So Much To Say (Little Baby!)

This kid!  Stud.

Well, I had intended to write a new blog after Elizabeth's 1 month check up, but time slips away when you're holding a new baby.  First, let me update you on Aaron.   

Aaron has been sick for what it seems like 2+ months with one cold after the other.  He had 2 ear infections in a month and a few weeks ago he had a fever and was vomiting.  We first took him to Urgent Care (they sucked, btw) and then to UC Davis ER where he was admitted and observed overnight.  The only thing they could definitely diagnose him with was fluid in the ears and dehydration.  They took blood multiple times, put in an IV, took x-rays and did sonograms.  Words like appendicitis, intussusception (telescoping of the intestine) and virus were being thrown around.  They eventually moved him from the child's wing of the ER (thank GOD because that was not a pleasant place to be) to the pediatric ward.  

Basically he was monitored and given fluids and Tylenol and nothing was ever truly diagnosed.  They think he had a virus.  Nothing wrong with his appendix.  They said he had intussusception of the small intestine but it was too far up to correct and that likely it would correct itself.  They also said it was likely brought on by the virus he had.  Strange, right?  So he was sent home.

But he still has cold like symptoms -- a sore throat, occasional cough, stuffy/runny nose and mucus.  IT'S BEEN LIKE, 2 MONTHS!  I don't know what to do about it and it's really frustrating.  What's more frustrating is that I feel like I have to tell him to keep away from Elizabeth because he's sneezing and coughing and I don't want her to get sick.  She already caught it once and I had to deal with 2 sickies.  

Additionally, we had made an appointment with an ENT for him because he snores loudly and it sounded like he might have sleep apnea.  He also breaths loudly and has recently (like in the past 6 months) become a mouth breather.  Plus, recently he's been saying "What did you say?" a lot.  As if his hearing is getting worse.  I think the whole thing has to be related, but I'm not a doctor so what do I know?

The ENT said he still had fluid in his ears and that he couldn't test his hearing until it was cleared so he gave him another round of antibiotics and told us to come back.  He also said that he does have large glands and adenoids but that he doesn't want to rush into surgery.  OK great, neither do we but that still doesn't answer how we're supposed to solve the snoring/breathing problem!  UGH!

So as a result of all this, he's been missing school a ton.  If you have kids, you know that preschool is super expensive and regardless of your child missing school because of being sick or not, you still have to pay the full tuition.  Which, because of me not working currently, we just cannot afford.  Well, honestly we couldn't afford it with me working, but definitely we can't now so we've pulled Aaron out of school until we can figure out what is wrong with him and we can afford to send him again.  Hopefully in the Spring!!!  

This baby!  Princess.

Elizabeth is doing well.  She's gaining weight, sleeping through the night (mostly) and drinking her bottles.  Right now she's cuddled with Josh (which is how I have free time to write this!).  This girl gets a ton of kisses and cuddles, that's for sure!  She makes the cutest faces and sometimes she'll just lay there and coo.  When Aaron was in the hospital, I stayed overnight with him while Josh stayed home with Elizabeth.  I was gone for almost 24 hours and when Josh and I switched and I came home to Elizabeth.  When I first picked her up she smiled at me!  Twice!  It was so cute.  Baby girl recognized her momma!  I can also get her to smile at me when I kiss her on the lips.  It takes a few times but around the 3rd or 4th try, she smiles and even laughed once!

At almost 2 month old, she can hold her head up and almost turn over.  She grabs on to everything with her little skinny hands and sometimes she'll try to stand off of you if you're holding her.  Of course I don't let her stand, but she's a strong girl for sure!  She dreams and sometimes you will catch her sleeping with her eyes open.  Freaky, I know, but mom tells me she gets it from her Grandma Gloria.

As for me, I've seen the doctor and she told me I'm all healed which is great to hear.  My back still hurts though.  Some days it's not too bad but other days it hurts like a MF.  I was still taking the 800 mg of ibuprofen whenever my back pain would come back.  And then for some reason I kept getting these stomach aches.  I couldn't figure out why and why they seemed to come mostly at night time.  I was taking Tums and Pepto Bismol but they would only help a little.  Finally, yesterday I thought - holy crap! - what if it's the ibuprofen?  So I didn't take it yesterday and suffered through a day of back pain, but with no stomach problems!  Hooray!  Sort of.  I think I'll give it a few days (or at least until my back pain gets really bad) and then I'll start taking Aleve instead.  

Now my job will be to figure out how to be a SAHM with two kids all day.  At least for the next few months.  But first we get through December!!!!  Aaron's birthday is coming up and then Christmas.  Today we might go tree shopping if Josh can find the decorations!  We even have a fireplace to decorate this time!  Super exciting - our first Christmas together in a house as a family!

I hope you all are well, enjoying time with loved ones and that you all have a super fabulous holiday season! 

Elizabeth Grace Herring

Elizabeth Grace Herring

Josh, Aaron and I would like to introduce our newest member of the family!  Elizabeth Grace Herring was born on October 23, 2012 at 4:40 am.  She was 7 lbs 4 oz and 20.5 inches long.  This is her birth story:

On Sunday, October 21st around 4:30 pm we were just saying goodbye to some good friends of ours who had come to visit.  Minutes after they left, I sat down to rest and drink something.  When I stood up again I thought Ooookay, I either pee'd my pants or my water just broke.  I rushed to the bathroom to check everything out but the amount seemed so small and I couldn't really tell for sure so I decided, embarrassing as it was, I must have pee'd.  I mean, it happens to pregnant women, right?  And then about 10 minutes later, it happened again.  This time I felt like it wasn't pee.  So I called the hospital and they asked me to come in and confirm that my membranes had ruptured (water broke). 

So we called grandpa and grandma to come get Aaron and set off for the hospital.  The hospital confirmed that my water broke and I was admitted to Kaiser.  I even got a room with a birthing tub, just like I wanted!  This was the beginning of a journey and we were all SO excited.  My birth plan was to have an all natural VBAC attempt.  (VBAC = Vaginal Birth After Cesarean)  The room was great, the staff was pretty great, and they had midwives on staff at all times.  I was set! 

Laboring wasn't bad at first and in fact, I was kind of surprised how "easy" it was going.  They never checked my dilation because my water had broken and they didn't want to risk infection, but I can tell you that a week before I was only 1 cm.  Since I was refusing pitocin and my labor seemed to be moving slowly, they suggested using a breast pump to stimulate contractions.  I gladly accepted the alternative and it seemed to work pretty well.  But, coming up on hour 10 and seeing that my contractions were still not getting down to the 2 minute mark, they warned me that at hour 18, I posed a great risk of infection to both myself and the baby and that the baby would have to have a blood test after she was born.  I continued with the breast pump, walked around the halls, took 2 showers, got in the tub and around 24 hrs later -- having kick started the contractions that were now coming in faster and in both front and back, I felt like it just had to be time.

I got out of the tub to check my progress and finally my dilation.  When she told me at that time that I was only 5 cms and I had felt like I had been ready to push, I knew I wouldn't be able to take much more.  I was sobbing and in pain as she was trying to check me in between contractions.  Since they were irregular and she was also trying to stretch me as much as she could, I was just DONE at some point.  So I finally asked for the epidural, which couldn't seem to come fast enough.  

 

After the epidural was given, things seemed much better.  But of course, that slowed my contractions down again and it was suggested again that I try pitocin at the lowest dose to see if that would help me with the contractions again.  At this point, with the epidural already given, I consented.  The pitocin did work and I finally reached 10 cm and the pushing/active labor finally began.  But after hours of pushing and the baby not moving down far enough I was told I should start considering a second c-section.  The midwife had also stopped my epidural, thinking that perhaps I wasn't "feeling" the contractions well enough and that I didn't know well enough when to push.  Or that I couldn't push hard enough.  So for the last few hours of me pushing, I had NO pain meds again.

Please know that baby girl had been closely monitored this entire time and she was never in danger.  Her vitals were always steady, always good.  But having come this far, having labored for so long, having pushed and gotten far enough for Josh to even see her hair....... and then have all progress just stop.  I was so spent and worried about the baby I agreed to the c-section. 

More than 24 hours in labor, I was finally wheeled into surgery.  At this point I was so wiped out that after they finally got some heat on me and my body stopped shivering and my teeth stopped chattering, I fell asleep.  When I woke up it was because I felt them pushing baby girl around so they could get her out.  I will spare you the details of my actual experience on this surgery, but I will tell you there were further complications than just getting baby girl out. 

Apparently I had multiple adhesions from my first c-section and these had somehow fused my uterus and bladder together.  Now somehow the doctor had to get baby girl out without injury to my bladder.  On top of that, I guess I did such a great job pushing that baby's head was stuck in the birth canal and could not be pulled or pushed out.  She also had stretched herself out straight and so when the doctor tried to pull her our by her legs instead, he couldn't because her legs were too far in.  Oh, did I mention that I have a small pelvis that no one knew about until this surgery too?  So the small pelvis is why both Aaron and Elizabeth could not make it out of me all the way.  Had I known that, I might have made a different decision regarding my birth plan!

But again, sparing you with all the details of how they tried to get her out, they finally had to do a 2nd incision in my uterus going the opposite direction (now I have a cross) so they could get her out.  It took them 10 minutes to get her out of my belly.  She wasn't breathing or moving and was blue but she had a heartbeat.  It took them another minute to get her breathing.  Finally they wrapped her, brought her to me to kiss and whisked her and Josh away to do some tests on her.  And that's the last thing I remember.  In fact, I don't even remember all that, but with Josh's account and the doctor's explanation, that's what happened.  Then I was in surgery for at least another hour so they could separate my bladder and uterus and put me back together.  Because the surgery was longer than expected, I lost 4 quarts of blood and had to have a blood transfusion.  Everyone that came in to see me, from doctors to nurses to techs to visitors, commented on how tough of a labor I had - and that I did all I could...... The doctor that did the surgery on my came back to see me and told me how well I was doing after such an ordeal.  Thanks to that doctor, I'm sure!

Elizabeth and I recovered well and though I was up and walking the day after surgery, we stayed in the hospital for a total of 5 days.  Elizabeth was fighting a little bit of jaundice when she left so we brought her back to the hospital today to check on her.  Her levels are back up so she's got a "good to go" on that one.  But now we're looking at too much weight loss (close to 10%) so we take her back again tomorrow to weigh her.  I'm hoping once we get the weight issue taken care of, that we'll be home free.

I am doing fairly well considering........  Josh and I are both seriously sleep deprived but we're happy to be home with our new baby Elizabeth and happy to have Aaron back with us after so long.  One small, happy family.  Next week we can introduce Sir Ulrich to Elizabeth.

Thankfully I have a super wonderful support team.  My parents and sisters and my close friends have been just terrific and gone above and beyond to help us all.  I don't know what I would have done without all of them.  They all had roles and played them beautifully.  Even Josh's mom is coming to help out for a few days in early November. 

Thank you all for being so supportive and for all your well wishes.  In between feedings and naps, I'll try and update as often as I can.