Aug already....

Well once Aug hits so does all the Back To School musts!! Of course it's a little hard to register 4 kids from bed! So P and my mom got to tackle that one. Of course there was a ton of paperwork that only a parent could fill out and info that P had no clue about!! But with a couple phone calls and a second trip to drop off paperwork all 4 kids are registered for another school year. The first day is the 24th so only 2 more weeks!
I have found one perk to bedrest...can't shop so mom also got the chore of finding school supplies. Some things I just know my husband would go crazy doing and I'm avoiding that at all costs right now!! So thank goodness for NaMaw! They are all bought labeled and in backpacks ready to go!! Now just to get the point across to the teachers that we WILL NOT be sharing school supplies this year. Thats always my wish but this year it will be my DEMAND. You know how many germs are on all those crayons and scissors. YUCK!!
Thank goodness I am a little bit of a type A personality and got clothes shopping for school done the beginning of July. That would have been a nightmare. But everyone has new clothes and school supplies so they are good to go now!! But lets pray Icky does NOT choose to make a debut on the first day of school that would be a little crazy for ALL involved! Even the weekend before would not be ideal SO you KNOW when it will happen ;) Hopefully we will have that last week of Summer to hit the pool and work in a couple last summer fun activities!! -
As for Icky...we went back to the Dr Thursday. My other half was a bit nervous Wed night with me having contractions every 4 minutes for a couple hours. He said he was fine delivering a 38 week baby at home but NOT a 34 weeker :) Luckily no change so we were just to stick with our same treatment. Then Thurs night was a crazy night for me with side effects from the meds. It's a crazy med on a normal dose but he has me completely maxed out and it has some crazy side effects some that I think I may be discovering. For 2 weeks my left ear has been numb causing a very weird hearing sensation. Dr checked it out and there was nothing in the ear like fluid to cause the problem but he had never had anyone complain of that before. Then that night the entire room was spinning and I could not lift my head off the pillow. The next morning I had a nose bleed which makes us think it was high B/P. So I decided the heck with this I'm stopping the meds. Friday was a great day contractions weren't much worse so I figured well the meds weren't doing anything anyway. AND my ear got better through the day. Then this morning I still wasn't taking my meds and contractions hit a little too crazy so it was back on the drugs I went...I will just live with the side effects for 5 more days and pray the Dr takes me off them Friday. The only thing is that means contractions would more than likely return like they did today within a day or so. Not really a "bad" thing because I'd be far enough along to deliver BUT that makes me really nervous because I wouldn't go running to the hospital with them like that because that is my normal BUT they go from my normal to baby in a matter of half an hour or less. SO the Dr and I will have to get more of a game plan laid out. Something along the lines of I'm calling him as I get in the car and he can wait for me a mile down the road and follow me to the hosp or deliver on the side of the road!! ;) Quick deliveries are great but this is the down side of them! But I guess that's just one of the risks of having a baby. I'm sure all will go smoothly and as I've told P we will do this until 38 weeks when the Dr induces me just like the past 4 times!!
The new OB opening has been pushed back too! It is now "set in stone for the 18th". We'll see if we make it!! And for all those misinformed or catty people I would love to have this baby in the new wing because it is BEAUTIFUL top notch technology and something as an employee of the hospital I have been part of watching from the ground up. Something that has been talked about honestly since I was hired there 17 years ago. So my "goal" is not to have the first baby born in the new unit as was so rudely stated to me today but I would be a bit ticked to be the last to deliver in the old one. BUT that is usually how our luck goes! But I'd guess when the time comes I really won't care what wing I'm in as long as I am at the hospital and not the side of the road or home alone with 6 kids!! Can you tell what I'm most nervous about?? :)

Happy 2nd Birthday K Baby!!

One thing that ABSOLUTELY drives me NUTS is someone calling a child over a year a baby!! But it seems her nickname is just going to stick and she may be 20 and still be our K Baby! Even at VBS the other parents laughed because all our kids called her this!! I guess its a good thing Icky is already Icky there won't be any conflict in nicknames!! :)


I think that 2nd year is one of my favorite times in my childrens lives!! They learn and change so much in that year. They go from a baby to a little person full of personality!!
So what kind of personality
has shown through on K baby? Very good question :) First off she is a singer she can honestly carry a tune even though she may not know the words!! She is a silly little girl that likes to be in the middle of it all! She has no problem holding her own in this family thats for sure!! She has each of her older siblings wrapped around a different finger making her quite spoiled!! When one is not around she just moves on to the next "playmate" but with no question she and Sue Bee by far have the sweetest relationship!! Yesterday at nap time K Babay laid down and patted her sisters back to sleep!! They usually get along so well and show so much affection towards each other!! It is so sweet! I just hope they stay like that and don't start having WW 3 in years to come! She seems to be pretty prepared for Icky to arrive. Again she will lay next to me just rubbing my belly and lovin on it. She thought it was pretty funny when Icky kicked her right in the face this week but didn't move an inch waiting for it to happen again!! But if I had to sum her up in a shorter phrase it would have to be DADDY'S GIRL!! She loves the days her daddy is home from work and her face lights up when she hears him arrive home!! She is another precious little additive to our family mix!!

No News Is Good News!!!!

Well back to the Dr yesterday for my regular appt!!! He is still on vacation so I saw his Nurse Practitioner (the same one that busted me touring the new OB) ;) She said Icky was growing and looked good!! All my vital signs looked good so she said keep doing what I'm doing.... STAY IN BED and take my meds. I was hoping to see the Dr next week instead of going 2 weeks but she said 2 more weeks but to come back sooner if anything changes! She wants this baby in until 36 weeks!! Thats 19 more days...... I just don't know if that is the same thing Icky has in mind...he/she seems to think we are leaving em out of something!! So I go back and see the Dr on the 14th at that point I'd guess he'll tell me to stop my meds and let nature take its course!! He usually doesn't keep me on my meds past 34/35 weeks!! I made my appt in the AM just in case he wanted to tell me you need to go to the hosp so we can have a baby!!! SO basically 2 more weeks on meds and in bed!!! I know people think "I wish a Dr would tell me that" trust me it is not fun AT ALL. Especially for someone who is use to going 90 to nothing day in and day out. I have made it known to Patrick to shoot me if I ever become bedridden because I NEVER want to live like that!! Because I know it would be just plum painful!! I think I might should worry that he was so quick to agree!

Update

Well we are just taking things day by day minute by minute at this point. Things can go from looking great to a little worried in a matter of a few contractions. Thursday my contractions started breaking through the medication. Unfortunately I am maxed out on that so there is not much that can be done from home. SO when I woke up Friday AM and they were pretty steady at 5 min apart I decided to go see my doc before he headed out of town!! WELL he left THURSDAY :0 so with talking to his NP she told me to go straight to L&D. When I got there the Dr on call was already seeing pts (not my 2nd choice) and knew I was coming in so he saw me. Great Dr just approaches things different from mine. But he came in checked me and said things had not changed. But he wanted to keep me for awhile. I would have hoped he would have tried to stop the contractions but he didn't feel they were a threat. After a while of contracting though and nothing showing up a nurse discovered the monitor wasn't on good enough (doesn't help Icky moves and kicks it like crazy) once she adjusted it contractions were definitely around 5 min apart. The Dr came back in and decided he wanted to get a dose of steroids in me just in case. This just helps the babys lungs get a boost on developing. So I got a shot then- then he came back still no change so he felt comfortable sending me home. I was to return Sat for a second shot. As we talked I asked "when do you advice me to come in for contractions" he said if there is any change from these today. Again not my Dr so I laughed and said I go from contractions like this to baby in less than an hour. (He just thought I was being a smartass) luckily a nurse who's seen it stood up for me! :) SO I was sent home to spend time with what he said is to be my "bestfriend" for a couple weeks (my bed). Saturday I did go back for the second shot. I then saw MY second choice doc in passing and gave him a heads up!! He felt good having the steroids in me and really didn't feel at this point he would transfer me to SA. And he will care for Icky so that made us feel good that he was confident to keep us here! I picked his brain on things and he told me to just come see him if things start up again. But here lies our problem now HE leaves for vacation on Wed and is gone till Sun. and the Dr I really don't want will be the only Dr around! I guess the only good thing is I really don't care if I tick that one off so I will INSIST on what I want tried or not tried and not just let Dr call the shots!!! (sad but the initials don't always make them good at what they do and honestly there are many nurses that I'd trust to deliver my baby before this Dr) BUT we are praying that nothing happens in the next week and that won't be an issue! I see the NP at my docs office on Thursday so hopefully she will give me an idea of when I'll see my Dr and what her opinion on things are. I know she will keep me on bedrest another week but hoping I'll see my Dr the next week instead of having to wait for 2!! But I'm thinking I won't go back to the Dr until the 13th and at that point I'd guess he'll stop my meds and let nature take its course!! (And might as well set up my induction too cause I'm willing to bet thats how this will end!!) But as for now we are just taking everything minute by minute and confident God is watching over Icky and I both!! Keep us all in your prayers please. No this isn't easy or fun on me but it is also a huge stress on P too. Poor guy is working over 50 hours a week and then having to come home and pick up the slack here on top of all his manly outside duties. For a family who just wants a clean organized house to bring a new baby home to so we have nothing to do for 2 weeks but love our kid.... why these last 2 babys have we been thrown such a curve ball!! BUT always seeing the glass half full....our house has flooring and no mud being swept out of it this time. So a little clutter won't kill us. (irritate us but not kill us...maybe)

How quickly things can change....

Well after VBS Friday we came home and I laid the little girls down for a nap. This is my time to catch up on emails/work and just have some time to sit. About 4 o'clock contractions hit me like a freight train!! Luckily I had meds from last pregnancy and was able to start them and got them to taper off in a couple hours. Of course it had to happen on a Friday. So I just stayed on my meds until the Dr got in the office on Monday. (yes I could have gone to the hospital but I use MY Dr because MY Dr knows me it would be like rewinding 10 years to see another Dr) Once he saw me he said "your older kids are old enough to be helping you out" "I want you off your feet" obviously still a male Dr. :) But our short term goal is to get to AT LEAST 34 weeks anything before that will be reason for a trip to "the big house" as he said. That would be to SA and that is the LAST thing we want for oh so many reasons!! Ideally we would still like to make it to 38 weeks but at this point every day and week count! I would foresee him taking me off my meds and letting nature take its course right before the 35 week point if not then then it would be the following week. My doc is very much a take it as it comes type of guy! He is just the right balance. But I know him well enough to know if he says get off my feet that's what I have to do. He hadn't told me that the last 3 pregnancies so I know he had his reasons!! Of course he leaves on vacation this weekend and won't be back till the 3rd.... but the Dr on call for me (like the way I say that and this is why we love Seguin) My 2nd choice doc is going to cover my care if my Dr isn't around instead of just having the random on call doc cover. Dr number 2 knows my history-knows me-treats our family- and has probably the most caring heart and best bedside manner around. So I know he will treat me just as my OB would and I trust him 100% and that's what I have to go into a situation with and that is a huge reason to not want anything to do with the SA Drs. I go from being a PERSON/FRIEND who is being cared by people who care about the outcome to being #682 don't know you from Joe the game is on and I'm having to be here! :( I'm a pretty relaxed in control patient but I would NOT be emotionally stable if I got removed from my comfort zone!! And then the care of my newborn to just whoever :0 the thought makes me sick at my stomach!! I would seriously be a nut case!! So I sit and rest and we say our prayers to prevent any threat to this unborn baby and to keep all my nuts in a row!! Into day 3 of things and the kids are doing very well considering. Of course they get a little more wild because they have a little longer leash and are stuck at home. But hopefully this will be for only a couple more weeks and we'll have time to fit in a couple more "fun" things before Icky arrives!! So to all who read this please keep us in your prayers!!! Yes Icky would probably have minimal issues at birth but at 32/33 weeks a lifetime of issues could follow and those are things no parent wants to think about for their child.

32 weeks!!

Wow the baking time of Icky is in its final weeks! Always a little bit of an eye opener when you think "if I went into labor in another 2-3 weeks they wouldn't stop this baby from coming!!" Guess maybe I should get my butt in gear!! The only real must is to wash a load of Icky clothes/sheets/bouncer covers! Maybe we'll get the swing out this week?! But it sure would be nice to catch up on a little more!

We got Back To School shopping done a week or so ago so that is a huge weight off my back! Can't believe we only have a couple more weeks of Summer! We'll register the kids in like 2 weeks. Big C will have 2 training camps to go to for special activities he'll be in this year...then it will be back to the real world before we know it! If I continue to hate the school year this much I just might start homeschooling....OK not really but I really hate the school year schedule! (so much so I'm sitting awake at 2am blogging about it) ;)

I saw my Dr on Thursday and was a little disappointed he didn't set an induction date but we at least talked about it and he knows I'm very nervous about going past 38 weeks as fast as my labor goes! So he agrees we need to induce around then but still waiting to get a little closer to time before getting it scheduled! Our brand spankin new OB unit is to open on Aug 1st so Icky should be born there!! We hope to go to the ribbon cutting and look at the new facility next week!! We won't be the only ones to benefit from it...there will be a nice new waiting room on the floor for those sitting waiting for a baby to be born! So no more in and out peering in the nursery window wondering if that music playing is for us or not! I'm sure the kids will be standing gaurd to see when the Dr walks in the door! I can see them all now following him with their ears pressed up against the door waiting to hear if its a boy or a girl! They all seem very excited! Even K baby seems to understand it all.

On another note I survived a week of VBS!! Makes me very thankful for the well behaved kids we have. I just don't understand how parents can just simply allow their kids to run wild. Outside is a place to run and release energy. The church parish hall is NOT!! And sure don't understand how a kid can not follow simple directions (like sit down don't run) I certainly stepped out of my box this week and got out of my safe zone! But I also am very happy in my safe-OCD world and will be fine with not stepping out of it again anytime soon!! :) I think it was a great week for the kids. They all seemed to have a fun time and that is what is important!

This weekend we are celebrating Big C's birthday...THIRTEEN yes I know that means I'm the mother of an official teenager!! How that happened I don't know. But I'm guessing its a sure sign I'm not 20 anymore! What the weekend will hold...who knows but hopefully it will be fun for him!!

Finally...

Red 11 going on 21





Sisterly Love!




Squeaks is 9