Urologist

First off a cute picture of Liliana and Lincoln.  I can't tell you just how much Lil just adores him!

So today we had a consult with the pediatric urologist.  Lincoln's hypospadias is fairly mild but we are going to do surgery.  That will happen when is around 6 months old so that it can be just a day surgery and he doesn't have to stay overnight in the hospital.  They also did an ultrasound of his kidneys and discovered that they are still slightly enlarged.  This could mean one of two things:

1) The tube between the kidneys and bladder hasn't fully developed and as he grows, the tube will grow, thus fixing the problem.

2) He has reflux -  which means that some of pee in the bladder could be going back up instead of going out. 

The urologist presented several options of what we could do.  He was actually very neutral on what option to pick - which was almost a bit frustrating because I had to decide!  There was no wrong choice, but I still had to make one!  So basically our choices came down to:

1) Perform a procedure on him which involved inserting a catheter into his bladder and then putting some sort of x-ray liquid in there and seeing if it goes up instead of remaining in the bladder.  Then we'd know for sure if he has reflux.  If that is the case, then he has an increased risk for bladder infections which could more easily reach his kidneys.  Which would lead us to two other choices:

               A)  Do nothing - but keep an eye on things, watch for any first signs of bladder infections like   fevers, etc and do something about it immediately.

               B) Put him on antibiotics until he's potty-trained

2)  Wait three months and have another ultrasound done.  If the kidneys are not enlarged, then come back when he is a year old to check on things and if they are still not enlarged, then call it resolved and call it good.  If they are still enlarged, then see option #1.   In the meantime in those three months, we would still have to watch for signs of bladder infection just in case. 

So I ended up deciding on option #2.  It felt less invasive but still gave us the option to go back to option #1 if necessary.  So it seemed like a good choice.  In the meantime, if he runs a fever, we are supposed to take him to his pediatrician just in case, even if normally with another child we might be inclined to just treat them at home. 

Rating:  1 Lollipop and 1 Fireball (not sure how to rate this one!)

Four Carseats

This is my new reality:

Please note Idgie's fashion sense.  Aren't those socks fabulous with a sundress, sandals, and a coat?   In true Colorado fashion, we pulled out the summer clothes a few days ago, but it started to snow on the way to taking Emmaline to school today!  Thus the coats with the summer clothes.

Rating:  4 Pixie Dust

1 Week

So much to catch up on!

Lincoln is officially one week old.  How'd that happen already???   I'll go back and try to sum up the last week.

I stayed at the hotel hospital until they kicked us out on Saturday.  I have pretty easy recoveries so I just hung out there and enjoyed the peace and quiet, got a massage, watched HGTV and Food Network all day, ordered cheesecake off the menu several times and didn't do a lick of laundry or dishes.  It was great.  But alas, finally we had to go home.  Of course that means the traditional photo-in-the-carseat so here it is:

We got home and the girls were so happy to see us Lincoln.  Liliana in particular has seemed to really take to him.  She will sit there and just look at him and comment on how cute he is.  She has also started to play with baby dolls a lot more and rock them and sing to them, and tuck them into bed and such!  My parents even found a Cabbage Patch doll tucked into their bed!  Of course the girls have also been up to their usual shenanigans.  They got ahold of some boxes and played train:

But the best part was within an hour of us getting home, they were torturing poor AJ!

On Wednesday, Lincoln had a pediatrician appointment.  He has already gained back his birth weight plus 3 oz, so he is now 7lbs. 4 oz.   He also shrunk 1/4 inch which is apparently common when their pointy heads go back to being rounded.   He does have a condition called hypospadias  (he's going to hate me someday for telling the world that!) so we are going to have a consult with a pediatric urologist to see what our next steps are.  He may need surgery, he may not.  His case is mild so we'll see.

Here is an adorable picture of him:

And of course THIS is what he really looks like most of the time.  He loves to eat and at this age and stage I am happy to oblige him - which might explain the weight gain already ...

Amongst all of these goings on, we bought a side of beef!  So AJ and my dad made a very long drive to go pick that up yesterday (if you want to read all the nitty-gritty details about that, go HERE).  By the time they got home, my mom and I were dealing with a swirling madhouse!  Kids were everywhere, into everything, fighting, crying, whining, tantruming.  It was ... great.  It bodes well for the future.  My parents were a TON of help for the last 2.5 weeks that they have been here.  Today they went home and we were on our own for the first time today.  Overall it went well but there were still two of us.  Tomorrow AJ has to go back to work, so then the real test begins to see if I can do it all on my own!

Rating:  4 Lollipops

Lincoln Anthony

At 5:00am on April 15, I woke up having contractions.  They were every 15 minutes or so but quickly got closer and closer together - to about every 5 minutes.  We decided to pack up and go to the hospital around 7:00am.  Having had such a fast delivery with Idgie in the past, I didn't want to waste any time getting there.  As soon as I got into the car, the contractions stopped.  I didn't have a single one the whole way there!  We sat in the parking lot for awhile and finally decided to maybe run an errand and see what happened.  We decided on going to Target since I had a raincheck to redeem there.  They whole time I walked around Target, I had contractions so we decided to go back to the hospital. 

We checked into triage and of course my contractions stopped again!  The nurse checked and I was only 2-3cm.  I managed to squeeze out four contractions in the 1.5 hours we were there - so home they sent me!

That afternoon, I took a nap and woke up having contractions at about 2:00pm.  This time they were even harder than before, and about 7-9 minutes apart.  We went back to to hospital where they declared I was now 4-5cm and 100% effaced.  YAY!!!  In a fabulous turn of events, the anesthesiologist was nearby and within about an hour of arriving, I had my epidural.  Sweet blissful relief! 

My OB broke my water at 6:30pm, and I was ready to push around 7:15.  I pushed through 4 or 5 contractions and Lincoln was born at 7:33pm.

7 lbs. 1 oz.
20 inches

I cut the cord myself this time and he had a true knot in his cord.  It was a very loose knot but we are very blessed that nothing bad came of it.  The doctor spent some time examining it and showing it to the nurses. 

Rating:  100 million Lollipops!

Our little Tax Credit

He's here!  More details in the morning, but for now some quick stats:

LINCOLN ANTHONY
7 lbs 1oz.
20 inches

Born at 7:33pm on April 15


Props to my mom for getting the birth date spot on and props to Jenny for getting the weight spot on! 

The Park and Easter

I'm playing a bit of catch-up here.  I haven't really blogged much.  I've been busy laying on the couch doing absolutely nothing while my parents take care of the kids and the house.  Maybe if I actually got up and did something this baby would hurry and come!

On Saturday we did spend the morning at the park.  We took the girls to a big park in town and played and had a picnic lunch.  My dad took it upon himself to be in charge of Liliana - who would barely stop moving, going from one thing to the next to the next to the next.  She had to try everything!  Eventually they all settled in the sandbox though and had a blast with that.

Then of course there was Easter.  So here are some pictures of the girls in their dresses.  It was quite the ordeal to get a picture of all three of them.  And Lil was in a mood that day so we were lucky to finally get a picture of her at all!  They all were so excited to get their dresses on and asked all morning if it was time top put them on yet!  They especially loved how they twirled.

Rating:  4 Pixie Dust

38 Weeks

Well here we are at 38 weeks!  I had another false alarm last night - the kind where I even told AJ that maybe he should wake up and shower, and then as soon as he was done, the whole thing fizzled.  I could do without the false alarms, but at least my parents are here now so we don't have to worry about child care.  The kids are having a blast with them and it is nice to have them around so I can get a nap in afternoons.  I had an appointment today and everything is still looking good. I actually lost 2 lbs. so that made me happy!   My mom and AJ both think that I've dropped a little bit - tell me what you think. 

Here I was a 36 weeks:

And here I am now at 38 weeks (and looking very tired after a long night!)

Rating:  3 Lollipops

False Alarm

Early on Saturday morning, I had a bit of a false alarm.  I was having contractions every 4 minutes (though still painless!) along with some other symptoms I get with labor.   With my last labor, I wanted to take it seriously, so I called my parents, who were planning on coming on Wednesday, and put them on alert.  They ended up deciding to just go ahead and make the 8 hour drive out here just in case.  Of course by the time they arrived, the contractions were completely non-existant and I was fine!  So no baby yet, and I managed to completely disrupt their plans for Easter weekend.  Oops.  Luckily I never went to the hospital or anything so I don't have the embarrassment of being sent home.  The good news of course is that I now have my bags packed!

Rating:  3 Fireballs

37 Weeks

I'm on appointments every week now.   There isn't much more to report.  I am still gaining weight.  Blah.  I am up to a gain of 20lbs. now!  Shocking!  We talked a bit about the procedure for labor, though there wasn't much to say on that topic either since I've been there, done that!  I told her my birth plan was very simple - I just want to make it to the hospital.  Based on my last labor, she actually gave me her pager number so that I don't have to waste time having myself or the hospital call the answering service first.  She said that she doesn't give it out to many people but that she trusts me to use it wisely!  I've actually been having a lot of contractions today, so I think my body is definitely gearing up to have this baby in the next few weeks!