Family Photo Bloopers 2014

We did it!! We survived family photos. With the crazy year we had last year (with George's heart surgery), family photos kept getting put off. Then we found out we were having another baby and my tummy began growing. I needed to get photos of just our family of 4 before I got too big. I didn't want George to look back and think, "oh, they forgot about me" when it came to family pictures (our last family picture was with just our family of 3). So we finally got it done today!! Some of them turned out really great, and of course there are the "bloopers".

 

 

This little boy is just adorable, and I love that little tongue sticking out. But it didn't make the cut to send to our family. But it does show his silly personality!

 

Oh she is so sweet. And super shy. It totally shows in this photo. In fact, it shows it in a lot of photos with her looking down yet still trying to look at the camera. I hope she gets over her shyness one day because she really does know how to make a great picture.



I think hubby and I look fine (I do have some hair out of place) but of course the kids are looking just a little bit off.

My husband's family apparently carries a gene (or a curse?) where they automatically shut their eyes when the camera goes "click". Bridget may have been able to avoid that gene but poor George inherited it!

My sweet little Bridget again. This would have been a perfect photo, but I don't know what in the world she was doing holding up her fingers!

 

This photo captures George's thoughts (and actions) during each little setup of photos. "Okay mom, I'm done now!"

 

That's why I say we survived family photos. Bridget was great (other than her shyness) but George was all over the place, grabbing extra props and using them as building blocks and wanting them all in his pictures. Then of course he wouldn't sit for more than 2 seconds. So I am amazed by some of the really good shots they did get of him.

 

It feels good to finally have this over and done with, and to have some updated pictures of our family to put on the wall. I've been a bit of a slacker. Now I just need to buy more frames (or save money for frames and buy them in 2015? Ha!).

Here we go again!

We are very happy to announce that we are expecting!

I'm sure that face will look much cuter in July.

We found out back in December. So far, this pregnancy has been going great. While I did have some nausea (which occurred in the late afternoon/evening), I never actually threw up. This is also my very first vegan pregnancy. (The kids and I have been vegan for about a year. Even George spent a little bit of time drinking whole milk before we switched to soy). I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do a vegan pregnancy because I want to make sure the baby is getting all the nutrients it needs, but so far everything is great. My blood work came back and baby and I are both healthy (and I got a bonus in good news along with this, which I’ll post about later). Even my iron was great, which was really good news because I had low iron when I was pregnant with George and had to take a supplement. And that was when I was still eating meat. Ha! So I’ll continue being vegan until I am told that I need to do something different. I won’t be happy about it, but a healthy baby is top priority.

Yesterday, we had the big ultrasound appointment where we learned what baby #3 will be!

The kids and I met Hubby at the doctor’s office and we all went in together. Bridget was not feeling her best (she caught the latest GI bug) but she so badly wanted to go. She has been so excited about having a new baby, and has even prayed that it would be a little girl for her to play with.

Very quickly into the ultrasound, we discovered that it is a BOY!

Bridget was heartbroken. She just stood there and I could tell that she wanted to cry, but her shyness prevents her from doing that in front of strangers. She’s the only one who was hoping for a specific gender… the rest of us just wanted a healthy baby. But seeing her so disappointed, I was almost wishing that it would have been a girl, just for her. But, we are still very happy to have another boy.

After coming home, I let Bridget know that with her and I being the only girls, we get to have our own special ‘girl time’ and that she’s still going to be daddy’s baby girl. This cheered her up a little bit. Throughout the rest of the afternoon, she’d come to me with questions like “Why does Heavenly Father think I need another little brother?” and comments like “I wish I was having a little sister so that I won’t be so lonely”. Way to break my heart, kid.

George's reaction was… nothing. He has no idea what’s going on. I think he finally got the concept that there is a baby in my tummy, but he’ll probably need reminding. I’m sure he’ll be a good big brother, as he is so loving towards Bridget's baby dolls. It’s sweet to watch him feed the babies and carry them around. Then of course being the boy that he is, he’ll whack the baby’s head on the floor a few times and laugh.

Now, back to the baby: He is due on July 17th, 2014. His heart rate was 148 (at 16 weeks, 5 days along). So far, I’ve gained just ONE pound (although I do feel like I’ve gained more). I was a bit alarmed by this and promised my OBGYN that I am eating a lot but she said that this is perfect considering the baby only weighs 6 ounces right now. She said most women gain way too much too early but that I’m on the right track. So yay! My next appointment is in 4 weeks, and sometime in March I also have a fetal echo scheduled with George's pediatric cardiologist to see if this new baby has any sort of heart defect. It’s rare for someone to have two CHD children, but it does still happen. I’m not worried about it and I think it will all be okay. Even if the new baby does have a congenital heart defect, at least we know what to expect with surgery, recovery, etc. But we’re hoping for the best, of course.

George's Surgery: Days 5 & 6

Not much happened on Day 5 at the hospital. We woke up in a new room, having moved the night before. The PICU was clearing out and they wanted to move us closer to the nurse’s station. In the morning, George FINALLY pooped for us. Kinda gross to announce, but it is a big deal following major surgery to know that my little boy’s body is functioning properly. Nurse Monica was back with us again, and she attempted to get George to walk again. This time, it worked. He seemed ready and eager to get out there! His legs were still very weak but he was moving right along.

This was bittersweet, because it meant that it was time to move out of the PICU and to the Peds floor. The nurses in the PICU are some of the most amazing nurses I’ve ever met, and we especially bonded with Monica as she was our nurse the majority of the time we were there. Here is George and I packed up and (sort of) ready for the move.

 

 

Moving to the Peds floor was a major change for us, and I couldn’t wait to get out of there. That first night away from the PICU was rough. George threw up twice and needed to be changed and bathed. Luckily, the nurse we had that night used to work in the PICU at a hospital in Raleigh before she moved here, and she was particularly familiar with the care needed for heart surgery patients. She was a lifesaver! She gave George some medicine to stop the vomiting and we went to sleep for the night. That was the end of the vomiting! The next morning, George woke up ready to eat some Cheerios. Doesn’t he look so happy? I enjoyed sitting with him and holding him, especially with him smiling so much. My little George was coming back to me.

After breakfast, we were allowed to go into the playroom early to pick out some toys for George to help him start standing/walking on his own. As soon as he got in there, he was all over the place! It was hard to keep up with him and at one point he fell down trying to push around a toy car. That was pretty scary, but he was fine and recovered quickly. Once we picked out a few toys, we hung out in the play room for a bit longer to play while the nurses set up and awesome play area in our room, complete with a soft playmat for him to stand on.

But before he was able to start playing, we were told that he will be getting released from the hospital at around noon!!!! The nurse took his last IV out, which he did great with except once it was finally out and she put the Band-Aid on he started crying. Go figure.

Then it was time to play! We got him out of his hospital gown and into a pajama top. The pants were a bit too long and we didn’t want him to trip over them. His legs had gotten so skinny since we first got to the hospital. I didn’t realize how much muscle mass he was losing just laying in bed until I saw him standing on those little sticks. My little boys chunky thighs were all gone. Now I can see why he was so wobbly.

Shortly after playing, the pediatric cardiologist and pediatrician came in to talk about care at home, when to call the doctor, fever concerns, etc. All that fun discharge stuff. Then all we had to do was wait for Aaron to leave work and get the van to pick us up! Once he arrived, he started loading the van while I signed the official discharge papers. Then the nurse brought in the wagon for George to leave the hospital in style. He wasn’t too sure about the wagon this time and looked rather grumpy/unsure to begin with.

But then as we started going down the hall, onto the elevator, and down the main hallway where he could see out the window, he started to get happier. Then for the first time in almost a week, we were OUTSIDE! I saw George light up as soon as we walked out the door and he could hear the cars, feel the breeze, and then he saw our van and I knew that he knew he was finally going home!

Here is Aaron and George shortly after we got home from the hospital. George was all set up on the couch with some juice and crackers, a blanket, and the TV. So happy to be home!

George's Surgery: Day 4

Nights have gotten better with more sleeping. Still not a full night’s rest, which is almost impossible to do in a hospital with vitals constantly being checked. Aaron came by early in the morning and Nurse Monica said it was time to get George out of bed and get him to start walking again. I’ve been too scared to hold him myself, for fear of injuring him, but Aaron seems to have no problem with it. So I stood by with the camera and Aaron and Nurse Monica got George out of bed and ready for some walking. This did not go well, as George’s legs were wobbly. He reminded me a lot of Bambi learning to walk for the first time. George couldn’t even hold himself up much less take a step on his own. And he was absolutely miserable being out of bed. He spent most of the time crying and we all finally just gave up and put him back in bed.



After his walking attempt, it was time to remove a drainage tube! He also got a new IV started in his hand because the old one was getting irritated. The best thing that happened was that George got his central line in his neck removed!!!! This meant that George got to have his arm restraints taken off and could give his teddy bear a great big hug. As you can see, it wasn’t very much fun for him to get these things removed, and he did a lot of crying and straining and worked up quite a sweat. But he does look content now holding his teddy bear and being able to lie on his side.

He was quite pouty for the rest of the morning. Too much going on, I suppose.

We got a new nurse in the afternoon, named Elise and she had a wonderful idea of taking George on a wagon ride around the PICU. I had the task of lifting him out of bed and putting him in the wagon. I was so nervous about it and it was the first time I held him in days. It was special, yet scary for me.

 

George was not too happy about being taken out of his bed and being put in the wagon. He did not know what was about to happen. But once the wagon started moving, you could see him just begin to relax. He sure was a cute little guy! After doing a couple of laps around the PICU, the nurse practitioner suggested that we take him around the rest of the children’s hospital. So off we went!

 

 

With the children’s hospital still being very new, the halls and waiting areas were very quiet. We stopped by a fish tank just outside the special care nursery. It was here that Nurse Elise felt we should try to get George to walk again. George was not happy about this but he did take a few steps with some assistance. He wanted to get back in the wagon so we made him walk to the wagon.

Once back in the wagon, he decided to be pouty again. But the rest of us were very happy with his accomplishment. Here he is with Nurse Elise.

To cheer him again, we went downstairs to the lobby to check out the “wall”. He enjoyed popping all of the bubbles but it was time to head back up to the PICU.

It was time to put him back in his bed and then he spent the rest of the evening entertaining us! He began making his big smiles again, showing lots of teeth as he was playing with his Papa. He also enjoyed some graham crackers and some banana. I was so happy that he was finally eating real food again!