Easter Egg Dying

Saturday, we dyed eggs with Daddy.

 

 

Nathan's a pro now. And Ruthie was attentively learning from his technique!

 

Faith had fun dipping eggs in lots of colors, too!

 

I'm not sure if Ruth had more fun dying eggs, doing it with Daddy, naming her colors, or making a mess

 

But she sure had fun!

 

What pretty eggs everyone made!

Baby #4

We had our anatomy sonogram earlier this week. Thought it'd be the perfect chance to update about baby #4.

Baby #4 is healthy and measuring right on track! Everything appears to be perfect so far! Even the placenta is well out of harms way! That was one of the bigger things that could have prevented me from going forward with a VBAC (vaginal birth after C-section)... if the placenta were too low lying.

Oh, yes. And baby #4 is a....

Ninjago Lego villian. ha ha  Jacob & I both saw the resemblance right away, as almost all our ultrasound photos are of baby's face - which looks like a skull. It took the tech forever to get him to turn so she could get a profile pic.

And yes, I said HIM. It's a boy :)

We told the kids with a silly string attack. It didn't quite go as I imagined it. But it was still fun. here's the video (sorry for all the shakes, the camera hung around my neck, I should have held it).



 

This pregnancy has been interesting. I've had bouts of debilitating all-day sickness... (Soooo thankful that has passed.) And major cravings for massive amounts of protein. And I've yet to find that 2nd trimester burst of energy... Guess that's the cost of being pregnant with 3 kids ages 5 and under?

Although it's been different than all my other pregnancies, I still think this pregnancy is most like Nathan's pregnancy and, therefore, really felt like this one's a boy. It was fun to see my instinct was right (this time).

My midwives also guessed "boy." One based her opinion on how fast the baby moved around while trying to find his heartbeat at 14 weeks, she said usually only boys move that fast. 

Yes, I said midwives. Why? Cause I'm crazy. No OBs this time around!

And I WISH SOMEONE HAD TOLD ME HOW AWESOME MIDWIVES ARE before this pregnancy!!!! I always thought they were naturalistic hippies. But I absolutely love mine. I sought out a midwife because in my area very few doctors will do VBACs. And of those that do, most are partners with OBs that won't. Since you can't be induced if you want a VBAC, that means it's all up to chance on who is on-call when you're in labor... I didn't want to leave it to chance. I DO NOT want another C-section!

Midwives, however, do VBACs all the time. Safely. They do a lot of things OBs don't do actually... I have learned more about pregnancy in my first prenatal appointments with a midwife than I did in 3 years with OBs!!! Kinda scary if you think about it...

What's more crazy? We're going to have baby #4 at home.

I know. I know. You're thinking now I'm the hippie. But here me out. I've been told, by many moms and professionals, if I want a VBAC I need to get to the hospital when I'm just about ready to push. Because then they won't have time to get me to surgery. So if I'm going to labor at home anyways, why not give birth at home? Save the hospital costs, hospital germs, hospital rules, etc. Plus, no need to find a sitter if I'm home!  I'm not going to get an epidural if I wait till the last minute at a hospital, so what else am I missing doing it at home? Nothing but bills, germs and stresses on daddy to juggle visitation and other kids :D

Lots of midwives do hospital births (with or without epidurals). In fact there's 2 ladies in the practice I'm using. One does home births exclusively, one does hospital and home births. I've had friends deliver with both ladies, in both locations. They come highly recommended and I really like both ladies - we could easily be friends outside this whole baby gig.

To put your fears at rest, I chose the two midwives in town that are most medically minded. In fact, one (especially - my main midwife) gets picked on by other midwives for being "too medical." They make us do all the testing, etc, that an OB would do. But she explains it all sooo much better, and gives me lots of options and education. She's also the only midwife in town who partners with an OB for every pregnant mother. I'll meet the OB later. But the doc won't be at my birth, unless I have to transfer to the hospital. Which, by the way, I timed it the other day on the way to seaworld... without speeding, the hospital is a 4 minute drive from my house. So stop worrying, Gramma :D 

So yes, I'm crazy. I NEVER thought I'd do a home birth. But after meeting midwives and learning so much, I'm really excited about the whole idea.

Plus, everyone has assured me that I've already essentially had a natural birth since I didn't get an epidural with Faith until 3 minutes before she was in my arms.  The anesthesiologist apologized profusely that he was delayed in getting to me... I was 7 centimeters when he gave me the meds. He said it would take 3 minutes to work, but I was ready to push right away and on the 3rd contraction, Faith was born. My legs never even went numb and the nurse anesthetist got an eye full as he waited.... er... was stuck in the corner... ha. Here's hoping #4 comes as easily & quick!  But not too fast... a friend gave birth 2 weeks ago to her #5, labor was so fast that neither her husband or midwife made it in time! Crazy story.

So call me insane. You knew I was before this post anyways. But if you're pregnant of trying, I really do suggest you check out area midwives, not just OBs! They offer soooo many more options (all the same ones OBs offer and much much more). Plus, mine comes to me! No sitting in waiting rooms, driving in traffic, or having to find sitters. Yay! I can't say enough about my experience so far.

4 1/2 more months and we'll meet this little dude. The kids are getting more excited and I think it'd finally sunk in that they're having a brother. And they're ok with that. Well, the older two are. Ruth still insists she's the baby. But we're making progress on getting her to like the idea of being a big girl ;)  We've got some time - but it's going to go fast. yikes... we're going to have 4 kids...... yeah. We've lost it...

New Beds!

We played musical beds today. Everyone got promoted. 

Nathan got his own room! Well... for a little while. That will probably change when we get a foster placement.

Faith got the top bunk!

And Ruth got a big girl bed!

Everyone's super happy tonight. A little too excited to sleep... but I'm sure they'll crash soon.

Oh, I almost forgot to share our dinner time conversation with Nathan!

Me: "Nathan, are you sure you're ready to sleep in your own room? By yourself??"

Nathan: (proudly smiling) "Yup!"

A second or two go by as another conversation starts with Faith but Nathan interrupts:
"Wait a minute! I won't be alone! I never alone. God and Jesus are always with me!"

More SeaWorld

So I'm finally just now getting around to publishing the videos we took at SeaWorld a few weeks ago... Here it is, all merged into one.

The little roller coaster ride new the end is what Nathan & Faith rode - they're sitting the 3rd to last seat. And the dolphin encounter at the end, is a giant pool where the dolphins swim by. For like $60 extra you can feed them and be guaranteed to touch them.... we opted out of that ;)  If I wasn't trying to balance and watch all the kids at the same time (the wall was too high for them to see over), I'm sure they could have reached out and pet a dolphin as it swam by. Maybe next time, when someone comes with us.

Then this past Friday, we went back to SeaWorld to take advantage of an abnormally gorgeous spring day... in April. Usually we're in the heat of summer by now. This year's been weird. Although it's meant extra winter for everyone else, us southern Texans have thoroughly enjoyed having spring for more than a week! Here are some photos from our trip last week. 

The big kids rode the mini roller coaster 3 more times. They even sat up front once.

And they rode a few other rides, too. Like this preschool version of the tower of terror. They loved it!

Ruth, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed having the popcorn bucket to herself while her siblings rode the rides.

We saw the sealions perform. It was a cute show.

There were even cameos from an otter and a walrus.

And the kids had fun posing with the statues later.

Aww, big brother helped Ruthie kiss the seal, too!

Then we went by to see the seals & sea lions. They offered to let us feed them, and I expected it to be outrageous fees (like the dolphin encounter). Nope. $6 got us enough fish & squid for everyone to have turns. The kids got a kick out of feeding the sea lions. 

And they enjoyed taunting the animals, making them "arf arf arf" at the dangling fish above them ;)

We happened to run into Elmo later that morning. I wasn't sure how Ruth would react. But she LOVED LOVED LOVED him!!! She kept asking to go back. (he's against a green screen, because for $18 we could have bought a 4x6 photo of them in sesame street... Um, no thanks.

Once it started to warm up, we headed over to the splash pad area for preschoolers. 

Ruth was content to just watch - or run around the dry borders. 

While Nathan & Faith had zero problem getting wet and having fun!

We'll certainly be back to SeaWorld another day. We've only seen about 2/3 of the park, I think.

Seaworld

We've lived 10 minutes from SeaWorld for almost 4 years now, but we've not been once. This year the stars aligned. The kids were old enough that I feel comfortable taking them alone. And, most exciting of all, the price is right! SeaWorld is celebrating their 50th year, so they are offering free preschool passes to children 3-5 (2 and under are always free). So I snagged one for both older kids. Then this week, SeaWorld quietly announced something awesome.... B1G1 free passes this week only! So glad a friend shared that news. We think this is SeaWorld's attempt at getting people to talk AND be excited about the park after the movie and all the bad publicity (that I'm blissfully ignorant about). Whatever the reason, we got season passes for our WHOLE family for $65! That's extraordinary (normally we would have paid $230!)! This week was the week to cash in that B1G1 deal, so we ventured off to the park for the first time yesterday.

First stop... Shamu. We headed to the theater to watch the killer whales perform. There kids were a big mesmerized.

 

Look closer at the photo above. The Mommy Whale is in the air, her baby is under her. They named the baby Shamu. What's up with that name? Guess they just try to carry it on as long as possible, huh?

 

After the whales, we had some lunch and stopped to see the flamingos and other birds. Then it was off to watch the dolphins & beluga whales perform.

 

 

Nathan was out tour guide. I'm not convinced he knew where we were going. But he certainly had the "look" down ;)

 

See the swimmer riding on the nose of the beluga?

 

And the Ruthie, dancing and clapping while standing on her momma's lap?

 

Nathan, in awe of the show. There were dolphins, beluga whales, tropical birds, a clown and some amazing acrobatic dancers.

 

After the show, we headed over to the preschool play area. The kids had been itching to ride the "roller coaster". But the first stop was the carousel (cause the line was short!)

 

 

Ruth never wants to ride a carousel, but yesterday she was having a grand time! Too bad the same couldn't have been said about her big sister... Faith was upset in the picture, because she wanted a purple horse... but it was taken but the little girl behind her. Faith was upset a lot throughout the day.... she didn't want to watch the first show because she just complained about being hungry. And during the second show, she was pretty upset that SHE wasn't one of those aquatic dancers... Hopefully she eventually had SOME fun at the park that day ;)

 

Faith didn't complain once while in line for the kiddie roller coaster! I was worried she could scream and cry. But she loved it! Ruth is the one that screamed when we left her big brother and sister on the ride without her... ha

 

Our last stop was the dolphin cove, where the dolphins swim right in front of you. You're even allowed to touch them, if they get close enough. However, the railing was too high for all the kids to see over, so I had to take turns holding kids, watching the stroller and making sure the waiting kids didn't run away... so we didn't even attempt to touch a dolphin on this visit.

 

Both girls look similar enough, but that's Ruth above and Faith below.

 

The last stop, before leaving, was the shark & sting ray area. That was pretty neat, it was a big aquarium. We all enjoyed that, but by then my cell phone was totally dead, so I didn't get any photos (I didn't haul a real camera out to the park yesterday).

 

The good news is, we have season passes now! So we will be back a few more times this year. Not too many... being hot in the Texas heat, at a crowded park, with three preschoolers, while 6-9 months pregnant. Doesn't sound like something I'll be willing to do that often ;)  But we're so grateful we DO get to go this year!

Final Ruth Update

Ruth is home! She has been for 9 days. So I apologize for the late posting...

  

 

Last Sunday, the doctor informed us the plan for Ruth had not been what we were told, on Saturday. We'd been told she would move to the regular pediatric floor and be taken off the heart monitor and oxygen. She was taken off the heart monitor immediately, but they actually cut her oxygen to 1/4 a liter instead of the 1/2 she'd been on in the PIMC room. And the doctor planned to cut that to 1/8 on Sunday, then nothing on Monday and then go home (hopefully) Tuesday. But Ruth was doing so well, the doctor allowed us to try to cut of oxygen on Sunday. She did fantastic overnight - which was her true test! Her O2 dipped to 90 once, but it was usually 92-95! As long as it remained about 90, they were willing to discharge. So we finally went home Monday afternoon!

 

Discharging was a bit of an ordeal... There was still the question out there about whether she has asthma or not. The ER docs said no way. The team of pediatric docs had mixed feelings. But they all agreed no one was diagnosing her with asthma. But they still wanted to treat her as though she had it... so we had to do an asthma training and wait to get the nebulizer ordered. They wouldn't let us leave until they were certain the machine would be delivered to our home in time for her next treatment. So we waited, a lot. 2 hours after we'd expected to leave, we finally left. Yay!

 

 

This was the first time in 5 days that Ruth had been out of a bed. Not once did she ever try to get out of her hospital bed. There were many times she thought it was a trampoline... but she never tried to get out. Even the morning of her discharge, the nurse gave permission for her to get out - as long as I followed with the IV, and she stayed in the room (because rhinovirus is contagious). But Ruth had zero interest. She was perfectly content getting spoiled in her big bed, with Daddy's iPad all to herself ;)

 

We got home, and the first thing Ruth did was go to the play room and dress up. Her brother and sister were all too happy to help her, too. They were in heaven having their little sister home again!

 

 

Ruth continued breathing treatments at home for a week. Her pediatrician agreed that Ruth does NOT have asthma. He had us wean her off the medications over the week. He warned us that if she gets worse, or get sick in a month, then we'll restart the meds. But so far, she's great! And she loves the freedom of NOT having nebulizer treatments 2-6 times a day. And I love NOT having to give nebulizer treatments at 1am and 5am :D

 

I never updated about the med clinic doctor. He was kind enough to charge us $200+ for his lack of medical knowledge. And he was nice enough to call me on Friday, while Ruth was in the hospital, to follow up. I'll give him credit for taking time to do that - although I understand that is standard for the clinic. The doctor asked me how Ruth was done now that she's out of the hospital. I informed him that they ADMITTED her with double pneumonia, mycoplasma pneumonia, a double ear infection and rhinovirus after they examined her, did bloodwork, a nasal swab and an x-ray. I really wanted to stress that they actually LOOKED at her, unlike himself who diagnosed her as he walked into the exam room - before he'd ever even seen what she looked like. The doctor then went on for a few moments, telling me that she definitely has asthma and it must be aggravated by seasonal allergies. Excuse me doctor?!?! He was lucky that I was in no mood to argue with him. I just allowed him to refuse to admit he might actually be wrong even though we had medical evidence to prove this wasn't seasonal allergies.... Ok, off of that topic. He deserves no more of my time. Though the med clinic is getting a letter from me about the whole thing.

 

Anyways, Ruth did great at home. Until day 4. Then this happened:

 

 

It started on her inner arm Friday night. By Saturday morning,the rash had spread everywhere. And by Sunday, it had turned to big welps on her back. And it started to itch...

 

I called the hospital nurse Saturday morning. She assured me, without needing to see her (so nice!), that it was an allergic reaction to amoxicillin. Turns out, she was on a sulfa drug in the hospital, so she'd only been on amoxicillin for 3.5 days when the rash appeared. The nurse told me what to look for when deciding if I should bring her in. None of those symptoms appeared, so we waited till Monday to see our pediatrician. He agreed it is an allergic reaction to penicillin.

 

Today, Wednesday. Her back and belly are completely clear! Her arms, hands, palms, face and legs still have a few spots on them. But they no longer itch. Yay!

 

Needless to say, it's been an eventful few weeks in the life of our little Ruthie... She's taught us a lot, and been such an amazing trooper through it all!

 

Oh, and now since we've apparently met our deductible this year, everyone's getting their tonsils and appendix out next month. Just kidding. Sorta ;)