Our Chaotic Life

Ch-ch-ch-Changes....

2010-05-26T21:37:00.002-05:00

So my new blog is created. Not in the design yet that I will probably use, but it exists. I guess I should be writing there, but I need to think of some awesome, wow, HERE I AM WORLD kind of post. And really? I just don't have it in me right now.

I made it 2 1/2 days on my fast. Two and a half days of NOTHING but water. (Go me. And go GOD!) I could have continued, as I was hungry, but not like...DYING of hunger like I thought I would be, but a couple of things happened. First, I was praying this morning, and then reading scripture. One of the things I had prayed about was revelation for how long I should fast. I started it rather ambiguously, with a couple of reasons for the fast, and as such, I had kind of an ambiguous end in mind. First of all, I knew a single day was going to be tough. But strangely enough, it wasn't. I prayed for strength through it all, and even today, which was the third and typically VERY hard day - it wasn't that bad. I actually felt surprisingly good, despite the lack of sleep I've had this week due to sick-baby-itis. Anyway, so I was praying, and then I started reading the Psalms - 23rd of course, which was my Grandpa's favorite, and then just proceeded on. WELL - Psalm 40, verse 6:

First the NLT version:
You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings. Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand--you don't require burnt offerings or sin offerings.

Then the Amplified Bible version:
Sacrifice and offering You do not desire, nor have You delight in them; You have given me the capacity to hear and obey [Your law, a more valuable service than] burnt offerings and sin offerings [which] You do not require.

Ok, here's the thing about Revelation from God...there are times when it may not be ovious to anyone else, but when you read it, it kind of...I dunno...ZINGS in your head. "THIS IS FOR YOU" it kind of shouts. So you listen.

What I got from that was that my fasting hadn't been necessary at all. Do I regret doing it? NOT AT ALL - I made it longer than I thought I could, and I know I could have gone even further. I give 100% credit to that to God - because I've tried to fast before on my own, and after a few hours was whiney because I wanted a snack! But anyway - the revelation itself was a zinger to me - my fast, which I had considered a sacrifice, especially since it started on my birthday, and I gave up most of the birthday-related celebration - no presents, no dinner, no cake, etc. I looked at it as a sacrifice I was willing to make to God for the things I was praying for.

And then to read my sacrifice was not necessary? Hrm. Ok. Well then, I'll have some toast. Woot.

Then a couple of hours later I got a text validating that what I'd been praying for had happened, more or less. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo....yeah. WOOHOO! (GO GOD!)

SO anyway, that's that.

Still have a sick baby. Temp keeps going up further than I'm happy with. She projectile vomitted all over me in the ER Monday night, so - yeah - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!

On another note - did you know that the Snapple Trop-a-rocka is pretty darn good? Yeah, I didn't either because Zack drank the one I bought, since it was during my fast. I bought it...then thought: "You know, I made it two days without anything but water. I know I said it was just going to be liquids, but...I don't want to mess up what I've done!" So I didn't drink it. :-( SO I guess I'll go get myself one this weekend and enjoy it.

In other news, my new blog is up - so I guess I should go start blogging there!

Happy Birthday to Me...

2010-05-24T12:02:00.003-05:00

Well, in the past I have always had an active blog on my birthday, so that I could go out and say whatever useless thing I had to say at the time. This year...not so much. I mean, I don't actually have a blog I'm using regularly. So I guess this one will have to do for now.

I officially turned 36 at around 10:30 this morning. I'm not much for hoopla about it this year. I don't want a dinner tonight, and if I make a cake, it's purely for the kids. Zack bought me a guitar I need to learn to play, and that's pretty much my day.

Oh, but I did start a fast today. So far just water today, but I may go to juice/broth later depending on how I am feeling. I just wanted to start 36 completely clear...thankful...and prayerful. And so I am. I am not sure how long it will last, but I am hoping for awhile. We shall see.

Happy Birthday to me!

Speaking of a long time since I posted....

2010-04-02T12:38:00.003-05:00

::looks down::

Last post here was in September.

Oops.

Well, you know, life and all that.

Anyway - Chloe had her 1st Birthday, which was awesome. And then she had her 1 year check-up, which was not awesome, because it included 5 shots and a blood draw. FIVE SHOTS. Ugh. Poor baby. It broke my heart. She has been really tough with her shots in the past, and didn't even cry for her seasonal flu. She barely cried for the h1n1. She's a tough kid. I can already see that about her - she pinches her fingers all the time, and rarely cries over stuff like that. Kelsey still, to this day, will show me ever little paper cut she gets, wanting Mama cuddles. But Chloe...she's tough. Five shots, however, and she screamed through all but the blood draw. She was fine after a few minutes, but it took me a lot longer to feel better!

We've been busy around the house. We cleaned out the garage, but still have one more shelving unit to build, and then it will be REALLY done. Zack ripped out carpet in the basement, and did a lot of cleaning that needed to happen down there, so that's good. Still to do - all the yardwork for spring. I am actually anxious to do that. If C was a little more able to be outside without me holding her, I would probably start working on it, but it's pretty tough. (And I'll admit, I lay down for a nap when she has her long nap! I am still staying up late with Zack, and C wakes up pretty early, so I'm only getting an average of 5-6 hours of sleep...and I'm an 8 hour girl, so I constantly feel tired anymore.)

Also to do...the windows! I only got C's windows done last fall, and all the rest of the windows are just AWFUL. I just hate doing them. Also need to do a few fix-it projects around the house. But all in all, things are shaping up.

The older kids are doing well. Kelsey is looking forward to the ending of her 10th grade year, and the beginning of being an "upper classman". We've got to get her into a driver's ed class this summer. She still hates even the idea of going driving to practice.

C-M is doing well, but struggling with Algebra. Hopefully she'll have her grades up enough that she can go on a trip next week for spring break with her grandpa.

E is rocking scouts (although he really needs to be a little more assertive so he can get up to his next rank. All that's holding him back is that he needs to schedule a meeting with his scout master, and he won't do it!).

Zacho is doing really well in school. He had a little problem with states and capitals, but thankfully, they're past it, so he's going to be back to good grades! LOL Still his typical "ooh shiny' self!

And C's walking pretty well now. She still will crawl if she wants to get somewhere fast, but she walks more than she crawls anymore. She's TERRIBLY curious, and is always into cabinets and whatnot. Fixing all of our child latches is another "to-do" for the weekend.

Z is loving his job, but the on-call sucks, from my perspective! He's had lots of "nights out" with the office muckity mucks, so he's getting spoiled!

And me? Well, I'm just still here. Trying to come up with something to make a little money from home (other than babysitting!). I already have one baby I watch on Fridays, and it really curtails what I'm able to go out and do, so...yeah, not what I want to do.

Anyway - so there's a long overdue update!

Sorry it's been awhile!

2009-09-05T17:36:00.004-05:00

But we ran out of batteries for the camera. And for some reason, if I don't have pictures, I don't think to write anything here.

More pictures are up on Facebook, if you look there.

Anyway - Today was the Husker Season Opener. WOOHOO!

Chloe and Eric were suitably attired:

And Eric looks sad, because the game was only on pay-per-view.

(Actually, it was just impossible to get a single picture were BOTH of them were looking at the camera and Eric was actually smiling. And Chloe's Husker logo was showing. This picture taking thing...it is hard!)

Chloe turns 6 months on the 18th. I'll post a better update then, but for now she's doing great! She's rolling like a mad woman, and does a lot of work on strengthening her tummy muscles to sit up. She isn't quite stable enough to sit unassisted, but she's working on it. We've had a HUGE jump back in the sleeping through the night thing in the last few nights, and whoa - you forget how exhausting it is. I'm hoping once we get her on more solid foods, she'll go back to sleeping a little more. She's had cereal a few times and is just not fond of it. We've tried carrots, which were also not a big hit. She's also had a few "tastes" of other things, like rice (just a grain or two) and watermelon (which she loved sucking on).

She also seems to be working on teeth. We don't see any yet on her gums, but she is slobbering like a mad dog, and constantly has fingers or toys in her mouth to chew on. But, all in all, she's still amazing and adorable, even on 3 1/2 hours sleep.

The older kids all started back at school a few weeks ago. Eric is at the middle school with CM now, Zacho is now the only one in grade school, and K is in her second year at the high school.

Kelsey is doing great, and lettered academically, which is awesome. She's doing lots of art classes again this year, and decided to take Forensics this year to cover her public speaking requirement. (And I just found out she could have lettered in Drama last year, but didn't turn in the sheet. DOH!) Other than that, she's doing wonderfully. Boys are still stupid, and her grades are still important to her. She has moments of teenager attitude, but thankfully they aren't that often.

CM is enjoying her status as an upper-classman at the middle school, and has quite a few friends with whom she texts often! She also had a non-parentally sanctioned "boyfriend" this year! She is hoping to find a sport to play this fall. Her grades so far are awesome, so we're really happy about that.

Eric is still active in his Boy Scout Troop, and did two week-long camping trips with them this summer. They start up on their monthly camping trips again this month, so we are excited about that. Scouts has really been an awesome thing for him, and although one of his best friends dropped out of the troop, we're looking forward to him becoming more active with a great group of boys. He's enjoying being at the middle school, and says the best thing about it is switching classes all day.

Zachary is also enjoying scouts (cub for him!) and has a great leader this year. We switched packs at the end of the school year last year, due to a great lack of organization on the part of the old pack, but we are THRILLED with the new leader. Zachary is still struggling with his ADHD, but with the medication, he gets awesome grades.

All of the kids are now active in both Wednesday night and Sunday church groups, and seem to be having a great time with it. The other awesome thing, is that all of the kids have become avid readers! The boys are in love with the Percy Jackson & the Olympiads books, and Kelsey and CM read a lot of "teen fiction". Barnes & Noble loves us.

Zack is doing great, although we did find out this week that his office is going to be closing at the end of the year, which means the job hunt is on. He isn't sure if he will stay until the end of the year at his present job. Obviously, if something permanent comes along between now and then, we can't pass that up. He has also started working out several times a week, and is doing SPECTACULARLY at that. We are all very proud of him. He's also taking the girls with him whenever he can, so they are enjoying it too.

Anyway - that's pretty much all there is for now. I don't have much new going on - aside from joining the church MOPS (mother of preschoolers) group later this month. I'm also spending a little time helping Lane get everything aligned in his system so the accountants can work their magic, which is nice, as it's an opportunity to do something outside the house for a few hours.

And on that note...I'm going to go hang out with the hubby and kids!

Amazon baby!

2009-07-21T21:45:00.003-05:00

If you didn't get an email notifying you of the pictures I uploaded to facebook, let me know - or just go out to facebook and search for me - I'm the one who isn't the singer. (ha ha!)

Chloe had her 4 month checkup yesterday, and her 4 month shots. The shots have not gone well. She's been Miss Cranky Pants ever since. She was 14 lbs 13 ounces, and 26 inches long. That put her in the 75th percentile for weight and head circumference, and off the charts (just over 100th %) for height. She is going to be a TALL kiddo.

The doctor also noticed that she holds her head at an odd angle, and diagnosed her with congenital torticollis. This means from birth she had a problem with a tendon in her neck that causes her to hold her head slightly tilted. We haven't really ever noticed the tilt very much, but we have noticed that she has a very strong preference to look to her left. She will sometimes turn her head to the right, but it's rare enough to be of concern. She had x-rays to make sure there isn't a problem with her vertebrae, but everything there looks fine, so we just proceed with some stretching exercises every day to try and fix the issue.

Other than that, everything is going really well. Prior to her shots yesterday, she was sleeping through the night most nights. She's good at holding her head up, and is starting to get frustrated that she can't sit up without help. She doesn't do ANYTHING for very long before she gets bored, and is already trying to hold her own bottle.

We're going to wait a little longer to start her on solids, but as soon as she shows us she's ready, we'll start. Her growth certainly isn't anything to worry us!

She continues to be thrilled when her brothers and sisters pay attention to her. She thinks they're all pretty neat, and they all love her to bits, except when she needs to be changed!

Other than that, all is well. The kids are getting geared up for school to start again in a few weeks, and Zack is enjoying a relatively slow period at work.

Anyway - lots more pictures on facebook, so go take a look!

Chloe: Three months already!

2009-06-18T17:00:00.006-05:00

Chloe turned three months old this afternoon, so I took some pictures in honor of the occasion! The dress pictures are for mom. The geek pictures in her D&D onesie are for dad! If you would like copies of any of them, please let me know and I'll get them printed.

Chloe is doing very well. She's growing like a weed. I haven't had her in to the doctor for a month. She was 12 lbs at 2 months, but I would guess she's over 14 by now. She certainly feels like it if I have to carry her around very far!

She is still very much her mommy's girl, and often has crying fits in the evening that her Daddy does his best to help out with, but sometimes only mommy will do. This is hard on her Pappa, but we know she'll be a Daddy's girl in time!

She has been sleeping well for the most part, and has many nights when she will sleep from 9 or 10 until 7 or 8 in the morning. YAY! I haven't really started enjoying them yet, because I wake up in the night and worry about why SHE isn't waking up! I'm sure as soon as I get used to them, a growth spurt or teething will start, and the sleeping through the night won't last!

Anyway...now for some pictures!

"Yes, I am eating my dress. It's NUMMY!!"

When do I get MY laptop? (Also known as "My Three Daughters")

And finally? "My daddy makes me wear geek onesies!"

As for the other kids, they're all doing great this summer. Kelsey isn't doing much, but we're looking for some art classes or an art camp to send her to. I had hoped to get her talked into church camp or a niobrara canoe trip, but no dice yet. CM is texting her little heart out on her new phone, and goes to Sun Dawgs several times a week. She has also gotten into her church group, and made a trip to Worlds of Fun with them a couple of weeks ago. She had a blast. Eric is currently away at Scout camp - his first full week of camping. It's been pretty warm and stormy, so aside from us worrying about another tornado, I'm sure he'll have lots of stories about how hot and muggy camping was. (And mosquito bites. Thankfully we sent bug spray!) Zachary is also going to Sun Dawgs, and enjoying it a little more than CM, since the kids are more his age. Eric, CM, and Zacho all also finally learned to ride their bikes, and went for a good bike ride in the park last week. All in all, everybody is doing exceptionally well!

We are definitely very blessed.

OH yeah - here's a shot of Eric on his birthday. Isn't he cute?

Just a test

2009-05-04T15:12:00.001-05:00

Just testing someting. Nothing to see here!

Still healing...

2009-04-14T08:57:00.004-05:00

Here's an almost 4 week pic of Chloe. Sure, she's not awake, but isn't that pose adorable?

So, this healing thing isn't going quite as well as I would have liked.

For anyone who hasn't heard (and I think everybody on here is pretty much family, so you all likely have), I developed an abcess around my c-section incision site. Unfortunately, the infection caused me to have a pretty high temp, and we've been fighting this for a week and a half now.

The progress has been kind of roller-coaster-ish. One day things will seem better, then the next, not so much. Chloe, Kelsey, and I are currently staying at Mom's house, so she can re-pack the wound and change my dressing each day. As much as I would love to be at home right now, Mom's house is just a much more calm, clean, and less chaotic enviornment, so that's where we are until I'm out of the woods with this.

OH yeah, an update is probably in order here!

2009-03-28T13:04:00.007-05:00

Well, it may come as a shock to all of you that know me well, but I have spent barely any time on the computer in the last 10 days! And, any time I try to write something meaningful, Miss Chloe will end up needing something or other. Or I'll get distracted just looking at her. ;-) It's easy to do.

So for those of you that weren't here, or haven't heard the whole birth story, here's what I remember of it, with some pictures of Miss C at the end.

Chloe's Birth Story:

Wednesday morning (the 18th), we were scheduled to go in for our induction. The doctor had scheduled it a week in advance, due to the projected size of the baby (they thought she was over 9 lbs), and due to my gestational diabetes, which tends to accelerate the degradation of the placenta. Despite the fact that my blood sugar was very well controlled throughout the pregnancy, they were still thought she was going to be too big.

We had a “trial run” on Tuesday, and had hoped we would have the baby a day early. Unfortunately, as these things often go, we had no progress, and were sent home to wait until Wednesday morning.

Wednesday morning dawned, and of course, I had had no sleep. I was worried we would be delayed due to how busy the Labor & Delivery ward was, and I was so excited, of course sleep was impossible.

We got up and going, dropped Carol-Marie at school (the boys spent the night with Lane and Sara, since school starts later for them), and headed to the hospital. Of course, just because WE were excited and wanting to hurry, doesn’t mean the hospital was! We were shown to our L&D room, I got changed into a gown and settled in to wait for our nurse to begin the induction.

They got my IV put in, and started the pitocin, and my doc stopped by to do a check and see where I was. Once again? 2 Centimeters. I wanted to cry. I had made NO progress since the week before. *Sigh* But, the pitocin was started, and we settled in to wait.

Almost immediately, we had a hard time keeping track of the baby’s heartbeat. She kept moving just so, and the monitor couldn’t keep track of her. At the same time, the contraction monitor was barely registering the contractions I could feel were growing and growing.

As the morning progressed, the decision was made to break my water and use an internal heartbeat monitor to keep track of the baby, which obviously - we had to go ahead an do. Unfortunately, the problems with tracking my contractions continued.

An hour or so later, the nurse advised me that if I wanted an epidural, now was a good time, as the Anesthesiologist was near, and just had 2 patients in front of me. I agreed, as the contractions were reaching the point where I was at my limit. I was checked once again, and had progressed to 4 cm, but it still felt like a failure given how much pain I was in! I was sure I’d be past 5!

The epidural was not fun. There is no other way to put it. I stayed curled up against Zack while the Anesthesiologist pushed and pushed, and finally it was in. Zack informed me later that there was A LOT of blood. I am glad he didn’t tell me that at the time. I have a VERY deep bruise left from it. I don’t recall it hurting as much with Kelsey, or that major of a bruise, but I’m sure it’s not unusual.

Almost immediately, I had problems with the epi not working evenly. One side was more numb than the other, so they had me roll onto my side to try and get the medicine to more evenly distribute. While the pain decreasing was awesome, my ability to enjoy it was fairly short-lived. I could still feel contractions across my belly - not in a painful way, but the tightening/pressure feeling. The nurse was surprised by this, as I should have been feeling nothing.

I laid there and watched the baby’s heart beat and the contraction monitor, which was still registering almost nothing. Obviously, something was happening, as I could feel it, so the nurse put in a call to my OB to discuss putting in an internal contraction monitor. This would be a very important decision later.

At some point while we were going through this, Mom came up to the hospital. Well - Mom was becoming quite concerned as she watched the monitor showing my blood pressure. Apparently a drop in blood pressure is normal when you get an epidural, so initially my nurse was unconcerned. As my BP continued to tank, that changed.

They began administering doses of ephedrine, which should bring your BP back up to a normal range. (Yes, ephedrine - the diet stuff!) Well, three doses in, the ephedrine had had NO impact on my blood pressure, and my L&D nurses were starting to become concerned about the baby’s heart rate dipping at the end of each contraction.

The nurse did a test on me to see how far up and down the epidural was affecting me. One theory posited was that the epi had “crept up”, meaning gone higher than my breast bone, and that it was impacting my BP.

Around this time, my doctor showed up to do the internal contraction monitor. They placed the internal monitor for the contractions, and I was at 5-6 CM. Unfortunately, this is where everything kind of went to hell. This is somewhere in the 1:45 PM timeframe.

Mom and Kelsey had to leave the hospital to pick the boys up from school - assuming it would be a bit, and the would be back in time for baby. Wrong.

The baby “didn’t tolerate” the internal monitor, and her heartbeat immediately tanked. They checked me again, and all of the sudden I was at 9 CM (this is within minutes of the last check). They had me roll from one side to the other, to see if it would help bring baby’s heart rate back up, and nothing worked. Again, remember, all this time, MY BP is also crashing.

They got me up on my knees (no small feat with the epidural), to see if that would help decrease pressure on the cord or baby, or whatever the reason was for the baby’s heartbeat dropping. Nothing worked. They had me lay back down on my left side, and actually decided to have me start doing a few pushes in that position to see if we could go ahead and deliver.

Now, at this point from my perspective, I am struggling to even say conscious. At some point, someone decided putting oxygen on me would help, and I recall trying to gulp the oxygen to get as much in and help the baby as much as possible. All the while, I was struggling to get the air in, and my head started to cloud - I knew I was going down, and fast. The room was in chaos - I know Zack was there, but everyone else was just kind of a blur as they rushed around doing different things to try and get the situation back under control.

I don’t remember the decision ever being officially made. I do remember at one point being told my pulse oximeter registered 75%, baby’s heart rate was 38 (I saw that dip myself), and then all of the sudden, people were pulling cords and tubes from the walls, and pushing me out of the room on the bed, with all these cords and tubes around me.

We got into the surgical suite, and I remember helping get myself over to the gurney for the surgery. I didn’t want to lose it at that point, but everything was spinning, it was happening so fast. I knew they were going to tie my arms down, so I stayed calm as they did it, and I remember feeling them washing my belly to prep for the surgery. The next thing I remember is the anesthesiologist in my face, telling me he was going to be right there with me the whole time, and everything was going to be fine. He put a mask over my face, and my memory stops there.

While I was out, they made the incision and pulled the baby out. I am told she was screaming before she was even out. From what one of the nurses old us later, it was likely that scream that saved her life. Their first breath fixes any respiratory acidosis they are in, so her taking it before she was even out all the way was amazing. (This is with no suction, nothing.) They got her out and cleaned her up - and sent her off to the nursery with Zack, who had been not so patiently waiting outside the surgical suite (tap dancing, from what he told me later!).

They stitched me up, and sent me to the recovery area, where I’m told I was for about 30-45 minutes before I was aware of what was going on. The funny thing is, and I have no memory of this, but apparently they wheeled me out on the gurney from the surgical suite, and told me they were going to move me from the gurney to the hospital bed. Well I guess I wasn’t into waiting, because I got up and moved myself. Um. To the wrong bed. And when they told me that, I went to the other one! LOL. Mind you - I am OUT, and my epidural WAS NOT worn off!!! The nurse said she had NEVER seen anybody do that!

My first thought on waking was whether or not the baby was ok. They assured me she was, and that her daddy was with her in the nursery, and that he hadn’t left her side. I asked that they tell him I was ok, so they sent a nurse off to tell him I was awake. They also told me the baby’s APGARs were 8, 8, and 9 - phenomenal for a baby who had been in such severe distress.

They cheated a little on the time (I was supposed to have to wait an hour), and they let Zack come into the recovery area with the baby so I could see her. It was the most amazing moment - I honestly had been so afraid we weren't both going to make it.

OH - at some point after the decision was made to do the c/s, Zack had texted my mom and Kelsey to get back there - that an emergency c-section was happening. To say they were upset at all that happening while they were gone is a gross understatement. But, they had made it back up to the hospital, and Ren had gotten there with Skie and Carol-Marie. SO - the whole family was there waiting for me to come out of recovery.

As they wheeled me out of the surgical recovery area and into my room, I saw my mom and Kelsey standing in the reception area. I waved at them, to try and let Kelsey know I was ok, but she was so upset, she barely saw me waving at her.

We got into our room and Zack and I had a little time alone with the baby to try and start her nursing. After maybe another half hour to an hour, we were finally able to visit with everyone. I admit, I would have liked a little more alone time, just to hold my baby. I still haven’t reached the point of feeling that she is safe. Everything still makes me jumpy about losing her.

Sadly, my fear was repeatedly confirmed as justified. My doctor, the morning after she was delivered, told me that they had examined the cord blood after she was taken out, and literally, we are incredibly lucky we have a baby. Even a minute more, and she may not have been here. Several of our nurses over the next few days said the same - that they had seen our “strip”, and that it was CRAZY - that we are SO lucky we have a baby. The time “from decision to incision” was 10 minutes - apparently quite an unusual thing, and all the nurses were talking about it.

Zack did come up with a name for the baby when I was in recovery, but I admit, I vetoed it. We settled on Chloe - a name I have always loved (And no, not based on the character on 24, which I have never watched!). I would write about how amazing and beautiful she is, but since I’m her mother, you won’t believe me

But she is - very amazing and beautiful. She is very “aware”.

I left the hospital on Saturday (the 21st), but to say I feel like hell is putting it mildly. My incision is healing well, but I’m still VERY sore, and good lord am I swollen. My feet look like overstuffed sausages.

Breastfeeding is going very well so far, and we’re settling into our routine. Her room is ready for her, but I admit, I can’t stand to have her that far away from me.

I’m still nervous, relearning how to do all those infant things, like baths and such. The sleep deprivation isn’t getting to me too much so far, but I will admit to having had a really awful headaches. And...I've been more than a little weepy. (Poor Zack.)

The kids are adjusting well all in all. The kids love to hold her and just stare at her. Zack and I took her for her first well-baby check up yesterday, and she's doing pretty well. Despite 3 dirty diapers WHILE WE WERE THERE, she weighed in at 7 lbs 10 oz, 3 oz off her birth weight. She's in the 95th percentile for height, 50th percentile for weight, and 75th percentile for head circumference. So, she's likely to be tall, lean, without a big head! LOL. Supermodel, perhaps?

Here are some pics from this week.

Chloe at one week old, with Daddy:

Another one week old pic, with yummy fingers:

"HEY EVERYBODY! I'm ONE WEEK OLD! (and my mommy takes blurry pics)"

Chloe Elizabeth Sage, 2 days old:

One day old, being held by Great-Grandma Jean:

On Chloe's birth day, with Grandma Gayle and Grandma Judi:

Chloe and Kelsey, on Chloe's birth day:

Anyway -so that’s Chloe’s birth story. I’m sure Zack will add whatever I left out, but at least now it's all written down!

At the hospital

2009-03-18T09:04:00.002-05:00

Well, after a false start yesterday, it is finally Baby day! We are at the hospital and I am hooked up to the pitocin. Z and Kelsey just got back from breakfast downstairs. Doc hasn't been in yet, but will be breaking my water to speed things along when he has a chance.

Well, we have a date.

2009-03-10T14:35:00.004-05:00

Today's appointment was a mixed bag. I have had no progress since last week, so that is a bummer. The baby also has not grown much in size since last week - which is actually FINE by me. She is measuring at around 8 lbs still.

SO, courtesy of my gestational diabetes, we are scheduled for induction on Wednesday, March 18th, to start early in the morning. Zack and I haven't talked about the logistics with the other kids yet, so I'm not sure where we may need help, but most likely getting the boys to and from school will be the biggest challenge.

We were really hoping to go on the 20th, but my doc isn't at our hospital that day, so it complicates matters if there are any problems - he's further away. :-(

Anyway - things are yellow around here as far as baby readiness. We've got floors in baby's room and the master bedroom done. The trim needs to be finished out in the master, and then all of our furniture moved around. Once we're up there, CM, Eric, and Zachary will move to their spots downstairs, and we'll be lined up to finish the baby room, and get started on the floors in the rest of the house. Wheeee. On the VERY bright side, we did get the recliner bought, BUT...it won't be delivered until the 20th. Which is ok, since that's when I'd be coming home with the baby.

So no, the house will not be finished by the time the baby is here. Life goes on. :-)

I'll update tomorrow, I promise!

2009-03-09T21:03:00.002-05:00

Since I've been asked...there's just nothing new to update with yet! I have another ultrasound and doctor's appointment tomorrow, so I'll update here as soon as I find out if we have any actual news!

37 Week Doctor Visit!

2009-03-03T15:43:00.006-06:00

Well, it seems we are still on target to have a large baby. While ultrasounds can and are frequently off by a pound or so, the ultrasound showed her to be right around 8 lbs today. And let me tell you, it FEELS like it! The u/s also showed her to be "tall", meaning the measurement they took of her thigh bone is longer than average for her gestational age, so while she might be a "big" baby, she will be proportionate!

I'm dilated to 2 CM, which is great - we've got progress, but then the doc burst my bubble by telling me that 2nd time moms can stay that way for several weeks! I was trying to look on the bright side of things, in my over-achiever way, and thinking - Hey-if I got to 2 cm in a week, I could do 4 or 5 by next week! HAH.

Granted, Zack could not handle the stress of that, as it would mean a flurry of activity to get the house done. Eeks! We do have the crib now (Thanks Lou and Judi!), though, and hopefully will be able to put the baby's room and our room together by the end of this weekend. That will also get the rest of the kids settled in their new spaces, and will leave the rest of the flooring to be done when Zack has time, but maybe after the baby is here.

The ultrasound tech again commented on her hair today. I guess I should have gotten her some barrettes or something. I didn't, however, resist buying her the most adorable Easter dress, so she's got that going for her! (And now I am torn between hoping she fits the 3/6 month size, and feeling stupid for having bought ANYTHING in newborn size!)

Shopping for her is all but done. Thanks to the wonderful shower Sara threw for us this weekend, we've got nearly everything we need. We still have to buy a rocker/recliner for the baby's room, and we have discovered the laminate floors will make a rug in there a necessity, so I am on the lookout for that. Then, baby tub, monitor, and changing pad, and this kiddo is pretty much set!

Now. I just need to get my Hubby to install the car seat in the van, and we're go for baby!

(And I'm a little excited, in case you can't tell.)

OH - and she still needs a name, by the way!! SUGGESTIONS?

Welcome!

2009-02-20T16:30:00.000-06:00

Hey everybody. I just thought this might be an easier way to keep everybody updated on what's new with the baby! Since I'm apparently TOTALLY inept at attaching photos to email, I'll just put them here, and we'll call it good!

Ok, so we had a visit with the perinatologist today. I switched OBs at 35 weeks, so that we could deliver at the hospital we wanted (the one closest to our house, for those of you who know). The new doc wanted me to see the peri right away, due to my gestational diabetes and hypothyroid issues, and because of the twin we lost early on in the pregnancy. With gestational diabetes, there is always the danger of the placenta breaking down too early, so they need to keep an eye on how everything is looking. Also, GD babies tend to grow too large if their mother's don't control their blood sugar well. Thankfully, mine has been very well controlled.

So, Widget (which is how we all refer to her right now. No, she doesn't have a name yet!) is currently about 6 lbs 10 oz. They verified she's definitely a girl, which is good, because we just got done painting her room pink, and almost ALL of her wardrobe is pink! (P.S.? Zack did SUCH an awesome job on the floor in her room. For his first time ever doing a wood/laminate floor, with only kiddos to help him, it's TOTALLY awesome!)

Based on today's findings, the Peri will review everything with my doc, but he's recommending that I have an amniocentesis in 2 weeks, which will show whether or not the baby's lungs are fully developed, and then as soon as possible after that, he wants to induce, based on the thought that she's big enough to come out now!

So we will likely have a baby a couple of weeks earlier than we had expected.

Here are a couple of photos from the ultrasound. This one is a traditional ultrasound, showing her face. The top of her head is to the right of the picture, and you can see her eyes looking at you, her nose and mouth, and then a big round thing next to her cheek - that's her fist!

And this second one is in the 3D ultrasound. Again, it's her face, but the top of her head is at the top of the pic this time. Again, you can see her eyes, nose, and lips, and that big shadow starting to the right of her nose is, again, her fist! I guess she's a prize fighter?

Anyway, that's all the news we've got for now! Check back for updates.