Said the Boy

"This is too hard," said the boy who was steering the paddleboat, between his two parents, who were peddling.

"I can't pick up this many books," said the boy who took all the books off of his shelf out of his frustration at his mama.

Inevitable

There are 8 words you never want to hear when you are seconds from stepping into the shower, "Kimberly, Landon fell and his head is bleeding." Those were the words my sister, Nicole, screamed to me as she burst through the bathroom door last Monday. In the course of seconds, as I made myself presentable, several thoughts ran through my head, including, "I knew something like this was going to happen," to "I'm sure glad I didn't lock the bathroom door," to "I know that head wounds bleed a lot; maybe it's not so bad."

It was that last thought that was the most prevalent as I made my way to my grandparent's kitchen (we were at their house in Illinois for the Easter weekend), perhaps as a way of preparing myself. However, nothing could really prepare me for what I was about to see. Landon was screaming in Alan's arms with my mom and grandma around him. He had a towel on his forehead and Alan had blood on his shirt and pants and there were drips of blood on the floor. I panicked. "What do we do?," I yelled. Nicole pointed her arm back towards the bathroom and told me to get dressed (I had thrown on my pajamas).

I quickly changed and calmed down enough to have the presence of mind to get my purse, which had all of our insurance information in it. My mom carried Landon out to the car where she placed him, still screaming, onto my lap and told me that it appeared the bleeding had stopped. Alan drove way too fast to the urgent care center and in the minutes it took to get there, Landon had settled down and I learned that he was running with a blanket and tripped and his forehead hit the wheel of the exercise bike in the basement. When we got inside there was no one at the desk and not even a little bell to ring for service. Several of the receptionists returned to their posts and I sat down with one of them as Alan and Landon were ushered back. I could barely fill out the paperwork, as I blanked on Landon's birthday and my signature looked like chicken scratch. I was taken to where Landon and Alan were and nurses were already tending to Landon. I got my first look at the cut - about an inch long right in the middle of his forehead and not too deep. The nurses left and told us the doctor would be in shortly, which really was not the case. It took forever for the doctor to come - long enough for Alan to process with me what had happened and for me to help Alan take off his shirt, shoes, and socks and help him lie down on the bed. Yes, you read that correctly. Alan has a history of fainting and he started feeling really warm so we took off some of his clothes to prevent a fainting episode. The doctor eventually came in and it was determined that glue would be a viable tool for closing the wound, as opposed to stitches. Landon did amazingly well throughout the process, even joking with the nurses about his "Super Dog (i.e. Bentley).

So, while we knew it was inevitable that, as parents of one very active boy and a boy that's sure to be just as active as his brother, we'd be taking a trip to urgent care for a bleeding episode, we didn't know how well it would ultimately turn out. We have much to be thankful for - the pedals on the exercise bike have metal "teeth" all across them and we're so grateful Landon didn't hit one of those. I'm grateful that Alan was downstairs with the kids (Landon and my niece and nephew) when it happened. Who knows how the kids would have responded if they were by themselves downstairs and I'm glad I wasn't downstairs when it happened. It could have been very traumatic for all if that was the case. I'm grateful that I had just fed Tate and that he was ready to go down for a nap at that time and that there was pumped breastmilk in the fridge for him. We're thankful that we maxed out our insurance deductible with Tate's birth so that we don't have to pay anything out of pocket for this. One week later, Landon is doing great. The glue hasn't fallen off yet, but the wound seems to be healing nicely - which is another thing we're grateful for.

 

Landon was so self-conscious about his forehead, that I had to wait until he was asleep to snap a picture.

Where's the Fire?

Well, it appears our too-smart-for-his-own-good three-year old will use any means necessary to get out of rest time. Earlier today during rest time, he got up no less than 4 times declaring he needed to go to the bathroom. Grudgingly, I let him because as a new learner, you just never know, even though I know on several instances he's stayed dry overnight and is capable of staying dry for his hour and a half rest period.

Anyway, I was downstairs nursing Tate and Landon came down asking if rest time was over yet. I told him "no" and let him know he had a few more minutes. He came down 2 minutes later and said, "There's a fire in my room." I said, "What?!?," more out of disbelief than not hearing what he had said. Once again he repeated himself. Now, we don't keep matches in the house and our fire starter is kept out of his reach, but you still never know. So I run upstairs, still nursing Tate, in panic mode, because "What if there was actually a fire?" to find Landon sitting on his bed with no fire in sight. Relieved. Upset. And just a teensy bit amazed at his ingenuity.

Big Brother, Little Brother

Well, it has been almost three weeks since Tate has made his appearance and we are absolutely loving having him here! And, there must be something about having a newborn in the house that makes one recognize how grown-up an older sibling seems. So here are some updates on Big Brother and Little Brother.

Landon - The biggest news is that potty training is going beautifully! Yes, it probably was not ideal to go gung-ho with potty training with a newborn in the house, but Alan and I had procrastinated long enough. With the incentive of receiving toy cars for every time he pooped on the toilet (his biggest challenge), Landon rose to the occasion! He has been staying dry/clean for just about 2 weeks now and has even been staying dry at night!

Yesterday, when Landon was getting dressed, he wanted me to do the buttons on his polo shirt. Because I was doing the dishes, I couldn't tend to him right away. Next thing I know, he had done the buttons all by himself - for the first time ever.

Landon continues to blossom verbally. As a one year old, he talked a lot. Now, it's almost non-stop and when he gets excited about something the decibel level increases. And although he's been singing the ABC's for quite some time and has been counting for just as long, now he's starting to recognize letters, numbers, and letter sounds (the other day he told me, "Mommy, mmm, Mommy starts with the letter M"). I'm very excited because this summer I'm going to be doing some home-schooling work with him and I think he's really going to enjoy some of the things I've already found.

Tate - So much like his big brother was as an infant, yet uniquely Tate. As I type this, he is sleeping in a wrap, all snug and cozy. He very much loves to cuddle and be held. He's been sleeping very well; generally he'll go down about 9 or 10 pm and be up for the day at 5 am. Mommy is extremely grateful for this! When he is awake, he's very alert and loves to check things out with his big, blue(!) eyes. He's very strong and often pops his head up when being held over our shoulders. He still has a head full of black hair and, as of now, doesn't appear to be losing any of it.

We've been adjusting fairly well with our big and little boys and are excited to see how they continue to develop into their own beings and in their relationship with one another!

Birth Story Bullet Points

As you can see by our blog title and picture, we have a new addition to our family! Tate arrived on March 26th weighing in at 9 lbs. and 22 inches. We are thrilled to have him as a part of our family and, thanks to both boys napping at the same time, I am now able to share his birth story with you! Since I know I can tend to go into too much detail, I'm going to give you the bullet point version. Any questions you have can be left in the comments section and I'll go into further detail there. So here it goes:

• Due Monday, March 21. Had doctor's appointment. At 2 cm. Scheduled appointment for Friday, March 25 in which we'd talk about induction.


• Wednesday, March 23 and Thursday, March 24 - contractions overnight, but nothing that warranted going to the hospital (although contractions on Thursday were stronger, they weren't coming the 4-5 minutes apart).


• Friday, March 25 - appointment scheduled for 12:30, including ultrasound to check fluid levels. Was having contractions throughout morning and then anywhere between 4 and 8 minutes apart about an hour and a half before appointment. Opted to go to appointment - 1) knowing office was located next to hospital in case they had me stay; 2) didn't want to go to hospital first because I didn't want them to send me home if things weren't progressing as I thought they were and; 3) wanted one last glimpse of baby via ultrasound.


• Had contractions through ultrasound and while waiting for doctor. Doctor arrives and I lay down on table for her to check me, but I have a contraction. She waits to check until contraction is over. I feel a pop, water breaks. She checks and I'm at 3 cm. Doula called.


• Alan and I take a walk to the hospital. Contractions are stronger and are coming more frequently.


• Arrive at birth center, where I'm hooked up to penicillin for failing Group Strep B test and a heart monitor since I was attempting a VBAC. Contractions are coming very fast (1-2 minutes apart). Doula arrives.


• 2:30 pm - I'm checked and am at 4 cm. Wanted to wait until 5 cm to pursue epidural but couldn't wait; contractions were coming too hard and fast.


• 4:00 pm - Checked again and still at 4.


• 5:30 pm - Checked again at doctor said I was "5ish." Pressure catheter inserted to determine how strong contractions were actually inside my uterus. Although I was having frequent contractions, the fact that I wasn't dilating as fast as everyone thought I should be, led to this.


• 6:15 - Pitocin started since pressure monitor showed weak contractions, although frequent. Pitocin would hopefully encourage pressure of contractions.


• 7:15 - I'm getting more and more uncomfortable. Felt pain on left side, especially inner thigh with every contraction and was feeling pressure in lower back. Vomited. Received boost in epidural. 6 cm.


• 8:30 - Baby at 0 station, still at 6 cm. I developed a fever of 102.9, worried about infection of uterus. Antibiotics and Tylenol started.


• 9:00 - Received news that baby would have to go to special care nursery after birth and stay for 48 hours to receive antibiotics to ward off infection.


• 9:30 - More sharp pain in left inner thigh. Received another boost in epidural. Vomited again.


• 10:30 - Around 7 cm. For sure at this point and probably earlier, was thinking I should have been more than a 7.


• Midnight, Saturday, March 26 - 8 cm. Obnoxious tingling pain returns in left leg with every contraction. Received another boost of epidural (12:30).


• 1:00 - Fully dilated. Was told to push. Concerned because I didn't feel the need to push. Received excellent coaching and encouragement from nurse, doula, and Alan.


• During course of pushing, I was put on oxygen because baby's heart rate was low; vacuum used to help get him out; I did get an episiotomy (not my first choice, but doctor said we needed to get baby out right away)


• 1:22 am - Tate was born!

Quite the experience and so vastly different than Landon (water broke, failed to progress after 2 days, C-section). So grateful that Tate is here now and healthy. Also grateful to Dena, my doula, for writing all this down because 2 weeks later, I forgot many of the details - certainly God at work there because I'm sure if women remembered their birth experience and all the pain and challenges that go along with it, there'd be so many more families with only one child!

Fess Up Friday

I am a very lazy cook on weekends. More often than not, we have leftovers from the week on weekends and meal preparation requires just pushing a button on the microwave. This past weekend, I was even more lazy than normal. Saturday we went out to breakfast AND lunch (part of it was celebratory, as Alan got a bonus at work). Since we were pretty full from going out to eat twice, dinner was whatever we could scrounge together from the fridge. Sunday morning I did make a breakfast of scrambled eggs and muffins. For lunch on Sunday, Landon ate the rest of his muffin and an orange. And for dinner, he had a taco (tortilla with melted butter and cinnamon-sugar) and another orange. See what I mean by "lazy?"

At 39 weeks pregnant, I've found that I've been quite crabby lately. So parenting a 3 year old can be especially difficult when he talks back or is disobedient. I've thought more than once this week, "I can't wait to go to the hospital because it will be a nice break from Landon." Not "I can't wait to go to the hospital to give birth to our second son," but to use the hospital as respite from my current son. Crazy pregnancy hormones.

Fess Up Friday

This is what happens when you're 38 weeks pregnant and opt to take a nap rather than unload the dishwasher, reload it, and rinse out the cans for recycling.