Exploring life with a touch of Dill seasoning. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Tue, 22 Nov 2005 09:55:00 -0600 Tue, 22 Nov 2005 09:55:00 -0600 Blogging failure that I am....I guess I should write about how life is here with new baby and all.    I am still definitely in recooperation mode.  I cannot believe how weak I am, and how little energy I have to do anything.  Even holding the baby or rocking him wears me out.  I told ya, weeks on end laying in a bed do nothing for your muscular system!!  I am slowly trying to increase my energy levels and get my strength built back up.  It's been 8 weeks now since I first went on bed rest and boy am I ready for a change.  We went to Target the other night and just walking through the store...not power shopping...wiped me out.  I fell asleep on the way home and could hardly function once I got home.    I am feeling better in other ways, but still very, very tender.  Hope my strength meets my other physical healing soon.    Matthew is doing well.  He is nursing well and seems very content.  He is finally getting to the point of "acting" like a newborn.  Alert and looking around.  He will now look at me while nursing instead of closing his eyes and shutting down.  He is turning to voices and acknowledging them more.  He is gaining strength daily as well.  It's amazing that he wasn't even due until this Thursday.  Though I've never carried a baby to their due date, this was my first baby that was so premature and labled as such.  The many premature signs are beginning to fade and he's really looking/acting like a newborn.  We hope that his weight gain will also show he's coming along too.  He will be re-weighed tomorrow morning.  His birth weight was 7 lbs. 8 oz., his discharge weight at one week old was 7 lbs. 4 oz., his weight last Wednesday was 6 lbs. 15 oz.  His total loss was just 8 oz. and the dr seemed very happy with that.  He did not have any caloric nutrition for the first 4 days of life, was artificially pumped with fluids (was up to 7 lbs. 11 oz. at one point in the hospital) and then had to start from scratch learning how to suckle and eat.   He is slowly getting into a routine, which is always my goal.  He is starting to wake consistantly at that 3 hour mark and being awake more after eating.  Some cycles are very good and some not as good, but he is getting there.  It's been a learning experience for both him and me!    Don has been quite funny with this new little guy.  Everything is new and fresh and seen through "new daddy" eyes.  Justin was 9 months old when we met and this is his first newborn experience.  IF he does awaken in the night when Matthew cries he immediately thinks I have no idea the baby is awake and *informs* me that he's awake and needs me.  Of course I am already awake and just waiting for the baby to be really awake before I snatch him up to nurse.  Matthew has NEVER really cried at night....maybe I should let him.   *giggle*   The other kids just love their new brother!!!  Justin says 100 times a day, "He's soooooooo cute!"  Call him his "little buddy".  Lots of kisses for his baby brother.  The other kids want to hold him all the time.  If I wasn't careful that baby would never see his bed!!  It will be nice here in a few weeks when they can start to play with him a bit more.  He will definitely be well loved!!   Grandma is anxiously awaiting her opportunity to hold him.  Though she was there when he was born, b/c of his difficulties she was never able to hold him.  She came back two days later and he was still confined to the nursery.  They would not let any family in to see him except Don and I.  I know it was very hard on her.  Thursday will be a big day for Matthew!!!  Everyone will want to hold and cuddle the baby.  Guess I'll only get to see him when it's time to EAT!  LOL   We've come so far this week.  Cannot believe how much he's changed and grown.  What a blessing!  Praise God! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/47376/ Tue, 22 Nov 2005 09:55:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/47376/ Here are a few pictures from the hospital of Matthew.     This was day one, when they initially took him off the O2.  He appears very alert, but this was a bit decieving.  He did not have regular movement and alertness until Monday morning.     Under the O2 helmet.  We called this his bubble.  He may be "Bubble Boy" to Grandpa for quite awhile.  :o)     Friday 11/11 ... on our way home.  We were all ready to leave!!               http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/44662/ Tue, 15 Nov 2005 10:13:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/44662/ As well as his first week of life....as posted elsewhere on 11/11/2005...I'll update again tomorrow of our first few days home.     Thursday afternoon...hugged and kissed my 6 blessings and headed for the big city. Mom and I checked into our hotel rooms and went out for dinner. We ate at the Olive Garden....chicken fettucinni for my "Last Supper". After thoroughly stuffing ourselves we headed back to the hotel to veg in front of the TV and look through catalogs for Christmas ideas and open gifts!! GREAT gifts for mom and baby!! Don arrived about 9:30 and we all went to bed to try and get some restless sleep. All three of us were sick and coughing all night long. 4am...up, showered and heading to the hospital. 5am arrive at the ER entrance and wheeled up to LD to begin prep work. I have to say it was pretty surreal. Everything just sort of floating around me, like I was watching it all happen but not really a part of it. They had some *rules* that were bothering me and made me really wish we'd visited both hospitals before we picked one. I tried to stay focused and positive about it all. My first nurse was not very *nice* and was a bit rough. I was glad when 7am rolled around and she left. The next nurse was the absolute best and was with me continually until 3pm, she anticipated my every need and made sure everything was "perfect". They decided to let me recover in my prep room vs. the recovery room, bring baby in there instead of the nursery and let my mom be a part of everything (bath, etc.) which they were originally not going to do....see above about the *rules*. Then off we went to the OR.... They had some trouble with the spinal (can you say OUCH!) possibly due to scar tissue or calcium deposits in the space he was trying to use. He moved up and presto...feet were tingling. Then everything moved FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could see part of the operation in a reflection on the ceiling...that was interesting! I did not think I was numb enough but when she started cutting I didn't feel a thing. Lots and lots of tugging and jerking....she said I had some SUPER stomach muscles and they had to really work to get it all open! Could have fooled me...I thought those were gone 5 babies ago! I told them it felt like I was on the high seas they way my body was rolling around. Saw lots of fluid and then BABY was here! I barely saw him (just his leg) and the pediatrician and nurses took him to a nearby table. He was sqwaking and sounded great. Uterus clamped right down and dr said all looked GREAT (I was very surprised). The others kept commenting on how good baby looked and sounded, very pink, great lungs, apgars 9 & 9 which is not typical of a section baby. They showed me the baby again and Don got up to take him to the nursery while I was stapled up. Again, very surreal! They moved me to another bed and wheeled me to my original prep room where my mom arrived and said she saw the baby on the way to the nursery and they would be here soon...... Soon didn't come. The nurse came in and began to tell me what was going on, then Don came in and began all over again. I don't really remember much as I was in extreme pain and they had to give me more morphine and I was really woozey. Something about grunting when he got to the nursery, giving him oxygen, having a hard time....IV, something else...cannot remember. I insisted on going to the nursery to see him, so I had to switch beds again (OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!) to be able to fit through the nursery door. I could only touch his hand and they didn't even want me doing that. I was hearing things like "premature", "36 weeks", "grunting", "premature lungs", "boys don't mature as fast as girls" and the one that kept surprising me "HE'S SO BIG!" Monitors beeping, wires everywhere, tubes and noises and nurses. After 6 normal deliveries and 6 healthy babies, this was a whole new world. I really was unprepared. One thing I learned quickly is that "size does not matter". Though he was gestationally measuring at 39 weeks, was indeed 37 weeks and the size of a full term baby, he was NOT a full term baby. Over the next few days I learned the many indicators of prematurity that he had. Ears, areolas, testicles, eye lashes, and other things. In the end his prematurity was not the primary cause of his difficulties, but it was very evident it played a role. By 11am the oxygen was removed, but IV antibiotics had been started and the wait began. Would he make his turn around? That evening we finally got to hold him for a little while. His o2 levels went up while we held him and he seemed to be improving. The next morning he began coughing up lots of fluid and his levels dropped. Back under the helmet. He remained under o2 throughout the weekend. Saturday night he nose dived, we had to call the dr in at 10pm and order new x-rays. We thought he'd have to be transferred to the Children's Hospital in Peoria...closest NICU. This terrified me, as I would not be able to go with him. The good news/bad news of Saturday's events was that they got a better x-ray (3 additional ribs were showing) and it showed the "spot" that they began to "watch". Monday morning we were told they were treating him as if he had pneumonia, though not completely convinced that was what it was. We began to question did he need to be moved, could it be something else, etc. The dr felt like we were on the right track and he would be off o2 within 2 days, then we'd begin to see how soon he would fully recover. 2 hours later we went to the nursery and the helmet was GONE!!!! And it did not come back!!!! That began our new road. Everyday we lost and gained something. Monday lost the o2 helmet, gained and OG tube. Tuesday pulled the OG tube out, gained the ability to actually NURSE!! Wednesday lost level 2 status, was able to bring him to our room. Thursday lost monitors, gained freedom of movement and beeps! Friday lost IV and gained a new baby at home!!!!!!!!!!!!! Last night we got a shocker at about 7pm.....babies were flooding in and we had to move. The hospital allows you to *board* with your baby, remaining in your room, but you are no longer a patient. You get a bed and 3 squares and a lot of freedom which is really NICE...but if they get full up to peds you go. At first they were not going to send the baby with us, but I was pretty adamant about us moving as a family. They called the director and the pediatrician and everyone approved the *move* and up we went. I will say it was nice and quiet on the peds floor (just a hives patient and a cellulitis patient on the whole floor). Another boarding family moved as well and I think I set the precidence b/c her baby got to come too. (I was told this was *not the way they did things*.) Last dose of antibiotics last night and this morning we were free to take baby home!! And how good it is to be here. They do believe he had pneumonia, it was not caused by my illness, but was complicated by his prematurity. Everyone felt we made all the right decisions in delivery and afterwards. This really was not something that could have been predicted (via amnio or u/s) nor prevented. As of yesterday his lungs were completely clear and his blood count (not a WBC something else) was normal as well. So he is WELL and hopefully there will be no long term effects of the illness or the antibiotics. We will have to have hearing screenings every 6 months until age 2 due to one of the antibiotics he was on.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/44337/ Mon, 14 Nov 2005 15:23:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/44337/ Talk about a real countdown... I've even figured up the number of hours until our scheduled c-section to delivery our precious baby boy!!!    At times I'm so ready I could burst.  At other times I feel like I am soooooo NOT ready!  But regardless, it is soon and very soon!   Tomorrow I will have my pre-op testing done.  Will also have some other questions answered.  Then I'll be all set to go!    Thursday morning my grandmother will arrive to help with the kids.  Thursday evening while dh is working away, my mother will arrive and we will go have my "final meal" and check into the hotel.  Our hospital is over 45 minutes away so we decided the 3 of us would stay in a hotel to cut our drive time Friday morning.  Dh doesn't usually get home until 11pm (or later!) so this will help him be in bed closer to 10pm.    Friday morning we will arrive at the hospital at 5am, surgery is scheduled for 7:15am CST.    Now if I can only sleep for the next three nights!  I am having lots of trouble sleeping.  Arms and hips go numb and there is NOT a comfortable position available.  I'd sure like to get some good rest, though I am napping during the day now too.  Just cannot stop that anymore.  I doubt I'll sleep much Thursday night...should have asked for something to help with that.  But I'd have to take it at 5pm to get a full nights sleep in before having to get up at 4am!!    Not sure which is worse, not having time to panic OR having all this time to *think*.  God is in control, though I'd like to think I am once in awhile.  Ha!  He continually shows me that is not the case.  So here I go, resting in His arms and abiding in His peace.   Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!  They are so appreciated!!     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/39456/ Tue, 1 Nov 2005 16:27:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/39456/ Tomorrow will be 8 days 'til baby arrives.  I will see the doctor again in the morning.  I suspect this will the last time until D-Day.   I've been trying to wrap my brain around what I want to happen in our home post-baby and it just isn't happening.  I'm either in "can't-think-clearly-pregnancy-brain" or "meltdown mode".  Not sure which.  Or if it matters since it just isn't working!   All I'm really wanting to do at this point is sleep.  I slept for several hours yesterday and today.  I think my body is just too tired for much else.  I hope getting out and about tomorrow will help shake the cobwebs from my brain and get me focused on this last week before our family expands.     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/37616/ Wed, 26 Oct 2005 20:34:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/37616/ The countdown has begun!!   I'm getting nervous about some things and others are just going right over my head. My Mother's Helper starts today.  Praying that all goes well, as I think it will. I have not prepared the weeks post-baby out yet...I'm still trying to get through THIS week!!  So I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed there.  Maybe this afternoon....   I was up all night with gas trouble. Oh ugh.  How much more miserable can I get???   10 days.... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/37127/ Tue, 25 Oct 2005 09:13:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/37127/ Tomorrow we will do another round of doctors appointments.  Hauling all 6 kids and being one a good majority of the day.  *sigh*    We will have to leave here at 7:30 in the morning and ya know, my body just is NOT functioning that early!  We will visit the OB office....have another ultrasound, probably another NST and probably be told what we were told last week...."Go home and rest, see you next week."  I cannot imagine what could have changed.   Then we'll see the peridontist again and he will check my dd's mouth.  Looks good to me.  She had very little complaints and needed very little ibuprofen over a couple of days.  She is eating, drinking and brushing fine.  So that should be easy, right?   Then hopefully lunch somewhere easy.   Then we go to the orthodontist for dd.  Usual adjustments.  They are going to start some more work know that the gum is taken care of, molds for retainers and rubber bands and such.  Not sure if that will be this appointment or next.  Hopefully we can hold off the next one until I can drive post-baby, if not my sister will have to take her.   Should prove to be an exciting day.  I'll be exhausted and the kids will be tired.  All this laying around does not bode well on the muscular system.  It makes you very fatigued and weak.  I can hardly climb the 3 stairs in our garage or get in and out of the van.  IF I had to actually go upstairs for a child right now I could not do it.  I am exhausted going from one end of the house to the other.  I'm ready for this all to be over and to have this sweet baby in my arms.     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/35671/ Wed, 19 Oct 2005 18:01:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/35671/ Yesterday was a whirlwind day for us around here!  We all headed out before 8am to take Lyndsay to the Peridontist for her gum surgery.  She did very well, but was in a bit more pain than we had anticipated.  Of course her ice pack that was supposed to last an hour only lasted 30 minutes.  And she had to have her novocaine wearing off before we were able to get ibuprofen in her.  All in all though, she did great and was a real trooper!  I'm sure she's glad she won't be having to repeat that ever again though!   Had my 34 week OB appointment, which also proved interesting.  Doctor was afraid the extra pain and pressure was more than previa issues.  She put me on the monitor to make sure I was not having contractions, which I wasn't.  PTL because if I was it would mean a walk across the skywalk to check into the hospital.  We were not prepared for that at all!  6 kids in the waiting room and one who'd just had a surgical proceedure!  We scheduled the c-section for Friday, November 4th at 7:15am.  So if nothing major happens prior to that we will have a baby in 3 weeks!!!  I will go again next week, have another ultrasound.  For now I just sit and wait.   Oh and did I mention that I'm STILL on bed rest!!  It's been better since I moved to the recliner in the living room, but not ideal.  I'm pretty much in this spot for 3 more weeks (and beyond).  It's hard to not be a part of things and seeing things not get done, watching my poor dh be stressed about his duties as husband/father/primary bread winner.  I hope during this time I come to a great appreciation for my *job* and gain a new zeal for homemaking!!    We do have a PRAISE!!  I have a Mother's Helper who will be coming in 3 days a week starting the last week of October.  She will increase her time as needed when baby arrives.  She cooks, she cleans, she's worked with a family that had 7 children before.  Just a God-send!!!  She is 25yo and was homeschooled.  Still lives at home and will be a GREAT influence on my dd!  I will be putting together a schedule this week for when she's here and deciding on payment.  She does this primarily as a ministry and is only looking for gas compensation, but we will do more.  Very exciting!!  Will take a great load off my dd and my dh.   Making up school today from yesterday, then we will go down the street to my store and the kids can watch the local high school's homecoming parade.  Always a treat for them.  I will rest in the back room while they watch out front.  Nice to own a piece of main street for such things.  *giggle*     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/33988/ Fri, 14 Oct 2005 09:05:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/33988/ Be prepared.  What does that mean and can we ever be fully prepared?    Many weeks ago I began preparing for our upcoming school year.  I gathered all my materials, outlined my plan and set to work.  I planned our days off for the baby's birth and knowing that may have to change, I compensated for the "what if's", or so I thought.   Also many weeks ago, I set up doctors appointments and scheduled a few things that I knew needed to be done before the baby's birth.  I thought getting those ducks in order would make me better prepared.  I thought.   Several months ago I began to research my condition and prepare my heart for what lie ahead  Again, thinking I had prepared myself for the worst case scenario.  But had I?   Proverbs 21:31 says, "The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD."  I guess I'm feeling like the horse, arming mysef for battle, yet forgeting in Whom my safety lies in.  Placing my full safety and trust in the Lord to deliver me from the battles that wage on all around me, was not happening.  Some battles are trifle little things, some are much bigger.  I have found over the last few days that I did not bathe these battles in as much prayer as I'd fooled myself into believing.  Laying awake last night, it was like a smacking into a brick wall.  What is my battle and what preparations have I made and where does my true safety lie?   I had fooled myself into believing that by doing these *things* I was assuring a positive outcome.  Not that any of those *things* were inerrantly wrong mind you, but I was trusting in the *things* to deliver me!  The only thing that would deliver me from the well-stream of battles going on around me is my One and Only Heavenly Father.  Only He knows the future and can thus fully prepare me for it.   What was the ultimate battle?  The hills and valleys that I was looking at?  Or something entirely different that lay beyond?  I believe it is something entirely different.   It's always such a growing process, learning to rely on God fully and totally.  Some days it's so easy, hey I thought I was doing it those many weeks ago.  But there is something about being totally dependant on others that makes you see that in reality you are totally dependant upon God!   So how am I doing in my preparedness and dependancy?  School, yes that will always need my prep work, but more of it is going before God's throne.  Doctors and appointments, well I give up....the past few weeks have almost caused me more despair than I can deal with, so yep, I give that to God too.  A normal pregnancy turning high risk, placenta previa, bed rest...talk about totally depending on God!!  Lesson learned!!     Do I think we should do no preparing?  Nope, I think God instructs us to prepare, yet we are not to worry about what tomorow may bring.  I can definitely prepare without worry when I fully rely on his safety for the battle ahead.   (Ok so my bag that was supposed to be packed last week still is not packed.  *blush*  But God will meet my every need!) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/32659/ Mon, 10 Oct 2005 15:04:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/32659/ I have survived my first week on bed rest!!!  Yippee!!  Now to get through the next week and see what happens.  Honestly, even on bed rest I do not think I will make it to her magic 37 week scheduled section.  Too much pressure and baby is getting BIG!  Last night dh commented that I looked MUCH bigger than I had before.  Gee thanks, honey.    But he's right, I am.  This baby is growing by leaps and bounds while I lay here!!   So how does this compare to my other babies?  Let's see... #1 girl 39 weeks 6lbs. 14oz. #2 boy 39 weeks 7lbs. 11oz. #3 boy 38 weeks 7lbs. 6oz. #4 boy 38 weeks 7lbs. 5oz. #5 boy 38 weeks 8lbs #6 boy 38 weeks 6lbs. 6oz #7 boy ... TBA!! Now I have very average sized babies, but I don't carry to 40 weeks either.  Somehow I don't think this baby will fit that mold.  But we shall see!  Anyone want to guess how big baby will be??            http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/31476/ Thu, 6 Oct 2005 09:47:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thepickleacademy/31476/