She’s Here!!!

Meet Averie Claire.  A big 8 lbs 9 oz.

 

She arrived at 8:20 April 13th.  Friday the 13th! Good thing I am not superstitious.  I will try to tell the short version of her birth story, but I am sure when I am done it won’t be short at all.

We had to be at the hospital at 5:30am to have the surgery at 7:30am.  The same as when we had Ty & Micah.  Things were a little behind that morning because the anesthesiologist was with another patient.  So instead of being born right at 8 like the boys were,  I was taken in at 7:50 and she was born at 8:20.  Let me tell you, I was SO nervous about having a surgery this time.  I had went through this surgery before and really did have a great recovery.  I actually remember saying maybe even days or weeks after the surgery, “I would totally do this again”.  Sure it was painful, I had been cut open, but I really did have a good recovery.  I was mostly nervous this time because of thoughts of being paralyzed from the spinal.  I remember last time, I jumped when he put the needle in and it made my leg jump. Scary! Thinking back on that, I realized how easy it would be for things to go wrong.  That’s why I was so nervous.  The spinal was a different experience this time.  Instead of hanging my legs off the side of the bed with a nurse between my legs hugging me, I was sitting up in bed with my legs stretched out in front of me, curled over my belly and holding hands with the nurse.  She was great.  She talked me through it and talked me through breathing.  It hurt, I won’t lie, but it is never as painful as my mind plays it up to be.  I was very, very still this time though. I just focused on the breathing.  I really liked the anesthesiologist this time too.  I liked the one I had last time, but this one was great.  Once I got settled on the table  I started getting a little sick.  That wasn’t fun, mostly because I was starting to not be able to feel the lower half of my body and I was starting to feel trapped.  It was fixed very quickly with meds though.  After that they started their pinching to see if I was numb enough to start.  Then I was asked if I felt anything and when I said “no”, the doctor said “good! I just made the first incision”  I could still wiggle my toes at that point and that really freaked me out.  YIKES! Thankfully Ian came in only seconds after that.  I was so glad he was with me again, it was helpful to talk to him and have a little distraction.   Not too much longer the doctor and nurses were talking about how much hair she had and at 8:20 she was born.  We were both SO excited to have her here! 

8 lbs 9 oz.  What a big girl! She is perfect to us.  It’s crazy how fast your little ones fit right in and you can't really imagine life with out them.  I love that Averie is such a snuggle bug.  She wants to be held a lot, which is hard, especially when you have 2 other kids that love to be held too.  She is such a sleepy head right now.  I know that babies sleep a lot, but it just feels like she sleeps so much more that one should.  Everyone always says “babies will wake up and let you know when they are hungry”, well this girl doesn’t always do that.  They say babies should eat every 2 to 3 hours during the day but there are times I have to wake her up at 3 1/2 to 4 hours and we still have to work to keep her awake.  The boys just always woke up hungry every 3 hours.  We have been having nice 5 hour breaks at night too.  It definitely helps me to function better during the day.  My boys have always been excellent sleepers, I am praying that she will be too.

We feel so incredibly blessed with the children God has given us. 

4 Days Left…

Okay, so this isn’t a happy count down blog.  It’s a complaining count down blog.  I will tell you the whole story. I can’t even remember if I have mentioned this on my blog yet or not. 

I went to the dentist probably a month ago for my every 6 month check up and cleaning.  My teeth had been fine 6 months before, but on this day I found out that I had 3 cavities.  3 in 6 months…yikes!  The dentist was sure that it was because I was pregnant.  I have definitely been a lot sicker this time, so it made sense to me.  He said they were small and shouldn’t give me any problems, so he would recommend not even fixing them until after the baby was born.  I was all for that idea because it was so uncomfortable even sitting on the chair to have them cleaned.  I left promising that I would call back after she was born to schedule to have them fixed.

Fast forward maybe 3 weeks later.  I had been sucking on tons of ice lately, probably because I was dehydrated, who knows! But my teeth started hurting on the left side.  This happened for maybe 3 days and decided to not have ice anymore. It wasn’t worth the pain.  Even after I had stopped with the ice, I still continued to have pain. It got so bad at one point that I took Tylenol and decided that I couldn’t wait 2 weeks to have them fixed.  A day or so before I had decided to have them fixed the first week after she was born because of the pain.  I couldn’t wait.  I called the dentist, got an appointment, went in and 20 minutes later walked out with no cavities.  I was actually so excited to have them fixed that I went and bought a large cup of ice from Sonic.  However, on my way to Sonic my teeth were still hurting slightly so I called back to the office to make sure that was normal.  They said that they shouldn’t be hurting, but maybe the feeling was coming back and that I should give it 24 hours.  If they were still bothering me the next day to give them a call.  I didn’t even get a first taste of my ice.  I started being in so much pain that I started shaking, broke out in a cold sweat, and really felt like I was either going to throw up or pass out.  I had to pull over.  In tears, I texted Ian and asked him to call the office for me to see what to do.  This was not normal and I would NOT wait 24 hours in that pain.  The office said to come back. I did and they did an xray to see what they were missing.  It showed nothing except a possible sinus infection.  They recommended I talk to my OB and see what I was allowed to take.  So, I went home and took Sudafed and Zyrtec  since I knew that I was allowed to take those things.  I also had a OB appointment scheduled for the next day so I figured I would wait to see what they said.   That night was terrible.  Terrible.  Ian stayed home with me the next day because I can honestly say there was no way I could take care of the boys with the pain I was having.  I went to my appointment on Tuesday, got an antibiotic and pain pill and headed home. 

Today I am on day 7 of antibiotics.  The pain isn’t going away and hasn’t really lessened.  There has been lots of tears!  I am really just frustrated about it all too.  The dentist says that they still don’t see anything.  I went back today for them to check again.  The OB says that the antibiotic should have helped if it was a sinus infection.  They just keep saying to talk to the dentist, there is nothing more they can do.  The dentist says there is nothing they can do so they are sending me to a specialist in Nashville to see if they are missing something.  They think maybe I need a root canal on that tooth.  They want me to go to Nashville tomorrow, but when the specialist called me after I left the dentist, she was concerned that since I am having the baby Friday that maybe I wouldn’t be allowed to travel. sigh. She wanted me to call her back today to let her know if I would be able to make it tomorrow.  Yeah right.  Getting my OB office to call me back before 5 is almost impossible.  Hopefully they will surprise me today.  

I know I am just rambling at this point, but I really am just frustrated.  I have several people that have asked me what all is going on, so hopefully they can read this with out me having to talk to them and explain.  It hurts too much to talk.

This definitely makes me sad, but I just haven’t even really had a chance to get excited for the arrival of our baby on Friday.  I can’t think about how sweet it will be to hold her and snuggle her.  All I can think about is how much pain I will be in for at least another week.  Thankful that as soon as she is born there will be a possibility that I can take enough medicine to find some relief.  It makes me really sad.  It makes me mad at both doctor offices for not helping more or being more concerned.  I want to say things like “let me hit your tooth with something for 3 weeks and see if you are happy to get no help”.   I am mad that my OB office won’t let me page a nurse and talk to her.  I have to wait till she calls me back at the end of the day.   I have called today to ask to see if a trip to Nashville is okay and if it is, the specialist needs faxed permission and a list of meds I can take.  I have asked what all this pain medicine and stress is doing to our baby.  I have asked to see if there is a possibility they will consider letting me have her sooner than Friday.   I am trying not to be mad about all this. It is SO hard though. 

I am glad to have Ian being so wonderful through it all.  He has taken on all responsibilities at home.  He has been wonderful.  It’s also nice to have him here reminding me of God’s grace and love during this time.  To have him praying with me and for me.  I feel like I need all the prayers I can get right now.  This is tough and not at all what I wanted our last week before the baby to be like.  I really appreciate all the prayers from all of you that already know about all this.  Please keep praying for us!  I will try to keep you all updated.

************UPDATE****************

At 4pm they finally called me back.  Earlier than 5, maybe I owe them  an apology.  I am even more frustrated than before.  I honestly feel like they don’t listen to my voicemail messages.  Their only response was that I needed to talk to my dentist.  I had said in my voice mail that I JUST came back from the dentist. Today.  They said there is nothing more they can do for me, that they think it is a tooth issue and that only a dentist can handle that.  That if the dentist feels the need to put me on more pain meds then he will need to contact them to get permission.  So my next response was, “so it’s okay for me to go to Nashville tomorrow then to see the specialist so he can find out what is going on?” and the nurse said “well, he says he doesn’t want you to go.  it’s your call though.  if you feel like you are in that much pain, you have to make that choice, but he doesn’t want you to go”  I AM in that much pain!!!!  If I am getting to the point that I am almost passing out, I am seeing little stars and sparks from the pain, then yes, I AM in that much pain!!!  I said asked her “well, if he doesn’t want me to go because he is afraid I will go into labor,  can he get me in sooner than Friday to have the csection  so I can get to Nashville sooner?”  She says “it will be harder for you to get in to Nashville after you have the csection” Me “why?”  Her: “honey, you are about to have a baby, it’s going to be hard for you to do anything after having a baby”   Me: “I KNOW how hard it is after having a baby, I have twins,  I am desperate! I will make sure I get there after I have the aby!!!”  So she asked him.  He says “if you are in that much pain, go to Nashville”.  sigh.  I seriously feel like they don’t care.  Why should they care. It’s not their teeth.  They aren’t in pain.  I think it bothers me most that no one is trying to be helpful.  I feel like they think I am just trying to get pain medicine.   I don’t even want to be dealing with this! I don’t want to be on pain medicine! I want things to be normal and I want my baby to be safe from all these meds!! 

Looks like Ian will be taking off work tomorrow to take me to the doc.  It also looks like I will be finding a new doctor’s office after I have this baby.  I don’t expect things to be perfect at any office I go to.  I just expect them to act like they care or that they are concerned.  I got none of that today. 

5 Day Countdown!

Well, I had planned to be very productive over the weekend, but it didn’t happen.  Saturday was a very good day with my guys but I really didn’t get much done.  We bought a new chair for Her bedroom and went to pick it up on Saturday.  I am pretty excited about it.  We did the same thing when Ty & Micah were born.  We bought a new recliner for their room.  Let me tell you, it was so nice to have!  However, that chair is in the living room now and isn’t going anywhere!  Also, it’s bigger than the space we have for a chair.  We bought a small recliner this time. 

I did get a few things on my list accomplished and I’m SO glad about it.  I got the guest bathroom scrubbed down and most of my room clean.  And guess what…my bags for the hospital is mostly packed! All I have left to add are things that I use every day, such as hair dryer, flat iron, glasses, contact, toothbrush, etc.  You get the picture.  I also have what few things I am packing for her already done too. Yay for me!

Well, here are a few things I was able to sew during the weekend…

2 bibs, 2 burp cloths, and I added a rosette to her onesie and made a matching headband.  Hopefully it will fit her head…

Anyways,  I can’t believe she will be here in just 5 days!

8 Day Count Down

8 days and she will be here.  8 days. Wow! I can now say that I am getting excited to meet her.  Good news is, I actually feel like things are coming together here at home.  Her bedding is still not done, I can’t remember if I mentioned that I messed up a section, but my sister is willing to fix it for me while I’m at the hospital.  I also need to add the ties, but that requires me remembering to get brown thread at the store. I can’t seem to remember that!  We have also decided to get a new chair for her room.  Space is cramped enough, but it would be nice to have a feeding area.  I had one for the boys and it really was nice to have. 

We bought a changing table for her room.  Something we didn’t have with our boys.  With them, I just set up a changing station on my dresser.  Their room was right beside ours so it worked fine.  I’m hoping that I will enjoy having an actual area for that this time.  I am really excited about it though.  We found it on local sales network for $40 and it looks brand new!  It has a drawer and 2 shelves.  Not really sure what should go in the drawer yet.  I think so far it has  a pack of newborn diapers, 2 packs of wipes, and desitin in it.  I added 3 baskets to the top shelf  that contains bibs in one and burp cloths in the 2nd one.  Having a hard time deciding what should go in the 3rd.  Right now it contains an assortment of things I am not sure what to do with.    The bottom shelf is full of size one diapers. 

I emptied my craft area that was inside a dresser in there, so it now contains blankets  for her, shoes, tummy time pillows,  and a baby carrier.  It’s crazy how much stuff a baby has.   We even have 2 totes that contain things 9 months and older because there was no room left to hang in her closet!  Ian thinks it’s insane that she has more clothes that Ty & Micah put together.  So funny.  Sorry Ian, this is just the beginning.

As for Ty & Micah, I am SO excited for them to meet her.  I already know they will be excellent big brothers.  They love, love, love babies.  Ty loves to go in her room to see her bed.  I have a stack of wipes in there also that he thinks must go on the changing table because he moves them there daily…and I just move them back to their spot.  He knows that it is “sister’s” room and that “sister” is in my belly. It’s pretty cute.  Micah honestly doesn’t even care.  Occasionally he will see a piece of her clothing and say “oh tute” (oh cute) but other than that, he just doesn’t even notice. 

I have really been enjoying snuggling my boys the past few days.  I love that they will still let me do that.  It’s getting more and more uncomfortable, probably for both of us, but it’s still nice.  I know I will miss them during my hospital stay.  They will be in good hands though!

8 days away…wow. I am just shocked every time I think about it!