Baby Blessing weekend

Two weeks ago we had one crazy weekend.  My family flew into town for Catlin's baby blessing which was good since if they hadn't then there would have been no family at such a specail event.  My dad decided since we were seriously over due for a big family photo (about 8 years over due) that we needed to that while they were out here for the visit.  Friday night we did just that.  The photos turned out great and considering that we had a slightly cranky 2 month old on our hands I'm quite pleased with what we got.

The whole family

 Grandparents and the grandkids



 Aunt Becca with her nieces and nephew

 A new family photo of us

Then that Sunday we had Catlin's baby blessing.  I really wish we'd had more family there, especially with sending out an e-mail to invite family in the area to come, but sadly we didn't.  It was still special and she did good for the entire time.

 My Kids

 Catlin's blessing dress

2011 in review

The last while of 2011 was quite a whirlwind for us.  Adjusting to having Catlin has been a struggle of sorts.  She does great at night, but her days can be well a pain.  Jay's been back to work and that also became an adjustment after having him home so much.  The kids love their little sister and are such great helpers.  Catlin has already had 2 head colds and that would be thanks to the older siblings. 

Christmas was wonderful.  We spent time as a family and just had a wonderful day together.  I got sick Christmas night and spent the rest of the year sick.  Luckily I'm feeling better and no one else is sick.  Jay is now on leave and we're making the most of it.  Good bye to 2011 and hello to 2012.

Introducing...Catlin!

For the first time ever I made it to full term.  I will just say that was not fun or pleasant.  I spent the last 5 almost 6 weeks having contractions on an almost daily basis that were 2-5 min apart which sent me to Labor and Delivery 7 times.  It was so agravating to not dialate, but have the contractions oh and be on bed rest.  At my 39 week apointment I got checked out and was almost at 4cm dialated.  They sent me home, even with poping out contractions every 2 min.  So I made the choice to sit on a yoga ball and do whatever it took to get that last little bit so that I could have her the next day.  It worked!

On Tuesday Nov. 8 I went in to L&D and was at 4cm!!  That meant they had to keep me, or so I thought.  The midwife on call wanted to send me home, but I pushed the issue using the arguement of how the previous dr's told me they would keep me if I hit that 4 cm mark.  So I got to stay, but had to once again sit on a yoga ball to see if that would help me dialate further, even though both Jay and I told them it wouldn't.  They didn't believe us and so 3 hours later they were finally convinced to admit me and break my water for me.  That did the trick.  15 min after they broke my water I was begging for the epidural.  Again, just like with Kaden, it took forever for them to show up and give it to me.  Unlike with Kaden this time they were not fast enought.  I got the epidural and the next thing I know I want to push.  Sure enough in less than 1 hr 30 min I'd gone from 4 cm to fully dialated.  The dr's had to be rushed in and in less that 10 min Catlin was born at 5:43pm.  She is a healthy 7lbs 10 oz, my biggest baby yet. 

It's been 2 weeks and for the most part we're all adjusting quite well to her being part of our family.  Miya is curious about her and the kids just love her to pieces.

Trials of being Pregnant

The last few weeks have been quite honestly brutal in the pregnancy department.  3 weeks ago I woke up one morning with the feeling of going on a manic cleaning/orginizing frenzy.  I was nesting and it was bad.  As this is going on I realize that I'm feeling contractions for the first time ever, I didn't feel contractions with the other two kids until after I had the dr break my water and was in full labor.  Because of these two things Jay felt we needed to get me over to labor and delivery immediately.  Good thing too.  We got to the hospitial and sure enough I was having contractions 2-3 min apart and was starting to dialate.  This was not a good situation since I just hit 30 weeks that day.  Because the air force hospitial I go to is not equiped to deal with a pre-mi that is under 34 weeks I got immediately transfered to a civilian hospitial. 

While we were waiting for the ambulance to come get me they started me on an iv of mangnesium solfate (nasty stuff) and the first of 2 steriod shots to help this little one's lungs get fully developed in the off chance that we couldn't stop the labor.  Jay had to take off and head back to the ship to get emergency leave since he was supposed to be on the ship the next morning for an underway.  I'm beyond greatful for a truly wonderful visiting teacher who took the kids to her house while ths was happening.  We got me over to the hospitial where for the next 3 days I was lucky to get any sleep at all.  Due to the magnesium I had to be heavily monitored to make sure that I didn't have fluids hit my lungs or any other complications that can happen with this particular med.  This stuff makes you feel like you have the flu, hot flashes, cold flashes and motion sickness all at the same time.  It is horrible and if you don't have to go through having it be very greatful.  This med was to help her brain become more protected if she was born early.  Jay's command was amazing at this time.  Instead of doing emergency leave they had him go TAD (temp. assigned duty) to a transition place where all he had to do was call in every morning and report in.

The 3rd day I met with the high risk ob and had a ultrasound.  We are deffinantly having a girl and we got great news at that ultrasound, she is no longer breech!!!!  Other than her trying to come early she was developing right where she should be for being 30 weeks.  I ended up on another med to help stop the contractions completely and once I stopped having those contractions I was allowed to go home with strict orders of bed rest.  I spent 5 days in the hospitial while the drs did everything they could to help her development with her lungs and head and stopping those contractions.  I missed the kids and dog like crazy, but it was truly a blessing to have Jay by my side during this time.  Once I got home bed rest is exactly what I've been doing.

We're now on week 3 of the bed rest.  Earlier this week I ended up once again at L&D for contractions.  These were exactly 2 min apart.  Sadly they can't do anything to stop them.  If it wasn't for the fact that I'm still at 3 cm dialated and have only effaced to 60% (I was 3cm and 50% effaced when I was released from the hospitial) they couldn't do anything except send me home to continue the bed rest.  The bed rest is not easy.  I miss being able to do things.  I can be on my feet long enough to come downstairs in the morning and go up stairs at night for bed, shower and bathroom trips.  It is not easy.  Both Jay and I are beyond greatful for my mom at this point.  She literally dropped everything to come out and help us for 2 weeks (she would stay longer, but has commitments that she can't get out of) with things.  The timing of her visit is truly a blessing. 

The IKE just got back from the underway that Jay went TAD during and so he is once again working during the day so my mom being here is a huge help with the kids.  And the kids are just loving having her here.  An amazing blessing has happened with Jay's command in all of this.  They are getting ready to once again head out for another long underway and they are making sure Jay is once again TAD'd during the time they are gone.  This underway is also at a time after my mom has left to go back home so I'd have been alone.  They are setting everything up so we don't have to worry about a thing.  He truly has one amazing command and it was the highest person (officer) in his chain of command that is personally making sure this all happens. 

Bed rest is not easy, but it is doing the job of helping her to not come so early which is what we all want.  I'm beyond uncomfortable all the time now days.  She is active and the contractions are a daily thing so I deal with a lot of pain, not to mention a lot of swelling in my feet.  This by far has been the hardest pregnancy I've faced, but to know that she will be healthy and might not be in the NICU will make it all worth it.  My dr told me today that once I hit 35 weeks I can start walking around more and doing a few small things, like helping with meals or going to church, but will still have to be on bed rest.  IF, and this is a big if, we make it to the end of Oct. then I'll get to go off the bed rest fully since at that time I'll be full term.  At this point we just want her to go as far as 35 weeks, since Kaden was 35 weeks and completely healthy, Annabelle was born at 34 weeks and had minor issues that resulted in 5 days of the NICU.  So for the time being I'm doing my best to just listen to the drs and letting Jay and my mom take care of everything else.  The longer this little one stays baking the less chances of being in the NICU we have.

Hurricane Irene

This weekend we got hit with Hurricane Irene as a CAT1 storm.  For this family this was a first.  We'd never been through a hurricane before let alone going through it alone without Jay.  Prior to the storm hitting the Navy pulled out every ship that docks here.  It was for the protection of the ships and the docks themselves.  This meant the kids and I were alone.  I didn't like this one bit, but as with many things the navy came first.  The ships pulled out several days before the storm ever hit and were far enough away that they didn't get any of the effects of this monster.

Late/early Friday/Saturday is when we got the first bands of the hurricane.  They woke both Kaden and I up at 2am.  By 3 both he and I and Miya were all camping out in the living room watching the news.  The wind didn't sound so bad on the main level as it did on the 2nd floor.  The storm was bad, but in all honesty I thought it was going to be a lot worse.  Yes, we stayed at the house to ride out the storm.  We didn't have a place to go until it was too late to leave.  Up until late Saturday night we had power and could function normally.  The kids played games and I kept an eye on the news of the storm. 

During the day it looked like this out our front window.  I wouldn't open the doors unless I had to let Miya out to do her business and she would only go out when the winds and rain were not so insane.

We only got minimal flooding in the back yard.  By morning you couldn't even tell we'd had the hurricane hit.  The only difference between yesterday and this morning was we had no power.  Let me tell you, being pregnant and having no ac was not what I needed.  Heck it's thanks to this hurricane that I discovered why it was the kids rooms and the master bedroom never stayed cool, even with the AC and fans going.  All 3 of the bedrooms (we have a 4th, but those windows are not an issue) windows have a good inch or more gap between the window and the window frame.  I was not happy to discover this smack in the middle of the hurricane.  It explains why the kids got colds more often than normal and why their rooms never seem cool though.  Maintence will be fixing this issue soon, I hope.

This morning we woke to no power, but nearly clear skies.  The only damage we had was to the power lines and our water drain that connected to the house.

Beyond these two issues we survived our first hurricane with no issues.  I'm glad it is over though.  It was not easy to go through this without Jay here with us.  I honestly hope we never go through something like this again.  I'll take nasty snow storms over this any day.

What a week

This week has had a lot of lows and one very large high for our family.  Jay was gone all week long on an underway to do something called a 3M assessment.  Basically they test all of the safety equipment and other equipment that helps keep the ship safe by having an official, in this case a Master Chief (E8), come on and test all of the sailors over these areas on their knowledge and expertese of the equipment.  With what Jay does as a work center supervisor in his division this is a huge test for him.  His job is to fix and maintain this particular stuff within his division.  So this week has been needless to say beyond stressful for him.  Well he very long and short of this whole week was he passed his checks on his equipment, but not without a lot of struggles along the way.

Jay discovered that after failing 2 of the 3 spot checks he had, minor issues, that he had several chiefs, his Divo and a few other higher ups that went up to bat to defend his knowledge of these areas and due to how much he personally impressed this Master Chief who oversaw his check with his professionalism and respect the Master Chief in turn went and turned those two fails into passes!  Huge deal for one, but not something Jay ever expected.  As all of this is happening he finds out just less than 24 hours before returning home that his leave (vacation time) is suddenly being taken back after being approved.  This means no vacation time at all, which both he and I needed this week.  His Chief told him they'd make sure he'd get it before the baby is born (I'll get into what has happened to that in a bit) and that all of the appointments I'd made for this week knowing he had the leave approved and these appointments can't be changed at all.

Well yesterday Jay got things worked out so he can be able to take care of being around for these appointments, some of which are medical for me.  As they are pulling in from being underway Jay then gets told that he needs to go up to the Captians office.  What happened next is something neither he or I expected.  Along with 8 other sailors Jay recieved a very prestigious award called a NAM (Navy-Marine Accomidation Medal).  A NAM is very, very hard to earn and so Jay and these other sailors had certianly deserved it.  Apparently Jay came to find out that he was being given the NAM for his respect and professionalism of the Master Chief as well as his knowledge of his equpiment during the assessment.  This NAM is something he has truly earned and I couldn't be more proud of him.

That NAM was the highlight of the week.  Due to the ship's underway schedule for the rest of the year this week was our best chance of him getting leave and that is gone.  He won't get to make up the leave at all now.  So no leave for us until this little one is born.  I'm not exactly happy about this for a long list of reasons right now.  We were going to use this time off to get the baby's room ready as well as finish getting the final things we needed to purchase before she is born (like a car seat) and now we have to figure out how to get these things done with his work schedule and underway schedule.  My stress level is through the roof and this news has only increased it.  I truly wish they hadn't taken his leave and given it to someone else, but they did and now we're paying a hard price for it.  Jay feels so guilty over this and it's not even his fault, I personally blame the division and the ship for it. 

Right now I keep hoping and praying that he'll actually be home for the birth because if he isn't physically home I know there is not a snowballs chance in hell that they will fly him off the ship to be with me at that time, they are saying otherwise but I've learned not to believe a word that comes out of this command's mouths any more.  It is literally an emotional roller coaster for me right now on top of the stress I'm dealing with and quite honestly all I want is that guarantee that Jay will be home for her birth.  I need his strenght at that time, especially since he's once again missing out on so much.  And we still have a year before shore duty, which at this point is something both he and I look forward to.

Almost over

Jay has been gone on a underway for almost a month now.  It has not been fun for either one of us.  On his side he got put on nights for being qualified (all sailors are required to be qualified in certian areas and he is literally the only one who was fully qualified) and dependable (ie: he can do his work without needing to be babysat by his Chief).  This, while not something either he or I liked, would have been fine if the dingbats (I've got meaner names for those he works with, but trying to be nice) he works with would have A: let him sleep during the day (hense working on nights) and B: gotten to eat more than one meal a day.  But as we were both aware things in this command are not known for going smoothly.  He was constantly woken up because they needed his help with one thing or another, or in today's case he's still awake (it's 3pm and he's supposed to be awake in about 4 hours) doing work because the guys he works with are just that lazy.

As for the eating, yeah I would have a very hard time stomaching this ship's version of food: partially frozen veggies, semi warm food in general.  So he's lost a lot of weight while being gone.  On the homefront things have not gone smoothly.  We had a great visit from my mom and after she left the kids pulled out all the stops on what they are capable of doing to drive me personally crazy.  Annabelle has used marker all over Kaden's walls and perminant marker on the stair walls.  Kaden's developed a mouth, anyone who knew me as a kid knows where he got that from (sorry it's the white family genetics), and just overall not wanted to listen.  It's also been HOT.  While I may originally be from Ut, you add those summer temps with humidity and it's another story.  I've been miserable.  I've had swelling almost since day one of this pregnancy, but when you add the insane temps with humidity the swelling got beyond bad.  It became very painful to even walk, let alone just keep my feet up. 

Well this underway is almost over.  We had an original date for him to come home, which was a day after the ship pulls in since that particular day is his duty day, and then this morning things had a chance of changing.  Jay'd called to personally apologize for not sending me any e-mails in over 24 hours (a time frame to keep me from going nuts, after 24 hours I can start to worry).  He told me at that time that there was a rumor that they might come in earlier than planned, I responded with I'll wait to believe that one until it's official.  Things changed in a matter of hours.  The kids and I went out and got groceries and got back at which time I sent him an e-mail letting him know how I much fruit we just got (overloaded on the fruit is typical in this house).  An hour later when he should be asleep he writes me to tell me that he's still awake (and he's got to be up in 4 hours for his normal shift of work).  THen he sends me another one telling me that rumor is now officially the real thing.  THey are coming home earlier than planned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Right after that e-mail I get one begging for food, yeah they are trying to kill him is what it seems like.  But the end is in sight.  Now we just have to get through INSERV and the 3M assessment (his big thing with his job) and things will start to seem sane again, or at least until the deployment hits (sometime next year).