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Have you seen that ticker way at the bottom of this page? Yeah, that one with the stack of cash! That is how much money I've saved up for Christmas! I started working for ChaCha on 9/4/08. Yes it's legit, yes you really get paid, no it's not a scam, and no you don't have to pay them anything or buy anything or anything like that. All you have to do is go to www.chacha.com and click on the Become a Guide button. BUT make sure you let them know I sent you! In the box where it asks how were you referred put: rich @ zingslings . com (without the spaces of course). By doing so, not only will you be earning money for yourself, but you'll be helping to add to my savings as well!

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I myself work 2-3 hours per day. My typical work time is me sitting on the couch in my pj's feeding Gavin. Now who in their right mind would pay me to sit around nursing my baby and watching tv? Well.........ChaCha does!!

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What are you waiting for! Go!!!! Don't forget to use me as a referral though!

Bored

I'm bored tonight, there's a million things I should be doing lol.

Quick update.......Gavin turned 4 months old on Aug 22nd and weiged 17 lbs 6 oz and is 25 1/4 inches long. My boy is growing so fast!

The 3 oldest have been back to school for a week now, 7th, 4th and 1st grades. Zachary is covered in poison ivy. Ashlyn is getting quite the attitude lol. Guess that's about it!

Finally Home!!

Haven't updated in a few days, once I got him in my arms I had a hard time letting go! lol. So here's a rundown of the past few days.

4/30 - 8 days old - weight 5 lbs 15 oz. At 7:30 a.m. the bili levels came back at 15.1. Doc says we can take him home on one condition - we bring him back the next day for another bili check and take him to our pediatrician on Friday. We were finally released around 9 a.m. that morning. Rich, Zachary and Ashlyn came to pick us up from the hospital and they were both fascinated by their new little brother :) It's so nice to finally be home. The other 3 kids couldn't run into the house fast enough after school to get their first peek at their new brother :)

5/1 - 9 days old - went back for another bili check. He slept right through the heel poke lol.

5/2 - 10 days old - went for a check up with our pediatrician. Weight is still about the same (was 6 lbs 4 oz with a wet/dirty diaper on) Thursday's bili levels were 15.8 but that's fine for this age. She said the jaundice could take up to a month to really go away. He's still a bit yellow but not as bad. He checked out perfect :) Goes back again at 1 month old which will be right around his due date.

He's eating well and sleeping well at home. He wakes to eat about every 2 1/2-3 hours except for one 5 hour stretch each morning. He's been awake and alert from about 5 pm - 8 pm each evening and he's so quiet you hardly know he's here!

Here's some pics - some you've seen, some are new:

7 days old and Look what I have!!!!

He's in my room finally!!!! The neo came in at 6:30 pm Monday. Said that he is doing great and said it would be fine for him to start rooming in with me as long as he stays on the portable monitor. So the nurse got him all ready, finally put a shirt on him, got him into the regular bassinet and brought him over :) I hate that darn monitor though, every time he starts moving around the alarms go off cuz he's constantly rubbing his arm against the sensors. He did go to the nursery for the night but is back with me already this morning. He's finally All Mine!!!

So the neo started talking about releasing us a day early, on Tuesday - but then he looked at Gavins chart. I guess on Sunday he had a very slight apnea episode but it only lasted 5 seconds, there was no color change and he didn't need any stimulation. He said it was nothing and he won't even count that as an 'episode' but said let's stick with Wednesday. Whatever I'm fine with that - at least he didn't try to get us to stay longer. He said He usually makes ppl wait 7 days after a desat........so I'm luckly to be bringing him home at 5 days after. He said "so what time would you like to go home on Wednesday" I told him my kids get on the bus at 8. So he said he wrote up all the discharge info and said all the nurses need to do is call him at 8 am on Wednesday and he will give the final release over the phone :) They'll draw is bili levels tomorrow morning but he said in order to keep him here for that his level would have to be 16 or above and he said the chances of that happening are pretty much none espeically since his levels peaked at 14.2 and he's now 7 days old. So as soon as the kids are all on the bus tomorrow Rich will be on his way to pick us up!!! We're FINALLY going home!!!!!!!!

9:00 pm - He has done great all day today :) His morning weight was 6 lbs 1 oz so Yay he gained back 2 oz!! He nursed a ton today too so I wouldn't be surprised if he gains another ounce by morning. Only about 12 hours to go!!! He had his car seat test today and passed with flying colors :)

6 days old

Hard to believe he's 6 days old already!! Morning weight 5 lbs 15 oz

He ate good through the night, and his last feeding was around 6 am and was the best yet........he gained 76 grams with that one!! (which is just over 2 oz). His bili levels came back 11.5 this morning and we're waiting to hear back from the neonatologist to see if he can come of the light. Once he's off the light he can come in here with me :) Will still have the monitors on him but I dont care I just want him in here with me. Forgot to ask what his naked weight was this morning. When they do the b4 and after feed weight checks they leave him wrapped up in a blanket and leave his diaper on because they're just looking for the difference in weight not an actual accurate weight. The neo will be in sometime today too.

He is such a quiet baby, rarely ever cries and even when he does it's more of a quiet whimper lol. The only time he really cries is when they're poking his poor little heels to get blood. But even then the instant i touch him he's fine :)

11:00 am - the bili levels came back at 11.5 this morning and just got word on the phone from the neo that he can come off the lights!! :) BUT......he wants to See him before saying he can come room in with me. Hopefully he comes in early.

5 days old - updated 8:30 pm

Sunday 4/27/08 Morning Weight 5 lbs 15 oz

6:30 a.m. He woke up on his own about every 2 hours last night to nurse. And then woke up around 6 am just before the nurse came in to draw blood for his bili check. Little stinker decided he didn't want to eat though he just wanted to cuddle and go back to sleep. So we'll give him about another hour see if he wakes back up if not i'll go wake him up. The neonatologist was here around 2 a.m. - Dr. Kekerra which is the neo he saw on tues and wed. She said he's doing great and she agree's with Dr. Chandra (the other neo) about watching him for 5-7 days after the desat episode. She was actually trying to push more for 7 days but I told her no, Dr. C said Wednesday and I'm holding him to it. I guess Gavin lost an ounce yesterday evening so was 5 lbs 15 oz so Dr. K wants him weighed before and after each feeding again and wants him getting 30 cc's per feed which equals about an ounce. If he doesn't take that much at breast it's back to offering the bottle afterwards, even if it's only for a couple cc's. At the 3:30 feeding he gained 27 then drank 10 from a bottle. He didn't appreciate that bottle though lol. He likes the boob :) The nurse pretty much moved the bottle around in his mouth so the breastmilk was dripping out and then he'd swallow. I hate that it has to pretty much be forced on him like that but hey we gotta keep doc happy. His bili levels should be back in about a half hour or so.

1:30 pm. He was pretty lazy for his 9 am feeding. Wouldn't stay awake to nurse at all so after 45 mins of trying we gave him a bottle and he ended up drinking 35 cc's. He woke up at 12:15 on his own hungry and he nursed Great :) Gained 62 grams in just under 20 mins of nursing!! So almost double what the neo wanted to see him eat :) He made up for his laziness earlier that's for sure. His bili levels came back at 13 today. He's still under the lights - it's not absolutely necessary but since he has to be back there anyway it couldn't hurt. They say that at 5 days old is when the biliruben levels out then starts going down so I expect by tomorrow it should be at a great level. He'll get them checked again in the morning.
Here's 2 pics of him from just a little bit ago :)


5:00 pm - just got back from feeding and cuddling :) I was a little worried cuz he only nursed for 5 minutes then went to sleep and I didn't want to have to give him a bottle, but at his after feed weight check he had gained 38 grams in that 5 minutes!! I have a little power nurser on my hands lol. I guess another neonatologist was in earlier while i was in the shower and now they want all his diapers weighed too. The nurse said she has no clue why and she doesn't understand why they're treating him like he's more of a preemie than he is. She said usually they only weigh the diapers like that for babies under 5 lbs. He's pretty much stayed at 5 lbs 15 oz all day - for the past 3 days he's been 6 lbs 0 oz so he's only lost 1 ounce in those 3 days and only 5 oz from birth which isn't unusual or anything to be surprised about. Guess I'll be stalking the nursery tomorrow watching for a neo to come in so I can talk to them and find out more. If they even dare mess with us going home on wednesday they're going to deal with a fight.

8:30 pm - Rich came up for awhile and even kidnapped me to take me to walgreens lol. Pretty sad how excited i was to go buy chapstick haha. Gavin woke up around 6:30 to eat and nursed great. Gained 55 grams this feeding!! That neo better be Damn Happy lol. They checked his bili levels tonight and they were back down to 12 so they'll recheck in the morning. They usually check at 6 a.m and 6 pm. I'm hoping they are down even more cuz I want to take him off the lights and also shut the warmer off and get him into clothes to be sure he can hold his own body temp. Since he has to be in just a diaper for the bili light he's been under the warmer and has never had the chance at maintaining his own body heat and I don't want them to hold us back on wednesday saying they need to be sure he can.

Saturday 4/26 - 4 days old - updated 11:30 pm

Saturday 4/26 - morning weight 6 lbs 0 oz.

1:15 a.m. - Next feeding wasn't "due" until around 2:30 but Gavin woke on his own hungry :) Nursed strong for 20 minutes then laid on my chest for awhile. The neonatologist was there - he had a new c-sect baby to check out - so he came to talk to me. The good news is Gavin hasn't had anymore desats......bad news is the Earilest he's looking at getting out of here is on Wednesday :( The neo said that after a desat they like to watch for 5-7 days. He will have to be on the monitors (heartrate, pulse ox, respiration & .........ugh whatever the 4th one is i can't remember) the whole time. I don't see how I'm going to be able to stay with him, Rich needs to get back to work. The thought of leaving him here makes me sick. I CAN'T!!!! He's finally nursing so well, I refuse to give him formula. In the morning I need to let Rich know what's up - I just know he's going to say I need to come home. I don't know........I'm just super upset right now.

5:00 am - Another good feeding, not quite as long - just over 10 minutes - but he nursed well. They took some blood for another bili test.

7:30 am - Woke up hungry lookin for me :) Nursed for just over 20 minutes and was wide awake for awhile. When he started getting sleep I just sat there with him on my chest. We were so comfy :) I hated to put him down but his bili levels came back at 14 so he still needs the lights (they were 13.9 yesterday morning). They'll check his levels again at 6 pm tonight. I talked to Rich this morning and told him what the neo said about being here til at least wednesday and I feel a little better now that i've talked to him. I really thought he was gonna push for me to come home and leave Gavin here but he didn't :) He said if his boss doesn't like him taking extra days off he'll just tell him where to shove it and will get a different job. It's a good thing we'll be getting that tax rebate this coming week - it couldn't come at a better time. Well my breakfast should be here soon - will update later today and will get some new pics next time I go in to feed him.

1:00 pm - we had another great feeding at 11:30. We're getting away from the "scheduled" every 3 hour feedings and trying to let him wake on his own which he's been doing :) Sometimes it's 2 hours sometimes 4 so they're willing to let him go up to about 4 1/2 hours before needing to wake him up for a feeding which we havent had to do yet since he's done it on his own :) My sister came up for a bit and after I got done feeding Gavin she took me over to Walgreen's so I could get some soap and shampoo and ibuprofrin. It was nice to get off the hospital grounds even if it was only for about 20 minutes.

3:00 pm - Gavin woke on his own for this feeding too :) So he has woken himself for every single feeding today! I spent about an hour and a half back there with him. He was so alert :) He nursed for a bit, then got his diaper changed, nursed some more then looked around for awhile, nursed some more then we cuddled until he fell asleep. I could have sat like that all day long with him but wanted to get that light back on him. He gets his blood drawn again at 6 pm for the bili levels and the results should be back around 7 or so. I am exhausted so think I will try to get a quick nap in.

All this evenings feedings went great. Just got back from feeding and cuddling with him :) His bili levels are down to 12.2 now :) Which is enough to take him off the lights but we're gonna keep him on them overnight just for the heck of it. He'll come off of them around 7 a.m. after his levels are checked again. They'll then check again tomorrow evening to make sure they didn't rebound. They don't think they will though :) IF his levels are going to go back up though I hope they do it tomorrow that way we can have it all taken care of before wednesday. He had some company for a little while tonight, a c-sect baby was back there for a little while for some fluid in his lungs. Looking at that baby then looking at Gavin and omg Gavin looks like a total little peanut!! lol the nurse said the other baby weighed 10 lbs 11 oz! Well I'm off to get some sleep, he should be waking up around 2 to eat again. Probably won't post very many updates tomorrow, since he'll be off the lights i'll be back there holding him much more :)

3 days old - updated 9:30 p.m.

Friday 4/25/08 Morning weight - 6 lbs 0 oz.

First I want to say thank you to everyone for the congrats, thoughts & prayers :) Also a very special thank you to 2 wonderful women who helped me out more than they even know yesterday :) You know who you are! I am very blessed to have the online friends that I do.

2 a.m. - Gavin didn't want to wake up for this feeding :( I myself didn't go to bed til 1 a.m. so am exhausted, tried for about 1/2 an hour to wake him but he was just too comfy. I headed back to bed and the nurse went ahead and gave him a bottle which he took. Not sure how many cc's I'll have to ask her........hopefully it was 25-30 cc's like the dr. wants. He was fed that at almost 3 a.m. so we'll try to feed again at 6. Hoping he'll wake up and nurse for me. He'll have his labwork drawn later this morning, this time just for his bili levels and one other thing but I forget what. Those results are usually back in pretty quickly so I really hope his bili levels went down. The neonatologist should be in sometime this morning and I am going to push like hell to get that i.v. out and all monitors off. His breathing has been perfect so I don't see any need for all those monitors anyway. My poor lil guy smells like a big roll of tape! Here's a couple pics of him taken last night. Is he cute or what!? :)




6:00 am - Feeding went well :) He was wide awake and nursed for the full 20 minutes and gained 29 grams!!!

8:00 am - Just went to sit with Gavin and the nurse was in there taking his IV out!!!! :) They're getting ready to put him under the bili lights though. His level came back at 13 this morning so he'll be under the light and they'll recheck in the morning. As long as he continues to feed well today and his levels are down tomorrow then there's a good chance we can be coming home tomorrow!!!

9:00 am - Another good feeding!! He was a bit sleepy and only nursed for 10 minutes but he gained 15 grams :) He then drank a bottle of about 14 cc's. He's under the bili light now - it's a white single light rather than those blue ones, I asked about the difference and they said this one is stronger and works faster. Hey works for me!!

1:00 pm - Yet another GREAT feeding!! Did this one an hour late because we wanted to see if he'd wake on his own for a feeding. He did and nursed for the full 20 minutes and gained 27 grams then drank about 10 cc's from a bottle. His skin color already looked much much better just for the short time he's been under the bili light. The nurse told me however that at 11 a.m. he had a 'de-sat' is what I think she called it. Anyway basically he forgot to breathe and started turning a little blue and they had to rub on his back to get him to take a breath. They didn't seem to concerned about it but that scares the hell out of me!!! She said the neonatologists usually like the baby to stay 24 hours after one of those..........which I didn't expect he'd be released sooner than that anyway - just hoping and praying he doesn't do that again!! We definitely don't need any set backs. Now I'm gonna be a nervous wreck though and watching every breath he takes! Other than that though he is doing Great :)

4:30 pm - The best feeding yet!! He woke up as soon as I went back there and the minute he heard my voice his mouth was wide open searching lol. He latched right on and nursed strong for 20 minutes, took a little break to look around then nursed again for almost 10 minutes :) He no longer has to be weighed before and after each feeding AND since he's nursing so well he doesn't have to get a bottle afterwards either!!! Which Also means I don't have to keep pumping :) Whew I'm starting to fear that darn pump is gonna pull my nipples right off lol. His skin color is looking Great. The only hard part about today is I want to just sit there and hold him all day but I want him to be under the lights as much as possible so his levels will be great in the morning so I've been limiting my self to just holding him during feedings then cuddling with him for about 1/2 an hour afterwards. It's such a good feeling to see him so alert and feeding so well today :)

7:30 pm - Daddy was up for this feeding :) He did very good again nursing a full 20 minutes before going back to sleep. I'm a bit emotional right now though - I hope the neonatologist comes in soon so I can get a clue as to whats next. The day nurse said we'll probably go home tomorrow evening even after the 'de-sat' but the night nurse said she thinks we'll be here a couple more days. I know I shouldn't stress about it and should just wait to see what the Dr. says but this is hard!! I miss my husband - I miss my kids and I want my baby right here on me. I just saw 3 more people go home with their babies and it gets harder and harder with each one.

9:30 pm - Well I just went to ask the nurse if the neo was still coming in tonight and she told me he had already been here and somehow I missed him :( It must have been when I had to go to the other end of the hospital to pay for my nights stay. So I asked her what he said and she said she doesn't know anything other than she thinks he wants him to stay a couple more days because of the de-sat episode earlier and that there will be a neo coming in tomorrow that can tell me more. If he has to stay he'll have to remain on all the monitors but the nurse said she'll see what we can do about getting him in my room at least for feedings. I know him being back there is what's best for him right now but dammit it sucks! I go feed him in about an hour then I guess I'll try to get some sleep. I only slept 3 hours last night and about 4 the night before so I'm sure the lack of sleep will be taking it's toll on me soon.

11 pm - Another good feeding, only just over 10 minutes this time but he nursed strong the whole time.

Gavin 2 days old. - Update d 11 pm

4/24/08 - morning weight: 6 lbs 0 oz.

2:00 a.m. I woke up very ticked off that they didn't wake me up for his 1 a.m. feeding and I went to the nursery to see what was going on. They said he hadn't digested much of the 10 pm feeding so they were going to wait to feed him til 4 a.m. (they use the tube to extract the fluid from his belly to see how much is still in there - he was fed 10 cc's at 10 pm and at 1 a.m still had 9 cc's in his belly).

4:00 a.m. - 2nd attempt at nursing went same as the first. He wouldn't wake up to try so again he got 10 cc's via tube. They also moved his I.V. from his arm to his foot because his hand swelled up pretty bad.

6:00 a.m. today's labwork back - no infection so antibiotics ordered to be stopped at 2 pm. Bili levels 11.3 :(

7:00 a.m. - I.V. moved from his foot to his head because his foot started to swell. Also OG tube moved from his mouth/throat to his nose because he kept trying to pull it out plus they wanted to make trying to nurse easier.

11 a.m. - another try at breastfeeding. Again he would not wake up - he's getting more and more yellow looking too :( I did finally get it in his mouth though and he gave a couple 'sucks' here n there. They're weighing him before and after and he did gain 0.3 of 1 ounce so he did get a little bit. He was then given 10 cc's via tube.

2 pm - Neonatologist ordered the iv fluids to be lowered and will continue to be lowered more the more he eats. Another try at nursing, this time he woke up just a little bit and latched on a couple times. Not a great latch but much better than last time. He did however lose 0.2 of an ounce this time due to him being a bit more active during this feeding. He did get some milk though via breast, about 5 cc's. Then they gave him another 5 cc's via tube.

It's 4 pm now and I'll get to go try to feed him again at 5 :) Here's hoping he gets a good latch and eats n eats :) Will update more later.

6:00 pm - HE ATE!!!!!!!!! I went in for his 5:00 feeding and he was wide awake finally. I held him and he was fascinated looking all around for about 5 minutes then I offered him the breast and he started going at it like he had done it for years!!! He nursed for 8 minutes straight then stopped to let out a couple burps then latched right back on for another 5 minutes stopping to burp another 4 times. At that time the neonatologist came back in so we weighed him again (first right b4 the feeding) and he gained 8 grams from that feeding which they say is about the same as drinking 8 cc's then he drank another 13 cc's from a bottle. The neo. said that he wants him to eat about 25-30 cc's per feeding - he can be at the breast for 20 minutes, no more as to not wear him out, and if he doesn't get that amount from the breast he can take the rest from a bottle. They turned the iv fluids down again, he was getting an 8mL (or mg i dont know) drip and they cut it down to 4. If he keeps up eating well and the amount the dr wants him to through the night the iv can come out in the morning and he can leave the special care nursery and start rooming in with me!!! =) He's still pretty yellow so I'm really hoping his levels are good in the morning. The neo said as long as they are under 13 he will be happy - anything above 13-14 he's going under the lights. I am just So so happy that he finally nursed :) I worry a bit about nipple confusion since they gave him a bottle too But I found out that they've been giving him a paci (against my wishes) and he's been liking that and he still nursed great so hey whatever it takes to get him in here with me :) He will always get breast before bottle and this last feeding he didn't seem to mind the transition from one nipple to the other one bit. Next feeding will be at 8:00 unless he shows he's hungry before that. Oh yeah and he pulled out his feeding tube just before I got in there for the feeding. Since he ate so well they are not going to put it back in :)

8:00 pm - well this feeding didn't go well :( ugh what a freaking roller coaster ride, he wouldn't wake up to nurse and lost 2 grams during the 20 minutes we tried. So then the nurse tried the bottle and of course he wouldn't wake up for that either so she basically forced it down him, 13 cc's worth. At least it was enough to avoid them putting the feeding tube back in. I'm hoping the 11:00 feeding goes better. I hate this schedule crap. NONE of my kids were ever on any kind of feeding schedule. I really believe that if they were to take all that crap off him and let him in here with me that we could get the feedings going. If I was stuck in a room under a heating lamp all day I'd do nothing but sleep too!! The up and down emotions are exhausting. Not only am I away from my 5 babies at home but I can't spend the time I want with Gavin either. Sure I can go in there any time I want but having to sit there in that chair and hold him with all the wires is rough. Well off to surf the web a bit, 1 hour 20 minutes left til next feeding time and hopefully it will be an "up" time.

11:00 pm - He was wide awake when I went in to start his feeding. And he nursed the full 20 minutes!!! He gained 16 grams too! Afterwards he drank another 12 cc's from the bottle so a total of 28 - WOO HOO!!!!!!!! Dr. wants 25-30 cc's per feeding. Here's hoping he does the same for the 2 a.m. feeding! I'm hoping that by tomorrow he'll be able to get the full feeding done during the 20 minutes of nursing and not need the bottle afterwards.

Gavin's 1st 48 hours

Gavin was taken to the nursery shortly after birth because his body temp was a little low. I got moved into my postpartum room and Rich had to head home to get the kids off to school. I dozed off for a bit and went to the nursery to get him but he had been moved to the special care nursery because his breathing was too hard and fast. They like the respirations between 30-60 breaths per minute and his were ranging 80's-100's. They had him hooked up to monitor's that monitored his heartrate/pulse/oxygen levels and respirations. Just going to do this in time line format will be much easier.

4/22/08 - birth weight 6 lbs 4 oz

11:00 a.m. - started on i.v. fluids to prevent dehydration from breathing so fast and OG tube put in (down his throat, very small tube) to relieve the air building up in his belly.

2:00 p.m. - I.V. antibiotics started to prevent infection from fluid in lungs.

3:00 pm - throughout the day respirations remained high, oxygen levels were down some and there was talk about possibly starting him on a little bit of oxygen.

4:00 pm - oxygen levels back to normal and oxygen was never given.

6:00 pm - talked to pediatrician about feeding Gavin and was told no due to the risk of him aspirating the breastmilk since he was breathing so fast still.

4/23/08 1 day old: morning weight 6 lbs 6 oz.

5 a.m. - lab work drawn - later came back showing no infection in lungs, bili level was 7.
His respirations were great throughout the night averaging between 40-60 breaths per minute. Oxygen levels stayed great also.

8 a.m. - Neonatologist came in to talk to me. Said the antibiotics would be administered for 48 hours and if still no sign of infection he can come off those. Orders given to feed breastmilk via the tube - 5cc's every 3 hours. If he tolerates 4 feedings well and his breathing remains stable I can try to breastfeed :)

Pumping every 2 hours and he was fed breastmilk via tube at 9 am, 1 pm, 4 pm and 7 pm.

10 pm - got to try to breastfeed for the first time - but he wouldn't wake up and after 15 minutes of trying never got the nipple in his mouth :( They don't want me trying more than 15 minutes as to not stress him out. So he was fed via tube - 10 cc's per feeding now rather than 5.

Introducing Gavin Robert!

Introducing Gavin Robert!

On Monday 4/21/08 I was just pretty much hanging out at home doing the same ole same ole........I coughed and then realized oh wonderful I didn't prepare for the cough and now I wet myself. So I go get changed didn't think another thing of it. Well then a few minutes later as I was walking up the stairs I noticed more wetness and started to wonder if maybe it was my water. So I call up my friend and told her I thought my water might be leaking then we just talked about other every day stuff as I walked around outside. Well during our conversation the leaking continued to increase so it was at that time I knew for sure it was my water. I called the midwife just before 3 pm and she had me come into the office to verify. So get there and sure enough the little strip turned blue immediately. She checked me and I was a loosed 2 cm's dilated. After All those contrax I had for the full week beforehand........yeah they disappeared. Figures!!! So we talked and decided I would go home, pack my bags (yeah i still hadnt done that lol), eat dinner then head in to the hospital to be induced. I hate pitocin and really wanted to avoid it this time but I also knew that walking and using the breastpump never got my labor going with the last 2 kids so I decided that instead of killing my nipples and wearing myself out we'd just start right up with the pitocin.

Arrived at the hospital at around 7 p.m. and pitocin was started at 8. The contrax started up within about 10 minutes - nothing heavy, just light ones every 3 mins or so. We did alot of walking the halls and my midwife arrived around 9:30. The contrax started picking up in intensity around 10:30 pm but nothing I couldn't manage. Midwife asked if I minded if she go lay down for a bit - of course i didnt mind :) - and told me to call if I need her. I think it was around 12:30 that things started getting intense. I put a pillow on the floor and spent quite some time on my hands and knee's as that was the most comfortable I could get, things were getting pretty painful by then. I remember feeling a soft touch on my back rubbing my lower back and shoulders and after a few contrax I finally looked up to see who was there cuz I knew it wasn't Rich rubbing my back lol, it was my midwife :) It's like she knew I needed her without me even having to send someone for her. From that moment on she never left my side. I couldn't have asked for a better support person, she was awesome! Around 1 a.m. she asked if I wanted her to check me, due to the pressure and pain of the contrax I was Sure i was progressing.......when she told me I was 3 cm's dilated and 90% effaced I lost it. I was Pisssed! All that pain and that's all it's done!! She calmed me down and filled the tub up for me. I got into the tub and omg that was heaven. The contrax went from a pain level of 10 on a scale of 1-10 to about a 3. We thought the water was stalling labor since I was so calm and comfy in there but she checked me again at around 2 a.m. and i was 6cm's!!! I needed to use the bathroom so she told me to get through a couple contrax on the toilet to help bring him down a bit more. Yeah that wasn't fun lol. If I thought things were intense before I was wrong because this was just excruciating!! I got through about 5 contractions on the toilet then got back into the tub. The water wasn't helping anymore though and I was losing all focus and focusing on the pain. My midwife just kept talking to me and rubbing my back and pulling me back in to focus. Shortly after 3 a.m. I told her I wanted to get out of the tub. My legs were very stiff and I need to stretch them out. She told me 'If you get out now you probably won't get to get back in, you are THAT close'. I tod her I didn't care at this point I just needed to move. So she asked me if I was sure (she knows how badly I wanted a waterbirth) and asked me if I would have any regrets if I got out of tub and I told her I wanted out. So she helped me back out to the bed. The minute I got in the bed things really got bad. She checked me again and I was fully dilated! After all that time of me wanting this over, I froze when she said I could push whenever I felt ready. So I spent a few minutes telling her I changed my mind and begging her to make the burning stop lol, then yelling at dh that I am NOT doing this again lol. And then I decided ok we're getting this over with. So I started pushing, I was laying on my left side which I thought would have been comfortable but it wasn't so I flipped to my back. The minute I did that I hear the m/w saying "Jessica reach down and catch your baby" I was holding the bed rail and rich's hand so tight that I couldn't let go! I kept telling her I can't and she grabbed my hands and Made me! I reached down just as his head was being delivered. I gave another push and felt him 'fall' right into my hands and I brought him up to my belly. *I* caught him! It's something that I always wanted to do and I am SO so glad she MADE me do it :)

The cord was pretty short so i was unable to bring him up closer to my but I just stared in awe at the hair he had!! None of my kids had that much hair lol. Daddy cut the cord and I was able to then move him up on my chest. I started bleeding pretty heavily and saw the worried look on the midwife's face. I was feeling ok but was nervous thinking back to how badly I hemorraged with my 1st. She gave me a shot of something in my leg then kept massaging the uterus. This went on for quite some time before things got under control. But important thing is that it was under control :) I tried to nurse but he wasn't interested at the time.

Here is Gavin Robert
born 4/22/08 @ 3:29 a.m.
6 lbs 4 oz 19.5"

34 weeks

Wow 34 weeks today!!  Here's my most recent 2 belly pics, and some more diaper covers I've been working on for him (still gotta finish that black one).

Oh and yes one of these days i'll put a picture in that frame on the wall lol, my daughter hung it up there, no clue who those ppl are lol, they came with the frame.

Wont really give an update in this post.  I feel like crap, everything hurts, lots of gross stuff going on, etc etc............fun end of pregnancy stuff.   So I'll just say Here's hoping to at least a week more, even better 2 more weeks before Gavin tries to make his appearance.

Oh yeah and apparantly photobucket thinks my belly is a boob cuz they deleted this pic from when I was 28 weeks lol:

A Long "what i've been up to" post lol

Let's see, we'll start with the pregnant stuff lol. I am now 31 weeks.......WHOA!!! It's recently hit me that I'm gonna have another baby!! Sure........I've known for quite some time now that I'm pregnant, the big beach ball belly...........the heartburn........the kicking and flipping and turning I feel all day.........kind of gives that away lol, but I've been so busy these past months that I never really had time to sit and think about what the end result would be. Fact is......in just a short few weeks I am going to have SIX kids! SIX!!!!!!!! Hard to believe! Am I ready for this? haha guess i better GET ready huh? Let's see, he has tons and tons of clothes thanks to my buddy Natasha :) So at least he won't be naked. I have boobs......lol......so he won't be starving. And well........that's about it! lol. I still need to bring the bassinet in and get that washed. But more importantly I have lots more diapers to make!!! Here's 2 diaper covers I just made him recently:
I think this one will be my favorite lol.

This past Saturday night I couldn't sleep.......well and every night since then too lol. My hips and.........well........other things down there were just in so much pain. So Sunday I had my daughter take a new belly pic because I had a feeling that baby had "dropped". Well here's what I saw:

Guess that explains things!! A bit nervous now though as my last 3 kids all came exactly 4 weeks after I dropped. So if this one follows suit, that would make his arrival to be expected on April 13th at which point I will be 34 weeks 3 days. A bit too early. A full week earlier than my last one. Plus it's my nieces birthday. I'm not due til May 22nd but I am pretty sure I won't make it into May at all. So now fingers are crossed that I make it as long as possible in April and that he gets a healthy start!!

Been keeping busy sewing and getting orders out. I'll be taking my "maternity leave" on March 31st so I have time to finish getting things ready for Gavin and also work on some projects to stock in my stores when I come back =) All of my orders lately have been custom orders and as much as I love doing customs, it doesn't leave much time to get things in stock. Here's a Mei Tai I did a few days ago though that I can't resist showing off =)

She's for sale too over at www.crunchycongo.com ! Oh and check out the Awesome easter egg hunt we have going on over there too! It ends March 26th and there's some great prizes to be won :)

Guess that's about it for now. I don't expect things to slow down any time soon. Kids are off school tomorrow, we have easter at the in-laws Sunday, next week I have 3 chiropractor appointments, one midwife appointment, 1 school concert........and who knows what else lol. Then in 2 weeks the kids have spring break......hope they're ready cuz we have some major Spring Cleaning/Getting ready for baby stuff to do that week! Speaking of which........I need to start cramming those hypnobirthing cd's into my head!! lol time is running out fast!

Granola Chicks? Them girls are Nuts!!

lol. So I'm part of this Awesome online community called Granola Chicks. ( www.granolachicks.com ) I've been there almost a year now and the ladies there have taught me so much. The other day I was looking for advice on how to relieve this horrible heartburn/reflux I've been dealing with, and several of them had suggested Apple Cider Vinegar. Well I finally broke down and bought some today because lately the Tums are just making my heartburn worse. After dinner it was bad, felt like I was breathing fire, so I got up the courage to take a swig of the vinegar. That stuff was THE Nastiest Grossest stuff I've ever drank!!! As I'm shivering from the nasty taste I'm muttering things under my breath and wondering Why oh Why would these ladies do this to me lol. But once I finally quit twitching from the taste I was amazed to find that my heartburn was gone!!! haha those nutty granola chicks were right once again. That was over an hour ago and the heartburn is Still gone!!!

There's so much more to the Granola Chicks. As nutty as they are (and I mean nutty in the most loving way :) Nutty is fun!!) they are some of the most loving caring women I've ever met. I was in a car accident back in January, I was ok, sore but ok, but at barely 20 weeks pregnant I was very concerned about he baby and if he was ok. Since it was a car accident, my pregnancy only insurance wouldn't cover a visit to the midwife to check on the baby. I still had 2 weeks before my next appointment and just couldln't shake the fears I had on if he was ok or not. Well, some very very special Granola Chicks came together and thanks to their donations I was able to fully pay for an office visit to go in and make sure baby was ok :) Had it not been for them, I would have been a nervous wreck for the next 2 weeks wondering and waiting. These ladies there would give the shirt off their back to help another mama out and I am very blessed to be a part of such a great community.

There is such a variety of women there, different styles, different personalities, etc, but one thing they all have in common is their hearts, and passion. I've never seen any drama there, and was even able to share with them a very very difficult part of my past and in return got only love and support, not criticism and guilt. It doesn't matter there if you're black/white, rich/poor, all out 'crunchy' or just a lil bit crunchy, everyone is welcomed with open arms and That's why I love Granola Chicks so much.

In addition to all the great ladies there, you'll find loads of great information on things like cloth diapering, breastfeeding, natural health remedies, special needs, wahm raves, and so on and so on. So if you want to be part of a great community, come on over to http://www.granolachicks.com/community and tell them mama2five sent you :)

Update

As usual I'm slacking on the updates lol. But the past weeks have just been crazy busy. Between orders and stores I'm working working working :) It's great though! I plan to start my "maternity leave" March 31st so trying to cram everything I can in now then will spend my time off doing some much needed maintenance on my website and work on getting a good stock built up to cut down on customs.

Pregnancy - Can you believe I'll be 30 weeks in just a few hours!!!! Time has just flown by so fast. I still have a ton of diapers to make, and need to wash the bassinet, but thanks to a great friend Natasha Gavin is far from a clothing shortage lol. I don't think the boy will ever wear the same outfit twice!!

Now to the blah parts.........the discomforts are really setting in, I can barely get my shoes on, getting up off the floor after changing Ashlyn is quite the adventure, it's getting harder to pick her up, and just walking from one end of the room to other leaves me feeling as if I just ran a marathon. My back hurts, other parts of me hurt lol, and Gavin is just having a field day beating on my hips. He seems to prefer the left hip. Oh yes and the ribs, he gets his feet into those really good.

Trying to take it easy as much as I can, but 'easy' doesn't come easy when you have 5 kids. I've had FFN tests come back positive 2 weeks in a row now, which doesn't guarantee that he will come early but does indicate a chance of it happening. REALLLLLY really hoping I have at Least another 5 weeks left. I go back to the midwife again tomorrow. The good news is the contractions are minimal, I have bouts of them here n there that will last an hour or so then subside. Let's hope they stay at a minimum.

Will update after my midwife appt.

Belly Pics

Long update

Ok so I've been so busy I haven't had time to update, as usual lol.

I'll be 27 weeks on Thursday. Wow. I had a midwife appt last week, went well, I gained another 4 1/2 lbs for a total of 14 lbs so far. Had my glucose test and my thyroid levels checked, haven't received any calls so guessing they all turned out ok :) I go every 2 weeks now and my next appt is on 2/28. I'll get my lovely Rhogam shot and also start with the FFN tests (fetal fibronectin, basically predicts the liklihood of going into labor soon). We're hoping that I won't go any earlier this time than I did with Ashlyn (35 weeks). It wasn't premature labor that caused my last 2 to come early, but premature rupture of the membranes......i.e. my water broke. Not much to be done to prevent that so we'll have to just cross our fingers and wait and see.

Business is Booming :) I got my new sewing machine 2 weeks ago and it hasn't had a break lol. Between both businesses the orders just seem to be rolling in. I'm loving it though :) I've also started making Gavin's diapers, so much fun!! He'll have the cutest little covered butt around :)

Ok guess that's about it, this sure is One Active little boy i have in here!! Here's some pics of things I made recently.

24 weeks

Yep not keeping up with my updates, as usual lol. What else is new.

So I just got over the flu which really sucked. Baby is doing good, he's SUPER super active almost All the time. I think we've decided on Gavin Robert for the name :) We got a crib today and the nursery (which will be Zack & Gavin's room) is almost all painted. My sis in law ordered the cutest bedding for the crib :) and we're getting Zack's new bed probably next weekend. The room will have a cars/trucks theme, will post pics when it's all done. It's all set in now, we're havin a baby!!! And it's coming up fast too. Wow...........SIX kids. SIX!!!!!!!!! How did the happen? lol. Seriously if somone told me 10 years ago I'd have 6 kids I would have just laughed and told them they were nuts.

Not much else going on really, Feb. 6th is coming up real fast and it will be 5 years since we lost our Tristan :( It's gotten easier as the years have gone by, but this time of year is still rough and I don't think it will ever get easier getting through that date. Here I am all excited and getting things ready for the new baby, but at the same time feeling sad that I never got to do that for him.

Ahhhh, well anyway here's my newest belly pics, one from almost 2 weeks ago and the other from today. Don't mind the underwear lol, my lack of a butt makes it hard to keep the pants up LOL.

It's A Boy!

I can't believe I forgot to update this here lol. We had our ultrasound on January 15th and it's a boy! He was FAR from shy about showing off his parts too lol. Not only did we see Very clearly when she was looking for it, but then later as she was trying to measure his femur's he kept moving and there it was plain as day again lol. We got some great pics and it was so neat to see him opening and closing his mouth over and over through the ultrasound. Caught a couple yawns too, and him holding his hands together, then trying to suck his thumb.

He's an active little guy thats for sure!! There's very little time throughout the day where I don't feel him moving around. So far our name choices are Gavin Richard (middle name after dh) or Gavin Robert (middle name after father in law). I will be 23 weeks tomorrow and can't believe how fast time is flying!! I have NOTHING at all ready for this lil guy yet lol. And I mean NOTHING. I keep thinking........oh i have 17 weeks left.......plenty of time right? ha ha nope, especially considering in reality i'll be lucky to have 12 weeks left if this one plans to follow in his brother and sisters footsteps. Really the main things I HAVE to do is bring in the bassinet from the garage, buy or make some diapers (havent decided which yet), and get him some clothes lol. Oh yeah and make a new sling or 2 since most of the ones I use are pretty girly looking. Ahhhh so much to do so little time.

Feeling ok though. Had a bout with some contractions 2 days ago, pretty bad ones too, but nothing since so that's good. It's starting to get harder to get up from sitting though lol and my belly seems to grow a bit more each day. Oh yeah, I had a midwife appt on the 15th too and finally gained some weight!!! :) 7 lbs in 10 days bringing up to 10 lbs total. I go back on Feb 12th and will have my glucose test, thyroid levels checked, and possibly my Rhogam shot. She may wait on the shot til my following appt though, we'll see. Heartburn has kicked in full force now, doesn't matter what i eat drink or breathe and i get heartburn. Nothing compared to the reflux I had with Ashlyn though so for now I'll be grateful for that and just hope I don't get the reflux again. I think I got that at around 28-30 weeks with her.

I just hope things continue to go smoothly. With Ashlyn I was having NST's twice a week, FFN tests once a week, and lots of contrax from about 28 weeks on. With having 5 kids it makes it REALLY hard to get in for all those appt's so i'm really hoping my body and baby stay calm this time and I can stay pregnant a bit longer than I did with Ashlyn. I really don't see making it to May, but end of April would be ok :) Fingers crossed too that this time when my water breaks labor follows so I can avoid the pitocin. (last 2 kids water broke with no onset of labor). Still planning and looking Very forward to a water birth too :)

Quick update....

I got a call Friday from the ins. adjuster, they totalled the van :( The initial assessment was $7,700. I should get the final total tomorrow as well as what they determined the van to be worth, etc. I know we owe WAY more than it's worth, so I really started to freak out. BUT, after talking with the finance company, I found out we have GAP insurance!!!! What a relief! Me and Rich were Both sure that we Didn't have it, but we do :) So from here we have to fill out all the forms, then I guess wait for our ins. company and the GAP insurance to pay off the van, then we can start looking for a new one. In some ways it's a blessing in disguise. We were paying $500/month on the van due to the truck we traded in having so much owed on it still. So now with nothing to roll into a new loan, we should be able to get a very low payment. (i hope!!).

I went to the midwife the other day just to make sure baby was ok, and s/he is doing great in there :) Only 8 more days til my ultrasound!!! It's gonna be a Long 8 days lol. Kids go back to school tomorrow which I'm very happy about :)

Me and a good friend started our Pre-Grand Opening for our new business just this past Friday and we have already had almost 300 unique visitors to the site and lots of entries into the lotteries!!! What an awesome turn out......here's hoping that many will come back this coming Friday for our actual Grand Opening. (see the banner in the upper left of this page). I love being a work at home mom and being able to go into business with a great friend is so much fun :)

Guess that's about all I have to update for now. I can't believe I'm over halfway done with this pregnancy already! Baby is Very active lately and I love seeing and feeling him/her move around. I'm still absolutely clueless on names, maybe some will come to me after finding out the gender. We'll see.

20 weeks and Happy Freaking New Year!

Ok we'll start with the good stuff :) I am 20 weeks today!!! Wow this is going by fast lol. Only 12 more days until my big ultrasound! :) I'm starting to really feel girl so we'll see. I've been feeling pretty good pregnancy wise. The chiro has really been helping my lower back and I'm so glad I started seeing her. The drive sucks but it's so worth it.

I turned 31 on the 31st and me and Rich got to get out and go to dinner which was nice. I didn't stay awake for the new year lol, I lasted til about 11:15 and headed to bed. I think this is the first year ever that I was in bed for the new year. Oh well, didn't miss much. It was snowing like crazy, not sure how much we ended up with but it snowed all night and into new years day. We got at least 8". So on new years day I decided to make a quick trip to the store and leave all the kids home with Rich. Which is unusual for me, even when Rich is home I Always take Ashlyn with me, but that day I didn't. It was 2:00 when I left, I pulled out of my neighborhood onto the main road and right away I saw a car up the road coming the opposite direction and he was going fast and sliding pretty bad. I thought to myself "omg this jerk is gonna hit someone!" It's a 4 lane road so I got to the far right lane to be as far from him as I could. Then I saw his car start to spin. I tried to veer off the road into someone's front yard, thinking I was missing the collision then BAM.....he smashed in the side of me. I just remember holding onto the steering wheel as tight as I could. When it was over I sat there for a minute taking in what had just happened, and realized I was now In the front yard that I tried to get into and my van had spun and was now facing East (i was driving west). I tried to open my door but it wouldn't open so I jumped out the passenger side and started cussing the guy out telling the guy he was damn lucky I didn't have my kids in the car! lol yeah, this guy was about 4 times my size, like I could have really done anything to him lol. So then I look at my van thinking ok there's gonna be a good dent but it's ok.......haha yeah right, the sliding door on the drivers side, the door Ashlyn would have been sitting at, was smashed in, so was the back panel and the back right corner. The back tire was bent. No way the thing was driveable. My belly started cramping quite a bit, most likely from being so upset, but I wasn't injured. I also later realized the the passenger side of the van came just inches away from a telephone pole.

Any long story short, cops came, the prick had no insurance of course, he got citations, both vehicles were towed, and I went home. The cramping did go away after a couple hours.

We went and cleaned out the van yesterday and took pics, the insurance company is picking it up today and taking it down to Indianapolis where their storage facility is and I'm hoping we'll hear something by Monday. When I talked to the adjuster she said from the sounds of it, it will most likely be totalled. Either way we're screwed, we owe more than what the van is worth. I know that it could have been so much worse, had Rich not been home I would have had all 5 kids with me and I guarantee they would have been hurt, especially Ashlyn. I knew the impact was coming so I braced myself, there's no way the kids could have. I'm still really upset over the whole thing though, this was the First nice vehicle i've ever had and now some jackass that doesn't know how to drive in the snow has taken that away from me and I can't get it back!

Anyway here's pics: http://s198.photobucket.com/albums/aa283/stillcrazymama/van%20damage/