How could I forget about the blog??

I know, I'm a really horrible blogger. I should have done better about keeping things updated. I'll try not to suck less in the future :)

Huge Updates:

James: still at the job and working his tail off. He is pretty happy there and it is still supporting us.

Me: I'll start nursing school on August 25! I'm really happy and excited about this new chapter, though I'll miss staying at home with the boys. It will be an interesting transition with all of the work that comes with nursing school plus all of the responsibilities that come with being a mom of 3. Luckily, I think we've found a new childcare provider that will mesh well with our family which is such an important support system to have. The kids will be sad to not be back with their beloved Ms. Rachel.

Finn: will be starting to receive Early Intervention due to a speech delay. He doesn't really have any words and at 19 1/2 months (I know!!!!!) he should have quite a few. He is definitely smart as a whip though and he is so hilarious. He taught himself how to go down the stairs by sliding down on his belly. It is now a past time enjoyed by all the little boys. His brothers boss him around all the time and he's fairly tolerant of that most of the time.

Gavin: is almost 3 and so so smart. He's also still shy around new people and can be really grumpy when he wants to be. He and Sean are very best friends and they prefer to sleep on the bottom bunk of their bunkbed together. You can tell he feels much better about everything when Sean is around. I'm so thankful that they have such a great relationship.

Sean: has had an intense few months. He started school and went to an AWESOME Shelby County School with a wonderful Pre-K program. He seemed to blossom in that program and will be continuing it at a different school in August. He's not quite ready for Kindergarten developmentally. He was also diagnosed with Occipital Lobe Epilepsy, which mostly affects his face and eyes, though he has started to have some episodes that have involved his whole body. He is on Depakote Sprinkles (125 mg 5x a day) and it seems to be helping some. We have failed Trileptal (made his seizures much, much worse) and Keppra (OMG- Keppra rage!!!). We were switched to Depakote in mid-May when he had to be put inpatient at Le Bonheur for 3 days due to a cluster of seizures that lasted between 6-7 minutes. He had an EEG (normal abnormalities- HA! How is that for a contradiction?) and an MRI (normal). We had a follow up appointment last week and we upped the dose due to some spells that have been happening in his sleep and we follow up on July 8, where we will decide if we need to pursue an extended stay in the EMU (epilepsy monitoring unit), where he would be hooked to a 24 hours a day EEG for 3-7 days to see if we can't catch the seizures going on. The bad part about Sean's epilepsy is that a lot of really benign things could be a seizure for him. We are dealing with a lot of unknown at this point. Adding to the unknown is a referral to Genetics (appointment is June 21). He has so many things going on PLUS my issues when pregnant PLUS something called dysmorphic facial features with his wide bridge of his nose and downslanting eyes- it could be months or years before we get a potential answer with that.

I've spent a lot of time talking about Sean, but his multitude of issues and doctors appointments have kinda taken over my life. On top of this, we have moved! Into a house! With a yard!!!!!! We went from about 900 sq. ft condo to a 2000 sq. ft house with a yard where the boys can run (and James can mow :)). It has been a huge blessing for our family because we were way too cramped in that house. Now, I even have an office for all of my study time with nursing school. Now, we're broker than broke, but I don't care at this point. I'm just so glad that we are out of that condo with the mold and lack of storage. We also got a dog! She is a really sweet black Australian Shepherd mix that we rescued from the Bartlett Animal Shelter when they were preparing to flood in early May. Jewel is such a good dog who has meshed well with our family and the boys have really loved having her around (and she loves to cuddle with her Mommy :)). That's most of my update- we're just going to enjoy our summer before it gets crazy in the fall and we're also anxiously awaiting the birth of our best friend's baby girl, Stella, in August and our newest niece/nephew in January which will be James' brother, John's first child. I really will try to do better- I have a lot to say and I'm sure people get sick of hearing me talk. Holla!

Sean

This is Sean.


Sean is our first-born Son.


Sean loves trains.


Sean is a wonderful big brother.



Sean is special, you see. No, not just because he's mine :) Sean has Autism. But that is just one small thing about Sean- I will not let it define him. He is no different to me than he was yesterday before I heard the words: "Mrs. H, your son has Autism". I still love him more than words.

Sean's EEG and other stuff...

Sean had his EEG today to monitor for seizures that can mimic the signs of autism. I've now been making myself insane googling what normal and abnormal results look like. It started out kind of rough because he was having a meltdown about having to lay down and get the little things put on. And he's really, really strong, so I was having a super difficult time holding him and keeping him calm. I thought we may end up having to take him to Le Bonheur to get the test done so that they could papoose him, but I ended up having to bribe him with gummy sharks. It worked though and they got a good reading, which we will find out the results next week. His CT scan is scheduled for Friday, which he will have to be consciously sedated for...not sure how my boss is going to feel about my having to take off again- at least I'm down to a little over 2 weeks away from being done with work :) I'm so very excited...even though today is just a taste of what I'll be doing and as I look around my living room, it is totally and utterly destroyed...as is my bedroom, where the big boys were playing this morning- I don't really care because I'll be with my boys!

In other boys' news- Gavin had his 2 year well-baby visit last Friday and he is wonderful. He weighed in at 30lbs 12 oz (85th percentile) and 36 inches tall (90th percentile). She also pronounced him as perfectly advanced since he talks in full sentences and you can understand most of what comes out of his mouth. He's so incredibly smart- it really does blow my mind. Finn is also doing well...my milk supply is trying to drop, which is breaking my heart. I'm just hoping I can hold out for 2 more weeks at work and I should be able to get it pulled back up at home full-time...at least I'm hopeful for that since I've worked so hard to breastfeed him, I would hate to have to quit now. James and I are both good...just making things work with finishing all of the preps for staying home...it's pretty much been consuming our thoughts.

Happy Birthday Gavin!!

Today is my sweet Gavin's 2nd birthday, and even though I've been home sleeping off a ferocious summer cold all day, I wanted to write and remember the day that my amazingly smart and gorgeous 2nd child entered our lives.

Here's his birth story:
7/7/08
12:51 p.m.
6lbs 15 oz, 20.5 inches long

I had a scheduled induction at 5:30 a.m. on July 7 because of my on-going blood pressure issues.

The nurses got me hooked up to the monitors and much to my surprise, I was having contractions. They were about 10 minutes apart, so I told them I wanted a low dose of Pitocin to see how things would progress. Our nurse, Stephanie, checked me before she started the pit and I was at a "stretchy 3"- when I'd been at 1.5 the Wednesday before. She started my pit at 6:30, after finally getting my IV in (it took 3 tries!). I was mildly uncomfortable and even though watching my DH sleeping blissfully away was making me want to kick him in the nads, I thought I was handling it well. I knew the doctor would be in to break my water early and I remembered the pain that came with the contractions after my water broke last time, so I went ahead and ordered my epidural as soon as my fluids were done. At 8, they finally got the epidural in right *note- no more student nurse anesthecists* and I tried to relax. Dr. Hamby came in at 8:30 and broke my water and put in my internal monitors- he also stretched me to 4.5, which I was glad I didn't feel LOL. I was thrilled since I knew once I got to a 6, things would probably go pretty quickly like it did with Sean.

For the next couple of hours, things were quiet- I was checked again at 10 and was at 5. My contractions were coming every 3 minutes and I could feel the tightness, but luckily still no pain. At 11, three nurses came running in there and started messing with my internal monitors because Gavin's heartrate was sort of sporadic. They also turned off my pit because my contractions were starting to come right on top of each other and they wanted to see if I could maintain the contractions on my own. They also told me I had progressed to an 7.5 Woohoo!!! They finally got Gavin's heartrate ok- the monitor had just gotten a little loose. I started feeling nauseous and getting really really crabby- I knew it was almost time.

At 12, I was checked and was almost complete with a tiny lip. I started freaking out at this point because "OMG! I'm having a baby!". I was still at a 0 station, so I told the nurse I didn't want to wear myself out pushing when he was still high- I wanted to contractions to push him down. She started prepping everything and called Dr. Hamby to tell him it was almost time. While she was out of the room, I had to push *rightthisverysecond* and I made James stick his head in the hallway (we were right across from the nurses' station) and grab Stephanie. This was at 12:20 and we started practice pushing, so I was ready to go when Dr. Hamby walked in. It took about 25 minutes for Dr. Hamby to arrive and by that point, the nurse was having me pant through my contractions because I was ready to deliver. Hamby walked in and after a lovely episiotomy and 2 pushes, he placed Gavin on my chest and let James cut the cord.

It was an amazing, easy birth and I seriously could not have asked for things to have been any better. I was able to feel him being born, but no pain and I got my wish to be able to hold him on my chest as soon as he was born. After getting my stitches and everyone leaving us alone, I was able to breastfeed him in the delivery room and just enjoy my time with Gavin and James.






Happy Birthday, Monster! Love your Mommy and Daddy

It's been awhile...

I can't believe my last post was in February! So much has happened for our family since then.

Sean turned 4 on June 8th and is completely pee trained- still working on the poop issues. We are working on getting an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis for him, which we've been concerned about for a while. He is getting speech services and recently had an occupational therapy assessment done where he scored in the 15 month range for fine motor skills, so we're hoping that will qualify him for services and possibly pre-K in the school system.

Gavin is great! He still totally adores Sean and he tries to do everything Sean does. Sometimes the poor kid gets lost in the mix, so I try to always give him lots of extra cuddles and kisses- even if he doesn't like me nearly as much as he likes his daddy.

Finn is growing like a weed!! He's 8 months old and is still the smiliest, happiest little dude. He adores me and the feeling is more than mutual- except when he's not sleeping. Then I'm ready to hand him off to James so I can get some glorious sleep.

We also went on a little vacation to Gatlinburg and had so much fun with the boys! We had a great cabin with gorgeous views, we got to see one of our favorite people- Jeremy, and meet some new friends in Paul, Vivi and Lia! We also took the boys to a parrot rescue and to the best aquarium in the country. Besides that, we did a lot of relaxing and we really enjoyed it...even if I'm not planning on taking anymore 8 hour trips with three little kids again. LOL

The two biggest things that have happened the last 6 months involve James and my jobs :) James got a new job and is working for a different pest control company. He's making a little bit less money right now , but that should hopefully change in the not too distant future. It is enough though for me to be able to stay at home with our kids which is a huge WOOHOO!!!! I am enrolled part-time at the U of M to get my nursing pre-reqs out of the way to hopefully start nursing school in Fall 2011. I just have to work my tail off to get the grades I need. I have a test called the TEAS exam coming up on July 31 that I'm also preparing for that will determine my getting into nursing school or not. Things really are looking way up for us and it's easy to go to work everyday knowing that there is an end in sight. T-minus 5 weeks :)

Now, pictures:

Don't you just want to nom on those cheeks??

Finn showing his mama some love :)

Showing the parrots some love :)

My two big boys :)

Ice Ice Baby

We had a great big ice storm here in Memphis this past Friday/early Saturday. It was gorgeous and I should have taken more pics. It was too trecherous for the boys to really go out and play because the majority of what was on the ground was frozen solid. And Gavin freaked when he started to slip a little bit. We made a trip to my parents yesterday, which was a huge bust considering they were in Tunica for most of the afternoon. If my mom had told me that "we're going to grab some food" was code for going to gamble, we would have turned our happy asses around and headed home. On Friday, I was (obviously) supposed to work, but alas, I was one of the few cautious people who could have cared less it was the end of the quarter- I just didn't want to risk my (or my children's) life out on the roads right when it was getting bad. I've got no clue how to drive in snow or ice, but apparently I was supposed to get out there goshdarnit and try because God forbid the sales reps don't have someone to bitch to about missing sets or Fedex issues. The people who came in were given $250 as a bonus for working their entire shift and allowed the option of calling a cab or having a room available at the hotel next door. Unless they were going to pay for my entire family to stay, I don't think so. MAYBE if I didn't have a nurseling, but unfortunately, I can't be separated from him for a night just because of my stupid job. Seeing that, I don't know whether to be pissed off that they care more for the almighty dollar than they do the safety of their least appreciated employees, or touched that they offered a hotel room. This is the kinda shit that makes me hate working and wishing I was home with my boys.

On another note, at least being forced to stay home all weekend gave us a chance to work even more on Sean's potty training. He's doing so good and has started telling us that he needs to go pee and he even got out of the bathtub last night to go pee. I was so proud :) Hopefully we'll get the hang of everything really quickly and then can get to work on Big Gavin.

Have you ever had one of those days....

where you're so bitchy, you don't even want to be around you??

Yea. I'm there. I don't know what my deal is but everything is annoying me and I'm just ready to GO HOME. It feels like this week is dragging ass when in reality, it's not. It's just that I'm ready to get a paycheck and start feeling like our life isn't standing still and waiting on us to get paid- does that make sense? I've had a fairly busy day and some interesting convos with some of my sales reps. I must sound hot on the phone or something because I have a couple that seem to really like me- or they think I have some otherworldly influence on them getting their sets. LOL

I went to the gym and did 20 mins of cardio and 20 mins of upper body. I'm going to be pumped up soon...or maybe looking a little bit less like the bloated whale when I'm working out. I'll reward myself with new gym clothes when I lose a couple pounds since all I have are ratty clothes that are horribly unflattering.

I just wanted to blog because I'm going to start trying to do this almost every day- depending on work flow and stuff. I'm also going to try and be inspired by my blog (and BZ) friend, MissIndy, and start doing my own version of Project365 (or Project349 in my case) and Project 52 (Project50) and try to document our lives this year. Especially since my babies are getting so big, so fast :) off to work I go...

My world in one picture

I just had to share this photo of my boys on Christmas day...I realize you can't really see Sean's face and Finn is *almost* ready to freak out, but this is my world.

I'm baaaaaack! Actually, more like I've been back at work for 2 weeks now and it's finally feeling like I'm really back into the swing of things. I'm still a little slow on the uptake, but I'm getting it. Actually, I'm hoping to switch departments (shhhh...it's still on the DL around here) to the Support department that handles a lot of the billings rather than being stuck on the phone doing the exact same thing constantly. I really just hate being on the phone all the time. Howeverrrr, my shift would stay 10-7 for way longer than I would like, so that would totally suck. It's just a give and take and trying to figure out what is going to make me happier.

I also "broke up" with our long-time sitter, Rachel, because we just can't afford to send all three kids there...only to have them get sick (since they constantly got sick over there) and have to miss more work. I was actually going to send the kids the next 2 weeks, but she's not real keen on our potty training ritual (which is just Sean running around in underwear so as not to mess with pulling up and down pants since really he IS just learning, ya know) in case he pees in her floor. You do realize you're running a daycare composed of mostly potty training toddlers, right? *eyeroll* People annoy the piss out of me sometimes. So now, the kids are going to be staying with my sister starting next week, which should be fun for all of us considering that my sister routinely enjoys lounging about in bed until 2 in the afternoon. Hopefully she realizes this is about the best she's going to get between not having to pay for daycare for her (soon-to-be) 2 kids and getting to have a job where she can spend most of her day in PJs. I wish I had that kinda job. As it is, I'm excited to be having a Jeans day today. LOL.

We're still broke- we just saved our house from being foreclosed on by the hairs on my chiney chin chin. THAT was terrifying- wondering if I was going to come home to a house that wasn't mine anymore. We're on a 6 month repayment plan, which is loads of fun and means we're going to be B-R-O-K-E for the next 6 months. Hey- at least we'll still have a house. And since I'm going to be saving around $400/mo. with my sister watching the kids, it will hopefully give us a little more cushion. And at least my kids qualify for WIC, so we'll just be eating milk sandwiches for a while. LOL. I know my faithful bloggy friends probably don't need to hear all about my financial woes, but sometimes, I just need someone to "listen" because my husband is tired of hearing my voice. I really do think I sound like Charlie Brown's teacher in his head. As it is, I'm trying to make my financial goals for this year a reality.

My kids are doing great, so that's one thing I can be truly thankful for. Gavin is very interested in Sean's potty training and it would be great if they could both potty train at the same time- it's like 2 for the price of 1 potty training, which is my favorite kind! Finn is getting huge and gorgeous. He really adores his brothers, when they're not trying to smother him and um, stuff. Gavin has lots and lots of new words, his favorite being " Menis" (think body parts LOL) and "Dad-dee". He also said "Love you (uv ooo)" this weekend as well. His little dendrites are growing and firing away. He may be a demon, but he's my little demon and I adore him. :) Off to make updates on my layout and pretty this blog up.

So, our heat is fixed now! Yay!! It's awesome to actually be warm in my house instead of having to basically sit on top of the heaters we had. I've also been trying to stay on top of my housework in preparation for my return to work in T minus 3 weeks. I'm so not happy about going back to work. I never thought I would want to be a stay-at-home mom, and some days (like today when all of the babies are being totally unpleasant), I feel like there is no way I could do it BUT I'm going to miss my kids so so much. They'll be spending more time with Rachel than with me. What if Finn starts to get confused about his mama? Then, there's the financial aspect of going back to work. James doesn't really make enough for me to stay home and I carry our (awesome) health insurance. I feel like the solution would be for me to find another job, but then I worry that I'm going to burn a bridge at Medtronic and with my bosses, who have been amazing through all of this unexpected pregnancy, bedrest, and then not being protected by FMLA. Plus, I kinda like my job (most of the time), but is it worth it to be spending these formative years away from the boys for 10-11 hours a day? I've been putting James' resume out there quite a bit and we thought we almost had a job with the company my dad works for, but he was beaten out by one other, slightly more qualified person. It sucks, but I know that when it's supposed to work out, it will. I just wish I could give James that same hope. I just talked to him on the phone and he sounds so tired and beaten down- I want to be able to do more to help because I hate it when he's like that.

I'm Blessed

As I sit here with my children running amok around me, I tune out the messes scattered across my living room and I think about the blessings in my life. I'm not a very religious person as I still feel like I'm trying to figure things out. I do think that God has had a hand in my life and am thankful that even though I'm not always obedient to his word, he knows this is a temporary questioning of what I believe rather than a break from believing.

I'm blessed to be these boys' mama. How lucky am I to be entrusted to raise these three gorgeous boys? After numerous pregnancy complications and a few illnesses that have landed us in the hospital for days at a time, they're healthy and (usually) happy. I get to be the person that guides them through this amazing journey and while that scares the shit out of me, it also makes me happy that someone up there has given me that honor. And as my boys get older and eventually get bigger than their little mama, I will look back on these days crammed into this little bitty house with not very much money with three little babies and wonder why I wished these days away. My kids drive me a very good kind of crazy and I can't imagine life without each one of them in it (even if only Gavin was planned ;) )

I'm blessed to be traveling through life with James. What a wonderful, patient man he is for being able to deal with me. He works so hard and sometimes I'm so hard on him and I don't know why. We've had a bit of a tumultuous relationship in the past, but after he was faced with possibly losing Sean and I, he turned everything around and has become the best husband and father that I know. He's also my best friend. In a time where it seems like my friends have all drifted away due to my having babies and being married, whereas they're still partying and going to school. It's not that I don't still love most of those people, it's just that I don't care how wasted/stoned you got on Saturday night- I would rather talk about how great my pediatrician is. James has really stepped up and been there to listen to all of the nonsense things I need to talk about that my friends used to hear from me.

Don't get me wrong, I do still have some great friends. Jenny is definitely my girl best friend- I mean, she watched me give birth- there's not much more she doesn't know. And there are of course some things I can't tell James- like when I need someone to gripe about him to :) Ashley is still there, it's hard to believe we'll have been friends for 10 years in 2010...and she's still the person I would have help me hide a body. I know I can ask her for just about anything and the answer will be "yes" because she's still, after all the years, fights, and lack of being able to live in the same room together, my sister. I'm also slowly making some "mom" friends that have been a great support system. If you know me at all, you know I'm slow to make friends because I'm pretty painfully shy in situations where I know no one and I'm always scared that people don't like me (Thank you, self-esteem issues). It's taken me almost three years in this mom's group to finally feel comfortable calling some of these women my friends and I'm glad to finally be starting to get comfortable opening up to people. I'm blessed to have all of you women in my life.

I'm blessed to have the family I have. I'm going to tell all of you that my parents are amazing. They have never let us go without and have made sacrifices to make sure their kids are taken care of. Case in point- We've been without heat (or a/c) for a while due to our a/c unit completely breaking down and leaking all over, which ruined my floors and left me unable to use it at all. We haven't had the (almost) $3,000 to replace it, so we were waiting on our income tax refund to come in, but that won't be until February (at the earliest), so we have been trying to stay warm through little heaters and bundling under blankets and making sure the kids were in nice, warm sleepers. The temperature has been hanging around 65* in the living room, so we're not freezing to death, but it's chilly in here. My parents called us on Wednesday night and offered to pay to have the entire unit replaced as a Christmas gift. I was ready to cry because that takes a huge HUGE burden off of us because I was feeling like a failure as a mom because my kids are living in a cold house. I appreciate all these things that my parents have done for us- especially since we don't necessarily have that same help from the other side. So now, we can fix a few other things and catch up on a lot of bills that have fallen behind due to James' lowered income. I am blessed that my parents are also there to listen and talk to whenever I need them. They may share their opinions with us, but they are both a great sounding board whenever we just need to talk things out. My mom has also become one of my best friends, which I never thought would have happened. She garners a lot of respect from me for being such a hard worker and a great mom. I love you, Mom and Daddy.

I want to end this post by asking everyone to count their blessings as a few of the blogs that I read on a regular basis have reminded me that while financially we don't have a lot, emotionally and physically, my cup runneth over. Thank you, God, for giving me all these little blessings in my life and for continuing to bless me and my family.

Weight Watchers and whatnot

I'm really terrible about staying on top of this thing, but forgive me for tending to my children...most of the time at least. Every day I wake up and I swear that I'm going to update the blog and then someone needs a snack or I need to referee something or someone needs their butt wiped and it wouldn't be very motherly like of me to not do those things, right? :) Life has been business as usual in the Hayes household. Sean's still not interested in potty training, even after I've resorted to lots of bribing and he spends most of his day alternating between loving his brothers to death and trying to be Gavin's boss. I find myself repeating "Mommy is the boss!" multiple times throughout the day. I've always loved being the boss of things....I wonder where Sean gets that from? LOL.

One thing that is new in our house is that I've started Weight Watchers, and I've already fallen off the wagon super hard-core. I *want* to lose weight, it's just super hard having willpower when you have Christmas cookies to make and sitting in this house most of the time makes it difficult to resist the pull of the pantry. I'm trying to gather as many recipes that I can in the hopes that once the holidays are over and I'm back at work (WAH!!!), it will be easier to stay on track and I can go to the gym. I'm planning on trying to add some recipes to the blog so that I have them all in one place rather than searching all over hell's hot acre trying to find the exact recipe that I want. The one positive to my going back to work is that I shouldn't be able to not find an excuse to work out since the gym is on the MDT campus and I can work out before work or during lunch- I just have to save enough time to pump.

I loathe pumping, but I love being able to breastfeed my baby, so I'm going to keep it up. And this time there should be none of the stopping at 8 months due to losing supply because of a (VERY) unexpected pregnancy because James has officially been clipped :) The more I think about it, the happier I am with our decision because we have three gorgeous, healthy boys and I know I couldn't physically or emotionally handle another pregnancy (and bedrest) AND there's no way I could be able to afford to have a fourth child. The only thing I'm a little sad about is that it seems like all of my baby years are going to be over so quickly that I might not treasure things as much as I need to. I'm hoping that as my friends have babies, I'll be able to quench the inevitable baby fever that will occur and then I'll remind myself of all the sleepless nights I won't have to go through anymore and be thankful that I won't ever have to deal with that again. Alright, Gav is waking up- off to Mommy duty.

It's been a hot minute and Finn's Birth Story

I sort of abandoned my blog for a while because I had nothing to say that didn't involve me whining about being tired of being pregnant. I decided to come back to bloggy land after realizing that I update my Facebook status 3,000 times a day and my husband is getting tired of me calling him every hour to say "hi", so I think I'm a bit lonely sitting here with only the boys to talk to most days. I'll start by saying that our littlest boy, Finn Randall is now 1 month old. He was born on October 21, 2009 at 7:09 p.m.. His birth story will follow at the end of this post. The big boys are doing well and it seems like they're enjoying having their mama home with them just a little bit longer. I'm hoping not to go back to work until the first week of January, even if it means taking a little bit of a financial hit for a couple of months. I *REALLY* wish that I didn't have to go back to work, but I carry the health insurance and it's damn good insurance....and with 3 boys, we need good insurance since someone will end up hurting themselves at some point. James is doing well, but we're continuing to look for another job for him in order for me to start staying at home. I'm going to try and do better with the updating of the blog since I'm starting to do a little bit better with juggling life these days. Now...off to the birth story....

Finn Randall
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
7:09 p.m. 6lbs 1 ounce 19.5 inches long


The story really starts on Monday. I had my normal weekly dr's appt. and BPP. Everything looked good, but my blood pressure was really high (130/100). Dr. Hamby increased my meds and wanted me back the next morning to go over my blood work. I asked the nurse what would happen if my BP was still high and she said that it was likely that he would induce. Well, that led to a flurry of activity on Monday to try and get our house and our lives ready for the baby since I was skeptical that my blood pressure would be coming down. I went in Tuesday morning fully expecting to be sent to the hospital (and had even thrown my hospital bag in the truck). My blood pressure was the same as the day before, so when the nurse left me in the exam room, I was getting excited thinking I was going to be having a baby. When the doctor came in the room, he informed me that despite my BP being that high, my blood work was perfect, so there was no need to induce me. I was so happy that everything looked good with the baby, but I was so DONE with being pregnant. I couldn't hold back the tears and I know my poor OB felt horrible for me, but I told him I understood. When I was leaving I called James in tears and then started driving home where I was going to spend the day feeling sorry for myself. I called R, the kids' sitter, and told her and she told me that we were going to the mall to walk this baby out. We loaded up all the kids and did many, many laps around the mall in order to try to get my sporadic contractions to lead to something. No dice- all I was left with was a sore back, sore feet, and I was tired from dragging my kids around. I went home and did the normal dinner/bath/bedtime routine, but I told James that I wasn't feeling very good. Then, my stomach decided to go rogue and I spent around 4 hours in the bathroom (10 p.m.-2 a.m.). I finally fell asleep around 2:30 a.m. and woke around 6:30 a.m. with Gavin and I was feeling pretty rough between my continuing stomach cramps and lack of sleep. I basically let the kids play as the wanted, while I spent my time in my chair trying not to move. Around 8:30 a.m., I felt two really strong back-to-back contractions and I remember thinking to myself "hmm...that was weird". The contractions continued to come on at around 10 minutes apart until around 10:30 a.m., when they moved to 5-6 minutes apart. I knew something was going on because they were definitely hurting and definitely weren't going away, so I called James to come home so that we could go get checked out and then called my mom to come watch the boys. I started getting the kids bag together just in case, and threw the last few things in mine and James' bag. I still didn't think I was in labor, but I wanted to be ready. Around 11:45, my contractions slowed back down to 15 minutes apart, and I contemplated calling James and my mom and telling them not to worry about it, but I figured I may as well get checked and if it was a false alarm, I'll just get some time with my husband. Mom got here around 12 and James got home around 12:30 and was ready to jet out the door, but I explained to him that I would rather not be taken to the hospital by the Orkin man and he could change into regular clothes since the baby wasn't crowning or anything. We didn't take our bags or anything since we figured it wasn't real since I had never gone into labor on my own. Once we got in the truck, I told him my contractions had slowed down, so he needed to hit all the bumps he could and that we were going to walk around the parking garage a few times before we went in. We got to the hospital around 1:15 and we walked around the parking garage multiple times and I even did lunges up the ramp and the stairs. After about the fourth time up and down the stairs 2 at a time (and James telling me that I wasn't in labor and was going to be sent home), I got a really, really strong contraction and I told him that it was time to go into the building. We walked in around 2 p.m. and while I was sent to be monitored (and be asked the multitude of questions which James couldn't be in the room for), I told James to go grab a burger since he hadn't eaten all day. I was having some contractions about 5-6 minutes apart, but the monitor was picking them up as very mild, which they were NOT. I told the nurses that under no circumstances were these mild contractions and I was having to breathe through them. She went ahead and checked me and asked what I had been at my last dr's appt (2 cm) and then informed me that I was at a 4 and was in labor. My blood pressure was also high and I was going to have a baby! After this was established, everything started moving pretty quickly. At 3 p.m., I was moved to my labor and delivery room. I had my IV inserted, my catheter inserted (horrible), and proceeded to start begging for my epidural because my contractions had gone from not comfortable to miserable in about 20 minutes and I was moaning and vocalizing through them. The worst part was that James had to leave to get the boys taken care of and to grab our bag. Right after James left, they started the most horrible drug in the whole world, Magnesium Sulfate. It made me so out of it and feel terrible. They also had to start Pitocin since the Mag would stop my contractions. I was still begging for my epidural, but my blood tests were taking forever to get back. Finally, around 4:45, my blood work was back and my husband walked in the room. I was so glad to see the anesthesiologist, but it took forever to get the epi placed and it didn't feel right from the beginning. I kept having patches of skin that I could feel contractions, but I figured it was ok as long as I didn't feel the actual birth (Ha!). Around 5:15, the doctor came in and broke my water and talked to us for a few minutes. He also checked me at this point and I was at 6 cm. He predicted I would have a baby by 7 p.m., which I laughed at since I was thinking it would be around 11 p.m.. At this point, my best friend, Jenny, showed up to hang out and talk to us. We were just talking, when around 6:30, I started feeling some pain on my left side that I had to stop talking through. At the next contraction, I felt everything and was moaning through it. I also started feeling nauseous and knew I was in transition, but what the hell was wrong with my epidural?!?! At this point, Jenny was still in the room with us and James told her that she was welcome to stay if she wanted, which was fine by me since we had laughingly tossed around the idea at lunch a couple of months earlier. I had the nurse check me and I was at a 9. After the next contraction, I told her to call the doctor because I was ready to get the baby out. In fact, I remember moaning to "get it out" around this point because I was feeling everything and I was never planning on going natural. I finally got to start pushing around 6:55 when the doctor showed up. There was a lull in my contractions at this point, so it only took about 4 *painful* contractions until Finn arrived at 7:09 p.m.. He looked great and I got to hold him immediately after his cord was cut. I did have to spend the rest of the night in L&D rather than being moved up to recovery because I had to stay on the magnesium sulfate and be monitored. I also couldn't get out of bed or eat, so I was pretty cranky. The mag made my recovery very difficult, but after a month, I'm finally feeling like myself again.

Meeting my baby for the first time...





Sorry that was so long, but I am finally remembering a lot of details that I had left off my birth story when I wrote it a week after he was born. :)

Poor sick baby....

So, Gavin is sick, which sucks because 1. I hate seeing my kids sick and 2. I'm missing even more work. We went to the doctor yesterday because I wanted him swabbed for strep since Sean had it last week, which luckily came back negative, but led us into Unknown Virus-land. So, he's being dosed around the clock with Motrin until we can get the fever to totally break. He sleeps like crap at night, which is killing James and I, but at least he's taking a nap next to me in bed right now. Sean is also home with me today because he's better at entertaining Gavin than I am. LOL. They've been fighting and irritating each other, along with their few and far-between sweet moments. Right before naptime, they both crawled up into my lap (so, I technically have all three of them in my lap :)), and Gavin started going in for a kiss on Sean. I don't know if anyone knows this, but Gavin looooooooooves to give kisses, but usually his kisses for Sean result in him getting pushed over with a "No baby, don't do dat" from his adoring older brother. LOL. So anyway, they're both sitting there kissing each other back and forth, and then Sean taught Gavin how to eskimo kiss. Awwww...such sweet boys that are hiding under the mean-ass exteriors. :)

The Library

Let me preface this by saying- Sean has recently (within the past year) acquired a love for books. He loves to look at them, touch them, and have someone read to him (he hasn't quite perfected that skill :)). Also, for those of you who aren't around here in real life, Sean has a little speech issue that we're hoping to fix with tonsil surgery next month, which can make him hard to understand sometimes. So, last night, after I had read his books to him and turned off his lights and given him 15 bedtime kisses, I heard him yelling for me. I went back in there, and he started telling me about a stomach hurt and a caterpillar and a whole bunch of other stuff that I didn't quite catch because he was talking so fast. Then, I realized that he was talking about "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. He really loves most of Eric Carle's books, but most especially, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. After listening to him describe the book to me, I got him to finally stop talking and go to sleep by promising to go to the library tomorrow (today) and get him his "Catpiller" book. I thought he may have forgotten about it this morning because ya know...he's 3 and all, but as we were walking out the door to go to the babysitter's house, he starts talking about going to "Libary for Catpiller". I don't know how many of you have tried to reason with a 3 year old before, but getting them to understand that the library doesn't open till 10 a.m. is about as easy as trying to teach me Calculus. It ain't happenin'. And of course, we have to drive by the library in order to get to R's (the sitter). This led to an all-out temper tantrum about his book and not being able to go to the library, which was annoying because it's a temper tantrum, but at the same time, it made me smile a little. I *love* that he loves books this much- it makes me feel great that I've got a little bookworm because I'm a total nerd myself. I have always loved to read, and to see Sean have gotten that from me (because really, James is a nerd, but not of the book-reading kind), it feels like I've got a little kindred spirit. Hopefully, his love for books will continue for a long, long time and that's something we can continue to share as he gets older (although, I doubt he'll dig reading a sappy Danielle Steele book as much as I might LOL). Oh, and I totally went to the library on my lunch break (I know, I know bedrest...) and got his book and a couple to keep me company for a few days :)

And so it begins...

After debating for a few weeks about starting a blog and whether it was too self-indulgent (because really, who doesn't like talking about themselves??), I bit the bullet and just did it. I guess I'll make this my intro post for you people who either don't know me or only know me as your trusty "Board Leader" on BZ. Obviously, I'm Hayley- the birther of the all the boys and the queen of our humble little abode. I'm 23 and I work out of the home (except right now, I'm at home, bedresting but working from home) for a big company that has nothing to do with my degree. My job is just that...a job. I would prefer to be home with my boys, but alas, it isn't looking likely at the moment.
My hubby is James, and really, as much as I (will) bitch about him, he's pretty damn great most of the time. He wrangles the boys and puts up with me, so there isn't much more I could ask for. Our oldest is Sean, and he turned 3 a couple of months ago. He's a silly, sweet, and super smart little dude. He loves bugs, trains, airplanes, books, and his Mama. He's much more laid-back than his little brother, but that doesn't stop him from being a hell-raiser most of the time.
Gavin , who just turned 1 last month, is our second son, and is our little cling-on. He pretty much likes to irritate Sean and sit in mine or James' laps. He looks like a little cherub with his bright red hair, but don't let that fool you, people- the child is a tantrum-throwing machine.
Our as-yet-unborn third child is (tentatively) named Finn. He should be here sometime around the end of October, but if my blood pressure doesn't calm itself down, the doctor may have other plans for him. This is why I get to have lots and lots of doctors appointments and take tons of pills every day and I'm supposed to be keeping my happy ass in bed- just to see if we can continue to buy time to let Finn grow.
After Finn is born, James gets to be rendered sterile because I'm afraid these three boys in 3 years (so much for PCOS, and possibly never having kids..) may just drive me to the looney bin. And for all you our there that will ask, it sure would have been nice to have a little girl, but I know that I'm supposed to have these three little boys and wouldn't trade them for all the girly clothes, names, and drama in the world :)