2 weeks

Hello, friends!

I've been away from the blog for a bit...Libby came home a week ago, and we've been pretty much non-stop since then with our little family and all of the adjusting that comes along with bringing home a new baby! :-)

Libby turned 2 weeks old on Tuesday, and she had her first well-baby check with her Pediatrician.  She was up to 4lb 7oz, which is 2oz over her birth weight.  Doc said he was pleased with her weight!  Feeding Libby is a bit tricky...she is just now starting to wake when hungry, but even then most times she wants to fall asleep midway through the feeding.  I've learned a handful of tricks to keep her awake...change her diaper, rub her head, rub her palm, a baby wipe to the feet (which she *hates*)...just to name a few.  I am still feeding her expressed milk in a bottle.  Doc suggested we start going to MOMs meetings on Wednesday's to try to get her back to nursing.  It's best to do that sooner rather than later, when she learns to love the quicker flow of the bottle.  I had to feed both of the boys with a bottle, too, so I'm no stranger to that and if we need to continue doing things that way, I'm okay with that.

The boys are doing very well with Libby.  Luke is absolutely in love with her.  Libby is the first person he asks about upon awakening, and the first person he kisses goodnight.  He is so sweet and gentle with her...always wanting to be near her and calming her when she is upset.  Sometimes I have to divert him to helping with grabbing a diaper or something because he's alllll over her!  I suppose that's a much better problem to have than to have him full of resentment towards her. :-)  Levi is not quite as smothering as Luke is with his love and affection, but he is always giving her his favorite toys to play with.  He loves to rub her head and give her kisses, too. :-)

I have been snapping some pictures, but haven't been awesome about sharing them.  Here are a few that I've taken this week:

{Getting Ready for Pictures with Harmon Photography}

{Levi shared his basketball with Libby}

{Little Libby at 2 weeks old}

{Hello, Momma!}

{Sleeping sweetheart}

{Luke, showing off his new jammies}

{Silly Levi}

Our schedule is based on feeding Libby every 3 hours.  I wake her up, change her diaper, feed her, get her to sleep, and then pump.  It takes about an hour to get all of that done.  I'm waiting for my internal clock to kick in, so I stop running in zombie mode so much...I know the time is coming, but right now I often find myself falling asleep sitting up. :-)  


I know several people have asked...we are taking visitors as long as you haven't been sick in the past 2 weeks.  I have lots of hand soap and hand sanitizer all ready! :-)  We won't be venturing out and about for another couple of weeks.  I can't imagine going anywhere with all 3 kiddos right now, anyway!  Momma's still a tiny bit sore from surgery...I'm pretty much back to normal, but if I lift too much, I certainly pay for it the next day. :-)

Hope everyone is enjoying their Summer.  It's been stinkin' hot and DRY here!  For once, I'm praying for rain!!!

Home...

Late last night, I came home from the hospital.  I apologize for not keeping everyone as updated as I would have liked to, but internet access was kind of crazy, and my BB only shows certain things (and blogger has been sooooo slow).  I think I missed a couple of FB messages, even, because they just didn't pop up.

So, this post may be a little random and scattered...please bear with me. :-)

June 12th, B and I got up bright and early and headed down to Indy for our scheduled csection.  The day before it was found that Libby's cord flow had gotten much worse, and she needed to be delivered.  My parents, Grandma, Father-in-Law, and good friend, Nicole, went down with us.  We arrived at the hospital, got all registered, and settled in in Triage around 8:30am.  They did their norm (started an IV, asked a load of questions, etc, etc), and I was able to have a quick visit with everyone before they took me back to the OR around 9:30a.

{Daddy, are you ready?!}

{All hooked up and ready to roll!}

Everything went pretty smoothly with the surgery, and at 10:22am, "IT'S A GIRL" was announced by the Resident, Dr. Harris.  Dr. Sumners, our MFM, was also helping with the delivery, and he was *shocked* that Libby was not a Beau. :-)

{Here she comes...}

{Libby Cathleen}

{She was mad...}

{4lbs 5oz, 17.5 inches long}

{Mommy and Daddy with Libby}

{Proud Papa!}

We had a lot of visitors on Tuesday.  Luke and Levi were able to make it up in the evening, and I'm glad they did.  Luke was so excited to see his baby sister...he gave her snuggles and held her little feet.  SO precious!

{Aunt Allison, Aunt EE, Grandma Marla, Grandpa Tom, and Luke in front.}

{Luke's hand by Libby's foot}

{Luke was so happy!}

{Luke holding Libby's "piggers"}

{They boys stayed with Grandma}

{Biggest Brother, Luke!}

{Big Brother, Levi}

About Day 3 (or was it 2?  All of my days kind of blurred together), Libby started having issues holding her temperature.  We did some skin-to-skin in hopes of bringing it up, but it didn't work out so well.  They took her down to the Nursery, and the Doctor decided that it was best that Libby go to the Critical Care Nursery.  She had dropped about 9% of her body weight, and was showing some signs that she needed a little bit of extra help.  Although she was technically a "late preterm baby", she was small.  Babies burn calories with everything they do...eating, keeping warm, even while sleeping.  With her being so small, she was burning more calories than she was taking in just doing basic baby things.

{Libby in CCN}

Libby was required to take 25mL minimum with each feeding (that's a little under 1oz), and she had 30 minutes to complete her feeding.  Taking any longer than that would require more energy than what she was taking in.  If she didn't accomplish this task for 2 feedings in a row, they would have to put in a feeding tube.  Saturday morning, I came in to visit her, and she had the feeding tube in place.  The Nurse explained that she had spit up pretty bad and had some issues recovering.  By the time she was settled, she was completely wiped out.  They decided the tube was what she needed.  

I was discharged Saturday night...without my baby. :-(  

Through all of this, I know that Libby is where she needs to be right now.  It's a hard pill to swallow, knowing that you cannot provide everything for your new little babe that she needs, but I'm not too proud to admit that.  I know that Libby is being well taken care of...I know that overall she's really doing great...I know that she will be home soon.  BUT, it is still SO HARD when things do not go as you expected them to.  I spent 7 weeks on bedrest thinking with each passing week that we were buying more time at home and less time in the hospital.  Since Levi was 35 weeks and did just great, I anticipated the same for Libby.  No matter how trivial the issues your child faces, they are still your child, and it's still gut-wrenching to see them have set-backs...no matter how minor they are.  I'm trying really, really hard to keep it together right now, but I'll be honest...all I really want to do is sit down and have a long, hard cry.  There have been a couple of instances already where I've had to fight the tears back really hard...like when B and I were killing time Saturday night while the Nurses switched shifts before he could see her.  We went out to eat and the waitress saw my hospital bands and asked if I had been in the hospital.  I explained we had just had a baby.  She was really sweet, and asked what we had and her name, and I choked it out with a huge lump in my throat.  Today we took B to Bullshipper's for breakfast.  The owner loves the boys and came over to visit...he asked where the baby was.  Again, I choked out a response, but good Lord was it hard not to just lose it!

Today, my parents took me down to see Libby.  She's doing great!  She was sleeping the entire time...she looked so precious.  

{Mommy and Libby}

She is up to 4lbs 2oz, so almost her birth weight, and they've upped her feeds to 30mL (1oz).  They bottle feed her first, and what she doesn't take in 30 minutes goes down the feeding tube.  At her Noon feeding, she only took 12mL, but for some reason she's super-tired at that time of the day.  She's been regulating her temp...as you can see she's graduated to her "big girl" bed. :-)  The Doctor called earlier in the day and said she was having a good morning, and she was hoping that Libby has turned a corner.  Mommy and Daddy hope so, too. :-)

As of now, I'll be visiting Libby during the day, and coming home to the boys in the evening.  I'm pumping like a mad-woman every 3 hours, except from midnight to 5a...I take a little nap. ;-)  I'm an old pro at making milk, so thankfully Libby has plenty of Momma's milk!

That's our big giant update! :-)  If you've made it this far, you're a champ!  Thanks for checking in on us...I'll try to keep everyone up-to-date as much as I can. :-)

ps...IT'S A GIRL!!!! :-)

Sugar & Spice...

Baby is here!

Baby Sparks #3 was born Tuesday, June 12th at 10:22AM weighing in at 4lbs 5oz and measuring 17.5 inches long.

That means everyone guessed too high! Kelly Hodges, you were the closest with your guess of 4lbs 12oz so you are the winner and you won this:

{Yay for goodies!!}

Congratulations! :-)  Nat will be getting with you soon to get you your prize!

More details on baby to follow once Natalie has had some time to rest a bit!

A Perfect Day...

...to meet our third little blessing. :-)

{Sweet face @ 37 weeks}

I am 37 weeks and 1 day today.  That's right...we made it to FULL TERM! :-)

{37 weeks 1 day}

{Only took me 37 weeks to figure out how to semi-self portrait in the mirror!}

As most of you know already, I was scheduled to have an amnio yesterday, but after doing the initial ultrasound, it was found that the cord flow had gotten much worse and baby needs to be delivered...whether lungs are mature or not.  So, the amnio was no longer needed.  Here is a site that explains in a little more detail what is going on with the cord flow.  The good news is that baby still looked great on the BPP and NST, so we were able to come home and rest before heading back this morning for the c-section.  (They had already scheduled it, because it's much easier to cancel if it weren't needed than to have to squeeze us in.)

My friend, Nicole, will be updating my blog for me when baby arrives for those of you who have been following!

We're ready to meet you, Baby Sparks!

9 Months!

Woo Hoo!  Yesterday we finally hit the 9 month mark!  Next Monday, we'll be FULL TERM!  GREAT news, right?! :-)

This weekend, I was able to sneak out for a bit to attend my sister-in-law's baby shower.  She is expecting her first baby, a little boy, exactly 5 weeks after us!  This will be B's first nephew on his side of the family, so we're very, very excited!

{Dessert Haus Cake!}

{Pretty tables}

{Guest table with u/s pics!}

{Monkey Cookie Favor}

{Lion Cookie Favor}

{Two sweet baby bumps!  Me, 36w.  Kelley, 31w}

{The BEST Sister-in-laws EVER, with baby cousins in the middle!}

I was really glad that I was able to join in celebrating Baby Knox's pending arrival. :-)  We were a little unsure if I was going to be able to make it...what a blessing!  (Thanks for hanging in there with me, Baby Sparks!)

Today we had an MFM appointment in Indy.  They will officially be overseeing my care for the rest of this pregnancy.  Everything is stable with myself and baby, which is good.  Friday I'll have a BPP and NST in Indy with their office, and then Monday I'll have an amniocentesis to check baby's lung development.  I will be 37 weeks...FULL TERM (did I say that already?!)!  The amnio will determine when the baby is born...if lungs are mature, baby will be here on Tuesday.  If lungs are immature, baby will come later, unless anything changes with our stable state.  We're in the homestretch! :-)

{36 weeks}

Several people have asked how the boys are doing.  They're doing great. :-)  I can say that they are really enjoying all of the extra quality time they've gotten to spend with Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles, close family friends...thank goodness the weather's been nice.  Spending time outside is something that they love doing, and they can run off extra energy and have free reign of the backyard!  B put up the swimming pool, which Luke really loves, but we haven't been able to fully enjoy it, yet, due to last week's temperature dip.  I'm looking forward to having some time off with the new baby and with the boys.  I will be going back to work full time soon enough...time certainly does fly by!  It will be nice to be off of bedrest so that we can take trips to the zoo, park, Grandparents' pool, etc. :-)

Here are some recent pics of the boys being boys:

{Levi's full load!}

{Hang on, Luke!}

{The expression on his face is hilarious!}

{Wearing Daddy's hat}

I'll post another update on Monday, with a quick Facebook update on Friday.  Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week!  I have a feeling that mine's going to be filled with lots of cake! :-)

Nursery

I went ahead and snapped some Nursery photos today, since the room is pretty much complete except for baby's name.  I'll post links below the pictures to where I purchased some of the items just in case anyone's interested! :-)

{View from Door}

{I love how the cornice turned out!  Instructions here}

{Above the crib, envision white letters in the empty space between the circles...like here}

{Crib}

 

{Mirrored chest is completely impractical for a baby's room, but I LOVE it!}

{Clothes Hamper :-) }

{View from Mirrored Chest}

{Wall Collage}

{This elephant mobile turned out AWESOME!}

Okay, so, I'll try to go by the order of pictures:

1)  Rug purchased from Overstock.  I got it on sale, and also had a 10% off coupon, so it was a great deal!

2)  Glider/Rocker purchased from Posh Tots, also on sale.

3)  Throw pillows purchased on sale at Homegoods.

4)  Cornice Instructions found here.

5)  Baby bedding was made by myself and my Grandma.  Material purchased here, and bumper pad instructions here.

6)  Framed animal print, purchased off of Zulily.

7)  Mirrored Chest purchased from Homegoods.

8)  Stacked Elephant Statue purchased from TJMaxx

9)  Lamp shades purchased from this Etsy shop.

10)  Elephant clothes hamper purchased here

11)  Elephant canvas purchased at Oopsy Daisy.

12)  Elephant love figurine purchased at Hobby Lobby (gotta love those 50% off sales!!)

13)  You Make Me Happy print purchased off of Zulily.

14)  Noah's Ark frame and white shelf purchased at Hobby Lobby (again, 50% off!)

15)  Elephant Mobile purchased from this Etsy shop.

Some of the pictures ended up looking a little off in color...it was just my lack of camera flash. :-)  The brighter gray in the 3rd (crib) picture is probably truest in color.  I have to say, I had a lot of fun putting this Nursery together for the baby. :-)  I used this site and this site for inspiration.  I can't take credit for all of the great ideas...I'm truly not that creative at all!! :-)

Oh, and the two blue gingham gift bags are presents for the Big Brothers from Baby. :-)