Happy New Year & Happy New Baby!

(Warning: This post is long and contains the birth story of our little guy!)

Can I just say I'm glad to see the end of December?? What a month that was! I wanted it to end almost before it started. And now we are in a new month and a new year! As I type this, I am trying to keep my eyes open because I'm sleep deprived and full of drowsy drugs, but I want to get this all down before the memories start to fade.

After an awesome New Year's Eve party and a busy New Year's Day getting bags packed and the house clean, it was almost time to go to the hospital to welcome baby #3 into the world. I debated about going to church on Sunday, as I assumed I'd be up all night and would need some rest, but decided to go and, in the end, am very glad I did!

That night we headed to the hospital leaving our other kiddos in the trusty hands of my amazingly wonderful sister in law, Kim. She is amazing and I love her for taking care of Soren and Caroline for nearly 3 full days!! Plus my other sister in law, Sarah, pitched in as well as my sweet friend (also named Sarah). This doesn't even touch on the number of people who offered to do anything we needed over the week! We are so blessed to have such awesome family and friends!! Ok, that was a tangent - now back to the story of our little guy!

Admission to the hospital went fairly quickly; no pile of paperwork, just a few things here and there. Then the real fun began! Not knowing how many different drugs I might need for delivery, I needed two IVs thingies (catheters?) put in - one in each arm. Last time I needed a butt load of drugs because of all the complications I had, so they wanted to be prepared. It only took two nurses an hour and a half plus the use of an ultrasound machine to be successful. Apparently I have crooked veins. Who knew? I now am sporting some pretty awesome bruises on my left arm, though. Sweet!

After the IV debacle, we settled in for a night of what we hoped would be a progressive induction. Caroline had taken 36 hours to get the hint that it was time for her to come (for her own safety), so I was preparing for things to take at least that long but hoping it wouldn't! Haha . . . be careful what you wish for!! Anyway, the plan was a Miso tablet to help move things along, then another after 3 hours, then we'd move on from there to Pitocin and a baby!

Miso tablets, apparently, cause a lot of cramping. Sleep didn't really happen because every time I'd doze off, I'd wake back up in pain. Not major pain, mind you, but just annoying enough to keep me from sleeping. Then, of course, the nurse came in quite a few times to check baby and blood pressure and all of that fun stuff. After 2 rounds of Miso, it was time to hook up the pitocin. My nurse changed around 7:30am, but not much else changed. I wasn't progressing very quickly, so they were slowly turning up the Pitocin.

Generally I am pretty tolerant of pain, but during labor I feel like a big wuss. The sooner I can get something to stop the pain, the happier I am. However, no matter how many times and ways I mentioned that I would sure like something for the pain, I didn't get anything. Finally the doctor arrived to assess the situation and I asked her what the general protocol was for giving me drugs. After checking to see how baby was progressing, she told me she wanted his head to be a little closer to the exit before we put in the epidural. I trusted her opinion (she's a great doctor from what I've been able to ascertain), so I went with it.

Shortly thereafter I began to disagree.

I've been induced with each of my pregnancies, so I've done the whole Pitocin thing before. I know that the pain associated with Pitocin (and labor in general haha) sucks, but I was experiencing some nasty, nasty pain. With Caroline, my epidural stopped working 45 minutes before she was born and I went through the final bit of labor without anything to kill or dull the pain. The contractions I was feeling this time were more painful than that. I'd get one contraction, it would start to fade and then before it went away, another one started. Then I'd get about 20-30 seconds before it all started again. This is when I started whining to the nurse! Around 11:30am, after watching me and my contractions disagree for quite a while, she turned the Pitocin down. It was heaven! For all of 5 minutes, anyway. I was expressing my joy at the relief when I felt something familiar. I looked at the nurse and told her I was pretty sure my water had just broken.

Hooray!

Except then I was worried that I'd have to do the labor without drugs again because after my water broke with Caroline, she came VERY quickly! I braced myself for it, but after the nurse checked things out, she looked slightly concerned. She told us there was some blood and she wanted to check with the doctor on the next step. After maybe 2 minutes, she came back in and that's when the crazy started. Apparently I was dripping blood - everywhere. I couldn't see it (thank GOODNESS!!!), but there was blood all over my bed and literally streaming onto the floor, creating a puddle.

The look on the nurses face told me that things were not good. And suddenly there were at least 6 other people in the room. I had an anesthesiologist in my face (his name was Doug and he was super nice, actually) going through the risks and warnings, I had my nurse telling me they were doing a c-section asap, I had a doctor (not mine, of course - she was already in surgery) telling me her name - which I promptly forgot - and saying she'd be performing the surgery, there were papers being tossed in my face to sign, and then I was being rapidly wheeled down halls to an operating room.

By this time I had lost so much blood I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. I tried to do what they told me to so I could get the spinal block and they wouldn't have to knock me out completely. If there was one thing I remembered from the anesthesiologist, it was that if they had to knock me out completely, Alan would not be able to be there with me. I was not ok with this and I knew he'd be pretty upset as well. Thank goodness I was coherent enough to get the spinal block! Before I knew what was happening, the nurses and Alan were trying to inform me that our baby was here.

And he was beautiful.



Our little guy, Henry Alan Tullis!!!
Arrival date: 1/3/11
Arrival time: 12:21pm
Weight: 7lbs, 3oz
Height: 21 1/2 inches

I wish I'd been more coherent . . . I was too weak to even hold him - I didn't trust myself, but I gave him a kiss and told him I loved him. At that point I just wanted to sleep. The nurses needed to take Henry to the nursery because his blood sugar was a little low (and I was in no position to feed him! Haha!) and he was having a little bit of trouble fully figuring out the whole breathing thing. Alan stayed with me while they finished with the surgery. I think it was at that point that the doctor told us that my placenta was torn and that's where all the blood was coming from. Later we were told that it wasn't a "traditional" tear - the placenta hadn't pulled away from the uterine wall or anything, it had just torn during labor. Apparently this happens in less than 2% of pregnancies. I'm telling you, my luck with medical stuff is amazing!!!

Anyway, after they sewed me all up, I was wheeled over to a recovery room where I shook so much I think I caused a minor earthquake. I remember shaking a lot after my Gallbladder surgery, but this seemed more intense. They finally gave me some Demerol and the shaking went away. After about an hour hanging out in recovery with both my nurse (KC was her name, by the way) and our friend anesthesiologist, Doug, they finally let me go back to my room. I think I slept, but I can't really remember.

After over 6 hours, the nursery finally released Henry and he came into the room. I held him and didn't want to put him down or share or anything!!



We were blessed with many visitors at the hospital, but two of our favorites were Soren and Caroline.





Overall, the nurses and doctors were impressed with my recovery. My doctor was almost certain I would need a blood transfusion, but I was very blessed and my red blood count did not dip down low enough to require it. My blood pressure remained low during my entire stay. I was up and walking around within 24 hours of the surgery. Things just looked great and continued to for the rest of my stay. And our little Henry, even though he dropped nearly 10% of his birth weight, was doing really well!

I was released on Thursday afternoon and able to come home and be with my family.

So that's the basic run down. It's time for me to feed our little guy ad then get a nap. I'll be sure to write more about our first week with Henry in our home!

I suppose I should document this . . .

Nope, sorry - this isn't a Christmas post! Although I have to say, we did have a splendid Christmas! It was quiet and beautiful and relaxing! Cherishing those while they last!

Instead let me tell you a little about my month. Aside from the pneumonia. I've been heading to the doctor 2-3 times a week for appointments, ultrasounds, and non-stress tests. This week I also had some blood work done, partially at my request and partially at the doctor's request. Which doctor? Who knows? I have seen a total of 8 during this pregnancy (including two perinatologists!), one of which may or may not be the delivering doctor.

Most of these appointments have been low key, everything looking good, lots of pics of our new little guy (he's adorable, by the way - his cheeks are to die for! I hope they stay chubby!!). Today things took a turn. First off, my blood pressure didn't want to cooperate. Secondly, I was down a couple of pounds (I know, you're thinking - how lucky are you? No, this is not good... it happened with Caroline and if you read her story, you know it only goes downhill from here). Thirdly, well - the results of the blood tests were back. And they didn't look good.

You see, Christmas Eve something happened. Itching. And not the normal pregnancy itching that comes with an expanding tummy, but intense itching on the palms of my hands and on my feet. This is one of the only signs that accompany a condition called Cholestasis. This is the same thing I had with Caroline and there was a 90% chance it would happen again. When the itching started, I knew what it was but I also knew there wasn't anything the doctor could do about it this close to the end of the pregnancy. So when I went in the following Monday, I mentioned it to the perinatologist, who ordered the blood work. That's the blood work that came back today. And it was positive.

Not really a big shocker, but I was hoping to make it to 39 weeks. Oh well!

The blood pressure situation is still up in the air. More test results should be available tomorrow.

So, the big news is . . . I'm heading in for an induction on Sunday, January 2nd! Stay tuned for more news and pictures!

Road to . . . . somewhere?

December has only just begun and I'm ready for one of two things: A do-over OR a skip-to-the-end! What a month!

Last week we had the Furnace Saga. After at least 4 trips to various locations for the part we thought was the problem and then two visits in two days from two different technicians, the furnace was finally fixed. We only had two full days without heat, so it wasn't the end of the world. However, the money we had to put out to repair it was not in our plans, so that was a bummer. The past week we have made a lot of positive comments about the warmth of the house. We are very grateful that we were able to get it repaired and now have a functioning furnace. And we'll be sure to open an empty package of warm air on Christmas morning to remind ourselves of that! Haha!

Now on to the sickies. The last week of November both Caroline and myself came down with something nasty.

It took Caroline two weeks to shake it. She actually still has some fluid in her ear, a minor cough, and a slight runny nose. I'm supposed to take her back to the doctor in 3-4 weeks just to make sure it has all cleared up. And speaking of the doctor, she's been there twice in the past week or so. On Dec. 1st she went in for her 2 year old check up. The good news? She's finally back on the growth chart! You go, girl! However, she's still just a teenie little peanut. In the past year (yes, YEAR), she has gained a grand total of 4lbs. I've got to come up with some Supernanny worthy tactics to get this girl to eat. Caroline's second doctor's appointment was due to me. Mentally I know I am a good mom who tries to do what is best for my kids. But emotionally I feel horrible for yoinking her arm the wrong direction and pulling her elbow out of socket.... again. So we had to rush over to the doctor yesterday to pop that sucker back in. Could I do it myself? Probably. But I have such a hard time with that kind of stuff. And to think - at one point in my life I wanted to be a nurse or doctor. HAHAHAHA! That seriously makes me laugh now.

My version of the evil sickies that Caroline shared with me (hey, she's learning to share so I can't be too angry, right?) was beyond stupid. After talking to nurses, a doctor, and a pharmacist, I was given plenty of ideas on how to deal with it sans meds. I thought I'd made a breakthrough and was on the road to recovery, but alas . . . it all turned south again. This time I went into the doctor and told her I couldn't do it anymore - I was done, wiped, exhausted, over it . . . and finally was able to get some antibiotics. Less than 24 hours later I can report that I am feeling almost human again. Aside from the plethora of bathroom trips last night, I actually slept without coughing, sneezing, or blowing my nose every 20 minutes. I look forward to the next few days when hopefully all that keeps me awake at night is a kicking baby and/or trips to the bathroom.

And now I need to do all those things that fell by the wayside when I was sitting on the couch/in bed with a box of tissues in my lap. I still have things to mail, things to order, and things to decorate for Christmas. Whether or not they will all get done, I don't know. I'm going to do what I can and try very hard not to beat myself up if they don't.

And that is my summary of December thus far. We also had Soren's piano recital (I missed it), a Christmas party or two (I went to one but left early), lots of homework/projects to finish before the holiday break, and preparations around the house for our new addition. It's been quite a month already. Hopefully the remainder of the month can be a little more uneventful! :)

WARNING - WHINE POST

I have much to be thankful for, I know that. But sometimes, you just have to whine.

Currently I am sick and I have been sick for almost a full week. Caroline has been sick for nearly two full weeks. Yes, she has been to the doctor. I went to the doctor last week before this all settled in to annoy me. Do we know what it is? Nope. Is there anything that can be done? Nope. She's 2 and weighs next to nothing (but hey, she's back on the growth chart at least), so there isn't much over the counter that she can take. I'm pregnant and run into the same problem. So whatever this nasty junk is, it's hanging on for dear life to both of us making us tired, sick, and cranky! I broke down today and called my new clinic to ask if I could take Mucinex. The nurse told me it's better to be safe than sorry and to avoid it (none of her charts were showing that it was okay). So I am going to try Sudafed, which I hate taking because it leaves me in a fog of stupid. I could try Benadryl as well, but even the children's version of that knocks me out cold. So I'm annoyed that I'm sick basically. And I'm annoyed at how long it is lasting.

The furnace stopped working at some point on Tuesday night. Yesterday we had no heat and Alan and I investigated and think we have pinpointed the problem. Alan left work early to rush over to a store that closed at 5 to get a part. Which didn't end up fitting in our furnace. Ugh! So we went all night without heat again. Alan had meetings this morning and then was going to be a gem and go out part-hunting again. I'm not sure how long his meetings will go and what obligations he has at work, so I am trying to huddle down into blankies and stay warm. I think furnaces should not be allowed to break in December or January. Isn't there a law about that somewhere? Alan is trying so hard to fix this to keep the cost down. I sure love him.

Now we come to the eating part of life for me. Nothing looks good or sounds good. Everything - and I mean everything - gives me heartburn. I had crackers this morning at 6am when I woke up from yet another terrible night of sleep and 20 minutes later I needed Tums. So basically I don't want to eat and I'm hungry all day because I don't want to eat. This happened with Caroline as well. And I lost weight and the doctor scolded me. But seriously - I have plenty of stored fat to share with baby, so I don't see what the big deal is. Except that when I don't eat I am very cranky. Probably because my body needs food. Bah!

I love this new baby we have coming, but he could really create a much more cheerful momma if he repositioned himself. I don't really care for the lower back pain nor am I a fan of the tailbone pain. I try not to complain too much about this because we obviously are thrilled that we are able to have another baby, but it really is very painful and makes walking, sitting, standing, and basically any type of moving very difficult.

I think above all else I feel horrible for how much Alan is having to do because I'm such a mess. He is doing it and not complaining (out loud), but I know he works hard all day and then to have to come home and fix dinner (most nights), load the dishwasher, take care of me, help with the kids, fix furnaces, etc. . . . I just feel bad. This is one of those times where I wish I had the money to hire someone to come in and give the house a good scrubbing. I know I can't do it right now. I can barely get out of the house for an hour or two without paying for it the rest of the day. And I know I have friends who are more than willing to come help, but with all the germs flying around here I don't want to risk getting them sick.

And I won't even get started on the situation with insurance and doctors. That's a whole 'nother whine tangent.

So basically I just needed to dump. And there it is.

Where did November go?

Looks like November is almost over! Some events of this month included:

*Caroline's birthday - she's TWO!
*Our first snowfall of the year! We don't get much snow here, so anything we see is exciting!
*Thanksgiving with lots of yummy food and good company! I'm grateful for wonderful family that hosted this year! Thank you, Rob & Kim!
*A visit from Alan's brother, JT. I sure love that guy - he's awesome! It was nice of him to be willing to just hang out and relax. I still am hoping we weren't too boring for him!
*Our first family sickness - it started with Caroline, then me, and now Soren seems to be under the weather. We are all hoping Alan stays strong and avoids it.
*Caroline has moved into a toddler bed! So far she is doing pretty well, but she definitely is enjoying the freedom of moving around her room once the door is shut. We are reminding her that bed time means to stay in bed. I'm sure this is something we'll be discussing for years to come with her - especially if she is anything like her brother.
*Halloween decorations came down, Autumn decorations went up! Then autumn decorations came down and Christmas decorations are in the process of being put up. I didn't realize how busy November is in the decorating department!
*Baby boy continues to grow and make momma rather uncomfortable. His most recent hangout has him applying some insane pressure to my lower back & tailbone. So if you ever hear me say that he is being a pain in the butt, I literally mean it. Ha!
*I've been knitting like crazy - a giant scarf for Alan's Christmas present. And I'm not joking about giant. It's about a foot wide and will eventually be 6 feet long, not including the tassels. Alan has a very long torso - that is where a lot of his 6'7" height comes from - so a "normal" scarf doesn't fit him. I am so excited to finally be able to make this for him and he is, too! My next post will contain pictures of all the knitting I've been up to since I started learning.

I think that about covers it for us. No pictures in this post. I'm too sick and tired to do anything that advanced right now haha! Now I shall go turn something mindless on the TV and get back to knitting. Or napping.

Birthday Girl!

The past Thursday we celebrated Caroline's 2nd birthday! And as the old cliche' goes - I can't believe she is already 2!



Here she is at about a week old. So tiny! It's still strange to think about how small she was. I'm glad that she is bigger now - even if she is a petite little princess!



Caroline is about 6 months old here, give or take a few weeks. I loved this purple dress on her! Part of me was a little sad that she had so many dresses to choose from because it meant that she didn't get to wear most of them more than once or twice. However, it was (and still is) fun to dress her up each Sunday in something new/different!



And here she is at one whole year old. I loved this shirt her Aunt Sarah made for her with a giant one on it! She wore that a lot during the first few months of her being one.



And here she is around 18 months old - already full of spice and sass! This is her "Mom, put the camera down already, okay?" look. Oh, and she finally started getting some hair at this point.

And now, she's TWO! And already very good at it!



She's showing off the ponies she received, as well as her blocks (which are, of course, all over the family room floor now). She had a great birthday, surrounded by family. We had homemade mac and cheese, applesauce, and juice! A perfect Caroline meal. Then we had cake:



Don't worry, at least SHE knew it was supposed to be Cookie Monster . . . and that's the point, right? I've never decorated a cake with tips and fancy junk before, so this was a whole new territory for me. However, it was fun! Who knows what I will attempt next year! Probably a sheet cake from the store. HAHA!

All in all, it was a good day. After we sang to her, she melted down into a puddle of tired screams and took a good nap. Then she opened presents which included 2 ponies, a book (If You Give A Pig A Pancake), 3 balloons, and Duplo blocks, from mom and dad as well as a coloring book, crayons, 2 toy bottles for her baby doll, a book (Sesame Street counting book), and 2 more balloons from her brother. What a lucky girl!



We are sure grateful for our Sweet Caroline. She has added so much to our family! I love watching her learn and grow and I also love seeing Soren get to be the awesome big brother I always knew he would be! Even if our little princess is full of spice and spunk, she is a sweetheart and we love her so much!!! Happy Birthday, big girl!

Halloween (Finally!)

There were a lot of Halloween celebrations this year for our family! First came our ward (congregation) Halloween party at church! Caroline and Soren won an award for Most Original Costume(s). I am going to miss it when Soren won't dress up anymore.



Soren wanted to dress up as Calvin, so we dressed Caroline up as Hobbes! They were so cute! This was the only time I bothered with the makeup. I still don't know how I managed to get Soren made up as a clown when he was 2! It was nearly impossible to get Caroline to sit (sort of) still enough to put that nose and whisker mess on her face. All in all, it was a good time - even if Caroline lost it shortly after 7:30pm. She loves her bed time and, quite frankly, I am ok with that.



(Caroline in one of her Halloween outfits. She enjoys emptying out the shoe basket and sitting in it. Also, she loves playing with all of the shoes. Lately she has mastered the art of slipping my shoes on and walking from the hall into the kitchen to show me. What a silly girl!)

Our next party was at Alan's work! OH how I LOVE his new company! They had a fun little haunted house (or haunted cubicles) set up for kids to wander through and explore. Soren and Caroline stuck together for a while, but then things became a little scary at certain parts, so Soren went up to the front to get a better view of it all and Caroline hung back with mom and dad. It was fun and boy did we end up with a lot of candy!



For this party we sprayed Soren's hair with color. That was fun! I also dressed up, but failed to get a photo. I had a t-shirt on with a "1-Up Mushroom" (from the Mario Bros. games) over my baby bump as well as a Mario hat.



Our last party was on Halloween itself. We had some friends over and ate a yummy meal! Here are pics of our feast:



Bean dip and chips! Yum!



Deviled Eyeballs! Soren had a blast putting all the red lines on these.



Jello Jigglers in fun Halloween shapes. The kids had fun cutting these things out.



DELICIOUS Rootbeer! We discovered this when we lived in DC and were so happy to finally find it here! Yay!

And the tables were decorated:





I forgot to get photos of a few things, including our Candy Corn Chowder (no Candy Corn was used in the making of that!). Silly me! But here's our pumpkin cheesecake dessert:



I couldn't get the picture to rotate, so this is what you get it!

Overall we had a great time! I wish that I'd had more energy to do a few more things, but maybe next year!

So that's my update on Halloween... finally!