Merry Christmas!

I was way behind this year on my shopping. Usually I am totally done before Thanksgiving. We are done now though, everything is wrapped up and ready for Christmas. This year I am so excited because both of the girls are a little older and can enjoy the magic of Christmas. I already got my Christmas gift, little Nathan. Who could ask for anything more than that? He is a Wonderful baby and my family feels so complete now that we have him! 

I hope you all have a Safe and Merry Christmas!

Family Update

Gabrielle:

On December 24th Gabby will be 3 Years 9 Months Old. She currently is 40 Inches tall and weighs 38 Pounds. She is in the 75% for both. Her name is appropriate for her because she loves to Gab. She talks pretty much constantly. She loves to play Legos with Daddy, play outside, watch movies and play with her best friends Natalee, Paighton and Avalynn. Her favorite food is Steak, baked potatoes, slim jims, fruit and chocolate milk.

Avalynn: 

She turned 2 1/2 on December 1st. She currently weighs 29 pounds and is 36 inches. 50% for weight and 75% for Height.  Avalynn is very loving and is a cuddler. She also can be very stubborn and is always getting into things or climbing on something! She is a handful but we wouldn't want her any other way!  She loves to make daddy get on the floor so she can climb on him like a jungle gym. She Loves our dog Kito very much and sometimes she will go lay with him in his bed under his blanket and just cuddle him. Her favorite things to play with are Legos, her toy computers, Her magna doodle and her dress up clothes. She has just started potty training and is doing really well. In the past 5 days she has only had one accident. Her favorite foods are Oranges, cereal, breakfast sausage, slim jims, fruit snacks and chocolate milk.

Nathan: 

He is 12 days old. His Jaundice is a  better! His coloring looks great now. He has been sleeping better at night. He now sleeps 2 1/2 to 3 hours at a time. Nursing him has been very easy. I have not had any problems with him latching on or anything. He is growing and seems to be putting on weight really well. Very soon he will be wearing 3-6 months already. A few outfits I have put on him will only be worn once because they were so snug when I put them on. :( He is a good baby. He likes to be held. I brought our portable swing home from my mom's house today and he seems to like that a lot.

Kevin:

He will be starting a new job on January 2nd. It is in the same place he works now but a new department. He will also be going from Days to evenings. We don't really like that but hopefully he can get back on days sometime in the future. 

Kelly:

I am doing great and recovered really fast from this delivery. Already back into my regular clothes and back to my pre-pregnancy weight! It's nice to be able to see my feet again! Looking forward to Christmas with the girls this year! They are excited and so am I! I've been baking cookies and trying to stay warm!

Nathan's first week

Nathan was born at 10:57 P.M. on Friday December 3rd. My Mom and Dad, Shelly and my cousin Bobbie Jo were all in the delivery room when he was born. They all stayed until close to midnight when the Nurses took Nathan to the Nursery to get his bath and blood work, vitals, ect. My nurse helped me to the bathroom to clean up and then she pushed me in the wheel chair to look at Nathan in the Nursery. There was another baby in there next to him and he made that baby look like a preemie! My room was right across the hall from the nursery. I got in bed and then another nurse came in to take my vitals, give me ice water and Motrin. I was all checked into my room around 12:30. I tried to fall asleep but they came every half hour to check my vitals. Nathan was brought into me at 1:30. I nursed him again and then tried to go to sleep. He woke up every hour to feed and the nurses came every half hour or so for a few hours to check our vitals again. At 5:00 A.M. someone came in and drew blood from my arm, I was so tired I am not even sure who it was! I think I did sleep an hour straight from 5:00 to 6:00. Sometime that morning I  had a flu shot. I wanted to get it to protect Nathan.

Saturday Morning Kevin got to the hospital around 9:30. My Mom had kept the girls over night so she brought them in to see him. They both were very excited and kept wanting to hold him. Then my mom took the girls to my niece Natalee's birthday party. Angela and her boyfriend Tony came to see us sometime in the evening. Kevin brought me a Sub from Wegmans for dinner. Nathan nursed about every 1 1/2-2 hours all day long. I took a short nap that afternoon and Kevin stayed at the hospital with me until about 7:00 that night. Shortly after he left I went to bed. Nathan woke about every hour. At around 11:30 the nurse came to take him to the nursery for his bath and vitals. She asked if I wanted them to keep him untill his next feeding. I was so exhausted I let them. He came back in at 2:30 and I felt so much better with getting 3 hours of sleep. The nurse came back at 3:30 and took him for bloodwork. I fell asleep and when I woke up it was 6:30. I rang for my nurse and had him brought back in so I could feed him. It was great to get some sleep that night!

On Sunday Kevin should have been off because it was his weekend off but for some reason he ended up having to work. So I was at the Hospital alone all day. The pediatrician came in and told me Nathan had Jaundice and they were going to recheck his level at 2:00. When the result came back it had gone from 8.8 to 9.5 but they said they would still let us be discharged at 8:00 P.M., They wanted to keep us as close to 48 hours as possible. My friend Amy stopped by for a quick visit in the afternoon. My mom had the girls and took them to a baby shower with her. Around 4:00 My mom brought the girls on her way home from the baby shower. My sister's Shelly & Angela and Niece Natalee also came.  Kevin got there around 5:00 and brought me a BK Veggie burger from Burger King for dinner. That tasted so much better then the hospital food! We had to just wait from then until 8:00 when we were finally discharged. My Mom kept the girls again over night. Nathan's discharge weight was 9 pounds 9 ounces.

Monday Morning we had to take Nathan to the Lab for blood work and then to a doctor appointment. It is so hard watching him get the blood work. They take a small rzer type thing that makes a small slit in his heel. Then they have to squeeze the blood out until a small tube is full.  At his appointment they told us his bilirubin level had gone up to 12.6. Also his weight had dropped down to 9 pounds 4.5 ounces. They scheduled us to come back on Wednesday to see if he looked any less yellow. If not we would need to get more blood work. That afternoon my Mom brought the girls back home. I was so happy to have them home! I had really missed them. Those 4 nights are the longest I have ever been away from either of them! They both were sick though. Had coughs, runny nose ect. My mom also had Natalee with her. Shelly went home after work and picked Zack up. She brought him over to meet his new cousin. We ordered Pudgies Pizza for dinner and all ate together.  That night Nathan woke about every hour and Avalynn woke up too. Not a fun night!

Tuesday Kevin had to work and my Mom had the day off but she had some things she needed to do and she needed to recover from having the girls so long, lol. So I was all on my own with all 3 of them. Gabby was acting really sick. She wouldn't eat or drink anything and kept saying her throat hurt. She also was sleeping on and off all day. I took her temp in the afternoon and it was 103.3 I looked in her throat and it was crimson red! I knew she had strep. I called her Ped and asked if they could get her in after 5 so Kevin could take her when he got home. They told me to call back at 4:30 to make an appointment. When I called back they got her in at 5:30. Kevin took Avalynn too and had them test her because she had some of the same symptoms as Gabby. Gabby's rapid test came back positive, Avalynn's was negative. Gabby started the antibiotic that night and was feeling much better by the morning. That night Nathan slept a little better but both of the girls ended up waking up and coming into bed with us.

Wednesday Kevin was off work. We took Nathan to his appointment at 1:20. They said by looking at him they could tell he was still Jaundiced so we would have to take him to have more blood work done. This time he slept through the blood work. His weight was back up to 9 pounds 13 ounces. They called us an hour later and told us that his level was up to 13.7 so we had to get more blood work on Friday. Avalynn slept through that night but Gabby came crawling into our bed around 4:00. Nathan was up about every 2 hours. I was really engorged though and he was just not eating enough to relieve it. I ended up getting a golf ball sized plugged milk duct under my right arm. It was so painful! I tried taking a hot shower, taking motrin, using an ice pack, rubbing the duct while he nursed and none of that was helping. So I did what almost everyone will tell you to Not do. I pumped until I was totally empty on that side. Then I fed him on that side right after. By the next day the duct was only about half the size it had been and a lot less painful.

Thursday Kevin was off again. In the afternoon he took the girls shopping to get them out of the house and so that I could take a nap with Nathan. I got about an hour sleep. So hard to sleep during the day even when I am that tired. I again pumped my right side until empty because I was too full. Then I had him nurse off that side. By that evening the duct was totally unplugged!  Kevin made home made Broccoli and cheese soup, Grilled Chicken (Veggie burger for me) and baked potato for dinner. We had my parents over to eat with us. 

 Friday Kevin had to work again. When he got up to leave for work he realized that the water had frozen. So I got up and got the kids around. My mom was off work so we went over there. I took a shower and then washed and dressed Nathan. My mom kept the girls while I took him in for his blood work and doctor appointment. He again slept through the blood work! At his appointment his weight was up to 10 pounds 3 ounces! A little chunker! The Nurse practitioner was amazed at how fast he is gaining for being only breast fed! She said I must have some good rich milk. But then she asked how often I nurse him and when I told her about every 2 hours around the clock she said "Wow you must be exhausted!"  I am but he is so worth it! The best part of the appointment is that his bilirubin level came back down from 13.7 to 12.9! She said that was good and she was not worried it would go back up. He does not have to go back now until his 1 month checkup!  I went back to my Moms that afternoon and we ate lunch there. My mom put Avalynn down for her nap and then we hung out until Angela got home for College so she could see the kids. We left to come home around 3:00. That night the girls both slept through the night in their own bed! Nathan slept for 2 1/2 hours, nursed and then slept for 3 hours! It was so nice getting some sleep!

Kevin with all 3 on 12/10/10

Nathan James Kevin Boots Birth Story

Warning: may be a little graphic is some places.

Friday December 3rd I was set up for an induction because of the baby measuring Large on ultrasound. He was estimated to weigh 9 pounds 15 ounces. 

Kevin, my Mom and I all arrived at the hospital a little before 7:30. My mom had to work but she works at the hospital so she was able to come in and out all day. I got checked in and headed up to the Labor and delivery floor a little before 8:00. When I first got there I changed into a hospital gown and then the nurse went over some paper work with me. She tried to start an IV but could not get it in so she called IV therapy up and that guy was able to get it started on the first try. Around 8:45 the pitocin was started. Every half an hour the pitocin was increased. At first I did not feel anything. Then I started to feel a few contractions but they were not painful at all. Around 11:00 they had it so that I was contracting every 3 minutes but they still were not painful. They contraction strength was only about half of what it needed to be.

By 1:00 p.m. I was still only 2cm dilated and I was still barely feeling anything even though they were 2-3 minutes apart. I was starting to get really anxious and wanting to feel the pain so that things were start progressing more.

At 2:20 The doctor came in and checked me again. I was still only 3 cm. She said it was probably because the baby was too big and not moving down against the cervix. She was really pushing for a C-section all day. Pretty much every time she came into the room she brought it up in some way or another. For some reason she decided to break my water. She tried for quite a while and then was about to give up because she just couldn't get it to break. But then at the last minute it started to drizzle out slowly which she said was better because it was less likely for the cord to get in front of the head that way.

By 5:30 P.M. I was really starting to feel some pain which was good because I knew that things were probably progressing then. At 6:30 the doctor rechecked me and I was only 3-4 centimeters still. That was so depressing to me. I thought that I would have been progressing more by that time. 

Around 7:45 I decided to get an Epidural. I was really hoping to go totally (Pain) drug free but since things were not progressing I was hoping that the epidural would help me relax my pelvic muscles better and his head would come down. The anesthesiologist was something else, lol. I felt bad for the poor nurse. He was ordering her around like he owned the place. I would NOT want to have to work with him. But even though he seems like kind of a jerk he was great at doing the Epidural and it worked awesome! It was so good that I could still feel the pressure but was not in pain. I was also still able to move my legs. (When I had one before for Gabby I was totally numb from the waist down.)

At 8:45 P.M. I was 12 hours into the induction and finally to 7 CM. When the doctor told me that I knew that getting the Epidural had been the right thing to do. I was so relaxed. Actually I think through the entire labor I was the calmest person in the delivery room.

By 9:30 I was at 9cm But the baby's head was still high up at -2. This is the point where the doctor really was saying she thought it was time to just go ahead with a C-section because she didn't think the baby was going to move down. I just kept thinking to myself that she cannot start cutting into me without me consenting so either she was going to deliver the baby or else someone else in the room was going to! 

I am not sure of my nurse's name but she was awesome! She was giving me little hints here and there on what to do to get the head down. I am so happy I had her for a nurse! Everyone who has a baby should have a nurse as great as she was! She made me feel so confident that I was going to be able to do it!

At a little after 10:00 the doctor said I was at 10 with just a little tiny bit of cervix left. I told her I really felt the urge to push. She said I could go ahead and try. I started pushing and pushed for about 15 minutes but then she made me stop because the baby's heart rate was dipping down every time I pushed. She really wanted me to just get a C-section at that point. My nurse suggested I try to lay on my side again and wait and see what the baby's heart did with the contractions without me pushing. The doctor said okay and went out of the room. 

His heart never dipped down again so I started pushing again around 10:35. I think the doctor was sweating more then I was. She looked so nervous. If I had not been in labor I probably would have been laughing at the look on her face. It was almost like she had never delivered a baby before. She was so worried that the baby's head was going to come out and the shoulders would be stuck.

After pushing Hard for a little over 20 minutes Nathan James Kevin Boots made his way into the world sunny side up and one hand came out next to his head. The cord was wrapped once around his neck which is probably the real reason for the heart rate dropping.

The doctor was so relieved and I remember her saying the shoulders are not going to be stuck, Push again. I pushed and out came the other shoulder and the rest of his body. They laid him on my chest and I knew he was going to be over 9 pounds. He was so heavy! They didn't let me hold him long because the NICU nurses were there to check him out because of the Gestational diabetes and due to his heart rate dropping. He was perfect though and got a 9 on the Apgar!

After he was born the doctor was like a totally different person. She was so relieved at how easy I pushed him out. All I can think is maybe she had a birth not turn out so well before or something. 

Nathan's birth weight was 9 pounds 14 ounces and he is 21 inches long. Lots of black hair, small feet but long fingers. I was hoping one of my kids would look like me but so far he is looking more like his daddy.

He is a pro nurser already! He has a bit of Jaundice and went to the doctor yesterday. His level had gone up more but now that my milk is in really good it should start to come back down. Tomorrow he goes back to the doctor again to be checked out.


I am doing fine also and didn't even end up with a single stitch. Bet I would have had tons of them if I had ended up going with the C-section.