Party in the USA

One evening in Florida it was rainy and Chad and Gav went to the 4D movie theater. Sam had fallen asleep early but woke up ready to play. He stumbled upon the "Smooth Latin" ring tone on my phone and started dancing - so we spent the next hour dancing in the hotel room to cheesy ringtone music!

So You Think YOU Can Dance?

Gavin is 6!!! (And a monkey...)

I'm sparing you all the sappy post about how much I love this kid and what an impact he has had in our lives. If you really want a sappy post today you can read his birth story here, or last year's post that covered his NICU experience here, or read about the way he has changed my life here. And because I can't help myself I will throw in one note:

Gavin - I love you so much! I am so proud of how hard you work, and of what an amazing older brother you are. You love your family so much! You are kind hearted and would never intentionally be hurtful to anyone. I love your funny and interesting questions. Even though I hate that you are growing up, I'm excited to see you start to mature and become your own little person.

To celebrate this day, I met up with Gavin for lunch at school. I brought cupcakes for the class, topped with gummy worms just like he wanted. I brought Subway for us to eat together in the lunch room. I am so glad to be so close to his school now - it's so much easier to share these special moments!

Tonight we will get Chinese food per Gavin's request and open his present from us (a Ninendo DS!). Chad suggested we look up his Chinese zodiac to read to him tonight. And it turns out to be fairly fitting. At any rate it's interesting - and not surprising, turns out I am a monkey too (I'm a metal monkey, he's a wood monkey).

So I present to you Gavin Sellers, according to the Chinese zodiac:

Personality: Occupying the 9th position on the Chinese Zodiac, the Monkey possesses such character traits as curiosity, mischievousness, and cleverness (check, check, and check). Forever playful, Monkeys are the masters of practical jokes. Even though their intentions are always good, this desire to be a prankster has a tendency to create ill will and hurt feelings.



Although they are inherently intellectual and creative, Monkeys at times have trouble exhibiting these qualities. When that happens, they appear to others to be confused. But nothing could be further from the truth as Monkeys thrive on being challenged. Monkeys prefer urban life to rural, and their favorite pastime is people-watching.


Health: Believing that being sick is a waste of a valuable day, Monkeys very rarely feel ill. Their constantly active lifestyles are likely what helps Monkeys remain in good health. When Monkeys do become ill, such feelings are generally the result of feeling nervous.


Career: When it comes to work, Monkeys can do just about anything. They adapt well to changing environments (I'm hoping he'll grow into this!) and they’re very intelligent. They work quickly, but they’ll frequently charge double for their services. Good career fields for Monkeys are accounting and banking. Other good careers for Monkeys include: scientist, engineer, stock market trader, air traffic controller, dealer, film director, jeweler and sales representative.


Relationships: When it comes to relationships, Monkeys aren’t quick to settle down. In fact, they generally are promiscuous; a tendency that probably has to do with the fact that Monkeys are easily bored. Monkeys will end this type of behavior once they pair up with the perfect partner. In fact, more often than not, they’ll commit to that person in every way for life.

Wood Monkey – Years 1944 and 2004The Wood Monkey’s exceptional communication skills enable them to interact well with others. They’re hard workers who have a keen understanding of the way things operate.

Gavin's Birth Story

How appropriate that the prompt for Working Mommy Wednesday was to share a birth story - something I was planning to do since Gavin is turning 6 on Friday!

Where to begin? I guess we'll start when I found out I was pregnant. After going through some extensive, invasive testing to see why we had lost Ella so early (18 w), the consensus was it was a "fluke" and that subsequent pregnancies would be "fine". I was blissfully ignorant, and therefore not stressed, when I found out I was pregnant again in March of 2004. I mean, I was stressed (I was going to have a BABY!) but not worried that something would go wrong.

At 14 weeks I had a high risk ultrasound. Everything looked great. We were having a boy!

At 16 weeks I had a regular OB appt, and the nurse noticed a note on my file that the high risk Dr's wanted me back for another u/s. At 17 1/2 weeks I was back at high risk, where they were pretty miffed - they had wanted to see me back at 16 weeks, but apparently someone dropped the ball at my OB's office.

It was an 8 am appt. The u/s tech did her thing, then asked us to wait for the Dr in the exam room. I started to get nervous - last time they just sent us on our way. Dr. Mahone came in and explained that my cervix was starting to funnel, it was almost completely open, and that emergency surgery was the only option. I didn't have time to think. I couldn't say no (well, I could but then we would surely lose the baby). I hadn't eaten breakfast which meant I could go in to the OR asap. There were risks - of infection, of breaking my water.

I often wonder what would have happened if I had actually gone in at 16 weeks and things looked fine. Would they have seen me again? If not, would we have lost Gavin too? What if things just looked kinda bad, but not dire? Would I have gone on bed rest at that point and decided not to risk surgery? It's hard not to let my mind wander down that path. As it turns out, things worked out.

I was out of the hospital the next day and on bed rest at home for 5 days. I returned to work half days, and worked from my couch the other half of the day. I had weekly u/s at the high risk office. My third week back to work, I was allowed to bump my hours up to 6 hours a day. Then things started to look worse. I got a laptop and was on full time bed rest at home and worked from my couch.

Three weeks into home bed rest I woke up bleeding and we raced to the hospital at 5 am. I remember thinking "24 weeks. This is it. At least he's viable. We have a chance."

Turns out it was not my water breaking. One of the stitches from surgery ripped loose. Unfortunately the bleeding caused some pre-term labor. I was admitted to the hospital, and put on drugs to try to stop the activity. After a couple days I realized I wasn't leaving the hospital anytime soon. People started cooking meals for Chad and he and my mom and friends all rallied around to visit me and keep me upbeat in the hospital. I remember I was worried about money - my job only paid 4 weeks of disability pay. A girl that I worked with at 801 Steak & Chop brought her sister to see me - she had a preemie (26 w) 5 years earlier, and hospital bed rest. It helped to know what to expect.

The days, and then weeks ticked by. After two weeks we finally found a drug that worked. If I made it through the weekend, I would go home! With a drug pump and monitor, but at least I would be home. And then.....my water broke, sealing my fate of not getting to leave. I was 26 weeks at this point. The goal had been 32 weeks. But now, every day was a victory. I was given steroids to help his lungs mature, taken off the medication that was reducing my amniotic fluid (and therefore the pressure on my cervix). Fortunately the break was a leak and not a gush. An u/s indicated there was sufficient water left, so they decided to continue to hold off delivery.

This is it. A week later, at 26w6d, I started feeling pain unlike the pain I'd had since entering the hospital. I just knew it was over. I started to spike a fever and the risk of infection outweighed the risk of prematurity. We moved to the delivery suite and my mom was called to the hospital around 10 pm.

As it was, once they finally allowed me to deliver, he didn't come quickly as I anticipated. I moved to the delivery suite around 8 pm. I could not have an epidural. I was in tremendous amounts of pain due to back labor. I curled up on my side and tried not to move. I couldn't look at anything around the room or it would overstimulate me or make me sick. At one point I told my mom and Chad "Don't look at me, don't talk to me - just leave me alone!"

Yeah, I'm pleasant like that when in massive amounts of pain! Throughout the night I was given a couple doses of fentanyl - which was great but slowed down progress and wore off quickly.

Then after 9 hours of slooooow progress, I was dilated to 6cm but Gavin was so tiny that's all it took. The Dr. was not in the room, the NICU team was not in the room and I just remember screaming "he's coming". I was in complete panic mode because I knew the nurse could deliver a baby, but I knew it was critical that the NICU team be there to get him on support immediately. A dozen nurses flooded the room, got in my face, told me to breathe and do not push. Everything from there on out is pretty much a blur. Everyone got to the room that needed to.

And just when you think the story can't possibly get more exciting...my mother passes out. Imagine this circus of wimps: Chad is right by my head with no line of sight to "anything gross" and my eyes are squeezed shut for the same reason. My mom, who has a history of fainting in medical situations, and insisted childbirth was different, gets dizzy as I start to push. She gets behind Chad's chair and drops to the floor. Chad moves to the recliner in the corner of the room so a nurse can get to her. And I have my eyes shut tight and no idea what I am doing since I never went to childbirth class. This is the circus into which Gavin enters the world.

The Dr. says "look down and see your baby" as his head comes out and I just yell "No I don't want to!!". I finally open my eyes to see my mom dry heaving into a paper bag. The baby is on the warmer being cared for. Chad is opposite me in a chair with a sheet covering his head (again, so as not to see anything "gross").

They wheeled my bed over to the warming table and let Chad and I each hold a hand as they intubated Gavin. Born at 5:35 am 8/27/04, at 27w0d gestation - 2 lb, 5 oz and 14 1/2 inches long, and feisty as can be. He was trying to pull that tube out from the start. I looked into his tiny grey eyes and then he was tucked away in the isolette and transported to the NICU, Chad in tow. My mom couldn't stay around long - on top of everything, she was moving houses that day!

So suddenly, everyone was gone and there I was, alone in the delivery room. No bassinet, no pictures of the happy family, no one teaching me how to nurse. Just....silence. This is not how it's supposed to be.

And that is Gavin's birth story.....if you missed last year's birthday post about our NICU experience (or just want a reminder of how far we've come!) you can read it here.

Basketball

Here are a few pictures from a couple months ago that I am finally getting around to posting. Chad got a couple NERF basketball hoops for the basement.

Sam, Sinuses, Soccer and Starting School

Let's start with Sam - last week we had his 18 month check up (late because someone was behind in appt setting). He weighed in at 26 lb, 6 oz and 33 1/4 inches tall, 54% and 80% respectively. So he continues to be my tall and skinny little man. Everything checked out well, but because his 12 month shots were delayed due to him being sick at the time, we couldn't get his Hep A vaccine for 6 months, and we were just shy of it. He will also get his blood drawn to re check for anemia when we come back for the shots.

The last couple days his sinuses have flared up, and neither Claritin nor Benadryl have done much good. Today Brenda thought he was complaining of ear pain so I ran him in to the Dr. His ears actually looked good, but he thought the sinus stuff was bad enough and had gone on long enough that it was no longer just allergies, but a sinus infection. So we are starting an antibiotic and we've got a new med for allergies (Zyrtec).

Soccer has started! I love soccer. I'm sitting at our second practice of the season as we speak (thank goodness for Wifi and multitasking!). They had a scrimmage game last week. I always think it's so funny Gavin complains about soccer and then gets out there and kills it and has a great time. He probably scored 5 or more goals, and more importantly had a bunch of fun. Our next game is this Saturday at 8:45. I have started an online calendar - if you would like access to it so that you can see our schedule, please email me and I will send it to you. Sometimes games will conflict, so also email/call if you are unsure as to which game we will attend.

School started on Monday and Gavin is officially a big first grader. He's riding the bus this year and so far it is going well. He loves it and thinks it is so much more fun than KTC. He has had a bit of an attitude in the evenings, but he has a rough time when life changes, so hopefully he will get accustomed in another week or so. He seems to like school so far and has even made a new friend that rides the bus, is in his class, and lives on our street "in the blue house".

I did get pictures and will get them posted when I get a chance.

I am attending my first school PTO meeting tonight. Very "soccer mom" of me, don't you think?

Football practices should be starting soon, and games start mid September. We will know more after the coaches meeting this week.

Roewe Reunion

Back in July, we went to Laurens, Iowa to the family farm for a family reunion. Gavin was off and running most of the time, so it's mostly just pictures of Sam.

Thanks Aunt Marcia for the cool prizes!

Pretty much Gavin the whole time - running with Nolan

 

5 of the 7 little boys that were at the farm that weekend