Saturday, December 23, 2006

Family Picture

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Friday, December 22, 2006

Public awareness, education and sensitivity of Remembrance Photography

Check out THIS petition. This is a valuable service to the parents facing the loss of an infant.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Pictures of Vivian




Introducing Vivian Mae

Vivian Mae
Born 12/14/06
8:12am
10lbs 14.4oz
21 in long


My due date was Dec 10. My friend and doula,Tiffany (who also tells the story on her blog, and I'm sure has details that I can't remember,) came in from CO on the 12th. I went to see my midwife, Margaret, the morning of the 13th and was 2-3 cm dialated and 80% effaced. So I came home that day and started on some "start labor" herbs. Nothing major happened. I went out to dinner that night with some friends and ate some spicy food. I started having contractions on the way home. At 10pm that night I took some more herbs and by 12am, the contractions were about every 10 minutes. I called Tiffany at 4am and she told me to get in the tub and call her in a little while. The contractions picked up once I got in the tub. So I called her back about 4:45am and also called my mother-in-law to come on over. Margaret was not on call but was coming in for me, so I called the hospital to let them know we were on our way. This was the first time I had not been induced, so I really wasn't sure how long labor would last, but it seemed like it was moving quickly.
We live about 40 minutes from the hospital, so we got there about 6:15am. Tiffany was already there. She was awesome. She really kept me focused on slowing my breathing and letting my body work. By this time I was hurting pretty badly. They wouldn't let me get into the tub until Margaret got there so I hung out on the birth ball and walked around the room hanging onto Tim. When Margaret got there, I got in the tub. That was about 7:30am. I was only in there about 20 min. and I was ready to get out. I got out and pushed for about 15 min. My bag of waters was still in tact so Margaret broke the water and there was merconium. So the NICU team came in as well as one of the OB's from the group that wanted me to have a c-section to begin with. Thankfully Margaret is AWESOME and the other dr's just hung back and let her handle it. She kind of hid the baby's head and did all the suctioning before she was all the way delivered. We didn't know the sex so when she was born Tim said, "SHE'S A SHE!!!!" I think we were both pretty surprised. We hung out with her for a long time before she and Tim went to the nursery for her bath.
We came home from the hospital after a little more than 24 hours. We were so anxious to get home to our other girls and let them share in our excitement. Vivian is nursing well and allowing mama to get some sleep. She is just perfect and a wonderful addition to our family. We are in love and thoroughly enjoying our “babymoon!!” Praise God for such a wonderful experience!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Over Due

I now know what it feels like to go past your due date. This is a new experience for me. Sunday was my due date and I feel like a turkey when the timer goes off. My friend Tiffany is coming in town tonight and she will be here for 6 days. She is a doula and was a WONDERFUL help to me with Leah's birth. So I am praying that this little one comes into the world in the next 6 days while she is here.

Thursday, December 7, 2006

We have a potty trainer in the house!

But it's not who you would think. Yes, we have a child in our home who is almost three (the 19th of this month.) But she is not at all interested. No, it's Leah, the 19-MONTH OLD!!! She has gone three times this week. The funny thing is that I really thought this would prompt Madison to want to go. But no, she is just cheering Leah on. She said, "Good Job Leah!!" and then "Mama, Leah needs some candy!"

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

39 Weeks - Living Large!!

This was last night. My belly is huge!! And I decided I don't care about showing the stretch marks. I have earned every last one of them!



Monday, December 4, 2006

More random pics of the girls







Some cute pics

These are some pics that Tim's dad took at Thanksgiving. As you tell, Leah is the shy introvert of the family. :)













Birthday Party

Mackenzie's bday is on the 8th and Madison's is the 19th, so we had a little party for them on Sat. Lots of fun!

Madi having a great time!


Having some cake and ice cream

Mackenzie graciously let Madison pick out the cake. Finding Nemo was the choice.

Happy Birthday! (And the belly in the pciture does belong to me.)

Mackenzie posing for Papa





Madison is finally willing to smile for the camera!



Leah, getting on the present action!


We got Mackenzie Heely's. She has been asking for them for months!




I SPY books from Nana and Daddy "D." One of her favorites!


Another funny Leah face

I love my husband!!

It has been a while since I posted an update. For those of you who don't know, we have been secluded for a while. Our pediatrician thought for sure that Madison had a staph infection. So for ONE MONTH!!! we were disinfecting the house and the kids every day, not leaving the home, no human contact, nothing!! Finally after antibiotics and a month of having these bumps that wouldn't go away, we took her to children's and found out that she had a virus. No staph. But all is not lost, we have a very clean house.

In the midst of all that, I started having heart issues. My heart rate would shoot up for no reason and I was having problems breathing. I went to the ER and they did all kinds of tests and thought I had a blood clot. After 12 hours of the ER, tests that could potentially hurt the baby, and going insane b/c they didn't tell me there was a tv in the room, they found nothing. They sent me to a cardiologist and they did more tests. Basically they don't know why I am having these problems. So they put me on bed rest and beta blockers for the last month. The medication and the bed rest has helped but the problem is not gone. I am more exhausted than I have ever been in pregnancy. Like can't stand up for more than a couple of minutes exhausted.

My silver lining here, is and has been my wonderful husband. God has so blessed me with this man!! He has stepped up to another level that I didn't know existed in him. He has been mr mom for the last month. He has bathed the kids, done laundry, cleaned the house, etc. He has even taken them all out many times to church or wherever so that I can rest. He cleaned base boards and windows without me even asking him to!! Best of all he has offered me so much emotional support as I have worried about my health, the baby's health, my other kids and just been generally getting more and more miserable as the days pass. I know this has been so trying for him and he does not let it show. He even had testing for the fire dept during this time. I am so fortunate to have such a wonderful man to spend my life with.