Getting Back Together

It’s halfway through November, and as I sit here listening to the 80’s Christmas Playlist on Spotify (Hall & Oats, New Kids on The Block, Air Supply, RUN DMC, etc.), memories of my first Thanksgiving dinner of the season last night with my LTC LifeGroup still fresh on my mind, I realize I have so VERY much to be thankful for, and this year is going by at WARP SPEED!  How can Jake be almost 6?  And when did Finn get to be so independent in into EVEYTHING?  My girls? Forgetaboutit!  So grown up and more beautiful every day!  WOW!  And, um, 39 days till Christmas?  WHAT????

Well, we have been a little busy at our house.  Life with 4 kids is never, EVER dull.  Like, ever.  Since October 12, we have had 1 ER visit, 5 Urgent Care visits, 4 sick (and 1 well!) visits to the pediatrician, and I have filled 9 prescriptions (not counting the daily meds Emma and I take). That's a LOT of co-pays! We're broke. And tired.  I can say I think we are on the downhill slide.  We are down to 2 still on Rx medication.  One will be done this weekend, and the other by Turkey Day.  We actually got a full nights sleep (!) last night.  Things are looking up!

Besides all that, here are some tidbits about what ELSE has kept the Six Dream Weavers hopping:

The kids’ book fair at their school as last week.  On Thursday night, they had family fun night with pizza and singing.  Each grade, plus the Rocketeers honor choir, got to perform on stage.  Here is a video of my kids and parts of their performances.  My camera ran out of memory, so the end is kind of choppy!

Britt and I chaperoned a sorority date party Friday night.  In a barn.  With a dirt floor.  And a Rubbermaid table posing as a bar.  And a DJ whose speakers blew before the party even started.  And a port-a-potty.  There was a cattle dog, horses, and a very friendly cat (yuck!) among us.  Yeah.  I’m not kidding.  Here are my tweets:

It was something I will never, ever forget.  Like, ever.  (You see what I’m doing here, Taylor Swift?) I felt so dirty when I got home…  Ahhhh, memories!

Fixed a problem with advice from this Pin on Pinterest.    Finn has become a woodchuck.  This shows how I repurposed his crib skirt that we are no longer using since we lowered the mattress:

Had a bad experience at the eye doctor.  Vented about it on Facebook.  Feel better, but still have no contacts…

Today, I attend my last Ambassador training class at OSU.  Thank goodness!  2 years in the making.  Ready for a break!

Saturday is World Prematurity Day.  Many people don’t realize the statistics of preterm birth: 15 million babies are born preterm around the world every year—that’s 1 in 10. More than 1 million babies die due to complications of preterm birth and many of those who survive face a lifetime of disability. Our family will be participating in this:

                        We invite you to join us! 

Back on the Roller Coaster

Life with our precious six month old has been something to cherish.  We have thoroughly enjoyed (OK – except for the colicky nights – which are fewer these days!) the time we have had with our FREE baby!  It’s so nice to be able to take him places and to not have to worry about oxygen or monitors or anything like that!  And with a smile like this, how can we NOT be enjoying our baby boy? Now, if I could just remember to take extra burp cloths with me when we leave the house, that would be most helpful!  I always have a change of clothes, bottles/formula, and plenty of diapers, but it seems every time we turn around and need a burp cloth, there is none with us!  I’ll get it together one of these days!

Along those same lines, this going back to work thing has proven to be a bit of a challenge.  Finn is still not on any kind of schedule (really), so mornings are very unpredictable.  It’s a challenge to get Finn taken care of, plus get Jake, Lara and Emma dressed, packed for school, forms signed, library books found, hair/teeth/shoe issues resolved, and still get to work on time (for both of us).  Some mornings go well, others, not so much!  We are super lucky that our Babysitter/Nana/personal assistant/Mom-of-the-year comes to us in the mornings – she can just walk in and pick up on whatever chaos is going on so Britt and I can get out the door!  I had a couple of rough days this week, but I am starting to see the light.  I am settling in at my new job, and I am starting to learn more of “the ropes” so I am not as stressed about being here on a daily basis.  New jobs are just HARD to get used to!

As for Finn, he has had quite a week, too!  Hence the roller coaster... After we all survived the threat and reality of severe weather last weekend (shout out to all my LTC ladies and a WOOT WOOT for the fun ladies night we had last Friday night!), we took him to Tulsa on Monday morning for his surgery consult.  We were all very impressed with the facilities, doctors and staff at the Children’s Hospital at St. Francis.  We even ran into one of our FAVORITE NICU nurses from Mercy that is now working at Children’s in Tulsa!  It was a great experience, and we are set to have his inguinal hernia repair next Thursday.  Our pediatric surgeon is a great guy, and we have all the faith in the world in his abilities and his concern for our family.  But, having said all that, we are still apprehensive about putting our child under and having him intubated again.  It's still scary.  We have to be at the hospital at 5:15 am next Thursday, and they will keep Finn overnight for observation.  We hope to be back in Stillwater mid-day on Friday.  Just in time to start the NEXT adventure!

We move NEXT WEEKEND!  We got the keys to our new place this past weekend, and we have been over once to look things over again (the landlord is completely repainting the house and doing some other needed maintenance) and to measure some rooms.  It is really going to be a great place once we get in there and personalize it.  We hope to start moving things Friday afternoon, and we need to be done by Sunday!! Anyone who is willing to help – whether its move boxes or wrangle kids – we would love the help!  Moving 6 people is quite an undertaking!  To help prepare for the BIG MOVE, we are having a garage sale tomorrow morning.  7am start time!  Lots of good stuff – including a CAR!  Come check us out!

I also got the link for Finn’s TV debut!  If you have not seen the piece, here it is!

Here’s to a GREAT weekend!

First, the good news

The good news is, Britt and I, as well as the rest of our family, are so incredibly blessed, and we know we owe our Lord all the glory for that!  Over the weekend, we were loved on and showered by some amazing friends.  Finn has a whole new host of new things he needs, things we wanted him to have, and things others wanted him to have – all given with love!  One guest even blessed and surprised Emma, Lara and Jake by bringing some fun trinkets for them as well!  I want to thank the AMAZING ladies of LTC, along with my dear, “old” friends Rachael and Tara for making it a super awesome party, and for everyone who came and made our day special!  (The opening picture is of the cake, the diaper cake, and the painting we were presented with!)  Looks like I will have some thank you notes to write over the next few days…

And the GREAT news is, Finn is doing SO WELL! He now weighs 3 pounds 2 ounces, and he is just over 16 inches long.  (I guess this is an “up” on the roller coaster ride…)  When I walked into my son's room mid-morning today, all the pumps were turned OFF! No IV's (fluids, meds or otherwise) and the PICC line is gone from his arm! Hallelujah!  He looks so FREE!  Like he could just TAKE OFF!  I took advantage of the freedom he must be feeling to partake in some Kangaroo care this afternoon, too.  I held him for almost 3 hours, and he tolerated it SO WELL!  So much better than he ever has.  Plus, during the 3 “hands on” times I was there for, he didn’t ”de-sat” (decreases in his oxygen saturation levels) the way he normally does!  Early this afternoon (while I was holding, in fact) the rate on his respirator was turned down to 31 (from 33 – it was in the 40’s last week), and the oxygen percentage was turned down to 58% (down 65% earlier today, and down from 70% just a few days ago).  SO EXCITING!  They had been weaning him off the phentanyl (opiate sedative) very very slowly, and they introduced oral morphine yesterday to take its place.  He tolerated that well, so that was the last IV medication he was on, so they discontinued that last night, and pulled the PICC line this morning!  He has not had morphine since 5:00pm yesterday, and he is actually doing better OFF the sedation meds!  (Maybe that was holding him back all along?  He was just too comfortable to work hard?  Just a thought… We’ll never know…)   Here’s to a few more days of an up-swing and more weaning from the respirator!  Here is a picture of him sucking his thumb (his new favorite pastime) while I held him this afternoon:

Some more great news?  The Oklahoma Blood Institute is hosting a blood drive at OSU this week!  It is the Bedlam Blood Drive and it is a little friendly competition between Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma to see who can collect the most donated blood.  We are encouraging everyone we know to donate, and you can donate for Finn!! If you are on campus, you can donate between the hours of 10-5 today thru Friday. Kerr Drummond North Dining Room or the OBI bloodmobiles parked on Athletic Street. Get a free t-shirt, get entered into the drawing for Bedlam tickets and tell them you are donating for Finn Weaver!  Finn and Mom even got a little SHOUT OUT in the Daily O’Collegian today.  (Click the link to read it!)  Rumor has it, there will be a full length feature story on Finn Weaver coming up later this week!

And, for some super fun news?  My Oklahoma State University COWBOY Football team is 10 – 0, and is ranked #2 in the nation!  We won our game this past weekend by a margin of 60 points, which led to a 40% discount on all clothing in the Student Store today!  I made the obligatory trip to the Student Union this morning – arrived at 8:02, shopped till about 8:20, finally paid and left about 9:15!!!  WHEW! Britt said he walked over about 4:00pm, and the lines were UNBELIEVABLE, so he left!  It’s a GREAT time to be a COWBOY!  GO POKES!

 

Double Digits

Well, lookie there!  My ticker is down to 99 days!  Double Digits!  I remember reaching this milestone in my pregnancy with Jake and being really excited!  While I am excited, it comes with a whole different meaning this time.  I have been in this hospital room 2 weeks today.  I will be 26 weeks pregnant tomorrow.  One week left in the 2nd trimester.  My birthday is next week.  All kinds of markers being reached in the next few days!  But, the only marker I want to recognize is that I am STILL pregnant!  Every day counts at this point!

I had some pretty serious bleeding overnight Tuesday night, which left me crampy, frustrated, and lethargic yesterday.  I got a surprise visit from my AMAZING husband in the middle of the day which helped my mood immensely, and we actually napped together for a bit while he was here, so that made me feel better not only for myself, but for his physical well being as well.  I know this whole ordeal has to be taking its toll on him, too.

I know he is physically tired - we were often tired from the wear and tear of 3 kids, 2 full time jobs, and a household to run when I was home.  I can only imagine what that’s like for him now.  We are blessed with the help of my wonderful parents, but coordinating everything can be just as tiring as actually carrying out the tasks.  I know he ismentally worn out as well.  He is sad and he misses us.  Two of the most important people in his life are far away, and there is nothing he can do to hold us or protect us.  That has to be heartbreaking (I know it is for me, too).  And then when he is able to come, it’s over 2 hours in the car round trip.  When you are already physically and mentally exhausted, that can be torturous.  I just want to take a moment to honor him here, publicly, and say THANK YOU to everyone who is trying (and succeeding) at lightening his load, but to also remind you to keep praying for him. And a surprise drink from Sonic might just make his day! Britt Weaver, I love you, and I think you are doing an AMAZING job with the lot you’ve been given the past 2 weeks, and I know you are strong and can do this!  Thank you for taking on this challenge so gracefully.  I pray for you constantly!

I also want to say thank you to everyone who has visited, send cards, brought gifts, and generally made this all a bit more bearable.  The guest book is getting full - and I’ve accidentally let a few people go without signing it!  I am overwhelmed with your generosity and your thoughtfulness.  This room is definitely a lot more homey today than the day I got here when there was no guest furniture, just a hospital bed and a bunch of equipment!  Also want to say thank you, again, to the folks from my LTC lifegroup who went the extra mile to set up the Weaver Support Fund.  This gesture was totally unexpected, and we are truly grateful for the blessing it will be in months to come.

PS - I woke up exhausted this morning.  I dreamed - more than once - that I was not pregnant with one son, but with triplet girls!  I guess it could ALWAYS be worse!

Emotional Weekend

Today is Monday, and I am 25 weeks 3 days pregnant, and mybaby is the size of an eggplant.  Thepast couple of days have been an emotional roller coaster!  Health wise, Baby Finn and I are bothgreat.  My bleeding has been minimal to nonexistent,and of course “Dance Party” has been moving and grooving like crazy.  Even gets the hiccups pretty regularly.  But, name an emotion, and I have had it overthe last few days.  Fear?  You bet! Exhaustion?  Comes with sleeplessnights.  Disappointment?  Beyond measure.  Joy? Have you met my son, he came to see me. Pride? I have 2 of the most well behaved red-heads you have evermet.  I could go on and on…

I have been continually blessed with visitors.  My parents came by themselves on Fridaynight, then my husband and 3 kids on Saturday. Emma and Lara were only here a couple of hours before a friend whiskedthem away to an event filled sleepover with a good friend who used to live inStillwater but is now here in the city. She texted me pictures throughout their day/night, and a good time was definitelyhad by all!  Britt and Jake stayed herewith me, and we watched our beloved OSU Cowboys beat Texas A&M.  It was so fun – and since Jake slept throughmost of the game, Britt and I enjoys some quiet time, too!  (Not took long after the game started, Jakeasked for a blanket, curled up on the couch with his Bobby, stuck his thumb inhis mouth, and was OUT for almost 3 hours!) Sunday, my parents came again to see me, and to pick up the Twisters aftertheir fun adventure.  They all hung outwith me for a couple of hours – the girls painted their fingernails while theywere here – then it was quiet for a little while.  Sunday evening, 2 families from my AMAZINGLifeGroup came by, too.  It just makesthe time go faster and also allows us all to build our relationships and stayconnected.  I am so thankful for their kindnessand diligence to help me through this crazy time in my life.

But, it was not all candy and roses this weekend.  We had a little “domestic disturbance” on thehall that left me scared, mad, helpless, and frustrated.  It actually happened the first time Thursdaynight.  Twice a day, they hook me up tothe monitor for an hour to gauge Finn’s heart tones and my contractions.  It’s a long hour every time as I have to layflat on my back and lie very still since he is such a wiggler and tends to getaway from the monitor at least once or twice a session.  So, imagine my frustration Thursday nightwhen my hour was up and my nurse was NOT coming back!  30 extra minutes, and a nursing student comesin, simply to turn off the machine and take the belts off me.  While that was a physical relief, I had heardthe ruckus in the hall, and it had “tied up” my nurse, so I was curious, naturally!  So, she did come in several minutes later toadminister meds, and she kinda of joked about the “domestic” we werehaving.  7 OKC police men were on thehall.  So, to small town Betsey, that wasa lot, and kind of raised my awareness. Fast Forward to Saturday night, late. Britt and Jake were in Stillwater at the airport welcoming the OSUCowboy football team and staff back to Stillwater when I started textinghim.  The lady next door was justHYSTERICAL!  She was screaming andyelling (cussing) and throwing things (that were breaking), there was a man’svoice dishing it out just as bad as she was. Mind you, I was hooked up to the baby monitor, basically TRAPPED to mybed, and it sounded like they were in this room with me (thin walls).  It escalated A LOT before I heard securityget involved.  Plus, I was texting Brittand my friend who had my girls like crazy. She offered to come up here, but they wouldn’t have let her in sincethey were dealing with this out in the hall. Again, I am well past my hour mark on monitoring, I am now scared,helpless and MAD!   Felt so helpless!  Strapped to my bed, can’t get up, weak frombeing on bed rest for weeks, no lock on my door, don’t feel safe, nurses can’tget to me… SCARED!  They finallyintervened and got the situation under control. But after about an hour, it started up AGAIN!  How did he get back up on the floor?  WHO let him in???  Long story short, Britt ended up on the phonewith the charge nurse for the shift at about 11:30 who came down and blew somehot air and told me they were trying to get the guy off the floor and bannedfrom coming back (not sure of the relationship, but come to find out this ladyis a bit coo coo for cocoa puffs and hates her husband/baby daddy).  She told me this patient was “not a threat tothe floor,” and that “she’s just angry” which I told her was fine and good, butshe was definitely a disturbance.  Sheasked if I wanted to move rooms to down the hall.  Um, NO! I am settled in here, I have decorated, all my STUFF is here, I’m notmoving.  To which she said, “We can bringa cart and we will help you.”  I declinedagain, and suggested the Crazy next door be moved.  She didn’t answer that and left thinking shehad pacified me, when all she had done was stirred my pot and left me with arestless, sleepless night.

The next morning, one of my doctors came in, and were-hashed the night’s events as well – I was making sure she too knew I was notpleased with the situation.  Shepatronized me and said it’s hard to witness something like that when you’re notused to living in a big city where things like that tend to happen.  UGH! Then, she offered me anti-depressants. REALLY?!?!  How ‘bout you justmake sure I am safe, and start the psycho next door on someanti-psychotics!  I am FINE – just needto feel safe and well cared for and that I am getting my money’s worth – which Idid not feel that night.

Anyway – I am better now. And NO – I am not on any anti-depressants.  I will not dwell on that awful 12 hours, andI slept much better the next night.  MyIV relocation went very well yesterday, and 2 of my doctors have now mentionedif my bleeding stays away for a week we may consider sending me home.  I am not pinning any hopes on that.  I’m not sure that is a good idea, since Iwould be back home on bed rest, and I would be home in my house alone all day,and that’s a scary prospect if something were to go wrong.  I feel safer (most of the time) here withnurses and doctors and medical care. But, we’re not even to that conversation yet, so I’m not even giving itmuch thought.  Just thought it wasinteresting that 2 of the 3 doctors have now mentioned it.

I am looking forward to a lunch guest today and a solo visitfrom my husband tonight.  I watched somegood football games and new fall TV series on the tube this week, and know I willcontinue to do that this week as well.  Iam also proud that I got my wedding rings off for the first time in MONTHS so Isent them back to Stillwater with Britt for a good cleaning and to bere-plated, as they were SO dirty.  Notsure if I will put them back on or not…

Also, notice the new link at the top of the page.  Members of my LifeGroup have started a bankaccount for us to help with medical bills. I would like to publicly thank Gabi Martin, Daniel Thrasher, JohnCrawford and the rest of LTC for making this happen for us.  We have no idea what the financial ramificationsof this ordeal will be, but it will be stressful for our family, and we aregrateful for the offer to help.

Better, but still not great!

YAY! Made it to Friday! It has been a CrAzY week, where I have felt marginally better, but have not been great. The highlights are 4th of July (day off work, and blowing things up), registering for baby items (and the barrage of Transformers movies and shows my son is now obsessed with), getting all of my chicks back in my nest (the girls were gone for 2 whole weeks!), going to court (where we got to kibitz about lawyer fashion) and for Britt, finding out that the Peach Shake is back at Chick-fil-a! I have been looking forward to this day (Friday) as it is OFFICIALLY the start of my second trimester. I just got an email that said THIS:

Welcome to the second trimester! This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb. Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him -- a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb. In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches -- about the size of a lemon -- and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces.

Monday was the 4th of July, and no one had to work, so we loaded up the van, and took to the City. My folks went with us – Babies R Us is quite a draw when you haven’t bought baby items in almost 5 years! We started off there, and made a short registry of the basics – Britt was hoping that would help me get more excited about the pregnancy. It helped! I came home with a tiny diaper – it’s SO CUTE! – and some ideas, so that’s fun. After BRU, we went to lunch at Jason’s Deli – a family favorite with lots of healthy choices. And of course, free ice cream at the end for the kids! And Dads! Britt and my Dad were both loading up on the ice cream! ;) After that, we headed to Bricktown for a quick stop at Pinkitzel – we can’t be that close and not stop in! Got some treats to bring home for later! Then, it was off to our FAVORITE shopping destination – TARGET! We started a baby registry there, too. Added a few of the same things that were on our BRU list, but got some others as well. This is where Jake decided he wanted the transformers movie, but he is a bit disappointed with it, and likes watching Transformers: PRIME on the Hub channel much better. My DVR will never be the same… *sigh*

Got the girls back on Tuesday night, and Jake was in HOG HEAVEN! I thought I had never heard him talk so much as when they were gone, but he ramped it up into OVERDRIVE when he had them back – he had to tell them EVERYTHING from the past 14 days since he had seen them! It is so nice to have them back in the house – even if it is louder and messier! Wednesday night we hung out with our “LTC” LifeGroup friends at the Perkins splash pad, which was fun and refreshing even if it was like 102 outside and the splash pad water turned off an hour before it was supposed to! We all needed to get home to bed, anyway, right?
But, the most EXCITING part of Wednesday was THIS:

 

That’s right! It was late afternoon, and I was at my desk at work, and I stretched my arms up over my head and leaned back in my chair, and I felt my whole uterus do a flip flop! WOW! I know it was the baby, and it made my WEEK! I was so excited to tell Britt, and the kids thought it was pretty cool, too! (My mom was torqued because she found out on facebook – I forgot to text or call her… OOPS!) I guess it also led to my first craving, as this was my tweet soon after we got the kids all to bed:

We also had the distinct pleasure of sitting in a court room for 3 hours yesterday afternoon. We finally got the settlement entered from when Lara got hit by a car in the crosswalk in front of her school in February of 2009. I am so glad that is OVER! We still have a few small steps to take care of, but they all fall on me (the victim, of course – why do other people’s negligence always cause the victim work and stress?), and I have some time to carry them out, but it will be COMPLETELY over soon!

So, this weekend I hope to get some rest in between sorority meetings, church, and kids’ commitments. Will probably have to visit Chick-fil-a for that a fore mentioned shake for Britt, and I need to clean my house a bit, too, since this energy drain in my belly is not really allowing that to happen these days! Here’s to the dog days of summer - and the SECOND TRIMESTER!