Little Levi is 6 weeks old. He's such a sweet, mellow, cuddly baby. He loves to be held and he loves to EAT...
Levi (2 weeks ago) weighed about 10 lbs. I am sure he's even bigger now. His little cheeks are so chubby and cute. He's no longer in "newborn" diapers... He's in the size 1 size. (growing so fast already... ) He's been to a few outings. He went to his first day at church this past Sunday. He was very well behaved and slept through most of it. He's been to his sister Julia's Gymnastics Christmas program, and to Natalie & Julia's piano recital, and to Natalie & Julia's Christmas singing program at the elementary school. He slept through most all those performances as well. He likes to sleep through noisy situations.
Levi is "sort of" fussy/tired & doesn't want to go to sleep.
Baby Levi in his bouncy seat... 6 wks old!
Natalie's beautiful smile!
Mom & Dad came to visit from TX for Thanksgiving.
Jennifer & Mike came to visit from Provo for Thanksgiving.
Natalie & Julia hold baby Levi on Thanksgiving.
Natalie plays 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas'.
Natalie & Julia had two snow days from school!
Julia at her gymnastics Christmas Performance.
Levi was diagnosed with PKU when he was a few days old. It turns out that his PKU is on the mild side of the spectrum & is called benign hyper-phe. He'll have blood tests to make sure his levels of Phe are safe, but it looks like right now he'll not have to be on a special diet. We are so grateful for this miracle. Levi had to do about one week of the special medical formula mixed with measured amounts of breastmilk. I was neurotic and crazy for the whole 2nd week of his life, measuring out breastmilk and formula into bottles for each day's feedings. What a miracle to get the news that he has the benign form of PKU.
This morning Julia came into my room crying because she had just thrown up. She says to me... "Mommy, I was trying to go potty and my poop smelled so bad that I threw up on the floor.".....
So happy to not be pregnant anymore. Well, I gave in. We named our sweet little boy, Levi Benjamin Light. I am happy with the name and it only took 10 years for me to agree to name my son Levi. He is a sweet, cuddly, calm little boy. I wasn't sure it would be worth it after the torturous nine months of unrelenting nausea. But it Totally was worth it. I am so in LOVE with his sweet spirit.
He was born Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 2:49pm. He weighed 7lbs-11ozs... totally HUGE right? and 19 inches long.
We got to the hospital around 7:30am, started the pitocin around 8:30am. Dr M ruptured my membranes around 8:30 as well. Got my epidural around 11am. I pushed for about 25 minutes and asked Dr M to please just pull him out. I was soooo done pushing after 25 WHOLE minutes. My epidural was magnificent thanks to Dr K. It was the best, most DENSE epidural in the whole world. I couldn't feel a thing, and I couldn't push worth $#@%. Oh well.... Just a little Kiwi vacuum and we had a baby.
My sweet husband kept me entertained the whole time we were in the hospital. He's so fun to be with and I had his undivided attention. That night we celebrated with the best steak I have ever had from Outback Steakhouse. It was the best feeling to not feel like puking! We also had my favorite... Vanilla Blue Bell Ice-Cream on a warm brownie... I didn't throw that up either. It was incredible.
Now we are home enjoying our sweet little Levi. It only took us until Saturday 11/14 to name him. I know we had nine months to think of a name, but I had to try and come up with something better than Levi, but I just couldn't. I think I love my husband so much that I just couldn't name him anything BUT Levi. That is probably why nothing sounded right to me... until I finally accepted it.
Another post from Dad... 2 days after Baby Light's birth and still "IT" has no name! Looks as if Carolyn and Baby IT will be discharged this morning and we will have nothing to tell inquiring minds what "IT's" name is. Maybe "IT" can be named "I.T. Light"! (Hey, what's up I.T.?) or we could spell it "Eye Tee Light"..... Whatever!
So most everyone knows that I have had a name picked out for most our marriage, if we were ever blessed with a boy. Levi Benjamin Light. Well, come to find out that 12 years back Carolyn was attending a church dance and some hot guy named Levi asked her to dance. He was one of these summer college working pest control guys from Utah working in Texas. Well his mother forgot to teach him about hygiene etiquette (shower, soap, deodorant, toothpaste,) normal need to know stuff to keep woman around after your looks have gotten you to the dancing part. All Levi had to do was come within a 3 ft proximity, lift his arm and open his mouth. Now my chances forever having a son named Levi is completely gone down the Drain! Literally!
So, "Forever Single Levi" wherever you are....THANKS! And now we have been blessed with a Baby "IT".
So, first let me start by being up front with everyone that reads this blog entry. This is from Ben and not Carolyn. The narcotics they have her on, hinders her from being in her Right mind!So enjoy the sense of humor that Carolyn endures on a daily basis.
It felt like D-Day started three nights ago when Carolyn went into the nesting phase of the pregnancy.The neurotic “Honey do” list grew faster than the natural man or husband could keep up with.Everything need to be perfect!Carolyn took to cleaning and organizing our bedroom making room for the baby.After completion, it only took (1) Dr.Pepper for Carolyn to decide to start over and re-clean and re-organize the room again.
On Tuesday morning, we arrived at the hospital around 7:30am and were escorted to our suite (oh I mean birthing room).I say suite because it was as big as Carolyn and I’s first apartment!I mean it! The apartment was small but this room was huge!I bet the max capacity could have been around 25+.(Carolyn was not hip on the idea to see how many we could fit.)I guess it’s good to have perks every once in a while.Well, they hooked Carolyn up to an IV and started PIT. By 8:15am.The doctor stopped in and gave Carolyn a pep talk along with offering some motivation with an AROM.This is medical terminology for a procedure that I would name “No going back now!”It could be compared to popping a water balloon between your legs.
The PIT worked its magic and by 11am it was time for the epidural.Carolyn calls it the Happy-dural.Here is a classic picture that I was fortunate to catch.Immediately after the anesthesiologist finished putting in the epidural, Carolyn went back to texting.Remember now, she is not numb yet and she is having contractions.Technology is great.The funniest part was when she got on the phone and was too busy to hear the Drug Doc. asking here to sit back up so he could readjust the epidural.So he sat there and waited for her to finish.
Well, finally around 2pm Carolyn was complete and ready to push.Carolyn asked to have her 'Happy-dural' turned off because she could not feel the lower half of her body.20 min. later the Doc arrived and after a whole 29 minutes of pushing the Doc pulled the baby out with a baby plunger called a kiwi.You can tell in this picture those 29 minutes did a number on her.
After everyone (Carolyn) is fixed up we pose for pictures with the Doc and then our nurse.
Here is a classic picture of Baby Boy Light staring down MOM!
Natalie holding Baby Light
Julia holding Baby Boy Light
Grandpa & Grandma Light with Baby Boy Light
And Me with Baby Boy Light
We are still trying to decide on a name for this special, sweet little baby boy. He's blond, blue eyed, calm, mellow and very cuddly. Any suggestions???
Had another OB appointment yesterday. It was short & sweet. Baby Boy Light is doing fine, getting HUGE, and moving around like crazy. My OB asked me if I had any questions. I told him I wouldn't harass him about an induction date this time.
The girls are so excited. I went on a field trip with Julia last week. (Last one for a while; it wore me out for 2 days!) She told me as I got on the bus, that she had promised all her friends that they could rub my belly and feel the baby move if they wanted to. I told her... ummmm NO. She was a bit disappointed. :( I am such a mean mommy.
Natalie is becoming a fantastic piano player lately. She practices daily and it sounds really nice! She's turning into a little lady. She and Julia were "Best Friends" on Saturday and played outside all day long. It was so sweet.
Ben is halfway through his Biology class this semester. He's working hard at interviewing with different law enforcement agencies, but so far we are still waiting for official job offers. We'll see.
OK, so I am a lame blogger lately. I'll try to be better. I got an email from MyPregnancy.Com today about writing out a birth plan for my hospital stay. As an L&D nurse, I sometimes roll my eyes at some of these birth plans that patients come in with. I am not a granola, natural person. I like drugs, epidurals, scheduled inductions, & I am OK with a C-Section if this kid doesn't just fall out in a few hours of labor. Try that on for a birth plan! Only I seemed to have picked a very conservative, careful, OB/GYN. He doesn't share my same idea on giving me a scheduled induction 1 wk before my due date just because I want one. He thinks my cervix needs to be ripe & my baby's head should be in the pelvis. (sigh.....) whatever.
So here is Part 1 of my dream Birth Plan for Baby Boy Light...
My Due Date is 11/17/09 - (If I come into the hospital anytime in the week before my due date and I am not in labor, you are just going to have to keep me because I am not going home. INDUCE ME if I am not in labor.)
I would like to be free to walk, move around, & change position at will throughout labor. (I will not be walking much as I plan on having an epidural ASAP! I agree to to change positions, but you may have to remind me and help me do so b/c I move as well as a beached whale.)
I would like to be able to have fluids by mouth throughout the first stage of labor. (I would like to eat & drink whatever I want, whenever I want it. I know I am only going to be allowed ice chips while in labor with an epidural. I am actually an ice chomping monster right now, so just keep the ice chips coming & we’ll be fine. I will be puking occasionally while in labor & for the 1st 24 hrs after delivery regardless of what I eat or drink, so please let me eat & chomp my ice chips at will. I will be needing IV Zofran 4mg q 6hrs while I have an IV. This will only help me feel less nauseated. I will still puke. If you don’t keep the ice chips coming, my husband will be sent to refill my ice cup. And if you don’t keep the Zofran coming, I have my own stash of Zofran that I will take while you aren’t in the room.)
I will be bringing my own music to play during labor. (Actually no music needed, I’d rather sleep or watch TV).
Monitoring. (I would like to have continuous fetal monitoring because I am a control freak and I want to make sure my baby is not in distress. Feel free to use external or internal monitors as needed).
Labor Augmentation/Induction. (I would love to be AROMed to get my labor going. We can try anything: pitocin, cytotec, etc. I would like to avoid the ‘natural’ methods like walking or nipple stimulation. Walking is too much work and ‘nipple stimulation??’… Let’s just use the drugs God gave us to use.
Anesthesia/Pain Medication. (I know pain medication exists. Let it be clear that I would like a heavy, strong epidural ASAP. I do not want to try any IV pain medication before the epidural because it will make me even more crazy than I already am. If Dr Brown is available, I pick him to do it. :)
Are you freaking kidding me??? I thought it was a fasting 1 hr glucose tolerance test, (which when I showed up, it turned out I didn't have to be fasting). The last thing I ate was a bowl of ice-cream around 10pm. I woke up, did a few chores. Did not eat or drink anything. I showed up for the test around 1pm in the afternoon (starving to death), drank the nasty orange crap, & waited an hour. They drew my blood & that was it. I went straight to Taco Bell and ate a huge meal! I just got a call that I failed the test and now I have to do the 3 hour test. This sucks. If I have gestational diabetes, I will die! I have no self control when it comes to food. I eat whatever & whenever I want. I won't say I eat a lot, but I don't have self control when it comes to dieting or exercising. I just don't care. I love my food!
Natalie & Julia did great @ the Champs Swim Meet. It was so fun to watch them. They really improved their times on all strokes. Natalie is the breast stroke queen! This is Julia's 3rd year on the swim team and this will be her last year as a 6 & Under. She had many 1st & 2nd place ribbons this year. I survived the summer. Ben did all the volunteer requirements and then some. I just sat in the shade and made sure the girls made it to their races. I did swim in one parent relay team with my preggo belly about 2 weeks ago. I only had to do one lap of free-style (25 YDS). It was the most exercise I've had all summer (not counting 8 hr shifts running around @ the hospital). Two more weeks until school starts and 15 more weeks being pregnant.
I am so not into taking pictures or blogging lately. Sorry. I started back to work. It has been nice to only work 8 hr shifts. I feel like I am missing half of my brain. I seem to have forgotten all passcodes and door lock combinations and I don't know where anything is. There are some new policies and I am slow at charting and I could go on and on. My patient last night was psychotic. Luckily, she delivered within 45 min and I got her upstairs to Post-Partum as fast as I could. Did you know it is against our hospital's policy for a patient to keep her own placenta? My psychotic patient threw a fit because she wanted to take her placenta home and bury it so she could plant a tree over it. This is granola-ville California!! She can't do that? I personally think it is gross, but whatever.
The tooth fairy is visiting Julia for the first time tonight. She went to the dentist today and begged her to pull her wiggly little tooth on the bottom. Julia had been working on it for weeks to no avail. The dentist kindly abliged and helped Julia out by numbing it with orajel and pulling it. She was so excited. Natalie also had her appointment and was very brave while the dentist removed her spacer. Tonight, I checked on the girls as they were sleeping.... And I found a note next to Julia's pillow. It said, "Dear Tooth Fairy, Could you please give my sister Natalie money for her spacer? Sincerely, Julia" (Only it was written in very mature handwriting for little JULIA to have written... ) I wonder what the tooth fairy will say to that... :)
Julia has changed career choices for when she grows up and states she wants to be a car cleaner. She recently helped me detail my car with armor-all and a Q-Tip. Yes, I know I am crazy... but it felt so good to get that Q-Tip all in the little cracks and have all that dirt come out. It was that or buy a new car. My 99 Rav4 is still running strong with close to 189K miles and I am broke so having a SPOTLESS car makes me feel almost like it is a new car.
It has been a rough day. I've been calling my OB's office since Tuesday asking for a refill on my Zofran (anti-nausea) medication. I won't run out until Saturday-ish, but I am going back to work Sunday night and I really need to have it refilled by then so I can function. I finally got the refill ordered today, Thursday (2 DAYS later), and sent to the pharmacy, but apparently my insurance won't pay for the medication unless I have my Dr send a special note to authorize my need for more than 15 pills a month. (I take this medication 2-3 times per day!) The medical assistant at the OB's office assured me that my MD will return from his vacation Monday morning and work on the special authorization then. I tried to explain that I have to function Sunday night for 8 hours and then sleep all day Monday and then function Monday night for 8 hours. She stated ever so kindly that first thing Monday morning my MD will solve my problem. The problem will start Saturday when I run out of Zofran and I start throwing up until I get more Zofran!!! I begged for the OB covering for my Dr to please write the special note to the insurance co. She said it has to be from my OB & not the on-call OB. (I don't believe her!!! And I plan on asking my OB if this is true!!!) I cried all afternoon. Solution to my problems.... Pay $5 per pill and get a two day supply of Zofran until my MD returns from Vacation. Anyone have any Zofran around you can spare??
It is a boy! At least we are pretty sure it looks like a boy. We are very excited. Natalie & Julia think the sonogram pic looks like an alien. I'll post it later. :)
Today I am exactly 20 weeks pregnant. I am so happy to be feeling better. So much has happened in the last few months & I am so behind on blogging. I'll just start with the now & catch up the last few months later.
Today we (as in Ben, Natalie, & Julia and I) will be going to the ultrasound appointment that hopefully will tell us whether we're having another little girl or boy.
I am ready to go back to work on July 12th. I'll just be working part time or about 20 hours a week.
We'll keep you posted on results of today's ultrasound. :)
We are expecting Baby #3 November 17th 2009. I've been a bit of a recluse these past few weeks. This news has turned my world upside down and brought me to my knees literally worshipping the porcelain throne. The nausea and vomiting have been unrelenting. I was very sick with Natalie & Julia... or so I thought. It is much much worse this time. My Doctor took me off work for a few weeks and at this point I don't see how I can go back. I've had three trips to the ER for IV fluid hydration. When you go 24-48 hours without holding any food or liquid down, it is the only thing that helps. I've lost 15 pounds! That last 15 pounds that just wouldn't come off for the last few years is now gone.
The joy in my journey thus far..... we tried for two years for this one. We are so grateful that we get the opportunity to have another child in our family. We are very excited. Also good news that it is just one kid and it looks healthy so far. (Which is more than I can say for myself.) We have wonderful family support and a great branch of the church bringing in meals and cleaning my house these last couple weeks. My husband does everything. He's not working right now. (Yes God has very amusing timing.) So he spends his day getting the kids off to school and to their various activities and looking for work and of course, taking care of me. This last week has been better. I can hold at least one and sometimes two meals a day down. I am living on Gatorade. I can keep 1-2 quarts a day down these last few days. I am 11 weeks along and that means 25% of the way there!!! I am starting to see some glimmers of light at the end of my tunnel.
Baby Levi in his bouncy seat... 6 wks old!
Natalie's beautiful smile!
Mom & Dad came to visit from TX for Thanksgiving.
Jennifer & Mike came to visit from Provo for Thanksgiving.
Natalie & Julia hold baby Levi on Thanksgiving.
Natalie plays 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas'.
Natalie & Julia had two snow days from school!
Julia at her gymnastics Christmas Performance.
