thinking about seeing Hunter in his little hospital gown and having to say goodbye to him as he's wheeled away for the operation. I'll have to relinquish all control and protection on him, into others' hands. However, I know that God will keep Hunter safe in His arms when I can't be there myself. Thank you, Lord, for your tender care.

Sarah and Dave's Wedding

2009-08-27T12:56:00.005-06:00

Again, I know I'm going out of order here, as I had wanted to post pictures in succession as they happened, finally catching up to the present. However, I'm interrupting the flow of things by posting some of the wedding pics - more to come soon.

Here are a few pics from the wedding - it was beautiful! Sarah looked absolutely amazing. Madison looked precious in her flower girl dress and she performed very well. Daddy ended up walking her down the aisle. When she got to the end, she cheered and dumped her flower petals out in one big heap, then tried to play in them. What I think is special, is that Daddy was the first man to walk her down the aisle, and eventually, he'll be the last. How sweet! The reception was a huge (and gorgeous) party! Madison danced on the dance floor for four hours straight. I think she thought the celebration was all for her. We had a great time. I'll post more pictures soon.

Madison's Flower Girl (aka "Shake-Shake") Music

2009-08-18T02:25:00.003-06:00

My Dad composed music for my wedding and now he's composed music for Sarah's wedding. Well, Madison is his biggest fan! She absolutely loves her Flower Girl part. She calls it her "shake shake" music. Without giving the whole processional away, you'll hear Madison's part and then it goes into Sarah's part when Madison (loudly) announces, "Princess"!!

Madison's Spring Program

2009-08-14T19:01:00.003-06:00

Papa and Grammy visit

2009-08-02T11:24:00.004-06:00

Papa and Grammy visited our house the beginning of June!

Papa, Madison, Grammy and Hunter

We held a water-themed playgroup date at our house in the beginning of June. We really appreciated the help from my mom and dad! We had a water table, inflatable tent thing, a pool, sprinkler ball, and a splash pad. We also had a cookie-cake (Madison's favorite) to celebrate her birthday with all our playgroup friends!

Jojo, Madison and Avery eating lunch

Playing at the water table

Down to the diaper in the splash pad

Trying on my flower girl dress...

2009-08-02T11:21:00.003-06:00

Oh no, oh no! I can't believe my Aunt is getting married! Or that you made me wear a dress!

Daddy....this is what I'll look like in 25 years...oops, I mean 40 years, as you say.

June pics

2009-08-02T11:12:00.004-06:00

How beautiful...almost 2 years old!

My handsome little man...almost 5 months old here!

We're in deep conversation. Or a staring contest.

I won! hahaha.

Hey Mamma! Chee! (That's how she says "cheese" for the camera.)

My not-so-crabby little crab!

Soon enough, I'll grow big to fit on this couch, mom!

(Every month I take a picture of him on this couch to see how he's grown.)

Summer Fun

2009-08-02T10:57:00.005-06:00

In June, our neighbors had a end-of-year school party in their backyard. We were invited to come over and play with them the next day, and it was so much fun! This is Madison and Collin sliding down the inflatable water slide.

Madison going on the long slip-n-slide...my favorite!

4th of July party at Craig and Celia's house

All of our neighbors...so much fun to be had!

Daddy and Madison love the water!

Ohhh, I'm so excited!

Madison and Hunter...sibling love...!? Definitely.

Madison's End of Year program

2009-08-02T10:40:00.005-06:00

Madison's teachers and school director told me that every day this week and last week, Madison has been "belting the songs out" during rehearsals. She has been "stealing the show" each day, according to other teachers. She sings the songs for me at home, too. In fact, they placed Madison in the middle of the classes on stage, for this reason. And, we could hear the teacher continue to say "Madison" during the performance because none of the kids were singing...and she was trying to get Madison to sing, at least! Alas...Madison was too excited/distracted/preoccupied with the older kids behind her and her new audience in front of her...but she did get some motions going!

Yay! I officially finished my first day of preschool for 1 year olds! Whew, it was a tough one.

Our family after Madison's program

Mrs. Mendi and Madison...last hug goodbye! We love her so much!

Playing with my boy friends one more time

Hunter listening to the program...what a cutie! This was Mark's outfit when he was baptised as a baby.

And we celebrated with outdoor pool fun and blowing bubbles.

Madison's Last Day of School, May 2009

2009-08-02T10:33:00.003-06:00

On Madison's last day of school, I came to her classroom and helped with their end of year party. After Sesame Street cupcakes, the kids were all on a sugar high! We enjoyed attending the art festival and Madison's school program - it was adorable!

Mmmm....frosting!

Me and my friends

And here are my other classmates.

Yeah, Hunter totally had a blast, too. As you can see...

Mad's teacher wanted to do Father's Day gifts and so I offered to do them for her. I came into the classroom and took pictures of the students with a tie around their neck. I then painted frames that said, "Dad, my heart is "tied" to yours". Turned out pretty darn cute.

My precious babes

2009-08-02T10:11:00.002-06:00

Is this not the most precious face you've ever seen? Well, besides Madison's, of course!

Wha Hammen? (Madison speak for "what happened"). Who me? I didn't do it. It was the baby.

Come on Tyson! Chase me.

Um, haven't you heard? I'm the fat cat.

Laid out.

These are my monkey toes that I like to stick in my mouth.

Hunter 4 months old

2009-08-02T10:03:00.004-06:00

Happy 4 month birthday, Hunter! (Yes, this was taken earlier in May) What a little stud!! I love him so much!! Hunter began rolling over both directions by now and he talks all the time.

Picnic at the park!
Playtime with Avery!

How do we stop this thing from leaking?

Wait, guys...I'm the real baby here...feed ME!

Girls' Trip to San Francisco

2009-07-31T17:40:00.011-06:00

Over Mother's Day weekend, my neighborhood girlfriends and I all went to San Francisco on a girls only trip! Our husbands kindly watched our kiddos from Thursday to Sunday...and we had a blast!! I've been there several times, once when I was younger with my cousin and then the rest of the times for work...but this time was so enjoyable being non-work related!

Eating and shopping in Union Square

On our trolley ride...so "touristy", but hey, we had to do it! So much fun.

View from the front of our trolley. Didn't remember how fast these things go downhill!

Ghirardelli Square

Visiting Fisherman's Wharf and eating at a fabulous seafood restaurant there!

On the ferry boat to our Alcatraz night tour.

Alcatraz...what a great tour about its history. It was soooo cold when the sun went down!

Wearing fancy headsets...in front of one of the cells.

Golden Gate Bridge

Jamie and I in front of Alcatraz with the city skyline in the background.

So after we got off the ferry onto dry land in San Fran, we had a hard time hailing a cab to get back to our hotel in Union Square. All of the sudden, a limo pulls up and the driver asked if we wanted a ride. It was so funny...we were so "prommed out" with the ceiling stars, etc...minus the prom dresses and hair sprayed hair and ugly corsages. I mean, if we knew we were going to ride around town in a limo, we may have gotten a little more dressed up, right?

Pier 39, visiting the sea lions

xoxoxo!

Lombard Street...what a great workout!

We spent a day in Napa, Sanoma, Salsalito and hiked through Muir Woods. Here is Mondavi Winery. The tour was excellent!!

Field of planted grapes. Stones mark the specific varieties.

Barrels of aging wine

At the wine tasting

On Mondavi grounds

At V. Sattui Winery. It was amazingly beautiful. We could pick our own ingredients for a picnic lunch and then we did a wine tasting.

Enjoying our picnic lunch

The bottle we drank. Only kidding.

Driving through Sanoma

Hey...remember us??

2009-07-31T17:19:00.010-06:00

Hi everyone!!! So here is our daily...um, weekly...um, monthly...yearly?? update!!

Obviously, I've unfortunately been WAY behind in posting. Reason? Well, it is most likely due to the end of school, a busy summer filled with lots of traveling, lots of visitors, birthday parties, laundry, housework, household management...oh, yeah, and having two babies. That may have contributed to my hectic schedule...a little, right? Ahem.

Fast forward to where we're currently at:

Madison had a fabulous two year old birthday party (okay, several of them), is talking up a storm, speaks in sentences now, says all her ABC's on her own, can count to ten on her own, is a gymnast (we're starting gymnastics in September), and loves to sing songs. She weighs 32 lbs and is 39" tall. At 98th percentile!

Hunter is doing wonderfully! He babbles non-stop - the doctor even said it was advanced for his age, how much he talks and the fact that he can stand on his own against taller objects. He is almost crawling and can sit up on his own for a long period of time. He just got his second tooth! At his 6 month visit, he weighed 20 lbs on the dot!! Healthy boy! He is very tall, too, at 28.5", which currently puts him in the 90th percentile. Who cares about percentiles...I just want to record it for the future.

Mark is doing very well. He recently received a promotion and new position at work. He is really enjoying it. Of course, he's still working 12-15 hr days, but I'm very proud of his hard work. As SOON as he gets home, he immediately jumps in to help feed/bathe, play with the kids, wash dishes, put kids to bed, spend time with me. Such a great husband and father.

I'm doing great, too! I love being able to stay home as a full time mom. I wouldn't want it any other way. It is a lot of hard work and requires lots of patience (this "terrible two" stage is no joke), but so, so worth it. I feel very fortunate to be able to stay home. Although we love our awesome friends in Beaumont, another move couldn't come soon enough!

Last Sunday, I flew out to Portland with the kiddos (that story will come later!) all by myself, to help prepare for my sister's wedding! We'll be here for almost the whole month of August. Lots of little details to take care of, so we have been crazy busy. I'm hosting her Bachelorette Party in Seattle next weekend, as well as her Bridal Brunch the morning of the wedding. I'm very excited about both.

So, without further ado, I'm going to start from where I last left off and eventually get us up to speed.

Hunter at 3 months old...what a handsome lil' man! I am so in love with him.

Madison: April 2009
Buh-bye! Goin' to take my walk!

Ugh, do we really have to do this again?

Naked golf!

Okay, let me explain...she's just in this stage where when we're in our own back yard, Madison always wants to take all her clothes off. I hope...pray...it will pass. I mean, it's really, really hot where we live, so who could blame her?!

We're still here...!

2009-04-30T15:24:00.006-06:00

Whoa....I am so, so, so behind in posting... and to think, I used to post every day!

First, Yes, we are all doing wonderfully! Everyone is healthy and happy.

I've received several calls, texts, emails, even snail mail asking, "Are you okay? I haven't seen a post recently..."... Here's an explanation...oh, where do I even begin?

Simply put, we have been incredibly busy. As I've said before...who needs a gym membership, when you have two kids 18 months apart? We have all been sick (again), there have been some stressful issues occuring in our immediate and extended families, Mark has been working non-stop, we don't have a nanny of course, (but we do have house cleaners thank the Lord!)...so with phone calls, laundry piling up, taking care of sick kids, cleaning, cooking, bills, doctor's appointments, etc... My blog has continuously gotten pushed aside...so that more pertinent issues may be handled...like laundry... Oh, and if I have a extra 30 minutes when both kids are asleep at the same time (little chance), I try and catch a nap!

So...long story short...my precious little journal has been pushed aside every day so that my family can be fed, clothed, and taken care of properly... :)

But so much has been going on!

Little (um, sorry, I mean BIG) Hunter has been growing so fast! At three months, he weighed 15 lbs 8 oz and is now well over 16 lbs! As the doctor said, you'd never know he is a reflux baby just by looking at him! He is huge. He is so long, too! Most importantly, he is sooo happy! He laughs and laughs all the time. He "talks" to anyone constantly, practicing his vowels, mostly. :) He gurgles, smiles and coos to just about everyone. He is so much fun in the morning, especially. His reflux is so much better now that he's been on a compounded version of Prevacid. We've also begun to wean him off the Reglan, which drained the milk out of his stomach. We still add a lot of rice cereal to his formula (thus, the healthy chunky monkey!) to weigh his food down in his tummy. He is sleeping well, though Madison still has him beat on the perfect definition of a "good sleeper". He falls asleep around 10 pm and wakes to eat again around 7 or later. However, he only usually catnaps during the day...sometimes only taking two 30 minute naps a day...other times he'll sleep for a couple hours, but that is not frequent. Madison, on the other hand, slept 12 + hrs by the time she was 3 months old and still takes a 3 hr nap each day!

Hunter also rolled over for the first time this week! At 3 and a half months old, I am pretty proud, especially considering that I haven't even laid him flat on the ground until three weeks ago due to his reflux. He's only done it once, completely on his own, but is very close to continue rolling over. He can, however, scoot across the room. It's great! Of course, we think he's a genius... :)

Madison is also doing well. She continues to make us laugh each day. She says a new word every day, it seems. She knows many of her colors and most of her animals and can count to three. She most of all loves to be outdoors and does not want to come inside...ever! Her curly hair is getting longer and she is getting taller. I can't believe she will be two years old soon! She loves school, has "best friends", and is especially curious about everything. I mean, it's fascinating how curious she is...and it gets her in a wee bit of trouble, too... She throws all caution to the wind, loves to test mommy and daddy, and goes full steam ahead each day. She loves playing hide and seek and also loves to dance.

I am doing great. I feel great and feel like I can stand on my own two feet without any problem or any help. Of course, help is always welcome, but you know what I mean. :) Now that I am getting more sleep, it has made a world of difference. Mark is still working incredibly ridiculous hours including many weekends, which makes me a single parent most days. That is hard, but I'm absolutely having a fabulous time with both my kiddos and praise God for blessing us with two!

Thank you for your words of encouragement during the last few months that were pretty challenging. Additionally, I am humbled by the emails, letters, phone calls of actual thanks! My prayer has been that, in various ways, my honest words of what's been going on in my life might have affected you, enocuraged you, made you feel not so alone...in any positive way...and I love you guys for it. :)

Hunter laughing on his 3 month birthday

2009-04-23T10:23:00.003-06:00

Easter pics

2009-04-23T10:12:00.004-06:00

Unfortunately, Mark had to work all Easter weekend. So, when he got home, we celebrated Easter late in the afternoon. Thank goodness our kids are young, so they didn't know any differently.

Madison's Easter picture taken in her (other) Easter dress is yet to come...

Madison's Easter cards, basket, and crafts she made at school.

Opening her basket with Daddy...art supplies, candy, fruit, movies, books.

Hunting for Easter eggs was FUN!

Oh, they're suprises inside, too?

Our "family Easter basket" that my mom and dad give us every year. So cute. Our favorite candy, gift cards, home decorations, toys for baby, books/art supplies for Madison. Mark's parents sent the kids an Easter box as well.

Our boy is getting even bigger...

And now let's put marker all over our face and hands. Good idea, huh?

I've learned you can never leave your toddler for a minute unsupervised, or else...

2009-04-23T10:08:00.002-06:00

They may break your favorite (dark purple, of course) nail polish all over your Italian tiled floor...

Get spaghetti everywhere and...

...all over the walls, toys, and baby gear...

We've done lots of cleaning up lately, to say the least...

Rest of March pics

2009-04-23T09:51:00.002-06:00

Madison just had to eat with her baby doll...

...and then decided to put her baby doll in her food...

Madison and Daddy play outside each day...even if he gets home late!

Look how big our boy is getting! Here, he was around 13 lbs.

At two months old, Hunter started to smile frequently in reaction to something we did. He is SO ticklish and laughs so much that it is just adorable. He's very vocal and "talks" all the time.

Aunt Sarah's Visit

2009-04-22T09:37:00.007-06:00

Here are some (well overdue) pics of when my sister came to visit! We had a BLAST when she was here. Her neice and nephew are in love with her, naturally. I had lots of fun with her here, too, and did NOT want her to leave!

Eating at Chick-Fil-A before our big night out...going to see Sesame Street Live!

Aunt Sarah and Madison outside Ford Arena before the show.

The big production...thank goodness it was only an hour. Great for kids, but I was getting bored to tears... :)

Hunter was obviously really excited to see the show.

Jenny and Cooper (sister Emma is behind Cooper)

Jamie and Avery

Our family...Madison loved the show...danced and clapped and was enamored.

Doing some serious artwork outside...

We're really big into stickers now...and love to decorate our body with them, too.

See what I can do?

Lil' bro and Big sis (Hunter is growing so quickly, he can't even fit in this outfit anymore)

Hey guys!

I love Aunt Sarah...

Our trip to the Houston Zoo

At the petting zoo part of the zoo...

Aunt Sarah put together a new water/sand table for Madison...she loves it so much. And her golf set...which she sometimes also uses in her water/sand table...but now we're trying to teach her to keep the sand INSIDE the sandbox and not throw it up in the air, in her hair, or all over the grass. :)

He'll never be this small again!

Relaxing together in front of a Disney show...

We all went to the Bounce Zone, an inflatable indoor park. It was a blast! Madison throws caution to the wind, so we knew this was a safe place for her to do her gymnastics and go wild.

Hunter's 2 month birthday

2009-03-31T15:36:00.001-06:00

Happy 2 month old Birthday, Hunter!

First time together on the swings!

Flowers from my hubby for our anniversary

Madison got out her "Happy Birthday" book which plays the song aloud in celebration for her Daddy's birthday.Madison blowing out her Daddy's 31st birthday candles...or trying to do so...

The Quinlan's visit

2009-03-30T16:08:00.007-06:00

Mark, Tana and Hayden spent a weekend with us at the end of February. I've posted some wonderful pictures she took of Hunter earlier, but here are some more...then I've posted some fun ones of Hayden and Madison...best friends!

My handsome little guy...

Oh, I never want to forget these precious times!!!

Hey big boy!

Oh, my sweet, sweet son...I love you dearly...don't ever forget that.

Classic family portrait...

I love you so much, Madison!

Our two darlings...the only pic we could get of them together!

Best friends! As our PJ's say!

Isn't this the life? Having our daddies do all the work for us? All we have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride!

Look at those big blues!

Playing in our house!

Future cover model...

Tana and Danae...on of my very, very best friends.

Hahaha...let's jump on Mr. Mark!

Who is that good lookin' fella in the mirror I see?

Bath time!!

"Uncle Mark" and Hunter

Aunt Tana gets to hold this guy she's been praying over for so long!

Ok, let me show you how to do this because I'm older! Madison adores Hayden.

Tana has her hands full...

Best buddies!!

Fabulous Neighbors...

2009-03-30T15:59:00.003-06:00

Hanging out at Jen, Mike and Charlie's house...this is so much fun!

While the Daddies play Guitar Hero... It was so funny - Madison was dancing all over the place.

Daddies are so cool...

Doing artwork together...thanks for supervising Jamie!

We love Mr. Brian! Emma and Avery on his lap... don't you love our makeshift table of a cardboard box in the driveway holding our chips and dip?

Handsome Mr. Cooper...

Avery's all set! Now...where should I go?

Lots of fun!

Miss Avery's cute hat...

Uh-oh...baby head-down...

Best buds...

Ben Update 3/30

2009-03-30T09:18:00.004-06:00

***Update: The pressure in Ben's brain continues to increase. The doctors don't know why. Please pray the ICP pressure decreases. The family is meeting with the trauma team again tomorrow morning. My family members are in crisis mode...each breaking down in tears one at a time, while God gives another sibling/relative the strength to hold them up. Yet we all will continue to rest in the peace that passes all understanding that God will do His will in Ben's life. And we will NEVER give up hope for our Ben.

I have quite a lot I want to say...a lot on my heart about our Ben...about his mom, dad and sister...what I can only imagine they are going through right now...but I want to wait until I have some peace and quiet...if that exists around here?

On a lighter note, I also know that I've a lot to journal about Madison and Hunter. For now, before the babies wake up, I'm going to post pictures of which I know I'm LONG overdue.

Thank you, all, for your powerful prayers for my cousin.

Please pray the pressure in Ben's brain decreases. Last night, despite the craniotomy, the swelling increased and required medication to decrease it. Please pray that the family continues to walk in faith and God will blanket them/us with His love. It's an indescribably difficult time for all. My mom flew out there today to help the family out.

Ben surgery update

2009-03-29T20:27:00.001-06:00

From Tara:

Ben's surgery went well! Praise God!
The craniotomy, which removed a section of Ben's skull, will allow for the expansion of the brain. This makes the pressure in Ben's brain much safer. The neurosurgeon said that there was a lot of bruising on the surface of Ben's brain, as was expected, and the injury to the brain stem remains the top priority for prayer and healing. We are essentially waiting for a miracle.
Because the pressure issue has been taken care of, the doctor said we should be able to talk to Ben and hold his hand tomorrow, hopefully. They will also move the feeding tube from his nose directly into his side.
My mom and dad are determined not to give up on Ben and God's blessing for his future, whatever that may hold. Thank you for your continued prayers. The measure of your love and support is indescribable.

Ben update 3/29

2009-03-29T18:41:00.002-06:00

Ben is currently in surgery and we need prayer now. The pressure has risen in his brain and medicines have not been able to decrease the rate. Thus, surgery is required.

Here is the latest entry from my Aunt Becky.

This is Ben's mom-
Please pass the word now to any prayer warriors that have been praying for Ben that their prayers are needed now.
He has been taken to surgery for a craniotomy to get his pressure down. The medicines are not having any effect now to help in this area.
He has an experienced doctor who met with us but has spelled out all Ben's possible futures, most of which weren't that positive.
We are still praying for God's will to be done in Ben's life, whatever that may be.
So please, pray now!
Thank you all SO much! We love you and will continue to give Him the glory through this "roller-coaster".

Ben Update 3/25

2009-03-25T10:08:00.002-06:00

Please feel free to sign the guestbook on Ben's website - your thoughts are very encouraging to my Aunt Becky, Uncle Tom and cousin Tara. A friend of Becky's got them a journal with Ben's name on it. Inside, Becky is writing the comments, texts and emails that everyone sends. Also, they have it for visitors to sign. So when Ben wakes up and recovers, he can read how much everyone loves him and supported him during this time!

Please pray that the brain stem is not very damaged and that it will heal.

Here are two updates from Tara:

Praise the Lord! From 1:30 a.m. to now, Ben has remained stabilized, keeping between a level 11 -14! The ICU nurse told Grandma Nichols 'we're crusin'' when she went in this morning at 5:30 am. Mom woke up at 1 am to check on Ben and the nurse had drained him four times. She had told Grandma and Mom that she was preparing to call the neurosurgeon if Ben's brain fluid levels stayed above 20 again for more than five minutes. It was had been bordering on this for quite some time. Mom prayed over Ben before she left, then again out in the stairway before coming back up to our room to try for more sleep. She thanked God for letting us have Ben for 19 years and prayed that he would have mercy on us and let us have him longer. We believe that God is going to use him as a living testimony of the miracles that God can do. Thank you all for your prayers, since we are told that these next hours are critical as we head into day three with our sweet Ben.

We just met with the neurosurgeon who updated us on Ben's status. Currently there are two fronts that Ben is working on. The first is trying to keep his intracranial pressure at levels that will not do further damage to his brain. The second is the healing of the brain stem. He told us that Ben will have a CAT scan tomorrow to check on the brain stem. While there is no change in Ben's neurological assessment today, that the first 1-2 weeks after the injury will tell a lot in terms of long term prognosis. The great news that he gave us is that he believes Ben is approaching the peak of brain swelling and that the swelling should start to subside by the end of this evening. He also told us that his belly is waking up and is making some gurgling noises, so they are going to continue attempts with feeding.

Ben Update part 3

2009-03-24T21:58:00.002-06:00

For further updates, Tara has created a website for Ben using CaringBridge. This is a fantastic tool for those hospitalized, of which two people I know already use.

Please see here for updates and I'll post more as well.

www.caringbridge.org/visit/benjaminmiller

Update on Ben Part 2

2009-03-24T17:33:00.002-06:00

This is the last entry from my cousin Tara's Facebook page:

We weren't allowed to see Ben from 12 - 3 today. When we went in at 3, they told us that they had to drain his brain again around 2. My dad went in to sit with him and started talking to him, causing brain swelling to shoot up. (The number range we are looking at for the brain swelling is between 1 and 25. If the numbers get up and stay up around 17 to 25 for five minutes, they have to drain the brain. Right now it is around 10.) The nurse asked us to not talk to him or touch him right now, because it is too much of a stimulus to him. I asked the nurse if Ben could tell that Dad was talking to him or if he could just tell that he was hearing noise - the nurse couldn't answer that. She said that right now the best way she could describe what Ben was feeling was like a migraine. She said that when someone has a migraine they want all the lights off, don't want to be around anyone, and don't want to hear anything or be touched. While it is hard for us to stare at him through the glass and not be in the room with him anymore, we know that it is best for Ben right now. They have started feeding him through a tube today, so that's good.Things you can pray about right now:-pray that Ben handles the pain that he may be feeling right now.-pray that the doctors continue to see glimpses of hope in his progress.-pray that my family finds time to eat and rest, when it isn't exactly what we want to do.-pray that if Ben ever is enough awake to start understanding what is happening, but can't talk to us or show that he is active, that he will be comforted by God and not be alone and scared.-pray that my family learns to handle not being able to comfort him with our touches and our hands, but to rely fully on God to give him the comfort that he needs.-pray that his brain swelling numbers stay low and they don't have to drain his brain again.Thank you for continuing to pray and believe that God can work miracles in my brother. He has made it 27 hours now. We have been told that the first few days will be the most rough, and the most critical. Please don't stop praying...we believe that he will be rescued by our great and powerful healing God.

Ben Update 3/24

2009-03-24T14:56:00.004-06:00

Our hope and trust is in the Lord. He is the ultimate healer and the great physician.

Please pray for a miracle to happen within my cousin's body.

Thankfully, there was no change overnight, meaning his condition did not get any worse. However, it didn't improve, either. He is in ICU and has had family and close friends visiting when allowed. This morning, the trauma team evaluated him. His swelling was stable, so no need to remove part of his skull. They took him off sedatives, inserted a feeding tube, but unfortunately they can not find brain activity. It has been 25 hrs since the accident. They have needed to drain his brain twice in the last hour, unfortunately, due to pressure. The hospital facility and staff have been wonderful, apparently, and have kindly given a suite to my unlce and aunt to use for the duration of Ben's stay in ICU. The next 2-3 days will be imperative.

My family's faith continues to give us great hope and we never cease to trust in God, however it is especially difficult on my Uncle, Aunt, and cousin (sister to Ben) Tara, expectedly. Please pray for strength, comfort and hope and HEALING!

Urgent Family Prayer Request

2009-03-23T21:35:00.002-06:00

Please pray for my cousin, Ben. He is 20 years old and an outstanding guy. Tall, handsome, awesome athlete, great christian guy. He was in a terrible motorcycle accident today, was life flighted to a large hospital with great trauma to his head. He is in a deep coma. He can breathe on his own, which is great, but they put him on a ventilator to rest his body. He had a blood clot in his head, but it dissapated suddenly (unexplainable by the doctor, but we know it was God's healing hand) which delayed brain surgery for now. He is in ICU and family is at the hospital in Indiana praying and supporting one another. They can tell he has a little brain activity, which is a great sign. Please pray for continued healing overnight and wisdom for the doctors. We are all very close and wish we could join our family there now.

Hunter's TX Children's Hospital update

2009-03-23T21:22:00.002-06:00

Today we went to Texas Children's Hospital to meet with a Gastroenterologist who wanted to thoroughly check out Hunter and examine his digestive/gastro area. Well, we packed up the car and we ALL went. We looked like a zoo. Oh yeah, we actually went to the zoo later that afternoon, too. But more on that later. Sarah was such a big help watching Madison. TX Chil is such a wonderful facility - so cheery and lots for the kids to do. However, it's so heart wrenching to see some really sick children. Thank the Lord for these wonderful doctors who can help them.

Our doctor was amazing and we loved him. He spent a lot of time talking with us and examining Hunter. Hunter does have severe reflux, but on a scale of being termed good or bad, he is termed good - or as they say, he's a "Happy Spitter". There are different degrees of reflux. Some kids even spit up blood or have bowels including blood. Hunter does not do this, nor is he losing any weight. In fact, he weighs 12 lbs 7 oz and is 23.4" tall. That was great news. The doctor said that it is going to be a lot of work for us feeding him and very time consuming. It will require a lot of patience. He is going to switch to another medicine which will hopefully help his irritability. Hunter is in so much pain much of the time, grunting, breathing rapidly, irratable, never seeming content. However, he never screams or really cries, so we're blessed in that respect. Reflux can get worse and then better and then worse again. It is usually caused by the muscle separating the stomach and the esophagus. All babies are born with this underdeveloped muscle, hence the reason why most babies spit up. Hunter's is just worse. And, acid reflux is hereditary - both my mom and Mark's dad has it. So, Madison got it and Hunter has it, too. Most babies fully outgrow this by one year. We'll just have to be patient and do the best we can. It's best Hunter eats less amounts of milk and at more frequent times. This is also best for adults who have reflux. This is time consuming, so this is how I'll be spending most of my time the next few months. So, other things will just have to wait...but that's okay. I just want my little boy to be okay and not in pain anymore!!! Hunter also had a chest xray to make sure none of the reflux has entered into his lungs. It has not, so that is good. We have a follow-up visit in a few months again. Plus, a lot of instructions on feeding him, etc. from here on out. We hope this medicine works better for him and feel blessed we could get in so soon to see this doctor, since I've heard it can take months to get an appointment. Overall, we got really good news.

I'll post pics tomorrow.

Update 3/19

2009-03-19T11:13:00.002-06:00

Happy Birthday, Mark!!! 31...finally as old as me. hahaha. I'll always be the older woman in your life... I love you, baby.

Things are going...well, they're going. Madison is happy as ever and enjoying school so much this week that she hasn't wanted to come home with me when I go to pick her up. She has been sleeping so much lately that I wonder if she's going through a growth spurt. Her very favorite show, "Dancing with the Stars" is finally back on and she dances with Daddy to EVERY song. I mean, every song. She'll grab his hand each time, especially to the fast songs, and plead with him to pick her up and dance. She spins and spins and makes herself dizzy. She also has enjoyed watching "American Idol" as well.

Hunter is growing so much. Can't fit into any of his cute newborn size clothes any longer, only the 0-3 month clothes. We are so grateful for all the gifts we've received - especially since I hadn't been able to get out shopping prior to his birth! And with his reflux, we tend to go through clothes (and laundry detergent) often. Poor little man. He is a mama's boy. He's my little buddy. It kills me how badly he hurts sometimes. You can just hear the reflux in his chest and throat. I'm so glad we're going to the Children's Hospital next week.

Mark has been working so much. He is on a 13 day on/1 day off shift. He goes into work at about 5 am and gets home at about 8 pm. He must be exhausted. So now days, I'm a "single parent with financial assistance", I call myself.

I think I just really need more sleep. That would help, tons. My neighbor has been wonderful taking Hunter three afternoons a week for a few hours so I can nap when Madison naps. But with his reflux, feeding him can be so time consuming. Up to two hours at most! Usually just 45 mins, though. I don't have a lot of time for anything else besides taking care of Madison, doing laundry, and trying to sleep when I can. Again, I apologize for any delinquency in thank you note or blog posting. I promise to catch up.

I was feeling really well the past few weeks, but then started feeling fragile again a few days ago. I didn't know where this sadness was coming from. I was so frustrated it was coming back. I just want to snap my fingers and everything to get better, but I know it is a "season". Meaning, it will eventually get better, but not immediately. I see the light at the end of the tunnel, but that light needs to get a little brighter! I saw my doctor again yesterday, routinely, and he changed my medication a bit. I also think it would be wise to seek counsel from someone who specializes in post partum. So, I will do that soon. The doctor said the depression is not getting worse because I am still very much bonded to my baby. The anxiety has gotten better. It's going to go up and down. It just sucks to have to live with it now. I just cried and cried yesterday. I felt so lost. But today is a new day and the Lord brings joy to me. Thank you, Lord.

Better go. Am picking up my sister from the airport. She'll be here for a week. Love you guys and thank you for your prayers.

Feb 20 pics of kids

2009-03-13T15:45:00.003-06:00

Here are some wonderful pics Tana took of the kids. I'll have lots more, soon!!

Where have we been??

2009-03-13T15:01:00.004-06:00

First, I have to say...It is mine and Mark's 5th wedding anniversary!!! We are so excited!!! And so blessed to have each other and have such a deep love for one another. We're so lucky.

Due to many reasons...family getting flu, visitors, mounds of laundry, dirty diapers and bottles...among some other things...I've been a little overwhelmed and preoccupied, so needed to take a little break from blogging. BUT...I'm back. I know I won't be able to post as often as I used to...at least not for a couple months until Hunter gets a little older and I get more sleep...but promise to post more often.

My first priority, of course, is taking care of my two beautiful children. However, they also need a well Mommy in order to do that to the best of my ability! So I've debated writing about the following because it is so personal and, yes, embarassing. (Although I'm happy to say I'm so much better now.) But my blog is very honest and very raw. So here are my feelings...

About a month or more ago, I posted about having high post partum anxiety and after talking to my doctor, I was dealing with it successfully. I thought, "hey, I can handle this, it's going to be okay." I think as you get older, and especially after you have children, you learn a lot about yourself - more than you already thought you knew. I know that although I don't like every minute of my life planned out, I do need a certain amount of control. I know that although I love spontaneity (as in a surprise birthday party or, hey let's go away this weekend for a tropical vacation), I need predictability.

A couple weeks after having the high anxiety episode and just dealing with it feeling a bit better, I woke up one morning and felt more fragile than other days. The next day was a little worse. I dropped Madison off at school and went grocery shopping with Hunter. I remember this so distinctly: I was walking through the parking lot back to my car and suddenly felt like I was going down a black tunnel. I immediately thought to myself, "Oh my God, I know exactly what is happening". I was beginning to feel really sad, for the first time. Before, I just had major anxiety. For the first time, I now felt sad and, yes, depressed. I hate that word. I'm usually so in control, love to entertain, like to have everything put together...and I felt like I was falling apart. I felt so abnormal. Not myself. And I was quickly sinking. I didn't know how I was going to get back.

After a couple hours, I decided to call my doctor's nurse. I had been sick for days, could not stop crying this day, and knew exactly where things could be headed if I didn't take care of it. It took so much energy to pick up the phone, but I knew I needed to. I called again that afternoon, desperate to talk to someone. They were wonderful. I love my doctor and my nurse. They are so personable and you are not treated as "another number" in their office. They offered me a medication, which I gladly accepted to take (I'd take anything!), but said it would take 3-4 weeks to become effective. Due to everything that happened during my pregnancy, not having any family nearby to help post-baby, having two kids close together, and a baby with demanding feeding needs, Mark's busy work schedule, plus hormone levels that were so out of whack, my doctor said he'd be surprised if I didn't feel this way.

Well, the next morning, I needed to call them again right away. I still felt the same anguish. It was utter despair. I was so helpless. I felt so "not normal" and I didn't know if I'd ever feel normal again. I remember driving down the street and seeing people out shopping or eating lunch at a cafe and thinking, "Am I ever going to feel normal like that again?" I felt like I was in quicksand. I was constantly feeling/getting sick, not eating much, not sleeping...it was terrible. It was JUST me, though. It had no affect on my babies. Every time I'd hold them, I'd kiss all over them and tell them Mommy loved them very much. And only once did I let Madison see me cry. I always tried to cry behind closed doors. I would double over in anguish. I called the doctor again, desperate. I said that I didn't have 3-4 weeks for this medicine to kick in, but I needed something now, or else I didn't know how I was going to make it to the next hour, let alone the next week. They were so kind in the office and helped me right away. Two nurses that I've become friends with and both had similar experiences when they had babies, even offered to come over and help babysit. Thankfully, I have wonderful neighbors who are always willing to help.

After beginning a new medication, Mark taking one night time feeding, a neighbor watching Hunter three afternoons a week so I can nap when Madison takes her nap...really catching up on sleep and eating right (yes, I've eaten pizza like crazy and have gained weight back), has helped tremendously.

I am feeling so much better. Not every day is 100%. I mean, hey, I have kids that are 18 months apart and are up to my eyeballs in dirty diapers, bottles and "time-outs"...but at least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I couldn't have begun to get better without my generous doctor, loving friends and family, and of course the Lord. When I couldn't pick up the phone and talk to anyone, I could at least call out to God. No long prayers here, folks. Just simple "Please give me strength" and "Help me get through this". That's all I had the energy for sometimes. But I knew he would help me. He always has. And always will.

So, guys, that's where I've been.

BUT, it's not been the only thing I've been doing! We've been fully enjoying our two kids. Madison is growing and talking non-stop. I have no idea what she's saying most of the time, but it's so funny. She used to just babble with syllables running into each other, but now they are more distinct words. She is, however, using our furniture and her toys as trampolines and gymnastics equipment. She sings in her microphone and plays her piano each day. She loves to paint, still. She always wants to be outside. She loves bubbles, but tries to drink them. She is still gentle (usually) to her brother and kisses him often. She can count to three. She has been feeding herself with a spoon or fork for several weeks now. It's a mess at times, but she loves doing it each day. Hunter is growing so much. His face and thighs are filling out more. His eyes are bright blue, bigger, and more alert. He has slept 7-8 hours straight every night this week so far!!! His reflux is still bad, however. It requires expensive formula with rice cereal added (so much, it looks like sludge) to help weigh it down in his tummy). He also takes two meds - one to aid with the reflux coming up, the other to empty the contents from his stomach going down. No blockage was found in his GI x-rays taken here in Beaumont, but his Pedi has referred us to a GI specialist at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, where they want to take a closer look at his GI track and digestive system. We go for that appointment on March 23. And my little sister is coming to visit March 19, which is exciting!

I have much to do before nap time is over, so must go. But promise to post pictures soon.

Happy 1 Month Birthday, Hunter!

2009-02-19T14:16:00.004-06:00

To my precious baby boy,

Happy one month birthday, sweet boy! Do you know how much I love you? Every day, I love you more and more. I loved you before we even met. I loved you when I got to hear your beating heart. I loved you when I got to see your precious face and tiny body when you were inside Mommy. And now, I feel like the luckiest person because I get to spend my life with you!

Baby Hunter, we have had the best month! I have loved every minute of it. I love your sweet newborn smell. I love your long toes and your big feet. I love your skinny long legs! And you love for Mommy to rub lotion on your skin and give you a massage on your legs and feet. I love the way you fold your little legs up as if you were still in the womb. I love your high pitched squeals. I love that your big sister always wants to kiss your head. And, she always wants to point to your eyes, nose and mouth, but sometimes ends up poking you. But, you don't mind, sweet boy. Your beautiful big eyes and perfectly round face makes Mommy's heart swell with pride.

My heart aches knowing that we almost didn't get the honor of meeting you and seeing you grow up. Daddy and I could never imagine living without you. We love you so very much. And, we always will.

I love you,

Mommy

Close to my heart...

2009-02-19T14:12:00.002-06:00

I am doing well. Very tired, naturally, but sooo happy as a mommy to our two kiddos. I couldn't imagine my life any differently! That said, I'm about to write about something that few people talk about, but I've come to find out that many people experience this on one level or another. I think it's important to talk about, to help other women to know they are not alone! Some may critisize or be quick to judge - then shame on them. I have no room in my life for anyone like that!

A few weeks ago, I woke up and it was like someone flipped a switch inside my body. My anxiety was so high that I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat and I felt physically sick. After Madison was born, I got a brief case of Post Partum Depression - it wasn't actually depression, just anxiety, but it falls under the same umbrella. It was the worst feeling ever. This was caused by several factors which I won't go into, but also is caused by hormones...which there's no way around! I recognized some of the same feelings coming back and wanted to take care of it right away. Nursing and Hunter's eating issues were really stressful and coupled with lack of sleep, a breast infection and hormones beginning to balance out (which starts to kick in at week 2), this caused me to have a lot of anxiety. No, I did not expect perfection, but everything just seemed so out of control. I cried for two whole days. I immediately called my doctor, called the Pedi, and went to see the two lactation consultants who had helped me while in the hospital. I knew it was important to get a grasp on it right away before it got any worse.

Everyone was so understanding and helpful, but the lactation consultants (who were nurses also at the hospital) were absolutely amazing. They were so helpful and actually agreed that I needed to introduce the bottle to Hunter - for his growth and for my own sanity! I just cried to them because I felt so helpless and so guilty for not exclusively nursing him (which, I know, is crazy). Guess what they did? The next morning, they sent me a huge bouquet of flowers with a card saying "Danae, you are a wonderful Mommy! Hang in there and good luck!" Can you believe it? I will ALWAYS remember that. It brightened my day and meant so much to me that they did that. And, I am forever grateful to my neighborhood girlfriends who rallied around me, gave me a spa gift certificate, visited me often bringing lunch and cards. I love you. Once I decided to begin moving to the bottle and we developed a plan of action that would help to proactively take care of Hunter's feeding needs; I felt sooo much better. And today, I feel great.

Post Partum comes in many different forms. For me, it was only anxiety. I didn't feel depressed or sad, I didn't have any ill-will toward my children, I wasn't scared or fearful for their lives or mine...it was just plain anxiety. Which sounds silly, but it can come on when your hormones begin to change again. Other things can spur this on as well, but for me, it was mainly just stress. It was the most awful feeling, but with a positive support system and calling my doctor right away, it was quickly taken care of!

So many women, whom I've talked to the past two years, have struggled with some kind of PPD. It happens much more often than we think!! If this has happened to you or someone you know, just remember you are normal! If you take care of it at it's onset, you will be a much happier person.

Update 2/19

2009-02-19T10:30:00.006-06:00

There's been so much going on that I've wanted to write about and document so that in the future I can look back on this and remember all of the sweet and perhaps not-so-sweet happenings in our life recently! Forgive my lack of prize-winning literary writing these days...I am unbelievably exhausted...which justifies any incomplete sentences or incorrect grammar...hey, at least I'm posting.

We've really had a challenging time feeding Hunter for the last several weeks. I feel so, so badly for him and as his mom, I just want to make everything all better for him! Much of our time has been spent talking to the Pedi or in his office. Regardless if he's eating breast milk or formula, Hunter is having a hard time with reflux and colic. His feeding times can be so complex and are very time consuming, that I really haven't had time for anything else besides taking care of him, Madison and things around the house. (Forgive me for not returning phone calls yet or emails...I WILL get back to you, I promise...it's just really difficult to fit in anything else these days.) Right now, Hunter is on two different medicines to treat the reflux and an extremely sensitive formula with rice cereal added. On Monday at the Pedi's office, he weighed about 10 1/2 lbs, so he IS gaining weight, which is great! But, I must monitor how much he eats, which is another positive reason for using the bottle now, where we can measure how much he eats. The doctor said that reflux peaks between 4-6 weeks old, but most kids outgrow it by a year old. Colic usually doesn't last past 3 months. Unfortunately, Hunter's reflux has gotten worse and we haven't quite found a good medicine or formula combination for him yet. He is vomiting about 3-4 times a day, causing many clothes changes and lots and lots of laundry these days! He is in obvious pain often times after he eats. Sometimes he'll eat 4 oz, other times he'll eat 2 oz at shorter intervals, which is usual for a child with reflux. Sometimes he'll eat very quickly, other times he'll take an hour and a half to eat, depending on the pain. He usually does really well sleeping at night, sleeping 6 hours, feeding, then sleeping 3 more hours!! But I don't get that amount of sleep, of course. I get up often to check on him. Also, he sometimes chokes on his reflux and has a hard time catching his breath again, so that requires you to pick him up and hit him on the back. No matter any inconvenience, what matters most is the pain that our little baby is in! It tears at our hearts when he is in pain. So, we're trying to work with his doctor to find an answer to ease his pain.

We were at the hospital at 7 am this morning, per the doctor's stat order for an upper GI xray to determine if there are any obstructions. Hunter wasn't able to eat for 5 hours prior to this procedure. So last night, I set my alarm to feed Hunter every 3 hrs to ensure a full belly before we needed to stop his feedings all together. It was pretty rough, as he would take over an hour to eat, then I'd get about an hour of sleep before doing it all over again. At the last feeding, he threw up everywhere...all over blankets, myself, my hair, clothes, etc. I just felt SO bad for him. But I was so proud of him this morning as he did SO well for the technicians!! He hardly fussed at all. I did my best to make sure he was comforted, but was still concerned that he'd be screaming because he would be starving. He was such a good little boy. I love my little man so much! They took xrays of him, then had him drink Barium, took more xrays, then had him drink water and took more xrays. So far, we were told there was no obstruction found. We'll get final results by the end of the day, hopefully.

Also, on Monday afternoon, we visited a Pediatric surgeon who needed to assess Hunter for something that is not major, but will require surgery after he is 6 months old. Long story short, the doctor did something that caused Hunter to bleed. I was not expecting this and soon enough, I was flat on the floor. Oh man, it was awful. I felt so nauseaus, couldn't feel my hands, and everything got black... I've had hundreds of shots, watch medical shows on TV and have no problem with the sight of blood...until then. I was out. A nurse had to take care of me and one had to take care of my son. How embarassing. An hour later, we were finally out of the office.

Madison is doing well and enjoys school each day. They are "studying" their alphabet letters now and are currently studying the letter G. It is so cute. She continues to be a big help with Hunter and likes to stroll her babydoll around wherever we go. She is very keen on testing her Daddy and I lately. Her teacher says she is the most curious child in the class and refers to Madison as Curious George. She gets into everything, to say the least. And we hope to put her in gymnastics soon as well. She is a busy girl!

Trying out our new Bumbleride double stroller...we love it! Phew, we finally found the right stroller that works well for us!

Mad helping to give brother his paci.

Picture of Madison before I woke her up for school...She likes to put blankets and her puppy over her head.

My big man!!! So alert and so strong!

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-19T10:09:00.005-06:00

We hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day!

My First Valentines! Blinded by the flash, Mommy...

Dad's Sweetheart and I love Mommy shirts

We had a great time opening our Valentine's presents as a family on Saturday morning. Madison got some Baby Einstein puppets from Mommy and Daddy. She also got some Hello Kitty hair ties and bracelets from Elijah and Ariana! Thank you! And thank you to both sets of grandparents for sending Madison and Hunter awesome gift boxes of treats, clothes and art supplies. We love you! And, Madison got lots of great candy and gifts from our neighbor friends and her teachers. Daddy got very romantic gifts from Mommy..."The New Strong-Willed Child" book by James Dobson and "The Parent's Guide to Positive Discipline" by Pickhardt. Looking forward to some good reading!

Madison had red and pink icing all over her clothes and face after her big Valentine's party at school!

What cute pants we got from Hayden!

Thank you, Nana, for my shirt!

Pics from the last two weeks

2009-02-12T14:12:00.009-06:00

Papa, Grammy, Hunter, Mark, Madison and Danae (2/1/09)

Thank you, Great Aunt Carol, for the beautifully knitted blanket! We love our new blue blankets we've recently received from friends and family - finally, no more pink!

My first pair of tennis shoes...cool kicks, huh?

My new Big Sister shirt...Thanks, Mrs. Kay!

Playing outside with Big Sister...baby brother all wrapped up in his sling. Snug as a bug!

I'm freeeee!!!!

Having fun playing in dirt and water...

Must help Daddy do chores...

I like to pick all the flowers off the bushes!

My big man has bright blue eyes.

Look at my muscles!

Miss Madison got her toenails painted for the very first time! Special princess sparkly pink.

Look at our big boy lounging on the couch.

Sweet boy...

Papa and Madison playing with a new piggy bank counting toy.

I love to kiss my little brother!

Proud big sis...

Two peas in a pod...

Kissing brother again...

Having fun with Papa...

Update 2/10

2009-02-10T14:02:00.003-06:00

I can't believe a week has flown by since my last post! Well, actually, I can. Let's say, we're in survival mode these days. Life is very busy! But we're all very happy!

Hunter is doing well. We've really been working to get him on the right formula when bottle feeding to lessen some of his reflux and tummy pain. He still nurses about 50% of the time now. He is so wonderful; I call him "My big man" or "My Buddy". He truly is a sweetheart. I love his sweet newborn smell. I wish I could bottle it up, so that years from now I could open the lid and take a deep breath of it to remember this precious time. I love his soft coos, his tiny feet and his skinny legs. All so adorable. His face and thighs are beginning to fill out. He is sleeping much better at nights; around 4-5 hours in between feedings.

Madison is going great as well. She is very loving to her brother and likes to help. Her recent favorite phrases are "All done" and "Uh-oh", among others. She talks in her own toddler babble constantly. She loves to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Twinkle Twinkle" and she can count to three! She is beginning to test her boundaries with Mommy and Daddy lately, however. A few times she has taken out her frustrations by hitting...for which she is punished. We went to playgroup for the first time in so long! She loved it. Also, she went back to school for the first time today (after we cleared it with the Pedi) and had a blast. She did so well and didn't want to come home!

I have the flu and getting a cold...which is awful on little sleep and watching two kids...thus another reason I mention "survival mode"... :) I will post more pics soon.

Two Firsts...

2009-02-02T20:42:00.007-06:00

Today is both my 31st birthday and my first day at home with two kids, alone. Surprisingly, it went very well! Although thinking of clever ways in which to balance out two kids on a schedule while actually needing to get places on time, I was actually a little impressed with the amount of multi-tasking I was able to achieve at home...although I didn't need to actually be anywhere else today.

So, even though I would not normally choose to spend a birthday alone with two kids for the very first time...I was still delightfully happy that at least - I have TWO kids who are healthy and with me, thank God. Yes, I chose to be positive today. Even though Hunter was up ALL night long (choosing to sleep almost all through the night over the weekend when we actually had Daddy available to help out with night time duties) last night, allowing only 2.5 hrs sleep until his sister woke up. How am I going to do this all week long? I will figure it out.

You know what I thought was the best part of my day? I was finally able to take care of Madison and Hunter myself...and it felt normal and great! It was awesome. I was finally able to be a "Mom" 100% again.

Mad and Hunter did really well today. No, was not able to coordinate a joint nap today between kids, but I did catch myself being able to nurse Hunter while sitting next to Madison doing a puzzle with her and talk on the phone at the same time. Both kids got dressed, fed and napped today. I got dressed this afternoon, which is better than evening, right? :)

It was a great day. Celia showed up this morning with chocolate covered strawberries and a gift certificate from my neighborhood girlfriends to a local spa! Then, Karen showed up with Starbucks, a beautiful card and great conversation (she, too, has kids close together in age). Jenny also came over with cookies and a card. And, I got many wonderful cards, emails and calls from my close friends - from Atlanta to Charlotte to Houston and Portland. I love you and thank you!!!

Update 1/31

2009-01-31T11:56:00.003-06:00

This has been a really busy week, filled with lots of appointments, very little sleep, but lots of joy and laughter. Wanted to write an update on the kids last Pedi well-visit.

Hunter 2 week well visit:
Weight: 8 lbs 3 oz (50th percentile)
Height: 21 3/4" (70th percentile)

Madison 18 month well visit:
Weight: 29 lbs (95th percentile)
Height: 34" (95th percentile)

Both kids checked out very healthy. Madison is on track with her speech/vocabulary and more advanced with her small motor skills. The doctor was impressed she could hold a crayon correctly, build buildings and work puzzles for up to age 3 all on her own. She babbles constantly, but only says a few dozen words (without her just mimicking us). She eats a good variety of food, as we try to limit sugars and carbs and not too much dairy, but also push veggies and fruits. After explaining some of Madison's newly exhibited social anxiety, the doctor explained that she experienced a lot of stress during the time when I was away in the hospital and even when I was at home, yet not able to fully act like "Mommy". He said that in a couple months, she would be just fine. Hunter is doing well and such a joy. He is my little buddy. He sleeps well some nights. Other nights, it seems like he is awake all night long. He is exhibiting a little bit of the "silent reflux" like Madison had, so we started him on medicine for it. (Silent reflux is where they have the acid reflux in their espophagus, but never actually spit up. The pain causes a lot of discomfort, still.) Also, in order for me to get more sleep and be able to take care of two kids successfully, we are introducing a bit of formula at some of his feedings. I still nurse him at the majority of his feedings now, but will eventually and gradually transition to some bottles. It was a difficult decision for me (and a long story, which I'll write about later!), yet it is the right decision for myself and especially my family!

We've had a great week with my parents here and we are so, so grateful for all of the help they've given to us! Madison has loved playing indoors and outdoors with my mom and dad. My dad bought Madison her very own keyboard, on which they've had "piano lessons" - it is so cute. My mom has been a huge help to me this week, getting up to help with feedings at night, walk Hunter around in the middle of the night, do laundry every day, clean house, etc. On Tuesday, we celebrated my Dad's birthday with a big Mexican meal from a nearby restaurant. Thank you, Aunt Jan, for the money you gifted us to go out to eat together!! We also celebrated with an icecream cake. On Thursday evening, I met my girlfriends here at a wonderful little restaurant for dinner. It was wonderful to see them and have some girl time. Last night, Mark and I went out to eat to celebrate my birthday - alone! We hadn't done that since before we moved here, can you believe it?! He took me to a Japanese restaurant and we enjoyed it so much. My birthday is Monday, but we are getting a cake and celebrating tonight as a family. We also are meeting with a photographer this evening in attempt to get some pictures of the kids...wish us luck!

Update 1/25

2009-01-25T13:27:00.007-06:00

Busy, busy, busy - that word best describes our world lately. But oh, how extremely HAPPY are we!

Hunter has been growing and eating really well. I took him in for another weight check on Monday and he weighed 7 lbs 10 oz. Jaundice is no longer a threat, either. Nursing has been going really well, but a lot of work. Definitely the right decison for us. After having such a demanding feeding routine with Madison being a preemie, I debated even nursing Hunter or going right to the bottle. Personally, it would not have been right for me if I never even tried it with him. But, we've persevered and I'm so glad we've stuck with it. He is so strong. He has great head and neck control. He lifts up his head all the time. And, while laying on his belly, he can even lift his chest off the floor using his arms. Madison had good neck/head control, but I've never seen an almost two week old do this. He definitely is a Mama's boy already, so Mark says. He likes to be held by Mama and is quickly contented. He has a high pitched squeal and makes baby noises all the time. He doesn't like to be cold and hates whenever he gets his diaper changed, poor thing. He is pretty content most of the time. He's been doing well during the nights, going 4-5 hours now between feedings, which gives me more sleep!

Madison is doing well, also. She is very sweet with her brother and gives him a good morning kiss each morning, even before giving Mommy a kiss! She gives him a diaper and paci sometimes (yes, we've caved in with the paci a few times). She is talking up a storm now. She reads her books to all of us throughout the day. She is eating a lot more new foods. She is building towers with her blocks and they are becoming more elaborate. For example, she can build a tower 4 blocks wide and 20 block high. Her small motor skills are really good, so her teacher says. She can hold a crayon between her thumb and pointer finger, even, rather than just "fisting" it. Her favorite activity is still playing outside, with her second favorite activity being art. She also loves to rearrange our furniture - our chairs around the table or our bar stools. She is very active, climbing, running, jumping - you name it. And she loves to carry large items around...luggage, purses, boxes, anything she can get her hands on. My Dad bought her some new jewelry from Disneyland and those are her new favorite items. She is very fancy! Because the number of infants with whooping cough, flu, and RSV is higher this season than any other in the past (it's been all over the news here, too), our Pedi has recommended we keep Madison out of Mother's Day Out through February, to protect Hunter's health. We've all goten our Tdap shot (I got mine before I even left the hospital!) and flu shot as well.

We've been having a fabulous time with my Mom here. She's been so much help! I can't imagine this time without her here. She's helped so much with Madison while I can focus on the new baby. We've enjoyed getting out to do some shopping as well. My dad has taken some time off of work in between business trips and flew in yesterday to visit us for a week! We're really excited about this, since we only get to see him a couple times a year. And, this is his first time to visit our house since we've moved. We'll celebrate his birthday on Tuesday, and then have an early celebration for my birthday which is next Monday. Oh, the best birthday gift? I now fit back into my pre-pregnancy pants and jeans! Only 10 more pounds to lose. Someday. :)

Before I forget, I want to thank all of the BCC parents who so kindly sent gifts along with my Mom to bring to Madison and Hunter! We had our own shower here when my mom arrived and opened her suitcase! It was awesome to feel your support and love during the pregnancy and we so appreciate your kindness in these wonderful gifts!!!

We have a busy week coming up...Madison and Hunter both have a Pedi well-visit tomorrow (2 week and 18 month) and Hunter has a 2 week check-up at the hospital (routine practice here). I have an appointment at the OB/GYN on Tuesday, where I hope to determine what to do about this left-in cerclage. I'll post more after the kids checkup tomorrow!

Yesterday was the one of the best days of my life. Nothing major happened, no special event. It was fairly simple, actually. Mark, Madison, Hunter and myself were in the middle of the living room floor playing together while music was playing in the background and the sun was shining outside. Our whole family was together, enjoying every minute. We were laughing at all the things our kids were doing - hilarious to us, probably not so funny to anyone else besides us. In the middle of it all, I just found myself smiling and thinking of all the many miracles that have happened in just the last two years...
- Madison's conception via IVF
- Her survival at week 23 gestation
- Her growth through week 35 gestation
- Discovering her IUGR (growth restriction) before fetal demise would have taken place within 24 hrs.
- Survival in her first few days of life, healing of her lungs, and 2 weeks in the NICU
- Hunter's natural conception
- His survival at week 26 gestation
- His growth through week 38 1/2
- My healing and being able to keep Hunter in utero during 8 weeks in the hospital
- Hunter born a healthy baby
- My close call on the operating table and healing of my body

It's been so much work and has taken a lot of patience. But we never gave up. But no matter how hard we worked at it, or how many doctors we saw, none of this would have happened without the healing hands of God. He deserves all the glory and praise. I will forever be thankful. We trusted in Him and He was faithful to us, answering all of our (including all the blog readers!) prayers!

Papa and Madison playing outside

Look at my new Mickey Mouse bracelets and Mickey Mouse necklace with my name on it! I had to wear them again today as soon as I woke up!

Grammy, Papa and Hunter

What cuties! Avery and Madison over the weekend.

Madison and Jenna

Madison and our next door neighbors, Jenna, Brayden and Collin.

Oh, I am just so hilarious!

I love to push my baby doll in its stroller.

We're already crazy about shoes...thus had to take a picture!

Here are my puppy slippers

What a little angel...

This is my gangsta look...

Mommy put all pink blankets on me...because we only have one blue one! Just don't tell Daddy.

Daddy reading to Hunter

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

2009-01-25T13:05:00.004-06:00

Sissy and Brother

2009-01-24T18:51:00.004-06:00

Our Handsome Little Man

2009-01-18T23:33:00.004-06:00

Our first few days at home with Hunter

2009-01-18T23:23:00.008-06:00

This little fella has brought so much joy into our lives. We feel so lucky, so blessed, to have him. To think of all of the miracles that happened to bring him into the world.

After we got home on Thursday and took a few key pictures, we enjoyed the afternoon and evening getting to know our new son. Mark's parents enjoyed spending time with their new grandson before leaving on Saturday. We're so thankful for their help with Madison and we know they're really going to miss eachother.

On Friday morning, we were asked to take Hunter in to the Pediatrician's office for a weight check. When we left the hospital, Hunter weighed 7 lb 1 oz. On Friday, he weighed 7 lb 3 oz - so he gained 2 oz, which is great! He had been getting enough to eat. (Typically, babies gain about 1 oz a day when they're this young.) My mom arrived on Friday and we were all so happy to see her! I'm so glad she was able to come back and help us. She, too, has loved every minute spent with her two grandkids. Since then, Hunter has been doing great. Nursing is going really well. We've worked hard at it and it's paid off. The only challenge is that he tends to be awake more and eat more often at night compared to during the day...so I hope to change that soon! Besides that, we are just plain exhausted. NO SLEEP whatsoever, as he eats about every 2-3 hours.

I'm so happy to be back at home with Madison, too. I've really missed spending quality time with her taking care of her as only Mommy can do. She has been really sweet with Hunter, giving him lots of kisses each day. Since bringing Hunter home, there are times when I look at her and think she looks so grown up - like a five year old little girl! Other times, I see her more as a baby herself, as she is only 18 months old. In fact, shortly after we returned home on Thursday, I had Hunter in my arms and I bent down to give Madison a kiss. Seeing my two "babies" together, for the first time I immediately said to myself, "Oh my gosh, what have I done!" Although it will be tough in the beginning, we're so happy our kids are close together in age. We look forward to our future!

Our little man...

How many people does it take to put together a Fisher Price grocery cart?

Thank you, Aunt Sarah and Dave, for my new toy! I've loved playing with it!

Our neighbor, Greta, with Hunter. Thank you for the delicious homemade chicken and dumplings dinner you brought to us!!

Chiling out on Mommy's bed...

Resting comfortably in Grammy's arms...

What a precious little face...

Grammy, Mommy, Hunter, Daddy and Madison

On Saturday, Clareanne and Raymond came to visit us from Houston! We love you!

Madison and Mommy

Tipping up Grammy's sweet tea...

Hunter's first bath...

Welcome Home Baby Hunter

2009-01-18T23:01:00.005-06:00

We excitedly arrived home on Thursday afternoon! Home, sweet home. I inhaled the sweetest breath of fresh air as we left. Exiting the hospital doors with a baby in my arms felt like I was crossing the finish line of a very long marathon. My heart was overwhelmed and overjoyed with happiness. I just thanked God over and over again.

Here is your new home, baby boy! We have prepared for your arrival!

Mommy and Hunter leaving the hospital

You are so tiny in your car seat! Just like your big sister once was...

Big sister Madison was very curious about you, wanting to hold your hand...

...and kiss the top of your head (we'd been practicing to "kiss the baby" with Madison's baby doll). But after about 60 seconds, she was over the "new baby" and more interested in playing with her toys. This has continued since then...her curiosity about the baby is very short-lived. No jealousy or anything. She's pretty much living in her own world still! But when she does actually notice another baby in the room, she is very sweet with him and is a big helper to Mommy getting diapers or putting a hat on the baby.

Welcome home balloons and flowers, and a sign Madison especially made for us! (One of her favorite hobbies remains to be art projects. Her current favorites are stickers, Crayola Twistable gel crayons, and stampers.)

Mommy, Daddy and Baby Hunter in the same bassinet we used for Madison.

Family time

2009-01-14T18:48:00.003-06:00

We are exhausted, but wanted to post some pictures from today. We had a great day today. Hunter nursed fabulously (although still some tongue issues, it was much better) all night and all day today. We were busy meeting with doctors and lac consultants throughout the morning, phone calls and feedings this afternoon, and were even able to sneak in one nap. ...which was good because last night I slept from 2-4 am and again from 6-8 am. Mark got more beauty rest, of course. :) Lucky to be a man. Madison and Mark's parents visited. Madison was very curious about the baby at first, touching his blanket and then reaching for his face and eyes...and Daddy quickly pulled baby out of reach. After 60 seconds, she was more interested in exploring the hospital room. Hunter had a few other visitors yesterday: Celia, Jamie and Jan! We are looking forward to going home tomorrow afternoon.

Proud Daddy and his two kids...

Sweet sleeping baby

Nana and Hunter

Granddaddy and Hunter

Jamie came to visit yesterday!

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for the beautiful flowers!!

Beautiful bouquet sent from Mark's coworkers at Exxon Mobil

My beautiful diamond/sapphire ring that my fabulous husband gave to me after giving birth! (Yes, I gave him a birth gift, too - a really nice watch.) I was so surprised!

Our Sweet Hunter Cole

2009-01-13T19:40:00.006-06:00

Thank you, Dad, for updating our blog. (My dad jokes that even at my funeral, I'd have requested someone to update my blog, haha.)

I just wanted to expand upon our adventurous, yet glorious day yesterday as we welcomed our son, Hunter Cole, into the world. I believe that Hunter would have been born yesterday, regardless of whether or not our c-section was to be scheduled. When we got to the hospital, my contractions were less than 10 minutes apart. Needless to say, I was in a lot of pain already at certain moments prior to the surgery. However, the routine c-section ended up being anything but routine...but should this suprise us? Of course not. If anything went normally with this pregnancy, then that would be, well, abnormal!

Everything was fine with the baby, praise the Lord. He was breech and turned around backwards. That made it a little challenging for the doctor to remove him. Hunter came out crying right away, which was such a precious sound to hear so immediately. (We had not heard this as immediate with Madison, but little did we know she had some lung problems.) And, Hunter displayed that he was all boy right away as the doctor was lifting him out and he peed all over me. Of course, we were just so happy to meet and finally see our beautiful little boy!!!! He was so, so beautiful, with a perfectly round head and healthy, big body weighing in at 7 lb 11 oz.

The next paragraph is graphic, so you are forewarned...
While Hunter was with a Neonatologist getting checked out in the OR, I started to feel increasing pain - not near my incision, but toward the underneath of my rib cage. It spread to the rest of my abdomen like a bad stomach ache, then finally feeling like stinging fire. The doctor was collecting the cord blood and then we heard him speak very quickly and give orders to the assisting doctor, nurses and anesthesiologist to gather certain tools and administer a series of drugs I can't even pronounce. My uterus suddenly inverted and turned itself inside out. Later, the doctor told us that it was so severe, he was half a minute away from performing a complete hystorectomy on me. He said this type of thing is very unusual and in fact, he hadn't seen it happen in about five years. Thankfully, due to swift and steady hands, the doctors were able to manually manipulate the uterus and righted it into position. My body was in so much pain that even with my epidural, I was crying because I hurt so badly. Next, the doctor needed to remove my cerclage. Part of it had broken off, but the knot itelf was still in. However, tissue had grown over it and was unable to be removed. So, we have to decide whether to just leave it in forever, or it will need to be removed surgically in a couple months. The doctor is consulting with other doctors before we make a decision. Due to all of the increased pain, they gave me more pain medication and it knocked me out. I next woke up in the recovery room. I was only supposed to be in this room for about an hour before going to my post partum room, but I was actually in there for about 2 1/2 hrs. My body temp dropped and remained at 94 degrees. When I woke up, I was unbearably cold, so much in pain, and had all of this space-age material draped on me. Finally, my temp raised to 97 degrees and I was allowed to be taken to the nursery to see my baby!

Because of the added pushing and pulling in the OR, I've experienced more pain than normal while recovering. I felt like I had been run over by a truck over and over again. But, when I see my little boy's face, all that pain just goes away (almost). :) We have thoroughly enjoyed every minute with him. Although we were so very happy when Madison was born, we were still very much wrought with concern for her health and her life in general. It is so nice this time to be able to hold our baby right away, to nurse him, and to have him in our room! What a huge treat that we do not take for granted.

Hunter is doing wonderfully. We are in awe of his little squeals, his newborn smell, his long fingers and toes, his baby soft skin, and his bright blue eyes. The doctor did have a couple concerns, one being a balled spot on his head where the skin had not healed properly. They gave him an ultrasound on his brain yesterday, but everything looks just fine. His skull and brain are not damaged, it's just his skin. Otherwise, he is a very happy baby. He started out feeding really well. Today has been more of a challenge. He's having a little tongue issue while nursing and it's just been a challenge to keep him awake long enough to eat! But, with lots of hard, tedious work today...we are working through it. It takes a lot of patience.

Madison came to visit us today in all her Big Sister glory! She just stared and stared at her little brother when she first arrived. After a few minutes, she was over it and much more interested in things around my hospital room. How many things she could touch, pull down, etc. I looked down at my one day old baby...then looked over at my 18 month old baby...and thought "Oh my, what have we gotten ourselves into?" But, we'll just take it one day at a time, learn as we go, and try to laugh and enjoy each moment.

We've enjoyed several sweet visitors already. We were told we can go home on Thursday. We also thank you beyond words for your kind emails, texts, voicemails, calls...and your many coveted prayers. We feel so incredibly blessed by you. We give God all the glory for bringing us through this so far. We've got some more small hurdles to jump (some I have chosen not to write about), but I just have to remind myself to trust in Him. I continue to look to Him, as I know He won't leave us hanging! He will show us the way...as He always has in the past...He will continue to do so as He leads us in the future.

Our handsome son

2009-01-12T22:04:00.006-06:00

Hospital info

2009-01-12T18:18:00.003-06:00

Christus Hospital-St. Elizabeth
Danae Chipley - Rm. 3101
2830 Calder Street
Beaumont, TX 77702
409.892.7171

Hello everyone!

2009-01-12T18:15:00.002-06:00

Hunter Cole Chipley

January 12, 2009

He's here!

2009-01-12T15:12:00.005-06:00

Hunter was born today at 12:09pm (CST)! Hunter weighed in at 7 pounds 11 ounces and is 19 3/4" long. He has some brown hair. He's resting in the nursery (the 'regular' nursery!). Danae is doing fine and is resting too. Mark hasn't yet had a chance to see what color eyes Hunter has. Danae & Mark haven't yet decided on Hunter's middle name. More info and photos will be posted asap! (This is posted per Danae's request by "Papa" Miller.)

T minus one day...

2009-01-11T14:36:00.003-06:00

We're still here at home...no worries. Contractions subsided late last night, so I'm glad I didn't go ahead to the hospital. Next time I post...we'll have a little boy to show off!

Update 1/10

2009-01-10T20:56:00.005-06:00

I went to the doctor yesterday for my last NST. That's right, folks. My last. Thank the Lord. We're almost there! What a long road. Do you know that I've been seen by a doctor over 90 times this pregnancy? That's major.

The test went well and we passed. Baby got a great score. His heart was fine. It decelled and accelled where it needed to, in appropriate reaction to the contractions I was having. I had to wait a long time to have a doctor approve the heart strip since I was having several contractions. There were many little ones and a couple big ones, but they didn't feel like I was in labor yet. But they didn't let me go without a firm talking to about when to come into the hospital. Basically, they said (as we already knew) it could be any day now, your body looks ready, all systems a go. If I have four contractions in one hour, go ahead and go to the hospital, straight to the L&D floor. Yeah, yeah. Got it!

Mark came home Friday afternoon and it's been wonderful to have him back home! I'm glad the training went well and he was able to make the full session without having to come home early. He absolutely loved it, said it was the best class he's taken and his team came in first place. Good job, babe! Since he's gotten home, we've run a few errands (yes, I got out of the house for a few minutes!), played with Madison outside, and worked on Hunter's room. It's been a group effort and Elaine and Dixon have been an incredible help as well. I have really cherished these last few days as a family of three...cuddling with Madison, taking pictures of just the three of us, reading to Madison and giving big kisses to eachother. I got a little weepy thinking about these precious 18 months that seem to have flown by. Although I am extremely excited to expand our family and welcome our much-anticipated and much-wanted little boy, I have greatly treasured our little family of three... Thus, I have soaked up these precious last hours of Madison as our first and only child.

Our family of three. ...okay, so my belly is totally covering up Madison's head...

I've been having contractions throughout the day, coming more frequently since this afternoon. Some are more intense than others and actually take my breath away, but most of them are very minor. Yeah, there have been more than four in an hour, but I don't know if I should just count the major ones - not including the shorter, less pressured ones. Maybe I should call the after hours nurse. I just don't think this is the real deal, I think it's those false contractions. I'll give it a little while longer.

That being said, I honestly don't think he's going to be born until Monday. I'm very excited to meet you, baby Hunter! Am I a little nervous? Of course. I mean, I will be cut in half, after all.

Also, we can't help but remember the memories of Madison's birth that are still fresh. We thought all was going to be fine; we'd hear "It's a Girl" and then immediately see a healthy baby in our arms! How surprised we were to learn otherwise. Of course, chances are that is NOT going to happen again. But, those memories are not ones you ever forget, is all. But, I'm sure all will be fine. God is GOOD and He is with us every step of the way!

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them.

Were I to count them, they would outnubmer the grains of sand.

When I awake, I am still with you.

Psalm 139: 13-18

My preppy boy

2009-01-10T18:30:00.002-06:00

What a good boy...my first baby...modeling Hunter's clothes for Mommy...

...at least this time they're not pink...

Bless his heart.

Laughing all the way...

2009-01-07T23:15:00.002-06:00

...All while our active cat supervises...

Update 1/07

2009-01-07T20:17:00.006-06:00

I went to the doctor yesterday for another BPP. We had a great report, praise the Lord.

- Amniotic fluid = 11
- Baby's weight = 7.1 oz, but not accurate b/c date of measurement was too close to our last weigh-in. Get more accurate number if measured every other week. So, probably will be about 7 and a half lbs when born?
- Placenta maturing, but no worries b/c it's almost time for him to be delivered.
- ST ratio good, no restriction of blood flow, heartbeat good. All levels have increased, actually, and look better than they did compared to last week!
- Weighed in at two pounds lighter! Second highlight of my day... hahaha...

As the doctor walked into the room:

Dr. S: Well, you actually did make it to 2009!

Me: Yep! Just like I told you! We made our goal. ...Did you think we would?

Dr. S: Nope, honestly not at all.

Me: When did you think the baby would be born?

Dr. S: I wasn't sure the baby would even make it, Danae.

Me: When did you think the baby would need to be taken?

Dr. S: The day you were admitted in Houston.

Me: Well, thank God that didn't happen.

Dr. S: Yes, and then fortunately, our job of doing what we did to keep the baby inside, worked.

Me: Yep, no doubt in my mind. :)

Because of the nature of my contractions, happening more frequently and not just at night, doctor said not to be surprised if baby's born this week. Um, Mark's not here. Not good. But, he didn't see anything that pointed towards this being imminent, so that's good. I have high hopes and don't think it will happen this week.

Except for last night. I was contracting quite a bit. If I contract five times in an hour, I need to go to the hospital and call the doctor on the way there, not to wait at home and call the doctor. In 45 mins, I contracted 4 times. Continued to occur, but I did everything they told me to do - drink lots of water, switch positions, lay on left side, etc. And it worked, as the contractions subsided.

Today has been lots better with far fewer contractions. I have been unusually tired lately, sleeping quite a bit last night and so sleepy/not feeling well today. So, have not done too much except some phone calls, Madison went to the ENT for a routine tube checkup and my neighbor, who is a hair stylist, kindly highlighted my hair so I wouldn't look too bad in any upcoming bringing-home-baby pictures! Amen. Thank God for that.

We're getting ready...

2009-01-06T01:38:00.005-06:00

So much to do, so little time! Not really is the case any longer, thanks to my mom. She is Little Miss Productive, that is for sure. And for me at this time, is just what I needed. I am officially in major NESTING mode. Thus, the reason for my delay in blog posting. Lists, lists, lists of things to do, calls to make, things to accomplish before the baby comes. And, I am not kidding, EVERY single closet in my house is cleaned out, sorted through, and organized. Hunter's room is almost finished (good enough for now, at least). Hospital bag is packed (finally, I know. My doctor asks me every time I come in for an appointment if I have it with me), plans are in place for next week, and other outstanding household items are, well, no longer outstanding. (And why I agreed to create eight photography projects (photobooks, etc) for Christmas gifts, I have no idea...) All is done except for one tiny detail...choosing the baby's middle name. Yes, that IS a priority. But I HAVE been procrastinating. Tomorrow, I am going to get serious about choosing a middle name. :) At least, that is the plan... Any ideas are very, very much welcome! I like very cool, soap-opera esque names. Mark is more traditional. So, we're meeting in the middle. Not sure if we'll go with a family name or something else...

Sadly, my mom left on Sunday, but Mark's parents kindly flew in to help us out with Madison while we're on the home stretch here before Hunter arrives. They will be here for two weeks. And guess where Mark is these days? Right here, beside his very pregnant wife who was told "it could be any day" to go into labor? No, he is being brave. He is three hours away in The Woodlands (north of Houston) for work. I don't know what crystal ball he is looking in, but he seems pretty confident nothing eventful will happen causing him to miss the birth of his child. Let's hope his "gut feeling" is right. :) Meanwhile, it's me, Madison and his folks here at home until he comes home on Friday evening.

I am feeling so uncomfortable. I can't sleep. I feel like I have a rock-hard large bowling ball in my belly. Everything is very tight. Contractions happen all day long, but nothing regular. But...I am so happy because this means the baby is BIG and growing.

Earlier, I had been really sad that this pregnancy is coming to an end. Especially because this MAY be my last time being pregnant. Mark is done. I'd love to have one more. But, with my complicated pregnancies, we may need to just call it quits and be thankful for the children we have. Most of all, it's really tough for my family when I'm not able to be here and that wouldn't be fair to put them through it again. Bottom line, I'm praying about it - If it's the Lord's will we should have another child in the future, then I pray God put that desire in Mark's heart. If it's not the Lord's will we have another child, I pray He takes that desire out of my heart. Easy as that.

Call me crazy, but I just love being pregnant. (Yes, I know we've had a lot of struggles. But I have really, really enjoyed this pregnancy, despite all of our troubles.) I love everything about it - I love feeling the baby grow, seeing its progress, hearing the heartbeat, seeing my body change, etc. I think my big belly is the cutest thing ever and yes, I even think my clothes are cute. Perhaps I feel this way because for a while, I thought I'd never be able to become pregnant. But I just think it's great. No, I didn't particularly enjoy being on bedrest or in the hospital. But, it did gift me with some very precious times, being able to focus on my baby's movements, hear its heartbeat daily, etc. - things that I otherwise wouldn't have had the time to do as much as I'd have been preoccupied with all of life's other tasks. So, for these reasons, I am grateful for it.

Anyhow, NOW...I am ready. No longer sad about the pregnancy coming to an end. I'm ready to meet this little guy...and to get my body back to myself!

One of Madison's favorite toys - her Daddy's Blackberry...

Enjoying art time each day

I caught Mark and Tyson napping on the couch this weekend...so cute!

Madison loves playing in her little fort in her swingset.

Madison enjoys popping the bubbles more than pushing the lawn mower.

Oh, how she loves her bracelets!! She will wear her bracelets WHILE playing out it the mud.

Cute pink shoes to match her outfit...what a little fashionista.

Madison and Grammy enjoy putting on "makeup". She can put on powder, lipstick and eye shadow all by herself. Although, here, she's putting eye shadow on her head. We'll work on that.

They think this is hilarious...the things Grandmothers do!

And here we are, taken last week, at 37 weeks along.

Looks like a really big beach ball, no?

My Own Precious Moments

2009-01-06T01:17:00.002-06:00

- Finally being able to get pregnant.
I know what it is like to be told you may not ever be able to have a baby.

- Meeting my baby girl for the first time.
I didn't know if this time would ever come in my life.

- Touching my daughter for the first time.
We couldn't touch her for the first few days, because she was in such a delicate state of health.

- Holding my baby for the first time.
I couldn't hold her until she was four days old, but at least I was blessed to have a baby to hold.

- When all wires/tubes were removed and Madison was first taken off of ventilation and oxygen.
I know what it's like to see your baby turn purple and struggle to fill her lungs with air.

- When Madison was first able to breath and later to eat on her very own.
We never expected our baby would be born with a lung disease or unable to eat.

- Watching my daughter smile and hearing her roar with laughter.
There's nothing better than that to cure a gloomy day.

- Watching the man I love being the best Daddy I could have ever dreamed of.
I am blessed to know what it's like to have such a good husband that loves our family.

- Getting pregnant a second time!
Especially when other fertility methods were failing and our success rates were decreasing.

- Seeing my baby son's face for the first time in a special 3D ultrasound.
Especially because they just told me that he may not live.

- Knowing that we've made it this far and our baby boy will be born next week!
We weren't sure we'd ever see this happy day.

Letters from Mommy 1/5

2009-01-06T00:35:00.002-06:00

To My Precious Baby Hunter,

YAY, sweetheart!!!! We did it! We made it to 2009!!!! Just like you heard Mommy always say we would do, right? We made our goal!! I am so, so very proud of us!

Mommy always told everyone each day that you and I had an agreement - you were not going to come out until 2009. And look - we really made it! I knew we could do it! I've had three doctors tell me they thought I was crazy for saying that...but, ahem...we proved them wrong! We prayed and worked very hard at it. Maybe we're both a lot alike...and both just plain stubborn, huh? We will see soon enough...

Sweet baby, I am so proud of you. You have put up with a whole lot during the time you've been growing in Mommy's tummy. You are such a strong fighter. I know that God has BIG plans for you, sweet boy. Mommy and Daddy feel so special to be chosen as your parents. We will do everything we can to honor God and raise you to be the man He intends you to be.

We've had some really scary moments over the last several months. Thank you for bearing with Mommy through it all. Although some moments were very frightening, Mommy never took her eyes off of God because I knew He would take care of you. I wasn't sure how everything would end up, but what I WAS sure of, was that He would show us a way to get through it all. And you know what? He has. Our God is so good. He has had His hands wrapped around your little body, protecting it inside of Mommy, this whole time.

Mommy and Daddy are so excited to meet you - a week from today! Unless you decide to come earlier. We are excited to finally breathe a sigh of relief...to see your sweet face, count your tiny toes, hold your tender fingers, and hug you tight. Until now, we've held you tightly to our hearts. We can't wait to hold you tightly in our arms.

Mommy has so much enjoyed this time I've been blessed to spend with you. I've felt so fortunate and have relished in the many times I've been able to see you in my tummy, focus on your movements, and hear your heart beat - more times than most mommies get to while their baby is growing! I will always hold those precious times dear to me.

So, one more week, little man. We can do it. Mommy and Daddy continue to pray that you will be a very healthy and happy baby. We can't wait to meet you soon, sweet boy.

I love you,

Mommy

To My Sweet Madison,

Do you know how much I love you? I just love you so, so very much, sweet girl. Mommy is so lucky to have YOU as a daughter! You are so special to us.

Baby girl, Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you. You have dealt with so many changes over the last several months. I am so sorry that you had to go through some scary and sad times being without Mommy or Daddy while we were trying to take care of Mommy and your brother. It breaks my heart that you have felt this way. But you have been so brave through it all! And we are so proud of you, sweetheart.

Since Mommy has been home from the hospital, I've had such a wonderful time with you! I feel blessed to be able to focus on you during this time before your baby brother comes. I've enjoyed the precious times we spend together, even though they always seem to be on the couch, huh? I've enjoyed our time reading books, building blocks, doing our art work together, and all of our many cuddle times.

You are my pride and joy and I love you with all of my heart. I can't believe how quickly you are growing. You are much less baby and more little girl! Mommy and Daddy love watching you read to yourself, make up long sentences, dance around the room to music, climb on anything and everything in our house, run as fast as you can, play hide and seek with Daddy, play peek-a-boo with Tyson, and constantly want to go outside and play - no matter what! You make us laugh. You fill our hearts. You are so, so special to us.

Pretty soon, you will be a big sister! I know you don't know what that means right now, but I'm sure you will quickly learn how to be a really good big sister to your brother. A few things will change around our house when your brother arrives, but one thing that will always remain the same is how much we LOVE you!!

I love you,

Mommy

Update 12/30

2008-12-30T21:37:00.005-06:00

Wow, do we really have only one more day left in 2008? Another mother recently told me, "As a mother, sometimes the days can pass by so slowly...yet the years pass by so quickly." I think that is so true, especially with young children.

Anyhow, wanted to post an update on new info! Have not been able to post because we've had a pretty sick household...more on that below.

I went to the OB today. We got a good report on our BPP:

- Baby weighs 7 lb 3 oz! (Was told with the technical margin of error, he could be 5-6 oz larger or 5-6 oz smaller.)
- Amniotic fluid = 11 (14 is average, they just don't want it below 10, preferably. But, this far along, fluid level is expected to drop anyhow.)
- No restriction of blood flow in umbilical cord
- Heart rate good
- Scored 8 out of 8 in overall health and movement today - Good Boy!!
- The placenta is beginning to age prematurely, unfortunately, more quickly than is normal. However, we're not in the danger zone yet and he's still receiving nutrients and O2. The degeneration should be a slow progression, so they're not too worried about it at this point of time, but will keep eye on it in case need to deliver him sooner. Will likely be okay, though.
- I (my uterus) am measuring at 35 weeks, but the baby is measuring a little over 37 weeks...which means little room for him and major discomfort for me! Oh well, it is all so, so worth it! 2 more weeks!
- He is breech, now with one leg up and one leg extended down. A slight risk his foot will puncture the bag and make my water break, but hopefully (and likely) this won't happen. If so, no big deal as they'll go ahead and deliver. Just told not to wait and call, but go ahead and get to hospital. Only bad thing is if he pushes his cord out, too. Again, this likely won't happen.
- Weight gain...oh my gosh. Seriously, I can't believe I'm posting this, but since it is my "journal" and I've made the decision that it is somewhat public...oy. Anyhow, I have now passed the mark of weight gain I had with Madison's pregnancy. I guess that makes sense, since I am farther along. 26 lbs total gain! This includes starting from the lowest point, after I actually lost 4 lbs in my first trimester due to morning sickness. But anyhow, if you figure it that way, it's 26 lbs total. The thing is I'm gaining like 3 lbs a week now that I am home and eating everything in sight. Really, is that necessary? I just can't help myself. Waffles at 11 pm are just way too tempting. He needs it, right?? When the nurse told me my weight today, I was in total disbelief and told her it was my heavy jewelry I was wearing. Hey, it could be the reason, right? Right?

Back to our sick household... how I want to invest in Lysol stock, as we are spraying it constantly, everywhere... My mom took Madison to the Pedi, per Urgent Care doctor's recommendation, on Monday. Madison appears to be feeling much better, praise the Lord. Her coughing and breathing are better. She is playing and very active, yet her appetite and sleep quality are definitely suffering still. Still has a double ear infection, but doesn't appear as severe.

Mark was so sick on Monday, that he stayed home from work. In all the 8+ years we've been together, he's only done this twice before. So, I knew it was pretty serious. He was able to get into the doctor again today and they gave him stronger meds for an upper respiratory infection.

My mom started to feel really crummy, with an upper respiratory infection, so went to Urgent Care tonight. I feel so badly for her!

Yesterday, I woke up feeling pretty crummy as well. Today, I woke up feeling like I got hit by a truck. I was/am miserable with a sinus infection. My doctor prescribed a few things (though not strong meds, so I hope these current meds work) and said let's wait and see if things get better before going on stronger meds. Seriously, to be so sick...AND be nine months pregnant on top of it? It really sucks. I didn't ever reach the nine month mark when pregnant with Madison. Man, this is no joke! Things are a LOT more uncomfortable at nine months. Wow. I feel I can hardly move! And now I can't breath, can't think, my eyes are watering and I'm sneezing and coughing like crazy. Fun times, huh?

So, yes, we have a sick household. I just want to air out and sanitize the whole place! But, I am positive we are on the road to recovery now!

Update 12/27

2008-12-28T00:04:00.002-06:00

On both Christmas afternoon and the day after Christmas, I called Madison's Pedi, explaining that she seemed to be feeling worse. Her cough was sounding worse and we thought she developed another ear infection in the second ear. Each time, we were told to continue on her same medication and if not better by Monday, to come in.

We reluctantly needed to leave her (although in great hands!) yesterday as we headed to the hopsital (ugh, hospital) to get our NST. Hunter passed with flying colors and the heart strip looked good.

We didn't sleep at all last night, as we listened to Madison cough constantly. We got her up at 3 am to get in the steaming shower with Mark. She slept in our bed a bit, then went back to her crib. We got her up again first thing in the morning for Mark to take her to a nearby Urgent Care. He, too, woke up very sick.

After a few tests and chest xray, we found out Madison has pneumonia. We are treating it with new antibiotics and breathing treatments with a nebulizer several times a day. Since it's not too severe, if we can keep it under control with these methods, we can avoid a hospital stay.

Mark is headed toward strep throat, so he's on meds, too. He said it was one of the hardest days for him today as he had to see Madison in so much pain and crying out for him. When they took her blood, they had to get a male staff member to lay on her to hold her down. And, when they took her xray, she was put in a plastic straight jacket looking device. She just cried and cried. It's so hard seeing her cry at home each time we have to give her a breathing treatment (which she hates) or give her ear drops (which sting). It's most difficult seeing her body shake as she coughs so hard and then gasps for air. I just hate it and it tears our hearts out.

She's coughing a lot tonight, but I hope by tomorrow she'll improve.

Merry Christmas 2008

2008-12-27T17:25:00.006-06:00

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! We enjoyed celebrating together and had such fun. It was small, but it was filled with delicious food and big laughs watching Madison play with her new toys. I've always loved the Christmas season so much, but watching it through your child's eyes is even better!

We waited for Madison to wake up (she likes to sleep in) before we opened stockings and gifts. I imagine that once our kids reach a certain age, the days of sleeping in on Christmas mornings will be long gone. My mom was wonderful prior to Christmas as she did a lot of shopping for us and made sure our stockings were full and gifts were wrapped under the tree. Madison's favorite stocking stuffer was her new plastic multi-colored bracelets. She's really into wearing jewelry lately and improvises with other household items. Now she has her very own play bracelets. Although she puts them not only on her wrists, but also on her feet.

While opening gifts, we Skyped with my dad, sister and her fiance. So, we "virtually" unwrapped gifts together on Christmas morning. Thank the Lord for modern technology, huh? Mom fixed a big, traditional breakfast, and we spent the rest of the morning lounging around. Mark put together toys and baby gear. And Mom cooked a nice lunch of a spiral ham and all the fixings. I watched from the couch. :)

Madison's other favorite gifts include her swingset, a new bubble lawn-mower (we purposefully chose not to get her the pink one!), a baby doll, CD's, a second swing for her swingset, a grocery cart, Fisher Price Animal Farm, some books, hair bows, and clothes, paint dobbers, and some money from Great Pappy and Great Grandma and Grandpa Miller...she is very loved!

Hunter and Mommy were thrilled to receive a new double stroller, a second camera for our video monitor, a new Fisher Price swing and a new baby sling, and money from Great Grandparents.

I also received a beautiful ring from Hunter and Madison (thanks for helping Daddy pick it out!). And, I received some makeup, clothing items, and gift cards. Mark received a new tool bench, a new workout band and money to go toward some new weight lifting all-in-one dumbell set contraption (?), some house slippers from Madison and Hunter, books, giftcards, etc.

My most favorite gift, by far, was being able to be at home with my family. I am SO thankful!!!! (As I said before, I am not the type of person who is interested in nor a personal advocate of home births. However, I don't even want to see another hospital again!)

As much as I love the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season and being with lots of family and traveling, etc...it was really nice to be at home which allowed me to quietly reflect on all of the many blessings God has bestowed in my life in the past couple years, especially. I have been witness to many miracles and can testify that the Lord truly grants the desires of your heart when you have faith in Him. I am forever grateful.

You, Lord, give true peace to those who depend on you, because they trust you.

So, trust the Lord always, because he is our rock forever.

Isaiah 26:3-4

The Lord is kind and does what is right; our God is merciful. The Lord watches over the foolish; when I was helpless, he saved me. I said to myself, "Relax, because the Lord takes care of you." Lord, you saved me from death. You stopped my eyes from crying;

you kept me from being defeated. So I walk with the Lord in the land of the living.

Psalm 116: 5-9

We began our morning opening Madison's stocking...

Oh, I had no idea today was going to be so exciting, guys!

Yay! Look at my new bracelets!

They're so cool!

And when other people open gifts and I get bored, I just stack all the gifts in one pile...

I find it's easiest to open gifts while you sit on them.

See, we did "open" gifts with the whole family...

Tyson had a special viewing area, too...

Grammy adds to Madison's Fisher Price Nativity set each year. Madison's favorite thing to do is take off the angel from atop the stable roof and replace her with a wiseman, shepard, or donkey heralding over baby Jesus...

Reading a new book with Daddy

Opening more gifts

How lucky are we that since Madison has received her lawn mower, she has mowed our wood floors and rugs CONSTANTLY, over and over and over...

Oh, please, please, please, just one more push?

Madison loves to do art work with these paint dobbers. Her teacher told us this was one of her favorite art activities. So, she told us where to find them and we got them for her...and she's used them each day since.

Madison painting Grammy a beautiful masterpiece

Hunter, we made it to 36 weeks!!! Way to go, sweetie!!!

I know, it looks freakish.

Merry Christmas Eve 2008!

2008-12-24T22:04:00.004-06:00

Merry Christmas Eve! I hope your Christmas Eve has been filled with a warm sense of joy, peace, and the Spririt of our Lord Jesus today. I hope you've enjoyed the day with friends and family.

Poor Madison woke up with a high fever this morning. Mark took her into the doctor to discover she has both a sinus infection and ear infection. She did much better once she had medicine in her and finally started playing this afternoon. But tonight, she got sick after eating. My heart hurts to see her like this. She just looks so pitiful (very cute, but pitiful) and like she feels miserable. I wish I could take all of the pain away.

We've had such a wonderful time with my mom here. She is the queen of being productive! Everything is organized, ironed, cooked, bought, wrapped, etc. and we appreciate all of her attention to detail. (It's nice to have had both our moms here!) I don't know how she has so much energy to constantly run around, laugh, sing and dance with Madison all day long. It blows my mind.

Mark has been off of work all week and it's been so nice to have him here. He's enjoyed doing some projects, putting together Madison's new swing set, putting together Hunter's nursery furniture, and playing with Madison. And, he put up our Christmas tree. This year, we have opted to take a rest from decorating our tree. Hey, at least we have a tree put up! We've just had a lot going on this season...so are just relaxing and letting some things slide. I wouldn't do it every year, but I kind of like getting away with it!

Yesterday, Mark went with me to the doctor. The BPP went very well and all looked healthy in the ultrasound. Dr. said that he's not concerned about anything at this time and if I go into labor, he's not going to stop it. Amniotic fluid increased to 12! Yay! And, no restriction of blood flow in cord. Baby is breech and making me really, really, really uncomfortable. I can hardly move. And don't get me started on the topic of acid reflux or heartburn. We have to go to the hospital to get a NST (non stress test) on Friday. Another hospital? Is it necessary? Doctor says we can't wait a whole week until our next appointment, so since their office is closed on Friday, we'll need to get the test done at the hospital.

Oh, that reminds me...a couple nights ago at about 4 am, I got up to go to the restroom. Mark huffed and puffed, told me I was making too much noise and moving too much. I told him, "Shut up (I've never said that before). Next time you're nine months pregnant, get back to me on what's inconvenient to you." Conversation, over. I felt bad about it later, but not too bad... :)

Today we've been busy taking care of Madison, as I said earlier. I've done some more photography work on my computer. My mom has been cooking and baking all day...much to my utmost delight. And Mark cooked an incredible meal of Trinidadian chicken curry. It was absolutely to die for. Raymond, our former neighbor who's from Trinidad, has taught Mark how to cook several Trinidadian meals. We loved it! It was a great treat tonight.

Mark puts together the swing set

Weeeeee!! I love it!!!
Madison opens her Christmas jammies from Grammy (tradition my mom has done each year since I was little), while practicing her "Ho Ho Ho's" like Santa says, with Daddy.

...the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

18 months difference

2008-12-24T21:04:00.005-06:00

From then...

...to now...

Amazing how quickly they grow....

Meanwhile, Madison has been reclaiming all of her baby items that we've recently gotten back out to use after Hunter arrives...we'll see how she acts when he's actually using them!

Happy 18 months old, Madison!

2008-12-21T14:47:00.008-06:00

Happy 18 months old, Madison! You are officially a year and a half old!

Yesterday, we had a great day filled with special friends. First, Clareanne, Raymond, Laura and Stephen (our former neighbors in Katy) visited. It was wonderful to see them! They brought Madison a Christmas gift - her first real looking baby doll. She has enjoyed feeding it a bottle...good practice for when a live baby comes home? We'll see.

Later, Brian, Jamie and Avery came over and they brought Mexican food for dinner!! I LOVED it. It was so yummy. I miss my cheese enchiladas right now, actually. (Sorry, I get distracted by food often these days.) It was so nice of them. Avery and Madison had lots of fun playing together. We got some really cute pictures.

So at 18 months...Madison is thoroughly intrigued with books from morning 'til night. Her favorite thing to do is read. And, she will read to you. She makes up words and just babbles on and on and on... It's so funny to hear. We can also call out specific titles of books and she'll go to her stack of books and pick out the specific book we've asked for. She points to certain objects in her books, kisses the babies in her books, and shows Daddy how to count from one to five in one of her books. She tries to count from one to five with Daddy on her fingers, but we've not yet completely mastered that perfectly. She also likes to dance and spin, spin, spin to music. Soon enough, she looks like she's had too much to drink and will fall to the floor or run into furniture, laughing of course. And as we said before, she loves to spin, run and climb on everything. Her favorite game is hide and seek or chase with Daddy.

Best buds...Avery and Madison...what cuties!

Our weekend

2008-12-21T13:00:00.004-06:00

My mom got here on Friday afternoon - we are so glad she is here!! It's really nice to be home this time while she's visiting. Madison reached out for her and took to her immediately; it had only been about 3 wks since she'd last seen her, so she remembered my mom right away. They've been having so much fun together.

Last week, my brother-in-law, Ryan, sent me two beautiful bouquets of roses, a couple dozen in all. They are beautiful. He sent them as a welcome home gift to me and I was so surprised! It was really sweet. Also, the baby's NST (non stress test) went really well and we passed for this week - yay! Guess what? While sitting in the waiting room (my dr's practice is the largest in our town, so it's pretty big), a girl next to me struck up a conversation with me. She has a young daughter already and is pregnant with a baby boy, like me. Come to find out, we have the same OB and she's scheduled for a c-section on 1/12 in the time slot right before ours! How coincidental is that? Anyhow, my next appointment is on Tuesday. Mark is off of work all week (yay!) and will be able to go with me to the appointment.

For Christmas, Mark's folks, my folks, and Mark + I went in together and bought a swingset for Madison and Hunter (to grow into) to put in our backyard. We figured this would be ideal, since Madison is in love with playgrounds and especially because she climbs on every piece of furniture we own. So...we thought this would be a good decision to get now. We wanted something that would be age appropriate; not something small that she'd grow out of in a year, but also not a play system too advanced. So we decided on a Step2 durable plastic (we'd be able to move with it) swingset, with two swings - good for Mommy with soon to be two kids. :) Anything that can provide entertainment for the kids is good in my book! I think Mark was more excited about getting this than anyone else. He's been happily putting it together over the weekend.

Yesterday morning, Mark took Madison out to play...dressed in her pajamas, pink socks and tennis shoes. She would rather be outside than anywhere else. She could happily play outdoors 24/7, if you let her. As you can see, she had a blast playing in the mud. She loves rocks and dirt. She had quite the collection and quite the messy outfit and face. Thank goodness for stain remover and soap.

Thank you for my beautiful roses, Ryan!! This pic was taken a few days ago, but the roses are now huge - probably the largest roses I've seen. We miss you!!

Look at my new rock!

This is where I collect my mud and rocks.

Mess? What mess?

And see this one?

We'll miss you, Granddaddy and Nana!

2008-12-21T11:59:00.003-06:00

Mark's parents left on Friday. We appreciate all of the help they gave to us through cooking, home improvement projects, shopping and especially taking such great care of Madison. She will miss them so much! She had a blast with them. During the time they were here for a little over 3 weeks, Madison has learned several new words, new animal sounds, to cook with Nana (oh, and since Madison can say/babble Nanananana, Elaine changed her name from Grandmommy to Nana!), and Elaine taught her when asked what Santa says, Madison will respond a hearty "HoHoHo".

Update 12/17

2008-12-17T16:14:00.007-06:00

I had a successful visit to my OB's office yesterday afternoon. It was great to see my usual doctor again. Thank the Lord, everything went well!

Biggest highlight:
Hunter will be born on Monday, January 12th at 11 am! (must do c-section)
...unless something comes up that requires us to push forward the date...which is possible.

Other highlights:
- Hunter weighs 5 lb 15 oz! (Just Thursday, he weighed 5.0 lbs! But, we know the measurement is with a 10% +/- margin of error.
- Amniotic fluid is 9.0: still low, but better than last Thursday!
- No blood obstruction in umbilical cord seen
- Breech, of course
- Gained 2 lbs. I now weigh just as much as I did on the day I had Madison! She was 5 lb 4 oz. No, I'm not saying how much I weigh, are you crazy?

I made 8 separate appointments before leaving the office... From here on out, my doctor wants to see me twice a week. (Their main concern now is level of amniotic fluid.)

Tuesdays = Biophysical Profile test (fetal ultrasound, specifically checking amniotic fluid, health of placenta and blood obstruction in the cord, baby's growth).
Fridays = Nonstress test for baby (heart monitoring for 20 minutes)

But, this week and next week we're doing them on different days, due to the holidays. Anyway, you get the gist of it.

Trying to relax so this baby doesn't come this week. Eating a ton of great food, as my mother in law is a wonderful cook! I am so happy to eat good, edible food again. In fact, I had waffles last night, and then woke up at 6 am ready to eat again...

Miss Madison has a fun time playing in her food...

Mmmm...spaghetti...if you can't tell... :)

Why she always tries to go in between furniture to get somewhere, I'll never know...

What's this sly look on your face??

Since this is my version of a journal, I just want to remember how cute your wet hair looks after your bath...

And this is when it dries right away! It's all over the place!

I love my Willow Tree Nativity set - my mom started it for me and each year, Elaine adds a new piece to it.

Hunter, here we are at 34 weeks along! You're getting big! Ok, I'm getting big, too.

Christmas Party Pics

2008-12-15T16:00:00.017-06:00

Here are lots (I mean, lots!) of pics from our neighborhood Christmas party. They were too cute, I had a hard time choosing. There were 6 couples and 9 kids there. They enjoyed a delicious pot-luck meal, yummy dessert and a kids' Christmas exchange (as I wrote about in a below post). Thank you, Jamie, for the wonderful pictures! I was so sad to miss the party, but so glad that Madison could go with Mark.

Jamie, Madison and Avery... of course both girls wanted to sit on her lap!

Here is my party dress...but more importantly, let me show you my sippy cup.

And here is my pretty party dress!

Anna, Natalie and Emma - the big girls!

Cooper is too precious - I think he and Madison have similar curly hair; so cute.

Ryan and Cooper planning something...watch out!

Madison really took to Miss Jen that night! How sweet.

Avery having fun with the bouncy ball...

Guys, this is really a blast!

All the ladies - don't they look fabulous? This pic really made me miss being with them. But actually, it's good I wasn't in this picture. It would have totally been like playing the game, "One of these things is not like the other...can you guess? It's the one who's as big as a house! You win the prize!"

All the kids from left to right: Charlie, Anna, Ryan (and Matt popping up!) Natalie, Madison, Emma, Avery, Cooper and Jack!

Mark and Madison

Always holding something...

The kids table...plus Brad. :)

Avery: "What do you think you're doing?"

Madison: "Taking apart train tracks, of course."
Natlie: "Oh...little girls..."

What can we get into, now?

Starting the Christmas gift exchange! Madison received a gift from Anna. She absolutely loves her jumbo building blocks!

Avery opening a gift from Madison

Madison begins to open her gift from Anna...

Oh, what's that gift I see, Madison?

Oooh, let me see what this is!

Oh, I have that toy at home, are you sure it's not mine? Let's share, ok!

Ok. back to opening my gift... Oh, it's a farm from Madison!

Hmmm, let's inspect this...

And let me show you this one, too!

Around the house...

2008-12-15T15:52:00.002-06:00

Madison loves to "cook" with her Grandma. She walks around with a bowl and spoon all the time, stirring her invisible ingredients together. I'll have to get a better picture of it soon; it's so cute.

One of Madison's favorite things to do is play with our cat (or, "small dog"/"cat and a half") Tyson. She likes to feed him her goldfish and read him her books. Saturday, she enticed him to jump in a big gift bag...and he did it!

Here is a pic of Madison with Tyson in her gift bag...success!

And here are pictures of Madison trying to join him...

Home Sweet Home

2008-12-15T15:20:00.004-06:00

Ah...it feels so nice to be home!

I took a little break from posting on the blog, so I could spend some quality time with Madison, Mark and family. I've thoroughly enjoyed watching her play, say her new words, babble on and on, make her new animal sounds, read A LOT of books (me to her and she to me), run around, watch videos and cuddle, etc.

Friday was pretty busy as I said my goodbyes, filled out the discharge paperwork, listened to doctors' instructions and packed up (rather, watched others pack up) my room. Mark arrived in the afternoon and was happy to see that most of the packing and paperwork were already complete! I laid in the backseat the whole way home. We arrived home in the evening as traffic had been heavy heading back. When we walked in the door and called Madison's name, she looked at Mark and smiled really big. She then looked at me and a slight look of confusion crossed her face. But quickly, she smiled again and came running to us. She lifted up her arms, arched her back and wanted me to hold her right away. Oh, thank you, Lord, that she wanted to come to me right away! I just didn't know what to expect. Of course, I wasn't able to hold her, but gave her big hugs. It has been since October since I held her last...and probably won't be able to do it again until February?

On Saturday, Mark and his dad did projects around the house while Elaine cooked up a few wonderfully delicious meals. The house was decorated for Christmas and the smell of incredibly tasty food was in the air. ...It felt so "homey". Is that a word? Anyhow, that evening, Mark and Madison went to our neighborhood Christmas party at Jen, Mike and Charlie's house. They had a blast! They ate a great dinner, dessert, then the kids had a Christmas exchange. Madison gave a gift to Avery (Fisher Price Farm) and Anna gave a gift to Madison (jumbo building blocks - that she constantly plays with from morning 'til night). I wanted to go with them to the party so badly, but knew it was best for me to stay here on the couch.

Yesterday, Mark and his dad did more projects (they go to Lowe's like 5 x a day...Lowe's/Home Depot to grown men is like the mall to teenage girls, I personally believe) and our newly organized garage looks magazine-perfect picturesque. Madison also had another first - she ate spaghetti! Elaine's homemade sauce on the spaghetti did the trick. Oh, believe me, we've tried it in the past...but she has had an aversion to all types of pasta. I think she just didn't like the texture - too slimy. But after placing cut-up spaghetti on her high chair tray, she dug into it. We got some pictures that I'll post later.

Since the end of August, due to vacation, two hurricane evacuations and hospital stay, I've only spent 21 days at my house. Can you believe it? So, I am so happy to now be home. However, it is proving a bit more difficult in some ways to be home now. There are many more temptations to get up and walk around here at home, compared to in the hospital. Plus, it is difficult for me to rely on and ask other people to do everything for me. But I need to be disciplined and relax about it, otherwise this baby is surely going to come this week.

I still hadn't heard from my OB/GYN as of today (left msgs Thursday and this morning), so I went ahead, per the request of my Peri's in Houston, and made an appointment for tomorrow at 2 pm. I'll have an ultrasound and apt with my doctor. I guess I'll not hear until then what the plan of action is going to be...but I'll keep you posted!

Thank you, thank you, thank you...for everyone's kind, sweet messages on my voice mail, emails and blog. I love you all. It means so much to me. You know, I haven't heard from some of my relatives this whole time, but I have heard from complete strangers. I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. Mark does, too!

God is so good! I knew He would be with us all the way. We've still got a ways to go, yes. But I never doubted that He wouldn't lead us through this. I don't know how things are going to end. But, I do know that whatever happens, God will prepare a way for us to get through it. He always does. Thank you, Lord, for wrapping your arms around us. And for wrapping your hands around our baby boy's tiny body.

Trust in the Lord and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security. Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him. (Psalm 37:3-5, 7a)

Mark, Elaine, Madison and Dixon
Daddy and Madison ready to go to the neighborhood Christmas party!

Madison all strapped in and ready to go down the street!

A "one horse - child - open sleigh"?

Wheeee! See y'all later!

Madison and Daddy getting ready to go to the Exxon Christmas party.

Here we go on our Daddy/Daughter date!

Madison and Daddy in the snow last week!

Mark bundled up Madison and took her out in the snow before he left for work. With him in his Dungarees (he needed to be in the Chem Plant that day which requires a fire retardant uniform...very attractive!) and she in her mismatched outfit and hot pink cowboy boots, Mark said that all they needed was a double-wide in the background and they'd be set!

I'm Outta Here!!

2008-12-11T16:50:00.009-06:00

Guess what? That's right folks...I'm busting out of this joint!

No, but actually, they are releasing me tomorrow! What sweet, sweet music to my ears!! Mark will come pick me up tomorrow afternoon. I just can't believe it. I am so, so happy. We've made it! Although we still have a bit farther to travel on this journey, we have come a long, long way! We have accomplished a huge goal. My doctor was very proud, to say the least. Thanks to my doctors and nurses, all of you who have encouraged and supported me, and to all of our powerful prayers - together - we have successfully achieved this mission. What once seemed like an enormous, almost impossible mountain to climb, I feel like I - or, we - have reached its summit. (Now, just a little further! About 4 more weeks would be nice!)

We (surprisingly) received an ultrasound and exam this morning. Here are the highlights:

- Healthy, growing baby: He now weighs exactly 5 lbs and measures at 34 weeks to date.
- All body parts are growing in proportion
- Placenta looks healthy
- Breech baby, not going to turn, but his bottom is down with legs extended upwards, which is ideal (as opposed to a leg/foot descended)
- Amniotic fluid low, but not dangerous enough to keep me in here. They'd like to see it at a 15, and it is measuring 9.
- Cervix is extremely short, so have to be careful, but no dilation.
- Doctor said he "feels sure the baby will stay in a couple more weeks." Hopefully, it will be more!
- Will be on bedrest at home. I'll resume care under my OB/GYN in our town (who coincidentally trained under two of my Perinatologists here), seeing them once/twice a week. Waiting to hear more specifics on that, after the doctors consult.
- Spoke to managing nurse of NICU of hospital in our hometown. They are capable of taking care of babies over 30 wks gestation and can support any lung issues. If need nitrous oxide, neuro, or cardio support, baby will be life flighted to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. If mother can't accompany baby to Houston, they will put a web cam at baby's isolet and give mother web cam in hospital back home, so mommy can still see baby!

I am so happy to go home. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't admit I was a little nervous. Although it will be nice to be in the comfort of my own home, (as I've said before) I will not have the luxury of daily tangible reassurances that the baby is okay. (i.e. constant nursing supervision, daily doctor visit, fetal heart monitoring, etc.) We'll go cold turkey from having constant monitoring, down to one doctor's office visit per week. Yikes! I'm sure all will be fine, but it will be a small adjustment.

I did have a wee bit of a cry earlier today due to the reason mentioned above and the fact that I will miss my nurses SO much. I have had such a wonderful experience here. My, if you're going to have a baby (or have a complicated pregnancy), this is the place to be. I didn't realize how nationally renown this Perinatology group is - they're even on TV quite often, travel around making speeches and consult for other doctors frequently. Just as importantly, my nurses have been incredible. I've never experienced this before. It's not seemed like they're "just doing their job", but that they genuinely care about me. They have become my friends. My family. I've relied on them more than anyone.

It's so cool because even if the nurses have no reason to be in my room, they still come to sit and visit with me. It helps to break up the day, to make me feel less isolated. I know about their families, their vacations, their likes and dislikes. I don't think I've talked so much in my life. The same goes for the food staff and the housekeeping staff. They just pop in to visit me, for no reason at all, but to talk to me. And, they like to see my decorations or any new pictures. :) Or to hear of new Hollywood gossip.

One nurse technician, whom I've only met twice, came to visit with me on her break. She gathered a few needlepoint projects from her home and brought them to me. She had seen that I liked art/crafts and thought I may like to do this, too. She said the hobby was a stress reliever for her and she didn't want me to have any stress in here. I'd never done any needlepoint, but she taught me how to cross stitch on her break. It was so, so nice of her and I won't forget it.

Also, one day, for some crazy reason, I was really anxious about the whole nursing thing, since we'd had so many feeding issues with Madison as a preemie. Anyhow, two nurses knew this. One printed out and highlighted all this information for me. Another brought me several books she had from her house from when her kids were younger.

A final example is that one of my favorite night shift nurses that I've come to love, brought me a Christmas present and a very kind card! She bought me some really adorable wine glass markers! Just because she wanted to. It was so, so sweet.

I am very fortunate to have had a great experience here. But I am most especially thankful to still have my healthy baby boy. And I am most grateful to God and his protection and healing. He is so faithful. I knew I could trust in Him. He has always proved it to me before in so many ways. And He will continue to be with us in the next few pertinent weeks.

Doctors: 6
Weeks in the hospital: 8
Needle sticks: 28
Days in the hospital: 56
Fetal heart monitoring: 172
Interrupted sleep: numerous
Distasteful hospital meals: too many

And one, big (tiny) miracle in progress...

Odds and Ends

2008-12-11T16:14:00.006-06:00

Believe it or not, I've been so busy. Seriously, I have. Busy getting Christmas cards addressed, Christmas online shopping, and making photobooks among other projects on Shutterfly. Lots to do. At least I have the time here, no?! Anyway, this is the reason I've not posted much information lately.

Hunter and I have been doing really well this week. Few contractions and an uneventful few days, of which I am proud! With the prospect of going home this week, I was a little frustrated to hear of a different discharge date from each doctor...but more on that in my next post!

Yesterday, Hayden and Tana came to visit me! After a yummy Chick-fil-A lunch (surprise, can you tell that's my favorite?), we exchanged Christmas gifts. We have a surprise being shipped to them, so I can't say much about that yet... But Hayden is getting the Fisher Price Little People dollhouse this Christmas from someone else, so Madison gave her the matching SUV. Oh, how it brings memories of the old-school Barbie house with matching station wagon. Hahaha...

Tana has some inside connection with someone who sells "faux" (?) high end handbags in the popular Harwin section of Houston. I have had no such luck, but she works her magic. She got me two insanely real looking Coach handbags! One is a smaller black shoulder purse and the other is a cute large plaid bag I can even use as a diaper bag. I am in love with them because I never spend a lot of money on purses. Like, I even have a hard time buying a bag at Target. Whereas, my sister knows exactly which style designer bag came out which month...so funny. Hayden gave Madison the Fisher Price Animal Sounds Farm - she will love it.

And, get this...it SNOWED!!!! I am NOT kidding. It snowed early yesterday evening and off/on during the night here in Houston, but primarily stuck to the roof. It was so pretty to watch out my window and really, finally, "felt" like the holidays. It brought back dear memories of my home state of North Carolina. How I love it in the wintertime there. It was fun to watch with the nurses who came into my room to look out my large window. And, go figure, on the coldest day of the year, our hospital had no hot water and no heat! I slept with several blankets and a sweater with the hood pulled over my head. They're lucky we're all pregnant on this floor - can you imagine how much colder we'd really be if we didn't have all these hormones that make us hot? Needless to say, everything works now.

Most impressive...Mark called me this morning and said they woke up to 4 inches of snow back in our little town!! Seriously, this is unheard of. In southeast Texas?? It never happens. Would not have believed it myself, had I not seen pictures. (Thanks, Jamie!) Mark took pics, too, of Madison in the snow, of which I'm anxious to see.

Finally, I've gotten a few questions regarding the bread company (from an earlier post) from which I received a gift. It was the BEST BREAD I've ever eaten in my life. So fresh. The Mocha Chocolate Chip is my favorite. Anyhow, I'd gotten the name wrong, so here it is:
Bread Winner Breads in Atlanta, as featured on The Today Show and Food Network. A loaf of this delicious delight makes a great Christmas gift! I just ordered some as a thank you to my doctors.

Miss Hayden clowning around in my room
A beautiful Christmas picture I received from sweet Ariana. Thank you, Ariana! I loved the letter. And thank you for your beautiful family Christmas card!

Elaine brought me a cute little project to keep me busy...I felt like I was in a little art class, gluing the pieces on the bags, to make small candy favors for my nurses.

Madison's very first "school" picture!

News to me...

2008-12-09T21:03:00.003-06:00

We have mice.

At home.

Well, not in the house, but in the garage.

They might as well be in my house.

How does anyone know they haven't chewed a hole through the wall into our house?

Mark's mom let the cat out of the bag as the guys were setting up traps. Apparently, Mark wanted to keep it a secret from me. Huh.

They act like it's no big deal.

Probably because they had white caged PET RATS while Mark was a kid.

I think I want to stay in the hospital for an extra week.

We live near new construction, so that's probably why we have them.

But I don't do rodents.

Not Me! Monday

2008-12-08T17:55:00.004-06:00

I had too many "Not Me!" moments this past week to keep silent about... So, seeing this on another blog, I decided to jump on the bandwagon, 'fess up and come clean...I am first to admit -no perfection in this Mama!

I most certainly did not drop my (unplugged) hair dryer into the toilet, fish it out, shake it out, lay it out to dry, and then call my husband to see if he thought it was safe if I attempted to turn it on and "see" if it worked. No, I did not!

I did not ask a hospital staff member, who is studying here from India, if she enjoyed eating turkey over Thanksgiving. I did not forget the fact that she would likely be vegetarian. She did not think I was the biggest airhead. I did not try to dig myself out of that hole by acting like I knew that and assuming they would cook traditional Thanksgiving side dishes. And she did not then roll her eyes and tell me they cooked Indian food. Duh.

I did not use dental floss while constructing my Christmas decorations because I didn't have any floral wire or string. At least they smell minty-fresh.

I did not feel utter pride and joy when I helped to solve several nurses' computer IT issues with the knowledge from my job at HP...only because I could do something else productive besides laying here.

I have not avoided deciding on a middle name for my soon-to-be-born son. I am not scared to death of the permanence of a name and that you can't take him home and change his name two weeks later like you can with a pet. (And we did not wait until Madison was a mere 4 days old to name her, only because the Birth Certificate representative gave us an ultimatum.) No, not me.

I do not feel guilty for eating old pizza for three days in a row.

I certainly did not start to feel like my hospital room is my "house" and get up from my bed one night before bedtime to "lock my front door". (Um, you can't do that in a hospital...)

And I did not refer to my hospital room as my "hotel room" several times.

I did not suggest to the nurses that our hospital wrist bands should come in hot pink. Or that instead of putting decorations on the outside of bedrest patients' doors, perhaps they should put them on the inside of our rooms, where we can actually see them.

I did not immediately hang up without leaving a voicemail explaining that it was my one year old who called a former manager's office # at HP while she was playing with my phone yesterday.

Finally, I certainly do NOT feel ashamed for anything I write in this blog. It's my blog, right? Honestly!

No way! Not me!

Our Weekend

2008-12-08T17:33:00.005-06:00

I had so many visitors yesterday! It was a great, fun, full day. Madison/Mark and his parents drove to visit me. Clareanne and Raymond visited, too. We had a great, loud time chatting with eachother and watching Madison play. The hospital had a Christmas party for patients' and staff's family members. The activities were mostly for older children, with crafts, face painting and creepy puppets, but it was just soooo nice to be able to get out of my room and experience different scenery! I didn't care where we were at! As seen in the pictures from the last post, we attempted to sit on Santa's lap, but that didn't work out too well. The party was pretty crowded, so we ended up out in the courtyard again so Madison could run around in the grass. She loves to play with her Daddy. That evening, my friend Dirusha and her friend surprised me with a visit. They were also here to visit another patient who is on complete bedrest with twins and decorated her room for her. I'm sure she really appreciated it. It was great to see them!

On Saturday, Mark took Madison to Avery's one year old birthday party! I hear it was so adorable. It was based on the book, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", and Jamie had butterfly wings for all of the little girls to wear. I can't wait to see pictures.

Bad Santa Photos

2008-12-07T16:19:00.008-06:00

I think each parent has these kind of photos...

Well, folks, here are ours...

Notice Santa's eyes...
"Please don't put her on my lap...Please don't put her on my lap..."

For a great laugh, click here to see Ellen's Bad Santa Photos

Hunter's room

2008-12-06T17:47:00.009-06:00

Recently, I finally ordered some furniture for Hunter's room. Of course, I have no idea as to when either piece will arrive, as I was graciously given a "narrow" window of delivery, being anywhere from 2-12 weeks. Wow, really? Thanks for the notice. If it arrives before Hunter is born - great. If not, no problem. I won't be able to do anything creative to the walls until afterward, anyway... Just so everything arrives. It was hard finding furniture to be delivered in our little town!

Prior to my bedrest days, I found a great variety of nursery bedding collections at a really cute store in our town. Especially since we're having a boy, I asked Mark if he wanted to pick out stuff for the baby's room and he said yes. (He also helped choose for Madison's room. I'm sure he would have been fine with leaving it up to me, but sometimes while pregnant, I find myself extremely indecisive...thanks, hormones!) I took pictures of ones I liked and this is the one that Mark chose.

Below are pictures of the furniture style I ordered, except I ordered them in Cherry wood. Pics aren't great quality, but they're the only ones I could find. The crib converts to a toddler bed, but not to a full bed like Madison's furniture. We didn't need it, since we have a really cute double twin bedroom set to use that we got from Mark's grandmother. Which is great, since that meant less money to spend!

I did splurge on a nice glider for his room...and I'm so happy about it. I had a glider I used for Madison, but it was a hand-me-down and its squeaking drove me absolutely nuts!! Also, this one reclines and is ideal for tall people, so I will be much more comfortable. (I tried it out prior to bedrest.) And since I remember spending what seemed like at least the first 4 whole months of my first newborn's life in the glider...this was a must! It will be one less hassle during 2 am feedings, no?

Finally, I desperately want to thank all of you who emailed me or left comments on my last post. So...this is where my honesty comes out and I tuck my pride away... For some reason, Saturday mornings have always been a little sad for me. I don't know why. Weekdays seem to go by much quicker here, whereas the weekend drags by. (Perhaps it's the whole work-week mentality I still have?) I just needed a bit of encouragement this morning and received it when I opened up my computer...God knew just what I needed, right? Of course, the alternative to staying here is not an option in my mind, but I just needed a little pep talk and cheering on. Just so some people out there actually don't think that I'm enjoying laying in this bed and that it is easy-living... So, thank you.

Happy 33 weeks!!

2008-12-05T15:57:00.003-06:00

GUESS WHAT??? I just had the most incredibly enjoying, wonderfully happy, sinfully delicious afternoon ever...

I had PIZZA!!!!

And I didn't share with ANYONE!

The hospital food here just aint cutting it anymore. In fact, it has become so terribly unappetizing. I know I'd be eating more if I were at home. I'd been dreaming of pizza and cinnamon buns, among other delicacies. But guess what? I found out, upon asking at the nurses' station, that a few restaurants will deliver to my hospital room! (I first tried Pizza Hut, but they just wouldn't understand why I couldn't meet them downstairs...hello, it's because I'm pregnant and held captive to my bed.)

I ordered a large pepperoni pizza...that's all I wanted, nothing fancy....and when it arrived, I looked like a little girl on Christmas morning. I sat on my bed with drink beside me. Turned off my phone, turned on the TV, prayed for no interruptions, opened the box...and immediately ate 4 pieces of pizza. It was utter bliss. I haven't had pizza since September.

What a great way to celebrate reaching 33 weeks!! Together, Hunter and I had our very own pizza party (yes, I almost took a picture, but was too famished). Way to go, little boy! I'm so proud of you! We've been going strong here in the hospital for SEVEN weeks now.

Oh my. My life is awfully boring to warrant going on and on about food like this... :)

In other news, life has been very busy here on my hospital floor! Yesterday, we (love how I use the word "we") had one set of twins, one set of triplets and one set of quads (your friend, Allison! My nurse said all four were born healthy around 29 wks. In the nicu, but all breathing on their own and didn't require any vent!) born! And, my "next door" neighbor is going to have her triplets today in about an hour.

Update 12/4

2008-12-04T14:23:00.005-06:00

Thank you to all of my friends who prayed for me yesterday and sent along kind, sweet thoughts. Even if we've never actually met in person, I still consider you a friend for "going through" this journey with us!

I'm sorry for not having posted sooner. Not that I am such an important person, but a few of my relatives may have wondered... But I am just now feeling soooo much better and wanted to take the opportunity to update.

I'm not completely sure what was wrong the last 36 hrs or so, but after three doses of anti-nausea medicine and some pain medicine last night, I feel much better now. It was awful yesterday - like laid-out-on-the-floor awul. Perhaps it was the flu or some type of stomach virus, but odd my back hurt so badly. Tested for kidney infection, but came back negative. Tested for liver infections, but have not received those results yet. Today, I can finally eat for the first time. Taking it easy in that department, although I'm famished. My back still hurts, but nothing too bad. During my last heart monitoring today, baby's heart looked fine, but I had five contractions. So, I'm drinking MORE water (OMG, really...I am floating around my room) and they'll monitor me again soon. They told me to let them know if I feel anymore contractions, but I didn't even feel those last five, so I don't know what to do...

Ok, just had another monitoring. Although rather strong, there was only one contraction, so that's great.

I saw the doctor at 9:30 last night and she gave me an ultrasound. Said she's not worried about the baby, that he is healthy.
- Baby is 4 lbs 8 oz (doctor said 43rd percentile, but according to babycenter.com, this is above average?)
- Baby is breech and not expected to change positions. C-section is required.
- Low amniotic fluid, measuring 6.8. They'll look out for that, but it's not considered too dangerous at this stage in the game.
- No blood restriction in cord
- Cervix real short (no surprise) at 1.5 cm
- Wants me to gain more weight
- Not sure if dilated any further since did not do pelvic exam

She said she feels I can go home at 34 weeks!! That is, unless something pops up last minute. They will do another ultrasound and a routine pelvic exam to make sure all is safe. If I'm dilated further, if amnitoic fluid is dangerously low, or if the baby's foot has decended down into the cavity, they will not let me go. I know not to bank on going home next week with 100% certainty, but I am very optimistic about it!!! I have a good feeling... :)

You know, unfortunately being in the hospital, I hear stories of both tragedy and happiness. Last night, while out of my room, I unfortunately heard of one of these fatal tragedies that was currently happening. I'm not going to go into more detail, but it was so sad. (Amazingly, the baby actually saved the patient's life as she was diagnosed with an unrelated life threatening illness after being admitted here.) My nurse kept asking, "Are you okay? I can't believe you just heard that!" But I told the nurse not to worry; just because it happened to this other patient, does not mean it's going to happen to me. I try to put it all into perspective. Each pregnancy is unique. I am in a hospital...therefore, everyone in here has problems...overall, the majority of the women out in the world have healthy, normal pregnancies and babies. So, I hold onto that. I don't feel like I'm "doomed" one way or the other. I have a lot of faith that all will be okay. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord.

For the rest of the day today, I am going to be disciplined and work on a few Christmas gifts on my computer. Oh, Madison is having a great week at school - no tears!

"Taking a child, He set him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them,"Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me."

Mark 9:36-37

Update 12/3

2008-12-03T13:13:00.007-06:00

Wanted to post last night. Started getting sick around 10 pm. Sick all night and today. Nausea and my back is in a lot of pain. Thought it was due to my shot I received in the evening, but it's been going on too long. Don't think it's back labor, but what do I know. Prob just flu. Receiving medicine, but not really working. Will see doctor this evening and was told I'd have an ultrasound. Sorry to keep this short, but feel terrible. Will post more later.

Excitment on my floor these days - 6 sets of twins, 2 sets of triplets and 1 set of quads (your friend, Alison!)

Here are pics of some surprise gifts I've received lately and decorations around my room...

Made with Madison's footprints

...and her handprints...(I've got a lot of time on my hands)

Front door

Thank you to all the 4's teachers at Beaverton Christian School, where my mom works!! I just got the package yesterday and loved it! Thank you for the books and the sweet messages on the card - it meant so much to me and I appreciate it. Thank you!

Thank you, Aunt Sally, Uncle David and Becca for the awesome tower of treats from The Popcorn Factory!! I ripped right into all of the flavored popcorn (white cheddar, cheese and chocolate drizzled caramel). The tower also included truffles, honey roasted nuts and Christmas colored Jelly Bellies. It is a wonderful, YUMMY surprise! I love you guys!! Thank you!

My new niece

2008-12-01T21:47:00.003-06:00

Congratulations to Sarah and Dave, on the adoption of their new four-legged daughter...a brand new 8.5 wk old yellow lab! Dave gave her to Sarah as an early Christmas gift. Her name is Myla and she and their black lab, Boatie, get along wonderfully.

Update 12/1

2008-12-01T19:11:00.009-06:00

Here are highlights of what's going on with me and baby Hunter:

1. This morning, Dr. Reiter said will keep me here until 34 weeks. If all is well and nothing changes, they will release me then. I need to decide where we want to deliver the baby: Houston or Beaumont. If I want him delivered in Houston, that is fine with Dr. Reiter, but I'll need to stay at someones house until that time comes. If I want to deliver him in Beaumont, we need to run that by my OB/Gyn doctor and the hospital to make sure they're equipped, in case the baby comes early. It will be much easier, in many respects, if I can deliver in Beaumont.

2. Per my request, we will get an ultrasound tomorrow or Wednesday (rather than wait two more weeks - making it 5 wks total? No thanks.). They will supposedly give me another ultrasound right before discharge, to make sure nothing pops up (i.e. dilation) last minute.

3. Have had just a few contractions and he's had a few heart decels, but nothing regular. A few times, they've kept me on the monitor for a longer than usual amount of time, but each time, everything turned out to be okay.

4. The rest of the MTHFR results have come in. Results were not great, but they could have been worse. In layman's terms, I have one mutation (called heterozygous) on each of the two corresponding genes. If it were two mutations on each of the two genes (homozygous) - that's worse. So what does it mean? I have a small problem dissolving blood clots and metabolizing vitamin B and folic acid. Nothing too bad as far as treatment; I'll need to take extra folic acid for the rest of my life and if I have surgery, they may need to give me blood thinner. We'll need to get our kids checked for this genetic mutation as well.

5. Acid reflux has officially struck. I feel like I have a hole in my esophagus.

6. I officially can not fit into any of my jeans. In fact, I gave them back to Mark to bring back home. Have gained 16.5 lbs total, to date. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, I'm just carrying really low, so pants just don't fit easily.

7. I still receive a weekly shot of Progesterone to ward of preterm labor and avoid continued shortening of the cervix. However, now I take anti-nausea medication prior to the shot, which helps tons!

8. The antipartum unit is very full...and a nearby neighbor is having quads!

Happy (belated) Birthday to my dear friend, Emily. Emmers, I love and miss you!

Happy Birthday, Christy!! I hope you had a great day on Friday.

Happy Birthday, Adam and Andrew. Your mommy wrote you such a sweet letter.

Also, this was a good article on near-term birth that I recently read. I think I got it from the blog above, but I'm not sure.