Just wanted to let you know that I'm alive.. I'm sorry that I've been absent.. My laptop was out of commission and I totally forgot about this blog.

I will be back to update!  Davey is 5 months old now and we are near the end of our home schooling year. 

Love,
Mishelle

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On Wednesday, the 27th, Michael and I met with Dr. Calabrese to discuss a possible induction. Dr. C didn’t want to do anything since I was not experiencing anything that deemed it medically necessary to induce. Once I reminded him that each baby got bigger by one pound, he found his medical necessity. He called the hospital and scheduled me to go in on 12/29 at 5am to start the induction process. After he hung up he said, “Now, 80% of the time when I schedule an induction it means that I’ll deliver the baby tonight or tomorrow.” We laughed and told him we’d probably see him tomorrow!

That very next morning at 7:15am, I woke up to go pee and before I got out of the bed I felt a *pop*. I thought to myself that maybe that was the popping sound that mothers hear when their water is about to break. Sure enough, when I got up I felt water flowing and I knew I wasn’t peeing. I got to the toilet as quickly as possible and when I did I had a HUGE gush of fluid. I waited a few minutes before grabbing a towel to put between my legs and went to tell Michael what happened. I’ll never forget how his eyes pinged open brightly when I said, “My water just broke!”

The kids woke up, we told them what happened, I showered, and called down to my mom to tell her, too. Shortly thereafter we headed to the hospital but not before stopping for coffee and a bagel (There’s always time for Tim Horton’s). I knew they wouldn’t feed me anything and I needed some kind of energy. We got to the hospital at about 8:45am and I’d had a couple contractions but nothing worse than any of the braxton hicks that I’d been having for weeks. I was sent to Room 1, given a gown and I quickly got undressed and settled. A couple nurses came in and got some information from me. One nurse, Christine, asked me about pain meds and I told her that I would not be having any. Just at that time another nurse walked in and they began to fight over me.

“She’s my kind of birth.”

“No, she’s my kind of birth.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at them. Christine won and she became my labor nurse. She was great, too. Very sweet, thorough and funny. She fit our bill, for sure. Dr. Calabrese came in around 9:40am and we all laughed about the event and how I didn’t make it to the induction. He instructed Christine to call him when I hit 8-9cm because he needed to go to the office and did NOT want to miss our baby being born.
I had contractions, sporadically, and upon an internal exam by the labor & delivery midwife (Jessie) it was determined that I was 5-6cm dialated. At 12:30pm my pitocin drip was upped to 4 and my contractions started to pick up. I started to alternate from left to right, hoping that it would do something and for sure my contractions intensified. They got to about 3 minutes apart, then 2 and then they were about a minute-and-a-half apart and VERY intense. I counted and breathed right through them and tried to focus the pain away. They were pretty painful and I began to sweat and tremble. I was in active labor!

Jessie checked me again at around 1:45pm (those cervix checks are not fun, at all) and I was 8-9cm dialated. Dr. Calabrese was called and he told them that he was on his way. At this point I felt the need to pee, and in between contractions I got up and made my way to the bathroom. I sat down, had a horrible contraction, peed, and got up to have another contraction. I made my way to the bed and sat down on the edge. I didn’t want to lie back down b/c I just felt better sitting up and then another contraction came. With this one I wanted to push; I wanted to push sooooo badly and Jessie told me to do so. I pushed and when the contraction was over, I lied back down. Dr. C came in and examined me (OUCHIE) and told me I was fully dialated and that he wanted me to push with every contraction from that point b/c the baby had a way to come down (this was at about 2:20-2:25pm).

The pushing was really hard. I felt like I was getting no where and at one point looked at Michael and said, “I just want to be done.”

In this time I also got a new labor nurse. Her name was Shannen and she was great! I was so grateful to have her, Jessie, and Michael there with me during the pushing. They were awesome.

With every contraction I pushed, they pulled my legs back, I pushed, Dr. C massaged my perenium and I pushed some more. Dr. Calabrese then left the room b/c he felt that I would get further without him there. His exact words, “I leave the room and a few minutes later get called back frantically b/c the baby’s right there!”

I pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed and cried and pushed and cried some more. Finally, I could feel that the baby was there and asked Jessie if she could see his head and she could. All the while she was doing some pereneal massage, too. Dr. Calabrese was still not in the room and then they quickly got him in b/c within the next couple pushes the baby would be out. He took his sweet-ole-time getting his gown and gloves on and I felt the need to push.

“I HAVE TO PUSH!”

“Don’t push, honey, the baby’s right there and will go into the garbage can. Blow it away. Don’t Push!”

“I HAVE TO PUSH!”

[everyone in the room] “DO NOT PUSH!”

Finally, Dr. C got to me and I pushed two or three times and out came this beautiful baby boy of ours. Oh My God. Instant relief. He was on his back, on my stomach and Michael says that as soon as he came out he opened his eyes and looked around at everyone. He made it to the party we were having for him!!! *giggle* I could do nothing more than stroke his head and exclaim “Thank You God, thank you God, thank you, God!!”

They took him over to get cleaned up and weighed and everyone was clammering about how big he was. They got him on the scale and everyone was in shock. ELEVEN POUNDS THIRTEEN POINT NINE OUNCES. Holy big boy, batman! He was wrapped up and all the vitals were taken. He scored 9/9 on the apgars but it was feared that his glucose level was low because of his size. We decided that his name would be “David Alexander”. Dr. Calabrese thought we should call him “Goliath” instead.

After Dr. C was done with delivering the placenta and giving me one stich on the minor tear that I had, David was given to me to hold and I just couldn’t believe how much he looked like Mikey when he was born. He was alert and when he heard my voice, I’ll never forget the way he looked at me. Ahhh…..another sweet baby to love..

David Alexander Lane
December 28, 2006
3:21pm
11lbs 13.9oz
21.25″ long

Davey had to spend six days in the Special Care Nursery.

1) Hypoglycemia due to size which was remedied by giving him an IV w/ fluid/sugar and monitoring his levels. Once he was weaned off the IV he had to have three good readings on his own.

2) Jaundice. Remedied by phototherapy.

3) Desaturization of O2 coupled with higher respitory rate. Had a chest x-ray and echocardiogram only to find out that he had some excess fluid in his lungs and that the are a tad small for his big body. Nothing to worry about and totally over needing oxygen therapy.

4) Decreased urine output. He had a rough 24 hours with the previous one so he didn't eat as much which caused low urine output. Still, they did an ultrasound on his kidneys and ran metabolic tests. All of which came back normal and in the clear.

Sooooooooo.. basically, he just had a few issues with being so big, at birth, but they are all resolved and he's home with us, healthy and happy!!

Oh and to top it all off...5) He was circumsized.

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I had my 32 week appointment on Monday and this week commences my going every 2 weeks now. Here's the run down:

• I had a little sugar in my urine. (Probably due to extra candy consumption.)
  
• My blood pressure was borderline high again (140/77).
  
• I gained 5lbs (total 35lbs from start of pregnancy)
  
• I have an u/s scheduled on 11/15 at 10am to check size, development and posititioning (Yay, we get to see "Dude" again AND Papa will be here for it!)
  
• I got my free Enfamil diaper bag and it's AWESOME!  Loaded with tons of magazines, too.
  
• I have to rest a lot (as much as possible) and keep up my water consumption. This will hopefully keep me off BP meds.
  
• "Dude's" heartbeat was loud and strong.

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It's been a while but I am pregnant.  So, I'm allowed these glitches.  The past few weeks we've just been chugging along with work: language arts/spelling/reading, math, social studies and a little bit of science through books and hands on.  I do realize that I need to do more science experiments, though.  Wintertime will be perfect to concentrate on this study.  Plus the baby will be our biggest science experiment to date. 

B is making big progress with writing. For this, I'm glad.  Also, next week I am ordering our Handwriting Without Tears books.  I'm getting cursive lessons for M & O and some manuscript ones for B.  After I used HWWT for M & O I noticed a marked improvement, and I'm hoping the same for B.

Co-op tomorrow will be our third meeting.  The kids LOVE it and I'm so glad we have started going.  The music teacher is WONDERFUL.  I caught the kids singing some of their songs over the past couple weeks.  :::love that:::

School's going great, in my opinion. 

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5 things in freezer:

Chicken Tenderloins

Whole Chicken Roasters (2)

Potato Wedges

Frozen Berries

Ice Cubes

5 things in closet:

Old Pictures

Michael's Flight Bags

Shoes

Wedding Album

Papagallo Bag

5 things in car:

Avon (to be delivered)

Toys

Jumper Cables

Change

CDs

5 things in wallet:

License

Old Navy Card

Debit Card

Old Receipts

A Couple Dollars

5 things in purse:

Wallet

Makeup

A Tootsie Pop

Pen

Avon Catalogs

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1) One homeschooling book you have enjoyed.

>>Home Learning Year by Year: How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool to Highschool

2) One resource you wouldn't be without.

>>Computer/Internet

3) One resource you wish you had never bought.

>>I don't think there is one.  I'm happy with all of my resources.

4) One resource you enjoyed last year.

>>Handwriting Without Tears (worked wonders)

5) One resource you will be using this year.

>>see above

6) One resource you would like to buy.

>>Rosetta Stone Spanish

7) One resource you wish existed

.

>>The one that will clean, cook, do laundry and take the dogs out while I homeschool the kids and rest!

8) One homeschooling catalog you enjoy reading.

>>Rainbow Resource

9) One homeschooling website you use regularly.
>> www.enchantedlearning.com  &  www.edhelper.com

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...was a blur since Michael was home but we got all of our work done with math, language arts, science and social studies.  The week went by way too quickly, though.  M&O worked 3-4 hours a day and B did work totaling 2 hours.  I read in a book this week that 2-4 hours of home schooling is equivalent to 6 hours of public schooling.   It's true for us.

On tap for the next week:

1) Spelling Work/Tests

2) Math Drills

3) Vocabulary Building

4) Creative Writing

5) Fractions/Decimals

6) Girl Scouts on Thursday

7) Field Trip to the Police Station on Friday

Obviously, these are in no specific order. 

Happy Blogging Y'all!!  Oh and Happy Home Schooling!!

P.S.  I'm 30 weeks pregnant!!!! 

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These two days were spent doing arithmatic and writing.  No frills!  Just plain ole mathmatics drills, spelling, grammar, sentance/paragraph structure and handwriting. The kids worked well and without any opposition.  I think they finally realize that homeschooling is the way to go.  Yay for positive realizations!

However,  in the wee hours of Friday the thirteenth we were struck with a storm that will be forever known as the "Surprise Storm of Friday the 13th" here in Buffalo, NY.  I woke up in the middle of the night to no power, to see the accumulating snow and quickly called Michael to tell him about it. As quickly as I called, I hung up because the lightening and thunder was so monsterous that I felt unsafe on my cell phone.  We both couldn't believe that we were getting snow at this time in the autumn.  It just was very strange. I covered the kids with extra blankets, lit a candle in the bathroom and comforted the kids regarding the lightening and thunder.  I snuggled up in bed, called the dogs up next to me and fell back asleep. 

We awoke around 7:00am and I quickly got the kids some sweatshirts and socks.  I went by the stove and remembered that it was an old gas stove that would work without electricity.  So, I made some hot oatmeal for all of us figuring that we would need something to keep warm.  After eating the kids completed their school work that was left over from the previous day.  Two hours later we saw my dad snowblowing the driveway and the kids begged to go play in the white stuff.  I bundled them up, got them gloves and hats and off they went.   Shortly thereafter my mom came upstairs and we lamented about the storm and not having any power.   When she came up she was happy that we were staying warm.  I had cooked some more on the stovetop (prepared ground sirloin for Shepards Pie) and made some cookies in the oven.   After the kids played my mom and dad  took O to the store to see if they could find anywhere that had hot coffee.  Upon their arrival home they told us how the storm had caused so much damage.  There were trees down, power lines down and it was almost war-zone like. The culprit was a very heavy, very wet snow on trees that still had leaves on them and high winds.   My mom said that people were taking stuff off the shelves at the grocery store as if it were a matter of life and death. 

Around 1:30pm, my mom, myself and B headed down the road to check on my grandparents (mom's parents).  They were all right and keeping warm by bundling up.  They'd already starting bailing water out of their sumpump as my grandfather was very worried that the basement would flood (this would later be a problem for MANY Buffalonians without power).   We left their house in search of gasoline for my mom's car, to no avail.  And, it was downright scary on the roads.  Tree limbs were fallen as well as power lines (as described by mom earlier).  People looked lost and there was an eerieness to the area.  Friday the 13th, right?

We got home and ate lunch.  I was going stir crazy and needed to get out to search for gas, too.  I had heard from my best friend that a local gas station was open, so off I went.  Michael was due home the next day and if I had no gas to pick him up from the airport, there he would be stuck.  I bundled up, got my boots on and took off.  First I went to the gas station that I knew was open.  However, when I got there I saw some craziness due to incompenant drives and cars that aren't made to be in slush-snow and on a hill.  I decided to go around to the other gas station that I saw open on my way there (I should've just waited when I first saw it and I don't know why i didn't).  The way I went could have proven disasterous because I turned down a street that was very clogged with limbs and branches.  Dare I even mention the number of downed powerlines.  It was very scary and I prayed that I would make it.  Thank God, I did.  I got to the Sunoco and waited.  One whole hour later I got to the pump and proceeded to start pumping.  The card reader told me to "See Attendant" and when I did he glummly said, "I'm all out!"  I don't think I understood him and said, "Excuse me?" and he reiterated, "I'm all out of gas!"   I'd waited an hour and they were all out.  And, I was on E(mpty) and scared and I had to pee. 

With that I proceeded up to yet another gas station.  I waited for 5 minutes and decided not to wait anymore and went to the Tops gas station.  I somehow got in a line that was six cars deep.  The urge to pee was great but I wasn't about to lose my great place in line.   Finally, I made it and pumped my gas.  I was lucky enough to use my bonus points and paid fourty cents less, too, but I digress...

When I left the gas station I knew I wouldn't make it home without going to the bathroom first.  I saw that my favorite family-owned dollar store (Dollar Galaxy) was open so I quickly parked the truck and ran in to pleed for use of their private bathroom.  Luckily - 1) the were open and 2) they have compassion for pregnant ladies because they let me use their facility.  To repay them I spent $10 in there, too.  I got some candles and other things that I'd be able to use (like decorations and kitchen accessories). 

What would have really been perfect would have been if the Tim Horton's drive thru line that I was waiting in for a few minutes yielded some splendid black elixir.  However, people were waiting in vain.  They would pull up to the order box, hear the recorded greeting, talk for a minute giving their order and then pull up when they were not answered.  We could not see that they weren't getting their orders fullfilled.  All we whom were waiting could see was them pull forward as if they were getting their order.   It wasn't until a man came up to each waiting vehicle to break the news.   Really, it didn't matter....I had a tankfull of gas, decorations, candles and new kitchen towels! 

I got home 2.5 hours after I set off.   My parents decided that they would go off in search of gas at that time.  They had M with them and quickly came back because the lines grew bigger and bigger.   I went downstairs to see what they were doing upon their arrival and saw my mom's cell phone plugged into the wall.

"Why is that glowing?  How is that glowing?"

"I don't know?"

And two seconds later my mom flipped on her kitchen light.  POWER. We had power back!!  HALLELUJA!  When we turned the TV on we found out that in addition to hundreds of thousdands of residents being without power that we were not to drink the water without boiling.  With that I was off again to find some bottled water.  Being pregnant I didn't want to take any chances with that.  We lucked out and found some at Aldi.  I got six twelve packs and felt relieved that we would be ok for a few days.   When we got home I got the kids ready for bed and thus ended our day.   We lucked out, BIGTIME!  We got our power back, stayed warm and even got gas on this crazy day.  Bigtime.  We lucked out!   But, what a welcome home this was for our family... *giggles*

We'd see devastion and scarring around us as we ventured out in the following days.  We'd hear stories; everyone has a story to tell.  We'd learn that people died.  We'd see news reports about the devastation.  And...we'll see, hear, learn and talk about this storm for a long time.  The trees will be a constant reminder, too.   The poor sad and scarred trees.   Buffalonians are made out of some tough grit, though, and we'll overcome this disaster. 

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Since Monday was Columbus Day we had a lesson on who Christopher Columbus was, what he did and just learned about his voyages, ships, discoveries and the countries he came and sailed from.  We had a few worksheets but mostly we read stories about him and I had the kids figure out how many years ago his first voyage was.

Yesterday was reading and writing day.  M & O started out with independant reading time (1 hour) while I worked with B on his writing technique.  He can write, it's just very rough looking and he gets easily frustrated.  I got him a smaller dry erase board and he was writing on that a bit with much success.   After reading time M & O wrote more letters to their friends in Georgia.  M wrote a letter to Caleb and he had three good paragraphs in there as well as labeling the envelope properly.  O wrote a letter to Ben and while she only had one paragraph, it was very well written and she also drew some pictures to accompany the letter.  She also addressed the envelope (and adorned it with a billion and six stickers, too)!   We did have a small lesson on the continents, as well.

Today's lessons are as follow:

Science:

3 States of Matter (including a small experiment), workbook pages

Geography:

Time zones of the contiguous USA; the Northeastern States - including learning what they are, labeling a map of them and what their capitals are   (I will be doing this for all of the US regions as part of our geography lessons for the United States)

Mathmatics:

Fractions (1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5)

Polygons and Quadrilaterals (talking about angels and geometrical shapes)

Addition/Subraction/Multiplication Facts using www.mathplayground.com

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Yesterday we met a new homeschool group. We drove a little ways away but it was well worth the drive.  Also, the drive was pretty with all the trees turning colors and there was no traffic; it was great!

Meeting fellow homeschoolers involves a bit of apprehension for me.  But, this group relaxed me with the first two women I met.  I felt totally at ease and my  children jumped in with the others and took off playing.  That's always such a remarkable sight.  Socialization issues, my booty. 

Afterwards we took off for the tour of a local Fire Station.  And, what a tour it was.   It was hands-on, interactive, informational and the kids really learned a lot from the firemen/woman.  This was a perfect field trip for Fire Prevention and Safety Week!

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M just had his introduction to decimals and got it!  He was doing some word problems that involved money.  So now he's learning about decimals and we're just going with the flow!

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