Doctor's Appointments

Ephram's first week of life was full of appointments.

Because there was no palate involvement, we were actually able to nurse. This was not something I was expecting and I was so excited that it was now a possibility. Ephram lost the normal amount of weight while in the hospital, however we only stayed 24 hours so we had to go back in for a weight check on Sunday. When we did, he had lost more weight, but still not enough to be too concerned. We went back in for another weight check on Tuesday and he had gained weight, so we thought things were looking good. Nursing was still very painful, so our pediatrician decided to clip his tongue tie. This really did make nursing less painful. Another weight check on Thursday and he had lost weight again. At this point we realized we were having the same problem we had with Wills which was low supply. I just wasn't making enough to keep up with him. Again, this was so disappointing, but I just reminded myself that the ability for us to even try nursing was a blessing. We are now on the pumping/formula path. The plan is to make it through the winter and then reevaluate if I want to continue pumping or if we will just go to formula full time.

Ephram also had his first appointment with his Dr. Smith at OU on Tuesday. They did an exam and confirmed what we already knew, incomplete unilateral cleft lip with gum line notch. They then told us the new game plan. Ephram will have his lip repair between 8 and 10 weeks of age. The gum line will not be repaired until his permanent teeth start to come in, sometime between age 5 and 7. This means only two surgeries! Again, what a blessing! We scheduled the lip repair for January 8th. What we know so far is that he can't eat for 6 hours prior to surgery, it should take about an hour, they will keep him overnight, and he will have to eat with a syringe for 3 days following surgery. We go in on January 6th for our pre op appointment and I am sure we will learn even more at that appointment.

On Friday, we had to go back to the hospital to have Ephram's hearing checked. He had referred on his left ear, but since we only stayed for 24 hours, they weren't able to check it again prior to us being discharged. We had actually went by my office earlier in the week for me to check his hearing and he passed, so we weren't worried. They rechecked his hearing and he passed on both sides for them as well.

That's a lot of appointments for the first week of life!

Te2 is here!

So this post is over two weeks late. I'm sure those of you with children will forgive me!

We decided to schedule an induction for our due date of Thursday October 24th for a couple of reasons. There was some concern over how large Te2 would be and we also didn't want to risk delivering over the weekend. Charles was worried the staff at the hospital on the weekend wouldn't be as prepared for our special circumstances and my OB would be right there during the entire labor since Thursday is a regular work day. We were told to arrive at the hospital at 7:30 that morning.

I had really been dreading being induced. I knew it was a good idea, but I just didn't want to do it. I tried everything to induce labor. We went on walks every night, I went to Jamba juice and drank pineapple smoothies, and I even had Hideaway build a pizza I had read about that was supposed to induce labor. It ended up costing over $20 for a medium! None of these worked. I went in on Wednesday for my weekly appointment and they checked me and I was between a 3 and a 4.

That night we went to the Storybook Forest with the Fong family and then to Othello's for dinner. It ended up being a late night for Wills, so we rushed through bath and bed time since he had school the next day. My mom and sister were here and the plan was Charles and I would head to the hospital around 7:15 and they would get Wills up and get him off to preschool. They would then come over to the hospital after that.

Thankfully, Te2 was listening to his mama and decided he would just come on his own. At around 5 o'clock Thursday morning I woke up with a strong cramping pain that would come and go. I decided to break out the contraction timer on my phone just to check. Turns out they were happening every 4-5 minutes and lasting about 1 minute. At around 6, I decided I must really be in labor and woke Charles up to let him know I thought we should go ahead and get going. We both took showers and packed the last few things. I went and told my mom we were going in early because I was already in labor.

We got to the hospital during shift change, so that wasn't the best timing, but they still did a great job of checking us in and getting us to a room. After we got our nurses for the day, things moved pretty quickly. I got checked again and was told I was 4 which was a little disheartening. My contractions were good, so there was no need for pitocin. They asked if I wanted an epidural, and I did. The anesthesiologist was quick and entertaining! He was a big flirt with the nurses and was cracking me up.

My OB came in later to check my progress and I was at a 7, so she went ahead and broke my water. The anesthesiologist came back in to check on me and I let him know the epidural wasn't working on my left side. This same thing happened with Wills and also happened to my sister with both of her kids. He made an adjustment and it kicked in on the left. My nurse then went in to put in my catheter and she couldn't get it because the baby's head was in the way. They called my OB back in and saw that we were ready to push. They got everything ready and 4 pushes later, Te2 was here! They handed him over to us and Charles and I were so surprised. We had prepared ourselves for the unilateral cleft lip and palate and it turns out that he has an incomplete unilateral cleft lip with a gum line notch, and NO palate involvement! This was definitely prayers answered!

Ephram Theodore Te

9 lbs 11 oz, 21 inches long

October 24th at 11:18 AM

Storybook Forest 2013

The boycott of the donut costume continued. This time I couldn't even get Wills into one of his Halloween shirts. We decided to hit up the Storybook Forest with the Fong family on Wednesday October 23rd since we had scheduled Te2's induction for the next day. My mom was here to go with us, which is a good thing since Charles wasn't able to make until much later. Chasing Wills around while I was 40 weeks pregnant was pretty exhausting and I was grateful for the help.

So it turns out spending the evening with the Fong family can induce labor. We went to dinner with them the night before I went into labor with Wills and we spent this evening with them knowing I would be induced the following morning. The induction wasn't needed and labor began all on it's own. If there is ever a Te3, you can bet I will try spending more time with the Fong's and skip the labor inducing pizza we tried!

OKC Shower

Last Thursday, our friends here in Oklahoma City threw us a surprise shower. Unfortunately, Charles ended up working late, so he didn't get to make it. This also means I have a grand total of two pictures from the gathering.

Wills had a great time at the O'Neal's house, making himself right at home. He was in Dash's room and he took off his shoes and crawled up in bed, got under the covers, and leaned against the wall to watch TV. I couldn't even get him to come out for cake!

Speaking of cake, how adorable is this cake they had for us?

And here are a few of our kiddos having dinner. They were all at the table together for about two minutes.

It was so thoughtful of our friends here to do this for us. I am so thankful for our OKC "family".

Last weekend in Arkansas for a while

The last weekend in September, we headed to Arkansas one last time before Te2 arrives.

We spent Saturday at the farm. Wills got to pick some pumpkins from Grammy's pumpkin patch and Papaw took him to see the cows. He apparently let everyone know that they are his cows by yelling "my cows" over and over. He got filthy and actually needed a bath before nap.

We have season tickets to the Razorback games and were able to make 3/5 home games this season. We played Texas A&M this time and unfortunately, not only was it raining, but we lost too. Thankfully it wasn't a cold rain and only did it during the 3rd quarter, so it was actually a pretty fun game other than the loss.

On Sunday, my sister and two of my roommates from college threw me a baby shower. This was so sweet of them. It was great to see so many friends that I don't always have the opportunity to see when we are in town. They were all so thoughtful and definitely helped with the second child neglect. Te2 got a lot of cute things!

We likely won't be back in Arkansas until the holidays. This was a great last weekend for a while!

Wills' big boy room

Since we are having another boy and the nursery is the closest room to our room, we decided instead of doing a new nursery further away, we would give Wills a new big boy room and keep the nursery as is for Te2. If you spend any amount of time with Wills you will notice that he is obsessed with all things transportation, particularly buses and trains. This is why his birthday was school bus themed and now why his new room is transportation themed. We tried to not theme it out too much, that way when he decides to have an opinion about his room decor, it will be easy to change out. We also decided we were not quite ready for him to be in a toddler bed just yet. We like the idea of him being contained, particularly with the upcoming arrival of baby brother. This means we purchased another convertible crib for his room. This way, when we are ready we can just convert to the toddler bed. Here is hoping that this is still many months away!

Annual Halloween Costume Party!

Wills hosted his annual Halloween Costume Party today. This is likely his last one too. Since his little brother will be born in October, he will be having Halloween Birthday parties for as long as I can get away with it!

After all the festivities and opportunities Wills had to wear his costume last year, I decided to put more effort into his costume and actually made it myself. Unfortunately, this is the year he decided to be opinionated about his costume, and he refuses to wear it. We got it on him long enough for a couple of pictures. Hopefully as the month goes on he will warm up to it.

Wills is a donut, I am a contestant on the Biggest Loser, and Charles is Bob Harper, one of the trainers on the show. I love the Biggest Loser and our entire household loves donuts, so I really thought this was a winning idea. Wills did not really agree.

Here we are in our skeleton shirts so we could at least still be festive without being in costume. Charles still has his fake tattoo sleeves on. He said he was chilly. :)

This was our lowest turnout for the party so far. We had some sick little ones and I also think having it the very first weekend in October might have been a little too early for some. I just wasn't willing to risk it any later in the month since we only have 2 1/2 weeks until our due date!

This year costumes included Kermit the Frog, a mermaid (there were supposed to be two, but someone else was also boycotting her costume!), a chicken, Thor, a bat and an astronaut. The weather was unbelievably nice, so we just let the kids run around and play outside. I had planned on some crafts and had a bean bag toss game, but decided to pass on the organized activities this year.

I also kept it low key on the food this year and tried to keep things as easy as possible while still being festive.

Party favors were smores kits. They each have two graham crackers, a small Hershey bar and a pumpkin marshmallow.  

Overall, a great start to all our Halloween festivities!