christmas time is here

Much to Amos' delight, it was finally time to begin preparing for Christmas!  Our home and hearts!

He came home last Saturday with the mission of getting the Christmas tree.  Even though, we wanted to experience a Christmas tree farm this year, to save time and at least $30, we bought it from the nursery on 32nd St.  They have such nice trees there!

 And they were still able to run through the trees :)

The one we picked out ended up being quite fat.  Luckily, our new home offers lots of space for a tree.

We had lots of good help this year...from one of our boys.

Here's Silas' take on tree decorating.

And here's Ivan's!

More Christmas preparing to come!

ivan jude - week 3

We have been home for a full week! It sure was nice to leave the hospital and enter the real world again.  But the best part has been having all our family back together at our home.  We've only owned this house for 3 months, but all of this has quickly made it feel like home.  So much has happened here already.

It's not been the easiest week.  The hospital discharged us, but Ivan's breathing was still pretty fast, and kept us all on high alert.  We had a follow-up appointment with our pediatrician on Monday.  Ivan weighed in at 10 lbs even, but was pretty worked up by the time the doctor came in.  Luckily the doctor was able to hear Ivan's breathing at the worst.  He was a little concerned about the breathing, but said his lungs sounded great.  We planned to come back the following Monday, and would do another chest X-ray if his breathing hadn't improved!

Now, at the end of the week, I can report that has breathing has improved.  SIGNIFICANTLY!  Praise Jesus!  This has been a huge relief for this Mama!  His lungs just needed a little more time to heal.

Our other concern, is that he has what sounds like a bit of a cold.  We actually bumped up his doctor's appointment to Friday, because he would wake up in the night, with a wheeze and sounding all stuffed up.  He would still breathe fine, but we didn't want to chance anything moving down into his lungs.  Our doctor went ahead and did the chest X-ray and the lungs looked clear.  Hopefully his nose will clear up, too!

We saw lots of family on Saturday, and my Mom stayed with us one more night.  Then Nana came and stayed with us for two more days.  We have definitely been taken care of.

Meeting Granny for the first time.

Jason has been home all week too, and will go back to work this coming Wednesday.  The boys have been soaking up this time.  Us being gone for ten days and taking Ivan with us has definitely had an affect on them.  However, they were in good hands and are bouncy back quickly.  And I'll definitely take all the extra hugs and snuggles.

Ivan's highlight this week:  his first bath!  We finally got to wash all the hospital smells off him.

And speaking of all that time with Dad, I put him to work too!  Here's the start of my staircase gallery wall!

ivan jude - week 2

Ivan's second week of life wasn't as eventful as his first, but it was still far from ordinary.  He started his second week by moving out of the most intensive side of the ICU over to the other side where he got a crib and his own room.  We were excited for this change as we could have more visitors and food and drink in the room.  Things felt less stressful.

Here's his first Pod.

Here we are in his new room.

Saturday was my first day to breastfeed all day long!  Ivan was a champ.  Our nurse said that we were like a well-oiled machine.  3 days without nursing didn't seem to cause any confusion for him.  At this time, he was still breathing very fast and on oxygen so the nurses had to assess him each time before I nursed to make sure his breathing was in the 60-70 bpm range.  And then he would get to eating so fast that he would pull off and cough a lot.  Still a little scary.

After a good day of breast feeding, they began weaning him off his oxygen.  They kept lowering the pressure of his oxygen so by Monday morning all he was getting was .1 L.  The doctors rounded just in time to give the orders to remove all oxygen because right after they did that, the boys showed up with Grammy and Gramps.  I think it was better for Amos for Ivan to have less on his face and look more normal.  I could tell Amos was affected by all of it, but he did a great job being brave.  Silas was having the time of his life.

The rest of the day, boys enjoyed exploring all the fun things they have for kids at Children's Mercy and the Ronald McDonald house.  And Ivan was doing great being off the oxygen.  It was definitely wonderful for Jason and me to have the boys back in our arms.  We were even all tired enough that we all slept soundly in one room at the Ronald McDonald house.

The next day was full of fun for the boys.  Nana and Papa and Daddy took them to Crown Center and the Aquarium.  They got to eat at a train restaurant and color at Kaleidoscope.  That evening, they even visited the hanger where Children's Mercy keeps their transport airplane - the one Daddy and Ivan rode on.  Too bad it wasn't there, but they did get to go inside another plane.  Amos kept double checking that it wasn't going to be taking off.

I spent the day hanging out with my Mom and Sister, watching Ivan!

The days were fairly uneventful, but they sure went by fast.  I think my Mom sensed I needed to get out of the hospital for a while, so she threw out the idea of taking a quick trip to IKEA!  The boys were off with Nana and Papa and Jason could stay and give Ivan a bottle so I jumped on the chance.  We went the perfect night because there was barely anyone there.  We were able to leisurely stroll the store, drooling over everything in site.  I picked up way to much stuff, but must have eventually put almost everything back because I didn't end up with that much at a checkout.  A couple of amazing $4 pillow covers and some organization bins.  However, it was the perfect outing.  I love that place.

On Wednesday, the boys came and had breakfast with us in the hospital and joined in a sibling playgroup.

Then they headed to Nana and Papa's house for Thanksgiving.  Three more days in a small hospital room may have drove everyone crazy and they had cousins waiting to play with them.  By this point, we were pretty sure we would be home either Friday or Saturday, so it was nice knowing it was a short goodbye.

Wednesday was Gramps' day to hang out with us and take turns holding Ivan.  Ivan still had a heart monitor, breathing monitor, oxygen saturation monitor and an IV connected to him at this point, but he was still a lot easier to move around.  The only problem was that his SAT monitor rarely was picking up a good reading so it kept beeping at us all evening.  The nurse kept assuring us that it wasn't picking up, so not to worry.

Jason and I celebrated Thanksgiving together on Wednesday by going out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory and leaving Dad and Ivan with a bottle in case he got hungry.  Apparently he got hungry several times, but Dad and the nurse had it covered.  For Jason and me, it was a little reminiscent of 6 years ago when he took me out to the plaza the day after Thanksgiving and then later to a park to propose!  We had a blast, letting go of a little bit of the stress.

Thanksgiving was spent with Ivan.  He was pretty calm and content all that day.  The doctors told us that he would be going home on Friday.  He would finish up all his last dose of antibiotic and then let us go!  It was exciting to here!  They kept saying that he was very sick when he came in but has gotten better very quickly!  Praise Jesus, our sustainer!

The only thing left to do was the carseat test.  They had to put him into a carseat for 2 1/2 hours to make sure it wouldn't put stress too much stress on his body for the ride home.  I thought for sure he was going to hate it because we couldn't rock it or jiggle it or do anything.  All we could do was give him a pacifier- which he still doesn't love.  Much to my surprise, he fussed for a second and then fell asleep.  Jason and I went for a drive and a walk because there wasn't really anything we could do.  Dad stayed with Ivan.  He was still sleeping soundly when we returned.  He passed.

Overnight they did one more chest X-ray and the next morning during rounds the doctors said it looked great.  They listened to his lungs again and said he sounded perfect.  They reassured us that he would still have bouts of quick-breathing because of the damage done to his lungs and vocal chords.  That's still been a little scary for us, but we have tried to remember those words and then put our trust in Jesus.

 No more cords!

We ended the whole experience on a high note - a second try to IKEA!  Mom and I worked out an early Christmas and birthday present for me - a new sectional. We almost didn't get it home, but I'm sure glad we did.  Ivan didn't seem to mind our short trip, as he slept the whole time in his carseat.  Good thing we got that carseat test!

 Putting the couch together!  Jason said it actually wasn't too bad.  The instructions were all pictures.  No words.

 Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to me!

ivan jude's birth story

Saturday night, almost a week before Ivan's due date, semi-regular contractions started.  I knew they weren't labor contractions, but hard enough and consistent enough that I started paying attention.  I wasn't ready to have the baby, so our game plan was to lay down and go to sleep in hopes that they would go away.  They did.  I wanted a little more time to rest up and get ready for labor.  My hope was another week.  But each evening that week, contractions would start up again.  We would wonder if tonight was the night, go to bed and they would go away.  By this point, our family was on high alert and Jason was just waiting for the phone call.  I kept hoping I wouldn't begin labor in the evening, because I'm always just ready to go to bed at night.

By Thursday night, contractions were getting a little harder, but we just followed our game plan and went to bed.  When I woke up, Friday morning, still having mild contractions, I told Jason he should go ahead and stay home and go to my weekly doctor's appointment with me.  We were pretty sure that the baby was going to come this weekend, so he was ok with that.

At the appointment, I was expecting the doctor to say that I was a lot more dilated, and that the baby would be coming soon.  Instead, I heard that there wasn't any more progress.  I was still dilated to 3 cm and 50% effaced.  She suggested stripping my membranes.  She said that if the baby was ready, it would get things started, but if not, it wouldn't do anything.  Man, was that painful.  I left a little discouraged.  I had reached the point where it felt like the baby was never coming.  I had officially reached the end.

We had promised the boys that we would go to Chick-fi-la after our appointment and I had scheduled a pedicure for the afternoon.  After heading to Chick-fi-la and beginning to have several regular, more intense contractions, I decided to cancel my pedicure - because who wants their water to break at a salon?  The boys had fun eating and playing, but I cut our time a little short.  I was ready to get home and see if these contractions were going to make anything happen.

We got home, put the boys down for naps and began timing the contractions.  They were 2 1/2 to 3 minutes apart.  I knew the intensity wasn't right to go to the hospital yet, but we decided we should maybe come up with a plan for the boys incase everything progressed quickly.  So we woke up 2 sleepy boys and took them over to my sisters house.

The plan was to still labor at home for a while to make sure this was the real thing, so on the way back, I decided it was time to start counting through contractions and practice our rhythmic breathing.  This was a lifesaver when I had Silas.  It think the only way I made it through the whole thing.  So there we were rhythmically breathing through contractions when I spotted a cop on the highway.  He must have spotted us going a little too fast too, because sure enough, he pulled us over.  Yep, Jason got to use the classic line "My wife is in labor."  I think we completely flustered the guy but he said he still need to run Jason's license just to make sure he wasn't a fugitive.  He let us off by telling us "to slow down for me, and CONGRATULATIONS."

Back at the house we broke out the exercise ball, calming music and the contraction timer.  By this point, contractions were getting much harder, but I was still laughing and talking between them.  We carried on like this for about an hour.  I was still very much in control and I knew I didn't want to go in until I was in full fledge labor.  I took red raspberry tea leaf capsules again with this labor and had heard that it could make each successive labor shorter and shorter.  I knew I didn't want to have the baby at home, so I told Jason we should probably go ahead and go to the hospital.  Jason must have thought that I wasn't really ready to be at the hospital yet, because not only did he miss I-44 to get to the hospital, but he also missed the 32nd street exit.  He claims it was because I was talking to him.  Instead we got to take the scenic route through Saginaw.

We parked the car and made it back to the birthing center with only having to stop twice to breathe through contractions.  The nurse gave us a room and the wonderful hospital gown to put on.  I was pretty confident I wouldn't be going home, but you never know, so I was definitely anxious to get checked and fully admitted into the hospital.  Once the nurse finally made it back, just after 5:30 pm, she checked and I was dilated to 6 cm and fully effaced.  Woohoo!  Baby time!

Luckily, my labor team was all there.  After Silas' birth, I learned the benefits of extra hands and support.  This time, there would have been no way I would have made it without Jason up by my head counting and calming me and my mom and sister massaging my hips!  The red raspberry tea leaf capsules must have done their job because all my contractions were in my uterus!  No back labor!  We kept switching positions and finally landed on rocking on the ball, on my hands and knees, on the bed.  This seemed to give the most relief with contractions.  I kept telling the baby to go down.

Here's me trying to smile between a contraction.  Note my nurse in the background.  That happened to be her very last night ever as a nurse, as she was retiring.  She was little more concerned about finishing paperwork than helping me deliver a baby : /

My doctor wasn't there for the first hour or so of laboring.  I think she showed up closer to 6:30 pm.  She check me and said I was at an 8.  Not good news.  I wanted to be ready to push.  However, she suggested switching to sitting on the ball with wide legs because the position I was in wasn't opening up my cervix.  The switch felt terrible at first, but after a contraction passed, there was a different sense of relief.

We worked through contractions in the position for a little  bit when the doctor came back in to check again.  I was 9.5 cm!  Good news.  Bad news was that she wanted me to gently push through a contraction to see if she could help me thin out to be complete.  PAINFUL! EXCRUCIATING!  I was ready to say lets go ahead and cut the baby out!

Too late!  I was there and ready to push.  I gave two small pushes because I wasn't sure I was really ready to push.  And that's when it happened.  My body decided it was ready to push and clamped down to do it.  I just joined in.  After two more pushes and lots of yelling a big ol' baby BOY slid out.  Mom said he had a hand right up by his face that came out with the head.  No wonder pushing was terrible.  Luckily it wasn't very long.  He was born at exactly 7 pm.  He must have known I had something for numbers.

They put him on my chest and he quickly calmed down.  We found out later just how big he was:  9 lbs 4 oz and 21 inches long.

We were in love.  It wasn't until the next morning that we named him Ivan Jude.  Ivan had been my top contender the whole time, but Jason wasn't sold on it.  However, while I was pushing and getting fixed up afterwards he was making all kinds of promises to me.  One was that we could name him whatever I wanted, and he might have promised a vacation to Europe.  We wouldn't find out until later how fitting his name is: God has been gracious.

ivan jude - week 1

Not really ready to write about Ivan's first week of life, but I did want to post his picture.  His name says it all : God is gracious!

meeting ivan

The 9 month wait is finally over.  Thanks to the help of my doctor, this guy made his appearance on his due date: Novemember 14th, 2014.  I plan on writing out his whole birth story, but for now I just want to introduce him.  Here's the newest member of our family: Ivan Jude Vance.  We named him after my dad, and loved the fact that it means God is gracious.  Jack and John - the other boys middle names - mean the same thing.  We believe that to be very true!  He has been very gracious to our family.

He weighed in at 9lbs 4oz - almost a pound bigger that Silas.  Good thing he didn't wait much longer to come out.  He was 21 inches long and had another big head.  He definitely looks similar to his brothers, but with his own unique characteristics.

Meeting Mama for this first time!  He calmed right down after being placed on my chest and made himself rather comfortable.  We both worked hard and were worn out.

Meeting Daddy... and the beard!

We're in love... again!!

Meeting the brothers!

 Amos couldn't contain his excitement and Silas was all smiles!!!  They we're pumped to meet Ivan.

 I told Ivan he was a lucky little guy to have such good big brothers!

He had lots of other people excited to meet him too!  Emma was a little disappointed he wasn't a girl, but then she saw how little and cute he was and fell in love.

 Meeting his proud Papa!

 His Aunt Amelia helped get him here and was excited to hold him.  Big Brother wanted in on the action too!

 Meeting Grammy!

 Meeting Gramps!

And just today he got to meet some of his great grandparents!

 Great Grandma and Grandpa Garrett

We're home now and getting use to being a family of five!  Luckily, Grammy's here to help for a while and so far its been a fairly smooth transition.  Talk to me in a month and bring some coffee!