SNIP, SNIP

Two little kids are in a hospital, lying on stretchers next to each other, outside the operating room. The first kid leans over and asks, "What are you in here for?"

The second kid says, "I'm in here to get my tonsils out and I'm a little nervous." The first kid says, "You've got nothing to worry about. I had that done when I was four. They put you to sleep, and when you wake up they give you lots of Jell-O and ice cream. It's a breeze!"

The second kid then asks, "What are you here for?" The first kid says, "A circumcision." And the second kid says, "Whoa! I had that done when I was born. I couldn't walk for a year!"

Because it wasn't our pediatrician that came to see Levi in the hospital (it was the on-call doc, since it was a Saturday) we opted to wait a few days until we could get Levi in to see his own doctor for his circ. We wanted to use the same method for both of our boys, the on call doc used a different method. Anyway, Gage was at home when the doc came and got Trevin for his procedure and I think Gage was a little bummed that he didn't get to witness the traumatic event. SO we made sure things were different with Levi. Gage came with us and convinced the doctor to let him watch. We both went back into the procedure room with our little guy. I was there to make sure Gage didn't pass out! Poor little Levi was a champ he cried and screamed Gage would look for a second then turn away with a painful look on his face. It was kinda funny to watch.  

Anyway all went well and Levi got his revenge!!! Right when the procedure ended the doc was giving Gage an up close look  and Levi let out an explosive poop! SO much for their sterile field. I laughed, Gage was apologetic. The Doc and MAs were almost finished cleaning him up and you better believe Levi did it again. I couldn't stop laughing. They decided they weren't going to be able to clean him up in his little tray and laid out a nice clean blanket on the table and moved him. And YES... he did it again, with some fountains in the works this time. I couldn't stop laughing at this point, Gage just kept saying sorry and the MAs couldn't get a diaper on this kid fast enough!! 

IT'S A ...

BOY!!!

LEVI CADE

8 pounds 12 ounces

20 3/4 inches

That's it in a nut shell. If you want more information keep on reading, it's a really long post. There are lots of pictures (all of which are safe for viewers of all ages).

We were originally scheduled to be at the hospital at 8am, but do to the number of patients that came into the hospital throughout the night our induction was pushed back. Thankfully it was only for an hour. We arrived at 9am. It took about an hour before we got orders from my doctor to get thing going. I was strep B positive so I knew that I had to have 4 hrs worth of antibiotics (two doses 4 hrs apart) before delivering, to avoid extra blood tests on our new little one. The first dose went up at 10 am. The pitocin was started at the same time. By this point I had had 3 nurses. The charge nurse started all the paper work then passed me off to Patricia. Patricia started the IV, the antibiotics and pitocin then passed me off to Maryann who was to be my final nurse. I didn't mind the juggling... I know what it's like to have a busy night at the hospital. I hate waiting around, and that's what we had to do, WAIT for the antibiotic.  Like my previous inductions the pitocin did nothing to progress my labor. I had warned my nurse of that.  At one point she turned up the pit and then came back a half hour later and said I think we lost one of your monitors, I told her we hadn't I had just stopped contracting, she was a little surprised. But that is exactly what happened, so she did the only thing she could do, turn it up some more.  

 

Finally the first 3 1/2 hours were over and my doctor was willing to come in and break my water. This is when things actually get moving for me. I was dilated to a 3 when she broke my water a 1:30. The 2nd dose of penicillin went up at 1:45. (My nurse had a patient that was almost complete and so she gave Patricia a quick report and had her check on me.) Well I had told them that things would move quickly after my water broke and I was right. About 45 minutes later I was a 7 and they decided they should call my doctor to let her know how quickly I was progressing. 20 minutes later they were wheeling in the delivery cart, my doctor was still delivering a baby at Ogden Regional and would be here as soon as she could. They had the Nurse Midwife come in that was already at the hospital, she tried to have me try different breathing techniques to slow down my contractions. That didn't work... She checked me, I was almost a 9. She told me that she would be just down the hall and left. My nurse checked me a few contractions later and they immediately brought back in the Nurse Midwife who delivered our bouncing baby boy! (1 hr and 40 minutes after they broke my water.) Levi did get stuck momentarily, they had to push on my stomach to get his shoulder under my pelvic bone. He came out with a displaced right shoulder, that corrected itself. 10 minutes later my doctor walked in and was surprised that she missed all the action. 

So why no pictures during the actual labor or delivery??? I decided not to have an epidural the time around. I decided that I wanted to be able to walk shortly after delivering this baby.  (With Chey my legs were useless for at least 6 hrs.) Plus I had convinced Gage that I could keep whatever money didn't go toward an epidural. I shouldn't really say convinced. It didn't take any convincing., it went something like this...

Me: I don't think I want to get an epidural this time.

Gage: WHY?! If your doing it to save money that's not a good reason.

Me: No I'm not trying to save any money. In fact that's what I want to talk to you about.

Gage: OK

Me: I want to make you a deal.

Gage: OK, what is it?

Me: If I don't get an epidural can I keep the money to use on whatever I want?

Gage: YES, If you really don't get an epidural you can have the money.

Me: See I'm not saving any money. I'm just putting it to a better use.

That was very early on in this pregnancy, I don't think Gage took me seriously. I had decided to put the money toward a vacation later this year for just Gage and I, no kids. How's that for motivation while delivering your 3rd child... Looking forward to a week with no kids. :) I know that sounds awful. To be honest I thought looking forward to vacation would be one of the things that got me through the pain, but it never even crossed my mind. The only thought I can remember having was "This was a dumb idea! What was I thinking?" But it all turned out ok. Gage was a great coach and I definitely relied on him and my mom for moral support. They were both very careful to avoid the phrases I told them would get them kicked out. For Gage "Why don't you just get the epidural?" For Mom "I did this 7 times!" either one was grounds for immediate removal from the room. They did great and both got to stay for the delivery.

 I think the only person I was rude to was the midwife. I can remember making a few sarcastic/mean remarks, but I can't remember who said what to deserve them. I just remember Gage laughing on occasion because he thought they were funny (so I'm pretty sure they weren't directed at him).  You'll have to ask Gage if you want more info there. Sorry.

The pain wasn't anything like what I expected. It was different, but still awful, but all worth it once it was over and they said, "It's a BOY!"

Levi was born at 3:14 pm. He wasn't convinced that breathing was a necessity, a little bit of extra suctioning took care of that. But he looked really blue for a while. The nursery nurse told us that it would probably take a day or two for his hands and feet to get back to a normal color. 

 The pictures of Gage holding our children right after they are born are my favorite.

Gage called Trevin and Cheyenne to tell them that they had a new baby brother. It was hard that they couldn't be at the hospital at all due to strict visiting restrictions. But they were way excited to get the good news!

 This is the smurf picture. But in all reality at this point his color looked so much better than it was that we weren't worried any more. All the nurses and doctors that saw Levi would say the same things. "Wow he is heavy!" then "His poor face is bruised." So I'm sure the bruising is another reason his color looks so bad. Sugar definitely earned getting to be the 2nd one to hold the baby this time around.

 Travis made it to the hospital with perfect timing about 20 minutes after we delivered. He got to hold little Levi while we got ready to transfer to our postpartum room.

 Once we got settled into the right room, the CNA came to give Levi a bath. It was nice that they do it all right in the room now.

 Levi hated it all until he was swaddled in his towel and they washed/scrubbed his head. That part he LOVED. after all who doesn't love to have their hair washed by someone else.

 I love how babies smell right after a bath. I could just cuddle this little boy all night. 

I guess Gage feels the same way. Don't worry we even shared him with all the family members that came to congratulate us. I didn't add all those pictures but I really wanted to.  Thanks to everyone. We loved getting to share our new addition with you, plus you made the hospital stay seem shorter, which saved my sanity.

Wide awake. Look at those beautiful eyes, I wonder what color they will end up being.

Getting ready to go home and the snow started. After raining all day long and then the thick snow we got the roads could have been really bad. In fact they were in some places, but thankfully our drive home was uneventful.

Thankfully Levi was content in his car seat. They always look so small in them, even at his whopping 8 lbs 12 oz.

I couldn't wait to get home to the kids, to let them meet our little man. We came home and got settled then Grandma and Papa brought home the kids. They were so excited. We taught them about using the hand sanitizer, it's a good thing we did cause the first thing Trevin did was stick his fingers in Levi's mouth to find out if he had any teeth. (He doesn't!) That was a shock to Trevin. Cheyenne just wanted to rub his head and see his face.

 

All night long the kids asked questions. Can we teach him to play x box? Can we help him walk? Is mom's belly button ok? He has a weird belly button, doesn't he?

And of coarse they both wanted to hold him. And they did awesome, dad helped and taught them that they can only hold Levi with help, and to support his head, etc. Even Trevin was content to sit and hold Levi for a while.

Cheyenne was already and old pro after all of her practice with her baby dolls. She just kept saying "Oh Baby Levi Cade is so cute!"

Levi's id bands and funny belly button. Cheyenne saw his dry feet and told me "He needs lotion"... What a girly girl I have.

Sleeping at home. After his check up at the doctors office (Their requirement if i wanted to go home before he was 48 hrs old, I took it!) Does he look a little yellow to you? I didn't notice it right off, but the lab work confirmed, he is jaundice. With his bili count high we got to experience bili lights for the first time at our house. 

 I have to admit I wasn't very excited about this. I have nieces that had to do the bili bed thing and I hated to see them naked and blind folded.  They just looked so uncomfortable. So I was pleasantly surprised to see the new set up. I think they have made huge improvements.

The lights are on the bottom, then they cover it with this little straight jacket contraption. No visibly naked baby and no blindfolds, YAY!! They have a bili blanket that I had to tuck in on top of his belly to before we closed him in.  It was still really hard to not be able to hold and cuddle him all the time, especially in the middle of the night when he cried. I did get to get him out to feed him but you had to keep the bili blanket on him still and it was awkward.

 

Gage hated them, All I heard all night was these lights are dumb. over and over.

Here he is all tucked in for the duration. We put the whole contraption in a pack n play so we didn't have to worry about the kids bothering him too much, but they could still go and look at him. 

In the middle of the night, Levi wanted to be held, he just cried and cried if I wasn't right next to the pack n play. I'd sit there until I thought he was out then go back to my place on the couch and within 5 minutes he would be screaming again, until I went back and sat by him.  So I finally gave in at about 2:30 am and rearranged the furniture. (Gage was sure to remind me that the couch definitely weighs more than my baby, which is what they told me my lifting limit is). But I can assure you that moving the couch was worth the reprimand. I slept with my hand on Levi's belly and he slept like a champ after that and so did I.

This morning we headed back to the doctor for another heel stick. Poor little boy, but the results were improved and we get a break from the bili lights, hopefully tomorrow we'll be done for good!

I love cuddling this little boy, I can't wait to see his personality develop and start to show through. 

Baby Update.

Today I am 38 weeks and 4 days. We are so excited about welcoming baby number 3 into our home. I will be getting induced at the end of this week (YAY!) Travis will be home for the weekend and since I was induced with both Trevin and Cheyenne I thought why not. I think it gives Gage a little bit of peace and mind too, he'd rather have it all planned, than worry about me calling him in the middle of the day or waking him up in the middle of the night. I can't blame him I think just waiting to go into labor on my own would make me nervous. 

We had a fun surprise last week. My nieces decorated our front porch with this fun little count down. My kids were so excited about all the baby stuff. 

I've done pretty good avoiding the camera,, not on purpose I just am usually the one taking pictures and I haven't really even done much of that lately. So I decided to have Gage take a couple of pictures of me this weekend so I had a few really pregnant pictures for a baby book. 

So... 38 weeks and 2 days pregnant!

Another one with T and Chey. 

I can't even begin to describe how excited we are at our house. Especially the kids. They can't wait to find out if they get a baby brother or sister! They love the countdown we made (but I think they are mostly excited about having a sleep over at grandma's). Trevin knows some of the names we are thinking about but has done great to just tell everyone "It's a surprise" when they ask. Cheyenne is still convinced that the name is "Boots" if it's a boy and "Sunrise" if it's a girl. So we don't have to worry about her spilling the beans. It will be a little sad to not have my kids at the hospital to meet the baby, I think it might make the transition a little harder. But there isn't anything I can do about the strict visiting restrictions so I'm not going worry about it.  

Cheyenne is already becoming a little mother and LOVES all the baby things that are now scattered around the house. Especially the car seat.  Yesterday she wanted to test it out, but we convinced her she wasn't allowed to sit in it. Don't worry she found a good substitute. Leo the Lion got strapped in and covered with a blanket and then Cheyenne had Dad carry the car seat from room to room so she could keep a close watch. It was pretty cute. 

A shot from the Trevin cam. He loves to take pictures right now. 

I found a fun blog this week that had a list of question about pregnancy and I can't wait to keep a journal of these questions the next time around. Any way...

How far along: 38 weeks and 4 days.

Total weight gain: 34 pounds. (sounds bad I know but this is the least I've gained with any pregnancy so I'm pretty excited!)

Maternity clothes? Yes, some of them. I still wear my regular jeans (unbuttoned) and I wear a lot of Downeast shirts (they are nice and long and stretchy, most of the ones I wear aren't maternity just a size up from what I normally wear) and cardigans.

Sleep: I don't sleep well, my only pregnancy complaint is heartburn, which makes laying flat impossible! I sleep on 4 pillows and occasionally in a recliner. Even with all that, heartburn wakes me up a couple of times a night and I have to sit straight up for at least 5 minutes before I can fall asleep again. On the up side, I very rarely have to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, which would drive me nuts. 

Best moment this week: Going bowling! Gage and I had never been bowling together, so we planned a double date and everyone said I could pick the activity since it was going to be my last night out for a while. I picked bowling. Gage tried to talk me out of it, "Pregnant women don't bowl." I proved him wrong and even beat him on one of the games. I did pay for it dearly, I could barely walk the next day. I must have pulled something. Next time, I don't think I'll go bowling at 38 weeks pregnant, but it was fun. 

Miss anything: Being able to keep up with the kids. In the last 2 weeks I get winded just walking up and down our stairs!

Movement: Oh yes! This baby is very active and likes to stretch! My doctor has made the comment a couple of time "Wow your baby sure does like to try to spread out." Yes I am aware. I occasionally have spots of my stomach that are sore to touch because this baby tries to spread out so much.  

Food Cravings: Ice, Ice and more Ice. Maybe it's because of the heartburn, maybe not. I only like the pebbled ice. So we make regular trips to Sonic or Macey's to restock. I can eat a bag of ice in about 5 days. 

Anything make you sick or queasy?: Not anymore. It is great. I haven't thrown up since about week 19. 

Gender: UNKNOWN. I love to get asked this question. I love seeing peoples reactions when I tell them we opted to not find out! I have to admit it was really hard at first, but now it's a lot of fun. This was Gage's decision, he never wanted to find out with any of the kids... I made a deal that once we had a boy and a girl we didn't have to find out and he held me to it. (I'm glad he did.)

Labor signs: I have contractions all the time. Just bending over to pick something up will make them start. My last appointment I was dilated to a two, nothing other than that.

Belly button in or out?: OUT

Stretch marks?: Yes unfortunately but I don't think any of them are new, just my old ones that are angry. 

Wedding ring on or off?: OFF, I took it off about a week and a half ago. 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! I can't wait to meet this baby. (Although probably moody at 2am, but no one else is awake to see it.)

On your to-do list this week?: Oh wow. I am a procrastinator and not knowing the sex of this baby has made it even worse. I have few baby clothes out, but I haven't even pulled out the gender neutral stuff out. No crib is coming out til I know what room it needs to go in. Trevin made sure I got diapers and wipes a couple weeks ago so we are set there.

My to do list: Pack a bag for the hospital, get out the bassinet, get my hair done, clean the bathrooms, make a couple of freezer meals, laundry!

What are you most looking forward to in the next week?: MEETING THIS BABY!

That's it for now. My next post will be after the baby is here. :)

The countdown begins!

When I went to my previous OB appointment this baby was weighing in at about 5lbs 6oz. Then I went again on Tuesday (2 wks later) and they are estimating that our baby weighs just over 7 lbs! Needless to say we are a little worried that this baby might be huge! I decided to go ahead and schedule myself to be induced (I was with both Trevin and Chey). So now we have a date and the countdown begins. 

Trevin and Chey are so excited and had a lot of fun helping me pick what colors to use for the chain and stapling them together. The most fun of coarse is getting to rip one off each day.  

 I can't tell you how excited we are at our house. Cheyenne favorite activity right now is to blow raspberries on the baby! Trevin is my worrier. About a week ago we had this conversation...

Trevin: Mom I need to talk to you.
Me: OK what are we going to talk about?
Trevin: We don't have any diapers! If this baby poops in it's diaper we won't have any new diapers to change it!
Me: Oh no. Do you think we should buy some diapers the next time we go to the store?
Trevin: Yes! Don't forget!

Needless to say we now have diapers at our house. 

Since we didn't find out if we are  having a boy or a girl I've gone ahead and washed at least some newborn size outfits for both. Cheyenne LOVES all the little girl clothes! Maybe a little too much.  She had tried desperately to get on a NB size jacket earlier today and the one sleeve ended above her elbow and I finally convinced her the clothes would only fit a baby. I thought that was the end of it... I was wrong, this is what I found just a little while later. 

She found the matching pants! and was so proud that they fit! 

 WELL.... ALMOST FIT!
(The swimming suit is a whole other story. Cheyenne asks to wear her swimming suit every day, multiple times a day! And stalks the laundry room when it has to be washed. )