Vasectomy

YAY! Matt is having his vasectomy this month. :) Although this means I have the kids to myself for yet 2-3 more days while he recovers, it means that we will no longer be fertile. This is a very good thing. I love kids and especially my kids, but no matter what else happens in my life, I would not like to have any more. I am done. Finished.

I am looking forward to next summer already when I should be getting some sleep and can resume normal adult behavior that includes getting out of the house in the evening with my husband.

On another note, this Tuesday Grandma (Colleen) has offered to take Adam for a night! I would never have done this with my first, but with my troublesome third - heck yeah! Armed with bottles of breastmilk and baby gear, grandma is going to sacrifice a night of sleep for me. I am going to have 2 glasses of wine and be in bed by 9 - probably up once at night and up by 6, but 8 hours of sleep sounds like heaven. I can't wait. Thanks Colleen.

One month already

Well Adam is a month old and what a one month birthday he had. He was up all night the night before because he was having some breathing trouble. He then started off the day by turning blue in his swing. So Adam and I were treated to a day at St. Lukes doing a bunch of testing. We got to have blood work done which took 4 sticks (poor guy). He was so worn out after the first that he slept through the next three though. We then got the pleasure of hanging out in radiology. Upon arrival we were greeted by a lady about as friendly as a rabid dog. She was quick to inform me that our appointment for an upper GI was not until 3 (this was about noonish) I told her we were told to come in for a chest x-ray right away so here I was. She mumbled something to ensure I knew that I was ruining her day. Since the waiting room was full, Adam and I got special treatment and were ushered into a room to wait with some inpatients. Our favorite was a very elderly woman who kept begging me for ice chips. After our x-ray and upper GI, we got to have an ultrasound and a lower GI. It was a very long day.

On top of reflux, Adam has tracheomalacia and laryngomalacia (possible bronchomalacia). See below for details if you so desire. Anyway - this just adds a new level of complexity to our world here. I'll spare you the cussing and blasphemy. He should outgrow this by 3-6 months so they say. So that would mean that in approximately 2-5 months I'll get some sleep. Awesome.

Soft Airways http://www.phoenixchildrenshospital.com/emily/LG/996.html What it is Airways carry air from the nose to the lungs. Some children are born with airways that are too soft. Soft airways do not hold their shape, and air does not flow through as well as it should. There are three places where airways can be soft: the voice box, the windpipe, and the breathing tubes. A person may have softening in one, two or three parts of the airway. This softening is called malacia (pronounced: muh-lay'-she-a). Signs and symptoms When the voice box (larynx) is too soft (laryngomalacia), you may hear a high-pitched, crow-like noise when the child breathes in. This noise is called stridor. When the windpipe (trachea) is too soft (tracheomalacia), you may hear a high-pitched, crow-like noise when the child breathes in (stridor). The child may also wheeze, cough or choke. Severe tracheomalacia can also cause very short spells of no breathing (apnea). Your child may turn blue during these apnea spells. When the breathing tubes (bronchi) are too soft (bronchomalacia), you may hear wheezing when the child breathes out. Medicines used to treat asthma usually do not help the wheezing from soft airways. Note: may not help the wheezing, but will help the breathing and opening of the airways. Treatments: When children with soft airways are active, upset, eating or have colds, their breathing may be noisy. When they are calm and lying on their stomachs, their breathing may be quieter. As children grow, their airways get larger and firmer. In most children, soft airways are gone by two years of age. Some children may have noisy breathing until they are school age. If children can breathe and are growing, their soft airways are not treated. They will grow out of it. If your child has trouble breathing because of soft airways, your child's doctor may ask you to see an ear, nose and throat doctor or a pediatric pulmonologist for treatment. The doctor may do a test called a bronchoscopy to look at your child's airways.

Weekend.....

Matt and his girls. That is about 62 lbs of little girls :) It's a good workout. Hannah - looking sweet, which she was for most of yesterday. It was a great day.

Adam and all his chins. He's not wasting away to nothing these days and is probably around 10 lbs. His next appt is in another week so we shall see. His night time sleep has slipped back to really bad. I know it won't last forever, but I am back to getting 3-4 hours of sleep all broke up into tiny pieces. He is just really struggling to sleep.

We had fun at the street fair yesterday (Well - Hannah had fun) We didn't get too many pictures, but it was nice to be out. Layla just wanted to wander off and Adam and I couldn't stay long since it got chilly. Layla did enjoy her first bouncy house. She was confused and fell down a lot, but seemed to like it.

Yep - it lasted all of

5 seconds. Why is someone always crying? Mostly it is Adam because he wants to be held, but the girls chime in too.............Can you see the gray hairs from where you are?

Listen..........

No one is crying for 5 seconds.............

3 weeks with Adam

I still can't believe I have a boy. I can't believe I have 3 kids ages 3, 1 and 3 weeks! That is just crazy and although I wouldn't trade them, I wouldn't recommend it :)

Adam finally has his nights. His daytime sleep is disorganized and sometimes nonexistant, but by his late evening feeding, he crashes. He sleeps for 3-4 hours and eats again, then sleeps another 3 hours. His feeding after that is usually fussy and he might sleep another 2 hours. Then we start our day. This means I get about 2 hours of sleep twice and than another hour - so I'm on 5 ish total. Did I mention this is my last baby?

Here he is in his swing (although he hates his swing, we are trying to let it grow on him.) Layla is my goose. She is our comic relief and our menace. Don't you just want to kiss her?
Hannah is my little mommy and my sassy pants.
Some tummy time. Adam has the baby acne, but it will get better.He does pretty well on his belly. Sometimes he even lifts his head all the way, and he can go side to side.
Matt leaves tomorrow for Atlanta - so I'm on my own. Wish me luck.

A review of the past

Out of pure curiosity, I went back to my blog entries from when Layla was a baby. I haven't really ever gone back and read them. Since Adam is having reflux issues, I thought I would read what my early weeks were like with Layla so I could compare. I read about the first 10 weeks. Reading those entries made me so sad and brought back a lots of horrible memories. I could cry thinking about that time. I suffered from pretty severe post partum depression on top of or caused by Layla's illness. It was not a good time for me or for our family.

Anyway - I digress.

I am happy to report that so far, Adam is nothing like Layla in regards to the reflux. He spits up and has some periods of discomfort or gas, but it is all pretty mild in comparison so far. I also feel ok (no PPD) so that is a relief.
That's my update for today. I will get some more pictures this weekend.

Two weeks old.

Adam is two weeks old (yesterday) and we have shocking news........Adam has reflux. No - I'm not f'ing kidding you.

We don't know how bad it will get yet or if he will rival the horror that was Layla (I pray not, but I prayed for no reflux for 9 months and I didn't get that wish either). He weighed in at 8lbs 11oz today so his weight is perfect. He looks just perfect and is not terribly fussy, but he is refluxing quite a bit and even projectiled for the doctor today before she even touched him. We are going to start pepcid tonight and I have an appointment with the GI in 2 weeks. The reflux is what is also making him swallow so much air and be so very gassy. The gas is what is hurting him the most right now it seems and he feels better after a good long series of toots. The ped mentioned the dreaded "diet" I did with Layla and I was pertty quick to decline. I don't plan to alter my diet again. (well maybe for a couple of weeks to loose some of this weight, but then it is regular breastmilk or no breastmilk for this little guy)

If anyone out there believes in the power of prayer - throw up some for me since I nearly lost my mind with Layla and it can't be better with 3 kids. I am trying to stay positive, but my faith has been tested and honestly I am just mad.

Here is my own proof though that reflux does not permanently harm a kiddo. I know he will be fine, it is really just the getting there that will be a hard road. My goose is just awesome now and I don't often think about her infancy. When I do it is not happy memories I am afraid so I try to focus on the wonderful kid she has become.

It was all worth it :)

Our Week

It was busy, but thank God Matt was home. He is here with me for one more week before returning to the road. He will be gone every week after that until mid December including being gone for 8 days in a row in November! So if anyone is bored particularly on Wednesdays (when the girls are home and Matt is not), in the evenings, or anytime November 7th thru 14th, come on over. I can't guarantee a clean house, but my kids are always clean and I will do my best to get a daily shower of some kind :)

We ventured out to the pumpkin patch this morning. The girls had fun and we know next year will be even better. Adam slept the whole time of course since he was being held.

Adam is not turning out to be the good sleeping baby I always dreamed of. He is actually a terrible sleeper. He grunts and squirms almost all night. His best sleep is during the day - once in the morning and once or twice in the afternoon-evening. I am beyond exhausted. I keep waiting for the inevitable break down one goes through when they haven't gotten any sleep. It is coming, I just don't know when. We moved Layla to Hannah's room today so she will adjust within a few days. Then I can put Adam in his room. As long as I don't think he is going to suffocate or anything, he needs to grunt and squirm in his own room. Hopefully this will help me get some more sleep. He will let me know when he needs to eat, and I am hoping not to hear him until he really needs me. I know it sounds mean, but really - a mommy needs some sleep.

Right now our lives are just as crazy as I imagined they would be. I don't know if I will remember much of these days, but I am trying to enjoy what I can about having a new baby. I will not miss the lack of sleep, but I will miss the sweet way they cuddle into you and that wonderful newborn smell. I will miss the spontaneous smiles and little noises, but not the 12 poopy diapers a day. I'm sure I will get to hold a few more new babies in my day and then - I can give them back :)

Happy one week Adam ( & Pictures)

The Shockley grandkids.

Hannah is doing ok with the transition after one week, but she is acting out more than normal. We forget sometimes that she is only 3 and still needs lots of reassurance that she is still special. She will enjoy going back to school tomorrow.
Adam weighed in at 8lbs even this morning at his 1 week check. He is doing well and we are still working on the swallowing air issues. Other than that - he is doing perfectly. He is still up at night and sleeps better during the day. This makes for one tired mommy. He is pretty cute though and honestly we are just thrilled to have him. It is no secret that he was a surprise for us. I personally spent the first 5 months of the pregnancy in denial. Now I can't imagine life without him. He truly does complete our family.

Smiles for Papa.

Wide awake baby.
Hanging with my sister.
Have I mentioned Layla is a menace? She just is into everything, and so very funny, but it is a full time job watching her. This is how she took her baby for a walk today :) I have been alone with the 3 for a total of about 2 hours and I'm exhausted (and frankly scared to death).

At home again

Well, we made it home yesterday morning. It has been very busy here at our house. Hannah is in love with her brother and wants to hold him and kiss him all the time. Layla wants to pet him (grab him) and love him (hit him). It will deffinately be an adjustment.

Adam is doing ok though. We did discover that his "day-time" is 9pm - 2am. During this time, he does not want to be put down or he gets very mad. He prefers to nurse and be held thank you very much. He is nursing pretty well, but is swallowing a ton of air while he does it. This makes for much gas and burping (and yes - a little bit of spit). I am crossing my fingers and toes that this is short lived and this will resolve in a few days as his system matures.

The girls are in school today and I know the day will just fly, but I am going to try and relax and rest up because we have everyone home for 4 days in a row here (Friday-Monday). Crazy!