Emmie’s Birth Story, Part 3

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Abbie

I know this is long but this was way different than Malachi’s birth and I wanted to share. So, bear with me or just ignore.

We decided on a c-section again since Emmie was not coming down and I was not progressing. Since I knew there was a possibility of this happening, I had decided ahead of time to write up a birth plan for a c-section. There weren’t many requests and Dr. J thought I was tad insane that one of them included no strong narcotics. Narcotics do not sit well with me. I get nauseous, feel light headed and weak and just can’t focus in general. I hate it. And with Malachi, I was unable to even hold him. I was so weak, I just knew I would drop him. This was just something I did not want.

Dr. J and the anesthesiologist agreed to my plan and the anesthesiologist even mentioned that morphine, which is commonly given, could make people throw up. So, he agreed to give me something a little lighter and they all agreed to treat me with toradol for pain after. The only thing that I was concerned about after talking to them was whether Emmie would be able to stay with me after she was born. That all depended on the pediatric nurse. I was so nervous when she came in to talk to us about it. She sat down while getting suited up and said she had no problem with that as long as Emmie was doing fine. Relief washed over me. I knew I could endure the surgery and finishing up if I could just see my sweet baby.

I did get nauseous during surgery but every time I did the good doctor with the drugs gave me something and it took it away instantly. That made the poking and prodding go a lot smoother. It was a bit more uncomfortable but I attribute that to Emmie’s size and how high up she was. I could tell that the attending doctor was having to push pretty hard to get her out. When Dr. J was delivering her he kept saying, “Oh yeah, there was no way she was coming out the other way.” She was just too high up and too big.

Once he got her out, he held her up and everyone laughed. “That’s their baby alright!” He exclaimed. “Big and pink!”

She had to be suctioned out a bit but only once and she just screamed to get the rest out. After the nurse watched her for a bit Mark brought her around to meet me. That was the cutest set of cheeks attached to one of the cutest babies I’ve ever seen. Mark got her hand lose so I could hold it and we were able to enjoy a bit of time while waiting on them to finish. Every one was very curious how much she weighed. The anesthesiologist kept saying she had to be taken to the loading docks because she was so big.

Obviously, she was super thrilled to be out.

Once in the room, the pediatric nurse weighed her and squeezed her in to a newborn diaper (apparently, we all forgot to communicate to the nurse that she was going to be big). And asked if I wanted to do skin to skin to breast feed. I have never held any of our babies skin to skin. It just was never offered and I never thought about it. So, I agreed and the nurse handed Emmie to me and she latched right on. That was the coolest thing of the whole labor. Snuggling up to my sweet baby skin to skin and getting to know her one on one. It was a very special time. Our nurse pretty much just left us alone. Because I wasn’t loaded up on drugs, I felt like I could really enjoy this time. I was tired, of course, but this was just the sweetest time for us.

After a couple of hours, the nurse came in and finished up getting her vitals and vitamin k shot and then Mark got to give her a bath. Since, I was stuck in bed trying to feel my legs, the nurse grabbed my camera and took a ton of pictures for me.

I have to say this nurse was the best pediatric nurse we have ever had. She was so mom and baby friendly and so willing to make sure we had a good time bonding with each other.

Unfortunately, it was several hours before we got to go to our postpartum room. With the more babies you have there is more concern for postpartum hemorrhage, so the nurses had to make sure I was stable before letting us go to a room. Emmie had a very hard time settling down and by 2 am I had enough. Being awake for virtually 24 hours did not bode well for my emotional status but eventually they were able to finally clear us to move to a room to try and rest. Shortly thereafter, Emmie settled down and we got what little sleep we could.

Emmie’s Birth Story, Part 2

Posted on May 31, 2014 by Abbie

If you missed it, check out part one here.

I settled in as the pitocin was slowly cranked up. I’m guessing it wasn’t done too quickly because I was vbacing. I kept waiting for contractions to come closer, and they did. I also began to throw up. Twice. I hate throwing up and doing so while in labor is not fun at all. We all took that to be good signs things were progressing.

Around 6 or so, contractions were coming very strong and but I was not feeling any pressure. I asked to be checked and the nurse said I was still at 4 cm. She was still high. At that point, I decided I needed an epidural. I had to relax and Kristina, Mark and I thought it would help get things moving. Before the epidural came, Kristina noted that Emmie’s heart rate would decel with contractions so we all thought that surely she was moving down lower. After getting a very aggressive epidural (the anesthesiologist was a big guy and pretty strong), I settled in to get relaxed. Despite the pain of it going in, it actually worked really well and I could feel the tightening of contractions but not the utter pain.

Around 8, Dr. J came in. He checked me and had a frustrated look on his face. Still 4 cm. Still high. He talked to us and recommended that a c-section would probably be best and said he would give us a few minutes to talk about it to make the decision. We had talked previously about waiting until the morning to give me more time to labor. But by this time, and after getting sick and feeling nauseous again, I was exhausted. Talking with Kristina and Mark we all three realized that getting baby here healthy was the most important. I knew that if we waited and something happened to Emmie that that would result in an emergency c-section. And realistically, knowing my history of childbirth, Mark and I both felt there was a reason she wasn’t coming down and we didn’t want to put her at risk with the stress of contractions. Kristina agreed too. It was a blessing, yet again, to have a doctor give us the facts and then let us make the decision.

More of Emmie

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Abbie

This must be Emmie week. I’ll put more of our other crew up next week.

The hospital we have delivered at for all of the kids has gone through an amazing makeover. It is absolutely gorgeous! Because of our family size we always try and get a mother-baby suite. It costs a bit more but it gives us the space we need when kids are visiting. We got one of the new suites (they added two more bringing their total to five suites). And ya’ll, it was huge!!! The picture is looking from my bed towards the entrance. Plenty of space for our crew!

Ceili Rain was in heaven having both sets of grandparents with her!

Josiah’s got his buddy. Not only that, it appears Emmie has a guardian for life. I think this boy is going to make sure no one messes with his little sister.

Sheer cuteness in giant cheeks and a double chin.

My girls. My heart!

Instant sleeping pills…just place sleeping baby on your chest and you will be out in 2.5 seconds.

See what I mean.

Dr. J got some cuddles too. He said that it is really dangerous holding babies because it gives you baby fever! We are blessed with a pretty awesome doctor who loves our babies and takes such good care of us.

Something New…

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Abbie

Tachypnea…that’s a fancy word for rapid, shallow breathing

So, when Emmie was a day or so old, Mark and I commented about how fast it seemed she was breathing. We knew that breathing rates varied and we just chalked it up to being newborn and that it would streamline at some point and get slower. Also, doctors did not seem to notice it during all her checks.

A week and half went by and I continued to notice her breathing was rather rapid still. I never observed it being slow either. And so I finally decided to time it. The first time was 60 breaths in 1 minute. A bit high but still within normal range. The next day, I checked it and it was between 80-90 breaths per minute. Not normal, and I know I missed some breaths because it was so fast. Later that morning, I counted again. 112. Definitely out of range. And then later back down in the 80s.

Finally, by late afternoon, I called our pediatrician. Let me just say, Dr. B is awesome. She is not only our kids doctor, but I consider her a friend. She has always told us to call if we ever need anything. So, I did the next best thing, I texted to make sure she wasn’t busy. Then I called. She was not happy with what I was telling her and she wanted to have her checked out (Dr. B is usually pretty laid back so when she gets concerned so do we). It was Sunday and everything was closed. That meant we had to head to the emergency room. Our first trip ever to the ER with a kid. I have no clue how that happened.

We scrambled for childcare and grabbed what we thought we might need and headed out. This is where amazing friends come in. I called our pastor’s wife who was hosting care group that evening and asked her to come over. She dropped everything and came. Then I got in touch with Kristina and told her to relieve our pastor’s wife as soon as possible. I didn’t ask. Just told. And she did. We also had Tracy lined up should it get too late. I kept thanking God over and over for putting people in our life who were just like family.

The ER didn’t provide much answers but they did confirm she was breathing fast. They were not too concerned about infection because her pulse/ox level was 100%. Her heart sounded good. She had great color. The only conerns were that her cap refills (capillary refills…press on a leg or arm firmly and then count to see how long the color takes to return) was slow by a couple of seconds and her breathing was fast. That proved not to be too much of a concern because it wasn’t staying consistently fast. It was 100 breaths per minute one time and then down to 75 at another or even 60 and then back up. They chose not to draw blood because she did not present enough reasons to indicate an infection. They did a chest x-ray to make sure her heart and lungs were normal size and those came back fine. They discharged us that evening with advice to follow up with Dr. B.

All the while, we were texting Dr. B and the supervising ER doctor was talking to her as well. She was happy with all their results but still wanted to lay eyes on her. So, the next day, Memorial Day, Dr. B met us at her office (which was closed due to the holiday). She was super glad to have checked her out and Emmie was doing great. The only red flag warning was the rapid breathing. Her cap refills even improved (she said they could have been slow due to a cold room etc). Because the breathing was now the only concern, she opted to just follow her closely and not do any more tests.

We do have much more peace of mind and are prayerful that it’s just taking her autonomic system a bit longer to get in to the swing of things.

We have a lot of reasons to praise God for his protection and provision through all of this:
1. We were a little lost going through the ER process and figuring out what to do etc. We thank God that this was our first ER-kid trip when some parents have to walk this road regularly for various reasons.
2. While waiting in our room, we heard a little boy screaming in agony over a broken bone. My heart broke for all the pain he was in and I whispered a prayer of thanks that we have yet to have one of those.
3. We are blessed to live in a town with a children’s hospital attached to a large hospital. We didn’t realize that there was a specialized pediatric ER. The staff were amazingly patient and very knowledgeable and very mindful of having a 2 week old in a germy place.
4. Again, the Lord has put amazing people in our lives who don’t ask questions and just do and pray when we need it.
5. The Lord has also blessed us with wonderful doctors who work on off days or after hours to help make sure our family is well taken care of.

After our ordeal, we informed Emmie that if she wanted us to go on a date, she just had to say so and not plan it for the ER. Mark and I were able to breathe easier and relax a bit after we realized it wasn’t as much an emergency as we thought. So a bit of uninterrupted conversation was a nice respite and we quickly went through our mental lists of everything we’ve been needing to talk about while waiting for doctors and tests and such.

Thursday 5/29 Update:

Dr. B checked out Emmie again. While we did catch her breathing rate down in the 50s at one point between Monday and now, I only caught it down there once. Every other time it was ranging from mid 60s to 70s and then this morning I clocked it at 90 breaths per minute. Dr. B examined Emmie and informed us that after some more research she did find a diagnosis of idiopathic tachypnea which is basically just an unexplained rapid breathing that resolves on it’s own.

Being ever cautious, though, she said she would consult with a pulmonologist to ensure she wasn’t missing something and get back with me.

And the result from that is:

So, the pulmonologist said that two things she looks for in rapid breathing infants.

1. A kidney dysfunction. I can’t remember the name of it but it can be detected by a blood test. Dr. B said that she wasn’t too concerned that it was that because babies don’t grow and it’s pretty obvious Emmie is growing (weighed 10 lbs 15 oz on Monday and today was 11 lbs 4 oz.). However, it’s a simple blood test to rule it out and since we are doing that, Dr B also wants to do a CBC to rule out infection.

2. Silent aspiration. The pulmonologist said that she sees this a lot in infants who just present with rapid breathing. To rule this out, we have to do a modified barium swallow. Which means somehow we’ll have to introduce a bottle to her. Our first and last child to take a bottle was Zoe when she was four weeks old because I had gallbladder surgery and we had to wait a tad before she could nurse. It was one bottle. I, honestly, am more nervous about trying to give her a bottle, especially when we are just now getting a good nursing routine and because I haven’t a clue how to do it.

Emmie’s Visitors

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Abbie

I know I tend to get wordy and since Emmie’s birth story is taking up three parts, I thought I would break it up with pictures!

Emmie was born at 9:27 in the evening, so we asked that only family visit on Tuesday and that whoever wanted to could come on Wednesday (which would help break up the boredom of the long hospital stay). That turned out to be a nice blessing. The kids met Emmie in the early afternoon on Tuesday and all the granddparents were there to love and dote on all eight of them. My parents stayed while Mark ran home to get a shower and rest. Ge and Granddaddy got lots of cuddles with Emmie and I did my best to try and catch up on sleep.

Then Wednesday rolled around and the kids visited in the morning and friends in the afternoon and evening.

That’s Aunt Tracy that came down to get snuggles and some newborn hospital pictures. Sorry it’s sideways.

M is our pastor’s wife but also a very dear friend. We are blessed to have such loving church family!

R is 30-something weeks pregnant and was our neighbor before the army decided they needed to head out to another part of the country (obviously, she hasn’t left yet but will after her first babe is here). I’ve enjoyed watching all her fun first time pregnant happenings! And she got to enjoy some Emmie cuddles.

Kristina came up to visit with Emmie. I begged her to stay until we were out of the surgery and she did but she never got a chance to cuddle with her and since she hadn’t seen her kids or husband that entire day she headed out soon after we were done. I have a feeling she’ll get lots more cuddles to make up for it this next year.

Zoe’s best friend, L, who is also Kristina’s daughter. See, how that works? I love having one of my best friends have kids that are best friends with my kids…it makes visiting with each other super awesome. L, loved holding Emmie!

J, a sweet friend who we have gotten to know through our homeschool care group. She was so sweet to bring a comfy muslin blanket for Emmie and got a couple of snuggles before Emmie ~~requested~~ demanded to eat. By the way, I never realized how awesome those little muslin blankets are. They are comfy, big and also doubles as a lightweight nursing cover.

Emmie’s Birth Story Part 1

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Abbie

So, here’s the low down. That means, for all the guys who don’t want to know the sordid details you get this: We had a baby. It was a girl. She was big. Really big. She’s healthy and we’re doing good. The end.

And for the rest of ya…here ya go:

In my 40 week update, I stated that I really wanted to go in to labor on my own. As the weekend followed that update, we saw contractions pick up, slow down and increase in intensity. But they never picked up and stayed up so we never went in. We waited.

On Sunday, May 11th, Mark and I put the kids to bed and settled down to relax before heading to bed ourselves. We had a really yummy pineapple that was just the perfect ripeness. I made a date smoothie (the only way I can swallow those things…but they were supposed to help with labor) and sat down to munch on the yummy pineapple (also supposed to help get labor going). As we were watching a video and snacking, I noticed contractions coming a bit more quickly than they had in previous nights. Not wanting to get excited about it, I didn’t mention anything to Mark and we went to bed fairly early. A good indication labor is not coming soon is if I can fall asleep. And I did. But then I woke up around 1 to use the bathroom (a bit earlier than when I would usually get up to go). I went back to bed and after two very painful and close contractions, I decided to get back up and see if anything was going to come from it. I started timing them, rocking in the glider, and after about an hour and half of them coming at 4 to 6 minutes and strong, I decided to get a shower and get ready to go in. I waited to wake up Mark and thankfully, he slept through all of my rummaging around. After I got a shower, I texted a friend and asked her to come over and watch the kids until Mark’s parents made it there. I also sent out messages to Kristina so she would be aware when she got up. I didn’t really want to wake up anyone just in case they sent me home.

After getting that in order, I got Mark up and told him it was time to go. He jumped out of bed, got a shower and got ready…quickly. By the time he was ready, we woke up Zoe and told her what was going on. She promptly went back to sleep and our friend B, curled up with her baby for an early morning of my kid watching.

On the way to the hospital the contractions stalled a tad but I do remember one really good one as Mark was talking to his parents and asking them to come on.

We got to the hospital about 3:30. Got hooked up and they started monitoring. I was checked and had not dilated any more. Still 3 cm. Still 50% effaced. Still very high. Now, Dr. J has told us time and again to contact him when we headed to the hospital. But it was so early, I didn’t really want to wake him up. I wish I had because after an hour the nurse came in and informed me that the on-call doctor (who I hadn’t seen) decided this wasn’t labor and they sent me on my merry way. The fact that I was 41 weeks, vbac, and AMA didn’t raise any flags that my doctor may want me to stay. I regretted not calling him since it was now 5:30 and I was completely exhausted.

Mark and I decided to walk around and the only safe place to do that at 5:30 in the morning is Walmart. We stopped and got breakfast first which I could only eat a few bites of. Nausea and contractions kept it from going down. Then we napped in the Walmart parking lot for 30 minutes before heading in to the store. We walked for about 30 minutes with contractions spacing themselves out. Finally, we decided to head home since I was going to see Dr. J early that morning for a regular appointment.

I was able to nap about an hour before Mark’s parents arrived and we headed out again to see Dr. J. His nurse, D, took one look at our zombie selves and knew something was up. She got excited when we told her what was going on but also seemed surprised that they sent me home. By this time, contractions were still coming but didn’t seem as strong at times. Dr. J examined me and stripped my membranes and said that I wasn’t going home again (then asked if that was okay). I wholeheartedly agreed. He also was a bit upset that they didn’t contact him at the hospital and I told him we had thought about it but didn’t want to wake him up. We were totally ready to meet Miss Emmie and I was just very tired and nauseous. He got me to 4 cm in the office and off we went to the hospital. He said he would be a long later that afternoon to break my water and start pitocin if necessary. Contractions started almost immediately and were quickly at a good intensity and every 4 to 6 minutes apart. I contacted Kristina, who was also going to be my doula, and we notified every one else that needed to know.

I labored all morning and into the afternoon with contractions staying a steady 4 to 6 minutes apart. The nurse (and one we have had for a few other births) checked me once and I was still at 4 cm. I was in a pretty positive mood because we had not started pitocin yet. My magic combo for all the other babies was once my water breaks and the pitocin is cranked up, I deliver within a couple of hours. So we waited and I maneuvered one way and then another to try and get her to come down. She was still very high.

Dr. J came in around 2 pm and broke my water. Emmie was staying well on the monitor but when he broke my water (and she was still up really high) we lost her. They worked hard to get her to come down and they sat me up to see if we could find Emmie. Dr. J and the nurse were a bit panicked that they couldn’t find her heartbeat but they relaxed when I told them that she was kicking me everywhere. He asked if we could put an internal monitor on her. Concerns were that my age (that ugly AMA word again) and that she was 41 weeks warranted a need to keep up with her heartbeat. I agreed and that was done. When he put the internal monitor on, she had already descended some but was still high. Oh, and I was still at 4 cm.

April Randomness

Posted on May 26, 2014 by Abbie

One bright sunny morning we sat outside waiting on Mark to get home from work. Ace found a magnifying glass and decided to see if he could set paper on fire (parental supervision was there). He didn’t have much luck with the paper so we later moved to dried leaves. Those definitely worked. But as Ace started to go out and experiment Josiah approached me shaking his head, “I have a bad feeling about this.”

My sewing machine decided to try and fly with the help of a child (who shall remain nameless) who had accidentally got his foot wrapped around the cord. It was dead and our amazing sewing machine place said that the cost of labor to revive it was going to cost about as much as a new machine. I did some research and decided to try a very basic combo machine that did sewing/embroidery. One trip to the farmers market with Lilla Rose and I had made enough to purchase it! Yay for Lilla Rose. So far it’s been a great machine and I’m seeking out a trip to purchase embroidery thread so that Zoe and I can play with that part of the machine. We’re looking forward to being true Southern women and monogramming everything including the kitchen sink (not really…I just think the Southern thing and monogramming are so funny).

Yeah, I’m not sure what we were doing. Funny though.

Some times family worship just knocks us out. Well, at least Bryant out.

I found this sitting on my sewing machine when I went to work. Ace made it. It’s Bob the Tomato (just in case you couldn’t figure that out). And it made me smile.

Kristina’s kids stayed with us in April whilst her and husband took a much needed weekend break. I had to snap this picture because her picky eater was eating squash (bird bites) and kept saying she liked it. Proof positive that our kids behave better for others than for us sometimes.

And then movie time brought lots of cuddles from James!

Paging Dr. Malachi!

One day Kristina’s kids needed to stay with us which continued on in to karate time. Megan decided to “participate” with Ceili Rain!

Sometimes karate just knocks us out. Well, at least Bryant out.

One of my roses. For me not having a green thumb, I find it utterly amazing that I have yet to kill a rose bush! I don’t know what these are called as I purchased it last year from a wholesale distributor seasonal sale. But they smell so good! This year, as an anniversary gift, Mark and I picked out a fragrant purple rose from an Heirloom rose site. We can’t wait to see how it grows. It’s the only one that I can remember seeing a name on and I still have to ask Mark what kind it is. It’s a royal amethyst in case anyone is wondering. I also have a white rose that I got on sale at Aldi a couple of years ago and a pink one that was inherited from Mark’s parents. This is the extent of my gardening this year. You’re welcome.

Bike riding is a lot of fun! Especially around the roundabout down the street. It’s awesome that all of our kids are riding now. Bryant & Malachi get the trailer ride while the others pedal along and I get to walk to make sure we don’t lose anyone. I can’t wait to get back on a bike and by the fall, Emmie will be able to ride along as well!

But popsicles after the bike ride…even more fun!

Project Fair 2014

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Abbie

This year’s project and performance fair was quite different in that I was the coordinator. And 38 weeks pregnant. It was very busy but not too stressful as we had an amazing team working to bring it together. I made mistakes, sure, but if I continue next year I’ve definitely learned from it.

All of the kids (even Malachi) performed “Holy, Holy, Holy” with handbells. I thought they did an amazing job. But, since all seven performed, that meant Mark was up there nudging the littles when their note came up, and I was directing (on the floor…pretty impressive to say the least) and no video could be taken. Perhaps some time later we can get a good video. I would like to be a bit more diligent in practicing so that we could go places and minister to others with them.

Here’s what the kids chose to do for their projects:

Zoe had a Little House cookbok and since the Little House series is one of her favorites still, she chose to pick several recipes out of it to share. She made hardtack, johnny cakes, apple turnovers and strawberry jam. I didn’t try the hardtack or johnny cakes but the turnovers and jam were delicious.

Ace and Liam made a volcano! Mark had fun with this one. Ace researched Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii and Liam did research on Mount St. Helen’s. Big props to Storm the Castle. If you want to find any “crafts” boy related (think trebuchet, catapult, hidden blade…you know ~~weapons~~ crafts), this site is definitely the place to go.

Josiah decided to showcase Fifi the Rabbit. We have a book on rabbits and Josiah found a lot of useful information in it, however, he can’t type and to write it all up would have taken quite a bit of time. So, two days before the fair, I realized that doing a lapbook would work much better. Professor Google to the rescue! With lapbook located and clock ticking Josiah went to work. He was very diligent and he loved showing off our rabbit. It’s a Lion’s head rabbit that friends gave us when they realized their new yard was too small to accommodate her.

Kiiii-Yaaa!

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Abbie

That’s the boys’ karate yell in case you hadn’t figured it out.

April came on with our three white belts becoming three yellow belts.

This is yet another classic case of “we forgot the real camera…oh well, our phones work just as well.” The boys have to rub their “sweat” onto their belt which is the legend behind why a black belt was a black belt.

Yellow belts are ready…

And their trainers are ready too!

March Randomness

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Abbie

I finally got around to making a clip board for the girls’ room. Very girly and holds all their clips. I just used scrap fabric and a frame found at my parents house. We had all the material we needed and didn’t have to purchase anything. I love free!

I’m throwing around the idea of making these to sell when I go to the farmers’ market with my Lilla Rose. What do ya’ll think?

Grandmere’s birthday is the first part of December. Only fitting that she received her present the first part of March. Really, I was scared to ship it. it’s a pretty bowl. On one side is a thumbprint flower from Uncle & Aunt B and their family and on the other side is a thumbprint flower from our family.