I am reminded of how quickly time flies every time I look at Naomi so I am really trying to make an effort to soak up every moment of Alana's infancy. She will be our last baby and I know these short minutes/hours/days/weeks/months are fleeting, to put it mildly. Before we "blink da eye" she will be running around this house with her big sister. Not long after that she'll be heading to college, I'm sure. I am already mourning our future empty nest!
With this in mind, you can imagine my surprise and dismay to see that our littlest is so anxious to be a big kid already! At a mere three weeks, Alana started rolling over from front to back. No assistance, no exaggeration. This was no fluke, either. She has done it every day since. Put her on her belly and she'll roll to her back. For those of you yet to have your children, you should know that normally this doesn't happen until 3-4 months. Here is video proof for posterity's sake.
Also, for the record, Alana is an absolute dream. She is sweet, mellow, and a happy sleeper. Yeah, you heard me. She usually sleeps from 11pm-8am waking only once to eat. She has followed this pattern pretty much since the day she was born. She is thriving so the doc said there is no need to wake her more often for feedings. SWEET. I am relieved to say that, so far, I am probably the least sleep deprived mom of a newborn ever. I know many of you probably want to tear my face off right about now. I understand. Just be gentle.
10.12.2010
10.07.2010
She's here...
It's official - we've fallen in love all over again.
Alana Stowe Roberts
September 12, 2010
6:57pm
9lbs 1oz, 20in
Alana Stowe Roberts
September 12, 2010
6:57pm
9lbs 1oz, 20in
 |
| 2 weeks old... |
10.01.2010
9.11.2010
20 Months... and waiting.
Naomi's 20th month, so far, has been spent in anticipation of the arrival of her little sister, which has been nothing less than an emotional roller coaster. I'll keep updating the status of this situation so keep checking back, but in the meantime here is where we are at, and some photos of Naomi to keep you entertained for the time being. We'll make a brand new post when the little one arrives, which Naomi keeps saying will be "baby sister soon!"
As a forward...
For those who have not been induced, I can tell you that this is a completely different experience than letting labor happen spontaneously. With Naomi, I started labor, my water broke within 30 minutes, and we were on our way to the hospital. 20 hours later we had a baby in our arms. It went smoothly, we enjoyed the experience, and I actually looked forward to the next time we could bring a baby into the world.
With Knock-Knock, since we have been dealing with the umbilical cord issue for more than 2 months now which has included 2x Non-Stress Test (NST) per week and 1x Ultrasound per week, we have been scheduled for a "medically necessary" induction at the beginning of our 39th week. This way we know she is mature enough to be delivered safely, yet we cut her risk level of dependency on her cord.
Getting to induction, at least in our experience, takes a lot of mental preparation. First you have to come to terms with starting a process that your body or the baby may not actually be ready for yet. It's unnatural and weird. Then you have to get over the fear of the drugs you know they are going to give you to start the process. We've all heard the horror stories and negative outcomes. Then you have to just plain get ready to have this baby in your arms and you try to go through the motions in your brain, rehearsing what has to be done first, what you need to remember from last time, etc. This is mentally exhausting stuff, especially for a planner like me. I'm admittedly not so good at just going with the flow when so much has been planned out for me.
Bottom line, just putting everything in the back of your head and letting labor happen when it is going to happen is SO much easier. Yet, the doctor insists that we need to deliver the baby, so you trust that and agree, go through all these mental hurdles, and expect the call to report the hospital.
Thursday, 09/9/10
This is the day we have been scheduled for induction. This day came and went. We called in at 8am as instructed, were told we were most likely going to be called to come in by noon. I waited until 4pm to call again, which is when I was informed that we would not be admitted on this day. They were just too busy.
Also, the doctor called me and insisted on scheduling another NST for the next day. I asked if it was necessary if I was going to be induced the next day. She said, "Well, it's not guaranteed you will get in tomorrow either, then if you don't get in this weekend, that means we don't see you until at least Monday..."
WAIT, WHAT? We were disappointed and upset, mainly for two reasons: 1. I had to go through this prep all over again the next day, or maybe even MULTIPLE days in a row, and 2. Jim had just burned a valuable vacation day waiting for nothing.
Really? Could they really delay a "medically necessary" induction for MULTIPLE days?? No way...
I made the NST appointment, albeit begrudgingly, for 2:30pm the next day and decided to keep some faith that the doctor had a plan to get me in by at least then.
Friday, 09/10/10
We wait all day, in vain, for a call in to the birth center. We went to our NST where the doctor had us sign our induction informed consent, just to get the paperwork ready. By the time we left the office at 4:15pm, there was still no room at the birth center for us. We went to a movie (Induction Inception, which was very good) to kill some time, hoping that we would get a call sometime in the evening before heading back down to Tacoma. No luck.
Before making the drive south, I called the charge nurse to see if there was any chance for a call. She said that I was first on the list and she was hoping she could get us in by 11pm. Either way, she would call us and let us know.
So we went home in time to spend some time with Naomi before bed and waiting for a call - WHICH CAME at about 10pm! We were told to get ready and be at the hospital at 11:30pm!
So we did. at 10:30pm, knowing that I-5 Northbound was closed part of the way and we'd have to take a back road, we took off. We made it to the end of the block when the phone rang...
"Don't hate me," she says. "We just had 3 women in spontaneous active labor walk in so we don't have a bed for you anymore."
This is when I completely lost it and railed into this nurse. What, afterall, was the point of scheduling this supposedly "medically necessary" induction if they are not actually going to do it? And what if something did happen to this child during this days-long wait? Whose shoulders would that be on? And why is it that this hospital has this completely wishy-washy policy when every other person I have talked to who has been induced at any other hospital was given an actual scheduled appointment that was actually honored? And did they have any idea what this does to an already emotionally and hormonally charged 9 month pregnant woman? And did they have any respect at all for the rest of the family who is also on this roller coaster and changing their lives to take care of your other children? And what about my husband who has now killed TWO vacation days for no reason when they could have been spent helping me with a newborn in the house?
The answer to all this: "I can't stitch up someone else's cervix to push you into labor." I thought this was the most callous answer I have ever heard, asked her what would have happened if I had gotten there 10 minutes BEFORE these other women (they would not have denied any of us care), and I told her that I would be in touch with the department head as soon as possible to file a complaint and hung up.
Then had a good cry and went to bed.
Saturday, 09/11/10
I called at 7:30 this morning to see what my chances of getting in today were. I spoke to both the new charge nurse and my doctor. I was told that they would get me in ASAP, of course and if I didn't hear from them by 11:30am to call again to check in. So here we are, waiting. Again. On day 3 of my "medically necessary" induction.
(Update!)
The 11:30 call yielded no reassurance of space for us, but the nurse said maybe we'd get a call around 3:00pm.
It came at 1:30pm that they were ready for us and we jumped in the car to go, where I promptly shut my phone off. No way was I going to answer if they were to call again on our way up! We were going to the hospital and STAYING there!
We were shown to our room, unpacked our stuff, got changed and met our nurse. We're here and they can't kick us out now!
The first hurdle is placing the IV. Two nurses (including one who, upon entrance, promised not to keep "porking" me... another hysterical story for another day), an IV Tech and FOUR sticks later, we finally were set. I finally got my first dose of cytotec at 5:00pm. Please, let's get this show on the road.
Sunday, 09/12/10
The clock has just clicked past 12:00am. I am contracting, but too often (about every minute or two) to get the 2nd dose of cytotec. But the drug has not done enough to soften my cervix and dilate me. And I've been told the doc on call won't really assess me until early morning, or unless these contractions get painful (which they are obviously not since I am writing this). SO, what to do? Walk around, then try to get some sleep.
(Update! And the rest of the story...)
The morning came and the doc came in to check me. Still 1.5cm at 6am. And still too many contractions. Not good. The on-call doc started to talk to me about a crazy balloon thing-a-majig the they would probably need to insert to help dilate me manually. HELL NO. What were our other options? We discussed giving me a flush of fluid to see if we could space out my contractions enough to do another round of cytotec. This may take longer, but it is less invasive. As far as I was concerned this was the way to go.
SO, we started the fluids and that ran for about an hour. By the time we were done with this, my OB was back on call - yeah! And when she checked me I was already at 3cm! No more cytotec, no balloons, I was progressing on my own! So we start running the pitocin.
By 1pm we were at about 4.5cm but still not in active labor. To move things along she broke my water, warned me that labor would get more intense and painful, and ordered me my epidural (I'm not an all-natural type of girl... Judge if you wish, but I don't like pain).
She was right. By the time the epidural arrived 20 minutes later, I was ready for it. I should say, though, that the epi was A LOT lighter than the one I got with Naomi, which pretty much knocked my lower half out of use for a full 24 hours. This time around I could still feel everything (and all the accompanying pressure - moms, you know what I mean), it just took the edge off the pain. It was pretty much smooth sailing from this point on, though. By 6:00 we were pushing.
At 6:57pm our girl, all 9lbs 1oz (WOWZER!) and 20 inches of her, was born. Alana Stowe Roberts came into the world to the tune of Ta p'tite flamme by Amélie-les-crayons.
Welcome, cheeky monkey. We love you so very, very much.
Another post dedicated to Alana will be posted soon...
As a forward...
For those who have not been induced, I can tell you that this is a completely different experience than letting labor happen spontaneously. With Naomi, I started labor, my water broke within 30 minutes, and we were on our way to the hospital. 20 hours later we had a baby in our arms. It went smoothly, we enjoyed the experience, and I actually looked forward to the next time we could bring a baby into the world.
With Knock-Knock, since we have been dealing with the umbilical cord issue for more than 2 months now which has included 2x Non-Stress Test (NST) per week and 1x Ultrasound per week, we have been scheduled for a "medically necessary" induction at the beginning of our 39th week. This way we know she is mature enough to be delivered safely, yet we cut her risk level of dependency on her cord.
Getting to induction, at least in our experience, takes a lot of mental preparation. First you have to come to terms with starting a process that your body or the baby may not actually be ready for yet. It's unnatural and weird. Then you have to get over the fear of the drugs you know they are going to give you to start the process. We've all heard the horror stories and negative outcomes. Then you have to just plain get ready to have this baby in your arms and you try to go through the motions in your brain, rehearsing what has to be done first, what you need to remember from last time, etc. This is mentally exhausting stuff, especially for a planner like me. I'm admittedly not so good at just going with the flow when so much has been planned out for me.
Bottom line, just putting everything in the back of your head and letting labor happen when it is going to happen is SO much easier. Yet, the doctor insists that we need to deliver the baby, so you trust that and agree, go through all these mental hurdles, and expect the call to report the hospital.
Thursday, 09/9/10
This is the day we have been scheduled for induction. This day came and went. We called in at 8am as instructed, were told we were most likely going to be called to come in by noon. I waited until 4pm to call again, which is when I was informed that we would not be admitted on this day. They were just too busy.
Also, the doctor called me and insisted on scheduling another NST for the next day. I asked if it was necessary if I was going to be induced the next day. She said, "Well, it's not guaranteed you will get in tomorrow either, then if you don't get in this weekend, that means we don't see you until at least Monday..."
WAIT, WHAT? We were disappointed and upset, mainly for two reasons: 1. I had to go through this prep all over again the next day, or maybe even MULTIPLE days in a row, and 2. Jim had just burned a valuable vacation day waiting for nothing.
Really? Could they really delay a "medically necessary" induction for MULTIPLE days?? No way...
I made the NST appointment, albeit begrudgingly, for 2:30pm the next day and decided to keep some faith that the doctor had a plan to get me in by at least then.
Friday, 09/10/10
We wait all day, in vain, for a call in to the birth center. We went to our NST where the doctor had us sign our induction informed consent, just to get the paperwork ready. By the time we left the office at 4:15pm, there was still no room at the birth center for us. We went to a movie (
Before making the drive south, I called the charge nurse to see if there was any chance for a call. She said that I was first on the list and she was hoping she could get us in by 11pm. Either way, she would call us and let us know.
So we went home in time to spend some time with Naomi before bed and waiting for a call - WHICH CAME at about 10pm! We were told to get ready and be at the hospital at 11:30pm!
So we did. at 10:30pm, knowing that I-5 Northbound was closed part of the way and we'd have to take a back road, we took off. We made it to the end of the block when the phone rang...
"Don't hate me," she says. "We just had 3 women in spontaneous active labor walk in so we don't have a bed for you anymore."
This is when I completely lost it and railed into this nurse. What, afterall, was the point of scheduling this supposedly "medically necessary" induction if they are not actually going to do it? And what if something did happen to this child during this days-long wait? Whose shoulders would that be on? And why is it that this hospital has this completely wishy-washy policy when every other person I have talked to who has been induced at any other hospital was given an actual scheduled appointment that was actually honored? And did they have any idea what this does to an already emotionally and hormonally charged 9 month pregnant woman? And did they have any respect at all for the rest of the family who is also on this roller coaster and changing their lives to take care of your other children? And what about my husband who has now killed TWO vacation days for no reason when they could have been spent helping me with a newborn in the house?
The answer to all this: "I can't stitch up someone else's cervix to push you into labor." I thought this was the most callous answer I have ever heard, asked her what would have happened if I had gotten there 10 minutes BEFORE these other women (they would not have denied any of us care), and I told her that I would be in touch with the department head as soon as possible to file a complaint and hung up.
Then had a good cry and went to bed.
Saturday, 09/11/10
I called at 7:30 this morning to see what my chances of getting in today were. I spoke to both the new charge nurse and my doctor. I was told that they would get me in ASAP, of course and if I didn't hear from them by 11:30am to call again to check in. So here we are, waiting. Again. On day 3 of my "medically necessary" induction.
(Update!)
The 11:30 call yielded no reassurance of space for us, but the nurse said maybe we'd get a call around 3:00pm.
It came at 1:30pm that they were ready for us and we jumped in the car to go, where I promptly shut my phone off. No way was I going to answer if they were to call again on our way up! We were going to the hospital and STAYING there!
We were shown to our room, unpacked our stuff, got changed and met our nurse. We're here and they can't kick us out now!
The first hurdle is placing the IV. Two nurses (including one who, upon entrance, promised not to keep "porking" me... another hysterical story for another day), an IV Tech and FOUR sticks later, we finally were set. I finally got my first dose of cytotec at 5:00pm. Please, let's get this show on the road.
Sunday, 09/12/10
The clock has just clicked past 12:00am. I am contracting, but too often (about every minute or two) to get the 2nd dose of cytotec. But the drug has not done enough to soften my cervix and dilate me. And I've been told the doc on call won't really assess me until early morning, or unless these contractions get painful (which they are obviously not since I am writing this). SO, what to do? Walk around, then try to get some sleep.
(Update! And the rest of the story...)
The morning came and the doc came in to check me. Still 1.5cm at 6am. And still too many contractions. Not good. The on-call doc started to talk to me about a crazy balloon thing-a-majig the they would probably need to insert to help dilate me manually. HELL NO. What were our other options? We discussed giving me a flush of fluid to see if we could space out my contractions enough to do another round of cytotec. This may take longer, but it is less invasive. As far as I was concerned this was the way to go.
SO, we started the fluids and that ran for about an hour. By the time we were done with this, my OB was back on call - yeah! And when she checked me I was already at 3cm! No more cytotec, no balloons, I was progressing on my own! So we start running the pitocin.
By 1pm we were at about 4.5cm but still not in active labor. To move things along she broke my water, warned me that labor would get more intense and painful, and ordered me my epidural (I'm not an all-natural type of girl... Judge if you wish, but I don't like pain).
She was right. By the time the epidural arrived 20 minutes later, I was ready for it. I should say, though, that the epi was A LOT lighter than the one I got with Naomi, which pretty much knocked my lower half out of use for a full 24 hours. This time around I could still feel everything (and all the accompanying pressure - moms, you know what I mean), it just took the edge off the pain. It was pretty much smooth sailing from this point on, though. By 6:00 we were pushing.
At 6:57pm our girl, all 9lbs 1oz (WOWZER!) and 20 inches of her, was born. Alana Stowe Roberts came into the world to the tune of Ta p'tite flamme by Amélie-les-crayons.
Welcome, cheeky monkey. We love you so very, very much.
Another post dedicated to Alana will be posted soon...
8.01.2010
19 months, and Cape Cod!
The absolute highlight of Naomi's 19th month was our long-anticipated trip back east. We took a multi-family trip to Cape Cod with my roommates from college and all of our families. 10 adults and 6 kids, plus 2 more buns in the oven - talk about a full house!
This was the first time we have all been able to get together in 3 years. It was also the first time we have gotten all the kids in our extended family together. As you can see from the pics below, it was a BLAST for them! Naomi still asks for her new friends from the trip.
It was all a wonderful, stress-relieving blur and we agreed that a week was just not enough time to enjoy each other. Next time, maybe two... now we just need to decide where we are going to go!
The Vogan-Holmes Family: Karen, Josh, Erica Lily and baby Sawyer
This was the first time we have all been able to get together in 3 years. It was also the first time we have gotten all the kids in our extended family together. As you can see from the pics below, it was a BLAST for them! Naomi still asks for her new friends from the trip.
Photos: Kim Praast Photography
It was all a wonderful, stress-relieving blur and we agreed that a week was just not enough time to enjoy each other. Next time, maybe two... now we just need to decide where we are going to go!
A big thank you to my girls, their others, and their kids for being... just fantastic.
This was the perfect vacation. We love and miss you all.
XOXO
The Vogan-Holmes Family: Karen, Josh, Erica Lily and baby Sawyer
The Oliver-Carr Family: Jeannette, Mark, Abigail and Samantha (+1 coming soon!)
The Maggart-Cranmer Family: Lindsay, Jason and Tristan
The Praast-Reber Family: Kim and Jeff - the coolest aunty and uncle a bunch of crazy kids could ask for!
7.01.2010
18 months, and summer is finally here!
Waiting for summer this year was tough. Last week it FINALLY pushed into the high 70's! Warm enough to run around in the fountains at the park, which is probably Naomi's favorite part of the park - except for maybe the swings.
The past month has been a little stressful, to be honest, but we are taking things as they come and we are hoping for a better July.
Naomi took a nasty spill out of a shopping card on Monday, the 21st, scaring the crap out of everyone. I had placed her in the basket of the cart because she was a little antsy on the last of our errands (bad mommy...). She sat there for a while taking things out of my bag and destroying the contents of my wallet, as per normal. All of a sudden, jumpin' jack flash stood up lunged forward for something outside of the cart. Her top-heavy little body just tumbled out of this standard-sized shopping cart and she fell right on top of her head. The paramedics came. They suggested I take her to the local children's hospital to get checked out.
To make matters worse, as I was was carrying her in, I fell! To prevent Naomi from hitting the ground again, I took the brunt of the fall on my elbow and knee, then twisted around to my back to protect both the baby in my arms and the baby in my belly. Owie. That left me sore for a few days...
Naomi checked out fine and was released after an hour or so of observation. I have never been so grateful.
We continue to have complications with the 2nd pregnancy. If you hadn't heard, we already fought off low amniotic fluid levels (due to dehydration), concerning head growth (which has righted itself), and now we have found out that there is an Intra-Abdominal Umbilical Vein Varix (essentially a varicose vein in the cord). It is a rare thing to have, and there is nothing we can do about it, but we are being watched very closely as it could be very dangerous for little sister.
Starting the week of July 18 we'll be monitored with a weekly ultrasound and semi-weekly non-stress tests. That's a lot of testing. Should we find any potential threat to the baby's blood supply (poor flow, clotting, etc.), we'll have to deliver immediately. Seeing that we are only at 29 weeks, this is a scary thought. Every day we can keep her in the womb is two less NICU days we may be facing. I am crossing my fingers that I can make it to at least 38 weeks, but more than likely we will be welcoming our newest addition by the end of August. WOW - that is just around the corner!
Also, my mom was here for a visit the past two weeks to spend time with us before she starts chemotherapy next week. Wish her good luck, mild side effects, and a full recovery!
PS. Still undecided about starting a second blog or making this a family blog... will keep you posted!
The past month has been a little stressful, to be honest, but we are taking things as they come and we are hoping for a better July.
Naomi took a nasty spill out of a shopping card on Monday, the 21st, scaring the crap out of everyone. I had placed her in the basket of the cart because she was a little antsy on the last of our errands (bad mommy...). She sat there for a while taking things out of my bag and destroying the contents of my wallet, as per normal. All of a sudden, jumpin' jack flash stood up lunged forward for something outside of the cart. Her top-heavy little body just tumbled out of this standard-sized shopping cart and she fell right on top of her head. The paramedics came. They suggested I take her to the local children's hospital to get checked out.
To make matters worse, as I was was carrying her in, I fell! To prevent Naomi from hitting the ground again, I took the brunt of the fall on my elbow and knee, then twisted around to my back to protect both the baby in my arms and the baby in my belly. Owie. That left me sore for a few days...
Naomi checked out fine and was released after an hour or so of observation. I have never been so grateful.
We continue to have complications with the 2nd pregnancy. If you hadn't heard, we already fought off low amniotic fluid levels (due to dehydration), concerning head growth (which has righted itself), and now we have found out that there is an Intra-Abdominal Umbilical Vein Varix (essentially a varicose vein in the cord). It is a rare thing to have, and there is nothing we can do about it, but we are being watched very closely as it could be very dangerous for little sister.
Starting the week of July 18 we'll be monitored with a weekly ultrasound and semi-weekly non-stress tests. That's a lot of testing. Should we find any potential threat to the baby's blood supply (poor flow, clotting, etc.), we'll have to deliver immediately. Seeing that we are only at 29 weeks, this is a scary thought. Every day we can keep her in the womb is two less NICU days we may be facing. I am crossing my fingers that I can make it to at least 38 weeks, but more than likely we will be welcoming our newest addition by the end of August. WOW - that is just around the corner!
Also, my mom was here for a visit the past two weeks to spend time with us before she starts chemotherapy next week. Wish her good luck, mild side effects, and a full recovery!
PS. Still undecided about starting a second blog or making this a family blog... will keep you posted!
6.03.2010
17 months, and a visit to "Gamma"
For those of you who have not heard, my mother has recently become ill with pancreatic cancer. A nasty disease, that one is. After her diagnosis, Naomi and Aunty Em (my sister) and I took a little trip down to Florida to visit with her. We were glad to be able to spend most of our time with her pre-surgery (the Whipple procedure), then were able to stay with her for a day or so post-surgery. While the reason for our visit loomed overhead and was hard to forget about, I think we were able to keep things fun and keep "Gamma's" mind off of the heavy stuff a least a little bit. We spent a day driving around South Beach, did lots of pool swimming, and even spent one morning taking Naomi on her first beach excursion, resulting in this month's photos.
She LOVED both sand and water, and sat mesmerized by the vast ocean.
As a short update, mom is home from the hospital as of last night and working on getting herself recovered and strong so she can tackle the big treatments ahead: A course of chemo, followed by radiation treatment, followed by another course of chemo. The road ahead would be daunting to any of us. Please keep her in your thoughts...
She LOVED both sand and water, and sat mesmerized by the vast ocean.
As a short update, mom is home from the hospital as of last night and working on getting herself recovered and strong so she can tackle the big treatments ahead: A course of chemo, followed by radiation treatment, followed by another course of chemo. The road ahead would be daunting to any of us. Please keep her in your thoughts...
Current Stats
Weight: 25lbs, 13.5oz
Height: 31"
Head Circumference: 18.5"
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