What I'm Lovin'

I can't get enough of:

Baby Amy. I love her snuggles, her sweet smiles, her baby grunts and peeps, her morning stretches, and her all consuming love.
My children's creativity. Whether it is sidewalk art or "playing Halloween" by pulling doll's heads off and setting them up in a dollhouse (Joe, where did you even get that idea?!) they always amaze me with their imagination.

Beach Reads. I'm not at a beach (I wish!) but I love easy summer reading. These are now called "nursing reads" to me as they are easy to pick up and put down for each nursing session. My current read is Julia's Child by Sarah Pinneo. It's turning out to be a fun read.

Subscription boxes. I'm still receiving a few, though have axed several that I used to receive. They no longer contained what I wanted, weren't worth the money, or had too many repeats. I may review all the May boxes that I receive so that you can see exactly which ones I find worthy and fun.
 

Busy Bees

After a week long visit with the in-laws and several appointments this past week my blog postings have been put on the back burner.

A quick recap of the week:

*Amy turned one month old! How time flies...to the point that I barely remember April. The month literally was just *poof* gone for me. My sweet baby is so good and is eating and sleeping great. She has been blessing us with her smiles since just a few days old.

*Jacob will be receiving radiation once again to slow the growth of things and will be starting that next week. He was so brave yesterday during all the tests and is my hero for all he puts up with.

He is off his oral chemo for close to two weeks now as his counts dropped quite low, to the point of needing a transfusion this past Monday when his platelets hit 10,000 and his hemoglobin was down to 6.9. He felt much better after being topped up and has more energy now. We hope his counts are back to normal on Monday so that he can resume the Etoposide.

*Our weather is insane. We went from 80 degrees one day to 35 degrees the next. I want to be able to work in the garden and get things planted but here it feels like winter again.

 

 

 *Our 12th wedding anniversary is coming up on Sunday and Joe turns 5 next week (the same day that Jacob starts radiation).

*Today is a lazy day for us all. Tv and books are the focus and pjs are the attire. I so needed a day like today to rest and recoup.

 

Nuk Fresh Foods Cook-n-Blend

With my first baby, I bought into the hype of the Gerber baby food in teeny tiny jars...for about a month. I soon realized that I was spending a lot of money on a little bit of food which my daughter didn't even finish or even seem to like.

I noticed her interest in the foods that her daddy and I were eating at the table and started to just feed her from my plate after that. I'd squish a pea with my fork or feed her a bit of mashed potatoes, etc.

The fact is, fresher food is better food and I don't feel you have to buy "special food" for a baby. Which is why I was excited to get the chance to review the Nuk Freshfoods Baby Food Maker, hosted by Moms Meet.

Being able to blend up fresh fruits and vegetables is not only good for a baby, but also to use recipes for the older kids which sneak pureed food into normal meal time foods when one has a picky eater on their hands.
 
Not only does it puree foods but it also steam cooks them. The option of smooth or chunky textures means that I can make foods that my baby will like this summer or that my 4 year old would enjoy (chunky applesauce, anyone?). A smoothie blade is even included that we all can use.

Dishwasher safe means that it is easy clean up. There is nothing that I hate more than scrubbing something that is hard to clean.

This retails for $99.99 but for a limited time you can get a $20 coupon for the baby food maker or $1 coupon for an accessory (of which they have many - food mill, food trays, etc.). Just go here for your coupons.  

Disclaimer:  received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms MeetSM program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms MeetSM blogger, I agreed to use this product and post my opinions on my blog.  My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC or the manufacturer of the product.

 

Quick Update

We are having company this whole week, so do not worry if my posts are few and far between (or missing completely!). We are all good (yet maybe also a bit exhausted!) so no worries. I'll update with pictures soon...can you believe Amy turns 3 weeks old tomorrow?

 

This Week

It has been nearly a week since I have posted and my excuse is that I have been exhausted. I would have loved to have just one week of enjoying little Amy before diving back into "life" but it didn't work out that way.

*Hubby had to go back to work the day after I arrived home from the hospital in order to save as many PTO days as possible. Adjusting from 3 to 4 children seems much harder than 2 to 3.

*We met with the Palliative Team at the hospital on Monday. We had our first visit with Hospice yesterday. This all seems surreal, and not in a good way. We want to get to know our team of nurses and social worker before we may really need their help.

*With that said, we are not giving up hope. Jacob feels great (except for a lingering cold that all the children have, even little Amy). Because the doctors say they can't cure him they automatically refer him to Hospice. We are still praying for a miracle for our little guy.

*I joined a Bible study, which is exactly what I need at this time. My days may be chaos, but I hope to hear God's soft whispers leading the way on this path.

*I'm crabby and exhausted. I ask for prayers from all of you for more patience and calmness for myself. I could really use some!
 

All's Well That Ends Well

When I learned that our baby was due so close to April I just *knew* that she was going to be an April Fool's baby. Not that I wanted that date for her birthday - I was really hoping for it to be the same as my Dad's - March 28th.

At 4am on April 1st I awoke to use the restroom. As I got out of bed I felt a little 'pop' but assumed that the baby just kicked me...I also assumed I just wet myself (sorry for the TMI but this is a birth story after all!) as I walked down the stairs. After changing my clothes I was about to head back upstairs when I felt another trickle of fluid and as I walked to the bathroom I felt a gush. I knew then that my water had broken, which has never happened to me at home before. I called the midwife, who told me to get some rest and call her back if nothing started happening in the next 6 hours. At that point I wasn't even having contractions so knew it would be a long day.

I decided to wash up before heading back to bed. As I stepped into the shower I felt another gush and glanced down, only to see bright red blood pouring down my legs. I ran out of the shower and upstairs to tell my husband to "Wake up - I'm bleeding!" and ran back to the bathroom floor to sit where I promptly called an ambulance. All I could think of was that it was probably placenta previa and that the baby could be dying (or was already as I hadn't felt her move since I woke up). My mom had this happen when she was in labor with her fifth baby and they both came close to dying - fortunately they were already at the hospital and next to the operating room when it happened.

Joe awoke from all the commotion and stood peering around the doorway, watching as the ambulance crew came inside. Once I was in the ambulance they listened for the baby's heartbeat, which they found pretty quickly. That was the best sound in the world! 

Once at the hospital they hooked me up to monitors and an iv and ordered an ultra sound to check the placenta, all the while getting the anesthesia and surgery team rounded up just in case they needed to get the baby out quick. I was still bleeding and having clots. Luckily, the ultra-sound checked out fine and things started to slow down from there, while my contractions started to pick up.

We never did learn why I was bleeding. The doctor mentioned that the placenta could have started to pull away and then clot back up or that if I dilated quickly some blood vessels could have burst.

At this point I had the option of transferring to the hospital where my midwife is (an hour away) or staying here in town, where I didn't know a single doctor! After meeting the doctor on call (and knowing that he delivered my cousin's little girl three weeks earlier and she was happy with her experience) I decided to stay here in town.

As the day went on it took me 6 hours to dilate from 4cm to 5cm. I think it was the stress of how the day started, coupled with the fact that Jacob was then on his way to Iowa City with my mom to talk to the doctor and pick up his oral chemotherapy medication. Hearing the words "Palliative Care" for him didn't help my nerves any, either. I was just a jumble mess at that point.

At 1pm the doctor decided to start Pitocin, which I really didn't want. Once he left the room my contractions started to pick up and become quite uncomfortable. As the nurse came back into the room with the Pitocin I told her how I was feeling and she checked the monitors. After talking to the doctor they decided not to do the Pitocin after all since the labor had taken off.

The baby's heart beat kept dropping quite dramatically with each contraction. The doctor started to think there was a cord issue and mentioned the possibility of a C-section. At this point the pain was getting intense and I was a bundle of nerves. I decided to get an epidural to help me deal better with the matter at hand - birthing this baby.

Once the epidural took effect I was much more calm. The baby's heartbeat continued to do a roller coaster on the monitors and I was placed on oxygen on and off and moved into different positions. The doctor ordered an ultra-sound to see if the cord was wrapped around her neck or in an odd position. They thought they could see it around her neck.

Finally, at 7:15pm (I had been at the hospital for 14 hours at this point) I was 10cm and the doctor wanted me to push - hoping that the baby would descend and not be stuck by the placenta. Within four contractions she was in my arms (the quickest pushing stage ever for me!) and perfectly healthy! As a matter of fact, within just a few minutes of being born she was nursing like a champ (I've never had a baby latch on so quickly!).

 
While the birth did not turn out the way I had hoped the end result was perfect, which is really all that matters anyway.
 

April Arrival

Amy Rose
April 1, 2013
7 lbs. 13.5 oz.
20 3/4" long

After quite a scare and a ride in an ambulance at 5am Amy was born 14 hours later. Wish her birth story was an April fools joke but it is quite real! Will write more later but both her and I are doing great - just very tired!