Our Little Valentine

Lyla was not scheduled to arrive until February 28th, but she apparently had other plans.

It all began on Wednesday, January 26th: I was having some contractions at work and decided that a trip to labor and delivery may be in order. I left school just before lunchtime, picked Gavin up at work, and headed to the hospital. My rationale, although I was not in a ton of pain, was that I wanted to get to the hospital soon enough for them to stop labor since it was way too early to have the baby. Once I got to the hospital they hooked me up to the monitors and I was indeed having contractions, but as I laid there resting they subsided on their own and I was discharged with instructions to rest for the rest of the evening.

I continued to have "braxton hicks" contractions for the next few weeks. Sometimes they were so strong I needed to lay down on the couch, other times they were very mild, but fairly consistent for the week after our first trip to the hospital. But the week after that I felt pretty good overall, although, still exhausted.

We had a doctor's appointment on Friday, February 11th, and while I was there I was pretty sure I was having some contractions, but when my doctor checked me she said that I was showing no signs that I was in labor. She advised me to take it easy over the weekend.

I went home that night and relaxed. The next day I was feeling good, so I went with Gavin and the boys to Sam's Club to do some grocery shopping. We were in the back of Sam's Club, when the contractions/cramping started again. It again, continued off and on for the rest of the day, while I washed up the 0-3 month clothing. On Sunday, I promised Owen that we would make Valentine's Day cookies for preschool. I made three batches of dough and baked enough cookies for his class, Max's class, and my class. The cramping continued throughout the day. While, I was doing this, Gavin set up the crib and packed a hospital bag. We had pretty much agreed we didn't think we were going to make it to our scheduled c-section date.

Around 6:00, I was really starting to be in some serious pain. I laid on the couch, and was visibly in enough pain that Max came up to me at one point and said, "What happened?" After Max went to bed that night, and I continued to feel uncomfortable, we decided to call our friends and have them come over to watch the boys and we headed into labor and delivery for the second time.

Once at the hospital, I got hooked up to the monitors and they watched me for a little while. I really wasn't having contractions, but she did say she could see the cramping I was describing on the monitor. She told me that my doctor said I could have an Ambien so I could sleep that night and that I needed to go home and rest. I questioned why I was in so much pain, but she didn't really seem to have any sympathy for me.

The Ambien they gave me before I left the hospital knocked me right out, but when I woke up at 5 am, the cramping was still there. I got ready and went to work as usual. At 8:00, I had to make a phone call to the insurance company to argue a bill they were refusing to pay. I was so frusturated when I got off the phone I started to cry. I decided then that I just could not function at work with this cramping, I called my doctor's office and asked the nurse if my doctor would send a note to my work so that I didn't have to come back for the remainder of my pregnancy. She asked if I could leave right then and go home and if they could just fax the note to the school. I told her I would stay so that I could wrap up my lesson plans and lay out materials, ect. I continued to teach that whole morning, but needless to say, I was did not do a very good job of teaching. At 10:15 my nurse called and left a message on my cell phone saying that my doctor wanted me to go to the hospital to get checked out. I waited until 11:15 to call the office and ask if anyone could take over my class sooner than the sub that was scheduled to come in at lunchtime. I got relieved and left, knowing that I was not coming back until after the baby was born.

I drove to Gavin's school and waiting in the parking lot for about 20 minutes for him to get plans in ordr for the rest of the day and wrap up what he needed to wrap up. Then we headed to the hospital. I figured they would check me again, see that there were no physical signs of labor, and send me home. I believed this so much that I almost told Gavin that he didn't need to come with me.

When I was checked, there was no physical sign of labor, however, this nurse, at least acknowledged that I was having small contractions that didn't have much time between them, so she understood why I said they were continuous. She left to call my doctor and see what she wanted us to do. The next thing we knew, she was wheeling in an IV cart. Gavin said, "What is that for?" and she replied, "You're having a baby today!"

I immediately burst into tears, I was not prepared for this. We were told this news around 1:30, and the c-section wasn't planned until 5:30, so we had time to plan. We called Shonna to pick up the boys, Gavin ran back to his school to make plans for the next few days, and then ran home to get our hospital bag.

I was given a shot to stop contractions and some magazines to pass the time.

An hour or so after I was given the shot to stop contractions, they started again. So, Lyla was definitely planning on coming whether we were ready or not.

And that is what happened that resulted in our baby girl making her grand entrance into the world exactly two weeks ahead of schedule.

Owen is Four!!!

I can't believe my baby is four-years-old! I can still vividly remember driving to the hospital at 4 o'clock in the morning for our planned induction, how scared I was when I was wheeled into the operating room to have an emergency c-section, and the amazement I felt when I looked at his face for the first time!

Now I continue to be amazed with him everyday! The things that come out of his mouth crack me up on a daily basis, the knowledge he already knows makes me proud, and watching him interact with his little brother makes my heart melt.

Yesterday (his actual birthday), we of course, had to work, then we had an OB appointment, so we didn't get to pick him up until 5:00. Owen did have a birthday party at preschool, though! We did, however, celebrate by going out to dinner at Chili's (as requested by the birthday boy), then opened presents from Grandma and Grandpa, Aunts and Uncles, and had a little cake before bed!

Today, was the day of his party! I had such a great day with him. Gavin needed Owen to be out of the house so that he could get his presents out of hiding and wrapped, so I took Owen on a lunch date. First, we had to stop at the library and trade the old DVD's for new ones. Next, we took a quick trip to Kohl's in search of a new shirt for his birthday party, of course their was an awesome sale and as I wandered around the boys section looking for possible items to buy, Owen followed me around and was such a good listener. We have come a long way since the days where he would run away from us in department stores! I picked out about seven shirts and then asked Owen to choose which ones he liked. He narrowed it down to three. I happily purchased all three for a less than $10. Finally, we headed to MacDonald's for our lunch date.

I took him to the MacDonald's that had the play equiptment in it. While I waited for our food order, I decided to let Owen venture into the play area ahead of me. (I could see him through the window). He took his shoes off, placed them neatly in on the shelf, and then climbed into the tunnel, at every window he looked out at me and waved!

After I got the food, I settled down at a table and ate, while Owen played and came to get bites and then back to playing. At one point when Owen was actually sitting down and eating I asked him if he thought we should bring Max there. First, we discussed whether or not Max would be able to climb up the tunnel by himself, Owen assured me he could. After our little converstation I asked Owen, "so, should we bring Max here or should this be our special spot?" He decided it should just be our special spot!

When we got home from our date, I decorated his birthday cake (Thomas the train), and then it was time for his party! He told me he had a great birthday party, and out of the blue after everyone left, he said, "I love you, Mommy!" Ahhh, music to my ears!!

I look forward to another fun-filled year with our little man complete with the sweet little moments and all of his shinanigans, too!