Baby2 was born Friday July 6, 2007 at 7:58 a.m.
His name is Ezra Thomas, and he was born 8 pounds, 10 ounces and 21 inches long.
There is a very long story behind the last few weeks, but I will post a shortened version.
Ezra was admitted to the NICU soon after being born. Even though he was breathing on his own, he was not able to get the oxygen into his blood properly so he was placed on a CPAP. He also was breathing too rapidly (over 100 times per minute instead of 30-60) and they had him on monitors for that. He was not able to eat because of the respiratory issues so he had a tube in his nose to feed him. In addition to the respiratory issues Ezra was born with a lot of bruising all over his body and they were concerned about hemophilia or other blood clotting disorders. They ran and re-ran several tests and they were able to rule out any of those things. They gave him 2 shots of Vitamin K and that seemed to help. The doctors still don't really know why he bruised so badly from the c-section.
There were a few additional problems-- he kept pulling out his IV lines, and it was a struggle to find a place where it would stay, and he was also jaundiced and had to be on a lighted bed to help with that. I was released on July 9, but he had to stay. We spent most of our time either sleeping at home or back at the hospital with him. He made significant improvements from Monday on and we were able to bring him home on Thursday July 12 after a 1 week stay in the NICU.
He's a healthy little guy now-- we're just keeping an eye out for any more bruising. There should be no long term affects from the respiratory issues. He's a great eater and he sleeps constantly, which is *awesome* since Ender was a terrible sleeper!
Mostly we're making the adjustment to being a family of 4 now. Or I should say that Brian and I
have already adjusted-- it is Ender who is wondering when the baby will go back to the hospital. Ender is doing a little better with the jealousy each day, but it's still a work in progress.
Pictures to come if anyone is interested.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
Ender - 16 months
Ender isn't a baby anymore.
He's tall and sturdy, still around 25 pounds, and runs everywhere. He loves to be outside, even in this horrendous cold, and just likes to go places--doesn't matter where, he just wants to go somewhere. At home if he sees his shoes he'll carry them to the front door and sit on the steps and try to put them on. When that doesn't work he'll knock on the door and babble that he wants to go. He'll even go so far as to carry my jacket, shoes and purse to the door too. Hilarious!
He has a giant vocabulary for his age, ranging from the names of family members to great words like "eyeball". He nods for yes and shakes his head no, and uses the two correctly most of the time. His favorite thing to say is "One More" and he'll say that for everything, even if he doesn't really want more.
He loves music, but most of all to listen to me sing. His favorites are "You Are My Sunshine" and "The Wheels on the Bus". He does most of the motions for the last song. He plays in my studio as I practice piano, and helps sometimes by playing the very lowest notes then cracking up at his musical genius. He doesn't mind listening when I play violin, but he's fairly disinterested. Piano is definitely his favored instrument. I don't mind that.
Ender also loves books-- Imagine that, with parents like us. He has a bookcase full, plus more in boxes that we don't yet have room for. He has a handfull of favorites, and he loves turning pages in board books. We don't let him turn paper pages yet (he's a little forceful), but he's learning to be more gentle and treat his books with respect.
He's also fascinated with figuring out how the world works. He buckles and unbuckles his booster chair straps, he works puzzles, and he loves toys that fit together in specific ways like stacking cups. This means he is also very curious about other things that fit together like plugs and light sockets, so we have to be very careful about that.
Ender is down to one nice long afternoon nap a day, and it's giving me a nice amount of time to do the studio paperwork. He goes down on his own as long as he has binky, blankie and bear-bear. He eats more than a lot of 4- and 5-year-olds I've known, and if there's one thing you don't mess with, it's his food. Eating is a very serious thing for this boy. We're still trying to sort out a few food allergy things for him. We know about milk, but we're starting to look into wheat also since his eczema is so bad.
He's no longer a baby, and while he's incredibly independent, he still wants his "loves" a few times a day, and he will always curl up in my lap for a book. All this change and growth makes me think that he'll handle the new baby alright in a few months. He seems to take change in stride and work with it. He's so much like his dad.
He's tall and sturdy, still around 25 pounds, and runs everywhere. He loves to be outside, even in this horrendous cold, and just likes to go places--doesn't matter where, he just wants to go somewhere. At home if he sees his shoes he'll carry them to the front door and sit on the steps and try to put them on. When that doesn't work he'll knock on the door and babble that he wants to go. He'll even go so far as to carry my jacket, shoes and purse to the door too. Hilarious!
He has a giant vocabulary for his age, ranging from the names of family members to great words like "eyeball". He nods for yes and shakes his head no, and uses the two correctly most of the time. His favorite thing to say is "One More" and he'll say that for everything, even if he doesn't really want more.
He loves music, but most of all to listen to me sing. His favorites are "You Are My Sunshine" and "The Wheels on the Bus". He does most of the motions for the last song. He plays in my studio as I practice piano, and helps sometimes by playing the very lowest notes then cracking up at his musical genius. He doesn't mind listening when I play violin, but he's fairly disinterested. Piano is definitely his favored instrument. I don't mind that.
Ender also loves books-- Imagine that, with parents like us. He has a bookcase full, plus more in boxes that we don't yet have room for. He has a handfull of favorites, and he loves turning pages in board books. We don't let him turn paper pages yet (he's a little forceful), but he's learning to be more gentle and treat his books with respect.
He's also fascinated with figuring out how the world works. He buckles and unbuckles his booster chair straps, he works puzzles, and he loves toys that fit together in specific ways like stacking cups. This means he is also very curious about other things that fit together like plugs and light sockets, so we have to be very careful about that.
Ender is down to one nice long afternoon nap a day, and it's giving me a nice amount of time to do the studio paperwork. He goes down on his own as long as he has binky, blankie and bear-bear. He eats more than a lot of 4- and 5-year-olds I've known, and if there's one thing you don't mess with, it's his food. Eating is a very serious thing for this boy. We're still trying to sort out a few food allergy things for him. We know about milk, but we're starting to look into wheat also since his eczema is so bad.
He's no longer a baby, and while he's incredibly independent, he still wants his "loves" a few times a day, and he will always curl up in my lap for a book. All this change and growth makes me think that he'll handle the new baby alright in a few months. He seems to take change in stride and work with it. He's so much like his dad.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Lots of News
Morning sickness is kicking my butt. Seriously. I'm losing weight like crazy and I'm supposed to keep track of how many times a day I puke. Fun times.
I was sick with Ender, but not like this. The doctor *finally* gave me a prescription that is supposed to make me keep down more than water, but I can't fill it until tomorrow. Hopefully it will be tremendously helpful. I'm tired of revisiting all my food.
In regular news, a lot has been going on here.
1. Ender had his first super big owie last Thursday. He tripped on the concrete steps and I wasn't quick enough to grab him and he has a huge red raw spot smack in the middle of his forehead about 2 inches in diameter. No kidding-- 2 freakin' inches! From there there's a thin scrape down to the bridge of his noes and his whole nose is a mess. It's healing pretty quickly with all the antibacterial ointment we're putting on, but trying to keep a 15 month old from touching said ointment is quite the trick.
2. Ender is doing really well sleeping through the night, and now we're working on getting him to go down for the night without being held and rocked to sleep. The first two nights were really tough, but it paid off. No more taking an hour to get him down for the night! Tonight he was out in about 8 minutes, completely on his own. I'm so proud of him! Next up, giving up that last bottle that we can't seem to get rid of.
3. I'm working a ton. 20 hours a week at the school and about 20 hours a week for myself. I haven't worked this much in a few years, and with having E plus morning sickness from you know where it's wearing me down. I'm generally asleep by 9 or 9:30 most nights, and wishing I could go to sleep around 7. Hopefully the second trimester energy surge will come along soon.
4. I found out Friday that I get to have an extra ultrasound sometime in the next week. I had my first visit with the OB that day and she's unsure of my dates and wants to have the extra ultrasound to be sure of exactly where I am. I'm probably not far enough along to find out the gender, but I'm still excited to see the little one. Maybe that will make this whole thing a little more real. It helped tremendously when I heard the heartbeat for the first time 2 days ago.
5. Last big thing-- Another of my brothers (Isaac) got married December 29. It was a gorgeous ceremony and fun reception. Ender was the honorary ring bearer (he didn't walk down the aisle, just got to be in all the pictures) and I played violin and sang. Certainly helps the wedding budget when your sister is a professional musician. Yet another brother (Ben) is getting married in March and Ender, Brian and I are all involved in that one-- Just 2 months from now!
Hopefully I'll be feeling more human in the next week and be around more, and a little less tired once I hit second trimester.
I was sick with Ender, but not like this. The doctor *finally* gave me a prescription that is supposed to make me keep down more than water, but I can't fill it until tomorrow. Hopefully it will be tremendously helpful. I'm tired of revisiting all my food.
In regular news, a lot has been going on here.
1. Ender had his first super big owie last Thursday. He tripped on the concrete steps and I wasn't quick enough to grab him and he has a huge red raw spot smack in the middle of his forehead about 2 inches in diameter. No kidding-- 2 freakin' inches! From there there's a thin scrape down to the bridge of his noes and his whole nose is a mess. It's healing pretty quickly with all the antibacterial ointment we're putting on, but trying to keep a 15 month old from touching said ointment is quite the trick.
2. Ender is doing really well sleeping through the night, and now we're working on getting him to go down for the night without being held and rocked to sleep. The first two nights were really tough, but it paid off. No more taking an hour to get him down for the night! Tonight he was out in about 8 minutes, completely on his own. I'm so proud of him! Next up, giving up that last bottle that we can't seem to get rid of.
3. I'm working a ton. 20 hours a week at the school and about 20 hours a week for myself. I haven't worked this much in a few years, and with having E plus morning sickness from you know where it's wearing me down. I'm generally asleep by 9 or 9:30 most nights, and wishing I could go to sleep around 7. Hopefully the second trimester energy surge will come along soon.
4. I found out Friday that I get to have an extra ultrasound sometime in the next week. I had my first visit with the OB that day and she's unsure of my dates and wants to have the extra ultrasound to be sure of exactly where I am. I'm probably not far enough along to find out the gender, but I'm still excited to see the little one. Maybe that will make this whole thing a little more real. It helped tremendously when I heard the heartbeat for the first time 2 days ago.
5. Last big thing-- Another of my brothers (Isaac) got married December 29. It was a gorgeous ceremony and fun reception. Ender was the honorary ring bearer (he didn't walk down the aisle, just got to be in all the pictures) and I played violin and sang. Certainly helps the wedding budget when your sister is a professional musician. Yet another brother (Ben) is getting married in March and Ender, Brian and I are all involved in that one-- Just 2 months from now!
Hopefully I'll be feeling more human in the next week and be around more, and a little less tired once I hit second trimester.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Details
Well, it was a quite unexpected, but we're happy to be adding another little one to our family. There will be about 21 months between Ender and this little one, and I did want a summer birthday for #2-- I just thought it would be summer 2008 instead of summer 2007.
Oh, and so much for those doctors that kept telling us we would never conceive on our own without medical intervention-- joke's on them! (and us too, I suppose.) That's right-- conceived this one the good ol' fashioned way without the use of those weird fertility drugs. Shocked us, I can tell you!
My cycles went right back to being wacky after I had Ender, so when I hit day 50 of the current cycle I thought nothing of it. My body does this kind of thing all the time, right? Then Thanksgiving Day I was overwhelmed with nausea, but even then I wrote it off as that flu bug that my brother had a few days before. But when it stayed nausea and didn't go right to "I want to die after throwing up my kidneys", I took a test Friday morning, and it was positive before I even stood up.
I'm 7 weeks 5 days, and my first OB appointment is next week. I get the blood tests, the pap, and meet the new doctor. We also get to meet the new doctor. My old OB moved practices and couldn't take old patients with her, so I've found someone else and I hope we like her. The mother of one of my students recommended her to me, and it sounds like she has a personality that I will mesh with.
So yeah. Having a baby. July-ish.
Anything else you want to know?
Oh, and so much for those doctors that kept telling us we would never conceive on our own without medical intervention-- joke's on them! (and us too, I suppose.) That's right-- conceived this one the good ol' fashioned way without the use of those weird fertility drugs. Shocked us, I can tell you!
My cycles went right back to being wacky after I had Ender, so when I hit day 50 of the current cycle I thought nothing of it. My body does this kind of thing all the time, right? Then Thanksgiving Day I was overwhelmed with nausea, but even then I wrote it off as that flu bug that my brother had a few days before. But when it stayed nausea and didn't go right to "I want to die after throwing up my kidneys", I took a test Friday morning, and it was positive before I even stood up.
I'm 7 weeks 5 days, and my first OB appointment is next week. I get the blood tests, the pap, and meet the new doctor. We also get to meet the new doctor. My old OB moved practices and couldn't take old patients with her, so I've found someone else and I hope we like her. The mother of one of my students recommended her to me, and it sounds like she has a personality that I will mesh with.
So yeah. Having a baby. July-ish.
Anything else you want to know?
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
War Tonight
Brian has baseball games scheduled for this evening. As long as it doesn't rain between now and then I'll be on yahoo tonight if anyone would like to word war. Ender goes down around 7/7:30 usually and then I'll be on after he's asleep and probably until Brian gets home. Hopefully I'll catch someone.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Back to Work
Kait's comment in the last post reminded me to update. I really just haven't been online much. I've been working full time again this year between teaching at school and working in the studio. Ender turned one last Thursday, and we got through his party this last weekend. And shock of all shocks, I've been writing a lot. I've figured some things out and I have direction again. Took me a year and a half to find it, but at least I have it again and I can move forward.
So I'm up for word wars most evenings. Anyone want to play?
So I'm up for word wars most evenings. Anyone want to play?
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