one week, bathtime, etc...

when remington had his very first bath in the hospital, the nurses were thrilled to report that he loved being in the water... no crying whatsoever. we were rather proud of him, and now that we're home and he's had his first bath at home, we're still proud.

because he still loves his bath!

cole likes to help... a lot. his baby brother's bath was no exception.

see? calm as can be!! of course, he cries until he's settled in the water, but it only takes a few seconds for him to realize that he's in one of his favorite spots.

totally.relaxed.

cole was pretty excited about bathtime (more excited than he is about his own, and he tends to get a little keyed up over his, sometimes). madison, not so much. she could take or leave her little brother...

and the desperate wails signal the end of a good thing!

poor little guy- he definitely wasn't ready to be done.

what, you don't put YOUR hair up for breakfast?

*

• we've put a full week in with our little man... remington has made our family and our lives so much richer! it's hard to believe he's already a week old; i know, small potatoes compared to how fast the rest of the next 18 years will go. but still.


• while cole LOVES his baby brother, madison could care less. every so often, i ask her (just once, not to press the issue!) if she would like to kiss or hold remington; her reaction is always a simple, flat "nope". she still needs time to adjust, and that's fine. she'll do so when she's ready... her indifference doesn't really bother me because for one, she's not hostile, and two, i DO catch her sneaking a peek at him every now and again, so she doesn't fool me. when she's ready to feel like a big sister, she'll let us know :)


• mr remington has THE strangest hair pattern. the top/back of his head literally looks like an owl. one of these days, i'll get a photo... but he's got two cowlicks, which makes the hair in between stand up in a little ridge, and it looks like an owl's eyes and beak. sounds creepy but it's actually pretty cute. oh, and he's got a tiny swirl, almost like another itty bitty cowlick on his hairline, right near the center of his forehead. haircuts are going to be a joy with this one... hahahaha!


• our nights have been going quite well, i'm happy to say. we usually get up about three times for feeding, and then as long as he's swaddled and placed on his tummy, rem sleeps perfectly inbetween. tummy-sleeping: oh, gasp! both cole and madison were tummy sleepers, and rem's following in their footsteps. all three had (have) very strong necks right at birth, able to lift and turn their heads without a problem when on their tummies. i know- we're total rule-breakers, but hey- when everyone sleeps good, that's a mini-blessing.


• we made another trip to the e.r. last night. i developed a fever and increased abdominal and back pain saturday night and sunday. the on-call nurse recommended being seen right away, as did my mom. my gut instinct said that it was probably just a urinary tract infection and it most likely could wait till my appointment (which was this afternoon). then again, considering everything that had happened in the last 5 days, we decided it would be best to go in anyway. mom and dad came over to sit with cole and madi while we headed back to new london with rem in tow. we were discharged after two hours- turns out it WAS just a uti, but the attending dr said (before the tests came back) that it could also be ruptured sutures on the repaired arteries, an infected abcess or a uterine infection, so getting things checked out was a good idea. thankfully, it was none of those- whew!!


• my staples came out today- yay!! now i have a nice line of what looks like heavy-duty scotch tape pieces lined up across my lower belly. kinda like gift-wrapping gone wrong. anyway, those things will come off in about a week and then we just wait for the scar to fade. not that the scar really matters, since i'm not about to go anywhere in anything that would expose it. (shudder...) at least the incision is healing nicely- that's about the only thing we haven't had a problem with :)


• seriously, though... in light of all that's happened, i have to say that i couldn't ask for a sweeter baby! so while things happened 180* opposite of what i'd planned, it's still worth it. nothing's not worth a beautiful, innocent life!!

remington's story

i had no clue that the contractions i was feeling as i finished up the previous blog post would lead to this... a long few days that ended in all of us at home as a family of five last night!

so... obviously, monday i was having contractions. that was nothing new, though, since prelabor had been going on for almost a month. i noticed around 10.30 am that they were definitely closer together (every 2-3 minutes) and more pronounced. just before noon i decided to lay down on the couch to see if they'd go away, crossing my fingers that they wouldn't.

the contractions didn't slow or regress, so i attempted to get up to get lunch for the kids- and that's when things got started!! i thought i'd pulled a muscle because i got a sudden excruciating pain in my entire abdomen, from my diaphram all the way down to the tops of my thighs. i assumed it would go away, but after using the bathroom and moving very slowly to the kitchen, i knew it wasn't going to leave. it was horrible- it took my breath away, and the contractions on top of it made it next to unbearable. i threw some leftovers in the microwave for the kids for lunch, then laid back down on the couch in tears. as luck would have it, kelvin got out of work early that day, so before the kids were done, he was through the door. right away he told me to call the on-call nurse, so i did. her advice was to call 911 and take an ambulance in to the hospital, but with two small kids with very good memories, i didn't want them to get scared.

instead, we all got into the van and hoofed it down hwy 45, madi sitting oblivious in her carseat, cole saying "daddy, you are driving faster??", kelvin mentally shoving every other vehicle on the road out of the way and me just trying not to scream.

once we got to the e.r. (in record time, i do believe), we went up to labor and delivery, where they strapped me up to the monitors. baby's heartbeat was fine, and i was still having strong contractions every two minutes. an internal check proved difficult, so we had to wait for dr h to come up. he said i was only 2 cm dilated, then ordered an ultrasound. the tech looked in silence for a minute, then said, "oh my, that is one BIG head!". then right away she said, "wait, this baby's breech...".

ummm, what now??

the tech did a few more quick measurements, and in an hour or so (contractions still 1.5-2 minutes apart), dr h came up to tell us that yes, our little guy was breech. he also said that there was far too much amniotic fluid, which was what enabled the little stinker to float around all willy-nilly... and that was also the reason that even though i was in active labor, things weren't able to progress like they should. attempting to manually turn the baby and then break my water to bring him down wasn't the best option, because there was a significant risk of baby landing on the cord, so after consulting with an o.b. specialist at amc, we decided that the best thing to do was a c-section.

not really in my plans, let me tell you!!

obviously, though, it was the safest option at the time, so that's what we did. at 8.23 pm, the dr h and the team delivered remington aaron! he weighed in at 7 lbs, 15 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.

his daddy wasn't proud at all, of course... ;)

right away, it was evident that he shares his big brother's pout!

any surgery has risks, and mine proved that true. we had a few setbacks...

as soon as the incision was made and my water was broken, mr remington flipped sideways instead of remaining breech. all that extra pushing and wiggling caused some extra bleeding, which wound up being bad enough to require a transfusion.

(for those in the med field, you may have the specifics: my blood count prior to surgery was just over 9, it dropped to about 6.3 after surgery, and was at 8 at discharge.)

hello, little man!

because of the c-section and the blood loss, it was about 16 hours before i finally got to hold our newest little guy. fortunately, i was pretty out of it for most of that time, otherwise it would have been unbearable torture. i was worried that it would cause bonding and feeding issues, but so far, we haven't had any difficulties! in fact, he nursed the first attempt, so i knew it wouldn't be a problem. :)

after the transfusion, a fever developed, which meant several rounds of antibiotics.

then came the spinal headaches.

oh.my.word.

there is NOTHING like a spinal headache, and mine were on the more mild end. after several rounds of tordol and then morphine, we settled on doing a spinal patch because even though they eventually resolve on their own, a spinal headache with two small kids AND a baby just wasn't an option. the patch was effective right away, but somewhere between discharge and the drive home, the headaches returned. the good thing is that the patch has had SOME effect, because they do resolve with motrin and tylenol, an icepack and laying as still as possible. in a day or two, they should be pretty much gone.

despited the setbacks and the weather, we had a few people swing by to meet remington...

like my dad,

proud uncle tedly,

kayla and levi...

... and my mom.

kelvin's parents stopped by the next afternoon, but kelvin was home with the kids and i was in the middle of a lovely headache, so i didn't get any photos on my camera.

bummer.

cole met his baby brother for the first time thursday evening...

he couldn't have been more proud!!

madison could've cared less, really, but she's showing more interest now.

i expect a few bumps in the road the next few weeks, but for now i think the kids are adjusting reasonably well.

while labor and birth couldn't have gone more opposite than what i'd have hoped with remington, in the end, we're all happy and healthy (or at least, on the mend). rem had to be on oxygen for 15 hours, but has been holding his own incredibly well, so they didn't keep him any longer. he's a sweet little man, doesn't cry unless he's hungry and gave us an easy night last night.

we are SO blessed... <3

remington  aaron
4 days

silver linings

silver linings are nice... i've got a few, i've noticed!

• we're still doing the pre-labor thing; but my house has never stayed this clean and organized for so long! (definitely not perfect, but who really has a perfect house??)
• poor kelvin is an anxious wreck. the upside is that he's incredibly helpful and checks in at least once a day... so attentive!
• my nerves are shot from wondering if *this* round of contractions is the real thing... the good thing is that once the baby is here and all is said and done, my nerves have a good chance of returning- in the form of steel. or maybe titanium, depending on how long this continues.

the kids are picking up on our anxiety/tension (not at each other, just in general, waiting for this little guy to make up his mind). but the good thing is that they're learning to work things out on their own a little more, since mommy can't always waddle in to break it up in time (or she's just too tired to do it... ).

and if THIS isn't a silver lining, i don't know what it... the first bloom on the peace lily from grandma krisher's funeral! i noticed it yesterday afternoon on my way through the kitchen, on my way to flop onto the couch. it was kind of hiding in the background, peeking out between the many leaves. that in itself reminds me of grandma... quiet, not at all concerned about being noticed, just sitting quietly in the background.

*

this has got to be one of the grayest mondays ever, but here in our house, things are far from that. the kids are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, cooperative (so far) and right now, as i sit on my ball writing this post, they're both giggling and chanting "come out, baby brother! come out, remington!".

madi's even able to say her brother's name... sort of. it comes out more like "rennnn-ton".

it melts my heart that they're excited for their little brother to show up, even if they don't understand completely. sure, they pick up on our tension and anxiety, but they also know that we're happy and excited, and i love that they share in that too. they'll be wonderful big siblings!!

honesty is the best policy

nope.

no lecture, don't worry... :)

yesterday was our prenatal check with dr h.

after weeks of prelabor with the past week being especially "active", i have to be honest in saying that i was SOOO disappointed to find that i was dilated to only a cm. all that contracting (steady and timeable for hours every day, starting and stopping with no real progress), the numbing exhaustion and soreness that comes with it, the mental and emotional ups and downs... all for a centimeter.

now i know that things can change really fast. i know that, and i keep reminding myself of it, but when you're at the end of your rope and down to two shirts that fit, it's hard to have faith in that little bit of info. it really is.

now don't get me wrong- i absolutely love being pregnant, i really do!! it's such an awesome thing and i'm so blessed to have experienced it for the third time (full-term, anyway)... it's one of the most special times in a woman's life, i think.

that being said, what i don't enjoy quite so much is the weeks of start-stop early labor i've been having. while some resources i've read deem it to actually be a good thing, i have to admit that i'm doubtful that i'll have the energy to go through true labor once it starts. that is, if it takes as long as it has in the past... maybe i'll get really lucky this time and speed through the "hard" part.

alrighty... now that i'm done voicing my frustration, i should add that at this week's appointment, i gained about half a pound and baby's not growing quite so fast either. that must be the silver lining- we're both slowing down a bit, which is a good sign, i suppose. oh, and kelvin and the kids got to come with this time- it was SO sweet to see and hear cole's and madi's reactions to hearing their tiny brother's heartbeat! nothing sweeter... :)

progressive lesson in patience

yup- ANOTHER lesson in patience.

but more on that in a sec... :)

first, the big thing this week is that auntie sarah is home!!

it's her college spring break, so we get to have her close by for an entire seven days- how awesome is that?!

we made a spur-of-the-moment trip over to mom and dad's monday night for a lasagna supper with them, sarah and chase.

coley helped grandma make the salad :)

i found a madagascar penguins version of the fishing game for under $10, so i couldn't pass it up. the littles had so much fun with the regular version at auntie kandace and uncle duey's on christmas eve that i figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to get our own.

chase chilled.

(sorry- that's the only photos we got of you, man... i can't very well post that you were here and NOT include photographic evidence!)

yesterday afternoon i had my pedicure... almost 2 hours of pure bliss!

not only did our wonderful neighbor do an awesome job, she massaged points on my ankles that are supposed to be good for encouraging labor.

i got four solid hours of prelabor out of it!

mmm, pretty feet!

(all that really mattered to me was getting rid of the dry skin, callouses and pumping some moisture into the poor things)

*

now for my lesson in patience...

it involves this prelabor thing. it's also known as prodromal labor, or more commonly, "false labor". the last term is not a good one, since there's nothing false about it. technically it's early labor that just doesn't progress, for whatever reason. i've been having it every day for weeks, and let me tell you, it's exhausting. not just physically but emotionally too... but that goes without saying.

last night's round included contractions every two minutes (they lasted between 45 seconds and a minute) for four solid hours. i did some housework, sat on the ball, puttered around in the kitchen, sat down on a regular chair for supper, made a triple batch of pancakes for the freezer, threw in a small load of laundry (since it seemed like we might be heading in to L & D that night...) and scrubbed the kitchen floor. sitting, kneeling, standing, moving, none of it seemed to have any changing effect on the activity. finally, heeding my mom's suggestion, i stretched out on the couch and put my feet up. that's when they slowed. i'm not sure who was more disappointed: kelvin, or me. he had his heart set on this time being "the time", and seeing his enthusiasm, well, i was getting a little stoked too.

so today, with every contraction, i'm going to be doing pelvic tilts and tummy lifts- spinningbabies.com recommends it for lengthy, unprogressive prelabor, so it's worth a try. maybe the little guy needs a little shift to settle down just right? in any case, it can't hurt, and i'll feel more proactive about this extended early labor nonsense. at this point, my ab/side/back muscles ache from the workout, my patience is being tested (hence the post title) and emotionally, i'm ready to be done with the stop-start thing. that was SO last week, hahahaha!

anyway, now that the house is clean (still), the laundry's still caught up, there's food in the freezer and my poor husband's wound tight as can be, there's not much else to do except get the ball rolling a bit faster- which is why i'm doing everything i possibly can to move things along.

mindless meanderings

• the nesting continues... the windows in the kitchen and dining room are clean (just the insides, and it's bugging me that it's too chilly yet to tilt them in to do the outsides!!), i freak out if the stovetop is dirty or there are dishes in the sink, i feel like i should clean the bathroom every single day and i've been caught up with the laundry for about a week now.
• it's a very good thing we don't have a chest freezer, or i'd be on a cooking/baking bender too. the urge is there, believe me!!
• last week kelvin cleaned out the van (thank you, sweetie!!) and put the baby's carseat in. cole's now in the back seat and has taken to it rather well. i was a bit worried that he might feel left out, but he thinks it's neat! i, on the other hand, feel awful, like he's been banished. i want to cry every time i see him at the very rear of the van, but i'm sure that i'll get used to it too. :)
• i have a pedicure booked for tomorrow... second one ever. i had my first pedi three years ago in arizona and haven't had one since. normally i wouldn't splurge, but i can't reach my feet to put lotion on them, so they're in desperate need of some tlc.
• the littles are becoming more individual in their food preferences: cole doesn't like scalloped potatoes and ham (at least, not last night) and madi seems to really dislike homemade mac-n-cheese. of course, they're not always consistent, but that's what i've observed over the last 24 hours.

(photo courtesy of daddy!!)

just a random shot of the littles enjoying the static cling on the couch, hahahaha!

• my exercise ball is my new best friend... it's getting lots of use and is on the list of things to take with us to labor & delivery. i have no idea why i didn't drag it out long ago...
• this lil guy seems to be unable to make up his mind- we've been having a LOT of false labor action, which is exhausting. i sure hope he decides he wants out, and soon.
• my belly now measures 53.5" around. very disturbing.
• my 'baby' sister is coming home today- yay for college spring break!! we can't wait to spend time with her again, and we're crossing our fingers that she gets her wish of the baby coming while she's still home.
• in addition to the ball, i've been doing acupressure. it seems to maybe be doing a LITTLE something- even if not, it's relaxing and still beneficial.
• have i mentioned that we're all getting anxious for our little guy to arrive? :)

lately i've felt like a huge (no kidding. huge.) bear;

an uncomfortable, nearly immobile, achy, itchy, restless, irritable, neurotic bear.

not this morning!

for whatever reason, i woke up feeling like mighty-mom.

or super-woman, except without the svelte physique. that part's long gone, never to be seen again.

(bummer)

not one to pass up an opportunity (usually, although sometimes i do procrastinate and said opportunity gets tired of waiting for me and leaves), i put my new-found energy and pep to good use.

i whipped up a batch of cookie dough.

it's THE best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever, and makes a huge batch. we're talking 6 cups of flour, 5 eggs... yeah. big.

but we eat them slowly, so i've gotten into the habit of forming them into balls and freezing them. that way they don't get stale and get tossed, there's not a bunch staring at us begging to be eaten NOW, and if we only need a few cookies, we can take out a few dough balls and bake them. and it tastes way better than most of the frozen dough i've tried (well, except for the expensive school fundraiser kinds. those are usually pretty scrumptious!).

so... i now have 129 individual balls of dough ready and waiting to be baked and devoured...

and for more readily-available treats that don't go stale in a few days, i also made a batch of no-bake cocoa mounds. hey- the main ingredient is oatmeal, so it's not all bad, right?

i even managed to overlook the chaos that has been our household lately... toys scattered everywhere, two small being fighting and having tantrums more than once a day, that sort of thing. while calmly ignoring a rather loud dispute over a certain toy, i had a moment of clarity:
toddler etiquette is nothing like adult etiquette.
they have a whole different set of rules...
which proved true when the screaming match dissolved in a matter of minutes, everyone emerging relatively content and mommy not having uttered a word.
huh.
maybe i should let them fight it out more often...

oh, this looks so comfy!!

funny that madi should take to sitting on a ball, seeing as how i haven't gotten around to dragging mine out. i need to... time to get more proactive in encouraging things to move along a little more quickly so we can meet this little man!

~

so, i'm not sure if it's a sign of impending labor, since every labor is different, but the energy, the ambition, the calmness... it has to mean something, right? i've had a few intense contractions this morning, but nothing regular, and i've been really focused on relaxing, using a positive mantra and some visualization techniques through each one.

~

there was a brief, oh-so-brief moment this morning where i thought my water had broken. it was in the middle of a contraction and i was in the kitchen; i stepped on something wet, which turned out to be a very small puddle of water. must've happened when i refilled the brita pitcher. made me giggle a little, knowing that we're at the stage now where stuff like that makes us think "this is it!!".

~

a lesson in humility came my way this morning- i'm not the kind of person that likes to ask for help, much less accept it when offered. i like to think that i can do it all myself. but i got a phone call from a very special lady, asking if she and her co-worker could bring supper to our house tonight. my first thought was "absolutely not- it's OUR place to feed YOU", but then realized that this is something she wants to do. in not accepting help from someone else because i think i can do it all on my own, i'm denying them the opportunity to feel good about what they're trying to do. just as lending a helping hand makes us feel good, allowing someone else to help us makes them feel good too. now, that doesn't mean i'm totally comfortable with accepting help when it's offered (i'm so used to doing things myself and being in control that it's now way outside of my comfort zone to accept assistance), but i know now that it's not always what i'm comfortable with- it's about the thoughts and intentions of the other person.

funny how things just kind of dawn on you, all of a sudden, after years of thinking that you had it all figured out.

between that and the toddler-etiquette thing, that's two epiphanies for me today.

i'd say that's enough for one day... any more revelations about to come my way can take a number and wait till tomorrow! :)