A Baby Story

Have you ever seen that show on TLC? I am addicted to it while I am pregnant, and then as soon as I am all done in the baby department I have no interest in watching. Anyway, here is our "baby story"

I had been having really bad back pain and contractions for a couple weeks. The contractions would be really regular and strong for about an hour then putter out. I was dilated to a 2 and 75% for over two weeks so the Dr decided to strip my membranes (I know, sounds disgusting, and really it is.)
We thought that this would do the trick, but I still went another week before anything really happened.

I was up all Friday night with contractions, but I refused to go to the hospital until I felt like I was going to die. So Saturday morning I hit my "going to die" threshold and we got to the hospital around 7 AM. They had admitted us by 8 because my contractions were so strong and regular. Unfortunately I was STILL dilated to a 2 despite all of the painful contractions. So they decided to break my water, and start me on pitocin to get things moving. DIDN'T work. We were sure that this labor would go like our last 2 kids. We were in and out, and everything went fast and without problems, we were prepared to be out of there by noon... Somewhere in here I got an epidural (thank heaven for modern medicine) By 3 PM I was still at a 2, even though I was on the max dose of pitocin (20). They decided to put in an intrauterine monitor to see how efficient they were, and turns out they were little wimpy non effective contractions, although they were just as painful as effective ones would be. So they increased the pitocin to 30, which was way over the max limit. This got things going, but it also caused the baby to go into distress and have a bowel movement in utero. This was NOT good news. They then discovered that he was posterior and that is why he wasn't making his way down. By 7 PM, I was almost complete but the baby's heart rate was dropping drastically. I started to get really nauseous and made friends with the nice blue emesis bags... Pretty sure I met with 5 of them :O They then decided that the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck.


The doctor had to use forceps to get him out and I was snipped from back to front (OUCH) to help him get out faster. Because he was in distress and he had meconium staining the NICU team was there waiting to take him. After cutting the umbilical cord (that was wrapped around his neck twice) the Dr picks him up and starts going toward the NICU team when he SLIPS!! There was an audible gasp from the 14 plus people in the room and everyone reached out to grab the doctor. He caught the baby upside down by his hips with his head about a foot from the ground. I just tucked my head under the blankets and cried. at this point I had nothing left. I just couldn't handle anymore. It felt like minutes before I heard him cry, I just watched him lay there limply. I have never felt so helpless. Because he wasn't breathing well they had to take him to the NICU and put him on a CPAP. He also was given an IV because he wasn't able to get the cord blood as it was cut while he was still inside me.
They moved me down to mother and baby while Judd stayed with him in the NICU. By this time it was almost midnight. When I finally got to hold my little guy I just broke down. I can't remember the last time I had cried like that. To have him be ok after all of that was for lack of better words the biggest relief.

Kennedy and Levi came the next morning to visit, and to my surprise they were both really good with this new little guy. Levi was extra cute, hopefully I can upload this video of his reaction.
We also had a scare the next morning when the pediatrician told us he might not be able to hear out of his right ear. He didn't pass the hearing exam and they needed to repeat it the next day. He did pass the test the next day, but only because the technician put the probe really far into his ear canal (which is apparently very tiny, and this is the reason he couldn't hear). The good news is that he has all of the right parts, the bad news is that he is most likely going to need to have surgery to open his ear canal farther so that he can hear well and so that his speech develops normally. I am just glad that he CAN hear. It could be a lot worse, and I am really thankful that it isn't.

For dramatic effect. :)

My toes turned into little Vienna sausages. Sooo swollen

My little man. Definitely gave me quite the scare... Hopefully he quits that. I can't handle the stress... Oh, how I am not looking forward to the teenage years.

In the NICU with the CPAP on.  :(

This was Levi's reaction to McKay :)

Kennedy loves being a big sister. Unlike last time, she understands a lot more and is excited about him.

Proud daddy

Pointing at (as Kennedy calls him) "baby uhm-kay"

A bike for the boy.

We got Levi a bike the other day. He actually did really well on it for his first time, (and for being only 16 months old.)

He loved it, and Kennedy was so excited to ride bikes with her brother.

As promised...

 Here are some pictures from our trip to Strawberry for Labor day. The whole Zimmerman crew was there, and as usual I took too many pictures, so here are a few that made the cut.

Uncle Travis and Sam using his duck call. We did dutch oven, so we all sat around the fire until it was done.

Kennedy... I think if there were any ducks around she would have called the mutated ones.

All the grand kids. Sam, Max, Chloe, Kennedy, Levi... And if you look on the couch you'll see Avery and Abbie

I had to get a picture of this. It wasn't planned, but the three girls all wore their dirty dash tees. NERDS :)

From start to finish. Colette is 2 months along (?) Liz is over 5 months (?) and I am a little over 8.  Cara had Avery 2 months ago, so we'll all be packing little ones around here soon.

A view from the cabin down to Strawberry

I LOVE this outfit! It also has a little ruffle bottom :)

Uncle Judd driving around with Sam. He was grinning the entire time.

Colette and Brent

Believe it or not Kennedy fell in love with 4 wheeling. She is usually so scared of things like this. She cried on almost every ride at Lagoon. I think she could have done this all day and been perfectly content.

I got some video of her driving, she was screaming (happy screams) the whole time. I think Judd had as much fun as she did.

Nathan and Ereita.

Now for the Wolf Mountain Mayhem...



Judd on the last stretch. he was going too fast for me to get a really good picture.



I could tell that this was Judd by the way he rides. A lot of the other guys just looked so uncomfortable on their bikes, but Judd looked like he was born on one... I can't be sure, and I'll have to check with Ereita, but I think he might have been born on one.

Judd

Levi getting in on the action

Like father like son, chowing down on dutch waffles. Judd's friend Ryan and his wife make these amazing energy waffles, and I have to say they are AMAZING!! I'm pretty sure the two of them ate a whole pack by themselves.

The fam waiting for the race results

And the winner is..... Kennedy in first. OK, not really, she just wanted to stand on one of the blocks wearing daddy's medal :)

Judd got 3rd place in his division and 7th over all. Not bad for riding once a week at best.

Fruit fruit fruit....

Like I said, canning like a mad woman. Peaches in light syrup. Last year i did medium syrup but it was waaaaay too sweet, so this year I toned it down and did light syrup which is much better.

And I still have more to go. I plan on doing these stragglers today.

I also did nectarine jam from the very first nectarines off our tree. I can't wait til next year, I'm excited for my tree to get bigger and produce more.



And a ton of peach jam.

Kennedy's first day of Preschool. She Loved it, and she can't wait to go again and again and again :)

I didn't even have to ask her to smile. That's genuine excitement right there folks

And my speeding ticket. Yes I took a picture. I was pretty mad. When he asked where I was going what did I say? "I'm going to the grocery store?!" What was I thinking? I should have poked myself in the eye and told him I was on my way to the hospital because I was going into labor. Traffic school here I come.



And Judd had surgery again. This time for a hernia. It went so much better than the nightmare tonsil surgery last November. He is doing well and is on the mend (although he is totally milking it...)

That's all for now. I am 37 weeks along and if I don't go before, I will be induced on my birthday, another 17 days! CRAZY. I am going to have THREE CHILDREN. Gulp.

Us Lately

My sister Julia, a MgSGT in the Marine Corps, who lives in VA came out to visit. We all got together at our house for some yummy food and some good conversation.

The only one missing here is Lillian who lives in Colorado.



We went for a hike up Grove Creek. I couldn't find our baby backpack and was stuck lugging Levi on the front in the "baby Bjorn". It really didn't feel very good. But luckily the kids tuckered out before I did, so I didn't have to carry him too long.



He almost hides my 8 month belly... It was funny seeing him dangle out in front there.

I have been enjoying the time I have with just Levi and Kennedy. I am trying to come to terms with the fact that it won't be just the three of us anymore, and that I won't get as much one on one time with my kids. It's sad, but I feel like I am going to miss out on them growing up... At least for the next little while. So anyway, I have been taking advantage of the spare moments I have (when I am not distracted by stuff like blogging) to get some quality time in with the rug rats.

Wahhhhaaa

Loves to swing.

I tried my hand at curling Kennedy's hair for the first time, and I have to say it looked really cute. She loved it and was calling herself a princess all day.

We went to the zoo and spent some family time together. Kennedy loved it, although the dinosaurs freaked her out.

My little gorilla



Kennedy got a sleeping bag for her birthday (which is what she asked for..?) And she LOVES it. The next few days after she took all of her naps in it and even slept in it at night.

In other news: Judd raced a downhill mountain bike race which I will fill you in on when I download the pictures. we also spent Labor day with the family in Strawberry, Kennedy started preschool, Judd had ANOTHER surgery, I got a speeding ticket, and I have been canning like a mad woman....Details and pictures to come!