I just took this photo this morning showing Levi in his new seat. He seems to like it.

It's a Bumbo!

Levi is 9 weeks old, and is more interesting and interactive every day.

We bought a house! There are a few more details to work out, but if all goes well, the house is ours.

I’m so excited.  The children are excited too.  Michael is trying to keep up with all the excitement around here.  I think he sees more of the reality of what it will take to move and sell our current house and maintain the new house.  So he’s keeping the rest of us from completely losing our minds over it all.

Yesterday we tested some of our plans for our big trip to Hilton Head. We needed to go to Chicago to take our birds to the person who will be caring for them while we’re gone. (Thank you, Maria!) Since we were going to be in the Chicago area, I thought it would be fun to visit a few stores there that we don’t have here.
We planned to leave at 9 a.m., and we assigned the seats in the van the way we hope to have them for our trip. We packed children and birds and supplies in tightly, and then began our journey.
The trip went surprisingly well. The children enjoyed the audio book that Michael played for them, and the miles slipped by quite pleasantly.
We arrived at our birdie destination, and spent a little while there getting bird cages set up and visiting our friends.
After saying goodbye to everyone, feathered and not, we made our way to our next stop. I’ve heard about Trader Joe’s for a long time but have never visited one, so I was eager to see what wonders filled the store. It was so interesting to browse around and exclaim over the items that we don’t have ready access to here in Bloomington. I chose some treats and we left the store with goodies in hand. The cashier was so friendly and kind, and she pointed out the snack bin for the children to stop by on the way out of the store, and she also handed Luke a bag of balloons for the children to enjoy later. She would have been happy to give each child a helium-filled balloon, but Michael quickly squashed that idea, filled with visions of balloons floating all around the van while he was driving.
The next stop was an Apple Store. We all enjoyed seeing the beautiful computers, and we dreamed of the luxury of owning such technology.
Finally we were ready to head home. We made a quick stop at a gas station, and then headed south again. We were home by 5 pm, and quite happy to be done with our day of travel.
We learned several things on our trip. First, Levi travels very well. Not fussy at all, which is wonderful.
Second, Lilly did quite well, though she was a bit noisier than Levi. Still, I think we can find ways to entertain her and make the time go by more quickly for her.
Third, I was again impressed with how helpful the older children are. They help with younger siblings, they pass things from seat to seat as needed, they fetch dropped items from the floor, and are in general a pleasure to have along.
Finally, I learned that it’s a lot of fun to have “unlimited texting” on our cell phone plan. Laura was able to ask questions from the back seat without having to holler over the road noise and the audio book. We could text back and forth quite nicely, and it was amusing to both of us.
Having done our test drive, I am now ready to forge ahead with the final plans for our trip. We will leave Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, the house is strangely silent without the birds here.

There are some photos in my gallery, if you’d like to see them, showing off Levi.

He’s doing very well.  He’s good at nursing, and he sleeps pretty well.  I don’t think he’s going to stay tiny for very long at this rate, since he eats so voraciously.

It seems an update is in order on the c-section front. I was able to visit with Dr. Harold’s surgical assistant today and ask her all kinds of questions. What a blessing to get more information.
She said that as they were doing the surgery, she was amazed at how very thin my uterus was. I misunderstood previously and thought they said just the scar area from my previous c-section was thin, but no, it was the whole uterus. It was so thin that it probably couldn’t put forth enough force to deliver the baby. She said that after seeing that, she completely agreed with the doctor’s call on the c-section.
Both the doctor and his assistant have said that there is no reason I couldn’t carry another baby, should we choose to do that, but that I probably couldn’t deliver a baby naturally with my uterus being so worn out. That’s disappointing.

My recovery from the c-section has been harder than I initially thought it would be. The day after the surgery I was not in nearly as much pain as I thought I would be, so I was thinking I had escaped the worst of it. But silly me… the worst was yet to come. The following days were quite agonizing, and then to add insult to injury, the painful part of breastfeeding kicked in, so I was fighting pain on two battlefields. Finally, yesterday, I realized that it wasn’t getting any worse, and actually was perhaps a tiny bit better.
Today I’m marginally better again, so I’m taking comfort in the fact that perhaps the worst is over. I have a new appreciation for those who experience multiple c-sections with no complaint. I’m spoiled by the natural birth process and the relatively quick recovery it offers.  I’m newly grateful that I was able to have so many of my babies that way.

This morning Levi had another bilirubin test, and amazingly, his levels had only gone up two points since his test on Wednesday morning. His new limit is 21, so he’s doing great with such a small rise. The doctor declared no more tests are necessary, and to keep feeding him as much as we can, and just come back for our two-week visit. Normally I completely skip “well-baby” visits, finding them an unnecessary hassle. But after the trouble we had with Lilly two years ago, and her not gaining weight properly, etc., I’m a bit more cautious this time, so I’ll show up for the well-baby visit like an obedient parent should.

The children keep begging to hold Levi. I got all kinds of grief when I wouldn’t hand him over this morning, and then again during naptime today. So now that Levi has napped and eaten, the kids are taking 20 minute turns using a timer. It’s the only way to keep the peace. I hope Levi doesn’t mind all the socializing.

Levi got a good report last night with his bilirubin count being at 12, so the doctor said he could go home. But this morning when he was tested again, it was up to 15. The doctor wants to start treatment if the count gets to 20, so we want to work hard to keep it from rising too fast. The more he will eat, the more he can move through his system and out the other end. So I need to be diligent in remembering his feedings. I feel a little bad, because last night we both slept right through one of his feedings. He slept for six hours straight before I woke up and realized he needed to eat. Even then I had to wake him up, so he probably would have slept even longer. While it was a blessing to be able to sleep, it probably didn’t help his bilirubin count this morning. Maybe tonight I’ll set an alarm.  What a funny thing for the mother of a newborn to say! “Oh dear, I’m getting too much sleep!”

Our weather forecast here in the Midwestern USA is a snowstorm that is supposed to bring about 5-6 inches over night. I know that’s not really “huge”, but it will likely bring things to a stop tomorrow for a bit. I sure do like snow, so I’m not sorry that it’s coming. But it probably means we won’t take Levi for another blood test in the morning. We’ll see what actually happens. We all know that weather forecasts don’t always come true.

That’s about all that’s happening around here these days. I’m spending many hours in my favorite chair, and only getting up when it’s unavoidable. It’s a very strange feeling.

I would like to officially welcome our newest baby, Levi, to our growing family.  He was born yesterday, January 2, 2010, at 5:45 pm, and he weighed in at 8 lbs, 8 oz, and he was 19 inches long.

Levi caused me consternation on several levels.  First, we got the news that we were expecting him a month or two before I was to go on a missions trip to Guatemala.  I was so worried about going out of the country in the first trimester of pregnancy, but the doctor encouraged me to still go on the trip.  I did, and that made Levi our second baby to go to Guatemala en utero.  (Lilly was the first.)

The pregnancy proceeded quite uneventfully, until close to the end when I was informed that the local hospitals both have declared that any patient who has previously had a c-section must have a repeat c-section, unless her doctor is willing to stay nearby for her whole labor and delivery.  I certainly did not want an elective surgery, simply because some insurance company thought it was a good idea.  So my doctor helped me think through the various ways we could get around that rule.  I hoped that I would go into labor naturally, so that I could labor at home until close to the end, and then I could get to the hospital just in time to deliver naturally.

Once I reached the 40-week mark in my pregnancy, Dr. Nord asked me if I would like to schedule an induction for the following Saturday, because he would be on call and could promise to be nearby for my whole labor.  I was torn, because I really liked the idea of a natural labor and delivery.  But Michael and I decided to take Dr. Nord up on his offer.  So we were scheduled to come to the hospital at 7 a.m. yesterday (Jan. 2).

The induction started as they usually do, very slowly, and rather tediously.  Fortunately I’ve been through this before, so I knew we were potentially in for a long wait.

After some hours, I had progressed to about 4-5 centimeters, which was good. The nurse and I were both expecting that things would quickly start to happen and soon it would be time to have the baby.  But after several more hours, I was still at the 5 cm mark, which puzzled us.

By 4 pm, when I was still at 5 cm, and the contractions were getting more intense, I decided to opt for an epidural, since it looked like we were going to have a long road still ahead of us.

Unfortunately, the epidural did not work properly.  After another hour of fiddling around trying to make the epidural work, we decided to start over and try it again.  But during all this, Dr. Nord came in and checked on me himself (rather than simply calling the nurse for an update), and he was concerned.  He didn’t like the fact that I had been stalled at 5 cm for about four hours.  After another short time of waiting and thinking, the doctor declared that he was getting concerned, and he didn’t like how the baby’s heart was decelerating so dramatically during contractions, and he was ready to just deliver this baby by a c-section.  I asked a few questions, including asking for a little more time to labor, but Dr. Nord rather firmly informed me that we had waited long enough, and actually, had waited longer than we should have.

Even though the nurses were convinced I just needed more time, the final decision is up to the doctor, so we decided to trust his judgment, and we agreed to the surgery.

Michael texted a few people to let them know if this change, and he called his mother to see if she could come be with Amelia during the procedure.  (Of course she came right away, but Levi was already born by the time she got here.)

Since my epidural still wasn’t working properly, the anesthesiologist decided not to mess with it any more, and she declared I would go under with a general anesthesia.  I didn’t argue, as I’d had enough of that crazy epidural anyway.  I was hurried into the surgery room, and people scurried around preparing for the c-section.  A mask was put over my face, and when it was time to begin, the flow of gas started, and I was out cold.

The next hour was only a blink of time for me.  Michael was not able to be in the room with me since it was general anesthesia.  I don’t know why that is a rule, but I didn’t miss him since I was unconscious.  Michael said that soon he could hear the baby crying heartily, so that was encouraging.  The staff came out with the babe and took him to the nursery, where Michael was able to stay with him and watch all the routine things they do.

Through the loopy fog, I heard someone calling my name over and over, telling me to wake up.  I groggily stated I’d rather just go back to sleep, but I went ahead and tried to open my eyes and clear my head. The nurse gave me various bits of information, for which I was grateful.  I was able to ask a few muddled questions, and it was nice to hear the answers.  In another moment, Michael was there, holding Levi, and showing him to me.  The tears flowed as I gazed at our newest baby.  He was amazingly beautiful, with dark hair, and chubby cheeks.  I was in awe of how perfect he was and how much I was instantly in love with him.  Nine months of discomfort, frustration and angst melted away in that instant.

After a while we were transported from the recovery room to our regular room.  We visited a little longer, and then Michael, Grammy and Amelia left.  I sat alone with Levi, feeling very drowsy, but in absolute awe over this newborn in my arms.  I simply couldn’t believe the miracle of it all.  Was this the baby who was tucked inside of me just a few hours before?  Is he really as beautiful as I think he is?  I’m quite sure I’m completely and totally biased, but that’s ok with me.  I’ll just happily sink into my belief that he’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

An hour or so later Michael returned with Laura and Luke for a quick visit.  I thanked Laura profusely for her work all day long as we were in the hospital.  She managed everything at home and kept in touch with us and kept the day as normal as possible for the other children.  It was neat to see the older children greet their youngest brother.

After our guests left again, I enjoyed dozing through the night.  I woke up a lot, and sometimes stayed up for a bit, but then kept dozing back off.  It was a luxurious night, because I didn’t get up at all to use the bathroom, and I didn’t have to worry about getting enough sleep before a certain time in the morning.

Today has been a nice day too.  Levi is nursing very well.  I’m getting enough rest, and I’m recovering much more quickly than I thought I would.  I fully expected to be completely wiped out after a c-section, but I actually am doing much better than that.

I don’t know what the next few days hold.  We’ll probably get to fight the jaundice monster again, since Levi’s bilirubin is already climbing.  But we are mentally prepared for the battle, and won’t be surprised if we have to stay extra days so he can be under the lights.

And so our adventure with Levi begins.  His birth story is different from everyone else’s, as I thought it might be.  I just didn’t know HOW different it would be!

Welcome to our family!

Yesterday Michael took me to World Gourmet Foods to pick out part of my Christmas gift from him. It’s been on my list for a long time, so I was excited when the time came to actually make the purchase.
So what did I pick? A basketful of Torani syrups in some of the flavors I’ve been most curious about.  And I found some tea I’ve been wanting, too.

I know I must be different than most gift recipients, because it just tickled me to no end to pick out my gift, bring it home, and then stash it in my room to wait for Christmas.  The anticipation is so much fun.

Michael often worries that he doesn’t do a good enough job at giving me gifts.  Of course, this notion is absurd from the very outset.  But over and over I reassure him that I’m different when it comes to gift giving.  First, it’s not as big of a deal for me as it is for some.  If you are familiar with “The Five Love Languages”, you know that “gifts” is one of the languages.  Its’ not mine.  Sure, I like gifts alright.  But it’s not something that really matters deep down if it doesn’t happen.  (In case you’re curious, my “love language” is “words of affirmation”.  That means it makes my day when Michael says nice things to me.  Even better if he’ll say it again.)

For some years Michael and I have danced the gift dance, with him asking for a wish list, me making a list, him feeling obligated to buy a certain amount of things, and me feeling bad that he feels so obligated.  One year I offered to do the shopping for my own stocking, picking out little things that I would enjoy having.  I must say, that was a blast!  I shopped for the trinkets, and then had just as much fun on Christmas morning as I re-admired each thing that I had picked out.  It was exactly what I wanted.

This year is shaping up nicely.  The pressure for gifts seems quite low, and I’m getting to help pick out some stuff on my list.  I couldn’t be happier.

Today Michael and I took a long drive out into the countryside. We had a few places we wanted to drive by, and it was the perfect day to go looking at houses and properties that we might want to consider buying.

There are so many factors that we are realizing we must consider. Houses that need work tend to be cheaper initially, but they need work. Houses that don’t need work are too expensive. Beautiful pieces of land are so tempting, but the purchase price is only the beginning of the cost of the property as we consider what we might want to build.

I don’t think we came to any great conclusions during our drive today. But we enjoyed each others company, and we have much to think about as we reflect over what we saw.

Should you, Dear Reader, have any thoughts to share with us as we consider the pros and cons of living in town versus in the country, or choosing a nicer house initially versus a “fixer-upper”, we would greatly appreciate your input.