A lot can happen in 2 months

Time is flying by. Coleman is almost 2 months old and Chance has matured tremendously in the last 2 months. It’s been crazy.

They have both been sick which has honestly been quite miserable. Especially Cole. 7 week old babies just should not get sick. He still has a super sad lingering cough but he is not as lethargic and his appetite is improving, which gives me hope. We are still trying to find formula that works for him. We literally have 4 kinds on our counter right now!! I’m hoping in time that his tummy will mature and not be so sensitive. He is starting to smile which I just love. And of course you do every stupid thing you can imagine to just try to get them to grin! He is mostly sleeping through the night., even though he has been sick. Worst case scenario, he wakes up once. We really have been lucky that way. I’m looking forward to his 2 month check up to see how much he has grown. We am also on the alert that he may need a patch and a helmet but time will tell. Sometimes being a nurse makes being a mother difficult haha you worry in ways that typical moms don’t.

Chance is 2 going on 10. He is becoming such a big boy! One of the challenges we have had with him is getting rid of the binky. We would get better but then he would get sick or something and I would cave and let him have it all of the time. We had cut it down to just when he slept. Still though, I was dreading getting rid of it completely. However, he started to get a rash under his bottom lip from it. I’m not sure what caused this because he has never had one before but we made a snap decision to take it away and we have not given it back since! It has been almost a week and he goes to sleep without it, for naps AND at night. If you know Chance, you know that’s basically a miracle. He has learned to open doors this week. He has started to show a bit of interest in potty training but I don’t want to push it so we are just taking things slow. His speech has improved some. Kids on the move is coming again so I’m hoping they can help us.

I go back to work on Sunday and I would be lying if I said im not a little nervous about it. I have enjoyed being home so much. I have been able to improve myself as a person and as a mother in these few 9 weeks that I have been home. I hope to continue this progress even though I do have to go back to work. We have read scriptures as a family which we have never done, we have meals as a family at the table which we very rarely do, my house has been cleaner, things have been organized. I think having this time off has given me a chance to “reset.” Now lets just hope I don’t lose all of the progress I have made!

Life with 2 kids

Things are going well as a family of 4. Having your second is quite different than having your first, but we are trying to soak everything in and just enjoy the stage we are at.

Baby Coleman is much different than Chance was as a baby. Chance was very easy going and didn’t take much work. I would still classify Coleman as an easy baby but he is more of a typical child. He likes to be held, has moments when he cries for no apparent reason, prefers mom, etc. When he was about 2 weeks old he had become the saddest baby on earth. We were baffled. He had been fine then went to crying almost constantly. I was so frustrated and confused. Then we realized that we had made a formula change and something about it didn’t seem to agree with him. We switched to something else and things have been more pleasant. We are getting to know Baby Coleman and learning his likes and dislikes.

Likes:

·      Mom

·      Eating- he eats 4 oz at a time!

·      Warm, cuddly blankets

·      Being held

·      Chillin in his baby bouncer (if he can’t be held)

·      Being patted on the back while being bounced

·      Being held so that he can look around when he is awake

Dislikes:

·      Baths

·      Being undressed for any reason

·      Binkies (we are pushing those on him and he is coming around somewhat)

·      Pooping (always a very dramatic experience)

·      Having his hands free if he is upset (it’s best just to swaddle him)

How Chance is doing: Amazing! He really is the best brother. He truly is his brother’s keeper. He always knows where Coleman is and if he is crying, he makes sure that its being addressed. He even finds his binky for him or talks to him in a sweet voice to help calm him. I wasn’t sure what to expect since they are just over two years apart but I feel that Chance is coping very well. He has been frustrated a few times over having to share me or wait for me to finish taking care of the baby before I can do something for him. However, he hasn’t taken out his frustration on the baby at all. He seems to understand that even though it can be hard, the baby needs help first. I have been very impressed with him and expect that things will just get better from here!

Trav and I are getting used to having two kids. We used to sort of switch off responsibility with Chance but now we are both constantly occupied when Travis is home. This has been an adjustment but so far it has been fine. 

This may sound funny but even Zuka is making adjustments. She is such a good dog. The other day Chance was playing in the front yard. I was watching him from the porch and keeping an eye on the baby inside. Coleman started to cry so I went inside for maybe 3 minutes. When I came out, I couldn’t find Chance. I started to panic. Zuka was following me as I looked for him. Finally, I turned to Zuka and asked “Where’s Chance?” She immediately led me out of our yard. This is unlike her because she is trained to stay in the yard and rarely disobeys. She led me to our neighbors house where Chance was looking at their motorcycle. Chance has never left before. I was so relieved to find him and so thankful for Zuka. We taught her to find Chance for such occasions, but I didn’t think I would have to use it at our own house!  Next goal… teach her to find Coleman!

The weeks have flown by since I had Coleman and I can’t believe he is almost a month old! I am already dreading going back to work haha even though I love my job. I just love being with my boys so much. Moms are so important! I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to be a mom and be blessed by these sweet little people!

Baby #2 Birth Story

This is a journal type entry. I like hearing other people’s birth stories so perhaps I’m not the only one haha and if I am… sorry!!

I was scheduled for a  c section on Sept 28 (a Monday) but was obviously hoping to go into labor sooner. No luck until Saturday night when I started to feel like something was going to happen. I chalked it up to anxiety, since that has been through the roof lately. A friend had suggested taking a bath with Clary Sage essential oil. Surprisingly, I own some. I couldn’t even tell you what it’s for but I figured I would give it a try. I took a bath with it that evening and went to bed. I got up several times in the night, which is normal, but when I woke up at 5:30 am, I knew I was in labor.

I starting timing the contractions. Only 8 min apart. Not close enough to go to the hospital, I thought. So we waited. I let Trav know what was going on and took a shower, cleaned the house a bit, and texted my Mom. Still timing the contractions. Still 8 min apart. After 8am, I decided to call the on call nurse for my office. I wasn’t sure what the protocol was. She told me to go ahead and go to the hospital.

I must have been in disbelief because we didn’t go right away. I told my mom to come over when she had time. We cleaned the house up and played with Chance. We prepped him that we would be leaving to have a baby brother. He didn’t really care but was excited for “Coo” to come over. We had bought him a new toy, a tractor, to play with. He was very excited and played with it right away. My dad came and helped Trav give me a blessing. We finally left for the hospital.

We got there around 9:45. We checked in and got a room. They were busy and short staffed. We went through 4 different nurses before we got our permanent nurse. They were great about it and all laughed that they needed a turn with us before we settled in. They set up and the monitors and checked me. I was dilated to a 4. I wasn’t surprised.

The doctor came in at 10:15 and confirmed that we would be having the baby before noon. He told me he would see me in the operating room in a half hour. The nurses rushed to get things done. I had to laugh, knowing what it’s like to attempt to carry out unrealistic doctors orders. They were awesome though and we were only a little bit late. My dad came to be at the hospital with us as soon as we found out what the plan was. The anesthesiologist was waiting for me. He did a spinal block and epidural. The spinal block wasn’t pleasant but it did take effect immediately, which was nice.

The doctor was about to come in when another lady was admitted at an 8. He rushed out to deliver her baby and they called in another doctor from church. He came in a suit and got ready for the c section. This time was soooo laid back compared to Chance. The screen was barely up and they set up a mirror so that I could watch the whole thing. I was much more with it, with the exception of my blood pressure dropping a few times. But I was being monitored constantly so they took care of it.

Cole came out looking just like Chance. It was so fun to share that moment with Trav. He went out to clean the baby up. They brought him right back in and laid him next to me and took pics. It was such a special time for me. When Chance was born, I didn’t get to really see him or hold him for hours. It was so depressing after such a long day. But this time I felt like everything was perfect. My parents brought Chance to see the baby. I had no idea how he would react but he loved him right from the start.

Things went so well. I had so much anxiety this time around for some reason but I’m so happy for the way that things turned out. Now, Cole looks nothing like Chance so I am not sure what I was thinking haha but he is perfect and we are so lucky to have him!

Specifics about my missing Appendix

This is more of a journal type post than anything else. It's quite long so be advised now!

So last Monday, Memorial Day, we had a full day that started and ended a little strange. I worked the night before and got a text at 4:45am say that Chance was awake. This is not like Chance at all. I have no idea what the deal was but he was still awake when I got home at 6:30. Trav had planned to go golfing with his dad and brothers but that would mean I get ZERO sleep since Chance was already up. He kindly stayed home and I got some rest.

            That afternoon we went to Grandma Heal’s for a little get together. Chance was so grumpy by the time we got there, due to his weird scheduled day. He wanted another nap but we didn’t have time for that. Luckily he cheered up and had a great time playing with his cousins and just exploring Grandma Heal’s yard.

            Next we went to my parents for tin foil dinner and apple cobbler cooked in the dutch oven. Easily one of my favorite meals. We had a great time until about 8:00 when my stomach started hurting. Being prego, it seems there are always weird aches and pains so I tried to brush it off at first but it just got worse.

We packed up and went home where I tried to take a warm, lay in bed in a million positions, and finally had my Dad come over and help Trav give me a blessing. In October I was diagnosed with IBS so I thought it may be a flare up of that since the day had been somewhat stressful for me. The pain persisted and at about 10:30 we called my mom over to stay with Chance while we went to the hospital. My biggest concern at this point was that everything was ok with the baby.

When we arrived, we went up to labor and delivery, not because I was in labor but that’s just standard for an ER visit when you are prego. They hooked me up to the monitors and took my vitals. Me and baby looked good. Relief and confusion at the same time. They decided to do some lab work. CBC and CMP. I said to Trav, “That’s code for we have no idea what the hell is wrong with you!” That seemed accurate but at least we were getting somewhere. My WBC was over 24,000. Normal is anywhere from about 4-10 (depending on who you ask). But obviously, no matter who you ask, 24,000 is a problem. They suspected gall bladder or appendix.

They called in ultrasound to check my gallbladder. Came back normal. So they sent me down to get a CT scan for my appendix. While waiting in our room for the results, Trav and I were exhausted and confused. Something had to be wrong…. If they come back and say everything is fine, what do we do. I can’t be in this much pain for nothing. Luckily, they came back and said I would be having surgery that day. They gave me Zofran and Fentanyl. Mind you, this was about 2:00am, so this whole time I had been throwing up and in agonizing pain. I felt like a drug addict. I begged for some relief. Ultimately they gave me Dilaudid and I was able to rest some.

At about 7:15 the surgeon came in to talk to me. David Watts is his name. Not that I have any experience or anything to compare with but I loved him. He was so kind. Explained everything and helped ease my fears about having surgery while pregnant. I felt comforted and eager to have things resolved.

He anticipated the surgery to be at 10. It ended up being more like 11:45 but that’s ok. It was amazing, every single doctor, nurse, orderly that I came in contact with would start out, “you are 21 weeks.” It made me feel good to know that it was a main concern in my care. Because I’m pregnant, they had to wait til the operating room to put me to sleep. That was an interesting experience. When they wheeled me in, I saw a big white board with my name on it, appendectomy, and “BUMP” written in 1/3 of the space. It made me smile. As if it wouldn’t be obvious anyway hehe.

Surgery went well. As soon as I woke up, I asked about the baby. They confirmed that he was ok. They took me back to my room where I finally got to see my mom and Chance for the first time that day. And Trav and my Dad had waited through surgery for me. I felt so blessed and loved. Luckily, I only had to stay a few hours before they let me go home.

I am now one week post-op. Anxious to be better and go back to work. Chance has had a hard time but we are getting by. Things are getting better as my condition improves. My follow-up appointment is Friday and I am hoping to be cleared to go back to work on Sunday.

Through this whole ordeal, I have felt that i have a choice of how to react. I can think “poor me” and wonder why Heavenly Father let this happen while prego. I can complain about the financial burden of hospital bills and missed work. Or I can be thankful for the continuing health of our baby and how smoothly things have gone. People have been so generous and loving. My mom has been a rockstar, as always, and helped me take care of my house and especially helped with Chance. I am so grateful for good friends and family who are always there to help us in our time of need.

Word up

I have had a lot of friends lately posting about their kids cute words and comments about things. I love to read them, kids really do say the darndest things! However, it makes me a little sad because Chance is nowhere near talking. I think if he swore or told me to shut up or something, I wouldn’t even be mad because I would be so excited that he said it haha I have blogged about Chance’s speech before. This post will be an update and some back info, incase anyone else is going through the same thing.

Chance’s expressive language is about the level of a 8-12 month old (He is 21 months old). He has started babbling more and making a few different consonant sounds He says dad and dog but I don’t know if other people would know what he is saying. The word that I’m going to consider his real first word is “ball.” It’s more complex than “da” and could be identified by a stranger.

We sought help from Kids on the Move. I was very frustrated. They told me to do things that I have done his whole life (read to him, talk to him constantly, encourage speech, etc). They did all sorts of tests on him. They were not able to find anything wrong with him. This was a relief but frustrating. If there’s nothing wrong with him, why wont he talk? I honestly felt that since they couldn’t find anything wrong, they started to attack my parenting. We had been doing a few signs with him. They told us to increase our vocabulary and sign everything that we say/communicate to him. This was overwhelming for us. We tried to learn as many signs as we could. He was somewhat receptive but not as much as we would have liked (or kids on the move would have liked).

Upon further visits, they stressed signing everything to him. I didn’t feel good about this approach. I didn’t feel that it was right. Chance loves to sign, which isn’t a bad thing, but we need to encourage speech at this time. He started to refuse to learn new signs.

Grasping for straws, his speech pathologist decided that he lacked oral stimulation and suggested I get a device that he could chew on. It sounded like a baby toy/dog toy to me. And I didn’t feel that this was right for him. I had felt uncomfortable with her methods and lost sleep over it. After the last visit I cried for over an hour! How could I do so poorly as a parent? I have 2 degrees, if he really has all of these issues, how have I not noticed them before? I felt terrible. I expressed my concerns to Travis. He was done with it all and he canceled service.

Right now we are just working with him, basically continuing to do what we have done his whole life.  He shows no other signs of delay and is actually advanced in everything except speech. He continues to sign some words but has transitioned to some sort of word/sound for the things he used to sign. We have talked to many people who have had kids (seems to always be boys) that have had delayed speech that are intelligent and have no problems later in life. If Chance nears age 3 and hasn’t improved considerably, we will likely seek professional help through a private avenue but for now we are just celebrating his successes and encouraging him along the way.  It’s so easy to pick someone apart and focus on what needs work rather than what they are really great at! And Chance has MANY things that he is really great at! He makes me a proud Mama!

People have the misconception that if someone can’t speak, they are unable to communicate. This is not the case at all with Chance. He sends and receives non verbal messages all day every day! This is actually quite advanced for a 21 month old. He can read emotions and acts accordingly. I rarely notice that he doesn’t talk because we communicate so well.

I realize that this is such a small and insignificant trial as a parent. However, I did not anticipate having a child with this random issue. It has taught me patience and made me realize that there is only so much you can do as a parent. It ultimately lies with the child. I think this is good for me to realize now, before Chance is even 2.

Sorry, this turned into quite a lengthy post but I want to document our experience and let other people know that they are not alone.

the First prego post

I guess it’s time to make a pregnancy post. I will be 16 weeks tomorrow. I have really been struggling with this pregnancy. I have gotten big so fast that people think I am much further than I am. Someone even asked when I was barely 11 weeks if I am expecting. Consequently, I have yet to take a bump progress pic or really do anything that has to do with the pregnancy. It’s been very different than my pregnancy with Chance.

I am no longer feeling sick, although around 4-6am, I am still nauseated and tend to eat something just to avoid feeling like throwing up. I have more energy (finally!)

We are finding out the gender next week and I am very anxious for that. I feel like after we do that, I will be more excited and will be able to buy a few things, etc. I want a girl but I have a feeling that it’s a boy. Trav wants a boy. And my mom wants a girl. Haha so we are all anxious to find out. We have a name picked out for a boy and basically know for a girl, just have to decide on spelling and a middle name, if it’s a girl.

I have gained 13 pounds so far and I am paranoid of gaining 45 pounds again. I worked very hard and got it all off but it wasn’t easy and I think it will be even harder this time around. I really haven’t exercised, since I can barely keep up with normal activities. However, I plan to start exercising, especially since it’s getting warmer. I would like to try water aerobics sometime. Perhaps I can rope my mom into doing that with me.

Work has been a struggle being pregnant but now that I have more energy, I am getting back to my ole self. I felt so worthless for so many weeks that it was very depressing for me. I am hoping to go down to 2 nights after we have the baby but we will see where we are at financially at that time.

My goal is to take a bump pic when we find out the gender. Perhaps then I will just have to come to terms with how big I have gotten.

March Update

Time to update the blog.

Travis is doing great. He switched branches at work. He has the same job title but is at a different location and is learning different skills, according to the needs of the branch. He attended the umpire school and is excited to start playing and umpiring softball next month.

I am doing so so. We are expecting a baby October 2^nd and I have been pretty miserable. I’m 12 weeks so far and hoping things improve at 16 weeks, like they did with Chance. We are anxious to find out the gender and planning on doing a gender reveal with this one. I am guessing girl and Trav is guessing boy. Either will be super fun. Chance doesn’t quite get that I am pregnant but he loves babies so we are confident that he will adjust easily.

Chance is crazy crazy crazy. He is always on the go. Loves sports. Throws balls around the house constantly. Loves to run. Loves his gym class, where he will soon advance to the next age group class. I think it will be good for him to be around older kids. It may push him a little, which would be good. He has been interested in watching movies lately, his favorites being Frozen, Big Hero 6, and Lion King.  He loves balloons, bubbles, and all animals. He has been learning more animal sounds. His favorites are a cow and a chicken.

He is still speech delayed. Kids on the Move have been coming to work with him. So far they have basically ruled out that there is any problem other than he wont talk. Ex: he isn’t autistic, no hearing problems, is socially appropriate and wants to share information, is a fast learner and understands words and directions. So we haven’t made much progress and haven’t been overly impressed. We may stop having them coming. We are going to give it a few more weeks.

We have been enjoying the random warm days we have had and looking forward to summer and playing outside all day.

First 2015 Post

Oh boy, it’s the new year. I really need to blog more, especially considering this is really the only journal that I have. I kind of hate new years resolutions but I will resolve to blog more in 2015 hehe. I also made a new years resolution to read my scriptures every day and read the whole book of Mormon in 2015. So far, so good. Thank heaven for technology and apps that enable me to have the scriptures with me everywhere I go. That way, I never have an excuse to miss a day. I’m already ahead of schedule and I am honestly loving it. I love the clarity that comes with consistently reading the scriptures (or from consistently following any of the commandments).

Travis has been working hard lately as the Service Manager for Wells Fargo. This position has come with a lot more responsibilities and he has had to go into work in a pinch sometimes which has been frustrating but we are very thankful for his good job.

I have been working so so much lately. One of our nurses is on maternity leave so we are splitting the overtime at work and basically killing me. I have been doing overtime since November and I’m anxious to be done in February. Other than feeling like I live there, work is going well. I am a counselor in primary now, which I am loving. Primary is honestly the place to be at church. Teaching sharing time about sends me into a mental institution but I am getting better at it. Now, only if I could handle the stress and anxiety of it haha

Chance is growing so quickly. He is such a big boy these days and is able to do so much. It amazes me how much he understands.

We are still working on talking with him. So far he can only really say “dad” and “dog” but he has added a new word to his vocabulary. When something is hot he says “hawwww” and has his mouth open really wide for emphasis. I absolutely love when he does this. Partially because I’m just glad he says something that can be understood and partially because it really is hilarious and cute! Although he doesn’t talk, he has really been coming along with his sign language (thank heaven!). He can sign: please, thank you, more, lights, bear, finished, water, cook, and play. (I think that’s all). When I started teaching him signs, I did it more so for fun than anything else but now I am really glad that we started because at this point it really is how we communicate. Hopefully his speech will come along soon but until then, we really have been blessed to be able to communicate with our little fella.

Chance loves to run. He hates being in strollers or shopping carts. Mostly because he would rather push them than ride. It’s frustrating but I love how active he likes to be. I can’t wait for the weather to be warmer so we can play outside again.

Chance has recently been interested in technology and likes to play with phones, tablets, etc. This can be extremely frustrating to me because he wants to do it constantly but I am glad that he is learning and I want him to be tech savvy. I have been looking for apps that he can do on his own. Only being 17 months, he doesn’t understand “toddler” apps and he doesn’t have the best fine motor skills yet but he likes touching the screen and seeing that it does something.

Chance loves animals. I have to admit that this just tickles me because so do I! He has been working on animal sounds and even though they make no sense to us, they seem to be consistent and its really cute. On Christmas Eve we went to the thanksgiving point farm and Chance seriously has a blast. I can see us going back often when it gets warmer. He even rode a pony, much to my surprise. Going to the zoo wasn’t as interesting for him. The enclosures are very large and he isn’t as familiar with zoo animals as he is with farm animals but we still had a good time.

Well theres kinda where we are at right now. Hopefully I will do better at blogging this year, don’t hold your breath haha.