Carl's a graduate!

Yesterday was Carl's graduation ceremony.  He was officially done with school back in January.  He really didn't want to go, but I made him convinced him to attend.  I think the pictures will be ones the boys can look back on and be very proud of him for accomplishing.

The ceremony was pretty long.  Thankfully, Carl's area of study was one of the first to walk across the stage.  Once he walked, we went into the lobby area so Hunter didn't have to sit still and be super quiet for any longer.  Both the boys did a fantastic job.

I can't begin to express how proud I am of Carl.  He graduated magna cum laude!  It is no easy task going to college with little responsibilities (like when I went), much less doing it while raising a family, working full-time, and taking care of a house.  He went to school in the morning and worked until 9/9:30 every night.  We couldn't have done it without supporting each other and all the encouragement and support we received from our family and friends.

My (almost) 4 year old Hunter

I cannot believe that in less than a month, this little boy is going to be 4. FOUR!  Have I really been a mommy to him for that long?!  He brings so much joy into our lives.  I haven't done an update on just him in a long time, so thought it would be nice to share what he has been up to.  It is also a bragging post, I don't feel like I brag on him very much.  I'll do an official "Four Year Old" post after his birthday.

Hunter loves school.  He asks to go every.single.day.  He was going 4 full and 1 half day, but once we had Gavin and our work schedules changed, he now only goes 3 full days.  At the beginning of the school year (about 4 weeks in) I received a call from his teacher about his behavior.  I had never heard anything negative about his behavior before (he had been there all summer, plus he had been in daycare before) so I was totally shocked.  I had a conference with his teacher and we put in place a behavior chart.  Worked wonders.  He was done with it in about 2 months.  His teacher has a ton of boys in her class and they are all boy.  Hunter is going to test his limits and if he sees other kids doing something, he tends to do that as well unless he is given guidance.  His teacher now tells me he will remove himself from a situation when one of his classmates is doing something they aren't supposed to be doing.  He is constantly telling me how he ignored "Billy" because "Billy" was telling him to yell in class or say "bathroom words" (poop, fart, etc.) or whatever was going on.

Academically he is doing well.  He is recognizing all his upper case letters, almost all of his lower case letters (mixes up p and q, and i and j), and is able to tell you the sounds quite a few of the consonants make.  He loves identifying rhyming words, making patterns, counting, and writing.

Parent-teacher conference in November 2013.

Parent-teacher conference May 2014

How he has changed in a few short months!

With how obsessed he is with dinosaurs, I wouldn't be surprised if he does go on to become a paleontologist!  His teacher said he just went on and on explaining what a paleontologist does.  His room is filled with all kinds of dinosaurs.  He knows pretty much every dinosaur name and what they eat.  If he doesn't know, he wants us to find out the answer for him.  Google is my best friend on those days.

We took him to the Mariners' Museum last weekend.  They have a dinosaurs of the deep exhibit.  It isn't all that big and I was a little bummed by it.  He had a great time!  Carl took him in to see the 3-D movie (I stayed out and fed Gavin) and he really enjoyed that!  We will be going to the Living Museum soon, they have the robotic dinosaurs back!  I showed him pictures of when we went when he was 2 and he was so excited!

Finally... I couldn't ask for a better big brother.  He has taken on this role without any complaints.  He is patient and never whines when he has to wait for something because Gavin's needs have to be met first.  He loves to tickle Gavin and play on the floor with him.  If I need something for Gavin, he will go get it!  If he can reach Gavin's pacifier while on a car ride, he sticks it in his mouth.  Gavin was super upset when we left Ashley's on Tuesday because he was getting hungry.  Ashley already had a bottle made and Hunter fed some of it to him in the car.  His arm eventually got tired and asked if he could stop.  When he took the bottle out of Gavin's mouth, Gavin, of course, started to cry.  Hunter said, "I know baby.  It's okay.  My arm really hurts and I can't feed you anymore."  Hunter is also very patient with Charlotte on the days that Carl and I watch her.  He may tattle on her a lot (we just had a discussion about when it is appropriate to tell on Charlotte), but he always holds her hand and makes sure she is having fun when we go places.  He walked with her up the driveway into the house today hand-in-hand.  I wanted to take a picture but had my hands full.  I can't wait for Gavin and him to hold hands like that.

Gavin at 3 months

He has been into his toes lately

3 months already?!  Seriously, where does the time go?  I feel like we just brought him home.  Sigh.

He is loving his time with Aunt Ashley during the week.  And she sends us lots of pictures and videos.  It is so nice to see his little face during the day, it makes my heart happy when I get texts from her.

Gavin isn't rolling over yet, although I'm sure he is more than capable of doing it if he could figure out his arm.  He will get on his side and hang out, and if you nudge his butt he knows how to move his head to go to his belly.  He has been getting so mad at himself when he tries really hard to get to his belly and can't.  The whole time he is trying, he is talking away as if telling himself he can do it!

We have a pretty good nightly routine.  He sometimes gets a bath (again, second baby syndrome, but he also has that bad eczema, so the less we dry it out in the water, the better) and a bottle at 7:30.  He falls asleep and we put him in his crib.  At 10:30ish I go in and put a night time diaper on him and feed him 4 ounces.  He falls back asleep and wakes up around 3:45 am for another 4 ounces (although Sunday night he slept from the 10:30 feed until 5:30) and then goes back to sleep. Carl and I have been taking turns getting up with him in the middle of the night.

Gavin adores his older brother and loves to just stare at him in the car.  He also really loves his daddy but loves to have his night time snuggle with me (or I might just monopolize that after 7:30 bottle snuggle time, but I think he likes my night time snuggles more).

It finally seems like we have his reflux under control without medicine.  It acts up every now and then, but nothing like it was.  Poor babe.  We trialed Zantac (didn't work at all) then he was on Prevacid for a while.  That eventually seemed to make him projectile vomit so we stopped it.  No more projectile vomit.  He is on Nutramigen, but at our 4 month appointment I'm going to discuss when we can trial sensitive formula with him.

He talks up a storm!  I've never seen a kid his age so vocal (not that I'm an expert or have been around a ton of kids his age).  He loves to have the give and take vocalizations with you.  Super cute.  And his facial expressions kill me!  And he is so advanced for his age, he is saying "ma" and "hi".  It's so nice to have a speech pathologist for a mother.  Only kidding, I'm well aware he is not actually saying those things.

Does he not have the cutest little belly button?!

I'm a slacker

Or I just don't have a lot of time... I'm going to go with that.  I don't remember feeling so rushed at night when Hunter was a baby, but during that time I was working in the schools and leaving work no later than 3:30.  Now I'm getting off at 5, picking two kiddos up, then heading home.  We get home around 6:30ish, I fix dinner, Carl and I get the boys ready for bed, pack lunches, make bottles for the night, and every other night I'm either washing diapers or stuffing them (not complaining because I absolutely love cloth diapering).

I digress....

This little guy was 2 months old in this picture (and Hunter likes to join in on the fun).  He will be 3 months old in 3 days.  So much for monthly updates.  Sorry Gavin.  I call it "second baby syndrome".  Are you alive?  Have you been fed?  Is your diaper clean?  You're good!  At his 2 month check up, he was 13 pounds, 1 ounce and 23.82 inches long.  His head circumference was 42 cm.  What percentile ranks was he in each you ask?  I didn't exactly write that down, but if I chart it correctly on the CDC website, for his head he is between the 90th and 95th, his weight is 84th, and his height is 93rd (which sounds about right to me when I try to recall what the nurse practitioner said).  Gavin is drinking 4 ounces every 3 hours, give or take, and was waking up once a night for a feed.  He is a chatty little thing!  I don't remember Hunter being so vocal.  He has wonderful eye contact and loves to giggle (just not very much for me) and smile.  He unfortunately has terrible eczema, so so much worse than Hunter has ever had it.  It covers his whole body.

Gavin also landed us in the emergency department the week before last.  Tuesday Carl said he barely slept and was super cranky.  He slept 9 hours that night!  Mommy did not.  I woke up a few times and had to make sure he was breathing!  This child does not miss a feeding!  Wednesday he was fussy for Ashley and started sounding congested.  That night I noticed some retracted breathing so Thursday morning we went straight to the pediatrician's office.  His pulse ox was good so they gave him a breathing treatment which helped some.  Diagnosed with bronchiolitis. Told me if he spiked a fever to bring him back.  Of course this happened at 3 am Friday and the triage nurse wanted us to go to the ED to be seen.  After a deep suction, a breathing treatment, getting a urine sample from a catheter (yeah, that was fun), and constant monitoring (we were there 4 hours), we were headed home just to head back to the pediatrician's office in an hour.  They discovered an ear infection with puss (so I have no idea how the ED staff missed that one) and we were put on antibiotics.  I'm pretty sure Gavin maybe got 3 days worth of the medicine.  I've never seen a baby spit medicine out so fast!  Stinker stinker!

Hunter was a trooper through it all!  He started to ask to go home around 6 am, so Carl called Meemaw Swann around 7 and she came and stayed with him at the house.  She then took him for a sleepover so Carl and I could sleep while Gavin did.  We slept most of the day and it was glorious!

My BFF Ashley started a community garden on her church property.  I've never gardened before, but purchased a plot.  She has been helping guide me.  Last Thursday I took the three kids (we watch Ashley's daughter for her on Tuesdays and Thursdays and she watches Gavin Monday, Wednesday, Friday) to the plot and we planted our food!  I have tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, strawberries, watermelon, and something else that I can't remember what it is, but it is growing in the dirt.  Ashley gave me some potatoes to plant this afternoon so they are now in the dirt as well.  Hopefully I have a little bit of a green thumb and we get some good veggies!  Interested in a plot?!  Here is the link to Dig.Grow.Eat.

Saturday I attended a baby shower in honor of one of my other BFFs that I grew up with.  We are so excited because our little guys will grow up together like we did.  She would like to keep her privacy so no pictures of her in her pregnancy glory will be posted.  She received a ton of awesome things!  Her little man is going to be super loved and super spoiled!  One of the girls I grew up with had a baby a few weeks after I had Gavin and was also at the baby shower.  We were able to get a picture together with our kiddos.

On Mother's Day my car broke down with all of us in it.  Womp womp.  I'm not going to attempt to explain what parts aren't working, but the computer in the car thought something wasn't running properly for the engine and thus shut the whole car down (even though nothing was wrong, it just stopped reading).  Luckily, my dad came to the rescue, had our car towed to his shop, and had us over for dinner.  My mom was also super gracious and let us borrow her car (thanks Mom!) while it is being repaired.  The rest of the day was uneventful and I got to spend it with my boys.

Hopefully I will be on the ball and post Gavin's 3 month update on time.  Fingers crossed!

Update on life

Since I haven't blogged in almost 2 years (besides Gavin's birth story), I guess I should update everyone on what's been going on.

Hunter:
He will be turning 4 in June!  I cannot believe that!  He has been going to preschool and absolutely loves it!  He is learning so much and Carl and I are very pleased with everything about the school.  The schools has little programs throughout the year where the kids come out and sing for the parents.  Hunter had to miss the one in October because he was sick but was able to be in the Christmas one.  He is still into dinosaurs (borderline obsessed).  He is an amazing big brother; he helps out when asked, loves on "his baby", and hasn't been phased by Gavin's crying.

Carl:
Finished school and now has his Bachelor's degree.  Woohoo!  His ceremony is at the end of this month.  I cannot wait to watch him walk!  I am so very proud of his accomplishment.  I know it was not easy for him to go to school in the morning and then work until 9ish every night.  He now has an IT position and says he is learning a ton.

Gavin:
Is almost 5 weeks old (where does the time go?!).  He will sometimes give us a 4 hour stretch at night.  He is smiling at us and trying to coo.  He giggles in his sleep but not when he is awake.  Most of the time we are getting his "serious face" throughout the day.  We have been trying to figure out a formula for him that doesn't make him uncomfortable.  Fortunately, and unfortunately, it seems Nutramigen works the best for this little guy (which is very pricey).  I've been trying to pump (since his latch is awful and he really did a number on me), but I'm not going to beat myself up over it.  Gavin may look almost identical to Hunter, but his personality is way different.  He has some colic and reflux and is a little high strung.  It will be interesting to see how he develops in comparison to Hunter.

1 month old

Tiffany:
I've been working for our local pediatric hospital in an outpatient setting almost 2 years and loving it.  I've learned a ton and have been able to focus on feeding.  I'm hoping to get trained for weekend rotations at the main hospital once I return from maternity leave (the week after this coming one... wahh!).  We (obviously) had another baby.  My pregnancy with Gavin was a lot different than Hunter's and I felt a lot more uncomfortable with him than I ever did Hunter.  I felt and saw Gavin's movements a lot more than with Hunter.

That about sums up where we are in life.  Trying to get into a good routine as a family of 4.  Going back to work should be very interesting, but Gavin will be in good hands.  He is staying with one of our BFFs, Ashley.  I cried when she offered to watch him because I was so stressed out as to where this little man was going to go.

Gavin's Birth Story

Last picture as a family of 3 between contractions

So it has been almost 2 years since I've written a post.  I still am a little bitter about the picture fiasco.  Anyways....

I guess I should start at the beginning.  If you recall, I ended up with an emergency c-section with Hunter after failure to progress/failure for baby to descend.  I really wanted to try for a vaginal birth with this new baby, so I did a lot of research and spoke with doulas in the area as to where my best chances of having a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) would be.  Every single one of them said the same exact practice.  This practice has the highest success rate in my area and the hospital they deliver at has the lowest c-section rate in the state (as of the last time the stats were posted).  I went for my yearly with the group before we even started trying for a second baby to meet them and discuss the possibility of the VBAC.  I fell in love.  The group is made of midwives who run the midwifery center and a group of doctors who fully support VBACs and allowing women to go until almost 42 weeks before induction.

Gavin's due date was Feb. 5.  That date came and went.  At 37, 38, and 39 week check, I was 1 cm dilated.  At 38 weeks, I had a growth ultrasound.  Gavin was measuring 7 pounds, 4 ounces, not too big the tech said.  At 40 weeks I had moved to 2 cm dilated.  At 41 weeks (a Wednesday), I went for my NST, an ultrasound to check the fluid levels, and a regular OB appointment.  Still 2 cm.  Everything looked good on the u/s and NST.  They were booked for inductions until that following Tuesday.  At this point, I was over being pregnant.  I was so upset that I had to wait almost another week before meeting this little dude even though I really didn't want to be induced.

Friday evening, I started having contractions about 15-20 minutes apart.  They weren't painful by any means and I was able to go to bed.  At 3 am, Hunter came crawling into our bed.  I was so tired, I just thought, "Man, we will have to break him of this habit this weekend."  Then I had my first "real" contraction.  They came about every 20 minutes, and I was able to "nap" in between them.  At 5 am they started getting closer together and I wasn't able to sleep.  I waited until about 5:45, got up and went to the couch so I could move around without waking the boys up.  At 6:30, I started timing them.  They were consistently 3-5 minutes apart.  Carl called Meemaw Swann at 7 to let her know we may need her to come get Hunter.  I got in the shower and by 7:30 Carl decided to ask Meemaw to come get Hunter.  I was still worried this was false labor, even though I could not talk or walk during contractions.  Meemaw came and got Hunter, and Carl and I finished up things at home.  I tried to vacuum.  I didn't even get the hall cleaned.  Carl finished that up.  I took screen shots of my contraction app and sent it to my BFF Kelly (who is an amazing L&D nurse).  She convinced me to call the doctors to see what they wanted me to do.  I was told to come on in.

The 30 minute drive was not very pleasant.  I think all the potholes came out that day.  And the contractions never slowed (which I was so worried about).  Once we finally got there, Carl dropped me at the door and went to park the car.  The front desk lady kept trying to get me in a wheelchair.  No sitting, I just sat for 30 minutes, I want to walk.  I think everyone thought I was crazy as I was doing my best relaxation techniques in the lobby.  Everyone was relieved once Carl came through the door and we were headed upstairs and out of their area.  I got all checked in and set up in a room.  I knew I was going to be constantly monitored, but didn't realize how much I would be hooked up to.  I was 4-5 cm with a bulging bag.  The doctor came in, also checked, and asked what I wanted to do.  Do I let them break my water or do I labor a little longer and see if I dilate more?  We decided to break my water.  Gavin engaged into -1/0 station and I was a good 5 right away.  This was looking very promising.  Half way there!

The contractions were intense.  My original goal was to have no pain medicine.  I did not want to end up with a c-section because of an epidural.  I tried my best to relax between contractions that were coming every 30 seconds to 1 minute.  It was so hard to do with all these cords attached to me (contraction monitor, fetal heart rate monitor, O2 level on my finger, blood pressure cuff).  How is anyone able to move around with all that stuff?! (It can be done, I know, because my coworker did it)  I also had a hard time relaxing because the nursery nurse kept coming in to ask me questions (that I know I had answered on forms I had filled out to preregister).  I swear she took her time setting up Gavin's bed area, I was about ready to throw something at her at that point (poor woman, she was just doing her job).  The most pain was at my c-section scar.  I could not figure out a position that helped me to relax with that pain.  I finally broke down and asked for a shot of drugs.  While they were out, I told Carl I wanted the epidural.  I think he probably jumped for joy as he did not like seeing me in that pain.  They came back in and I kept telling them I felt a lot of pressure.  The "new to the hospital, but not to L&D nurse" checked me.  "She's complete!  He's at 0/+1 station." she said.  "What?!  I'm 10 cm?!  Well then I don't need that epidural.  Let's start pushing."  They wanted to do a trial push.  They said I would need to labor down and since I was complete, I could get the epidural to help me relax.  It would be one that would wear off in 45 minutes.  Awesome.  So that's what we did.  And about 30 minutes later they checked me again. Same nurse (who by the way had not worked in 8 years!) checks me. "Oh, she's only 7.  I guess I couldn't get my finger all the way around her cervix when she was so tense."  Let me tell you, for someone who wanted something so bad this was heartbreaking news.  I had to get a pump for the epidural.  An hour or so later, the pitocin started at a very low dose.  Kelly had arrived by then to bring Carl some food and to sit with us.  After they up my pitocin the second time with no progress, I knew.  I was devastated.  Kelly and Carl tried to reassure me, but I knew even after they got me to the max dose of pitocin for a VBAC that this wasn't going to happen.

By this time, the midwife came in.  She had checked me once before and wanted to check me again after being on the highest dose for however long it was.  "Tiffany, I'm sorry, but I don't think we are getting past this point."  Tears started flowing.  All I had dreamed about the entire pregnancy was holding a freshly birthed baby on my chest.  The midwife was amazing.  She sat with me and talked me through everything and my fears.  We decided to go with a spinal block and take the epidural out (if you recall with Hunter, I felt them cutting into me on my right side when I had an epidural).

I got prepped, couldn't feel a thing, and they started.  The spinal block was amazing!  I had to be given nausea medicine a few times as my blood pressure kept dropping, but the anesthesiologist and CRNA were on top of things and so fast.  I heard Gavin's little cry and started crying myself.  It is one of the most beautiful sounds in the world hearing your baby cry for the first time.  He arrived 02/15/2014 at 9:45 pm weighing 9 pounds, 5 ounces and 21 inches long.

They took him over to the warmer to do their assessment and get him in a blanket.  I was actually able to hold him while they were finishing up my surgery.  He was grunting a lot and I said, "He doesn't seem too happy."  The nurse responded with, "He is having a hard time breathing." "Then take him!"

Gavin spent 4 hours in the nursery being monitored as he was having a difficult time breathing (although his O2 levels were good).  He was brought to our room once he was stable and we tried nursing.  It took him 30 minutes to latch, he couldn't figure out how to open his mouth to eat.  We weren't able to nurse for a good 24 hours after that because he just had a hard time coordinating his suck-swallow-breath pattern.  He was gagging with a bottle nipple and couldn't latch to me.  He stayed over night in the nursery again so they could work with his coordination.  By the morning he was doing well and the lactation consultant came in to help with his latch.

We were able to go home Tuesday afternoon.  It was a long stay and very rough for me emotionally and physically (little issues here and there).  Carl was amazing through it all.  I could not have asked for a better husband and father.

Thank you to our amazing friends who dropped everything to come and help when it was needed.  We are truly blessed to have an amazing group of friends who we consider our family.  Gavin (and Hunter) are so lucky to call you "aunt" and "uncle".  Thanks to my dad and Meemaw Swann for taking care of Hunter buddy while we were in the hospital.

We're Baaaack!

I did not fall off the face of the Earth.  The whole being unable to upload pictures was super annoying and so I just enjoyed my summer rather than worry about trying to fix it. I will only be on this blog for a short while; I'm starting a new one on WordPress (I just have to figure them out).  Just to keep you in the loop as to what has been going on in our lives...

-We went to Great Wolf Lodge as a family in July.  It was fun.  Hunter liked it the first day and a half.  We then took him down a tube slide ride.  He kept asking to go home after that.  Won't make that mistake again (since we had 2 days left).
-Hunter and I enjoyed my last summer off.  We went on a lot of play dates and went a lot of places.
-Oh... I started a new job.  A dream job; one I had always dreamed of having before the dream of Hunter.  Then Carl and I wanted a baby and tried for Hunter.  Then that dream was put on hold because the hours just weren't very "having a newborn" friendly.  But I've got it all worked out and work earlier in the morning so I get off earlier in the evening.  And I have every Friday off.  It is at an outpatient center for our local children's hospital.  I've been there 6 weeks and I love it.
-Carl is just months away from finishing his Associate's Degree.  Then just a year and a half left of school for him.  He is doing fantastic and has really been enjoying his classes.
-Carl and I celebrated 4 years of marriage in August.  My gift was getting my hair done and his was joining a bowling league after a 2 year hiatus.  Yeah, we go all out for each other.
-As stated above, Carl is back into bowling.  I joined up with a few of my old traveling soccer teammates (Cougars) to create a co-ed adult soccer team "Ralph's Cougars".  We are pretty awesome.  This Tuesday we play for last or second-to-last place.  Don't be jealous.  As one of the guys on our team put it, "We finished in the top 10." haha.  We are just excited to be back together and not falling apart of 8 years of not touching a soccer ball.
-Hunter is growing and talking up a storm.  He just amazes me every day.  His language has exploded and I am no longer being "crazy mom".  Ok, I'm still a crazy therapy mom, but I'm no longer worried.  He is using pronouns like a champ and I'm so impressed.  He is really into dinosaurs; he can name so many.  I just love him so much.
-Hunter had a super high fever this summer with no seizure activity.  Yay!

I think that about catches you up on us.  I wish I could post pictures of all our adventures, but those will have to wait.