Monday, June 22, 2015
Touch-A-Truck
On Saturday, we went to Cedar Lake Park for their annual touch-a-truck. Stephen and I thought the kids would love to look at the different trucks. The thing we forgot is how hot it was going to be that day. We headed to the park and looked at the different trucks. The kids were able to climb into several different trucks.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Meet Our Newest Member of the Family: Mason Allen
So, I was ready for sure by the 9th of June. I had never made it to my planned c-section date with Ginny or Miles and really thought, that I would not make it that far with Mason. My was I wrong on that when the 9th arrived, I had to burn some time before I had to be at the hospital at 10:00am. So, I finished packing and cleaning the house and my mom and I went up to the hospital and registered. Stephen was sent to work by me that morning just so he would get some hours in for the week. Once I was registered in I was sent up to the fifth floor of the hospital. Where I was prep for surgery. Stephen arrived and we waited for twelve o'clock to arrive. Finally, I was wheeled in and got the spinal in my back which hurt more than it did with Miles to get it put in. As, they were getting me set up Stephen and my mom arrived into the room. Stephen sat near me and held my hand while my mom sat further away.
It was quiet in the room and finally, I heard Mason cry out. I also heard that he was peeing everywhere as they took him to clean him up and look over him. Then the nurses were talking in a rush as they were taking care of me. They called others into the room and I knew something was wrong. Where Mason was I could not see him and knew something was wrong. Stephen was with Mason and my mom moved closer to me. She told me that Mason was blue. I was then told that Mason was put on oxygen and they were looking him over. It was scary to know that I couldn't see him. Finally, he was doing much better and was removed off oxygen. I finally held him and did skin to skin with him.
When we went to our room, Mason was weighed. Stephen thought he was smaller then Ginny and Miles but were we surprised. Mason weighed 8lbs 8 ounces and was 20 inches long. He was longer than Ginny and Miles but weighed less than Miles. Once we were settled and I was doing skin to skin with Mason. We called to have a friend bring up the kids to meet their baby brother. Ginny fell in love with Mason right away. She actually said, "Mason has a little wee just like Miles and Daddy." She also says, "Mason is my favorite little brother." Miles, did not even want to touch Mason the first day and kept his distance from him.
Mason was able to latch on and breastfeed right away and it's been a great success. It was nice to have a small gathering of friends and family come to meet Mason.
It was quiet in the room and finally, I heard Mason cry out. I also heard that he was peeing everywhere as they took him to clean him up and look over him. Then the nurses were talking in a rush as they were taking care of me. They called others into the room and I knew something was wrong. Where Mason was I could not see him and knew something was wrong. Stephen was with Mason and my mom moved closer to me. She told me that Mason was blue. I was then told that Mason was put on oxygen and they were looking him over. It was scary to know that I couldn't see him. Finally, he was doing much better and was removed off oxygen. I finally held him and did skin to skin with him.
When we went to our room, Mason was weighed. Stephen thought he was smaller then Ginny and Miles but were we surprised. Mason weighed 8lbs 8 ounces and was 20 inches long. He was longer than Ginny and Miles but weighed less than Miles. Once we were settled and I was doing skin to skin with Mason. We called to have a friend bring up the kids to meet their baby brother. Ginny fell in love with Mason right away. She actually said, "Mason has a little wee just like Miles and Daddy." She also says, "Mason is my favorite little brother." Miles, did not even want to touch Mason the first day and kept his distance from him.
Mason was able to latch on and breastfeed right away and it's been a great success. It was nice to have a small gathering of friends and family come to meet Mason.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
My Breastfeeding Journey through Two Kids
Hey,
So, a lot of people have asked me if I was going to breastfeed, Mason, as I did with Miles. I just look at them and tell them that I was going to do everything in my power to try. It's a lot different then it was when I was pregnant with Ginny. Whenever anyone asked me if I was going to nurse Ginny, I was very positive and said, "Well, why wouldn't I?" So, here I am telling you my long journey of breastfeeding my two kids.
I had one of the best pregnancies with Ginny. I was not in a lot of pain at all and did not get morning sickness. The only major thing I had problem was heartburn. It was the worst. I had the perfect labor in mind, no meds (unless I thought I needed it), natural birth, no interventions to put in me in birth. I had contractions off and on since 25 weeks as I walked everywhere. Everything, changed when I went into my doctor's at 36 weeks. The doctor had the nurse take my blood pressure twice and then she told me that I had pre-e. I was sent to labor and delivery and was put in a dark room. They watched my blood pressure and also took blood. I was then thankfully after several hours sent home on bedrest with the job to keep an eye on my blood pressure. That weekend, my mom came down to keep an eye on me and also help monitor my blood pressure. It was creeping every so slowly up. Finally, after lunch on that Sunday, it was high. We went up to Labor and Delivery and my doctor was on call. She decided it was time to just start labor. I was already at a five so she thought I would have no trouble with it. I was given pitocin and was not allowed to eat or drink. My heartburn made me so uncomfortable as I had to lay on my back because of my blood pressure. I threw up many times of just stomach acid. At nine o'clock, my doctor came in and broke my water and asked if I was feeling contractions that were showing up on the monitor as pretty intense. I told her nope, and she left. At midnight, I felt some pressure and had the nurse check, I was at a six. I went in at three in the afternoon at a five. My mother-in-law with the nurse convinced me to get the meds so I could sleep. At seven in the morning, my doctor came in with a look of sadness. She told me that it was time for me to go in for a c-section. I cried...and cried my eyes out. It was nothing like I wanted it to be. I remember getting prepped for it and just bawling. I was scared because my mom had a lot of health problems because of her c-section of having me and still does. When I went into the OR, I was alone. I missed my husband, and I had the shakes so bad that I felt out of control. Thankfully, the med doctor was sweet and kept me calm. He would tell me everything that was going on. He even took a picture of my daughter entering the world with his cell phone and sent it to me. My daughter did not cry and that was scary. They kept spanking her and sucking her liquid out and she would not cry. She was so very sleepy baby. When I was wheeled back into a room holding her. I just kept glancing at her and her full head of hair. How I loved that little girl. We started skin to skin with my mom's help (my mom helped my sisters both nurse their kids) and she started to root. As soon as we got her latched a nurse came in and took her away. She took her blood sugar and then shoved a bottle of sugar water in her mouth before I could say a single word. My daughter never latched after that and I was being blamed for her blood sugar the way it was. My daughter was put in the nursery and I couldn't even attempt to nurse or even change her diapers. I felt like a total failure as a mom, and cried every time a baby in the hallway was crying. I started to pump right away not getting anything. Knowing they were giving my daughter formula and I couldn't do anything about it. Finally, my daughter health was not doing well so they flew her to the best NICU in the area. I was released 72 hrs after my c-section to follow her. The new hospital tried their hardest to help me nurse, but she just wouldn't latch. She took formula and what little I pumped which was an ounce total into a tube for her. She was finally able to come home eleven days later. With me saying that I would give her a bottle of breastmilk and the rest formula.
Every day, every two hours, I would have her try to latch on to me using a nipple shield or no shield. I would try for 15 min. trying to get her to latch on. Everytime, she would end up screaming her head off frustrustred. I would then hand her to my husband, or my mom if they were there or hold her myself to give her bottle to her. Then, I would spend the next 30 min. pumping an ounce of milk total. When Ginny was about to turn four months old, my milk went down to .5 ounces total. I resented my daughter for being born and was on meds for depression. The day before my sister-in-law was going to be married. I was pumping and talking to my mom crying as I wasn't even getting half an ounce while I watched her feed my daughter a bottle. I told her, "I can't do this to her anymore mom. I can't , I don't know her, I am so focused on pumping and making sure that she gets fed. That I don't even want to be her mom right now. That's not fair to Ginny." My mom said, "I will always love you no matter what you choose to do. If you choose to use only formula for Ginny, so be it." I then said, "Why, couldn't I have the same success story as you, and my sisters, and sister-in-laws. I had the drive and the paitence to breastfeed, why me." After that day, I stopped pumping and just bottle fed my daughter formula.
You know what, she's now a healthy four year old. We have the best relationship. It was one of the hardest for me to admit defeat for breastfeeding.
When I was pregnant with Miles, I told everyone that I would try to breastfeeding. I was going to give it a short, but if it didn't work out then I was not going to put the pressure on me. Miles was born at 37 weeks because of pre-e. He was wide awake during the repeat c-section and I felt great after it. Miles, was given to me and he latched on right away. It was an amazing experience and the nurses were great with letting me do what ever I wanted. This was the same hospital that I had Ginny. Miles had to leave my room for nursery for twelve hours. But, I had a great nurse that was taking care of him. I told her point blank that he was not to recieve a bottle what so ever. She said, "I wouldn't dream of doing that." She gave him the sugar water through an iv and slowly weaned him off. He was soon back in my room and I was still able to nurse him every two hours in the nursery. I was able to nurse Miles till he self weaned at 20 months old. Which was just in time because I was done with nursing him as I was pregnant with his little brother.
Because all of my hardship with Ginny, I know say that I will try to nurse my kids. I won't get my hopes up in case it doesn't work out because my kids relationship with myself is more important then the pressure to nurse.
Kendra
I had one of the best pregnancies with Ginny. I was not in a lot of pain at all and did not get morning sickness. The only major thing I had problem was heartburn. It was the worst. I had the perfect labor in mind, no meds (unless I thought I needed it), natural birth, no interventions to put in me in birth. I had contractions off and on since 25 weeks as I walked everywhere. Everything, changed when I went into my doctor's at 36 weeks. The doctor had the nurse take my blood pressure twice and then she told me that I had pre-e. I was sent to labor and delivery and was put in a dark room. They watched my blood pressure and also took blood. I was then thankfully after several hours sent home on bedrest with the job to keep an eye on my blood pressure. That weekend, my mom came down to keep an eye on me and also help monitor my blood pressure. It was creeping every so slowly up. Finally, after lunch on that Sunday, it was high. We went up to Labor and Delivery and my doctor was on call. She decided it was time to just start labor. I was already at a five so she thought I would have no trouble with it. I was given pitocin and was not allowed to eat or drink. My heartburn made me so uncomfortable as I had to lay on my back because of my blood pressure. I threw up many times of just stomach acid. At nine o'clock, my doctor came in and broke my water and asked if I was feeling contractions that were showing up on the monitor as pretty intense. I told her nope, and she left. At midnight, I felt some pressure and had the nurse check, I was at a six. I went in at three in the afternoon at a five. My mother-in-law with the nurse convinced me to get the meds so I could sleep. At seven in the morning, my doctor came in with a look of sadness. She told me that it was time for me to go in for a c-section. I cried...and cried my eyes out. It was nothing like I wanted it to be. I remember getting prepped for it and just bawling. I was scared because my mom had a lot of health problems because of her c-section of having me and still does. When I went into the OR, I was alone. I missed my husband, and I had the shakes so bad that I felt out of control. Thankfully, the med doctor was sweet and kept me calm. He would tell me everything that was going on. He even took a picture of my daughter entering the world with his cell phone and sent it to me. My daughter did not cry and that was scary. They kept spanking her and sucking her liquid out and she would not cry. She was so very sleepy baby. When I was wheeled back into a room holding her. I just kept glancing at her and her full head of hair. How I loved that little girl. We started skin to skin with my mom's help (my mom helped my sisters both nurse their kids) and she started to root. As soon as we got her latched a nurse came in and took her away. She took her blood sugar and then shoved a bottle of sugar water in her mouth before I could say a single word. My daughter never latched after that and I was being blamed for her blood sugar the way it was. My daughter was put in the nursery and I couldn't even attempt to nurse or even change her diapers. I felt like a total failure as a mom, and cried every time a baby in the hallway was crying. I started to pump right away not getting anything. Knowing they were giving my daughter formula and I couldn't do anything about it. Finally, my daughter health was not doing well so they flew her to the best NICU in the area. I was released 72 hrs after my c-section to follow her. The new hospital tried their hardest to help me nurse, but she just wouldn't latch. She took formula and what little I pumped which was an ounce total into a tube for her. She was finally able to come home eleven days later. With me saying that I would give her a bottle of breastmilk and the rest formula.
Every day, every two hours, I would have her try to latch on to me using a nipple shield or no shield. I would try for 15 min. trying to get her to latch on. Everytime, she would end up screaming her head off frustrustred. I would then hand her to my husband, or my mom if they were there or hold her myself to give her bottle to her. Then, I would spend the next 30 min. pumping an ounce of milk total. When Ginny was about to turn four months old, my milk went down to .5 ounces total. I resented my daughter for being born and was on meds for depression. The day before my sister-in-law was going to be married. I was pumping and talking to my mom crying as I wasn't even getting half an ounce while I watched her feed my daughter a bottle. I told her, "I can't do this to her anymore mom. I can't , I don't know her, I am so focused on pumping and making sure that she gets fed. That I don't even want to be her mom right now. That's not fair to Ginny." My mom said, "I will always love you no matter what you choose to do. If you choose to use only formula for Ginny, so be it." I then said, "Why, couldn't I have the same success story as you, and my sisters, and sister-in-laws. I had the drive and the paitence to breastfeed, why me." After that day, I stopped pumping and just bottle fed my daughter formula.
You know what, she's now a healthy four year old. We have the best relationship. It was one of the hardest for me to admit defeat for breastfeeding.
When I was pregnant with Miles, I told everyone that I would try to breastfeeding. I was going to give it a short, but if it didn't work out then I was not going to put the pressure on me. Miles was born at 37 weeks because of pre-e. He was wide awake during the repeat c-section and I felt great after it. Miles, was given to me and he latched on right away. It was an amazing experience and the nurses were great with letting me do what ever I wanted. This was the same hospital that I had Ginny. Miles had to leave my room for nursery for twelve hours. But, I had a great nurse that was taking care of him. I told her point blank that he was not to recieve a bottle what so ever. She said, "I wouldn't dream of doing that." She gave him the sugar water through an iv and slowly weaned him off. He was soon back in my room and I was still able to nurse him every two hours in the nursery. I was able to nurse Miles till he self weaned at 20 months old. Which was just in time because I was done with nursing him as I was pregnant with his little brother.
Because all of my hardship with Ginny, I know say that I will try to nurse my kids. I won't get my hopes up in case it doesn't work out because my kids relationship with myself is more important then the pressure to nurse.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Meet Pepe The Cat
Hey,
So I have always said that having a pet for a kid will help the child grow up to be responsible. Well, I was suppose to take it easy for the weekend. It was Ginny's birthday weekend and we already had it planned that we were going to spend the evening with Ginny. Anyways, my mom and I kept joking every time a commercial came on from a local shelter that we were going to go get a pet from there for the kids. Well, that Friday, my mom, myself, and the kids headed to Wayside Waifs to look at the cats. The kids were so excited as we looked at the different cats. We decided that we would get a female cat that was easy to handle because knowing Miles he would not be gentle. We were also hoping for a kitten. We found a cat that we thought would be perfect. We spent some time with the cat and my mom got a nice bite from her. So nope, we decided not a cat for us. We kept looking and finally, we looked at a couple of male cats that are a bit older. We found a cat named Pepe. The kids were so excited to to see this cat. Wayside Waifs said he was a leader cat and he liked to do his own thing. We played with him in a room and anytime the kids were loud or mean to him he would just walk away or hide. It was perfect. Did I tell you it was packed because of the adoption fees were 25 dollars this weekend. So it took awhile but we were finally able to bring him home. The kids loved him and still love him. For a long time, he liked to hide in my mom's area where the kids are not allowed to go without an adult. Slowly, he comes upstairs and spends time with the kids more and more. Did I mention that he loves to sleep with Ginny and Miles or anyone else. He's a great cat. Here is what he is up to.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Memorial Day
Hey Everyone,
So, I found out not only was my mom off work on Monday but so was my husband. So we all decided we needed to do something before Mason made his appearance. Well, on Saturday, we headed to a few stores to get what we need for the week and then a few other extra stores to look for stuff for our yard. No luck on finding something that will work and within our budget. On Sunday, we went to church like we normally do. Monday, Stephen got help from our friend Mike to pick up our new bed. Someone donated a queen size bed for Stephen and I from my mom's work. So they went to pick it up for us. After they returned we all got ready to head to the Sea Life place which is on Crown Center. We invited Mike and his wife Kaitlyn with their two kids Charlie and Sariah to join us. It was so much to see all different types of fish and things that live in the Ocean. The kids had a blast hanging out with each other.
Miles loved the big fish
Ginny loved the touch pool. Where she had a chance to touch different sea life.
The kids loved watching the fish swim by.
The Dads with their boys
I saw this sign so I thought, I should do a 37 week pregnancy picture with it.
After we went to Sea Life we followed Mike and Kaitlyn to a spot in the crown center where they had an inside waterfall.
After we went to Sea Life we followed Mike and Kaitlyn to a spot in the crown center where they had an inside waterfall.
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