These pictures say it all. Beautiful day at the beach with friends. It was great.
Friday, July 6, 2018
Riding bikes in the middle of January
I will always love the beautiful weather of Florida. It is so nice to be able to go outside in the middle of January and not have to bundle up in order to prevent freezing to death within 5 minutes of stepping outside. On this perfect cool winter day the girls were able to do just that.
It's never too cold out for some ice cream.
Florida winter
Well, it got pretty dang cold in Florida this year. Like down into the 20s fairly often. A few days we even got snow flurries. One morning we woke up to ice on the playset and the girls were so excited to play with it.
I love the joy that is all over Ellie's face as she scoops up some ice. So stinkin' cute!
We came inside afterwards for some "hot soup" and this is how Ellie enjoyed hers.
Trip to the zoo
I can't believe I let Kate go out in public looking like this. But I did. And this makes me laugh.
Rebecca Jane's birth story
I was 36 weeks and 4 days when going in for my 36 week check up. With all three girls I have been dilated the last four or so weeks so that is what I was expecting/hoping for when going to my appointment. I was right, I was dilated. 4 cm dilated and 60-70% effaced. "Hallelujah," I thought. "Hopefully that means not having to go a full 40 weeks."
My excitement was short lived, for after discovering this the midwife thought it possible that I was in labor. She decided to send me to a different room to be monitored for contractions. After having one contraction there I was taken to a room upstairs in labor and delivery for more monitoring. Because there was no change in my dilation or effacement I was allowed to go home. So my normal 10 minute appointment turned into a three hour appointment. So awesome. And on top of that, Jon, Noreen, and Emma were coming into town and Kiersten was at home with the girls. I am glad my doctors and midwives are concerned and cautious, it was just very inconvenient timing. It all worked out though. Jared and Kristen arrived and helped out with the girls while Kiersten got dinner going. Once Jon, Noreen, and Emma arrived, everyone was able to have a nice dinner together in our absence.
12 days later I had my 38 week check up. It was with a different midwife. She measured me at 4-5 cm dilated and 80-90% effaced. She offered to strip my membrane and I accepted. And just in case that didn't get things going, she scheduled my induction for the following Monday. I had a lot of strong contractions that night and then the next morning, after having a whole lot more, decided we should probably go to the hospital. Andrew called into work and canceled his flight for that day and we slowly packed our bags for the hospital. We left right after Ellie went down for her nap.
My excitement was short lived, for after discovering this the midwife thought it possible that I was in labor. She decided to send me to a different room to be monitored for contractions. After having one contraction there I was taken to a room upstairs in labor and delivery for more monitoring. Because there was no change in my dilation or effacement I was allowed to go home. So my normal 10 minute appointment turned into a three hour appointment. So awesome. And on top of that, Jon, Noreen, and Emma were coming into town and Kiersten was at home with the girls. I am glad my doctors and midwives are concerned and cautious, it was just very inconvenient timing. It all worked out though. Jared and Kristen arrived and helped out with the girls while Kiersten got dinner going. Once Jon, Noreen, and Emma arrived, everyone was able to have a nice dinner together in our absence.
12 days later I had my 38 week check up. It was with a different midwife. She measured me at 4-5 cm dilated and 80-90% effaced. She offered to strip my membrane and I accepted. And just in case that didn't get things going, she scheduled my induction for the following Monday. I had a lot of strong contractions that night and then the next morning, after having a whole lot more, decided we should probably go to the hospital. Andrew called into work and canceled his flight for that day and we slowly packed our bags for the hospital. We left right after Ellie went down for her nap.
We arrived at the hospital a little before 3 o'clock and I was measuring 6 cm dilated and almost all the way effaced. They allowed me to walk around for an hour and then come back. At 4:30 I was measured at 7.5/8 cm dilated and totally effaced.
I was then admitted to the hospital so they could break my water and hook me up to some IVs. Up until that point I was considered to be in triage. It took a little while to get the IVs in. I was lucky enough to have not one, but two new guys poking needles into my arm. After three major failed attempts, like poke and then way too much fishing around for my vein, a nurse came in and saved me. She saved me from the pain and Andrew from having to go ballistic on these two kids.
I was then admitted to the hospital so they could break my water and hook me up to some IVs. Up until that point I was considered to be in triage. It took a little while to get the IVs in. I was lucky enough to have not one, but two new guys poking needles into my arm. After three major failed attempts, like poke and then way too much fishing around for my vein, a nurse came in and saved me. She saved me from the pain and Andrew from having to go ballistic on these two kids.
At 5:45 they broke my water and intense, painful contractions started immediately. I might have been able to push the baby out at 6 o'clock but I was so terrified of the imminent pain that I procrastinated calling my nurse to tell her I was ready to push. Instead I cried through each contraction while Andrew kept asking me if he should go get the nurse. After 40 minutes a nurse came in and checked me, thank heavens. I was nine and a half centimeters dilated but could stretch to a ten. They prepped the room and two contractions later, accompanied by lots of screaming, out came Rebecca Jane at 6:26pm. 7 pounds 8 ounces and 18 inches long.
The techs took Becca over to the warmer to clean her up. While they did that the midwife worked on getting all of the after birth out of me. I do not remember that being so painful with my other deliveries but this time it hurt a lot. There was lots of pushing on my tummy to help work it out and the midwife wasn't gentle. Five minutes later she was done working on me and I could hold Becca.
I did skin to skin the first time nursing Becca, something I don't remember doing with all my girls. Becca's body temperature was quite low and it needed to go up. After an hour her temp was not high enough so they put her under the baby warmer. The warmer worked its magic and Becca's temp didn't go down anymore after that.
Andrew went home right after breakfast Friday morning. Kate had her last swim lesson that morning and Andrew needed to get the baby stuff down from the attic. Once everything was ready to go and Kate was done with her lesson, Andrew loaded all three girls up with Grammy and came back to the hospital.
Little Eleanor Marie was so excited to see baby sister her (almost) two year old self couldn't keep it together. She was so loud and she shed quite a bit of tears as she waited her turn to hold baby. I figured once she got Becca in her lap Ellie wouldn't let go, however, waiting for Abby's turn to be over just about made her loose it. So Ellie took her turn next and then sweet sister Kate was last.
Little Eleanor Marie was so excited to see baby sister her (almost) two year old self couldn't keep it together. She was so loud and she shed quite a bit of tears as she waited her turn to hold baby. I figured once she got Becca in her lap Ellie wouldn't let go, however, waiting for Abby's turn to be over just about made her loose it. So Ellie took her turn next and then sweet sister Kate was last.
The rest of Friday was quiet at the hospital, however, the pediatrician came in to check on Becca and found she has a heart murmur. Friday night they took Becca to do an EKG and a cardio check. Everything came back Saturday morning as normal which was a good sign, however, the murmur was still very audible. The pediatrician put in a referral for Becca to see a pediatric cardiologist in Pensacola. Because she was doing so well with everything else we were able to be discharged as normal. So right before noon on Saturday, we headed home with our brand new baby girl.
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
Becca's appointments
Lots of diapers come with new babies and so do lots of doctors appointments. Out of the 9 days that Becca has been with us, outside my tummy, 6 of those days she has been surrounded by doctors and nurses. Granted, 3 of those days were spent at the hospital because she had just been born. All good things, all good things. Just making sure her body is doing what it should be doing.
Monday we took her back to the hospital to get her weight checked. She was 7 pounds 2 ounces and doing great. The nurse checked her heart and the murmur was still there. After scheduling Becca's appointment to see the cardiologist the next day, we headed home.
Tuesday's appointment at the pediatric cardiologist ended well. And Becca had gained 1.5 ounces since Monday's appointment. We were there so Becca could get an echo done of her heart. Essentially, it was a very in depth sonogram taking measurements of everything; the in and out flow of blood, the heart chambers, the hole that was causing the heart murmur, blood that was passing through the hole. Everything.
It took a good 25 minutes to do the echo and poor little Becca was not a fan. We tried her pacifier, sugar water, I held her...the tech was as fast as she could be but still had to get all of the measurements. So we just pushed through while trying to console Becca.
After the echo was completed, I nursed Becca while the nurse got Becca's vitals. She didn't like that either but it took a lot less time. Then after another EKG was taken the doctor came in to talk about the results.
Becca has a small hole, 2 mm in diameter, in the wall that separates her right and left ventricles. Because the hole is so small it makes a louder whooshing sound than if it were a bigger hole. This is due to it taking more pressure to get blood through the hole. And it's in the perfect spot so that it won't cause any issues for Becca and should close up in the next year or so.
Yesterday's appointment was a follow up of Tuesday's results. Becca was up another 5.5 ounces weighing in at 8 pounds 9 ounces. Yay! We talked over everything again and were reassured Becca will be just fine. This appointment was with our pediatrician whom Andrew had never met. She's a little bit of a drive and the wait is a tad bit longer than I'd like but because our doctor is so amazing, I'm happy to sacrifice a little convenience for the superb treatment. Andrew agreed.
So now we're back to our new life, enjoying our littles while they are little. Only one more month till school starts up for Kate. I'm trying to enjoy the lack of a schedule these last few weeks of summer break before my sweet six year old grows up overnight. Oh why can't they stay little forever?
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