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Heaven Above Boy Birth Announcement

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A new life begins

What a different experience from last year. A very different experience from my first 3 labor and deliveries. Finally

My water broke about 7pm on October 5th  while celebrating Romeos 12th  birthday at my mothers house with all of us, my mother and grandmother. After getting to the hospital and settling in everything went smoothly from there. I got my long awaited epidural and delivered my beautiful baby boy. It was such an amazing experience to go through without all the pain and suffering. I almost had no pain at all. I think the worst was getting the IV'S and the allergic reaction I had to the antibiotics they had given me. After the placenta delivered we had a bit of a scare with a rapid blood loss, low blood pressure and a case of the after delivery shakes. The very well trained staff got it under control with some medications and fundal massage though and everything was ok.

A Moment you wish could last forever

Dominique Nisay(Cambodian for, " Loved from afar; love at first sight") was born October 6th 2011 @ 5:24am weighing 7lbs 6oz and 20 1/2 inches long. We spent 3 days at the hospital because of jaundice in the baby, he had to be treated with the phototherapy and was sent home on a "Bilibed" for continued jaundice treatment. We have been to the doctor everyday to have bilirubun levels checked and they continue to rise. His hemoglobin also has dropped a bit. Tomorrow if the levels are up he will have to have more aggressive treatment with the hospital grade phototherapy but the pediatrician said the medical supply company can bring that to our house.

Its a bit hard because the only time he has been able to be out of the therapy bed is to be fed. Hopefully his numbers start going down so we can all snuggle him soon and hold him all the time. His jaundice and hemoglobin problems have been related to the whole antibody issues we had during the pregnancy. I never would have thought that would affect him after he was born but I think its just a small bump in the road. He'll get better and be ok.

This time around breastfeeding is going smoothly, the baby is latching great, gaining weight and thriving. While we were at the hospital my mother did all of our laundry, cleaned the house and welcomed us home with great meals. She even exercised the dogs. I don't know what we'd do without her. Prob also had and has been doing a great job taking care of the older kids, nurturing Gabriel and loving me. We were having a bit of a rocky road before the baby was born but his birth has been such a bonding experience for us. I saw a quote the other day that fits just that;

 “Children make you want to start life over.”

~Muhammad Ali

I like that, and that's how I feel, like Dominique is a new start for us, our relationship, our family. A new start for me with a better experience to remember and best of all the beginning of a precious new life. We may not have expected for our family to grow so quickly but I guess we never know where life will take us and I am glad we are here. Welcome to the world beautiful Dominique, Welcome.

School, Fall and more

Here we are at the beginning of the new school year. The children had their first day last Tuesday and luckily are able to be attending the school we love without me having to be their transportation this year considering I have my hands full with Gabriel and a new baby due here in about a month.

I love this time of year. I always have since I was a little girl. I think my favorite things about it are the changing colors, the way the air smells in the mornings when you first step outside, the excitement of a new school year and to me it always feels like a fresh start somehow. Fall makes me happy and cheery.

I am 2 days shy of being 35 weeks pregnant. At our 33 week appointment the doctor said they wanted to do an amniocentesis to check the baby's lungs for maturity and induce if they were indeed mature. The reason she said this was because I guess once you reach 36 weeks gestation the testing to check the baby for anemia are no longer very accurate. At my 34 week appointment, a different doctor thought it would be ok to just wait until labor begins on its own since most likely the baby will be unaffected by theses antibodies since he hasn't thus far meaning my placenta is doing a good job not allowing those antibodies to reach the baby.

I don't know what to think. All I know is I want to do whatever is best for the baby. I know my body is spent and ready to be done as soon as possible. I know I have a 11 month old that is very attached to mommy lately and doesn't realize its hard for mommy to carry him around 24/7, only that he needs me. A husband that doesn't understand how hard it is to be pregnant only that he is worn out too from long days of work.  2 older kids that don't see that I need them to be more responsible and two dogs that don't care that I'm almost 9 months pregnant but know that they crave exercise.

That's life I guess as a mother. Its all worth it though and things will get easier. I am looking forward to taking the family to the pumpkin patch soon, Gabriel's first birthday party this weekend and Romeos football games. Oh and I cant forget sweatshirts and bonfires. Beautiful Fall.

A weekend with Grandma

This past weekend my mother had planned for my niece and nephew from Brainerd to visit and spend the weekend with her. She decided to make it a fun filled weekend with our 2 oldest as well. Saturday she also watched Gabriel for the afternoon and Evening so that Prob and I could attend a wedding for an old friend of mine.

Our 2 eldest children spent 3 nights in a row over at Grandmas, which was the longest we had ever had them away from home. I had forgotten how very easy it is with just one child to take care of. The peace and quiet was nice and a break was much needed from the everyday battles of older siblings but I think Gabriel missed them and was wondering where they were.

The children had a great time with their cousins and Romeo and Olivia have always loved spending time with my mother. They went to a waterpark on Friday, Minnehaha falls Saturday and we all went to the pool on Sunday. In between all of that Grandma rented them movies, made them good meals and kept them busy with arts and craft projects.

I feel very lucky that my children have my mother who is very hands on with them. She always makes an effort to spend time with them and esteem them as individuals. She is really the only grandparent they have that plays an active role in their lives and one of the only people I can always count on and trust to help us with them and I don't know what we'd do without her. Thanks Mom for being a really good Grandma!

Busy Busy Busy

Less than a month to go before school begins for the children. Every day, week, year, seems to fly by since I started having children. This summer is going by especially fast, probably because it took so long to get nice weather, then it was so hot you could hardly stand it and now the weather is finally nice and warm... ahh.

I find myself looking ahead to these next weeks and months to follow and am seeing nothing but a busy schedule in my final few months of pregnancy. Romeo starts football Monday with practices 3 times a week and a game usually once a week. Olivia is going to start gymnastics soon as well. My mom's 50th birthday is at the beginning of September and my three children have birthdays that follow that. Gabriel's 1st birthday is at the end of September and the other 2 in October and of course I am due October 20th with the next one. 4 birthdays so close to eachother is nutty and I still have no idea how it happened that way. My husband of course was very slow and now is slammed with work when its the busiest at home.

I have doctors appointments every week now and my body is very tired and beat from being pregnant back to back. Today I went in to see an orthopedic doctor and they gave me cortisone shots in my wrists for my carpel tunnel syndrome due to the pregnancy. The doctor said I should feel some much needed relief in about 7-10 days, I hope so. My husband and I also have weekend engagements that we have committed to for the next few weeks and we still have yet to take the children school shopping, probably get that done later this week.

In the midst of it all is a house that needs to be tended to,  bored kids and animals, that need to eat and be entertained, and a marriage that needs nurturing. It gets to be alot, but each day at the end of the day I remember to remind myself how much I am blessed with and am thankful.

Tonight after dinner with my swollen feet and numb hands and a husband at work, I couldn't say no when the kids asked to walk to the park. So we went and even though there were small tradgedies and whining, the weather was nice and we were all together and thats all that matters.

The fun of being a kid

Gabriel's cute self loves anything furry or hairy lol

First Steps

 The exciting moments for our little Gabriel just keep coming and what kind of a mom would I be if I didn't brag about them?

The other evening, August 5th, while we were all hanging out in the living room, Gabriel took his first few steps. He was kind of confused by the uproar it created and I think wondered what the heck was going on. Watching Romeo and Olivia's reaction to it was just as cute. The look on their faces with grins from ear to ear and the praise and excitement they showed was that of a parent. It was a very heartwarming moment. I also noticed that in the past two days two more little teeth have come through on the bottom. So now our little guy has 3 teeth, just like that!

A Day to Celebrate

August 4th may not mean a lot to the whole world, but to me it is a day that will change the course of my life forever. It is the day 3 years ago that I gave up smoking.

I started smoking at 14 years of age and I had always struggled with trying to quit. In June 2008 a second aunt of mine passed away at a young age from an unexpected brain aneurysm. I wasn't very close to her but it got me thinking about life. I started to think of how much she was going to miss out on, her children's weddings, her grandchildren growing up, just a whole lot of things she wouldn't be here for.

My aunt had no way of knowing this would happen or any way of being able to prevent it, things like that just happen. That made me think of my own life and my own mortality, I DID have a choice, a way to prevent something that I knew would eventually catch up with me. So with alot of praying and struggling, God gave me the strength to overcome something that had such a tight grip on me, addiction. August 3rd 2008 was the last day I ever smoked a cigarette and the beginning of a longer healthier life for me.

So many people die unexepectly or much too prematurely. In life, for the most part, we never know how or when when we will die. I realized though that I didn't want to dig myself an early grave when I didn't have to. I didn't want to miss out on my children growing up, getting married, and having a family of their own. I didn't want to have any regrets. I wanted it to be my time naturally, accidently, unexpectedly but not regretfully.

A few months after I quit smoking, my uncle got diagnosed with terminal throat cancer, due to smoking. He underwent a surgery to remove his voice box, lots of miserable chemotherapy and radiation but worst of all he had so much regret. 9 months after his diagnosis he passed away. Before he died he told me over and over again, don't worry about anything and  please don't ever smoke again. I haven't and won't.

Instead of living and learning which is usually what it takes for me, I opened my eyes and gave it to God, trusted myself and trusted the words of someone who learned the hard way. I have never been so proud of myself for anything I have accomplished in my whole life. I know this is definitely a day to celebrate, every year for the rest of my longer life.