Aubrey 31 Months!

It has been amazing to watch our baby grow into a big sister this month! There are days when I look at Aubrey and think, wow she's still so little! And there are days where I think, my goodness she is getting so big so fast!! Time slow down! I know I say it all the time, and will probably just keep in on repeat for the next 18 years or so with these 3 kids!  

Happy 31 Months Aubrey Lynn!

I mean, seriously, these monthly pics get easier and easier! The last couple of months I say "Get up on your chair" and she hops right up, puts her hands in her lap, and smiles...then proceeds to make goofy faces : ) Where I used to take 100 pictures and delete all but 1 or 2, now I take about 5 and have a hard time choosing because they are so cute!

31 Month Highlights:
-We really tried to take advantage of June and the beautiful summer weather, because we assumed we had until mid-July until baby brother came. Big surprise, he came a month early (and that was after Mama had to be in the hospital for 3 nights before hand), but we were still able to get in several days at the pool, a park date, ice cream dinner at Culvers, and some fun staying at home. 

Catching the rain : )

 

-You and Bella LOVE to play dress up, and just play together in general. I love watching the bond between the two of you deepen as the months go by! 

-You definitely look up to your big sister and love her dearly, and are constantly looking to see what she is doing, but you can hold your own! You are one feisty, strong willed little lady and I love that about you!

-The biggest change of the month was baby brother being born, and watching you become a big sister. Mama being on hospital bedrest for 3 days was really hard for you, and you didn't understand why Mama couldn't come home to put you night nights. Break my heart! We just tried to get as much time as we could in the hospital without you and Bella going crazy in a confined space!

-It was very confusing to you how one day baby brother was in Mama's belly, and the next there was a baby lying in a bassinet. You certainly are not obsessed with him like Bella is, but you have adapted well. And you say all the time "Aww Mama, he's so cuties!" 

 This picture pretty much sums up how both of you feel about baby brother...Isabella is always wanting to hold, hug and kiss him. Aubrey is like "HUH!? Who is this little dude!?" Ha ha ha!!!

Trying to get back to normal life with the inclusion of a newborn. Playing outside with scooters and bikes!

-We had our first outing as a family of 5 to the library because they had a farm animal petting zoo. It was a short outing which was perfect for Mama b/c she was still recovering from the c-section, but it was good to get out! The highlight of the trip for you and Isabella were the ice pops at the end : )

One day we will get a picture of all of us looking at the camera and smiling...one day!

Sleeping: Bedtime goal is to go up around 7 and be out of your room by 7:45. More realistically, we get up sometime after 7, and are out by 8 or 8:10ish. You usually play in bed and sing at the top of your lungs for a good 45 minutes to an hour before you fall asleep. We crack up at you almost on a nightly basis because of how well you entertain yourself (and us!) in your bed!  You usually sleep until about 7 or 7:30, and your clock wakes up at 8 am when we come get you.

You still nap most days, and on days you don't fall asleep you have "quiet time." That being said, you still NEED your nap. You are cranky in the evening on the days you just play. Naptime is usually from 2 til 4. 

Eating: "I'm hungies" is your motto. You say it 1000 times a day. You love mixed cereal, fig bars or oatmeal with berries for breakfast. Lunch is usually ham and cheese sandwiches (which you eat deconstructed), fruit, pretzles and carrots with hummus, or leftovers. Dinner you are usually pretty flexible and unless it's a green vegetable will try anything and eat most of what's on your plate. You have also been loving greek yogurt popscicles, yogurt squeezies, fruit squeezies, strawberries, watermelon, peaches, quinoa rice, avacado, and black beans. 

Aubrey Loves:
-bathtime
-picking out her own outfits and trying to get dressed independently
-listening to music and singing
-reading books
-painting, coloring
-being outside
-going to the park
-picnics
-shallow end of the pool

Aubrey Hates:

-not being successful at doing things independently
-having Isabella help her when she doesn't want help

31 Month Stats:

Height: 35 in (about 18th percentile)

Weight: 25 lb 3 oz (about 8th percentile)

*Wearing size 2T clothes
*Wearing size 4.5 to 5.5 shoes 

C-Section Recovery Take 3

I'm now 11 days out from surgery and feel like this has been the best/easiest recovery yet, despite being probably the worst actual surgery!  I guess the fact that I'm writing this post at 11 days post-surgery is a testament to that, because it's by far the earliest I've written this kind of post!

That being said, the day of the c-section as I was getting into and out of a wheelchair several times to see Isaiah, I told Jon, even if we wanted more kids, I am NEVER doing this again!! EVER! Good thing we both agree, 3 is the perfect number for us.

Since we are done having children (at least according to our plan!), this won't be as detailed as my past recovery blogs because I was wanting to document all the little details so I could have them for future surgeries (thank you past me, it has been helpful!).

Pain Management: I had a spinal block again (same as with Bella) but they did not put any narcotic pain meds in it this time. Instead, they hooked me up to an IV pain pump with dilaudid and I could push the button to deliver a set amount of medication. Surprisingly, they also didn't have a continuous dose going, which is probably why I felt like the oral meds worked better than the IV.  The morning after surgery, they switched me over to Percocet. I initially told the anesthesiologist that I had tried percocet in the past and it didn't work for me, but she told me it was stronger than Norco, and to give it a try again. It worked great. I took 10 mg of percocet every 4 hours post-op day 2 and then by post-op day 3 cut back to 5 mg every 4 hours. Post-op day 4 I was taking 5 mg about every 4-6. And post-op day 5 it was 5 mg every 6ish, sometimes 8 hrs. The next day I took it about 2-3 times a day, and continued that through today (post-op day 11). I think I will need it about twice daily for the next few days, and then hopefully just once in the morning, and then off. Another note, ice packs totally helped the incisional pain, especially when it felt like my incision was on fire!

Pitocin: I got pitocin again for 2 days this time around and whoa mama, the cramping is just as bad if not worse than the surgical pain at times! Luckily, the day after surgery, the doctors decided it would be fine for me to take motrin even though I'm on lovenox, so that helped a TON!!! I took 600 mg motrin every 6 hours for the first 3 days, then took it twice a day for the next two, then stopped. I can't even tell you how much this helped with pain management!

Moving Around: I was up and moving far sooner this time around since Isaiah was in the NICU, and I really think despite hating every second of it, this helped a lot. The first time I got up some of my surgery meds were still on board, so it wasn't all that terrible. But that evening, around 11pm when the nurse came to take out my foley and have me walk to the bathroom, whoa mama that hurt. I felt like a 95 year old lady hunched over walking, trying not to have my insides spill out. I then had to pee about every 2 or 3 hours after that, so there was lots of moving and walking. The next day I went to see and feed Isaiah in the morning, and in the afternoon got up and even took a shower! I was so proud.  Every day after that I just got up more and more and walked around the room or to the NICU and back (just down the hall). 

I know this recovery has been easier because I have only put on the abdominal binder a couple of times (once to go to Isaiah's MD appointment the day after discharge, and once to walk back to the pasture two days after we got home). I can tell in the evening that I'm more sore because of all my walking and activity, but not needing my binder on to walk around for the first week home has been a big improvement. 

Sleep: What sleep!? I literally got about 4 hours of very interruprted sleep every night in the hospital starting with hospital bedrest. So 4 nights of no sleep before a c-section does not set up a Mama for success. After the c-section it didn't get much better. Between the techs doing vital signs every 4 hours on myself and Isaiah (but it was 2 different techs, so they came in at different times!), and the nurses doing assessments every 4 hours, and lab draws every morning around 4 or 5 for both the baby and I, and just random ins and outs, there was very little sleep going on! Oh, and then there's the whole the baby wants to eat every 1.5 to 2 hours as well!

Once we got home it was a big improvement. Isaiah still eats every 2 to 2.5 hrs, but at least we are sleeping soundly in between! I was able to finally sleep on my sides again about 9 days after surgery, and that helps a ton...sleeping halfway sitting upright is not that comfortable!

Bathroom troubles: I thought I got lucky this time around and didn't have gas and pooping problems as much as the past two, but it just came a bit later than I remembered. I was able to poop the day we left which wasn't really painful. However, about 6 days after surgery, despite still taking gas-x the gas pains got pretty bad, particularly in the morning, and pooping became a very painful, 20 minute process. Yup, a repeat of last time with grasping onto the walls and trying not to scream, while doing labor-like breathing! Urgh. Luckily the gas never got so bad it radiated to my chest/shoulder, but it was really painful in my stomach!

Peeing this time around was really painful however, right from the get-go. The first time I had to pee after my foley was removed took about 20 minutes for me to do, with water running, and I kept spraying myself with warm water in the perineal bottle (which the nurse said helps sometimes). It just felt like everything was spasming down there and was oh so painful. After the first few pees, it definitely got better, but it still hurts a bit, enough to remind me of having a UTI. 

Bleeding: Like the last two times, I really don't bleed a lot. I wore the lovely mesh panties and diaper sized pads in the hospital and the day after we got home, but ditched those the next day for regular underwear and a panty liner.  

Isaiah Jae's BIRTH story and hospital stay!!!

This was such a different experience for us from start to finish, mostly because I was already admitted to the hospital.

The c-section was scheduled for 6:45 am and in typical hospital fashion, things got delayed a bit. The nurses had me prepped and ready to go though right on time. Anesthesia came in to do one last check around 7:15 or so, and then we wheeled back to the OR.

Jon's obligatory silly pics while waiting to get into the OR

They decided to do a spinal block in the OR, rather than an epidural in my room because of my clotting disorders and the fact that I had been on heparin and baby aspirin (apparently the spinal needles are smaller than epidural needles, and the risk of bleeding is lower). 

So they wheeled me into the OR and Jon had to wait outside. The spinal was a little bit difficult for the anesthesiologist to get (and I only know this because she had to do a few things and then asked the second anesthesiologist for help), but it didn't take that long. 

My OB came into the OR shortly after and they started to prep and drape me. Sometime during this, I got a wave of intense nausea, felt incredibly dizzy, and then thought I was going to pass out. I told this to the anesthesiologist who then re-cycled my blood pressure, and I heard someone say "Wow, that is really low." They then gave me a medication to increase my BP and the next thing I knew my heart was pounding out of my chest, my head felt like it was literally going to explode off my shoulders, and I felt awful! They tried repositioning me and doing a few other things to help but it didn't. 

Meanwhile, the surgeon kept poking me to test where I was numb and while I couldn't feel it in the lower levels, I still had feeling in my upper abdomen. The surgeon said twice we just needed to start and the anesthesiologist said they would have to put me under if he couldn't wait a few more minutes. I told the anesthesiologist I didn't want to be out, so she let them proceed, but said she would have that medicine on standby just in case. 

The surgery was far more painful than my last two, and while I couldn't feel any sharp or stabbing pain, I definitely felt a whole lot more than I have previously! 

Then my memory gets fuzzy because I felt like I was going to pass out again and I remember not being able to open my eyes or answer the anesthesiologist's questions, but I could hear people talking. The surgeon was asking if they could bring Jon in because he was ready to get the baby out, and the anesthesiologist said "No, I need more time with Mom" and he kept poking and shaking my shoulders asking me to wake up. Such a weird feeling hearing it all but not being able to respond! 

I could hear them say "He's out" and then "Blue" and then held him up for me to see, but all I could do was squint my eyes open and see him for a fraction of a second. I don't remember hearing him cry or anything after that because they gave me the medication to put me to sleep. The next thing I know I was waking up in the PACU alone. Not a good feeling.  

Jon wasn't able to come into the OR until after Isaiah was born. He looked at me and saw that there was an oral airway in with oxygen blowing into it, and I was out, and it definitely freaked him out! Nobody told him anything about me, but he says the anesthesiologist looked concerned without being overly worried. He just said it was so bizarre and scary but trusted that if something were really wrong, someone would tell him.

I'm most sad about all of this because we got zero pictures of his birth, and we have such great ones of the girls. Well, that and I missed seeing him right after birth, didn't get to do skin to skin, or anything like that. Oh, and the whole, I have NO idea what happened or why they put me to sleep! 

isaiah came out with the cord wrapped around his neck twice, and was "blue" but overall did great and cried right away from what I'm told. 

STATS: 
Apgars were 8 and 9 (and the initial 8 was given for his blue color, with the extra +1 added for improved color at 5 minutes). 
Weight 4 lb 7 oz
Length: 17.5 in
Head circumference: 12.5 in.

 Because he was less than 4.5 lbs, he had to go to the special care nursery for observation (per the hospital protocol).  While there his blood sugars were great, but because I was out, they gave him formula (not the end of the world, but definitely not what I had wanted). He had low temperatures for which they had to put the warmer on, so that bought him an admission to the NICU. 

I was able to go see him several hours after I got to my room, and OUCH! I've never had to get out of bed so quickly after surgery, but I wanted so desperately to see him and try to breastfeed!

He did amazing at latching the very first time, and ate like a champ. It was so great to be able to snuggle him, even if it was only for about an hour. It was definitely so hard coming back to our room empty handed. 

Thankfully he only needed the warmer through that afternoon and by the next afternoon he was able to come to our room. The rest of the hospital stay he did fantastic and while we initially had to supplement with a bottle (either my breastmilk fortified with formula or plain formula) after each breastfeeding session, we weren't doing that by the last day because he was eating so well and gaining weight back solely with breastfeeding.

The girls got to come meet him the evening after he was born and it was so cute to see their initial reactions! Isabella was just obsessed with him from the get go, and Aubrey wasn't sure what to think. Bella kept saying "Oh my goodness, he's so tiny and cute!" Aubrey kept saying "He's so cutie!" They each brought a present they bought with Mimi (an elephant lovie and several bibs) and they were so excited to unwrap them and give them to baby brother. 

After 7 days of getting almost no sleep in the hospital (between bedrest and post-c-section), I was super ready to get out of there! Thankfully he was healthy and doing great, and was also cleared to go home (although they did say they would feel more comfortable keeping him a few more days for monitoring, but had no true reason as to why he needed it). 

TWO DAYS OLD:

Recover was definitely easier this time around, I was able to get up and shower on day 2! 

THREE DAYS OLD: 

We couldn't wait to get home and start our life as a family of 5!! When we took home Isabella and Aubrey, they got to wear Mama's going home outfit which was super special. They also got to take some pictures with a bonnet that Mimi made, that they will be able to use as a handkerchief on their wedding day.  Since a pink frilly outfit wouldn't have been as cute on him, he still got to wear something of Mamas...a blue baby blanket! And Mimi made him a little bonnet that he can use as a handkerchief on his wedding day as well!  

 Aaaaaaand, we busted out of there! Despite the MDs saying we "could" stay another night, and some wanting us to (but not urging or giving us a medical reason), we wanted to get home to our girls and to our own beds (and about 219 less interruptions at night!). Adios hospital...hello home!

 TEEEEENY TINY little nugget in his seat!!

Once we were home, we had quite the welcomng committee! The girls were estactic to have us and baby brother home! Aunter Stine decorated outside with blue ribbons, balloons and an "It's a Boy!" sign, while Mimi had balloons and the chalkboard welcome sign waiting for us inside!