A Short Narrative

You entered my life at 27.



We got married and went to Hawaii



Then we camped a bunch :)



Got a dog and camped some more.



Shortly after, we decided to have some babies. You loved me when I got fat,



And we made the best of it :)


The babies just kept coming,



and coming,



and coming,



and now you're 33.
It's been a pretty cool ride, if I don't say so myself.

Happy Birthday my love!

Disneyland and Diarrhea

Oh my gosh, I know that title is super enticing to all of my readers, right? I mean, at least I didn't take pictures of the latter.
But Clay decided to have explosive diarrhea while we were at Disney. The magic just must have been to much for his little system...

Cory went to the annual SETP conference this year and basically listened to egotistical speakers one up each other for 3 days. But it's a complicated "one-upper" game when there's a bunch of people who have BEEN TO THE MOON. I steered clear of prideful conversations, as my only contributions would be 'wrestling a 2 year old to the ground and change his explosive dirty diaper while he exerts every 30 pounds of his bodily force onto you and being able to escape without a single poop flake upon you!' However, there were no such conversations.....
Maybe I'll convene a conference for that...

"So there I was, outnumbered... 100 to 1"


I digress..
One the first day, you would expect your almost 4 year old to want to RIDE RIDES! or MEET MICKEY! But no, we waited in line for half an hour to meet Tinkerbell. His choice, I swear.

He's so happy, there must be something magical in the air!



The view from our wait in line. We could have been riding a really fun fast roller coaster on that mountain...but no.



Clay, not as thrilled about the fairies...



My mom's idea of "how to not lose your children"



I figure this will be a good blackmail picture for when he's about 14



We're almost there...



Apparently Tinkerbell has friends these days. I'm sure after True Blood came out, the fairies decided to go public and that's how she met them. This is Silvermist, she was a little uppity for my taste though.



Tink was very chatty and personable.



Clay's favorite ride was the Carousel, We rode it once and he refused to sit on a horse, but he wanted to ride it again. The second time, he rode on a horse, and the third, fourth, fifth and sixth time, he balled his eyes out when it was over. We got lucky and got to ride the horse that Mary Poppins rode in the movie! Her initials are on it and everything! This picture is not a good synopsis of the time that was had on the carousel.



This is how Vivi spent most of her time at the park.





Sweet brothers, huh?



Ha, ha, just kidding. This is more representative of their bond.




Here we are on the giant Mickey Mouse Ferris Wheel. We opted for the 'non swinging' one because of Vivi.



We got really lucky and were first in line when there was a switch off of Woody and Jesse so we got pictures with both! They were accompanied by their body guards, the Army Men.





My parents and the kiddos at California Adventure. This is day number two and diarrhea blow out number 475,962



Some more shots of Vivi. We're working on some different poses.





One more character and 7 more blowouts.

And Now, a Poem

Dear little hernia, please go away
She'd like to wear a bikini someday.
You gave Carter an outie, but that's okay.
Dear little hernia please go away.



Dear baby acne, get off of her face.
It's ugly and gross and it's a really bad case!
She's a girl don't you know, and acne's not good.
So please get off now, get off as you should!



Dear cradle cap, you're grossing me out.
You're dry and you flake and you make my girl pout.
She doesn't like it when I pick it all out.
Dear cradle cap, you're grossing me out.

Vivian 1 month

Vivian,

You turned one month old yesterday! When I look at you everyday, I still think about you being a newborn. But just in the last week I've noticed you change a lot. It makes me happy that you are growing and thriving, but very, very sad that you are 1 month away from the day you were born.
You've outgrown your first set of newborn clothes, but are still not quite ready for 0-3 months. You're very long and skinny, just like your brothers were. You have a closet full of things I cannot wait for you to fit into!
You are very alert and stay awake for up to an hour or so at a time now! You focus on things and try to lift your head.
I stood on the bathroom scale with you last week (or the week before - heck who knows, with three kids I don't even know what month it is most of the time) and you weighed exactly 9 pounds. You have a doctors appointment tomorrow morning, so we'll know for sure how much you weigh then.
Speaking of doctors appointments, we're pretty sure you have the same foul reflux that plagued both of your older brothers. We have been probably over cautious with you since we've seen what undiagnosed GERD did to Clay.
I'm sure you will feel much better tomorrow with some Zantac in your tummy.
You are a pretty good baby, you cry a little more than Clay, but nowhere near as much as Carter. You like to nurse and have required NO SUPPLEMENTS. I am growing you all on my own.
Which, until you're a mother one day, you won't understand the joy that brings me. But trust me, it's awesome to know I grew you...and still am. I am growing a little perfect human being.
Your brothers love you very much, a little too much most of the time, and want to be in your face all of the time.
You haven't quite taken to the binky, but I am still trying. You did have your first bottle of pumped breast milk this weekend which was a success!
You've had quite the array of visitors coming to see you. Both sets of grandparents, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Rich and Angie and their girls, and Daddy's friend "Chicken" is coming to see you next week!

You will also go to Disneyland for the first time in about two weeks for the SETP conference. I'm sure you'll love it.

You're such a blessing and I love you very much.

Photoshoot

Just a quick photoshoot for all of Vivi's fans who are wondering how much she's grown :)

Breather

This house is strangely quiet.

The children are napping and Cory is at work. It's nice to have peace and quiet. My inlaws left today and tomorrow will mark the first day on my own. It's been a long month and a half of waiting for Vivian, my mother being in town and then the inlaws. It has been so wonderful to have help for so long. But just like anything, there comes a point where you're ready to get back to 'normal'.

Since my last post my incision has healed up nicely. It's almost completely healed, and while it won't look as beuatiful as was intended, things could have been so much worse. I am so thankful that it helaed on it's own.

Vivian has started the "Great Spitup Debacle of 2010". Which, most every baby does...but c'mon, ew....it's gross.

Carter is battling quite the upper respiratory virus and we're just hoping we can keep it from spreading throughout the household. (Especially Vivi)

Clay has started declaring, "No Diaper!" But he is nowhere near ready to potty train. I have a feeling this may turn into a battle very shortly.

And mine and Cory's days of sleeping in until 9am with the baby are no more....

Punch Someone in the Face

Is what I'm going to do. (If my husband doesn't find the right person to blame first.)

Most of you know Carter's birth story. It was awful, horrendous and I firmly believe it's had lasting effects on our bonding and relationship to this day.
If you don't here's the quick run-down:

Carter was an emergency C-section because of decels during labor, 8 days after he was born I became violently ill with an infected c-section incision and was hospitalized, the doctor re-opened my incision and I was put on massive amounts of antibiotics. These massive amounts of antibiotics gave me a different kind of 'infection' called C.diff (clostridium difficile). This also made me very, very ill and I was hospitalized a second time. I was in the hospital, very sick and separated from my husband and newborn for over 2 weeks. However, it took over 3 months for my c-section wound to close back up. My husband (of only one year - we actually spent our one year anniversary in the hospital) packed and changed my wound dressing 3 times a day for 3 months.

This was mine and Cory's BIGGEST factor in deciding to have a VBAC with Clay. (Second biggest deciding factor - my c section made for a crappy start breastfeeding, and I failed miserably at it.) The risk of infection and accompanying side effects are SO much lower with a vaginal delivery. Clay's delivery went wonderfully (aside from some not so fun tearing) And after I was done recovering from the delivery, I was done. There was no excruciating second recovery like there was with Carter.

Fast forward to this pregnancy, when we found out we'd have to have a c-section here. More and more hospitals are not allowing VBACs because it's a liability. It's not always the doctor's decision, per se. In our case, the insurance company that covers the Women and Infants Pavilion doesn't allow the 'procedure' to be done. They don't want to be responsible when someone sues them for uterine rupture. (By the way the chance of uterine rupture during a VBAC is less than 1%.)

When I asked my OB about this at my first appointment at 12 weeks, he did say that I was a good candidate for a VBAC and that he would help me try and have one under the right circumstances. However, as the pregnancy progressed, his (and his partner's) attitude toward it changed. They very conveniently talked about how I would have to fight the nurses because I wasn't following the rules. Maybe it's like this in every job, but nurses can either be some of the most amazing, compassionate, wonderful people you've ever met and really be there for their patients. Or they can be some of the most stubborn, rude, and inconsiderate people on the planet. (Although it seems to follow a trend that more of the 'angry' nurses are older).
They mentioned that with the way I tore during my VBAC, and all the questions I was asking about episiotomies, it wouldn't be a far cry from having a section anyway. It's just a difference of where I want my stitches.
And in fact, when I went into Triage 2 different times at 34 weeks with preterm contractions, two of the nurses I had were very ugly about it. One of them couldn't tell me enough about how dangerous they are and that's why they can't do them here. The other, was just a mean old hag who was mad I was trying to go against policy.

We were not happy with our choices out here, but decided to make peace with it. Because what are the chances that ALL THAT would happen again, right?

Wednesday I went to the doctor, and my incision is in fact, infected...again. I am taking more antibiotics. I have another appointment this morning, complete with an ultrasound to check for an abscess.

At this point I can't control the way the rest of this goes, I HAVE to take super antibiotics and just HOPE I don't get sick this time. (By the way, if you'd had C.diff before, you're more likely to get it again). There's nothing I can do but HOPE they don't have to admit me and open me up again. Because I have a feeling if Cory has to pack a wound for the next 3 months, someone will be getting a punch in the face.