Lunch Date

To say that I am enjoying our respite care is an enormous understatement. We are so blessed to have found such a wonderful respite care provider. I am loving the extra time that I get to spend with Peter. I am able to relax and enjoy a few hours away knowing that Olivia is in good hands. She is happy, and entertained, and well cared for. As a result I am more patient, more laid back, I'm a better mom because I'm able to get a bit of a break. Peter and I run errands together, he gets to drive the fancy car grocery cart at the supermarket. We get to ride in the car with the windows down. We go to the library together.

Last week we met Mike for a special lunch date as he was getting out of the field. It was such a treat to have lunch with my two special guys! We went to a Wing place near our house. It's an absolute dive but they do have great wings. Peter even enjoyed his first chicken wing.

4 years ago today.....

I started this blog after Olivia was born so I never got a chance to tell her birth story.

Mike deployed shortly after we learned that we were expecting. I was alone for almost the entire pregnancy but I don't remember it as a sad time at all. It was comforting to know that I was never really alone because our baby was with me. I had some great girlfriends to keep me company. It was a luxury to only have to take care of myself and the baby. I was still working so I had work to keep me busy, I took a lot of naps, and I had fun decorating the nursery.

My due date was July 11th and Mike had scheduled his mid-tour leave around that time to be home for Olivia's arrival. I went to my regular weekly ob appointment on June 30th and by obgyn was very concerned. He said my fluid levels were low, he told me that if my husband were home that they would have delivered the baby immediately. He said that he would send the necessary Red Cross message to Mike in Iraq to get him home as soon as possible. They did an ultrasound and could see that Olivia was still doing well but that I needed to rest. I was put on strict bedrest for the weekend and told to come back first thing Monday morning. Of course I freaked out, I called a friend who's husband was with Mike in Iraq and she got in touch with her husband and they took care of the Red Cross Message part. Things started happening very quickly, my mom bought a plane ticket immediately and flew from Houston to Colorado that evening. I went straight to bed, Mike called at some point during the weekend, he was already in Germany, he left Iraq within a couple of hours of receiving the red cross message (stars and flights had aligned) and he arrived in Colorado on Sunday evening on July 2nd.

We all went to the obgyn together on Monday, July 3. They did another ultrasound (this was the first ultrasound that Mike was able to attend) and declared that everything was perfectly normal. I had just been working a little too hard the week before and needed to take things a little slower. Mike was already home though and if at all possible we wanted him to be there for Olivia's birth. The doctor suggested that we induce labor that week and we chose Thursday, giving us 3 days to spend together before Olivia was born.

On Thursday, July 6th we headed to the hospital bright and early. I was started on medications to induce labor and we waited. Initially things seemed to be happening quickly. Prior to being admitted to the hospital I was already 90% effaced and dilated 1 so I was hoping things would move right along.. We relaxed and watched TV and waited. I was disappointed that I couldn't walk around much because of the medications so we just waited. Some time in the afternoon my obgyn came over and broke my water, again hoping that would continue to move things along. A little while later I remember finally caving in and asking for the epidural. I have no idea what I'd been waiting for. I think I was about 6mm dilated by the time I got the epidural. Unfortunately as soon as I got the epidural things seemed to slow down. I stopped dilating and my contractions were not as strong. Around 9pm the doctor came in to discuss delivery by Cesarean section. I'd been in labor since 5am, 16 hours, but my body had stopped laboring. The doctor recommended a Cesarean, I cried, I was terrified. Mike and I prayed, we discussed it and we decided that we preferred a "planned" Cesarean rather than and emergency one several hours later. It only took a few minutes for them to prep me and off we headed to the surgery.

While Mike was getting changed the anesthesiologist asked me what type of music I preferred. I turned down all classical music, I was worried that it with the combination of medication would put me to sleep and I didn't want to miss anything. I chose the "Rolling Stones" and the nurses and doctors in the room all complimented my choice. Mike walked into the room and commented on the music, I remember being so excited to tell him that I chose it. Olivia was born at 9:32 pm on Thursday, July 6, 2006 weighing in at 7 lbs, 11 ounces.

Happy Birthday Olivia! I can't believe that you're 4 years old!

Happy Birthday America!

We started with a cake (and even sang "Happy Birthday"). Olivia loved the singing and it was good practice for her birthday coming up this week. She's feeling much better!



Daddy staged this photo of Olivia and Peter picking their noses at the same time. Of course my kids would NEVER pick their noses! How do you get toddlers to stop doing this!?!



We headed to Ft. Bragg to watch the fireworks. There were supposed to be over 45,000 people at Ft. Bragg watching the fireworks but Mike found a great spot for us to watch them. We were well away from the crowds! We set up shop in an old fenced in baseball field just steps from where we'd parked the car.


The kids LOVED running in the big open field and I loved that it was totally fenced in!


Waiting for the fireworks.



Thanks to our weird schedule the last couple of days we were all wide awake even though the fireworks didn't start until 10pm! Olivia was memorized by the fireworks and Peter loved them. I was worried he would be a little scared with all the noise but pointed and "ohhed" and "ahhed". The blue fireworks were his favorites, he clapped for those.









Happy Birthday America!

Change of Plans

Our 4th of July weekend plans came to a screaching halt on Friday evening. I went to check on the kids around 11 pm when I was heading to bed. I touched Olivia's forhead and it was burning up, her temp was 103.6. I started to panic. I gave her an immediate dose of hydrocortisone and a tsp of tylenol. As Mike threw some stuff into the diaper bag I paged the PBMT fellow on call at Duke. They told us to head straight to the ER and promised to call ahead and let them know we were on our way. As I drove to the hospital I was really worried about Olivia, this was the last thing that we expected. Olivia has been doing so well, I was really worried about her, I don't think that I'd been this worried in several months. All the anxiety and uncertainty from our stay in the hospital came rushing back. I can't believe that we lived with that amount of stress and pressure for so long.

We got to the hospital (anyone who has ever waited at an army hospital will appreciate this) and we were rushed right into a private room. The PBMT doc at Duke had certainly called ahead and who knows what he told them but we got great treatment. By the time we checked in at the ER Olivia's temp was down to 99. I brought Olivia's port access supplies with us (they don't stock the right size needle for Olivia at the hospital here) and the nurse we got had pediatric hematology experience. He easily accessed Olivia's port. They had already received all their instructions about which labs and cultures to do from the doctor at Duke and they got started right away. They got Olivia started on a dose of antibiotics and Olivia started to feel better. I started to relax a bit.



We had arrived at the ER around midnight and they got Olivia's IV antibiotics going around 12:30. I knew it was going to be a long night. Around 3:30 am we were finally discharged and the nurse rewarded Olivia with a popsicle. We finally got home a little after 4 am.



On Saturday we hung around the house. Olivia did sleep late and she woke up with a low fever. Olivia was feeling better but she was content to just snuggle and watch cartoons. Mike and I both completely forgot about the neighboorhood 4th of July celebration that we had been looking forward to (parade, outdoor concert, dog show, fishing tournament, picnic---there's always next year). Olivia's primary doctor at Duke was actually inpatient this weekend and one of the nurse practicioners called to check on Olivia.



Since her fever had been so high the night before they wanted her to get another dose of antibiotics. So we prepared to head back to the ER so that she could get her second dose of antibiotics close to 24 hours after her 1st dose. We arrived at the ER around 10:30 pm, we were lucky to get the same nurse and doctor that we'd had the night before. They quickly got the port accessed and another dose of IV antibiotic started. Olivia finished out the evening with another popscile and then we arrived home a little after 1am.



Olivia seems to be feeling much better. Her cultures are all still negative so we're not sure what had happened. We're just glad that she seems to be feeling better!