Fun photo Friday!

Well a lot can happen in a week with 4 kids! I guess we are just going to have to get used to that fact :O)

On Wednesday morning Elle work up screaming. After about an hour and a half of inconsolable screaming I decided that we need to get her to the ER. Once we got there and into the bright lights we quickly discovered what the problem was.... she had a broken collar bone! She had fallen out of bed the night before while playing and cried for a few minutes but went to sleep shortly there after. I can't imagine falling asleep with a broken collar bone but I guess it's possible. She has told us over and over again that it happened when she fell out of bed so we don't know if it was the night before or if she fell out again. Her bed isn't terribly high but I suppose any fall could cause a break if you land just right. So she is currently having to wear a brace to keep her shoulders stabilized and has to have it on continuously for 2 weeks, then it can come off every other day for 10 minutes so she can bathe for another 2 to 3 weeks. She is doing well with it for the most part but it just breaks my heart that she is having to go through this.

Cohen is growing like crazy and starting to show his personality! We get some smiles and little giggles on occasion which is more than pleasant :O)

Payton had his last day of kindergarten yesterday.... *sob*

He is now officially a first grader and more excited than I can even tell you!

He had his first "field day" yesterday and had a blast. He was more thrilled though to have

Papa S. picking him up for school and getting to go hang out at the service station for awhile while I had Cohen at the dr.

Layla is turning in a sassy little 4 year old with the eye roll and everything... *insert mommies eye roll here* :O)

She is demanding that she bypass preschool and go straight to kindergarten next year. While she would probably do well academically I can see her new attitude getting her into a boat load of trouble! I'm hoping that all of this is just a phase because she has always been such an easy going, agreeable and sweet little girl!

She here are some photos from yesterday...

3 weeks!

I apologize for the lack of updates! We have been adjusting to life as a family of 6 and time has just flown by. It's amazing how long and trying those 40 weeks and 6 days were and now that Cohen is here there isn't enough time in the day to enjoy him as much as I would like.

My c-section recovery has gone really well but we have hit a small bump in the road with some kidney stone issues. I have a small stone that has gotten itself lodged in my left side and has been stuck there for about a week now. I finally went to the ER on Memorial Day (oh what a joy!) after I couldn't take the pain anymore and had it confirmed. On top of the one that is stuck I have several others in my kidney just waiting to drop out. I will be making my way in to the urologist tomorrow to figure out what our next step is. Unfortunately I am having to see the dr that blew my right kidney out while performing a lythotrypsy a year and a half ago.

Cohen, also lovingly referred to as "Tank", is doing really well. He does have some reflux issues but it's nothing that we can't handle after dealing with Payton's issues as a baby. As of last Friday he was up to 11lbs 8oz and was 22.5 inches long. So although he is throwing up a lot he is still gaining quickly and it's really showing with the new rolls that are popping up daily. He is a wonderful baby and has been sleeping really well through the night and only waking once to eat. There have only been two nights that he has been up for any length of time and that was after I was naughty and drank orange juice.

Payton, Layla and Eliza are adjusting to their brother the best that they can in their own unique ways. Surprisingly, Layla actually seems to be having the hardest time with it. She is usually so mellow and agreeable but has really started acting out. I am very ready to be able to take each of the kids out and have one on one time with them. Aaron and Payton are going to "Walking With Dinosaurs" tomorrow night. Anyone that knows P-town knows that this is a HUGE deal! He has been obsessed with dinosaurs since he was about 18 months. We kept saying that it was just a phase.... well, here he is at the age of 6.5 and is just as fascinated now as he was then.

Sadly, Aaron goes back to work tomorrow :O(

I really wish he could just stay home with us forever but I know it's not possible. It has been so nice having him here. He was never able to be home with me when the other three were born between going to school and working full time. Things worked out well enough for him to be home for 3 full weeks this time! He was supposed to go back today but our evening in the ER was too tiring so he extended his leave by one more day.

So there's our life in a nut shell! I'm sure it's going to get nice and crazy here real soon so I just keep watching Jon and Kate plus 8 to make myself feel normal!

Cohen melts some hearts!

Introducing...

Cohen Curtis Silveus!

After spending the day with a ton of pelvic pressure, I made my way to the dr to be checked after I voted in the primaries. It was determined that I was definitely in labor and was 5cms. Once the contractions picked up I was to head to the hospital. I ventured home with the girls and decided to start cleaning the house. Well I didn't get very far with that as the contractions picked up in speed and intensity and were lasting much longer. Aaron came home and we got the kids to my parent's house and arrived at the hospital at 4pm. I spent the next several hours laboring on the birthing ball and the edge of the bed. At about 7pm the dr ordered an ultrasound to check on my fluid levels, Cohen's size and his position because he was not engaging at all. It was quickly determined that I would not be able to deliver him vaginally due to all the mentioned factors. My fluid levels were high which gave him too much room to swim around. His weight was estimated to be 9lbs 12oz and although he was head down he was turned at a funny angle. We tried several techniques to encourage him to engage and it just wasn't happening. At quarter til 10 on May 6th I was wheeled into the operating room and at 10:03 Cohen Curtis entered the world peeing all over the nurses :O)

9lbs 8oz - 22 inches - 14.5 inch head

Cohen is absolutely amazing in every way. He looks just like his big sister Elle and is nursing like a champ. I am just now regaining feeling from my spinal block and am hoping to be up and moving around soon.

40 weeks and 5 days... with an end in sight

Well, if I don't go into spontaneous labor by Monday, May 12th then we will be heading to the hospital for a medical induction. I am not thrilled about being induced in the slightest bit but my dr isn't comfortable with me going any further than that. I am currently 4cms, 95% effaced with a bulging bag of water and a baby that just will not engage. Sigh... 7 more days.

A first for me.... 40 weeks!

Wow! Who would have thought?

Here we are, 40 weeks and 1 day and I am still very pregnant. Dr. P will let me go up to 42 weeks unless there are issues that arise. Shouldn't my sanity be an "issue"? Ah well, the long he's in the bigger he gets and with the dr thinking that he's on the smaller side then I guess it's ok.
I go back to the dr on Tuesday. Here's hoping we don't make it!

2 days away and content... what??

How extremely odd that I am becoming more and more content with being pregnant? Maybe it's the thought of trying to breastfeed a new baby with my three wild ones in the house, or maybe it's because everyone that I encounter fully expects me to be miserable and out of spite I am starting to feel better... I won't ever know, but for right now I am content. Tomorrow is my next appointment... Keep you posted!

Phones are still off and no... still no baby!

The title says it all! If you have been trying to call and are not getting us it's because the ringers are still off not because I have drug my big fat butt out of the house to the hospital. Each new day brings more calls and each new phone call brings me more stress. I still completely understand every one's good intentions and totally appreciate them but between 3 hyper kids, 2 annoying dogs, my inability to move and my sheer frustration with being pregnant.... talking on the phone is NOT what I want to be doing right now. When something changes I will let everyone know but today isn't looking like a very promising day. Much love to everyone!

39 weeks!

Pretty unbelievable huh?

Well here we are. I am gigantic and yesterday's "stripping" did nothing at all except get my hopes up with an evening full of contractions. I am just going to expect to make it to next weeks appointment and if I don't then it will be a pleasant surprise.

Look out May... here we come!

Update from Dr's appointment

Well I have made some progress since last week. I am now 3 cms with a bulging bag of water! I want to say hooray but for some reason I don't think it means much of anything. Dr stripped my membranes so now we wait and see....

PSA

This is a public service announcement and I am terribly sorry if it comes off horribly rude but it's for every one's own good. I have shut my phones off for the time being. I have been in a down right terrible mood as of late and need as much quiet as I can get which is already difficult enough with 3 kids in the house. I am just having a really hard time with my phones ringing every 10 minutes with the same questions and while I completely understand and appreciate that everyone is very well meaning I just can't seem to have a conversation without being horribly nasty to whoever it is that I'm talking to. Again, I am sorry but I just need a break right now.

With that said, I am still very pregnant and with my due date quickly approaching we are all on edge. I have my 39w appointment this afternoon and doubt that there has been any change. I was contracting more between weeks 29 and 35 than I am now which is very frustrating to say the least. My blood pressure is all over the place and I have been having really bad headaches/migraines for the last couple of days and am very sick to my stomach so I haven't been able to eat much of anything which is depleting what energy I do have very quickly.

I will update more later today if anything interesting comes from my appointment. Otherwise, stay tuned! We might just have a baby sometime before he is due to leave for kindergarten!

Please take a moment...

and visit A Small Victory

A Small Victory was founded by a wonderful mommy from E's birth board after the loss of her first pregnancy with baby Janell in 2004.

As for us... still pregnant! I am so ready for this to be done but at the same time I am just dieing for him to get super fat so I can have my little chubby man! We had some storms roll through today and it caused me to have a ton of pressure and some stronger contractions but not much has happened since. We have known for a while now that little man is posterior so I started some techniques from Spinning Babies to encourage him to spin around to the proper anterior position so that his head engages and makes these contractions more productive. Why I didn't start this a couple of weeks ago is beyond me, but hopefully it's not too late and he does what needs to be done. If not, chances are pretty good that we are in for a long and hard labor. Here's to a weekend of spinning babies and hopefully lots of rest before he makes his appearance!

We made it full term!

Now he needs to GET OUT!
Hehe!
Now we just sit and wait. I contracted painfully all day long yesterday and finally went into Labor and Delivery at 11:00pm only to find that my cervix is still where it has been. The nurse, who I know from my mom's group, and I have decided that my cervix is just broken.
Little man is getting nice and fat and is definitely putting way too much pressure on my already screwed up pelvis. I know he will be completely worth it all in the end but I am just so very ready to see his sweet little face.
Dr. P is leaving the country tomorrow for a whole week so I'm sure that he will be born sometime while he's gone, that's just how we roll around here. Can't keep things simple :O)
Everyone is getting overly anxious.... and crabby.
Here's hoping for a baby by next week this time!

35 Weeks and playing the waiting game!

First of all... sorry for the lack of updates! My parents moved a couple of weeks ago and I helped by watching :O) then the flu ran around our house like crazy and then on Wednesday of this past week we hit 35 weeks! So, since Wednesday I have been either a) sleeping because I can't get enough of it or b) running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Ok so maybe I'm not running around, it's more like a very painful waddle, but you get my point. I had my weekly appointment on Tuesday and was given the ok to stop my meds and resume normal activities. Hip Hip Hooray! So now we are just taking things as they come. Thank you all for sticking with me through this and for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. It really means a lot. I will continue to update here and use this blog to keep everyone updated on everything that we have going on.

I'll be back in a bit with some fun pictures!

Still Baking!

Little man is still baking but it's looking as though he may be making an appearance over the next couple of weeks. I have dropped quite a bit as of my appointment this afternoon and the Dr. said he doesn't think that we will make it to "full-term" which would be 37 weeks. I keep saying that we are going to go past our April 30th due date though and they will need to induce me! Anyhow, next week marks a huge milestone... 34 weeks! At that point his chances of being placed on a vent at birth are significantly reduced. So ideally we would like to make it to at least 35 weeks, at that point we should be able to deliver locally and bring him home. So that's where we are right now!
And for some fun! I let the kids paint today and Elle decided that instead of just washing her hands in the kitchen sink that she would bathe in it!

Almost 32 weeks and hurting in my heart...

We are still miserable and will be hitting 32 weeks tomorrow! 2 more weeks and little man's chances of needing to be placed on a vent drop very significantly! My contractions are really picking up these days and are regularly 5 minutes apart around the clock, every other one is extremely painful though so it's making the days (and nights) much longer. Thank goodness they have me on pain meds, although I hate the thought of exposing little man to them.

While I'm so thrilled that we have made it this far I am really struggling with a friend's loss. A women and her family that I have never met in real life are on my mind so very much these days. I long to find the right words to bring her comfort but I know that they will never come and it's physically impossible for me to just give her the hug that she needs and the help that I would love to give. I feel so very guilty that I am just struggling to keep little man in and it really puts all of this into perspective. What I really struggle to understand is how all these women can just dismiss their pregnancies as a major inconvenience and continue on with their lives as normal while many women around the world struggle with infertility, loss or both. It disgusts me every time I get on my birth board and read about women begging to be induced because they are so miserable. I know so many women that would give ANYTHING to be that miserable just at a shot to have their baby. Why in the world would you not want to give your baby the best possible beginning? As far as I'm concerned, my discomfort is NOTHING when it comes to my child's health and well being.

This journey that we are on, although it seriously pales in comparison to many, has really opened my eyes to what my life is really about and what causes I will soon be fighting for. My heart has been touched more than I can explain on so many levels and I can guarantee that in the near future my cause will be clear.

31weeks 2days

And still plugging along...
We did have a scare yesterday and had a short (thank God) trip to our local hospital for monitoring. My contractions became very consistent at 2 to 4 minutes apart and I started to have a significant amount of back pain. My sister in law and nephew took me to the hospital while my best friend Megan stayed here with all the kids (she has 3 as well). Thankfully it was a very short stay since my cervix hadn't changed "much", but it was exhausting none the less. I swear, walking into that place wipes me out!

My sister in law, Reagan, offered to keep the girls this afternoon while Payton was at school. It was wonderful to get a nap, even if it was interrupted by the phone. Tonight I think I'm going to have Aaron get a hospital bag ready so that we don't play the rush around game every time I have to go in. Besides, the superstition in me says that if we are "ready" then nothing will really happen. I just know that if we go to the hospital completely unprepared that we'll end up having a baby and feel all out of wack.
My birthday is on Sunday so here's hoping to an uneventful weekend!

31 Weeks!!! Yay!

We hit 31 weeks today! My contractions are still 15-20 minutes apart and holding pretty steady there. I went in to my regular OB yesterday and we discussed when to stop the Procardia. At first he said that we could stop them at 35 weeks but then he changed his mind and told me to continue to 36 weeks. I am much more comfortable waiting until 36 weeks, so only 5 weeks to go until we go off the meds and see what happens! With our luck we'll end up going all the way to our due date or beyond.... But I REALLY don't think I can grow anymore than I already have! My stomach is gigantic! Today I was asked how overdue I was.... SOB! I think I really threw the lady off when I told her that I technically had 9 more weeks to go!

So things are about the same. I feel all the nesting coming on but it really stinks that I can't do much about it. I think Aaron has caught the nesting bug as well though so hopefully we can work together to get some stuff done... but with me sitting on my rear of course!

I'm off to bed! Good night!

30weeks 5days

Almost another week down! We'll hit 31 weeks on Wednesday, hooray!

I go see Dr. Pitts tomorrow afternoon and will be repeating my gestational diabetes test since my hospital visit last weekend indicated that I'm having some sugar issues. I am feeling a bit better and my contractions are remaining at 15-20 minutes apart which is nice. I'm sure I will have a cervical check tomorrow so that we have an idea as to whether these contractions are causing any more change.

So no real news here at this point. I will update after my appointment tomorrow.

30weeks 2days!

And still pregnant!
The girls are home and all the noise is back! Lots of chaos to say the least. Elle just really doesn't understand at all why mommy can't pick her up and is finding ways to get into situations where she thinks I HAVE to pick her up... like climbing onto the bathroom sink ;0)
Brittany just called to tell me that she is on her way here. I am thrilled to see her and my super fat, super cute nephew Zydan. I just wish that it were under better circumstances in both of our lives. She has a lot of ridiculous stuff going on as well and just needs to get away, so what better place to go than here... where things are always insane! :O)

So I am feeling about the same. A lot of pain and discomfort from the Pubic Symphysis Dysfunction which is made worse by the fact that I am idle for the most part. I am still contracting around the clock and some hurt a lot worse than others. Little man has been very quite today and I'm hoping that it's just me not noticing movement as much because life is back to normal for the most part.

We are having a pretty laid back day. Everyone is still in pjs and we are watching The Emperor's New Groove for the 3rd time. But hey, you do what you gotta do right? Hehe..

30weeks 1day and Great News!!!!

I am still miserably pregnant! Hooray!



So I went to the peri this morning and got some fabulous news! My cervical length has actually increased and was at a nice 4cms! The dr kept checking it over and over and over again just to be on the safe side. The baby looks absolutely fabulous and things are the same as Tuesday with the exception of a longer cervical length. He decided that he wasn't even going to run the fFn and just threw the test in the trash! He is VERY confident that we will make it at least another 6 weeks but said that it's going to be a really long and rough road getting there. I will probably continue to contract the way that I have been and we just need to keep a really close eye on things. He also said that he fully expects to have one more big scare before he's born but he is really confident that I will get to be miserable for a good deal longer I am completely ok with that though! If me being miserable means that my "scrawny little white boy" gets to bake longer, then so be it! Dr. Wheeler referred to him as a "scrawny little white boy" because white boys tend to not do as well when born prematurely as white girls, regardless of their size. And he's not really scrawny... he's got some chubby, chubby cheeks! We did get to see him in 3D today. Didn't get any good pics though because of his position but he looks so much like Elle!

So, at this point I am continuing to take my Procardia and he put my on Tylenol 3 every 8 hours.

All in all, things were much better today than expected. I will now being seeing both my regular OB and the peri until I hit 35/36 weeks and get the ok to deliver here in town.

Hip Hip Hooray for a FABULOUS DAY!
Of course we all know that things can change in the blink of an eye but I truly believe with the power of prayer and a great, proactive medical staff that we can make it through this!

Now I'm ready for a nap!

Please say some prayers for a dear friend...

An amazingly beautiful and wonderful mom from my October 05 birth board just went through a very tragic second trimester loss.

I really hope she doesn't mind my posting this but it's the update she just gave us....

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Yesterday morning I had my appt with my OB to discuss what course of action to take for the loss of our baby. We decided to go ahead and induce delivery. Thanks to all of you who contacted me with your experiences, it really helped me to feel comfortable about the route that we decided.
After a very long day, our son, Eli was born still at 1:04 am on February 20th. As far as we could tell he was perfect in every way. We did choose to have an autopsy/pathology completed since this is our third loss. He will then be cremated to come home with us. The hospital staff was so wonderful. They gave us so much time with him, one of the nurses has a great gift for casting so she gave us tiny castings of his feet, they took pictures for the keepsake box that they provided among other certificates and handmade items. They then actually called in a local photographer to take some black and white photos. I have to say I was blown away by the compassion of this birth center (it's the first time we'd been there as it's a relatively new hospital in the community). It was, of course, a very emotional few days but I feel very comfortable with everything that happened.
I am feeling ok. I had a lot more bleeding than they would have liked (about 2 liters as I recall) so I'm very weak and actually passed out cold this morning when I got up to move around (which totally freaked Jim out but he was able to help the nurse before I hit the ground, picking me up and plopping me on the bed.) I also ended up having to have a D&C to remove the placenta and some clotting that I had. All in all, things are going ok and we got home about 4:30 this afternoon. The kids are happy to have us home, they did fine with grandma and mom and Jim just got dinner started. I'm on pretty strict orders to not do much at all for about the next 6 weeks because of the anemia... now, if someone can just pass that message along to my kiddos, we'll be doing well.
Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers.

Please keep Kristi, Jim, Karleigh, Rylan and angel baby Eli in your prayers. It would mean more to me than you can imagine!

30 weeks today!

Phew! Felt like I wasn't going to make it to this point!

So here's todays update for those interested!

I am still contracting regulalry but they haven't been picking up and they are anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes apart. TMI... I have started having the snotty discharge that I always get right before delivery that looks like bits of my plug. I'm not all too concerned about it though since they have really stirred things up with my cervix and because I am thinned out so much. I am pretty crampy way down low and am hoping that it's because of all the cervical checks. I will be heading to the peri in the morning at 9:45 to have my fFn (prayers for a negative would be wonderful!) and an ultrasound. Selfish me is hoping for a 3D/4D. They do them there so it would be a nice incentive to all the crud that we've been putting up with!

Little man is still very much nameless, although I am really starting to push for Lennon, as it means "Dear One". I'm sure this will change a good 800 times between now and his birth though!

Girls are doing really well at my grandparent's house. I haven't talked to them because I know that it will get Layla worked up and she will be begging to come home. I really miss them both but I know this is best given the situation. Payton is hit or miss right now on how he's taking things. I keep talking to him about how important it is that we keep his little brother in longer and last night I took him to my April board and showed him some pics of the preemies that have come already. I was reluctant to show him pics of babies with vents but I did and he was able to ask all kinds of questions. I am being as honest as possible with him and just trying really hard to prepare him for this in the case that it does happen. He didn't want to leave me today to go to school and that caused a lot of stress but we got him out the door and I now have some piece and quite.

Since I have been taken off of Terb the baby has seemed so much happier! His movements are much more intentional and smooth. When I was all medicated he was having such a hard time relaxing. It's nice to have him in a more natural state and to be able to feel him this way.

So as of yesterday when I left the hospital...

1cm

70% effaced

20mm Cervical Length (below 15mm is the point of no return)

Baby is at +1 station (head is engaged waiting for delivery)

What we're praying for...

-a negative fFn (meaning slim chance of delivery in the next 2 weeks)

-no cervical change

-contractions to remain at a minimum

-the kids to handle all of this well

-aaron to not lose what he has left of his sanity

-and for this dog gone container (my body) to hold out just a bit longer!